alright, i've been absent for a while with the holidays and all, but i'm ready to get back in the groove.

• last night was the state of the union address. at this point, i have stopped watching our president speak. i can't handle it. nevermind what he says. it's the way he says it. last night i had dinner with a friend and got home a few minutes into the SOTU address. i had decided i wasn't watching it days ago, but then, as always, i felt like i was shirking my civic duty, so i thought i'd watch at least a few minutes of it. no sooner than i turned it on the man said NUCULAR. dammit, mr. president, the word is NU-CLE-AR. the man has been in office for 6 freaking years and hasn't learned how to say nuclear? that is just unacceptable.
• now, as far as what he actually said--because i do care, i just can't stand to actually hear it coming out. gotta read it in the news the next day. and so, my everyday girl opinions:1. he said he's going to submit a budget to eliminate our nation's deficit in 5 years. to that, i say HA! i'll believe it when i see it. 2. cut dependence on oil by 20% in 10 years. great idea. let's do it. no need to say it's so we can avoid terrorism, though. there are plenty of other reasons we need to cut our oil usage. in today's culture, though, everything's about scaring people into action. annoying. 3. more troops to iraq. arg. very sick of this war. 4. health insurance. should not be about tax breaks. should be about getting health care coverage for all the people in our country who don't have it. plain and simple. france does it, and i don't care if you don't like france, it works. lots of other countries do, too. there is no reason we can't. 4. immigration reform. i'm not educated enough on this subject to have a very strong opinion, but i will say that giant ass wall of america they're building is the most wasteful use of money EVER. my friend kim would kick me for not having my act together on this immigration debate (we just need to get together 'cause she's smart about that stuff), but i will say that it brought the most amusing response from last night. "I am disappointed but not surprised that the president has once again chosen to trot out this same old pig, albeit one with a slightly new shade of lipstick" (from Republican Rep. Tom Tancredo). that is just funny.