September 26, 2008 - Pick a fight for the love of God!!!

The problem with this particular presidential election is that I really don't care who wins. I'm a Democrat so for my conscience I'll probably vote for Obama, but I'm not convinced. And while I don't think that McCain is the devil that most Republicans are (I say that with some of my best friends hanging out in the R column) ;), he hasn't convinced me either. This would be the first election where one really good argument could swing my vote. Too bad I haven't heard any really good arguments.

I'm sitting here as I type, watching the first presidential debate, and maybe it's because I don't care, or maybe it's because they're just talking in circles, but I find myself paying more attention to the look of the thing as to the substance.

A few observations:

1. Jim Lehrer really wants these two to pick a fight with each other. Has he not read the debate handbook? That's not allowed. Debates are boring, staid, the least about of confrontation possible. He's really expecting too much. Though I'm sure ratings for Debate #2 would skyrocket if he got his wish.

2. Barack Obama looks like a goat. It's a weird thing I do, assigning people animals based on facial features or mannerisms, and I've never even considered doing that for the candidates until tonight when, during Obama's opening comments, I looked up and thought, "He looks like a goat." It's something about the shape of the head, the tapered jaw, and the hooded eyes. And I have to say that tonight he looks like a rather mean goat. As a friend put it, "Yes. With his eyebrows furrowed he looks ready to butt at the camera."

3. There's always been something about McCain's appearance that's been off-putting to me. I'm not sure why, but I've just never really liked him, and I figured out why tonight. He reminds me of a puppet. I'm not talking about a figurative puppet for the party. He's too much of a "maverick" for that. ;) No, no. I mean that he looks like a puppet. A marionette to be exact. Most of his face never moves, only his eyes and his mouth. He can't raise his arms or move them gracefully (and yes, I know that's as a result of his POW time...don't get all defensive), so it looks like someone from above is controlling him by strings. It's creepy. If you don't think so, you need to see the episode of The Twilight Zone when the dummy takes over the handler!

4. McCain needs a better tie for Debate #2. This one looks like a candy cane got flattened. It's not bright enough or bold enough to stand out.

Random thoughts

1. I was supposed to have a nice two days with nothing on the agenda to get me through this weekend. Now I have to be up and collecting donuts for work at 6 am tomorrow. Yuck!

2. There is no logical reason why gas 50 miles away should be $.20 cheaper, but it is.

3. Happy Birthday to:

• belatedly to Carlene Brown on the 24th!
• Angela Beverly on the 26th!
• Kara Brown on the 28th!
• Roger Deininger and Terry Alvey on the 29th!

September 18, 2008 - I must have mised something

Apparently there was a memo circulated, or maybe a commercial that ran on a channel that I don't watch, but I must have missed whatever it was that said "abortion clinics are the places to meet women."

I thought that the Craigslist missed connection for the balding man at the abortion clinic was pretty much an isolated incident. Who would think otherwise?

Well, think otherwise my friends, because today someone gave me the link to a website called OverheardinNewYork. As with the Craigslist ad, I cannot speak to the veracity of what's being posted (Was a girl in daisy dukes really looking for her Prince Charming in a wifebeater and sweatpants outside of an abortion clinic??), but if it is true, we are are a sorry, sorry state.

As reported from a bathroom at Fordham University:

Dude #1: ...so do you think I can have dibs on her, or is that not a good idea?
Dude #2: What do you mean?
Dude #1: Well, she had an abortion six weeks ago.
Dude #2: Oh dude, what are you doing!?
Dude #1: Yeah, but can't she not get pregnant because she just had an abortion?
Dude #2: Oh, that's a good point. I don't think that works like that...
Dude #1: But it was six weeks ago.
Dude #2: Oh, I thought you said six months ago! Yeah, man, you got a sweet deal there. I can't believe your luck, where do you keep meeting these women!?

This new horrifying trend gives me pause. Is it possible that the reason I haven't met a great guy yet is because I simply haven't gotten myself knocked up and then rid myself of the fetus?

I'm suddenly thinking I will stay very, very single for a very, very long time...

Random thoughts:

1. OverheardinNewYork is a pretty interesting site, but it cannot possibly beat the amusement level of Wordsplosion! People after my own heart, putting all bad spellers and poor grammarians on notice.

2. It was a tough decision last night, trying to determine if I was going to root for Kansas State to beat Louisville, just because I dislike Louisville (a lot), or root for Louisville just so that a Big 12 North Division team would lose a game and maybe help out the Huskers. Turns out Louisville won, and I don't care either way. Huh.

3. Happy Birthday today to Sheila Shontz! Happy Birthday on the 21st to Sara Vontz! And Happy Birthday on the 22nd to Becky Buelt!

4. Totally haven't seen or spoken to those last two people for the last 15 or so years, but I still remember their birthdays. If I thought that talent had any good use for humanity, I'd donate my brain to science, but I doubt that's the case.

September 15, 2008 - Gone with the wind...

Who would have thought that the most bizarre weather I've ever encountered would take place in Louisville?? Since I've moved here I've experience a tornado in February, an earthquake in April, and now a hurricane in September!

Ok, actually I didn't get to experience the remnant of Hurricane Ike that shot through the area yesterday afternoon. I'd driven to Lexington to spend some time with the family, and while I had one moment of panic that might car might be tossed into the air and off the bridge spanning the Kentucky River, the drive was pretty uneventful, if windy. There was little bits of tree debris scattered everywhere, making the route look like any road in Nebraska after a good July severe thunderstorm, but nothing that indicated we were about to get hammered.

And indeed, nothing too dramatic happened in the several hours I was in Lexington. A tree broke off a tree across the street from my aunt's, and I heard today that some power outages occurred in town, but nothing huge. I didn't even realize what had happened until I drove back to Louisville.

As I drove down the street toward my apartment, I noticed that a lot of businesses were closed, and it was pretty easy to figure out it had something to do with the power given that pretty much every intersection was operating on the four-way stop concept. Let me take a second to declare that Louisvillians have a very loose understanding of that concept.

There was only one fast-food restaurant open along the road, so I pulled in to get something before I got home and discovered that I had no power and therefore no way to cook, and I waited for half an hour in the drive through to get a couple of fish planks from Long John Silver's. And green beans. Long John Silver's, for whatever reason, has really good green beans. When I got to the window, the girl on duty looked out and immediately turned around saying, "it goes all the way back to the street, ya'll!!" She then told me that the people behind me in line were going to be mad because they were going to have to close the store as they were running out of food.

I drove home, trying to figure out how I was going to find an all-black cat in an unlit apartment and successfully measure out her medicine, give it to her, and not end up bleeding somehow in the process. Luckily, I walked into the apartment and my lights all turned on, the cable worked (which was absolutely critical given that the Steelers were playing on TV last night, and I was fully tempted to drive back to Lexington and camp out at Aunt Linda's if luck wasn't on my side), and the cats didn't seem to be worse for the wear.

I didn't realize just how lucky I was until I watched the 11 o'clock news. Almost 300,000 people are without power (or were...some have been restored today), and trees are down everywhere. Crazy. We really did have a hurricane without the rains. Winds reached almost 80 mph at the worst and were sustained at 50 mph for over an hour. And I missed it. I have to deal with the after-effects, but I still missed out on the good stuff. I'm a little disappointed, even if I am extremely grateful.

Random Thoughts:

1. If you haven't seen this already, watch it. Then tell me two things: Why did Tina Fey leave SNL, and when is she coming back?

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/palin-hillary-open/656281/

2. The great cat integration of Jonah and Abbie is not going so well. I feel like a bad parent.

3. I don't drink it a lot, but I really enjoy the odd occasion when I get an Orangina.

4. Thank my cousin, Michael, for my new blog home. We'll see how I like it.