Ch-ch-ch-changes

"For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you gain, you lose something else." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

If I could sum today up in one word, it would probably be "change." And not the kind we've been hearing about for the last year or so. This "change" has nothing to do with politics and more to do with life in general. It's funny how your life can change in just one quick moment - how things almost always work out as if they were just meant to be. Today, I watched a good friend, turn a difficult situation into something that may be one of the most exciting things she ever does (even if it does mean no one to go to Nashville with)! I also went for a drive and spent a lot of time thinking back to last year around this time in my own life, and realized I would have laughed at anyone who would have told me I'd be doing what I'm doing, today. (Including "going for a drive" considering what gas prices were then.) Even the weather evokes a sense of change. Warmer, nicer than it has been lately, and the dogwoods that line the street are suddenly blooming; spring is definitely here.

Anyway, that's enough sappy carrying on! For some reason, "Landslide" has been running through my head all day, so I'll make that Song of the Day (and it's been a while since I've had anything Lindsey Buckingham on the blog...some things will never change):

Quote of the Day - Beverly Cleary

"One rainy Sunday when I was in the third grade, I picked up a book to look at the pictures and discovered that even though I did not want to, I was reading. I have been a reader ever since." - Beverly Cleary

I was actually looking for a quote about Sunday but found that and had to use it! As I've mentioned many times, I am a geek when it comes to children's literature and Beverly Cleary is one of the best! As a matter of fact, I believe I was in second grade when I first discovered Cleary's "Ramona Quimby." I actually remember the day! I was at the local public library with my parents and it was the first time I'd ever been allowed to look at the "big kids" section by myself. Ramona seemed like a pretty interesting chick and I asked my mom if I could check it out. From that moment on, I was hooked and even though I'd always been a reader (thanks, mom!), I learned to love reading on my own and choose books because I enjoyed them. I discovered a new friend in Ramona that week, and soon I'd find the same in Lois Lowry's Anastasia Krupnik, Judy Blume's Peter Hatcher, and Ann M. Martin's girls from The Babysitter's Club among many others!

Don't Tell Al Gore...

...but I was so caught up in researching Karen Handel that I forgot to participate in Earth Hour. I don't really care that I missed it, I just figured I'd attempt to pretend I did. As a matter of fact...I'm not going to say anything else about it because I posted about it last year and truth be told, my feelings haven't change much: Sarah Way Down South: I'm sitting here...

And because 90% of you won't click that link, I am going to pull a quote from it as my quote of the day: "If the libs were so the way they say they are, they'd be worried about people who are sitting in the dark because they can't afford their power bill...not the morons who are sitting in the dark because it's trendy!" - Me

P.S. Check out this guy's commentary on the matter! He's actually funny: HolyCoast.com: Earth Hour Celebration

Things to Check Out...Karen Handel, J.T. Ellison, Matt Stafford, Sarah Palin, and more!

Once again, I've gotta pretty busy weekend ahead and the nasty weather is doing a number on my internet connection, which isn't helping, but I did want to point out some things I found interesting.

1. A friend of mine has a good piece about life in the military posted at the new website ParcBench.com, you can check it out here: Party, Family, War: Reflections from a Soldier

2. Will San Francisco draft Matt Stafford or not? Weird psychological test ordeal or crafty move? Singletary to Stafford: I'm sorry our time is up for today

3. Gov. Palin's Op-Ed on why she won't be taking all of the stimulus funds offered to her state. “Shovel ready or digging a hole?”

4. J.T. Ellison is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. As an aspiring novelist, myself, I found the Writing Tips on her website really interesting! (Yes, I know, everyone is an aspiring novelist.)

5. Speaking of books, I know I haven't updated the list of books I've read this year. That's because most of my "reading time" is spent with a book called Educational Psychology. Oy. I am still trying to plow through the latest Patricia Cornwell book (and All the Pretty Girls by Ellison), though, and I just started reading this for a class: Expecting Adam by Martha Beck. Hopefully, I'll get to update soon.

6. Lots of big names in the Georgia Governor's race for 2010. Yesterday, our current Secretary of State Karen Handel was the latest to put her name in the race. I need to know a little more about her, but so far, that's where my support is going. As my grandfather sad, "She reminds me a little bit of our friend in Alaska." You can learn more about her at Karen Handel for Governor of Georgia and I did a little profile of her at the Women of the GOP: Karen Handel for Governor of Georgia.

7. Finally, someone sent me this video from Fox News. It talks about how both George Bush and John McCain tried to warn Congress of some of the current economy troubles as early as 2002. I know some of us documented some of this information in the fall, but it doesn't hurt to watch and get the message out there:

Quote of the Day - C.S. Lewis

"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." – C. S. Lewis

Leadership I Can Get Behind

Let's face it. Unless you live in Alaska (I couldn't resist), you're probably feeling like the country lacks leadership...and you're right. Lately, there are a few people who are stepping up to the plate - unfortunately, one of them is some guy named Daniel Hannan from the European Parliament. If you haven't seen this video, I certainly recommend it. I just wonder when one of our political "leaders" will have the guts to stand up to Obama, Pelosi, etc. and tell them the same thing, American-style? Not much else to say on this, I'll let the video speak for itself:



One guy who I do think can be an effective leader for our country is Louisiana Governor, Bobby Jindal. Since we're still unbelievably hung up on wording of the "want the president to fail" statement and not the message behind it, I really liked what he had to say regarding the phrase:

Make no mistake: Anything other than an immediate and compliant, 'Why no sir, I don't want the president to fail,' is treated as some sort of act of treason, civil disobedience or political obstructionism. This is political correctness run amok.

I also liked Jindal's answer when answering the question, himself:

My answer to the question is very simple: 'Do you want the president to fail?' It depends on what he is trying to do

CNN has a lot more on Jindal here: Jindal defends those who want Obama to fail. (Check it out - Jindal has some more great quotes about more than the "fail" comments.)

Speaking of Bobby Jindal, I had the opportunity to research his wife, Supriya, for the Women of the GOP Blog, and I have to say I wouldn't mind having her as first lady! Also, Meghan McCain did a cute interview with Mrs. Jindal at the The Daily Beast.

Laugh of the Day - Bob Hope

Someone posted this on Twitter tonight and I just had to share...it's only 24 seconds and it fits the zombie analogy I made up in October.



h/t Mike Costa

Quote of the Day

"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great." - Mark Twain

Nothing much to add, just thought it was good. It's been a long day and I think I've learned lots of lessons. Also, I miss the old QOTD days! Also, I like Mark Twain.

Barack Obama, Sarah Palin, & the Special Olympics

When Barack Obama went on Jay Leno's "Tonight Show" and compared his own bowling skills to being in the Special Olympics, I can honestly say I wasn't necessarily offended, but I was certainly disappointed. I'll admit, I sometimes make tasteless jokes about other people, so I don't want to go on some "holier than thou" binge, but here's the difference: I do it in private. I do it with a few close family members and friends who know I'm joking, who know I have a pretty twisted sense of humor, and they know I would never purposely hurt anyone, their feelings or otherwise.

Oh, and there is one other difference: I'm not the President of the United States.

While I'm the first person to stand up for free speech - any speech - and as a society I feel we've become too uptight and too politically correct, I do think that whomever we choose to be President has a duty to respect the office and to not speak poorly of any of his constituents, jokingly or otherwise. I guess I'm just old-fashioned that way. Unfortunately, Barack Obama seems to do anything but. Whether he's making "bitter...cling to their religion" comments on the campaign trail or the "Special Olympics" comment, I never feel like the President has much respect for the American people who need his help the most.

My other problem with this issue is that, again, had this been President Bush, the media and democrats would be all over it. The Kennedy's (who some may not know founded the Special Olympics) would be on every news station, outraged. Actually, I'm pretty sure had George Bush spent Tuesday playing Sports Center and Thursday acting like George Clooney with a new film to promote, our TVs and newspapers would be over saturated with headlines such as "President's Priorities in Order?" After all, it is the President, himself, who continues to tell us we need to act urgently, the country is shambles, right?

So far, aside from a few rumblings here and there, democrats have been pretty silent about the "Special Olympics" remark, which is usually a sign that they don't have a legitimate argument.

As I'm sure many others did, I wondered if Sarah Palin, as the mother of a child with down syndrome and one of our country's most prominent politicians, would issue a statement regarding the Presidents tasteless joke and she absolutely did:

This was a degrading remark about our world’s most precious and unique people, coming from the most powerful position in the world. These athletes overcome more challenges, discrimination and adversity than most of us ever will. By the way, these athletes can outperform many of us and we should be proud of them. I hope President Obama’s comments do not reflect how he truly feels about the special needs community.

Some will argue that Palin is doing this for her own political gain, to prepare for a Presidential run in 2012 and that may be, but from what I know of both her and President Obama, I'm pretty sure she'd never had the audacity to go national TV and make that kind of statement about anyone in this country. Even democrats.

By the way, before the Special Olympics remark heard around the world, Governor Palin filmed a video for the 2009 Special Olympics. It is absolutely adorable and I'm glad Palin is doing this sort of thing. It helps shed light on how people with special needs are important people, too and I feel that it helps with the pro-life cause...I feel that far too many women choose abortion because they have so many fears of the unknown when the find out the child they are carrying may have a disability.

You can watch the video here:

Weekend Links & Stuff!

What a busy week it's been! To start things off, I'm taking three classes this term and that has taken up a lot of my time. Each one of of my professors seems pretty set on giving us lots of homework! I don't mind doing it as the subject matter really interests me, but it is pretty time consuming. I just started a really cool writing job and some of you know I have some little things I do on the side here and there. On top of that, I'm doing some volunteer political stuff and that has turned into job within itself! Oh, and for those of you keeping up, I will hopefully be moving in the next few weeks! Very excited about that! Anyway, I plan to spend today getting caught up on things, but I wanted to post some links that I think you might enjoy this weekend!

First, a little more shameless self-promotion! One of my writing jobs will be keeping this blog up to date: Women of the GOP If it's something you're interested in, please check it out or should you feel so inclined, link it, as I hope to start updating it daily soon with profiles and news on some great (and potential) female leadership within the Republican party.

Also, if you didn't read my goofy little story about my family's garden, it's at http://dewonthekudzu.net/. Even if you don't want to read my story, they've got some great stuff! From recipes to book reviews, stories to poetry! I love that they are highlighting and reviewing new Southern books and authors because it allows me to pick up some books to read that I may not have noticed before.

My friend Pat at And So It Goes In Shreveport has been writing so much good stuff lately! Mostly politics with a little bit of other stuff thrown in, I couldn't just pick one thing to highlight!

And speaking of politics, if you've never checked out Moxie, she is one of my favorite bloggers and has been for years. If you're easily offended, it may not be your thing, but she's been cracking me up with her Glenn Beck commentary. (Note: she's not a Beck fan)

John Brodigan has a great post: We Just Can’t Quit Sarah Palin. I'm actually writing something about this on Women of the GOP, but at 61%, Gov. Palin has one of (if not THE) highest approval rating of any other state governor. She's also turned down a big chunk of Alaska's proposed stimulus money! Good for her.

If you watch Fox News, you probably know Janice Dean, and you may know she had a baby, recently. I've really enjoyed her blog over the past few months and love seeing pictures of her new son! Go here for cuteness overload (with some weather news mixed in)! Janice Dean the Weather Machine

If you want more on Barack and his brackets, check out Terrible Swift Word » Regular Guy and March Madness for a good laugh with a little ranting thrown in. I found Brian (who runs this blog) on Twitter (and by "found" I mean annoy the hell out of by constantly telling him how much I like his blog) and I've been hooked ever since! He blogs about sports, politics, his adorable dogs, and TV (sound familiar?) and appears to be a little bit of a smart-ass! How can you go wrong with that?

Finally, if you haven't checked out Rosanna Pulido, please do at Rosanna Pulido or Rosanna Pulido for Congress mailing list. She is running for Rahm Emanuel's old seat in Illinois 5th Congressional District. I've done endless amounts of research on Rosanna and have had the opportunity to talk to her both on the phone and via email and I can personally attest to how dedicated she is to her district and to this country. She is exactly the kind of person we need to get a head start on turning Congress back to the GOP side, and not just that, but getting REAL people in office who are there because they believe in REAL issues and not just in promoting themselves and their own careers. If you know anyone in the Chicago area, please encourage them to vote for her and even if you're not in the Chicago area, you can help by donating money, making phone calls (you can sign up at the links I posted), contacting the media and just spreading the word about Pulido. This needs to be a national cause - as my friend Roxy said: 2010 starts NOW!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Turns 40

Is that not the cutest thing you've ever seen? I was going to Google something tonight and I don't think I ever made it past ohhing and ahhing over the The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Eric Carle) themed logo because I don't even remember what I was going to look up! Anyway, turns out the book's 40th anniversary is tomorrow. Even though I had the book as a kid, I had no idea it was that old (hey, it's got 13 years on me)! Anyway, this is probably the most boring post I've ever written, but I just thought Google did a really good job with it! You can read more about the book's history in USA Today here: Cocooning with Carle's 'Caterpillar' .

I guess I should add (so that you think I'm a total nerd) that I'm a kid's lit freak so that might have something to do with why it caught my attention. Unfortunately, it's one of the few subjects where I could toss around the term "expert" and not feel like a big liar! Also, getting kids to read is something that's pretty near and dear to me!

Barack and the Brackets

What's up, blog readers? Don't you love how I spend a whole weekend on my fancy new layout and then slack-off on posting? There has been lots going on in my world, but I'm missing the old blog, so I figured I'd give you a good old-fashioned rambly post like only I know how! For starters, my brackets are finished. I have absolutely no analysis to offer other than I think Memphis will do really well and should have been #1 and I've got Duke winning it all. And do not tell me Duke is not going to win it all. I know that. Unless they do and then IN YOUR FACE! My final four are Memphis, Duke, UNC, and Louisville and if that doesn't happen, this post will be deleted and we'll all pretend like it never existed, okay?

Speaking of brackets, or should I say "Barackets," if Cuba had March Madness, I'm wondering if Cubans would get emails from local papers with Castro's Final 4 picks as top story?

I woke up this morning and checked my email as I usually do. And just like I usually do, I got my AJC Sports email update. But today's subject line didn't offer up something about a new Falcon or Matthew Stafford, some guy I've never heard of who plays for the Braves or some random national sports headline, no, today's subject line read something like "Obama Makes Pick for Final Four."

Fast forward to about 4:30 PM when I'm furiously searching for some good bracket sheets to print and I start by going to ESPN.com. I wish I had the screen grab because I know I can't do it justice with mere words. There was a huge picture of our dear leader and about ten different links to different articles, reviews, analysis, and other aspects of how, why, and when BO made his choices for March Madness. I finally clicked what I thought was the printable bracket but low and behold, it wasn't that at all. It was an actual shot of BO's handiwork!

I have two problems with this. The first one has a little something to do with the overexposure of Obama the celebrity. He's on Leno, he's filling out brackets, he's telling journalists that people think he's cool, and people are buying plates and t-shirts with his name on it. There are stands like the one you see to your right, all over the grocery stores. I was in a book store the other night and there was a whole section dedicated to the man. There's something about the cult of personality that surrounds him that honestly creeps me out. I thought it'd go away after January 20th, but after listening to a girl in my class tonight ("I just want to see if people are going to accept the change Obama has brough"), I can't help but think young Castro...

Anyway, the other thing that really bothers me is this: Obama is constantly on our TV, telling us how bad things are. Everything is awful, the country is in shambles, we all need to act urgently. If George Bush spent part of a Tuesday during the "Great Economy Meltdown of '09" playing Sports Center, do you not think the media would be all over it? Do you not think Charlie Gibson would put his "serious glasses" on his nose and turn on his stern headmaster voice (see: Palin interview) and speak with a tone that implied Armageddon? I don't even want to get into Keith Olbermann (think Ben Affleck's SNL impression intensified). I seem to remember something about how Bush exercised too much. How he read too much. How he did this and that wrong while people were dying in Iraq and whatever else that was all his fault.

Looks as though Mike Krzyzewski seems to agree with me, "... the economy is something that he should focus on, probably more than the brackets." Then again, he's probably just mad that Duke isn't in Obama's Final Four. SIGH.

The Garden

My day has been all about Rosanna Pulido but I thought I'd take a few minutes out for a little shameless self-promotion. If you're in the mood for a really geeky story about my childhood, go check out Dew on the Kudzu - A Southern Ezine. Mine is "The Garden." Enjoy!

Pulido for Congress

My fellow Republicans (conservatives, right-wingers, etc.)...

April 7, 2009 has the potential to be a HUGE day! As you know, Rahm Emanuel has left his seat in Congress to become Obama's Chief of Staff and Illinois law calls for a special election to replace him. Well, I've been learning all about the GOP candidate for the 5th Congressional District of Illinois and so far I like what I see!

Rosanna Pulido is a strong voice against illegal immigration and has been fighting tirelessly against it for the last few years. Unlike many politicians, she understands the consequences and how much illegal immigrants cost taxpayers each year. She understands that illegal immigration is a big problem in this country and is not only costing us money, but jobs, resources, and even lives. She's also head of the Illinois chapter of the Minutemen.

As for her other main causes, Pulido is VERY Pro-Life, Pro-Gun, and a great advocate for senior citizens. I had the brief opportunity to ask her where she stood on a number of other important issues and I can assure you, she's the real deal:

On the Stimulus..."It has not stimulated anybody but the banks and businesses that should collapse if they cannot pay their bills. It gives our money to illegal aliens. It is a terrible bill and will nearly destroy America."

On Global Warming..."Sorry over 30,000 scientists say there is no global warming, I agree with them."

On Oil Drilling in the U.S...."Drill Baby Drill!"

You get the idea! Unfortunately, the Chicago media isn't really giving Pulido the time of day and is focusing on her democratic opponent. I'd love to see this election become a national cause!!!

We need to support Pulido and get a head start on taking Congress back in '10!

You can help by spreading the word, contacting Chicago media, telling any friends you have in the Chicago area to vote for her, or donating money to her campaign. For more info, visit her website at: Rosanna Pulido: Common Sense for Illinois District 5

A few other links that might be of interest:
YouTube - RosannaPulido2009's Channel
Facebook Rosanna Pulido
My Pulido Profile: Women of the GOP: Rosanna Pulido: Conservative for Illinois' Fifth District

Yoo-hoo, Fireballs, and Roger Dodger

A few nights ago, I had a dream about Yoo-hoo. Yes, THAT Yoo-hoo, the chocolaty beverage that never spoils that you could only find in convenience store. In my dream, there was an icy cold Yoo-hoo in my freezer but for some reason, I couldn't drink it. So, the next morning when I woke up at a ridiculous hour to go do something I really didn't want to do, I decided to stop at the first convenience store along the way to get a Yoo-hoo. I searched the coolers at the little country no-name gas station I've been frequenting for most of my life. No Yoo-hoo. I was shocked. You see, when I was about five or six, my dad would pick me up at school almost every day and take me to this particular gas station. And almost every day, he'd buy me a Yoo-hoo and some of those Atomic Fireballs. Anyway, I was annoyed but knew I'd pass another convenience store along the way - a nice bright shiny new one with a recognizable name. Surely, they'd have those little glass bottles with the yellow labels in stock. I went inside and searched up and down each cooler. There were 20 different brands of water, every Coke and Pepsi product ever made, beer, fruit juice, weird healthy drinks that make my skin crawl, and even several brands of chocolate milk, but no Yoo-hoo. What's the world coming to? First the stimulus, now you can't find a Yoo-hoo in a gas station? Reluctantly, I grabbed a Diet Coke and made my way to the counter, defeated. But just as I was getting ready to pay the clerk, I spotted a big plastic tub of little red balls next to the register. Fireballs. I grabbed one and set it next to my Coke. I couldn't believe it cost a quarter when I used to buy five for that amount, but I paid for it and proceeded to pop it in my mouth before I could get to the car. Within a few seconds, I spit it back into the plastic wrapper. For some reason, I figured they wouldn't be quite as hot as they were 20 years ago. I repeated this as I drove, until the red became pink and eventually white. The very same process I went through every afternoon after kindergarten. I never did get a Yoo-hoo, though. I guess I'll have to go buy one at a grocery store - kind of takes the fun out of it.

While I'm waxing nostalgic, I wanted to mention something else from my childhood that I've been thinking about. When I was a little girl, I had these tapes (yes, cassette tapes) called "The Adventures of Roger Dodger." I think my cousin Emily and I listened to those tapes until they were worn out and we had to get more. The stories of a mischievous little boy named Roger Dodger and his family told by the soothing voice of Harold Lawrence (a Southern Methodist minister) were a constant in my young life. Think Fred Thompson narrating "Leave it To Beaver" only better. Anyway, I found Dr. Lawrence's website with a quick Google search and hope to get some more of his work. Great stories if you have kids or a classroom and just want some fun, clean entertainment! You can check out Harold Lawrence here: Harold Lawrence - The Official Web site

Obama: the Soundtrack

When I heard that Charles Freeman, President Obama's choice for chairman of the National Intelligence Council and certified crazy person*, withdrew his nomination on Tuesday, one song came to mind: Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust." Let's face it, the Obama administration has lost more members to scandal in the last month or two than Chris Brown's fan club. Anyway, it was then that I realized there are a lot of great songs out there to fit our new President and his people.

For example, any time I see our dear leader speaking at a press conference, I start humming the song "Over My Head" by The Fray. Every time the POTUS and his buddies in Congress introduce legislation to "fix the economy," the song "If I Fall, You're Going Down With Me" by the Dixie Chicks pops into my head. And not to be too obvious but every time our Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks, I'm almost positive Elton John's "The Bitch is Back" plays on a radio, somewhere.

With this in mind, I went to my new BFF Twitter, yesterday, and asked some of my new conservative friends (all 700ish of them) to tell me what songs they thought would go on the Obama Administration Soundtrack. I was going to post a "top ten" but I got so many and it was so much fun that I just decided to list them all (or at least I hope I got them all - so sorry if I missed someone).

Without further ado, here is a list of the suggested songs:

"I Will Follow You Into the Dark" - Death Cab For Cutie

"Wall Street Shuffle" - Anberlin

"Burning Down the House" - Talking Heads

"Running on Empty" - Jackson Browne

"U.S. Blues" - Grateful Dead

"Cruel to Be Kind" - Nick Lowe/ Letters to Cleo

"Master & Servant" - Depeche Mode

"Hurts So Good" - John Mellencamp

"Little Pink Houses" - John Mellencamp

"Bad Medicine" - Bon Jovi

"We're Goin' Down" - Fallout Boy

"Nowhere Man" - Beatles

"Changes" - David Bowie

"The Great Pretender" - The Platters

"Symphony of Destruction" - Megadeath

"Highway to Hell" - AC/CD

"King of Wishful Thinking" - New Found Glory

"Shame on You" - Aerosmth

"Scream" - from High School Musical Soundtrack

"In Too Deep" - Genesis

"Bad Moon Rising" - CCR

"All Hope is Gone" - Slipknot

"Tragedy" - Bee Gees

"Got Money" - Lil Wayne w/ T-Pain

"Dangerous" - Kardinal Offishall and Akon

"Disturbia" - Rhianna

"Clumsy" - Fergie

"One Bad Apple" - Osmonds

"Bad" - Michael Jackson

"Thank You, Great Teacher" (from this Songs About Stalin CD)

"You're So Vein" -

"Demolition Man" - The Police

"Take, Take, Take" - White Stripes

"Call Me Irresponsible" - Bobby Darin

"Strange Days" - The Doors

"Still a Fool" - Muddy Waters

"Out ta Get Me" - Guns N' Roses

"The One" Foo Fighters

"Promises, Promises" - Naked Eyes

"Poor You" - Frank Sinatra

"Liar" - Three Dog Night

"Personal Jesus" - Depeche Mode

"Santa Baby" - Eartha Kitt

"End of the World as We Know It" - REM (I think this was my favorite!)

"Tax Man" - Beatles

"Trouble Man" - Marvin Gaye

"Wrong Way" - Sublime

"Absolute Beginners" - The Jam

"Megalomaniac" - Incubus

"Crash and Burn" - Sheryl Crow

"Pigs in Zen" - Jane's Addiction

"More More More (How Do You Like It?)" - Andrea True Connection

"Take it to the Limit" - Eagles

"Money For Nothing" - Dire Straits

"Reckless Abandon" - Blink 182

"Piggies" - Beatles

"Pass the Dutchie" - Musical Youth

"Out of Control" - U2

"Times of Trouble" - STP

"Under My Thumb" - Rolling Stones

Think you can come up with a better one? Leave a comment!

*My friend Pat does a great job of explaining just why Charles Freeman is a lunatic here: Charles Freeman: NIC

2.0

I've been wanting to give the blog a new look for a LONG time. This weekend, that time finally came. I've still got a lot of the same things going on, but I've moved a lot of stuff around and deleted a lot of old posts. I made a new background (all by myself) and finally figured out how to turn the minima stretch layout into three columns. There are also several other little changes that most people probably won't notice and several things I still want to do. For example, I'm still in the process of editing some old things and applying labels to each post (I used to not do that), but I'm looking forward to a new start with the new-ish blog. And now that I'm pretty much pneumonia-free and learning to manage the million things I have going on, better, I hope to start posting regularly again! I hope y'all like it and feedback is welcome!

Countdown to Draft Day

It's only been a few weeks since the Super Bowl but I'm already anxious for the 2009 NFL season. I'm not sure if it's got something to do with finding myself less and less excited about the Braves each year or if it's because I finally have faith in the Falcons, again. Whatever it is, I'm counting down the days until September. If you've known me long, you know I was a huge Falcons fan until, oh, about 2001. As I've documented on this blog, I didn't want the Falcons to draft Michael Vick because I didn't like what we were losing to get him, I didn't like that we weren't drafting a guy who can't call his own plays, and I was pretty certain he'd be one of those sports guys who causes too much off-the-field drama. Boy, was I right. And I'd be right, even if the guy weren't currently serving jail-time for dog-fighting. Arthur Blank made a huge mistake investing that much money into that guy but it looks like the Falcons are finally starting to recover. After all of the Vick drama and laughing stock that was the 2007 season, who would have thought a rookie named Matt Ryan would lead the team to the play-offs in 2008? Who would have thought Michael Turner would come from San Diego to run for over 1600 yards and score 17 touchdowns? I can't say I thought it would happen but I'm glad it did. Atlanta isn't the greatest sports city but we deserve a good football team. As the story goes, I dropped pulling for the Falcons in favor of the Colts when the Atlanta drafted Vick, but my heart was always with the home team.

I will say this: I'm sad to see Keith Brooking leaving for Dallas, for both personal reasons and as a football fan. Brooking is from the area, went to Georgia Tech and has been with the Falcons for his entire professional career. Dallas seems to be in the process of cleaning its team up and I think KB will help provide them with some much needed defense and leadership; plus, it's not the first time he and Wade Phillips have worked together.

Which leads me to the Cowboys. Which actually leads me to Terrell Owens. TO has been the big story, this week, as the Cowboys let him go on Wednesday. My thoughts were that he would end up in Oakland catching passes from the aforementioned Michael Vick (who may or may not be back in the NFL soon). I had no real reason to back this up other than it seems as though most rejects always end up with the Raiders and let it be known that I made this prediction before Rush Limbaugh did (I have witnesses - about 650 of them). Anyway, I was surprised to see that the Buffalo Bills signed Owens, earlier today. My only question now is how long will it take him to piss Trent Edwards off?

As for the rest of the NFL, there isn't too much that has caught my attention. I'm excited to see if the Falcons are going to get L.J. Smith from Philadelphia and I'm anxious to see where Ladanian Tomlinson will go or if he'll stay with San Diego. It was sad to see my 2nd fave Colts release Marvin Harrison. I'm not sure if Harrison will ever play well again. I'm not sure if he'll ever play again, but he had one heck of career. The teaming of Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison was pretty fun to watch and pretty fun to have on my fantasy team for several years. One Two of the biggest shocks of the off season, in my opinion, were Matt Cassel and almost Jay Cutler. If you're into football at all, by now, you've probably already heard of their fates and if you're not, well, you probably aren't reading this. I'm sure it all had to do with money and salary caps and whatever else that I choose not to fully understand, but I do think letting Cassel go was a big mistake on New England's part. This is probably, in part, wishful thinking (not a Brady fan), but I just don't see Tom Brady coming back to be Tom Brady. I'm sure he'll prove me wrong, as the people who made this decision obviously know a lot more about football than I do, but it kinda, sorta reminds me of the Falcons getting rid of Matt Schaub...just a little. Maybe.

Finally, this caught my attention and I thought it was pretty neat. Four NFL players - Danny Clark, Jared Allen, Will Witherspoon, and Larry Fitzgerald - are doing a USO tour of military bases in the Middle East and you can read all about on their blog: USO Tour blog: After long trip, NFL stars arrive in Kuwait

Need help understanding the economy?

One Sweet Love

Song of the Day...just because. If you don't know Sara Bareilles, you should! (ignore the video, best quality I could find for the song)

Snowed In!

Finally! This is what I woke up to, oh, around noon! (Ironically, I woke up earlier and it was thundering and lightning.) I went to my grandfather's for my cousin's birthday party and he has a huge window in his kitchen that overlooks the woods. The GC and I spent most of the time sitting at it and watching it snow. Very pretty. I tried to get some good pictures but my toes were turning colors and it's so windy, things were falling and knocking me in the head but here are a few that I did manage to get...and my good camera is packed up so please excuse the quality of the pictures!

Remember when I found the puppy at the gas station and my parents ended up adopting it? This is Maddie. Last year, Gabby loved the little bit of snow we got. This year, she ran right back inside after she did her business and sat by the heater! Maddie, on the other hand, had a good time! Young blood, I guess.

View up the street in front of my grandfather's house:

Not sure if you can see the bird in the feeder but they are loving the birdseed!



Berries...because? I don't know, they just looked snowy.

And finally, just more pictures of Maddie (and the one or two I got of Gabby before she ran back inside) (and if you can see her, my parents' other little dog).