Just a quick 'Happy Halloween' to all you out there.

You know a man really loves you when he puts on a Tigger outfit and lets you take pictures!

Comments are back - for the latest 10 entries only!

I'm pretty scared to see if the spammers will be back or find some way around my workaround, but we'll see. If this site isn't here tomorrow, you'll know what happened!

Today is a pretty busy day for me - I've got a wedding to go to AND I've gotta bake some stuff for Halloween tomorrow. Question: Anyone know any good hard boiled egg peeling tricks?

Anyway, here's a post that I never put up here...I don't talk much about being Filipino here, or much about the history or quirky things we do...but here's a little intro into my culture!

-------------------------

The age-old question: Who are you people, anyway?

10. We`re a unique Asian mix. So many people have often thought - what`s with Filipinos being Catholic and having the Spanish surnames? Over the years, Filipinos have suffered the stereotype of not being "Asian" enough. While our culture has more similarities to Spanish cultures and American culture, it`s because the Philippines was a Spanish colony for 300 years and a colony of the United States for almost half a century. But in our ethnic mix, aside from
the Spanish influence, is also a background of Malay and Chinese. Filipinos are the specialty chefs of culture. We have takes all these different cultural flavors and mixed them into our own special recipe of what makes us uniquely Filipino.

9. We are the Drama Queens. Filipinos don`t necessarily partake in the stereotype that all Asians are emotionally reserved. Many Filipinos will attest on how ma arte ma arte (melodramatic) we can be. In our culture, we love family feuds, soap operas, and balling our eyes out during Filipino melodramas. We love to take center stage in the spotlight and hog the mike during karaoke (further information on this subject on #5 of this list). For example, a little known fact is that the artist Prince is a quarter Filipino - the movie Purple Rain definitely has a flavor of Filipino melodrama.

8. Oh, do we love to tsismis (gossip)! To gossip is an age old family tradition in Filipino family circles. Like tabloid journalists of the oral tradition, Filipinos love to be the first one to tell a juicy scandalous story or event just to spread good news like wildfire. If you tell your mother at 5pm that you`re getting married, by 5:30pm your fifth cousin removed living in a small village in the Philippines will know the news.

7. To Filipinos, nothing says I Love You better than a new DKNY t-shirt bought on sale at Marshall`s. We love to express ourselves in consumer ways. My childhood is filled with memories of escorting our visiting relatives to outlet malls because it was always more important for them to buy souvenirs for the extended family than visit the White House in D.C. Also consider the Christmas season in Manila, which will be begin as early as September. My family from the Philippines has often told me you will start hearing "Silent Night" blaring through the malls right around Labor Day, a nice reminder that you have four months more to shop for the season!

6. Filipinos are the Party Animals. Filipinos love nothing better than throwing a party. As Erwin Falcon of A Partnership so appropriately describes it, "They`ll come up with any excuse to throw a big shindig. If Lola just got brand new dentures, it`s time to throw a party and invite every single person on the planet, buy a big fat lechon (roasted pig), and drink San Miguel beer."

5. We are Karaoke Kings. As performance artist Rich Kiamco says, "The Japanese might have invented karaoke, but the Filipinos RULE it!" Many Asians will find this statement highly debatable, we really believe we have the best pipes and will prove it to you by hogging the mike for the rest of the night and belting "Wind Beneath My Wings" with all our melodramatic fervor.

4. Filipinos will dance anywhere to anything. Young or old, you will always see Filipinos dancing at a party. From the young Pinoys break-dancing to the latest Jay Z to the oldest Lola in the room line dancing to "I Will Survive." Filipinos will find the rhythm in any song to dance to.

3. Filipinos discovered how the eighth wonder of the world is the Roasted Pig. The very best Filipino occasions will have the big fat luscious lechon to feast upon. We love the curly tailed animal so much that we will eat anything on it from its crispy ears as a snack after lunch to pouring dinuguan (cooked pig`s blood with pork) over rice. The pig is really the tastiest animal in the world.

2. Filipinos love to exercise their faces. Without words, we creatively use all aspects of our face for different forms of communications. We say hello by lifting our eyebrows or nodding as a greeting. We point at certain objects, not with our fingers, but with our mouths. If you see a Filipino pursing their lips towards you, they are not trying to pucker their lips for a kiss. Most likely, they are pointing at you and gossiping about you.

1. We`re progressive and inventive. Not many people know the Yo-Yo was brought to America by our very own Pedro Flores. Not many people know that the Philippines is one of the few nations that has had not one, but two female presidents. The nation received an award from the Nobel Laureates Foundation in 2001 recognizing People Power; a non-violent movement that peacefully overthrew the government.

So today I found out that I am going to be sent to Columbus next week, meaning I would miss election day.

Fortunately, they were having early voting downtown, so I headed over to the location and got in line. There were a lot of people, which I guess is a really good thing. And the thing that I loved about being there was that it was people from all walks of life - white, black, latino, asian, old, young, well to do and not so well to do, cops, businessmen, hood rats. It seemed like everyone took a little bit of time out of their day to make a difference in how this country is run!

I was a bit nervous casting my vote, checking and double checking who I was about to punch the card for. But 60 or so punches later, I submitted my ballot and walked out proud that I let my voice be heard. Sure, it may be an insignificant one vote, but as we learned in the 2000 election, every vote counts!

So get out there and vote on Tuesday, people!

Due to the insane amount of comment spam I've been getting over the last few weeks, my site had been using up too much CPU power on the webserver and my provider was forced to take my site down. *cries*

So my site was down for I don't know how long this morning.

Bastard spammers!

Fuckers!

It really pisses me off that people have nothing better to do with their time than generate scripts to go out and find websites to just harrass them, or to make sure that their links have a higher rating on google or whatever. What good is it for them if they use up so much of my CPU it shuts the site down? I mean, is sending out 30 comments in 10 minutes really necessary?

Fuckers!

I have mt-blacklist installed and for a good amount of time it cleaned most of that crap up, but then they started randomly generating IP addresses, email address and website addresses, so blacklist couldn't catch them.

So I was given a warning by my web provider - they'll let me have the site back for now, but if this happens again, they're closing out my account.

So anyone know any good fixes for these spammers?

FUCKERS!

I'm so pissed right now!

If you'd like to comment, go ahead and use the tagboard to the right.

Photo Friday: Still Life

Flowerbud - Long Beach, CA: June 2004

I could use pictures from the flowers outside my Long Beach apartment for the rest of the year! Such a photigenic flower!

For you Angel/Buffy fans, they're going to be coming out with a Angel Puppet that was in the 'Smile Time' episode!

“SMILE TIME” ANGEL PUPPET HALF-SCALE REPLICA

A Diamond Select Release! From the imagination of series creator Joss Whedon came one of the funniest episodes in Buffy or Angel’s history, “Smile Time,” in which the brooding and ever-serious vampire with a soul was transformed into a puppet! This plush replica measures just over 21” high and is an exact ½-scale version of the prop puppet used in the episode. Featuring a faux leather coat, boots and a mouth that opens and closes (for that full puppet brooding effect!), “Smile Time” Angel is ready to come home with you and protect your teddy bears from the creatures that go bump in the night! “Smile Time” Angel comes packaged in deluxe window box packaging and will only be available in specialty market outlets.

In stores March 2005.

Ohh, he matches my layout so nicely!

Guess what cute little guy with a removable nose and expressive eyebrows is on my 2005 Christmas list?

""Medic! You're going to make it Angel, just don't stop fighting. Doctor! Is there a Gepetto in the house?"

Man, I miss that show!

So the Red Sox won the World Series, the first one since way back in 1918. Most of me is happy for them, but a little selfish part is a little sad - I would have loved to have a Cubs/Red Sox matchup in the World Series.

But it was truly wonderful to see them win. I admit to getting a little teary eyed watching them all jump in a pile and rejoice. I can only imagine how people are feeling in Boston, how those players are feeling, winning it for the city. Because those are things I envision every year when the season starts 'Maybe this year we'll see them win and have everyone pour out onto the streets of Wrigleyville, laughing, crying, not believing that it's true.'

So many dreams, so many hopes, so many wishes were hinged on what happened tonight. All the support that they'd given the team, coming back year after year, today it was all worth it. Curses didn't exist today, the lunar eclipse colored the moon red, almost forshadowing the Red Sox win. OK, fine, it could have been for the Cards, too, since they're team color is red. But still!

It makes me wonder if we here in Chicago will ever feel that. Dave is happy for the Sox, too, because it gives him hope, a glimpse of something that he'll someday experience when the team he's followed, stressed over, cried over, and loved for all his life, finally wins the world series. When will our time come, dammit! When!?!?

When I get back to Chicago, I'm going to the Billy Goat Tavern and performing a Yano exorcism. Next year is the year, people!

________________________________

I've done a bit of shipping here in Buffalo/Tonawanda/Amherst/Niagra. Got two pairs of jeans, 3 tops, my halloween costume (which I'm wearing as I type), a dress to wear to a wedding thise weekend, and some Halloween decorations.

Haven't done shopping like this in a REALLY long time.

But there's a problem. I don't think it'll fit into my suitcase. I'm putting off packing, but I know it's something that I'm going to have to do, but when I look at the amount of stuff outside of my suitcase and the stuff inside, I know I'm going to have to squash all that crap in there. Thank god for expandable suitcases.

Argh.

No more shopping for a VERY long time!

So I've been looking forward to the lunar eclipse. And I thought it was perfect that I was in Buffalo because there would be less ambient light coming from city lights and I was more north, which made for better viewing.

I forgot about this thing called weather!

Hmph. So I ran outside after forgetting what time zone I was in and almost missing the full lunar eclipse, and when I got out there it was already a little hazy. I called Dave on my cell to tell him to go outside and watch it, and I guess in Chicago the sky was clear. It kinda reminded me of the time right before we started dating when we were both on the phone and watched Hale Bopp in the sky. Distance may be between us, but we can look at the same sky!

Anyway, at about 97%, the clouds rolled in and spoiled my show. So I asked Dave to describe it to me, since I was missing it.

"We're at about 99.5% totality. We're at totality!!! Oh my god, it's beautiful! The moon has turned a blood red and the light from the moon is spilling into the sky, and filling it up with a dark red color, and lights are starting to spark out from the moon and it's starting to pulsate! I can't believe it! And, wait, I think I see someone smiling up there!"

Jerkwad.

But he did enjoy it. But I was a bit miffed that I stood out in the cold in the dark side of the hotel parking lot, looking like a stalker for nothing!

Got this one from Luna's.

You Are a Life Blogger!

Your blog is the story of your life - a living diary. If it happens, you blog it. And make it as entertaining as possible.

Hmm...I guess that's true. I think my blog is a mish mash of a bunch of things. Daily happenings, memories, interesting links, social commentary, short track bootay, comic book geekiness, and photos galore! Much like my own personality is a mish mash of different, conflicting things.

Mish mash.

What the hell kinda phrase is that and why did I use it?

Work was good today. It's great to be with people you're familiar with that you can just sit and talk with openly and honestly. I want to lunch at some place called Flying Turtle's, which did indeed have real live turtles. Not to eat. To see.

After work I headed out to the outlet mall around Niagra Falls. I didn't go to the falls because the sun was going down so I wouldn't have seen anything anyway. The outlet mall was pretty fun. I went to the Chinese store where I got my dress. The sweet old Chinese lady wasn't working there, but I still ended up buying something.

Also stopped by a used record store where I picked up a couple treasures. I've been looking for a Frente album (any of them) and I turned around, and saw their cassette lying in the 89 cent bin. What a coincidence! Also picked up Merril Bainbridge's CD - that song 'Mouth' has been haunting me since college. Got the Basement Jaxx CD also, and I was groovin' to it in the car on the way back to the hotel.

Afterwards, I checked out the halloween store. It sucks that I'm out of town because there were so many cool decorations that just couldn't fit into my luggage. I have no idea what I'm going to be for Halloween, because I've got these glasses and I need something that incorporates my glasses. I was thinking Velma from Scooby Doo, but Dave has his own idea for a costume, and it's not one of the Scooby gang, so I'd be Velma all by her lonesome (yeah, nothing new with that!) Also thinking of Harry Potter, but I can't find a hogwart's cloak in my size. Any ideas?

This week's Picture This: Music -

Chamber Orchestra at Nordstrom's - Chicago, IL: June 2003

1) Blair, from 'The Facts of Life' dressed up as a witch - the Blair Witch
2) The Scooby Gang is always a cute group costume
3) My 'Little Red Riding in da Hood' getup a couple years ago
4) The Steve Bartman costume
5) The Shower costume from 'The Karate Kid'
6) The Disney Tigger and Pooh costumes
7) My highly controversial "Knocked Up Slut Nun" costume. Some Catholic Organizations just don't have a sense of humor!
8) Claudine's Dinosaur costume - made for kids, but it fit her perfectly - she got herself a fiance out of that night!
9) Jerry's home made Underdog costume
10) The Petco Dog Vampire costume

Next week: Ten Things You Want to Do Before the End of the Year

So I'm in Buffalo, for probably the 5th time in the last 4 years. But luckily I love this client - we always have a great time together, and they're pretty patient. When the company was sold, they were the first ones to email me and ask if I was ok. Isn't that sweet? I need to do some shopping while I'm here - a dress to wear to a wedding on Saturday and possibly a Halloween costume. The weather isn't too cold yet, and I'm anticipating going to some places here to get some grub with my clients. Hopefully I can find a good comic shop here, because I'm a bit behind with my books!!!

Anyway, let me go on...

Someone actually requested for me to make this post, even though I was going to do it anyway. I just wanted to say that because I think this is the first time that someone actually requested a post topic!

So last Saturday (I was a busy busy girl last Saturday) I decided to stop by the Chicago Silver Skates. The rink was only about 15 minutes from my place and was on the way to the Arboretum, so I thought I'd come by for a bit and get a short track fix, since the World Cup was in China, and I just don't have the time or money to travel out there.

The competition was great. I loved the feeling of local competitions. It's so different from the World Cup comps that I've been to, where it's all big names, fans screaming, bright lights and it feels like a show. This was a competition of all ages, all levels, and the people cheering were brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers and team mates. No one was there to see their favorite Olympian beat people from another country, or to hopefully get an autograph and picture from that guy who was on TV. They were there to encourage the people they loved, the people they knew, the people they had supported since they were wee little Ponies. People came from all over, and they all got there on their own - people from Illinois, Iowa, New York, Minnesota, even Virgina.

It felt a lot like the US Championships in Bay City (which I never reported on, but I DO have it written out somewhere). There was this really intimate feeling, and you could feel the love of the sport that these people had, from the Pony group (the little kids who were SO cute skating their 3 laps around the rink) to the Masters, which were 50 and above. Can you imagine the dedication and love it takes to be skating that long? There were ex-Olympians there and people who were at their first competitions. As usual, the announcer did some awesome commentating and made the races fun for everyone.

I did feel a bit like an outsider looking in. I came in in the midst of the races and just took a seat in an inconspicuous corner of the rink. I didn't know anyone there, but maybe that was a blessing. No press pass, no socializing, no press conferences, no worrying if my seat was close enough, no hovering at the side of the rink taking pictures at every turn or needing to report to a site. It was worry free and I could just sit back, relax, and enjoy the races, way up on my perch above the ice. I realized that day that I place too much undo stress on myself during other competitions by worrying about external things.

The races were exciting, and very different from the ones I'm used to. I'm used to everyone being at about the same level, so the 'oohs' and 'ahhs' come from the many breathtaking passes. As I said before, there were experienced people and not so experienced, so in a way, you're cheering for the people who weren't in the front, to see them catch up or get up if they should fall. The kids were awesome. They tried so hard you could see how much they wanted to win. After the races, the skaters would come up to the bleachers. There was a little kid who came up to the bleachers after his race, and he looked so disappointed. He came up to his dad and said, "I didn't win the race." But his dad said to him, "It doesn't matter, you were so fast out there! You broke your own record. This is the first competition. You'll get 'em next time!" And he put his arm around his son and the kid smiled up at his dad and said, "Thanks."

I swear, I had to look around to see if they were filming a Hallmark commercial.

But that's how it was. Sure, parents were cheering on their kids to win, but they were also just cheering on their kids. "Come on, stay low!" "Keep it up!" "You only have one lap left, you can do it!" All this positive encouragement was great to see.

And it was really cool when the heats for the older skaters came up, because many of the older skaters were coaches for the regional clubs. So their clubs would be cheering on their coaches, and the kids next to me were cheering on their moms or dads.

The "A" group had some great races, more like the ones I was used to. These skaters are the skaters of the future, the ones who will be moving up and going to those big World Cups that I was talking about. They did a great job and I hope they go farther in their careers.

So yeah, it was a good time. Even though I didn't stay the whole time. It was a great experience to have fun at a competition and relax, something that I had forgotten how to do at the big competitions. There have been so many negative things happening with the sport - internally and externally, that I had forgotten why I had loved it so much in the first place. Thanks Chicago Silver Skates, for giving me a great reminder.

So Madison, you're an even bigger maybe than you were last week!

Here's one of the few pics I took at the comp - it's the younger girls getting ready for their race as the starter stands atop the bleachers:

-------------------------------------

In other ST news, congrats to Apolo Anton Ohno for winning two golds at the World Cup in Harbin, and Rusty for winning a bronze, and a big hooray to Allison Baver for winning her first World Cup medal, a silver in the 3000m!

And I found out a new rule at the comp - whenever there's a false start, the skaters must go back behind the start line and wait to be called up again. Before, when there was a false start, the skaters would go back into crouch position and wait for the gun. Now, they have to set up all over again. Just thought you'd be interested to know. :-D

Last Saturday I hung out with my cousins (Melanie, Marian, Marilyn, Marlon, Vernon, Fatima and Claudine) at Trully and Irio's new place. They've got a pretty sweet pad, and it even came with a flat screen TV. Nice!

Melanie and Marilyn brought over some pumpkins for us to carve, but there were more of us than there were pumpkins, and Marlon had his heart set on doing the Headless Horseman pumpkin. So the two of us headed out to the nearest Jewel to go and pick up a couple more pumpkins. On the way there, Marlon got a call to get some ingredients for pumpkin pie. "What do we need to buy?" he asked. "It's all on the label." was the reply. OK, that's easy.

So after debating for a while which pumpkins to pick out, me and Marlon headed into the store to get the pumpkin pie stuff. We found a can of Libby's pumpkin pie mix. I looked in the back and stated that we needed to buy eggs, condensed milk and pie crust. "That's all?" he asked. "Yeah, that's it!" "Wow, that's really easy!" he remarked. "Yeah, that's why it's the Easy Pumpkin Pie mix!" I said as I pointed to the name on the can. The condensed milk was in the same aisle, and we decided to make two pies, so Marlon grabbed another can of pie mix, and enough condensed milk for two pies. We also got a graham cracker crust. I picked out a Hershey's chocolate crust for some variety, but then Marlon pointed out that there was an Oreo Cookie crust. Yum! So we threw that in the cart. Then Marlon asked me, "Will the Oreo Cookie crust be good with the pumpkin pie?" Who the hell cares! It's Oreo Cookie crust!

We then realized that pumpkin pie isn't pumpkin pie without the Cool Whip on top, so we went to grab a extra large tub of it. We debated a bit on getting the lite, low cal version, but thought, 'NAHHH!'

We were like kids in a candy store.

So we returned back to the condo, victorious with our pumpkins and pumpkin pie mix. When we got back, Claudine checked out the pumpkin pie mix. "So where's the nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon?"

The two of us looked at her with a blank expression. "Huh?"

She pointed to the directions. "It says here that you need cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Or did you not read the ingredients?" I grabbed the can and looked at the ingredients. There, plainly written, were cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. How could I have missed that? And does anyone ever have CLOVES handy to back with? I think not. Also, she pointed out that one can makes two pies - so we couldn't use the second can anyway, since we only bought 2 pie crusts.

So we were ridiculed for not getting the right ingredients and ruining the pumpkin pie. Our defense was that we didn't need no stinkin' nutmeg - enough Cool Whip will make anything taste fantastic. Of course, we were also reprimanded for getting the Oreo Cookie crust.

All that was set aside as we at an awesome dinner from Reza's, courtesy of Melanie. Those lamb loins were awesome! And the dill rice was pretty tasty, too.

After dinner we started working on our pumpkins, which was a bit harder than we anticipated. We had stencils to work with, but had to punch/trace the picture on the pumpkin, which took forever. Then we had to meticulously carve the design into the pumpkin, which was pretty tough. How do they expect little kids to do this? All the while we were carving, we were also half watching 'City of God', the Brazillian answer to 'Boyz in the Hood' and 'Bound by Honor' ('Blood In Blood Out'). Since the movie was in Portuguese, but subtitled, we missed a lot of it since we were looking at the pumpkins. Of course, Irio enjoyed the movie, since he's from Brazil and it was probably sweet for him to watch a movie in his native tongue and have US have to keep on asking questions about what was going on.

Claudine was done with her pumpkin early, so she decided to make the pie - sans the nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves. She only needed one can, since it made two pies, and we waited in anticipation for them to be finished.

The she was putting away the leftover can, and she looked at the back. She then realized what happened when she looked at the ingredients. "Hey, you guys got two different cans of pie mix!"

Huh?

It turns out that the can I was reading in the store was the Easy Pumpkin Pie mix. The other can that Marlon grabbed, which was RIGHT NEXT to the can that I got, and looked identical, was merely Pumpkin Pie mix. So the ingredients that we got were just fine - it was the cans that were messed up. So we weren't ingredient blind - we just don't know how to read the front labels!

All in all, we had a lot of fun carving out our pumpkins, pulling out the innards and getting hand cramps with our meticulous work. It was a great night to hang out with the cousins and pretty memorable!

Here's some pics:

For more pics, check out Melanie's or Marilyn's sites.

I went to the Morton Arboretum last weekend to relax and take some pictures. The trees there are so beautiful and vibrant, it's the perfect place to enjoy the last weeks of fall, before all the trees lose their beautiful leaves. Here's a couple of my favorites:

So I was going to develop my underwater pictures from my honeymoon and the cruise (which was a year ago, I know) because I've been putting it off forever. But since I was going to Indianapolis, I thought I'd just do it next week.

Good thing I put it off.

Because the Walgreens by my house exploded last week.

Man, I always miss all the good stuff when I'm out of town.

Another reason why procrastination is good, people!

Just wanted to share a series of emails with you with a completely random stranger...

#1

#2

#3

#4

Why do I feel like I just had a one night stand and woke up alone?

I feel like he just used me for my gmail invite.

Well actually, he did.

Hmph!

At least he said thank you...

...on Yahoo Instant Messenger. I'll be logged in for work, and my friend list is oh-so-empty.

I'll still be primarily using AIM outside of work (and at times during work, too) but I'll have YIM on during the day.

So if you're bored at work or whatever, hit me up on YIM. Of course, I'm 'missyano' on it. I've got that name cornered on pretty much every chatting program out there. :-P

So I endured the 3 hour drive back from Indiana, which really wasn't that long at all, considering my commute from Long Beach to Thousand Oaks when I was in California. And because I was averaging about 85mph.

Normally I would say that road trips in the midwest are horribly boring since there's no mountains or anything, but during fall it's just gorgeous. I was driving home as the sun was setting and the last golden rays of the sun cast a wonderfull glow upon the trees that were already gorgeous shades of yellow, orange and red. I would have taken a picture of I had enough guts to just stop on the side of the road.

Speaking of stopping on the side of the road, Dave had some concerns for my driving out there on my own. "Christine, that's Klan country!" Because as it turns out, there's a lot of Klan activity in my neighbor state.

So as I was traveling, there's this little Dave, whispering in my ear, hovering around my head, "The Klan, Christine! They're there!" "Christine, the Klan is gonna get ya!"

I stopped for gas, and didn't realize the name of the town was Whitesville. Argh. I clutched my cell phone tight and filled up quickly, keeping an eye out for pointy hats. But all I found was a Starbucks that makes the tastiest White Chocolate Mocha I've ever had.

So I got home, safe and sound, and spent a good part of my night removing antifreeze from my trunk, which had pooled up in the well on the side and soaked my laptop case. Yuck.

Photo Friday: Statement

Tell Us Who The REAL Enemy Is! - Chicago, IL: July 2004

During the summers in Chicago you can always find this guy around Michigan Avenue with his many body billboards, telling us how the internet is evil or that Gore was brought to earth by aliens...

Thursday Challenge: Colorful

Lorikeet - Long Beach, CA: June 2004

I love these little guys, they're so cute!

Quick question for y'all out there. Who's got Photoshop? What version? If not, then what do you use for your image editing?

The reason I ask is because I'm going to continue with my tips and tricks, but I have a feeling that a lot of them are going to be Photoshop-centric, but I want to make sure that I make it as generic as possible for people who don't, but it all depends....

So me, Fatima, Mel and G were soaking in some rays on Venice Beach when I still lived in California, and doing a little seashell collecting and people watching.

I'm taking a little nap, and Fata nudges me and whispers, "Hey, to your left, check out that guy...he looks exactly like *****." So I do my sneaky spy glance, and I do a double take. Hot damn, he DOES look like *****! Much more than the guy that Dave said looked like ***** at the Chinese dim sum place last year, who looks like an overweight Chinese version of *****.

So I'll post my secret spy pictures that I took under the guise of taking pictures of the beach and the surf. I'm thinking that only about half of my readership (the readership I know that posts, anyway) will be able to figure out who I'm talking about anyway. If you look at the picture and think WTF is she talking about? then sorry, I'm not going to be the one to tell you who I'm talking about. :-P

But if you DO know, well, then, I'm sure you'll enjoy the pics. A little, anyway.

I guess the funniest thing about this is that it was 'He's not all that' Fata who discovered him on the beach.

You could say I'm a stalker.

But as I was told during my last trip to Cali, I'm more than a stalker, I've got a lot more finesse and style - I'm a PREDATOR, baby.

Makes me feel like a big cat. Meeeeeow!

OK, it's super late at night, I'm getting loopy.

The other day I saw a commercial by Aquafina that used this song. It struck a pretty big chord within my heart.

I have very few memories of my childhood, but something that always brings me back is the Carpenters. My parents were really big Carpenters fans, and when I hear their songs, especially this one, I have visions of standing on the couch in our old apartment in Logan Square. My dad would be playing the Carpenters record and both him and my mom would be singing. And I would just hang out on the couch, about 3 years old, happy and content.

Whenever I hear Karen Carpenter's voice I think of my mom. Of course, their voices are nothing alike, but I can just hear her singing along with the music. The world back then was a wonderful, magical place, where my whole world was that little apartment and my parents were my heroes, and there was no such word as 'death' or 'cancer' in my vocabulary.

Something that's been weighing on my mind a lot lately is that the one year anniversary of my mom's death is coming soon. It's hard to believe it's been a whole year. In some ways it seems like so long ago, some ways it seems like just yesterday. My three hour drive yesterday gave me a lot of time to think, and I relived a lot of the last year in my mind. I truly understand what the meaning of a 'heavy heart' is. I think of my mom, how she's not in my life anymore, what she went through, those last days, and my heart is heavy, it's hard for me to breath, I fall into the vast depths of sadness.

So when I hear that song, I think of her, sitting on top of the world, looking down on all of us, glowing in the light of heaven's love, remembering a time when she watched her little girl jump on the couch as she sang the song on a sunny Sunday morning.

"'I don't know why something that made me so happy then feels so sad now. Maybe that is the way it is with the best memories." - The Kitchen God's Wife - Amy Tan

This is one of the stories that I'm almost obligated to share, since if it was someone else I would have totally posted it here. So here's another one of those "Laugh at my expense!" moments, so enjoy it...

So I was watching "The Empire Strikes Back" the other day with Dave and his dad. It came to the part where they were in the cloud city and Lando Calrissian was showing them around.

"Who is that, he looks familiar", Dave's dad asked.

"That's Billy Dee Williams." I replied.

"Oh. What else has he been in?" he asked.

"I'm not really sure what movies, but he sang 'Ghostbusters'." I said.

And then Dave bust out laughing. "That was Ray Parker Jr.! That's not the same guy!"

I realized that yes, Ray Parker Jr. is the man who sings "Ghostbusters", not Billy Dee Williams. However, I thought really hard, but in my head, the image of the guy who sings "Ghostbusters" WAS Billy Dee. I had no recollection of what Ray Parker Jr. looked like. I know when I was a kid I watched that damn video a million times, but in my head, all these years, it's been Billy Dee. Of course, Dave was cracking jokes like, 'Christine, they don't look alike at all! How could you even confuse them? Just because they're two black men doesn't mean that they're the same person." Hmph!

So I looked them up, and you have to admit they look a bit alike, right?

Right?

_______________________

In other news, I didn't realize that the drive to Indianapolis from Chicago was so dark and full of construction. The ride wasn't too bad, but I felt like I was the fastest one out there - doesn't anyone drive fast anymore?

When I got to my hotel, I popped the trunk to get my suitcase out and rearrange some of my stuff. I looked at my hands and there was this mysterious greenish goo on my hands. WTF? Then I realized that a whole bottle of antifreeze spilled in the trunk, soaking everything in it - including my laptop case (luckily my laptop was in my backpack in the front sear) and my suitscase. Eeew. Does anyone know if that stuff is dangerous? I'm wondering, since I got it all over my hands. I don't want to have 3 armed kids with 4 nipples.

Halloween is just around the corner, and one of my favorite things to do is invite some friends over and watch a scary movie (but not TOO scary because I'm a chicken).

So in the mood of the season, share with us your top ten scary movies!

1. Event Horizon
2. The Exorcist
3. The Exorcist III
4. The Ring
5. The Amityville Horror
6. Candyman
7. The Omen
8. The Blair Witch Project
9. Jaws
10. Silence of the Lambs

Next Week: Ten Great Halloween Costumes (that you've been or that you've seen)

I'm off to Indianapolis. Driving 3 hours to get there with no CD player. Damn Dave's car!

If anyone knows a good truck stop cafe along I-65, just holla at me would ya?

Saturday we went to the Chicago Wolves (American Hockey League) home opener. Me and Dave missed out on the tailgate since we were at Woodfield looking for a dining room set. We didn't find anything there but Dave got this pretty nice Illinois sweatshirt. I'm eyeing this orange one with blue letters...who knows, I just might go back and get it later.

So we headed out to the game, and it was a great time. The thing I love about the Chicago Wolves is that the fanbase is such an awesome community. You've got a whole mess of families and kids at the games, and everyone has a good time and they're real fans - not fans that go just because it's cool to watch the game, they go because they love the team, they love the sport. We got there a little late, and I was surprised to see that the parking lot was so full - they filled the main lot and we had to go into the overflow parking area. The arena was PACKED, the most packed I have seen it.

However, we got our asses spanked by the Grand Rapids Griffins, who beat us 5-1. Or was it six? In the last 2 minutes we took out our goalie and they scored on us from the other side of the ice - it was just about the slowest goal I've ever seen.

One of the highlights was when Dan got picked to go out on the ice and do some ice bowling for prizes. It was hilarious to see him out there in a helmet chucking that big bouncing ball, then falling on his ass. Of course, I have pictures! Luckily I had saved some battery strength in my camera or I would have missed that precious moment.

One of my ex-coworkers brought along his kids and a whole bunch of their friends. One of them had the greatest dance moves you've ever seen an 8 year old do. He was doing the cabbage patch, pelvic thrusts, the macarena, you name it, he did it. His dance to "Cotton Eyed Joe" was nothing less than inspiring. And Jerry gave the kid some money to keep on dancing and entertaining us. I think Jer got the game confused with a strip club. Yes, many Michael Jackson jokes were made. But seriously, I would have paid the kid, too! He had us laughing all night!

Here's a couple pics:

Afterwards we headed out to Gameworks where we got a sweet deal - 2 hours unlimited play for 10 bucks. Me and Dave are both horribly competitive people so were head to head most of the night. I admit that he beat me at most of the games. Here's the night's breakdown:

Soccer: Tie
Air Hockey: Dave (game 1: 19 - 8, game 2: 17-11 - I pulled a muscle in my bicep playing this one)
Virtual Baseball: Me (5 homeruns, Dave 0 homeruns)
Grand Prix: Me
Wave Runner: Me
Football: Dave (18-8)
Basketball Free Throws: Dave (50-4 - hey, that net was REALLY far!)
Jurassic Park: Dave (better shot percentage)
Pool: Dave, although we played horribly for two people who own a pool table

We had a lot more fun than we anticipated, probably because we didn't have to pay that much to play. I got some smug satisfaction knowing that I did so well in baseball, one of Dave's favorite sports. He just couldn't get the timing on the pitches so he was swinging too late and kept on striking. Then I went into the batter's box and was just hitting them all outta the park. Wheee!

Unconscious Mutterings

1. Dimension:: Fourth
2. Roger:: Rabbit
3. CSI:: Crime
4. Passenger:: Flight
5. Thankful:: Gift
6. Has-been:: Old
7. Bambino:: Fabio
8. Wrinkles:: Botox
9. Cable TV:: Comcast
10. Voicemail:: Message

Got this one from Melanie's blog. 1999 was a pretty tough year for me to remember, but I tried my hardest! This makes me feel really old!

:: I (Through Time)... ::

15 Years Ago (1989), I:

1. Graduated 8th grade
   
2. My grandmother, my last grandparent, passed away
   
3. Started my freshman year at an all girl Catholic high school
   
4. Had my first real crush
   
5. Went to California

1. Was at my freshman/sophomore year at U of I - Champaign Urbana
   
2. Started my first webpage (anyone remember Christine's Purple Passion?)
   
3. Memorized addresses, birthdates, and social security numbers on the ID's of upper classmen so I could get into bars
   
4. Started getting involved in PSA (The Philippine Student Association), which later on took over my college career
   
5. Played both offense and defense on our Ricebowl football team because we didn't have enough girls

1. Was partying Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights
   
2. Started traveling for work
   
3. Went to Disneyworld to visit my best friend, several times
   
4. Danced with Wesley Snipes at a club
   
5. Colored my hair blue

1. Started blogging, and began yanowhatimean.com
   
2. Got engaged
   
3. Partied in Vancouver, Canada
   
4. Got involved in the short track community
   
5. Got my digital camera

1. Got married to Dave
   
2. Moved to Long Beach, California for a year
   
3. My mother passed away at the end of the year
   
4. Learned how to snowboard
   
5. Learned proper interviewing techniques when we made our still unreleased mini-documentary

1. Had Marian, Shannon, Dan, Tall Steve, Jen and my dad all visit within a span of three weeks
   
2. Did more sightseeing in SoCal than I did the whole time I lived there
   
3. Sang karaoke and did dance dance revolution with a whole bunch of doctors
   
4. Starred as a video game superheroine in Rod's student movie project
   
5. Spent Easter by myself for the first time

1. Was at work for 11 hours
   
2. Watched "Miss Congeniality"
   
3. Forgot to turn off the lights in the fish tank, which will result in a lot of algae growth
   
4. Made Sam go shopping with me at Water Tower and Nike Town for a present for Dave
   
5. Actually walked a mile to the train station

1. Woke up at 8:30am, and cursed my inability to go back to sleep
   
2. Folded laundry
   
3. Caught up on Real World episodes
   
4. Will be going to the Chicago Wolves home opener
   
5. Turned on the heater in the house for the first time

1. Will be going to my aunts house to check out a china cabinet
   
2. Will be going shopping for a dining room set
   
3. Will do a water change in my fish tank
   
4. Will have Dan over to grill some kangaroo burgers (come on over, people!)
   
5. Have to watch the Bears hopefully win at noon

Can I tell you how much I love October in Chicago?

The sweaters come out, and you go outside and sense a brisk crispness in the air. The leaves are changing colors and my world, for a few weeks, bursts with yellows, reds, purples and orange. My camera is itching to be let loose from its case to take shots of Autumn around me - I've got to head out to the Morton Arboretum and see what beauty I can find. Tomorrow I'm going to go in my backyard and crunch on the leaves that had fallen from the trees. It's a great sound, *crunch* *crinkle* crunch*

And you know what's coming up? Halloween!! My favorite holiday! I don't know if I'm going to dress up as anything fancy this year since we have a wedding that weekend, but I'm going to decorate my house and get it in that halloween mood.

Sometimes, I really miss living in California. But times like this, I'm really glad I'm home!

This week's PhotoFriday: Unexpected

Who'd have known that you could get free spam when walking on Venice Beach?

The Spam Mobile at Venice Beach - June 2004

And of course, I had to get a free sample. Or two. Or three.

Free Spam! - Venice Beach, CA: June 2004

Haven't done this photo meme yet.

Here's the Thursday Challenge, Gate:

Entrance to Memories - January, 2004

This is the doorknob to our apartment in Long Beach. There were a lot of memories there and I miss the area and people in LA so much. It was a great place to live, and even though it was only for a year, it really became a home for us, and we look back fondly.

We'll be back, Long Beach!

When I was in high school, I had AP Calculus. But I'm not going to say that I'm some sort of math whiz (even though I WAS vice president of the math club), it wasn't hard to get into. But I had a great teacher, and the concepts made sense to me, so I got an A.

Those of you that have taken some sort of calculus class know that most teachers care not only about the answer, but also how you GOT the answer. The computations and methods to come up with the answer to a problem were very important, because that shows that you have an understanding of it.

Unfortunately, I didn't score well enough on my AP Calculus test to not have to take it in college, so I took it again in college. And even though I learned the same concepts the year before, had the same calculus problems, I didn't do too well. The method of teaching was different. The way to come up with the answers was taught in a way that I wasn't used to - I still had the old way ingrained in my head. I was still answering questions using my old methods. So I was coming up with the right answers, but according to the way the class was taught, I wasn't showing the proper work to get those answers. In my frustration to try and learn the new way, I started getting the two confused, and in the end got a C in the class.

That's similar to my situation now. For the last 7 years, I have been learning and doing things the way my old company did it. I know our product pretty well, I know how to accomplish one task 10 different ways. Just like AP Calculus.

But I've been in training over the last couple weeks, and I've been learning the product of the company that just acquired us. Once, they were our competitor, so essentially, they do the same thing that we do. But differently. So it's been a bit of a struggle for me to learn the "new way" and reconciling it with the "old way" that I was so used to before. Both products have the same results, but different ways of achieving those results. I have to get used to new processes, new terminology, a different way of thinking. It's not easy, and it's definitely challenging, but I'm not going to get anywhere while stuck in the old frame of mind.

With that said, I can't turn my back on the past and totally disregard the product I've worked on the last 7 years of my life. While the new product does things more efficiently in some areas, has a couple cool bells and whistles, and has an interface that is more user friendly, there are some things with the old product that were really great, that I'll really miss that will hopefully be integrated into the product of my new company.

Life will be pretty interesting from here on out. Just warning you that there may be a couple stress relieving ranting posts in the horizon. But all in all, things are good, there's a brighter future ahead even though the way might get dark and stormy at times.

In honor of my favorite holiday that's coming up, I've made this spooky layout, inspired by one of my favorite "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" episodes, "Hush". Since a good number of my readers are huge Buffy fans, I thought you all would like it.

Enjoy!

So I think I mentioned before that there's a new Sam that works at the office. He reads this blog, so I won't mention how awful he is or how much I actually hate his guts and one day will stick a dead fish in his jacket. Heh. Just kidding. Not about that dead fish.

I'm sure it would be weird to start working at a company where everyone knows each other already, everyone's got their own routine, a history with each other, their own inside jokes. The line of what you can talk about and what you can't talk about isn't defined, you've got to just observe and watch to see what's cool to do and what's not. We've been trying to break Sam in, bringing him on walks on Michigan avenue to see if he enjoys the eye candy, talking about bathroom habits, etc. Just trying to get him accustomed to our working style.

So I was talking to an old coworker, who's name will be witheld to protect the not so innocent. But I'm sure those of you who know him will figure out who it is anyway.

But I just wanted to give new Sam an little insight on what we talk about, what is expected of him while working at ex-XSystems now Company X.

Yano: i think the talk of prostitution and drugs might still freak him out a bit. and we haven't even touched on the toilet talk yet. he's still a bit green. Don't want to chase him away before his first six months.

excoworkerguy: hmmm... still a little wet behind the ears eh? his time will come... nothing hardens the childs spirit into that of a mans like the trials and tribulations of working behind a desk at a software company... if he can but stomach the next few fortnights, his chances are good that in a years time he, too, will elaborate on the need to snort drugs off the small of a hookers back

Yano: someday. he can dare to dream.

Yano: though not master it like you have

excoworkerguy: no. no of course not. mastery of my art is born of both dedication AND birthrite. anyone can be good.... but it requires the proper bloodline to truly be a master. my ancestors have dealt with the inner workings of all thing drug, sex, and human-waste related for centuries... to be a master is to be born a master

Drugs, sex, and all things waste related. All in a day working at X-Systems.

I've been SUPER busy with my new company's user forum, so no quality posts from me But I'll give you guys my Ten on Tuesday, which I did really fast.

I'm in a rush, so I'll give a short list of mine and finish it up later:

1) "I love that you get cold when it's 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle in your nose when you're looking at me like I'm nuts. I love that after I spend the day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it's not because I'm lonely, and it's not because it's New Year's Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible." - When Harry Met Sally

2) "What is this? A center for ants? How can we be expected to teach children to learn how to read if they can't even fit inside the building? " - Zoolander

3) "Shorty: Hey! Wuz up, little guy? Polly wanna cracker?
Bird : No, Polly wants yo momma's sweet ass! " - Scary Movie 2

4) "You, you have weak ankles. One of your calves is bigger than the other. Too much makeup. Not enough makeup. What's with the skin? Say it with me SUNLIGHT. Male cheerleaders, enough said. Smile. Don't smile. Ah, good tone and general musculature. Report those compliments to your ass before it gets so big it forms it's own website! And you, I take you to be the captain, which means you'll probably need more work than anybody. " - Bring it On

5) "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." - The Princess Bride

6) "The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." - The Usual Suspects

7) "You're so money and you don't even know it" - Swingers

8) --"I've already wasted my whole life. I want to tell you with my last breath that I have always loved you. I would rather be a ghost, drifting by your side as a condemned soul, than enter heaven without you." - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Drag

9) "For years in this industry, whenever an African American character, hero or villain, was introduced - usually by white artists and writers - they got slapped with racist names that singled them out as Negroes. Now, my book, "White-Hating Coon," don't have none of that bullshit. The hero's name is Maleekwa, and he's descended from the black tribe that established the first society on the planet, while all you European motherfuckers were hiding out in caves and shit, all terrified of the sun. He's a strong role model that a young black reader can look up to. Cause I'm here to tell you, the chickens is coming home to roost, y'all. The black man's no longer gonna play the minstrel in the realm of comics and sci-fi fantasy. We keepin it real, and we gonna get respect by any means necessary. " - Chasing Amy

10) "Nobody puts Baby in a corner." - Dirty Dancing

Next Week: Ten Really Scary Movies

I am in complete shock right now.

I just heard that Christopher Reeve, best known for his role in the Superman movies, passed away yesterday.

Ever since I was a little girl, he was my hero. I adored the Superman movies, Reeve with his winning smile, chiseled good looks and perfect locks of hair, coming in and saving the day And we've learned throughout the years what courage, passion and determination this man has. In a way, he was the Superman that he portrayed - whether those traits came to him after playing the role or he played the role so well because he already had them. But it doesn't matter, he lived his life as a hero.

He showed us that even though life gives you a path you don't expect, you could still make a difference. Nothing seemed to stop him, his drive to find a cure, his fight to someday walk again.

A guess a little part of me believed he would.

But now he's in a place where he can fly again, where he is no longer held to the earth by a wheelchair, where his legs no longer matter.

He's left a wonderful legacy. He's left hope for so many people, he's given them his strength and has let people know that they can make a difference, they can fight for a cause, they can transcend any of the challenges that life offers.

Just a simple, yet very important post this Monday morning.

"Each year, 182,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer and 43,300 die. One woman in eight either has or will develop breast cancer in her lifetime. In addition, 1,600 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 400 will die this year." -- from The Breast Cancer Site

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Click on the link on the sidebar to fund free mammograms. Every little click helps, so every time you come to this site, take an extra second to click on that site.

One woman in eight. That number really terrifies me, especially considering that my mother passed away from it. If not me, than it would be someone I know, a friend, a sister, an aunt. But the more we're aware of it, the more we work towards a cure, the greater the chance is that we'll find a cure.

[updated]

Thanks to Raven for the link to boobiethon, which gave me a whole bunch of sites that we can all check out:

I'm watching "From Justin to Kelly" right now. Because I can't find anything else on TV.

And I think I like it.

Just wanted you to know.

Chances are 100% that Mel and Fata will make me change the channel when they get here.

After seeing the previews for "Friday Night Lights" I was a little turned off by the boast that it was one of the best sports movies ever. Could it possibly beat "Only the Strong", the definitive Capoeira movie of our generation? *wink*

But it was the only thing to watch on a Friday night, so we headed out to see it.

Did it live up to the hype?

Hmm...Yes and no.

It's not the best sports movie ever. But it's pretty damn close.

Watching the movie brought deep feelings of nostalgia to me, for two reasons.

My freshman year of highschool, our football team went to the state finals. It was really a surreal experience, riding on the bus, going to Normal, IL to watch our team play. It was so awesome to go out there and cheer our guys on. And before you say, "Christine, you went to an all girls' school, what the hell are you talking about?" Remember, I was in band with boys from our brother school, so we would play at all the football games.

But the movie also brought strong memories of my years of actually playing football. You may not know that, but football is my favorite sport to play. In college, we would play in Ricebowl. Ricebowl was an annual tournament of all the Asian clubs in the Chicagoland area - including us all the way down in Champaign-Urbana. I started out as a wide reciever, moved up to a running back, split the quarterback duties, and later on did some linebacking and defensive line. Running back was my favorite. And there is only one feeling that is better than the incredible high you get when you score a touchdown - it's winning the championship. "Friday Night Lights" made me long for those days. Running a fake and knowing that the defense is going for you, even though you don't have the ball, and seeing the surprise in their eyes when they realize it. Giving a block that knocks someone on their ass. Throwing a pass and connecting with your reciever. Checking out the other team and seeing that they've got a 6'1" chick that's at least 225lbs with "Bonecrusher" on her jersey and knowing that smarts, speed and agility can beat size any day. That feeling of running down the field, knowing that no one was close enough to touch you and that a touchdown was right in your grasp. To have your teammates come up and pile on a scream in joy. Not only did I miss actually playing, but I missed everything associated to it - doing drills in practice, taking a knee before a game and saying a prayer, our warmup circle, in the huddle and doing our cocky little countdowns, and of course, the pep rallies. Here's a pic from the year after we won the championship. Maybe if someone could let me copy their videos of it *cough*angelo*cough* then I could post it up here.

I'm on the bottom row, 6th from the left, kinda hiding

But yeah, I digress. But not really. Because a lot of these aspects are in the movie.

"Friday Night Lights" is different from what I thought it would be. It feels more like a gritty documentary than an actual movie. It's the true story of a small town in Texas, Odessa, that lives and breathes highschool football. On Friday nights, the town closes down, with "Gone to the Game" signs up in store fronts and everyone packing into the multimillion dollar football field to cheer the team to the state playoffs. The stadium is their auditorium, and these kids become rock stars.

Sure, the movie has a good amount of action sequences - the in your face grunts, hits, smashes and crunches that you expect from a movie. And by the way - the previews don't really give you a good idea of the movie, which, after seeing the movie, is pretty unfair to the feeling and tone of the movie. The movie is so much more than the ads.

But what really drives the movie is the characterization - not just of the lead characters, but of the town of Odessa itself. How the movie reveals that the sport of football, the fate of the Permian High Panthers, is directly related to the well being of the town. Billy Bob Thornton, who plays his role with such skill - there are so many nuances he brings out with just a look, makes an excellent coach - torn between the pressure of the town placed on his shoulders, and his moral responsibility to be a good coach to these kids. Lucas Black, who I loved when he was a kid in "American Gothic" and is all grown up now (yet still plays that dead serious, overthinking kind of character), plays the quarterback who doesn't love the game as much as he lets the college recruits know, but who feels the need to get out of the small town, and bears the responsibility for the teams failures since he's the leader of the team. Garrett Hedlund, whose father won a State Championship, but could never live up to his father's expectations, nor escape from his bouts of drunken rage. Derek Luke, who gave one of the best performances of the movie, the brash, trash talking egoistic star of the team, who later on must face the hard reality of his fate.

There is so much going on with the story, so many tales to tell. But that's what happens in a small town. In Odessa, they lived their lives, but they lived them around football. When the team did well, everything is good, when the team didn't, things were bad, and everyone tried to find someone to blame - "They're doing too much learning in the schools," a caller says to a talkshow. One of the boosters tells the coach, "You go and win that state championship". The coach then asks, "Or what?" "Just get it done." smiles the booster. Yeah. THAT'S not any pressure!

So yeah, it's a great movie. You'll be at the edge of your seat as you watch the games, cheering the team on and getting involved as much as the people in Odessa. And if you've ever been to a game, it'll bring back some memories. And if you've ever played the game, not only will it bring some memories, but it'll make you long to be back out on that field, to be with the amazing people you played with, to feel the rush of playing again.

As much as I'd love to go over yesterday's debate, I just don't have the time today, nor was I really paying attention. So I'll just let factcheck.org speak for me:

Distortions Galore at Second Presidential Debate

Last week's Unconscious Mutterings:

1. Courage:: Leader
2. Stamina:: Athlete
3. Leader:: President
4. Idea:: Thought
5. Rockstar:: Fame
6. Dew:: Mountain
7. Guards:: Changing of the
8. Lenny:: Kravitz
9. Alliance:: Agreement
10. Cigarettes:: Butts

The other day I was helping out my coworker Sam with a client issue. I was leaning on the side of his desk and we were both looking at the monitor, and I was giving him some tips to use. All of the sudden, his computer turned off. We were both like, "What the hell! This sucks!" He's had some crazy problems with his computer, but this was the first time it shut off on its own. We looked for what caused it, and I realized that it was me. His desktop was right at the edge of his desk and my ass was right at the on/off button. So when I was leaning on his desk, I was actually leaning on the shutoff button. My ass has amazing powers!

Yeah, we got a good laugh out of that one!

I haven't posted a picture here in a long time, and frankly, I haven't really been taking a lot of pictures. Just been busy. BUt I'll post some pictures of this sunset I saw a couple months ago. It was actually taken a few days before my eye surgery, so technically it's the last sunset I saw with 20/20 vision. I love sunsets, and during your lifetime you see hundreds of them, but every once in a while, you see one that makes you gasp for breath at its beauty. I tried to capture it as best I could, but these pics only give a glimpse of how massive the cloud formation was and how much it glowed in the setting sun.

Speaking of eye surgery, yesterday I had my monthly followup with the eye doctor. He checked out the eye and said that everything is healing really well. He noticed that I have a hemorrage in the inner part of my eye, which makes it look the whites of my eyeball is red (which is pretty obvious if you look at me). The eye was healing pretty well until I got the hemorrage, but he said things like that happen when there's too much pressure on my eye due to stress, strain, crying or eye rubbing.

I complained about seeing light spots in my line of vision when looking at light objects, and he explained that this is probably due to fluid being in the eye, which should drain on its own in about 6 months. We also talked about getting contacts again, and he wants me to heal a bit more before putting contacts in. Probably next month will be the time when I can get them. My eye still doesn't see 100%, 70% for that matter. About all I could see on the eye chart was the big 'E' - and that was WITH my glasses on. He explained that my prescription will change, but during the next several years, as the band begins to relax, my prescription in that eye will get better - not necessarily to the way it was, but the eye isn't going to see any worse than it is now.

Man, I can't wait to start wearing contacts again! Glasses are nice and all, but what I've noticed is that the frames I got sit pretty close to my eye, and my eyelashes brush against the glass. And I never realized this, but I've got some oily lashes, which then transfers onto my glasses and then I can't see, so I have to wipe them off. Eeech!

Regular eye checkups, people! Learn from me!

Yesterday's debate was pretty interesting. For the first part, I was actually pretty bored, feeling like both candidates were puppets, just repeating catchphrases and things that were said by the presidential nominees. The last forty five minutes or so was pretty good, though. So here's my thoughts:

- Truthfully, if I had to pick a winner, I would say that Cheney won, but by a tiny margin. He was a lot smoother, a lot more coherent, and he had obvious experience at this. I'd never really seen Cheney speak before, and there is something I like about this man. He's got that stern, demanding grandfather thing about him, which kind of reminds me of mine. But really, he seemed to know his stuff.

- But Edwards did a lot better than I expected, except for a several times when he tumbled over his words and when he broke the 'Don't say his name' rule for the last question. From the first minute, he was ready to present his case. I loved it when the candidates were introduced. First Cheney, who acknowledged his name and gave a brief nod, then Edwards, who looked straight into the camera and gave a winning Robert Urich smile. Doesn't he remind you of him? Spenser for Hire?

- Both candidates had a lot of numbers, which I found impressive. I'll have to go to some sites today to see WHICH numbers were the right ones. Someone had to be lyingl because both were telling each other that they were wrong. The commentator on NBC had mentioned the Cheney was wrong when he said during the debate that he never said that Iraq was directly related to 9/11, then proceeded to show a video clip of him saying it. Tsk tsk.

- Once again, the candidates were great at dancing around the questions. First with Cheney avoiding the healthcare issue, then with Edwards totally missing out on the AIDS question. The way we can deal with AIDS, gentlemen, is with EDUCATION. Providing more healthcare and lessening the cost of pharmaceuticals doesn't stop AIDS from spreading. Going into the inner city and educating people, especially young black women, who are the demographic that is being hit hard, is the way to prevent it from spreading.

- Edwards was definitely the more likeable of the two. He smiled more, he tried to connect with the country emotionally, he had a lot more body language, seeming to include the viewing audience in his speeches with his pretty hand gestures.

- The one time when I thought Cheney was gonna grab Edwards and throw him across his knee for a spanking was when he brought up Halliburton, the contracting company he headed which had ties to Iran. I could hear his mind saying, "Would you quit bringing that up?!?!"

- When the question about gay marriages was asked, I rejoiced - this was something that I was really anticipating to hear about. Cheney had a good answer to explain his stance, not once mentioning his personal ties to the question, but stating that the president had his view on it, and he supported the president. It was obvious that he was uncomfortable with the question and it was something he'd rather not answer. Edwards came in for a kill on that one, and mentioned Cheney's lesbian daughter. I really felt that was a low blow. Cheney took the high road and merely thanked Edwards for his compliments. The sad thing is...neither candidate supported gay marriages. I know Edwards supports them getting the benefits of married couples, but still, it would have been nice to hear.

- I think the best exchange between the two was when Cheney mentioned how many meetings that Edwards had met, and that even though he was the head of the Senate, this had been the first time he had actually met Edwards, reprimanding him like Mother Superior to a little school girl. I thought, 'Damn, girl, he got you on that one!" TO which Edwards replied with Cheney's voting record, ending with Cheney voting AGAINST a Martin Luther King holiday. Who votes against a holiday? I could hear the rest of the country thinking, 'Dayum, Cheney, he got you back!" Zing!

- This has to be the funniest thing - Cheney mentioned once that to get the REAL facts, to go to factcheck.com for the answers. I'll wait a moment while you go and check out that link...

...waits...

...isn't that the most hilarious thing, ever??? I'm assuming Cheney meant factcheck.org. That dot com gets ya every time. Thank you, George Soros, thank you.

All in all, it was pretty entertaining TV, starting off slow, but picking up at the end. All in all, since it was pretty much a draw, I don't think it helped or hindered either campaign.

[edit 10.06.04 9:48AM CDT] Since www.factcheck.org is down, I'll include the transcript they have there about what each candidate stated as the facts and who was right.

- Edwards and Cheney HAVE met before
- Cheney was NOT CEO of Halliburton when they did business deals with Libya

...to read more, click on the link below:

Cheney & Edwards Mangle Facts (from factcheck.org)

Getting it wrong about combat pay, Halliburton, and FactCheck.org
10.06.2004

Cheney wrongly implied that FactCheck had defended his tenure as CEO of Halliburton Co., and the vice president even got our name wrong. He overstated matters when he said Edwards voted "for the war" and "to commit the troops, to send them to war." He exaggerated the number of times Kerry has voted to raise taxes, and puffed up the number of small business owners who would see a tax increase under Kerry's proposals.

Edwards falsely claimed the administration "lobbied the Congress" to cut the combat pay of troops in Iraq, something the White House never supported, and he used misleading numbers about jobs.

Cheney Plugs FactCheck

Cheney got our domain name wrong -- calling us "FactCheck.com" -- and wrongly implied that we had rebutted allegations Edwards was making about what Cheney had done as chief executive officer of Halliburton.

In fact, we did post an article pointing out that Cheney hasn't profited personally while in office from Halliburton's Iraq contracts, as falsely implied by a Kerry TV ad. But Edwards was talking about Cheney's responsibility for earlier Halliburton troubles. And in fact, Edwards was mostly right.

Edwards on Halliburton: Partial Credit

We can only give Edwards partial credit for his Halliburton attack, however. He implied that Cheney was in charge of the company when it did business with Libya in violation of US sanctions, but that happened long before Cheney joined the company.

Edwards was also slightly off when he said Halliburton paid millions in fines "while he (Cheney) was CEO." What he meant was that it paid fines for matters that took place while Cheney was in charge. And in fact, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced Aug. 3 that Halliburton will pay $7.5 million to settle a matter that dates back to 1998, when Cheney was CEO.

Halliburton failed to disclose a change in its accounting procedures that resulted in making its earnings look better. Cheney himself was not charged with any wrongdoing, however. The SEC said Cheney "provided sworn testimony and cooperated willingly and fully in the investigation."

On other matters, Edwards said Halliburton "did business with Libya and Iran, two sworn enemies of the United States" and is now "under investigation for having bribed foreign officials" while Cheney was CEO.

Iran: Indeed, Halliburton has said it does about $30 million to $40 million in oilfield service business in Iran annually through a subsidiary, Halliburton Products and Services Ltd. The company says that the subsidiary fully complies with US sanctions laws, but the matter currently is under investigation by a federal grand jury in Houston.
Bribery Investigation: U.S. and French authorities currently are investigating whether a joint venture whose partners included a Halliburton subsidiary paid bribes or kickbacks to win a $12 billion construction project in Nigeria.
Libya: Edwards was wrong to include Libya, however. In 1995, before Cheney joined the company, Halliburton pled guilty to criminal charges that it violated the U.S. ban on exports to Libya and said it would pay $3.81 million in fines. Those violations dated back to 1987 and 1990.

Cutting Combat Pay?

Edwards twice accused the administration of having "lobbied the Congress" to cut the combat pay of troops in Iraq, when in fact the White House never supported such a plan.

Rather, the Defense Department proposed allowing a temporary pay increase for all troops worldwide (even those not in Iraq or Afghanistan) to expire, and promised to maintain current pay levels for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan with separate pay raises if necessary.

Army Times reported in its issue for the week ending Aug. 18, 2003 that a Pentagon budget assessment sent to Congress in July called for letting a temporary combat pay raise enacted earlier that year for troops worldwide expire at the end of the fiscal year, Sept. 30. The result would have been a cut of $75 a month in "imminent danger pay" and $150 a month in "family separation allowances."

But according to an Aug. 15 American Forces Press Service report, David S.C. Chu, defense undersecretary for personnel and readiness, said the department could raise hardship duty pay or incentive pay. The bottom line: "We are not going to reduce their compensation," Chu said. The Pentagon also said in an Aug. 14 news release : "This is an issue of targeting those most deserving, and certainly people serving in Iraq and Afghanistan are in these categories."

Cheney Overstates Iraq Resolution

Cheney repeatedly said Edwards had voted "for the war" and "to commit the troops," when in fact the Iraq resolution that both Kerry and Edwards supported left the decision to the president and called for intensified diplomacy.

The resolution for which Edwards and Kerry voted said, "The President is authorized to use the Armed Forces of the United States as he determines to be necessary and appropriate."

And Edwards made clear in a statement at the time of his vote that he hoped to avoid war by enlisting broad support from the United Nations and US allies:

Edwards ( Oct. 10, 2002 ): I believe we should act now for two reasons: first, bipartisan congressional action on a strong, unambiguous resolution, like the one before us now, will strengthen America's hand as we seek support from the Security Council and seek to enlist the cooperation of our allies.

If the administration continues its strong, if belated, diplomacy, backed by the bipartisan resolve of the Congress, I believe the United States will succeed in rallying many allies to our side.

Second, strong domestic support and a broad international coalition will make it less likely that force would need to be used.

In fact, not even Bush himself characterized the resolution as a vote "for war" at the time. Speaking at the White House Rose Garden Oct. 2, 2002, Bush said:

Bush (Oct. 2, 2002): None of us here today desire to see military conflict, because we know the awful nature of war. Our country values life, and never seeks war unless it is essential to security and to justice. America's leadership and willingness to use force, confirmed by the Congress, is the best way to ensure compliance and avoid conflict. Saddam must disarm, period. If, however, he chooses to do otherwise, if he persists in his defiance, the use of force may become unavoidable.

Jobs Figures

Both Edwards and Cheney quoted selective and misleading figures about jobs, and even Cheney got confused.

Edwards said 1.6 million private sector jobs and 2.7 million manufacturing jobs had been lost during the Bush administration. Both figures are accurate, but omit the growth in employment by federal, state and local governments. The net loss in total employment is actually 913,000 as of August, the most recent figures available.

Cheney claimed Edwards was using old data from 2003, which wasn't the case.

Cheney correctly noted that 1.7 million jobs have been added in the past year, since payroll employment bottomed out in August of last year. New employment figures are due on Friday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the last report before election day. It now appears certain that Bush and Cheney will end their term with payroll employment still below where it was when they took office, the first time that's happened since the Hoover administration.

Cheney's "First Time"

Cheney claimed Edwards has such a poor attendance record in the Senate that he was just meeting Edwards for the first time during the debate, even though Cheney visits the Senate every Tuesday. But the Kerry-Edwards campaign quickly documented at least two instances in which Cheney had met Edwards previously. Edwards escorted Elizabeth Dole when she was sworn in as North Carolina's other senator on January 8, 2003, according to Gannet News Service. Cheney administered the oath.

Cheney also was present with Edwards at a National Prayer Breakfast on Feb. 1, 2001, when a transcript shows Cheney acknowledged Edwards among those at the gathering:

Cheney: (Feb. 1, 2001): Thank you. Thank you very much. Congressman Watts, Senator Edwards, friends from across America and distinguished visitors to our country from all over the world, Lynne and I are honored to be with you all this morning.

90% of the Casualties

Cheney disputed Edwards's statement -- often repeated by Kerry -- that US forces have suffered "90% of the coalition casualties" in Iraq, saying that in fact Iraqi security forces "have taken almost 50 percent" of the casualties.

Both men have a point here, but Edwards is closer to the mark.

Edwards is correct counting only "coalition" forces -- those of the US, Britain and the other countries that took part in the invasion and occupation of Iraq. According to CNN.com, which keeps an updated list, 1,066 US service men and women had died from hostile action and other causes during the Iraq operation as of Oct. 5, of a total 1,205 for all coalition countries. That's just over 88% of the coalition deaths.

We know of no accurate count of deaths suffered by Iraqi security forces, but an estimate reported both by the Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post puts the figure at 750. Lumping those estimated Iraqi deaths with fatalities suffered by coalition forces produces a total of 1,955. Of that, the estimated Iraqi portion is 38% (not "almost 50%" as Cheney claimed) and the US total amounts to 55%.

Small Businesses

Cheney made a puffed-up claim that "900,000 small businesses will be hit" should Kerry and Edwards raise taxes on individuals making more than $200,000 a year, as they promise to do.

As we've explained before, 900,000 is an inflated figure that results from counting every high-income individual who reports even $1 of business income as a "small business owner." Even Cheney and his wife Lynne would qualify as a "small business owner" under that definition because Mrs. Cheney reports income as a "consultant" from fees she collects as a corporate board member, even though she had no employees and the business income is only 3.5% of the total income reported on their 2003 tax returns.

A better figure comes from the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, which recently calculated that the Kerry tax increase would hit roughly 471,000 small employers. That's barely half the figure Cheney used.

Other Dubious Claims.

Cheney used a misleading figure to support the idea that the administration was "deeply concerned" about the toll that AIDS has taken on poor countries, stating that the administration has "proposed and gotten through the Congress authorization for $15 billion to help in the international effort." That's true, but the $15-billion figure was to be spread over five years -- and when it came to asking for money to be actually appropriated and spent Bush sought only $2 billion for the fiscal year that just ended. Congress increased that to $2.4 billion.
Cheney and Edwards both made misleading statements about each other's education records, specifically on the No Child Left Behind law. Cheney claimed "they were for it; now they're against it." But while Kerry has criticized the law as being underfunded and called for some changes he has not called for the law's repeal. Edwards claimed "they said they were going to fund their No Child Left Behind; $27 billion short today." In fact, overall federal funding for education grew 58% in Bush's first three years, though many governors and congressional Democrats say even more is required.
Cheney said Edwards "has got his facts wrong. I have not suggested there's a connection between Iraq and 9/11." But The Washington Post reported Oct. 6 that Cheney often "skated close to the line in ways that may have certainly left that impression on viewers," especially by repeatedly citing the possibility that hijacker Mohamed Atta met with an Iraqi official, a theory disputed by the 9/11 Commission.
Cheney claimed Kerry had voted 98 times to raise taxes. As we've pointed out before, that's an inflated figure that counts multiple votes on the same tax bills, and also counts votes on budget measures that only set tax targets but don't actually bring about tax increases by themselves.

Sadly, Rodney Dangerfield has passed away at the age of 82.

Dangerfield, who fell into a coma after undergoing heart surgery, died at 1:20 p.m., said publicist Kevin Sasaki. Dangerfield had a heart valve replaced Aug. 25 at the University of California, Los Angeles, Medical Center.

Sasaki said in a statement that Dangerfield suffered a small stroke after the operation and developed infectious and abdominal complications. But in the past week he had emerged from the coma, the publicist said.

"When Rodney emerged, he kissed me, squeezed my hand and smiled for his doctors," Dangerfield's wife, Joan, said in the statement. The comic is also survived by two children from a previous marriage.

This is so sad. Along with Bob Hope, Rodney Dangerfield was one of the first comedians I remember growing up, with his trademark, "I don't get no respect!" line. I saw him in movies ('Caddyshack' rocked) and various television shows. He always made me laugh, and there has always been a feeling of comfort when I saw him. He's like the silly uncle you see at family parties.

So to Rodney, you'll be missed.

Much respect to ya.

Ramon had entered this little comment in my guestmap:

"just curious, why is it that ur so interested in other guys (athletes like apollo) when u r married?"

Well Ramon, let me first start off with this. It's funny that you mentioned Apolo (one "L") because at the time you had signed the guestbook, there was no mention of him on my site, nor has there been a mention of him for a couple months. If you would have mentioned someone, it should have been Kyle Farnsworth. Events on the internet have made me a bit paranoid lately, so forgive me for sounding so suspicious. But your mention of Apolo just makes me think that you could have ulterior motives. Then again, I could be wrong.

Anyway, I've always wondered what people may thing about my girlish giggle posts about such good looking hunks of men like Farnsworth, Brad Pitt or Rick Moranis. I mean, I'm married after all! What am I doing posting stuff like that!

Just because I'm married doesn't mean I'm blind or that I don't notice when someone's good looking. If someone is good looking, I'll say something about it. In no way does it mean that I love my husband any less or that I don't think that my husband is a hot piece of beefcake (I mean, have you SEEN pictures of him?!? :-P) I'm not going to be going for these guys, I have no romantic interest in them or think that anything would ever happen with them (or would want it to). It's just fun to talk about them, and to giggle with other people when we talk about how cute they are.

And it's not like I'm hiding it from Dave, either. He's aware of my hottie list, as well as my sordid short track lifestyle. I'm aware of his "appreciation" for Jessica Alba (which I've stated here before) as well as his love of Halle Berry, Brooke Burke and Christina Aguilera (but only in her dirty, slutty phase - he doesn't like her new cleaned up image). I really don't mind it, because when it comes down to it, I'm the one he married.

So yeah, it may seem at times that I'm interested in these guys for just their looks and their bodies. And truthfully, I am for some of them (I mean, come on, it's not like I love Farnsie for his PITCHING.) But it's all in fun. None of it's serious. As for those short track guys, sure, I'll mention a thing here or there about those ultra-tight skinsuits that really leave nothing to the imagination, but really, once again, it's all in fun. I love the sport and have an appreciation for all the guys and gals.

So I hope this answered your question, Ramon!

I don't think I'll drive downtown for the Chicago stop, but who knows...I might be bored that day. Thanks to Redpac for the heads up:

Sean Astin, star of "The Goonies" and "Lord of the Rings", signing copies of There and Back Again

• 10/13/04 7:00 PM at Barnes & Noble - Union Square. New York, NY.
• 10/14/04 8:00 PM at Book Revue - New York Ave. Huntington, NY.
• 10/16/04 10:00 AM at the Boston Museum of Science. Boston, MA.
• 10/17/04 2:00 PM at Borders Books - N. Michigan Ave. Chicago, IL.

I haven't put this one on this page in a while. Which is sad, since I'm the one who's actually running this meme. So here's this week's:

1) Teach inner city kids art
2) Be part of a whale watching crew in Hawaii
3) Feed animals at the zoo
4) Take every cruise to every location imaginable
5) Be a photographer
6) Try my hand as a comic book colorist
7) Do web page design for free
8) Go back and do some theater
9) Video Game tester
10) Go to culinary school and become a pastry chef

I know that there's so much more that I'd want to do, but I know the one thing that I would still want to do if I didn't have to work would be to work. Does that make sense? Of course, I hate the 9-5 grind, but if I didn't work I think I'd go crazy. So that's why I listed cool jobs, like video game testing or giving whale watch tours.

Next Week: Ten Favorite Quotes from the Movies (better start planning that one now! IMDB has a lot of good ones!)

This one is REALLY simple.

First 5 people to email me at kwannon at gmail dot com will get themselves a gmail invitation.

Ready.

Set.

GO!

So I'm sure you've seen all these 'Livestrong' bracelets that are the latest rage. Essentially, Lance Armstrong has a foundation and for a dollar, you can get this bracelet that supports cancer research. It's been quickly becoming the 'in' thing for people to wear. It can be seen on the wrists of celebrities like Angelina Jolie, Tom Brokaw, Lindsay Lohan, Robin Williams, Al Pacino, Sheryl Crow (duh), Serena Williams, Jay Leno, Matt Damon, John Kerry, Carly Patterson, Tom Hanks, Derek Jeter and others.

So a while ago, Noelle sent me one. She had some sort of contest or something on her site and I got one. This was before it was 'cool'. So I got one. Most of you know my history with cancer, so I was really proud to have one and tell people about it. Dave didn't know anything about it, so I told him. Then I started hearing that it was really popular, and lots of people were starting to wear it. So one day, I told Dave that he should wear it at the hospital, just to see if anyone commented on it or knew what it was.

So he took it to work.

And I didn't see it for a bit.

I asked about it, and he said that his brother saw it and borrowed it. No problem, he was spreading the LiveStrong love.

A little bit later, I saw Dave wearing it again. By this time, the demand for LiveStrong bracelets was pretty high. Most Nike stores were sold out. So I asked for it back, because I wanted to wear it again.

'Why? You gave it to me!' he said.

I explained to him that I didn't GIVE it to him. I was merely using him as a test of its popularity. It was more like a loan. Letting him borrow it. I never implied that it was forever.

Since then, it's been this little battle between us - who gets the bracelet first. The bracelet is taken off to do some chores, and if the other person is on hand to see it, it gets snatched up.

It's almost becoming quite fun.

But lets keep in mind its MINE.

Don't listen to Dave if he says that I gave it to him and I'm an Indian giver.

ME AND THE BRACELET WERE ON A BREAK!

(if you don't get the 'Friends' reference, sorry!)

Today I went to what I had called a "comic book convention" but which I realize now was just a "comic book marketplace". It wasn't even a quarter as big is the conventions that I usually go to, but it was cool nonetheless. I got reunited with my old comic book store owner, who I used to go to before his store got sold a couple years ago. Coincidentally, he's got a new store which is pretty close to where I just moved. So he said he'd hook me up with a discount, which is awesome.

I also got a couple cool sketches, which I'll put up when I get my scanner up. Well, actually, it's up, but I haven't done anything with it yet. I'm still backlogged from the Chicago 'con.

Since I have nothing to post up, I'll post up something I did a couple weeks ago. I needed an avatar for a site, and there was a picture drawn by David Mack that I've had my eye on. (no eye jokes!) So here's the original:

And here's my little egotistic take on it:

I know. I'm a dork.

So the Cubs blow their last chance to win the wild card today. They totally CHOKED for their last games, losing 7 of their last 8 games.

This sucks!!!

Goodbye Moises, goodbye Nomar, goodbye Clement...chances are we won't see you with the Cubs next year.

This sucks!!!

Pay no attention to this post, but if you feel the need, visit these wonderful people!

So I watched pretty much the whole debate yesterday, except for the last question, which I fell asleep during. Here's my thoughts:

1. Bush stuttered too many times, was at a loss for words at times, and when he had asked for more time to speak, couldn't think of what he wanted to say. It didn't reflect too well on him.

2. Both candidates were pretty good at talking around the questions.

3. I wish they talked a little more about what else they would do in office. Too much was spent on the war in Iraq (unless this debate was intended to solely be about that). This war better not last four more years. With that said, I'd like to see what these guys have up their sleeves for the next four years. Not what they're going to do abroad. What they're going to do here with our issues with healthcare, education, unemployment, etc.

4. Kerry needs to have a little more emotion. Although he had an answer for everything, a little warm and fuzzy wouldn't hurt. Bush at least looked at the camera when he was talking. I don't think that Kerry was clued into the fact that looking into the camera gives the audience a little connection to him.

5. I just wish Bush just came right out and said Kerry was a flip flopper. Something OTHER than the line "wrong war at the wrong time at the wrong place". Which he said at least 7 times during the debate, and it was driving me batty. Someone get him a thesaurus. I know you want to use keyphrases such as this to drive your point home, but it just made Bush looked rehearsed.

6. I laughed at the times when Kerry wanted to say something after Bush, but Jim continued to ask the next question.

7. Split screen is the best. I loved the times when Kerry was speaking and Bush looked either confused or like he was ready to kick Kerry's ass.

8. I have to admit, this is my favorite part of the debate:

Kerry: Jim, the president just said something extraordinarily revealing and frankly very important in this debate. In answer to your question about Iraq and sending people into Iraq, he just said, The enemy attacked us.

Saddam Hussein didn't attack us. Osama bin Laden attacked us. Al Qaida attacked us. And when we had Osama bin Laden cornered in the mountains of Tora Bora, 1,000 of his cohorts with him in those mountains. With the American military forces nearby and in the field, we didn't use the best trained troops in the world to go kill the world's number one criminal and terrorist.

In the end, I think Kerry won this one. Bush had some pretty strong things to say, but there were times that he just didn't have it out there. Kerry seemed prepared. Bush seemed a bit rehearsed at times, especially when he repeated the same thing over and over again.

Anyone ever watch 'Head of State' with Chris Rock?

That's my recommended viewing to you before the next debate. There are just a couple interesting things that Rock brings up in the movie that our two candidates may want to check up on...

Anyone having problems adding comments? I found a bunch of errors on my server yesterday and Tex had mentioned she was having a problem. If you are, just leave me a tag on the right -->