October 2004 Archives
I mailed in my absentee ballot last week. It was totally anti-climatic. Aside from casting my vote for the Johns, I was most interested in voting NO on Proposal 2 ("one man, one woman").
To listen to Margaret Cho's State of Emergency show, you can download the gigantic mp3. It's only available for free until the polls open at 7am Eastern on Tuesday. After that it will be available for purchase. You can also see Margaret's MoveOn ad and all kinds of related things at The Official Margaret Cho Website.
The Packers beat the Redskins. That's a good sign. (via Shawty)
If you live in Minnesota, here's what you need to know about voting:
Via my sister comes this Freep article about a guy I went to high school with who seems to have a real Halloween fetish. Somehow this does not surprise me at all about him.
Also, Detroit makes headlines in the Halloween season again.
I haven't seen the movie Voices of Iraq, but my trusty roommate assures me it's a big, steaming right-wing load. If you have seen it and wanna comment on it, visit this opinion forum.
Greg the Bunny is now available on DVD.
(via Jen Bennett)
I haven't quite gotten the automatic posting part figured out (my luck it'll randomly appear later), but I did just call in and leave a little message for y'all.
Thanks to all the Guest Bunchies that have been holding down the fort for me. I figure it's been a whole week and I ought to quit slacking.
It's sort of trippy to open up your own blog and look to see what's new. Y'all kept me entertained and informed all week long and in the mean time I got a ton of stuff done. I am truly addicted to the internet and I think it was good for me to take a little time off.
Although I'm still gonna have to cool it until I get the computer situation resolved. *twitch* Hopefully that won't be much longer. *twitch*twitch*
Yup, starting Nov. 16th, 11 teams will start their race around the world for $1 million. Of course Phil Keoghan is still hosting and of course there are model couples. I don't mean like model citizens, I mean those pretty (and usually pretty catty) people. (At least 2 teams worth.) However, we also have the requisite older couple, aged 69 & 66, and my vote for most colorful team, a married pro-wrestling couple. Let the games begin!
It's because I care, that I share this with everyone.
Ya know, we are heading into the cold winter months (yay standard time!), and we need to protect ourselves....
I know a lot of people have started to use a new service called BlogExplosion. I admit, I have too. I am starting to wonder about its value though. Although there is some back history to the issue over at my site, I am really just looking to see what people think of the service. I do not want to start discussion of what happened at my site.
The premise is this (from their site):
The concept is very simple. You read other blog sites and they in return visit your blog. Blogexplosion is the internet's first blog exchange where thousands of bloggers visit each other's blogs in order to receive tons of blog traffic. Imagine how many other people out there could be adding your blog to their blogroller and how many people would be reading your blog every day with this sort of attention. It's free to use!
What it looks like to the user is it loads random blogs for you, and you must stay for thirty seconds before moving to the next one. For every two blogs you visit you get one traffic "credit" to generate a visitor to yours.
Here is my post from my experience recently, slightly edited to try to stay on topic...
Greetings from Boston!
Taking advantage of free-for-all posting on someone else's blog today is me, the watergirl. I've been enjoying Erica's page for well over a year, and we even got some grub together at the WAB once while we both still lived in Metro Detroit. We went to high school less than a mile from each other, and even matriculated at the same university!
This whole guest blogginn thing is kinda fun...it's like being a little kid in school when you have a substitute teacher..while the cat is away the mouse will play kinda thing.
I got a call from Apple today. The logic board needs to be replaced for the third time. Since the logic board thing is a known issue with my particular model of iBook, it would have been covered. Except the ethernet port is broken off of it, so the warranty is voided. Even though the broken ethernet port incident occurred a year ago and the ethernet port works just fine and I don't even use it anyway.
So, yeah. $710 for the repair. It's on hold. $710 is about half the cost of a new laptop. I'm sort of thinking maybe I ought to just get a new one and pray that they approve me for financing. I could pull the wireless card and the hard drive out of the old one.
I don't really know what to do. But not having a computer is not an option. Buying a non-Apple is not an option, either.
Apple can eat my balls.
There was a young lady named Irk
Whose iBook was being a jerk
While it's in the shop
Her blogging must stop
So she's putting her readers to work!
I picked a heck of a day to catch up on my blogging :) Erica's having an open house. First, I want to say that Erica is awesome and I love reading her :P
Now, on to the gratituous self promotion. I just posted new pictures! Pictures of my band. We had a little promo photo session last night so that we could update the website. I'm relatively new with them, so they need to add me :P Anyhow, pictures are available at my blog Life's Like This.
Oh, oh, and while I'm at it, if you're a musician, especially if you're in the New England area, I've just started a new blog, that I'm hoping will become a nice group blog. Digitally Remumbled. Check it out ;)
Uhm.. I've got nothing funny to say. I'm definitely funny, but I don't know if I'm all that humorous. But I'm funny looking... just go see the pics ;)
Tanya from lifeslikethis.us
PS: *smooches* to Erica
ooh erica is very brave having an open house! not that i'm complaining, because it gives me a chance to try this thing out.
and now that i'm here on someone elses blog, i've actually got very little to say.
damn.
I have never done this before as I am a newbie to this whole "blogging" thing but here goes...I have never really been a internet kinda person but after someone put me onto this site I must admit I have become intrigued by this whole ordeal.
It's been nearly a year since I began blogging. In that time, several very cool personalities have made their way into my heart and mind- Erica being one of them.
The inimitable Dave Tepper (who's never steered me wrong, natch) officially introduced me to the Swirlicious One. At the time, I hadn't run across many gay/lesbian bloggers, and was really interested in seeing other queer writing.
I have absolutely nothing insightful to contribute, really nothing to contribute at all, but you can't pass up the opportunity to post on someone else's blog.
So here I am. Whee!
And in keeping with the spirit of this fine blog...
What is up over here? Erica cannot go on hiatus!
I was so ill prepared for any "guest-work" but as many (or at least Erica) know I cannot resist an open blog. I may need to refill my wine for this. Excuse me. Okay, I'm back. *drinks* So, one thing I'd love to share is why I love this little blog so much. Swirlspice was one of the first weblogs I ever discovered. You remember that, right? Finding those sites while surfing the net for something, doesn't matter what I guess it was different for everyone. Movies, books, recipes, porn? Anyway, you find one of those odd personal sites with stories, opinions, pictures. Strangely addictive...
For me there were four I remember the most. Jonno, Uffish Thoughts, Philo, and Swirlspice. I took time out everyday to read up on these peoples lives. I found it so amazing that they shared so much on the web. I wanted to have a site of my own. They were my inspiration. I especially loved the "slice of life" style here at Swirlspice. That was how I imagined my site to be. Personable. Kind of tough to do in a cold medium like a website.
Anyway, I eventually started my own site at danielphilip.com. It was rough going at first. A look into the archives can tell you that! And one of my earliest links was here at Swirlspice. She's like blog-family to me, whether she likes it or not!
Hope that iBook is up and running soon Erica! Miss you already!
My iBook is dead. It gets no juice. I can't even turn it on. The guy at the Apple Store said it's probably the power management unit, or possibly the motherboard. So it's on its way to Apple.
I think I'd rather lose a pinky. At least my insurance would pay for that.
In the meantime, I'm gonna be brave and institute the Free For All. If you want to guest post, go here and use the login info below. If it starts to get ugly (or if nobody wants to post and I start to feel like an ass), I'm turning it off. Pace yourself. You've got all week.
- Breaking News: The official airdate for Season 2 of The L Word is 20 February 2005. The countdown has been reset to reflect this information.
- Yay, Red Sox.
- I forgot to fast forward through a commercial for Rod Stewart's latest CD of standards. The playlist is pretty predictable, and it got me wondering what current songs would/could be considered standards 20 years from now? Are there any?
- Caught a few minutes of Teresa Heinz Kerry on The View the other day. I can't wait for her to be the first lady.
I am so easily amused.
Hnh. Muff. Hnh hnh.
I'd look a little shumpin' like this....
I'm having a hard time... how you say... focusing? Blogging will be light or completely inconsequential until I get my mojo back.
- Sarah McLachlan's World on Fire video. Good song. Good video. Just watch. You'll see what I mean.
- Jon Stewart on Crossfire. Watch online at iFilm, read the CNN transcript, or grab the video via BitTorrent. Watch that. I'll say it again. WATCH THAT. Best thing I've seen on the news ever. And folks wonder why people our age prefer to get our news from The Daily Show. Tucker Carlson, you are a tool.
I noticed last week's episodes of both Desperate Housewives* and Jack & Bobby featured Whole Foods branded items. I recognized the logo. I think in DH it was milk and in J&B it was cereal and a loaf of bread.
What?
It's cold and dreary out, but I had a not one, but two good times this weekend. Still haven't done shit but avoided starving to death, but I'm in a good mood.
Friday night I went out with work peeps again. After last week's 3:30 return home, I decided I'd take it easy this week. I was gonna skip the after party, but Sunshine Sinatra said he was going, so I couldn't say no then. And I ended up getting in at 4:00.
I half-napped through football Saturday afternoon and just as I was dragging my ass out of bed one roommate (and girlfriend and friend) walked in the door and announced they were going to the Chatterbox. How can I say no to the Chatterbox? So we had dinner at the Uptown Sawatdee (Massumun Curry with Beef, mmmmm), stopped in at the Smitten Kitten, and finished up with a rollicking night of Taboo and Strongbow at Chatterbox. (KathyHowe, I thought of you.) Plus I ran into a friend of mine whom I have not seen in a while. Coincidentally, I had been thinking this last week that I should really give him a call because he lives pretty close by.
Here's a good mood shake your booty song for you: Sunchyme by Dario G*. I'm going to switch over my laundry and bake some crack muffins now.
*Link removed Friday, 29 Oct 04.
Metroblogging Minneapolis is live! And that is an awesome header graphic.
I'm maybe a little disappointed that it's "Minneapolis" and not "Twin Cities" but we all know that Minneapolis is the more happening town, anyway. I'm sure St. Paul will get its fair share of representation.
I never did sign up for it, but maybe I'll see if they still need some people.
Vaginal Gel May Protect Women From HIV
A chemical specially designed to thwart how the AIDS virus invades during sex offers scientists a new lead in the long quest for a vaginal gel that women could apply to protect themselves when men don't use a condom....
The chemical prevented HIV from invading vaginal tissue by blocking its preferred cellular doorway, the first evidence that targeting that portal is sufficient to prevent infection.
Anything that could help prevent the spread of AIDS is a good thing, but, yet again, the onus of birth control protection is placed on the woman.
I was sitting on the side of my bed with my feet on the floor. When I went to stand up, my right big toe somehow got caught in my left pajama pant leg. You know that thing where you list to the side before barely managing to right yourself without falling? Perhaps you found an object slightly higher than the ground to push off of or you ran into something and basically wedged yourself into it before gravity took over. Luckily, I bounced off the end of the bed and was able to stand back up before I hit the laundry hamper.
Woke me up a little.
You can have your very own Bush Gnome for only $29.95 (plus S+H). Can't you just see it nestled in your yard amongst the campaign signage? Cheerily greeting visitors from the porch or front window? Waving out over the bumper stickers from the rear window of your car?
Halloween costume idea?
(via ms lauren)
I liked being a lipid better.
You are Mackerelly!! You feel obligated to create new words just to define yourself as different... I mean diff-tacular. Just remember... ORIGINAL doesn't necessarily mean GOOD.
What Weight Watchers recipe card from 1974 are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
Cornpone.
Heh. *snerk*
Shawty's got an on-the-scene report. Can't wait to see all their pictures.
WNBA President Val Ackerman, fresh out of bed at the post-game press conference.
Doris Burke, just because. Hi, Doris! *pinch your cheeks*
Betty Lennox gets a big ol' hug from Coach Anne Donovan. I'm so happy for Betty. She's had a long road to get here, she played great through the whole season and really stepped it up in the playoffs.
Lauren Jackson with the champagne in the locker room. Things that look dirty, but aren't....
And to leave the Sun on a happy note, here's Lindsay Whalen celebrating their Eastern Conference Championship. She gradually improved all season and got her team to the finals in her rookie year. Nice job, Lindsay.
The Seattle Storm hung in there on their home court to win the 2004 WNBA Championship [1] [2]. Betty Lennox was voted the Finals MVP. Yay, Betty! I voted for her.
I'll leave the game analysis to Ted (and to Kevin Pelton). You're stuck with my astute observations on other, more intriguing aspects of the experience, as well as a fine selection of photographs.
I mentioned to a number of guys I work with that I was leaving early to watch the deciding game of the WNBA finals. Each one asked who was playing. When I said "Connecticut and Seattle," every single one of 'em brought up Lindsay Whalen. I was pleasantly surprised that they even knew that much.
Lauren Jackson and Sue Bird are particularly fun to watch celebrate. LJ hefts the trophy. They hug. They share champagne. They... uh... hug some more. It's almost like beach volleyball all over again.
I suggested aloud that maybe Lindsay Whalen needed a larger jersey. Then we decided that no, no she doesn't. It fits her just fine....
I told you Mike Thibault looks like a mouse.
Val Ackerman always looks like she just rolled out of bed. I mean, she looks normal. Hair a little mussed. Little bit of eye baggage. That's cool. Kind of soccer mom-ish. Just not usual for tv. I still {heart} Doris Burke. She got to present the trophies and do all the arena floor interviews.
All three finals games sold out. First time that's happened. That's nice to see. I'm wonder if Mohegan Sun would have still sold out for Game 1 if it were a normal-sized arena. I'd also like to point out that Detroit still holds the attendance record of 22-something thousand for their final game over L.A. last year. Even though Seattle can't help it that KeyArena's not quite as The Palace of Auburn Hills. I'm sure they would have sold out The Palace if they were playing there. Basketball (and hockey) arenas are kind of teeny when you compare them to baseball and football stadiums.
I am so having Sue Bird's babies. I {heart} Sue. Replica jerseys are expensive. $55. Minnesota seems to be the only franchise selling their Olympian's replica Team USA jersey. Or maybe Katie Smith's is the only one that hasn't sold out, seeing as how she didn't hardly play and all. Only $45 for Team USA.
Yay, Storm! Okay, I'm ready for next season now.
- Movalog: Site Design, the Easy Way - The biggest thing I took out of this article was the part about PHP vs MT includes.
- Let Puerto Rico Decide - "A non-profit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to the decolonization of Puerto Rico.... Decolonization means a choice among valid, non-colonial status options: statehood, independence, or some form of free association. A fair and effective process of decolonization means a clear ballot offering valid status options, and a congressional commitment to honor the outcome and work toward its implementation."
- Sprint PCS Info, Verizon Info, and AT&T & Cingular Info - Do you know what a PRL is, that you need to upgrade it, or that you have to call to request the upgrade?
- Somewhat related: Where to go to get some ringtones and how to make some ringtones of your own.
- Gravatar - "A gravatar, or globally recognized avatar, is quite simply an 80x80 pixel avatar image that follows you from weblog to weblog appearing beside your name when you comment on gravatar enabled sites. Avatars help identify your posts on web forums, so why not on weblogs?"
So, I've been watching this show, Jack & Bobby. It's about a kid who grows up to be president. We're watching him as a young teenager in the present day, and there's reflective commentary from the people in his life in 2049, after his presidency.
Up until about three quarters of the way through the first episode, you think it's the other brother that's gonna be the president. That makes it more interesting. Christine Lahti is great as the boys' crazy liberal feminist pot-smoking college professor mom.
It's been interesting to me to see which people he first meets as a kid remain in his life and in what capacity. Ordinarily I think of that in terms of someone with power doing favors for their friends by appointing them to high-level government positions. But watching this show, I started to think of it in terms of who I know now and if I would I trust them to do such important things. Not just for the country, but for me. Kinda different when you look at it that way.
The Motley Fool explains what exactly Fannie Mae does and what the scandal and controversy is all about.
Fannie's full name is the Federal National Mortgage Association, and it was founded in the 1930s and privatized in the 1960s. It is a federally chartered corporation, owned by shareholders, that serves as a quasi-governmental agency. The company's charter gives it the objective of making sure there is money available for Americans who want to buy a home to get mortgages, but you cannot simply call up Fannie Mae and ask its loan officers about the going rate on a seven-year ARM; it doesn't loan money to retail home buyers. Instead, it provides liquidity for lenders by providing liquidity in the secondary mortgage market.
That didn't exactly help me out a whole lot, either. All that mortgage stuff escapes me. Read on, though. You'll feel better for understanding how the company works, and worse for seeing the problem.
Insert bad weather-related play on words here.
I caught up on my tape of Game 1 of the WNBA finals, and then I watched Game 2 live last night. Holy shit, what a great matchup. Connecticut had to hold on tight to keep Game 1 [1] [2], and Seattle had to hold on tight to keep Game 2 [1] [2]. Looks like I'll be taking off work early on Tuesday to watch Game 3. It won't be the same as being there like Lachlan and Bayou were yesterday and will be on Tuesday, but I'll make do. I got to go last year, so I can't complain. Okay, yes I can.
I saw that screaming asshole at both games. Actually, I heard him first in Game 1.
I gotta say, I am really impressed by Connecticut. I'm still rooting for Seattle. But Lindsay Whalen was looking exactly like she did when Minnesota was in the Final Four. Fuckin' acrobatic driving to the bucket. Unbelievable passing. (Ya know, Lindsay's got some curvature. Lots of boobs and some booty on that girl.)
Don't forget you can vote online for the finals MVP during any "clinch" game. Betty Lennox would get my MVP vote for Seattle, but it's a tossup between Whalen and Sales for Connecticut. I'd have picked Lindsay after Game 1, but definitely Nykesha after Game 2, since she broke the playoff record for points in a game with 32 (previously held by Sheryl Swoopes with 31). I would have loved to have seen her hit that last second three-ball. Seattle did not defend that last play well. They're lucky Nykesha missed. Game 2 was Lauren Jackson's 91st consecutive game scoring in double figures. There's only 34 games in the season, plus the handful of playoff games. So that's, like, three season's worth of games.
It's nice to see the arenas selling out. It's kind of too bad for Connecticut that max capacity at Mohegan Sun Arena is less than 10,000.
Sue, I still love ya. My Diana Taurasi thing is officially over. Not that I'd turn her away if she showed up at my door....
Okay, fine, I confess. I rooted for Connecticut a little. Maybe a little more than a little. I'll be happy with whoever wins. Looks like Nykesha Sales cusses about as much as Sheri Sam does. If Sun coach Mike Thibault were an animated animal, he'd be a mouse. Aw, look at Betty Lennox with her hair all down in the Dasani Time Out! She should wear it like that more often. Speaking of hair, lots of mid-game hair changes. Lauren Jackson goes from loose ponytail to braid. Katie Douglas is back and forth between one scrunchie and two. Now I'm waiting for Betty to unbraid her hair.
- Entertaining, if gimmicky: The Finals Blog
- Interesting: The evolution of point guards in the women's game.
- So true: How the Lynx not drafting Lindsay Whalen worked out just fine for everybody.
- Maybe...: Is Seattle — or, more specifically, Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson — a dynasty in the making?
On the broadcasting: I {heart} Doris Burke. Pam Ward is cool. I can do without Geno Auriemma and Nancy Lieberman, though. Nancy's almost as bad as Ann Myers. Can we get Rebecca Lobo back, please? On ESPN2, not buried on NBA TV or on the NBA Blog Squad? Also, I don't give a shit if four networks carried first- and second-round coverage and the finals are being broadcasted to 188 countries in 30 languages if the finals are not on network television at home. If I didn't have cable, I'd be hella pissed right now.
Go St... er... Go Su... uh... YAY BASKETBALL!
The epitome of a superhero.
Say someone gifts you with an item from your Amazon wish list. But they send you a used copy. It's in good condition, but still. It's used.
Does it irk you a little that it's not new?
Anne Hull of the Washington Post has done a four-part series following two gay teens, Michael Shackelford from Oklahoma [Part 1] [Part 2] and Felicia Holt from Newark [Part 3] [Part 4]. Felicia was a friend of Sakia Gunn, the 15-year-old who was stabbed to death at a bus stop last year after telling a man she was gay.
In an online chat, Anne Hull explained a bit about how the project came to be.
Fredericksburg, Va.: Anne: First, thanks. Two great stories and looking forward to two more. Could you talk a bit about where the idea came from, how you reported it and the challenges you faced with your latest project?
Anne Hull: 2003 was a year of historic transformation for gays. Legal decisions, portrayals in pop culture, water cooler discussions, big backlash in the country. Huge national story. I originally set out to write about same-sex marriage but after doing some reporting it seemed that we needed to take a big set back from the marriage question and examine what happens long before that point: the coming out process. Finding the subjects was difficult, obviously, because of the discomfort still associated with the subject. But once I found folks who were willing to share their stories, basic reporting followed: spending lots and lots of time with them in their worlds.
It's interesting reading. And really quite sad. And frustrating. Like life isn't hard enough, ya know?
I saw part of the first presidential debate and all of the vice presidential debate. I'll watch tonight's presidential debate, too. I'm already certain who I'm voting for, though.
