More not gossip

TCB is Tax's new father.

Interviewing at work: New new guy, minority TLD, and New MichiganTony. Exciting times we live in.

Talked to Sonny last night. He has writer's block, but I helped. Hahah. "Helped."

Elaine Chao (Secretary of Labor) is the first Asian-American woman to hold a Cabinet post. [check][check] woo!

My shoes have mud on the bottom of them.

I get to go to the airport on my cousin's birthday.

Looked into a Masters in Ocean Engineering. Distance learning program... 2 years and I could have another expensive sheet of paper. Tempting...

Yenny got email today.

I saw a dead deer on the side of the road today.

There are more people in the house right now than there are in my car.

If I had an extra arm, I would want it to be right-handed. (So I could train at thumb-wrestling myself.) If I had two extra arms, I would want to be radially symmetrical (vs. insect-like). Currently, my arms are the same length. What would you choose? 1. Right. 2. Left. A. Radial. B. Insect (Under current arms). C. Other (Please elaborate.).

:) -J.

LOTD: 'Blog' No. 1 word of the year: "Merriam-Webster Inc. said on Tuesday that blog, defined as 'a Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments and often hyperlinks,' was one of the most looked-up words on its Internet sites this year."

Not gossip

Maybe I've been sitting still too long, but I think I'm going to learn braille. I don't know that it'll do me any good, but I figure since my eyesight is pretty bad, it couldn't hurt, right? Hopefully technology will make it so I never go blind, but who knows. At least then I'll still be able to read.

I almost cheated on my boycott last week. It was so sad. One of my coworkers brought in chocolate chocolate chip cookies that she had leftover from a party the previous weekend and offered them to everyone. After Monday's 2-hour meeting (with 3 deaths and a hospitalization) with chocolate chip cookies, chocolate chip-pecan cookies, and chocolate filled chocolate cookie sandwiches sitting in front of me, for some reason I had a craving for chocolate cookies. Fortunately, or not, she was all out of cookies by the time I had talked myself into breaking the boycott.

The wife of squeaky shoe guy at work "is Oriental too." Dude, if you're married to an Asian person, you should know better than to call her a rug.

Still not done with the blanket, but I started a new project and this time, I'm knitting. Hopefully, it will still turn out a rectangle, but if not, um... I'm still giving it to Ian. So, hopefully it will turn out a rectangle.

My check-engine light is on. Need to go to Mazda on Friday.

BFF met a crazy person today. Don't tell anyone though. I don't want her to get in trouble for breaking doctor-patient confidentiality stuff or something. (Shh... she's on the psych ward.)

No cops this weekend that I saw. Last two weekends, from what I've heard, rounded up at least a dozen and a half gangsta kids. That's right... I live in the suburban ghetto.

Roy is canceling his cable.

TLD spent all last week eating.

Squeaky shoe guy down the hall got new shoes.

TCB asked if I had ever been called a twinkie; people in Utah called Bracken an egg (aka reverse-twinkie).

Abercrombie & Fitch made racist asian T-shirts two years ago: "Anyone who buys our clothes knows we don't target any particular race. We pretty much make fun of everybody."

See how much gossip I don't have? -j.

LOTD: The Serial Killer Test -- I happen to be Kathleen Folbigg

12 miles, stationary bike

Pepsi Spice Project

This guy... crazy: Pepsi Spice Project

And if you want to vote on the outcome of his life: Vote here

Shark Tale

Been meaning to go watch Shark Tale and saw that it was showing over at University Mall. Went over with Ian and his bro and it was definitely better than the reviews made it out to be. No, it's not Finding Nemo, but it's still funny in a not-made-for-just-4-year-olds kind of way. If you go watch in the theater, sit through the credits. There's nothing special at the end, but there are funny little things as you wait the credits out. That's about all I have to say about that. :) -j.

Go hokies!!!

WOoo!! Go hokies!! 24-10. Gobble-gobble. :) -j.

Buy Nothing Day

LOTD: Buy Nothing Day -- I'm not quite sure what to think of this. I mean, it's good for the individual, but very bad for the economy. Though, I suppose not that bad... because whatever people don't buy today, they're still going to go out and buy tomorrow or next week. It's like that stupid chain letter I get every year about lowering gas prices. They pick a day and then everyone is supposed to not buy gas that day. Big deal. People are just going to buy the day before to prepare for it or the day after when they're closer to running out. Whatever. Try going without gas for a month. Or not purchasing anything for a month. Good luck. -j.

Bizarro Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! :)

So, today's lunch was really good. We had a lot of food, as usual, but it was more than just immediate family this year, so we actually didn't have an unreasonable amount of leftovers. On the menu: Turkey, ham, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes (garlic/cheese and plain), ziti, soup, corn, carrots, rice, rolls, cookies, pie, cake, ice cream, and jello. There were some new recipes this year and some experimenting and it all turned out well. Much better than in some previous years. Turnout was good too. We had immediate family minus Sonny, Lee family minus Brian, Mary, and Ian... Thirteen altogether, I think.

Festivities this year did not include a fight. I'm kind of disappointed. Sonny suggested that it might have been a Heisenburg thing. Since I mentioned the annual fight, everyone was aware of it and made an effort not to fight this year. That's too bad. I'll be sure not to write about the annual fight next year. There were some close calls that we were kind of rooting on today, but maybe that broke the tension too early and ruined it.

Notable not-fights:
Sister vs. uncle - Walking into our home with a UVA shirt on... what was he thinking?
Pat vs. TJ grads - That kid's got a chip on his shoulder, but I still don't get why
Grandma vs. the grandkids - Why are none of these kids getting married and making babies??

Then there was all the ruckus about eating too many cookies and slouching... Both of which I had no part in. Oh well. There's always Christmas... ;) -j.

QOTD: "you two-faced, hypocritical, pun-loving bitch"

Thanksgiving traditions

I'm not sure when this tradition started, but it couldn't have been more than a few years ago. Back in the day, our mother used to take care of the Thanksgiving meal. It would be a big thing with turkey, mashed potatoes, ham, and all sorts of side dishes. I'm sure it was a lot of work to do all on her own, but that was the tradition. Over the years as my siblings and I got older, we could help out with more of the little things so she wouldn't have to do everything on her own. For the past few years now, it has been more of a boy-potluck* kind of thing. Everyone in the family has their dish and that's what they are in charge of for Thanksgiving. We all show up a little bit early and create a situation where there are definitely too many cooks in the kitchen. This, of course, results in food finishing at all different times and eating Thanksgiving brunch, moreso than dinner. Although, we have been improving on the timing each year. The good part about that is that we have time to watch football and take naps before getting the second and third rounds of food.

So, this year, as every year, our father sent out an evite for Thankgiving. I'm not sure why he does it, but he does enjoy those evites. I think he does it just so he can get email. But whatever. On the evite is a menu and we are all supposed to sign up for what we are planning to make. Now, we have been doing this for a few years and it's not like we're fighting over who gets to prepare certain dishes. It's pretty much set what everyone makes. Mom makes turkey, Dad boils water for whoever needs it, Yenny makes stuffing, Lenny makes sweet potato casserole, Sonny makes mashed potatoes, and I make mac & cheese. Yenny usually finds a good deal on pies too, so she brings that over too. I like to mash things, so I usually help Sonny with the potatoes. Unfortunately, Sonny doesn't get to mash with us this year. They got some powdered potatoes sent to them over in Afghanistan, but that's not the same. I have to hand it to Sonny though. He has made the most real-tasting powdered potatoes that I have ever tasted. So, uh... That's a good skill to have. Anyway, I just thought it was weird that even though we have been doing this for at least the last 4 years, after I RSVPed, my dad signed me up for corn, stuffing, and pie and my sister was signed up for potatoes, even though she didn't even say she was attending yet.

In any case, that's tradition, in addition to the previously explained annual fight. Please share any other [interesting] family traditions you all have. We can have a nice happy tradition exchange or something. :) -J.

*Girl-potluck vs. boy-potluck. When I was in college, we were, of course, all poor. So when we would all get together for a party-type thing (not the drinking yourself numb kind), we would do it potluck style and everyone would bring something. Didn't really matter what. With the number of people we had, it would still be a meal if everyone brought cookies. Mmm... cookies. Anyway, this was when I first found out that there was a big difference between a potluck hosted by a boy and that hosted by a girl. Boys: Grill outside, everyone bring meat. Girls: Cook something, bring it over. I mean, it wasn't mandatory that you bring meat to boy potlucks, but for the most part, people showed up with ingredients and cooked there. Girls didn't require that you cook your dish or that it be completely prepared before you came, but more often than not, the people who brought food over to [finish] cook[ing] were the boys. Anyway, just an observation.

Puzzle?

This might just be random, but it doesn't seem like it. I saw it on someone's blog and the person the blog belonged to had no idea what I was talking about. If you can decipher this, you win 15 points:

.... ::. .::...: ...:::.

Seen here in the upper right-hand corner. I tried braille and morse code. Neither meant anything really. Braille, it would have to be rotated to start with and that didn't seem to make sense. Most of the combinations don't come out to letters either. At least not that I could figure out. Morse code, maybe I was reading it wrong. It was something like hgpso or something like that. Now, just looking at it, the number of letters in Todd and Penguin matches the dot spacing of the first three sets. Which doesn't explain the fourth word or what the sequencing means. Anyway, figure it out. It's messing with my head. -j.

How many lives is your life worth?

So, I've been posed the question of whether I would choose my life over that of 10 people. Then, choose between my life and 10,000. This is a new twist:

Imagine a situation in which you are forced to choose between saving the life of your significant other and saving the lives of 50 total strangers you will never meet or see, which would you choose?

a. Your significant other.
b. 50 total strangers.

When it was my own life, it seemed more like it was my choice and it was ok if I let the other people live. One to one seems pretty clear cut: fight or flight, right? When you start weighing the value of your life to that of an unknown number of others, the line gets kind of blurry. Then make that someone else's life weighed against that of n number of people. It's different when you're trading away someone else's life.

QOTD: "if only i could monte carlo my dating experiences...."
LOTD: Costco.com -- Caskets in bulk

11 miles, stationary bike

School

Looking into the whole school thing again. I got some unsolicited advice today about GMU's part-time/evening law program that described the program as, essentially, another full time job. So, if I want to work two jobs, that might be something to consider. I'd also have to get it approved by my boss and VP, so I would only be able to do it if they thought it was beneficial to our group. Considering I only get to the gym once a week, at best, these days, picking up another career on the side may not be the best option for me, even if I can get my superiors to approve. Maybe there's a possibility for part-time work? Must figure out what I want to do...

LOTD: Soldiers' wives find support, strength in one another: "While her husband was home on leave, Dooley videotaped him reading bedtime stories to their 11-month-old daughter, who's now a little confused about her father's whereabouts.

'When I play the tape, she just smiles and pets the [videotape] machine,' Jen Dooley said. 'She thinks he's electronic. It's kind of pathetic. You just want to cry.'"

11 miles, stationary bike

Update

So, it was brought to my attention that I don't update regularly like I used to. And since the person who brought it to my attention was Sonny, I feel inclined to update more. Mostly because I have been slacking off in writing emails and sending letters too. Anyway, with the holidays coming up, I figure I will have more to update about.

Sonny wrote about their early Thanksgiving and how they were more civilized than he expected and no fights broke out. Not everyone has RSVPed to our Thanksgiving evite yet, so I'm not sure what kind of fight to expect this year, but I'm sure it will be exciting. I think last year's fight was initiated by Lenny doing Iron Chef voices in the kitchen the entire time we were all cooking. The year before was something about inheritance and my father spending all his money going to China. That was a memorable fight because we also got away with a small kitchen fire because the adults were all distracted. Good times... Heh. I guess we didn't get away with it completely now that I've mentioned it. But oh well. Can't get in trouble for it now. Statute of limitations is up. Can't be blamed for something more than one major holiday ago. Yeah, that sounds like a good rule. :) -J.

Alligators and Snakes

There was this one time in middle school, I don't remember exactly when, but I got off the bus at the elementary school in my parents' neighborhood and there was something moving around in the lawn out front. I ventured a bit closer to investigate and there was this alligator with a snake wrapped around it. I couldn't tell which was attacking which. It was an odd sight. I figured I shouldn't get too close because I didn't want to get in the middle of things, but it was one of those amazing times when I thought to myself, "I should take a picture of that," and I actually had a camera on me. I go to get my camera out of my bag, but when I'm not looking, the alligator charges at me and clamps down on my thigh. I must have had some really thick jeans on because its teeth didn't actually pierce my skin. I finally pried the alligator off my leg and ran, what I thought to be, a safe distance away. At this point, I figure it's a good time to try the picture thing again. Get my camera out and look around while it's turning on. The alligator and snake are both gone. I can't see them anywhere. Maybe they're hiding in the grass or something. Or maybe they weren't there in the first place. Because it was all a dream. And there are no free-roaming alligators in the DC-metro area.

World Toilet Day!

LOTD: Happy World Toilet Day! :)

Magnets!

Heya all,
Magnets are in. If you are related to me and requested magnets, my parents have yours. Everyone else: I have them. I'll be around... :) -J.

Google Scholar

Coolness: Google Scholar

Update on last Saturday

In addition to the drug bust... seems as though last weekend was a busy one for that block: Wedding Guest Slain Near D.C. Reception -- 3 beaten and a fourth shot to death just down the street from the Ronald McDonald House. NE: It's the new SE.

Humans Were Born to Run, Scientists Say

Yahoo! News - Humans Were Born to Run, Scientists Say: "'Running has substantially shaped human evolution. Running made us human -- at least in the anatomical sense,' Bramble added."

Recruiting trip

Just got back from my recruiting trip down to tech. It was ... interesting. Always fun to go back down to college world and see what has changed, who has not, and take in the memories. Caught up with a couple people that I knew back in my day. Saw all the new buildings that have gone up in the last year. Ate at Mike's... so I didn't try out the Five Guys down there. Still prefer Five Guys though. Met some interesting people and have some good prospects for potential employees. :) -j.

Weekend Movies

Finally got around to watching Run Lola Run this weekend with Ian. It's pretty good. The whole good people prevail, bad people suffer (or die) mindset. Weird, but good. Also saw Polar Express. Had everything from the book and then some added randomness to make it longer than a 20-page illustrated book. It was kind of distracting hearing Tom Hanks be all the voices, but it was cute. I saw in some of the reviews that the animation made the people look soul-less and had globs of clay in their mouths, but I think they were just nit-picking. Santa did look radioactive though. It was cool. Ok off to do the work thing... -j.

Drug bust

Went in to DC this morning to help out with yard work for the Ronald McDonald House. On the way back, saw a drug bust on the street corner right after passing cars that were pro-Pope. There were like 4 of them. Anyway, going to a housewarming doober this afternoon. Gotta nap before then. :) -J.

Blocking traffic

Is it really such a big inconvenience to get out of your car and help someone? I mean, ok, sure. It's evening; you want to get home. You're mad at the person ahead of you because you just want to move, move, move! For goodness sakes. Now, consider this. The car in front of you in the right-hand turn lane breaks down. You're, literally, right next to a gas station. All the person needs is a nudge to get out of the lane and to a place where she can figure out what is wrong with her car. What do you do?

a) Honk your horn impatiently
b) Swerve around the stopped vehicle, cutting off cars in the next lane
c) Get out and help push the car 5 feet to safety, thereby clearing the lane and reducing everyone's stress

Right. That's what everyone chooses. -j.

QOTD:
"whats that saying? dont look a gift horse in the mouth because you cant make him drink water?"
"you can make a horse drink water, but you can't make it bring you presents?"
"you cant put your gift horses in one basket? -- you cant put a cart in front of a gift horse"
"a rolling horse gathers no cookies?"

To: Veterans

Thanks. :) -J.

Who's going to attack middle America?

Cities vs. Middle America -- If everyone is so concerned about the safety of this country and they want a president who will keep us safe, you'd think the people most likely to get attacked would vote for the person who would keep them safe, right? So who's going to get attacked? Iowa? Kansas? Wyoming? Something to think about:

Blue cities (31):

Red cities (10):

NY Boston DC LA San Francisco Chicago (cook county) St Louis Cleveland (cuyahoga county) Miami Ft Lauderdale (broward county) Orlando (orange county) Tallahassee (Leon County) Seattle (king county) San Diego Philadelphia Pittsburgh Detroit (wayne county) New Orleans Atlanta (Fulton County) Las Vegas (Clark County) Nashville (Davidson County) Richmond Baltimore Minneapolis/St. Paul (Hennepin County) Milwaukee Portland, ME Madison (Dane County) Indianapolis (Marion County) Denver Honolulu Portland, OR (Multnomah County)

Dallas Houston (Ft. Bend County) Austin San Antonio Cincinnati (hamilton county) Oklahoma City Salt Lake City (Salt Lake County) Jacksonville, FL (Duval County) Phoenix (Maricopa County) Anchorage (?)

Ok, so I didn't actually bother to look up the first 5 blue cities, but I'll also stipulate whatever other cities there are in Texas to the Reds (Austin, San Antonio... what else?). Anyway, I just got started thinking about this after looking at those maps of the election by county. I couldn't believe that so few areas actually had a majority supporting Kerry. Granted, those maps don't show population density. In any case, I was tossing some numbers around on my drive in to work and I figured that Kerry must have gotten a lot of cities in order to make up in population what he lost in states. I was surprised at the number of cities he dominated though. The red cities were quite close (<60%), compared to some of the blue cities with 70-90% wins.

In any case, let me know if any of my links are wrong. I kind of guessed on a few of the counties. I'll claim them to be educated guesses until shown otherwise. I also couldn't find anything on Anchorage. I'll give it to Bush because that's the way the state went, but if anyone can get me a link to something that isn't from 2002, kudos to you. More cities are welcome. I think I've covered the big ones though.

Just something to think about, I guess. All those people saying they want to be safe. They'll be safe, alright... with all these cities acting as buffer when the sky falls. Run away, Chicken Little/Henny Penny/Miss Muffet! Run away!! *grumble*conspiracy*grumble* -e.

EDIT: Ok, and after combing through almost every state's election website to find the county breakdown, I saw that CNN had a pretty good coverage of the county results for each state. But Alaska remains one big county.

Sonny's famous!

LOTD: Roanoke Times: Read the blog from Sonny Louie, a Virginia Tech grad and member of Charlie Company.

Go click on his site some more. It'll make him happy. :) -j.

Name a city

Ok, for my entry tomorrow, I need cities. I have a theory... or something. So far on my list, I have:

Austin Boston Chicago Cincinnati Cleveland Dallas DC Detroit Ft Lauderdale Houston LA

Miami NY Orlando Philadelphia Pittsburgh San Antonio San Diego San Francisco Seattle St Louis

Comment any others you can think of. I promise there will be an explanation forthcoming. Thanks! -e.

Edit:

Baltimore Minneapolis/St. Paul Milwaukee Honolulu Anchorage Portland, OR Portland, ME

Madison Indianapolis Phoenix Jacksonville Tallahassee Denver

Liberal Christians Challenge 'Values Vote'

Liberal Christians Challenge 'Values Vote': "Asked to name the greatest threat to marriage, 31 percent said 'infidelity,' 25 percent cited 'rising financial burdens' and 22 percent named same-sex marriage."

WHAT?? 22% said same-sex marriage? Really? That's the same as your spouse cheating on your or losing your job? Unbelievable.

Later that same article: "could there be a more moderate ground, where even if they retained their pro-choice stance, they talked about uniting pro-choice people together to actually do something about the abortion rate?' said Jim Wallis"

Oh my goodness. People talking sense?? Allow women the right to choose, but then help them not have to make that decision. So, sure, it's not as easy as just that, but at the very least, couldn't they task someone to work on that while everyone else is busy bickering?

Anyway, back to the same-sex marriage thing. I was looking at some of the reasons people had for wanting to keep marriage between a man and a woman. One explanation I came across frequently was that once you've crossed that line and redefined marriage, where do you draw the line? First you want same-sex marriages, next you want polygamy, then the next thing you know, we'll be letting people marry their refrigerators. Right. From monogomous relationships straight to the kitchen appliances.

Ok, seriously though, it's not the bible's definition of marriage that we're messing with. It's under the eyes of the law. Under the government, a union between two people in a monogomous, committed relationship would get recognized as marriage. I don't care what you want to call it. If people are so intent on keeping marriage for the church, shouldn't people get tax breaks for having a civil union with their spouse? If you want to let the word be used by the government, they can change it how and when they see fit. And don't start on how the government shouldn't be interferring with what marriage is or what it means. Abraham Lincoln did it already over a hundred years ago--

A CHRONOLOGY OF FEDERAL LEGISLATION ON POLYGAMY: "1862 July 8, Morrill Anti-Bigamy Law, signed by Abraham Lincoln.

* First basic federal legislation by the Congress of the United States that was designed 'to punish and prevent the practice of polygamy in the Territories of the United States'.
* Bigamy punishable by a $500 fine and imprisonment not exceeding five years.
* All acts passed by the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Utah 'pertaining to polygamy and spiritual marriage' were annulled.
* A limit of $50,000 of real property that a religious or charitable organization could hold in a territory of the United States.
* Any amount exceeding the value of $50,000 was to be forfeited and escheated to the United States.
* No officers were appointed to enforce the law and no funds for enforcement were allotted.
* Although President Lincoln had signed the bill, he adopted the policy of leaving the Mormons alone. When T. B. H. Stenhouse, then a Mormon in good standing, asked the president what course he intended to pursue with reference to the Mormons, Lincoln replied, 'Stenhouse, when I was a boy on the farm in Illinois there was a great deal of timber on the farms which we had to clear away. Occasionally we would come to a log which had fallen down. It was too hard to split, too wet to burn and too heavy to move, so we plowed around it. That's what I intend to do with the Mormons. You go back and tell Brigham Young that if he will let me alone, I will let him alone.' (Quoted in Gustive 0. Larson, The 'Americanization' of Utah for Statehood, San Marino, California: Huntington Library, 1971, p. 60.)"

Think polygamy is different? Think that shouldn't be allowed because of some notion you were raised with? I'm guessing that there were people who opposed the banning of polygamy. It was a religious thing. In some cultures they continue that tradition, not so a man can have sexual relations with multiple women, but so the women are assured that they will be cared for. Often, elderly women would be widowed and would have no way of providing for herself. In that situation, a man might take her in as a "wife" so that the women in the community would be provided for.

Ok. Getting late. I'm going to bed. Here's the rest that I have so far.

Why not polygamy?:
In its landmark ruling on same-sex “marriage” last year, the Massachusetts high court ruled that marriage’s purpose is not procreation, but instead the commitment of two people to one another for life.

That argument troubles Gallagher, who asserts that government benefits are awarded to married couples because they, in turn, benefit society by raising the next generation of adults.

Despite the excessive use of quotations in that article, it does ask some thoughtful questions. When I first heard it stated that if same-sex marriage were legalized, polygamy would be next. Knee-jerk reaction: that's absurd. That's not the same thing at all. And it remains not the same thing, but now, I do think there is a pretty good argument for polygamy. Maybe that was their intent.

But on the point that I quoted above, this seems inaccurate. People are rewarded for getting married and raising the next generation by getting tax breaks? Ok, so what about couples who don't want children? What about elderly getting married? What about infertile people? What about gay couples who want to have children? Adoption? In vitro? We have passed the time in our history where the government should even be involved with marriage. It was supposed to be beneficial back in olden times when women couldn't fend for themselves and they were just helpless dead weight for any man who chose to marry her. Ok, maybe a little bit cynical, but that was the point of it. Women weren't allowed to work. They were good for nothing. And you got paid to take care of them and keep them off the streets. How is that relevent now?

'nite! :) -J.

other thoughts: hermaphrodites and transexuals -- can they get married?

Ashcroft resignation letter

Ashcroft resignation letter to Bush - Nov 10, 2004: "The objective of securing the safety of Americans from crime and terror has been achieved. The rule of law has been strengthened and upheld in the courts."

Mission Accomplished.

Alaska oil drilling back on agenda

Man, I bet Alaska's sorry now...

CNN.com - Alaska oil drilling back on agenda - Nov 10, 2004: "Republican gains in the Senate could give President Bush his best chance yet to achieve his No. 1 energy priority -- opening an oil-rich but environmentally sensitive Alaska wildlife refuge to drilling."

Ahh... Canada...

"The tragedy of Canada is that they had the opportunity to have French cuisine, British culture, and American technology.

Instead they ended up with British cuisine, American culture, and French technology."

Don't Pass the Judgment, Please

Man, I always thought Miss Manners was a prude, but the longer I read her column, the more I like her. She makes sense... and seems like a level-headed human.

Don't Pass the Judgment, Please (washingtonpost.com):

Dear Miss Manners:

My sister's invitation for the big family Thanksgiving included my partner, whom she has met and welcomed into her home before without incident or condition. My relationship has not been an issue when staying with my sister before, despite the fact she has two boys, ages 8 and 12.

Apparently, all this changed after she spoke with my brother, who has recently begun seeing someone new who has a 5-year-old son. Though this woman has never expressed distaste with my lifestyle and my brother made no such request, my sister called me back to impose the condition that my partner and I would be welcome as long as we eliminated displays of affection toward one another.

This seemed absurd to me, as we have never been outwardly demonstrative beyond the norms acceptable in public for gay or straight people.

My sister explained that since we were unsure of this woman's stand on the issue of homosexuality, especially where her child was concerned, we should do everything in our power to make sure the guest is comfortable and hide what she may consider offensive. I tried to counter by suggesting that in trying to pretend it doesn't exist, my sister was saying that it was unacceptable and that her role should be to show that her family at the holidays is united and accepted. I feel it falls to my brother to explain to his friend ahead of time and she should make the decision herself as to whether she chooses to attend a family affair where we are just that, a family.

What is the proper way to handle invitations to guests with (presumed) opposing lifestyles?

Lifestyles don't attend dinners; people do. Miss Manners fails to see why the presence of your or your brother's partner needs to turn Thanksgiving into a children's seminar on human sexuality.

Of course she is presuming that everyone will be behaving decently. If there is any doubt of that, perhaps your sister should warn your brother not to demonstrate affection for his new friend, lest the other children wonder why the mother of a 5-year-old is paired with someone other than the 5-year-old's father.

A little bit less depressing:

Why don't my pictures ever come out this pretty?

More on the BoSox

1919 Original Babe Ruth Sale Contract

Sale's almost over. More info on the guy behind the sale and the charity the money is going to: CNN Money

"his boyfriend brings me COOKIES!"

Metaquotes: "So, yesterday, i was feeling a little dejected from the results of the election as I stepped on the bus. Following me, was a class of small children around first or second grade. This entire class took up most of the bus, so I sat at the back with a few of the kids. There were two boys who were back there, and one of the boys was taunting the other one 'You like boys, you like boys!' The boy who was being taunted pouted and then glared, 'My GRAMMA says it's okay to like BOYS.'

What? Way to go, Gramma!

And then a bunch of other kids got caught up in the conversation. I thought they were going to be picking on the boy too, but no, they joined his side! 'My uncle likes boys!' 'My sister likes girls.' 'My uncle likes boys and his boyfriend brings me COOKIES!' and so on and so on. The teacher just smiled and sat back, letting them handle it.

At that moment, even if just for a moment, i realized that Life really isn't -that- bad."

BBC NEWS : Why did you vote for Bush?

BBC NEWS | Have Your Say | Why did you vote for Bush?:

"I voted for Bush, so that he can clean up all his mess during his second term. No-one else should be made responsible for all his folly and self-disillusioned war on terror. The only war that the world needs to fight is to eradicate poverty, diseases, genocide, atrocity and many unjust situations in many parts of the world. These are the real terrors that breeds human terrorists. Go to the roots of the cause. Don't try to be a fool to treat symptoms of these terrors.
Jaime Stuart"

"I voted for Bush to usher in the complete and utter destruction of the United States. Sometimes, you just have to tear it all down and start over again. No one will destroy America faster than Bush. Go Bush!
Tim, Los Angeles, CA, USA"


After reading this, I finally have a better idea of why people voted for Bush. Sure, I've been hearing the same thing over and over again from dozens of people. But I didn't really think that people believed it. They voted for him because he is strong, unwavering, and they trust him. I voted against him for similar reasons. He is stubborn, unwilling to compromise or negotiate, and I don't trust him.

Red state, blue state... oh wait, I already used that title

via some blog-hopping today:

A friend sent me this website, and although it's obviously inflamatory in nature, it contains enough interesting information that it really cought my attention. Stripping away all the emotional baggage, it's an interesting commentary on the way that the concept of "American Values" has been used as a partisan divide. Specifically, the notion that "traditional American values" are associated with conservativism, which is justified by pointing out the historical warrant and longevity of these values.

This website debunks that notion, demonstrating the ways in which "American Values" are really the result of democratic/liberal principles. Among the facts it points out:

* Majority of the Founding Fathers were liberal and from the New England area.
* Revolutionary war, etc., was essentially a liberal/democratic event that was not framed as an issue of religious mandate or faith
* Nine of the ten states that get the most federal money and pay the least are Republican.
* Eight of the ten states that get the least federal money and pay the most are Democratic.
* Nine of the ten states with the lowest divorce rate are Democratic; Massachusetts has the lowest divorce rate in the country.
* All ten of the states with the highest divorce rate are Republican.
* Southern states have the highest murder rate in the country.


Not exactly an ironclad analysis; in particular the author is working from a lot of large generalizations. It's pretty reactionary, but still nice to see that someone isn't buying the bullshit that "American Values" and conservative ideology are one and the same.

Oh, yeah, the website. Fuck The South.

Election results by county

This map makes me really sad... and yet, with all that red, the popular vote still came out pretty close:

NaNoBlogMo

QOTD: "Attention please: [The president of the company] has lost his coffee mug."

LOTD: NaNoBlogMo -- National Novel Blog Month... evolving National Novel Writing Month. It's a pretty cool idea, and yet, I've come across some really bad writing on the blogosphere. I'm not sure why I'm surprised. But in any case, I'm sure there are some good blossoming pieces of work buried in there somewhere. Sure of it. Really. :) -J.

New Direction

Looking for new direction in life... Suggestions needed. Don't know what I want. Looking for a place to volunteer (something that makes me feel like I actually affect the world, lives, my environment... something), something to study in grad school (other than engineering... and not much interest in MBA), or another place to work, part time or not. I'm lost.

Denial - 11/2-3
Anger - 11/3-6
Bargaining - 11/7-
Depression - 11/3-
Acceptance - getting there...

Morals anyone?

Ok, so this really changes nothing, but come on...

Glitch gave Bush extra votes in Ohio:

Franklin County's unofficial results had Bush receiving 4,258 votes to Democrat John Kerry's 260 votes in a precinct in Gahanna. Records show only 638 voters cast ballots in that precinct.

You wanna talk morals? Apparently that only applies to gays, guns, and god... nothing to do with telling the truth. Oh well.

Gilmore night

Spent the majority of the evening watching this season's episodes of Gilmore Girls with Roy. He's all caught up on tv, I'm all caught up on gossip, and we both caught up on college football. After that, got home and spent too much time playing Word Racer. I'm training so I'll be ready to challenge Sonny at Boggle when he gets back. We'll see how that goes... :) -J.

More on the angry

Just responded to a post about people not appreciating their rights as Americans and a message for people to "stop being stupid, stupid." You know, it's not that we don't appreciate our rights. It's not about people being stupid. It's about expressing those rights and being allowed that privilege. This is America and we have the right to whine about whatever we feel like. That doesn't mean questioning the current administration is off limits. Asking the president to be held accountable for his actions and decisions is not being unpatriotic. It's enforcing the checks and balances that is obviously not working for the rest of our government.

So many people take the easy way out and use stupidity as an excuse for the state of the nation. It's not about stupidity. It's about a lack of information or a rejection of information that disagrees with something you already decided to agree on. Just because someone doesn't agree with you doesn't mean that they're stupid. But the fact that someone will believe intangibles over evidence and facts... that really starts to make me wonder.

Don't believe the media? Your president would never lie to you? There has been no evidence to show that Hussein had WsMD or attacked us, but believe that it's ok to have gone to war with Iraq even though this war is now based on the fact that Hussein is just an evil person? I understand that we are already at war and that we must finish this war and "win the peace," whatever that means. Maybe it's really a disagreement on whether the ends justify the means.

The way I see it, if this really was a war because someone had the capability to destroy humanity, shouldn't that have been enough to say in the first place? Shouldn't someone have just put that on the table as an option to attack this country rather than basing it on worst case scenario, which has now turned out to be untrue. And yes, I do mean that. It has been shown to be untrue. There is no hidden information. This isn't an issue of maybe the administration has more information that we do. Maybe we don't deserve to have all the information. But the fact that so many people are putting their lives on the line to defend this country, those people should be allowed to know whether they are justified in this fight. Those people shouldn't have to doubt whether they have been sent off for one man's financial gain. And the our leaders... our Senators and Representatives should have that information. The people in these committees to investigate the motives of our administration should be allowed that administration. And yet, still, nothing.

Think you're informed? Why is it that people who disagree with the news simply reject it and no longer believe what they say, rather than arguing with facts and logic about why those points are wrong? Why is it that Fox News (Yeah, that took a lot of restraint to not put that in quotes.) is so appealing to right wing conservatives, while not reporting vital information? Why is it that people who listen to NPR come in at 23% with one misperception or more (Evidence of al-Qaeda Links, WMD Found, World Public Opinion Favorable), while Fox viewers have 80%? (MISPERCEPTIONS, THE MEDIA AND THE IRAQ WAR -- repeat link, but still boggles my mind)

But even with that aside, I know plenty of people who read multiple news sources, but still don't question them. It's nice and all to read things that enforce what you believe and reject other news organizations who say things that are appalling to your core perceptions. But if you can read something that pisses you off and still argue logically, kudos to you. Keep it up. I think this is the main reason so many people can get away with saying people who disagree with them are stupid. No matter which side you're on, there are people who argue with these tactics. A lot of people are stupid. A lot of people have their facts wrong. A lot of people argue by saying, "You're wrong. Stop being stupid." That proves nothing and that is not the way to persuade people and convince them of the error of their ways. If you want to convince someone that they really like red, it's not enough to say that green and blue suck. You have to show them how all the things they knew about blue has been a lie and red has demonstrated X, Y, and Z positive actions.

Kudos to the artist of one of my favorite comics for arguing with this kid: idrawcomics vs. Frisirish_22 I love that most of his arguments end with his just questioning the other person's opinions rather than insulting and belittling them. -e.

Sign seen on election day on my way to work: "Terrorists for Kerry"

At first, I thought it was a joke. Then the scary part was when I realized that it wasn't. Scarier than that, is that there are people who believe it.

The Incredibles

Back to the mainstream movies. Went and watched The Incredibles last night with Aaron, a couple of his friends, and Ian. Very funny! I liked it a lot. Good animation, fun storyline, and lots of humor throughout. It's a little racier than previous Pixar flicks, but it's still PG. And by racier, I mean little kid racy. Kissing in an animated film. *gasp*

Tried out a new sushi place at Fair Oaks Mall with Ian. Not much of a sushi connoisseur, so I may not be the best judge, but I liked it. $14 all you can eat. They had sushi bar, salad bar, noodles, hot dishes, and dessert. Lots of food and plenty to be enjoyed by all. I was surprised at how big the restaurant was, considering it's part of the mall. Very spacious and not much of a wait even during the lunch rush. The service was... not the best, though it might just have been our table or something. The guy seated us and asked what we wanted to drink, then left. Both of us on our second plate of food before someone else comes by to ask if we want anything to drink. She leaves to go get us drinks then someone else comes by to ask if anyone has waited on us. After that we were kept sufficiently hydrated. Odd. The other tables didn't seem to have any trouble with drinks though. Who knows. -j.

P.S. Anyone interested in my political opinions [read: rantings], they are linked under "my stuff" -- enjopine. My mother complained that I was hiding it from her, even though it has been linked there for over 2 months. Sorry it was "hidden." Comments are welcome, ignorance is not. I reserve the right to censor profanity and bigotry.

Go Pennsylvania!

My cousin posted this for a completely different reason for why I'm posting it. But it gives me back a little hope for the Republicans. There's also a call for action in there, so if you're interested, call and support Specter as Chairman. -e.

SENATOR SPECTER WARNS BUSH ON HIGH COURT NOMINATIONS

Senator Arlen Specter, a Republican from Pennsylvania, has warned President Bush not to send to the Senate for a judicial appointment (including the Supreme Court) any nominee who is a strict constructionist (in other words, who is not pro-choice.

Specter implied that he is prepared to filibuster any nominee that he (Specter) considers too conservative.

Specter is the person who killed the nomination of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court and tried to kill the nomination of Clarence Thomas. This is the person Pres. Bush went to Pennsylvania to campaign for. But Specter knows it will be six years before he will be up for re-election and feels free to do as he pleases. He can even spit in the face of the President if he desires. His turning on the President, who helped him get re-elected, shows his character.

READ CLIPS FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ARTICLE BELOW

Under Senate tradition, Specter is scheduled to become Chairman of the Judiciary Committee that handles all judicial appointments. Specter has sent the message that he will join with liberal Democrats to kill any conservative appointments.

TAKE ACTION

If you have a Republican Senator (you may even have two), call them today and tell them not to vote for Senator Specter for Chairman of the Judiciary Committee. The Chairman is chosen by secret ballot by the Republican Caucus which includes all Republican Senators.

Tell your Republican Senator(s) that if Sen. Specter is allowed to serve as Chairman, it will be considered a slap in the face of all the Values Voters who voted for Pres. Bush. And it will be considered a betrayal of trust, in light of the fact that Bush ran opposing Senators blocking his appointments—such as Sen. Specter has promised to do.

You can reach your Republican Senator by calling the Senate switchboard at 202-224-3121. Ask for your Senator by name, or give the operator your zip code. It does no good to call a Democrat senator.


Sincerely,

Don

Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman
American Family Association

P.S. Please forward this email to at least one friend.

By LARA JAKES JORDAN
Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA -- The Republican expected to chair the Senate Judiciary Committee next year bluntly warned newly re-elected President Bush today against putting forth Supreme Court nominees who would seek to overturn abortion rights or are otherwise too conservative to win confirmation.

"When you talk about judges who would change the right of a woman to choose, overturn Roe v. Wade, I think that is unlikely," Specter said, referring to the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion.

"The president is well aware of what happened, when a bunch of his nominees were sent up, with the filibuster," Specter added, referring to Senate Democrats' success over the past four years in blocking the confirmation of many of Bush's conservative judicial picks. "... And I would expect the president to be mindful of the considerations which I am mentioning."

(As Chairman of the Judiciary Committee) Specter, 74, would have broad authority to reshape the nation's highest court (in the new Congress). He would have wide latitude to schedule hearings, call for votes and make the process as easy or as hard as he wants.

Legal scholar Dennis Hutchinson said Specter's message to the White House appears to be "a way of asserting his authority" as he prepares to chair the Judiciary Committee when Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, is term-limited from keeping the post next year.

"A self-proclaimed moderate, he helped kill President Reagan's nomination of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court and of Jeff Sessions to a federal judgeship. Specter called both nominees too extreme on civil rights issues. Sessions later became a Republican senator from Alabama and now sits on the Judiciary Committee with Specter.

Term Limits

The New American - Term Limits Temptation - June 10, 1996:

"Roger Sherman: 'Frequent elections are necessary to preserve the good behavior of rulers. They also tend to give permanency to the Government, by preserving that good behavior, because it ensures their re-election.'"

"For this reason, Americans sincerely concerned about poor representation in Washington should work to increase public understanding, not to limit the voter franchise. Until the understanding is created, the new faces will not provide any better representation than the old ones."
...
"After the unprecedented three-term Franklin Roosevelt Administration, Congress proposed the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, limiting a President to two full terms. The Amendment was ratified by the states and became a part of the Constitution on February 27, 1951. Evaluation of the Presidents who have followed ratification of that amendment reveals that they have been no more competent, no more honorable, and - most important - no more faithful to the Constitution than Presidents who preceded the 22nd Amendment. Mandated term limits have been a resounding failure at the presidential level, and there is no reason to expect greater success at the congressional level. There is simply no substitute for well-informed voters who see through hollow promises and who demand that elected representatives adhere strictly to the Constitution."

A new beginning

My week:
Monday, I caught up on the last couple weeks of Gilmore Girls which I have been behind on. Shocking, I know. Tuesday, hung out at HOY to watch the Daily Show coverage of the election. Then stayed up much too late following the election results. Wednesday went to a potluck at TLD's and ate lots of food. TLD, Ian, my evil twin, and a bunch of TLD's other friends. He left his diagram of conversation starters at work, so we were all left to fend for ourselves while socializing. It was fun though... turns out a lot of people like Boston.

Ok, now time for my rant of the week: People who do not prepare before going to vote.

It should not take anyone 15 minutes to vote once they are in the voting booth. You should not be surprised when the propaganda distributors hand you information on bonds which will be on the ballot. You should know your opinions before getting into the half-hour to 9-hour line to vote. You should know that there will be amendments to be voted on. You should know what the bonds mean. Yeah, they write it in verbose lawyer-speak. That's what legislatures do. They're kinda lawyers like that. No, you may not ask the polling volunteers what the bonds on your ballot mean. No, you may not use a lifeline.

Also, it's a touch screen, not a flight console. Not that complicated. See the option/candidate you want to vote for? Touch it. *Whoa.* A Keanu moment. They have diagrams online. They have a help video (and why anyone would vote for Yogi Bear as a park ranger is beyond me) which I saw loop through twice while I was in line. I can't imagine that this was the part that was slowing people down.

Ok. G'nite all. :) -J.

LOTD: 'Brain' in a dish flies flight simulator

QOTD: "what are you? some kind of candy racist?"

Bush != Hitler

Ok, so I had a revelation earlier in the evening on my way to my parents' house. I knew I would have to go there and hang with my Republican family. I mean, they're not bad people, I just can't understand their perspective at all. And what I really don't understand is how I grew up with my siblings in this very similar environment with the same parents and the exact same schools from kindergarten through college and I turned out like me and they turned out like them. We're just so different.

Anyway, so it's not so much that they're Republicans as they are Bush supporters. So, I have been more of an anti-Bush supporter than I have been a pro-Kerry supporter through all of this, but it has seemed like anyone would be better than what we have now. And when I say Bush, I actually mean the current administration, but it's just so much easier to name just the one person. Anyway, the whole going to war under false pretenses, tax cuts destroying the economy (even after seeing from past administrations that it doesn't work), the Patriot Act infringing on people's rights, not being held accountable for ignoring the reports about Bin Laden attacking, etc., etc. apparently was not enough to convince them that this president is not the one who should be in power. They're all smart people, of course, but I just don't understand how they believe what they do and they have yet to come close to saying something to make me even empathize with their opinions.

This all has nothing to do with my moment of clarity though. So, I was thinking this all through. And I see how dramatically this has affected the people around me, at work and socially. They are devastated. This is the beginning of the end. This is going to lead to religious oppression. We will be stripped of our civil liberties. We will be paying off the national debt for generations to come. So, ok. I concur that this is a bad outcome. This is not what I wanted, nor what many people wanted. But we will survive. Bush is not as bad as Hitler. That is my new mantra. Sure, that's an extreme comparison. The gays are the new jews, but he has no concentration camps. He's not that good a leader. Sure, people fall for his good ol' boy hick thing, but I think there are still enough non-sheep out there to protect the population. So, ok. Bottom line: not as bad as Hitler. Take a look at Germany. They're doing alright these days. The world survived. This will not be the beginning of WW3, as some have suggested. The world will not allow things to get that bad. Even if he turns into a Hussein, there will still be time to flee before it gets too bad. (I've already planned my escape.) I now put my faith in other countries, because well... I have none in this administration. But we will survive.

I was reading a blog a while back and some guy was talking about how he was going to vote for Bush, not because he preferred Bush as president, but because he hoped that this was the worst the Republican party had to offer and he hopes that this second term would get so bad that the two-party system would come out of it in shambles. So, that is the best I can offer as a hope. Total anarchy in 2008! Now, that, I can back. -j.

Red state, Blue state, I hate, you hate.

Another thought: "Hate will drive a lot more people than love will."

Quoted that a few weeks ago. And it was right. More people hate Bush than love him. But even more than that, people hate homosexuals more than people hate Bush. I had no idea. On behalf of my fellow americans, I apologize to the world. I wish I had done more.

Suggestions?

In response to a friend's away message:

Its time to get past being appalled and start addressing the problem. The fact is most of the people who planned on voting for the current administration had significant gaps in knowledge on a variety of important issues. I'm collecting suggestions as to how to fix this problem.

it's not just a gap in people's knowledge though. it has to do with people's priorities. it's sounding more and more like the religious right had such a big effect on this year's election. they were voting
on "morals," which means that they were voting on the gay marriage and abortion issues moreso than the fact that this administration flat out lied to the country about the circumstances of the wars overseas.

people don't care. people don't want facts. they want to believe that the people in power are benevolent and that they wouldn't intentionally lie to us. one of the biggest problems i had with my sister voting for bush was that despite the lack of evidence, she still unquestionably believed that this administration had evidence that average citizens are not privy to regarding the weapons that hussein had and connections between hussein and al qaeda. despite the fact that the media has strongly stated otherwise. despite the fact that the candidates all stated otherwise during the debates. it doesn't matter to them what the facts show. it matters what the politicians say. and the fact that they lie incessantly has no bearing on anything.

so angry. so, i have no idea how to fix things. in bush's acceptance speech he talks about trust and working together and... yet he has done nothing to instill that trust in others. how can these people not see? how do people still not understand??

United States of Canada

No Canada safe haven for Democrats

CNN.com - No Canada safe haven for Democrats - Nov 3, 2004: "Canadian officials made clear on Wednesday that any U.S. citizens so
fed up with Bush that they want to make a fresh start up north would
have to stand in line like any other would-be immigrants -- a wait that
can take up to a year."

So, it looks like my plans to move next year would work out if I start planning now...

Birthday

Happy birthday, Matt! :) -J.

Shock and awe

I am stunned. The ignorance of the people in this country is boundless and that amazes me to no end.

What were you thinking???

I want to move to Canada.

Vote!

Go do the voting thing. Well, actually, get informed. And then go do the voting thing. Depending on where you vote, you might even get a fancy sticker. :) -J.

jobbie job job

anybody looking for web design/IT support work, let me know... might have a hookup.