A Hokie in a Strange Land - also known as Charm City

Good Reading: It speaks for itself

2009-09-23T17:27:00.000-04:00

* eptember 23, 2009, 1:45 PM ET

Excerpts of Sarah Palin’s Speech to Investors in Hong Kong

Alex Frangos reports from Hong Kong on Sarah Palin’s speech.

Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee, delivered her first major international speech outside North America Wednesday in Hong Kong at an investor conference. The speech was closed to the media, but The Wall Street Journal reviewed a recording of the event. Here are some excerpts on various topics, from death panels to Chinese human rights.

Sarah Palin, Hong Kong, CLSA Asia Pacific Markets Conference, Sept. 23, 2009 Speech Excerpts

U.S. DOMESTIC POLICY

On Conservatism:

You can call me a common-sense conservative. My approach to the issues facing my country and the world, issues that we’ll discuss today, are rooted in this common-sense conservatism… Common sense conservatism deals with the reality of the world as it is. Complicated and beautiful, tragic and hopeful, we believe in the rights and the responsibilities and the inherent dignity of the individual.

We don’t believe that human nature is perfectible; we’re suspicious of government efforts to fix problems because often what it’s trying to fix is human nature, and that is impossible. It is what it is. But that doesn’t mean that we’re resigned to, well, any negative destiny. Not at all. I believe in striving for the ideal, but in realistic confines of human nature…

On Liberalism:

The opposite of a common-sense conservative is a liberalism that holds that there is no human problem that government can’t fix if only the right people are put in charge. Unfortunately, history and common sense are not on its side. We don’t trust utopian promises; we deal with human nature as it is.

On what caused the financial crisis:

While we might be in the wilderness, conservatives need to defend the free market system and explain what really caused last year’s collapse. According to one version of the story, America’s economic woes were caused by a lack of government intervention and regulation and therefore the only way to fix the problem, because, of course, every problem can be fixed by a politician, is for more bureaucracy to impose itself further, deeper, forcing itself deeper into the private sector.

I think that’s simply wrong. We got into this mess because of government interference in the first place. The mortgage crisis that led to the collapse of the financial market, it was rooted in a good-natured, but wrongheaded, desire to increase home ownership among those who couldn’t yet afford to own a home. In so many cases, politicians on the right and the left, they wanted to take credit for an increase in home ownership among those with lower incomes. But the rules of the marketplace are not adaptable to the mere whims of politicians.

…

Lack of government wasn’t the problem. Government policies were the problem. The marketplace didn’t fail. It became exactly as common sense would expect it to. The government ordered the loosening of lending standards. The Federal Reserve kept interest rates low. The government forced lending institutions to give loans to people who, as I say, couldn’t afford them. Speculators spotted new investment vehicles, jumped on board and rating agencies underestimated risks.

On Milton Friedman:

Now even Milton Friedman, he recognized that the free market is truly free when there is a level playing field for all participants, and good financial regulations aim to provide the transparency that we need to ensure the level playing field does exist, but we need not, we need to make sure that this regulatory reform that we’re talking about is aimed at the problems on Wall Street and won’t attack Main Street.

On the Federal Reserve:

How can we discuss reform without addressing the government policies at the root of the problems? The root of the collapse? And how can we think that setting up the Fed as the monitor of systemic risk in the financial sector will result in meaningful reform? The words “fox” and “hen house” come to mind. The Fed’s decisions helped create the bubble. Look at the root cause of most asset bubbles, and you’ll see the Fed somewhere in the background.

On deficits and Reaganism:

Common sense tells you that when you’re in a hole, you have to stop digging! A common sense conservative looks to history to find solutions to the problems confronting us, and the good news is that history has shown us a way out of this, a way forward from recession. Ronald Reagan, he was faced with an even worse recession, and he showed us how to get out of here.

If you want real job growth, you cut taxes! And you reduce marginal tax rates on all Americans. Cut payroll taxes, eliminate capital gain taxes and slay the death tax, once and for all. Get federal spending under control, and then you step back and you watch the U.S. economy roar back to life. But it takes more courage for a politician to step back and let the free market correct itself than it does to push through panicky solutions or quick fixes…

I can’t wait until we get that Reaganomics sense supplied again because we are going to survive, and we’re going to thrive and expand and roar back to life. And as the world sees this, the world will be a healthier, more secure, safer and more prosperous place when this happens.

On greenhouse gas legislation:

It seems like some are looking to ever more ways that will actually destroy economic opportunities today. Take for example, Washington’s cap-and-trade scheme. I call it the “cap-and-tax” scheme. Right now we have the highest unemployment rate in 25 years, and it’s still rising. And yet some in D.C. are pushing a cap-and-tax bill that could cripple our energy industry or energy market and dramatically increase the rates of the unemployed, and that’s not just in the energy sector.

American jobs in every industry will be threatened by the rising cost of doing business under this cap-and-tax plan. The cost of farming will certainly increase. That’s going to drive up the cost of groceries and drive down farm incomes. The cost of manufacturing, warehousing and transportation will also rise. We are all going to feel the effects. The Americans hardest hit will be those who are already struggling to make ends meet today, much less with this new tax every month…

I am not indifferent to environmental concerns. Far from it. As governor, I created a sub-cabinet to study the impacts of climate change in my state. And I was the first governor to do so. It took us in a new direction…

I’m a supporter of nuclear power and renewables. We can develop these resources without destroying our economy. And we can help the environment and our economy through energy independence.

On health care:

I seem to have acquired notoriety in national debate. And all because of two words: death panels. And it is a serious term. It was intended to sound a warning about the rationing that is sure to follow if big government tries to simultaneously increase health care coverage while also claiming to decrease costs. Government has just got to be honest with the people about this….

As I said, it’s just common sense to realize that government’s attempts to solve large problems like the health-care challenges that we have, more often create new ones, and a top down one size fits all plan will not improve the workings of a nationwide health-care system that accounts for some one-fifth of our economy.

Common sense also tells us that passing a trillion dollar new retirement program, that’s not the way to reduce health-care spending. Real health-care reform is market oriented, patient centered and result driven. It would give all individuals the same tax benefit, that an ideal plan that I would have in mind, same tax benefits as those who get coverage through their employers. And give Medicare recipients vouchers so that they can buy their own coverage. And reform tort laws and change regulations to allow people to buy insurance across state lines. Rather than another top down government plan, we should give Americans themselves control over their own health care with market friendly responsible ideas.

FOREIGN POLICY

On relations with China:

We engage with a hope that Beijing becomes a responsible stakeholder, but we must take steps in the event that it goes in a different direction. See, we all hope to see a China that is stable and peaceful and prosperous. Optimism that yes, it will be.

Asia is at its best when it is not dominated by a single power. In seeking Asia’s continued peace and prosperity, we should seek, as we did in Europe, an Asia whole and free. Free from domination by any one power…

On China’s relations with Taiwan, and other controversial issues:

We simply cannot turn a blind eye to Chinese policies and actions that could undermine international peace and security. Here, China has some one thousand missiles aimed at Taiwan and no serious observer though believes that it poses a serious threat to Beijing. Those same Chinese forces make our friends in Japan and Australia kind of nervous.

China provides support for some of the most questionable regimes, from Sudan to Burma to Zimbabwe. China’s military buildup, it raises concern from Delhi to Tokyo because it’s taking place in the absence of really any discernable threat to it. China, along with Russia, has repeatedly undermined efforts to impose tougher sanctions on Iran for its defiance of the international community in pursuing its nuclear program. And the Chinese food and safety, uh food and product safety record, of course it’s raised alarms from East Asia and Europe to the U.S. and domestic instance of unrest. From the protest of Uighurs and Tibetans to Chinese workers throughout the country rightfully makes a lot of people nervous.

On human rights and democracy in China:

The more politically open and just China is, the more Chinese citizens of every ethnic group will be able to settle disputes in court rather than on the streets. The more open it is, the less we’ll be concerned about its military buildup and its intentions. The more transparent China is, the more likely it is that they will find a true and lasting friendship based on shared values as well as interests. And I’m not talking about a U.S.-led democracy crusade. [We’re] not going to impose our values on other countries. We don’t seek to do that. But the ideas of freedom and liberty and respect for human rights, it’s not just a U.S. idea. They’re very much more than that. They’re enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and many other international covenants and treaties.

On China-U.S. economic relations:

Our economic interdependence drives our relationship with China. I see a future of more trade with China and more American high tech goods in China. But in order for that to happen, we need China to improve its rule of law, and protect our intellectual property. We need to avoid protectionism and China’s flirtation with state assisted national champions. On our part we should be more open to Chinese investment where our national security interests are not threatened. In the end though, our economic relationship will truly thrive when Chinese citizens and foreign corporations can hold the Chinese government accountable when their actions are unjust.

Copyright 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved

WTF??

2009-08-11T07:19:00.000-04:00

I am so sick of hearing about these health care town hall protests. Here's my 2 cents and then I'm done thinking about this topic.

I support free speech. I support the right to protest your government. I support the right of dissenters to be heard.

I do not support the childish behavior that some of these protesters are exhibiting. Since when is it appropriate to scream and yell at someone who is trying to make a point? Since when is it appropriate to interrupt someone who is speaking? This behavior is not tolerated in elementary school and it should not be tolerated at these town hall events.

What happened to civility?

This is embarrassing.

I believe it is a mob mentality at work here. The conservative groups that are providing this mis-information are empowering people to disrupt an otherwise orderly event b/c you can "hide" in a crowd. These folks feel like they don't have to take responsibility for their actions because it is too easy to just yell at the Congressman from the back of the room rather than approach a mic and ask an intelligent question and possibly have to explain yourself and your position to the person you are asking the question to.

It just makes me sick and sad.

Bill Maher has a great article in Huffington Post posted last Friday that pretty much explains why I am embarassed, sick, and sad about the whole thing:

New Rule: Just because a country elects a smart president doesn't make it a smart country. A few weeks ago I was asked by Wolf Blitzer if I thought Sarah Palin could get elected president, and I said I hope not, but I wouldn't put anything past this stupid country. It was amazing - in the minute or so between my calling America stupid and the end of the Cialis commercial, CNN was flooded with furious emails and the twits hit the fan. And you could tell that these people were really mad because they wrote entirely in CAPITAL LETTERS!!! It's how they get the blood circulating when the Cialis wears off. Worst of all, Bill O'Reilly refuted my contention that this is a stupid country by calling me a pinhead, which A) proves my point, and B) is really funny coming from a doody-face like him.

Now, the hate mail all seemed to have a running theme: that I may live in a stupid country, but they lived in the greatest country on earth, and that perhaps I should move to another country, like Somalia. Well, the joke's on them because I happen to have a summer home in Somalia... and no I can't show you an original copy of my birth certificate because Woody Harrelson spilled bong water on it.

And before I go about demonstrating how, sadly, easy it is to prove the dumbness dragging down our country, let me just say that ignorance has life and death consequences. On the eve of the Iraq War, 69% of Americans thought Saddam Hussein was personally involved in 9/11. Four years later, 34% still did. Or take the health care debate we're presently having: members of Congress have recessed now so they can go home and "listen to their constituents." An urge they should resist because their constituents don't know anything. At a recent town-hall meeting in South Carolina, a man stood up and told his Congressman to "keep your government hands off my Medicare," which is kind of like driving cross country to protest highways.

I'm the bad guy for saying it's a stupid country, yet polls show that a majority of Americans cannot name a single branch of government, or explain what the Bill of Rights is. 24% could not name the country America fought in the Revolutionary War. More than two-thirds of Americans don't know what's in Roe v. Wade. Two-thirds don't know what the Food and Drug Administration does. Some of this stuff you should be able to pick up simply by being alive. You know, like the way the Slumdog kid knew about cricket.

Not here. Nearly half of Americans don't know that states have two senators and more than half can't name their congressman. And among Republican governors, only 30% got their wife's name right on the first try.

Sarah Palin says she would never apologize for America. Even though a Gallup poll says 18% of Americans think the sun revolves around the earth. No, they're not stupid. They're interplanetary mavericks. A third of Republicans believe Obama is not a citizen, and a third of Democrats believe that George Bush had prior knowledge of the 9/11 attacks, which is an absurd sentence because it contains the words "Bush" and "knowledge."

People bitch and moan about taxes and spending, but they have no idea what their government spends money on. The average voter thinks foreign aid consumes 24% of our federal budget. It's actually less than 1%. And don't even ask about cabinet members: seven in ten think Napolitano is a kind of three-flavored ice cream. And last election, a full one-third of voters forgot why they were in the booth, handed out their pants, and asked, "Do you have these in a relaxed-fit?"

And I haven't even brought up America's religious beliefs. But here's one fun fact you can take away: did you know only about half of Americans are aware that Judaism is an older religion than Christianity? That's right, half of America looks at books called the Old Testament and the New Testament and cannot figure out which one came first.

And these are the idiots we want to weigh in on the minutia of health care policy? Please, this country is like a college chick after two Long Island Iced Teas: we can be talked into anything, like wars, and we can be talked out of anything, like health care. We should forget town halls, and replace them with study halls. There's a lot of populist anger directed towards Washington, but you know who concerned citizens should be most angry at? Their fellow citizens. "Inside the beltway" thinking may be wrong, but at least it's thinking, which is more than you can say for what's going on outside the beltway.

And if you want to call me an elitist for this, I say thank you. Yes, I want decisions made by an elite group of people who know what they're talking about. That means Obama budget director Peter Orszag, not Sarah Palin.

Which is the way our founding fathers wanted it. James Madison wrote that "pure democracy" doesn't work because "there is nothing to check... an obnoxious individual." Then, in the margins, he doodled a picture of Joe the Plumber.

Until we admit there are things we don't know, we can't even start asking the questions to find out. Until we admit that America can make a mistake, we can't stop the next one. A smart guy named Chesterton once said: "My country, right or wrong is a thing no patriot would ever think of saying... It is like saying 'My mother, drunk or sober.'" To which most Americans would respond: "Are you calling my mother a drunk?"

Bill Maher is the host of HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher," and will be joined on the show tonight by Arianna Huffington. "Real Time" airs fridays on HBO at 10:00PM Eastern Time.

Twitter?

2009-07-14T05:26:00.000-04:00

Ok - so i am a nerd. I was reading a transcript of a WaPo Chat on Lost and the moderator said that she would be Twittering from ComicCon next week during the Lost panel. So... i took the leap and joined Twitter. I have no intention of ever Twittering - I just wanted the ability to follow her. I tried to "follow" her but the software was messed up or something and it didn't work so i need to log back in and try again...

in the two days that i have had my Twitter acct I already have 2 followers. I have never even posted anything... this is interesting. i wonder how many followers I can get without ever Twittering a thing....

Adventures with Craigslist: Part IV

2009-06-22T07:26:00.000-04:00

"The Concert Tickets"

A few months ago we got tickets to the NIN / Jane's Addiction show at Merriweather Post. Last week we heard that the Beastie Boys were playing at Rams Head Live the same night. We took the gamble and were successful in getting Beastie tix even though the show sold out in 8 minutes. (Ticketmaster still sux tho).
As soon as we got the Beastie tix I posted the NIN / Janes tix on Craigslist. I didn't get any hits until Sunday night but that person never wrote me back. I got two more hits last night so I went with the first guy. I called him - we set up to meet at Little Havana later in the evening - and that was that. Ok so far.

So hubby and I meet up with the guy at LH, I gave him the tix and he gave me the money (which I counted there). Thanks, thanks, and the guy was on his way.
So that was easy. But why? Is it easier when dealing with big ticket items or was it this guy didn't have any drama? I'm at a loss to explain... i'd like to conduct more experiments but the rest of the stuff i have to sell isn't really worth much... i'm about ready to toss some of it. I just need to look up when it is "electronic / hazardous waste" disposal day for the city...

ass

2009-06-09T16:20:00.000-04:00

I am blogging from the train with a guys ass totally in my face. Not fun. I really wish I could figure out how to turn the sound off when I take pictures with my bberry.
Too funny - these irritating people just realized they are on the wrong train. Good job losers.

Adventures with Craigslist: Parts I, II, and III

2009-06-08T13:20:00.001-04:00

Prologue:

We have a lot of crap. So much that it is really hard to park in our garage. Ever since we combined households (5 years ago), moved into our new house (3 years ago), and got married (1 year ago) we have so much stuff that we don't use and will likely never need to use again. So what's a person to do? Craigslist of course!

Part I: "The College TV and TV stand"

Hubby purchased this TV in 1996 after moving into a house with a bunch of guys and NO ONE owned a TV. After a few weeks of "getting to know you," board games, and rounds of asshole, he couldn't take it anymore and decided to purchase a TV at Walmart. I was a nice big TV (at the time) and he also bought a Nintendo 64 to go with it. Why not?

This TV made it though college and several moves before ending up in Baltimore. In '02 (i think) hubby decided to purchase one of those fancy flat screen TVs. Although this TV was a flat screen it is also 3 feet thick - a huge TV - and the old TV migrated upstairs and became the bedroom TV (see part II of this story for what happened with the "original" bedroom TV).

On Christmas of 2006 my dad gave us a really nice gift certificate to Best Buy and with that we purchased a new TV for the bedroom. The Walmart TV moved to the guestroom in the new house where it was united with my old TV stand from college that hasn't held up a TV in many years.

After sitting in a room not being used and collecting dust (also not hooked up to cable or DirecTV) we decided to get rid of it last summer.

This was our first experience w/ Craigslist. We posted pics of the TV and stand, all of the relevant info, we still had the original instruction book and remote, etc and we asked for $40.00 for the TV and $15 for the stand. After a few days we got an offer for $50 for both - and they requested that we deliver. I was working in Timonium the next day so I said I could deliver to Owings Mills, no problem.

The next day w/ Hubby's help I loaded the TV and stand into the car and went to work. On my lunch hour I went to deliver the TV.

First of all, the place this family lived was super difficult to find. Of course I google mapped it, etc. but the main road I planned on taking into this neighborhood had a gate across the road. Great. So I had to figure out another way into this neighborhood of apartment buildings and townhouses that ALL look the same. ugh.

I finally find the place and they had to buzz me into the building. I got to their apartment and they showed me where they want the TV. OK.... um... is someone home to help me carry the tv from the car? oh no. Dad is at work and the rest of the extended family that lives in the apartment (2 women, 2 children, and grandpa) couldn't help. really? ok fine.

I went out to the car and carried this super heavy tv into their house. (At least they held the door for me.)

I hooked up the tv to their cable (at least they have cable - see part II) and showed them how to use the remote. Ok works great. Thanks. The entire time I am there they keep asking me why I don't want the TV anymore.

Does it work ok? Yes. Anything wrong with it? No. Then why don't you want it? - It isn't like I can say, "well, I already own 3 tvs and this one has been collecting dust for 2 years and i just don't want it anymore because I can purchase a new tv anytime i want." Geeze. Can I have my $50 bucks so I can get the hell out of this apartment???

After I bring in the TV stand the woman tries to only give me $40 b/c the TV stand is scratched. I told her that the scratches were clearly visible in the pics on the Craigslist ad and that I won't take anything less than $50 otherwise I will carry the TV back to my car. OK she says and gives me the $50. Sweet. I am out of there.

I am barely down the driveway when my cell rings. The sound button on the remote doesn't work. huh? I just checked the damn thing before I left. Damn it! Ok, so I turned around and went back in. The button was just sticky. It worked just fine - you just needed to press really hard to make it work. Again they tried to ask for some of their money back. No way. Once I showed them they just needed to press hard on the button I got the heck out of there and headed back to work.

whew.

Part II: "Grandma's TV"

Hubby's grandmother died in early 2000 and he inherited a small 12 inch TV which became the original bedroom TV. This TV was the bedroom TV until 2002 when hubby purchased the flat screen referenced in Part I.

For the last seven years this TV was brought along on all of our moves but was never hooked up anywhere since we already had more than enough TVs.

Since our last Craigslist adventure was SO successful we decided to finally list a bunch of stuff - an old (and totally unused) Palm Pilot, a diskman w/car adaptor and headphones, an i-river MP3 player w/ headphones, and grandma's old tv for $15. The only hit we got was for the TV. The responder asked if we had an antenna for the tv since they don't have cable. Actually we did have an antenna - an HD antenna - that we didn't need anymore. We said we'll throw in the antenna for an extra $5 - and I volunteered to deliver the TV since I was "working from home" the next day anyway.

The respondent indicated that she only had $18. We said fine. I just wanted to get rid of the thing and we could use the cash to see a movie later that night. So i get to her apartment building - a really fancy building I might add - and she meets me out front. She doesn't want me to bring up the tv to her apartment. She wants me to bring it to the computer lab off of the lobby and plug it in there and hook up the antenna to show her that it works. Really? Ok, if that's what you want. So I hook everything up, turn on the TV and we have snow. Of course we have snow. We are in the basement of a huge apartment building surrounded by computers. uuuggghh.

OK, so I move the antenna around and show her how to get a signal and we sort-of get 3 or 4 channels. I explained to her several times that it will be better in her apartment and oh by the way, i told her that she is going to need cable in an month or a DTV converter box otherwise it won't work (this info was also in the craigslist ad). After 20 minutes! of going over all of this with her - showing her how to use the remote (Apparently she is a Hopkins Grad student from "overseas" and wasn't sure how to operate the thing. great.) she said that since she couldn't get a better picture she only wanted to give me $15 bucks. NO WAY. Look lady - we already came down from $20 to $18 and I delivered it. If you don't want to pay the $18 we settled on then I will take it home. - This was what hubby and i decided. $18 or nothing. - in reality if we didn't get the $18 for it I was going to head straight to goodwill and just donate it. It is the principle of the thing.

So fine - $18 it is. She hands me a wad of $1's which looks like $18 and I leave. I get back to my car (no ticket thank goodness. The woman kept me 10 minutes past my meter) and I counted the money. The woman only gave me $17!!! AAAHHH!!! Geeze - how stingy can you get?? She totally knew that she only gave me $17. It wasn't a mistake. Of course I wasn't going to go back in to get my other dollar - likely she was already upstairs in her apt anyways. Damn. Seriously.

Part III: "the futon"

We have two rooms in our house that we rarely go in. One is the guest bedroom and the other is the "random furniture w/ bookcases" room. This is the room that the Walmart TV and old college TV stand lived in. Also in this room was my futon that I purchased when I got my own apartment in Alexandria after college. The futon hasn't really served any useful purpose for several years but has made all of the previous moves with us... In my effort to eventually turn this "random furniture" room into a study/reading room I decided it was time to get rid of the futon.

I didn't want to deal with haggling over such small amounts of money (like we had to do w/ the TV's) so I decided we would list it for free - as long as the "buyer" picked it up. No delivery this time. We cleaned it up, got all of the cat hair off, took pics and listed it. We got several hits within minutes of posting it. Wow! I wonder if people get notices or something when free stuff gets listed or what. It was super fast. I was kind of surprised at how many people wanted our free futon. One respondent "want to know how much for our stuff?" - um yea. it's free. says so right in the listing in big letters. That guy didn't get it.

We went with the Hopkins student whose boyfriend was going to pick it up later that night. Perfect.

The guy shows up... wait for it.... in a freaking tiny little hatchback civic. Seriously? You do know how big futons are, right? Geeze - nothing is easy around here....

The guy says that actually he only needs the mattress as they already have a frame. Um no. You cannot have only the mattress. Who is going to take a futon frame w/out the mattress? The whole point was to get the entire thing out of the house. AAAAHHH!!!

OK. So the guy says that he will take it but needs to get a different car. So he calls his dad who lives in Columbia and they arrive back at our house around 9 pm. With Hubby's help they get the futon frame and mattress into dad's minivan. Finally - that damn thing is out of the house.

Selling was a hassle 3 of 3 times we tried... These events have made me think...

Are all Craigslist purchasers totally high-maintenance or did we just pick the wrong people to sell our crap to?

Today is June 8, 2009

2009-06-08T12:56:00.000-04:00

Let's see.... what's been going on? Other than my new job and hubby's new job not much actually.

New job is an extention of what I've been doing on the Hill but from a different angle - i'm now a state employee. woo hoo.

It is an interesting switch. I've been thinking like a federal employee for so long that it is hard to turn around and start looking at the world from a state angle. All of a sudden unfunded mandates mean a lot more.

Hillary Clinton Looks Like Tang

2009-04-29T15:01:00.003-04:00

So... did you see Hillary Clinton yesterday at the unveiling of the new Sojourner Truth bust at the Capitol Visitor Center? Horrible. That's all I can say. Apparently she wore the same suit at the Dem convention last August.... Top pic is from yesterday and bottom is from the convention.

Random Stuff

2009-01-09T23:51:00.002-05:00

I know its been a while - blah blah blah

I'm watching HBO. I love "Flight of the Concords." I don't know if other people dig this show or not but they are starting a new season on Sunday. The humor is just so funny. I just find it hilarious. The songs and the dream sequences are awesome.

After FOC is a Chris Rock special filmed in the fall of 2008. Very timely and relevant. He is sooo funny. His stuff about Barack Obama and McCain/Palin is priceless. If you have an opportunity to see this special i highly recommend it. It is called "Kill the Messanger"

My baby - AKA Fatty

2007-03-03T23:52:00.000-05:00

I love my kitty. One thing about cats is that they always love a good sunbeam.

Sometimes it makes me sad to think that i won't have her forever. She is a special kitty. She found me in Blacksburg in December 1998. My friend S and I were having a birthday party (our birthdays are 2 days apart) and since there were a lot of people in the house we had the doors and windows open. The windows in the basement are at ground level, and this kitten kept coming in the house - it was cold outside being december and all...

So i threw her out 2 or 3 times and by the end of the night i had no idea what happened to her. I fell asleep on the couch and when i woke up the next morning she was sleeping on me. I decided right then and there that i had to keep her. She was the prettiest kitten i had ever seen! Over the next few days i looked for signs to see if anyone was looking for her, but i never saw any. So, a little over 8 years later I still have her.

Sometimes she is a bad kitty - she has an issue with cardboard (likes to chew it)... anyways, as you can see from the photo she is sort-of fat, but i love my baby...

welcome back - let's save the world

2007-04-15T11:25:00.000-04:00

the last few weeks have been a little crazy. Had to go to Charleston, SC for work for 5 days. It was pretty cool. I had never been there before so i jumped at the opportunity. I learned about how we are totally destroying the environment and what the good people at NOAA are doing to save the oceans.

While we were tooling around the estuarine reserve I saw alligators and DOLPHINS! How cool is that?!

today: this weather is crazy! It is April 15th and we are expecting a NOR'EASTER to put the smackdown on the East Coast! I feel like we are in the movie "Day After Tomorrow." Soon we will see tornadoes in LA. For as cheezy at is is, i totally love that movie. I watch it all the time when the weather is nasty. it is a good reminder that we need to do more to protect the planet.

I think i am becoming a tree-hugger...

A Tragic Event

2007-04-16T20:17:00.000-04:00

Today is a sad and horrific day for everyone at Virginia Tech, the Tech community and the nation.

i feel sick.

the news is saying this is the deadliest shooting in U.S. history. 33 people are dead and at least 15 people are injured.

it is heart breaking.

i had the best 4 years if my life at VT.

Every person at VT today will NEVER be able to say that. their experience at VT will forever be marred by this horrible event.

It just breaks my heart that VT will always be remembered as the university with the deadliest shooting in history.

i just dont understand how people can do something so horrible. i can't believe it.

of course i couldn't get any work done today - i just watched the news all day. All i wanted to do was go home and be with D and my friends.

it is just so sad.

Concert Review: Chris Cornell

2007-04-26T20:58:00.000-04:00

So I went to see Chris Cornell at Ram's Head Live! two nights ago.... It was OK.

Stage was VERY sparse - i think my boyfriend's band has more stage accessories than CC did last night. CC was pretty good - did a bunch of old Soundgarden songs, some newer Audioslave, a few solo songs from the time in between those bands, and a couple of new songs with his new band.

He introduced the new band a few times - i still have no idea what they are called (they weren't listed on the website or on any promtional materials.)

Typical show - they played for about 2 hours and then went backstage and came back for their first encore. It was at this point that CC started asking the crowd, "what's my name?" - Like 4 times! Hello? um... we know your name - that's why we were there.... it just seemed a little self-centered and rude actually... they played one more song and then left the stage again.

It was at this point that d and i left. Apparently the band came back on stage for a second encore and they played a cover of Michael Jackson's Billie JEan. The Post gave this song a so/so review.

Over all I would have to say that i give the experience a B- for their sparse stage setting, being rude, performing like a really good cover band (not really tight unless they were playing one of their original songs), and not having any girl/woman concert t-shirt options. This grade would have been a "C" but he is still totally HOT for being like 40 years old.

Concert Review: Wierd Al 5/8/07

2007-05-09T20:32:00.000-04:00

OK.... so i've seen a lot of random bands and acts over the years, but i have to say that this one was one of the wierdest (no pun intended. really.) shows I have been to.

First off, i was certainly expecting that at least half of the people at the show would be under the age of 21 and i was right. The other half where their parents and a few randoms like D and I.

Apparently the show had sold out and the line to get in was super long... all the way down the block from the venue. We can only assume this is because it takes a long time to draw big black X's on people's hands before they go into the concert hall.

so, b/c the line was so long to get in, D, N, C, and I went to the bar next door. I grabbed something to eat while they started to get their drink on.

We headed into the club once the show started and there was no line at the door - around 8:45 ish.

The show was a mixture of his classics and new stuff, but in between almost every song he and the band would do a costume change (even the drummer. He must have hated that), so the house was playing clips from "Al TV." Honestly i think the clips from AL TV were more funny and interesting than the songs he was doing.

The venue is really not the best place to see a band - especially if you are short - and the sound really sucked last night. So, again, b/c i am short i really couldn't see much for the first few songs - but after about half way through the show we found a spot at the bar (suprise suprise) and were actually able to see him on stage.

He played a few songs i didn't know, but he also did his parody's of: Smells Like Teen Spirit, Eat It, Gangster's Paradise, the Jedi one (i can't remember), and of course I'm Bad. He actually put on the fat suit for that one. Seeing that made the ticket price worth it.

Also - a side note, apparently the Rams Head was also selling "premium" tickets for 15 bucks more. these tix got you a seat in the riser section on the second floor. CRAP! I hope they don't do this for all of their shows! Usually the riser section is the only place I can go to actually see the band. (this time was different b/c there were so few people drinking that we were able to get that spot at the bar.)

This is discrimination against short people! making us pay more just so we can see the band! I hope this doesn't continue otherwise I will have to find a new place to see bands....

Anyways... it was sort of wierd, but it was fun. Good people watching for sure. I also of course did buy a T-shirt. - I am doing pretty well with my band t-shirt collection but can always use more... I wanted to get one at the Chris Cornell show, but they didn't have any girl styles... beat.

"libarian" vs. "librarian"

2007-08-06T07:57:00.000-04:00

OK - What does this mean and why to people always miss-pronounce this word?

I have a few theories...

One: They do it on purpose b/c they think they are being cute.

Two: Their parents say it incorrectly so they were raised with the incorrect pronunciation and although they know now that they are saying it wrong they really don't care.

Three: They have no clue they are saying it wrong....

No matter what the reason, i can tell you one thing... no matter who you are, it makes the person uttering the word look really stupid.

Back in Blacksburg

2007-09-18T23:54:00.000-04:00

S.O. and I and a few friends from Baltimore went to Blacksburg this past weekend. It was AWESOME! I love the place but I didn't realize how much until I go back. It has been TOO long since i've been in the 'burg. I miss it a lot.

We went back for the class of 97, 98, 99 reunion, but really it was just an easy way to get football tix and a hotel room on campus.

We took off work on Friday and headed down early. It took 6 hours b/c we stopped twice, once for an oil change in Mt. Airy, MD and again in Harrisburg for lunch. The first thing we noticed in Harrisburg - and on the drive down - was that there are many more options for food on the drive down I-83. Now, in addition to the McD's, Wendy's, and Subways, you also have 5 Guys and Chick Fil-A. Sweet. We ate at Chick Fil-A. My "spicey" chicken wrap was OK, but not spicey at all.

We made it to the burg by 3 pm. We checked into the new Alumni hotel and then tooled around town for a few hours. We did a drive-by of the places we used to live - what shitholes - and then we went to the bookstore and spent WAAY too much money on VT stuff. Sweatshirts, T-shirts, Polos, a backpack, and 2 ponchos (it was rainy).

We went to Sharkey's (where everyone planned to meet at 8) for dinner around 6. Sharkey's is now located one spot from where it used to be - now in the old Arnold's location. Sort of weird, b/c I went into Arnolds a total of 2 times in the 4.5 years I was in Blacksburg.

Anyways, we had wings and ribs for dinner - with Miller Lite. Peeps started showing up around 8 and we were there until about 10:30 pm. D mentioned that he used to work there and so we got the employee discount so the tab was $20! Sweet! even if we didn't get the discount it would have been like $35. Way cheap.

We left Sharkey's and went to Champs - upstairs. We "tried" to play some darts and D and I won the first game but failed miserably during the 2nd game. It was at that point we decided to head back to the hotel.

Saturday AM we got up pretty early and made it to campus to our tailgate spot and had a beer in hand by 10AM. The game started at 1:30 pm so we were ready to go! The game was good. We won and that is awesome, but we didn't look great. Taylor looked good and I am excited that he did well, but i just think we still have a ways to go if we are going to win the ACC.

It was sooo exciting to be in the stadium with all of those other Hokie fans! It was a lot of fun!

After the game we headed back to the hotel to ditch the cooler and leftover beer - then we headed back to Main Street. We walked. Good idea.

We went to Sharkey's and stayed there again until about 11 pm. D and I headed back to the hotel but we had to stop at Souvlaki's on the way. THey have the best gyros ever - cheap and tasty. They have always been really good - i just never really thought about it before.

Sunday we got up around 9 and went to breakfast at Boudreaux's. They have awesome gater-bites but it was too early for gater so we had regular breakfast food. Cheap and good.

We made it back to Baltimore around 4ish - a bit later b/c the Ravens game was already on the radio before we got home... not too much later after 4 though.

It was a great weekend and all it did was make me want to go back again soon.

Some day we will end up there again - if D's job goes away or when we retire... we will end up back in the 'burg.

It took me a while to enjoy small-town livin' but once you discover all of the cool things about a place you don't want to leave. We love the City but we love the 'burg too. What we need to do is win the lottery and then we can live in both places.

One other thing I wanted to mention was that on Friday D and I went to visit the VT memorial to the 32 Hokies who were murdered on April 16, 2007. It was quite moving. Walking by all 32 of those stones with the victim's names engraved in each stone really hit me...

so, that's it for now... I miss VT and can't wait to make it back to town.

Why am I up this late?

2007-09-19T00:41:00.000-04:00

you might ask? Well, boss entered himself in a chili cook-off and no one else in the office stepped up to the plate so I am up at 1am waiting for my chili to cool a bit before I put it in the required 1 gallon glass jar.

The event is tomorrow so I'll let you know how it goes. I am competing against chili purests from Texas and the mid-west where apparently there is an on-going debate about kidney vs. pinto beans, ground beef vs. steak, veggies vs. no veggies... hmmm.... this is going to be interesting. I am going to call our submission "D's Chili" or "Maryland Chili" and be done with it. I know some of the judges won't like it b/c of the kidney beans, ground beef, hot sausage (i think that the sausage will blow their minds! whoever heard of sausage in chili?), and many many veggies... yum!

Chili Cook-Off Results

2007-09-22T00:45:00.000-04:00

Well.... we got 2nd place! (out of 10 contestants) That is pretty cool. A guy from FL got first and a guy from MO got 3rd. Not bad for my first time competiting in a food competition. We are going to have to enter again next year. The guy who won - his chili was a lot like mine but less watery. I knew mine was too watery but i initially didn't make enough so i had to improvise at the last minute and i added to much water to increase my volume. Lesson learned. I won't make the same mistake next year - assuming i get to make the chili again.

Here is a pic of my prize. Boss gave the real prize to his wife. I should have expected that.

2:20:15

2007-10-13T13:28:00.000-04:00

Yea! I did it! I ran the entire time (with a few stops for water and gateraid)! It was pretty hard. I didn't really train on any hills or on the street too often so getting used to that was hard.

My friend N finished a few minutes ahead of me. My joints are killing me but it was totally worth it! 2:20:15 A pace of 10:44 / mile. A lot better than i was expecting to do. I am definately going to do it again next year!

Getting ready for Halloween

2007-10-28T22:34:00.000-04:00

S.O. and I carved our pumpkins and made Halloween cookies today.

We realized that this is the only holiday that we look forward to and actively participate in.

odd. anyways, check out our carvings!

Dog Walking

2007-11-04T20:14:00.000-05:00

Fun Times!

Attack of the killer pumpkins!!!!

2007-11-04T23:40:00.000-05:00

Starring S.O. and Sadie - The pumpkins attacked and Sadie was there to protect the love of my life! Thank you Sadie!

We Are.... Virginia Tech!

2007-11-17T22:37:00.000-05:00

The "Hokies Thank the World" event brought together thousands of Hokies on the Virginia Tech Drillfield to spell out a message of thanks to the world in recognition of the global outpouring of support and love for the Virginia Tech community following the events of April 16. The message of thanks was recorded by ground, aerial, and satellite imagery and will be shared with the world for free through www.HokiesThankTheWorld.org. The event took place on November 17, 2007 beginning at 10:35am and ending at approximately 11:12am on the Virginia Tech Drillfield in Blacksburg, Virginia. check it: www.hokiesthanktheworld.org

by the way - VT kicked the crap out of Miami tonight - 44 to 14. We still need to beat UVA next weekend if we are going to play in the ACC Championship.

The Wedding Biz: A Complete Scam or A Complete Sham - You Be The Judge!

2007-11-21T05:02:00.000-05:00

FIRST - WTF? What in the heck is this ridiculous thing? A pink flask - this is marketed as a bridesmaid gift (can be personalized). AAAHHH!! This is what's wrong with the wedding industry. Slap the color pink on it and the word "wedding" and you are good to go! you can sell anything this way...

I digress....

S.O. and I have been planning the wedding in earnest over the last few months and let me tell you... it has been a very eye-opening endeavor.

Add the word "wedding" to any product and immediately add 25 - 50% to the price of whatever it is you need to buy: party invitations or wedding invitations; party DJ or wedding DJ; photographer or wedding photographer. Ridiculous.

I've been trying to be as low maintenance as possible through this whole process and I've been trying to do this "my way." Which is to say - carefully, logical, and thorough. Unfortunately the wedding business is not set up this way - I am being thwarted at every turn in my efforts.

Wanting to do this "my way" or be an "unconventional bride" is quite difficult.

The industry conspires against you the moment you say "yes." I tried from the beginning to avoid BRIDAL SHOWS but was unsuccessful. We needed a florist, photographer, and DJ and thought that "wouldn't it be a great idea to go to the bridal show and kill three birds with one stone in one afternoon."

S.O. and I were able to pick a location and a caterer on our own and thought we were doing pretty well without delving into the seedy underworld of BRIDAL SHOWS but we took a chance.
OH MY GOD! From the moment we walked in to the moment we were able to escape it was the most horrifying moment of my life.

As soon as you walk in the door you have to check in at the front desk - this involves filling out a form with all of your contact information and some really fine print that i should have read. (i now get at least 3 fliers A DAY in the mail trying to sell me wedding crap.) Next you are assigned a number and you get a sheet of paper with your number printed on it 100 times. What you are supposed to do is then for every vendor you visit you put your number in a little box and at the end of the day (5 pm - must be present to win) each vendor chooses a number and that person wins a prize! Yea! AAAAHHHH - the first thing i did was throw my numbers away. While we were there looking for a florist, DJ, and photographer - it seemed like all of the other brides (most of whom were about 5 - 10 years younger than me), moms, and girlfriends were there for EVERYTHING. Caterers, Cakes, Jewelry, Dresses, etc. They even had department stores getting people to register for gifts and banks to help people sign up for mortgages. Thank god we were late and "missed" the wedding dress fashion show.

S.O. was one of about 10 males in the place that wasn't a vendor. It was quite a painful afternoon. We left with a bag full of fliers and other crap that got thrown away as soon as we got home.

Through this process I have learned that the entire wedding industry is based on the following assumptions: (this list is in no way complete)

1. the average age of a new bride is 23.

2. the engaged woman has been "dreaming" about this "special day" since she was 10 and knows exactly what she wants.

3. the traditional rules still apply and that the bride's family will pay for almost everything and therefore it is OK to have ridiculously inflated prices

4. That women become retarded as soon as we get an engagement ring on our finger and lose all rational thought

5. That every wedding couple wants the standard wedding format complete with a "tossing bouquet" and a DJ with props

6. That the groom has no opinion on anything and whose only role is to show up

I understand that assumptions are necessary if you want to serve the greatest number of people - the problem with these assumptions is that the industry is ignoring a certain part of the population and their inflexibility makes doing this any way other than the "standard way" quite difficult.

First of all, I am a 30 year old bride who HAS NOT been dreaming about this day since i was 10. When I was 10 I was imagining that I would be the first woman astronaut on Mars and that I would have a really cool job and make lots of money. I can honestly say that I don't remember EVER imagining what my wedding would be like (i did assume that i would get married however.)

Second, I am a 30 year old bride who will be paying for ALL of this herself (along with her spouse.) No parental help here. It would be nice if people in this business didn't assume that my parents are paying for ANYTHING let alone ALL of it.

Third, because there is no financial assistance from the parents I am certainly going to make rational decisions about what I am going to spend my money on. Sure a $2000 wedding dress is nice - but so is a $800 dress, etc, etc, etc.

Fourth, In this partnership the groom is as involved in the decision making as the bride is so please AT LEAST acknowledge his presence in the room when we are having a conversation about flowers, music, etc.

.... So.... fast forward a few months... it is now mid/late November and the horrific experience of the bridal show has finally stopped haunting me. We still need a DJ and florist. We have interviewed 4 florists and received a proposal from one - should get two more soon and another one by the end of next week. We are pretty good on the florist front.

We have interviewed two DJs and decided that we need to meet with at least one more to feel like we have a good idea about the range of prices and types of DJs. Having forgotten the bridal show expierence a few months ago we decide that it would be a good idea to go to a "wine and cheese" showcase event at Martin's West and meet another DJ and their company.

The company hosting the event, "The Pros," are a "full service" wedding vendor. They have DJs, videographers, and photographers.

The event was last night - 2 days before Thanksgiving. The event start time was 6:45 - we got there around 6:55. The "Pros" were not there and were stuck in traffic. Lovely. They were coming from PA (where their corporate HQ is) and there was an accident on 95 S. So much for "Pros". We got some cheese and a glass of crappy merlot and wandered around the room looking at photo albums of people who probaly have no idea that their wedding is being used to sell a product.

Around 7:30 they announce that the "program" will being in about 5 minutes. OK great. If they didn't start by 7:45 we were outta there. The program started at 7:35 with a really crappy "stand-up" introduction by the Baltimore/Washington, DC manager. He sucked. He tried to be funny. It was starting to get uncomfortable.

After a few minutes of wedding jokes about how grooms are stupid, and moms getting emotional, and how there always someone at the reception who drinks too much, the guy introduces the head douche-bag in charge of operations - head sales schmuck. This guy's job is to tell us about the different services they provide and why their company is better than the other guys. EVERYTHING that came out of this guy's mouth was a sales pitch designed to sound like a sappy story that would (hopefully for them) make you realize that you ABSOLUTELY had to have a videographer and that without a video your kids and grandkids will hate you for it.

I really needed a drink but the wine was so crappy that it wasn't worth getting up.

When this guy was done he passed the mic back to the manager who proceeded to introduce the 6 DJs that were there. Apparently the company has 30 local DJs but only 6 were able to come to the showcase.

After the first DJ was introduced they each introduced the next DJ - i think this part was supposed to show us a how each DJ spoke and sounded. 4 of the 6 were total mush mouths and had to read the introduction of the next DJ from a card. Not a good first impression.

After all of the DJs were introduced the manager started to play some music and they (the DJs) started to do the Electric Slide - to music that WASN'T the Electric Slide song. They did that for a minute and then started to pass out leis in the audience. This was one of the little things they did during receptions to get the guests involved.

Guests are supposed to pass the leis around and when the music stops whoever has one gets a prize. yea. So we pass the leis around and at this point the evening went from "uncomfortable" to "really bad".

So they stop and start the music a few times and of course there is no "real" prize - they just tell a stupid joke... Then the last time the music stops they said whoever has the leis really DOES get a prize - they "get" to go up on the dance floor and be their "party people" for the next few songs. AAAAHHHH!!!! Thank GOD neither of us had a lei. It was at that moment that the evening went from "really bad" straight though "god awful" and directly to "Most Horrifying Event - Worst Than The Bridal Show."

We took that moment as an opportunity for escape. We got up and left. We couldn't have gotten out of there fast enough. We hopped in the car and drove away as fast as we could. We couldn't shake the stink off. It was just too disgusting and weird.

After thinking about it for a minute i realized that the "showcase" was not the right sales pitch for us. Maybe that is the best way to sell your product to those people who fit the basic assumptions about people who are getting married - but it DEFINATELY was not the best way to sell your product to us. I am still traumatized. And we still need a DJ....

PS: take a look at the Comments Section. Pretty funny given what i just wrote about the industry. Does this guy really want me as a customer???

It's Cold Outside!!!

2007-12-06T07:49:00.000-05:00

Waiting for the train in 20 degree weather. Fun Times.