100 things

I stole this from Michele, who stole it from someone else, who stole it from someone else. Please feel free to steal it from me. The things I have NOT done are in blue. Those I've done are off-white.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disney World
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Shot a gun
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book (does a master's thesis count?)
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Totally copied a post from someone else's blog to your own

So, what have you done?

vegetarians beware

I have a feeling this NYT article was written simply as an excuse to do this. It's almost hypnotically gluttonous.* How can you not have a panoramic view of this steak warehouse? You have to. You have all this wonderfully fattening, expensive, and tasty meat. You have to create an interactive feature so people can feel like they're there. I just hope they at least considered adding a scratch and sniff sticker to the print copies.

*fun name for a band.

last note about giving the automakers money

from the super funny (and snarky) Wonkette blog. a post on Bush holding a press conference to explain approving the bridge loan:

So let’s see what our bold and fearless leader has to say about resurrecting an industry singlehandedly brought down by the famously corrupt United Auto Workers, who keep promoting this Socialist idea that people should receive “money” in exchange for their “labor.”

two more points, and i'm done with this issue...

1. no one seemed to care how much employees at financial institutions receive in compensation and health care benefits. semi-shocking esp. given that at most of these places, labor costs account for 60-70% of their operating costs (vs. 10% at gm, ford, chrysler)
2. no one seemed to care if the executive pay at the us automakers was in line with their foreign competitors. (it's not).

both of these double standards are troubling and i find it tough to ignore and not question.

the dialogue that gets ignored

insight into what the collapse of the automobile industry would mean for the humans impacted by this.

i know it shouldn't, but it still stuns me how the media and their invited pundits get away with murder when talking about such a fundamental issue.

worth watching if you're interested in more than talking points and if you want to know what job banks really are (and where they started) and the bs behind $73/hour.

imh (and admittedly biased) o, it's hard not to be moved by these guys.



ps i wish every state could have a senator like jim webb.

the first one. whatever the question was in the beginning

too freaking funny...


In The Know: Situation In Nigeria Seems Pretty Complex

does this remind anyone else of grad school seminars?

breaking news headline courtesy of the nyt

Uninsured Put a Strain on Hospitals

By REED ABELSON 44 minutes ago

we've just confirmed this piece of information 44 min. ago. tell all your friends.

mika- life in cartoon motion

grace kelly



lollipop



my interpretation



love today



relax, take it easy



happy ending

cute vid from slate

just give them the money

it's not the big three's fault that you, congress, casually dished out $700 billion to wall street without even a fraction of the scrutiny you're giving to chrysler, ford, and gm in a silly show of new found concern about taxpayers' money.

no one's buying cars right now- foreign hybrids or gas guzzling F-150s. people don't have jobs. many don't have homes.

i hope the country holds congress accountable if they allow this industry and all of its related small, medium and large businesses to collapse. i hope we remember who voted against this when thousands of workers, retirees and their families lose their health care and pensions.

it seems a little crazy that part of congress's prosecution is about health care liabilities. these companies and uaw are being questioned and punished for giving their workers health insurance? yeah, their production costs are going to be a little higher when they are competing against countries where health care is considered a right for its citizens.

these hearings make me sick.

walri and hugs

seriously, Obama?

the day after the GA senate runoff, you have your folks send an email requesting a $15 donation in exchange for a holiday mug. seriously?

it's a nice mug. but a message that the 59th or 60th democratic senate seat is worth fighting for would have been better. could we not have sent an email asking 13 million of your supporters to donate $15 to martin's campaign? that wouldn't have been more worthy of an email blast? seriously?

granted, martin probably would have lost anyways. but he probably wouldn't have lost by 17 points. you're the leader of the party now and you literally phoned in your help to the campaign. not a very good example. seriously.

gotta love Kaine

From Politico.com

VP-elect gives shout-out to Palin

By BEN SMITH

Jonathan Martin, now blogless, emails the classic contrast between Joe Biden's prepared remarks today and what he actually said,

As prepared: "And Governor Palin, your being here today sends a powerful message that when campaigns end, we are all partners in progress. Thank you."

As delivered: “And Governor Palin, I want to thank you particularly. I might point out, as I told you, we walked in. Since the race is over, no one pays attention to me at all. So I'm -- maybe you will walk outside with me or something later and say hello to me," prompting laughs from all, but an especially loud one from Tim Kaine.

mn senate challenged ballots

democracy in all its bizaare wonderfulness. a few examples. just fascinating...

Ballot #1: The Arrow

The Coleman campaign challenged this ballot in Anoka county, arguing the voter drew an arrow pointing at Coleman's name after filling in the bubble next to Franken's name. (MPR Photo/Curtis Gilbert)

Ballot #6: The Checkmark

This Olmsted County voter placed a checkmark next to Al Franken's name and also circled one of the guide marks for the optical scanner. The Coleman campaign challenged the voter's intent. (MPR Photo/Sea Stachura)

security

i'm fascinated by the sheer amount of security given to presidential candidates. few things demonstrate the importance of these people more than the secret service operation around them.

i think a lot of people fear for barack's safety and more than once (including this night) did the thought cross my mind that someone might try to kill him and what that would mean for the country.

i liked this photo because it seemed to symbolize that his security often does take precedence over everyone's hopes about what he'll be able to do in office.

top chef

loving this season. i'm not sure if any season will top the one with marcel, elia, sam, and ilan but i'm very pumped about this one. i love the diversity of this crew. i'm confident the europeans will mix things up nicely and i just love the fact that they're in nyc and that the city is like an extra character.

my early fave: daniel- the long island guy with weird facial hair. he has spunk and seems very attached to ny which makes him more interesting.

i love that eugene's name is eugene.

jeff is absurdly attractive. he'll stay on for a while. as long as he frantically races around the kitchen from time to time, i hope he's one of the finalists.

ariana should be gone.

can't wait until they start doing some team competitions and start having some really hard challenges (ala, make a food based around a color or cook breakfast on a beach).

yay for next week's ep with the foo fighters. can't wait.

awesome headline: obama surprises biden with cupcakes

From AP

WASHINGTON — What does an accomplished man of the world get for his 66th birthday?

Well, President-elect Barack Obama already gave Joe Biden the vice presidency. So, for his birthday, Obama gave Biden two ball caps and a rendition of the birthday song.

Biden's birthday is Thursday, but Obama surprised his No. 2 after their weekly lunch Wednesday at the transition office in Chicago. According to staff, Obama presented Biden _ a Delaware senator with decades of foreign policy experience _ with a dozen cupcakes decorated with candles and teased, "You're 12 years old!"

Staff reported that Biden, ever astute in the art of politics, laughed at the his boss's joke. He responded: "Maybe in dog years!"

Obama led the rest of the staff in song, then handed over some Chicago-themed gifts: a White Sox cap, a Bears cap and a bucket of Garrett's popcorn, a hometown favorite.

cream of lead-based anti freeze

oh I love Stephen Colbert. Just so clever and silly and witty and satirical on so many levels. Love him...

I.O.U.S.A

Pretty interesting movie on the national debt.

dancing with the stars predictions

Just started watching this show the last two weeks. I think Lance and Brooke will make it to the finals and that Lance will ultimately win the "shiniest trophy of the year"- I'm new to this show, like I said, but what on earth? How shiny is this trophy?

obama

I still find it hard to put into words what the election of Obama means to me. I had the opportunity to work on his election in my home state and work with one of the groups that helped turn Virginia blue for the first time in 44 years. My job description was basically "cover the labor movement's involvement in this election." I got to interview dozens and dozens of labor leaders and union members, some politicians, record some of the best speeches I've ever heard, go to a few great events and was basically given the chance to feel incredibly close to the process. Now I'm still trying to process it all.

I've read and watched a ton of stuff from others who are trying to make sense of this election. It seems most are trying to divide up the country into demos that clearly were united in their support of Barack Obama.

I'm too young to remember any of the Kennedys but their mythology formed a fundamental piece of my political ideals. Max Kennedy's speech (below) and the footage of RFK along side footage of Obama cements the connection between the two legacies that many see.



I think the speech also gives credence to all the people who were involved in this election. The media is trying to undermine that by focusing on the campaigns that each candidate ran in the media. The Obama campaign, of course, was remarkable. But I think Obama got it right in his convention speech, "something is stirring in America." Obama's campaign was able to bring in those millions of people who were stirring and starving to take ownership of their country and feel like they could get involved to create change.

a few thoughts on blackberrys*:

1) *is the plural for blackberry- blackberries? or blackberrys?

2) in a sick way, one of the things I miss most about the crazy election season is the near constant blinking from the red indicator light notifying me of calls and emails I had missed.

3) in a sick way, i felt a bizarre connection to president-elect obama (can we decide to abbreviate that as peo?) I just did...anyways, so in one of the obama videos they show him with his blackberry and he has an older model (like mine) with a trackwheel rather than the newer pearl model (like everyone else I met) that has a trackball. i'm not ashamed to say, i was pretty pumped when I saw that.

4) Interesting article about Obama perhaps having to give up his blackberry all together once he transitions from peo to potusbo. (not sure if that abbreviation will hold).

5) So is the blackberry storm all that and a bag of chips?

quote city: palin edition

From Dick Cavett's NYT piece "The Wild Wordsmith of Wasilla"

I read this article a few days ago and found it a bit mean spirited. Not that Sarah "Obama pals around with terrorists" Palin doesn't deserve it, she does. But we won. And we won handily. Not sure if it's worthwhile to continue to wonder what her fervent supporters see in her. They are obviously few and far between. Pointing out this gem from Sarah, however, was worthwhile,

My concern has been the atrocities there in Darfur and the relevance to me with that issue as we spoke about Africa and some of the countries there that were kind of the people succumbing to the dictators and the corruption of some collapsed governments on the continent, the relevance was Alaska’s investment in Darfur with some of our permanent fund dollars.

in the know

Also In The Know: The Washington Post magazine profiled The Onion this week.

why

I decided to start this blog simply because there are a lot of times when I just want to write. And what better outlet for such activity than a blog. I've spent the last 4 months blogging and writing as part of my job but because it was a job with a specific purpose, I was constrained in terms of what I wrote.

Also, I was inspired by my friend Sean who started a blog. And my friend Michele who uses her blog to supply her mom and dad with a steady stream of photos of their grandchildren.

So yeah, I'm going to see how this goes.