Monday, November 24, 2008

30 Revolutions of the Earth = Me

The night before my birthday started as most nights do:
Me petting TJ and telling him how pretty he is. 

Later in the evening some friends came over and started pulling canvas off the walls in order to paint me a masterpiece.


After losing mulitple rounds of Bomberman, Wade chipped his tooth on a bottle of Cranberry Alize. 
As Emily tried to take Wade home, I did my best to get in some extra things to tell Wade as he left. These "things" were so important that I neglected foot ware. Bye Wade.

"Birthday Canvas" 
by Wade, Emily, Erin, Erica, Dave, Nicole, Marlene, Lisa, and phallic touch ups from Jake.  

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Happy Birthday, Adam!

Don't get too crazy now...


Have a wonderful, special, and amazing day!

Sunday, November 9, 2008

No, seriously!

From Darkplace Season 1, Episode 3, "Skipper the Eyechild":  Somewhere on the wards of Darkplace Hospital, a man gives birth to a giant eyeball which brings out paternalistic instincts in Dr. Rick Dagless, M.D., still grieving for the loss of his half-human, half-grasshopper son.  But could the eyeball be a potential killer?

This a show that aired in 2004, due only to the "worst artistic drought in broadcast history".

I think a little star-crossed vampire action is perfectly acceptable.  And Book 2, thus far, is a heart-breaker!  

Seriously?

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, Page 197

"I brought the jacket for you. I didn't want you to get sick or something." His voice was guarded. I noticed that he wore no jacket himself, just a light gray knit V-neck shirt with long sleeves. Again, the fabric clung to his perfectly muscled chest. It was a colossal tribute to his face that it kept my eyes away from his body.
"I'm not that delicate," I said, but I pulled the jacket onto my lap, pushing my arms through the too-long sleeves, curious to see if the scent could possibly be as good as I remembered. It was better.


Seriously.

Twilight vs. Darkplace

Nicole is strongly invested into the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. It follows the tension of a young, plucky girl named Bella who falls for bad-boy/vampire Edward. She is solidly on the second book after finishing the first in 3 days. These books speak to the 15 year old girl in all of us.  I have started the first book, but I'm not seeing eye to eye with this Bella character. However, I seem to relate well to the Volvo driving, incredibly handsome, dark, mysterious Edward.  I don't know how that's possible.


Thinking about Twilight reminded me of the series Garth Merenghi's Darkplace, which I was able to find on YouTube. It is a fake-80's series about a doctor who battles the occult. There are not any sexually repressed vampires, but the humor and cleverly written satire is refreshing after reading Twilight. 


Monday, November 3, 2008

Vote! Vote!! Vote!!!

Sure looks like there is room for one more up on that mount...  Perhaps on Washington's shoulder?

This has been a long and exciting election season, and in this household, we are ready for new leadership.  Beyond all the policy debate, beyond the endless cycle of news coverage, and beyond the proposals and promises of change, I am most eager for a new tone in this country.  I have never been a part of something so energizing and hopeful, starting with the individual, and up through the family, neighborhood, community, and nation.  

In February of this year, we arrived early to our primary polling location.  It was the first time I had ever participated in a caucus, and probably the first time I ever attempted to arrive ahead of schedule.  We were worried about turnout.  We had heard that the numbers expected to attend could be higher than anticipated.  We got the last parking spot in an overflowing junior high school lot.  

We were greeted by party regulars, smiling and helpful.  We were directed to our room, where we shared a table with strangers: an older gentleman who welcomed us to the district, a middle-aged man who appeared to have left straight from his job in order to make it to caucus on time, a younger man about our age who was interested to hear about our experiences - everyone eager to participate in the democratic process.  

When it came time to vote, we ran out of paper.  We ran out of pencils.  We ran out of places to sit.  We used scraps of paper to cast our ballots, and no one left the room.  We counted our votes.  We counted them again.  We announced our district's choice for the nomination, a choice that was met with strong applause and a feeling of real accomplishment.  

We stayed late to help clean up.  We offered to volunteer for our candidate.  In the future, we would host a neighborhood party where everyone would gather to meet the candidates, to talk about what was important to our district, and to decide how - working as a community - we could make a difference.

As we left that night, the parking lot began to clear out.  We drove past cars parked along the old highway for over a mile.  It may have been February in Minnesota, cold and dark at best, but we knew that this election was different.  We all showed up to do our part, to participate in something great, to have a chance to vote for change.

We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics who will only grow louder and more dissonant in the weeks to come. We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope. But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope. For when we have faced down impossible odds; when we've been told that we're not ready, or that we shouldn't try, or that we can't, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people. Yes we can.
Barack Obama
Speech following New Hampshire Primary January 8, 2008.