Sunday, August 27, 2006

late evening

Idiot of the Day - The Archbishop of Canterbury

The archbishop of Canterbury has told homosexuals that they need to change their behaviour if they are to be welcomed into the church, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal.

Seriously, take a look at this dandy.  At least Dumbledore is fictional, but this guy is trying to tell people they need to be straight to be welcomed into his church.  Makes me giggle, it does.  Plus, you’d think they’d want to work out that little pedophile problem they have before they worry about what consenting adults do.  I honestly don’t understand why anyone, much less gay people, want to be a part of any church, but if they do, I don’t think a man wearing something that belongs on a float in a Gay Pride parade should be telling them they can’t. 

Saturday, August 26, 2006

late evening

More, Now, Again - Book Crack

More, Now, Again: A Memoir of Addiction by Elizabeth Wurtzel of Prozac Nation fame is a fascinating book.  It starts out as story about her addiction to Ritalin.  She snorted up an ungodly amount, more than you or I could even fathom having in our possession, much less putting up our nose.  It spiraled into a terrible cocaine addiction.  In the beginning, reading it was like being on speed yourself, which is a feeling I hate.  I drink decaf partially for that reason.  The story is your average addiction story and because the book was published, you know it should end well.  There are some surprises sprinkled throughout to keep you hooked, but for the most part it’s fairly predictable.  However, what I love is her writing, her arcane knowledge, her amazing vocabulary (keep a dictionary nearby), and her ability to know when she’s being annoying.  It was like book crack, and I couldn’t put it down for long.  I know this doesn’t sound like a glowing review, but it is.  She just writes so damned well and I was never bored.  I was envious of her talent and annoyed that she was wasting it by doing drugs, but you want to put your arms around her and save her from herself.  She’s lucky she’s so likeable - I think it ended up saving her life.  Her friends by all rights should’ve given up on someone who treated them so poorly.  I was wondering what she was up to nowadays and Wikipedia says she started Yale law school in 2005.  Oh goodie, a new book.  I wonder if she really wants to be a lawyer or was bored and looking for new material for a book.

Thursday, August 24, 2006

late evening

You’ve Just Stolen $2.3 Million, What Will You Do With It?

I’m going to pay off all of our bills and our house, then invest the rest.  What did Annie Donnelly do with it?  I’ll bet the answer will surprise you.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A woman stole $2.3 million from her employers and spent the money on lottery tickets, buying as much as $6,000 worth of tickets a day in a bid to hit the jackpot, prosecutors said on Thursday.

YES, she bought six thousand scratchers a day.  To win money.  Uh, hello, she HAD the money!  She stole way more money than she’d ever be able to win with a scratch-off ticket.  I mean, geez, she wasn’t even buying Powerball tickets.  She was buying cheapo labor-intensive scratch off tickets.  What the hell kind of crazy addiction is that?  I understand drug addiction, alcohol, shoplifting, cutting, OCD, etc.  I don’t understand spending MORE money to get LESS money and having to work really hard to do so.  Seriously, if you want to gamble, just gamble.  Play blackjack or craps, or if you want terrible odds, play keno.  Even play boring slots.  But scratchers?  It’s mind-boggling.  Also, imagine how embarassing that’s going to be when her cellmate asks what she’s in for.

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

evening

Department of Homeland Bureaucracy

We’re exhausted and need to go to bed, even though we had a really long nap this afternoon.  Haha, this afternoon - we were up so early, we started our nap this morning.  This morning was complicated, so I’ll let Leigh-Ann tell the story.  I’m such a blog entry cheaterhead.

Since Leigh-Ann pretty much summed everything up, the only things I wanted to add were 1) when we walked into the office, there were several women already there, awaiting their hearings.  They honestly looked like exotic Miss Universe pageant entrants.  Gorgeous Indian and African women - it was quite a surprise at a boring mundane government office.  It got quite a bit more average as we waited there a while, but still, it was a lovely sight for 7:10am.  So, thank you, lovely ladies of the world.; and 2) The Bellagio breakfast buffet was just as tasty as Mudpuppy describes.  Fabulous breakfast choices - fresh berries, yummy watermelon & cantelope, lox, Eggs Florentine (in hindsight, I should’ve had the Eggs Benedict, but the Florentine was still good), scrambled eggs, a teeny piece of sirloin, a blueberry scone, good coffee, etc.  It was truly one of the best breakfasts of my life.  It was a nice way to end what was a bit of a disappointing morning.  Yes, some of the outcome was good, but there are too many things left up to what seems like government chance, and it seems scary.  I guess we’ll know better what to expect in October, but people who think that “illegals” should just fill out their paperwork to come in legally have clearly never encountered the system up close in recent years.  It was nice having Leigh-Ann’s attorney there.  I was a bit apprehensive picking up from his hotel, but felt comfortable with him immediately when he got into the car.  What a nice and friendly man, with excellent stories to tell.  In fact, there may be a possibility that his father and my father may have met sometime during their aerospace careers.  It truly is a small world.  I wish it ran better.

Sunday, August 20, 2006

lunch time

Fantasy Football - Sign Up For Our League

Even if you’ve never really gotten into football, fantasy football is FUN.  Seriously.  This will be our third season and we love it.  In general, you only have to set up your team once a week because the games are only on Sundays, plus the one Monday Night Football game....except for Thanksgiving and Xmas or New Year’s weeks or something like that.  Although, if you don’t like sports at all, you won’t like it.  If you do, try it.  We’ll help through the early confusing parts.  The draft is Sat Sep 2 3:30pm PDT - you can pre-rank your players (or not) and the computer will draft for you, so you don’t have to be at the draft.  It will draft basically in the order of best to worst players, although after the draft you’ll probably have to do some rearranging because some of the guys are injured...or smoked pot and are suspended, or went to play in the CFL and broke their arm.  Oh yeah, you’ll need a Yahoo id; i.e., a Yahoo email address.  I don’t need to know you well for you to play in our league, just know who you are or be able to see your blog, if you have one.

Sign Up!

In order to join the league, follow the link above or go to game front page, click the “Sign Up Now” or “Get Another Team” button and follow the links to “Join a Custom League”. When prompted, enter the League ID# and password below.

League ID#: 27506
Password: FF2006