This'll be the last time I ever do your hair

New header on the blog. It's not very good quality, it's from my cell phone camera. Someday I'll get shiny things.

It's almost impossible to be in a bad mood on Wednesdays. Even if CPAC is in town!!!! Also, check out these crazies.

Here's the whole picture.

The ceiling of the Great Hall in Union Station.

So many attractive ladies, so little time.

Game On

Ok, despite all the fun I've had watching Gov. Palin on SNL, and laughing at how ridiculous her silly Midwest+Alaska=Palin accent is, it's pretty apparent to me how terrifying she is as a politician. This morning on the train I was reading Washington Post's Express, to which I'm now nearly-certifiably addicted.

Page one: Picture of Tina Fey, and huge voter turnout in Florida! This page makes me happy.

Page two: Funny story about a cat show. I'm a crazy cat lady, this makes me happy.

Page three: Headline about how Sen. Obama keeps 9 point lead over Sen. McCain, and another story about how Sen. Biden's health records show he's in excellent shape. Needless to say, another happy page.

Page four: the following headline -- "PALIN: BAN GAY MARRIAGE"

Anger anger anger anger anger! I actually think I growled at the newspaper. I read the article with a scowl on my face, and it didn't ever quite leave me, even after Pearls Before Swine brought a killer whale onto their baseball team on the second-to-last page.

Here's a version of the full article from the Associated Press. It makes me sad and angry. Just like Sen. McCain said at the last debate. The American people are angry, I'm angry, the American people are angry, blah blah, something like that. I think we're supposedly angry about the economy?
If the American people are angry, it's for the wrong reasons. We should be angry because people like Gov. Palin are in contention for positions of very serious power. We should be angry that people who promote marriage between teenagers simply because they don't know how to use birth control, but believe that two happy, consenting adults shouldn't have the same right as those punk idiot teenagers have the power to influence any law anywhere, even if only in one state. But the whole country!!

We can't just sit back and let that happen. Game on.

Clearly, our current president is of the same persuasion. However, he hasn't done anything about it. I most certainly believe that it would be one of the first things on her agenda, no matter where she may be on Pennsylvania Avenue, whether it be in the White House or the EEOB next door.

To help soothe my angry angry brain right now, I have a delicious lunch. Grilled chicken with tomato, basil, and melted mozzarella. Baby carrots. Chicken noodle soup with veggies (including garbanzo beans!!). A piece of whole wheat bread. A cup of deliciously cold water. AND. Oregon Chai. yum yum.

Obviously this hearty lunch serves to nourish me for the next two weeks. It's going to be rough and it's going to be awesome.

Game. On.

Two Weeks Out

THIS IS PERHAPS THE MOST HILARIOUS THING I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY ENTIRE LIFE




SUPER awesome. She just shouldn't be President, or even Veep. Gov. Palin, that is. On the other hand, OBAMA/FEY 2012!!!!

Update:

Here's the Weekend Update Palin Rap, which makes me love Amy Poehler just a little bit more. Oh wait, a lot more.





Gosh I sure do hope she doesn't become vice president. [/strange midwestern twang]

I'll update on the movie "W" later.

Life on Mars

A couple people sent that to me today, and I had been looking for it since I saw it in someone's GMail Chat status last week.

Lindsey sent me the link to this, which is Wolf Blitzer laughing at Saturday Night Live's genius spoof sketch of Katie Couric interviewing Gov. Palin, which is really verbatim from the real interview. I suppose Blitzer's reaction is somewhat similar to mine when I saw that Tina Fey's jokes were actually Palin's real words, except that my face was plastered with a look of horror, more than amusement.



And here we have a picture of my kittens.

Ok Zoe looks a little wall-eyed but she really isn't.

Happy debate watching tomorrow!

Constituency of One

Newsweek blog about accusations that Sen. Obama is all talk and no walk, and what Sen. McCain's campaign actually is.

http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/stumper/archive/2008/09/17/on-wall-street-obama-is-all-wonk-and-mccain-is-all-words.aspx

I clicked on the link because I wanted to find out what "Obama is all wonk" meant.

I wish I could find a good quote or a chunk of a paragraph to copy and paste here, but so much of it is really good and shouldn't really be taken out of context, so I'll just leave it.

I finally got my wireless set up in my apartment, so I will update more later. Unless, that is, my kittens seduce me into going to bed as soon as I get home. I strongly feel that this might happen. In which case, updates after an epic cuddle-and-sleep night.

Duck and Cover

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler on Saturday Night Live last night as Gov. Palin and Sen. Clinton.

Since it's NPR it's a legit video, it won't disappear like the YouTube versions keep doing. I knew we should have watched SNL last night at Niki's but since Sen. Obama cancelled (due to Hurricaine Ike, I was pissed off for a sec and then I realized that it was probably a smart move on his part) we didn't watch. Also there were like 18 people in her apartment so it would have been impossible to hear. Instead we played Balderdash!

Funny how we played board games when we were little, and then they got "uncool," and now that's pretty much what we do at parties. Balderdash, BS, Taboo, that weird card game that I can't remember, and hopefully soon Apples to Apples.

This is my blog in a word cloud! I wonder why I say "got" so much. I'm obsessed with this site. I'm entering as much as I can, other blogs, my resume, blah blah. so cool.

I'm too lazy to mess with the formatting on this post, so it's just going to be this way. I have to go pretend to like my brothers at my fraternity's welcome back picnic. It's good, because I get free food, but I would rather have free food and cuddle with kittens at the same time, instead of having to go outside in 95 degree, super humid weather. With "Battlestar Galactica" still written all over my leg from last night.

I just realized how glad I am to not be allergic to cats, because then I would be sad when Rhett rubs himself all over my face and gives me smelly cat-breath kisses. As it is, that makes me really happy.

Angel Maintenance

ZOE ROMERO

Listening to Vienna Tang, sent to me by Maeg. very similar to Girlyman, but just one of instead of three (cue to Lindsey, look her up).

One of the most common things I experience these days is waking up to a completely trashed apartment. Friday night (Saturday morning) I went to sleep with a pretty neat floor, considering. Saturday morning (afternoon) I pull myself out of bed and see a deck of cards AND half the box of Taboo cards scattered allllll over the place.

RHETT LYMAN

D. sent me this, from a Wired blog, which is really funny.

Also there is this DailyShow clip and commentary from Sociological Images. not that I don't agree with the commentary in the blog, but it is quite funny. And I can say that, because I'm from a town the size of Wasilla, Alaska. Er... yeah. Not when Gov. Palin was mayor, but presently.

Ex-Hurricane Hanna was mostly just a bit of rain and wind, for about 20 hours. Maeg and I ran errands (BestBuy, ACE Hardware, TJMaxx, Cosi yummm, Safeway), and by the time we left ACE, the rain had already stopped and when we were walking to Safeway, it was sunny and we were too hot. I really enjoyed the rain while it lasted, but Maeg's umbrella didn't as much.

I had a dream last night that Natalie and I lived in a treehouse our sophomore year of high school. The other night I had a dream that I went to Hogwarts. Funny how now that I'm not in school, I dream about school all the time.

I'm starving, and I need to clean my apartment, buy an ironing board and toilet paper, and figure out how the hell not to be late to work tomorrow. Eventually I need to find my card reader so I can post more pictures of kittens, there are more on my Facebook though.

I want Cosi again. crap.

Opposition Research

This is copied directly from here, an AP article by Jim Kuhnhenn, released today from St. Paul. I'd copy and paste the whole thing, but all you have to do is click the link, so don't be lazy. Read it.

Regarding one of my "favorite" moments so far from the Republican National Convention:

FORMER ARKANSAS GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE: Palin "got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska than Joe Biden got running for president of the United States."

THE FACTS: A whopper. Palin got 616 votes in the 1996 mayor's election, and got 909 in her 1999 re-election race, for a total of 1,525. Biden dropped out of the race after the Iowa caucuses, but he still got 76,165 votes in 23 states and the District of Columbia where he was on the ballot during the 2008 presidential primaries.

Edit:

"Maverick my ass. Doing adventurous things is past his bedtime." - Natalie, re: Sen. McCain

Welcome to Wherever You Are

I'm in a weird weird mood today, and I guess for the past couple of days. I've been so so so busy every night, starting the second I leave work to the time I finally convince the kittens to stay still and nod off. I rush home to feed them and then run off to meet people or take care of things, and as soon as I'm out of the metro, I spend every second returning phone calls that I've received during the day- from the vet, the animal shelter, the doctor, family friends. It feels good to be efficient but it's a little hectic. Yesterday I was home for five minutes between 8:30 am and 10:15 pm. Then I obviously spent 2 hours playing with Zoe and Rhett.

My sister sent me a funny story today. Hee hee

There's a reason for this post. I wanted to write about my weird mood, but I can't put it into words. The best way I can describe is that I'm dying for something exciting to happen. I mean different than whatsherbutt speaking at the RNC tonight. I mean I want to go somewhere and do something and meet some people.

Words suck.


Craving o' moment: Chipotle
Obsession o' day: Josh and Donna

The Black Vera Wang

I've recently become obsessed with Mark Harmon. I'll have to start watching NCIS.

THE TICKETS:

Democrats:
Barack Obama and Joey Biden

Love love love love this ticket.
(are you kidding me? JOE BIDEN'S MOM FOR PRESIDENT)
Nothing more to say.

Republicans:
John McCain and Sarah Palin

I used to think that it was so smart for the GOP to put up McCain for pres. I still believe that, but less so now that I have realized he's 72. 8 years ago would have been better. 8 years ago he wouldn't have picked Sarah Palin as his running mate, because 8 years ago she was still just a hockey mom and only had a couple kids and was 36 years old.
Two things younger than John McCain - (1) Sarah Palin's home state, Alaska, and (2) Sarah Palin's parents. That's right, John McCain is the age of a great-granddaddy. well, in 4 months.

I'm sure there are people that love Gov. Palin. I'm sure she's a lovely person and a wonderful mother. However, I'm truly terrified of her, and would really rather she not be a heart beat away from an office in the West Wing.

I love my kittens. Almost as much as I love Mark Harmon.

Just kidding, I love my kittens more. They are, coincidentally, much more cuddly to me than Mark Harmon.

My musing of the day:
What would lawyers do without Portable Document Format??? Probably die off quickly, is my guess.

The Crackpots and These Women

The 2008 United States Presidential Election has officially gone Batshit Insane.

1) Sen. Obama has won the last 10 primaries. Ahead in the count by 150 delegates. Where did this come from?? Sen. Clinton's campaign is on rooftops screaming about how this was not supposed to happen.

2) Sen. McCain potentially had an affair with a really hot lobbyist (who totally looks like his wife). This is kind of a big deal? and has taken the press away from...

3) Sen. Clinton accused Sen. Obama of plagiarizing a speech material from the Governor of Massachusetts. However, Sen. Obama has stated that he and Gov. Deval Patrick are close friends and borrow words from each other frequently. So, that move does seem a liiiiittle desperate, but when a person can get kicked out of college and have their entire career ruined for plagiarizing and it's no big deal for a presidential candidate... I see her point.

Unfortunately I couldn't watch the debate, because I had rehearsal. Classic.

I like the knowledge that no matter what, we will have a U.S. Senator be elected President in November, which has not happened since Nixon in 1972.

Other than that, the rest of my life really sucks.

With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan -- to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations. - from President Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

Stirred

Today Former Governor Romney dropped out of the race for the Presidency. I don't really know what that means. I guess that Former Gov. Huckabee and Sen. McCain will get the votes that would have gone to Romney, obviously, but I don't know how they're going to split. I mean, not that anyone does know how they're going to split, really...

I am insanely busy. I am supposed to be in three places at once on Saturday (literally three), plus find time to do my homework? And I have a ton that I haven't done this week. I'd love love LOVE to work for Sen. Obama's campaign this weekend but it might just have to be on primary day. I have an ungodly amount of mock trial to work on, as well. I could spend 95% of all the hours in the days between now and Feb 23 on mock trial and it still wouldn't be enough. My expectations are also unrealistically high.

In better news, spring training starts in about a week! This is so great.

Kind of addicted to this, even though I wish it were about a minute shorter.

Six Meetings Before Lunch

Guess it's time for my post-Super Tuesday update.

Bottom line is as follows, according to MSNBC.

Sen. Obama: 838 delegates
Sen. Clinton: 834 delegates
Former Sen. Edwards: 26 delegates but he dropped out so it doesn't matter
Democrats need 2,025 for a nomination.

Sen. McCain: 720 delegates
Former Gov. Romney: 256 delegates
Former Gov. Huckabee: 194 delegates
Rep. Paul: 14 delegates
Republicans need 1,191 for a nomination

My thoughts are that the delegates from Florida and Michigan will, in fact, be seated at the Democratic convention in Denver in August. Which gives Senator Clinton a HUGE boost.

So nothing terribly decisive or upsetting coming out of Super Tuesday.

All in all, not as eventful a night as I had expected. Though Sen. Obama ultimately did come out ahead, which I had not been expecting. Looks like our little Matt Santos is picking up speed.

Kansas, Lousiana, Nebraska, and Washington all have primaries/caucuses on Saturday, followed by Maine Dem on Sunday, and the Potomac Primary on Tuesday the 12th.

La Palabra

Quick overview of Super Tuesday.
Tomorrow 24 states are holding primaries (in 2004 Super Tuesday had the primaries of 10 states, so that really is a lot).

The reason this is such a big deal, especially to the Democratic party, is that 52% of all delegates available are up for grabs. For the Republicans, it's 41%. Something like 1,700 delegates will be pledged for the Democrats. I don't know what the number is for Republicans.

To get the nomination at the convention in August for Dems, September for Reps, a candidate has to have 2,025 delegates.

So, in all likelihood, the Republicans will come out of tomorrow with a nominee. This is because a lot (most?) of the Republican primaries are winner-takes-all. So if in Alabama McCain gets 33% of the vote and Romney gets 32% and Huckabee gets 15% and Ron Paul gets -%500 (yes, that's negative five hundred percent), McCain gets all 48 Republican delegates from Alabama.

However, it is unlikely, in my opinion, that the Democrats will come out of Super Duper Tsunami Tuesday with a nominee. This is because a lot (most?) of the Democratic primaries are proportional, though I think there's a fancier name that is the real name of that. So if in Connecticut, Clinton gets 52% of the vote and Obama gets 47%, then Clinton gets 32 delegates and Obama has 28 Democratic delegates from Connecticut.

Okay so it's actually a lot more complicated than that, because there are superdelegates and unpledged delegates and states with caucuses and states with people on the ballot who have dropped out and stupid shit like that, but we're just going to ignore that and understand it for how it is in a simplified manner.

But! Back to how I think there won't be a nominee for the Democrats tomorrow. Because Obama gained on Clinton so much (they're about even in the national polls, but that doesn't mean anything per state), he could get just about as many delegates tomorrow as she. It's going to depend a lot on how much he gained in California, especially, because California provides 22% of all the delegates in the Democratic party.

And that was a crash course in the messed up qualities of the fabulous day we call Super Tuesday, which will bring much festivities, especially as it coincides with Mardi Gras. I'm so into that. I'm giving up Republicans for Lent.



...

That was a joke. I have many Republican friends who I love and will be seeing often and willingly for the next 40 days.

The Short List

The list is getting pretty short. I was expecting Giuliani to drop but Edwards I had hoped would stick it out for a while... I wanted a little bit of a three-way competition, especially since a lot of the Democratic primaries aren't winner-takes-all.

There's been talk that a lot of the votes that went to Edwards were anti-Clinton votes, but I kind of feel that they were white working class votes that are more likely to go now to Clinton. We'll see how it plays out. Unfortunately, immediately after the Maine Republican caucus, which is from now through Sunday, comes Super Tuesday. So... we'll see. I'm pretty glad he's not endorsing anyone, actually.

My econ professor is talking about "Less beer! More wine!" which yes, is out of context, but is hilarious nonetheless.

The Kennedys endorsement video! I'm a huge fan.

Goodbye Johnny Edwards... I don't think you're going to get a VP nomination again, so ... yeah. Have fun?

Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics

Senator Clinton won Florida today, but that doesn't mean anything because the Democratic National Committee stripped Florida of its delegates when FL got all pushy and moved up its primary before Super Tuesday. Florida did that to make themselves more important, but the DNC just got pissed and decided they'd have none of that. So the Democratic candidates all pledged that they wouldn't campaign in FL until the election today was over, so Senator Clinton announced that she would begin campaigning essentially as soon as the polls closed. Which she did. I mean, she did win.

Murph says that Florida is basically where New York goes when it retires (actually he said something slightly more mean), and that's why Sen. Clinton won there.

I'm glad Senator McCain won, and because Florida is a winner-takes-all system, he got all 57 Republican delegates from Florida. Good job, Sen. McCain! It was pretty close between him and former Governor Romney for a while. When the screen was flashing "TOO CLOSE TO CALL" in red, I had terrible PTSD flashbacks to 2000. I'm still shuddering.

Former Mayor Giuliani did drop out, and is endorsing Senator McCain at a rally in California tomorrow. I don't know how polling has been for Sen. McCain in CA, but it is a Super Tuesday state.

Maine Republican is next?? Then after that is Super Tuesday!

A Proportional Response

Obama won South Carolina last night in a huge way. He had been polling at 40 but pulled out with 55%, while Hillary was 28 points behind him. Edwards had been gaining in the polls all week, especially after he was the only rational voice in the last debate, but it wasn't enough for poor Johnny.

What's happened to the polls this election? It seems unlikely that in the last minute, Obama got the vast majority of the undecideds, which accounted for something like 15% of the voting population. Did all the good pollsters go on strike with the writers? I'm not going to pay attention to polls anymore.

Rumor has it McCain will win Florida, but Romney's up there too. McCain's got the endorsement of Gov Crist, which should help him out with the Cuban vote. I'm predicting (hoping) that Giuliani will drop after he fails miserably in this primary. It'll probably be the best idea for him if he is still hoping for a vice presidential bid.

Clinton's been doing well in FL but I'm fairly certain that the SC results are going to affect that, with Obama's numbers going up and Clinton's going down.

But I'm not paying attention to polls any more.

Obama kicks off his Mid-Atlantic campaign tomorrow in DC! We're most definitely in the last stretch to Super Tuesday.