Thankgiving and Now The Rush

Thanksgiving went well. No one got sick off the cooking done by my sister and I. Thats always good :) At some point though my sister and my mom got aggravated with each other. Too many cooks in the kitchen sorta deal. On Friday I went to Jenn's mom's house for their Thanksgiving. They always have it the day after since both Jenn and Shelley are married that way they can both be there for Thanksgiving dinner. If I had known that Ms. Nancy was going to be alone I would have called and asked her if she wanted to come over. I don't think she would have but I still would have tried. Jeffery was being his usual cute self. Just being a good kid. He just wants attention which as an only child right now he's getting. But still he's a good kid and he's really really smart. Yeah I know that most people think the kids they know are the smartest but in this case I think he is. He really likes his teachers too. Ryan was being anti-social per usual. I don't know what the issue with his is. He never used to be that way but now he is. I guess when you can't stand someone you live with you want to be away from them even if that means hiding out in a room for hours on end. I finished the rough draft of my final paper on Friday and got a 50/50. I think my poor teacher might still be hopped up on pain killers since her knee replacement. Thats the only way I can see that I got that grade.

Saturday I went to see dad. He was doing alright. He didn't talk much as usual. He never does. So Jenn and I stuck around for a couple hours before he had to go to work. He send me home with wine that we'll never drink. He got 2 of the bottles from my sister for Christmas last year and now I have to hide it so as not to hurt her feelings. I think he forgot about that. He was busy watching the Maryland NC State game. We were doing so well and then it just fell apart. We shouldn't have lost to them but what can you do? You win some you lose some. But people here need some sort of help. I mean the Ravens aren't exactly having a stellar season and the Orioles...well lets just say not good at all. Saturday night Jason finally got his first deer of the season. For a city boy he sure likes to hunt. I can't do anything like that. I abhor guns of any kind and I don't want to kill anything. I'm just not interested.

Yesterday I got the tree up and some of the decorations out. I still have to decorate the tree but first I have to buy new garland. We came up a little short. We have a prelit tree and there was a section that wouldn't light and instead of figuring out which one of the many was loose or out, I just put a strand up. It looks decent for now. I still have a lot of work to do on it. I know the coming month is going to fly by. It always does. Before I know it, it will be the end of the month and the beginning of the new year. How time flies!

Sam and Frank stopped by last night. That was a real shocker. The last time I saw Frank was a couple months ago. I think it was in August but I can't be sure. I know it was still warm out. Anyway Frank has a new girl. She's young. I don't know what the deal is with people I know dating people that are way too young for them. At least Amy's husband knows her real age. I love Frank to death I really do but he shouldn't be lying to his girl about his age. She's 19 and he'll be 30 after Christmas. But once again its really none of my business. It's just wrong to me. If she was 29 and he was going on 40 it wouldn't be an issue but there is a lot of difference between a 19 year old and a 30 year old. I don't mean to offend anyone I mean maybe it works sometimes I just don't see it working out for him. I've been wrong though and for his sake I hope it works out. Her parents know he's older and they don't seem to have an issue with it so I guess it'll all be fine.

Today I'm back at work. I still have a lot to get done this week. I'm hoping that time won't go by too fast for me this month although I have an inkling it will. I better get back to work though.

"X" Marks the Spot and A "Thanksgiving Miracle"

Yesterday on CNN, an X appeared over the face of VP Dick Cheney. How funny is that? Sure it was just a glitch but maybe its the cosmos telling us something. Like Conan says, Dick Cheney is the devil. Maybe its just CNN sending out subliminal messages....just a suggestion :) I thought that was some of the funniest news I've heard in some time. This time of year though there will be some dim-witted crook that will get himself lodges ina chimney trying to rip someone off. Gotta love the holiday season.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. My sister and I have decided that we're going to make dinner since my mom pulled her back out. She can't really bend over or lift anything and standing a long time isn't the best thing for her either. So we're taking up the task. It should be interesting needless to say. We get along so nothing major will happen...unless a fire breaks out which is a possibility :)

On my way in this morning it was snowing....flurrying actually but it was still snow. I was surprised. I know they're calling for a dusting tonight and tomorrow but I didn't expect to see it so soon. And it is downright freezing outside! Time to break out the hat and gloves. Actually I need to guy a new pair of gloves. I have a tendency to lose one of the gloves. The same phenomenon as losing just one sock I suppose.

Well, I hope everyone has a safe and Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy your family and friends and just have a good holiday. If you go out shopping like a bunch of crazy people on Black Friday, be careful. I heard that in GA yesterday that a woman was followed home and robbed for her X-Box 360. I'll be damned if I'll pay $500 for a game console but to each their own I suppose. Be safe!

Registration

Today I register for my spring classes. I can only take 2 but I really don't know what I want to take. I know I have to take a college math class. Depending on which one, I'm going to do it online. It's so much easier than going up to the college twice a week sitting through class. This way I can do it on my own. Then I have to take something else. I was thinking about cultural anthropology. I wanted to take physical anthropology with an introduction to archaeology but they only have that on fridays from 11-3 so I couldn't possibly take it. I already made the appointment with my counselor so everything is set. I'll know tonight what I'm going to be taking. I just hope they don't want payment right away. It costs me a whole paycheck and then some including books for me to go to school. I'm going to talk to my brother-in-law and ask him how to claim the money I've put out for school that way I get some of it back. I don't even want to think about taxes though. I'll probably do them online again this year. Last year it was so easy and fast I might as well do it. I love the internet. It allows you to do so much.

Thursday as everyone knows, is Thanksgiving. My sister and I are making dinner this year. That should be fun; if not fun then at least interesting. We can both cook fairly well. By no means are we Martha Stewart but we can make our way through a kitchen just fine. It should be a blast though. I already baked the pies. I only have one more to bake and thats a special one for my cousins. He wants a chocolate pumpkin pie. Sounds nasty to me but I'll do it for him. I promised him last year I would make him one with fresh pumpkin and never got around to it. Since I have plenty of fresh pumpkin this year, I'll make it for him so he'll leave me alone :) I think I'm going to take Zoe for the weekend. She's getting to Heidi and I always have a lot of fun with her. She's adorable. Someday I'll post a pic of her. Actually I think I'll do that right now on this post. She's hilarious.

Harry Potter Rules!

I saw the movie over the weekend and it was better than I thought it was going to be. I thought it was one of the best movies I've seen. I saw a preview for King Kong and thats looks really good too. I wasn't planning on seeing it but upon seeing the trailer, I think I will.

Back to Harry Potter though....The effects were really really good. Everything looked real. The merpeople reminded me of one of the puppets from Labyrinth though. Only one of the puppets. The only criticism I have is of Dumbledore. I thought he was a little over the top in the movie and in the books he wasn't quite so severe with Harry when his name comes out of the Goblet of Fire. The man who played Mad-Eye Moody was excellent. I loved the eye. Overall it was a fantastic movie and I think I'll probably see it again before it goes out of theaters. If anyone comes across this that hasn't seen it, they should go right now and watch it. Definitely worth the money.

I spent the rest of the weekend baking pies. I made 2 pumpkin and one coconut custard. I still have to make at least one more pumpkin but in that one I have to put chocolate in it for my cousin. I promised him I would make him one so I can't go back on my promise.

Alison came up for the weekend and her friend Amy came by with her new husband and baby. Her husband seemed nice but he's so young. He's 18 and she's 25. Who knows though, it might work. The baby is too cute though. His name is Nathan, one of my favorite names. They went with us down to Middle River where we met my step brother, his wife, and son. Andy, my step nephew, was being cute as always. I don't see any of Sarah in him aside from his hair color. But then again, I haven't seen any baby pictures of her so I could be wrong. It was nice though. I like getting a bunch of people together and just talking and having a good time.

This is a short week which is good and bad. Good in that well, its short, and bad because there isn't a lot of time to get stuff done. My sister and I have decided to take the burden off my mom and make Thanksgiving dinner. We'll have a blast as long as mom stays out of the kitchen which I know she won't. It's mom.

Well, thats all for now....Go See Harry Potter!

Pick Up the Pace!

I really gotta pick up the pace....There is so much to do and so little time to do it. I don't know why its all hitting at once. I hate that. It never seems to end. Just need an extra day in the week thats all. That would be great or maybe things not hitting all at once. I went to class last night and my teacher said to us that we're going to have to really step it up even though we're ahead of the other classes. I can't wait til this semester is over. The sooner the better. I think next semester I'm going to take classes that I know I'll like...not that my research writing class is bad...its' just that its a little boring because all you do is write papers.

I have to get the decorations up because Mr. Mike needs the space where they are for his office stuff. Since we're turning it into an office/spare room, I gotta get the decorations out. Alison and Paul are coming up too which sucks because it's going to get a little hectic around that house. This time of year always seems to go quickly though. I already started holiday shopping so I know what to get people. I know its not about the gifts but I love getting things for people that they really want/need. I wanted to do a food drive at work this year but I don't know if they're going to let me. Maybe I'll just go buy a couple of things myself and drop it off at the food bank or at the soup kitchen. I think the next post I'll write will be about Bea Gaddy. I won't say who she is or what she did because then there wouldn't be a reason to write a post about her.

Remember those commercials for Pace salsa..."pick up the Pace"....sorry my heading just reminded me of it....the salsa from "New York City!"

I swear sometimes I think I have adult A.D.D. Thats not meant to hurt anyone so I hope no one takes offense to that but seriously I think I might. I'll deal

What A Drag!

Today feels like the day that wouldn't end. It's creeping by at a snails pace. I hope the rest of the week doesn't go like this. Ali and Paul are coming up for the weekend. Might go see Harry Potter at the IMax. That should be pretty cool. I know the movie'll be good, its just getting around to see it.

Thanksgiving is next week...where did November go? You never realize how short a month or year is until the end. Time seems to have flown by. Is it because I'm getting older? Perhaps. I mean it would be nice to think that it's all a conspiracy to make the holidays arrive faster but thats unlikely. Nice thought though. It could be a novel; the government resets clocks with some kind of mind controlling device perhaps a clock itself so that people will spend more money during the holidays. That could be interesting. I wouldn't write about it though.

I always wanted to write a novel but my problem is that I feel almost everything that interests me or that I know about has been written. I hate repeating things that've been done and said before. It all becomes a cliche of sorts. But sometimes an author will surprise you and come up with something completely original. I really haven't read anything lately other than Harry Potter that seems to be original. At least nothing that's come out in the past couple of years. Stephen King usually surprises me but I haven't read anything of his lately. I've been reading Jane Austen which I'm beginning to love. I like what she writes about how she writes. I think she was a bit ahead of her time. She's in the same bracket I think as Charlotte Bronte, another one of my favs. I loved "Jane Eyre"...very romantic in a crazy sort of way. I have 2 or 3 copies of that book. I don't know why but I do....my goal is to get a hardback version of it though. That would be nice. Back to Jane Austen though; I recently bought "Sense & Sensibility" and "Pride and Prejudice". They're both movies, Lord knows "Pride and Prejudice" has been done a zillion times and another version is coming out with Keira Knightley but still, just goes to show you how great the book is. I haven't read it yet but by the end of the year I will. I'm slowly working my way through "Sense & Sensibilty". The movie with Kate Winslet and Emma Thompson was great so I know I'll like the book. Its just that I've been busy with work and school that I haven't had a whole lot of time to read.

I should make a list of books that I think are great and write about them here. Maybe someone will stumble across it and discover a book that they've never read and fall in love with the written word. I'll just have to remember that I said that. Thats the trick.

Travis

First I want to thank everyone who wished me a happy birthday. It made my weekend considering :)

So who is Travis? Travis is a band from Scotland that some people might know because of their "hit" song "Why Does It Always Rain On Me?" I don't know how much of a hit it was over here but I know overseas it was pretty big. They are one of my favorite bands. Their sound is comparable to bands like Coldplay and Keane although I don't think they use the piano as much as those bands do. If you like either of this guys you'll probably like Travis. I haven't heard much about them lately. I wish I had though, they're really good. The lead singer, Fran Healy, has a unique voice, and the songs on the albums are unbelievable. Their music light and mellow but is considered alternative. Some of my favorite songs other than "Why Does It Always Rain On Me" are "Sing", "Writing To Reach You", "Driftwood", and "The Last Laugh Of The Laughter". They are just a few of the really great songs that appear on their albums. I haven't gotten their new one but hopefully I'll be able to get it soon. I'm thinking of purchasing it via iTunes instead of buying the cd. Their cd's are a little hard to find unless you look online or visit a Record and Tape Traders. I don't think that that chain is nationwide though so anyone who comes across this and is considering buying any of their music might want to look online first. I wish there was a way I could post a snippet of what they sound like but I can't so you'll have to take my word for it. They are really good and worth the listen.

Sick on My Birthday

Today was my birthday and just like last year, I'm sick. I hope this isn't becoming a trend because no one likes to be sick especially on their birthday. I got a really cute message from my cousin and her 2 kids. They sang me happy birthday, Frankie called from AZ, Maggie called, and surprisingly my dad called. He didn't call to wish me a happy birthday though. He thought it was my sister's birthday....her b-day is next Thursday. But at least he was thinking about us. :) Not much else has been going on....just trying to get better. I didn't go to work or school yesterday and I didn't go today. I might feel up to doing something tomorrow but I don't know what thats going to be. I just turned in my assignment that was due this week and I need to start my stuff for next week. I'm really in the hole as far as my math goes. I feel like a slacker. I'll catch up though I always do. Well I think thats all I'm going to write right now. Probably the shortest post I've written and I'm sure people are glad for that. :)

Baltimore: "?"

I'm from Baltimore, MD. I've lived my whole life in the Baltimore Metropolitan Area and every couple of years, there is talk to make Baltimore a bigger tourist attraction. So this week they are trying to find a new slogan to help encourage tourism in the area. To most of us Baltimoreans, the city is called Charm City. It's always been a nickname as far as I can remember. When I was in Elementary school, I remember Baltimore becoming "The City that Reads". It was painted on park benches and on the sides of buses. Recently, it became the "Greatest City in America". I don't know who decided Baltimore was the greatest city in America but I think that most people beg to differ. Anyway so now they are trying to revamp things and come up with a new slogan.

They said that they are having a bit of an issue because a lot of people have a negative view of the city because of television shows like "Homicide: Life on the Street" or "The Wire". To be 100% honest here, I didn't think people even knew where Baltimore was. I always thought that it was a city between Washington D.C. and Philadelphia that people only stop in if they have to. To be fair Baltimore does have a lot to offer. Just as much as any other city I suppose.

There is a lot of history here, specifically dealing with the War of 1812 and Edgar Allen Poe. They just opened up a new museum dedicated to African Americans called the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture. I haven't been yet but its supposed to be neat.

On one of the local radio stations 98 Rock, they were having a contest to see who could come up with the best one but of course these aren't ever going to be used. They cut on the city and some of them are rather offensive but there are a few that are pretty funny. One of the hosts of the show, Mickey, is supposed to be a comedian although I think a lot of people would beg to differ. I don't find him funny all that often myself and he did a GEBCO commercial with Johnathan Ogden which kinda creeped me out. GEBCO commercials are "famous" here. Famous for being really bad and cheaply made; they're characterized by girls dancing and someone singing the GEBCO song....trust me its bad, worse than the Katz insurance commercials but thats another story. I can only remember two of them and one was really bad. It was racially insenstitive so I'm not going to repeat it. The other one was "Our Syphillis is better than yours". This is of course in reference to a study that found that Baltimore had the highest number of people with syphillis infections. I know, not funny.

So, what is the point of this post? I have no idea. I just thought it was funny that a city is trying to find a slogan to sell itself. It just seems absurd to me. I know tourism can bring in a lot of money and yes the city needs it especially since the Baltimore City Schools went bankrupt but hiring a company to find slogans seems silly to me.

Jeff Daniels

Ok this might be weird but I'm gonna go for it. I'm sure that most people have a "celebrity crush"; most people I think have more that one. Why else would people see a movie solely because an actor is in it? Well one of mine is Jeff Daniels. I don't know why.....he's someone I've always had an affinity for.

I remember the first movie I saw him in that I can fully remember was "Gettysburg". I didn't know a whole lot about Gettysburg except that it was a battle during the Civil War. I remember after watching him I wanted to know more about it. So I went and got the book "Killer Angels" which the movie was based on. I read the book and I sort of fell in love with that time period. Then I saw "Dumb & Dumber" and it was hilarious....I was a fan of Jim Carrey because of "In Living Color" but Jeff Daniels was hilarious in it. I didn't think he would do a film like that. But I really liked him in it; he was silly. And then I don't remember him in anything for a while until "Pleasantville". He was really really good in that movie. I don't think anyone else could have done that part better. It fit him so well.

Then I saw him in the TV version of "The Goodbye Girl". I never saw the original with Richard Dreyfus but I knew the premise of it. Anyway I thought he was really good in that too. I know I'm sounding a little stalker-like but I'm really not. I don't have a shrine dedicated to Jeff Daniels and I don't camp outside his house or anything like that. I just think he's one of the most underrated actors. I wish he did more movies or tv...I will watch just about anything with him in it ...even if its a terrible movie, not that I've seen one yet.

He's just someone I feel is underrated. The reason I'm writing about this now is because on iTunes, he has his playlist up there. When I saw him I was like hey, where has Jeff Daniels been? The last thing I saw him in was "The Goodbye Girl"....for some reason I thought it was years ago when it came out....it was last year. He seems like a regular guy. I like that.

Awesome!

Yeah I know that word is used way too much here but I like it. Anyway thats not the point of this entry although I could possibly write and entire entry on words that are misused. I got my assignment turned in on time which was great and I got a 20/20 on it. That was great. I sorta fumbled my way through it so I was surprised that I got all 20 points. It might not seem like a lot but to me its keeping my average up. I'm well on my way to being back to full time. Yay! That'll be next summer when I can go back full time. But thats going to be hard considering I'll be working full time, hopefully. I need to make an appointment with my counselor to register for next semester. But I don't have to worry about that right now.

Ok this is why I titled this entry "Awesome!": I just read online about a church they unearthed in Israel. They think it might be one of the oldest churches found dating back to the 3rd century. Thats really old. How neat is that? I wish I could go over and see it. There are a lot of things in the world that I want to see but something like this is just wow to me.

Archaeology might seem boring to a lot of people and I've spent many a year trying to convince people otherwise but if they would just read about some of the things that have been found over the years, then I think they would change their tune. I think though Now I'm not advocating grave-robbing or anything like that. Thats wrong in my opinion and the dead should be left alone. But sometimes curiousity gets the better of people and they have to know who, what, when, where, why, and how whatever existed. No matter how cliche it may be, the past gives us a look at what our future can hold. We can learn from mistakes and sometimes discover new thinks because of something said, thought, or done in the past. Just look at the Rosetta Stone. If we didn't have that we wouldn't know how to read hieroglyphics. That was a huge discovery.

Anyway, I just thought it was a neat story.

My aunts from NJ came in for a surprise visit yesterday. They drove down for the day and spent a couple hours at the house. It was nice. I'm a sucker for family gatherings. I like seeing family together getting along. Aunt Sam, Heidi, the girls, Jason, Gage, and Barb all came by too to see Aunt Lyn and Aunt Dee. No one was ever a big fan of Aunt Lyn...she used to be a nun and was sort of unsympathetic to children. She can't stand whining and crying. Aunt Dee also used to be a nun but she's more laid back and she can deal with kids; she's a lot of fun. Aunt Lyn has had a lot of health issues over the past couple of years...She has use a walker and is partially blind. She suffered from mini-strokes and all that stuff. They didn't know what was causing it but they found out it was because of Paxil. Anyway back on point....They came down and we had a full house. It was a lot of fun though...Like I said I really enjoy having family around. They said they might come in for Christmas too. I hope they do. We don't get to see them as much as I would like to. Aunt Diane is also coming in from Hawaii around Christmas so it'll be the first time in many many years that nearly the whole family is together. Uncle Tommy isn't invited for many reasons I'll not get into. But all the sisters will be together. I think it'll be good for them. The holidays should be interesting this year.

Fast!

The day seems to be moving too fast for me. I wish I was out of work but I still have a boatload of school stuff to do most notably the annotated bibliography that is due by midnight. I don't know why I have to do this. If there is one thing I hate doing when writing a research paper, its writing an annotated bibliography. I know there is supposed to be a point to it, I do, but I hate it. I don't particularly understand the point but thats just the way it goes. If and when I become a teacher and assign a research paper, I'm going to make sure I never assign an annotated bibliography page. Ok thats enough of that...now that I've got that out of the way I can move on.

Here is a semi-humorous story depending on what you find humorous. I thought it was funny. This lady in PA glued her ex-boyfriends goods to himself. I know a lady that did this to her husband. He was beating the crap out of her and she had enough and when he was passed out drunk, she got a tube of crazy glue and, well you know. He was really really angry when he woke up. It's supposed to be really painful too. I don't know of course but he wound up going to the hospital. She finally got the kids and left him after that. She felt she exacted enough revenge on him for the time being. I don't know what the deal is with glue these days. Theres another story which I hadn't heard about a man who got glued to a toilet seat at a Home Depot. I feel bad for the man I really do...but I can't help but chuckle. Maybe I have a crappy sense of humor but hey you have to laugh at something, right?

I think thats all the weird news I've heard here lately. Oh wait, there is one more thing. It's a local story though. One of the news people had a monkey in the studio and it went nuts. Just started jumping around and grabbing papers. It's pretty funny, she didn't know what to do. I don't blame her....she held it together longer than I would have. I couldn't help but laugh.

Well thats all for now...I better start psyching myself up for the night ahead. I just hope I get it done. I know I will though...I always do.

Need More Time

I need to stop procrastinating. I'm in a pickle now because I waited to the last minute to do something. Now I don't know how I'm gonna get it done. I always figure it out. I hate procrastinating. I feel like I have a ton of things to do and not enough hours in the day to finishe them. You know? Anyway thats all the bellyaching I'm going to do for now. It's my fault I'm in the situation I'm in...no one elses although it would be nice to blame someone else :)

Nothing much else is going on...just the usual. Lots of scanning to do at work today. I hope it's over soon. I don't think I can listen to this scanner much longer before I go insane. It's probably the most annoying sound in the world next to sirens. It's been quiet here today. Only me and one other person has been in the office all day. The phone really hasn't rang. We get paid tomorrow! Yay! I need to buy new tennis shoes (sneakers, etc). I'm thinking of putting the Christmas decorations up so the middle room can be straightened. I might do that this weekend. It all depends on if I get everything else I need to done. I have a bit to do but I think I'll be able to pull it off. I don't like the idea of putting decorations up this early but I don't know what else to do; I need to do something with that room and I can't put them up in the attic til we get the roof fixed and we can't put them in the basement because 1) there's no room and 2) the basement leaks. Not a good thing but thats ok. I'll get it figured out.

I have class tonight. Not looking forward to it. I think I'm gonna have to leave there early to get my other project done and I have to drop by the library to check out a book I have on hold so I can finish the project. I can't wait to get this done! I did get 30/30 on the midterm. I thought it would have been worth more but hey I'm not the teacher. It's ok with me...at least I got a decent grade.

Heard a funny story yesterday its about a man that killed a buck with his bare hands. I couldn't believe it. I meant to tell my cousin....he's been trying to get a dear for a while and won't be able to hunt anymore until after Thanksgiving.

Well thats all for now...gotta get back to scanning. I want to get the majority of it done before tomorrow.

Dia De Los Muertos

Yup, today is El Dia de los Muertos or the Day of the Dead, in Mexico. I first learned of this celebration in high school spanish class. They make mask, altars and decorate graves of their ancestors. They also make sugar skulls and decorate them as well. Someday I will travel to Oaxaca to attend this festival. It's supposed to be the best one around; the film we saw was of one that took place there and it seemed like a lot of fun. The festival is to celebrate the ancestors and a lot of the festivities take place in a graveyard. I know that sounds really morbid but if you actually see what they do, it's not morbid at all. It just looks very interesting and a lot of fun.

I feel like I haven't slept in days today. I don't know why. I went to bed at a decent hour last night and woke up usual time but for some reason I'm so so so tired. I have that feeling of sleeping only an hour and then waking up to go to school or work or whatever. I haven't felt like this in a long time. I did go to school last night; I had a quiz and I think I did alright. I think I might have forgotten to answer one of the questions. I hope not because the good thing about his grading system is that even if you have none of it right, you get a point or two for trying. I wish I could remember. It's going to drive me crazy. I hope we get them back tomorrow. I'm curious as to how I did. I have to head to the library again today so I can get more sources for my paper. So that means no going home and going to bed for me.

Other than those couple of things, nothing much else is going on personally. There is a lot going on worldwide of course. Here the big news is Bush's nominee to the Supreme Court. All I'm saying is that I hope they filibuster and he drops out too. And of course, bird flu. I touched on those yesterday so I'm not going to say much on them today.

Thats it for now...Too tired to think.

Captain Trips

Ok a lot of things have happened world-wide this past week. Bush's first appointee, Harriet Miers, withdrew her nomination to the Supreme Court. I couldn't have been happier but now considering who he wants to fill it with, I think I would have went with her.

The person he wants on there now is Samuel Alito, a conservative judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals. This man is known to be extremely conservative in the way he votes. His appointment to the Supreme Court would really upset the balance that is already leaning more to the right as it is. Judge O'Connor was more of a moderate but I think that with Alito in there, it could really go the other way. It's scary to think about at least for me. I remember when Bush was first running for president, a lot of us (liberals) were afraid something like this was going to happen. We knew that either someone was going to retire or someone would pass on due to age/disease, but our money was on retirement. So when it didn't happen his first term, we knew if he got elected again, it was definitely going to happen his second term. Not only did we lose one justice, but two. I can honestly say I didn't see that coming. So now we are faced with a big problem. The Supreme Court needs to be filled but who to fill in the missing places. Judge Roberts didn't get my vote but that was going to happen anway. I was hoping for someone a little more moderate considering the make-up of the Court but alas, it was not to be. So where to go from here? The Democrats are talking about a filibuster and the Republicans are trying to ban judicial filibusters. I really hope that doesn't happen. Can they do that? I didn't think they could but it seems the rules are changing.

In other Bush news, he just released his plan on what would happen if there was a world-wide super-flu outbreak. That terminology instantly takes me to Stephen King's "The Stand" . This is a really scary thought for me. I can just imagine what life would be like if something like this happened. It could have the potential to become a modern day Plague. What do we know about this though. I know that bird flu has been around for over a hundered years so why is it becoming a problem now? There are several strains of bird flu and as we found in the early part of the 20th century, the flu is known to mutate. Is bird flu mutating? What sorts of measures are being taken to prevent a world wide outbreak of this deadly flu? Bush's plan is this: Spot an outbreak before it hits here and contain it and manufacture a vaccine for the virus. More is to be released today. I know its early and I'm not trying to pick on Bush, thats been done and its old and its the last thing we need to do right now, but isn't there something more that we should be doing to fight this thing? I don't know what to suggest, if I did I would definitely say it. It's just really scary to me. All I'm saying is that if people start getting this thing, I'm heading to Nebraska or Colorado with Mother Abigail.

Halloween wasn't all that much fun. The costumes seemed to be thrown together this year although there were some pretty inventive ones on the little kids. The older kids just seemed to be wearing football jerseys or something wildly inappropriate. Maybe I'm being prudish but if my daughter went out of the house dressed in some of the outfits I saw, I'd be yanking her back in the house. I only stayed there a couple hours then headed home. I made an early night of it and got to work early this morning. I'm hoping I can get out of here early though so I can get some school stuff done. I shouldn't be procrastinating but I'm having a really hard time finding sources for my papers. I know the subject is old by now but it's stressing me out.

Well, thats all for now...we'll see how this day goes...so far so good. It's November!