Not so fast Mr. Stevens

The Senate blocked the Defense bill! Drilling backers fell four votes short of blocking a filibuster. So hopefully, the drilling language will be removed and they can proceed. Somehow I doubt it will be quite that easy.

The talented Mr. Stevens

Ted Stevens, you crazy Alaskan Republican! You are the worst kind of politicican! I oppose drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but even those who don't should be appalled at your actions!!

Mr. Stevens included a last minute statement allowing drilling in ANWR at the end of a Defense Appropriations Bill voted on Monday. The Result? The House passed it and now it goes to the Senate. Many politicians against drilling in ANWR voted for the Bill due to the nefarious plot concocted by Mr. Stevens (the bill also includes aid for victims of Hurricane Katrina and support for the troops in Iraq, making it more difficult to vote against). Thus, Republicans will certainly yell from the rooftops about Democrats being anti-Katrina once the inevitable filibustering starts. Oh the joy of political turmoil.

The Scoop.

it's beginning to feel a lot like...

Christmas. Yes, no clever twists there...just a homage to the season. I'm getting excited. Only a few days until Pittsburgh! I've never had that "home for the holidays" feeling before. Not in the way it will be this year, coming from afar. The anticipation is starting to bubble inside me. At the end of the week we'll be loading the jeep with presents and driving 8 hours to arrive at the homestead late Christmas Eve. We'll get there with just enough time to have a cookie snack, place presents under the tree, collapse into an air mattress of tired, and wake up a few hours later to Christmas music, a blazing fire, and the smell of fresh muffins and coffee. Ah, yes. Family, Friends, Dinners, Gatherings, Snowboarding, beer guzzling, coffee drinking, cookie eating...the joys of home.

Random Holiday cheer: We found ourselves at a party last night. It was comfortable and in a small apartment filled with many people. I discovered that Magic Hat #9 (an apricot flavored beer) is much tastier from a keg. The nicest part was that everyone was asked to bring a toy or canned good to the party. These are the things I love most about the holidays. People and giving (and especially giving to people).

random shuffle

I'm like an itunes setting today. My brains on party shuffle. Here's an assortment of the thought bubbles floating around my head at present:

1. Who is the person responsible for phish playing on the weather channel? Years ago there was a thread on phishnet about hearing a tune on the weather channel. What excitement! That was back in the day when phish was just gaining popularity. And now, phish is still there. It warms my heart, and I wonder who is behind this wonderful weather channel phish? (last night it was "it's ice" ...oh the cleverness)

2. The Dukes of Hazzard Movie. Why o why??? Jessica Simpson has about 5 lines, and she sounds more rediculous with every single one (and HELLO, daisy was a brunette!). The original dukes were smooth...the movie just makes them look dopey. I know it's a spoof, but geeez! I like fun stupid movies, but this one just seemed lame. Except for the general lee (oscar worthy performance no doubt), and the character sheeves...he was the funniest part.

3. why is my computer so slow? my brains are in slow motion (the ones on my screen, not the one in my head. Though sometimes i wonder...)

4. coffee. coffee. cooooofffffeeeeeeee!

a happy ending, with a touch of optimism

So karma did hear me. My extraordinarily nice landlord drove to New Haven (recently and temporarily relocated to Providence, RI) to fix our heating issue. I arrived home to a warm and cozy apartment. I chesire cat smiled all the way to the couch.

So I decided to peruse the blogger.com blog picks today, and I picked a good day to do so, for I found thesplinteredmind.blogspot.com. This is the blog of an overwhelming optimistic man with a neurological disorder. I haven't gone much further than reading today's entry and his first entry, but I am completely appreciative and in awe. Tackling obstacles in the face of any type of mental or physical malady always gets me, in a good way.

karma, can you hear me?

Seriously. Can you? What did I do?? I wonder this as I sit in my office at 5:00pm, dreading the return to my unheated apartment as the temperature continues to drop, and drop. As I start to think that maybe I'll just pretend I'm recreating a portion of the arctic circle in the hopes of intimately learning the habitat of the penguin. Maybe I could channel the life energy of the penguin. I could dress in black and white, try to slide down things on my belly, and pretend I'm warm in my little layer of bird skin.
In all seriouuussness, I have no heat. It inexplicably turned off last night. And of course, today was the coldest day so far this winter. The nerve of my heating system!! My landlords are thus far MIA, so beginning this evening we're heating with electric. I'm gonna be walking around dressed like an eskimo for atleast a couple hours until the heater really kicks in and gets to heating. The temperature was on it's way to around 50 degrees in my homeplace as I headed out the door a few hours ago (I stopped home for lunch). Ah well, tea and blankets. I can't really complain about being forced to use either of those two. hrm.

more holiday cheer

Another great holiday website: secretsanta.org
This one lets you search for local toy drives. I found 11 within 10 miles of New Haven! You can find links for all types of organizations here, including local toys for tots events, food banks, and womens shelters.

And THIS WEBSITE is just for fun. There's a Christmas game section! It has Christmas tetris!!

Spreading Holiday Cheer

So I just spent about an hour cruising the net looking for area giving trees and other places to donate gifts. I'm sure any local church would have a place to donate Christmas gifts, but I found this great website. I bought a 4 year old boy a 4x4 truck. aww. Check it out...

Would you like to help brighten the holidays for an underprivileged child this year? Then visit www.MyTwoFrontTeeth.org, the only charity that lets the kids actually choose their own gift!
You can browse through the gallery of wishes, read about the children, see their hand-drawn pictures, and then purchase their toy online. The entire process takes only five minutes and costs less than $25!
Stop by http://www.mytwofrontteeth.org today, and help fulfill a child's holiday wish!

the cult of functionality

I'm still afflicted with morning disease. But it's snowing! I was up at 6am. I looked out the window and saw an untouched blanket of snow, and large flakes flying past the street lights to the ground. I got to ride through fresh snow in my jeep. First Tracks! Even though it wasn't on a snowboard, I'll take it!
So as I'm walking toward the PET Center in the snow (about 2 blocks from my parking spot), I'm ecstatic about wearing gore-tex on my feet and having the ability to lazily drag my feet in the snow and even kick around in it, if I so choose. The best part is being able to take your time, instead of doing the rapid walking, continuously shaking your feet off, shuffle. I don't understand high-heeled women in the snow. I'm sure I've done it many times, and I know I've done it when I only had a short distance to walk...but I still cringe. If they're wearing dress boots, atleast that's something...but heeled dress shoes in the snow? And we're not talking half slush/half snow or a light dusting. These poor women look miserable. I'd love to just walk up and say...hey, look at these. They're gore-tex! An amazing invention! You can wear these! You can change into your fancy pants dress shoes when you get to work if you must! Go buy some! Then again, that's me. My blood teems with practicality and rugged mountain woman, even on days when I wear skirts and perfume. The end.

could it be?

Am i becoming a morning person? All the signs are there. I'm awake and alert, and have been this way since 7am. I have precisely the right amount of coffee flowing through me, and I feel pleasant. I have morning person disease! ah! It wouldn't be so bad except for I will inevitable start next week by waking up at 8:30am, getting to work at 9:30am, and will be completely discombobulated. Sure, I could just continue this 6am waking up business...but it just doesn't seem natural for a creature such as myself. hrm.

Mid-morning ramblings:
1. Have you ever purchased a pair of shoes, let them sit in the closet for 6 months, then all of a sudden wear them once and henceforth wear them alll the time? I have such a pair and am wearing them right now. I age my shoes like wine.
2. I watched Revenge of the Sith last night. I like Star Wars. Watching it is always like a throwback to childhood for me. As much as I want to criticize the shortcomings of the movie, I can't do it. I still like the original trilogy the best though.
3. happy birthday to jake, happy birthday to jake...
4. back to work, happy thursday.

Addiction

In my younger days (around 18-20ish), I determined I'm not so much of an addictive personality. I tried smoking, but it never really stuck. I drink beer, but I can start and stop and start again. Sometimes a month will go by without a beer and I'll finally stop to think, "hrm, I think i could go for a cold one." Same with caffeine. I drink coffee damn near daily, but if we run out of coffee, I just don't drink it. I don't twitch and moan and fall into deep withdrawal (though i will admit the occasional headache brought on by lack of coffee), I just continue on. So yes, non-addictive. Then the holidays hit...and I shop, and I shop, and then I shop some more. For about one month out of the year I am an insanely addicted holiday shopper. I'm online shopping, I'm window shopping, I'm visualizing what I need to buy and where I'll buy it. I had to step back today to realize the full spectrum of my syndrome. I had to fix myself a cup of apple spice tea and put away all my lists. I guess it just gets away from me...I want so much to get the perfect presents, and get everything everyone wants. I have to remind myself it's fun to give, and I shouldn't make myself crazy. I forget how wonderful all my gift recipients are, and that they'll like what I get...or in the least, just be happy they received something. So I'm trying to ween myself off of over shopping and over thinking my shopping. It's damn hard. But I'll start here. I'll start with my tea, and my blanket, and my candles glowing from their perch atop my plant stand. This weekend I'll most likely shop, but I'll take it easy, I'll buy less, I'll buy atleast one toy for a child I don't know (donate it), and I'll smile instead of think tensely about how many shopping days are left. I feel better already. Ah, the soothing powers of words on a webpage. Happy Stress-Free Shopping!!!!! :o)

finesse

Yesterday was my first mountain bike excursion in the snow. It was cooooold! I looked quite hysterical with my black thermals, and baggy shorts on top, and non-matching socks hiked up as far as they would go. My legs were cold at the beginning of the ride, but the rest of me got toasty. 2 baselayers and a fleece took care of the top, and my new sixsixone gloves did their job.
I didn't realize 'til the end of the ride that I'd blown a seal on my fork. Jake was watching me ride and thought it just needed air (so did I), because i was compressing it the whole way everytime I went down hills, even smaller ones. But nope, a closer look, and a handful of goo (from the broken seal) proved us wrong. Should be fixed quick enough though. Back to the ride...I love riding in the snow. I found myself exhibiting some rare moments of finesse around bends, up hills, that I don't usually have. There's something about knowing you could slide out, knowing there are roots hidden under that snow...it makes you work harder. Things I can do easily without the snow, become a bit of a challenge.
When we set out for the ride, our landlords watched us load up the bikes and said, "wow, you guys are hardcore...it's so coolllld." heh. It wasn't really THAT cold though. About 30 degrees I guess. So I rode in the snow on 2 wheels, can't wait to get the 'ol plank out (aka snowboard).

my kinda fish

Oh, MAN. So I found this while I was purusing the FSM products. I am amused.