The brilliant thoughts of overworked minds

December 4, 2006?? Seriously?!

2007-09-05T22:54:00.000-05:00

So I was sitting on my couch tonight when a little e-mail notification box popped up on my computer screen. The e-mail was from a faithful blog reader questioning the nearly 9 months of silence from myself and my blogging partner in crime. Wow…. I had no idea it had been so long…

So what have I been up to since December 4^th? Well I’ve been to Sri Lanka (ok, that’s no surprise really, except that I was supposed to go twice and cancelled one of the trips due to a debilitating virus sweeping the country—that’s a more interesting story). I have now entered my 4^th year in the School Psychology program. I spent the whole summer, studying, writing, and did I mention studying?? The whole of August was dedicated to studying for my ridiculous comps exams. I hope I passed, and will probably go into hiding if I didn’t and the blog will once again be ignored.

Actually, to be honest there are two reasons why I ignored the blog. First, I read an article that said blogging was becoming a lost art and that people were giving up on it. I felt peer pressure to stop writing. Second, I became a slave to the Facebook. No, I am not too old for Facebook. Yes, I check it several times a day. No, I am not ashamed.

This should be an interesting year. It's the build-up year for the 2008 elections (I am currently watching the Republican debate on TV), and since Sudha is an ass and I am an elephant, you know there will be some interesting discussion. We have an agreement not to talk politics in person since we value our friendship too much, but the blog has always been a wonderful passive aggressive playground for our political thoughts :)

In baseball news, Barry Bonds may have broken Hank Aaron's record, but Hank will still be my main home-run man. The Braves are near the top of the pack, but probably will not pull through. And I still hate the Mets.

Ahh... it feels good to blog. Welcome back!

This is Umerica, dang-it!

2006-12-04T20:19:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I think living in America and having a public voice sometimes obliges you to make a big hullabaloo about something that you "feel strongly about," but in reality just isn't that big a deal. The latest knucklehead to hit the news is Dennis Prager, who sits on the governing board of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. Denny thinks that soon to be Minn. Congressman Keith Ellison should be required to take his ceremonial oath of office on the Bible and not the Koran even though Ellison is a practicing Muslim. His reasoning follows:

"Insofar as a member of Congress taking an oath to serve America and uphold its values is concerned, America is interested in only one book, the Bible.....If you are incapable of taking an oath on that book, don't serve in Congress," Prager wrote, adding that using the Koran "undermines American civilization."

Allow me to digress for a moment. But last time I checked you can't make a sweeping generalization about what "Americans" are interested in. If it's all the same to you, I'd rather not have the Bible forced on me. I have no problem with it, but I don't get my spirituality from it and neither do a whole lot of Americans. I just don't think it's the States business to put it in my face. In fact, I think the State agreed on that a long time ago.

If you read the rest of the article it goes on to blow the whole situation out of proportion, talking about how we'll then have to allow people to swear on Mein Kampf if it happens to be their "favorite book." Does that mean the Bible is just a lot of people's favorite book and that why we use it? And as everyone would expect, anything that is proposed to be any measure of cultural fairness that happens to involve a Muslim all of a sudden becomes America bowing to terrorists, and becoming hypersensitive to Muslim culture and the crying liberal's way of making Muslims not hate us. Last time I checked, Ellison is not all Muslims, and if we didn't make a big deal about this, Muslims would really not give two hoots about it.

All that aside though, I have a few personal opinions on the subject. Denny fully admits that the real oath of office takes place on the House floor and the oath sworn on the Bible is purely symbolic. Symbolic of what? I'm assuming, of that person's willingness to serve this country honestly and to the best of his ability. Well, for being symbolic, that sounds pretty serious to me. In fact, I don't think there's anything symbolic about any oath. And if you want to say that the symbolic oath isn't as important, then why use the Bible at all? After all it is symbolic and therefore has no real bearing on your willingness to perform your duties. Somehow it doesn't make sense to talk about how important the Bible is and how important it was to George Washington only to force someone to swear an oath on it when they do not directly believe in its content. Doesn't the Bible become just any other book at that point? I don't know about you, but if someone is going to swear an oath to work for this country, I'd like that oath to mean something to that person. The fact that Ellison wants to swear his oath on the Koran (the book from which he will gather the tools to do his job), before Allah, tells me that he takes his oath very seriously and I don't think that's a bad thing.

Finally, I'll leave you with a portion of our Constitution. Although this passage refers to the real oath taken in the House, I think it captures the spirit of the whole issue.

"The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States."

http://redstateamerican.wordpress.com/2006/12/03/america-not-keith-ellison-decides-what-book-a-congressman-takes-his-oath-on/
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,234237,00.html

Oh the insanity

2006-11-20T09:22:00.000-05:00

This article is so ridiculous:

"Robbers Prey on Play Station 3 Buyers"

I cannot believe how crazy people can be. This picture is from an e-bay sale which is currently listed as $1,950. A few of the more violent examples...

Andrew Templeton, 20, and David Wiggins, 28, of Sullivan, Indiana, were assaulted by two teens after waiting for 36 hours at a Super Wal-Mart, police said. They were unloading their PlayStation 3s from their car when two teens approached them carrying a chain and a tire iron and demanding their consoles,

Another shopper was beaten and robbed of his new PlayStation 3 just minutes after he bought it at a store in Manchester, police said. The shopper told police five men surrounded and beat him as he left the Shoppes at Buckland Hills with the new PlayStation.

Elsewhere, two men wearing black ski masks and sunglasses made off with five consoles after holding two employees at gunpoint at an Englewood, Ohio, video game store Thursday night, police said.

Things you can see from outer space

2006-11-14T19:25:00.000-05:00

The Great Wall of China, Egyptian pyramids, the KFC colonel...

Yeah that's right. In order to promote their new brand image of the colonel in a chef's apron [as opposed to his former white suit jacket] the company laid out colored tiles in the colonel's image that can be seen from space.

Yeah that's right... outerspace.

Eat more chicken aliens.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,229308,00.html

So it wasn't just the frat boys

2006-11-14T01:56:00.000-05:00

Looks like good ole Sacha got a lot of people fooled... check out all the other lawsuits coming his way.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2006-11-10-borat-lawsuit_x.htm?csp=34

Girls Gone Wild, Frat Boys Style...

2006-11-12T09:40:00.000-05:00

Ok, so Borat is now the #1 movie in America, once again proving that Americans on the whole are stupid. Let's go out and support a movie that patronizes us, points to all our flaws, and generally makes us look like bumbling idiots. But hey, we're all about free speech and isn't Sacha Baron Cohen [a.k.a., "Borat"] just exercising his?

I'm not against this movie by any means, so don't misunderstand what I'm about to say. It's just that I can't help but feel a little bad for the stupid frat guys from good old University of South Carolina. The frat boys claim they were tricked and coerced into saying racist and sexist comments. Let's get one thing clear- NO ONE is ever "tricked" into saying those kind of comments in front of a video camera if they don't mean it a little at least. They claim they thought the video would be shown outside of the country, once again proving that Americans are idiots and have no concept of pride in our country.

My friends went to a theater here in Columbia last week to watch Borat [for those of you who haven't been keeping up, I attend the grad school here at the Univ. of South Carolina-- grad school, not undergrad, so don't blame me] and they said it was ridiculous. First there was lots of cheering when the students "picked up" a hitch-hiking Borat, but then dead silence when the comments were made. These guys are getting ridiculed left, right and center for what they said. Serves them right for being such typical Southern frat boy jerks. So you're asking why do I feel sorry for them? I feel sorry for the fact that no one seems to have taught them better and now they have to suffer with the whole country knowing how ridiculous and idiotic they are. But at the end of the day, they signed a waiver, and now they know how those poor drunk college girls feel after they flash the cameras :)

In case you haven't heard.....

2006-11-08T21:43:00.000-05:00

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/11/08/election.main/index.html

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,228219,00.html

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,227937,00.html

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,228173,00.html

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,228262,00.html?sPage=fnc.politics/youdecide2006

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/11/08/election.bush/index.html

Montana principal returns after 'wedgie'

2006-10-26T09:20:00.000-05:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061024/ap_on_fe_st/principal_wedgie

I read this headline this morning and I had to bring it to the public's attention. Afterall, it is breaking news. Long story short, a principal (princi... ple... no, no he's my friend.. princiPAL) gave a kid on the soccer team a wedgie.... and got suspended... for 6 days. Now, I don't really think the whole wedgie thing is reason to get this upset about. I mean come on, the kid will get over it. And I don't want hear any softy parenting-type crying about how he was emotionally traumatized by it. But what is funny to me is how serious this became. For example:

Messerli cried Monday as he read a statement to the board and the public.

"I've made mistakes in my life, but none have had the impact that this one has had," he said.

Really?? Really???? For this, the principal had to make all these dramatic statements about mistakes in his life? Gimme a break! But I guess that's what happens when the PTA, filled with the same parents who decided to outlaw tag because it's a dangerous chase game and dodgeball because it's exclusionary, get involved and have their way. Their overall point was that the principal blurred the line between authority and student with the wedgie. Well, here's my question.... what example does it set to completely undermine the authority of the principal publicly? How much respect do his students have for him now? And more importantly, the principal's gonna have to second guess any disciplinary action now because he'll be under a microscope from now into the near future. Wouldn't it have made more sense for the schoolboard to say they'll handle it, give the principal a private reprimand and make sure he understands wedgies aren't appropriate and have the parents butt out?? Now all we're left with is soft-ass children who can't handle a little bit of hard discipline and who have even less respect for authority. Awesome!

Baseball: A cheater's game

2006-10-24T15:41:00.000-05:00

Sunday night brought yet another smudge to the already dirty game that we call baseball. Tigers' pitcher Kenny Rodgers was found to have pine tar on his hand which he was using to get a better grip on the ball. The use of pine tar is of course, is clearly against the rules. I'll say it, it's cheating. And he wasn't even ejected from the game. He just washed his hands and pitched on. And looking back on film from previous games, shows that Rodgers had mysterious dark stuff on his hand during those games as well. Now, I'm not sure what's worse. The fact that he was cheating, or that no one saw the need to really call him out on it. Why was Tony La Russa content to let him keep pitching and after the game when asked whether Roders's cheating prevent fair competition say, "depends." He even told his team "we don't want to win that way." I'm confused. Win what way? The fair way where no one's allowed to cheat? This only makes me wonder whether La Russa's protecting some of his own players. And apparently plenty of other pitchers use something or other to get a better grip on the ball.

Whatever happened to the good old days? You remember. The days when Roger McDowell tried to flick the piece of sandpaper he had in his back pocket to his pitching coach when the umpires got suspicious? If I remember correctly, he was promptly ejected. Is baseball slipping into the abyss or moral relativity where nothing is really so bad so long as enough people are doing it?

The New MorningX?

2006-10-17T23:12:00.000-05:00

So being that I am in Columbia, I was not aware of the regime change at the 99x Morning Show. Apparently they've been going on for a few weeks now and I'm curious as to how it's going. After the good old days of Sean Demery then Barnes, Leslie and Jimmy, things went downhill when the show went through the various phases of: The Don Miller Morning Show (arguably the worst phase); The Toucher, Jimmy, and Leslie Morning Show; and Mornings with Axel, Jimmy, and Leslie.

Yes, I am getting all of this information from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WNNX-FM and once again I marvel at how much that website knows. It was like a trip down the Atlanta musical memory lane to read that entry.

I'm intrigued to listen to the new show and shall be tuning into 99x.com some mornings in order to check it out. Just a heads up for all you misplaced Atlantans all over the country at the moment.

Oh and by the way, ever wondered what happend to Crash Clark and his traffic updates? Wonder no more....
Was suspended more than once while working at the station. Was fired at the end of November 2005 for a contest gone wrong. According to reports, Crash was hosting a remote at a club and had pairs of tickets to a private 99x concert by 311 to give away. A woman approached and offered to perform oral sex on someone at the club for the tickets. Crash assumed she wouldn't actually go through with it (noting that people had offered to do the same at previous events and hadn't) and was planning to give her the tickets even if she didn't. However, she did go through with it (in the men's bathroom), upsetting the club owners and 99x programming director Leslie Fram. Made a brief final appearance on air near the end of Toucher's final show (on March 17th, 2006), where Clark jokingly asked Fram to hire him back "for the fifth time". Currently involved in a radio show with Fred Toucher and Rich Shertenlieb known as The Toucher and Rich show on WBCN in Boston.

Clinician-Researchers: Not always the best researchers

2006-10-09T13:11:00.000-05:00

JT and I were talking about clinician-researchers yesterday and we came to the conclusion that it's really hard to be both. Clinicians know the clinic and researchers know the lab. And here's a perfect example of why clinicians don't make the best researchers. I'm sure you all heard about the clinical trial gone horribly wrong in England in March of this year when people ended up in the ICU. Well, the article describing the trial came out in the New England Journal of Medicine last month. I read it as I was eating my lunch today and frankly, I'm baffled. How did the clinicians who designed this study not know something like this would happen?
Let me summarize without getting too sciencey. Basically, the drug they gave was an anti-CD28 antibody. CD28 is one of many proteins present on the surface of T cells. T cells are the worker bees of the part of your immune system that deals with for instance, bacteria that's not supposed to be there. But, too much immune activity can do more hard to the body than good. Like if you're septic, you can die from your body's own immune response to the bacteria, not the bacteria itself. So, that's where this drug comes in. It's function was supposed to be to regulate T cell response to infection. They knew giving this antibody would basically turn T cells on and leave them on so the body would keep making more of them. That's good to get the immune system going. Knowing this would happen, they gave another drug to stop T cell proliferation. That's all fine and dandy to stop the immune system from getting out of hand.
But here's where the clinician-researchers got stupid and here's why I think not all clinicians are cut out to be researchers. Anytime you make an effector T cell, but you don't let it proliferate, it will die. These cells don't just hang around. So, of course they observed a near total depletion of T cell numbers in these previously healthy people. And the kicker is that these clinician-researchers were surprised!! Now when I read the reports about this way back in March, I could have told you exactly why this study went wrong. It just didn't make and fundamental sense. These guys were Intensivists. Had they spoken to just one Immunologist before the trial, they would have gotten the right story. Which brings me to my point. Research is never so simple as hey there's too much of this so lets get rid of it and things should be better. But that's often how the mind of a clinician works. So indeed, clinician-researchers, not always good researchers!

Death of a President?

2006-10-06T07:47:00.000-05:00

So I'm curious, what do our blog readers actually think about this movie? The award-winning movie is coming out of the Toronto film festival, but one of the largest movie conglomorates in the country will not be playing it on their screens. Their comment to the press:

But the country's largest theater chain, Regal Entertainment Group, has passed on playing the film, citing the subject matter as the primary reason. "We would not be inclined to program this film," Regal Entertainment Group CEO Mike Campbell said. "We feel it is inappropriate to portray the future assassination of a sitting president, regardless of political affiliation."

This type of comment is enough for the typical media frenzy we're used to, especially in light of the fact that this is election season. But I wanted both sides of the story, so I looked up the synopsis given for the film festival. You can read it here.

I don't know. The synopsis makes it out to be a moving film that will have you crying and questioning the meaning of life. Everyone is entitled to their own artistic expression, but I do find it particularly crass that someone would make a film about killing a specific person while they are still alive, nevermind that he's the sitting president. I guess that's what really bothers me. For years we have been watching movies featuring a "president" character that criticizes and mirrors the current sitting president. But this just seems to be taking it one step too far for me, and I don't like the artistic expression that it's encouraging. Even the 90's classic films, Hot Shots, the Saddam Hussein character was never actually killed if I remember correctly?

I'm gonna be an important person one day as I'm kind of a big deal and people know me. I don't know that I want to live in a country where people think it's ok for someone who doesn't like me to make a movie in which I die when I'm still living and walking on this Earth.

Read the article concerning the movie theater ban here.

Do you know wha today is???

2006-10-01T10:18:00.000-05:00

…… It’s our blog-a-versary. Well, actually, it was 1 year plus 7 days ago that this blog was born. Ahh, yes another year, with so many things changing and so many things staying the same. What do I mean? Well, let’s look at what has stayed the same. JT continues to read the blog regularly, but still does not contribute. Mt. T probably doesn’t read the blog and of course still refuses to contribute. What has changed? Well, I moved to Boston for one, Sheara and I have talked on the phone about 2 times in the past week and a half. There is no insinuation of blame of course, but looking at our track record, that’s just crazy. What’s to blame? Why, her mind was being overworked by school and my body was being overworked by unpacking the lab. Otherwise, I confronted confrontation at work and I won…. Not with copious amounts of laxative, but with mature discourse. :-) But now to the point at hand. Happy Birthday to The Brilliant Thoughts of Overworked Minds. This makes me think how many more birthdays this blog will have while still active? Are we going to grow up and get too busy to blog about the very important issues that have been addressed here over the past year? I certainly hope not. But if this lasts for many years down the road, and I find myself opening a special MySpace account to spy on my own children, I’ll be spying on them not only for the things that they may be doing online, but I’ll be spying to make sure they steer clear of this blog. Afterall, there are certain things that children need not know about their parents. But rest assured, we’ll have many more years of guilt-free blogging ahead of us and we hope you’ll stay on for the ride! :-)

No more bull, it's time for the truth!!

2006-09-11T02:06:00.000-05:00

It's 3:00 in the morning and I am very very tired. The reason I am not in bed is because a Neuroscience test is keeping me up late and very frustrated. As I feel like an undergraduate again, I decided to revert back to my undergraduate ways when placed in a situation like this.... break out the Red Bull!! It's my favorite way to stay awake while studying or to perk up during a late night out on the town. I personally like the taste even though I know many people seem to hate it. I recently heard that people had died after drinking Red Bull so I decided to search Wikipedia and see what they had to say. Judge for yourself, but all I know is that I am feeling very awake and energized-- clearly enough to write this entry and now I'm ready to get back to work!

In 2001, the drink was investigated by the Swedish National Food Administration after being linked to the deaths of three consumers. It has been subject to a number of other health concerns regarding glucuronolactone, a precursor of taurine. Sale of Red Bull as a normal soft drink is prohibited in Denmark, Norway, France and Uruguay. Due to the link with taurine, local authorities categorized Red Bull as a medicine and suggest customers ask for medical advice before drinking. Because of this, only energy drinks without taurine are sold in France. The official imported Canadian Red Bull is a caffeinated version of Thai Krating Daeng. Until late 2004, its sale was prohibited in Canada. Now a can must carry a warning label that says:

Cautions: Contains caffeine. Not recommended for children, pregnant or breast-feeding women, caffeine sensitive persons or to be mixed with alcohol. Do not consume more than 500 ml per day.

However, no such warning label is present on tins sold in the UK, though people who consume the beverage in excess (more than 2-5 250ml tins in a 24-hour period) have been known to express discomfort, such as nausea, stomach pains, gas, and/or sleeplessness.

Red Bull made the news in Ireland after two hurling players died after drinking Red Bull at half-time in a club game.

Doctors and nutritionists have warned of the dangers of mixing caffeine and alcohol in excessive quantities. Their warnings, however, are often unheeded as many people feel that the benefits of mixing Red Bull with alcohol far outweigh the risks and use stimulants such as caffeine in order to avoid getting drowsy while drunk. Mixing Red Bull with alcohol (most commonly Vodka and Jägermeister) has become increasingly popular among college-aged crowds and club goers. Heavier drinkers of alcoholic Red Bull drinks have cited "euphoric feelings." Many studies have been performed to determine the actual effects on the human body after consumption of Red Bull with alcohol, most finding solely that the mixing of a depressant with an energy drink can lead to abnormal heart rhythms and future heart problems.

The director of biomaterials research at the University of Maryland Dental School in Baltimore found the most wear to tooth enamel occurred, in descending order, from exposure to -- lemonade, energy drinks (especially those with citrus (i.e. Citric acid) flavors such as Red Bull), sports drinks, fitness water, iced tea and cola.

So granted it was my fault, but still....

2006-08-27T13:09:00.000-05:00

Ok, so here's the deal.... Friday night, I go into one of my usual haunts to enjoy the fine company of my friends and a few alcoholic beverages. As the new social chair of the department, I had turned this into a department outing and was expecting phone calls from people asking where we were. Therefore, I placed my phone on the table to ensure that no call would be missed. After a few beer beverages, and a shot of Mexico's finest tequila, I was ready to pay my bill and head home for a night of relaxed sleeping.

The next morning, I woke up and realized that I did not have my phone. So I call the restaurant from my apartment phone and they say after about 30 seconds of looking, "No, it's not here, but leave us a contact number and we will let you know if we find it." But I'm not buying that, so I go there myself and ask the manager to look for it, and he says "No, it's not here, but leave us your number and we'll let you know if we find it."

So I go home, call Cingular, and generally waste most of the afternoon trying to decide whether to cancel it, deactivate it, etc. Since it's the weekend, whatever I decided to do can't be reversed until Monday so I had to make sure that I made the correct decision. So after all this, my friend calls around 8pm and and says, "Guess what, the restaurant just called me and said they had your phone." Ok. What the hell?!?

So they got my contact number twice, and instead of using that, they open up my phone and call the last number that tried to contact me? Let's not forget that this is the very same place where hours earlier, an entire management staff had never even seen my phone before. Where did it magically come from? I know it's my fault for leaving it there, but part of me wanted to suggest that maybe they get a better plan for handling things like this instead of ruining my day with their ineptitude for handling missing items. Sheesh. Well at least I still have my phone and all 75 phone numbers that were stored in it. You better believe that I'm gonna be making up a written list of those numbers before I pseudo-lose my phone again. It's amazing in the advent of the cell phone, how few numbers I actually know by heart these days.

Boozie Boston

2006-08-24T21:18:00.000-05:00

As followers of this blog may or may not know, I'm moving to Boston in a few weeks to finish my PhD. And after finding this article, I feel like Boston has some pretty hefty expectations of me.

http://www.forbes.com/2006/08/18/cx_de_081806_nightlife06_drunkcities_slide_4.html?thisSpeed=6000

It's the 4th booziest city in the country. Topping the list was Minneapolis. Well, lets be honest, if I lived in Minneapolis, I'd be a raging alcoholic too for lack of anything better to do. But apparenty, Bonstonians aren't too shabby themselves. We all know that I'm big on traditions, and well I'm gonna want to make new friends. Everybody wants to fit in, right? All I can promise is to give it the good old college try, but something tells me that fitting in with the locals in this case won't be a problem. Who knows, it might lead to a blog post entitled "Musings from the drunk tank."

Did you eat my French toast??

2006-08-15T14:28:00.000-05:00

Everyone knows that bizarre things happen in the workplace. Some people are inconsiderate and others are team players. But does everyone's workplace have a food-stealer??? Apparently, mine does. Well, let me put the story out there before I bias your opinions too much. You can all judge for yourselves:

Last week, I met some friends for lunch and ordered French Toast. The portion was huge and I clearly remember exclaiming to myself, "who eats 6 slices of bread in one sitting? I can save half for lunch tomorrow." So, I bring back 3 (three) slices of French Toast in a to-go container and put it in the lab fridge. Now let me explain the nature of the container because it is the cornerstone of this story. It was one of those clear plastic containers where the edges snap together to seal. Not easily opened you see.
I come back the next afternoon starving. It was actually about 2:30 before I got a chance to eat lunch. So my leftovers were looking mighty good. I get out a piece of tin foil and open my container.... One slice..... two slices..... ...... Wait a second. There's a slice missing!!!!!!!!!!! I stood there and thought for a few seconds. Did I eat it but get confused?? Not possible. Somehow in the span of 24 hours, I became one slice of French toast short. From this point, the anger built into rage. I went into the lab to voice my frustrations to someone who I knew could not have been the culprit. He empathised because he too had had Cokes mysteriously disappear from the fridge. So he doesn't bring them anymore. After venting, I went back out to get what was left of my now totally unappetizing shitty lunch. While retrieving my Crap toast, someone came out to talk to me. We'll just call him Shameless Shithead.... for alliterative purposes, of course. Shameless Shithead tells me the following story.... Enter your judgment skills:
"Sudha, I heard you talking about the French toast and I have to tell you that I am the culprit. You see, yesterday I opened the fridge to get my own stuff and I knocked out your contained by accident. It opened, you see and your French toast fell out. There was one piece that fell on the floor and the others were stacked on top. I put the top two pieces back and threw the one that touched the floor away. I didn't want you to eat the one on the floor. I didn't say anything because I didn't know whose it was and I forgot until now."

So, let me get this strait.... my French Toast got knocked out of the fridge. OK, no problem. But then, the container magically opened causing my toast to do a complete and perfect 180 only to have 1 slice hit the floor while the others were stacked perfectly on top? And then you picked them up with your dirty little fingers, put them back in the fridge and didn't bother to tell anyone even though we have a huge whiteboard in the hall where everyone writes announcements they want everyone to see? What?????? WHAT????? WHAT??????
Do people like this really exist?? Dude, I don't care what any of you say. He ate my French Toast.... He ate 1/3 of my lunch!!!! My lunch!!!! And then boldface lied about it!!! And don't get me started on the soda that had my name on it in the fridge that I caught him holding in his hand with a guilty-ass look on his face a few months ago, or the other grad student's missing Lean Cuisines. Oh that's right folks, we have a bona fide Shameless Shithead on our hands.
I'm really at a loss. We're supposed to be adults and not eat other people's food!!!! I mean, how does he know I'm not in the habit of thoroughly licking all the food I put into to-go containers???? I guess that's the nature of Shameless Shitheads. They just don't care. But don't worry, there will be retribution of the most satisfying kind. Stay tuned.

I live the life of Paris Hilton

2006-08-12T15:02:00.000-05:00

Just get me a T-Mobile sidekick and an annoying purse dog called Tinkerbell and we might be mistaken for twins, oh yeah, except minus the rolling around in the sand and filming music videos.. that's just not my style.

I for one will be semi-relieved when work starts on Tuesday followed by classes 2 weeks later. This summer has been highly unproductive in the way of real work, but I have upped my tolerance level for liquor, pimped out my MySpace profile several times, and generally managed to spend obscene amounts of hours on the computer. I am certain that this is how Paris lives her life.

I mean take a look at this picture. Carefree, full of life... I'm like the spitting image.

Moving on, I was struck at this moment by the large impact that MySpace has made in my life. I am in contact with practically everyone I have EVER met in my entire life. I mean, one click and we're in contact with the aid of a message box. What more could a full-time socialite like me need?

All of my friends are moving to Iraq, no joke. I mean like a good 1/5 of my list is over there right now serving our country in some capacity. Lee was in the PX (which is basically their version of Wal-Mart on the base) and he ran into a girl that was in our year at Vandy and in ROTC with him. She had just driven up to his post on a convoy. Then I was checking MySpace and another one of our friends is an air ranger at a nearby post. There is a very good possibility when Lee is leading convoys to that post, his friend is flying above him providing cover. A third friend is the #2 man for military intelligence in another nearby country. Lee pointed out on the phone yesterday that all three of them very nearly got kicked out of ROTC for drinking one night on a weekend field mission. It was like a big game back then.... we were all college kids, and I know they had no idea that one day ALL of them would be over in a real war at the same time. But if you want my opinion, these guys are amazing at what they do and had they been any other three in ROTC they probably would have been kicked out. But their commander recognized who the top four in the class would be by the time they graduated for leadership and skill (yup, you guessed it, the girl in the PX was one of them) and now they are over there (with no alcohol) and I feel strangely secure knowing this. Their competence level was always amazing to me back then and it's only gotten better over the years.

So that's my life.... thinking about bombs in Iraq or Sri Lanka, and living the life of a Hilton. Only one more weekend till I get back to the grind.
Peace out :)

From bizarro land....

2006-08-01T11:15:00.000-05:00

OK, this deserves posting for the headline alone. The story ain't too shabby itself. I found it highly entertaining.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14125521/?GT1=8404

Sometimes you're just destined to get cought.

And finally, "But it's a dead conger, for Pete's sake. I shouldn't think the conger could care one way or another."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14125521/?GT1=8404

Enjoy!

I think I'm finally back!

2006-07-31T23:24:00.000-05:00

So yes technically I have been back for the last two weeks, but as many of you know I've been rather MIA for the last month. Sorry for cutting off communication for my last two weeks in Sri Lanka but I feel like break from the craziness of life was needed. So I visited with relatives during the day and clubbed at night my way through Sri Lanka while battling food poisoning, a fever, and general flu/cold symptoms those last 10 days while I abandoned all of you. All in all, a wonderful vacation as usual in spite of all the heightened security due to renewed civil unrest in the country.

First things first. For the love of everything....
Dear Hizballah,
Please give back the two soldiers you kidnapped several weeks ago. If you do that, Israel says they will stop bombing you. Call me crazy, but why don't you do that and see what happens?
Sincerely,
A concerned world citizen

Yes, I know the situation is much more complicated than the concerned world citizen (a friend of mine who wishes to remain annonymous) seems to realize. But I agree that giving back the two soldiers would be a good start rather than letting more of their people die needlessly.

How bout that Vanessa Minnillo? Not bad landing Nich Lachey, but is it just me or does she seem a little over the top clingy/crazy/annoying. I mean she's starting to make me feel like Jessica was a better choice afterall...

Aaron Spelling dead?!? Man... what are we gonna do for great entertainment television? This is the man behind Dynasty, Charlie's Angels, Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place, 7th Heaven... I mean we're talking quality trash tv here and I loved every sick and twisted minute of it. May you rest in peace Aaron.

Oh Mel... why do you hate the Jews? And if you don't, then you really make it seem like you do. I still want to be your friend though and so if you could clean up your act a bit that would be great. Oh and crazy media, back off. I mean seriously, the man made a ridiculously remorseful apology. You all forgave Clinton for his cigar dalliances in the oval office, Whoopi's semi-racist remarks, Hugh's philandering ways, and Ted Kennedy's somewhat sketchy manslaughter charges. Doesn't Mel deserve a little love too?

Ok, that's it for me and all the things that have been going through my mind lately. Should be posting more regularly once again-- it's good to be home!! :)

WHAT?????

2006-07-28T18:57:00.000-05:00

OK, am I the last person to have received this memo??? Does everyone else already know that Lance Bass is gay???? I was just watching entertainment tonight and they said, "New revelations from Lance Bass's lover." But what I heard was "Lance Bass's mother." But then a dude started talking about "it" affecting every aspect of their lives. And then the narrator asked, "will they raise children together?" When did this happen???? Perhaps I would have been privy to this information had I a subscription to, oh I don't know, maybe US Weekly??? Discuss......

And I thought I'd never love again

2006-07-21T14:40:00.000-05:00

This is a story about love and companionship... but read it completely before you get all emotional.

I was introduced to my eventual first love the summer after I turned 17. As with all relationships, I wasn't too sure in the beginning. I mean, there were good looks, apparent reliability, but that was it at first. We began to spend a lot of time together. Every day on the way to and from school. My fiends even approved, and I slowly became hopelessly attached. In fact, I nicknamed my first love simply MyBaby. Years passed and the relationship was as strong as ever. MyBaby even came up to Michigan with me. I thought everything was fine, but that's when the trouble started. I should have expected the eight year itch. It got harder and harder to get MyBaby going in the winter. More and more kept going wrong and I was spending more and more money to keep the relationship going. But as anyone who's been in love knows, you become blind and don't think twice about the bad things, until it's too late. And then the day came. December 22, 2005. We were coming back from Target in the evening, when MyBaby met the end. It happened in a flash. A stupid undergrad came out of nowhere in her Jeep. MyBaby did everyhing possible to protect me and made the ultimate sacrifice to keep me safe. There was no coming back. MyBaby had even lost an extremity. It was just laying there on the pavement. When I saw the damage I cried. I went home and thought about the 8 years we had together. MyBaby was with me through drives to dance class, secret road trips my parents weren't supposed to know about and and so much more. But all that was now in the past and the future was looking mighty different.
So I went home for Christmas as planned and I there was introduced to another, MAX. We joined up in Michigan in January. I was reluctant at first, but MAX began to grow on me slowly, until one day, I began to fall in love again. MAX was in for a normal checkup. Everything was fine. When they were done, they rolled MAX up, dripping wet and shining. He was beautiful and I knew I was falling in love. MAX can never replace MyBaby, but (knock on wood) this relationship will blossom into a different kind of love that's just as special. :-)

Superman Returns

2006-07-03T09:29:00.000-05:00

This is the first review I've put up here, but I couldn't resist. If you haven't seen Superman Returns yet, you're missing out. It was awesome. In fact, I think the last movie I saw in the theater was Wallace and gromit and that was in the dollar theater. So needless to say, I needed my faith restored in movies so I wouldn't feel ripped off forking over my $7.50. But I'm telling you, this movie was well for the money. In fact, I was enthralled with the opening credits. Even if the rest of the movie had sucked, I'd have been happy. But the rest of the movie was amazing. And of course, Kevin Spacey never disappoints. The plot was great. The effects and action sequences were fantastic and Superman saved a whole lot of people. And best of all was the ending. Not cheesed up at all and totally wove the whole story together. It was movie magic at it's best from beginning to end!

Fools in Love in Michigan

2006-06-21T09:07:00.000-05:00

No I'm not talking about Sudha, but I am talking about a crazy girl who is up there with her! In keeping with the MySpace crazies, here's a great story. Now we may all have different opinions on this, but I think she's nuts. Kudos to the U.S. government officials for recognizing this girl's craziness in the Jordan airport and sending her home before she could get to Tel Aviv. What am I talking about you ask? Katherine Lester met a 20-year old high school dropout who lived with his parents in Tel Aviv on MySpace. She ran away from home and was en route to Tel Aviv to marry this guy and convert to Islam. Is this romantic? The stuff romance novels are made of? Or is this just nuts? Read the article here. The best is the title of this aol.com article: "MySpace Runaway May Lose Passport" Yeah. Like this is the biggest problem this girl has.

It must be some deformity in your right arm, no?

2006-06-19T13:24:00.000-05:00

I think I just might be the only person in the world who doesn't think MySpace is the best thing since ice cream, but I'll be honest, I don't. In fact only reason I'm still on there is to keep in touch with Lee and once he's back... no more MySpace for me. I just don't think I can take one more sexually inappropriate message from some crazy dude. I mean, really. Why do men think it's OK to say nasty things to strangers? I guess it comes with the territory of putting personal information on the internet. But I have to say that the message I got this morning takes the cake. It wasn't sexually inappropriate. It just made me laugh and wonder about guys in general. It came from an Indian guy who has been trying to get me to add him to my friend list for a really long time. He's sent me plenty of friend requests, and messages that go something like this; "You seen nice. Can I be a 'fren' to you." Minus the irritating shorthand internet talk, I was happy to ignore him. I mean come on, he's a complete stranger. It's just not gonna happen. But today he sent a message that said simply this; "It must be some deformity in your right arm, no?" OK, first of all, yes I broke my arm when I was little and it healed a little crooked, but why would he point this out to me? Did he think I didn't know? Was he trying to impress me by taking notice of my subtleties? Did he expect me to reply with some excited message about how I was glad be pointed out my "deformity?" Is that his weird way of making me think he's a doctor? I'm confused. Who says something like that? But I should give him some props. It wasn't offensive, just entertaining.

Naked, Cuffed Suspect Flees From Hospital

2006-06-14T13:15:00.000-05:00

Haha... people are resourceful when on the run...
Mostly I just love this opening paragraph-- catchy and dramatic at the same time! I also highlighted the truly ridiculous parts to this story.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (June 13) - A burglary suspect was charged with a string of crimes after bolting from a hospital, naked, handcuffed and with blood spurting from a stab wound in his chest.

A deputy had removed Rashon Delee's leg shackles so he could use the toilet at Crouse Hospital when he decided to make his run Sunday afternoon, said Onondaga County Sheriff Kevin Walsh.

Delee ripped out an intravenous drip, monitors and a chest tube, threw his hospital gown in a deputy's face and ran from the hospital.

He sprinted down five flights of stairs to escape and managed to slip out of one handcuff while running, possibly because the lubrication from sweat and blood helped him slip it off, Walsh said. (I wonder if this is a scientific opinion?)

Delee eluded authorities for three hours, two of which he spent in a trash bin behind a restaurant on the Syracuse University campus, before he was caught. (Can you imagine seeing this after coming out of your college cafeteria?)

Walsh said department investigators are reviewing whether the deputy, a two-year veteran, acted appropriately.

Delee, 21, was taken to the hospital after being stabbed by his former girlfriend when he broke into her apartment. (You go girl!!)

He faces felony counts of burglary, criminal contempt and escape, as well as misdemeanor counts of harassment, criminal contempt, criminal trespass, petit larceny and resisting arrest.

Big Ben.... Not the brightest bell in the tower.

2006-06-14T10:39:00.000-05:00

I'm sure everyone's heard by now that "Big Ben" Roethlisberger got into a pretty bad motorcycle accident. I've read a lot of "poor Bens" in the news lately, but should we really feel bad for him? I mean, he was riding the fastest racing bike on the market HELMETLESS. That's right. Nothing but his hair, a doo-rag and a baseball hat between him and certain death. But thankfully, he managed to survive and he'll be ok. I'm just wondering how this all happened in the first place. I just assumed that athletes had all kinds of clauses in their contracts that prevented them from even changing the oil in their cars for fear of injury. Well, apparently Ben had a motorcycle clause in his contract cause he loves them so much. Whether the helmet was involved, who knows. But all that aside, who is THAT stupid??? I mean really, 80mph with no head protection??? You're just asking for it. But then it all became clear. Say you work in a place that requires you to wear really fancy clothes on a daily basis. A lawyer, for instance. Well, when you get home, it's possible that all you want to wear is sweat pants and a T-shirt. Well why should Ben be any different? His job requires him to wear a helmet all the time. It makes total sense that he'd be tired of it an a doo-rag and baseball hat would be just what the doctor ordered.

Limited Basic

2006-06-13T20:09:00.000-05:00

Well, it's official. I finally did it. I downgraded my cable service. All I have now is Limited Basic. I have channels 2-32. Just your local stations, all the crap between 15 and 20 (both C-Spans and all the infomercials you can handle) a few more good channels and thank goodness good old 31. My TNT so I can have all the Law and Order I need. Why did I do it? First, I feel I watch entirely too much TV. And second, well, it was my own little way of sticking it to the man. I mean if ever there was a company out there to hate, it's Comcast. They're the perfect example of "the man." It just doesn't make sense. If my cable goes out, why do I need to pay you to come fix it? I mean, what exactly am I already paying out my nose every month for? And of course, they can only come out 3 weeks from next Tuesday because that's the earliest appointment they have. But magically, when I downgraded my service, my appointment for them to come disconnect me and collect my cable box was made for the very next day. Funny how that works. But I think the worst of it is that they know everyone hates them. I was returning my box today and it was like I was visiting an inmate at a maximum security prison. They clerks were behind bullet-proof Plexiglas and no one was making sudden or swift movements. But moving fast to help people might actually be against union policy. Plus, I had to pass my box through a little window that had a door on my side and a door on theirs. It was like level 5 biohazard. But it was probably for the best, because everyone in the line, myself included, had a not so pleasant look on their face. But in the end, I've won. I pay them a lot less money every month. Looks like I won the battle and the war!!!!

Yo Sushi!

2006-06-12T16:08:00.000-05:00

This is a picture of Yo Sushi! in the Paddington train station in London. It is one of the coolest things I have ever seen. You go and sit at a stool and watch as plates of sushi go by you on a conveyor belt on the counter. Each plate is a different color that corresponds with different prices. Green plates cost £1.50, purple cost £2.00, orange cost £2.50 and so on up till the pink plates that cost £5.00. (Yeah, I wrote those out just so I could use the £ sign on this keyboard). When you're done, they calculate your plates and you're on your way to the train. You can always order what you want, but there are tons of choices on the conveyor belt. Spicy tuna and salmon sashimi already ready and floating around a conveyor belt? Genius... Do we have things like this in the States??

Who is this man?

2006-06-09T12:42:00.001-05:00

oh my... still stumped? Take a moment, and look hard. Ashton's Kutcher's brother maybe? Yeah, there's no way you're gonna figure this one out. It's the infamous K-Fed, aka Mr. Spears, aka Kevin Federline. Who would have thought that the man could clean up so well. I haven't a clue what he's up to these days other than trying to promote his "music" But the phrase you can't change a leopard's spots comes to mind when I look at this picture. I'm sure he's still the lazy bum that he's always been. I really don't have much to say on this issue other than I thought it was amazing what a little soap, water, and a razor can do for a man like K-Fed.

Another one bites the dust

2006-06-08T06:52:00.000-05:00

Iraq's number two man has been killed. So I know what you're already saying, which number two is this? Doesn't it seem like we're always killing off the number two man? But this one was a biggie according to the terrorist playing cards issued to our military guys over there (brilliant strategy I have to say-- give the soldiers cards which they will probably use during all their downtime, and now they'll be able to recognize these people even better when on patrol). His bounty was raised to $25 million, which is the same as Osama. So what's the significance of this? I'm not entirely sure in the grand scheme of things, but you gotta figure that the guy his supporters called "the slaughtering sheik" won't be terribly missed on this Earth. So we're one step closer, but then again those of you familiar with these kinds of social climates, another person will only take his place tomorrow. Hence the search for the new number two man. But honestly, we can only hope that the new man is less evil than Al-Zarqawi and hope that eventually the new number two will have some common sense and even a soul.

Update: So I just talked to Lee a few hours after this post. He's in the airport on his way to Kuwait and just informed me that Al-Zarqawi was from Mozul, Iraq. As that is where Lee is going to be in 30 days for potentially the next two years, I see this is as huge plus that this idiot is no longer terrorizing that city. So yes, I do think in this case it does matter that this one man is gone. It matters a lot to me because after this point the war is no longer a political debate to have over my morning coffee, but it's about the safety of Lee and all my other friends over there. Good riddance and keep up the good work!

We have better wines!

2006-06-07T10:52:00.000-05:00

In the spirit of becoming a mature young adult, I have taken an interest in wine tasting. These days I know all about reds vs. whites, stelvin screw top closures vs. corks, Robert Parker and his fabulous point system, cork taint, and cleansing the palette. I also know though that California wines are out-performing French wines in blind taste tests. The most famous blind tasting occured 30 years ago and is known as the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976. The same bottles from that year were re-tasted this year in a replication of the event. The concept was to see how well the wines had aged over 30 years; California still came out on top!

So break out your cheese trays and head to your nearest wine store and uncork a bottle of the number one red from that historic event, the Cabernert Sauvignon from California's Stag's Leap Wine Cellars produced by winemaker Warren Winiarski. There now, don't you already feel more sophisticated... ?

It's raining Aliens.... hallelujah!

2006-06-06T14:41:00.000-05:00

That's right, aliens, from the sky... well comets to be exact.
http://www.popsci.com/popsci/science/2c21c0f98d07b010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html

Apparently 50 tons of these aliens fell from the Indian sky and scientists still are not sure what they are. Supposedly, they don't have any DNA, so they can't be called "living" but they still divide. The speculation in that they were carried on comets or other space-movers from who knows where in the galaxy and finally made it to earth. This could be evidence of how life started on earth. Those little organisms were carried by comets, landed on earth and started evolving. But before you freak out about our planet being taken over by aliens, this happening can explain how several puzzling phenomena have made it onto earth. To name a few for example: Tom Cruise, black licorice, the pinky toe, the secret to Bobby and Whitney's relationship, Harvard, celeb "reality", the McDLT (oh yeah, go Google that, it's a good one), and Cold Mountain. There's alien amongst all of us.

Responsibilities

2006-06-05T21:56:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking more and more about growing up and having responsibilities lately and I've realized that it's not all bad. In fact, it's all good. There's a good possibility that I may have to go home a few times in the next months. I'll spare you the details of why, but it's because I'm needed. Now, if I had it my way, I wouldn't have to go home at all, but sometimes life deals you a curve. I think a few years ago, I wouldn't have dreaded being needed, but I definitely wouldn't have thought it was such a good thing. But now I realize that it is. Yes, that's right, I'm growing up.... a little. And part of that growing up is realizing that it's not all about me. Now, I've never considered myself a selfish person and I don't think others would either, but when you're a teenager and even into your twenties, let's face it, most of our lives are about us and the people immediately around us. There's nothing wrong with that, but as scary as it sounds, when you grow up, life just gets a little more serious and it really isn't all about you and that all about you life seems less and less profound. Then something happens to make you see that big picture you thought you were seeing all along. Sure, it's a little sad, but there's something pretty cool about learning your role in your little microcosm. We all spend a large part of our lives trying avoid responsibility. But, maybe part of growing up is not necessarily seeking responsibility, but recognizing that every time we fulfill our responsibilities, our lives become that much more meaningful. And so, I look forward to all my new responsibilities whether I'd rather have them or not. There's nothing that validates your existence more than knowing that someone needs you. And not needing you like I need you to do me a favor. But needing you because you're the only person in the world who can help.

Sally Talks-a-Lot

2006-06-01T15:02:00.000-05:00

My moral question for the day is when does someone's uncontrollable ability to annoy outweighed them being a really nice person? For example, Sally-Talks-A-Lot. Sally used to work in our lab as an undergrad 2 years ago. Back then, she used to talk so much you'd think if she didn't use up her allotment of words for the day she's die. For the first 5 minutes, you really cared about what she had to say, but after that someone needed immediate jugular stabbing. But then after she finally stopped talking and the anxiety was gone, you started to feel a little guilty. Even though you were totally nice to her outwardly, inwardly, you were saying some pretty mean stuff. But Sally's a really nice and genuine person. I mean if you were in a bind, she'd be the first to come help you out. Well, Sally came back to visit the lab today. She's now in med school and she hasn't changed at all. Again, I cared about what she was saying in the beginning, but then after 5 minutes of making up songs in my head while nodding, I just wanted to hurt someone. And Sally had no idea. But when she was gone, I felt a little bad for thinking her niceness could be totally overshadowed by being so painfully annoying. So I ask you all, when does Sally-Talks-A-Lot become Sally-Why-Don't-You-Shut-The-Hell-Up?

I'm from the Souff. . . . I ain't even scurred

2006-05-31T19:44:00.000-05:00

To say that the weather in Ann arbor has been crazy lately would be a huge understatement. Since last Friday it's been Georgia hot. I mean like walk around your apartment in your underwear hot. Actually, I'm gonna go ahead and say it. It's been India hot. And along with down south hot of course come crazy thunderstorms... at least you'd think. It's gotten all dark and cloudy every days since it's gotten hot, but the most we've gotten was a drizzle. Well today we had a bit of a cool down. And by cool down I mean cloudy and high 80s. So I decided to go for a run keeping in mind that the sky looked awful threatening. But if you live in the south for an extended period of time, you just ain't scurred. You know how to look at the clouds, see where they're moving and decide whether you're going to get rained on. So I glance at the sky and decide I'm in the clear. So I get outside and I see all kinds of lightning and stuff, but again, not scurred because it wasn't over me nor was it moving in the right direction. So, I;m running along and I come upon what looks like a utility truck. I come to find out later that they were from Comcast out doing a rare evening of actual work. Well, they yell out to me that I better get inside because the storm is coming. Or, I should call it the drizzle. On my way back I look up and see a Comcast guy with metal tools in his hand messing with a power line. Well maybe it was a cable or phone line, but still it was electricity. I wondered to myself for a second, but then I just told myself that that explained some of the puzzling things about Comcast in general. So, I kept on my way and finished my run. And might I add that it's 3 hours later and it's yet to rain a drop. I am from the Souff and I'm not scurred....

Who drives off with a snake in their car even if they did think it was fake?!

2006-05-31T14:24:00.000-05:00

I feel the need to share this ridiculous piece of news for the day:

PADUCAH, Ky. (May 29) - The next time Dan McBride rents a car, he may want to inspect it not just for dings and dents but also for snakes. The assistant athletic director at Eastern Kentucky University found a two-foot-long ball python in his rental car this week as he left the Ohio Valley Conference baseball tournament in Paducah.

McBride got into his car Wednesday night with a colleague and saw the snake draped across the console.

McBride said he thought it was a rubber snake someone put there as a joke. He even gave the snake a pat and put the car into drive.

As he drove toward the exit, the snake lifted its head. McBride hit the brakes, then started to get out of the car. But the snake was on the gear shift, forcing McBride to keep his foot on the brake.

"You can't act tough when you are sitting a foot and a half away from a snake," said his colleague, Simon Gray.

The snake was captured, and was being held until its owner comes to claim it, authorities said.

-- and for that matter, who is the owner that accidentally leaves a python in a rental car?!

It's rainy and no one is surprised

2006-05-29T13:53:00.000-05:00

So I'm in England right now soaking up the beautiful British weather of cold and dreariness... It's been an exhausting month of doing nothing in Columbia since school finished for the summer-- so busy that I completely neglected this blog!

Summer updates:
- I'm glad Taylor won American Idol. Originally I just found the concept of Taylor ridiculous. But America loved him and they voted. And cause as much as I wanted Chris to win, I didn't want Katherine to win.
- I love my friends! JT's graduation was just as much fun as the original 4 years ago. And this time around the highlights included doubles of Jamison and crawling under my gate with Sudha and Mr. T goes to Washington, being the greatest friends ever by being the loudest cheerers at graduation, yummy Chinese food, Mr. T having a Lost in Translation moment in a karaoke bar, singing Foolish Games with JT, and eating Krispie Kreme doughnuts with Sudha and Charles in JT's car at 2:30 in the morning. I just can't wait for JT to graduate from something else in 4 years...
- I managed to keep my suitcase at 50 lbs. Yay me.
- I've decided to get a goldfish, or mabe something a little cooler. Any suggestions?

I still can't believe it and it's been 12 hours

2006-05-11T08:09:00.002-05:00

I don't know about you, but I literally couldn't talk for about 30 seconds. All I could do was stare at the screen and watch poor Chris flounder after Ryan so carelessly told him "Lots of people pegged you to be the next American Idol. Well tonight you're going home."

ARGH!!!!!!!!! What is wrong with people???? Who keeps picking up the phone and voting for Taylor Hicks?

So I understand that Chris Daughtry may not have appealed to everyone with his rocker style, but he definitly deserved to make it past the 4th round elimination! If only for the reason that he's a much better performer than Taylor. Taylor has all the lonely grannies at home picking up the phone and voting for the "nice young man with the same color hair as us." Then again, maybe Chris didn't try hard enough and thought that he could sail on through. Taylor and Elliot put their souls into those performances and maybe the grannies had nothing better to do than call in and vote for them.

When the played the "best of" montage of him at the end, Chris just stood there and watched all silent. You know he was standing there and thinking this is bogus and I don't deserve to go home before the gray-haired guy. I don't know that I can watch the next 3 weeks. America can't be trusted. People got complacent and thought that everyone else was voting so they didn't need to. So on a related note, I found this interesting article on Gabling911.com. It almost makes me want to start placing some bets on the remaining contestants.

I'm still a Braves Fan

2006-05-10T09:54:00.000-05:00

Don't worry, I am not becoming a Giants fan, but I am a baseball fan. And every baseball fan knows the ranking order of home run champs-- Hank Aaron (a former Braves player), Babe Ruth, Willie Mayes, and .... Barrry Bonds?!

I don't know what to think about this. Steroids or not, the man still stood in front of all of us and physically hit all those home runs. I just don't know if I feel comfortable bumping Babe and potentially Hank for a guy who we're not even sure was taking steroids. Babe was an absolutely unhealthy slob who did wonders with a bat. That's magical and what baseball should be about. This guy is a robot baseball player with a bad personality and it's hard to cheer for a guy like him. People were more thrilled with the Cub's Juan Pierre for climbing the wall and catching what would have been the magic tying #714 home run ball last night. That's sad to me. What's also sad is that the Braves are already trailing the Mets and the Phillies for wins. But I'm a fan, and I still have faith. At least I know we're gonna win the division somehow. We can at least be counted on for that.

Why I hate celebrities

2006-05-08T13:07:00.000-05:00

You know, it's amazing when you can consolidate complex thoughts that have been swimming around in your head for many many months into one concise statement. That is what I have finally been able to do with my hatred for celebrities. I hate celebrities:
Because of their insanely overinflated sense of self-worth.

Yup, that about says it all. For example, the reasons behind my hatred for Tom Cruise are many-fold. But mainly, he's an actor with moderate formal education at best. But he still seems to think he "knows" that modern psychiatry is bad. Why, Tom Cruise? Because back in the day they used to administer electric shocks to people and put them in crazy confinement and restraining apparatuses thinking it would help? Sure they did, but that's hardly modern psychiatry is it? And for someone who has never had a child to tell me that a good old One a Day for Women Plus Iron is going to cure my depression, well you can stick your wisdom where the sun don't shine. But, just remember Tom, you can't take little Sury to the doctor ever because "modern medicine" started with leeches, bleeding people and tying vials of human waste around children's' necks to ward off illness. Aah, modern medicine.

Example 2: I am developing a serious distaste for Angelina Jolie what with all this baby crap. I hate to break it to you but you're not Mother Teresa just because you live in Africa and you're not enjoying a smooth pregnancy in some lovely American spa. Instead, you're in a Namibian spa. And for anyone who has been abroad, luxury takes on a whole new meaning in countries other than the US. And the new baby.... just because she's born in Namibia doesn't mean she's going to be some "child of the world" bringing awareness about education blah blah. I'm going to venture a guess that all your children, no matter how cute are going to be significantly mal-adjusted. Just because you're born somewhere doesn't mean you automatically understand what it means to be from there. What can you possible teach Maddox about Cambodian culture, or Zahara about what it means to be Ethiopian? And the new one well, she's not gonna have any clue what she is. She's gonna be white as all get out but born in Africa?!?!?! I think the identity crisis may even begin in utero.
And thus I will bookend my hatred for celebrities with another statement:
A hugely warped sense of reality and a constant unhealthy desire for attention.

I'm not Mexican!!

2006-05-01T10:35:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I've tried to stay out of this debate for my own sanity and my own lack of time with work at school, but now it's getting nuts. ILLEGAL immigrants are boycotting buying anything today because they want to show that they could RUIN our country without their monetary support. Give me a freaking break....

Read this Article about it

So as an American, I am about to go break the bank and fill up my gas tank, do my grocery shopping, and order some clothes online. Boycotting the country you're trying to infiltrate and become members of does not seem very wise in my mind. But maybe I'm wrong and just need someone who knows more about this to set the record straight.

Maybe it's a Southern thing

2006-05-01T08:32:00.000-05:00

So here's something I don't truly understand: giving your child your exact name. Jr, Sr. the III, etc... it just doesn't make sense to me. I've always had a thing about this, especially after I discovered that Lee plans on naming his firstborn Lee Will Berry, V. Ok, so I mean on some level I get it. It's pretty cool that a name is able to last for so long and be passed down to each firstborn male. It's fun when your mail gets mixed up and you can choose whose credit rating you want to use in the bank. But I'm all about the originality. I don't really want another little Sheara running around. I think the world has its hands full dealing with me as it is. And eventually someone is going to want to stop using the same name. I mean other than Louis, how many other XIV's do you know? Why not let it stop with me?!?!

Now before you blog readers think that this is an open field day to attack Lee's name, it's not. This is one of those unfair, hypocritical situations where I get to critcize something, but you are not. It's my blog and that's how it goes :)

But I digress a bit. The real reason for this post is a name I heard during confirmation in church yesterday. Matthew Player Loving, Jr.

You've got to be kidding me.... the first time around didn't provide enough jokes?

You stupid, stupid woman...

2006-04-21T16:28:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I thought I was done with this mess. I ooohed and aahed over their wedding. I watched all three seasons of Newlyweds. I watched the break-down. I bought all the magazines that were trying their best to help Americans cope with the loss of their favoriate golden couple of the moment. Then I gave up on them.

But then this Rolling Stones article came out... here's the quote that got me:

"I'd marry her all over again," he says softly. "Because I still love her. It would be a lot easier to walk away if I didn't."

Is he stupid? I don't think so. Poor man is in love with a girl that didn't know what she wanted.

Is she stupid? Yes. Look at this man. He is a work of art. And he can sing.

Ok, so you don't buy into the sappiness? Well then read the Rolling Stones article for the comedic factor-- it's hysterical! The things they call Jessica are so terrible!

"The alimony ripple aside, Lachey has enjoyed a predominantly bruise-free ride down the tabloid shit chute, while his ex-wife has alternately been portrayed as a silly girl who made a huge mistake in letting him go and as an unbridled ho-cake dancing on banquettes and bedding random co-stars."

Does anyone else sense Newlyweds: The Reunion.... ??

If his album is good though, I'm gonna give it a shot. Good for you Nick :)

"I read somewhere somebody was saying, 'Oh, he's capitalizing on his failed marriage to sell records,' " Lachey says. "That really pisses me off. Like I wouldn't rather be singing about how great love is? About my newborn son and shit like that? Give me a fucking break. I don't get to choose where my life goes. What do you want me to sing about?"

Google saves yet another life

2006-04-20T22:11:00.000-05:00

I was in the car tonight and I asked Jared if he knew what Coke Black was. He had heard of it, but like me had no idea what was in it. His guess though was that it was high fructose corn syrup mixed with a rather unsavory portion of a pig's "tract". So, I came home and of course I Googled it. Coke Black is apparently Coca-Cola's way of keeping up with the Jonses. Who are the Jonses you ask? Well, it's cherry vanilla Dr. Pepper. That's right, the Mana Mana. You know... Mana Mana, do doo do do do do... Mana Mana do do do do... Mana Mana. Oh, come on. Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. I know you hum it in your head to after you see the commercials. So there you have it. Another mystery solved by Google. Coke Black is in fact, Black Cherry Vanilla Coke. And who know Jared, since the new thing in soda is apparently to just mix a bunch of crap together, perhaps the "tract" will be an integral part of the next Coke... Coca-Cola Porcine.

And might I just pose a random question to you all..... why is the word "blog" not part of the blogger's spell-check vocabulary? That seems kinda ass-backwards.

Drunkenly = Goodness

2006-04-19T18:44:00.000-05:00

So, it was a beautiful day today in little old Ann Arbor. So, out of respect for spring, me and my friend Matt went drinking this afternoon. We went to a place called Dominick's that sells really expensive sangria that my friend Spencer swears in just a whole lotta Mad Dog. Anyway, whatever it is, it's now 7:40 and I'm kinda drunk. You'd expect me to be home eating random stuff, but instead I'm back in the lab. That's right, back at work. Trying to get work done and trying to pretend I'm less drunk than I am. The few things I had left to do failed miserably. But I swear this had nothing to do with my semi-drunkenness. Had to take a picture of a gel.... our digital camera memory card is being crazy. And no, it's not just me. I asked one of our researchers who just happened to still be around and he couldn't get it to work either. So, unless he was dipping into the 100% EtOH while no one was around, I still contend it's not me. But then again, if y'all knew John you'd probably assume he was dipping into the 100% EtOH. Why this weird post, you ask. Well, aside from the given bit of extroversion that comes with drinking, Sheara and I have both tried to drunk call this blog various times. Unfortunately, we couldn't never get it to work. Somehow, we couldn't get what we said transcribed into readable form. Imagine that, our drunken ramblings were actually incoherent. Well in light of that, this is the closest we've come so far, so I figured I'd record it in history. And now, I go to join Jared for a night of, ironically Inidan kulture that I thought was tomorrow night. I's have been at the Power Center 24 hours late had he not called me a few minutes ago. PhD skool is grand.

Technology doesn't always make things better

2006-04-17T18:37:00.000-05:00

Am I just a 70 year old woman inside or does anyone else yearn for the days where calling customer service didn't mean being serviced by a computer? I looked at me credit card statement online today as I do occasionally to make sure no one's trying to hose me and I found a charge for $10.35 called Payment Protection. I didn't recognize it, so I called "customer service"... I mean the computer. I pressed all my options and entered my account number. Of course to no avail, because after all that, the computer hadn't answered my question. So, I resorted to the old trustworthy, just press zero. (By the way, I think it's Esurance or someone who runs around like that was their new bright idea. Well, I hate to burst their bubble, but that's been around forever). Anyway, I explain my problem to the dude and he says, it's a service that you requested over the phone. Huh? No, I declined all the extra services when I activated the card. Can I cancel it and have the charge taken off? He says, well sure, but you requested it. Ummm, ok are we in a one-upping contest? Anyway, I tell him I don't want it. And he asks if I'm aware of the services I'll will be losing. In my head, I'm thinking yeah. I'm losing the wonderful service of you making me think you're suspending my interest when it's gonna come back and get me twice as bad because I didn't read the fine print. So he transfers me to the person who can cancel it for me. But not before I must press more automated choices and re-enter my account number and zip. So, I say to the next guy, I need to cancel this service. He asks me if I'm aware I requested it. I bottled up the sarcasm as much as possible and said forget the past, I don't want it now. Are you aware of the features this service provides that you will no longer have? Are YOU aware that I pay off my balance in full every month and I don't need you to try to trick me into a false sense of security?? Have a little peep at your monitor, buddy! So he transfers me to someone who can cancel the service. Wait a sec... why did I have to talk to the middle man, here? Are they trying to the me to quit? I'm onto them. So I finally come the the last lady. I have to give her all my information short of my bloodtype again. Account number, mailing address, mother's maiden name. Finally, just to make sure she wants to know if I'm aware that I asked to get hosed in the first place and if I'm aware that I will only be hosing myself in the future if I cancel this nonsense. Yes, yes. I'm aware. Just let me be a stupid consumer. And finally, my "cancellation request" was submitted and they're write to me in 7-10 days. That sounds really efficient.
Now, my question is, was all that really necessary? Couldn't there just be one place where a person could access all my information? I mean, are the phone lines that backed up because there are so many people calling.... No, wait, maybe they're backed up my the 5 people who actually call but get transferred through all the operators until their porridge temperature and their bed sizes are just right.

Military Families

2006-04-11T12:25:00.000-05:00

This week's article focuses on military families. I figured that I would blog the first paragraph and then post the link if you wanted to read the rest!

"I do not have any children of my own, but I do have a 6-year-old cousin named Mary Beth who I am very close to.

My grandma went to pick up Mary Beth from school the week after I left for my mobilization to Iraq and saw that she looked physically ill. Grandma asked her what was wrong and whether she felt sick. Mary Beth replied that she had been sick all day long, so Grandma proceeded to ask her if she was sick to her stomach or had a fever.

Then Mary Beth said, "No, Grandma, I'm sad sick. Leebo is leaving and I'm going to miss him."

Well, I found out that on the same day Mary Beth was sick at school, my dad had called in sick to work.

He told my mom that he had just been feeling a little under the weather, but I think both he and my mom knew he was actually just a little "sad sick."

As Easter approaches, it is important to keep in mind the families of deployed military personnel. "

Read the rest of the aritcle

Haha....

2006-04-10T14:41:00.000-05:00

Ok, really.... this doesn't even make any sense!! Who comes up with these things?!

In a Past Life...

You Were: A Gorgeous Belly Dancer.

Where You Lived: Burma.

How You Died: In Childbirth.

Who Were You In a Past Life?

Selling my body to science

2006-04-10T14:20:00.000-05:00

About two months ago, I participated in a research study being conducted here at the medical school. Its objective was to look at your brains response to pain stimuli. I have to admit, I wasn't really sure what I was getting into in the beginning. All I knew was that it paid a crap load of money and I could excuse myself from the lab. Basically what the study entailed was one MRI in which you answer a series of questions and do some response tasks during the scan. Like press a button every time you see a black square in the midst of a whole bunch of other shapes, or press a button after every letter that is not an X. After doing this, I was handed a crisp C-note. Or $100 dollar bill for Sheara... Holla!!! Anyway, I only experienced some mild discomfort because one of my earplugs came out and the scan is loud as all get-out. But for a Benjamin, I could deal with slight discomfort. Then I went in for the real deal. Basically, they put you in a PET scanner and you have an IV coming out of each arm. One arm to withdraw blood every 10 minutes so they can look at what chemicals you're making, and the other to replace the lost blood volume with saline. To induce the pain, the inserted one 25 gauge 1 1.5 inch neegles into each of your cheek muscles. That's a whole lot of hookups. Needless to say, there's no really moving once you're all poked and tethered. For each scan, you got 20 minutes of no pain where they injected normal saline (0.9% NaCl) into your cheeks. It gets absorbed immediately, cause that's the kind of fluid that's everywhere in your body. Then there's 20 minutes of pain where they give you hypertomic saline (5% NaCl). This is not normal. It's not absorbed well and actually makes your body send more water into the area to dilute out the stuff that's being injected. It was like having 20 minutes of a really bad toothache. And during both these scans you had to rate your pain 1-100 every 15 seconds. And in each session, there was 2 no pain and 2 pain scans. Needless to say, day one was rough, but I got through it. It was all ok, when I went to the hospital cashier and lied to her and said no when she asked if I was an employee she handed me 5 crispy C-notes. And everything was ok. The last day of scanning was bad news bears all around. I forgot to mention that they also inject a radio-tracer along with your IV so they can actually image your brain. Well, making the tracer is hit or miss and since the half life of the label they were using was ~15 minutes, I had to get all hooked up before we knew whether we could do the scan at all or not. So, with my luck, I get all hooked up and the label synthesis failed. We had at wait another hour before they could try again. All the while, I'm still hooked up, listening to NPR and my IV is still dripping normal saline into me. Finally, we start the scan and towards the end, I gotta be honest. I've never had to pee that badly in my entire life. I watched them changing the IV bags 3 times, meaning that they pumped at least a liter and a half into my body. That's a lot of liquid. So about 20 minutes before the end of the scan, I had to pee. No no, I told you I had to pee before but by this point, I think I caught a glimpse of what torture might actually be like. Don't let people pee and you can actually feel your kidneys hurting, your eyes watering and lots of other pain, both physical and psychological. Now, I'll spare you all the details of what ensued there after. It wasn't pretty, but don't worry. Nothing required a change of clothes and there was no embarrassment for me or anyone else. But again everything was ok when I got my 7.5 C-notes. So after all this what do I have? The knowledge that I am highly sensitive to pain, I have a new Coach purse (and no, not the signature kind), a few new pairs of shoes, and a lot of clothes. Plus, I know what my brain looks like and that it's one of the most symmetrical they've seen and it's apparently relatively large. Now before you all look at the pictures and ask me whether I've ever been dropped on my head, let me tell you that my parents have assured me that to their knowledge they never dropped me. To the best of their knowledge.....

So I'm writing a paper right now....

2006-04-09T15:02:00.000-05:00

Yeah, the internet is an amazingly, wonderful, distracting thing. I am most definitly not working on my paper like I should be. I normally shun all these quizzes, but I gotta say these ones got me pegged! Try them out for yourself by clicking on any of the tests below - once you get to the main page, there are a bunch on the left side of the page.

Are You a Good Girlfriend?

You are a Great Girlfriend

When it comes to your guy, you're very thoughtful
But you also haven't stopped thinking of yourself
You're the perfect blend of independent and caring
You're a total catch - make sure your guy knows it too!

Are You a Good Girlfriend?

What Sex Dessert Are You?
Take the quiz:
What sex dessert are you? *PICS*

chocolate sauce
you like it on top...u like is sweet, but rough...you're every man's dream!

Quizzes by myYearbook.com -- the World's Biggest Yearbook!

How Spicy Are You?

Your Spicy Score: Mild

You may not make the hottest first impression..
But you're definitely the type of girl that sticks in a guy's mind.
You prefer to play things cool. You know that good things come to those who wait.
And the amazing thing about you is that you get hotter over time!

How Spicy Are You?

Meet Julia and Val...

2006-04-08T16:34:00.000-05:00

Wow... could this picture look anything less like me and Lee?!? I look like the Asian version of Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Lee looks like Val Kilmer in Top Gun.

We got this beauty drawn at 6 Flags this week. Went on a Monday afternoon-- no lines, lots of sunshine, new rollercoasters... it was great! Got to ride most of the rides about several times in a row. Now on some level you do miss out on the whole experience of standing in line and anticipating the ride. But all I know if I got to ride the Batman ride three times in a row and that sucker normally averages a wait time of 1 and 1/2 hours in the summer!

So as most of you know, Lee has "officially" been deployed. He is at Camp Shelby in Mississippi getting his final training before heading to Kuwait in June and then Iraq in July. He's on lockdown though, so no one is able to actually see him even though we can still talk to him on his cell phone. Thanks for everyone's concern, but I'm doing ok so far and not in danger of drowning my sorrows in large amounts of tequila. The key is keeping busy with my work and hopefully the next 2 years should go by fairly quickly.

During his time in Iraq, Lee is going to be writing a weekly article for the Daily Mississippian (a paper published by the students at Ole Miss and then distributed daily around Mississippi). It's basically gonna be his personal account of what it's like to be a student going to war. The links for the first two articles are here: #1 Dealing with going to war and #2- Difference in military ranks.

Lee has joined the My Space craze, and that's usually a pretty good way to reach him.

So basically, we're doing good, life goes on, and we got to meet Batman. He was so hot-- or at least his jaw was really hot, and isn't that all that really matters when you're Batman? The suit does the rest for you :)

It happens twice a year without fail

2006-04-02T22:30:00.000-05:00

So, it was just brought to my attention that I have been slacking something serious in my blog contributions. But to tell the truth, I've been working like crazy for the past 3 weeks. As I go through my day, there are actually a whole bunch of things that I make little mental notes to blog about, but by the time I get home, I'm not interested in thinking about anything. And our loyal readers deserve the best of course. So, at the behest of one such loyal reader, I'll do my best to get back on track.

Well, it happened last night at 2am. The time changed. I sprang forward. And as it happens with every time change, I was truly amazed. I got home last night and turned in the TV only to find one hour long shows were on from 1am-3am. This morning I woke up and the light was all different. And this evening, I was looking back and forth between outside and my clock because the light just didn't match the time. I go through this every time the time changes. You'd think that after witnessing 50 some time changes in my life, this just wouldn't be such a surprise. But alas, it requires at least 2 hours during the day to figure out exactly what's going on. And I'm sure I'll wake up for the next few days wondering why the light's weird and spend a few more evenings looking outside and looking at my clock.

April Fool's to you!

2006-04-01T10:15:00.000-05:00

Fact of the Day: April Fools' Day

There are several explanations for the origin of April Fools' Day, but here is the most plausible one. April 1st was once New Year's Day in France. In 1582, Pope Gregory declared the adoption of his Gregorian calendar to replace the Julian calendar and New Year's Day was officially changed to January 1st. It took awhile for everyone in France to hear the news of this major change and others obstinately refused to accept the new calendar, so a lot of people continued to celebrate New Year's Day on the first of April - earning them the name "April fools." The April fools were subjected to ridicule and practical jokes and the tradition was born. The butts of these pranks were first called poisson d'avril or "April fish" because a young naive fish is easily caught. A common practice was to hook a paper fish on the back of someone as a joke. This evolved over time and a custom of prank-playing continues on the first day of April.

And don't forget to set your clocks back one hour tonight!!!

I am nerdier than 56% of all people

2006-03-31T15:30:00.000-05:00

Well hello everyone. As Sheara mentioned, it's been a while. And just to be clear. I was the one of us that had bird flu. But it did cause me to take a weekday off from school. It was great. You all know how the light's different and the air's different when you're home at 10am on a Tuesday. Anyway, I took this test online just now. I can not at this time reveal how I came across it. But I will say that it was in the midst of some light stalking. I honestly thought I'd have done better. And part of me was a little disappointed that I am only 56% nerd. But I find comfort in the fact that had I taken the test while I was still in undergrad, I would have passed with flying colors. See for yourselves where you fit in.

www.nerdtests.com/

Shouldn't I get a few extra points for wanting it so bad?? No, that'd probably just get my general life points taken away.

The Apocalypse and the Bird Flu

2006-03-28T17:58:00.000-05:00

So loyal readers, I'm sure you've noticed the lapse in entries by the blog's principal 3 writers. That is because we were all struck at the same time for about 2 weeks (in 3 separate states mind you) by some ridiculous illness/cold/flu/getting over wisdom teeth surgery/possible bird flu. I am well again and have taken it upon myself to get this ball rolling again!

So what Apocalypse you say? Well I'll tell you....
Just in case you haven't heard, JT matched for his medical residency at the Cincinnatti Pediatric clinic-- this is really amazing folks. Be super happy for him! Here's a picture of him with his letter:

So I live in Columbia, South Carolina and JT currrently lives in Augusta, Georgia. It normally takes me 50 minutes to make that drive. Well on the most important day for me to get there on time, it takes me 2 hours. Yeah that's right. Apocalypse people....

First there was construction, at 3 different points along I-20 Westbound. This never happens. Then some pickup truck flipped over and spewed its contents all over the highway. Then someone else got in a wreck. And then 11 miles from JT's exit, they diverted the entire highway off at an exit and detoured us on side roads. An entire highway. That 11 mile detour took 45 minutes. But it was all good cause I arrived in time to see JT get his name called 5 minutes later and was witness to the exciting letter opening moment. He then proceeded to get all giddy and freak out cause he's going to Cincinnatti. I got it all on tape-- it will be playing at his wedding. There were no mishaps on I-20 Eastbound going back to Columbia. Figures.

Rumor has it, it's finally happening

2006-03-17T11:02:00.000-05:00

So you know stuff is for real when it gets on bbcnews.com. I mean, I would have thought that they had better things to do, what with war, famine and injustice everywhere. But it's nice to know that even the BBC tries to keep it real. So, here it is, on the homepage this morning: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4815944.stm

The two hottest people in the world will allegedly be bound in the heavenly union of holy matrimony in a few days. Wait, no they're celebrities so really they're just trying to temporarily make what they're already doing legal in the eyes of both man and God.... temporarily.

Who says Wal-Mart is bad?

2006-03-15T20:37:00.000-05:00

So I just saw one of the best commercials. The kind of commercial that makes you sit back and ponder life while snacking on your couch. It was a Wal-Mart ad in support of their Second Harvest "Help End Hunger" March Campaign. They plan on matching any donations that people make during the month of March. The commercial had a bunch of little boys sitting at a lunch table. The kids pull out their lunch boxes and start trading stuff, all except for this one sad kid at the end. He doesn't have any food with him, because the implication is that he is too poor to have lunch with him. So the boy across from him starts trading his stuff and then passes an orange and a milk carton under the table to the kid without food. Then that kid is able to join in and start trading stuff like the orange for chocolate pudding. Ok, so they're still Wal-Mart... you can't expect them to advocate healthy eating habits too otherwise they might go out of business. But the point is that for those of us that went to a private school like Woodward, we never saw things like this. But in the schools I work at now, this is an everyday occurrence. It was sad and touching at the same time. So for those of you that are anti-Wal-Mart... is it really that bad of a place? It provides jobs, revitalizes small towns, provides a way to buy things in bulk for cheap and makes great commercials with swash-buckling happy faces. What's not to love?!

Here's to you Mr. Ear Muff Man....

2006-03-13T08:26:00.000-05:00

I came across this interesting little tid-bit today. Where would the world be without innovators such as this man?

Chester Greenwood of Farmington, Maine, invented earmuffs when he was just 15 years old. As he was ice skating, he wrapped his head in a scarf to protect his ears from the cold, but found this method too bulky and itchy. To solve the problem, Greenwood constructed two ear-shaped loops from wire and asked his grandmother to sew fur on them. He later patented an improved version, Greenwood's Champion Ear Protectors in 1887, that featured a steel band that held the earmuffs in place. Greenwood established Greenwood's Ear Protector Factory and supplied earmuffs for US soldiers during World War I. Greenwood accumulated over 100 patents in his lifetime, including one for the steel-tooth rake.

Ahh... I just love ingenuity. Where would we be without the steel-tooth rake? Would we still be picking up leaves by hand, or just letting them decompose on their own in our messy yards. And the ear muffs? I mean that stuff paved the way for headphones and we all know how I feel about the heaphone... it paved the way for IPod earbuds!!! I want to invent something one day... I'm just not sure what yet. Any suggestions?

A man's right to choose

2006-03-09T19:53:00.000-05:00

You've got to be kidding me!

Let me explain. I was listening to NPR this evening and one of the stories was about an organization pushing for men to have the right not to provide child support for children they did not want to have in the first place.... a man's right to choose. WHAT???? How highly insulting is it that we need to worry about a man's right to choose when every day that goes by, women are losing their right to choose more and more. Think the present Supreme Court and the awesomeness that has just come out of Montana. The only way a man should have the right to choose is if he was duped into having a kid in the first place. But that being said, I've got a man's right to choose right here. You have the right to choose to keep it in your pants!!! Or at least in a condom. Too bad women aren't so lucky. If you don't have the right to choose, it sucks for you that your uncle's a sick man or that you were in the wrong place at the wrong time and met the wrong stranger. Sadly, not everything in life can be politically correct and 50-50 equal. I am not a fan of slipping a little further down that American slide of avoiding personal accountability. Forgive me for not being concerned about a man's right to avoid responsibility!

Men are Stupid

2006-03-09T09:53:00.000-05:00

Seriously... men are stupid. My mom and I just watched "Memoirs of a Geisha" two nights ago and rarely do we agree on anything concerning men. But when the movie was finished, the first thing I said was "Men are stupid" and my mother agreed with me.

Don't get me wrong though, I loved the movie. It was beautifully done and I found myself entranced by it for 2 hours straight. I've heard the book is even better and I am anxious to read it now. It's more than just a romance, but mostly an interesting perspective into a sacred Japanese culture that is normally kept secret. I had the modern day view that geishas were basically Japanese prostitutes. But the picture of them painted in this story is a thing of beauty and grace. You almost aspire to be one yourself after watching the movie. I think most people will find it enjoyable to watch. But just like guys were walking around saying that women were the devil after watching King Kong (come on though, what woman should be expected to choose an overgrown ape over a nice looking man? What would her kids look like?) I have to say men are stupid after watching this one. Don't worry, I'm not giving anything away, but if you don't think the same thing after the last scene in the movie, then feel free to comment and tell me why I'm wrong!

I hate insomnia

2006-03-09T07:05:00.000-05:00

Insomnia is of the suck. I have been up all night, and it's 7:00 AM. I'd say I totaled 3 hours of sleep, and about 3 hours of tossing in bed. Thankfully work doesn't start until 1 PM, but still, I hate insomnia. Sleep is far superior. Although eating is a close second.

My Muslim Lover

2006-03-06T22:21:00.000-05:00

.....Had you all going for a second, didn't I? Well, relax and read on. :-)

This past Friday, I saw Common in concert in the Michigan Theater. How do I describe the evening? It was nothing short of a religious experience. I love him.... wait no, let me be honest. I lust him in every way imaginable. But really, all hormones aside, it was a great show. Some people can just capture an audience and that's what he did. It's difficult to explain, but I'll try. It's no secret that I love hop-hop, but he reminded me why I love music in general. From the minute he came out on stage, I had that feeling of excitement mixed with apprehension. Those happy butterflies that are a mixture of that feeling you get when you're about to go on a first date with a really hot guy and that feeling you have afterward when that date was perfect. The only thing aside from the actual experience that can make you feel like that is music that reaches you. And Common reached me. I loved music and hip-hop before, but he reminded me why. It was a high I won't soon forget.
I highly encourage anyone who hasn't already to give him a listen. He's deep and has really interesting things to say in a way that's unique and shows that he's got all kinds of talent. Not to mention the beats and the rhymes and the mixing. It's the real kind of hip-hop and the good kind of hip-hop.
There's also another reason why I loved the concert. Common is so incredibly fly!!! That's right, I took it back to 1992. I said fly, cause that's what he is. I mean really. He's incredibly good looking and deep, religious wise relationship wise and otherwise. And lets be honest, there's nothing hotter than a thug on stage with a nice pair of jeans, a polo shirt and a sweater.... breakdancing, yes breakdancing. A few rows closer and it would have been me on stage with him having him singing about how he "don't see nothin wrong wit' a little bump and grind." But there's always his next show for that.

2006-03-06T02:20:00.000-05:00

Well, since everyone else is going to post something tonight, well, golly geepers I will too.

So everyone knows, I did not watch the Oscars tonight. To me, it seemed kind of silly. My favorite part of the entire Oscars were the ridiculous Entertainment Tonight plugs, wherein they made their coverage of the Academy Awards some kind of "momentous" event that would be earth shattering. They even went as far as saying that it was a "privledge" to cover the Oscars, bringing the stars we adore closer to our lives, and blah blah blah, as if it was some great public service or duty. WHO GIVES A CRAP?!?!? It drives me crazy. Who cares about what they're wearing, or the Hollywood gossip. Yes, people will cry hipocrisy, as they know that I do like movies and I do like watching television; however, never would I consider coverage of an awards show highlighting what they're "wearing" as important television. Well, in case you wanted to see it, here's ET's website http://et.tv.yahoo.com/micro/oscars/.

Until something else brilliant pops up, later.

Is it just me or was Jon Stewart a poor choice?

2006-03-05T23:38:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I just feel sorry for Jon Stewart. That poor man was trying so hard to make it work tonight. It just wasn't happening for him. The only funny part was the opening skit with all the past hosts pretending to get a call to host again and then turning the Academy down. It was funny right until Jon Stewart came into the skit. That was a bad sign.

Why are the Oscars so boring? The excitement leading up till the event on the red carpet is great. The after parties are great. But it's like when these people enter the Kodak theater, all their acting skills and emotions are sucked out of them. Reading a teleprompter becomes a challenge and no one seems like they really want to be there.

What's up with "Crash" winning best picture? Everyone in that theater looked shocked including the people who were in the movie. Was Brokeback just too controversial or was nothing that good? Where was North Country or Walk the Line? Now I didn't see "Capote" but Joaquin Phoenix was amazing in Walk the Line and should have won best actor. And what was with the song "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" winning? Poor Jon Stewart tried to latch on to that gem for some jokes, but once again no one in the audience was buying it. I thought Dolly Parton was gonna pass out when she heard that her song had lost to the pimp song. And was this the George Clooney show? Everyone was fawning over him and his 3 nominations to the point where even he seemed embarassed. But he was right when he accepted his award for best supporting actor and said that he knew he wasn't getting the directors award then. Why do I keep watching this mess year after year?

What the hell... just bring back Billy Crystal. The man does a better job at hosting than his acting in most of his movies. Lightheartedness is the way to go in Hollywood. You're too real Jon. Just go back to your real job. We understand you there....

Moe's meets MySpace

2006-03-05T23:37:00.000-05:00

So up until a few minutes ago, Sheara was too cool for school. Apparently, MySpace is what all the cool kids are into now which makes her too good for blogging as frequently as she normally does. That's right, too good. So I'm taking it upon myself to keep the flame alive for the kids. The beautiful children.... our future.

I thought this might tie things together.

I went to get dinner at Moe's last night. Which by the way is the best burrito place out there. Anyway, I frequent the joint enough for one of the guys there to know my order. I walk in and tell him my order and he looks at me and says, "you're on MySpace!" He was browsing around in there looking for people he knows and saw my profile, but he couldn't remember where he knew me from. And then I walked in and it all clicked. Who cares? Well, probably no one, but I thought it was kinda cool. The internet isn't just some random place that has no connection to real life. People you come across on the internet are people you can actually meet in real life without expecting it. So I think MySpace went above and beyond. We didn't meet in real life because of MySpace. We met on MySpace because of real life!

Move over Simpson, here's my new favorite Jessica

2006-03-05T22:15:00.000-05:00

Does this picture look familiar to you? Well not only is it one of the promo shots for one of the worst movies I have ever seen in my life (Into the Blue-- I was forced to see it I swear, although Paul Walker is pretty easy on the eyes too) but this is also the pic gracing the cover of the March issue of Playboy-- minus the water background of course.

Playboy had a poll of the sexiest women this year and Alba topped the list. So Hugh's guys put in a call to Jessica's guys and asked her to pose on the cover with high hopes that she would agree to shed her knickers for a centerfold as well. Well she declined the cover and therefore the centerfold by default. Did that stop Playboy? No way. They called Sony and wanted a promo pic to use on "the inside" of the magazine for their top 25 sexiest women article.

Check out this article and vidoe clip from CNN

Now, as I was walking through the store the other day, I saw this particular issue of Playboy and have to say that I was surprised to see her on the cover. It just didn't seem like the innocent yet way too sexy for her own good image that she usually portrays. Jessica agrees with me and is currently suing Playboy for damage to her image by insinuating that she was going to be naked inside. People are jumping all over this poor girl and asking why she cares so much. Why shouldn't she care about this?! She didn't give them permission to profit off of her-- if she's on the cover promoting their magazine, they need to be paying her. Besides, she told them no to being on the cover, what more did they need to understand that?

Husband Store

2006-02-24T11:31:00.000-05:00

My friend just emailed this to me. Enjoy!

Husband Store

A store that sells husbands has just opened in New York City, where a woman may go to choose a husband. Among the instructions at the entrance is a description of how the store operates. You may visit the store ONLY ONCE ! There are six floors and the attributes of the men increase as the shopper ascends the flights. There is, however, a catch . . .. you may choose any man from a particular floor, or you may choose to go up a floor, but you can not go back down except to exit the building! So, a woman goes to the Husband Store to find a husband On the first floor the sign on the door reads: Floor 1 - These men have jobs and love the Lord. The second floor sign reads: Floor 2 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, and love kids. The third floor sign reads: Floor 3 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, and are extremely good looking. "Wow," she thinks, but feels compelled to keep going. She goes to the fourth floor and sign reads: Floor 4 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, are drop dead good looking and help with the housework." Oh, mercy me!"she exclaims, "I can hardly stand it!" Still, she goes to the fifth floor and sign reads: Floor 5 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, are drop dead gorgeous, help with the housework, and have a strong romantic streak. She is so tempted to stay, but she goes to the sixth floor and the sign reads: Floor 6 - You are visitor 4,363,012 to this floor. There are no men on this floor. This floor exists solely as proof that women are impossible to please. Thank you for shopping at the Husband Store. Watch your step as you exit the building, and have a nice day!

I nearly lost my life in the Power Center

2006-02-23T22:58:00.000-05:00

My friend Amy, Jared and I enjoy our fair share of culture. In fact, we get tickets every year to as many shows as we can that have cheap student tickets. So far I'd put us at about 95% hits and 5% misses. But tonight my friends, was a HUGE miss. We went to what I can only describe as an interpretive dance/performance art/stage production/what the hell is this/ if the lights go off and it's not over one more time I might drop dead here in my seat/weird lights flickering/a girls randomly eating an apple on stage/a guy who walked out on stage and very casually sat down in a chair and didn't move until 5 minutes left in the performance. Whew, I needed to take a breath. There was more. There was only about 5 minutes of lyrical content. Who knows, maybe it would have made sense if I understood Japanese. Anyway, there was a random remote control ship that made its way across the stage twice and something that I could interpret only as a ship's mast in the middle of the stage. A few people even climbed it during the show. Everyone was dressed in frumpy black and grey underwear. Oh yes, that was presented to us too. There were long bouts of complete silence when people were very calmly and with no apparent purpose walking across the stage. Then they set up tables and chairs in the middle of the stage and sat down. It was the most random thing I had ever seen and it made absolutely no sense. And yes I do consider myself somewhat enlightened when it comes to artsy stuff. But, had the performance gone on for even a minute longer, I would have lost my life. No doubt.
So, after the show, I run to the bathroom because I've never had to pee that badly before in my life. Oh, let me step back. There were several people in the audience who gave this a standing ovation. Anyway, I run into a woman who works in my lab. She thought that it was just an amazing thing. So I asked her to explain it to me. She said, it's really isn't something that can be explained. It means different things to different people. Am I weird because it meant absolutely nothing to me? Well, there was a question and answer session afterwards with the choreographer, who incidentally turned out to be the dude sitting in the back the whole time. Apparently, the show was all about his childhood memories and hopes and dreams..... right. And of course, he said he could explain it all to us, be he wouldn't cause then it would be ruined. Um, hate to break it to you, but it was ruined a long time ago. The only thing that made sense was that he grew up on the coast. Hence the ship. For several moments I think I entered a twilight zone in which we were transported to a liberal arts college where people just put really big words together that don't really make any sense when you really think about them. Come on, you know who you are. It was a bunch of hooey. Anyway, I felt like I almost lost my life in the question and answer session so I had to peace out of there. But I did give it as much of a chance as I could and I'm even going to marinate on it tonight. It just left no impression on my at all, no emotion, nothing. I will let you know if I have some kind of epiphany though. But I warn you to not hold your breath.

Bestest thing ever

2006-02-22T20:43:00.000-05:00

The krispy kreme doughnut. Nothing else is more perfect.

Meet Tom

2006-02-21T23:52:00.000-05:00

This folks is a picture of Tom. Tom is the moderator (possible creator?) of MySpace.com Joining MySpace is quite possibly the most addicting thing I've ever done since joining The Facebook, or Friendster, or Hi5.... anyway you get the point. It's the new big thing and I love it! I have a really cool background on my page and whenever you load my page you get to hear a song. Most internet savvy musicians have MySpace accounts these days. You just find their page, look at the songs they have listed that week, and you can set one of them to play whenever people look at your page. How cool is that?! I'm playing "Soul Meets Body" by Death Cab for Cutie. They're a fairly new band and playing sold out shows in Atlanta, so check out their page if you can. I'm finding people from high school, from childhood, from down the hall in my psych building. I really don't need to talk to the psych people anymore than I already do, but somehow it's like going back in time to freshman year when AOL IM just got big and you used to IM your friend down the hall about going to the cafeteria for dinner... don't lie, you know you used to do it too!!! So basically, take 5 min to sign up for a MySpace account, copy and paste all your info from your other online accounts and get to work picking out a song. It's the new big thing people!

Another brilliant thought. . .

2006-02-21T23:13:00.000-05:00

OK, so I think this is pretty sweet. I'm putting it out there in internet land for anyone to steal cause I'll never do it myself. But here goes, for all you visual artists out there, this would make one hell of a piece of art. I think it can even be done all modern on the computer. You need a big picture of the ice after a night of figure skating or ice dancing on really glossy photo paper that's shiny just like the ice. Then you go through and with a different color for each skater, you trace out the path they made in the ice with a super wet paintbrush. That way the spattered paint will mimick the ice that gets carved up. When you're done you're left with everything that one night of skating meant. Every skater left their emotions and Olympic hopes on the ice and you've captured it all.

Trash Days

2006-02-21T22:00:00.000-05:00

I hate trash days. I'm never prepared for them. It's kind of like getting ready for a date, but then forgetting to go on the actual date. Or something like that. Por ejemplo, I've been collecting the recycling stuff at our house for nearly four weeks, all ready for that Thursday pickup. But come Thursday morning, unless the trash and stuff is out there before, say 3:25 AM, no one picks it up, and it's another full week of piling up in my garage. Trash days suck.

Why I Love the Winter Olympics

2006-02-19T20:15:00.000-05:00

There are many reasons to love the Olympics. There's the coming together of so many people with so many different backgrounds all in it for the glory of achieving athletic excellence. There's a whole lot of sportsmanship to learn too. And there are so many good stories. Like that Korean figure skater who's partner threw her for a jump and ended up landing so painfully awkwardly on her knees. And then they came back and won the silver medal. Or the skier who's mother is recovering from breast cancer. These are all great reasons to watch the Olympics. But my reasons are one-fold. That that one-fold reason is legs. That's right Legs. I've never seen so many men with beautifully cut legs before all in the same place. I'm watching cross-country skiing right now and it's just awesome to see. Tight-fitting ski suits and bulging quads. That ladies and gentlemen, is my Olympic glory.

I'm the lime green mini...

2006-02-17T11:56:00.000-05:00

I want to know the person who came up with the white "earbud" headphones for the iPod. I mean seriously, how brilliant were they? Buy any model of the iPod and it's as if you've bought a membership into an exclusive club or greek society. Better yet it's like driving around in an original VW Beetle and honking at other drivers in original Beetles. As I walk around campus, I am surrounded by people walking by with white strings dangling from their ears. I find myself wondering what they are listening to... a slow walker might be chilling to Coldplay and a fast walker might be two steps away from freaking out to "Jerk It Out" by the Ceasars like the crazy guy in the commercial. Those of you that don't have one, aren't you the least bit interested in maybe getting one? Or maybe you have another MP3 model, but you must feel some envy when you walk by the white headphones. Ok, this entry was meant to be because as I am sitting here writing this, my lime gree mini iPod just shuffled its way to "Jerk It Out." If I wasn't surrounded by way too many studious psych people on the verge of freaking out over a stats paper I might have had to jump up and down like that commercial guy.

The Cafeteria Guy Made My Day

2006-02-16T14:19:00.000-05:00

So I went to the cafeteria today for lunch expecting them to have Turkey burgers like it said they'd have on the website. I get there and at the place where they usually have the turkey burgers was some wierd bacon sirloin burger. I was all sad so I got in the next line for chicken fingers instead. I get to the front of the line and low and behold.... turket burger!!! So I'm all cheery and I ask the guy for one and I also told him about my brief turkey burger woes. He says, "anything for you. You should come to my line in general all the time." He hands me my container and says, "Have a nice day." I said, "Thanks! You too." He smiled at me and said, "I think I just did." It always the little things. I'm not going to forget that for a long time to come and he's always be my favorite cafeteria guy.

The World has Gone Stark Raving Mad.

2006-02-13T12:16:00.000-05:00

And it's all because people have forgotten the whole point of religion, which is such an easy concept to grasp. Simple you say? Yes indeed. In fact I'll sum everyone's religion up in just a few words. Live your life as best you can like you think the founder or prominent figures in your religion did. Yes, it is just that simple. I bring this up becuase I'm tired of opening my BBC news and reading more nonsense about this cartoon. Now, I should preface this by saying that this post is not meant to be anti-Muslim in any way. I'm just using this as an example. Every religion has done rediculous things in the past. Even mine. So here we go. I'm just not understanding why this cartoon business has gotten so out of hand. I definitely understand why they were so offensice to Muslims in the first place, but why are we still talkking about them and more importantly, why are countries like Iran trying to stir the pot by making a competition to see if the West will accept Holocaust cartoons. How exactly is that going to help anything?? I mean really, in my opinion, the Muslim world missed a golden opportunity to educate. If you're going to claim you're highly misunderstood, then educate us and make us understand. Don't throw stones at people and their embassies and don't cause phyical injury to human being over a cartoon. I'm not sure Mohammad who if you do a very limited amount of reading, you'll learn was a very peaceful man, would have thought that was the best course of action. This has only made worse the Western notion that Muslims are crazy fanatics and that Islam in some wierd millitant ideology. Again, if you do a limited amount of reading, that's not true either. Lets get totally general. From here on out, this can apply to anyone and everyone. In order to make anyone understand you, at some point, someone's going to have to step up and be the bigger man. You might even have to turn the other cheek a time or two. Or as I like to call it, kill people with your kindness. It'll take a lot longer and it's morally a lot harder than violent protest, cause you might have to figure a thing or two out about yourself and what you really believe, but in the long run, that's the only thing that's gonna work. So I think we should apply this to all our little microcosms. If someone offends you, how about you give them the benefit of the doubt and see if they can't he helped by an explanation. In the words of Mahatma Gandhi: "You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

The Singing Bus Driver

2006-02-13T11:58:00.000-05:00

For some reason, I end up on singy-man's bus a lot of mornings as opposed to crazy cigarette lady or man who won't move the bus if someone so much as looks at the yellow line. I consider myself lucky cause well, I think you'll agree that the other drivers just can't be that fun. Now singy bus driver I gotta say has some pipes. He's probably my age and has great taste in music. So far as I can remember there's been a healthy sprinkling of Lauryn Hill, Floetry, Janet Jackson and D'Angelo. And when he goes old school, it's even better. There's old cshol Madonna and I swear I heard some Lisa Stansfield in there one day too. So, I should preface the following remarks by saying that the bus is always filled with undergrads. Scratch that- dumb undergrads. Well actually is there really any other kinds of undergrad? Anyway, every time singy man is singing, someone on the bus hates on him and makes fun of him. I might be able to understand that if he couldn't sing. But he really can. But why do people have to hate on him? Maybe he has American Idol type aspirations and this undergrad/busdriving gig is what he's doing to bide his time? Whatever it is, isn't it kinda nice to hear someone all happy and singing in the morning when people are usually grumpy and have their panties all in a wad? Well, that's my take. It makes me happy when I get on his bus in the morning. And it's even more impressinve that he doesn't care that people hate on him. So kudos to you Mr. Singy-Busdriver-Man!

Look Familiar?

2006-02-11T10:11:00.000-05:00

I'm sorry, as I know this blog isn't about squirrels or to what Sudha refers to as "oversized rodents"-- wait what I am I apologizing for? This blog isn't about much of anything anyway, so why not keep up our dialogue about squirrels on college campuses. I have to say, this pic looks like any squirrel to be found on the Vandy campus. Anyone else agree? What is it about squirrels and campuses anyway? I was walking the other day and two of them were chasing each other in a tree above me when one of them fell out of tree. I'm not kidding. The stupid thing came all flying out of nowhere-- thank goodness I wasn't eating a falafel or I might have thought he swandived on purpose....

Nothing cleans your apartment like work deadlines!

2006-02-09T19:25:00.000-05:00

I think it's safe to say that I have a lot of work to do in the near future. Particularly, I have to practice a talk I have to give to my thesis committee 2 weeks from now for my boss next Wednesday. I'm really not going to have time to work on it tomorrow. Have I started working on it yet? Not exactly. And by not exactly, I mean not at all. For the past few days I've been thinking to myself that I need to do a little laundry and I definitely need to vacuum my apartment. I actually planned to do laundry yesterday on the way home, but when I got there I reminded myself of the day in which you can get anything and everything done that needs to get done. And that day is tomorrow. So, I'm on my way home today and I think, hmmm I should really clean my place. Given that this is the last real day I have to waste before I need to put myslef on lockdown, I got straight to work. In fact, I've been home for about an hour and I've already put in 2 loads of laundry, vacuumed my apartment, tied up the kitchen trash and as we speak, there's rice cooking away in my rice cooker. This is exactly why I never really worry about working on anything until I'm good and ready. The cleaning is my subconscious cue that I need to get my act together. And lets face it, you can't do any good work in a messy apartment. So, I think it's safe to say that my apartment is clean and I'm ready to work..... tomorrow. :-)

Is anyone really surprised?

2006-02-09T11:12:00.000-05:00

So I'm not so sure what to think about this story. First off, is anyone really surprised that the girl that walked barefoot into a gas station bathroom would be driving around with her baby in her lap? Then what's up with LA County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) jumping all over this? What are they gonna do, take Britney's Spear's baby away from her? Please... they couldn't even talk to her when they went out to her house. Little Miss Pop Princess had them talk to her security guard. Where were these people when Wacko Jacko was holding his baby over a balcony? That was one celebrity that needed to have his children taken away stat, for more than one reason! Why is DCFS wasting their time on this? Read the article yourself

Super Bowl XL!!!

2006-02-05T11:39:00.000-05:00

Here are some interesting facts to get you in the mood for the big day. My friend Susan said that her radio station in Philadelphia has a fool-proof way for figuring out the winner the past couple of years. They paint two eggs with the logos of the two teams and then put them in the microwave. Whichever egg explodes first is the winner of the SuperBowl. Now on to some real facts....

The first Super Bowl football game was played on January 15, 1967, at Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California, in front of 63,036 spectators. The Green Bay Packers (NFL) defeated the Kansas City Chiefs (AFL) 35-10. The winning Packers players received $15,000 each and the Chiefs, $7,500 each. Nowadays (according to 2005 statistics), players on teams that make the wild-card round as division winners get $18,000, while strictly wild-card teams get $15,000. Making the divisional playoff round earns players another $18,000. Getting to a conference championship game is worth $36,500 to every player on all four teams. That's the same amount of money players on the losing team in the Super Bowl make, while the winners get $68,000 each.

I hear there are some gonna be some good commercials this year as well. Jessica will be slutting, oh I ment, strutting her stuff for Pizza Hut, and there should be quite a few other big names hawking merchandise. Oh and in case you were wondering, the Pittsburgh egg exploded this year....
Happy Football Day!! :)

Yeah that's right...

2006-02-03T08:16:00.000-05:00

Global warming or not, I just wanted to say that I am digging this February heat wave we're having here in Columbia, South Carolina. It's gonna be 70 degrees today at 3pm. Yeah, you read right. 70 degrees. I'll let you know what that felt like tonight.

Great Google-y Moogle-y!!!!

2006-02-02T22:56:00.000-05:00

Now it's not very often that I peddle things that I've found on the internet, well.... maybe it is often, but this is for real. We are all intimately familiar with the glory that is anything Google, but now it's just gone a step further. Google Earth is one of the awsomest things I have ever played with. In fact, I encourage all of you lovely blog readers to download it immediately. In a matter of minutes, I've been all over the world.... at least in the form of awesome satellite pictures. In fact, I was just at my parents' house a few minutes ago. We start off way up in space, where there's zero gravity by the way, the wonders of which were brought to my attention yesterday.... but I digress..... We start off way up in space, then I typed in my parents' address and I proceeded to literally swoosh down from my own personal satellite right to their house. I could see everything. Mom's station wagon parked outside, the roof of the sunroom and even the little drainage creek in our front yard. Before I left work today, I made a little pit-stop in India to see my aunt's place and then took a small detour to Mt. Everest. Next stop, Antarctica. It's amazing the detail you can see. And if this hasn't sold you, I've got another angle. Picture this..... You meet a cute boy one day. You exchange numbers and use Mom and Pop Google to stalk him. You know, figure out his last name, email address and if you're in school, it's just a leisurely stroll to the online directory to find his address. You think to yourself, hmmm, I wonder if this guy lives in a crap-hole with like 8 other dudes, or maybe in an apartment. Well, just throw his address on Google earth and voila!!! You have your answer. I hope this sells for some of you. I personally am all about the going to random places all the way across the world, but to each his own. Any way you look at it though, this thing is absolutely amazing. Think of it, you can see what people's houses look like in lets say Tokyo, or anywhere else in the world for that matter. Now if that' not the coolest, I don't know what is. Great Google-y Moogle-y indeed!!!

You are out there aren't you???

2006-02-01T22:03:00.000-05:00

Dear loyal and not so loyal readers of The Brilliant Thoughts of Overworked Minds,
Providing insightful and sometimes not so insightful information on this blog for the past several months has been a great pleasure for all of us. Well, actually it's been a great pleasure for Sheara and I. The other two slackers.... well, clearly all that the bloging experience has to offer is just not good enough for them. But I digress. We would just like to ask all of you out there who we hope are reading this blog to please post your comments. We'd really like to know how our "brilliant" thoughts are recieved. Not that we're really going to start tailoring our blogs to your tastes. If you want a personal blog, well then start your own. All the same, we'd still like to have a little more interaction with the general blogging public. All constructive criticism and opinion is appreciated. Just be gentle, we're sensitive and we bruise easily. Thank you all very much.
Sincerely,
Management

What if...?

2006-01-30T19:05:00.000-05:00

So as I was making a leisurely stroll to class today in 68 degree and sunny weather I was struck by a thought. I watched as a squirrel darted from place to place digging frantically for what I can only assume were hidden acorns. He never found any. I wondered to myself, what if a squirrel developed amnesia or was struck by a rare form of squirrel alzheimers. I say rare form, because Dateline hasn't done any specials on it lately and I'm guessing it's not that common. Can you imagine anything more frustrating. It's as if you were to go and bury all your wordly possessions like your laptop/car/hairdryer for example in the ground and then not remember where you did. I know all of you reading this would panic at the loss of at least one of the previously mentioned items (for me personally, I would have to say all 3). Eventually you would dig up something, but it might be someone else's sneakers or toupee and hardly the item you were looking for. Do squirrels mark their acorns with special squirrel markings, or will any acorn do? In that case, you gotta wonder if some squirrels just sit around most of the year doing nothing and then just run around digging up all the other squirrel's acorns when they get hungry? That hardly seems fair. This is point when I arrived at my class and had to end my inner musings about the life of a squirrel.

Only in My Wildest Dreams

2006-01-25T13:44:00.000-05:00

People are often asked what they would do if their wildest dreams could come true. I think I remember being asked this question quite often in liberal NYC public school as a kid. I also remember that this is a really difficult question to answer for lots of people. I mean all of us have so many hopes and dreams it's so hard to pick one as the "wildest" or most important. But ever since I can remember, I've had a wildest dream, and that dream has been to go into space. How do I know it's my wildest dream? Well, for starters, realistically, it may never happen. But otherwise, it's one of those things that I would sacrifice a lot of important things for. Namely, if I had to opportunity to go up and see the earth from the outside in, and heaven forbid something happened to the mission and I never made it back, I wouldn't regret my decision even for a second. If I suddenly came upon a large sum of money.... say $22M, I wouldn't hesitate to call up the Russians and book my seat on the next civilian flight to space. Now, I won't write some long story about why I think space and everything associated with it is so amazingly facinating. I'll just let it speak for itself.
On January 19, 2006, NASA launched New Horizons, a rocket that's now on it's way to Pluto. It will reach there in a cool 10 years. It'll be "woken up" once every year for a system check to make sure that all systems are operating normally. If everyhthing goes as planned, when I am ~35 years old, I'll be on the web looking at pictuers of Pluto. But even more mindblowing than that, whatever happens in my life for the next 10 years, there will be 1 constant. New Horizons will be somewhere between here and Pluto. Let me tell you why this is so amazing. Here in the West, we have movies, TV and a lot of us have unfettered access to the internet. Nothing really surprises us anymore. There's not a whole lot out there that we haven't been exposed to. On the other hand, I know people who have lived well into their 20s without seeing the ocean, via TV or otherwise. To most of us that's hard to wrap our brains around. There's really not that much on this earth that we can experience that will bring us the same feelings that seeing the ocean for the first time can. In fact, I was so young that I don't remember seeing the ocean for the first time. Well, New Horizons is going to bring our new ocean, that is space, right into our living rooms. And I'll be happy to wait 10 years for my chance at that feeing.

2005 in Review

2006-01-25T13:40:00.000-05:00

The year 2005 in general has been quite an eventful year. Full of good relationships, bad ones, no relationships, insane workloads, great vacations, wonderful reunions, rediculous phone conversations, family insanity, fights over local weather, late nights at the Waffle House, and as a result, an awsome collection of quotes and happenings. As such, here is a compilation of those most memorable moments:

Sheara: This is just one-three many times.

Sheara: You have so many burners, you're house is about to go up in flames.

Sudha and Sheara: What are we doing with our lives?????

JT: Wow, there are so many journals out there it's amazing people don't publish.

Sam: It's not like we travel with a 6 piece band!!!

Sheara: "He's like some kind of tropical storm. But at least he's downgrading."

Sheara to JT when he says sexually inappropriate things: Do you know what that is? or Do you know what that means?

Sheara's mom: I know you better than you know yourself!

Sudha's mom: So, what do you think of Sam. I mean you're all older and things change.
What's wrong with your friends? Why are they all single?
Sam in response: Parents are really stupid.

Sheara: We're one step away from having Brad Pitt posters above our beds.

Sheara: I wonder what I would be like if I was raised without any adult supervision.... like if I had been raised by wolves. . .

General international drama for everyone.

The following happenings are anonymous either on purpose or because I can't remember who said them or the context in which they were said. Also, certain parties could have their future careers significantly impaired if certain quotes are associated with them:

"I'm some kind of One Date Wonder."

"I'm going to give this country the backhand it deserves."

In boy language: "We go on a date and have a really good time. There will be dinner and there'll probably be drinking involved. There might even be kissing. And then I get a pit in my stomach."
Translation into girl language: "The thought of kissing you makes me physically ill."

I may add more, but I think this is a pretty good start for now. :-)

Did you hear the one about the whale in the Thames?

2006-01-23T23:27:00.000-05:00

Honestly, I'm surprised the poor whale didn't die sooner from just being in that water. The Thames is like a moving drain for all the filth in London. If you haven't heard about this, check out this article from CNN.com. The pic on here is of all the boats involved trying to rescue the whale.

The beauty that is The O.C.

2006-01-23T22:08:00.000-05:00

So I remember a time when I couldn't wait to watch The O.C. It seemed so risque and in touch with the dark/deep melodrama that is the high school experience. Girls everywhere used to gather in living rooms and dorm rooms-- big packs of O.C. loving girls, soaking up Marissa's clothing style and secretly wishing that they too were dating Ryan. But then something happened. It started to become typical. Suddenly Marissa looks overdressed for high school and Ryan borders on being weird. Seth and Summer are saving the show with their too cute for the small screen relationship. I sit there week after week with my pack of girls and wonder what I am doing watching a show that has now dipped below the quality level of Dawson's Creek at its worst during the college years. But then again, it's The O.C. It's tradition now, just like I know that there will always be a Chrismukkah episode and Ryan will punch someone in at least 1/3 of the episodes. The best line recently is when Seth is complaining that everything is going too well within their group and something bad is sure to happen. The doorbell rings and he tells Ryan "Don't answer it. It's probably a flaming bag of crap" Bring back the risque I say and make The O.C. what it should be about... seeing how many times Julie Cooper can marry people and how many times Ryan and Marissa will break up and get back together again.

My air conditioner is on right now....

2006-01-22T02:01:00.000-05:00

It's 2:00 am right now and it's 63 degrees outside with a 93% humidity. My air conditioner is on. Something is not right here. JT finally came up to see me in Columbia and here's a gem of a conversation for the blog:

** While talking about some people I know **
Me: Yea, his brother is famous, but he doesn't get too much out of it.
JT: I'm sure he gets some perks. For example, what if I was Britney's Spears sister...
Me: So you mean what if you were Jamie Lynn?
JT: Ok, if I was her brother...
Me: Ok, so if you were Jamie Lynn, continue...

Worth a few hours of your time

2006-01-21T15:24:00.000-05:00

I finished reading this book while I was in Sri Lanka. I actually used to wait for the moments when I could take a break from my busy international schedule in order to spend some time getting lost in reading it. Almost everyone I know has either read this book, is reading it, or has it at the top of their list of books to read. The book is actually a quick read in spite of the heavy subject matter. You feel as if you are actually in Afghanistan and living through the scenes with the author. I was also struck by the realism of his perspective of having money/privilege in a third world country. Many of the names could have been changed to the names of people I know and my family members in Sri Lanka. The divide between rich and poor never seems to change in countries like this and every generation has a new version of being rich that the older generation never seems to grow accustomed to. Give this book a read and I promise you won't regret it!

You know what really grinds my gears...?

2006-01-17T09:26:00.000-05:00

The packaging for toothbrushes. You practically need a blowtorch to get into those things… why is that? The fancier the brush, the more nails you break trying to get into it. I understand the concept of childproof safety caps for medicines, but what kind of liability are toothbrush manufactures trying to prevent themselves from? Are they scared that unattended toddlers might break into the packages of one of their toothbrushes and poke themselves in the eye? Come on… There’s a better chance that the kid will poke themselves in the eye with one of their safety kid forks. I think it’s time that we take a stand on this issue. Otherwise, I’m gonna be old and ridden with arthritis in my hands from my excessive piano playing as a child, and not be able to brush my teeth cause I can’t open a new toothbrush.

Back from my sabbatical!

2006-01-17T03:10:00.000-05:00

I missed you guys too! But I have to say, spending the last 12 days, miles away from ordinary, was one of the best things for me to do. I managed to forget about life in the States, got dropped out of all my classes cause I forgot to pay my rec fee, and managed to buy a new wardrobe cause the airline delayed my dad's bag which gave us $500 inurance money to buy clothes with. As the avaerage clothings prices are between $3-5, you can imagine what we were able to do...

This pic is of my favorite spot to relax when we go there-- it's the back of a hotel called Blue Water. Basically, the routine is to lay on a chair under the palm trees and contemplate life for a couple of hours, walk up and down the beach a bit, and then stuff my face at the buffet :)

Sudha is right, as there was no international drama, but I did learn a few things while I was there:

- I have met someone that takes man-eating to Olympic standard levels, so back off me Sudha ;)
- I nearly died while changing a light bulb there. Always remember to turn off the power in countries with crazy voltages like 220 when changing a lightbulb cause you might die when the bulb explodes in your hands.
- I could eat rice three times a day and be perfectly content.
- Island gossip is mean and spiteful-- the major pitfall of the motherland

Ok, it is now late and I will post later this week with more stories. The airline lost my bags somewhere in DC, so hopefully I will get them tomorrow and make my way back to Columbia so that I can try to get back into my classes....

I Miss Sheara

2006-01-15T23:34:00.000-05:00

. . . . And JT and Sam too. It's hard to have long distance relationships with people you wish you could see every day. I've gone a crazy number of days without talking to Sheara cause she's all busy being international. But, I gotta say that I think this is the first time that either one of us has been international without me having some kind of crazy emotional drama that only she can solve. In fact, I've had a suprisingly good and in some ways enlightening few weeks. It just made me a little extra sad that I can't pick up the phone and share the good stuff. I talked to JT today. He's sick and that made me kinda sad too. But he's off gambling in Mississippi so I guess I shouldn't feel too bad for him. :-) And lastly, I just got an email from Sam and it's not like I didn't already know that he was rediculously smart to begin with, but this particular email was just brilliantly written. I don't often get to actually read things that he writes, but this should be no suprise given the outstanding post he has contributed to this blog. Here's a short exerpt from the email. You be the judge:

So about a week ago I promised to send you a list of readings that
might help you in your current state of disaffection.  I thought about it a
great deal and I have come up with the things that I often turn to.  I would
like to add the disclaimer that upon viewing this list, I have come to
realize that by turning to these works repeatedly I now realize why my head is
often clouded with a certain framework of emotion that often serves no aid in
improving my metal state.  That is to say, none of the above works are
in any way uplifting and are not likely to make the world seem any warmer
or brighter by way of their consumption.

As I was reading it I kinda felt like I was reading some classic novel that I should have read in undergrad, but was too lazy to back then.

This entry is sounding wierdly like a diary entry, but I think it's really a consequence of my "current state of disaffection" to which Sam reffered. Or more specifically, a Quarter Life Crisis that has made me want to consciously cut the crap and useless influences out of my life, leaving me with those who really matter: The three contributers to this blog being the top three on that list. There will be a future blog entry elaborating on the Quarter Life Crisis, but for now, suffice it to say that I might be a little overly dramatic, but I have the best friends in the universe and I love 'em like crazy. :-)

OK, Seriously?!

2006-01-11T14:56:00.000-05:00

So, I'm sure everybody's read by now the almost substantialed rumour that Anjelina Jolie is Pregnant with Brad Pitt's child. OK, let me first tell all of you out there who think this child is going to be the most beautify creature in the universe that it ain't gonna happen. You know how it goes. There's no way that two people as rediculously good looking as them can have a child that's even better looking. This is going have people saying, "I just don't undertand it. The kid's parents are the hottest things since slides bread and Capri Sun, respectively. How did the kid not end up with ANY of their genes?" We'll just have to wait that one out.
But back to the original point. I remember back in the days when Mr. and Mrs. Smith was being filmed and everyone was talking about how the 2 of them werre boinking. I remember my naive ass actually defending Brad. I admitted that they were probably spending an inappropriate amount of time together, but I didn't think there was boinking involved. . . he wasn't even divorced them. But shows what I know. Then after the divorce was final and he started following Anjelina round like a wounded puppy, adopting her children, I said, yeah this is weird, but I really though that Brad would at least have the decency to wait till the first of the year to make any big moves/announcements. I mean, I'm not saying that Jennifer Aniston is some kind of saint or anything, but you could at least be a gentleman and let the dust settle first. Alas, I was wrong again. I guess he did wait till after the first of the year to announce she was knocked up, but she got knocked up in '05 people. This is just sad and depressing. They're still the hottest people in the land, but now I'm just tired of all the randomness. They both let me down. I was wrong on all accounts. I'm only gonna make 1 more prediction. They'll be married before August, but I'm not naive enough to think the marriage will last beyond '07. One more question. . . what happened to Angelina saying that anyone she married would have to sign a prenup that would take all the mans rights away as a father if they divorced before 5 years? Now that Brad's adopting is all that out the window? If so, why not just get married then???? Oh well, like I said in a previous post, celebrities are so far removed from normal reality. I wonder what the kids are gonna think of all this.

Any my last question. . . Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are fit parents because they have the money to adopt randon needy children even though daddy was boinking mommy before he divorced Auntie Jennifer and mommy. . . well she's just plain wierd.
Homosexual couples who are loyal to one another even after things stop being easy and create warm and loving households with clear distinctions between right and wrong are not fit parents.

Discuss. . . . . .

What's up with the Pussycat Dolls?

2006-01-10T21:52:00.000-05:00

OK, so I just came to know the other day that the song "Stickwitu" was but the Pussycat Dolls. I knew all about the "Don't Cha" song because I've definitely adopted that as my personal theme song. . . but that's another blog entry in itself. Now I started to wonder where all this was leading us. Cause if they're like the Spice Girls, we shouldn't get too comfortable cause they'll be gone soon enough. But I've also heard comparisons to Destiny's Child. The more and more I think about this though, the more ludacris it sounds. Let's face it. There's like 37 Dolls if you will. . . ok fine there's 6, and none of them really stands out. I mean I think it's really the one Doll who sings both songs, but does anyone know her name? See, neither do I. I think I'll just end up refering to her as Head Pussycat until they go out of style. But I mean everyone knew that Beyonce was lead singer of Destiny's Child. And lets face it, we all knew she was way too good for the other two and was just biding her time whether we want to admit it to ourselves or not. So, I'm not really sure where I was going with this, but I think I've come to the conclusion that they are somewhere inbetween Destiny's Child and The Spice Girls. There's enough of them to draw comparisons with the Spice girls, but they're not nearly as annoying and their songs are kinds good in that when you're talking to true music fans you wouldn't mention that you don't turn the radio station in the car when they come on. They're Destiny's Child enough cause they're pretty hot and at least Head Pussycat can kinda sing. All this really means is that whether I learn Head Pussycat's real name or not, they;ve provided me with a highly funtional "in 'da club" personal theme song and for that I won't be changing my radio station in the near future.

The Final Goodbye. . .

2006-01-04T19:50:00.000-05:00

So last Friday, I got a call from my insurance agent. There was good news and bad. The bad news was that my baby was officially declared totalled. The good news is that the insurance company is giving me a check for twice the bluebook value of my car pre-total. In even sadder news though, since Michigan is a no fault state, aka. a don't worry about having personal responsibility state, aka. a beakon of American culture, I get no money from the dumb undergrad who hit me. So, that means that no matter whose fault the accident was, each person's insurance is responsible for their own respective damages. So, this leaves me out a really nice car, up a few grand and now in need of purchasing a new car.
My next course of action? I'll start by selling my conscience on EBay and using that money to help purchase a Hummer. Now I can get an H3, not too big and not too small. I'll then proceed to just drive over other people's cars and all I have to do is turn around to those poor saps, give them the finger and say "It's a no fault state, bitches!!!!"
In reality though, the next course of action has already been taken. I'll definitely blog about that when all is said and done. The future looks bright, but I'll never forget the past. I went to clean out my old baby last Friday. Took my atlas and all my maps out (yes, I am a hopeless nerd). Recued my CDs and the random articles of clothing in the back seat (I'll thank you not to make that dirty, we're speaking of the dead here). And then it was wierd cause I locked the car and started walking away like it was no big deal. Then it dawned on me that I was walking away from my car for the last time. I got really sad and took one last long look. I'll definitely miss my baby. 8.5 years is a long time. I guess I'll always have my memories and pictures. . .

And that's what friends are for....

2005-12-30T02:00:00.000-05:00

So Christmas has come and gone. Not too much has changed other than I have a new bounty of cool gifts to play with over the next few months and I'm pretty sure that I have lost years off of my life by dealing with my family. Honestly I love them, but the holidays seem to bring the worst as well as the best out of all of us! So that's what friends are for; they're there to take you away from the family madness and remind you that it's ok to be selfish once in awhile and not worry about being the world's #1 daughter. As Sudha has already brilliantly concluded, the only relationships that seem to thrive over long-distances are the ones you have with your family.

One of my new favorite stories is from two night ago when JT kept me, Sudha, and Sam waiting on his doorstep for 10 minutes. Granted, 1) we didn't call before going over there, 2) he had a ton of family in his house who were already asleep at 10:30, and 3) well there isn't really a 3.

Thanks goodness it was unseasonably warm outside and I didn't mind staring at his barely cracked open front door as he proceeded to freak out in front of us about people being asleep in his house. Things that were said within those 10 minutes:

JT: "Well this is just unexpected. I don't know what to do"
Me: "You could let us into your house. If not, we can just go to my house, but I'm trying to stay away from my family"
Sam: "Well, can we just take some beer then?"
JT: "But you've got to be quiet"
Sudha: "What, like we've never been in mixed company before?! Like we don't know how to be quiet...."
Me to Sam after JT had run away from the door for the third time: "Call Daphne [JT's sister], she likes you and she'll let us in"
Daphne: " Why are you guys standing on the doorstep?"
JT: "oh... this is just so unexpected"
Me: " We brought movies-- Batman Begins and the Family Guy Movie"
JT: " The Family Guy movie?!?! Ok, we just gotta to be quiet in the basement"
Sam: "Look, it's not like we've got a 6-piece band with us"

So we were finally let into his house where we spent a very relaxing, family free time watching the Family Guy movie. Even though he has already seen it three times before, JT laughed harder and louder than any of us-- he was a 6-piece band in himself.

Big Bad Coke

2005-12-29T23:32:00.000-05:00

So, I've heard of Coke being accused of all kinds of horrible things before, and now it's in my town. The University of Michigan has decided to join many other institutions such as NYU, and about 20 others in banning coke from all campus locations. This comes after student organizations pushed school officials to scrutinize Coke's business practices in places like Columbia and India to name a few. Coke has been accused of kidnapping, torturing and murdering union workers and union leaders in Columbia and of severely depleting drinking water, leaking toxin waste into drinking water and selling it as fertilizer in India. Coke was banned from U of M specifically because they failed to meet the end of the year deadline the university set for Coke to give proof of it's proper conduct of business in these countries. I'm really not sure why I blogged this except to say that it's kind of sad that you really can't trust anyone and there's a certain amount of guilt that comes from living in such a prosperous society. Even if we each as individuals go through life as best we can and try to look after our neighbors, it's still the dirt hand that makes the world go round and that just makes me sad. It's not just Coke. There's plenty of companies out there that are just as bad and in large part, America wouldn't be the land of excess we all enjoy without them. So, I guess we've all got blood on our hands. There is solace to be found in Bill Gates. . . I agree that Microsoft is a ridiculous monopolizing monster, but at least Bill Gates puts a crazy amount of that "dirty money" into worthwhile things like fighting AIDS in Africa and India. But I still come back to my original depressing thought. . . I fully agree that there's no deed that is truly altruistic, but do all good things have to come with a side of bloody hand?