Man I had fun Friday. The last time I danced that close to an audience I was 12 and at the King Center in the ATL. I don't recall there being any slack-jawed frat boys that time though...
Some of my dancer friends are taking off for Atlanta and D.C. and, while I know I'll see them soon, I'll miss their choreography and their friendship. So here's my shout out ladies -- I love you and can't wait to see what you come up with next.
Oh yeah, and look at this little booger. I like to call him the little professor because he just looks like he's got it figured out already:
So, I have a friend from work who is a civic-minded individual. She tends to write letters to government reps when she sees something that she feels needs to be addressed. About a week ago she came up to me in the office, waving a letter and saying "Worst letter ever!" I'll let the letter speak for itself. She maintains that it was pretty much just the total stock-letter kiss off and she was offended. Apparently most of the time the rep will take the time to acknowledge the issue and what they're doing to address it. Not this time:
I have many things I've been wanting to post but am just going for the funny today. And also, this little meditation:
I will do my utmost not to be careless with other people's feelings in the future (and I have been very guilty of carelessness in the past) because the benefit to my ego or circumstance or mood or whatever it is that makes people not consider others' feelings is just really, in the long run, not worth the damage I do to relationships, either established or burgeoning. I've been reminded here recently that this is a good thing to remember by being on the receiving end of some pretty blatant disregard and I don't like it. But thanks for the reminder because I'm sure I'll be a better person for it. And you'll still be jerks. Which is not supposed to make me feel better because of everything I just said. (but still kinda does -- is that wrong?)
So, courtesy of the lovely men who keep me sane at work, here are a few YouTube vids -- the first is a hilarious video for a band that one of these gentlemen recently introduced me to. I watched this video with my 18-year-old nephew and we thought it was one of the funniest things we'd seen in a while. Then another friend at work suggested that it was reminiscent of the movie They call me Trinity, which I haven't seen but would now very much like to.... Here it is. Don't miss the hero/American Eagle juxtaposition. It's awesome...
Realizing I have kinda bad taste in some things....
Lord Somber tagged me a while back and I am such a crap friend I keep forgetting to post it. But here are my answers (finally). Prepare to have your world rocked by the insight.
Rules of being Tagged: Tagging in the Blogosphere means, that if you've been picked, you have to pick five to ten others to follow suit. Here are some questions and answers. The questions can be changed when you tag some other blogger. If you're tagged, answer the questions on your blog.
Tagging Questions:
1) Name your favorite band and singer. (The singer can't be from the band)
Singer: Bob Dylan
Band: If I had to pick I'd say The Who
2) Favorite historical politician (domestic)? (Historical = Dead) Teddy Roosevelt. He was a Rough Rider who actually carried the proverbial stick and let others do the soft-talking.
3) Favorite historical politician (International)? Patricius. We know him as St. Patrick. A politician who went back to the land where he was once imprisoned out of pure love and refused to accept political gifts from kings. Yet managed to become the patron saint of his adopted homeland because of charisma and probably a healthy dose of righteousness.
4) You're giving a Hollywood pitch (25 words or less) about your Blog ‹ GO "All the sweetness of a Southern evening delivered by the tongue of an adder."
5) Other than where you live now, what city do you like? Washington D.C., London and Florence, Italy
6) Favorite modern politician? (In office now) I like that Giuliani will cut people off when they start talking bs but I don't know if that qualifies as "favorite"...
7) Are you a Wilsonian Idealist or Nixonian Realist in foreign policy? I tend toward realism in pretty much everything. Idealism is nice but just not, ah, um, realistic...
8) Favourite obscure movie? After Dark, My Sweet
9) What is your favorite restaurant? Here recently, Emeril's in Atlanta
10) Choose a music video on YouTube. Why that one? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orW2NXQZg8U because Billy Squier + satin sheets = awesome
Okay, this just freaks me out. Obama is wise in semantically distancing himself from calling whatever it is he thinks is the "right thing " to teach "sex education." But then, he's not really distancing himself from it after all. So, is it sex education for the under 6 set or isn't it? Look, all I'm saying is when I look at my six year old niece the last thing I think is the "right" thing to teach her is anything related to sex. She needs to learn how to laugh and share and play well with others and defend herself from bullies and how to understand what she reads and how to do basic mathematical constructions and how to love her brothers even while wanting to hate them and how playing outside in the sun should be followed by water intake and how to swim and dance and tell a joke and get a joke and that she can count on the adults in her life even when she feels like she can't. She'll figure out the anatomical differences between herself and boys later -- when she's supposed to. How is it that the party of "keep your hands off my body" is so freakin' willing to start making children aware of their bodies and the accompanying vulnerabilities associated with those bodies? It feels like a contradiction to me. But then I've been letting too many things get to me lately and have resorted to listening to this song for sanity. Show me a little shame -- I just realized how appropriate that is for this post...
oh yeah, the new Harry Potter film was good and I believe the people who think Hermione will die in the last book. Tragic moment of geek self-awareness...
ASHEVILLE, NC-A rogue smorgasbord ran rampant through the streets of Asheville Monday, eluding police and restauranteurs for over nine hours and sating the appetites of at least seven area residents caught in its path.
The smorgasbord, a 20-foot-long buffet table with heated steam trays and dual left/right sneeze guards, was the property of Country Pantry Buffet, and was described by police as "overflowing with a wide array of luncheon meats, casseroles and hot vegetable dishes, as well as salads."
ATHENS, GA-The inevitable breakup of Henry Loemer and Frieda Jaynes, which occurred publicly on Sept. 25, left almost a dozen local residents secretly amused Monday.
"There's nothing funny about this situation—except everything," said Jaynes' best friend Deanna Vodak.
A minor battle was won yesterday as my classmates and I made a smallish dent in the philosophy of one who insisted that misappropriation of funds to International Non-Governmental Organizations wasn't really stealing. "Once they donate the money it's yours. You can do whatever you want with it. You should not have to be accountable to your donors."
We rained down on him like a hot bowl of ramen. And, I think, caused him to actually rethink his ethical threshold.
Hallelujah!
[ed. note: I realize this is boring as hell to most people but, trust me, this kid will be running Unicef one day and taking your money and buying a new Mercedes with it. Or -- thanks to my classmates' heroism -- maybe not. You can send thank-you gifts to Room 202, Baldwin Hall, UGA, Athens.]
I was off work for the Holiday so I forgot to post this but this is why I love this country (and doubtless why others don't...). In a world where subterfuge is sometimes (a lot of the time) the rule, you need some good pirates around.
Happy Fourth. Remember why you celebrate it, ya scurvy dogs!
UPDATE: More on pirates. This is what I'm talking about. You know those questions, "Name one person, living or dead, who you'd like to have dinner with?" This guy is mine... I just like his style.
"She could not descend to an existence where her brain would explode under the pressure of forcing itself not to outdistance incompetence. She could not function to the rule of: Pipe down -- keep down -- slow down -- don't do your best, it is not wanted!" -Atlas Shrugged
So here's my shout out ladies -- I love you and can't wait to see what you come up with next.
