Am I the Only One...
who catches myself, every once in a while, a little bit surprised to see the pictures from the war in color? Maybe it is just me. But for some reason, I just connect war movies and war pictures with black & white. In the Saving Private Ryan and Blackhawk Down day and age, I guess that is a little weird. But every once in a while... I find myself amazed at the vivid colors.



War in Iraq: 200 Front Pages... it's an interesting "exhibit" at the newseum. The front pages from over 200 newspapers on the day after the war broke out in Iraq.

Kinda funny cartoon... Mad Max anyone?

Defend America.... U.S. Dept. Of Defense News About the War on Terrorism

Though I'm not exactly sure why... I'm a Burger-Eating Flying Monkey... and you can battle me. (That's just plain weird, okay?)

Cyan Pictures... the blog of an independent film company

Friday Five
1. What was your most memorable moment from the last week?
When I thought I was going to be all "camper girl" and grill something... only to find a gigantic birds nest inside the grill.

2. What one person touched your life this week?
Sheri... she read my mind and knew exactly what to say without me having to say anything at all.

3. How have you helped someone this week?
I'm housesitting... sorta.

4. What one thing do you need to get done by this time next week?
I'm not even going to begin with work-related matters. But I need to get my computer desk from Creative Audio one of these days.

5. What one thing will you do over the next seven days to make your world a better place?
I'm going to grace New Orleans with my presence. Whee! I'll be silent until Monday... as I'm not taking this thing along and will have other things going on.

Song for the Day:
Svefn g englar - Sigur Rós
In honor of the show tomorrow night!

"Curiosity killed the cat, but for a while I was a suspect."
    Steven Wright

It's a bird... it's a plane... "Experts say a reported UFO sighting in Norway was probably an electrocuted cat." (via Stuff I've Heard)

A man after my own heart... I'll remain cellphone free, with glee. (Granted, I do now have a mobile, but my boss made me get it and pays for it, and I don't answer it when I'm with other people or when I just plain don't feel like it.)

Back-to-Iraq.com -- Christopher heads to the middle east.

I thought this was awesome: Barrage of e-mail helps Marine bride. It's a great article... but basically, the groom-to-be got orders to ship out to Kuwait in January, so they hurriedly got married before he left... (they were planning to be married in May). The bride asked for the deposit for their reception back, because the groom would not be back by May. The hotel where the reception was to be held initially refused... but after a backlash from Marines and others, they have changed their policy.

War Boosts MSNBC Viewership 503%! They're probably wishing the war started during sweeps.

Lucy Lawless



Tiffani-Amber Thiessen

Talk amongst yourselves.

I guess I missed this:
Zora, Joe Not Talking... oh well. When's the next one start?

Song for the Day:
Momma Mia - ABBA
~Momma mia, does it show again?
My my, just how much I've missed you.~

You knew this had to happen sooner or later... saddamhussein.blogspot.com:

Sunday, March 23, 2003

My son Uday is not looking too good. I have had propped him up in a chair in the corner ever since we dug him out from under the 50 tons of collapsed concrete and steel. I had to use a bicycle pump to reinflate his body, which actually worked better than I expected. But now he just sits there. I talk to him, but he won't answer. One of my cabinet aids, Abdullah, said that's because Uday has been dead since that initial missile strike Thursday morning. I thanked Abdullah for volunteering his opinion, then shot him. I don't need negative vibes like that. Not at a time like this.

On the bright side, I have been informed that we have captured some POW's. See? I'm feeling better already.

Saddam "No Nukes Here" Hussein -- 8:56 PM

Don't Mess with Our Dolphins... Sgt. Flipper reporting for duty.

Live from Kuwait! -- Sorry if you guys are sick of these... but I'm so fascinated by these first-person accounts. I am so sick of Wolf Blitzer and some of the others that I can hardly watch the television anymore... but these blogs have me check four-five times a day to see if they have been updated.

Song for the Day:
Your Boyfriend Sucks - Ataris

I'm Laughing...
Ugh... there is so much humor in my life today. I can't wait to post the picture of my grill... it made me laugh so much yesterday, and it continues to do so today.

What is really making me laugh right now is my phone. It is Monday -- which is normally my work-from-home-so-people-leave-me-the-heck-alone-and-I-can-accomplish-something day. However, due to the bossman being out of town, I am in the office. But I told him I wasn't going to answer the phones... because then I end up with people asking me to do little tasks that end up taking my whole day away. Well, easier said than done. I can be in the middle of a full-on mad typing session, but my reflexes make me pick up the phone the instant it rings. So silly me, I thought I would just unplug the phone cord. Only the next time the phone rang, I still picked it up, which still picked up the line and left the other person unable to hear me as I was madly trying to plug it back in. Now I have the receiver secured to the base with three gigantor rubberbands. This baby ain't going anywhere.

Something else that makes me laugh. Karl is over in his office listening to his own music. I just realized it is because they have a gig in Guatemala this weekend, and he has to make sure he remembers the songs. (We're huge in Central America!)

And while we're laughing... my friend Jason sent me these:
Protest Warrior -- I know that some people who read this are opposed to the war, and I respect that. But I have to give these people credit for being clever.
Brain Terminal -- Interviews with the protesters.

Seth Godin is looking for the most persuasive articles online. Has anything changed your mind lately?

Waitress sends coffee to regular customer in Persian Gulf: "For waitress Jannie Brown, the least she could do in time of war was send coffee to a friend who is deployed. Brown, who works at the Waffle House near Fort Campbell, Ky., posted five bags of coffee to one of her 'regulars' who is in the Persian Gulf." (via BrewedFreshDaily.com)

We went to Printers Alley on Saturday night. That's funny because I had always thought of it as a place full of questionable establishments. But no... we sang karaoke at Lonnie's and went Latin dancing at Club Caliente. Unfortunately, the guys weren't dressed nice enough to get in (no t-shirts or tennis shoes)... so it was ladies night. Good times.

(I just picked the entire phone up off the desk, thanks to my rubberbanded receiver. It works!)

Song for the Day:
To Where You Are - Josh Groban
~Fly me up to where you are beyond a distant star
I wish upon tonight to see you smile
If only for awhile to know you're there
A breath away's not far to where you are~

Nightclubs get serious about safety ... If you are sitting in an exit row and do not think you can perform the functions described on the card, please ask for re-seating.

Kevin Sites: First person account of a solo journalist's life on the front lines of war. (Unfortunately his blogging appears to have been suspended for the time being due to his obligations to CNN.)
BBC Reporters... blogging from their various posts throughout the middle east.

qhate.com -- observations from Kuwait.

A Minute Longer: A Solider's Tale... letters from a reservist who has been called to active duty.
L.T. Smash: Live from the Sandbox... another reservist in active duty. (quite humorous... and especially touching when you read the comments and find some from his dad.)
Pontifex Ex Machina... another solider.
The Primary Main Objective...... and another.

Military Family Blogs:
Jennifer -- Mom of 3... I'm not sure exactly where her husband is.
Michelle -- Mom of 3... husband Lee is in army in middle east.
Kiki -- Mom of 3... husband Corey is in middle east.
Nancze -- Son Cliff just went into Iraq.

IraqBodyCount.net -- trying to track civilian casualties

A Couple Thoughts
∙ I forget which channel I was watching, but it brought tears to my eyes. There were little kids filming messages to the soliders. And they showed one solider sending a message to his mom -- I can't remember exactly what he said, but it was to the effect of "I can't promise I'm coming back, but I'm going to do a good job."

∙ I have been amazed by the pictures of all the Iraqi troops surrendering. I think it displays a huge amount of humility and trust. I cannot imagine being in their position. Not knowing what my captors could do to me... not knowing what my own government might do to my family... and then there is the question -- "What do we do with all these people?"

A Walk in the Woods... this is one of those psychological tests where what you pick to tell the story determines certain things about your inner psyche. I guess they call it a "Fantasy Abstraction Profile". I learned that my problems are medium-sized... my ambition could be bigger... I'm creative... I have two true loves... I'm proactive... and well... I picked a pond. Haha.

Hung out with Jay and his cool friends at Opryland Hotel last night where they were staying. Good times.

You can vote for Mark again today.

I like Martin over at The Copydesk. He talks more about sports than politics... but this is good. -- "Iraq simply don't stand a chance, and whatever your thoughts on the tragedy which is about to be unleashed on the Iraqi people, there is absolutely no doubt that Saddam Hussein is a grade 1 headcase."

In the Email
So I was concerned about the upcoming trip to N'awlins, just a little bit.

Manda writes: "you're going to have fun on your trip and you know it. You can have fun anywhere."

I wrote: "That's right. I can have fun anywhere. I'm a fun person. I make the fun happen."

Manda writes: "if you were a superhero, you'd be Fun-der Woman. if you were a president, you'd be Thomas Jeffer-fun."

And that is some of the funniest stuff that has ever come from her!

ivoteformark.com
The time has come, kids -- the final voting for the Connecticut Idol. You can listen to the finalists online... and I think we can all agree that Mark is the clear choice. :) Vote now. Vote all weekend. Tell your friends to vote. The beauty of democracy in action -- the choice is yours.

Sometimes I just wish I could read arabic.

Friday Five
1. If you had the chance to meet someone you've never met, from the past or present, who would it be?
That's tough -- I'll have to get back to you on that one.

2. If you had to live in a different century, past or future, which would it be?
I've always been a middle ages girl, myself.

3. If you had to move anywhere else on Earth, where would it be?
Oh goodness. I might like to do some time somewhere in the south pacific region, if that's cool with Tash?

4. If you had to be a fictional character, who would it be?
LOL! Fun-derwoman!

5. If you had to live with having someone else's face as your own for the rest of your life, whose would it be?
My sister's. She looks like me with less freckles. :)

No song today.

Where Is Raed?
(via BlueDaniel.... thanks.)

This Normal Life

Song for the Day:
Colossal Gray SunShine - Faultline
~Today the sun came up again
And this colossal wrong began
And suddenly there wasn't any shine left in the sun~

Where were you when...

Tina, Andi and I were watching Star Search.

Starting a war is a big deal. And I remember when we found out that we were at war the last time... (Junior high -- Mr. Jensen's history class.) But I'm having this weird feeling tonight. It's like I'm conscious that this is going to be an evening I will remember. All those other times... with the spaceshuttles and the towers and other tragedies... I think I was too shocked to be aware of how monumental the moment was. I think we all pretty much saw this one coming though... so there is an awareness I do not think I had before this instance.

We watched Star Search.
I got online and responded to Phil's email.
They played Scrabble.
We watched FoxNews.

And that is what we did when America went to war with Iraq.

Last night was the first thunderstorm of the season. I have a love for severe weather. Of course, I loved it more when I lived in an area of the country where they actually have basements you can go into if there is a tornado approaching... but at least I don't live in a trailer park.

How did I get on the reunion committee? Manda's got it in her head that she wants to have a reunion for the group that we toured with. And yes, I agree that it would be fun -- especially considering that life on the road inspires captive breeding... and oh, the web of relationships that was woven over the years. I think I'm going to make a chart or graph or something depicting that. Hehe.

In related news, Happy Birthday Mark. I didn't completely forget.

Tina's training for the half marathon. She got out her new little camelbak yesterday.... it's full on. Not as ambitious as these guys though: Run the USA

Song for the Day:
Nightfall - ES

Irish Proverb
May God grant you always...
A sunbeam to warm you,
A moonbeam to charm you,
A sheltering angel, so nothing can harm you.

Happy St. Patrick's Day -- the holiday of holidays, as far as I am concerned.

Manda, I forgot what we were going to call our acronym thing... was it Mad Acronym Action? "I'm going to go see SR at the HOB with the ES guys in NO on Mar 29 with MT."

I think I'm going to go home and watch The Commitments.

It is 8:40 on Sunday morning. I'm going to bed.

Explanation:
Yesterday morning about this time, Michael and I were leaving town. We drove to Greensboro, NC to see the guys' show... mostly because it has been nearly a year since I saw them myself. I've seen them but not their show.

It ended up being a great show. Plus I ran into a girl who was here for Andrew's going-away-party last fall, so it was amazing to catch up with her.

Extra bonus -- when Darren found out that I've never been to New Orleans, he offered to give me one of his extra tickets to see Sigur Ros at The House of Blues. So I guess Michael and I are going to try to get down there the weekend after next to go with Darren and Adam.

And then, I think the plan is to go down there to see A Mighty Wind if N.O. is one of the "select cities" that airs it on the opening weekend. Three thousand-mile trips in five weeks to see the same people. Crazy?

So after the traditional north-carolina-post-show food at Steak n Shake, we drove straight home. I vaguely remember getting behind the wheel sometime around three with Remy Zero in the cd player and a cup of hot chocolate from a Shell station with a potentially lethal chocolate-powder-to-water ratio... sludge.

Now I sleep.

Rock rock -- Mark's in the finals! Voting's next Friday, I think.

Good Goodwill
Yesterday I walked into Starbucks. There were three teenage girls in mid-conversation. As I walked past, one of the girls stopped and enthusiastically said, "I love your shirt. I love it!" (My red and white wringer t-shirt with Beethoven on the front... technically not from Goodwill, but rather rescued from the box of items Kristina was going to give to Goodwill.) And one of the other girls says, "I love your jacket!" (Tan, kelley green stripes on waist/arm bands, zip-up, tracksuit jacket circa 1972.) Overwhelmed by my sudden fashion savvy, I merely smiled, shrugged my shoulders and said, "Goodwill."

Several years ago when we were all working at insanely boring jobs in three separate cities, Mark (the aforementioned), Christopher, and I would spend our time taking IQ tests online and sharing the results with each other via IM. (Didn't we all decide we were going to test for Mensa at some point?) These tests at the High IQ Society would have been a nice challenge.

Here's another test for you -- are you color blind?

Friday Five
1. Do you like talking on the phone? Why or why not?
Not really. It depends who it is. I'm just not a big chit-chatter unless I have something to say.

2. Who is the last person you talked to on the phone?
Karl?

3. About how many telephones do you have at home?
Three -- none of which seem to work at the moment.

4. Have you encountered anyone who has really bad phone manners? What happened?
No specific instances that I care to recall. I hate call waiting pretty much more than anything in the world. Please tell me you will call me back instead of leaving me stranded for three minutes while you try to get off the other line.

5. Would you rather pick up the phone and call someone or write them an e-mail or a letter? Why or why not?
Email is my most regular form of correspondence... but I like to send letters as well. It's such a lost art these days. The only problem is that if I send a letter to someone I normally email as well, then we will probably have emailed about whatever is in the letter by the time they get it anyway.

Song for the Day:
Harder to Breathe - Maroon 5
~When it gets cold outside and you got nobody to love
You'll understand what I mean when I say
There's no way we're gonna give up~

Today is the day, people.
Mark is up for voting. Vote once per computer. Just make sure you vote before 5PM Eastern time. Spread the word. Tell your friends. It's your chance to have a part of a star in the making. Later you'll be able to say... "yeah, that Mark guy is playing at the arena -- I remember last year when I voted for him in the Connecticut Idol contest."

Song for the Day:
Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
The song Mark's going to take this round with...

I currently have a gran mal headache.

PasteMusic -- lots of mp3s from Elliott Smith, Bill Mallonee, et. al.

I have another blogchild. Manda has a blog! Woohoo!

Song for the Day:
The Biggest Lie - Elliott Smith

Rock the Vote
Here's your chance to help a total stranger. Or think of it as helping the friend of a friend.

My friend Mark is in the running to be the next Connecticut Idol. (Regardless of what you think about those competitions, the dude is an amazing singer, and the masses deserve to hear his voice.)

All this week, they are playing four people on the radio station. Each day you can vote for one to make it to the final four. Yesterday Hot Chick won. So today we want to vote for Derek. He apparently did a nice rendition of "Amazing Grace" in a high-school-operatic voice. Mark could take him in the next round.

I'll let you know when Mark is up for voting in the next day or two.

Song for the Day:
Gold - The Frequency (featuring Mark on vocals)

Back to the land of the warmth. I think there was a sixty-degree difference between Iowa and Nashville on Saturday. Had a tough time saying goodbye to my nephew at the airport yesterday. He was trying so hard not to cry, which made me want to cry.

Looking for a place at the beach? The Setai offers residences from $600,000-10,000,000.

ForeverNow... personal link bookmark. Matty-D is such a rockstar.

Attention Stalkers... Woman's Own wants to hear about your stalking tendencies. Fill our their survey.

Metrosexual... it's the new "Sensitive Ponytail Man".

More later...

Made it home. Spent auntie time with the kiddos. Went to see a college play last night... and was pleased to know that I'm still recognized by the faculty. Had coffee with Natro. Went paint shopping today. Tonight I make floral decorations for the kitchen and throw away everything left from The Era of The Ex. Sweet release.

The Things We Didn't Say
On my way to work, I was exceeding the speed limit a bit apparently. Or at least that is what I was told by the kind officer of the law who felt the need to point that out. I didn't notice as I was attempting to sneeze my spleen right out of my body. I appreciate that the guy wasn't a total ass, but he could have spared me the seven minute speech about how "signing isn't an admission of guilt" blah blah blah. Save the niceties for later, bub... I'm late for work now.

What really got me was the last thing he said.... "I'm sure your day will get better from here."

I just wanted to turn and say, "Screw you -- I took the last of my allergy medicine last night, so if you think I sound like hell this morning -- just wait until this afternoon. And on top of that, I now get to face my boss... who probably won't appreciate the fact that we've just sat twenty minutes on the side of the road while you looked up my vehicle registration, criminal history, credit report and SAT scores."

Either that, or I could have said, "If you thought I was speeding now... just wait until 6:00 tonight when I get off work and have to get from Franklin to the airport in time to catch a 7:30 flight."

A Mighty Wind... my most anticipated movie for this Spring. I will drive to Atlanta if I have to. "He's a dead person now, but when he was alive he was so happy."

Song of the Day:
Clocks - Coldplay
I can't even dislike a band with any commitment anymore... Coldplay is growing on me.

Sarcasmo the Great
Boss: How do I make a hyperlink?
Me: Hmm?
Boss: I want to send a link to the website.
Me: Click your heels three times and type the address.

I can only guess that I must be allergic to Elm and Cedar/Juniper trees based on what I found at pollen.com. I want to scratch my face off and poke my eyes out. At least I'm going to the land of no pollen tomorrow -- of course, eveything up there just got buried in snow yesterday. I can't really win.

Question:
Why did the chicken cross the road?

Answer:
"We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road or not. The chicken is either with us or it is against us. There is no middle ground here."
--George W. Bush

"This was an unprovoked act of rebellion and we were quite justified in dropping 50 tons of nerve gas on it."
--Saddam Hussein

"You saw it cross the road with your own eyes! How many more chickens have to cross before you believe it?"
--Fox Mulder

"Did the chicken really cross the road or did the road move beneath the chicken?"
--Albert Einstein

"I missed one?"
--Colonel Sanders

From a Canadian... so what do they know, right? (from Ern)

What would Martin Luther King Jr. think of war with Iraq?
Wednesday, February 26, 2003

I have a challenge for you.

The next time you attend a protest against war in Iraq, ask your fellow protestors what they think of Martin Luther King Jr.

Chances are, you'll get pretty glowing responses. After all, he not only went to protests -- he led them.

Then ask your fellow demonstrators if they know King's philosophy.

Sure, many will exude. Civil disobedience, non-violence -- the very opposite of America's mindless war-mongering right?

Then ask them if they know how King defined "peace."

As the lack of conflict? No. King distinguished between negative peace and positive peace.

Negative peace, he said, is only the absence of tension.

Positive peace is the presence of justice, something that even ardent anti-war activists agree Saddam has never provided to the Iraqi people.

That's what Martin Luther King Jr would have fought for -- positive peace.

Ah, but as a guru of non-violence he wouldn't have resorted to occupation.

Don't be so sure. His fellow liberals, clergymen at that, accused King of creating needless conflict.

They deemed him and his troops invaders, and wanted them to pull out of Birmingham, Alabama in the name of peace.

King refused, arguing that "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere ... Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial 'outside agitator' idea."

As Colin Powell might say, Amen Brother.

I'm Irshad Manji and that's The Last Word.

We Got Ta-Cos!
Oh my goodness. You want to talk about a great hockey game? Last night Preds vs. Penguins. That was a good hockey game. We debated going for so long that we missed 15 minutes of the first period, but that's okay. It was still great fun. (Even though we were sitting in front of Play-by-Play on the Cellphone Guy and some chick who is probably still trying to figure out why we all left before the "4th quarter".) I think Lemieux forgot to show up... because he didn't do anything. (Of course, he was out the third period... but still.) So yeah, we won 6-0... and after 5 goals, our ticket stubs were worth a free taco at Taco Bell.

Song for the Day:
Last Goodbye - Jeff Buckley
~This is our last embrace
Must I dream and always see your face~