Politicalamity
Comparing Logos of the Candidates. Everyone else has probably seen this already, but I found it to be quite funny. "The Democratic party could not afford a graphic designer?"

I saw someone link to countmeblue.com, where they are selling blue bracelets (à la the Lance Armstrong yellow ones) so people can show off that they voted democratic at the last election.

But wait, you voted republican? Don't worry, the same company is willing to take your money (and donate it?) over at countmered.com.

Hold on, screw them republocrats and demicans you say? Never fear... countmegreen.com will take care of all your bracelet wearing needs.

I think that leaves orange, purple, and brown up for grabs, people. (I'm sure the Breast Cancer Foundation has some sort of claim on pink already.) Invent a cause and make your bracelet money before someone else does.

Song for the Day
I'm Nuthin' - Ethan Hawke
~I ain't left, I ain't right, people say I'm wrong
Before I was born, oh that was all gone
Don't even make sense that I wrote this song, oh
Cause me, you see, I'm nuthin'~

Oh look. There's my cousin Luke with his crusty mop. If I hadn't just seen him, I never would have recognized him.

Tash is off at Parachute right now. LUCKY! (Yes, the odds of running into Michael are slim to none, but hey... stranger things have happened. Probably.)

Declaration
I officially declare that today is Don't Ask Me Questions to Which I Don't Know the Answers Day. It is true; I do know the answers to many, many questions. For that reason, let the following be a guide so that you know which questions to avoid:

I don't know if I'm moving.
I don't know what the future holds for my job.
I don't know when I'm getting married.
I don't know when I'm going to Florida to get my new car. (wheeeee!)
I don't know what I want for Christmas.
And I don't know who put the bop in the bop-she-bop-she-bop.
So quit asking.

Muppets Overtime: may take a while to load, but worth it.

Vidoogle
Call me stupid, but I don't get Google Video. Maybe I'm not doing it right. Maybe I don't really need to be messing with it anyway. But there's only one picture of Kenny Loggins on American Idol.

I'm Going to Sing the Doom Song Now
Countdown to Global Catastrophe - Climate change: report warns point of no return may be reached in 10 years, leading to droughts, agricultural failure and water shortages

Hmm... should that make one think twice about bringing children into this world? Doomie-doomie-doom.

Song for the Day
Art School Girl - Stone Temple Pilots

I have been thinking of this song all day, and I think it's my reminder to email Allison what I've been meaning to email her for the past three days.

~I got a girlfriend, she goes to art school
I got a art school girlfriend yeah~

Happy Birthday to my brother Joe! (Pressies arrive when I do in two weeks.)
And, of course, happy Australia Day! :)

Erin's Random Tuesday Question
RTQ #22: What is the hardest thing/habit you've ever given up or are currently trying to?
I can't think of anything. I'm a succumber. I presently have every bad habit I've ever picked up. (Not true... but generally I can give up anything I want to... I just don't want to give up coffee.)

An Alcove in the Heart: "Sidney Diamond and Estelle Spero had met and become best friends and sweethearts in early adolescence, and the way seemed clear to marriage—until Pearl Harbor. Sid left college to enlist, but, determined to maintain the closeness of their relationship despite time and distance, wrote to Estelle almost every day... When Estelle learned of his death, she promised herself to do something, somehow, to prevent his name from sinking into oblivion. With this book, she has kept her promise."

I'm so tempted to buy that book. There is something so sweet about a long-distance love and something so very interesting about a first-hand account of the life of a soldier at war.

Blog Tag
And I'm apparently it... however it's going to take me a little bit to sort that all out. Does only this computer count? Or do I have to pull out my old one and see what I've got on there too?

Song for the Day
In Our Gun - Gomez
I heard this song for the first time yesterday, and I dig it lots for some reason.

~The first words that came could've been more inspired
You must be hungry or tired or frozen
So put up your feet, throw some coal on the fire
And weave us a tale of delight~

We Played Til, Like, Twelve
That Acuvue commercial with the chick from Lillix drives me a little crazy. She's talking about how her contacts got her through the day, and she talks about how she played until, like, twelve.

Yeah, whatever... they were probably the opening band. And so what? If they had played until midnight, packed up, loaded out, and driven three hours to the next city getting to the hotel at 6am, then I might try the contacts.

No Comment
Star Fast: "Star Fast Episode III: Repent of the Sin"

In related: get your Star Wars Ep 3 tickets here.

I miss my couch.

Wooooot!
Remember Woot.com from other day? Well, today they're having a woot-off, I guess. Normally they only have one product per day, so when I checked at midnight, and it was some bicycle bottle cozy, I thought, "meh". But then I realize that I missed the ipods and other good stuff. Keep checking throughout the day.

Geography Game Guru
European Darts: Throw a dart at the European city. I can't read German, but I'm assuming the number in bold at the bottom is the number of miles by which I missed by targets: 14970km.

Closest: London - 13 km
2nd Closest: Budapest - 48 km
3nd Closest: The Haag - 53 km

Furthest: Warsaw - 2411 km

Recycled Link
Yes, you've seen it here before... but like leftover lasagne, it's better the second time around.

Flak Magazine: They used to do the real-time 24 commentary, which is no more... but it's still fun.

This is all I have time for at the moment...

Brother Update
We realized the other day that Greg can't hear out of his left ear. This was from Mom's update mail from this morning:

About 5:00 yesterday I called his room. He answered but kept saying hello when I talked to him. I then realized he was using the ear he can't hear with. I called the nurse's station and had them go tell him to use his other ear. He then called us and said he forgot he couldn't hear with that ear. I asked if they had done the hearing test, and he said they did. They told him he is deaf in his left ear; it won't get better, and a hearing aid won't help. He seemed okay with that news, since he has one good ear. He has said so often that he is just glad he can walk, so I guess he realizes there could be worse things.

But he gets to go home TOMORROW. Yay!

I Less Than Three My Couch
Yeah, I'm willing to bet that mine is one of the sweetest guys on the whole planet. (Yeah, that's me over there.)

Song for the Day
Water Runs Dry - Boys II Men
This one's stuck in my head today, not necessarily because it has anything to do with what I'm thinking and/or feeling. Sometimes you just need a little bit of that East Coast family.

I Can't Help It
Here's a couple geeky links for ya:

Jinx.com: I Less Than Three Geeks (If you have to ask, you don't need to know.)

Woot.com: 1 Day, 1 Deal (For you ebay mavens, *ahemLeslieManda*, this could be a great profit center for you... except you can only buy 3 of each item. And if it's good like today, it sells out before you wake up.) Just peruse the FAQ for some lighthearted reading.

Bleh
Ever have one of those days where you wish no one else existed on the entire planet, because then you wouldn't be forced to face another human being again... ever? Yeah, that's been me for the past week. But life should be good... American Idol is back on.

Song for the Day:
Never Been Unloved - MWS
~I have been unbroken, I have been unmended
I have been uneasy, and I've been unapproachable
I've been unemotional, I've been unexceptional
I've been undecided, and I've been unqualified
...
It's because of you and all that you went through
I know that I have never been unloved~

Blink of an Eye
Another example of how life can change in an instant... a kid who had done some design work down here has gone missing after a boating accident off Alaska. I didn't know him, but people I know did.

Grass Stains
Tarping: something about it looks kind of fun... in that skinned-elbows sort of way

Random Tuesday Question
RTQ #21: Compose a haiku and post it in the comments. It can be about anything by which you are currently feeling inspired.

My coffee is cold
But it's lunchtime anyway
I'll get more later

Related: Haiku Smackdown!

Reduce Reuse Recycle
My freshman year for speech contest, 15 of us did an awesome Reader's Theatre. (We got straight 1's at state but were robbed of All-State.) The whole point was Hug a Tree / Save the Earth. I even wore planet Earth earrings.

I think that one speech was what made me feel so guilty for not being involved in a recycling program. Seriously, I cringe having to throw away plastic bottles and tin cans, but I didn't know what to do about it.

Well, this weekend, my roommate and I commited to reducing, reusing, & recycling. We can recycle all this stuff, and there are convenient drop-off centers and everthing. (Not as convenient as if they would come and pick it up, but what can you do?)

For Your Viewing Pleasure
I believe that Napoleon Dynamite was showing at our house at least six times this weekend. And we didn't even do the Audience Participation thing yet.

Cold Weather, Warm Hearts
I saw Vickie's delicious stew recipe on the Glen this morning. I may have to give that a try sometime, but I only have the ingredients for my mom's homemade chicken soup. I hope to make that this afternoon if I can get over the mental hurdle of touching raw chicken.

Brother Update
My parents met with my brother's therapists and doctors on Friday morning, and based on his improvement last week, they think he will be able to go home this next weekend. Yay!

He actually called me on Saturday. My parents got him a pass to go out to a restaurant with them for lunch, and on the way back to the hospital, they let him use their phone to call me and my sister. It was sweet. He's almost the kid I knew, but the conversation was still a bit confused.

Song for the Day
Is it a jeans commercial? I don't remember, but it's that gorgeous "Are You Beautiful" song by Chris Pierce. You can listen to the full song on the Player here.

A little song called "Reset" is making me happy right now.

Internet Trends Wiki: "This is a list of links to software or web applications which we consider particularly innovative and trend setting. Criteria for inclusion: 1) should be in active use, 2) should show some degree of innovation. There is an 'Ideas' section for things that are still in the whitepaper stage, but could become potentially groundbreaking."

End of a Good Thing
My beloved Singlefile is shutting down this month, and I barely have the heart to look for something that I love as much. However, joy of joys, someone is working on a new and improved replacement. Help me, Syntactic Saccharose, you're my only hope.

Stacey Waspe: Lots and lots of little fun things to click on. Spent far too much time there.

This is All I Have to Say on the Matter
In terms of stupid idiotic things that only morons would do, umm... Michael and I could now be considered even.

You Daily Dose of Funny
Suddenly it all comes together. The person behind AntiMagnet.com is the same person who did Rock, Paper, Saddam! The name is Jay Barnes, and it is totally worth spending some time reading his site. So far I've only read the first five little stories he's got there, because it's like Halloween candy -- I just want to ration it out to make it last longer. Steve will particularly enjoy this, I believe.

If You Complain Once More
A certain someone made me aware of this bit of news. Apparently Bjork will be releasing a double-cd set of only covers and remixes of her hit "Army of Me"... with all the proceeds going to UNICEF. The news post yesterday mentioned they were getting a lot of mixes, but they were requesting more covers. Funny, I happen to know some lads who did a pretty nice version, I'd say.

Other Musical Tidbits
-- I noticed that one of my old favourite music blogs has been resurrected. Long live the rub.

-- The Magic Numbers. You heard it here first. (Probably.) Just listen to the snippet of their first single. They're also featured on one track on the new Chemical Brothers album -- "Close Your Eyes". I predict you'll be hearing their name some more in the future.

-- I woke up singing "Movie Star" by Waltz for Venus this morning. Catchy little diddy! (It's the third song on their little player thingie.) "Please acknowledge me"... I love that. And group singing. You can't beat a rock anthem with group singing.

Trivia Time (Read: Help, This is Driving Me Crazy)
Several years ago there was an ad on television. I want to say that it must have been for a restaurant. I think the premise was that a dad was telling about his woes of ordering children's meals.

The one line I remember:
"She was like 'That'll be $14.52 please.' and I was like 'Whaaaat?! Never again.'"

Name that television commercial. Come on, this is something that Jeopardy champs should know.

I Support the Guy Who Supports the Guy in China Selling the Magnets


Misplaced Genius
Don't you hate it when you have a brilliant idea only to completely forget it days later? I know I had a stroke of genius the other day... but it's gone now. It was a project idea... and I know it involved sewing objects onto paper to make a book, but I can't remember if it was pictures or articles or what... or who it was meant to be for. Sad. It was awesome.

Steer Clear
Driving my car has been a religious experience lately... only because every time I get in it, I pray to the Lord God Almighty that I make it to my destination alive and generally unscathed. I believe I have mentioned before that I should probably not be allowed to actually own a car, because of my lack of vehicle maintenance know-how.

So I've spent the last week buffing up my arms, because my power steering had given up the will to live. No kidding, I cannot believe I haven't hit any cars in the parking lot outside my house, because at slow speeds, that wheel refused to give.

But then today in a brilliantly brilliant moment of brilliance, I thought "hey, let's check the power steering fluid." And ta-da! We have steerage! Yeah, there's probably a leak of some sort, but at least the dang wheel turns now.

100 Most Annoying Things of 2004... particularly fond of #78, #66 & #8.

TV Tidbits
24
Just last Wednesday I happened to be watching The House of Sand and Fog. Anyone who is familiar with that movie might recognize that beautiful Shohreh Aghdashloo and Jonathan Ahdout also play mother and son on this season of 24.

Project Runway
Though we still love him, we found it interesting that our dear designer Kevin is looking for love on a russian bride site. He's shy and cute though so we can somehow rationalize that he's not a total creap.

Greg Update:
He's had a couple of really good days, but they don't work with him in therapy as much on the weekends... so that could be part of why. Mom writes:

All of a sudden he says, "I've been thinking all day how I got here and I just can't remember? Do you remember?" So I stood by him and explained (again) that he had been in a car accident. He said "I just don't remember that." I explained that he had a head injury and that he probably would never remember it and I did tell him that he was with Dani. He said, "my girlfriend?" I had to tell him that she wasn't his girlfriend anymore but friends. I said he was in a car accident and was injured so they took him to the hospital in an ambulance and then flew him to Sioux Falls in the helicopter. I do think he grasped what I was telling him but still won't remember it. It will be interesting if he brings it up again today.

Three minutes twenty-seven seconds until 24.

Tash has some rainy-day-fun-type games linked today. And since it's rainy here too, I thought I'd pass it on.

Don't Mess with a Mathlete
Today I got a call from Sprint (sprint sucks) saying that I've been identified as a loyal customer and therefore they want to give me a discount of 5% per month if I commit to extending my contract for the next 24 months. Uhh... no?

What I Wanted to Say:
"Screw you, SucksPCS...I'm not going to get trapped in a 2-year commitment for the reward of half a latte each month."

What I Did Say:
"I actually might be leaving the country and can't commit to that length of time, but have a nice day."

Well, Things are Getting Pretty Serious. I Mean, We Chat Online For, Like, Two Hours Every Day
I was supposed to have a hot online date tonight. I even cleaned the lens of my webcam. (Kidding.)

Some Questions You Might Be Asking:

Q. What are you doing instead?
Oh... driving Michael's car to Atlanta.

Q. What's in Atlanta?
Well, Michael will be driving his rental car back there at the same time.

Q. Why didn't he just find a rental car company with a one-way rental policy?
Now that, my friends, is the question of the day.

Little Victories
Strange. I never imagined that one day I would be celebrating the fact that my 23-year-old brother can write the entire alphabet without help.

When asked to write the names of our family members, he was able to do it with a few spelling issues. However, for my name he wrote "Danielle!!!!", and he added the exclamation points on our sister's name too.

Revenge of the Infomercial
Due to my messed up sleep schedule, I happen to catch a lot of informercials. One that really bothers me lately is the one for Bare Minerals. Nothing is necessarily wrong with the product (although I endorse Arbonne), however it is the make-up application by one of the ladies on there that makes me crazy.

Please tell me someone else has seen it. (If not, here is the viewing schedule.) There is one lady who is putting on eye shadow, and then proceeds to draw a powdered line of shadow right over the bridge of her nose. Is that NORMAL??

I don't claim to be on the cutting edge of fashion or anything. I like to think that my hipness lies in my unhipness. However, I was never made aware of this line'o'shadow-between-the-eyes thing. Honestly, I think it makes the lady look a bit like a trekkie or something... but hey, to each her own.

Basic Facekick Elemental
(That has nothing to do with what I'm about to write, but it's stuck in my head today. Anyone who can name that tune without google's help is as cool as me.)

Project Runway was great last night. Poor Vanessa. Yes, you effed it up.

And, I accidentally saw caught the Flay vs. Sakai: Trout Battle on Iron Chef America. And yes, I stayed up until 3 to see the end. I really wish more of you would consider watching this so that I don't have to feel like such a geek.

Somebody Loves Me
As of today, I'm the proud owner of all 5 Series One Invader Zim action figures. I am now prepared to take over the world. Mwahahahaha.

Greg Update
An excerpt from Mom's update email from yesterday:

We got there about 6:00 and he was sleeping soundly so we went to eat at the cafeteria. When we got back up, the nurse had him in his wheelchair, so we pushed and walked with him as he liked wheeling himself part of the time. He didn't know us at first but did know us after we had talked with him for awhile. He wasn't as talkative, so we think the therapy does make him tired. He did ask "where's Danielle?" so we told him she had to go back to her home. He said "let's go find her" so we again explained that she had to go back home. Then he started calling "Danielle" a few times getting a little louder each time so again we explained that she was home but would come back to see him soon.

Okay, that made me cry. Oh, and I found this article about the accident.

Wherefore Art Thou
I need to find my Chasing Furies cd... like now. Sometimes you need a little Meeker action in your life.

Okay, I'm Ready for My Vacation Now
Made it back to Nashville last night in time to see the guys play at the GEC. (Check out the final paragraph of this article. Very nice.) They sounded good considering they were playing in a tin can. And good to see Roy with them again. We'll see how the word spreads today if they have a larger crowd tonight.

General Hospital News
They moved Greg down to the rehab floor last week. He is talking a lot more now, although not much of it makes much sense. The most depressing time for me was early last week when he enthusiastically introduced himself to my father... that was when we realized that he didn't actually know who we were.

But each day we saw bits of improvement. By this past Thursday, he recognized me in a picture although he didn't remember me by the time I got there that night. But Saturday when I went up to say goodbye, he knew I was his sister and even remembered my name after a bit. Later he told the nurse that I am his sister who he loves and kissed my hand. So that was a sweet farewell. (Of course, earlier in the night he pointed to me and my sister on a picture and called us his "stupid ho sisters". Punk. I just keep reminding myself that he's in the Inappropriate Agitated stage of recovery, so he doesn't really mean it... we think.) :)

Actually, I've been learning a lot about head trauma, and it's quite interesting. "Interesting" in that hope-you-never-have-to-need-to-know-this-stuff-because-experiencing-it-sucks way. But, there are ten levels of "coma", and Greg is currently between 4 and 5 on the scale. There is no way to say how long each stage will last, but the less time the patient is in stage one (he was for 6 days), the faster they generally progress.

Thanks again for the thoughts, prayers, notes, emails, comments, phonecalls, etc. We were all in amazingly good spirits throughout the time I was home, and I know all the efforts on your end helped with that!

Non-Hospital Holiday Highlights (in no particular order)
1. You know how sometimes you're watching a movie, and you know something is about to happen... but when it finally does, it surprises you anyway? Yeah, so on that note... CONGRATULATIONS to Allison and Aaron! May you be happy, healthy and have lots of children whose names don't start with "A"!

2. Movies galore. Well, three.
...The Spongebob Squarepants Movie: Okay, so I fell asleep, but the image of Patrick skydiving nekkid with a flag trailing behind him from a stick wedged between his buttcheeks is seared in my memory.
...A Series of Unfortunate Events: Another movie date with my nephew. This one I enjoyed... as did he, since I gave him the book for his birthday. Loved the closing credits too, eh?
...Blade:Trinity: A guilty pleasure amongst my guy friends and me. Pay no attention to the one & a half stars... understand that it isn't cinematic greatness... there are some plot holes and gratuitous product placement *ahem, ipod*, but go to enjoy the comic relief from Ryan Reynolds.

3. Birthday came and went without much fanfare, but I did come away with the... magic lipgloss. Manda loves me.

4. Nate and I were driving home from Sioux Falls when the clock struck midnight on New Year's. So we did what anyone else would have done in that situation... Chinese Firedrill. (There is something so non-pc about that.) Blew a kiss to the south. (Erin, I'm so jealous.) :)