Happy Easter! Right now my Easter observance consists of watching a neighbor eat Cheetos on her porch, and wearing a pink Easter dress while reading The Rise of the Unmeltable Ethnics. I hope that your Easter is similarly stimulating.
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And let's be real about the biggest bright spot of all today-- for me, the day's message of Resurrection, regeneration, and everlasting life is particularly comforting right now. I also liked the message from our seder last night-- Dayenu. It was a relief to find that the call to God that "It would have been enough" was inscribed on the hearts and history of an entire people. Dayenu. Dayenu. We can be hopeful but still be at the threshold for what we can bear.
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Big Brother sent this link my way. It's perfect because Easter candy is conspicuously absent from our house today. I'm not sure who was responsible for that oversight, but an excursion to CVS feels imminent.
*The first time was watching the best TV show of our time (since Arrested Development) It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, or, the only show I've ever wanted to own on DVD.
Ok, so maybe it was mostly a good day for reading The Paper. But still, kind of a wild mess huh? Watch this to wind down (free for a limited time!).
*the discomfort I feel over stuff like this-- even though it's for the good of the students-- ME-- is really making me wonder if I'm a fiscal conservative, or maybe if having GWB for president for my entire adult life screwed me up to the point that I can never be on the same side as the Prez.
**I liked this article because I felt like yelling at the whole planet this afternoon. Very tense afternoon. I pretended that I, like the main character, got to throw my fit.
***I could talk about the Supreme Court all day. Fascinating stuff.
Also, Barack Obama said, "That's what she said," in his speech. Granted it was followed by "We are not quitters," but much like the whole audio book swearing thing, I'm hoping tan audio clip makes it on the web soon. In the mean time, the best of "that's what she said." I love that I happened upon the speech right at the point he said it. Providence, people, I tell ya.
First things first-- I had no idea that a web version of Weekly World News existed. I tell ya, I have my regrets about throwing out my issue chronicling Saddam and Osama Bin Laden's gay love affair, but this really wipes them all away. I mean, come on, "Sarah Palien"? It's nice to know that even "the paper" is part of the liberal media elite.
Second-- like myself, Heather at Dooce checked out the Draper Temple this weekend. You should too, it was quite lovely. Open house goes on for a couple more weeks, but I have to say-- the Frank Lloyd Wright-ish baptistry, the rugs in the bride's room and the chandelier and the pillows in the Celestial Room were divine-- great design all around really. Don't get all excited, I have no inclination of going back once it's dedicated... but hey, I appreciate nice things.
Third-- I thought this story about a reunion between a firefighter and the girl he rescued was a touching look at the ties that bind people together.
As Utah's higher education system (and my future) seem to be going down in flames and I am struggling to get caught up after having missed basically an entire week of life, I thank my lucky stars that I can turn to the magic of the Internet for consolation. Why?
Greetings from Off The Radar, a magical place where one navigates the University Healthcare system, dabbles in prescription narcotics and makes phone calls to ask "should my face be swollen?" Pumped full of pain meds I am feeling much better, if only the meds wouldn't make me so tired, but I think I am back on track to Rejoining Daily Life. I do think it's fun to get to talk to my family every day though, I will miss that.
Here's a nice post from Dooce today. I sure do like her writing, and this little bit gave me the warm fuzzies. I should be specific, non-narcotic warm fuzzies. Narcotic warm fuzzies put me to sleep.
Getting a new President wasn't completely lost on me yesterday, and the feelings I have about it probably deserve their own post, but really I'm playing the "I'm on drugs" card and am considering just posting this link to the How Completely Adorable Are Sasha and Malia Slideshow. Because really, all I could think yesterday was "Does J. Crew make those pink coats in grown-up sizes?" Sasha Obama is my style icon.
Though really, the parents are a class act:
And now that this is turning into an Obamalove post, here were some of my favorite snippets from yesterday:
"We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness."
"The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works."
And pretty much the entire benediction given by Joseph Lowery, a co-founder of SCLC.
Something for everyone: Only two days left until we get past the biggest barrier to wholesale Christmas obsession (although the whole 'being a grad student' thing may cramp my style a bit). The fact that Thanksgiving has not yet happened is not stopping me from listening to Christmas music. Not even my pumpkin-pie-free state of being could keep me away from wishing I was one of Mariah's backup dancers.
Dear Jason Chaffetz, thank you for making Utahns look like a bunch of cot-toting slack jawed yokels. We appreciate this. Glad to know that you'll be test driving materials for that tent cities concept in the House. Rivalry Week aside:All a BYU education gets you is a bag of stinky underwear and a cot from Smith's. Noted.
So glad that somebody is speaking out about what a piece of shit the Electoral College is; so sad that our country has MUCH BIGGER PROBLEMS than what would inevitably be a protracted awful nasty amendment attempt. Rivalry Week aside:Cosmo the Cougar's dumb outfit is made from the skin of recently shot rhinos. Cosmo the Cougar is also stupid. (zing!)
You know what else I appreciate? GQ made Jon Hamm a man of the year. Of the four, he tops my list! Heh heh heh. Rivalry Week aside:Jon Hamm won't even make appearances in your dreams if you go to BYU because BYU sucks and Jon Hamm hates BYU and he hopes that they lose lose lose on Saturday because they are losing losers who lose.
What, that was too much for you? Fine. Then I'll leave you with an image of something really fantastic, something I'm going to make out of my leftover mashed potatoes. Rivalry Week aside: It's something almost as good as watching BYU suffer at the hands of the Utes. Close, but not quite.
For those with ovaries strong enough to sustain such an assault, I present to you, via Huffington Post: Babies for Obama slideshows 1 and 2. Now go and make yourself a poultice of ground up birth control pills, spermicide and the cries of an aggitated infant.
FINALLY something I haven't blogged much about but something near and dear to my rant-loving heart: The Cuban Embargo! Praise the Deity that it could be on its way out; if there's any thing I learned in my undergrad, it was that the Cuban Embargo is the most politicized chunk of garbage foreign policy ever. I also learned that vegetarian chili served in a bread bowl is one of God's gifts, but that adds something completely different to my life than my hatred for the Cuban embargo.
Graduate students are the worst! I can't stop saying it.
Here's the real tragedy of John McCain's campaign: He used to be kinda hot.
Good lord! (who in my life says that? why can I not stop saying that?!) Thank goodness it is after midnight so I didn't have to be all crazy barack a daying for a third time. I present to you a magical blog: Yes We Can (hold babies). I had a hard time picking one, but I like this one because who can resist going nom nom nom on little wandering fingers? No one. Not even Barack.
Now if you'll excuse me, my ovaries are crying and my latent Auntie Mel is threatening to buy plane tickets so that's about all the Yes We Can (hold babies) I can take. Only 6 days to go! Good lord! (who says that?!)
So I am all kinds of mad at a particular volunteer coordinator who has been very considerate of the BYU volunteers by sending them informative emails (4 more than we've ever gotten!) and schedules but has given us U people *nada* despite the fact that we have basically been stalking her since yesterday morning to try to figure out what's going on. For that, I bring you a links dump.
Best Week Ever on bikes. Score: 2 points. 1 for using the word ridonkulous (I have been saying that all day, must be the cold medicine) and 1 for making fun of fixed gears, the douchey-ist douche transportation ever.
The RNC paid $150,000 for Sarah Palin's clothes and makeup. I understand that nice clothes are expensive but that's beyond the pail considering this HuffPo story on her seeking state travel reimbursement for her kids. That strikes me as irresponsible, particularly when she is running with a presidential candidate who has based much of his career on fighting earmarks. That is ridonkulous. Clearly she abides by the Bush doctrine of patriotism = shopiing. Score: Negative infinity points
If you're not following Blogging via Typewriter, you ought too. It's a great bit o'Twitter. Today he posted this:
And of course Tina Fey admirers should watch for his "Fey a Day" feature. Score: 3 points for consistent internet awesomeness every day.
You should probably be following The Daily Beast as well. It is probably my new over all favorite website-- it's generally an aggregator but they are starting to have great original material as well (it's only been up for like 2 weeks and I'm like, 'How did I live without The Daily Beast?' Gawker and Jezebel are becoming much less salient, apparently). This piece by Tucker Carlson on the pessimism of Democrats about the election is a fabulous example. Score: 1 point for relevence-- this exact topic came up in conversation recently.
And finally-- and only because I am incredibly cranky and tired-- here is something that somebody will probably go to hell for: John McCain "the picture" photoshop contest (also, here's the story on "the picture.") If you were watching the debate, you will recall he did that funny little dance around the table. This is all kinds of terrible. Score: A zillion points for a good laugh and extra-ridonkulousness.
And then look at all of this mess: There is a certain style of design that I really love. Yah, kind of like that shelf that Pa carved up for Ma in the first Little House book. Or the back of the Norwegian Krone. I am smitten. I want I want I want.
I love this. Yet another thing I would like to collect someday when I have the cash, along with stamps and coins. And cats. Because having so many collections is definitely the fast track to becoming a cat lady.
So officially 3/4 of this post so far is campaign related. Good thing the Olympics start tomorrow so I can fixate on something else! In the mean time, this link is only useful if you saw the stupid McCain commercial comparing The Barack to Paris and Britney. I saw it when I was St. Louis and almost lost my mind over it. Paris strikes back.
So here I am wearing my cute little summer dress and knocking back a few cold ones and grumbling about how Netflix doesn't have Revenge of the Nerds before I go outside to enjoy the 90 degree evening weather. But before I do I've got to post some notable links.
-This funny picture. Dude looks kind of feral in a non threatening way, eh?
-Perhaps the funniest headline I've ever seen-- only because John McCain-- who is just learning to use the internet-- is the one calling someone out of touch. I mean dude, you can't compare a law professor to Britney Spears. This is what this election is coming down to. Yeesh.
-Anybody who had a class with Ted will appreciate this.
-And finally, I like the rest of humanity I have Mad Men fever. Mad Men is clearly the second best show on television right now, after Weeds. So I present to you a website of limitless value, second only to this one: What Would Don Draper Do?And in fact because I am feeling generous, let's all heave a collective sigh together now:
