Thursday, February 27, 2003

Farewell Neighbor


Sad news today of the passing of Fred Rogers.

I suppose Mr. Rogers would tell us all that it's ok to be sad. He would probably also say that we will always have memories and our love for that person. That can never be taken away. Thanks for being our neighbor all these years.

Wednesday, February 26, 2003

What Do They Know About This Love Anyway?




You are Melissa Etheridge!

You are natural and down-to-earth, what you see is what you get.
You don't pull any punches, and your honesty and integrety shine
through in every thing you do. People value your straightforward
manner and mellow attitude.



Take the "Which Empowered Female Artist Are You" Quiz
made by and

25 or 6 to 4

While on the half-hour drive to work, I fantasized about going back to when I was a little kid. Say, around age 5 or 6. Except the twist would be that I would be 5 or 6 with the knowledge of my 26 year old self. Blame watching chunks of Never Been Kissed last night. I don't dream about being back in high school. Not that it was that bad, but I was never very fond of homework. Besides that, I had way too many extracurricular things going on from violin lessons, piano lessons, Girl Scout meetings, to Church Youth Group meetings. Add ski club during the winter months and our high school radio station, WIRQ, in later years and I had a lot of stuff going on. Kindergarten and first grade were much easier. Math hadn't become my nemesis yet. Reading seemed natural. My classmates hadn't decided that those who liked to read and had an interest in school should be picked on. And Michael Jackson was still one cool dude.

Monday, February 24, 2003

Something Fishy at The Grammy's

Maybe it was just me, but it seemed like CBS and The Grammy's were trying hard to make sure you didn't see signs of artists protesting a potential war against Iraq. I missed a chunk of the show, but I did notice that Coldplay's lead singer had something written on his left hand in black ink. He also something carved or painted onto the side of his piano that started off with, "Make Trade..". Then Avril Lavigne had something written on the inside of her jacket that she showed to the audience, but all the tv viewer saw was her back. But a few artists just went ahead and said stuff like Fred Durst cutting off Eve to say, "This whole thing with Iraq needs to end" (or something like that). He then went right into Grammy nominations and, I believe, forgot they were supposed to recognize B.B. King as a Trustee Recipient. Others took care of doing that later. I understand why The Grammy's/CBS might have been trying to keep the music event simply that (and not political), but part of rock and roll is being political in a way. Ah well. Bruce Springstein rocked my socks with "Rising" as did N*Sync (unbelievably!) with their tribute to the BeeGee's and I got chills during The Clash tribute by Bruce, Stevie, Elvis C., David Grohl, & Tony from No Doubt. The whole Norah Jones was no surprise. It was expected.

Friday, February 21, 2003

Why? Because I'm Better Than You!

Saint
How Republican Are You?

brought to you by Quizilla

It's a Good Day.

Bring On The Beer!

Me, Matt, Richard, and Lynda are headed up to Fredonia tonight for a beer pairing dinner at the Barker Brew Company. The brewpub is having a microbrew festival/contest these two days and tonight is the four-course dinner where they pair up tasty beers with tasty bites. Then we're off for Buffalo for the day on Saturday. Buffalo is going to be like a second home for the next year and a half with all the wedding stuff. We're hoping to nail down the reception hall over the next three weekends. I would preferably like to get that settled tomorrow, but I don't think that's realistic. I'm trying to figure out how this "short week" due to having Monday off could feel so long. I'm going to need a few beers tonight!

Wednesday, February 19, 2003

This Is Why I Use Kazaa-Lite..

I've heard various arguements about the use of p2p programs like the former-Napster, Kazaa, AudioGalaxy, and Morpheus. Some people think it's the best thing that's happened when it comes to modern technology. Others I know abhor it, saying that it's basically stealing money/products from well-deserving artists or companies. I tend to flip between feeling guilty about downloading music for free and feeling righteous when the song I've downloaded sounds like crap, so in the end I didn't waste $16 buying the entire CD. And I still buy tons of CDs, most of the time of artists I've downloaded that I found really merit me spending my hard-earned cash.

This article represents how I feel about the whole music industry and radio industry especially. I can't stand commercial radio most days. I get happy when I hear a decent song, but I hate the conglomorates.

Tuesday, February 18, 2003

A More Updated Link on Use of Force in Iraq

I found this current article outlining where Americans stand regarding use of force against Iraq (60% feel it's needed but 1 in 4 Americans doesn't want war). Sorry it took a little while to get that. That thing called work took me away from blogging for a bit.

Your Voice Does Not Matter

Apparently, "W" does not care what we all think about a war with Iraq. Article Here. Sure, a lot of these protests were outside the U.S., but there were protests conducted here in the states as well. What I garner from this article is that "our" President doesn't give a rats arse about representing the people of this country. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a more recent poll than this and you must take into account that it doesn't include changing sentiments due to Powell's report. If you can find a more recent poll, let me know:
Published on Tuesday, December 17, 2002 by the Los Angeles Times
Most Unconvinced on Iraq War
Two-thirds believe Bush has failed to make the case an attack would be justified

by Maura Reynolds

WASHINGTON -- Despite a concerted effort by the Bush administration, more than two-thirds of Americans believe the president has failed to make the case that a war with Iraq is justified, according to a Los Angeles Times poll.

The overwhelming majority of respondents -- 90% -- said they do not doubt that Iraq is developing weapons of mass destruction. But in the absence of new evidence from U.N. inspectors, 72% of respondents, including 60% of Republicans, said the president has not provided enough evidence to justify starting a war with Iraq.

Monday, February 17, 2003

Psshhhh.. And They Call That Snow..

Really. You'd think these people hadn't seen a good winter storm in awhile. Here are some details. I'm still waiting for our big storm for this winter. We've had bitter cold and a few windy days, but no big snow, damnit. I want my 3 to 4 feet in one day, baby! Bring it on!

(Footnote: Matt did remind me that our snow totals for the season are reaching record levels. Ok, so it's just snowed practically every day since November 22nd. I'm not joking.)

Sunday, February 16, 2003

Go See This Movie...

Adaptation. Excellent Movie. Go See It.

"I suppose I do have one unembarrassed passion. I want to know how it feels to care about something passionately."

Thursday, February 13, 2003

You are French
You are a Parisian.


What's your Inner European?
brought to you by Quizilla

Interesting Discussion As a Result of "Spam"

My dad has me on his mass email list for jokes, stories, etc. and recently sent out one about what "we" should tell the 14% of the people in the U.S. who don't believe in god. He got an interesting reply from an longtime family friend from church (who also was my 6th Grade Religion teacher), so he asked others what they thought. A person he used to work with is the only other person on the list to respond thus far. I'm curious what others might say and I'm even a little surprised my dad asked the question. He usually is just the "joke guy" and hasn't ever really engaged his friends like this over email. I've copied and pasted the emails below (minus last names/email addresses) with no edits to the content:

From: John
To: Friends
Sent: Wednesday, February 12, 2003 10:27 AM
Subject: SAYS IT ALL

It is said that 86% of Americans believe in God. Therefore I have a very hard time understanding why there is such a mess about having "In God We Trust" on our money and having God in the Pledge of Allegiance. Why don't we just tell the 14% to shut up and sit down????
If you agree, pass this on, if not delete...

From: John
To: Friends
Sent: Thursday, February 13, 2003 9:04 AM
Subject: Re: SAYS IT ALL

How do the rest of you feel about this reply?

John

From: "Steve"
To: All of John's Friends
Sent: 02/12/2003 06:00
Subject: Re: SAYS IT ALL

We don't tell the other 14% to shut up because this Country was founded on certain principles; The right to freedom of speech, the right to assemble peacefully, the right to freedom of religion, the right to freedom of the press, the right to bear arms, the right to be safe from unreasonable search and seizure, etc. etc. etc.

Any American who appreciates the fact that no one will force him/her to recite prayers to Allah, the Budda, Satan, Karl Marx, or the guy down the street should have enough sense to appreciate why we don't force God down the throats of others.
Go ahead and pass this one on! I even signed it.

Steve

From: Keith
Sent: 2/13/2003 11:40:48 AM
To: All John's Friends
Subject: Re: SAYS IT ALL

I, for one, have had religion shoved down my throat all my life, an it does grow wearisome, Remember when the schools had prayer? Because they knew I had a strong religous basckground, I was coerced reading a prayer written by somebody in Albany. To me, at that time, a prayer was a conversation with God. To be forced to "pray" using this prayer offended me greatly.

Since that time my concept of creation has changed considerably, and I do not think it possible to reconcile everything from the fossils we find all over to Hubble telesope pictures, with the literal translations of the Old Testament. It is also difficult to imagine a God who is birthing stars millions of light years away gives a damn what we believe, or even what we do. I think we would be well served to do a little less "trusting in God", and try to conduct our affairs in a way which will both benefit other people today, and preserve the future of generations to come.

Amen, Steve.

Well, John, you did ask.

Keith

Wednesday, February 12, 2003

A Small Voice of Reason

My dad sent me an email today that made me feel a whole lot better about the church/wedding issue. He basically said that my mom is just trying to do things that she didn't get to do when they got married and while he knows I'm aware of what she would like, and he would like to a degree, that I should do what I want. That's more or less what he said. He did put in his plug for a non-civil ceremony, so I reassured him (I hope), but telling him that we were going to meet with the Lutheran Pastor, but we're also going to try to arrange a meeting with the Reverand at the Unitarian Church as well. To bolster my position, I sent him a picture of the Unitarian Church along with a link to their ceremony outline so he could see that it would be more than just a civil ceremony. Matt said a few days ago that this is probably how my dad felt about the whole situation. Boy am I glad he was right!

Things That Make You Go Hmmm....

About half-way to work, I heard my boss say on the radio that the inclement weather policy was in effect. By that time, I had determined that the roads weren't that bad, the sun was shining, and the wind was minimal. I still was cautious since the roads were still slightly covered with snow and it was too cold for salt to work effectively. The thing that pisses me off is that this guy in a red car insisted on following really close most of the way. How stupid can you be? When the weather sucks so much that there's a travel advisory, does that mean to tailgate someone because you don't think they're going fast enough? Stupid people.

On another note: if we can't find the other half of our trash can (the can part), then we'll have to buy a new one. Our old one got blown away in the wind last night. The lid was hanging out all by its lonesome by the curb this morning.

No Snow Days For the Big Kids

I jokingly commented to a friend on Trillian last night that I live for those mornings where I'm walking on my treadmill, watching the cancellations scroll across the television screen, and my workplace's name shows up. Of course it's never happened since I've worked in county government, but it did happen back in 2000 when I worked at the radio station since I remember having to call a county employee at home to get information. Sure, we've had inclement weather policies (you can take the day off or leave early but it counts against vacation/sick time or you have to comp it somehow). I probably could comp today, but I have too much stuff to do and my co-worker is home sick with strep. So off I go to slog through the wind and snow with the sun shining behind me. At least traffic should be "light" with all the schools in the county closed. Make that, most of the schools in Western New York all the way over to Monroe County. Even my alma mater school district (West Irondequoit) is closed! You know the weather sucks when that happens.

Monday, February 10, 2003

Dude, You're Getting a Cell

Why does this not surprise me?

Dealing With Living in a Google-World

As found via Newmark's Door, a story about how Google has changed personal privacy.

I found the article pretty interesting since I do have a habit of Googling all sorts of items from people to products to other miscellaneous things. And I have done the "vanity google" to find out what's out there about me. I happy to report that nothing that very revealing comes up and I even found out that I lived only 2 hours away from someone else with the same name at one point in my life. I've also googled friends and found out that most of them have no prescence on the web. Not a bad thing, but you'd always want to let them know if you found something they might want to be aware of. Funny stuff.
orange aura
Your aura shines Orange!


What Color Is Your Aura?
brought to you by Quizilla

Friday, February 07, 2003

Where's the J.P.?

I'm about ready to tell Matt to have his boss marry us and just be done with it. My mom is driving me nuts. I love her and all, but I think she forgets that I'm the one getting married and that she already got to plan and go through with her own wedding over 30 years ago. I'm like any other girl. I've had visions of what I wanted for a wedding ceremony building for years and the latest incarnation (for the past 8 years or so) has not included Christianity. Therefore, I was thoroughly ticked off to find out my mom thought it was ok to tell people I was getting married in my aunt and uncle's (my mom's brother) Lutheran Church. They had offered the church and even had talked to the pastor there. I talked to my uncle, but never said "Oh yeah, we're definitely getting married there.. it's gonna be great!" In fact, after talking to him and my other aunt (my mom's sister) I had pretty much come to the conclusion that a ceremony in the Unitarian Universalist Church was exactly the route we were going to take. Even if that meant paying for the whole shebang ourselves. Nothing like a feeling of helplessness.

Thursday, February 06, 2003

A Snip From The Buzz

As ripped from The Buffalo News:

Most Buffalo-like response to the shuttle disaster: Guy calls Tom Bauerle on WBEN-AM and says: "You know how when you get your car fixed, there's a guy who taps your tires with a rubber mallet to make sure they're OK? Didn't NASA have anyone with a rubber mallet tapping those tiles?"

Tuesday, February 04, 2003

It Will Have You JK Rowling In the Aisles


The Chicago Tribune had a little contest to figure out what Dumbledore is going to tell Harry in the new Harry Potter book, Harry Potter & The Order of the Pheonix. The funny/satire bits are on this page (Registration Required).

Thanks to The Leaky Cauldron for the link.

Anti-VD Day

I hate the term, but many people refer to Valentine's Day (and Mother's/Father's Day) as "Hallmark Holidays". Having an Aunt who manages most of the Hallmark stores in Western New York, I tend to take slight offense to someone dissing the very thing that keeps my Aunt employed, but that's besides the point. I've always loved greeting cards. I can spend hours in a Hallmark store, looking at all the cards, making "Aww" noises over the love-themed cards. Last night I spent way too much time giggling over the humor-themed cards for Valentine's Day. So for all of you that are dreading this upcoming holiday where we're expected to be even more loving than we usually are, here are some Anti-Valentine's for you to send. I'm wondering how many I'll get of the bottom-righthand corner postcard.

Sunday, February 02, 2003

Feel Free To Take More Suggestions!

I swear there's a contingency of folk in this area that are reading my blog, I've been complaining since I moved here 3 1/2 years ago that there wasn't a place to get sushi and there weren't any coffeeshops open past 3pm. If you've been following, you know that last weekend we discovered that the Chinese restaurant we frequent now has a sushi shop inside. Last night, I made Matt stop by a coffeeshop that just opened (Riders Cup Coffee) in Lakewood. I hadn't seen if they had evening hours, but we were in the area. I walked inside and admired the cool seating that was part regular table seating, and against the wall seating (very cool backdrop). I walked up to the counter, noting the many choices of caffienated beverages and goodies to eat, and saw the hours sheet. The coffeeshop is open until 9pm every day. I've also heard rumours that we may get a Krispy Kreme, but I'm not sure how credible my source is on that one. Barnes & Nobles? Target? Cool Record Store? Anyone? Anyone?

Saturday, February 01, 2003

"Is this a special on the Challenger? No? Oh my god.."


Let's start with the "Where were you when you heard?". I was sitting in the ski lodge at Cockaigne after eating lunch, waiting to go back outside. The tv was on across the room and they were showing Dan Rather and what I found out later to be amateur video of the shuttle breaking up. From where I was sitting, I thought it was an anniversary feature on the Challenger disaster. Even the picture of the Laurel Clark from a distance resembled Christa McAullife. When Kate and her daughter, Kyla, joined me at the table I mentioned that it looked like a special on the Challenger. As we walked out, I kept watching. I then saw the "special coverage" language on the screen and said "Wait." We sat down and watched what little they had at the time, including the gash in the earth from some of the falling debris. It was several hours later that I found out it was space shuttle Columbia. For the most recent story I have at this moment, visit this link. It has eyewitness accounts and includes links to biographies of the shuttle crew along with the video of the shuttle breaking up.

I felt sad about the event. I guess the way I look at it, is that the space program is lucky to have had so few tragedies like this. Not that it minimizes any of the crashes or explosions. We have lost great people in these accidents. Astronauts are real heroes. They risk their lives to go into an environment that is inhabitable to humans all in the name of science and a desire to further understand this vast universe. As a friend of mine commented, the space program is something that can get beyond politics. It's all to further science. Sure, there are politics around it. Just look at the 1960's with the United State's race to get to the moon before the Soviets. But I like to believe that space exploration is more altruistic.

Watch Out Below!

I'm about to head off to go skiing with a co-worker of mine and her daughter. I haven't skied in two years and I will be renting skis even though I own the whole works. Her husband is sick and they had already bought the tickets/rental/lesson for a Girl Scout outing. Who would have thought at 26 that I would be going on a Girl Scout field trip?

Cutting to the Scene with the Pixie

Ten years ago, I decided to do one of the most drastic things I had ever done to my hair. I went from a long style (below collarbone) to a p...