What's your all time favorite book?
It's a toss up between Anna Karenina (Tolstoy) and Master and Margarita (Bulgakov)

What kind of magazines do you read?
New Yorker, Midwest Living, Garden Gate, and Entertainment Weekly. I have mysteriously had a subscription to Rolling Stone for the last five months, which someone must have sent me as a gift, but I don't think I've opened it.

What's really creepy?
Feet. Put some closed toe shoes on!

What websites do you always visit when you go online?
Gmail, my school's webct, MSNBC, Facebook, Gofugyourself

If you could change your name to anything what would it be?
Cacophony Grey. But mostly, I'm ok with my name. I changed my last name once but didn't like it and changed it back.

What are you listening to right now?
The Be Good Tanyas and the little "pop" sound when someone IMs me on Facebook

What are you most excited for?
Having a baby.

What is your favorite item of clothing?
My pajamas. Ultimate comfort and they're so cool, I'd look at home on Mad Men in them.

What was the last thing you bought?
A new book to read in the car.

What was the best thing you've seen today?
The computer guy who arrived on time and was able to fix the problem before all the faculty arrived for training.

Does the weather affect your mood?
I'm only happy when it rains. Not really, but rainy days ARE my favorite.

What is your zodiac sign?
Taurus. And it fits me pretty well.

Do you want to learn another language?
I'd like to relearn Russian and French and I want to speak Spanish.

Five things you can't don't want to live without
Christmas decorations, cheese and crackers, summer break, Rock Band, true crime TV

Do you have any siblings?
Three younger brothers and four sisters-in law

What's something you'd like to say to someone right now?
"Yes!" (In response to the question, "Are you ready to leave work now and go home?")

Do you have to pee?
Always.

Say something to the person who tagged you.
Happy almost birthday! And welcome to your 30s! So far, I think this decade is even better than my 20s!

Discuss.

Only one more week until braces.

Goodbye, popcorn! Goodbye, peanut butter! Goodbye, english toffee! I'll miss you all!!

What a great inauguration ceremony!!

I thought about listening to the ceremony on NPR in my office, but at the last minute, I trekked across campus in the cold to watch the event with a couple hundred students, faculty, and staff. I'm so glad I did! M came over from his office, so we got to experience the inauguration together.

At the end, I was proud to stand for the national anthem, and that's not usually the case.

We had whirlwind holidays this year. Details and a few pics after the cut:

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Happy New Year, everyone!

This editorial by Joe Solomese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, really moved me. It speaks to what I was trying to say Wednesday, but couldn't find the words to.

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The LA Times is calling Proposition 8 a pass. That means three states (California, Arizona, and Florida) passed gay marriage bans, and Arkansas passed a ban on gays adopting children, including the children they have with their partners.

These votes simply enrage me. Setting aside that I personally find support for these acts to be hateful, I think these bans are a problem because...
* They establish a tiered government system in which some citizen have rights that others do not (hmmm, sounds like Jim Crow laws!)
* They violate separation of church and state
* They constitutionalize homophobia

And I cannot BEAR arguments that a vote for such an amendment is NOT a sign that the voter doesn't like or support gay people. That's EXACTLY what your vote means. Walk up to any lesbian or gay man and say "Hey, I really like you. I think you're great except that you're gay. Well, it's fine that you're gay, but the fact that you actually expect to be able to have an intimate relationship and family like what I have is a problem. So don't feel bad when I cast a vote that says you should not be allowed to have the same rights I have. It's totally not personal because I love you for OTHER reasons."

See how that goes over. I'm pretty sure I already know the answer.

I'm so so happy today. For the firs time in three weeks, my stomach doesn't hurt from anxiety.

It's so wonderful to have an almost-president who is an intellectual and a rhetorician. His acceptance speech was genius. He managed to celebrate the victory while simultaneously shifting the conversation and preparing everyone for the realities facing our country after the election.

Over the last two months, I've cringed every time I heard someone say that they liked Palin because "she's more like me." I didn't want a ME to be president! I'm not qualified to be president! I wanted someone who thoroughly understands the complexity of the issues and can draw on political, legal, academic, and life experiences to solve those problems.

And I feel like that's what we've gotten. After 8 years of not having that at all.


I do have to disagree with Orin2 a little bit on one thing...I do think some Obama supporters border on idolatry (Obama as new messiah). And I fear that will hurt him when he's not able to solve every problem in our country with a wave of his hands. At the same time, I agree with Orin2 that the excitement is an outgrowth of feeling hopeful (and proud) of our country for the first time in a long time.

Pandora.com

Best. Website. Ever!

...before it's back-to-school time.

Tomorrow afternoon, we are headed off to GenCon! M and I always spend the first day exploring the dealer room together, since Thursday is the least crowded day. Friday I have a few events, including a euchre tournament and some game demos that sounded interesting. I'm also going to try to convince justaqt to get some train game tickets because I got one of those all-access puffing billy passes, and I'll need a buddy. Saturday, justaqt and I are taking a kendo class. I suspect we'll learn just enough to wish we could take kendo back home. Sunday, M and I will probably buy too many games and then head home in the afternoon.

My favorite part of the whole trip, though, will probably be the evenings when we get together with our friends from Iowa and Minnesota to play board games.

That's right. I'm gettin' my NERD on!

I'm intrigued by the campaign Sean Tevis is running for State Rep in Kansas: http://seantevis.com/kansas/3000/running-for-office-xkcd-style/
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I know Actblue.com has a similar online donation approach, but candidates aren't garnering this kind of attention/money there.

Vacation was great. A little too busy, maybe, but still great. I do tend to over-schedule. The details:
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Now I'm back at home and at work ... until Thursday when I leave for Denver and then Little Rock.

M and I are off ... six days in the woods and on the beach!

We'll be camping our way across Michigan and southern Ontario with a goal of watching fireworks over Niagara Falls on July 4th. I'm also hoping to touch four Great Lakes (Michigan, Huron, Ontario, and Erie).

In keeping with the theme of this summer, I'll probably spend most of the time reading. In my bag:

• Journey into the Whirlwind, Ginzberg: An autobiography of one woman's imprisonment during Stalin's purges. This one will be heavy, which is why I'll need the beautiful scenery around me while I read.


• City of Thieves, David Benioff: An adventure/coming-of-age/buddy novel about two men who've been imprisoned during the siege of Leningrad. I've been waiting for this book to come out for months.


• 3rd Degree, James Patterson: Part of the Women's Murder Club series. Pure brain junk.

I finally have a picture of the new niece to post.





From a completely objective POV, I'd have to say she's about as cute as it's possible for a newborn to be. Also, it's already obvious that she is incredibly smart and strong.

My new niece, Charley2, is on the scene!!

(The name Charley2 distinguishes her from Charlie1, my other niece. We tried going with Charlotte Rose and Charlotte Mae for awhile, but that's too much to say! And too formal for bitty girls!)

She's a super tiny thing ... only 6 lbs. Apparently, she has burped at least once. That's all I know for now. But we're going to visit later today!!

I don't have any pictures of her yet, but after the cut, you can see some pictures of the room my brother, sister-in-law, and I painted for her (did I mention my brother's an artist?).

( Read more... )There's actually a lot more stuff on the walls, but this gives a good idea.

Went to the Dave Matthews Band concert at Busch Stadium Saturday night. Such a brilliant live show! And we had the PERFECT seats ... first row behind the Cardinals dugout, which meant we were up on a level with the stage (in left field) and could see over the heads of all the people on the field. It was crazy hot, but the band played until 11:15, and I got to hear tons of my favorite songs plus a few cool covers.

The Black Crowes opened the show, playing some of their newer music, which is totally suited to an outdoor stadium (loud, raucous, etc).

The next day, I had White Castles lunch, a trip to the Science Center, and supper on The Hill with some friends. My potato gnocchi was so good it almost killed me on the spot.

All in all, an excellent birthday present. Thanks, M!

It's been a busy few weeks, mostly fun.

(1) The semester ended April 30. The fall semester doesn't start until August 25. Once every four years, I get this kind of super long summer. Woohoo!

(2) My dad and I went on a road trip as an early Father's Day present. Mostly, we went to historic sites associated with Jesse James and his family. We also toured a Civil War battlefield in southern Missouri and went to the Pony Express Museum. We had a great time, even if he did make me eat Subway three days in a row.

(3) Spent yesterday with my parents, brothers, sister-in-law, foster brother, and foster brother's fiancee. Despite the terrible weather, we spent most of the day putting in my mom's summer gardens. It was actually pretty fun. Disgustingly muddy, but fun.

(4) Had two cavities filled today (that's why the last few weeks have been only "mostly" fun). I've decided that the worst part of getting a cavity filled is not the gigantic shot of Novocaine, but the part where the dentist shoves two hands and five pieces of equipment in your mouth and rummages around for twenty or thirty minutes. I think my lip muscles are strained!

(5) Only 27 more days until the scheduled arrival of my new niece! Hoorah!!

M and I are the only people I know who slept through this morning's earthquake.

It's a little disappointing, frankly.

This video comes from a story on 60 Minutes about Remote Access Medical, a program developed to provide medical drop-in care to third-world countries. Now, though, they devote 60% of their time and resources to providing medical care in the U.S. because so many of the working poor can't afford health care. According to the video, the program provided care to 17,000 people last year on a budge of only $250,000.

I can't get the video to imbed for some reason, but go click this link: the video is worth watching. Now I've got to go send them a check.

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=3898008n