No H8

So, this bopped around a little on Facebook the other day, but I wanted to post it here... mostly so I can come back and see it. But, for some reason the No H8 campaign Web site doesn't have direct links to certain posts/articles.

http://www.noh8campaign.com/

I was most interested in the Jan. 20 post about Cindy McCain and Meghan McCain posing for photos in support of the No H8 campaign. I think it is interesting, and rather sad, that it has really taken so long for the issue of gay rights to move past a political issue to an issue of human rights. I hope the Republicans keep redefining themselves to be less hateful and judgmental and that both Republicans and Democrats can begin to work together to make our country better rather than continuing with their divisive bickering. Can't we all just get along?! Love should be for everyone.

New shirts!

Fabulous random shirts that Sam and I got from shirt.woot are washed and ready to wear!

This one's mine. And Sam got this one.

That's all I wanted to say. (^_^)

The fantasy begins!

So, here's my very first fantasy football team! *drumroll*

CURRENT STARTERS:
Joe Flacco, Bal Q
Chris Johnson, Ten RB
Donald Brown, Ind RB
Santana Moss, Was WR
Roddy White, Atl WR
Marques Colston, NO WR
Dallas Clark, Ind TE
Cardinals D/ST, Ari D/ST
Nate Kaeding, SD K

BENCH:
Felix Jones, Dal RB
Le'Ron McClain, Bal RB
Jake Delhomme, Car QB
Visanthe Shiancoe, Min TE
Miles Austin, Dal WR
Broncos D/ST, Den D/ST
Joe Nedney, SF K

The live draft was a lot more stressful than I had anticipated! (Even though I freaked out about it for two days beforehand.) The biggest stress factor was how quickly players in my queue started disappearing. I was unprepared!! I don't think it helped that we had only 60 seconds per pick. I can't even imagine being toward the ends of "the snake" since being in the middle was hard enough.

Anyway, for better or for worse, that's what I've got to start the season. We'll see how the hubs fares in his draft! It'll be interesting to see which one of us has the better record. (^_^)

Excitement!

So, this season I get to be in my very own Fantasy Football league! The Sam will be glad that I'm not hanging over his shoulder or telling him to pick crazy ex-UH players. Plus, with both of us playing FF this season, we're that much more likely to have our teams actually prepared every week. (Sam hates those Thursday games.) But very best part for me is that our league is all ladies!! The naysayers said we wouldn't be able to scrape up 12 owners... but we've got 14! (^_^)

Our all-female league is having a live draft this afternoon so I'm cramming!! There is so much information out there and it is just getting more and more confusing. I suppose it is just because I don't already have a huge knowledge bank, but my head is reeling. The most helpful advice I got was from an article on ESPN.com about draft day by Matthew Berry, a.k.a. The Talented Mr. Roto, but it wasn't even practical advice. Toward the end of the article he says that it's basically all just guess work and while some people (like the people who do this for a living) definitely have a more educated guess, they are all just guessing. So, I'm beginning to let it go a little. There is no way I'm going to know everything I should know before the draft... and I don't really know that I'd have wanted to know everything. So I'm not super confident, but this is supposed to be fun, not stressful. Yes, I know I'm just a casual, fair-weather fan... and I'm okay with that! So what if most of my information came from ESPN.com's fantasy football draft kit that everyone else probably also reviewed... so what if I don't have the Sports Illustrated lists and commentary that I know at least one other owner has... so what if I don't really even know who half of the players are! I guess I'm okay with my team being not so elite... I'm guessing I know who the really elite team owners will be, and I'm just hoping to have a little fun during the season and maybe winning a match-up or two.

Some musings

So, I wanted to write something, but I don't really know what I wanted to write. I didn't want to write a review, so no new Yelp posting. I should be writing a birthday card, but I'm just not excited about that right now (sorry, J.B.).

What I did do was spend a lot of time researching... how can I get paid? I looked at job postings and my iMatchSkills account and marked some possible places to apply to later. I looked at a new site, Examiner.com, that I recently found, while looking for information on cover letter and interview tips, and thought about submitting an application to write there. Wow, getting paid to write, what an idea. So, it's not a blog, but it's not exactly a news site... looks like a lot of op-ed pieces. Interesting. So, the question that I've been circling is: what topic am I qualified to write about for money? I have some knowledge and some opinions on a lot of different topics, but definitely not anything that I'd say I'm an "expert" in or on... hmmm...

Also, on a totally unrelated note: I want to make something with squash blossoms! I think they are stalking me. At a friend's birthday dinner at Belly Timber recently we had an appetizer of squash blossoms that were stuffed with cheese (I think ricotta) and then fried. Yum! I guess you can't really go wrong with fried stuff with cheese! So, that was a couple of weekends ago. This Saturday, squash blossoms were taunting me from a pint basket at the Beaverton Farmers Market. I really wanted to buy them, but I was intimidated and afraid of trying to prepare them... although I apparently shouldn't have been because today on "Boy Meets Grill," Bobby Flay told me that I could easily stuff them with pulled pork and ricotta cheese and it would taste yummy. After more surfing on the Food Network site, I also found a tempura version with tomato sauce from Wolfgang Puck and a tortellini recipe from Mario Batali. Decisions, decisions... but maybe not the tortellini one, since the blossoms are just cut up and put into the filling; I think I'm more excited about the crispy stuffed blossoms! Now I'll just have to hope that there'll be some squash blossoms available at this coming weekend's market... well, and I'll have to hope that I don't mess up whichever recipe I choose to try.

An Historic Election

I've watched this clip almost every day since seeing it originally on Nov. 4 at 10:58 pm. I think it is my favorite election coverage clip.

Enjoy!



This John Stewart clip picks up right where the above clip ends.

I Made a Funny

Here is a link to the lolcats picture I made. I didn't create an account so I don't think this will appear on the I Can Haz Cheezburger blog, but I just thought I'd share this picture.

http://mine.icanhascheezburger.com/view.aspx?ciid=2161805

Enjoy!

Ross on Grammar

Another post for those who care about grammar!

For the Raimi

Raimi,
Here is a better non-partisan site for information about voting. I know you already registered... but this site has information about all the candidates running for prez - even the third party ones. It is run by the Counting Crows - you know, the band.


For all you other peeps out there, you can register here to vote if you live in a state where the registration deadline hasn't gotten here, yet.

Register to Vote!

This post on the StuckeySpalt blog prompted me to put up these links:

Register to vote:
- if you're an Oregonian. (Last day to register to vote for the next Prez & Veep is: October 14, 2008.)
- in any state at Rock the Vote.

So, go forth and register!

Love,
akemi

Update

Sorry! I should have updated sooner.

Seems like Hannah Upp is found. I can't find any real up-to-date information. Last I heard, she was spotted on Sept. 9 at an Apple store. The facebook page is no longer open to the public and all news coverage seems to have ended last week. I think the theory is that she just ran away.

Anyway, I hope she is okay and that her family and friends are okay, too. Sorry I don't have more info.

Thanks!

Have You Seen Her?

Hannah Emily Upp, 23, has been missing since Friday, August 29, from her residence in the vicinity of Hamilton Terrace, Harlem.

Hannah is a New York City Public School teacher; she teaches middle school Spanish at Thurgood Marshall Academy for Learning and Social Change, at W. 135th and 7th Ave. A recent graduate of Bryn Mawr College, Class of 2007, majoring in Spanish and Comparative Literature, she is a New York City Teaching Fellow, working on her Master's degree at Pace University and teaching full time. She completed her first year of teaching 2007-08, and was about to start her second year of teaching when she went missing

Here is a link to the facebook page about the disappearance/investigation. It has contact info and more background info. Here's the entire link if you want to copy it: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=86887660472

My New Hero!

Gloria Steinem is my new hero.

In this op-ed piece, Palin: wrong woman, wrong message, she articulates why Sarah Palin is wrong for the White House. I am so impressed by her even-tempered, well-thought-out article. Where I would have resorted to sarcasm and frustrated screaming, she gives well-reasoned arguments. She is awesome.

Now, excuse me, I have to go read more of her writing. (I'm pretty embarrased not to have read her in the past.)

Watching More TV

Tonight's line up: the U.S. Open - Venus vs. Serena and Nadal vs. Fish; and the GOP Convention - Sarah Palin's speech.

So, I forced Sam to watch Palin's speech. There was much less substance than I expected. Sam says it is par for the course for Republicans. I really don't get them. She said she was going to talk about what a mayor of a small town/governor of Alaska does... but then she made some snide comments about it being like a community organizer except with real responsibilities. What does that mean? I think she is very rude. I didn't know what a community organizer was until I started reading Obama's first book. I definitely have an appreciation for the service he was trying to do and the leadership it took to help people in disadvantaged neighborhoods get services and representation that they deserved. I feel like Palin was belittling and out of line. She also said that "our opponents" look down on her... I think the press has portrayed that emotion, but not anyone from the Democratic Party and certainly not anyone from the Obama-Biden campaign.

I could keep going, but I don't think the speech needs a rebuttal point by point... plus it is giving me a headache. One thing that I did want to say is that I felt like Palin (and Guiliani, whose speech we saw a little bit of) were so selfish in their tone and presentation. She seems to come from a place of "me" and "my," like it is for the glory of her and McCain, and maybe the party, but not from a place of wanting to actually better our country. It is ironic that their slogan is "Country First" because they talk about so many external things like Iraq, Iran and wars abroad, but not about practical solutions or plans for the U.S.A.... well, they do want to destroy our environment by drilling on the North Slope - because "we got plenty" of oil and natural gas.

I just don't see how people can keep supporting McCain. His party seems to be all about double-talk and distracting people from the real issues by waving the machismo of "patriotism" around. It is weird. They keep saying he's the maverick we need in the White House, but to me that translates as "loose cannon." It is pretty scary.

In non-scary news there is the U.S. Open. The match between Venus and Serena was kind of a drag because of the commentators. They made the whole thing seem boring. Like, "la-la-la, great serve - blah, blah, blah powerful hit - yeah, yeah, great ball placement." The two of them are amazing players with such different physiques and different styles of play, but they don't say anything about that. There was no comparison of their games or litany of their wins and losses this year like they talk about with other players. What's up with that? Is it really boring to see two great women play each other? I didn't think so. Venus's serve is so fast! And she switches up her first serve - sometimes right up the middle and flat and sometimes wide. She and Serena both have a great down-the-line shot that I love. They both use such great ball placement that you don't always see. Serena is so strong! I was comparing her to a horse when Sam and I were talking - her muscles are so sleek and lean. I think Venus is more like a gazelle - much more slender... but she is super strong, too. I think either of them could take on a guy and win!

Well, now Nadal and Fish are playing. We got to see Fish beat James Blake. That was sure a sad match. Blake just seemed really out of it. I know that they are friends, but they both seemed kind of reluctant to celebrate good points. They also seemed almost sorry when they hit winners. I think Fish even challenged a call that was in his favor and Blake got that point. It was a weird match. But that could also be because of how the commentators were talking about it. I do think that Nadal looks better in the Nike shirt than Blake... weird that they both wear the same shirt at the same tournament. But, that's neither here nor there...

Can't believe that Fish is actually up a break and a serve! Wow. I guess he is having a really good tournament. We didn't see him play Monfils. Sam thinks that Blake let Fish win as a wedding present. Yeah, the commentators kept talking about how Blake is going to be a groomsman at Fish's wedding next month.

Anyway, time to actually watch the match instead of mouthing off here... hope my train of thought flows okay. Usually I have Sam proof my posts and I re-read them, but we have to watch Nadal.

TTFN.

One More Thing...

I'm not a fan of the governor of Montana.

Thoughts on the DNC

So, I really liked Gov. Deval Patrick's speech. I think it had a tone of hope and optimism. It called for hard work and determination to get Obama elected. I think it was very much a "we can do it" message. I just liked him.

In contrast, I felt like Hillary's speech was more aggressive. I think this speech highlighted her strengths. It's too bad that toward the end of her campaign she didn't sound more like this. She was focused on a message of what she sees as the goals of a Democratic presidency. Also, with the girl power video they had for her introduction, it seemed too bad that she couldn't have been part of the 2008 Democratic ticket. Watching that video (narrated by Chelsea) I wished that she was Obama's VP. I wish they could have merged their campaigns before the Clinton camp began to look dishevled and desperate. And I wished that Bill Clinton was in her campaign much less. Throughout her speech I thought he looked kind of smug (although that could be my preconceived attitude toward him coming out). He just irritates me.

That's all for now. I'm looking forward to Thursday. Maybe I can convince Sam to go with me to the Oregon Bus Project event at Roots Brewing. They'll be having a Brewhaha to watch Barack's speech. Supposedly there will be bingo, too. We'll see... while it would be fun to watch it with like-minded individuals in a bar, there's something to be said for watching political events at home where I can yell at the TV as much as I want.

Watching the DNC

We are watching the convention. I was very impressed with Gov. Deval Patrick from Massachusetts.


Hillary is slated to speak any moment now. That should be interesting. I'll let you know my thoughts later...

Okay, back to watching the convention.

New Joint Blog

Come see the new blog Sam and I have started here.

It's about knitting.

We hope you enjoy it.

More House Bunny!

Yay! We just got back from seeing "The House Bunny!"

So fun! Yes, it was cheesy... no, there were no earth-shattering twists or turns...

I think you should see it. Yes, you should. And not just because the girls next door are in it. And not just because Hef is surrounded by Haggen-Daas pints in an absurd product-placement scene. It is funny and you'll have a good time. There aren't a lot of potty jokes (good) and it is just so nice (as in not mean). No, it's not as good as "Legally Blonde" or "Clueless," but it is a nice bit of fluff just the same. I laughed and I didn't cry. (Well, I did tear up a little, but I cry at everything, so it doesn't really count.)

Anyway, I think you should see it... just as a fling... not for any serious content.

Now, excuse me while I go buy the soundtrack. "Where my Zetas at?"

Update: Sad. There is no soundtrack available to buy... boo.

House Bunny

"The House Bunny" is opening in half an hour!

I'm so excited to see it! Unfortunately, even though Sam offered to take me to the 12:01AM showing when he emailed me in the morning, he decided he was too tired once he picked me up from work in the afternoon. boo.

So, we will see it this weekend.

Good night.