nyt

tough puzzle today. a few new words we'd never heard of before. mom, you finish it? try using the blog comment function, not email...

quarterbacks in heaven

Peyton Manning, Tony Romo, and Tom Brady go to heaven to visit God and watch the Celtics play a game. God decides who will sit next to him by asking the boys a question....

God asks Peyton Manning first: "What do you believe?" Peyton thinks long and hard, looks God in the eye, and says, "I believe in hard work, and in staying true to family and friends. I believe in giving. I was lucky, but I always tried to do right by my fans." God can't help but see the essential goodness of Manning, and offers him a seat to his left.

Then God turns to Tony Romo and says, "What do you believe?" Tony says, "I believe passion, discipline, courage and honor are the fundamentals of life. I, too, have been lucky but win or lose, I've always tried to

be a true sportsman, both on and off the playing fields." God is greatly moved by Tony's sincere eloquence, and he offers him a seat to his right.

Finally, God turns to Tom Brady: "And you, Tom, what do you believe?"

Tom replies, "I believe you're in my seat."

nasty lean cuisine

About a week ago I figured out I spend about $1000/mo on food. Ridiculous. So I decided as a first step to fiscal conservatism, I'd start bringing lunch to work instead of going to a take-out place every day. 20 days at $3 vs $9, so a savings of $120. I bought a bunch of Lean Cuisines because they were cheap, have a good reputation, and are (I guess?) healthier than the other frozen dinner brands, other than Koshi, which was about 25% more expensive. True, we are only talking $1 difference, but it's the principle.

Anyhow, today for lunch I tried the Chicken Parm. After requiring an astonishing 9 minutes in the microwave, I was expecting a treat. But it was gross. As I explained to a co-worker, "it tastes like someone squeezed the sludge out of a horse leg and churned it into this container."

What else is going on... Well interest rates fell 0.75 points today, sure to usher in another period of overborrowing and overspending, along with an even weaker dollar. I have been predicting since around 1998 that the US as we know it would no longer be a country by 2020 and we seem to be right on course. The horrible fiscal situation of this country and the serious foreign affairs trouble we are in because of George Bush is the camel's back that will be broken by some sort of terrorist attack, leading to a split between those who want to nuke the middle east and those who think that maybe if we weren't such assholes to the world, the world might not be such assholes to us. No one likes a bully, and when the runts get nukes, the bully gets his ass kicked.

I see the potential for this country to split into three: Eastern, Central, and Western US. I think it would be a great idea, and it's likely that the populous would be in favor of it. All the red states could be their own country, ban abortion, teach abstinence, put drug users in jail for life, burn evolutionary textbooks, walk into a wal-mart and buy a gun no questions asked, etc. The WUS would be pretty much the same as the EUS, although I imagine they'd be more environmentally friendly out West and more business-friendly in the East. Plus they might want to come up with a different acronym for the country or they risk being labeled a bunch of wussies.

I think it's a cool idea. Anyhow, I watched the democratic debate last night, and while I'm still voting for Ron Paul in the primary, I am now pretty sure that I support Hillary Clinton when she wins the Dem nomination. Obama just seems like he is always making up excuses, and just doesn't seem honest to me. Every time he gets asked a tough question or has his record doubted, he starts to address the issue, but then goes off into some sort of bad MLK impression where he stands up extra tall, looks into the ether, and makes some broad, sweeping comment that really has nothing to do with the question at hand. "Obama, why did you not vote in 140 sessions?" "Because a non-vote indicates that one is unhappy with the proposal, Hillary". Oh, bullshit, Obama. A non-vote means you are too chicken-shit to take a stand. A Nay vote means you are unhappy with the proposal.

Clinton looked good to me. She doesn't hide her mistakes, she admits to them and uses them as a strength. While I do favor Obama's health care plan because it doesn't force people into it (as Clinton/Edwards both do) there's not much else I like about him. He has admitted that as president he would not be hands-on and would have advisers make most decisions and his cabinet do most of the work. Well then, Obama, who the hell needs you? You've got some good ideas and in theory I like some of them more than Hillary's, but you've got like, no political experience and you constantly come off as being not much more than a balloon filled with hot air. Maybe I'm missing something.

Viv, if you read this, I'd love an opposing view - leave it as a comment.

So hmm what else. Had a pretty good weekend. Saw The Will Be Blood on Saturday, then went out to RockBottom for dinner, then back to my place, then out to the Klink with a new group of peeps I've been hanging out with. Sonya, Justin's friend, stayed over in Liz'z room, as Liz was in NY for the weekend. I introduced Sonya to my 3rd floor tenant, who recently broke up with her girlfriend and is now looking for a new roommate, and Sonya seemed interested. We'll see what happens.

Sunday started out well with the Pats winning (as expected) but then the Giants won too (as not expected) so now I don't know who to root for. When they met up for the final game of the season in December, I rooted for the Giants for the first half and the Pats for the 2nd half. But this is the Super Bowl, i can't do that. I don't know what to do!

Ok, I'm going to get back to work.

Trip photos online

Here they are, with captions and everything!

Take Two

Ok, so where was I. I'm going to try and cover the 3 days we were in Philly, and do Arkansas next time. So we left on Friday 12/21 for Philly. We left from Manchester, NH, because it was way cheaper - Shawn was nice enough to drive us - but it took us 90 minutes to get there, and almost 3 hours for him to get back. Traffic sucked and there was Christmas traffic I guess. There was no one at the airport, but our flight was delayed a few hours and we didn't get in until around 11pm.

Our first plane was delayed, but from the very start, Liz knew we'd have a great trip.

Tom and Gaby were nice enough to pick us up at the airport - they are night owls like I am (but unlike Liz) and typically stay up until the wee hours. Upon an adventurous journey home from the airport (you'll have to talk to me directly for details) and arriving at the Jacksons' house, which I barely remembered from years earlier (Emily's wedding), I proceeded to knock their 6-foot long mirror off of the wall, snapping the wooden frame in one corner. We hung out for a few minutes, and then Gaby mentioned that she'd saved us some sushi from their earlier order. Excitedly, we devoured the sushi, and then hit the sack.

The next day was the Engel Christmas. I want to keep going but I'm getting tired... still getting over being sick. So good night, I'll try and write more tomorrow.

Christmas Vacation

Liz and I got back from vacation yesterday, just in time for NYE. The house smells like cat pee and the plant that I killed trying to transport from Liz's place is still dead, but other than that, all is well. We are working on kitchen designs (Dad did one, and I am working on one, and Liz is working on one) and that's pretty fun. But about the vacation. I'm going to put some pictures together and whatnot. But actually, I have to go cook dinner. Back in a bit - but here's a preview of the joy to come!