It's about that time.

Not a fan of waste, but when you have the Super Bowl edition of the can, it's time to let go.

Letter to the Future #1

Dear Future Wife,

There are soooo many things you need to know about me. I am well aware there is a generally accepted protocol about how two people court each other, slowly getting to know each others' idiosyncrasies and preferences. However, I am not a totally conventional person. It's best that on the rarest of occasions I just be bluntly forthcoming and not go the euphemistic route. On these occasions I will have the uncontrollable desire to stop what I am doing to let you know something that you truly NEED to know. I do not mean to hurt feelings. Remember you are the woman of my dreams and the only one I have ever asked to marry. I assure you this is in our best interest.




Today: I just wanted to inform you that we will never have cats.

How I Spend/Spent My Time

I was on pace for a banner year when, out of the blue, I ended up moving from the utopian nook between Durham and Chapel Hill to the small town where I work.
1/1 THUR (506) Jason Webley
1/19 MON (506) Swan Quarter, The Flying Eyes
1/23 FRI (506) The Virgins
1/24 SAT (CRADLE) The Rosebuds, Love Language, Megafaun
1/31 SAT (Cradle) Annuals, Jessica Lea Mayfield
2/6 FRI (POUR) WKNC Double Barrell - Bowerbirds, Lonnie Walker, Schooner, Lost in theTrees
2/14 SAT (506) Dex Romweber (CD release I think... it's when I bought it)
3/4 WED (Cradle) The Black Lips, Gentleman Jesse
3/13 FRI (Soapbox) The Love Language
3/15 SUN (506) Let's Wrestle, Dirty Little Heaters
3/21 SAT (Pinhook) Pneurotics ... and others...
3/22 SUN (506) Cotton Jones, The Magic, Human Hands
3/26 THUR (UNC Gerrard Hall) Love Language, Huguenot
3/28 SAT (Schoolkids in-store) Love Language
3/28 SAT (506) The Love Language, Max Indian, Oh Captain My Captain
4/13 MON (506) Appleseed Cast, An Horse, Gray Young
4/17 FRI (DUKE COFFEE) Tomahawks, Luego
5/1 FRI (506) The Love Language, Huguenots, Americans in Paris (DTH Divers)
5/8 FRI (506) Bowerbirds, la strada, Wes Phillips
5/9 SAT (POUR) Love Language
5/14 THUR (506) The Thermals; Shaky Hands;Point Juncture, WA
5/23 SAT (Cradle) OldCeremony, The Love Language

** All moved by May 31st **

6/4 THUR (Memorial Auditorium- Raleigh) The Decemberists, Blind Pilot
7/15 WED (Duke Gardens) The Love Language
7/24 FRI (Sadlack's) Wembley
7/24 FRI (506) MAX Indian, Ryan Gustafson, and The Tomahawks



SO incredibly sad.

Allergic Reaction

The medicine that I am taking makes me break out. Into song.

Insult of the Day #4

Your mother seems ginuinely surprised when people tell her things certain things don't grow on trees. - OR - Your mother thinks everything grows on trees. Literally.

Insult of the Day #3

Your mother thinks "Shakespeare" is a verb and a direct object.

Goodbye, 2008-2009 school year!

This about sums it up... and allows me to post a clip from my favorite sports movie of ETERNITY. We got a unique game plan each day, and if we followed it, we achieved our goal. Some were disappointed, disappointing, and disappoinments. Others succeeded as they were expected, they had hoped, or had never dreamed.



We had BADASS test scores. We read more than ever before. We attempted college level work and successfully completed college readings - ninth and tenth grades. Hopefully, we've had the kind of experience we won't forget.

Congrats, Kobe.

I still think he's not as great as he thinks he is.

Interesting article from Bill Simmons, my favorite sports columnist.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090616&sportCat=nba

Closet Racism

At lunch yesterday I was with some people who attended universities even farther south than mine. So far down south, in fact, that you can see the bottom. And what an unsightly bottom it can be! An offhand comment was made about alternative names for the Civil War from the southern view point. Possibly, I was in one of those unique moods where I an easily offended. "War of Sucession" does nothing for me, but I was significantly irked by "The War of Northern Aggression" mention. I promptly interjected that people using these terms are closet racists. To me, it's interesting that people find the time to mask their motives in these ways. Who uses those terms?

Later I thought it would be nice to come up with some sound counterpunches to these offenses. Quick research came up with the response from the North. "War to Save the Union" and "Slaveholder's War" are my two favorites. I'll eventually come up with some of my own.

Insult of the Day #2

Your mother's girth percludes her from being inked the span of her back due to the proprietor of the establishment lacking the requisite amount of ink.

Insult of the Day #1

Your mother has an Adolf Hitler mustache.

Phelps v. Norris

This is an old post I did in note format on Facebook. Erica really helped me out, but I'm just using my originals here. They get rolling after the first ten or so. What did Chuck Norris really do for our country anyway?

The Michael Phelps Argument

1. Michael Phelps could walk on water, but he thinks swimming is a better workout.
2. Superdelegates? Michael Phelps has 535 pledged electoral college votes!
   
3. Michael Phelps' tears could win Olympic gold, if Michael Phelps ever cried.


4. After Michael Phelps, Wheaties is now the breafast of silver medalists.
5. By himself, Michael Phelps is the Dream Team.
6. Michael Phelps would have beaten the Patriots last year if the Giants hadn't.


7. A wink from Michael Phelps induces multiple orgasms.


8. Michael Phelps knows what Willis is talkin' 'bout.
9. Pennsylvania thinks no one will notice a city is now called Phelpsidelphia.


10. Michael Phelps has more medals than you have belts.


11. Michael Phelps is the inspiration of Wedding Crashers' Rule 76: No Excuses. Play like a champion!


12. Wall Street buys stock in Michael Phelps.


13. Aquaman will play Michael Phelps in a movie.


14. Michael Phelps is the solution to our dependence on foreign oil.


15. Michael Phelps will swim home and beat everyone else's plane.


16. Michael Phelps wins Olympic events so much he recycles his medals.


17. Michael Phelps is a co-author of the King James Bible.
18. The Dead Sea Scrolls are controversial because of all the allusions made about Michael Phelps being the Supreme Being.
19. Michael Phelps doesn't send thank you notes or birthday cards. He greets people in person.
20. The mandatory age of retirement for Michael Phelps is 900. The same as Yoda.


21. Michael Phelps wouldn't have needed to build an ark because he could swim for 40 days and 40 nights....


22. Central European countries use Michael Phelps' sweat as perfume.


23. Michael Phelps also believes the children are the future, but that he is forever.


24. Michael Phelps invented the comma.
    
25. Spell check is not necessary for Michael Phelps.


26. Michael Phelps once shot a 17 on 18 holes of golf.


27. Michael Phelps knows the true age of Chinese gymnasts and therefore has not bedded them.


28. Michael Phelps would have given peace a chance.


29. Michael Phelps is actually Obama's choice for VP.


30. Michael Phelps also knows how many houses John McCain has - enough to store gold medals seperately.


31. Michael Phelps beat Usain Bolt in a race up four flights of stairs.


32. Michael Phelps laughs at scary movies.


33. Michael Phelps CAN get satisfaction.


34. Michael Phelps could have killed Bill in one movie.


35. If you cut Michael Phelps' IQ in half, changed his sport to ping-pong, and didn't let him have the girl he wanted, you'd have the movie Forrest Gump.
    
36. Michael Phelps other Olympic trainer was Mr. Miyagi.


37. A drop of Michael Phelps' sweat is more potent than seven Red Bulls.


38. Michael Phelps got over a 2400 on his SATs.
39. Joe Biden is now called a "poor man's Michael Phelps" in top Democratic circles.
40. John McCain is three times older than Michael Phelps, but 1/100 as cool.
    
41. I heard in a chatroom today that Radiohead and The Rolling Stones are opening up for Michael Phelps next summer.


42. Michael Phelps has people to tie his shoes for him. They are called Earthlings.


43. Michael Phelps is licensed to practice medicine in Grenada.


44. Michael Phelps' phone has an "I'm feeling lucky" button. It is labeled "Send."


45. A recording of Michael Phelps splashing in the pool would win at least two Grammys.
    

These were created between August 18th and 26th, 2008. There are several Olympic and politcal items that are lacking in punch now.

Pacino's Any Give Sunday speech

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Imagining the blank stares I might get if I gave this speech to my students. I would have to replace inch with points. "That's gonna make the effin difference between passin and failin. Repeatin and movin on to English II. Either we fight for those points or we will fail. That's education guys. That's all it is."

Maybe my boss should give it to the faculty to get us ready for June.

The Wrestler - A Review

I was excited about a movie called The Wrestler by an advance review by my favorite sports columnist. He said many great and accurate things that I won't spend too much time repeating. I agree that this is a role no one else could have pulled off this well. Nic Cage, Kurt Russell, or Russell Crowe couldn't have evoked the same sympathy that Mickey Rourke does as Randy "The Ram" Robinson. Like Denzel in Malcolm X or Tom Hanks in Big, Cast Away, or Forrest Gump, no one else could have pulled this off this successfully. Rourke truly OWNS Randy "The Ram" Robinson. Marissa Tomei is also well suited for her role. She plays Cassidy, an aging stripper who, true to stereotype, has an out-of-wedlock son that has likely prevented her from finding a long-lasting husband in earlier life. Offstage, she's Pam, the still very attractive woman who has made multiple bad choices that led her to this point in life. As art imitates life, both Tomei and Rourke have seemingly fallen out of Hollywood favor. Rourke now takes smaller, bit-part (Sin City and Man on Fire) roles; Tomei gets undressed (Before the Devil Knows You're Dead) to stay relevant. Somewhat appropriately, the actors' successes in this movie may represent the best in American culture - eternal hope and additional chances. Both of the film's characters seem to espouse these American standards.

Simultaneously, the movie shows the worst, and maybe realest, sides of American culture - the cults of excess and fame. Despite the fact that the Ram is totally physically worn down (as shown in the film), he continues his pursuit of a comeback in professional wrestling. His drive pushes him to abuse an already drug-abused body. After a hospital stay for heart trouble, Randy engages in multiple risky behaviors. He also (inevitably) comes back to wrestling much too soon after this major medical issue. This push to keep wrestling is not solely for monetary reasons; it's to recapture the fame he once had in the 80s. About halfway through the movie, Randy dances to in a bar to Ratt's rocker "Round and Round"; subsequently, he praises Guns n' Roses and calls Kurt Cobain a derragatory name. This illustrates his and Cassidy's nostalgia for a time when they were relevant and in their prime. Like the old high school quarterback who never amounted to much else, time passes all of us by.

"You think that I am this stripper, and I'm not. I'm a mom," says Cassidy, while struggling against being versus seeming. The characters in this movie are wrestling with what they are versus what they seem. Randy is a has-been, and Cassidy is a stripper. Randy wants to the elusive second chance at glory that time seems to have damned him from ever getting; Cassidy wants the normal life that being a single mom with a night job percludes. The heart cannot help extending affection to the two characters because we have seen them countless times in a multitude of varieties in our own lives - the clerk at the favorite convience store that has another job, also as a clerk at another convenience store; the bar tender at the preferred watering hole, who despite a master's degree, cannot find happiness in the 9-5 world; and the girl at the drive-thru, there after three years, forging that same smile and "Have a nice day!"


Perhaps this movie works so well because it effectively meshes America's best and worst together, as they are already - inextricably intertwined.

Bill Simmons link: http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?section=magazine&id=3773747

Play That Tune

2008: A Year of Shows

How I spend my time.

1/16 (CRADLE) Rosebuds w/ Honored Guests
1/18 (DEC) The Love Language w/ Tiger Thief
1/31 (TIRNANOG) The Love Language w/ Hammer no more the fingers
2/21 (NIGHTLIGHT) Love Language with Monologue Bombs, Heads on Sticks
2/22 (POUR HOUSE) Love Language
3/1 (DEC) The Booze w/ Max Indian
3/14 (506) The Love Language w/ Max Indian, Fan Tan
3/21 (SLIMS) Deer Tick(POUR HOUSE)Patty Hurst Shifter
3/23 (506) Blitzen Trapper w/ Fleet Foxes
3/28 (POUR) Love Language w/ Rooster ... Masses
4/13 (CAROLINA) Spoon, Walkmen, White Rabbit
4/25 (CRADLE) Love Language w/ Bombadil

5/2 (Hell) Max Indian w/ Animal

5/6 (Cradle) Rosebuds
5/17 (506) THE PNEUROTICS, Hammer No More The Fingers, The Proclivities
5/24 (506) the Young Sons, Sea Wolf
6/10 (WalCreek) REM w/ Modest Mouse, The National

6/14 (506) Shearwater, Dawn Chorus
6/20 (506) THAO & THE GET DOWN STAY DOWn and THE LOVE LANGUAGE
6/21 (Pour House) Max Indian / Old Ceremony
7/26 (Koka Booth) Avett Brothers
8/1–8/3 (ChiTown) Lollapalooza - (worthy of a whole separate post)
8/7 (506) Bowerbirds
8/15 (Houseparty Yancey St. in Durham) Wembley, All Your Science, Actual Persons Living or Dead
8/28 THUR(506) The Dutchess and the Duke
9/9 TUE (Cradle) Tokyo Police Club, The Whigs
9/27 SAT (Cradle) Bombadil, Proclivities
9/30 TUE (506) – The Felice Brothers
10/2 THUR (Cradle) The Walkmen, The Little Ones
10/5 SUN (DISCO) The Black Keys
10/6 MON (CRADLE) The Love Language, Birdmonster
10/11 SAT (506) Ra Ra Riot, The Morning Benders
10/20 MON (Cradle) Cold War Kids
10/25 SAT (SOAPBOX - Wil) The Love Language
11/11 TUE (506) Max Indian, Embarrassing Fruits, Rosewood Theives

11/22 SAT (Cradle) The Love Language, Mates of State

11/22 SAT (506) Neil Halstead

12/6 SAT (Pinhook) Sequoya

12/6 SAT (BCHQ) Wembley

12/13 SAT (506) Love Language, Max Indian, The Old Ceremony

12/26 FRI (506) Charles Latham, Benji Hughes

12/27 SAT (Cave) Dexter Romweber, New Town Drunks

12/28 SUN (506) Jessica Lea Mayfield, Ryan Gustafson

WASTE

Last night I took stock of my spring brea accomplishments. The conclusion: I think I waste a lot of time. My productivity since getting my laptop back has spiked into the negative. Tomorrow is my last day of spring break. Assuming current rate of progress I will go back with the exact same number of items to be graded. What did I do on spring break? A list of movie-watching accomplishments:


Movies watched (worst to best)

12. Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist - Oh, it seemed infinite alright. A little too "for the teen set" for my tastes.


11. Gonzo - Although I would consider myself somewhat interested in Mr. Thompson, I might have enjoyed this more if it were about the muppet.


10. The Jerk - I think this debuted the year I was born. Amazing how humor has changed!


9. Observe and Report - Funny at times. In the "odd to weird" zone other times. Crude and misses the mark frequently.


8. Kicking It - About the homeless that participated in the homeless version of the World Cup.


7. The Awful Truth (dvd of tv show) - Good, but shading more towards awful in the second (and final) season. First season was really good. Second seems more reaching... might do well now that Moore is more established now and could probably double or triple operating budget.

6. City of God - Good, but violent. Loses a little of it's shocking reality the second time around.

5. Pineapple Express - Stoner comedy I actually enjoyed despite not being a stoner. First impression is that it will actually be worth repeated views.


4. Religulous - Asks a lot of good questions to people who aren't used to explaining themselves. I love to see this happen. Same thing happens if you ask someone why they like UNC or Duke hoops. Ask them to explain which style they enjoy better. For most, the reasons are all people and colors. Just like gangs.


3. Roger and Me - Why can companies make record profits and our standard of living sucks? Why doesn't anyone see these two things are related? Does anyone care? Sure Moore is a sensationalist, but so is the evening news.


2. Do The Right Thing - Interesting examination of race relations in 1990s. Can do without Rosie Perez. Even nude. Especially nude. Well-acted, engrossing, and disappointing (in character's actions) in equal measures. Reminded in the end of the Black Sheep song with the lyric,
"The choice is yours."


1. Slumdog Millionaire - WOW! Plot, pacing, acting are all top notch. Only movie to wholly exceed expectations. Must be seen to be believed.

I was wrong...

Wrong is a word with many synonyms. Incorrect, inaccurate, false, untrue work as well as any. All those words help to define something by what it is not. In my case, it seems that I am often "wrong" because I am not ready. COUNTLESS TIMES this has happened.

List of things I was slippin' on:

1) The Cold War Kids' first album Robbers & Cowards. I downloaded "Hang Me Up to Dry" and was indifferent. Then I decided to go ahead with the album purchase. I moderately enjoyed a few songs. But then. Later I got back into the album to realize it's complete badassery. I have seen them THREE times - Local 506 (1st album tour), later that year at Lollapalooza, and last year at Cat's Cradle.

2) The impetus for this blog. I watched Mystic River today and was nearly blown away. I watched this in NY a few years ago in theaters. I was with my buddy Scott Werner and some of his NY pals. Our reaction (I think) was all middle-of-the-road. I'm not sure what has happened to me that would change my reaction that much.

3) Reading. From 4th til some point in high school I cooled on my reading. Since then I feel I am a much less absorbing reading and am no longer able to read prolific amounts in a short time. I set a goal last year (and again this year) to read 30 books. Counting the ones I taught, I hit 27, just missing one I finished in January.

4) Teaching is something I didn't really consider because I saw how burned out my parents seemed at the end of their careers. I'll just say this, when all goes (mostly) according to plan, this job is FUN.

5) Just all the music I secretly believed Philip, my college roommate, was crap. Come to find out, he had a really good ear. What I remember specifically being "wrong" about: The Who, Robert Johnson, The Beatles (I underrated them), and, MOST OF ALL, Otis Redding. I own almost all of Otis' studio albums and a few live ones to boot.

6) Women. In high school I liked girls for the wrong reasons. I got a little better in college. Post college has been up-and-down, still improving. I've met a lot of awesome women; but, for various reasons, it hasn't worked out. Sometimes it's my fault. Sometimes it's not. Just gotta keep trying and remember what you're looking for.

7) PBR and Dr. Pepper. PBR has become my drink of choice at 506. I wouldn't say I've "wasted" the countless hundreds (or thousands) I've spent on Newcastle. Now I'm saving some bucks and buying American too. But Dr. Pepper? Hot damn, I was drinking three of those a day over Christmas break. I got turned on to it about 7-8 months ago and con only temporarily stop myself from drinking it.

8) Preppy style. I've gone more for comfort lately and want to change back.

9) Shakespeare and the Greeks. When I first started teaching, I avoided those like the girl at the party with the cold sore. Now I realize my mistake. Sophocles' Oedipodean Trilogy (Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone) and Othello have been two of my favorite experiences. Kinda leads in to....

10) Teaching a fourth period. Last semester, it ended up being (just about) my favorite class. This semester my 4th seems great too.

11) The "pressure" of teaching an EOC test. Sure, the kids have to have it to graduate. Sure, we get a bonus if our school does well enough. And yes, it's terribly difficult to get all the kiddos to pass. (It's difficult to get them all at school, really.) Sure, not all of them will pass it; however, I really like it. The curriculum is better defined, AND you get to hold a test over their heads ALLLL year.

Other stuff:"Ethnic" food, hamburgers, other soda, malls, indie music, buying locally, and liberal politics are some of the things I've changed my mind about.

InaugBlog - 20090120

This was written pretty much in real time over the course of the whole day. The television has rarely left CNN so I have taken liberties calling out CNN personalities as I see fit. This starts at 11:30am or so.

First, I'm declaring that I'd rather be at work today. This is true ESPECIALLY since I have cable in my room at school and could have squeezed 1-2 hours of work today around watching 6-7 hours of TV coverage. Second, I still enjoy driving in snow and listening to Metallica JUST like when I was 17. I did listen to some Fleet Foxes too. That makes me feel slightly more mature. Third, I've decided to burn today getting into the Barackathon on CNN. Our schools were supposed to have a work day today, buuut that got cancelled by the chilly precip. Pictured above. To prepare, I rolled out of bed at 8AM. I went to get groceries and laugh at people stranded on the side of the road. Also, after spending $40+ I decided to get Bojangles on the way back. Yum! To the coverage...

CNN is showing views across the US of people gathered to watch Barack take the oath. All pretty uneventful. Did anyone else notice in the shot of Harlem there seemed to be one white guy? I find this funny. It's like me in my classroom some days. Yes, it's funny there too.

Wouldn't Election Day and Inaugeration Day make great holidays? Holidays where you actually have stuff to do... unlike Labor Day or Memorial Day. "Hey, is it Labor Day?" "What is Labor Day?" "A day of no labor!" "Uhh... GREAT!"

Anyone watching CNN and see #41 waddle penguin-esqe on the walkway in? New Batman villian? Proof of his villiany: http://blog.indecision2008.com/2009/01/05/former-president-bush-talks-about-possibly-one-day-president-bush/ I also find it amusing to call 43 by this monniker "George Walker Texas Ranger Bush." We can just call him T.R. Bush for short. This feels so obvious. Someone has to have already covered this.

I know I am over-protective and possibly (probably) a worrier. I worry about the kids at school. When someone dates, or even associates, with a shady character, I find it hard to keep silent. I think of potentially damaging reprocussions from events that has a remote chance of happening. This leads me to this point. I get nervous when Obama is around HUGE crowds. One of my (African-American) friends insisted that protecting Obama is going to be more difficult than protecting previous presidents. I argued that (T.R.) Bush is WAAAAY more hated and therefore more of a challenge to protect, completely ignoring that the progressive side has a huge lead over the status quo in numbers of martyrs - MLK, JFK, RFK, and Ghandi. I'm feeling saucy enough to lump Jesus, Abe Lincoln, and Malcolm X in there too as proponents of change.

How anti-climatic was it for Wolf Blitzer to whisper over the beautiful classical music telling us that Obama is President now. So the oath matters not. Does that bother anyone? I thought oaths were a pretty big deal. You can't testify in court without taking one. Hmm.

HA HA, North Carolina racists! At least your snow is still white.

What happened to inaugerating a president and getting the hell on with it? Did this ever happen? Did the Gershwin or Fred Astaire go on before FDR was sworn in? This is like the Super Bowl. I really don't care to see Janet Jackson, Aerosmith, John Mellancamp, or Bruce Springsteen. I'm watching for the main event. I feel like an extra at the end of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. "GET ON WITH IT!"

Chief Justice John Roberts had one job and botched it. D'oh! At least someone knew the (apparently irrelevant) oath.

I wonder if the ranch in Crawford will depreciate in value as much as the dollar has in the past 8 years.

How does T.R. Bush not explode/implode with all the things Obama said that are basically a repudiation of all T.R. has stood for? Does he even know? Maybe he's daydreaming. What kind of job is T.R. Bush qualified for now? Maybe... bankruptcy counselor? "Ok, I'm pretty sure all your money is gone. Can't screw this up now, can I? ... You look concerned."

Pretty solid speech. Not Shakespeare, not timeless. But dead on addressing RIGHT NOW. Congrats to whomever found the oldest man in the US to give the benediction. I heard he served in the Wilson Administration.

Wolf Blitzer says Barack Obama has great handwriting. Steller journalism! I have this theory that on a 24 hour news station there is about 60-90 minutes of news a day. "If it may please the court, let me enter exhibit 10056..."

Onion break
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/obama_inauguration_speech_ruined http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/hillary_clinton_mouthing

Hard hitting stuff from the crew at CNN. George T.R. Bush didn't receive a warm welcome! Really? No me digas! I'll bet Clinton didn't see an excessive amount of love 8 years ago.

Wait! T.R. could run a major sports franchise! He's been with the Rangers of Texas. Franchises that he could run without causing any obvious damage: 1) the Oakland Raiders, 2) the Memphis Grizzlies, 3) Detroit Lions, 4) the Los Angeles Clippers, 5) the Kansas City Royals.

Wow! Senator Byrd and Senator Kennedy. Geez. I am not making jokes about this.


Anderson Cooper pointed out that in Statuary Hall (not making jokes about that either) there is a Jefferson Davis statue. YEAHHHH, THAT Jefferson Davis! He was immortalized by the state of Mississippi. Aroused curiousity leads me to find Zebulon Baird Vance and Charles Brantley Aycock are the two represented in North Carolina. Further research indicates that both of these men have ties to our dark past - Vance served as an officer for the Confederacy and Aycock was openly racist. Later them became "progressive" proponents of education. One (Vance) gave his name to the county where I work; the other's name is on a school in the district. Couldn't we find someone else to have immortalized in the Capitol? One of the Wright brothers? Billy Graham? Jesse Hel... nevermind! Elizabeth Dole? Richard Petty? Clay Aiken? (Barely typed the last few with a straight face.) How 'bout the UNC guys - MJ and the Dean??? Or, in all seriousness, Terry Sanford and Sam Ervin? Thanks, Wikipedia!


Interesting that Obama chose the Lincoln Bible. What some other presidents have done: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ET_Cetera/Obama_first_Prez_to_use_Lincolns_Bible/articleshow/4008813.cms


I find it bothersome that CNN (and presumably other networks) are tracking Obama down the parade route. Can anyone else see the potential for disaster? I think I am worrying too much again. Isn't this the same parade route that TR Bush DIDN'T walk in 2001? Was there ever a t-shirt "I egged the Presidential motorcade"? I can't get over how it's so loud! Like it's a friggin concert or something. Barack is bigger than the Beatles. And Jesus. Combined.

Would it have made a bigger statement to speed through the parade route? That would show he really wants to get into the office and do some actual work. Or at least read some important briefs while in the limo? Maybe the thousands of people in the parade would have objected. This just in, the unemployment rate went up at noon today. No one cared.

DAVID GERGEN SHARES MY THOUGHTS!!! That was REEEEEALLY risky for Obama to get out and walk a bit in that open area. The Reverend Jesse Jackson also suffered an increase in blood pressure (I infer) based on the comments he made.

I'd like to have dinner with Donna Brazile.

Is CNN covering the first official bathroom trip as part of their extended coverage? My daydream: "Wolf Blitzer reports,'President Obama always washes his hands and uses warm water with soap. He has excellent personal hygiene.'" I really need to go back to school. This is ridiculous.

I have an awful gut feeling about the two ailing Democratic Senators. :[

4pm and this is already up. --> http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/president_obama/

Further research shows that Tom Daschel is about to be employed again. (I took a hiatus from Obama-watching.) I wonder if it was the line under Senate Majority Leader that read "provided token opposition to President Bush" that got him in. If Obama is pulling in people from all walks, he had to get one non-stud.

Can we put a sign up outside the Crawford ranch that shows how many days it has been since the last worker accident?


So you're home in the White House. What do you do first? Call the chef? Explore all the rooms? Nude strut? Identify and locate all the cool stuff (i.e. kitchen, secret passages, basement... Does the White House even have a basement?)?


Senator Kennedy seems to be ok. And there was no real issue with Byrd. Geez, am I a pessimist?Whew! http://blog.indecision2008.com/2009/01/20/robert-byrd-fine-ted-kennedy-recovering/


Bush says he is back in Texas and there to stay. We can only hope.


After a solid 8 hours of doing this (in addition to other things), I'm spent. For all the people that think change is going to happen overnight, keep dreaming. Not a bad Day One.