So, not going to lie. When I found my first gray hair last night, I was in such a good mood that I didn't care.

Today, I'm not. And it's bothering me.


I know its terribly narcissistic, I just can't help but thinking that my job is slowly draining the life out of me. And the evidence is there.

I'm taking a moment to procrastinate from work ... since I'm so incredibly tired that focusing isn't really an option.

I'd like to ask... is anyone home, at all? Does anyone read/post/use this anymore? Should I post my (very) occasional rants on Facebook only? I guess the "if a tree falls in the woods" cliche applies here. I've been in the gradual process of simplifying and shrinking my online footprint, so to speak. I know a large chunk of my life involved ... even revolved around LiveJournal, but that seems like the faded, increasingly distant past. I think there are healthier ways of dealing with life's quirks without disseminating them publicly. Anyway, this journal will probably disappear if I'm talking to myself. I live alone, I do enough talking to myself without having to post it publicly.

Life, overall, is good. I've been enjoying the freedom that being 24 should impart on someone. I broke up with Jeff a while back. It took a leap of maturity on my part, and that leap seems to have stuck. I'm a little more cautious before I dive in to emotional attachments, I think. Some call it jaded ... I'll go with more discerning. Sounds less .. uhm .. screwed up, haha. If anything, its made me more honest with myself and everyone around me.

Ok, well back to work. Nothing like hourlies on an hour of sleep :)

From a CBS news article about the CA supreme court upholding Prop 8... http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/05/27/national/main5042384.shtml

"Marriage is about procreation," said Steve Macias, student body president of Sacramento City College. "There is not procreation available in same-sex marriages."

I can't even imagine this perspective. Can this truly the mindset that's out there? Are people this single-minded? According this moron, heterosexual couples who are unable to reproduce for whatever reason should be banned from marriage, destined to live as 2nd class citizens with the blasted homosexuals?


I searched for some traditional Christian wedding vows and I came up with a variety of samples. Here's a pretty simple example:

Do you BRIDE'S NAME) take GROOM'S NAME to be your husband – to live together after God’s ordinance – in the holy estate of matrimony? Will you love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health, for richer, for poorer, for better, for worse, in sadness and in joy, to cherish and continually bestow upon him your heart’s deepest devotion, forsaking all others, keep yourself only unto him as long as you both shall live?


I'm looking for the part (in any example) where, in God's light, you pledge to save humanity by popping out a few children along the way. I wish that people would be less focused on spreading their personal ignorance and hatred ... and be more focused on living a fulfilling, rewarding and successful life on their own. We'd be better off as a human race.

I was driving home from my Saturday hike at Three Creeks and there were low, gray clouds off in the distance near the horizon. They had peaks and crests and valleys.

Oh, how I wish that they were mountains. Ohio is too flat in more ways than one.

is when, for the first time since last autumn, the people walking the streets of Columbus, Ohio seem to be enjoying the fact that they are enjoying walking the streets of Columbus, Ohio.

:)

You know, when I first got the letter, I was a little suspicious because . . . a New Jersey Hall of Fame? I don't know. Does New York have a hall of fame? Does Connecticut have a hall of fame? I mean, maybe they think they don't need one. But then I thought like, 'Well, let me see. All right, Albert Einstein, Bruce Springsteen . . . my mother's really gonna like that part.' So . . . she's here tonight, it's her birthday . . . it's the only time those two names are gonna be mentioned in the same sentence, is right now, so I'm gonna enjoy it.

But when I was recording my first album, the record company spent a lot of money taking a lot of pictures of me in New York City. And . . . something didn't quite feel right. I was walking down the boardwalk one day. And I stopped at a souvenir stand and bought a postcard, saying 'Greetings From Asbury Park.' I remember thinking, 'Yeah, that's me.' I mean, down south there was Patti Smith. And up north, right here in Newark, was George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic, great musicians.

With the exception of, I guess, a few half-years in California, my family and I, we've raised our kids here. We got a big Italian-Irish family, and I found my own Jersey girl here . . . And in the end, I just found something that grew deeply resonant, like holding the hands of my kids on the same streets where my mom held my hand and swimming in the same ocean and visiting the same beaches I did as a child.

It was a place, also, that really protected me. It's been very nurturing. I could take my kids down to Freehold, throw 'em up on my shoulders and walk along the street, with thousands of other people on Cruise Nights, with everybody just going, 'Hey Bruce' . . . that was something that meant a lot to me, the ability to just go about my life. I was protected here, by the people here. And I really appreciated that.

So anyway . . . you get a little older now, you get those crisp fall days that come in September and the beginning of October. My friends and I, we slip into that cold water of that Atlantic Ocean. These days, you take note that there's a few less of your friends swimming alongside of you as each year passes. But something about being in one place your whole life, they're all still around you, in the water. And I look towards the shore, and I see my son and my daughter, pushing their way through the waves, and on the beach there's a whole batch of new little kids running away from the crashing surf. Like time itself.

That's what New Jersey is for me. It's a repository, now, of just my time on earth. My memory, the music I've made, friendships, my life, it's all buried here, at this point, in a box, somewhere in the sand, down on the Jersey Shore. And I can't imagine having it any other way. ¶

But let me finish with a Garden State benediction.

Rise up, my fellow New Jerseyans, for we are all members of a confused but noble race. We of the state that will never get any respect, we who bear the cruelness of the forever uncool. A chip on the shoulders of those with forever something to prove. And even with this wonderful hall of fame, we know that there's another bad Jersey joke just around the corner.

But fear not, fear not! This is not our curse. It is our blessing. For this is what infused us with our fighting spirit, that we may salute the world forever with the fabulous Jersey state bird (raises middle finger). And that the fumes from our great northern industrial area, to the ocean breezes of Cape May, fill us with the raw hunger, the naked ambition and the desire not just to do our best, but to stick it in your face.

Theory of relativity, anybody? How about some electric light with your day? Or maybe a spin to the moon and back? That's right. And that is why our fellow Americans in those other 49 states know that when the announcer says, 'And now, in this corner, from New Jersey . . . ,' they'd better keep their hands up and their heads down, 'cause when that bell rings, we always come out swinging.

God bless the Garden State.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eM5txhdoV_c

-- Bruce Springsteen on his induction to the New Jersey Hall of Fame

I am equally mesmerized and horrified by this.

Well, since it's a personal record -4 in Columbus, here are some images for your viewing pleasure...

::EDIT:: It was -10 walking to work this morning.

( Warm thoughts )

NOW I remember why I stopped trying to sleep 6-8 hours at night! It was so nice over vacation, but, alas, my schedule does not provide me the opportunity ;(.

Back to my 3 hours in the afternoon and 4 hours overnight schedule tomorrow. Sigh.

Did anyone up in New England see any lightning or hear any thunder to go with the intense snowfall? Have any snow totals? Farther south from PA and NJ down to VA did anyone have any wind damage? I'd be curious to know!

New Country: Mexico
New States: Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, Oklahoma, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Michigan, Arizona (15)
New Cities: Indianapolis, Nashville, Puerto Vallarta, Dallas, St. Louis, Kansas City, Rapid City, Omaha, Chicago, Detroit, Las Vegas, Harrisonburg (hehe), Lexington
Old Cities: New York, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Pittsburgh, Denver, Cleveland, Cincinnati, State College
National Parks: Smoky Mountain, Arches, Rocky Mountain, Mount Rushmore, Badlands, Zion, Shenandoah
Best Concerts: Linkin Park, John Mayer, Billy Joel, Jacks Mannequin, Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, Gavin DeGraw, Cartel
Shows: Robin Williams, Jersey Boys, Lewis Black, Mysteria (Cirque du Soleil), Rent, Phantom of the Opera
Stadiums: Great American Ball Park, Jacobs Field, Yankees Stadium, Wrigley Field, Comerica Park, PNC Park, Kauffman Stadium, Ohio Stadium

Top Moments:
- Smoky Mountain National Park Hike with Jeff, Mom and Aunt Maria visit Columbus, Nov 2007
- Christmas in NYC with the Family, Christmas Dinner with the Spiffies, Dec 2007
- Puerto Vallarta and Swimming with the Dolphins with Jeff, Jan 2008
- Linkin Park with Jeff, Mel and Jai, Feb 2008
- DC with Jai and Mal & Nashville with Jeff Trips, Mar 2008
- Billy Joel with Jeff & Cartel with Mike Concerts, Apr 2008
- State College & Jersey Shore Trips with most of my bests :), May 2008
- DFW with Treavor & Pride Weekend with Jai, Jeff, Adam, June 2008
- Cross-Country Road Trip with Jeff, July 2008
- John Mayer Concert with Jeff and Jai & Baseball Road Trip with Bainzey, Aug 2008
- New York City & San Gennaro Festival with Jeff and Jason, Sep 2008
- Las Vegas/Zion, PSU 13 OSU 6, Shenandoah and Wine Tasting with Mal, Oct 2008
- Barack Obama, President Elect of the United States, Nov 2008


Undoubtedly, my favorite year so far. Bring on # 25.


EDIT: Clarification. I'm turning 24, not 25. I was referring to my year number, which, according to sootyink makes me Chinese. So be it. :)

EDIT 2: In response to one of the worst moments of 2008.



EDIT 3: cashewdani is a meanie.

you just might need shock therapy:

The strategy for the stretch run for the McCain campaign:

"Well, Barack, nothing we're saying or doing resonates with the American public anymore. Our policies don't work. The American economy is down the drain. Therefore, we will rely on the stupidity of the American people, constantly refer to you a terrorist, and hope for the best.
And don't worry, Barack, the conservative media will join in with the character slandering. Makes for more readership After all, nobody is more loathed in this country like the neighbor of a terrorist.

We only have one policy for the next month: Facts be damned. And our biggest enemy isn't you, Barack ... it's the mainstream media. Doggone it, those fact checks and tough questions -- they aren't fair."


Well, John McCain, Barack Obama might have met an alleged terrorist once at an education charity event (community organizers... might as well all be terrorists). I can only seriously hope that the American public isn't stupid enough to vote you in as the next errorist.

i feel as though we're seeing something potentially unprecedented right now. A real, live crisis for presidential candidates to figure their way through... and display their ability to handle these situations. Yes, the current president has his hand in things too, but we know how irrelevant Bush has become over the last four years.

Here are excerpts from a CNN.com article explaining what happened today:

Republicans and Democrats blamed each other for the failure of the (financial bailout) bill, which President Bush had urged Congress to approve.

The bill failed by a vote of 205 to 228, with 140 Democrats and 65 Republicans voting in favor and 95 Democrats joining 133 Republicans against.

---------------

Barack Obama: "stay calm, because things are never smooth in Congress."

"There are going to be some bumps and trials and tribulations and ups and downs before we get this rescue package done," he said. "I'm confident that we are going to get there, but it's going to be a little rocky."

---------------

John McCain's Campaign Statement: "Their partisan attacks were an effort to gain political advantage during a national economic crisis. By doing so, they put at risk the homes, livelihoods and savings of millions of American families," Doug Holtz-Eakin, a senior policy adviser for McCain and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, said in a statement.

"Barack Obama failed to lead, phoned it in, attacked John McCain and refused to even say if he supported the final bill. ... This bill failed because Barack Obama and the Democrats put politics ahead of country," he said."

----------------

So, the McCain campaign has decided to blame the Obama campaign for politicizing and complicated the bailout which republicans vetoed. The campaign has also decided to use the bill's failure to pass through the House of Representatives as a campaign dig against Obama, saying that the bill didn't pass because Obama failed to lead and put his campaign over the passage of the bill.

If I had ANY shred of doubt... if AMERICA had ANY shred of doubt on who is more qualified to lead the country.... I'm pretty damn sure that this answers it.

I'm angry that a hypocrite, "say-anything-to-get-elected" minded person like John McCain ... (who has the audacity to criticize his opponent for supposedly using an underhanded campaign tactic, when he is abusing the same tactic IN THE SAME SENTENCE...) has a chance to become president of this country. Politics is dirty. Please elect the decent person, America. We need it now more than ever.

But let me just say, what Johan Santana just did will have to be considered one of greatest moments in Shea Stadium history.

NY Mets IP H R ER BB SO HR
Santana (W, 16-7) 9.0 3 0 0 3 9 0

Not only did he keep the season alive, he matched a career-best performance by only allowing just 3 hits and shutting out the Marlins. On three days rest. And throwing 117 pitches.

He took it upon himself to keep hope alive that the doors at Shea will open for at least one more day.

In the face of so much, only a few special players in baseball have the heart that he showed today.