Headlines!
Mood:  caffeinated
Now Playing: The traffic outside my window
I thought it would be fun to take another look at the headlines. Last time I think I did the New York Times, today, we'll use the BBC. Here we go!

* Emergency declared in Peru town *
Peru declares a state of emergency in an Andean region where army reservists have seized a police station.
~~Well, isn't that nice. Trouble in Latin America. Again.

* Protests in Argentina over blaze *
Relatives of some of the 177 people killed in a nightclub fire in Buenos Aires hold protests outside a morgue.
~~See comment above.

* New Year 'massacre' in Colombia *
Suspected left-wing rebels in Colombia kill 17 people, including children, at a New Year's Eve party, police say.
~~I'm sure the countless U.S. empowered military dictators who've trampled over the faceless masses in Latin America have nothing whatsoever to do with the tremendous violence that still plagues these countries. Right?

* Car bomb attack kills 19 Iraqis *
At least 19 Iraqis - 18 of them National Guardsmen - are killed in a car bomb explosion, the US military says.
~~Someone said something interesting to me last week. We were talking about natural disaster aid v. man-made disaster aid (i.e. tsunami relief v. relief for the genocide in the Darfur region in the Sudan) and he said, "And what about the genocide of Iraqis? They seem to be pretty expendable" "Huh," I said. "Good point." The person who said this to me was my boss, a lifelong Republican who recently voted for Kerry.

* Israelis launch new raid in Gaza *
Israeli forces launch a new incursion in northern Gaza as militants fire more rockets over the border.
~~This is just great. Neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians will ever win this war. At best they'll blow each other up. At worst, this conflict will last another thousand years. And I for one am a trifle frustrated with the U.S. position of carte blanche support of Israel. They have both committed untold atrocities and as long as this support continues the U.S. will continue to gain Muslim enemies.

And there you have it. The world is one big steaming pile of shite. Happy Freaking New Year.

Gross
Mood:  chillin'
Now Playing: Miles Davis
Can someone please buy Winona a bra? Because ick, okay? We don?t need to be seeing that much droopage. And while we?re on the subject, can someone tell me who would purposely leave the house dressed like this? Hideous isn?t a strong enough word.

New Year's Resolution
I must admit that I am fairly content with my life. Work is crazy busy but the flip side is that I bring home a good amount of bacon and we have pans to cook it in and plates to eat it off of. Married life is working out great. We get along for the most part and I feel fairly confident that we?ll continue to do so for the next 50-75 years or so. Our apartment, though small, works great for us and I don?t see us moving for a while. I?ve put on a little weight since the wedding, but nothing major and I don?t have time to work out. We?ll probably start doing yoga again in the spring and that will take care of a little of it.

The one area that I?d like to see some improvement in is my writing. We had some computer problems earlier this year and that pretty much made it necessary for me to quit writing until they were taken care of. And, let?s be realistic. I?m not a professional writer so I can?t write every single day of the week. But, my best writing tends to flow early in the morning, just after I?ve gotten up. Weekends are obviously the best time for this since those are the only days when I don?t have anything else going on.

There are 52 weeks in a year and I?d like my resolution to be that at least HALF of those weekend mornings are spent writing. So 26 days a year (I know it doesn?t sound like a lot, but it?s a starting point) I will spend the morning writing. It doesn?t matter what, as long as my fingers are connecting with the keyboard.

The best part about this plan? It doesn?t start until tomorrow.

Happy New Year, Everyone!

Smarty-pants Commentators
Mood:  cool
Now Playing: Barenaked Ladies
A few of the comments about the Immaculate Conception post left me scratching my head. After twelve years of Catholic school you?d think I?d remember that the Immaculate Conception refers to Mary?s conception, but nope. Once I?d been told, of course, it all came back to me. Thanks for setting me straight, folks.

Yay!
Mood:  a-ok
I received this from Vicks this morning:

Hi guys,

Thanks for the worried letters of concern, regarding the Thailand earthquake. For those of you who are loosing sleep - I'm fortunately fine!! For the rest of you who don't seem to be aware (including my family - yeah mum - where's your worried email!?!?!?!)

We were in Bangkok when the quake hit in the morning. and felt a sustained rocking for at least 10 mins - which seems like a long time! No damage. We just felt the force.

I've managed to see the news and read the papers and it's devastated such huge areas, especially the Tsunami. I'm thanking my lucky stars and my heart goes out to all of those affected.

This was my first chance to get to a comp and all is well. The weather here is just perfect. The sea is beautiful and the bungalow and resort is ace. As for the rest of the stuff - ace!!!! Off elephant trekkiing tomoz, then some snorking and lots more things! Woo hoo!!!

I'll let you all know when I get back. Happy New Year to you all!

Vickie xoxoxoxoxox

Not Cool
Mood:  down
Now Playing: Lucinda Willaims
My friend Vickie has been living in South Korea for the last six months teaching music to kids. She went to Thailand the day after Christmas for vacation and I haven't heard from her since. I'm very worried about her. I'm worried I won't ever get to talk to her again. Or get a funny email from her. I've been avoiding the news until this morning when I really looked hard at what was going on. People who were sunbathing were swept out to sea. That's just...crazy. Boats came ashore, cars and trucks were washed out. It's almost beyond my comprehension. Please be okay, Vickie.

Portia de Rossi: Fantasy Lesbian
First of all, am I the only person in America who didn?t know that Portia de Rossi was gay?

Second, is she not the perfect example of what most straight men wish lesbians were like? I mean, show of hands: men, how many of you would love to see Portia make out with another chick? Women, how many of your partners would jump at the chance to add Portia de Rossi to the mix?

Yeah, I thought so. She?s the perfect fantasy lesbian and now it turns out that she really IS a lesbian. Too bad she?s with that Ellen now. Don?t get me wrong, I?ve got nothing against Ellen, she just has zero sex appeal. Now, she?s what you think of when you think ?lesbian?.

Would it be off-color to point out that she lives in a Red State?
This lady be whack, yo.

Gah!
Is anyone else going through withdrawal from the Hanukkah song? We?re almost at Christmas and not once have I heard Adam Sandler on the radio. A pox on all radio stations!

I learned something interesting today. The feast day of the Immaculate Conception was on December 8th. Which means that the Baby Jesus was conceived on the eighth and born on the twenty-fifth? Shouldn?t the feast of the Immaculate Conception be sometime in March? Did they just randomly pick a day? I feel so used.

Ew.
From the MSN.com gossip column....

For those out there who find Jessica Simpson's dad just a tad creepy (and hey, we're right there with ya), you might want to avoid the new issue of GQ. Seems Joe Simpson isn't shy about talking about his daughter's tremendous, er, talents.

"Jessica never tries to be sexy," the former Baptist minister-turned-manager-turned-puppetmaster tells the magazine of his little girl. "She just is sexy. If you put her in a T-shirt or you put her in a bustier, she's sexy in both. She's got double D's! You can't cover those suckers up!"

Um, raise your hand if your squicky meter just hit the red? Yeah, us too.

Daddy Simpson also reveals that he decided not to let his lip-synching daughter Ashlee explore her Sapphic side in the upcoming flick "Wannabe."

"I changed it," explains Simpson of the original storyline. "It doesn't work for her to be gay the first thing out. She said, 'But it's cool, it's edgy, it's different,' and of course the filmmakers were like, 'It's cool for a woman to be a lesbian,' and I'm like, 'That's true, but not her first role.'"

See, Joe has big plans for his dark-haired daughter that go far beyond slinking into a pair of short-shorts to essay the role of Daisy Duke, as Mrs. Lachey is doing.

"She's going to be a huge movie star," he tells the mag of Ashlee. "She's like Meg Ryan or Cameron Diaz, with probably more depth. When we're done, she'll play it all."

~~

Ha. No, really. HA! When Ashlee Simpson is as big a star as Cameron Diaz I'll...I'll...nothing I can think of tops the hilarity of Mr. Simpson's assertion. It's just utterly ridiculous. Moderately more talented than Jessica, but still. Just another pop-tart.

And the dad? Ew. Mega-ew. Triple Espresso Ew.