It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Happy March, everybody! This is the most snow I've seen in Nashville in at least 5 years. It started at about 6 last night, and is continuing on now, after 7:30 am. It's supposed to continue until at least noon. The city is pretty much shut down, and we are happy to stay in.

Stupid Fred Thompson

In which I think the man has no idea what the mission of his campaign is:

I'm kind of a laid-back guy, but I've been hardworking and successful for a long, long time. I don't have to prove myself to anybody. I've done pretty well being me. And me is all they're going to get.

Campaigns are all about proving yourself to everybody. Well, not necessarily everybody, but a plurality, anyway. Cuz, you know, you need votes and stuff.

Stupid Court Opinions

It is okay for politicians to lie about each other in campaign ads. At least in Washington state.

Caveat emptor, everybody!

A Stupid Update

I know, I know. And I am sorry. Please forgive my long absence, but be well in knowing that I have been trying, with some measure of success, to get my personal life in order. It's been a very long year, but I am happy.

To update, Mr. Stupid Girl and I have decided to divorce. We are both great people (honest!), but we could not find a way to be the people we were meant to be together. We are both involved, however, with people who have somehow managed to find a way for us to thrive.

Lil Stupid Girl and I have moved to LaVergne, where we share our home with my fabulous new girlfriend, our cat, our dog, and our bird.

This summer has dragged on entirely too long, in my opinion, and the Titans? Yikes. I suppose a win is a win, but winning ugly will only last too long. Oh, and I am officially off the Vince Young bandwagon. And I love a QB who runs (John Elway is still one of my all-time favorites).

Thanks for checking in. I hope you all are well.

What are my favorite blogs, you ask?

Okay, so you didn't really ask. But now I bet you're wondering. Aren't you? See, nobody knows you like I do, dear reader.

And, to honor that, I will attempt to satisfy your newly-hatched curiosity.

I bookmark my blogs into categories, Political Blogs, Fun Blogs, and Food Blogs.

My very favorite political blog is, of course Wonkette (which is generally never safe for work [sorry about that, E!]). Its tagline used to read "Politics for People with Dirty Minds," and, since I am both a poli-sci major and a notorious perv, well, how could I help but love it. Be sure to read the comments, too, because they are among the snarkiest on the interwebs.

Fun Blogs have been a bit neglected by me lately, due to this whole first quarter of the year being equal parts swirling mass of major suckitude and the happiest moments of my life. But one fun blog I enjoy reading is Profiles in Toolness. Granted, not all of the contributors are great writers, but it does have moments of brilliance. I used to be an avid Television Without Pity reader when I really had shows I watched regularly. It was great when Trading Spaces was worth a damn. In fact, it was from TWoP that I learned my favorite non-swearing curse phrase: What the Frank? Oh, and the Six Feet Under recaps were awesome, too.

Now, Food Blogs always get my attention, and there are some fantastic ones. My all-time favorite food blog is Diary of The Food Whore, in which a caterer/restauranteur's brushes with truly (well, hopefully) unique diners are chronicled for humanity. If you recognize yourself among the patrons about whom she writes, I recommend you change your ways. She is a brilliant and funny writer. And, while I am totally omnivore, the Vegan Lunchbox diaries a mom's efforts to make interesting vegan lunches for her school-aged son. She has now published a cookbook. And I have never made lunches that look so good. Accidental Hedonist is an awesome mix of food and politics, often discussing where the two overlap. It tends to be the first site I go to when I hear of a food recall. This blog really opened me up to the illusion of safety of our nation's food supply.

So, I hope I've opened up new vistas on the 'net for friends, family, and total non-stalker-y strangers. Enjoy! Oh, and tell me what your favorite blog is. I love finding cool new ones.

(Oh, P.S. Nashville is Talking is a local favorite blog, which has its own special category, and that I forgot to mention.)

The Road is Long

The first quarter of this year has been quite a whirlwind. I have made great changes in my life in order to become the person I want to be, and that journey has proven to be a very difficult one.

Difficult choices have been made and innocent people have been hurt.

I can only pray those hearts will heal, and that this difficult journey will be worth the effort.

JL Kirk & Associates: Stupid Bullies

Read about it here

Truth is an absolute defense against libel.

Abecedarian

This must be the awesomest new word I have learned in a long time:

Abecedarian \ay-bee-see-DAIR-ee-uhn\, noun:
1. One who is learning the alphabet; hence, a beginner.
2. One engaged in teaching the alphabet.

adjective:
1. Pertaining to the letters of the alphabet.
2. Arranged alphabetically.
3. Rudimentary; elementary.

Courtesy: Dictionary.com

In Tennessee? In April!?

It snowed here today. Big fat flakes were whipping horizontally across the sky for a good 30 minutes this afternoon.

I have spent several Easters hunting eggs in the snow, but that was in places like Michigan and Minnesota. But this, my friends, was darn-near apocalyptic.

Maybe not apocalypse-worthy, but still, it was a sight to behold.

I, your humble blogger, have been nudged...

and, because I have a following (of one, apparently, but I'll take it), I will respond.

There is so much that is stupid going on in the world that it is difficult to focus on just one thing, but I will try. The Stupid i will tackle today is Bloggers Who Fear Intellectual Discourse.

Those of us who have spent any time on the internet, particularly blogs or message boards, have encountered people whose raison d'etre would appear to be pot-stirring. Those are folks who post provocative pieces, but, when challenged by commenters on those pieces, either delete the posts (Terry Frank) or respond by lashing out and name calling (Glen Dean). The latter of those two called me a bitch this week on NashvilleisTalking.com. To be fair, I baited him a bit, because he had, several months ago accused me of "flexing my intellectual dick" over at his place when I corrected his oh-so-misguided notion on something I can no longer recall.

Glen and Terry and their ilk seem to be afraid of challenging their deeply held notions, no matter how lacking in facts they seem to be. So their reaction is to lash out at those of us who aren't afraid of exposing their ideas (not to mention ideals) to intellectual rigor.

When did it become okay to be ignorant? And not just to be ignorant, but to embrace that ignorance with all the gusto to which Linus embraced his blanket? Heaven forfend someone tell those people their notions are misguided. Beware those who dare tell them they've got their facts wrong.

Bless their hearts.

Minneapolis cop calls Representative Ellison a "terrorist"

During a department ethics class, Lt. Bob Kroll, whose record speaks for itself, insinuated that Representative Keith Ellison is a terrorist because, well, Ellison is a *whisper* Muslim.

Here's a tip to wage slaves everywhere, if your department has to issue an apology for your inane statements, perhaps it would be wise of you to either STFU, or find another gig.

We live in the land of biblical idiots

I find this opinion piece both fascinating and troubling (here's a news report about Professor Prothero's article), being a not-so-recent transplant to the Bible Belt, who grew up in, by and large, in Utah, a Bible Belt in its own right. I also attend an evangelical, non-denominational mega-church-to-be. I mean, I think people should read the Bible because it is important literature. I also think people should read the Koran for the same reason. I think both should be taught as part of history, particularly as so much of western civilization concerns these two books.

But, when

50% of high school seniors think Sodom and Gomorrah were married

well, something needs to be done. And it leads me to wonder what is going on in Sunday schools. Anybody actually teaching the Bible?

Oh yeah, General Pace?

You're a dick.

I know that name-calling isn't mature or enlightened.

So what. I am no longer in the military, and I am no longer bound by the UCMJ.

You are a dick, and your bigotry is immoral.

Can't wait to see how many of the soldiers you commanded over the years come out.

Dick.

Nation's Top Cop a Big Fat Liar?

It would seem that when Alberto Gonzales, Attorney General of the United States, testified to the Senate recently, he failed to mention that the White House was deeply involved in the firing of federal prosecutors. While one of his "top aides," Kyle Samson, resigned Monday, apparently because he did not fully disclose to undisclosed "other Justice officials" the extent of then-White House counsel Harriet "I Was Nearly Promoted Beyond My Competence" Miers' involvement in the firing process, Mr. Gonzales did not make any mention of that in his sworn testimony to the Senate. Though he did say "mistakes were made" in handling the situation.

IOKIYAR, though, right?

100 years should be enough time

Sgt. Paul Cortez has been sentenced to 100 years for the rape and murder of a girl as well as the murders of three members of her family.

"I still don't have an answer," Cortez told the judge. "I don't know why. I wish I hadn't. The lives of four innocent people were taken. I want to apologize for all of the pain and suffering I have caused the al-Janabi family."

Hopefully sometime in the next 100 years, he'll be able to figure out why he committed such a monsterous act.

Seriously, folks, HOV lanes are not for single drivers

I don't know WTF is up with you people, but enough is enough, already. I counted 16 out of 20 cars in the HOV lanes, during restricted hours, with only one person (i.e. the driver) in them between Harding and Old Hickory Blvd on I-24 this afternoon.

What's the point in having them if Metro/THP aren't going to enforce them?

Food workers of the world, unite!

And read this blog.

Now, I am the first to admit I can be a bit difficult to please. Like Sally in When Harry Met Sally, I like things the way I like them. Unlike Sally, I do try to be reasonable when I am asking someone else to serve me my food, and I keep the "on the sides" and substitutions to a bare minimum, i.e. none.

I have eaten out a couple of times in my adult life, and one trend that is becoming glaringly obvious to me is this: regardless of how I request my food, I will get it thte way someone else thinks I should have it. Take the other night at the somewhat-recently reopened Texana. I ordered my ribeye medium rare. That means warm and pink on the inside. The only brown on the meat should be on its outside. But the meat that was presented to me was medium well. Not a huge deal, and, unlike other times, I didn't send it back because I was pretty damn hungry.

Today, I went to Arby's on a whim. [An aside: don't ever go to Arby's on a whim. It is an experience that needs to be worked up to.] I went through the drive through because it's really cold outside and I was coming back to the office to eat. I placed my order at the speaker then pulled around to the window where I was ignored for a few minutes. When attention was paid to me it was initially to give me the incorrect change, then to not hear me when I pointed out the incorrect change and what the correct change should have been, then to ignore me again when offering the same information, then to mishear my request for "more ketchup and some horsey sauce, please" as "Arby's sauce," then to mishear my re-request for "more ketchup and some horsey sauce" as "no, I couldn't possibly want more than one packet of ketchup to mask the flavor of your nasty-ass fries and some horsey sauce" as "some horsey sauce."

I never did get the right change, or enough ketchup.

So, food workers of the world, whether you are in fast food, or in fine dining, do one thing: give your customers what they ask for.

Thank you for your attention.

Oddest request of the day

I realize it is still early in the day, but I don't think anything is going to top the "I want a Big Butter Jesus" request made by Li'l Stupid Girl this morning.


I find myself longing, too, after a savior who is large, and made of butter.

Yum!

Let the "Anti-American" Commentary Begin!

The Dixie Chicks [deservedly] cleaned up at the Grammys last night.

I anticipate certain folks of a particular political bent will begin braying "the Grammy voters are, obviously, anti-American" spew soon.

Can't wait!

One small thing you do not know about me

I hate paperclips.