It's a personal journal.

ibsulon @ 2009-04-28T18:13:00

2009-04-29T01:15:42Z

A meme, stolen from theferrett -- I also put it on facebook.

One question.

One chance.

One honest answer.

That's all you get.

You get to ask me one question.

Any question, anything, no matter how crazy, dirty, or wrong it is.

If it's something you don't want in public, email me. Screening comments makes it hard to, you know, answer.

I honestly don't expect I have a lot of questions, and most y'all have my facebook account anyway :)

Microfiction rough draft.

2009-04-18T20:44:04Z

I turned to my wife, then back to the beautiful pair of legs sharing the bed with me. Shrodinger would confirm me half dead right now.

GAY DEATH!

2009-03-29T18:11:08Z

This is the official day. Twinks stay away!

I started to write something philosophical but it can wait. I do feel old today, however.

For locals: yoshimatsu has authentic kareoke.

2009-02-22T02:59:18Z

We went out last night and there were only a few people other than our rambunctious group, and so we all got in a bunch of songs. Only thing is, the songs are the old school japanese type so it sounds completely different than the original so if you don't know it completely it can be rough. And it's funny when there's an angry song underlined by dolphins and the Eiffel tower.

Perhaps it's time for a group outing?

And a very happpy birthday...

2009-01-17T19:47:53Z

to afraclose !

Random Thought.

2009-01-14T20:18:59Z

I'm going to boldly predict a fashion in the next three years: people are going to buy old sewing machines and start making their own clothes as a final contempt of culture combined with the downturn of the economy. Crafting has re-emerged as a subculture. All the pieces fit.

Then, clothing lines will sell their own cloth. Current fabric companies will rebrand themselves, or new ones will take their place.

And everyone will just collapse of exhaustion.

NEW (ish) lone sausage short.

2009-01-07T06:54:03Z

http://www.mondominishows.com/index.php?IdEpisode=552&episodesPage=0&series=28

Not as good, but has a decent punchline.

Looking for Facebook people...

2009-01-02T23:40:15Z

Finally on facebook, I am. Why? Because I want to look at their apps system. But, I might as well get people on there.

Happy new year!@!one!!

2009-01-01T19:30:04Z

Hoping for everyone a great new year!

2007 meme update for 2008

2008-12-31T19:10:47Z

1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before?
Sadly, I can't think of anything significant. I was fired for the first time, but that's not something I did. (and certainly not something I'm proud of.) This was a pretty boring year, all in all.

2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
The self control issues last year cleared up quite a bit with the job change. :) -- I'd like more work ethic still, but things aren't nearly as bad as they were last year. I also worked a bit on my assertiveness. This year, I'm going to work on finding my power in the Steve Pavlina sense.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Not that I can think of... I know diana gave birth, but I really don't know her well.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Luckily, the same.

5. What countries did you visit?
Sadly, none. There's a 50/50 for next year.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
My own business that's thriving.

7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
November 4. Next year? January 20. :)

8. What were your biggest achievements of the year?
I can't think of any major achievements! This will have to chance next year.

9. What was your biggest failure?
I'm starting to feel like I lost a year in my life. :(

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Well, right now my left wrist is acting up, but nothing major over the year.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Likely the macbook. Hopefully it will pay for itself next year with iPhone application sales. :)

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
The American People.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
The American People.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Restaurants and rent, yet again.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
The election season, of course. I'm a political junkie. The roller coaster ride made me feel like I'd done a lot more than I did.

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?
MGMT - Time to pretend.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? Happier. That job was sucking the life out of me and I didn't realize it. (I'm bored with this one, but nothing like last year.)
ii. Thinner or fatter? About the same. I balooned up to 199, down to 185 at its lowest, and back up to 190, though slightly smaller in the waist.
iii. richer or poorer? Richer. (I actually didn't lose too much in investments, ignoring my 401k which I have for years.)

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Doing new things, looking at my list now. :)

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
I can't say much of anything. Even though I say I wasted the year, there's not much I'd trade given the circumstances.

20. How did you spend Christmas?
With my immediate family (Including the boyfriend, of course) and then coming home and watching Julia Sweeney's "Letting Go of God" with friends of ours. (I believe this is an inspired Christmas choice. :D)

21. Of the new places you visited this year, which was your favourite?
I don't believe I visited anywhere new, though I hadn't been to Santa Fe for years. Travel just wasn't in the cards this year.

22. Did you fall in love in 2008?
I'm still in love with the one I have. :)

23. How many one-night stands?
We briefly opened up our relationship while my boyfriend was abroad, and I had one with someone I knew previously.

24. What was your favourite TV program?
Project Runway <blush> I don't watch many programs.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate time last year?
Nope.

26. What was the best book you read?
Julie and Julia was really good, but was very poorly reviewed and I'm get it but disagreed. I got a lot out of Steve Pavlina's Personal Development for Smart People: The Conscious Pursuit of Personal Growth but don't know if I'd recommend it to everyone. It's so incredibly different from the frameworks that we're used to, which made me think. He's weird. He knows it. If you accept that going in, it has some great ideas.

Just one quick one. Rate your life in terms of money, relationships, the standard terms. Give it a 1-10 scale.

Then, when you're done? Look at it. And then everything that's a 2-8? Cross it out and place a 1 in its place. Chances are, these are places you're settling in life and are more dissatisfied than you're willing to admit to yourself.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
There was a lot of great new music this year. MGMT was a ton of fun. It reminds me a lot of Jamiraquoi, actually. (PS - Bon Iver is starting to grow on me, just by repeated exposure. It's a common theme for me - You can place 90% of music in front of me and if I hear it 5 times or more, I'll start liking it unless I have an immediate visceral reaction. I think I even liked the Eagles once upon a time. Never liked Garth Brooks, though.)

28. What did you want and get?
More cookware :) As my boyfriend points out, I don't cook enough, but I like having it anyway. It's retarded, I know.

29. What did you want and not get?
I no can has marriage. (Then again, this would be a problem even were it legal for other reasons involving a boyfriend who doesn't believe in marriage.)

30. What was your favourite film of this year?
I'm the wrong person to ask. Sorry. I think it would have been better had I seen more than a handful made in 2008. Nothing really gets me excited in retrospect. I don't know if Letting Go of God should count as it was more a taped recording than a film, but it comes to mind.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I was 29, and I can't remember. It was a friday night, I think I went out to dinner and then we went out after that.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
A more satisfying work life.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
Mostly button up short sleeve shirts and jeans.

34. What kept you sane?
I don't remember being particularly sane.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Still wouldn't trade my boyfriend for any of them. And I'm not a huge celebrity watcher.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
It's a close tossup between our screwing up of the middle east and LGBT issues.

37. Who did you miss?
The nanoers. I'm still sad the group broke up, though everything runs its course. I feel like the vast majority of people I see now are Hikmet's friends, and I'm a bit sad I haven't kept on to my own as much, though there were a lot of people moving away and such.

38. What LJ users did you meet for the first time this year?
I think there were a few at the one pre-nano meeting I went to this year...

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
Life altering experiences aren't necessary to have a good year? (In all honestly, I feel a bit stalled in my growth right now.)

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
Well, this is a bit of opposite land, but...

This is our decision, to live fast and die young.
We've got the vision, now let's have some fun.
Yeah, it's overwhelming, but what else can we do.
Get jobs in offices, and wake up for the morning commute.

Mine was the latter two lines, not the former two.

Because I already did the work...

2008-12-24T18:05:46Z

This was something that I wrote in response to someone talking about how liberals were hypocrites for not being tolerant toward Rick Warren in particular and evangelicals in general. As many of you feel similarly to me, I thought I'd share it with everyone. :)

"It turns out the far left isn't really about diversity, compromise, brotherhood or coming together. It is about indoctrination, intolerance, conformity of ideas and hatred. It doesn't want to get along. It wants to stomp those who oppose them under the booted heal of the tyranny of ideas. Anyone who does not think or act just like them is to be brutally denigrated, demonized, chastized and ridiculed."

Myth of the monolithic whole.

I'll use myself as an example. I have very little use for the word tolerance, especially toward those who have showed such hatred toward me. They started the cultural war, and I'm not here to stick a flower in their gun because they'd just as well shoot me with that gun and then beat me with it just for good measure.

No, tolerance is one of those words used by liberal and mainline Christians, those words used by buddhists and liberal Muslims and other minority religions.

I have no use for tolerating parents who throw their children out into the streets for being gay or transgendered.

I have no use for tolerating those who fight against hate crimes inclusion for sexual and gender minorities. The queer population is second most likely (after black people) to be assaulted or murdered for their sexual or gender orientation. Why in the world should I tolerate people who laugh at my people's assault and murder?

I have no use for tolerating those who use their religion as an excuse to treat me as a second class citizen. Tolerance just emboldens those who persecute me.

I know that my boyfriend will be graduating with his Ph.D in just a few years. At that point, we are going to have to start playing the immigration lottery, or move. I have no tolerance for those who would exile me from my country to be with one I love.

No More Mister Nice Gay.

No, you've confused two separate groups. Tolerance is for people who are unwilling or unable to fight. While I'm not about to bomb a church, nor am I willing to face violent acts at this time, I'm sure as hell not rolling over and playing dead. What good does it do?

I will tolerate those who tolerate me, and I will (within reason) embrace those who embrace me. (Allow me a hypocrisy in that I will not embrace pedophiles as an exception to this.)

But I will speak out when someone slaps me in the face by placing in honor one who has equated me to a thief and murderer.

I took that dumb life experience test.

2008-12-05T22:02:40Z

Overall, you have partaken in 98 out of 169 possible life experiences.
Your average life experience score is therefore 58%.

It seems to have been written by someone who has had few life experiences. :)

Again, "BEEN TO AFRICA" is idiotic when every other question is a country. This kind of shit makes me want to write a test. Further, these are US-centric. Now, if you're ever going to write one of these questionnaires, here's how you do it

TRAVEL:

I've been to:

() North America
() South America
() Europe
() Austrailia
() Antarctica
() The Middle East
() Central Asia (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Former Soviet republics...)
() Southeast and Far Eastern Asia (China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam...)
() Sub-Saharan Africa

I've been to:

() More than five countries
() More than ten countries
() More than thirty countries
() Every country on a continent (excluding Antartica and Austrailia)
() Any Island nation (US territories don't count.)
() A city with more than ten million people

Give a point for every biome that you've visited for a full day (outside cities -- camping, basically)

ice sheet & polar desert tundra taiga temperate broadleaf forest

temperate steppe subtropical rainforest Mediterranean vegetation monsoon forest

arid desert xeric shrubland dry steppe semiarid desert

grass savanna tree savanna subtropical dry forest tropical rainforest

alpine tundra montane forest

(For example, if you've lived in Tucson, and spent a night out in the desert, camped in a forest in one of the mountains, and visited Costa Rica's rainforest for a night, you'd have three biomes. I'd have to think on how to do this, though.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomes
___

And perhaps a "I've lived in more than 1, 2, 5, 10 countries" question.

100 things I've done...

2008-12-03T23:40:33Z

From syrinxkat .

37 / 100 Things I've done...

1. Started your own blog.
2. Slept under the stars.
3. Played in a band. (I guess Rockband doesn't count. :)
4. Visited Hawaii.
5. Watched a meteor shower.
6. Given more than you can afford to charity. (Well, does an abusive religious institution count? :/)
7. Been to Disneyland.
8. Climbed a mountain.
9. Held a praying mantis.
10. Sang a solo. (If only kareoke counted...)
11. Bungee jumped. (Sigh... was going to do it at 21... hard to find places to do this now.)
12. Visited Paris. (A wonderful two weeks!)
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.(Though a monsoon should count!)
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch.
15. Adopted a child.
16. Had food poisoning.
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty.
18. Grown your own vegetables. (One day... if I have a stable place to live with a backyard...)
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France. (WAY OVERRATED! Not to mention, you can't get nearly close enough to look at it seriously. Veronese's "The Wedding Feast at Cana", the largest in the Louvre, is a much more interesting sight.)
20. Slept on an overnight train.
21. Had a pillow fight.
22. Hitch hiked.
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill. (Nope. I've taken sick days due to depression, though.)
24. Built a snow fort.
25. Held a lamb.
26. Gone skinny dipping.
27. Run a Marathon.
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice.
29. Seen a total eclipse.
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset. (This is Tucson, home of some of the best sunsets in the world!)
31. Hit a home run.
32. Been on a cruise.
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person.
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors.
35. Seen an Amish community. (My paternal great grandparents were Mennonite. Same ideas, except with technology.)
36. Taught yourself a new language. (Working on it, anyway)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied. (At any one point.)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person.
39. Gone rock climbing.
40. Seen Michelangelo's David.
41. Sung karaoke.
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt.
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant.
44. Visited Africa. (Sure... Paris and Venice have their own spot, but you don't even differenciate North Africa from sub-saharan?)
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight.
46. Been transported in an ambulance. (I don't suggest it.)
47. Had your portrait drawn.
48. Gone deep sea fishing.
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person.
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. (At night in early March. Cold As Hell. But the rush you get with 30 degree wind rushing your face? Fabulous!)
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling.
52. Kissed in the rain.
53. Played in the mud.
54. Gone to a drive-in theater. (My father was a projectionist at the De Anza in Tucson, as well as the Apache and the Rodeo before that.)
55. Been in a movie. Scavenger
56. Visited the Great Wall of China.
57. Started a business.
58. Taken a martial arts class.
59. Visited Russia.
60. Served at a soup kitchen. (Not exactly, though I have volunteered at a clothing donation site, as well as handing out boxes of food)
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies.
62. Gone whale watching.
63. Got flowers for no reason.
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma. (Damn regulations aside, I would now.)
65. Gone sky diving.
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp.
67. Bounced a check.
68. Flown in a helicopter.
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy.
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial.
71. Eaten Caviar.
72. Pieced a quilt.
73. Stood in Times Square.
74. Toured the Everglades.
75. Been fired from a job. (Just once. But it was in my adult life, to my shame.)
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London.
77. Broken a bone.
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle.
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person.
80. Published a book.
81. Visited the Vatican.
82. Bought a brand new car.
83. Walked in Jerusalem.
84. Had your picture in the newspaper.
86. Visited the White House.
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating.
88. Had chickenpox.
89. Saved someone’s life. (Well, I don't know if I saved his life. I was part of an effort, though. He had intentionally overdosed on drugs.)
90. Sat on a jury.
91. Met someone famous.
92. Joined a book club.
93. Lost a loved one.
94. Had a baby.
95. Seen the Alamo in person.
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake.
97. Been involved in a law suit.
98. Owned a cell phone.
99. Been stung by a bee.
100. Read an entire book in one day.

Sharing my shame...

2008-11-21T20:24:00Z

I went and saw Bjorn Again last night, the Abba tribute tour that was playing at Centennial. My excuse is that my boyfriend wanted to go and he bought the tickets. We went with a friend of his.

The good? Their musicianship was top notch. The tickets were only 10 bucks.

The bad? It was Abba. There's no getting around the shame of seeing people faking Swedish accents (on your foots!) sing for an hour and a half. It wasn't as fun as it should have been. The one non-abba cover they did wasn't Flashdance.

Instead, they did Kiss's rock and roll all night.

___

Then my boyfriend and I went to IBTs and we chatted for a while. It was empty. Not too bad, though.

But that's my life... Abba Tribute bands. Now the world knows.

This year we remember...

2008-11-20T23:49:25Z

http://www.transgenderdor.org/?page_id=58

30 dead on a quick count, 17 in the United States.

But no, we don't need hate crimes legislation, especially for the transgendered. :(

Getting sick as well...

2008-11-03T21:56:13Z

Looks like </a></b></a>has some company. :(

Hoping I can at least stem off the sore throat (always happens to me no matter how I get sick, seemingly) with some cayenne pepper when I get home.

What does your taste in art say about you?

2008-11-01T02:57:01Z

Frankly, it says I didn't like the abstract pieces it suggested. It got the renaissance bit right, though - I'm not a huge fan in general, mostly because the themes don't resonate with me. That said, I really like a lot of abstract art, just not the pieces they picked. Further, I'm not generally that big of a fan of traditional islamic art, but the pieces they picked were better than most I've seen.

Your result for What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test...

Traditional, Vibrant, and Tasteful

-1 Islamic, -2 Impressionist, -1 Ukiyo-e, -2 Cubist, -4 Abstract and -14 Renaissance!

Islamic art is developed from many sources: Roman, Early Christian, and Byzantine styles were taken over in early Islamic architecture; the architecture and decorative art of pre-Islamic Persia was of paramount significance; Central Asian styles were brought in with various nomadic incursions; and Chinese influences . Islamic art uses many geometical floral or vegetable designs in a repetitive pattern known as arabesque. It is used to symbolize the transcendent, indivisible and infinite nature of Allah.

People that like Islamic art tend to be more traditional people that appreciate keeping patterns that they learned and experienced from their past. It is not to say that they are not innovative personalities, they just do not like to let go of their roots. They like to put new ideas into details and make certain that they will work before sharing them with others. Failure is not something they like to think about because they are more interested in being successful and appreciated for their intelligence. These people can also be or like elaborate things in their life as long as they are tasteful. They tend to prefer geometric patterns and vibrant colors.

Take What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test at HelloQuizzy

Bacon!

2008-10-31T16:52:28Z

Copy this sentence into your LJ if you love bacon with a passion that borders on holy, where you imagine yourself eating strips of bacon out of a bowl made of bacon with bacon bits sprinkled all over it...with bacon ice cream for desert.
_____

And I don't care if you vote McCain or Obama, Tim Bee or Gabby Giffords, just vote no on Proposition 102 if you're in Arizona, Prop 8 if you're in California. I don't care if you just go to the poll and vote no on that one piece and turn your ballot in with that.

If I hear that you stayed home when you were registered to vote in one of these two states, next time I see you I will look down, away, and start to cry. Just remember, you will be responsible for my tears.

Not doing NaNo this year... :(

2008-10-30T04:42:06Z

I just can't do it. Things are too hectic this year, too many hours are being worked, and I'm having enough trouble keeping my perspective. I want to, I really want to, but I just don't have enough in the tank to even attempt it this time.

For the first time in 2003, I'm not starting a new document November 1, 12:00.

Next year, maybe... *sigh* Hopefully, I'll at least see a few of my friends doing it once or twice this month, but otherwise I'll see you in December! Have fun! Without me! *sniff*

Remember, kids...

2008-10-13T20:55:18Z

Use drugs, don't let drugs use you.

Too much tea and soda this morning. (What, did you think I was talking about illegal drugs?)

1 soda, 4 lipton teabags, 1 big crash right now.

And now is the meeting. Thank Unicorn that it's on the phone and I can yawn with a muted phone.

Compensating for a lack of sleep sucks.

Y'all missed out.

2008-10-13T20:20:54Z

That's all I gotta say. :)

Well, except Xander and Ryan, who accompanied me to the documentary. (Turns out ytcracker, MC Lars, and one other played at plush afterwards, but I had work early in the morning. Bah. But they'll be back in town with MC Frontalot in a few months, I'll catch them then.)

I went and listened to some nerdcore afterwards. It's progressed a bit from when I last heard. I still don't much like MC Frontalot or Hawking for that matter, but Beefy is pretty good, and Fett's Vette still puts a smile on my face. (I still can't believe that MC Chris made it onto the warped tour.)

The documentary was pretty good, as well, though I would have preferred a better narrative rather than a "what is nerdcore" perspective. Were I a documentarian, I'd be doing a tour instead.

Only three shots...

2008-10-03T16:21:29Z

One of taquilla, two of vodka. It only took me three drinks to get me through the VP debate. Half of it was cringing over Palin's words and thinking GOPAC did a good job with her, and the other half was yelling at Biden's prep team for not getting him some good makeup and not hammering it in OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER again that YOU DO NOT LOOK DOWN, YOU DO NOT LOOK AT GWEN, YOU LOOK AT THE MOTHER FUCKING CAMERA!

He looked like Nixon and she looked like Kennedy. But a very dumb Kennedy.

PS - I swear Rubius Hagrid just walked past my office and asked me where the previous inhabitant was.

Why "none of the above" isn't an option.

2008-09-30T01:29:15Z

This was originally a response on another blog. I'm going to fix it up later and put it in a more prominent place, but for now I'll let people eat into it.

We love to talk about how we'd rather vote for "none of the above." Unfortunately, there are fewer than a thousand people who would make the first cut for qualifications on running a country. You have to have experience at the top levels of a bureaucracy within an order of magnitude of the federal government - that means fortune 500 execs and governors really. We add senators because of the high bar required to reach the position and their experience within the system. (Note: that means Palin and Bush Jr would make the first cut.)

Second, you need people who have a strong understanding of how our government works. These people should have the equivalent of a Political Science major's understanding of government at the very least. (most of the 2500 or so people we could talk about in the first cut would make the second cut.) I'd argue that Obama, being a constitutional lawyer, is far qualified in this aspect but McCain is still very strong here and shouldn't be considered an issue.

Further, they should have an understanding of how other governments work, for purposes of foreign policy matters. (What role does Medvedev have within the Russian government, as opposed to Ahmadinejad? Both are presidents, but Medvedev has a very strong position while Ahmadinejad can be overruled by the Supreme Leader (Ali Khamenei - and I had to look that up. However, he's more important in the scheme of things.) (This should be easy enough to learn, but Palin would fail here for example. Bush Jr. would not, as he had exposure to a few different systems through his business dealings.)

Now, for some of the soft skills. This person will be making many speeches and must be able to handle himself well. For all of what we see in gaffes, these are still within the top 5000 public speakers in the country. Many of the qualified people we see would drop out at this point. This individual must also be very quick on their feet, as the other world leaders aren't going to slow down for them. Here's where I believe Bush Jr. drops off. McCain isn't nearly as fast as he used to be, unfortunately, but still relatively qualified. However, people such as Dan Quayle would be disqualified. (From some accounts, he's not a dumb man. He's just not quick on his feet.)

By this point, you're under a thousand people in this country that would be conceivably qualified. a quarter of the senate, most of the governors, and about 100 CEOs. These CEOs generally have little interest in pursuing politics because of the drop in pay and the hell of going through the process. Forbes and Perot would be exceptions, and both of them would be considered qualified.

Within that pool, there's one more thing. You have to convince 50 million people you're qualified. That's intense scrutiny that very few people can make it through, with a 24/7 press hounding and analyzing your every move. Even if you're the most qualified person in the nation, one little thing here and there can completely derail your campaign.

Who would you pull up as someone you would think was a qualified candidate? I can find nasty baggage on them. Within two weeks of the media getting to them, you would feel queasy about them as dogcatcher. Often, those of the utmost integrity (see: Richard Stallman) have unpalatable views to most of the country. Out they go.

So, we're left with people who are a compromise. They may not be the smartest, or the best speaker, or the quickest on their feet, but by and large every major candidate in our country's history has been pretty close. (Bush Jr. doesn't quite make it. Reagan covered up some of his inadequacies brilliantly with his team.) There have been a few VPs (Quayle?) that don't quite make the mark, but they're generally of good quality.

Let's not forget this when we talk about these races. They're all human, whether we agree with them or not. And let's lot pretend that it's as easy as "none of the above.:"

Writer's Block: One Hit Wonder Day

2008-09-25T20:56:53Z

Today's National One Hit Wonder Day. Whole albums or entire ouvres can be quite impressive, but more often than not, individual songs have the largest impact on us. Which one hit wonders have played a major role in your life?

View 501 Answers

I'm much more an album type, really. I started milling around One Hit Wonder Central and started looking around. Their top 100 doesn't work for me (Benny Mardones as a top one hit wonder for crying out loud!) Dude recorded the same song *three* times, and two of them charted. (The second one is the one we all remember) VH1's list is better.

But of the list...

"Relax" - Frankie Goes To Hollywood. It was one of the first songs as a kid that I recognized as blatently sexual, though not exactly at the time it came out. On a tangent, my first boyfriend (in 2000) gave me a Cassette of the full album. It's actually a pretty durn good album. (The unfair "one hit" moniker is that Two Tribes was also a hit in the UK - it's not as if the US is the only market that counts. Is Radiohead a one hit wonder because "Creep" is the only billboard top 40 hit they've had? They were a one album wonder to be sure, though.)

Shooting stars never stop, even when they reach the top... (I'm listening to Welcome To The Pleasuredome again now...)

"99 Luftbaloons" - Nena. It was a political awareness moment, as a young child.

"I'm too sexy" - Right Said Fred. See Frankie. :) -- This song was in my pubescent awareness, though. Wish I had listened to my pubescent awareness about a decade earlier. :D Then again, who knows how I would have ended up?

"Whip It" - Devo. I would likely have been a geek either way, but why risk it? :)

Oddly enough, my bf is easily startled.

2008-09-20T00:39:21Z

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1842523,00.html

To make a complex study oversimplified, people who startle easy are more likely to be conservative (or at least, to be resistant to change.) Ya Really!