Layout Changes

In case you haven't noticed, I've recently made changes to the layout. I was getting tired of the old look, and considering Monday will mark my one-year anniversary of residing at blogspot, I thought it was time. The one thing that's bugging me is my dissatisfaction with the post title colors that I've tried so far. More to develop.

Here's the deal. If there's something about my layout that you find hard to read or ridiculous, please let me know within a few days. I might even allow a week. But once I've officially decided, I don't want to do much more tweaking.

Bill Clinton: Master of Speeches

I've been watching some of the Democratic National Convention coverage on television. Last night was, by far, the best. No matter what your opinion is of Bill Clinton, the president, or Bill Clinton, the person, you have to love him as Bill Clinton, the master of speeches.

He can speak on any topic, truthfully or not, and draw you in. His presentation is so natural, you want to love him, even if you cannot. That bite of the lower lip makes you question him, but that sly smile brings you back.

However, I'm not sure about his tongue action in the latter portion of his Wednesday speech. Leftover supper? A recent trip to the dentist? Or perhaps it's his new way of making himself pause for effect. Who knows.

The following are six parts to his speech from last night. If you just want to get a taste, I recommend the first and last.

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Part 4


Part 5


Part 6

Brainer or No-Brainer?

I previously thought that voting in the upcoming presidential election would be a no-brainer for me, but now I'm reconsidering my previous stance. As November approaches, I need to dig a little deeper and consider what the best choice is. We'll see what I end up deciding.

This road of indecision is brought to you by a conversation with my brother. (He's very convincing.)

New World Record

In the last few weeks there have been several new world records made. All are amazing, and most are in the realm of athletics due to the 2008 Olympics. However, there is one non-athletic record that I know of that took place in my home.

Saturday morning my brother packed up his car and left for his junior year of college. Then on Sunday morning, my mom found me as I was getting ready for church to tell me, "I miss him already." The reasons that make this a world record are as follows:

1. The verbal expression of missing my brother occurred less than 24 hours after his departure.


2. This is his junior year of college, not his freshman year. He's been away before.


3. It already felt as if my brother wasn't home for a large portion of the summer due to his work and sleep schedule.

This third reason isn't very solid, though. Despite his odd schedule, we still knew he was living at home and would be back within a matter of hours. Somehow that made it different.

Earlier this week, as I was lying in bed at night, I found myself expecting to hear the front door open at any moment, followed by the sound of almost inaudible footsteps and the rustling of a reused plastic grocery bag. When I realized that I wouldn't hear him because he'd gone back to school, my heart sank a little.

Front-Page News

Folks, I've already expressed my love for the Warsaw area, but reading the Times-Union this week has given me the feeling that I live in Hicksville. Take yesterday's front-page...

This picture was shown only because it supposedly (or supposably, whichever you prefer) looks like a dog. This was deemed worthy of the front-page. And right next to it was the account of a guy who got into an altercation with his son-in-law and began to shoot at the tires on his son-in-law's vehicle. This was also found on the front-page of the paper.

And if you go back a few more days, you'll find the news that a man was found sitting naked in some pine trees. I think this was included on a later page, though.

So what have we learned this week? If you want to get on the front-page of the newspaper, find oddly shaped produce or shoot at a car. But if you expose yourself indecently while hanging around some foliage, you won't make the cut.

Airy Diction

I was wrong. Did you hear that? I was wrong.

I gave someone a hard time the other day for saying "supposably," thinking it was the incorrect and nonexistant form of "supposedly." I looked it up, as I promised, and it actually exists!

The next word up for inspection? Grovel.

Alternative Preferences

I don't think my boss has the same musical tastes as me. Last week I was listening to The Alternate Routes when he came by and said something about it being hillbilly music. In their (and my) defense, I said that it's alternative rock. And today I was listening to Matthew Santos, who is more on the folk side of alternative, and he asked me, "Is he sick?"

Say what you will about my music preferences, I will not be deterred!

Note to Self No. 32

When a friend gives you advice, listen to it. (And that means all of it, not just part of it.)

This weekend I tried something new... tanning. This wasn't for vanity's sake, at least that's what I'd like to think. This was for the sake of my bridesmaid dress. I had developed a slight farmer's tan over the summer and thought a little tanning bed action might help me out. Upon hearing of my plans, a friend or two cautioned me to only go a few minutes. I agreed with them, but when it came down to it, I added a few more minutes.

The ten on Friday were okay; part of me only became slightly pink. After a couple days, I decided to up my time to 15 minutes on Sunday. I followed this with my usual Sunday afternoon nap, after which, I awoke to slight stiffness. As the evening wore on, my shades of pink quickly darkened to [wait for it] red. So my tanning escapades have probably come to an end.

As I moved around last night and today, I remembered scenes from the I Love Lucy episode where Lucy gets burnt to a crisp. And I definitely had a moment last night in which I could have sworn I was going to lose my supper. But my usual routine, which includes immediately sipping cool water, quickly subdued the situation.

However, the tanning hasn't made things much worse. I think it did even out my previous tan lines a little, and most of the red will be covered by the dress. And there's still several days for it to significantly fade.

Now if I only had a few bruises, my patriotic look would be complete.

Poor Judgement

The other day while I was working on something for my class, I thought I had a really funny thought to post on my blog. So last night I looked at the note I had jotted down, with the intention of posting it here. Upon looking at it, I decided that, in some circumstances, my judgement is poor. My hilarious thought was quite dull. Very boring. So boring that it would almost be embarrassing to post it. And yet I'll still post it so you can laugh at how boring it is. Are you ready?

A couple days ago, as I was furiously working away at a paper, I felt like my brain had momentarily frozen up. So I exclaimed aloud, "Brain! Function!"

That's it.

All-Exclusive Family Vacation

Tomorrow morning the fam will head south to visit family, leaving me with a list of duties to make sure get done while they're gone. They're very simple things, such as getting the mail, checking for phone messages, watering the lawn, and taking out the trash. But they're things I don't normally do. Any bets I'll go a few days forgetting some of them?

Also, they'll be taking our best vehicle, the newer of our Buicks. It makes sense, considering the distance they're going. Then I'll get to drive our second best car, the little Saturn I used to call mine that my brother now uses. (That's right, the one that made friends with a deer last fall.)

We're a strange family, swapping vehicles as the occasion calls for it. The first few times my boss saw me come to work in one car and leave in another (because a family member switched cars with me partway through the day), he seemed to get a little confused. I guess it does confuse even me at times. A few days ago I filled up the Buick's tank only to realize that it did me no good (because it will be out of the state for a week). Phooey. I hope the Saturn's full. Even if it's not, though, it'll be much less than my usual "boat-of-a-car" Buick fill-up.