A Short Poem

SNOW

Snow. The abstract thought that is water, frozen in pain.
But fret not, lest winter's grasp thwart thy ambitions!

Tread lightly, tread calmly, and disturbeth not the stalactites...
Looketh out! Die spikens spielen und fallen der headed splitten!

Nay.

Mine eyes see naught but water which condenses not.

Barometrics freeze thy blood cold. Such is ice, unhindered.
The time for sleddage...is nigh.

Barack Obamaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Barack Obama will be our next president.

It almost sounds unreal to say that, especially with all the constant hatred thrown around these days. I find that I am often surrounded by people either at work or school who are always talking shit about the Democrats, and now Obama especially.

I find it quite sickening that while we are transitioning out of an unpopular presidency, some people still hold onto the oddball thought that the Republican party will ever stand for anything except intolerance, religious prejudice, greed and lies. You really think that after 8 years of constant, repetitiive lies, misdirection, blatant disregard for national laws (good example is going to war in Iraq when U.N. said a big, fat "No"), and disrespect for anyone who does not agree with their self-serving idiology. You know, the part where if I don't agree with the ridiculous Iraq War that I'm obviously unpatriotic and "with the terrorists" as Bush put it.

Then we had the Republican presidential campaign this year, which was full of Sarah Palin calling Obama a terrorist, spreading rumors that he was a Muslim, and basically doing the same thing the Repubs do every election...tell Americans that if you don't vote for them: Your family will lose their home, your kids won't go to college, the democrats will raise your taxes, your husband will become infertile, your pets will go rabid, your crops will turn to Jello, your parents will die in a freakish yacht accident, you'll become a leper, you'll lose your job, the democrats will make the U.S. a Communist state, and your wife will suddenly want to get a career of her own.

Plus...He's black! ZOMG!!!!!!!

Look, enough of this crap. I know I only blog about things when I'm pissed off, and this was supposed to be a nice, happy post. Unfortunately, I find myself happier when I point out Republican hypocrisy, rather than bask in the obvious joys of liberalism.

I find it hard to believe how anyone could not be liberal.

You believe that CEOs don't deserve their billions, and that the money could help Americans better by going to middle and lower class workers?

You believe that everyone deserves a chance to obtain a good career and support their family, without having to be an heir(ess)?

You realize that in order to educate our children and provide healthcare to our people, we have to get that public spending from taxation (it's the truth, people. Constant "tax breaks" are not the wonder they claim to be).

You realize that true patriotism comes not from blind obedience to your government, but from the courage to dissent when needed? The founding fathers did. This country was not formed because the settlers thought the King of England was "a pretty fair dude".

If you believe all of the above, and you believe in a fair and just society..HOW CAN YOU VOTE REPUBLICAN?!

I hear people talk about being liberal like it's a disease.

"I hate him...he is so liberal!".

Which is a description of all the above statements I made. Let's replace this with an equally silly statement, with just as much anger and vigor.

"I hate him...he likes puppies!"

Holy shit! Whatever shall we do?!

To quote my brilliant mother, "How can you be liberal enough?"
I share that sentiment.

I realize that I'm rambling now, so I'll shut up. The point is that the Republican party has done nothing for the past decade (and I can go much farther if I mention the blight on this planet that was the Ronald Reagan presidency) except turn us all against each other and set our moral compass back fifty years.

What horrid things did the Democrats do?

...
ummm....

Well...let's see...

...Oh! Clinton lied about getting a blowjob.

Shame, shame.

What's Your THACO?

So, I only played D&D a few times, and I must say that aside from creating a unique character (which was always the fun part), the rest was boring as watching a hammer rust.

However, I began thinking about the alignment system given to characters to determine their purity, judgment, etc., and being the dork that I am, I sat here at my desk (bored) and thought all of a sudden...

"Why don't I make a list of my family members' alignments?"

Pure dorkage.

For those unfamiliar with the system, it is made up of 2 words. The first describes your attittude toward society as a whole, and the second describes your morality. The hierarchy is as follows:


LAWFUL GOOD - You are a saint. A person of faith, and one who always follows the rules of society and law.

LAWFUL NEUTRAL - You typically believe strongly in Lawful concepts such as faith, order and rules, but don't always agree with "the system" and often follow a personal code as opposed to the status quo.

LAWFUL EVIL - You typically obey your superiors and keep your word (trustworthy), but care nothing for the rights and freedoms of other individuals.

---
NEUTRAL GOOD - A neutral good character is guided by his conscience and typically acts altruistically, without regard for or against Lawful precepts such as rules or tradition. A neutral good character may cooperate with lawful officials but does not feel beholden to them.

TRUE NEUTRAL - You are neither good nor evil. You see these as mere prejudices and extremes. You strive towards a balance in all things. This is the only alignment a druid can be.

NEUTRAL EVIL - You are typically selfish and have no qualms about turning on allies-of-the-moment. You have no compunctions about harming others to get what you want, but you won't go out of your way to cause carnage or mayhem when you see no direct benefit from it.
---

CHAOTIC GOOD - Chaotic Good is known as the "Rebel" alignment. A chaotic good character favors change for the greater good, disdains bureaucratic organizations that get in the way of social improvement, and places a high value on personal freedom.

CHAOTIC NEUTRAL - A character of this alignment is an individualist who follows his or her own heart, shirks rules and traditions. They typically act out of self-interest, but do not specifically enjoy seeing others suffer.

CHAOTIC EVIL - Characters of this alignment tend to have little respect for rules, other peoples' lives, or anything but their own selfish desires. They typically only behave themselves out of fear of punishment.

I thought about this because of the zodiac thing going around, but this is a more personal adaptation, and has to do less with the chance of when you were born.

So here goes...


Dadd: LAWFUL NEUTRAL.

Momm: TRUE NEUTRAL.

Jenn: LAWFUL NEUTRAL

Libby: CHAOTIC GOOD.

Sarrah: CHAOTIC NEUTRAL.

Dann: CHAOTIC GOOD.

Meggan: NEUTRAL GOOD.

Chhrisco: NEUTRAL GOOD.



HONORABLE MENTIONS (for examples of the extremes):
--------------------------------------------------------------

Doc Holliday: NEUTRAL EVIL.

Karl Rove: LAWFUL EVIL.

Sarah Palin: CHAOTIC EVIL.

Nuns: LAWFUL GOOD.
(I didn't say "The Pope" because he's politically motivated)

"The Shining Star"

Working at the post office made me an angry person. Well...angrier. When I became vegetarian, I was made fun of for weeks, being called a hippie and that "animals were born to be food." When I wanted to buy a foreign car for fuel efficiency, I was openly called a Communist by several people at work. When I told them I was running a marathon, the biggest response I got was "Oh. That's nice." I wanted to shoot myself whenever I walked in the door.

Since coming to the hospital in November of 2007 (almost a year now), it has since been a total turnaround. The marathon came around again this year, I had people sending me emails cheering me on. I had nurses stop by my desk and talk to me for 10 minutes, asking me about how I got into running, how often I run, and what my other plans were. When the Civic Open came around, over 10 nurses and doctors told me they were actively trying to get the night off to come see me sing. Today, my first day back to work since the competition, I returned to find a huge, hand-made card on my desk.

The front had my name written on it, and a huge star "Stress Ball" that they had written "Our Shining Star" on it in pen, as well as the name of the song I sang.

The next page had a pasted picture of a guy dancing and singing, and said "From all the 4BC staff! You can use the stress ball for whenever you get nervous."

The last page had a large message for me.

...and was signed by everyone on my floor.

Some even wrote me a little message.

I swear, if I hadn't been at work, I would've cried.

Like a baby.

A baby with Colic.

This was the nicest thing they couldn't ever done. These people haven't even known me for a year, and they cheered me on, sent me congratulations, and even spent money to come see me perform.

Somehow, getting Second Place didn't matter anymore.

being upset over a decision means nothing compared to the number of friends I had behind me that night.

Stumper

I have a pop quiz question for anyone who could figure it out. I made it up, too. So obvious antagonists (Chris) will emerge from the woodwork.

What phrase is this used to remember?

"My Mother Never Cooks Steak Ever, Sarah!"

Ten points to the one who figures it out.
...Of course, this requires a bit of knowledge about Me, too.

And don't forget to participate in my Lyrics Game (see post below this one).

Lyrics Game

I stole this idea off another blog I found.

Everyone who comments, leave part of a song with lyrics that match the theme.

They did it with minerals, but I'm choosing Days of the week.

I'll go first:

(by the way, you only need one day in your response. I just have a whopper.

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

"I don't care if Monday's blue.

Tuesday's gray and Wednesday, too.

Thursday, I don't care about you; It's Friday, I'm in love."

The Cure

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"The Marathon Men...er People", Take Two

After many months of training, route changes, speed runs, new training schedules, near drop-outs (that would be me), and gallons of gatorade...the marathon is once again upon us.

This year, we have vowed to run faster, indeed...but more importantly, smarter.

Last Year's Triumph

In order to avoid certain follies of last year, and hopefully improve our stamina, we have elected the following:

1. I'll be bringing a Fanny pack. Insert laughs here. Hopefully it will be more of a Fanny belt, since all it will need to hold will be goo, my cellphone, and some Ibuprofen.

2. Oh yes, the Ibuprofen. Last year, Sarah and I remember seeing salvation: Two teenage girls manning a table with cups of Ibuprofen. Sarah promptly screamed and jumped at them. The girls of course thought they were about to be eaten alive. However, the point is that this station was located far after the pain had sunk into our butts, at the 20-mile mark.

This year, the "Fanny Belt" will contain painkillers for the appropriate...ohh....15 mile mark, give or take.

3. Hopefully, this year's Gatorade will not be the High Sodium crap. It gives you a wicked stomach jumble.

4. TO THOSE ACCOMPANYING US FOR SUPPORT:

I will bring my cellphone this year, hopefully stuffing it in the "belt" or putting it in my fleece vest, which I may or may not wear. This way, I can call you guys when we will arrive at key places and mile-markers.

TEAM UBERCUL

"You've got a medal? I've got a medal, too!"