Today is my one year blog-versary. Gary, the proprietor of Soul Parking, introduced me to blogging back in 2002. i posted a few poems and a couple of journal entries there before i discovered Glogger quite by accident. It was one year ago today that i posted my first Glogger post on a site entitled: annika's journal and poetry. Now here i am, 674 posts later, and what have i got?

• A total of 177,805 words ± a few dozen;


• 62,901 hits and 2719 comments;


• 5086 occurrences of the pronoun "i" in lower case, of course;


• 167 utterances of the word "fuck" in all its glorious varieties;


• 58 "shits", 42 "hells" and 14 "damns;"


• i also overused the word "probably" 97 times;


• The word "love" was used 107 times;


• My favorite verb "was" was overused an embarrassing 1513 times. My Freshman English teacher would be so disappointed.

• The first blog to ever link me, Christopher Johnson's Midwest Conservative Journal;


• The first blog i ever linked to: Anne's;


• My first comment, left by Jim Treacher;


• Blogging from New York City;


• Declaring my allegiance to the Alliance of Free Blogs and its supreme leader, Frank J;


• The instalanche;


• Hitting Large Mammal on the Ecosystem;


• Being voted 3rd sexiest female blogger (i still can't figure that one out.);


• Redesigning my site with a picture i took in New York and column format i borrowed from Maizzy;


• Contributing to Paul's dating tips for men;


• Being selected by Bill Cimino as the first non-Paul blog that sucks;


• My wonderful guest bloggers: Franci, Ginger, James, Lynn, Matt and Coyote;


• My move to Mu.Nu and Movable Type;

Posted by: annika at 12:00 AM | Comments (22) | Add Comment
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1 Awesome. Congratulations on your accomplishment. And I'm so happy that you are sticking around!!

Posted by: ginger at March 09, 2004 05:21 AM (/Ov+I)

2 Congrats. Here's to this year being better for ya than last.

Posted by: Publicola at March 09, 2004 05:27 AM (Aao25)

3 Congrats and Yay!

Posted by: Ted at March 09, 2004 06:16 AM (blNMI)

4 Yay and congrats!!! (I'm not as much of an early bird as Ted).

Posted by: Susie at March 09, 2004 07:17 AM (8giUV)

5 Congratulations. And thanks for not quitting your blogiverse. We'd all miss you.

Posted by: physics geek at March 09, 2004 07:32 AM (Xvrs7)

6 Well, thank goodness you had a change of heart, Annie! You have been a daily read of mine since I went "live" myself in July of last year... and I think it was MCJ that led me to you all those months ago, back in the rage of the Gene Robinson consecration. You are my favorite blogging right-leaning, over-educated Cal grad/Celtic supporting gal in the whole danged universe.

Posted by: Hugo at March 09, 2004 07:56 AM (89maB)

7 Congratulations! I loved the run down of your anniversary highlights.

Posted by: Dawn Summers at March 09, 2004 08:40 AM (HLOeu)

8 Nice to have met you too annika! 1 whole year...how 'bout some tix to the june dodger/yankee series to celebrate? you can send them care of Matt Scofield, Dallas TX...har har Keep pluggin' away, your site is 3 kinds of fun to visit

Posted by: Scof at March 09, 2004 08:45 AM (XCqS+)

9 Congratulations. I won't hit 1 year until August, and that just seems very hard to believe. At this point, I can't imagine quitting and I am very glad you're not.

Posted by: Stephen Macklin at March 09, 2004 10:23 AM (UquFN)

10 Nice going, and I'm glad you decided to tough it out!

Posted by: Rich at March 09, 2004 10:59 AM (V43HN)

11 You've got a lot to give and I'm glad you're sharing, annie. Thank you for a great year!

Posted by: d-rod at March 09, 2004 12:00 PM (CSRmO)

12 Congratulations, Annie! And let me add my voice to the chorus of "thank-heavens-you-didn't-go"s. Of course I've been blogging for a year and a half (I'm not leaving OS out; he wasn't with me in the beginning), and have only about 2/3 the hits you've gotten . . . So thanks for making me even more aware of my inadequacies! ;-) Speaking of the TTLB Ecosystem, you forgot to update your URL over there. 'Course, I don't know how one goes about doing that, but there must be a way . . .

Posted by: Matt at March 09, 2004 06:55 PM (of2d1)

13 You're all very sweet, thank you! i've been submiting update requests to NZ Bear for about two months now. No action yet. And according to my Reglogger records, The very first people to leave comments, who still visit here are in order: Shae, Matt Rustler, Zombyboy, Ginger!

Posted by: annika! at March 09, 2004 09:05 PM (r55l+)

14 Happy bloggy birthday!

Posted by: Leah at March 09, 2004 09:31 PM (K4eJ5)

15 Yay for Pixy Misa! Yay for Munuviana! Yay for annika!

Posted by: Pixy Misa at March 09, 2004 10:34 PM (kOqZ6)

16 Happy blogiversary!

Posted by: Chris at March 09, 2004 10:42 PM (uMU3+)

17 Congrats, and best wishes for many more.

Posted by: Dave J at March 10, 2004 07:21 AM (VThvo)

18 Congrats Annika. Keep it up!

Posted by: javaslinger at March 10, 2004 08:37 AM (3rYmf)

19 Yay! We are so happy to still have you around.

Posted by: candace at March 10, 2004 09:50 AM (diz2c)

20 Congratulations my dear! Please excuse me for being late on this as this date I spent most of it at the VA....I think that's a pretty darn good excuse. I'm very glad you are not going to quit blogging as you are one of my favorites. You have a nice mixture of posts from the very smartly written annikapunditry categories to the posts that let us get to know a little bit about you, the Annika, the person behind the blog. Keep it up hon...you do good.

Posted by: Serenity at March 11, 2004 01:30 AM (4A/WT)

21 Thank you Serenity, you're one of my blog idols! And i'm so glad to hear that you have Veterans benefits! i was praying for you!

Posted by: annika! at March 11, 2004 09:15 AM (zAOEU)

22 Oh, how I wish I was still in SoCal....it's ccccold here. Congrats on the blogoversary (mine was in January). I have 8,000 hits in the last year, 350 in the last week (thanks to a few links). And I don't get the third place finish, either. I think you should have finished higher...

Posted by: greg at March 11, 2004 09:06 PM (2vrMi)

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No, really.

What book am i?

You're Dune!


by Frank Herbert


You have control over a great wealth of resources, but no one wants to let you have them. You've decided to try to defend yourself, but it may take eons before you really get back what you feel you deserve. Meanwhile you have a cult-like following of minions waiting for your life to progress. This would all be even more exciting if you could just get the sand out of your eyes.


Take the Book Quiz

at the Blue Pyramid.

i got this quiz offa Thoroughly Modern Monyca. i just stumbled onto her site and i like it. i'd congratulate Monyca on being sworn in to the New York Bar, but her blog has no comments. i decided to blogroll her, since there's not enough lawyers on my blogroll. (i'm being facetious, of course. There's seven on there that i know of, not counting Publicola, who probably should be a lawyer.)

Posted by: annika at 06:00 PM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
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Got this offa Sarah's blog.

Posted by: annika at 10:34 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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News from the Norwegian site, Aftenposten:

Large amounts of uranium may have gone missing from a nuclear technology company in Sweden. The American Central Intelligence Agency fears a worst-case scenario where the material has already fallen into terrorist hands . . . .

Swedish authorities raided Ranstad Mineral several times and shut the company down on the grounds of deficient security.

[A] CIA operative claims to know that the little Swedish company has educated Syrian nuclear physicists in the treatment of uranium. He also has information that a Swedish consultancy has sold nuclear equipment to Syria that can be used in the treatment of radioactive material.

Link spotted on Scandinavia's Cross.

Posted by: annika at 10:18 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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If I were a Star Wars character, I would be:
Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Take the
"Which Star Wars Character Am I?" Quiz
by Always Two There Are

Got this from Tiger.

Posted by: annika at 09:43 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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. . . Sunday morning in L.A. The promised Summer weather hit with a bang this weekend. It's warm. There are still some wintry bare trees, as it seems the foliage hasn't yet caught up with the sun . . .

. . . i missed the morning mass and will have to go to this evening's. ThatÂ’s not a bad thing, they have an excellent contemporary choir at my churchÂ’s 5:00 service. At most every other Sunday evening mass, the music is “god-awful.” But there are so many entertainment types in my parish, our choir is probably stacked with professional singers . . .

. . . i want to play today, but i have several icky chores to accomplish. Oil change, wash the car, go in to work and finish time sheets. The oil change and car wash i dread. That means sitting on a plastic bench, waiting, for at least an hour and a half, probably two hours total, since everybody waits 'til the weekend to do those things and it will be crowded . . .

. . . Yesterday's shopping was most satisfactory. Two striped sleeveless tees, khaki short shorts, mid length cargo shorts, a pink beach hoodie with matching drawstring shorts, pair of all purpose jeans, two pair of capris, flip-flops to match the earthtone outfits, a pink pair for lighter colorey looks and a light blue pair with rainbow straps for general usage. i'm still not done, but i must wait for the next pay period to refurbish my clubbing and beach wardrobes. Then i'll be ready for summer . . .

Still awake?

. . . On to the blogosphere, it seems to be a quiet Sunday morning, as Stephen noted. LeeAnn also ponders the Sunday blogger's dilemma. When the weather is so-so, there's nothing i like more than to spend Sunday morning on the computer. But when it's nice, like today, i'd rather be playing. i'm here now because i'm trying to put off my chores . . .

. . . i see that Anne (straight from the hip) is enjoying her return to L.A. Her visit to Warner Bros. reminded me of the two times i was on that lot, about five years ago. i came down from S.F. with Betty for a visit, after one of her college friends got a job at WB. She invited us to a private movie screening for employees, which i guess they do twice a week.

When we got there, Betty and i just walked onto the lot. The security guy at the gate didn't even look our way. i had thought that studios were supposed to be tight with the security. Of course, that was before 9/11; i doubt they'd allow that nowadays. The theater was modern and pretty state-of-the-art, as far as i could tell. There wasnÂ’t an empty seat in the house. Really comfortable seating, too. And a very loud sound system.

i can't remember the movie we saw, but it was some lame action flick and they had the volume turned waaay up. Like seemingly everyone else i've met from "the business," Betty's friend was a total stoner, and she kept getting out of her seat to look for her connection. Nobody seemed to mind her, even though we werenÂ’t sitting on the aisle. i guess most of the people knew each other, it was a kind of social event.

A couple of days later we all met for lunch at the Warner Brothers commissary. That was fabulous. i don't remember what we ate, it was probably meatloaf or turkey or something. It didn't really matter, i was too starstruck. Everybody in there was either attractive or famous. i saw Drew Carey, who smiled at me, and George Cloonie, who's just as much a babe as he is on the screen. That was back in the days before i realized he was an idiot; i think he might have just finished with The Peacemaker or maybe it was Three Kings.

Then we went to the Warner Brothers employee store, where the CDs seemed to be selling at wholesale prices, not including employee discount. If i had known the girl better i would have asked her to buy the Led Zeppelin, box set, which was normally over a hundred bucks, but with her discount i think i could have got it for like forty.

Then we walked around the lot and got a close up look at the fake buildings and the sound stages. That was better than going on the Universal Studios tour, because we saw the actual everyday working sets, not HollywoodÂ’s version of Hollywood you get on the Universal tour . . .

Okay, whatever, enough rambling. iÂ’m off to Jiffy Lube.

Posted by: annika at 11:45 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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And i have nothing to wear.

Reading Candied Ginger, i saw Candace's pretty pink stilettos, which inevitably made me think about shopping. My roommate told me that Southern California has most likely finished its yearly week of rain and we can expect summer weather very soon. And all i have are sweaters and last year's tired t-shirts. i need a shopping trip now.

That train of thought led me to the internet, where i could do some preliminary vetting in preparation for tomorrow's binge fest. (The firm's bonuses were handed out today. When i looked at mine, i did a mini Dean yell.) The beginning of spring means new flip-flops, as Lorie pointed out weeks ago. And flip-flop shopping means Old Navy.

But wait, Polo is having a sale. What? Scalloped edged tees? And shorts, need shorts, must buy shorts. Even after eight months of living down here, my wardrobe is too San Francisky. My excellent selection of sweaters has become superfluous.

So, tomorrow's itinerary includes the old standbys: Banana Republic, Old Navy, And Nordstrom, where i wouldn't mind checking this lovely item out for size. Mmm-hmm.

Posted by: annika at 12:48 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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1 That is an impressive and ambitious agenda...just another shopping trip for you though I imagine ...oh and he's gay. that shirt screams it.

Posted by: Scof at March 05, 2004 04:56 PM (XCqS+)

2 Oh! Now I want to go shopping, but I don't have any money. Darn it all.

Posted by: other Annika at March 05, 2004 05:24 PM (LjuK3)

3 "Spring Is Here And i have nothing to wear." & what was the problem again? (sorry - couldn't resist)

Posted by: Publicola at March 06, 2004 08:44 AM (Aao25)

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Here's a fun diversion. Try to match the following idiotic statements with the appropriate idiotic celebrity:

1. Sometimes it's cool to make mistakes.


2. [He] hates my indecisiveness when it comes to making decisions.


3. God, I didn't see the pool. Why does he have a pool there?


4. When I use those paints there's pure irony, because my paintings are always very dark. It makes them even more meaningful. And my favourite colour to paint with is pink. That's quite odd.


5. You're scary and I feel really dark when I'm around you.


6. Thank you Brazil!

Posted by: annika at 12:55 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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1 I was three for six. I knew the last one and I guessed Britney for the other five figuring the odds were in my favor.

Posted by: Kurt at March 05, 2004 09:14 AM (/7AX2)

2 Not a bad theory to go on.

Posted by: annika! at March 05, 2004 10:36 AM (zAOEU)

3 well annie likes the entertainment section, or likes how it raises her hackles You're scary and I feel really dark when I'm around you. & Sometimes it's cool to make mistakes. Sometimes it's cool to shut the fack up. ...She can't really talk like that, it has to be an act for the public...right?

Posted by: Scof at March 05, 2004 11:28 AM (XCqS+)

4 Before I click the extended entry, I'd like to submit that at least one of those (#5) is Janeane Garofalo. The dumbest blonde ever.

Posted by: candace at March 05, 2004 12:46 PM (diz2c)

5 right or i'd be wrong. she's in good company, though.

Posted by: candace at March 05, 2004 12:49 PM (diz2c)

6 Hum... And I remember a certain female singer shouting "Hello, Spain!!" in her concert at Lisbon. Who? Whitney Houston. So I guess that is recurrent.

Posted by: Celia at March 07, 2004 04:31 AM (Sl+Oy)

7 i wouldn't be surprised if that was Whitney's last invitation to Portugal. Nunca mais, heh heh.

Posted by: annika at March 07, 2004 10:46 AM (TJP32)

8 so i bet all of the previous posters have never made mistakes before and find it easier to just put other people down because of their mistakes instead of look inside their own selves. im not saying that i like any of these 'stars' as role models, especially for little kids. i really dont think they are great role models at all for kids. but. as adults, i think its time we stop bashing things down and provoke change. its not productive to participate in giving these people money (however inadvertantly) by paying any attention whatsoever to them. to me, it seems as if all of you have bought into the whole cherade. i mean, britney, christina, allanis, paris, theyve all got you writing and making pages 'worthy' of stooping to their level and even discussing them. it just doesnt seem to make sense to me....... i dont mean to offend anyone here and id be more than happy to clear up my position on things, but im just amazed that this badmouthing can be any more valid than the whole entertainment crap. just dont pay attention if you dont like it. and if you really dont like it, do something about it.

Posted by: anonymous at April 08, 2004 12:13 PM (GQJp1)

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George W. Bush has not captured Osama bin Laden so that big corporations and white men could kill The United Nations.

Thanks to Susie for the link.

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i did my best to come up with some questions for Stephen Macklin and Tuning Spork to ask each other during their trivia contest tomorrow. They still need more. It's time consuming, but kinda fun. There's only one day left, so if you want to participate, see here for instructions on how to submit questions.

Posted by: annika at 01:43 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Weird. i got two spam e-mails today that i inadvertently opened because of their faux personal subject lines. Someone in the spamosphere apparently thinks i like girls.

E-mail number one says:

I work as a massage therapist. I just recently had my initiation into the bisexual world and I totally appreciate it. I still love a good guy too but I am very eager to get to know otherbisexual girls. I am very friendly, very fit and very fun. I love just about anything outdoors but can spend hours and hours in bed. I love being with girls and guys alike. I am looking for a very sensual person. If this sounds good to you then maybe I am your girl.

Love Rebecca

The next one was a bit more vague.

I am an outgoing, sporty woman who enjoys trying fresh things. I love to have a good time, and I love meeting men. I usually don't have a 'type' of guy. I can have fun with anyone.

So... I can't wait to talk with you!

barbie

The reason i know they were spam was because the end of the e-mail was a list of random words like:

. . . reply kiosk north tacit false youth fader bluey credo whale . . .

polka naked spent canon.

Posted by: annika at 06:31 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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i need to give a shout out to Sarah, who just transferred her excellent blog from Glogger to Munuviana. i love her writing. Her husband just deployed to Iraq and she's done some wonderful posts on that in her old blog. She's also ambitious enough to be reading Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's The Gulag Archipelago, a huge tome which is on my "to be read if i'm ever laid up in the hospital for a few months" list, right below Proust's Remembrance of Things Past. Wow.

Also, the elder statesman of Munuviana, Ted of Rocket Jones, posted the latest installment in his series of Air Force memoirs, "Air Force Blue."

Posted by: annika at 03:39 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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1 Elder statesman. Hee hee!

Posted by: Pixy Misa at March 03, 2004 07:17 PM (kOqZ6)

2 Thanks. Actually Gulag isn't really a hard read, though I will say chapter one and the first half of two were a little dry. But then it gets quite interesting...in a depressing why-didn't-I-learn-any-of-this-in-school sort of way.

Posted by: Sarah at March 04, 2004 03:21 AM (aQeaY)

3 LOL I've never been called a statesman before. And my eyes aren't sharp enough to make out that prior word... Probably a good thing.

Posted by: Ted at March 04, 2004 06:01 AM (blNMI)

4 I've read The Gulag in the past. I have to with you the reader does deserve a link. I also recommend that if you do read it, just scan the fisrt chapter. The interesting reading does pick up later in the second.

Posted by: Rick at March 04, 2004 11:07 AM (2Sccf)

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Do read Matt's comments on his viewing of The Passion. It's a personal angle i hadn't considered, but one i think is very true.

Somehow, despite knowledge of what Jesus did for me, I've never felt the sacrifice on an emotional level--certainly not to the degree that seems appropriate, given the magnitude of His suffering and its eternal implications for mankind. It's never been as real to me as something that I'd experienced personally. Tonight, though, it was different.

More: Here's another very thoughtful review by blog-friend Desert Cat. It's Glogger again, so scroll past the Safire related post to his March 2 entry entitled "The Passion."

Posted by: annika at 11:26 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Do you remember that kid in school who always ruined everyone's fun by complaining to the teacher. Some idiots ruined a good thing by complaining that the old, time tested punch card voting system was no good.

Now look at all the problems.

And too much money has been invested in the new systems to just throw them out. i voted with the new "felt tip pen" method in L.A. County and i didn't like it one bit. It seems to me there's more of a chance of stray marks than with the old system. The hole in the plastic template didn't line up exactly with the circle on the ballot, making me paranoid that the circle was not being filled in entirely. Voting took twice as long for me as it used to.

But then Democrats want it this way. It makes it so much easier to cry foul if an election doesn't go like they want it.

Posted by: annika at 09:37 AM | Comments (12) | Add Comment
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1 Thankfully, in my county, every one is pleased with puttin' an "X" next to the name of the candidate you choose, but they don't invalidate your ballot if you use a check mark.

Posted by: Tiger at March 02, 2004 12:30 PM (qWgy0)

2 I also voted with the pen thingy, and it seemed to line up fine. Of course, now I am terribly worried. Also, I checked out your voted advice, and seem to have followed it fairly closely. I particularly liked your advice on choosing judges, which is pretty much exactly what I did.

Posted by: other Annika at March 02, 2004 03:15 PM (6Skh9)

3 Oopsie. That should have read voter advice.

Posted by: other Annika at March 02, 2004 03:16 PM (6Skh9)

4 How about an electronic machine that you insert your card into, it prints your vote out on the card (that you can read) which is the confirmation of your electronic vote. Then drop your card (after checking it) into a box to be used in case of recount. Perhaps also a random number assigned to your vote that can be checked online. Is it that difficult to design, or is someone trying to make it more convoluted than it needs to be.

Posted by: Steve S. at March 02, 2004 04:05 PM (SjpDy)

5 i hear the democrats are looking into a voting machine idea where you insert your ATM card and they can wire the "walking around money" directly into your account as you vote.

Posted by: annika! at March 02, 2004 08:08 PM (s5nJt)

6 Goodness, here in the backwoods of Indiana we have voted on computerized voting machines for the last three or four Presidential elections--and in California you're using a PEN?????

Posted by: Susie at March 02, 2004 09:59 PM (W5F4d)

7 It's a special pen. (No, I don't know what's so special about it. I was perfectly OK with punching out chads as recently as October.) And Annika, I don't get your Democrat/ATM joke. Am I really, really dense?

Posted by: other Annika at March 02, 2004 10:23 PM (C8sKR)

8 Bottom Line: Living in a free society requires a minimum standard of intelligence, common sense and self sufficiency. If you can not master the punch card ballot then you should not be allowed to vote: Those who find punch card ballots "confusing" should also have their driver's licenses taken away because clearly they are a danger to large crowds of pedestrians. Even an illiterate can use a punch card ballot...he calmly raises his hand and says to an election volunteer: "I want to vote for X...please show me the hole to punch." Remember, the entire "controversy" about punch card ballots began solely because the Dems lost Florida in '00.

Posted by: Jason O. at March 03, 2004 06:45 AM (QyDeG)

9 No hun, you're not dense, that was one of my obscure historical references. i think it was the first Mayor Daley in Chicago who used to give "walking around money" to bums on the street in exchange for their votes on election day. Greg can correct me if i'm wrong on that.

Posted by: annika! at March 03, 2004 09:17 AM (zAOEU)

10 I still vote in my neck of redneckland (rural Pennsylvania) with a pencil, and I have to fill in the dot. What's so hard with that? You should at least be smarter than a bar of soap to be able to vote.

Posted by: Tom at March 03, 2004 09:50 AM (+1ZQW)

11 Perhaps it's not surprising that the Dems have gotten cheaper since Mayor Daley's era in Chicago...I recall a local news crew in Wisconsin caught some Gore volunteers passing out packs of cigarettes to Milwaukee's homeless on election eve. Tourist tip: Don't ever try to give anything other than currency to bums in downtown Boston...they pull uninformed tourist bodies out of the Charles River a few times a year....It's not exactly a mugging in that they only want 10 or 20 bucks and they don't take your wallet: think of it as an evening pedestrian toll on the Charles River Esplanade.

Posted by: Jason O. at March 03, 2004 10:31 AM (QyDeG)

12 Well, like I always says: Just because you can do something with a computer doesn't mean you have to. 'Round these parts we still use lever booths. You close the curtain with a handlebar, flick the levers next to the names of your choices, pull the handlebar to open the curtain and reset the levers for the next guy. The votes are registered on a mechanical number dial. No electricity required. Just the way I like it!

Posted by: Tuning Spork at March 04, 2004 05:11 PM (7ySQn)

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You all may remember that Serenity recently moved to Houston. Well, she just broke her ankle and is without insurance because she hasn't been at her job long enough for her benefits to accrue. That completely sucks. A lot of bloggers have put out the call for help. i myself want to add my voice to that call, because i've enjoyed Serenity's blog for as long as i've been in the blogosphere. She really is one of the best and i hate to see such bad luck befall her. Your prayers or any kind of assistance would be a nice thing to do for her. There is a Paypal link on her sidebar. Get well soon, Serenity.

More: Lorie is also dealing with a tragic event. Her sister was in a bad car accident and was very seriously injured. Please remember her in your prayers too.

What's going on?

Posted by: annika at 12:02 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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i received quite a few surprise gifts today. And my birthday isn't for another month yet! i'm amazed that people have been so nice to me, i'm so stunned.

First, i got a great DVD. i had been working my way through the first and second seasons of Star Trek, the Next Generation, which my parents gave me for Christmas. i'm trying to watch an episode a day. (Season two is vastly better than season one, by the way.) But tomorrow night i will take a break and watch The Last of the Mohicans, certainly one of the best movies of the nineties. History and Romance. How could it get any better than that?

Also, i received the newly paperbacked final volume in Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel trilogy, a series of erotic fantasy novels that i have become obsessed with lately. i can't wait to dive into that book, i've been in withdrawal since i finished the last one. This book came with a Laurell K. Hamilton vampire novel, which looks scary, but i'll give it a try.

And someone was kind enough to send me a film script, which i'm excited to read. i have no idea what it's about, but i like it like that. Sometimes when i'm in a bookstore, i'll select a new book by picking a random number and counting down the shelf, so i pick something i have no expectations about.

i'm also in the middle of a couple of cop books, which are part of my research for my sci-fi novel. You know, the one i keep talking about but never actually work on. The cop books are pretty good and i'm learning a lot. i realize now that if i had finished my book without doing any research, it would have really sucked. Now i'm getting loads of new ideas.

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Hey bud, let's party!

or maybe,

I am so wasted!

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Hey all you California voters. Tomorrow is Super Tuesday! Now that California has changed it's primary election date from June to March, we get to take part in the festivities. Not only that, but we all get to use newfangled "modern" voting methods. Like here in L.A. County, where we'll be using a pen and paper. That's progress!

Here are my instructions for tomorrow's vote. Feel free to print out this post and take it into the booth with you.

President of the United States: If you're a Republican, as i am, vote for George W. Bush. He's the only one on there, so that should be easy. If you're a Democrat, vote for John Edwards. i would, if i were a Democrat.

United States Senator: Republicans, vote for Bill Jones. Democrats, i don't know what to tell you. Since Barbra Boxer is your only choice, leave it blank.

United States Representatives, State Senators, State Assemblymen: You're on your own with those.

Judges: Vote for judges with the most republican sounding occupations, like "criminal prosecutor," "police sergeant" or "victim's rights advocate." Stay away from any civil attorneys and professors.

Los Angeles County District Attorney: After Reiner and Garcetti, hell, anybody looks good. Vote for the incumbent DA, Steve Cooley.

Proposition 55: Yet another school bond. This time it's for kindergarten all the way through college. Twelve billion dollars for the same old shit they hit us up for every year: repair old schools, relieve overcrowding, build new classrooms, yada yada yada. i'd be more sympathetic if i didn't see a school bond measure on every single election ballot. This one is huge, though. Arnold is begging us to pass Prop 57, which is a 15 billion dollar bond just to pay the bills. There's no way we can afford another 12 billion on top of that. And anyways, i always vote no on all bond issues (except prison bonds). Vote no.

Proposition 56: This one makes me laugh. Currently our legislature must have a two thirds majority vote before they can raise our taxes. It's one of the bedrock requirements of the tax reforms enacted in the 70's. And the liberals hate it. Prop 56 will lower the two thirds requirement to 55%. Are they nuts? There's no way i wanna make it easier for the California Legislature to continue their spending spree. Vote hell no.

Proposition 57: This is Arnold's baby. He didn't have the guts to fix our budget the way McClintock suggested, with hard cuts, workers' compensation reform and tax relief. So Arnold decided we needed to borrow a little money instead. "Little" in this case is the aforementioned fifteen billion dollars. Well, i voted for Arnold because i wanted to see some drastic spending cuts made. He warns us that if Prop 57 does not pass, he will be forced to make "Armageddon" spending cuts. Yeah! That's music to my ears! Tough love, baby! Vote an emphatic no!

Proposition 58: This is the California Balanced Budget Act, version 2.0. It seems we passed what we thought was a balanced budget proposition a few years ago, but it didn't work. So this is the newer version, with new patches and updates. Hopefully it will work better than the latest Windows updates. Vote yes.

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