Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Babies Babies Everywhere!


So, we are in the middle of a baby boom! Several of our friends are pregnant or are having babies shortly. And one has already arrived!

Our very good friends Jeff and Candace had baby Oliver very early on Thursday morning. He was 9 lbs 9 oz and was 22 inches long (yes, you read that correctly). Brian and I went to visit the hospital Friday and everyone was doing well (well, Candace was doing about as well as she could be doing, considering she gave birth the normal way to a baby that large!). Jeff and Candace are both clearly in love with their baby boy. Oliver is the first boy born on Candace's side of the family in 45 years, so the Larson side of the family is extra thrilled!

Next, my friend and frequent reader April is due to pop in a week with her baby girl. She and her hubby are keeping the name secret, but on her own blog she has given clues as to the name. I vote for Samantha or Wendy, but the name that seems to have the most votes is Olivia, which is a beautiful name and sounds great with their last name, Hunt (and if that is the name, I have to admit I'm relieved because it's not one Brian and I had picked for our future kids!). The person who wins the name game gets one of the first phone calls when the baby comes. I'd love a phone call Miss A!

Finally, my good friend Ruth who lives in San Jose has told me that she is pregnant with her second baby. She is due in March and she and her hubby have wanted to get pregnant again for awhile, so I'm so happy for Ruth and Jon! Their little boy Nathan will be 4 in January and I'm sure he'll be a great big brother!

Congrats to all!

Sunday, September 21, 2008

I Didn't Know I Was Watching Porn!

Okay, so this blog post actually has very little to do with porn, but I thought it would be a catchy title. What this post is about is the fact that Brian and I have someone got sucked into a bunch of new TV shows, despite the fact that every year we promise not to. But this year, there are some really good shows on!

One show we've been watching is on Tuesdays on Fox and it's called "Fringe." It's about a female FBI agent who's called upon to investigate strange phenomena. (Sounds familiar right?) Well, her partners in crime are this old scientist guy who's own work from the 70's and 80's might be the cause of all this. He's been in a mental institution for 17 years, and she needs his help. The only way to get him out of the loony bin is for his estranged genius son to check him out and be his guardian. And the estranged genius son is played by none other than Pacey, Joshua Jackson! It's been on twice so far, and it's pretty good. It's produced by JJ Abrahms, who does "LOST" (which comes back in early 2009, BTW). So, it should be good. Everything he does generally is good and successful. (Hopefully, including the new Star Trek movie coming out in May 2009!) I hope it lasts, as I feel like it can fill my sci-fi void.

Okay, so the other new show we've been watching is where the porno comes in. It's called "True Blood" and it's on HBO on Sunday nights. It's the story of a telepathic waitress in Louisiana who meets and gets involved with a vampire named Bill. Yes, I said vampire. The premise behind this show is that the Japanese have perfected synthetic blood, so vampires have "come out of the coffin" (haha) and are now living among us out in the open. Because they can buy this synthetic blood right from the store in six packs like beer (even flavored by blood type), they no longer need to feed on humans for survival (although it appears that some still like to, i.e., the bad ones). The porn comes in because, thus far, it has been pretty sexually explicit, way more than I expected. I mean, tying people up, videotaping, etc. I guess I should have realized, it is on HBO. Most of that so far has centered around the main female character's brother, who is a real horndog and kind of gross, but in a comic way in that he means no harm. I'm sure as the show progresses, the two main characters will go in that direction, as it's clear they're developing a romance. But I hope the show isn't as explicit with them as it's been with other characters. I think I'd get grossed out. As the show progresses, I'm not sure if I'm going to like it long term. I've never really been into vampire lore, and I don't like violence very much, and I also think that the show will get more violent as it progresses. There is already a murder mystery in progress. So we'll see if this show is long term viewing.

That's what been going on with us! Just watching too much TV. And my work has gone from 0 to 60, so all of a sudden, I'm very busy! It's a little overwhelming. Right now I'm just chilling, watching the always fun "13 Going on 30" on FX, and I should get up and go exercise. Blah!

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Wii Fit-ting

Most of you already know that Brian and I got a Nintendo Wii back in January. I really like the system; it's really easy to use and has games that I am actually interested in playing. There have been several hugely popular games to come out for the Wii: Wii Play (that we don't have), Guitar Hero (that we do have), Rock Band (we also have and it sort of sucks for the Wii, there are very few songs), and soon, Guitar Hero World Tour (which is pretty much like Rock Band, but with more songs and tons of downloadables. We will be getting it and probably getting rid of Rock Band). But, thus far, my favorite thing for the Wii is Wii Fit.

Wii Fits are very hard to find. We finally snagged ourselves one about a week ago after months of trying (it was supposed to be my birthday present). For those who don't know, Wii Fit is a game that contains many different exercises and it acts as your personal trainer. You use the Mii (your avatar) that you've already created, and you give it your date of birth, and height. The balance board portion of the game (a white thing you stand on while exercising) weighs you and calculates your BMI. That portion is frightening because it really tells you the truth about how fat you are. The other frightening part is that your Mii changes depending on your BMI. For example, Brian and I's Mii's are both sort of puffy and round because WE are both sort of puffy and round.

So, you begin working out with the Wii Fit. You can select your own personal trainer (a guy or a girl) and do exercises in 4 categories: Yoga, Balance Games, Aerobics, and Strength Training. Some of the exercises are a lot harder than others, which obviously depends on your current fitness level and things that you already do. For example, I have been doing yoga on a weekly basis for months now, so that portion is easier for me, but certain poses are still challenging. The aerobics portion is easier too, because I do kickboxing and jogging. But the balance games and strength training are evil, because I am not strong, nor do I have good balance. And it's cool, its almost like virtual reality. You can ski jump, hula hoop, hit soccer balls with your head, and all sorts of other stuff.

When you're done working out (or whenever you want really), you can do the Wii Body Test. What it does is measure your balance, stability, and center of gravity, which it claims are the real test of fitness. Which makes sense if you think about it. The Wii is always telling you to improve your posture, which is linked to balance, etc. After it's done testing you, it gives you your Wii Fit Age, which, if you are fit, should be below your real age. Mine has teetered above and below my real age, averaging about at my real age. So, I guess that's okay. But I really want it to tell me I'm 20 again!

Well, that's my take on the Wii Fit. I better go now and spend some time on it, because it calls you out if you don't work out every day!

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Short Political Statements

I am extremely glad to be able to report that Kwame Kilpatrick is finally GONE! This news makes me sooooo happy. That man has been damaging the city, region, and state for a long time now (not just the months this current scandal has been going on). He needed to go years ago, but unfortunately, the people of the City re-elected him two years ago. That goes to show that some people don't know what's good for them.

In case you don't know the details, this morning Kwame plead guilty to two felony counts of obstruction of justice in regards to the perjury case against him. In return for pleading guilty, he's resigning as Mayor (effective September 18th), surrendering his law license, serving 4 months in jail (beginning October 28th), with 5 years of probation after that. During his probation, he cannot run for or hold public office. Also, he has to make A MILLION dollars of restitution by the end of that 5 year period. He also plead no-contest in the assault case against him, which is basically a plea of guilty without saying you're guilty. Funny, huh?

Further, Chief of Police Ella Bully-Cummings resigned today, as she was one of his cronies and knew she would be losing a job anyway. As of this writing, Chief Counsel Sharon McPhail (also a Kwame-crony) had also tendered her resignation. I expect in the coming weeks, many high level city officials will be out of a job, either voluntarily or involuntarily when the head of City Council, Ken Cockrel, Jr., takes over the job (as is the chain of command under the city charter). Cockrel has never cared for Kwame, which makes me automatically like him. Honestly, I do like what I've seen of Cockrel, and hope that for whatever time he is in charge, some good things can happen. (He's in charge until there's a special election, but since the regular election is only in November 2009, they might just let him do the job for a year to settle things down.)


The second thing I'd like to discuss is Sarah Palin. None of the things I've heard in the media since she was selected as McCain's running mate have swayed me in the least. So she's a big conservative and her daughter's pregnant? So? It happens in all sorts of families. At least she and her boyfriend seem to want to do the right thing. If Sarah was a pro-choice, an abortion may have been procured and it would have been hushed under the rug. Now, I'm not saying either option is right or wrong. Do I think 17 is too young to have a baby and get married? In 99% of cases, YES. But it's not for me to decide or judge. It's a family matter. Quit criticizing and picking on poor Bristol, she's got enough to worry about!

Also, Sarah cannot seem to catch a break on the whole mommy-work thing. Now, everyone is saying she couldn't do the job of VP effectively because "her family is falling apart," "she has a special needs child she should be paying more attention to," etc. Boy, it's funny, but if she had put her career on hold to be with her family, these crazy liberals (and I do say the crazy ones, because I myself am pretty liberal on social issues) would tell her she was wasting her life and could do more than JUST raise children. Listen, as a country, if we want equality for women, then we have to accept and support the life choices that ALL WOMEN make, not just the ones we agree with politically. I honestly don't know if I will ever find a job or career that is where I fit in. Does that mean my life is wasted and unproductive? According to these same people, yes (only they twist their argument when it comes to Sarah). The whole point of feminism SHOULD BE that women now have the choice whether to work, not work, have kids, not to have kids, or any combination thereof. However, that doesn't seem to be what most people who call themselves feminists believe anymore. Tragic.

Monday, September 1, 2008

Sarah Palin Rocks My World

So, I am so excited about John McCain's choice of running mate. Alaska governor Sarah Palin is awesome! I had heard her name floated around several months ago in the Veep-stakes, and looked her up, and was immediately impressed by what I read. I literally jumped for joy when I heard she was his choice and I think Brian is in love with another woman. Here is a rundown of all the cool things about her:

1) She has cleaned up corruption, both outside her party and inside it. She doesn't care who you are, if you are dirty, she will tear you up. She's extremely honest and scrupulous.
2) She is fiscally conservative, i.e., is not going to tax the hell out of my (but mostly Brian's) hard earned money to turn around and give entitlements and handouts to people who don't deserve it. Barack Obama's tax plan basically wants to penalize people like Brian and I (and many of our friends) who worked our butts off to get educated and make a good living. To hell with that!
3) She is not a lawyer, or other career-politician type. She has a bachelor's in journalism from the University of Idaho! (Way to go journalism majors--shout out to A!) She worked as a sportscaster for a while, was a commercial fisherman, and did other jobs as well, before being elected to city council, mayor, and governor. And to the Democrats, who are demeaning her experience being mayor of a small town--small towns are the backbone of this country. FUCK YOU. (Excuse my language.)
4) She was a high school basketball star in her hometown who was called "Sarah Barracuda" for having ovaries of steel and playing on a broken foot in the state championship game. She was also in the Miss Alaska pageant to earn scholarship money for college.
5) Her dad is a teacher and her mom was the school secretary--normal upbringing! She and her dad used to go hunt moose before school started. She's a lifetime NRA member (perhaps Brian's second favorite thing about her, behind the fiscal conservatism).
6) She is a mother of five, married to her high school sweetheart for 20 years. Her oldest child is in the Army, going to Iraq in a few weeks, and her youngest is a 4 month old baby with Down's Syndrome. Wow.

Okay, so I'm not saying I agree with everything about her. In my heart, I am a bit more liberal, but the modern Democratic party has lost my vote due to factor #2, listed above. Quit taking my money to pay for people who don't want to work! The things about her that I don't agree with are: 1) She is against gay marriage. On the whole, I would say, let gay people get married. I believe it would create stability in families. Also, allowing gay people to marry in no way diminishes my marriage, so what do I care? 2) Most importantly, she is EXTREMELY pro-life, whereas I am pro-choice. While that is an important issue to me, I cannot cast my vote based on that issue alone. Life is not that simple. And I do respect her immensely for choosing not to terminate her last pregnancy and having her baby with Down's Syndrome. Clearly, she is not hypocritical in her beliefs. She is what she seems.

Also, apparently, there is some potential scandal brewing. In Alaska, people are alleging that she fired an administrator in the State Police for refusing to fire her ex-brother in law, a trooper who was having a nasty custody dispute with her sister. She denies it and the investigation is on going. If that's the worst they can find on her, she's still the cleanest politician out there. Her approval rating in Alaska is over 80%. She must be doing many things right!

So, in short, my vote in November will go to McCain/Palin! Who's got a woman on the ticket now bitches! Also, I want to tell people that I've fixed the blog so anyone can comment, not just those with a blogger id, like my friend A. So, please leave comments, I'd love to read them! Just click on Comments at the bottom of the entry, and choose "Anonymous."