Working on a coherant thought

My sister turned 21 today so I was in my hometown for the weekend. Last night (early this morning) was a lot of fun but exhausting. Then I got to drive 4 hours home. In the snow. Basically, I'm a grumpy mess. Thankfully, I restarted Netflix and have episodes of Weeds to watch. I'll probably be asleep before the sun goes down. OH WAIT, it's COMPLETELY gray out today. Argh. A weekend with this much family time always deems necessary some reflection. So, I'm working on that. I was also able to enjoy some good conversation about the Iowa Supreme Court's decision to overrule a law banning gay marriage. Exciting! LOVE my home state :) Apparently, in addition to other great thing this does, it will help the Iowa economy - now a popular wedding destination!

Thank goodness for recaps because I forgot 4 out of 5 details of Weeds at the end of season two. This family is in SO many predicaments, it's ridiculous. My fave quote of the first episode:
"Looked a little young to be driving. But with all the preservatives people are eating nowadays, people are looking a lot younger."

Don't believe what you read today..

Happy April Fool's Day! Be on the lookout for google and other fun websites to pull some pretty fun pranks!

Here are its pranks since 2000. The one I fell for? The free printing services it would offer (including free delivery!) Yes, I felt dumb. And last year, Google owned You-Tube jumped into some of the fun with some rick-rolling.

I definitely appreciate Google's good-natured humor. As long as I'm in on the joke!

Celebrate Earth Day With a Giveaway!

Go to www.loveMaegan.com to find out all your ways to enter!
You can win up to three bags! You should DO IT!
(You should also follow Maegan's blog because it's GREAT!)
And don't forget to recycle and take care of your planet.
Have a happy EARTH DAY!!!

I like my independence, thankyouverymuch

I work on a college campus (a rather liberal one at that...) and let me tell you: NO ONE with whom I work (85% female office) would go for any of this. This makes me muy grateful to have grown up in the very latter part of the 20th century. But really, if we HAD been a housewife in the 50's, this article would not seem as ridiculous. And THAT is the scary thing!

Missing the frenzy; my book abandonment tendency

In college, I did a lot. Too much, really. Any leisure time I used was usually accompanied by large amounts of guilt. I should have been reading for western civ, working on a journalism project, preparing a pols outline for a paper or sending emails for SUA. I rarely read for fun (maybe during breaks), was never caught up on the tv shows I wanted to watch, did not work out as much as I wanted and my apartments were never tidy. I had grand plans for post-undergrad degree life, some of which aren't exactly working out... (Seriously, I thought I'd have so much more money to spend! Damn you student loans and bad credit decisions!)

But reading can be cheap, right? (Hellooooo public libraries!) Yet, I seem to have ADD in my life without a million things going on (ie college!). Right now, I'm reading approximately two thousand books. I started on Wuthering Heights but couldn't quite get interested. I started Farewell to Arms but leave it at work to have something to read during lunch. I watched a recent Vlog about The Great Gatsby and got out my copy from the bookshelf in my room - it's now my main bedside book. I also have a collection of short stories I bought before Christmas by F. Scott Fitzgerald and am somewhat invested in The Last Campaign, a book about Senator Robert F. Kennedy's presidential campaign.

The last book I actually finished was David Sedaris' When You Are Engulfed in Flames. And that was all short stories. Apparently, I'm not focused enough to finish a full length novel. I'll let you know if it happens.

40 minutes 'til gametime!

As previously discussed, I love KU basketball. I've also decided in the past week college basketball is probably one of my top 10 favorite things ever. (Possibly top 5 even!)

KU plays today, and even though they are playing the Cinderella team of this year's tournament, I would encourage you to root for KU today. If not because we have an AWESOME mascot...





...than do it for me. Because the tournament is not nearly as enjoyable when KU does not make at least a decent run. Decent = advancing to the 2nd weekend. Now, we KU fans are pretty spoiled. This year, though, we were a little generous with the team. We WON the championship last year and all the starters left, so the '08-'09 season was billed as a "rebuilding year". Apparently, we should not have let our expectations down as KU ended being the Big 12 champs of the regular season. Yes, Oklahoma and Texas, we're in a rebuilding year and we STILL win the regular season. Do you see what I mean about being spoiled?!

I could go on and on about KU basketball, it's history, it's LEGENDARY status in college hoops. But I won't because sometimes you can't explain it with words. Here, watch these videos (below text from my facebook photo album description of pictures I took on during the final 4 game against UNC and the championship game against Memphis.)

ONE SHINING MOMENT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKKbrHMGkD4

WHY MARIO IS MY HERO, UNBELIEVABLE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHt0tszfk3A
(can we also notice how FAR Sherron FLEW after he passed that ball? Best assist EVER!)

AND THE MAN WHO LED THE TEAM TO VICTORY, because KU Basketball is great and watching these Jayhawks is much freaking fun. We will ALL remember that night for the rest of our lives!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrG3BYQiI1Y

and because we all need to KEEP ON DREAMING:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U53afA3SNdo

one more, because BILL SELF HIGH FIVES BIG JAY: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxM9c4kqjT0&feature=related



The scene at Allen Fieldhouse after we won the championship. Thousands gathered at the shrine of college basketball to watch the game on the jumbo screens. The winning was pure joy.

Dressing for the Occasion

There comes a time in your life where everyone you know is getting married. Sometimes you get invited, sometimes you're a bridesmaid and sometimes you're the maid of honor! And sometimes you even get to plan the wedding because your fabulous friend you miss terribly is in Japan. Just so happens, this is all relevant for me this year.

First up, I'm a bridesmaid for my friend Lindsey. The other bridesmaids (maybe co-maids-of-honor?!) are her sisters so I'm very honored to be in this wedding. Lindsey and Phil were engaged July 2007, asked me to be in the wedding in November '07 and we were fitted for dresses in May 2008, a whole year before their big day. The dresses are now in so the next time I'm in Des Moines I can try on this fabulous dress:










I will be attending two weddings in June; on the 20th in Kansas City and on the 27th another Des Moines wedding.

On July 31st, in the dead heat of a Kansas summer, I will be the maid of honor for my friend Megan who is currently living in Japan. She and her fiance (actually, they're married in Japan!) will be back for two weeks and will have their states' wedding in Lawrence. As the maid of honor, she wants me to stand out *cringe* so I will be wearing navy and the other bridesmaids will wear candy pink. Here is our dress:





I'm actually helping out with some of the leg work here in town since Megan and Nathan are living in Japan! I'm very excited to be a part of the wedding and to have a hand its fruition. (I <3 event planning!)

Overall, the next 5 months will be a blast! Definitely no bridezillas! Now I just need to find a date! A fun one, preferably!

In other fun news, I was lounging this morning watching music videos (CMT + VH1)and Kelly Clarkson's "Life Would Suck Without You" video came on. I had heard the song and thought it was good but the video is hilarious. I had also been hearing her new cd was good so I headed over to KC's myspace to see if there were other songs from her album (there weren't) but I was happily distracted by her concert list. As I perused the list, I remembered she never did shows in the midwest because she apparently does not get good concert attendance. Then I noticed the Ohio State Fair: that's midwest-ish. I then got WAY TOO excited when I saw she would be at the Iowa State Fair. The ISF is another post in itself but I immediately headed to the concert line up for the fair and (thankfully!) August 22 is a Saturday and I prayed to the concert gods my ISF buddy, Ashley, would be excited as I was about KC's concert. I urgently texted her: ALERT: ISF CONCERT LINEUP HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED. As I expected, moments later, she called me for the info. I started my story from the beginning and as soon as I said Kelly Clarkson, I knew that's the show we'd be going to: Ashley was as excited as me! (Obviously, we're good friends!) Tickets go on sale April 11; and this time, we're going to get some damn good seats!

Fake news or just calling the BS?

Maybe you've heard of this week's growing feud between Comedy Central's Jon Stewart and CNBC's Jim Cramer? (If not, you apparently don't watch ANY news. Seriously, it was everywhere. Even on "serious" news channels. Last night, Cramer was a guest on Stewart's Daily Show. And it was ugly. Early reports from the taping indicated the interview went long because Stewart "repeatedly chastised" Cramer. And that was putting it lightly.

While some might not take this to be an important interview, it definitely indicates a growing dissatisfaction with those controlling our country's financial well-being and those that deem themselves worthy enough to make it "entertainment". (Even on sakd "serious" news channels.) Gawker.com is one of my most-frequented sites, but those commenting on the article about the Stewart/Cramer interview questioned a "comedy" show's ability to make judgments on moral practices of other news shows. My question is where did the term "fake news" come from? If anything, The Daily Show may be a parody of traditional news shows, but the news is still true; it's just ridiculed. And for good reason. What was particularly clear in last night's episode is the ability of Jon Stewart to call bullshit on any situation and to any person. And I applaud him for that.

All aTwitter

About a year ago, a friend I know from an internship we did together, invited me to this new social networking website. I joined (I was probably bored or avoiding homework) but didn't do much with it. Last summer, said social network was prominent in several news events; during an American's imprisonment in a foreign country and was used to communicate information during the November Mumbai attacks. After President Obama was elected, another friend, still an undergrad at the local university, was planning a trip to the inauguration so I started frequenting this site a bit more. Starbucks, CNN, other Lawrence residents, former coworkers, National Debt, The Daily Show. And if you keep paying attention, the number of people you follow could balloon to 124 people by March.

Yes, I Twitter.



When people who are barely familiar with Twitter try to explain it, they get the basics: 140 characters per "tweet" and the question, "what are you doing". The thing is, these are the basics. And to make a judgment on Twitter based on this information and the fact that the people you track is called "following" leads to some pretty unintelligent and uniformed commentaries on Twitter. And it's happened. Google "Twitter" and I'm sure you'll find said evaluations about Twitter.

The thing is, Twitter has evolved from communicating just "what" you're doing and is now communicating anything you can share in 140 characters. Usually, news and media information, but also pictures (with the use of TwitPic) and sports scores (a helpful tool during March Madness day games). Without being involved, those evaluating Twitter cannot accurately comment on the tool.

Although, I'm not currently pursuing a career in any type of communications (marketing, PR, etc) I am a proud graduate of KU's J-School. So,I've rationalized my use of Twitter to stay up to date with media and networking developments. Just in case I eventually jump back into any type of communications. And really, it's also a lot of fun.

@bailann

Donna Brazil has the recipe

Sometimes I forget how fortunate I am be living in the cultural epicenter of the state of Kansas. Lawrence may be in the middle of the country, but it's a pretty spectacular place to live.

Last night, the Hall Center for the Humanities hosted The Emily Taylor and Marilyn Stokstad Women's Leadership Lecture featuring Donna Brazile. (See link for all Ms. Brazile's amazing accomplishments). Let's just say, I found a new hero. Besides not letting Anderson Cooper be her boo and washing all the nasty things she wants to say out of her mouth with chardonnay at the end of the day, Donna Brazile knows her stuff and has been a part of some amazing things in modern American politics. DB told AC he wasn't her boo because he was pushing for some information. This incident took place the night of the Democratic National Convention and AC wanted to know what candidate Barack Obama said to her the night before the day of voting. She would not reveal to AC what was said between her and Senator Obama. But last night she DID reveal that conversation. Candidate Obama was asking DB (among other superdelegates) to change their choice and cast their vote for Senator Obama as their nominee. DB told Senator Obama she would not and he accepted that. And then went on to say how much he had learned from Senator Clinton and how great he thought she was. (As a campaign volunteer for Secretary Clinton when she was Senator and Candidate Clinton, this warms me to our current president even more.)

Ms. Brazile, a native of New Orleans, LA, was asked and responded to the performance of current LA governor, Bobby Jindal, and his response to President Obama's address to Congress two weeks ago. First, although Gov. Jindal is a republican, Ms. Brazile acknowledged his impressive political resume, made more so by his young years - only 37. She went on to say the first thing Gov. Jindal should have done was to thank the American people for their resources (ie TAXES) being used to rebuild New Orleans after the horrible destruction and catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina. He should have thanked the American people and gone on to tell them WHY New Orleans was important to our country. A major export point for goods in the midwest and importer of 30% of the petroleum used in this country; New Orleans is a vital port for this country. Ms. Brazile then scolded (in an appropriate, responsible way, of course) Gov. Jindal for politicizing such a horrible event. The tone in her voice was not to be argued with as she recounted her efforts in requesting assistance for her mentally disabled sister who lived in an assistant living facility. FEMA told her that assisted living facilities and mental institutions were not priorities in the evacuation. I was dumbfounded. For this to be their policy is very, very wrong; but to communicate this to a loved one is just disgusting. Ms. Brazile made her way to a network camera and told the country what was going on. Within an hour (5 days after the storm), her sister and 3 others were rescued from the facility by the Lousiana Dept. of Wildlife and Fisheries. Only FOUR people survived the week from that specific hospital.

Ms. Brazile's lecture focus was "Women in Politics: Are We There Yet?" but it was the stories she injected into the lecture that made this a truly memorable evening. She spoke of her "political children" and how she made her way to the platform for this year's inauguration with her sister Lisa and Lisa's three disposable cameras. (The lecture included lots of laughs). Though Ms. Brazile strayed from her speech several memorable times, her message was still clear. We have not made it to political gender equality in this country. She mentioned being 57th out of 58 countries in terms of women participating in governing (I'm still trying to find this specific statistic) and this truly saddens me. As my own interesting in being involved in politics has increased over the years, specifically since 2000, my grandpa has remarked several times that he expected me to run for office. I always just smiled and said "no, grandpa, I'd rather be behind the scenes", since I was definitely the shy one in school and didn't much improve my public speaking skills in college. But if there were one inspiration to start a career in public service, it would be Donna Brazile. I cannot even fully communicate what she said but it was something along the lines of "if you as a woman don't step up to serve, how can you expect others to do it?" It was a very different approach to being a leader and getting involved to make things happen; to realize the fully potential of this country.

She ended her lecture speaking about an assignment she had give to her students in 1994. Her students had to create a plan to elect a black candidate to the presidency. Looking back at what she had assigned, Ms. Brazile spoke with some former students and talked to them about creating a plan to elect a woman to the presidency. Lucky for us, she believes they've found the recipe.


Additional quotes from the local article about Ms. Brazile's appearance:

On the Sebelius HHS nomination:

“Kansas is coming to Washington, D.C. Thank you for sending your governor. I’m telling you she has one major responsibility with over 14,000 Americans losing their health insurance each and every day. I know Governor Sebelius is up to the challenge.”

Rush Limbaugh challenging President Obama to a debate:

“Sorry, Mr. Limbaugh, but he’s busy right now. He inherited a huge mess.”

About women seeking the presidency:

“I know that it’s our turn and that we must prepare ourselves to take our position at the table even if we have to bring in folding chairs.”

Her conversation with Obama when two superdelegates would have given him the nomination:

“He said, ‘I admire (Hillary Clinton) so much. I’ve learned so much from her.’ He was so complimentary of Senator Clinton that I grew to like him even more that night.

The Lunch Hour

So, I haven't posted a blog in 8 days. I feel bad about it. Why? I don't have that many followers. I don't blog for a living. But I wanted to have a more relevant blog this year. One of my early 2009 goals. (Not a new year's resolution, because my NYR was to have more fun.)

Yet, I have nothing to post about. I'm sitting here in my office over lunch with no inspirations. I could talk about my new office with a big, room high window that I loooove. But there's not much to say about it. Someone left so we all shift to better offices depending on seniority. I have this much seniority ----> l l. Yes, between those 2 lines. Not much. But enough for a window.

So, I'm looking out my window (even though the day is gray), and pondering blog topics. I've been thinking about trying to position this blog so it has a specific topic and it's more marketable (this is my PR degree kickin' in), but my interests are all over the place and I use this as more of an outlet for several things. I could write about my viewing of "Watchmen" this weekend, but I'm still absorbing the experience. Yes, I absorb movies. One thing I can say I did love about it was the music. I also decided "The Sound of Silence" is definitely on my list of top 5 favorite songs. I need to more thoroughly listen to my "Best of" Simon and Garfunkel CD.

See my problem? Work, movies, music. And I definitely can write about current events and politics when I get the inspiration. Never one thing. I guess that's what makes me the scatter-brain I am. Although, the only comments I get are on the most random blog entries. So, maybe I need to go with the "stream of conscious" posts more often?

And the context, please?

Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, find line 4 and write down what it says.

..."and never let anybody lodge there willingly."

Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte

Feelin' kind of preppy

Maybe it's my anticipation of spring or maybe the blogs I've been reading have a slightly preppy feel to them, but I've definitely been putting together some slightly preppier outfits lately. Pearls and pink tend to make that happen. So, I'm REALLY excited about this giveaway from Preppy Princess. I'm moving offices soon and I think I could use some fun things to spruce it up a bit. I'm eyeing that mousepad in envy, especially after spotting my ugly black one out of the corner of my eye. Yay for giveaways!

Just a teeny splurge

So, I got paid today. And even though I have many bills to pay, I'm anticipating my tax refund soon, so I splurged. Just a bit, just a teeny bit. It wasn't even a BIG splurge, I went to TJ Maxx! I had been reading about great J.Crew products at TJ Maxx and decided it had been far too long since I had gone on a real bargain hunt.
AND I found a couple of great things! I found these Vera Bradley note cards which are pretty fun. I also bought a super cute pair of loafers/moccasins by Me Too. I CANNOT for the life of me find them online but they're kind of a rich honey brown suede with two gold loops as a type of buckle. I'm kind of in love with them right now and am super excited about my solid investment. Even if they WERE purchased at TJ Maxx.

Happy Friday all!

Quit your whinnin'

Ok, this is going to be some what related to this funny haha post about an SNL skit. But this is going to be serious because it's making me mad!

We had eight years of Republicans doing whatever the heck they wanted with their majority and control in the executive and legislative branch of the U.S. government. And you know what? They didn't do a very good job, either. So now, when A LOT needs to be done to fix the mess they made, they're complaining and holding things up because the democrats aren't being bipartisan? Didn't it take about FOUR WHOLE WEEKS to get this stimulus package passed because of concessions that were made for MORE republican support? How frustrating!

Sometimes....

...you just have a gloomy day that affects everything you do. Today, it was raining, sleeting and just plain gloomy. It does not matter that everything right now is going pretty dang well and I don't have a lot to complain about. I could if I tried, but it's better for your general health and sanity to think about what you have, not what you don't have. So, I'm thankful for the opportunities I've had, my job (I really cannot say this enough) and the people in my life.

But today, it was like coming down from a high and facing reality. Yesterday was slightly overwhelming and when I got to work today, I wanted nothing more than to get back on the bus, head home and get in bed. If the general mood of today was bad, it was nothing compared to leaving work (finally) and facing a cold front that whipped my hair into unavoidable knots in less than a minute. Yes, today was a real winner. Standing in the progressively colder air, the stark trees bare against the darkening gray sky, it seemed the grayest day I had felt in awhile. Not only was the day dull and dreary, but I was exhausted from the week; and, when revelations occur suddenly as they tend to do, overly aware of the complexities of life. Nothing is ever one way only. Situations can never be understood from one view. Life is funny, life is strange and life is bittersweet. And today, things leaned to the bitter side of things. Songs I normally heard as sweet and fun became sad and more complicated. Specifically, 'Wedding Day' by Rosie Thomas and 'Hey There, Delilah' by Plain White T's and 'I Need You' by Faith Hill and Tim McGraw (this one specifically not a particular "upper" for a single someone the day before Valentine's Day!). Before 'Wedding Day' was a particular freeing type of wedding day. A wedding for the relationship you have with yourself, when you're independent and living the life you want. 'Hey There, Delilah' always had a particular sweet innocence to it; the ideal you had about life in high school. 'I Need You' was so earnest and boiled love down to a very basic instinct. But today, they just seemed sad and lonely. False and hopeless.

Sometimes, it's just one of those days.

I'm so sensitive.

Sometimes you have those days where A LOT happens. Today wasn't supposed to be a particularly busy day outside of the usual Thursday meetings but most of the time, life does not go the way you would expect. And it is when those things happen that you learn a little bit more about yourself. So, without going into much detail about what happened, I'll outline the new things I learned about myself today.

1. I am very good at being able to pick up moods and attitudes of those around me. If someone is uncomfortable or mad or annoyed, I can sense this. This is helpful if you want to ask for something and don't want to ask at the wrong time. Or sometimes, people just don't have the patience for what you need to talk to them about. Today, I just kind of new something was coming and it was NOT fun.

2. Along the same lines, my day of meetings has always made me a little crazy by the end of the day. First it was the caffeine, then just general loopyness (yes, it is a word). Today, I deduced what was causing my swing in emotions on the day before the best day of the work week. Like I said, I'm sensitive, but I also have a reflective personality. I pick up on what others are feeling and how they are acting and incorporate it into how I am feeling and acting. So, after hours of meetings on Thursdays with lots of people, discussing lots of problems and challenges, I have a lot of attitudes and feelings to reflect. Thus, I am all wound up about the day. This is also why my closest friends, and those I get along with well, are usually friendly, outgoing and talkative people.

So, that's what I learned about myself today. Here's to tomorrow!

Things about the economy, etc

What? You don't want to be a "dancer".?
Ok, maybe our economy is sucking, but we solved this problem.

Also, this is troubling to hear when you work for a state university. Just so the karma gods know, I really like my job and am very grateful for it. *amen*


Somewhat related (?) check out this ridiculous Gawker entry about the creation of Pepsi's new logo. It is so elaborate it is either totally brilliant or the biggest load of crap ever. Either way, very imaginative (or something). And Pepsi does have a cool new branding theme. As always, cool and young, but this year it also includes a little bit of that Obama-Hope.



Pepsi, along with alcohol, makeup, fast food joints and desperate car companies will be the only advertising you see besides primetime infomercials. Oh, the horror.

Sometimes SNL hits it

My favorite:

Nancy: I will admit some disappointment in Harry and his colleagues to cut $50 billion for schools, because I thought we cared about education.
Reed: Nancy, maybe if you hadn't put in 200 million for condoms we wouldn't have been in such a tough position.
Pelosi: Can I say something about condoms?
Reed: You probably shouldn't.
Pelosi: Now I know it's a blast to poke fun of san fran Nancy for her ideas about sex ed but maybe if we spent money on condoms and education, the next generation won't have so many stupid people ruining our economy. But no, by all means, I'm the villain. The hero is the woman with six kids who had octuplets. Let's get her on Oprah.

Obviously, SNL is usually extreme satire but sometimes I cannot help but totally agree with them. This clip is one of them.
A few things, yes 200 million is an excessive amount for condoms (I don't know what the true amount was) and Armisen and Wig's caricatures of Reed and definitely Pelosi were extreme. BUT a few good points were made. Democrats are doing what they can to make this a truly bipartisan bill. But the Republicans are being a little whinny. THEY apparently forgot about the 8 years of Bush veto and their own 6 years of partisan decision-making.


I just hope something gets done soon. The whole country is figuratively at a stand still waiting for congress to do something. And hopefully, psychologically, the country is able to get going again after the bill's passage.


Oh, and this was pretty awesome too:

We live in Kansas; you don't think we haven't heard that before?

The University of Kansas has a pretty good men's basketball team. Ok, who am I kidding?! It's pretty legendary. Right now I'm watching them play at Baylor. We won the championship last year (OMG SO EXCITING!) and lost all 5 starters. So, kind of a rebuilding year but still only 4 losses. So, we're playing Baylor (a much closer game than it should be) but still exciting! And have lived in Kansas for 5 1/2 years now, you kind of expect the Wizard of Oz jokes every so often. But as far as fan signs go (when the team is playing away games) this is NOT creative:

You're not in Kansas anymore!

This usually happens when we play anyone in the Big XII besides Kansas State University. The other 10 teams are super, duper creative, right?

*sigh*

But anyway, Rock Chalk Jayhawk, GO KU!!! Enjoy this:



The victory, the glory, the power, the legends, the titles, The Tradition. This video gives me chills just watching it at home. I got to see it for the first time before the game I went to on Saturday. On Saturday, I had goosebumps and shed tears. Kansas Basketball is amazing.