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Iceland & Norway pictures added. Let’s just say that I’m overly concerned with livestock and baby cousins.

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For the first time in ten years, Michigan’s going to a 4-letter tournament. UMhoops has coverage from Crisler, including a video of fans going crazy as the bracket is set.

Which is all looks very awesome and fun, but a part of me is taken aback by all the cheering and yelling. Sure, it’s been a decade in the wilderness, but we’re Michigan. We don’t make noise over merely being in invited; we should be self-righteously nodding our heads and getting to work. Especially during midterms.

Inspired by this Ask Metafilter post (which was in turn motivated by this one), I signed up for New York Cares Winter Wishes program. What did my kid ask for?

A bicycle, of course.

Sometimes I’m sure the internet is laughing at me.

It was actually quite fun – I  called the coordinator to get her height, helmet status, and girliness quotient, and wound up getting her something pink and frilly.

The other kid asked for a Baby Alive Learns to Potty, which was actually harder for me to handle because i have an irrational fear of dolls. Especially peeing ones.

It’s official. I hate the Wall Street $700B bailout plan, and I think you should too.

If we’ve learned nothing anything in last eight years, it should be this. Giving the Bush administration a blank check for anything is a bad idea. They didn’t even pretend that this wasn’t a massive overreach of the executive branch:

Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.

I think it’s time for a moratorium on Treasury Secretaries who come from investment banks.

Iceland was other-worldly. Norway (or more precisely, Norwegian cousins) were hysterical, as were the members of my fire department partying on the plane to Reykjavik (congrats, Joel!), as well as the drunk guy who propositioned both myself and my boyfriend. At least we got some free drinks out of it.

I’ll be posting pics shortly, but until then:

Oh, hell no.

Sarah Palin really is a female George W. Bush. Time to donate to Obama again.

While conversing with an acquaintance last week, I came to the sudden, horrible realization that I read way too many ridiculous animal blogs. I’m not talking about dailykitten or cuteoverlord type sites (warning: good pictures, unbearable writing/graphics), or even the ever-amusing LolCats. No, we’re talking about incredibly targeted, silly blogs about animals with very specific (dis)positions.

• Disapproving Rabbits
• Cats in Sinks
• My Cat Hates You
• FailDogs
• Beedogs
• This Peanut Looks Like a Duck

This Rabbit Disapproves of This Post

Oh, West Virginia. 2008 is turning into the year that I start to hate you.

At least the candidates are making my decisions easier, given that Hillary is a sore loser and McCain is older than dirt.

I finally upgraded my Wordpress today (albeit not without some human error induced headaches). The new admin interface is amazing. Highly recommended.

The Puffs is feeling much better… so much so that I had to disguise his pills in baby food to get him to take it, as he’s no longer allowing me to shove things down his throat at will. He should be able to get the metal staples out of his tummy soon, and is even starting to pick fights with the Fuzz. I’m fairly certain that he’ll be fully recovered sooner than my finances will. Pet insurance, man.

It’s been a funny month:

1. I went to Summit Point to watch the boy race. Sadly, I did not get to watch him roll over his own foot with his own car. Luckily, nothing’s broken but his dignity.
2. We threw the boy a birthday party. Mom and Dad came, and there was cooking, drinking, and dancing on the roof, as well as mirrors broken and chalkboards wiped clean. All and all, not a bad way to turn 29.
3. This kid made me miss the midwest.
4. Apple confused me. It’s one thing to post the KB article just to let you know there’s a problem, but it’s been five months!
5. The Puffs got sick with a UTI and had to go to the vet. He’s not laying around staring into space and refusing to eat while I try not to freak out. Vet says to keep offering food (Beech Nut Chicken & Chicken Broth, strangely), but he is spectacularly unimpressed. Although that may be better than his previously drugged-up state — I’ve never seen a cat hit his head on a glass tabletop repeatedly before. Ouch.

I’m probably going to hell, but I can’t resist:

Mullets are a family tradition for the Arnesons — Brady’s older brother Blake won the same award in 2005. Their father Scott Arneson also had a mullet as a child.

For some reason, I find this Powerpoint-inspired answer to life’s problems strangely compelling. I think it’s the narrator’s accent and phrasing; it’s so sympathetic and yet unnatural at the same time. This is how I imagine our eventual robot overlords will sound.

Keith Olbermann as a guinea pig:

Almost as distinguished as the real thing: