Happy holidays!

I should be cleaning, but I keep getting distracted.

Quick overview of my horoscope

"Overview: Here comes a sudden change of heart with regard to a serious career matter. Are you ready? If not, you might just wake up in a very determined frame of mind, but go to sleep not much caring what happens. Get yourself pumped up."

I love how these are written so much that you're like "whoa, that IS me."

Poor, poor Packers

Seriously -- to the Ravens?: "It was the low point of an awful season for the Packers (3-11), who absorbed their most lopsided loss since a 61-7 defeat at Chicago in 1980."

Court: No 'intelligent design' in class

CNN.com - Court: No 'intelligent design' in class - Dec 20, 2005: "'Intelligent design' cannot be mentioned in biology classes in a Pennsylvania public school district, a federal judge said Tuesday, ruling in one of the biggest courtroom clashes on evolution since the 1925 Scopes trial."

Wow -- something smart.

Dallas manages to completely suck ... again

Is Dallas even TRYING to make the playoffs? What a disgusting game. And for a team that normally gets practically no penalties, nine is amazingly bad.

But hey, the Browns won! That was a crappy game, though - two rather sucky teams battling it out. At least we came out on top this time.

Does this make me a chronic procrastinator?

Is it bad that I'm procrastinating writing a white paper by readingthis article?

"Mr. Ferrari identifies two kinds of habitual lollygaggers. "Arousal procrastinators" believe they work best under pressure and tend to delay tasks for the thrill. "Avoidant procrastinators" are self-doubters who tend to postpone tasks because they worry about performing inadequately, or because they fear their success may raise others' expectations of them."

I think I fall mostly under avoidant, but say I'm under arousal (and perhaps in some cases I am). But the article also talks about delaying boring tasks -- I totally do that. Hmmm...

A real mixed bag

I am eating mixed nuts, and I’m disappointed that there are no peanuts. I guess some people complain because many companies use peanuts as filler, but really, they’re rather tasty and bring something to the mixed nut bag.

I hate that it’s not even 10:30, and I am hungry, hungry.

I hate that one of the work blogs WILL NOT FINISH PUBLISHING.

I hate that it looks like this day is going to be very, very long.

I hate that I’ve hardly done any Christmas shopping, and it needs to be done in the next week.

But what I do like is that it’s Friday and I can have a free Diet Coke right now.

Rodriguez: Fast and Furious Driver

Um, if I drove like this, I wouldn't have a license.

Showtime, ABC Try Getting "Arrested"

This would be fabulous. I really hate to see Arrested Development go off the air. I don't watch it regularly, but when I start doing the DVD thing, I want to have plenty to watch.

Ford pulls ads from gay media

And how have I not posted about this disgusting display of un-Americanism?! Ford pulls ads from gay media. Don't want gays to buy Jags or Land Rovers, of course. I think it's horrible that the company would bow down to pressue from that terrible, terrible group. Something like this really makes me anti-Ford.

Go to AMERICAblog. Former WH officials work for Ford -- think that's a coincidence?

Kraft had its own issue -- see how Kraft responded and then go buy some mac and cheese or something.

From Kraft's statement:

Diversity makes us a stronger company and connects us with the diversity that exists among the consumers who buy our products.

...

It can be difficult when we are criticized. It's easy to say you support a concept or a principle when nobody objects. The real test of commitment is how one reacts when there are those who disagree. I hope you share my view that our company has taken the right stand on diversity, including its contribution to the 2006 Gay Games in Chicago.

Never thought I would be suggesting that Ford look to Kraft, but I guess that's what I'm doing.

Oh, and let's remind everyone of Toyota pulling its advertising from Nip/Tuck at the call of the Parents Television Council (another group of stupid, stupid people). Gateway pulled its advertising too, and for some reason, I remember Coors doing it as well. Pulling the ads didn't concern Nip/Tuck, though.

I could go on and on, but I won't. I'm going to work.

I like Tempe

Tempe wants wireless Internet to be like water and power, which I think is so, so smart. People think otherwise are just hanging on to the past.

"Tempe officials hope that by making high-speed Internet as accessible as water or electricity across its 40 square miles, it will attract more technology and biotech companies -- and the young, upwardly mobile employees they bring."

Off to Austin

On my way to Austin for a conference (representing another division during a tech demo). This should be interesting ... could go poorly as I'm not as well-versed with this division as I am my own. Wish me luck -- especially in Bush country. Ugh.

More anti-charter school press

The Canton paper is getting in on the "attack charter schools" thing.

"It’s not that we shouldn’t consider alternative teaching methods. God knows the traditional model employed by public schools — one teacher trying to enlighten a sea of sleepy faces — doesn’t work for every kid, but improvement becomes only tougher when resources are drained by charters. That money should be left to the public to find alternatives, such as this county’s multidistrict collaboratives and McKinley’s still-budding, small-school program."

The public schools HAD the money and failed to do anything with it. I am so sick of people a) making charter schools and school reform a political issue (Dem v Rep) and b) ignoring the fact that many of these charter schools are trying to reach kids who have more than "sleepy faces" to deal with. They have very real problems that repeatedly are ignored by the traditional model.

And let's not even get into the teacher unions. Pot meet kettle, but that's another day.

Fiona Apple

I saw Fiona Apple last night at the House of Blues in Cleveland. She was phenomenal. Seriously. Probably the best show I've ever seen. It was moving. She was fabulous. Fiona came on around 8 and played for about an hour and forty-five minutes. Stuff from all three albums, and not a glitch throughout the entire show.

The only downer was the opening act. I'm sorry, but David Garza sucked a big one. He was cheesy. His music sucked. He was whiny, and I think he thought he was ironic.

Dallas and her vent

Dallas and her vent
Originally uploaded by adrienna.

Dallas spends a great deal of her time sleeping on the heating vents in the house. Aaron's afraid that she'll dry out.

The project that never was

Adam's Bug
Originally uploaded by adrienna.

Aaron and I really wanted to restore his brother's Beetle, but it just required space and time that we simply don't have right now. We learned our lesson, I guess, after Sammie.

The Beetle had been around for a while. Well, duh, of course. What I mean is that it was Aaron's college roommate's car, then Aaron's brothers ... and could have been mine.

I was sad when we said goodbye, although honestly, it was rougher than I'd remembered. We sold it on eBay and delivered it to its new home in Sandusky.

Aaron and his ... victory?

Aaron and his ... victory?
Originally uploaded by adrienna.

One down ... and 80 million to go.

We caught a couple -- Kelsey first and then Harmon. I won't go into details, but Kelsey didn't make it. Harmon is hopefully having a wonderful life ... not eating our house. We're not trapping right now, though, because it's too cold -- don't know what we'd do with them once they're trapped.

No noise from the walls or attic, so hopefully, the poison in the attic has done its job.

Ramblings about dinner

Tonight, it's taco night in my household! I love taco night — I make my own seasoning and add peppers and Rotelle to the ground turkey mixture. Tasty, tasty. I think we'll have pinto beans and Mexican rice, too. And chips and salsa. Who cares if I need to lose weight? Tacos are yummy.

Last night, I made pizza with turkey sausage, tomatoes and turkey pepperoni. It wasn't as good as ones I've done before. I'm not sure why. I must have done something different with the pizza sauce, I guess, but it was normal — garlic, bay leaf, Italian seasoning, etc. Don't know what's up with that.

I don't feel like being here. I have a video shoot this afternoon, so hopefully that will make the day go by faster. But probably not. I don't feel pretty enough today to be on camera, but I have no choice.

Alito's memo reignites documents debate

This Alito guy has got to go. Love this:

At the Justice Department, Assistant Attorney General Rachel Brand said, "Nothing in that memo indicates how he'd rule as a judge on abortion cases.

WHATever. The fact that he wants people to chip away at abortion rights doesn't indicate how we would rule? Dumbass. People aren't that stupid, I would hope. This guy CLEARLY has no respect for the precedent of Roe versus Wade (or a woman's right to protect her own body), and of course, that's Bush's plan.

God. Go to Planned Parenthood and find out what you can do to try to stop Alito.

Akron gets Wi-Fi plan off ground

I would love wi-fi throughout Akron. I think the city really is trying ... but it may be too late. There's no reason to move here (aside from love?), and for those of us who do live here, Akron's hard-pressed to provide a reason to stay. This is a step, at least.