However, my friends (because John McCain is old! Get it?!), there is one trend that I not only DON'T understand, I strongly believe is detrimental to the human race as a whole. It is the epitome of self absorption, created by a society so desperately in need for attention and validation, coddled and petted as to be free of wrongdoing that it is like viewing a mirror of the most vain person you could come across.

It is the video blog. And it is the most disgusting, vile creation since two girls decided to share their stomach contents in one cup.

Naturally, this was going to happen. The video blog is the progression of blogs, or "web logs," as the old-timey internet users used to call their online journals, back in the early '00s when they used voiceband modems to connect online with "telephone lines" while listening to "Cee-Dees."With the advances in broadband internet connections, cheaper video devices and the degradation of school education, it was a matter of time before the immature and the vapid would figure out how to press the power button on their camera with their opposable digits.

Do you want to know why these... THINGS... have annoyed me more than FOX News covering The Million Man March? Here's a good example:

"My News Blog Series (church!)" or: "When My Pharmacist Mixes Up My Meds."

Seriously, what the fuck is this? Are we supposed to learn something? Are we supposed to donate money towards an anti-drug campaign? I could have made the same video if I wanted to commit a hate crime against myself. Luckily, my parents instilled in me an extra dose of shame.

Those types of videos make up about 75.93 percent* of video blogs. Then, there is about 21.45 percent* of vloggers (barf) that come to the table with topics that might be important to someone; who that person is, I have no idea.

"I'M BACK!" by BloggerMusicMan: the reason that cinematographers exist.

The kid that does these videos feels that he has a viewpoint that people need to hear, and bless his heart for giving it all he's got. But the message is lost due to a lack of a script, an overwhelming need for attention and a misguided attempt at visual artistry. It looks like he's filming in a foggy basement. And the "rocking out" head bob looks like he diddlin' his fiddle. Perhaps he'll figure it all out in time. Hang in there, kitten!

And then there are the celebrities: celebrity video blogs -- because they obviously don't have enough attention placed on them daily via magazines, TV or internet gossip blogs -- make up the remaining 62.76 percent* of this deadly online electronic virus. Because they have something beneficial to contribute, stars like P. Diddy talk about their bathroom habits, Miley Cyrus offers a tour of her "dirty" house for stalkers to take note, and Lil Wayne... well, check out what's on Weezy's mind:

Dude's obviously got something on his mind -- which is why he probably cut the blog short.

In some instances, a video blog can take people behind the scenes of anticipated productions, offering up interesting and valuable tidbits of info about a project in the works. These make the effort to bring something unique and fun to the table. Or... they are literally shit.

Folks, this is what we should be waging the war on -- not overseas over oil or in the media about who's a "Maverick" or a "hockey mom." Rather, it is this virus, the video blog, that is a disease that will consume and bring down our culture. Because a shallow society is one that feels that they are contributing something with nothing. Heck, maybe this blog is a big contribution of nothing. But I at least went through the effort of forming a well thought-out argument that doesn't have me twitching like I took a crack hit. But maybe that would endear me more to the kids and help me understand High School Musical and music like T-Pain.

* note: 62.53 percent of statistics are made up on the spot.

Jackson was very popular. People kept coming up to him to pet him and this woman even took his picture. She said that she use to have a smaller version of Jackson, but that she hasn't been able to find another dog that looked like him. She wanted to take a picture to show her husband.

When we left the park, the kids were TIRED. Not to mention the adults. I wanted to take a nap, but there was no time, because we were off to Adam and Kelee's wedding. I brought a black strapless dress to wear to the wedding, but decided not to wear it because I had worn a black strapless last weekend at my reunion. It wasn't the same dress, but I wanted to wear something different. I started out with this strapless black and white number. The top kind of bubbles which looks absolutely cute in person, but in pictures it makes you look like you're wearing an ill fitting dress. Can I just tell you that that "pose" did not come naturally. I was rolling after my brother took that picture. I posted it, because I am not afraid to look silly! ;) I ended up wearing another dress to the wedding.

I've known Adam since college. I met him through my sister, who had classes with him. Adam now works with my brother. I know right?! It's all very incestuous. He married his long time girlfriend Kelee on Saturday. They met when he and his roommate went next door to "borrow some sugar" from the two girls who just moved in. In light of how they met, I am now making sure that I have a poo load of sugar in my pantry. Maybe the fireman next door will need some sugar. No pun intended.

I need to meet you atleast once Tanisha. Atleast I want to see how it is to see someone who thinks, writes, computes, listens, interprets, draws and does everything like me.

I suppose you're in UK right now, after your operating system project work, all the very best with it. By the time we meet, I guess I'll be owner of an OS too...hopefully. Please meet me once... had you just googled once godgeez.!.

And yep...!!..i torned off the tee that you gave me..of che guevara out of anger..!! sorry but abhilash was responsible..!!...

kahaa se mili thi yaad nahi, par mm... it was a nice thing dat i met you, or else i wud 've never met a bestie teddo...>!!.... thanx for being my friend sweeto..>!!

continous chatting and month end anniversary celebrations of our meet chats..nice he he.>!!

thanx for the courier gift, the punk badge, the locket, the sketches...cudn't 've been better..!!... u're really a sweet heart.!

Here is a link to her blog: Meet Prachita

John McCain may have said "my friend(s)" 22 times in the second presidential debate, but here's how I know I'm not his friend:

-- I'm not a Washington lobbyist like his pal Phil Gramm whose efforts at deregulating and loosening regulation enforcement of financial institutions have contributed to our current economic crisis.

-- I'm not the head of a failed savings and loan, like Charles Keating who bilked customers out of millions and who John McCain was willing to support in his illegal activities to the point that Congress criticized McCain for his poor judgment.

-- I'm not part of his "middle class," which he somewhat laughingly described as anyone making less than $5 million a year (I still dream of making even six figures...).

-- I'd likely never be his neighbor, like those who can afford to buy his 15,000-square-foot, 13-bedroom, 14.5-bath Phoenix estate, which is currently on the market and described by the listing agent describes as "perfect for a private residence."  (I wonder what real estate goes for in neighborhoods of his 12 or so other homes.)

-- I'm not comfortable being the "other woman" like the current Mrs. McCain was while he cheated on his first wife who had been horribly injured in a car crash,.

-- I'm not a wealthy woman who can provide spousal financial support of his campaign while hiding that support under the guise of having separate finances, like his current wife who wore a $313,100 outfit -- far more that the value of most Americans' home -- to his Republican Convention acceptance speech.

-- I'm not the kind of woman who stands for being called a nasty name like is current wife did or for calling a U.S. Senator another nasty name as one of his supporters did, which he found amusing.

-- I'm not part of the U. S. Navy hierarchy like those in command during McCain's time as a pilot who let him keep flying after he crashed five aircraft and even after wartime injuries left him unable to lift his arms high enough to comb his hair.

-- I'm not capable of turning my back on those members of the military courageously serving our country, like McCain did in denying our troops adequate armor and equipment, reasonable rest between deployments or adequate health care when injured while serving their country (made all the more ironic by McCain's invocation of his own service as an indicator of his ability to lead).

Barack Obama has shown that his leadership will be far more "friendly" to me.

-- His tax cuts, which will benefit 95% of Americans, promise that those of us earning less than $200,000 a year will no longer have to bear undue tax burden, and the mega-rich and large corporations will finally have to reasonably participate in supporting the infrastructure of the country that has provided them the opportunity to amass almost incomprehensible wealth.

-- His economic policy takes into account that "trickle-down" economics doesn't work, stems the massive redistribution of wealth to the richest 1%, and seeks to stop letting these mega-rich individuals and corporations from lining their pockets with our grandchildren's inheritance.

-- He supports small business owners, providing them the kind of tax relief reserved only for large corporations in McCain's plan, and allowing them to finally provide health care for their families and their workers without driving them into bankruptcy. 

-- His heath care plan provides me coverage and choice without making me figure out to make a $5,000 tax credit pay for coverage that on average costs $12,000, and it doesn't make me pay taxes on that tax credit.

-- His foreign policy calls for a diplomacy likely to undo the damage to U.S. credibility done by the saber rattling and pre-emptive wars of the past eight years, rather than seeking to "Bomb Bomb Bomb, Bomb Bomb Iran." 

-- His education policy supports the public school my children attend, rather than diverting public money to private schools accountable to no one.

-- He supports equal pay for equal work, so that I can earn more than 77 cents for every dollar my equally educated and experienced male counterpart earns.

It never ceases to amaze me how willingly people vote against their own self interests. I drive around my working- to middle-class neighborhood and see some houses with McCain lawn signs and figure those people are either far richer and more powerful than I am or they don't know who their friends really are.  I hope you consider who is looking out for your best interests before you cast your vote on November 4th.

• Watch the debate with friends and make a bingo game for all to play. Certain phrases should appear on the board such as, "my friends", "the economy", "the war in Iraq", "Ayers", "maverick", "change" and "straight talk". If you and your friends prefer you can also design a number of drinking games revolving around the phrases mentioned above.
• Lie to the exit pollsters. I've actually done this one and it is great to see their reactions to certain questions. Although I am a caucasian, I once managed to convince a pollster I was an Eskimo.
• If a live person calls you concerning the election and their candidate, take up all of their time. I enjoy asking questions and then walking around the house performing my "honey do" list while not listening. Make sure each time you ask them a candidate position question to then ask them to repeat the answer two or three times. This year my goal is make them repeat one of their positions to my five year old daughter in terms she can understand.
• If you have neighbors that you and everyone else hate, go to the campaign headquarters of the candidate you are not voting for and ask for yard signs. Make sure you place them in the yards of the disliked neighbor.
• If you see people holding up signs for their candidate on the corner quickly roll down your window and slam on your brakes making sure the tires squeal. Bang on the side of your car and yell "owww". Not only does this scare the bejesus out of the people on the side of the road, you will notice they will all quickly back up and most will no longer be there on subsequent days. Oh yeah, make sure you then roll down the passenger side window and say, "oh, sorry about that, I didn't mean to startle y'all. It's a reflexive reaction and the doctors can't really explain or figure it out. Good luck with the campaign."

Keep in mind, I do not like either candidate so I will enjoy this election more than most of you. It is so very easy to have fun at the expense of those individuals who are oh so serious about their candidate when you don't have the passion of having a dog in the fight. They are very easy to rile up and then laugh at. With that said, have fun and enjoy life.

Late.

So stop saying it, pal.

It's giving me a stomachache, but everything gives me a stomachache, so you could argue that it's no worse than that acidic apple I had for dinner.

But this is the special nervous-jittery kind of tummy trouble, the 'I have a test in five minutes and I haven't studied and I'm not wearing any pants!' kind that you hope will end up being a dream but is most definitely not, at that moment, feeling any less real than reality.

I, like almost everyone else I know, have no idea what to do about the Great Panic on Wall Street, and so I'm forced to just keep on living Life as Usual. I'm not planting a depression garden, selling my car or making a run on the bank, mostly because I have no idea what the most efficient or effective course of action might be to keep myself afloat as things get worse. Does anybody know?

A savings account statement in the mail yesterday had me frightened to open it, but the account is earning its .10 percent interest as usual, a paltry amount that wasn't making me very happy for a while. I'd considered, as recently as August,  pulling out in favor of a higher risk savings option, but now anything but negative results seems great.

Have you started doing anything to penny-pinch or avoid the stock market and credit market catastrophe's impact on your own lives? Any suggestions?

And on a less panicky note

Did you know that ...

• This game is fun, distracting and, yes, kind of zen: Loops of Zen
• Kazuo Ishiguro just keeps getting more interesting
• President Bush's ruse in 2006 when he made his secret trip to Iraq that no one was supposed to know about was, "I'm going to read"? Apparently it was pretty unbelieveable, 'cause his Iraq trip was all over the news pretty fast.
• You cannot drink through Whole Foods Veggie Straws. They are made of fried potato.
• I am John McCain's friend, my friends.
• My office desk requires a de-inking and de-dust-bunnying every two months or I start getting even worse office allergies. (Yes, I do have a runny nose and itchy eyes that are directly linked to my time spent in my office.)
• Beet-kale-ginger-honey-banana juice, like they had to sample at the grocery store today, isn't completely repulsive. I'd kick out the kale, though.
• I can do 200 crunches. ... But I get pretty tired afterward.
• Yokelhoma is my favorite insult nickname for Oklahoma so far this football season
• Twitter.com is so silly. Yet so popular. Why? Despite it being the latest office craze, I have yet to succumb.
• I have 20.02 hours of vacation time that I will not be allowed to use this year. It will disappear next year.

And that, my friends, is a glimpse into the thoughts that drift through my head.

My friends.

We talked about what he was up to. Mark and Philip are completely different. Philip is the epitome of clean cut and preppy. Mark would love to hop into a time machine and travel back to the 1950s. He loves rockabilly and dyes his hair black. His dream girl is Bettie Page and he even has a tattoo of her on his upper arm. I remember thinking to myself when I was with Phil that I was glad I ended up with the conservative and "safe" brother. I don't think that's true now. It's not that I want to be with Mark. I just mean that what I thought was my "type" is no longer the case.

I'm not really sure what my type is any more, but I know what I'm attracted to. I am open to all possibilities. However if I know what I want, is it wasting your time being open to everything? I know. You're right. You may not know what you want until you try it. I know that for a fact. First hand experience and what not.

Every time I go into a bookstore I head over to the relationship/self-help section. It's funny how all the books about surviving divorces, breakups and bad relationships are next to all the sex books. So basically after you read about how to make yourself whole again, you can read about how to have good whoopee when you get into a "good relationship." I don't even know why I look for self-help books. I keep thinking that there is a book out there that has all the answers. I haven't found it yet...

Life is kind of boring these days. No drama whatsoever... ;) I was watching Hana and Jackson interact the other day and noticed that he'll nudge her with his nose and wait for her to lick him. She'll lick and lick and lick. He just sits there with his eyes closed. When she stops, he'll nudge her again. I think they love each other. Don't tell anyone.

 A message to Senator McCain - Please understand that your continued use of the phrase "My Friend's" turns my stomach!   You are NOT my friend!    I would venture to guess that if you didn't hold your current position and you didn't have your wife's money, that you just might  realize how friendless you are!  You are rude, conceited and arrogant!    I would hope that when I am in my 70's that I will have gained some wisdom from my experience and mistakes.   You don't display any wisdom!  You are in fact a scary individual...   Some folks know when to quit.  You on the other hand, if you persist on your current path will go into the history books along side your "good friend" George.   Maybe your only friend!    Ones time on this planet in the big picture is far less than a blink of the eye when you put it into the perspective of eternity.  One actions during this time are accounted for, be it from the Christian perspective of the Devine law, or from the Buddhist teachings of karma, one will reap what they sow!   Senator McCain, you don't have any friends!  My advise to you is to reflect upon what you have done well and not so well, find some peace winthin.   You are an old foolish man and should full take advantage of the little time you have left...   Go fishing, enjoy the grandchildren, spend some time with your lovely rich wife, and take a cruise...   Senator McCain, you don't have any friends!    PLEASE quit saying "My Friend's" !  It makes me sick!

"Bathing Beauties"

solar etching by debbie little wilson

If McCain wins and I have to listen to him say "My Friends" a hundred times in every speech, I will slit my wrists.... It is bad enough that we have had to endure eight years of Bushisms but the prospect of four years of Palin's folksy, gosh darn it nonsense and McCain's breathy "Listen, my friends" will absolutely do me in....Okay, I had to get that off of my chest first before I could continue...

They say that "Actions speak louder than words" and what I have observed of McCain's actions towards women is a big shout out.... His voting record alone makes me understand how he views women's rights.. I could list these but they are too long .... If you are interested in viewing them in detail, check out.. WomenForBarakObama.com

or go to Votesmart.org to learn how he has voted on all of the issues....

In my efforts to tolerate Sarah Palin, I have just come to feel sorry for her..... She is really just a pawn for McCain to add a bust, oh I mean, boost to his dragging campaign..... There were other more qualified Republican women whom he could have chosen but they weren't sexy enough and we all know that sex sells... Now, granted, Palin did accept the position "without blinking" but she should have known that she wasn't ready for the job..... Maybe if she had really read all of those magazines or newspapers that she couldn't name to Katie Couric, she would have been better equiped..... she should have said "Thanks, but no thanks" to McCain's sexism....

I hesitate to bring up McCain's first wife but since we are talking about how he views women, I might as well go ahead..... While he was a POW, his wife was in a horrible car wreck.... she became disfigured and gained weight.... He comes home and dumps her for a richer, younger, more fit model.... Not an uncommon tale but if you claim that are in the "moral" party, you might as well "walk the walk and talk the talk" or suffer the criticism .....

Recently during the debate, a young black woman got up to ask him a question...... His body language spoke volumes.... Instead of answering her question and looking into her eyes, he totally turned his back to her when he spoke...... I was in disbelief.... A sharp contrast to the hand shaking and drooling he did over the overweight comrade in arms at the beginning of the debate....I don't know if this reaction was because she was a woman or because she was black or because he was just too old to be standing that long but what ever it was, it was pretty rude

Women are not the only people he doesn't respect.... I would talk about the "that one" comment but it leaves me speechless.....There was that moment he told the young man that he probably never heard about Fannie and Freddie until this crisis.... how insulting....

McCain doesn't even seem to have as much tolerance for women or African Americans as Palin has for the gay community.....and that isn't saying much....It seems like he only has respect for the old guard Republicans and military men.... that leaves a huge portion of our population at risk..... which scares me.....

and leaves me wondering, who are these "friends" that he keeps talking about.........

The real difference for me is the candidates' overall message. McCain couldn't stop telling us that he knew things -- how to fix the economy, how to end our dependence on foreign oil, even how to catch Osama bin Laden. At the same time, all we, "his friends," knew were broad generalities -- but nothing aobut Obama's voting record or tax plan, and certainly not what Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are. What stood out for me in McCain's performance was the impression that he was speaking to millions of lost Americans, scared about the economy and the war and energy. They needn't worry, though, because John McCain just knows.

Obama was different. Instead of adopting a "trust me, I know" attitude, he recognized that Americans are sick of being told not to worry, government knows best. We have all been jaded by eight years of an administration that used Americans' fear and uncertainty to expand its power and steer the country off track. So not only did he explain his policy proposals carefully and clearly, but he also included all of us in his plan to restore America's hope, security, and prestige. From conserving energy to serving as volunteers, it was a call to do our part, with the federal government's lead. McCain spoke about Americans' contributions, but only in the context of free market endeavors - government's role would be as cheerleader.

Obama is my candidate because we share values - health care as a right, government as an agent for change, community over the individual. But he proved to me during this debate that he is also what I'm looking for in a leader: someone with great ideas, who presents them with a sense of inclusion that makes others want to follow.