Not exactly what I imagined, but it might work.

The Obama rally was fun last night. The Senator gave the same stump speech he's been giving for the last 15 months, which is a little tired, but going with friends and seeing the guy in person were worth it. We got to the Dome at 8 and Psycho B started his address at 10:15 or so, making it one long night. But he must not have been as tired as we were, because he suited up for some hoops with the heels this morning. You can see more pictures here. Thanks for the link, Mary.

The other highlight of the night was seeing all the other famous people in attendance. Sam Perkins told the crowd to put on their uniform of hope, and I even got a picture with one of the guys I was surprised to see there, my good friend Warren. I didn't think he would be much of a fan. I didn't have time to post any other pictures this morning, but I'm sure Brooklynne will post some sooner or later.

Brooklynne and I had an eventful weekend. Brian Sellers finally made his visit to NC (a week later than expected!) and we got to hang out with him and Kristy Kent on Saturday. We made pizzas and Brooklynne dusted us all in a good game of Settlers.

Yesterday night, we had some more fun at the annual Beans and Barn Dance, where Brooklynne's cornbread won the prize for best name ("Hanging Chad Cornbread"--because if it didn't win we were demanding a recount). The square dancing was fun, the chili was great, and the company was awesome too.

The fun continues tonight, as Brooklynne and I will be attending an Obama rally at the Dean Dome. I've already given him my endorsement, but regardless of anyone's politics, this is undoubtedly a campaign of historic significance, and I expect this to be an event I'll remember for a long time. Look for pictures sometime tomorrow.

1. Brooklynne posted some new Halleigh shows. She's out-blogging me lately. I better get it together or she'll get the scoop on every Halleigh video.
2. I think the long wait for an announcement from Hansbrough, Ellington, and Lawson is a bad sign.
3. Now I have something to shoot for.
4. Brooklynne is making me go running today.
5. Dad should have the address, well, and building plans for the mountain cabin lined up by next weekend, when we are planning a few work days. Cross your fingers for good weather.
6. LOST began again last night. The writer's strike cut out the last 3 weeks of the season, but that's better than 8.
7. Thierry Henry is rumored to be considering a move to the MLS. I decided recently I should become a MLS fan, but really there are no teams in a natural geographic proximity to us here, so I think I'm going to adopt the Kansas City Wizards. They are one of the charter teams, they have a history through their connections to Lamar Hunt, and they're doing pretty well right now.
8. Just got a call from the mechanic. Not good news. I keep telling myself at least no one died.

For all of you Brian Sellers groupies out there, the king will be in town over the next couple of days. His stated goal is to watch a few Diamond Heels games (what more could you expect from a guy who was named after his dad's favorite cricket player?), but I know he is probably hopeing to work on his design for a new plug-in electric car. I consider myself mildly green, but until he works out a way to mange the miles of extension cords needed to reach my workplace, I don't think a plug-in concept is viable. Anywho, I hope some folks will have time to catch Brian this weekend before he returns to his celebrity box seats on Broadway.

Barrak and Hill have been touring the state like it's going out of style and--as noted in the comments--its primary season in the old north state. I haven't read up on the local elections yet, because it is much harder to find detailed info, but I'll try to give some symbolance of endorsements/coverage to the contests that pertain to Derm and ye ol' Cackylack.

If you want to read ahead, here is what the ballot will look like if you are voting in NC Democratic Precinct 4, like Brooklynne (she's voting in the democratic primaries as an unaffiliated voter, but I'm a VA voter). If you don't know what precinct you're in or you live elsewhere in NC, or if you lean red, you can find your registration status, your polling place, and a sample ballot by clicking here. I assume you can also get absentee voting info there too, like if you are living in Chile, but you better hurry because I'm too lazy to check the deadlines.

I had a crazy two weeks, which resulted in only one post during that time, but I'm back and ready to get blogging again. There was a point when I asked myself if I really missed it, and I did.

So to get things started again, I'm posting something that perhaps I shouldn't. It probably doesn't help my family's support of my scooter dreams, but it's good to know that Scooter-Relief.org is out there helping wounded scooterists get back on two wheels.

Also, follow the continue reading link to see some funny images you get when you google "blogging."

I haven't been blogging like I usually do and there are several reasons.

UNC dashed my hopes against the rocks like Babylonian infants. I wanted to write something positive by reflecting on the season rather than the game, like several of my fellow bloggers, but I couldn't do it. I am going on record now as declaring Saturday's game the worst loss in UNC basketball history. The only game in all of my sports memory that I think made me feel worse was the FSU football game my sophomore year when UNC was undefeated, ranked #4, and had better athletes position by position--but still managed to get blanked 21-0 at home in a slow, cold rain. The only thing that makes the Kansas loss less sickening is that it is basketball, and I know there will be other chances.

Other reasons for the silence:

I've become incredibly busy at work.

I'm sick.

I've had a series of stressful situations arise that took up all my energy.

And now, we're leaving for VA this afternoon, so it is unlikely that I will do much blogging again before Sunday.

SO... hang in there. Periods of blogging duldrums are usually followed by explosions of blogging ecstasy.

Does anyone who reads this blog have a friend who lives in Iceland? I'm serious--I need a friend in Iceland. If you know someone there well enough to introduce me, please leave a comment. Thanks! 

There's a quiz thing going around the blogoshere, and apparently, I've been tagged at least twice to answer these questions so keep reading if you care. Some of these questions are tough to pick answers (like naming 4 jobs I've held) but in the case of multiple possibilities, I'll pick the most entertaining.

In the comments of the last post, the discussion led to me thinking about Pechorin, a character from a book with whom I strongly identified. Have you ever felt like a character was speaking to you? If so who?

Maybe a better question--who are your most and least favorite characters? Feel free to include movies and plays too.

I'm a moderate reader. I used to read for pleasure alot, until I got to college, and then I read mostly just my school books and an occasional book on religion. Right now, I'm so sick of reading history, I'm really craving something fictional. I can only think of a couple times in the past 5 years that I have sat down with a good novel and enjoyed the experience of leisurely flipping from page one to the end, and both times, the book was really bad. I haven't done a top ten list in a long time, so here is a top (bottom?) ten list of bad novels I have read over the past ten or so years. (I'm talking bad as in not enjoyable, so this is not a comment on their literary merit. Also, most of these are on the heavy side--I know--but I already said that I've done little reading outside of school.)

10. Song of Solomon (Morrison) - I have to mention that I liked the ending, or this would have been much lower.
9. Dead Souls (Gogol) - my copy was apparently missing the last half (although there was mysteriously no indication of any missing pages), but I never bothered to read the rest.
8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (Dick) - too bad, did not finish.
7. Rabbit, Run (Updike)
6. Peyton Place (Metalious)
5. Cold Mountain (Frazier)
4. Age of Innocence (Wharton)
3. Jude the Obscure (Hardy)
2. Fathers and Sons (Turgenev)

And the number one worst of them all...

When I was in high school, I dated a girl whose family was Catholic. Sometimes I went to church with them, and I always liked their services alot, and--I confess--I often "passed" as Catholic so I could take communion, even though I think that is a pretty big no-no in the eyes of that church. I watched everyone else really closely, but I never knew if I was going through the motions exactly right, and I often suspected the the priest knew I didn't belong. But he never stopped the service or anything, so I just kept on pretending that I knew what I was doing.

In college, one of my friends, Jamie Blosser, converted to Catholicism and then went on to graduate school at the Catholic University of American in Washington, DC. I think he is still there. That change struck me as somehow interesting at the time.

Now, I occasionally read the blog of Alan Creech, who I don't know and have never met, but I'm intrigued by his spiritual journey as he tries to rejoin the Catholic church (after leaving it for a period in a protestant church?).

I'm certain that I'm not called to be a member of the Catholic church, just as I'm sure I'm not supposed to be a member of many other churches. However, I do believe in one body, and I think there are things I can glean from other manifestations of that body, including the Catholic church.

As a kid, I remember being curious about the difference between the Catholic crucifix and the plain cross that is used by most protestant congregations. The answer I was always given was that the cross represented the resurrection, that Jesus was not stuck on the cross, that he had gone on before us, etc., etc.

But over the past few days I've been meditating on a quote that Alan Creech keeps in his blog's sidebar: 

"Keep your eyes on the crucifix, for Jesus without the cross is a man without a mission, and the cross without Jesus is a burden without a reliever."
Fulton J. Sheen

Right now, that makes sense to me. Today I can find comfort in the crucifix.

The Dodgers started off the season on the right foot with a 5-0 win over the Giants, and that makes me happy. No matter what happens, now I can say they were tied for the NL west lead as late as April 1st. Brooklynne and I recently had a good laugh with Dave Dunderdale about how I drug Brooklynne to Pittsburgh for her spring break when she was pregnant with Halleigh, just so I could watch the Dodgers' opening day game versus the Pirates at PNC Park. It was cold and miserable, and Brooklynne was sick the whole time, but now it makes a good story.

Another interesting sports read is here (you can see a contrasting opinion on the race angle here). I have to say I love the boy, but I also have to agree that the gushing has certainly become comic. The only reason I am not completely annoyed is that he is on our team. If this was a Kansas player, I would have to watch the game with the TV muted.