"Politics is like drugs, alcohol, and gambling: just another addiction."

Michael Goldman, political consultant







I'm an addict. O, the joys of watching the State of the Union address on C-SPAN, free of any commentary. I get a perverse pleasure in watching Pelosi's reactions: approving applause, grudging applause, standing ovation, stoney refusal to lift hands from lap. Her choice of cream colored blouse and sparkly mint green jacket was poor. It looks awful on camera, and doesn't give enough of a sense of power. Bush's light blue checked tie is a little too seersucker-suit-in-mid-June for my tastes, although I understand the use of light blue as a calming influence. Condelezza Rice is appropriately dressed--if she were going to a rich man's funeral. And Cheney, a purple tie? Seriously?







Tsk, tsk, doesn't anyone have a competent wardrobe consultant??







Hey look, it's the woman who created Baby Einstein! And her daughter in a horrible shiny button-down! And a man who either jumped over or under a New York subway train...I have no idea what's going on. This speech is devolving really fast.







Ok, I'm stopping now, so I can focus on enjoying my drug...

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Saved!




Saved! was on Oxygen tonight. It's a FABULOUS movie. If you've never seen it, I say, see it! Hell, any movie that makes Macaulay Culkin look hott in a wheelchair has to be good.




Bonnie & I have tentatively agreed that May will be the time for us to take our fabled trip to New York City. We will visit all the Atlanta ex-pats who currently reside there, and hop from couch to couch. It will be fantastic.



I made a 97 on my first quiz of the semester. Here's to more of the same.

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The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents a Timeline of Art History

Take a chance on me




I've been bad. I made promises I never intended to keep. That's right, I promised you 'A Good Lover is Newsworthy' when really, the whole thing is still swirling in my head and I have no idea where to continue. So I'm throwing that all out and acting like it never happened.




Moving on.




I spent the weekend at my grandparents' house, which was enough to nearly drive me to insanity. I'm having to listen to ABBA now to decompress. ABBA, people! That's how bad it was.



I thought online classes were going to be wonderful and easy. Instead, they have turned out to be obnoxious and a burden. Think of the stupidest web forum you were ever a regular poster on back when you were, like, 15, and multiply it by annoying. ("Oh fuck...I have to actually read all this shit and comment on it like the illiterate bastards actually had somethign worth saying?!?!?") Oh well, it could be worse.




Right?

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Slight delay




Ok, no time for an examination of conflict today...been running around like a crazy woman since I got up this morning. Had my first quiz of the semester; think I made an A. Will promise to post part 2 and 3 of 'A good lover is newsworthy' tomorrow from my grandparents' house. Promise. Promise. Even the slow dial-up shall not deter me.




Happy birthday, Edgar Allen Poe! (FYI, he died in 1849. FYI, he also married his 13-year-old girl cousin. FYI, the man had issues.)

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A good lover is newsworthy (Part 1 of 6)




It is generally agreed that there are six criteria for determining the newsworthiness of a story: impact, conflict, novelty, prominence, proximity and timeliness. I've been thinking a lot the past few weeks about how a good lover should meet all six of those criteria as well; hence, a good lover is newsworthy.





Over the next few days, I'll be examining each of the six criteria, and how a good lover should meet each one. Tonight, a little about






Impact




A good lover should make an impact. When you meet someone special for the first time, it should hit you in some way. You should remember him or her, and think about that person for some time afterwards. No one ever says, "(S)he was the best lover I ever had...and I can't remember her/his name..."




Impact also has to do with relevance and usefulness. Obviously, a good lover will be relevant and useful to you.




I like what my textbook has to say about impact (p. 5): Somtimes, of course, impact isn't immediately obvious. Sometimes it isn't very exciting.





Sometimes a good lover isn't immediately obvious. Sometimes a good lover isn't very exciting. Sometimes love is hard work.

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Tomorrow (January 19): An examination of conflict

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I have a good explanation for not writing yesterday.



Ok, so yesterday didn't turn out quite how I had in mind. What was supposed to be a salad, beer, and trivia ended up as salad, pitchers of beer, trivia, pool, after party, and passing out on a friend's cigarette-smelly couch. I hadn't done anything quite like that in a long time, and I remember why. I had to call out 'sick' to work because ye olde hangover this morning wouldn't let me face the world. Note to self: You don't party like this anymore because you end up smelling like cigarette butts and stale beer. Also, your contacts become glued to your eyeballs. Super gross.




I've discovered I love a shower and my own bed too much these days to find sleeping on a bachelor couch appealing anymore.



However, to redeem myself and my bad behavior yesterday, I will post another entry this evening. It will be a piece I've been working on for a few weeks, entitled 'A Good Lover is Newsworthy.'

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