What was McCain thinking in choosing Sarah Palin as VP-wannabe?

This video actually reveals McCain's thoughts:



Via the site called "VPILF"

For a girl without television,

I'm awfully addicted to Mad Men. I think the course of our romance went as follows:

1. read New York Times story about Matthew Weiner, the creator of Mad Men
2. watch Season 1, Episode 1, of Mad Men online
3. buy all of Season 1 on iTunes, patiently waiting overnight for all of the episodes to download
4. watch all episodes on my iPhone, while driving, at work, at home, etc.
5. fall in love with Mad Men

So now my friends the Bs and I have a standing Sunday appointment to watch the show, which is nice, because I enjoy hanging out with them and this keeps us from letting weeks slip by in between hang-out sessions.

This week's episode rocked my world, and I can't wait to watch it again tomorrow! (I pre-purchased Season 2, so each episode is downloaded to my iTunes early on the morning after it airs.) This is one of those shows one must watch multiple times in order to catch everything.

Joe Biden: Our Nation's Next VP!!!

As the exclamation points indicate, I could not be happier about this choice by Obama. I love Biden's background and experience and am amused (though also sometimes anxious) about his directness. He scores higher on the ACLU scorecard than any of this year's other Democratic Party candidates (excepting Dennis Kucinich), with an 86% lifetime score and an even higher rating this year, when so many crucial votes relating to civil liberties took place. Although he voted in favor of the war in Iraq, he has repented in a way certain other candidates never did.

This will either be really wonderful (as in "Cubs win the World Series" level wonderful) or really terrible (as in "8 more years of Bush" terrible). But it won't be boring.

Want to know more about Joe Biden? Check out this Texas Monthly interview with him, before either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton entered the Presidential race. You'll need to click the play arrow on the player to make the video start. (Via Burnt Orange Report)

For other reactions to the Biden choice, see Hope Reborn's excellent collection at Daily Kos.

From Politico, a "Joe Biden for Dummies" collection of background stories.

And my favorite of today's stories: a Washington Post article about Biden as the king of comebacks.

This is one of the coolest things I have seen in a while.

It's a senior thesis project in art school.

As with all of the cool things, this is via Kottke.

Sorry for the blog silence . . . Obama campaign demands + work.

"Where the head should have been, there was only a wild foliage of ferns and flowers."

From Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert, which I am now reading:

He showed me a sketch he'd drawn once during mediation. It was an androgynous human figure, standing up, hands clasped in prayer. But this figure had four legs, and no head. Where the head should have been, there was only a wild foliage of ferns and flowers. There was a small, smiling face drawn over the heart.

"To find the balance you want," Ketut spoke through his translator, "this is what you must become. You must keep your feet grounded so firmly on the earth that it's like you have four legs, instead of two. That way, you can stay in the world. But you must stop looking at the world through your head. You must look through your heart, instead. That way, you will know God."

This passage struck me squarely in the face. I have found the practice of law to be a profession for which my perfectionistic attention to detail, analytical bent and thirst for justice are uniquely suited. However, I now believe the practice of law also brings out the worst aspects of my character and vanishes the best aspects of my character. I mean, how many people associate with good lawyers the following qualities?: adventurous entertaining free spirited independentstylish wacky (These qualities having been attributed to me by some friends in a silly Facebook application we enjoy).

Actually, on reading this, I realize that those characteristics would be highly coveted in a lawyer, as they suggest a person who takes creative approaches, someone with whom people might enjoy working, a woman who doesn't take herself too seriously. Is it possible that I have been choosing to squash down my better instincts, in favor of the least attractive (and least successful) ones?

"I have crossed some line some place."

There is a line in one of my most favorite movies ever, Broadcast News, that has been on my mind lately: "I have crossed some line some place. I'm beginning to repel people I'm trying to seduce."

But for me, it doesn't stop there . . . I am repelling people I'm NOT trying to seduce as well. Since I began spending so much time alone, I have wondered if the few social graces I once had would suffer. And perhaps they have!

Case in point:

This past week, I was at my neighborhood Starbucks, inside, buying my venti nonfat latte. I returned to my car and saw someone had parked about 3 inches away from my passenger's side door. One of my pet peeves is people who are too lazy to park in a sufficiently large parking space, who instead park too close to the car next to them and leave a door ding. I walked around to the passenger side of my car to see if the person had left a door ding, and at that very moment, the person returned to her big-ass car. I tried to sound light as I said (to the very tiny woman), "I was just trying to figure out how you managed to park so close and get out of your car," and she basically looked at me, shook her head and snorted as if I was insane.

This is just one of many, many examples. I worry that I have a greater than average number of friendships that have ended in total silence. Is it possible that I adore Rainn Wilson's character Dwight on The Office because I am, like him, socially "awkward"? I fear I am no longer fit to live among other humans.

Please help me understand

why it is that China is permitted to host an Olympics, given their opposition to all we hold dear, in general, and freedom, specifically? As explained in this story, China has now revoked the visa of an American speedskating gold medalist because he has been outspoken on Darfur. So, after years of work, he will miss the Games. This follows China's going back on its promises regarding open access to the internet during the Games, es explained here.

I'm boycotting this Olympics, though they won't feel it, given my usual practice of non-TV-watching. But this feels like a cosmic joke on the universe, and that is all I have the power to do.

Things I should have done today:

1. Work
2. Get a pedicure
3. Organize my hard drive so I can get my photos caught up and backed up
4. Work out on the treadmill
   

Things I did do today:

1. Played with my Facebook page, spending time joining groups like "I judge you when you use poor grammar" and listing every book on my shelf as a have-read or -want-to-read on my "Bookshelf"
   
2. Listened to the Cubs game
3. Ate ginger lemon creme cookies
4. Moved all my songs to my iPhone
5. Searched for a reasonably priced first edition of Jerome Holtzman's "No Cheering in the Press Box"
6. Spent 25 minutes testing different first digits for the code of my Amazon certificate, because the first digit was worn off the receipt as a result of my carrying it around in my wallet for such a long time
   

Hmmm . . . maybe this is why I never get things done!