Someone Stop Me!

iTunes - my latest addiction.

I start looking for a song, which reminds me of another song, and before I know it, I've relived 10 years and lost three hours of my life!

Here are some of my downloads tonight:

Call Me, Skyy
China Girl, David Bowie
Fame, Irene Cara
Here You Come Again, Dolly Parton
Hot in Herre, Nelly (I'm slowly coming back to the 1990's!)
I Didn't Mean to Turn You On, Robert Palmer
Is She Really Going Out with Him, Joe Jackson
Jungle Love, The Time
Make It Better, Tom Petty
My Name is, Eminem
Potential New Boyfriend, Dolly Parton
Praise You, Fatboy Slim
You Can call Me Al, Paul Simon

I don't know what this evening's downloads say, but it's almost time for the debate.

Ta ta!

Funny Things I Saw Today

A scrolling business sign that read "Burrrrr, it's cold outside."

A "Would You Drive Better with Your Cell Phone Up Your Butt" bumper sticker

A car with a "Hate is Not a Family Value" license tag frame; the car also had a Confederate flag Palmetto tree sticker on the back windshield.

I So Don't Do the Super Bowl, But This Sounds Fun

Which Super Bowl advertiser will score a touchdown?

Visit www.jour.sc.edu/superbowl and vote for your favorite Super Bowl XLII commercial at the end of the game Sunday, February 3, 2008! You have until 10:00 a.m. Monday, February 4, 2008 to submit your vote.

The winner will be invited to the USC campus in April to receive the coveted Cocky Award.

Get Pumped! We also invite you to watch QuickTime video replays of the previous USC Ad Bowl Poll winning commercials at www.jour.sc.edu/superbowl.

Barack in Lexington!

Yes, you read right - Barack Obama held a Town Hall meeting in Lexington last night, and I went!

Luckily, I had to make a presentation at the County Council meeting, and finished at 5 p.m. Since the County Admin building is across the street from the Town Hall, I sauntered over.

I didn't know quite what to expect, but with the political demographics of Lexington, they weren't high expectations. Boy, was I wrong! There were probably 500 people there, about half black and half white.

Barack Obama was late, but it was worth the wait. He came on about 6:20 p.m. and stayed for about an hour. He even took questions. I know this sounds hokey and Pollyanna-ish, but his speech really got me excited about politics and changing the status quo.

The craziest thing was that I saw an old friend of mine who ran the College Republicans at Converse College, and after graduating, worked for Senator Thurmond for nearly 15 years. And she wasn't there spying, but like me, was inspired by Mr. Obama. And when his staff found out we were Thurmond-office-alums, well, we got some special treatment!

I think the neatest thing was seeing the young black kids there - sixth grade and under. How amazing it must be to see a black man running for president when their great-great grandfathers couldn't even sit at a soda fountain some 50 years ago. It really brought a tear to my eyes.

Pictures coming soon.

Nearly 12 Years Old, ‘Rent’ Is to Close

Tres sad. I saw Rent the year it opened on Broadway during a business trip to NYC. Because I only needed one ticket, I got a fabulous seat, and found the performance fabulous. And the backstory of the play - the dramatic death of the playwright just before the show opened - has always touched me.

Rent even motivated me to see La Boheme, the opera on which the play is loosely based. I never saw the movie; I knew it could never match the live performance.

I not only love the show, but the memories associated with it - holding my own in NYC by myself, if only for a couple days.

The soundtrack is excellent, and I have three of the tunes on in my iPod. My absolute favorite is "I'll Cover You," and I want to have it performed at my wedding. (I think I'll get a man and woman, though, instead of a man and a drag queen, if nothing else not to give Momma a heart attack!) SWEEEEET song.

Coincidentally, Jesse L. Martin of Law and Order fame played Tom Collins in the original production and sings in Cover Me.

LOVE IT!

Eco-Conversation Hearts!

The Yankee or Dixie Quiz

Check on your dialect and see if you might have crossed over to the "other side"! Simply click on the correct answer. As you go, the quiz will automatically interpret each answer to show you what your answer implies about you. When you are done, press Compute My Score. Your score will be calculated as a percentage: 0% is pure Yankee and 100% is pure Dixie.

Post your score here after you take the quiz! I'm 70% Dixie, which surprised me. I sometimes get teased for not being speaking proper Southern! Funny!

What's Up with This?

I brought my iPod downstairs to charge and ended up downloading what seems like my entire teenage soundtrack! I just started searching this and that, and the next thing I knew, it was all about Rick Springfield and The Bangles! Time warp! When I go back upstairs and watch CNN, I'll probably faint from the speed to which I return to the present!

Is anyone old enough to remember:

Love Somebody?

I Feel for You?

I Get Excited?

And what was that movie Rick Springfield is in where he falls for the child therapist? Oh, and how about that movie with that hottie ex Smith? That's so obscure that I couldn't even find any of the songs on the iStore.

I better go to bed before I get stuck around 1979.

Night!

Mother Apologizes for ‘Hannah Montana’ Hoax

Turns out the hoax wasn't her worst mistake! Look at those eyebrows!!! Eeeek!

In a TODAY exclusive, Priscilla Ceballos apologizes for helping her daughter “write an essay that was not true” and says that it was not her intention to mislead.

The Texas mother who helped her daughter win a “Hannah Montana” essay contest by making up a story about the girl’s father being a soldier killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq says she made a terrible mistake and hopes she can be forgiven.

“I meant no disrespect. I just made a bad decision which I sincerely regret,” Priscilla Ceballos told TODAY co-host Matt Lauer in a prepared statement she read from Friday. “I apologize to my daughter for getting her mixed up in his mess. I wanted to help my daughter realize her dream of seeing Hannah Montana. Instead, I brought so much negative attention to my family. Please accept my heartfelt apology, and please, do not punish my child for my mistake.”

This Is How I Feel This A.M.