Kirsten's musings...

Friday pix

Better late than never, right?  Here's me and Michelle at the BSU game.

Friday pix

Merry Christmas everyone!

Is it just me?

Is it just me or is it kind of sad that people aren't allowed to "not be in it for the money" any more?  I was watching a Biography on George Clooney, and while I knew a lot of his story there were a few new tidbits of information.  Most people know that he organized a telethon for victims of 9/11 and is heavily involved in relief efforts in Darfur.  What I didn't know was that Bill O'Reilly blasted him for these efforts, saying that they were all for show and publicity.  Apparently Mr. O'Reilly doesn't believe in doing things out of the goodness of your heart or just because it's the right thing to do.

On a much smaller scale we're experiencing this here in Husky town.  When Jake Locker announced that he was coming back to the UW for his senior season, many people wrote letters to the local sports editors saying what an awful decision this was.  "He's stupid for passing up on so much guaranteed money" was the common theme.  Yes, this decision will put him into the first class of NFL rookies who will have to live with a rookie salary cap, but by all accounts that just doesn't matter to him.  He feels that he has unfinished business at Washington and he wants to get the job done as best as he can.  Plus QBs that come out of college early tend to wash out of the NFL, so he'll most likely make more money in the long run.  Or he won't.  It just doesn't matter.  He's going to get paid to play a game, and I think he realizes just how lucky he is.

Christmas carols

Apparently if you ask people what their favorite Christmas carol is the most likely response you'll get is "O Holy Night."  While I like this song, I wouldn't say that it's my favorite.  In fact, I like so many Christmas songs that there's no way I could identify a favorite, so I've come up with several categories so I can get them all in.  Here are some of my favorite Christmas songs in many categories:

Traditional:  Silent Night

Modern:  Love Has Come (Amy Grant)

Novelty:  Santa's Got A Semi (Keith Harling)

Religious:  Breath of Heaven (Mary's Song) (Amy Grant)

Country:  Blame It On The Mistletoe (Toby Keith)

Sexy:  Let's Be Naughty (And Save Santa The Trip) (Gary Allan)

Local:  Christmas In The Northwest (Brenda White)

Jazz/Swing:  It Must Have Been Old Santa Claus (Harry Connick, Jr.)

Instrumental:  Sleigh Ride

Kids:  Up on the Housetop

Best chorus:  The Night Before Christmas (Amy Grant)

 "But you don't have to be an angel
   to sing harmony.
 You don't have to be a child
   to love the mystery.
 And you don't have to be a wise man
   on bended knee.
 The heart of this christmas is in you and me."

Merry Christmas everyone!

Friday pix

Cheating again, but this one just made me smile.

Worried about our two-party system

I received a bright yellow envelope in the mail the other day that looked like it could either be important or it could be junk mail.  The first line in the return address was 2009 Obama Agenda Survey, so I thought I'd take a look.  I didn't notice the second line, which was Republican National Committee, but I did notice the big elephant logo on the letter inside.  Yes, my friends, the Republicans seem to think that I'm someone that they can count on to give them money to fight big bad President Obama.  I laughed out loud as I read the poorly constructed four-page letter from chairman Michael Steele.  He apparently talks in bullet-points, as there isn't a paragraph with more than two sentences in it.  For example:

"You know that th eliberal media elites and the Obama-Democrats are hoping you will put this letter down right now and do nothing...

...They want you to give up, desert your Party and walk away from your conservative principles."

"I want you to know that the Republican Party is not dead and we are not going away.  Our ideals remain sound and our goals remain worthy."

Some of the questions on the survey:

2.  Do you believe that the federal government has gone too far in bailing our failing banks, insurance companies and the auto industry?

Ummmm...seems to me that Bush did most of this.

4.  Should English be the official language of the United States?

While I do believe that people who immigrate here should learn to speak English I see no need to make it the official language.

7.  Do you believe that Barack Obama's nominees for federal courts should be immediately and unquestionably approved for their lifetime appointments by the U.S. Senate?

Hey, just because you don't know how to vet your candidates don't assume we don't vet ours.

11.  Are you confident that new medicines and medical treatments will continue to be developed if the federal government controls prescription drug prices and sets profit margins for research and pharmaceutical companies?

Let me see if I have this right.  You're against government interference if it impacts profits, but have no problem interfering with the useful tools provided by stem-cell research?  Make up your mind.

13.  Are you in favor of reinstituting the military draft, as Democrats in Congress have proposed?

Really?  Democrats proposing bringing back the draft?  [citation needed]

It's no wonder I haven't voted for a Republican Presidential candidate since I was a naive 18-year-old girl.

Friday pix

Michelle's 'Bronco Bear' and the view from the cheap seats:

Winter in Boise

Sometime earlier this fall my friend Michelle told me that she had just gotten a notification that Gary Allan was coming back to Boise in early December along with the Eli Young Band and Jack Ingram, and that we should think about going.  Obviously I'm always up for a Gary Allan concert, and was interested in seeing the Eli Young Band as well, so I was leaning toward making the trip.

Sometime in October I got an e-mail for the same concert, stating that there was a pre-sale ticket event.  Just for fun I logged into the ticket sales site to see what was available.  It popped up with two seats in the perfect spot - directly across from the stage a few rows up.  Plus they were half-price!  I had to buy them.

Later that month I was getting tickets for our trip to California to visit family for Thanksgiving and I thought I'd just check on flights to Boise to see how much they were.  They were $50-$60 each way, there's no way I could pass that up, so I booked a flight.  I actually meant to just reserve them, since I hadn't asked for the day off, but I clicked the wrong button.  Oops. Fortunately my boss did give me the day off, so everything was set.

As the weekend got closer Michelle told me of plans on her end.  She had to do a training session on her bike Saturday morning and I was being encouraged to come as well by her trainer.  Since I'm a team player (and because I wanted to keep Douglas on my side) I packed my cycling gear.  She also was going to have tickets to the BSU football game Saturday afternoon, and thought we could go snowshoeing Sunday morning.  Much harder to pack for a winter trip than it is for a summer trip.  Plus my hiking boots took up so much space in my bag that I had to wear them on the plane.  Such fun getting through airport security with boots on.

Unfortunately not all of the plans worked as expected.  We got a late start Saturday morning, and in all of the excitement of getting clothes ready for the football game I forgot my cycling shoes.  All dressed up with no way to cycle.  I did what I could in my stocking feet, which included some time on a rowing machine while Michelle rode.  At least I got some cardio and weights in.  The football game was fun, although once BSU got on track it was a little lopsided.  New Mexico State only scored because of a strange turnover by the second string offense.

There wasn't enough snow on any of the nearby peaks so snowshoeing was out as well.  We decided to run some errands which included finding snow boots for her dog.  Always amusing watching a dog get used to having boots on his paws, but he got the hang of it pretty quickly.  We also swung by Home Depot to get a Christmas tree.  Didn't have time to decorate it, but at least it's at the house ready to go.

Finally it was time for the concert.  Woohoo!  We bundled up and headed back to the BSU campus (the concert was in the basketball team's arena) and made our way to our seats.  At least we thought they were our seats - turned out we were off by a row.  After some rearranging by several parties we settled in to enjoy the show.  The Eli Young Band did a great set, I'm looking forward to more music from them.  Jack Ingram did a great job as well, although he was a bit of a talker.  It was the last show of this leg of the tour, so it wasn't surprising that there were some practical jokes.  Jack has a song called "Barefoot and Crazy" so he takes off his boots when he sings the song, to get in the mood.  Someone from Gary's crew took one of his boots and put shaving cream inside, so when Jack put it back on he got quite a surprise.  :)

Gary was in great spirits when he came out, laughing and running around the stage, more than he usually does.  He's not a huge talker during his shows, but he did tell some stories, which was fun to hear.  One of his concerts this summer in Canada was rudely interrupted by a hurricane that destroyed all of his equipment.  Fortunately other artists and his sponsors provided him with some loaner equipment until he could get everything back in order.

I'm pretty sure he played longer than he originally planned to, although he didn't quite play all night long like he kept promising.  When he came out for his encore someone brought his dog on the stage which was quite amusing.  We were amazed that the dog didn't have a problem with the noise, as it was quite loud in the arena.  We filed out of the arena at close to midnight, ears still ringing and reliving the show as we drove home.

All too quickly it was time to fly home.  I made it to airport with plenty of time before my flight (unlike last time), and got home without incident.  Time to settle in for the holidays and enjoy the season with friends and family.

Friday pix

Sand art at Bodega Bay.

Friday pix - Movember edition

Me and my Movember peeps:

 


Great job guys!