I couldn't be there with mom last weekend, but I'm with everyone in spirit, virtually.
We need your help to make this Virtual March on Washington really big. Can you sign up for a time to call your senator this Thursday? Here's the sign-up link:
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Friday, January 26, 2007
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Pool winding down
For the record, I'm still in mourning, but since one of our two leaders has asked for the update (if only to make me further face the fact of my poor Chargers' demise this weekend)....here goes...
Those friggin' Patriots (who I'd root for on any other day) beat my Chargers, taking me out of the running. The dang Ravens let us down as well. Much to Kevin's pleasure, the Saints continue to ride their emotional high (we know it's because they have a former Charger at the helm). And the Bears, well, they won. Whoopdy-dooo -- the NFC can be so blah-zay...
So, where does that leave things?
...and then there were two...
Kevin and Lin are tied at 67 points. They both have the Bears and Colts. Kevin's hopes hang on the Saints. Lin (who gets the credit even if it's her husband Harry who made the picks ;-) has the Pats. If one of those two teams win, either Kevin or Lin will win it all. If the Colts or Bears win it all, then Kevin and Lin split the $700 pot.
For those curious to see where their picks will leave them when it's all over, this week's games are worth 8 points to the winner -- 3 for the playoff win and 5 for the division title. Same points for the Superbowl.
For comparison's sake, last year's winner (my husband) won with a total of 78 points. This year's winner will max out at 83 points if the Pats or Saints win.
Now, back to mourning my poor Chargers. And to think, I need to root for those damn Pats this weekend! (Can't EVER root for Peyton Manning -- blasphemy).
Those friggin' Patriots (who I'd root for on any other day) beat my Chargers, taking me out of the running. The dang Ravens let us down as well. Much to Kevin's pleasure, the Saints continue to ride their emotional high (we know it's because they have a former Charger at the helm). And the Bears, well, they won. Whoopdy-dooo -- the NFC can be so blah-zay...
So, where does that leave things?
...and then there were two...
Kevin and Lin are tied at 67 points. They both have the Bears and Colts. Kevin's hopes hang on the Saints. Lin (who gets the credit even if it's her husband Harry who made the picks ;-) has the Pats. If one of those two teams win, either Kevin or Lin will win it all. If the Colts or Bears win it all, then Kevin and Lin split the $700 pot.
For those curious to see where their picks will leave them when it's all over, this week's games are worth 8 points to the winner -- 3 for the playoff win and 5 for the division title. Same points for the Superbowl.
For comparison's sake, last year's winner (my husband) won with a total of 78 points. This year's winner will max out at 83 points if the Pats or Saints win.
Now, back to mourning my poor Chargers. And to think, I need to root for those damn Pats this weekend! (Can't EVER root for Peyton Manning -- blasphemy).
Monday, January 1, 2007
The Smelt Story
Date: Sun., Oct. 27, 1996
From: John T. Halley
--------------------------
yes, its true, i was abandoned shortly after birth by my natural parents (an opera singing iron worker from detroit and a chronic cakebaker/pinball junkie he shacked up with for a while) when they were on holiday in antarctica. they threw me overboard from their cruise ship because they thought babies were weird. luckily for me, i landed on an iceburg and was soon taken in by a pair of penguins who, sadly, were unable to have children of their own. they loved me as one of their own for three weeks, but soon realised that they hated me and shipped me off to canadato a family of smelts that owed them a favor. while the smelts found me to be an inadequate example of a life form, the feelings of guilt they experienced due to their debt to the penguins compelled them to put up with me for almost six years. during this time I learned the subtle complexities of smelt society, learned to urinate, and even memorized the intricate dorsal fin-sniffing ritual of the sacred hen-teasing day festival. at teh tender age of 6, my smelt family told me that my destiny was to go and live among the bipedal halley clan, pass myself off as one of them, and grow to manhood so that I could learn the ways of man and how to scratch my bottom in mixed company without giving offense. this i have done, yet one day i shall return to my smelt brothers and lead the great smelty rebellion against humanity. i just wanted you to know the truth about me once and for all.
signed,
Oceanus smeltus uber alles
(john incubator halley)
From: John T. Halley
--------------------------
yes, its true, i was abandoned shortly after birth by my natural parents (an opera singing iron worker from detroit and a chronic cakebaker/pinball junkie he shacked up with for a while) when they were on holiday in antarctica. they threw me overboard from their cruise ship because they thought babies were weird. luckily for me, i landed on an iceburg and was soon taken in by a pair of penguins who, sadly, were unable to have children of their own. they loved me as one of their own for three weeks, but soon realised that they hated me and shipped me off to canadato a family of smelts that owed them a favor. while the smelts found me to be an inadequate example of a life form, the feelings of guilt they experienced due to their debt to the penguins compelled them to put up with me for almost six years. during this time I learned the subtle complexities of smelt society, learned to urinate, and even memorized the intricate dorsal fin-sniffing ritual of the sacred hen-teasing day festival. at teh tender age of 6, my smelt family told me that my destiny was to go and live among the bipedal halley clan, pass myself off as one of them, and grow to manhood so that I could learn the ways of man and how to scratch my bottom in mixed company without giving offense. this i have done, yet one day i shall return to my smelt brothers and lead the great smelty rebellion against humanity. i just wanted you to know the truth about me once and for all.
signed,
Oceanus smeltus uber alles
(john incubator halley)
End of Regular Season - On to the Playoffs!
Well, the regular season wraps up with week 17 standings below. I've done what I can to see who is mathematically still in the running. I'm not great with math, but I think it's down to 11 of us.
Kyle Mills is our best loser and gets his $25 back. Tony, you came close but go figure -- Lions, Panthers and Texans would all win for you in the end when you didn't want them to!
Jean, you may not have won money, but you beat Steve Martin so that has to count for something...
Dwight and Susan, after such a strong showing last year, you guys are sure on the downslide -- hopefully that baby of yours will be a Chargers fan and help you out a bit! And Dwight, KC may make it past the first week (I kind of hope, since I can't root for Indy), but they will fall again to the Chargers in two weeks for sure! Oh, and that check you owe me?...
My husband Seth went from top of the pack to middle of the road this year. He really should listen to me more;-)
Kevin -- game on...you best hope those Saints go marching on. Just remember, it's only because you have a great Charger leftover.
Sandy and Steve -- Colts are going down next week, sorry to say. It's been a fun run!
Onward to the best part of the season!
My personal playoff picks:
KC beats Indy, loses to SD
Pats beat Jets, and much to my dismay lose to Baltimore
Chargers and Ravens meet in the best game of the year and unlike last time, it's the Chargers who win out in the last 2 minutes with LT throwing for a TD to Gates.
Seattle beats Dallas and loses to New Orleans
Philly breaks my hear tearly and loses to the Giants, who get their asses whooped by Chicago
Drew Brees, former Charger, carries the Saints to an emotional win over Chicago, who's defense just can't score enough to make up for teh fact that they have no quarterback.
Saints versus Chargers is a total offesive shootout -- best superbowl in years. LT breaks all kinds of records and San Diego wins in the highest scoring superbowl ever ;-)
So what do your playoffs look like?
Kyle Mills is our best loser and gets his $25 back. Tony, you came close but go figure -- Lions, Panthers and Texans would all win for you in the end when you didn't want them to!
Jean, you may not have won money, but you beat Steve Martin so that has to count for something...
Dwight and Susan, after such a strong showing last year, you guys are sure on the downslide -- hopefully that baby of yours will be a Chargers fan and help you out a bit! And Dwight, KC may make it past the first week (I kind of hope, since I can't root for Indy), but they will fall again to the Chargers in two weeks for sure! Oh, and that check you owe me?...
My husband Seth went from top of the pack to middle of the road this year. He really should listen to me more;-)
Kevin -- game on...you best hope those Saints go marching on. Just remember, it's only because you have a great Charger leftover.
Sandy and Steve -- Colts are going down next week, sorry to say. It's been a fun run!
Onward to the best part of the season!
My personal playoff picks:
KC beats Indy, loses to SD
Pats beat Jets, and much to my dismay lose to Baltimore
Chargers and Ravens meet in the best game of the year and unlike last time, it's the Chargers who win out in the last 2 minutes with LT throwing for a TD to Gates.
Seattle beats Dallas and loses to New Orleans
Philly breaks my hear tearly and loses to the Giants, who get their asses whooped by Chicago
Drew Brees, former Charger, carries the Saints to an emotional win over Chicago, who's defense just can't score enough to make up for teh fact that they have no quarterback.
Saints versus Chargers is a total offesive shootout -- best superbowl in years. LT breaks all kinds of records and San Diego wins in the highest scoring superbowl ever ;-)
So what do your playoffs look like?
---------------------------------
End of regular sxeason standings---------------------------------
61: Colleen Thomas (Winner - end of regular season)
57: Sandy and Steve Seymour; Hoover-HA-1
56: Kathy Lucciola
55: Kevin Wry; Tom Savage; Barry-HA
52: Kevin Kirby; Lin Mills; Tom D'Angelo
51: Gerry Halley; Stoli Thomas
50: Lucy Thomas; Surf Nanny; Brett Seymour
48: Hoover-HA-2
44: Don Tonachio
43: Seth Thomas; Harry Mills
42: Paul-HA-1; Bill Gordon
39: Debra Fleming; Joe Kasper
38: Paul-HA-2
36: John Halley; Paul-HA-3
35: AJ-HA
34: Jean Wry
33: Dwight Palmer; Susan Palmer; Christian Kasper
31: Scott Munday; Robert Conner
30: Steve Martin
27: Tony Lucciola
25: Kyle Mills (Winner - Best Loser)
New Years Day thoughts
So today starts another year. If I was the kind of person who made resolutions, there'd be a few to make -- write more, complain less, get in shape, create quiet space to appreciate life every day. But I shouldn't need a special occassion to make a commitment to myself, to try and improve on myself. That's something we should do whenever we need to. That being said, I am going to try to focus on some of the above items more than I have been lately.
Write more
... well, I'm writing right now.
Complain less
... I haven't said a thing about the crap-ass rain outside.
Get in shape
... despite the rain I've already taken the dogs on three walks today. I just couldn't bear going to the mountain to work out in freezing rain.
Create quiet space and appreciate life
... on a gray, dismal day, what else can you do? I appreciate the bond I have with my pups, the fact that I live in a place that can be beautiful even when it rains in January, and that my Chargers are headed to teh playoffs.
So there, some progress already!
Just updated the blog so as to add in the tags for posts. I like this feature. Will be interesting to see the categories in my life that emerge.
Write more
... well, I'm writing right now.
Complain less
... I haven't said a thing about the crap-ass rain outside.
Get in shape
... despite the rain I've already taken the dogs on three walks today. I just couldn't bear going to the mountain to work out in freezing rain.
Create quiet space and appreciate life
... on a gray, dismal day, what else can you do? I appreciate the bond I have with my pups, the fact that I live in a place that can be beautiful even when it rains in January, and that my Chargers are headed to teh playoffs.
So there, some progress already!
Just updated the blog so as to add in the tags for posts. I like this feature. Will be interesting to see the categories in my life that emerge.
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