Good point, albiet a little sweeping in its assumption that all Republicans/Conservatives feel this way

I try and stay away from politics on this here blog, but once in a while something comes along that is too good not to share. The following excerpt has been floating around the interwebs for a little while now. I found it here. While it does pigeonhole an inferred group of people, I happen to think some of this makes a good point. Enjoy. Or don't.

• You didn't get mad when the Supreme Court stopped a legal recount and appointed a President.
  
• You didn't get mad when Cheney allowed Energy company officials to dictate energy policy.
  
• You didn't get mad when a covert CIA operative got outed.
  
• You didn't get mad when the Patriot Act got passed. You didn't get mad when we illegally invaded a country that posed no threat to us.
  
• You didn't get mad when we spent over 600 billion (and counting) on said illegal war.
  
• You didn't get mad when over 10 billion dollars just disappeared in Iraq.
  
• You didn't get mad when you found out we were torturing people. You didn't get mad when the government was illegally wiretapping Americans.
  
• You didn't get mad when we didn't catch Bin Laden.
  
• You didn't get mad when you saw the horrible conditions at Walter Reed.
  
• You didn't get mad when we let a major US city, New Orleans, drown.
  
• You didn't get mad when we gave a 900 billion tax break to the rich. You didn't get mad when the deficit hit the trillion dollar mark.
  
• You finally got mad when the government decided that people in America deserved the right to see a doctor if they are sick. Yes, illegal wars, lies, corruption, torture, stealing your tax dollars to make the rich richer, are all okay with you, but helping other Americans...oh hell no.

Because I love food. And you guys.

I just bought $75 worth of gift certificates to some of my favorite restaurants for SIX DOLLARS!!! How did I do it? Do I have connections in the restaurant industry? Is my boyfriend's dad in the food business? (He is, but that's not how I got this deal.)

Restaurant.com is running a deal where you can buy a $25 gift certificate to any restaurant on their website for $2. Just enter the promo code COOK. That's it. And the only strings attached are that you usually have to spend $35 at the restaurant in order to redeem the certificate, it's only valid Monday-Thursday, and it's not good on alcohol. If you ask me, that's still a phenomenal deal. Bon appetit, you guys!

Editor's note: I am in no way affiliated with this website. I just really, really like food!

A $189 misunderstanding

The Rad Boyfriend and I recently booked a trip to Florida to visit family and attend a wedding. We purchased plane tickets a few weeks ago and we've been looking into hotels ever since. Our main criteria for hotels was (a) cheap and (b) close to our friends. Today I went on hotels.com and found some pretty inexpensive options that were super close to our friends. After emailing back and forth with the bride, I decided on one hotel in particular and gChat'ed a link to Rad Boyfriend:

me: [link to hotel]

$84/night

1.4 miles from that other hotel they were talking about

and it's a 3.5 star hotel

let me know what you think

Sent at 11:10 AM on Tuesday

Sometime after 11:10, I changed my gChat status to "I think I want Burger Lounge for lunch."

Between 11:44 and 11:49, the following exchange took place:

Rad Boyfriend: Mmmm

Do it

me: ok

total is $188.92

for 2 nights

Sent at 11:49 AM on Tuesday

Rad Boyfriend: Haha no wait

Burger lounge I meant haha

me: dude

i just booked it

HE SAID "DO IT"!! Internet, if you asked your boyfriend what he thought about a hotel, and the next response you got from him was "do it," what would you think?


Luckily the hotel is really nice and close to our friends and only $84 per night, which is much less than we were expecting. And most importantly:

me: are you mad?

Rad Boyfriend: Not really

No

Amused a little

So it all worked out. And he's still Rad.

Feeling whimsical

Dogfish
by Mary Oliver

Some kind of relaxed and beautiful thing
kept flickering in with the tide
and looking around.
Black as a fisherman's boot,
with a white belly.

If you asked for a picture I would have to draw a smile
under the perfectly round eyes and above the chin,
which was rough
as a thousand sharpened nails.

And you know
what a smile means,
don't you?

*

I wanted the past to go away, I wanted
to leave it, like another country; I wanted
my life to close, and open
like a hinge, like a wing, like the part of the song
where it falls
down over the rocks: an explosion, a discovery;
I wanted
to hurry into the work of my life; I wanted to know,

whoever I was, I was

alive
for a little while.

*

It was evening, and no longer summer.
Three small fish, I don't know what they were,
huddled in the highest ripples
as it came swimming in again, effortless, the whole body
one gesture, one black sleeve
that could fit easily around
the bodies of three small fish.

*

Also I wanted
to be able to love. And we all know
how that one goes,
don't we?

Slowly

*

the dogfish tore open the soft basins of water.

*

You don't want to hear the story
of my life, and anyway
I don't want to tell it, I want to listen

to the enormous waterfalls of the sun.

And anyway it's the same old story - - -
a few people just trying,
one way or another,
to survive.

Mostly, I want to be kind.
And nobody, of course, is kind,
or mean,
for a simple reason.

And nobody gets out of it, having to
swim through the fires to stay in
this world.

*

And look! look! look! I think those little fish
better wake up and dash themselves away
from the hopeless future that is
bulging toward them.

*

And probably,
if they don't waste time
looking for an easier world,

they can do it.


Thank you, Alice.

While the boss is away....

....there's only so much busy work I can do.

My boss has been out sick ALL WEEK. I've done everything I can possibly do in the meantime to keep myself busy, and I am getting B-O-R-E-D. Hence I thought now would be a good time to write a blog post. Only I don't really have much to write about, so this might be a hodgepodge of miscellaneous topics:

• The Rad Boyfriend and I are going to Florida in May to visit family and attend a wedding. We'll be in Miami for 2 nights and in Orlando for 2 nights. Any suggestions on what to do in Miami? The last time I was there, I was 15 and only remember The News Cafe and this. (Don't click on that if you're at work--while not offensive, it might shock some work folk.) Any suggestions on restaurants and whatnot would be helpful =)
  
  
• Because I'm poor, I went clothes shopping at Target recently and found some AWESOME stuff. Seriously ladies, check it out!
  
  
• When I first moved into my current house, everything was white: white walls, while built-ins, white appliances, white white white. Even my bedset at the time was white:

So I went to Bed Bath & Beyond recently and bought a bedset almost the exact opposite of white: it's brown. Dark brown with shades of aqua and lime green. Pair that with the dark wook furniture and the darker curtains I bought, I'm starting to think it's just too dark in the room. ::Sigh:: I guess we live and learn through decorating mistakes.

• Here is an adorable picture of Tioga, one of the kitties Red and I have temporarily adopted:

I say temporarily because her mommy and daddy are in Peru doing Peace Corps-type work and will be back in July. I'm gonna miss these kitties!

On being in a relationship

Scene: I accidentally used Rad Boyfriend's toothbrush over the weekend, and almost did it again last night. His response:

"Here's how you can tell the difference between my toothbrush and your toothbrush: mine is the normal-looking one, and yours is the one that looks like it's been shoved in a blender."