Christmas in Bed

Well, I finally broke down and went to a doctor ($92). I had a sinus infection and a cold virus. No wonder DayQuil wasn't touching it. And I had rubbed my eyes too much, apparently; I also had conjunctivitis (aka Pinkeye). The doctor wrote me a prescription for the pinkeye ($40) and antibiotics for the sinus infection ($35). This essentially drained the rest of my account. Too bad, too I guess; the tires I need to get around in two feet snow had to wait until mom and dad broke down and lent me some funds. Thanks Mom and Dad; you're the awesomest! I got paid on Christmas Eve, and bought Brig a gift. The rest of the check is going for bills and rent. Oh yeah, and to pay back mom and dad. Such is life. Too bad I'm still coughing.

So far I'm seriously sucking at my College Football pool. That'll teach me not to gamble.

Ohh, and the TCU vs BSU game was awesome. It doesn't matter that BSU lost. It was close, physical, and intense game to the bitter end.

O pungent orange medicine take the pain away.

Under normal circumstances, I don't think writing a blog entry while doped up on cold meds is such a great idea. But oh well; tis the season.

For viruses I guess. Half the people at my office are sick, including myself. I deny giving them my virus, of course, but some of them look at me sideways regardless. I swear I never came within 3 feet of Brittany. Yet I'm responsible for her coughing? Bryan sent me home early, which is nice, but I don't think it prevented me spreading this virus further. I wonder who'll be sick at the Christmas Party on Monday. Probably Jim. He's already disowned me for picking Alabama over Utah in the Sugar Bowl. It would be unfortunate for me if he turned up sick. Very unfortunate. Jim can't fire me . . . can he?

Speaking of College Football, I went ahead and entered a pool, and these are my pics: (in order of time)
Navy over Wake Forest
Fresno State over Colorado State
South Florida over Memphis
BYU over Arizona
Southern Miss over Troy
Boise State over TCU
Hawai'i over Notre Dame
Central Michigan over Florida Atlantic
West Virginia over North Carolina
Florida State over Wisconsin
Cal over Miami
La Tech over North Illinois
Rutgers over NC State
Missouri over Northwestern
Nevada over Maryland
Rice over W Michigan
Oklahoma State over Oregon (sorry, Ducks)
Air Force over Houston
Oregon State over Pitt (go Beavers!)
Boston College over Vanderbilt
Kansas over Minnesota
Georgia Tech over LSU
Iowa over South Carolina
Georgia over Michigan State
Nebraska over Clemson
USC over Penn State
Virginia Tech over Cincinnati
Texas Tech over Ole Miss
East Carolina over Kentucky
Alabama over Utah
Connecticut over Buffalo
Texas over Ohio State
Ball State over Tulsa
and in the championship game I'm taking Florida over Oklahoma 41-27

I threw in a few upsets in there, and there will likely be a few more. Many of the games were difficult to predict and I could have gone either way. Also, I just noticed that I picked a lot of WAC teams to win. Truthfully, I think the gap between the BCS conferences and non-BCS conferences has narrowed. If I'm right, then the results of the bowls will reflect this. If not, I need to lay off the NyQuill.

And one final note about the Alabama-Utah game. These are predictions only. The picks above do not necessarily reflect who I will be rooting for. In my heart I want the Utes to beat the living snot out of the Crimson Tide. I also want Boise State to trounce TCU and show the BCS exactly what they're made of. And I sincerely hope Oregon can decimate Oklahoma State.

Jonah Goldberg article.

Cheers to Jonah Goldberg for writing an excellent article today. I'll post a small section of it; the full article is here.

Did you catch the political ad in which two Jews ring the doorbell of a nice working-class family? They barge in and rifle through the wife’s purse and then the man’s wallet for any cash. Cackling, they smash the daughter’s piggy bank and pinch every penny. “We need it for the Wall Street bailout!” they exclaim.

No? Maybe you saw the one with the two swarthy Muslims who knock on the door of a nice Jewish family and then blow themselves up?

No? Well, then surely you saw the TV ad in which two smarmy Mormon missionaries knock on the door of an attractive lesbian couple. “Hi, we’re from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!” says the blond one with a toothy smile. “We’re here to take away your rights.” The Mormon zealots yank the couple’s wedding rings from their fingers and then tear up their marriage license.

As the thugs leave, one says to the other, “That was too easy.” His smirking comrade replies, “Yeah, what should we ban next?” The voice-over implores viewers: “Say no to a church taking over your government.”

Obviously, the first two ads are fictional because no one would dare run such anti-Semitic or anti-Muslim attacks.

The third ad, however, was real. It was broadcast throughout California on Election Day as part of the effort to rally opposition to Proposition 8, the initiative that successfully repealed the right to same-sex marriage in the state.

What was the reaction to the ad? Widespread condemnation? Scorn? Rebuke? Tepid criticism?

Nope.

The Los Angeles Times, a principled opponent of Proposition 8, ran an editorial lamenting that the “hard-hitting commercial” was too little, too late.

Full ad here, courtesy of YouTube.
And a related news video.

Letter to the BCS:

Dear BCS,

Your bowl system is horrifically pathetic. Fix it.

Respectfully,
Boise State and Ball State

How can it be possible that a team can beat teams from other conferences, have an undefeated season, win their own conference, obliterate everyone in their path, be ranked 9th in the nation, and not get a chance to play in a major bowl game? Its possible, all right; in fact, its a very likely possibility.

Is the BCS to blame for not putting BSU into a major bowl game? No, that's just the end result. The real problem is that BSU is too good for its own conference, but it isn't given enough out-of-conference games that are up to their level. They beat the Oregon Ducks, and that's it. Hardly giving them more claim than University of Utah, who faced TCU, BYU, and Oregon State, all of which are great teams. No, BSU obliterated Southern Miss, Bowling Green, and Idaho State. Those crickets in the background mean there's not much applause for those wins. Still, the BCS is smart enough to rank them 9th nationally, which I think is fair. But the rules of the BCS will not allow Boise State to play anyone their own rank, which is unfair. That means that their ranking doesn't mean anything concrete. Its all speculation.

I wonder how Ball State feels.

They have no idea.

Thought I'd share a little snippet I found on a message board and thought I'd pass it on. Its a blog written by John Scalzi. It reads the following:

This is amusing: The L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center is encouraging people to donate to invalidate Proposition 8 in the following way:

Make a donation, in the name of the president of the Mormon Church, to support the legal organizations working to invalidate Proposition 8 and to fund grass-roots activities in support of full marriage equality. For every donation of $5 or more, the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center will send the following postcard to President Thomas Monson’s office in Salt Lake City, acknowledging your donation in his name:

Dear President Monson:

A donation has been made in your name by _________________ to “invalidateprop8.org” to overturn California’s Proposition 8 and restore fundamental civil rights to all citizens of California. The money will be donated to legal organizations fighting the case and to support grass-roots activities in support of full marriage equality. Although we decry the reprehensible role the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints leadership played in denying all Californians equal rights under the law, we are pleased a donation has been made on your behalf in the effort to overturn the discrimination your church members helped enshrine in the California Constitution. Given that throughout its history the Mormon Church has been subjected to bigotry, we hope you appreciate the donation in your name to fight religious bigotry here in California.

All other issues aside, I’m not entirely sure the LDS Church thought through the end-game issue of pissing off gays and lesbians, a group of people who thanks to the AIDS crisis and other recent rights discrimination battles has a couple decades worth of creative and committed leaders who know how to mobilize, know how to perform dramatic civil disobedience, and, yes, know the value of snark in raising cultural awareness. I suspect they’ll be finding out now.

On that message board, I decided to post a response, and here it is:

"I’m not entirely sure the LA Gay & Lesbian center thought through the end-game issue of confronting the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a group of people who thanks to the its members, its leadership, and its prophet, has had more than fifteen decades worth of smart and committed leaders who know how to mobilize, know how to obey the law, and, yes, know the value of truth in raising cultural awareness. I suspect they’ll be finding out now."

They have no idea who they're dealing with.

Christmas Eve; I mean, Black Friday

Its the longest night of the year. I'm nervous and excited at the same time. I wanted to make sure I got plenty of sleep, so I took a sleeping pill plenty early. I went to bed 7 hours from the time I needed to wake up, and drank plenty of water. You'd think this was Christmas Eve, but in essence, this is my first Black Friday.

Hell, I'm 29 years old now. You'd think I would have done this before. Even in my 3 years experience at Wal-Mart that I'd have worked at least one Black Friday. Not so; I was always in positions where I didn't need to be there before 5:00 a.m.

But there I lay, wide awake, wondering if I had slept too long and had missed my alarm. I looked at my clock and read the time. 11:34 p.m. Is this a joke? I check another clock and it says the same. I go back to bed, relieved that I didn't miss it. I begin to dream one thing after another, long dreams that go on for an incalculable amount of time.

I awaken, suddenly aware that its still dark outside. I surely missed it this time. 1:27 a.m. You've got to be kidding me! Again I lay back and try to sleep, but its getting harder now. Dreams come, longer ones this time, and all interconnected. I dream of anticipating Black Friday, and deep inside, I realize I need to get up.

My eyes pop open, and I look for the clock. 2:43 a.m. Its 1.5 hrs before I need to get up. I've gone to bed later than this before. But this time I can't sleep. I toss and turn, and eventually decide that I might as well get up and start that blog I've been putting off for so long.