I chatted with my dad the morning of the early primary. I told him how I was still undecided on who to vote for and he told me to, “follow my gut” and then told me a nice little story about the third party in the ‘88 election. Well I did and my gut pointed me to John Edwards. Yeah, of course I voted for him the day before he pulled out.

Nice. Another splash to add to story of the puddle.

Here’s why I liked him. I’m extremely interested in all of the candidates plans for cutting college costs (naturally) and getting out of Iraq. Edwards had the coolest plans. And he also seemed sincere in his plight to help the homeless and all. My only real draw back in voting for him which I kinda put aside was the small fact that he owns the biggest property and home in the Raleigh/Durham area. That area used to be my stomping ground as a preteen and I know that there are some MASSIVE houses there, and his family’s kicks all their butts. But his parents were everyday laborers so he does know the common plight. But anyhoo none of that matters anymore because he’s gone.

And of course this naturally had to happen during my first voting experience. Makes me feel damn excited to vote next time.

Actually it’s more like one of those weeks.

I’m battling the flu. You know the runny nose, deep chested cough, sore throat, chills, sweat attacks, fevers, tiredness, lack of appetite, achy body, kinda flus. Well that’s what I’ve had for the last two days.

And when I said that I was battling the flu, I mean precisely that. I still have to go to work. So I put on my “everything is just grand” face and continue on with my business. Because if you don’t work, you get no money. Kinda sucky no?

Well I just took some DayQuil.  Hopefully it works.

But if you read this please pray for me too.

I just got this weird nostalgic feeling about Boy Bands. I miss the days of Nsync. I miss the days of the Backstreet Boys. I miss the days of 98 degrees.

Ahh…

So I’m going to go get my ipod and high tail myself to work. Good day to all.

Today my favorites have been victorious.

-Duke beat Maryland

-Novak beat that Frenchie for the Australia Open Title

-Evan Lysacek miraculously won the Men’s Nationals Figure Skating Championship

-The Mavs beat the Nuggets

-The Magic beat the Celtics

Ahh…all in a days a work.

This weekend was great. I went down to Mississippi and stayed at Amber’s. We saw 27 Dresses (Besides the overused “writer writes vengeful article in paper/magazine about a unbeknownst person, realizes that they are actually in love with the victim, faces a terrible guilt complex, victim finds out becomes bitter, big fight breaks erupts, but in the end happily ever after happens” it was a cute movie.) and went bowling which I haven’t done in lone while. I scored 110 during a game. Yay! (Oh that’s a good game for me by the way)

- I’m sick of hearing about Brady’s sprained ankle, and the Patriots stupid antics. I’m not being fooled.

-This song cracks me up.

- I don’t understand how the Statue of Liberty play fooled anybody. What QB raises their hand and leaves it there for a million years on a handoff?

-Novak beat Roger. Novak beat Roger. Nanananana. I’m so giddy.

-The college my dad graduated from is on ESPN front page…for swimming. What’s up with Maryland and swimming? I thought they were the lacrosse haven.

- I love these T Mobile commercials. I totally relate to this, and this.

-I’m so embarrassed to be associated with these two now. Double Stuff Racing League? Oreo’s have been taken to a whole new level now.

-Never a truer thing was said. Subway hit the Reffing situation on the head.

I love my family. Only my family (as in my dad’s brothers, sisters, and mother) would exchange e-mails for the last 2 weeks and counting, telling Old B-More Colts stories. I love reading them.

See it all started when my aunt and uncle out in Cali watched an Antique Roadshow where they auctioned a jacket Unitas wore once upon a time for thousands and thousands of dollars, and that lead them to write us all an e-mail about the news, then it turned to….oh I have this old Colts relic and I have this, and then what happened to that guy, and then all of the memories about them.

The funniest part about it all is that two of my uncles who I NEVER hear from have been contributing to the dialogue.

Contrary to popular opinion sports really does bring families together.

*****

The movies have lied to me…to you…to us.

You know how in movies they always show the high school senior merrily filling out a college application and then a few weeks later getting a happy little letter in the mail stating: “Accepted”. Well it’s all lies. It’s not that easy.

You have to keep calling and checking in with them. You have to make sure that they’ve received your transcript, your test scores, and your application. They often place them in three different places, and only after you call them do they put them all together. And those things could be sitting there in their office for weeks, and it’s not until you call them that they tell you that they are waiting for you to send a photocopy of your High School Diploma. Of course they never mentioned that  when you filled out the application, never sent a letter letting you know, and never called you. Nothing. So I did that. And I better being getting that “Accepted” letter soon.

Wearing: Business casual/Casual/cold weather gear.

Listening to: The Juno Soundtrack! It’s an awesome modern mix of 60’s folk. I’m in love with it, but I haven’t seen the movie yet.

Reading: Driven from Within by Michael Jordan. It’s motivational and swell. Full of good stuff.

Watching: American Idol, first season I will watch all the way through live. I’ve recently discovered the awesomeness of Family Guy, and I’m slightly intrigued by Southpark. And Saved by the Bell is finally on tv again! It jazzes me.

Craving: Fried Chicken (It’s the fault of the NY guys). Huey’s Turkey sandwich, but it’s not like any turkey sandwich you’ve ever had. Instead of bread they use croissants and it’s filled with sprouts, avocado, turkey lunch meat, lettuce and tomatoes. It’s the most delicious sandwich ever.

Wondering: Same as last month. Is it possible for the Giants to pull an upset?

Wishing: That my transcripts moved faster, that the colleges actually contact me instead of me contacting them, that my jobs from yester year send my W2’s soon. That my hair would grow faster, and that money grew on trees.

Lusting after: TiVo.

Loving: The posters on my wall.

Hating/Disliking: That one of my best friends, Amber, is “kinda torn about the Superbowl because Eli is from like Ole Miss but Tom Brady is hot.” Yeah…those are my friends.

Actually I was surprised that she even watched the games on Sunday. Normally she doesn’t like sports and only watches college football, if it involves Mississippi. So at least it’s a step in the right direction.

Manu the monkey.

Superbowl hype.

Missing: A few people.

Boy crushing: Mark Blucas. I’ve seen tons of sappy love stories and teeny bobber movies in my life and I’m usually pretty good at figuring out the ending, but I was totally floored when I was watching First Daughter with Katie Holmes and Mark Blucas. I knew there had to be something wrong with him, like maybe he had a troubled past or was the son of the opposing candidate, but I didn’t see forbidden love because he was an agent coming into the picture. It made me question my abilities.

Anyways I thought he was cute, so I googled him and turns out he played college ball at Wake Forest, 90-94, and even played one year with Tim Duncan. Didn’t get drafted to the NBA, so he played one year in Europe and then turned to acting.

Girl crushing: Still thinking.

Awaiting: College acceptance letters.

Dreading: More Superbowl hype.

One thing that never seems to die is the “Race Debate”, and I honestly believe it never will. As long as people choose to hold on to the mentality of the offended victims, and others hold on to the actual racisms, we aren’t going to make any progress. We can change the laws, we can fight for equality and even claim that we have it, but you can’t change everyone’s minds and hearts.

A few weeks ago Kelly Tilghman said “Lynch him in a back alley,” in regards for younger players to possibly get a win over Tiger Woods, while broadcasting on the Golf Channel. Tiger has brushed it aside, stating that she’s a friend and that she didn’t mean any harm by it.

Okay, cool. So they are old friends, she made a slip up on air, caused a huge scandal on the side, but it’s not a big deal to him. Especially since he considers himself “Cablinasian” instead of Black or Thai, or whatever other race he has in him. (Which you know I totally relate to, except not to the extreme of adding every 1/16th and 1/8th of everything in me. That’s a little extreme if you ask me. But I don’t consider myself black or white…) All in all the comment didn’t really effect him much, or he just doesn’t want to make a big deal out of it.

Granted. The only hiccup is that it is a big deal right now.

She’s white and from the South, and was talking about one of the greatest semi black men ever…big oopsy daisy. That’s definitely going to get Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton all over it, making it a HUGE deal. Which is unfortunate because she’s a former Dukie.

But I’m wondering how the heck does the word “lynch” get into your vocabulary? Out of all the words or analogies that she could have used she chose “lynch”? I don’t care if you’re black, brown, yellow, or red, the word lynch some disturbing images in your mind. It should affect you in some way for the worse…hopefully.

But what if she had used other analogies, like they should “whack” or “jump” him in a back alley”? That would also bring up some images, but we would of laughed it off because that’s funny. Right? We’ve all grown accustomed and callused to the Italian Mafia to the point where they’re funny, but that was real and affected tons of lives as well. But the word “lynched” is untouchable, even though it means the same as being whacked.

All in all, she could have said any of those other words in it’s place and it still would have caused an uproar, because she’s white and he’s semi black. Also him being the Golfing God probably has a little something to do with it too, and ever since the Don Imus event everyone has been on guard waiting for the next comment to happen. Though there is a chance that if she had used the term “whack” in it’s place, it wouldn’t have caused quite as big as a scene. The word that she chose generally strikes fear in everyone, especially since Gena Six. (Though as a side note out of all of the lynching that happened during the civil rights movement only 73 percent effected the black race, which is big majority, I’m not trying to downplay it in the least.)

Basically we live in a screwed up society.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. – MLK Jr.   “I Have a Dream“

Little Manning is going to the Superbowl!

Who the heck thought that would happen? Ever? Especially instead of Peyton?

Not me.

OMG…I can’t believe it.

Did anyone notice how he looked like Rudolph with his big red nose?

Oh god. This is to weird, but it’s exciting all the same.

Ole Miss fans are going to go nuts. I don’t think I’m ready for this.

I’m going to go out a limb and say that it’s great the Eli didn’t stay with San Diego, otherwise he would have to had play against Peyton. Can you imagine the Chargers with Eli playing against Peyton and the Colts, also with the Pats in the same division. That would be horrible.

This is so much more exciting.

Oh, what was that Tiki Barber?

I admit, I’m a huge daddy’s girl, but I refuse the “you must be spoiled then” label because I’m not.

I miss my dad.

He’s the only person that I know who follows just about every sport like me. Most people usually follow one or two sports, professional or college, not both and all. So I miss being able to communicate with him about all sports.

I miss talking to him in general. Not too many people can talk a little about everything like me…and him. Not being able to communicate about everything that I want to with people makes me feel both stupid and smart, but mostly stupid. I feel like I’m being dumbed down.

Most nights when I eat dinner I think about how much my dad would like the meal. Like when I eat at Perkins and get a French Dip sandwich, and it’s stuffed with Roast Beef, or when I eat steak, and like tonight when we ate Maryland crab. (It’s a once a year thing I hear, but it was good)

I miss being able to follow the news with him, even though he gets annoying sometimes with his woes of doom. But I especially missed him tonight when I watched my first presidential campaign advertisement for Barak Obama.

I miss playing lax catch, and shooting the basketball with him. I don’t think we’ve had our 18 vs however old he is game yet.

Of course after about a week of us together things can get pretty scrappy. But I even miss that.