MSF Crazy

My countdown is nearing its end for the MN State Fair. (3 days and I’ll be staring at the latest Butterhead carving) And I have proof as to why I'm such a State Fair fanatic - Genetics.

Proof: Convo with my mom a couple of days ago.
Me: “Hey, when is Dad working the Moo Booth?”
Mom: “Sunday.”
Me: “Wow, so I’ll probably be at the fair the entire time I’m home. Not sure when I’ll get to see everyone.” (feeling a little guilty)
Mom: “Well of course you’re going to be there everyday, it’s the reason you came home. You can see us whenever but the fair is only once a year.”

That was when I fully understood what it’s like to be Fair-minded and I blame it on my mom. Our conversation wasn’t the only moment of ridiculousness in regards me and the MSF this year. Even though I haven't beent there yet, doesn't mean I haven't rpepared by performing/doing the following:
- Rushing home last Wednesday night to go online and see who was crowned Princess Kay 53
- Tearing up when I read the Strib article on the new Miracle of Birth Center
- Scheduling a time to meet up with my old boss’ at the Fair
- Checking the Strib everyday to see the latest Fair story
- Calling home to make sure Dad is working the Moo Booth so I can help
- Mentally prepare myself to hold back tears when I enter the Empire Commons (a.k.a Dairy Building)
- Yelling at my friend via phone when he called to tell me he was standing in the barn and wanted to let me know that “cows are stupid.” (it’s a amazing we’re still friends after that)
- ‘Educating’ my co-workers on a daily basis about the many wonders/facts about my home Fair.

So we all know of my problem….err, well at least one of them. And yes, I am a tad biased when it comes to who has the best State Fair. A friend of mine argued MN doesn’t come out as numero uno in the contest for Best State Fair. I disagree. I find it interesting that she backs her reason with just one little thing….that her state is more focused on Ag and 4-H. Now, seeing I’m a part of that industry, I can’t complain. But I can argue. Yes, for many years, the livestock exhibits and shows were what made a fair. But we have to remember that we are an ever changing society. I can tell you that MN ranks number two for most highly attended State Fair in the country (just behind Texas with an avg attendance of 1.6 million). Not bad for having a fairly low state population. And I can also inform you that we have one of the most innovative fairs; offering more for the consumer than just food-on-a-stick.

In accordance to the MN State Fair’s website it states the following:

About Us
The Minnesota State Fair is a financially self-supporting
quasi-state agency. The annual production of the State Fair, along with all
improvements and maintenance of the 320-acre State Fairgrounds, are financed
exclusively through revenue produced by the State Fair's year-round operations.
The State Fair has received no public money of any kind since 1949.

Our Mission
Our mission is to educate and involve our guests by providing a world-class showcase that is innovative, entertaining and fun.

We strive to:
Showcase Minnesota’s finest agriculture, art and industry
Present an unparalleled forum for knowledge and ideas
Provide outstanding customer service
Offer exceptional value
Provide a safe, clean environment that is accessible to all
Create unique experiences

This statement shows that we strive to bring three aspects together on what makes Minnesota great. Personally I’d like to believe agriculture does it all be itself, but it doesn’t. MN is made up of diverse and intriguing sectors and that is what should be showcased at its Fair.

As for what the ag industry is doing, we have more hands-on educational exhibits now than we did just 5 years ago – that’s a good sign. As our society grows further away from the farm we need to adapt to their tastes. People come to eat new foods (on-a-stick is for convenience), to learn and be entertained. I’m sorry, but watching cows in a show ring is BORING…..and that’s sad when I say that. But it’s true. Not to mention, that doesn’t show the average city/suburban kid what ag is about. Having a hands-on booth educating a consumer on where their food comes from is 500x more informative and interesting for a consumer. So when they are slurping down their milkshake why not have info on dairy right next door, nothing like making a little profit and while teaching them what farming consists of. Now that is the new mindset of agriculture at the fair.

So that my rant on why I love the MSF. You can disagree. But never will I turn my nose up to my own state and its fair. That’s just not kosher.

Monday Morning Weekend

It seems like every Monday you spend about 30 mins. talking to your c0-workers about your weekend. And for me the usual commentary that takes place is:

Co-worker: "So Cassandra, how was your weekend."
Me: "Fine, yours?"
C0-worker: "Good, we went to __________"
Me: "Yeah, we did the usual. We went to _________ and had a good/bad/okay/awesome time."
C0-worker: "Cool."
Then we go back to our offices/cubes and click away on our computers.

For the most part that was my convo today but looking back at it, I didn't have an awesome weekend, nor did I have a bad one. I had good things but plenty of not-s0-good things happened too. Actually I think they kind of equaled each other out.

Good: The Twins beating the White Sox on Friday and Saturday
Bad: The Twins losing to the White Sox on Sunday
- some may argue two wins is better than one loss, but people, we are talking baseball here, it's very, very important and no losses are accepted.

Good: Amanda’s Bocce Ball party and shots with the Aussie on Saturday afternoon
Bad: The martinis hitting me hard at a private party on Saturday night

Good: Being mistaken as Susan Allen
Bad: Hearing complaints about macaca

Good: The Legwarmers 80’s cover band on Friday night
Bad: ½ of the crowd at the concert

Good: Going out everyday/night for the past 10 days.
Bad: Sleep deprivation

Good: No NWA strike
Bad: Recent plane crash
-I fly to MSP on Friday

Good: Santroum polls/outlook
Bad: Kennedy polls/outlook

So, looking back you could say that I had an undesribable weekend because in all reality nothing was outstanding or horrible.

(These are only in real relation to me....the plane crash was a terrible tragedy.)

Don't Marry Me

After reading an article published in Forbes a few days back I was left with my mouth hanging wide open. The basic point of the story was: MEN – DON’T MARRY A CAREER GIRL. The basic point to me was: You’ll never get married.

When mentioning this article (before showing it) to a few male friends they started in with the question of, “are you considered a career woman?” According to the article a ‘career woman’ isn’t the “girl who’s pushing buttons on a cash register,” no she’s the one who’s working more than 35 hours a week, has an income of over $30,000 and a college degree or higher. So I guess I make the cut.

This man who wrote the article leaves me with a few assumptions about his personal life. If he’s married, he’s either got a wife at home barefoot and pregnant or he is unhappily married to a career woman. OR he’s not married because he holds the “don’t marry a career woman belief.” I'm going with the unhappily married man to a career woman who's on the brink of divore because he can't handle sharing domestic and fiscal responsiblity.

Even though Mr. Noer backs up his article with research that hails from credible sources (i.e. major journals) I am still skeptical about such a bold statement. Maybe it’s because I grew-up with a career mom who sent me off to day-care and had to juggle between work and family time. Granted my father is a farmer and was around home but let’s face it, the man couldn’t do the laundry, dishes or anything domestic for that matter. (I was proud that he learned how do use the oven when I was in H.S.) With both parents working I think that they were more understanding of each other and felt good that both could contribute financially.

What I’m trying to get across is that a marriage is what you make it. Obviously if people want to have a career and don’t care about family or relationships, then they shouldn’t bother getting married. But if you want a career and the family thing, you set priorities. It can be done and there are millions of successful and happily married people out there to prove it.

So if you want to think like Mr. Noer out there go ahead, I’m not going to stop you. Just don’t bother calling over 50% of the single women out there….. and that includes me.

Happy 50th!

Tuesday:

This is my 50th post. Who knew that I had so much crap to 'share' with the world?! But then again, we all know that I'm fairly long-winded and 88% of the time I cannot tell a good story. I have no real story other than I'm mad at my body for getting sick on such an important day. I'm an idiot and totally didnt' see it coming ........even though there were multiple signs like:

- Passing the bar last night (they had $4 cosmos)
- Being overly exhausted and going to bed early
- Being really quiet at the meeting
- Passing the other bar last night
- Having no energy to vaccum (I LOVE vaccuming)

It kicked me in the butt this morning when I woke up with a headache and scratchy throat. It was one of those movie moments when the little kid is super exicted about something (mine being the Twins vs. Orioles game tonight) where they have all of their stuff ready (my new Twins t-shirt and outfit laid out perfectly) and then look over to it with a sad look because they are sick. So that was me this morning, the buzzer goes off at 6 am.... I grunt and hit the snooze. ONE HOUR LATER - I realized what time it was and finally got my butt out of bed my throat was scratchy and feeling a major headache coming on. Sitting there I somberly looked over at my Twins shirt and shed a single tear.

But a trip to the local CVS for some over-priced cold medicine and about 6 glasses of water later I was golden and ready for the game.


******I stopped writing because I had to actually work********

Wednesday:

I don't think I've ever come from a game happy even though my own team lost. I guess cheering for the Gopher fteam has prepped me well for losing.

The other reason why I could handle it was the fact that it was literally the most gorgeous stadium out there. Not to mention we had really good seats. So throw me in an awesome stadium, with a beer/hotdog in hand and friends; I'm in 7th heaven.

But there are things that I learned I should never do, such as complain about education out loud only to have two teachers turn around (and it didn't help I mentioned the word 'whore' when I was complaining too). Always play appreciative of your visitors.....even when you don't think that they are here to visit YOU. And biggest lesson of all....don't drunk call a person who is just a friend and request for them to drive to your house and fix you a drink, I guess it looks/sounds like a booty call. Oops.

But take away those mistakes, it was a perfect night.

Lines from the weekend that I spent at the Jersey shore, Atlantic City and Philly:

**If you can guess who said each of these...I'll give you $10**

"More rough days for the quater whore."

"I don't want to sit up here...that's where the poor people sit."

"You just put a Minnesota accent on your Spanish!"

"Screw unity, I want ROCKY!"

"It looks fake."
- reference to the Liberty Bell

"Hahahaa.....what the hell, you drunk slut."

"This is much smaller than I thought it'd be.....oh, does that sound familiar."
- At Condom Kingdom

"I feel so ghetto AND rich."

Drinks vs. Lunch

My friends are determined to get me hitched. I’m talking the friends whom I’ve just met since I’ve moved. I love them all dearly (why else would I be friends with them if I didn’t?!) but really, to many, it’s their mission. I find it odd seeing that all but a handful are single too. I’m not jumping all over them to get in a serious relationship……..so why are they doing it to me?

There was one situation that I found quite funny. I’m at CMs place with his girlfriend and another friend of ours (who’s single). We’re talking about good places along the waterfront and then a slight mentioning of dating came up. CM eyes me and said, “We need to get Cassandra out on the market fast.” I’m sitting there, enjoying my sundae and this comes out of the blue. WHAT THE HELL!?! Do I have a look of desperation written on my forehead?

From that we went into the discussion of the dating services of “It’s Just Lunch” and “It’s Just Drinks.” I de-test any of those types of things (not to mention E-harmony and other web-based dating sites). I’m young and have NO intentions of settling anytime soon and that’s what those site/programs are for. They are not for young professionals who are concentration on making a career. So why are my friends all about this for me? Is it my ‘wholesome Midwestern girl attitude’ (haha, we all know that’s a joke!) where you’ve gotta get the young lady hitched?

And now I laugh because this past week has been nothing but ‘lunches’ and ‘drinks’. (not through a service though) I do have to admit I got a little nervous about lunch (but I shouldn’t have been….I’m such an idiot) only to invite my co-workers along. I guess, as long as I keep inviting my co-workers with I won’t have to worry about that serious relationship thing and settling down. But then again, that will mean I won’t have satisfied my friends on the settling down factor. I guess I just can’t win. And no worries…those drinks and lunch things didn’t amount to much more than me befriending the guy (and no, I’m NOT an idiot for that).

But here’s my question for you people….what do you prefer Lunch or Drinks?

I tend to stay away from lunches because they are more serious to me. I find them as perfect tests to see if the guy really likes you. There are several reasons why lunch can be so scary as a date. First of all it’s broad daylight out and NO ONE looks great in daylight (if they did we wouldn’t have dimmers in bars/restaurants). Secondly, you’re grumpy from midday work. And not to mention looking frumpy in your casual work clothes (again, gotta leave the cute outfits home). But if he can look past that without the help of 5 drinks, you’ve got a winner.

But seeing I’m not looking for something serious – DRINKS IT IS!

Switchin to Cherries

Forget the dairy industry….I’m switching to cherries. Tart cherries that is......

I won’t tell you how I came along this website (only because it makes me look really nerdy) but needless to say I found it and become somewhat engrossed in the fact that there is a Cherry Marketing Institute (funny seeing it's the same concept as my job, but just for a different product). Granted it’s 500 times smaller of a business than dairy and isn’t a major U.S. commodity, but really, wouldn’t it be fun to work for them?! Instead of my unlimited supply of free milk and cheese I will get cherries, cherry pie and much more! (Or at least I’d like to think that). Even though I fantasied about how cool it would be to work for them reality struck me and I then realized I was NOT meant for the (tart) cherry business.

Reasons why:
- I don’t plan on moving to Lansing, MI anytime soon.
- Who eats cherries every day?
- Our major importing country is Germany, BORING
- They are not as versatile as dairy…… you put a cherry ON a sundae…not ice cream on the cherry – obviously dairy is more superior.
- My family would disown me (not to mention I’d have my Butterhead title stripped away).
- No one can beat the “Ahhh…the power of Cheese” and “Got Milk?” campaigns. (The cherry people are lacking on their marketing skills here)
- Their little logo cherry dude looks very …. well….. gay.
- Milk comes from cows… baby calves are very cute…..you can’t pet a ‘cute’ cherry tree.
- No cherry princesses.
- Cherries have antioxidants…..but dairy has NINE essential nutrients! (for those health people out there)

*********************

Flying sucks these days! Between all of the terrorist stuff and then throw in a possible strike with NWA I’m a little worried about making it from DC to MSP over Labor Day weekend. We’ll see how that goes!

And let’s not forget about the regular CRAZY fliers like the lady in this article. Just can’t wait to hop on a flight and snuggle up close to a possible nut-case who’s going to threaten me with their lotion and a letter from Al-Qieda.

Chili Dog Mile

Chili Dog Mile Run

I wish I was making this up.....but nope, it's out there and it's so Minnesotan.

I fell under peer pressure.

It’s bad when you read your own blog and think to yourself …”Wow. I just wasted 15 minutes of my life reading about me.” I apologize for the lack of wittiness and so forth. I will try harder from now on. Granted when I do try it usually isn’t any better.

I have discovered that my tolerance is dwindling. Along with that I've become horrible at staying away from the computer when my moments happen; therefore I am able to leave horrible incoherent messages on here that I can’t even decipher. I will point out that I was encouraged to blog on Saturday night…I obviously don’t do well under peer pressure.

The Nats have proved to be the worst team ever again. Thank God for tailgating or I’m sure there would’ve been issues. Granted there were some when I started yelling hockey gripes in the middle of the 6th inning. But the Mets fans were okay to me, just a few roll of the eyes and shout-outs to me.

I have found that I’m a very convincing person (after tailgating and getting a little rowdy at a baseball game). I got two people to ‘play’ a drinking game with me. I was pretty sure myself that I remembered the rules only to realize 30 minutes into it (and 4 refills per player later) that I was very, very off and we were consuming more than playing. Granted, I see no problem with that…..we were clearly right on with the objective of the game.

Now every waking minute of my life that isn’t working with my real job is consumed by campaigns. Even though they've become my life, I'll attmept to keep to keep it to a minimum on here. BUT if you are from VA please vote for HIM. And if you’re from MN look into his ‘cute’ commercials. OR PA….yeah, we like him too.

Final Thought:

It took me two seconds to figure out an excellent addition to my fathers birthday gift.....personalized Ketchup Bottles.

That's right people, Heinz is kicking it up another notch and now allowing you to put whatever you want on a bottle. It's great for my Dad seeing it's his ONLY sauce (just like salt is his only seasoning!).

Do you wanna?

So I guess my finest moment came last night when I said the following to Rick's friend:

"Do you wanna sit with me on my bed and watch Journey's with George?"

**more to come....but till then I'm door knocking my hangover off**

Drinkin g Gqmes

I'm swrigtnign when im not syupposed to be. i'm druk.. it's furnny7u

i'm neot going to takj about being alid. i guess there\'s on lyl one whe wan't to marry me.
it's bull shit.

Welcome back men.

Girls like to look at the metrosexuals....but in all reality, we want a guys guy, and thank God that they are back!

DC LOVE

Today ended with a conversation built on this:

"politics for sex? that's like reading a book for thirst."


"Nothing is more depressing than being at a happy hour with a bunch of good looking people and knowing that hardly anyone is going to get laid."

-It was a sad and amusing convo between a friend and myself.

Hill Happy Hour

When you pass out at 10 pm at night it is easy to be wide awake by 4:30 am....trust me, that's just what happened. And that is why I'm sitting infront of my computer at this God-forsaken hour!

Last night was our Friends of Allen Happy Hour on the Hill night. Basically it was a bunch of Repubs hanging out, putting back some drinks, and talkin campaign. It started officially at 6 pm and majority of the crowd was fairly lubercaited by 7ish. I of course was one of the majority. I played greeter to the event because I'm nice but that didn't keep me from sipping on my gin and tonic and getting numbers from 'potential supporters' (GREAT way to meet people if you know what I mean).

Overall I was a good girl, that is, prior to 8pm. I had a good high happening because it was like putting me in a room with ALL of the people I've become friends with over the past month. I was social butterfyling it. The end of the climax came when I heard a familiar voice behind me saying,"Well Cassandra!?!" I look and see it's AB. (DAMN YOU DC and YOUR SMALL WORLD!) I flash a weak smile and say "Heeeey, how's it go?" (insert awkward silence) I soon realize AB and RO are looking at me funny which so I broke the slince with "AB, meet RO, RO meet AB." (more awkwardness) I tell each where the other works then excuse myself thanking the high-heavens I said I'd play greeter the rest of the night.

I did get to meet some more people, which is ALWAYS a plus. My friend Sarah (who was one of the party throwers) made Mike come and talk to me. Now, this is why I love my friends...you see, I'm their token Ag girl which means when they meet someone else in either exporting or ag they automatically send them straight to me because I MUST have something in common with that person. But lately, I've been lacking other "Aggie" friends so when Mike came over I was all over it (I'm sure my excitement freaked him out a bit though). Unfortunately he was wearing a ring (damn!). Nice guy and yes, we did have a lot in common.

After the shin-dig RO, RL and I head over to ROs office nearby (he works for the good people) where I have quickly become friends (we're talking first name basis) with one of the security guys. (I think it was the fact that I took up two rows instead of one when trying to fill-in my ID stuff). We attempt to watch the results for the CT primaries only to be disappointed in the lack of coverage so we said screw it and headed out for burritos.......yumm-o.

By nine I was full, happy and ready to head home. Dutifully I get on the train and make it off at my stop. While walking home I'm observing stuff and attempting to make ONE stupid phone call to a friend. While doing this and cautiously staring down a potential killer (homicide is increasing again) my heel gets caught and sends me flying to the ground. Remember, I'm tipsy people, NOT drunk. Of course my potential killer freaks out and rushes to help me (so I can't blame the guy for my fall when he's helping me up...lame). When I get up I realized I had scraped my knee really bad and damaged a shoe (DAMN!). But I'm fine so I continue on. I limp up the block and notice a car pulled over with two men attempting to change a tire. Feeling helpless but yet kind, I ask if they needed help. In their broken English they said that they were lost, had two flat tires and were trying to tell a friend where they were. So I played Saint Cassandra and gave their friend detailed directions. (I hope to God I was right!)

The best part was when I started to walk away one of the men shouted for me to come back. As I did he handed me a business card and said for me to spread the word of his friend. Apparently his friend is a photographer and relies on his buddies to get the word out. That's fine with me....but really it was a weird time to be doing promotions.

After my journey of Hill Happy Hour I finally get home, head straight to my room, and pass out...ALL BEFORE 10:30 pm.
(only to wake at 4:30 am with a crazy amount of hyperness....thank your lucky stars I'm sober and not drunk dailing you right now!)

- It's an amazingly simple life that I live!

Countdown!

I had to update my U of M Alumni stuff today!! With that I got really into checking out some stuff on the U of M website and before you knew it I was playing all of the U of M Marching Band songs.....I'm sure I got some weird looks because of it, whatever, I'm proud.

I've also gotten kinda big on Countdowns lately.......
My Countdowns:
Opening of MN State Fair (PK Crowning)- 16 Days
My MN State Fair Visit - 23 Days
Nephew K. Kuball born - 28 Days*
Election Day - 91 Days
*I'm not pyschic, it's planned

I would like to mention that I'm totally stoked for the MN State Fair! I cannot wait to go and see my fellow Butterheads, the MN Dept of Ag booth and eat terribly fattening food. I will take pride though in the MN Dept of Ag booth this year too because I got a lot of it set-up prior to me leaving sooooo......now we all know why it focuses mainly on exporting. haha! Mention my name there and you'll either get a story about me or a roll of the eyes, I take pride in both actions.
----
And for those of you who don't know Ms. A. Carpenter OR didn't know, check out her soon to be published book. She's aiming to be the next Ann Coulter! And from the looks of it....she's on her way.
**And yes, she's a result of one of my friend-stealing moments around a year ago. (I thought I'd beat Ty to the punch on that one!)
----

And Haha to the Dixie Chicks who had to cancel some shows because of lagging sales.....

You Can't Have My Beer

Last week MN Gubenatorial candidates did a debate at Farmfest in MN. The Agri-News article focused mainly on the comments made between Hatch and Pawlenty and here is an excerpt from the very end of the article. It was a poorly written article (which most Agri-News articles are) but not only that they end it just as tacky as the debate seemed to have been. All I have to say is, sad.

There was some levity when Hutchinson praised Pawlenty's efforts to promote foreign trade.

"Thanks, Peter -- I love you, man," Pawlenty said.

"You can love me, but you can't have my beer," Hutchinson responded, referring to an old Bud Light advertising campaign.

Over-dressed

**Going between The Godfather and FoxNews**

I like VA granted I live in NOVA which is polar opposite from the rest of the Commonewealth. And the reminder came this weekend during our drive to The Plains, VA for the polo match.

Scene One: Local Talk

Characters:
Me (in simple sundress, hair down and hat)
Rick (Khaki shorts and polo)
**fyi, Rick is from the suburbs of Philly - so think as if you were him**

Scene - Rick and I in car driving to Great Meadow on Route 66

Rick - I need to stop and get something to drink.
Me - Oh yeah, where were you planning on doing that?
Rick - I figured The Plains.
Me - You do realize it's in the middle of the country?
Rick - Oh yeah so.
Exiting off of Route 66 onto country road in literally nowhere.(but it is tarred)
Me - Why don't we drive down this until we hit a small town.
Rick looks at me waiting for a punch line only to realize there is none - so he drives north like said.
Rick - So where's this town?
Me - Oh about 2 miles.
Rick is getting agitated and showing it.
Me - This isn't the boonies you know, I've seen at least 5 houses and a farm.
Rick - "haha...not funny."
We arrive at small town and drive around the 3 'streets' but located no store.
Me - OH! there's a sign for Warrenton - just another 4 miles.
Rick is again giving a dirty look towards me.
Arrive into Warrenton and drive to the 7-Eleven, I wait in car and observe the locals
Rick returns to car and has a baffled look going.
Me - I like the locals.
Rick - The lady in there asked me why I was so dressed up!
Me - **laughing**Welcome to the rest of Virginia.

Just a note: He did explain where we were going to but held back on telling her that he was fairly underdressed for the occasion. Gotta love the suburban kid in the country.

But the rest of the night was excellent....as mentioned further:

I would like to confirm that I love the sport Polo. Even though I never thought horses were meant for much beyond Elmers, dog food and racing - I will now say that they are also good for Polo. I went to my first live Polo match last night. It was fun. Not just because I had an excuse to wear a sundress, pearls and a hat but it was BEAUTIFUL out and the crowd just as fun/nice. Now don't get me wrong - I still like sports where you dress in team colors and shout obscenities to the refs/umps but it's also nice to go to ones where you relax, gossip and picnic your food. And just so you know, I didn't go totally snobbish - I still drank tequila out of a water bottle. Let's just say I still like to bring that little bit of sloppishnish along with the snobbishness.....

Picture: "The Nashville Crew" Me, Carrie and Sery
(Please note no hat in pic because A)It's dusk and B)Hat's aren't good for photos)

Atlantic

Sometimes correcting the marketing reports written by a person from another country takes too much time and can be frustrating. But sadly, now I know how people feel when they edit my crap. I’m sure they wonder what the hell I was thinking after I’m done doing my first draft…it’s all mumble jumble and then to top it off, I’m a quick thinker while typing– but not necessarily good at completing my thoughts/sentences. That is not good for anyone….so after two days of dictating a few Activity Reports from overseas; I’m now more compassionate towards those who have to ‘dictate’ my own stuff. I don’t even have the handicap that it’s not my first language. And somehow I have a degree.

On another note – is anyone else out there sick and tired of the song Crazy by Gnarles Barkley? It’s over-played ALL of the time. And why are the radio stations ignoring my request of hearing ANYTHING from The Changes. You can’t get much better than them (at the moment). But NO….they ignore it and instead play Crazy or a crap load of Dashboard Confessional…which, no offense, is getting terribly old too.

And for you guys; I have this buddy who wanted to get his girlfriends heart so he learned how to play the song Everlong on a guitar. I guess it worked. I didn’t know us females get so ‘hot and bothered’ over that?! And to prove he was right (to a group of 10 males and females) he tried it on us and I do have to say….I could see that working. So for you guys out there……learn to play a song like Everlong and you’re golden with the chicks. (You don’t even have to be good cause it’s only a few chords and you can just mumble the lyrics and that somehow will equal hotness).

Some of my favorite songs right now (new and old):
“Theologians” - Wilco
“Atlantic” – Keane
“Is it Any Wonder” – Keane
“American Music” – Violent Femmes
“Red Rain” – Peter Gabriel

Coke Secrets..........to Pepsi

I love my job because it gives me opportunities to read about everything that is happening in the food industry (fine, I might be the only person who thinks that's cool) but the best part is that I literally get paid to read this stuff. **I understand that this was worldwide and OLD but I still wanted to make a post to make a point**

So I finally got to read in the Food Industry News mag about the 3 Coca-Cola employees who tried to sell their secret formula to the 'highest bidder' and they made contact with Pepsi regarding it. Funny thing is that Pepsi so 'no' and then reported them to Coca-Cola. This is another reason why I like Pepsi over Coke. Not only do I like the taste better, but they are nice people. (again, amongst my friends I'm alone here on that one)

You Gotta Love that Green Party!

I really don't have much going on myself today (just work, woohoo) but I do have to admit that the news has been keeping me fairly entertained over the past 12 hours. Between a kickass Green Party in PA, me hating Reggie Bush even more and Sen. Harkin, I think I've got my fill of laughs for the day and it's only 10 am!

So here's MY NEWS/LAUGHS for Wednesday August 2, 2006:

There's much hope and celebration for Santorum in PA - thanks to 90,000 signatures.

HARRISBURG, Pa. - Green Party candidates for governor and U.S. Senate turned in enough signatures to ensure that their names will appear on the Nov. 7 general-election ballot, state election officials confirmed late Tuesday.

U.S. Senate candidate Carl Romanelli and gubernatorial hopeful Marakay Rogers, who circulated joint petitions, said they turned in at least 90,000 signatures Tuesday to meet the petition deadline for minor-party and independent candidates.

Full Article

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Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) needs to go back to school.

Noting that 45 countries allow women of any age to buy the drug without a prescription, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said: "You're saying our young women are stupider than the women in these countries."

What is wrong with that quote?

Full Story

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Reggie Bush.........poser. (Gold-cleats?)

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Note Received at Work:

I

just received a call from FedEx International; they are sending back a package that was sent on July 14th will be sent back. Due to the situation going on in Lebanon…FedEx is unable to provide any service to that region.

**Weird that this is the only way that my life is being affected by the situation going on over there….it did make me a little upset seeing I needed to send our Beirut office some stuff, but what can you do?**