Thursday, December 25, 2008

Woo Hoo! Mah baby luvs meh!

BEST PRESENT - EVER!
Posted by Picasa

Happy Christukahwanzayuel

So - it's that time of year. The time of peace, love, and the season of giving. I got very spoiled this year. Hubby and my boo gave me loads of lovely gifts. In no particular order:

  • Peek email device (geek gift of the season and it's MINE!)
  • Art of Spirited Away
  • Art of Howl's Moving Castle
  • Howl's Moving Castle & Castle in the Air (the actual books the movie was based on)
  • Moon Phase season 1 & 2
  • A "world's best mom" cup
  • Parallel Computing - Principles and Practice (to help understand my new job)
  • Stephen King - Just After Sunset
  • Watchmen

and the BEST PRESENT EVER:
Fruity Oaty Bar lunch box

and if you have to ask, well, we can talk later about your lack of pop culture knowledge... ;)

Friday, December 12, 2008

My little guitar hero

*cue ZZ Top La Grange*

boo: Hey mom, turn this up. Yea, I like this song - I beat this song on medium in Guitar Hero.

Me: Wow - that's really good kiddo. You know, Billy Gibbons is a great guitarist, so the fact that you beat this song means you're getting good at playing that game.

boo: so, this Billy guy, he's a good guitarist?

Me: yea.

boo: do you think he can beat this song in Guitar Hero on hard?

*cue rim shot*

Monday, December 8, 2008

PS3 for a Good Cause

Pimpin' for a friend...

Japanese Sony Playstation 3 - 40gb Satin Silver

All proceeds go to Child's Play, a gamer's org that helps donates games and toys to children's hospitals around the world.

Go on, you know you wanna...

Thursday, October 30, 2008

You know you wanna...

*thumps mic*testing, testing, 1, 2, 3. Everybody hear me ok? It's that time of the year. Time for my annual plea for everyone to go out to vote. Please, please, please, I beg you - GO VOTE!

One point I want to make to new or first time voters (and really, anyone who isn't familiar with the process). Go to your polling place prepared. In this election - like most hotly contested races - there will be groups looking to find any reason to disqualify someone from voting. DON'T GIVE THEM A REASON!

I've heard from several sources that if you show up at the polling place with any sort of campaign paraphernalia visible you will not be able to vote. I'm not sure if that part is true, however all states have rules against campaigning in and around the polling place. My take on this, as an election judge is, in my precinct, we give the voter the benefit of the doubt. We would tell you to remove the item, put it away, etc. and then allow you to vote. HOWEVER - not all judges have this attitude. But, if you are ever told you cannot vote, demand a provisional ballot. Unless you are absolutely belligerent about it, you should be given one if you demand it. If there are any disputes about your eligibility to vote, a provisional ballot at least gives you a CHANCE to have your vote count.

Some tips to make your trip to the polls a smooth one.
1. Make sure you have a state issued ID on you. Some places ask, some places don't. Don't be caught unprepared.
2. Make sure all your information matches your voter registration card (including your EXACT address). One of the biggest reasons students get turned away from the polling place is they have moved but did not change their address with the voting authority. Even if you move to the apartment next door in the same building, your legal address as changed.
3. Be prepared to wait. If you don't want to wait, go on an off time. Our slowest time tends to be from about 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm.
4. If you have a questions, are unclear of what to do, ask. There's normally someone standing around the ballot box who would be more the happy to help you out.
5. If you mess up your ballot, ask for a new one - we have procedures to deal with a spoiled ballot, it's not a big deal.
6. Read the ballot completely, but know who you are voting for before you get there. It makes the process go faster for you. All voting authorities have to publish their ballots ahead of time in the newspapers. A lot of counties are now publishing the ballots on-line. Easily googled.
7. Have faith in the system, but educate yourself about the specific process in your city/county. Better yet, volunteer to be an election judge. That gives you an unique view of the whole system.

And thus endeth the lesson for this year... :) If anyone has any questions, please feel free to contact me. I'll even share my thoughts about the electronic, touch screen voting!

Sunday, July 27, 2008

first post!

Yeah, first post! Well, not much to say... I really only signed up because I want to make sure I get my user name locked down to me for every new thing that somes around.

So, after a night of good food and better wine, it's time to sign off... !

I hope everyone out there reading this as as good a night as I'm about to!