Case of the Mondays

I'm posting just to get rid of the nacho pic lingering at the top of the page.

I started to feel like it was taunting me.

Anyway, it's been a ridiculously slow Monday. Tomorrow's bound to be better. Especially the eve.

Monday Morning Quarterbacking

Best ad: Bud Light's fire-breathing date.
Runner-up: E*trade baby and the creepy clown.

Strangest cutaway: Bananacam - isolated shot of overripe bananas meant to illustrate the players pounding potassium.
Runner-up: Pamela Anderson

Best use of political capital: Obama airing an ad just around halftime. Not only does he get people talking at the time, but he guarantees himself coverage in all the post-bowl ad wrap-ups as reporters repeat the following: "And the only candidate to advertise during the Superbowl was..."
Runner-up: Carville and Frist do Coke.

Best snack: Super Chicken Nachos (see photo above)
Runner-up: 2nd helping of Super Chicken Nachos

objects in image are more delicious than they appear

Remembering Heath Ledger through Poetry

And a reminder to dip your toe in a little poetic culture each Sunday.

Weekend Inbox

A little nonpartisan political humor courtesy of Mom:

While walking down the street one day a US senator is tragically hit
by a truck and dies.

His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance.

"Welcome to heaven," says St. Peter. "Before you settle in, it seems
there is a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts, you
see, so we're not sure what to do with you."

"No problem, just let me in," says the man.

"Well, I'd like to, but I have orders from higher up. What we'll do
is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you can choose
where to spend eternity."

"Really, I've made up my mind. I want to be in heaven," says the
senator.

"I'm sorry, but we have our rules."

And with that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes
down, down, down to hell. The doors open and he finds himself
in the middle of a green golf course. In the distance is a clubhouse
and standing in front of it are all his friends and other politicians
who had worked with him.

Everyone is very happy and in evening dress. They run to greet him,
shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting
rich at the expense of the people.

They play a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster, caviar
and champagne.

Also present is the devil, who really is a very friendly guy who has
a good time dancing and telling jokes. They are having such a good time
that before he realizes it, it is time to go.

Everyone gives him a hearty farewell and waves while the elevator
rises..

The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens on heaven where
St. Peter is waiting for him.

"Now it's time to visit heaven."

So, 24 hours pass with the senator joining a group of contented
souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a
good time and, before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St.
Peter returns.

"Well, then, you've spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now
choose your eternity."

The senator reflects for a minute, then he answers: "Well, I would
never have said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I
would be better off in hell."

So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down,
down to hell.

Now the doors of the elevator open and he's in the middle of a
barren land covered with waste and garbage.

He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and
putting it in black bags as more trash falls from above.

The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulder. "I
don't understand," stammers the senator. "Yesterday I was here and there was
a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne,
and danced and had a great time. Now there's just a wasteland full of
garbage and my friends look miserable. What happened?"

The devil looks at him, smiles and says, "Yesterday we were
campaigning..... Today you voted."

My Bad

Wow. I anticipated lower numbers for last night's debate seeing as how it was up against the season premiere of a big primetime show.

Color me wrong:

Last night's Democratic debate on CNN drew 8,300,000 million total viewers, making it the most-watched primary debate in cable news history, and the second-most watched on TV this election cycle (ABC's Democratic debate on Jan. 5 drew 9,360,000)

The upside is that maybe this whole getting-involved-in-the-political-process thing is finally catching on.

That'd be cool.

I'm With Chris

Like a Moth to Lame

Morning. We're soaked here in DC. After weeks of warnings of storms that never were, a true wintery mix has finally materialized.

But, my concern this AM is actually of an indoor nature. I have a cute blue sweater - merino wool - that I took to have dry cleaned about a month ago. Three weeks ago, I took it out of the plastic to wear it, and it had a hole in the front. When I brought it back to the drycleaners for an explanation, they said someone would call me in a day or two. A week went by with no word. I went back and was told someone would get back to me soon. Again, a week passed with no contact.

Yesterday, I trekked back to the cleaners a third time. They had the sweater in house. The owner brought it up front and explained the hole was a moth hole. I asked how that could be. The sweater was fine when I brought it in. It had been in the plastic since being cleaned. The cleaners allegedly uses a moth-proofing chemical to protect clothes.

His explanation?

The moth chewed an invisible hole that only turned up once the garment had been cleaned.

Let's give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he's not making this up. Then why would someone put the sweater back into plastic and send me home with it without pointing out the hole? If it was chewed when it left the cleaners, shouldn't they have pointed that out? If it got chewed while at home - treated and in the plastic - then their moth-resistant mixture...not so much. But any which way I work through this, I cannot seem to come up with a logical explanation for the series of events.

What am I missing? Besides a chunk of blue sweater.