Pakistan

Benazir Bhutto was assassinated today in Pakistan. Probably by al Qaida or affiliates, and it was not a surprise.

Angry mobs, in a country that is a nuclear power and elections are up in the air. Scary way to end 2007.

Recovery

So first it was the stomach flu, then Christmas in Texas, now it's a bad cold. Late December always seems to be about recovery time.

Christmas was great; got some good loot. Lost Season Three DVD and a book from Steve, and also some perfume and roses. I got some PJs, several Starbucks giftcards, a red top from mom, a shedding sweater from the in-laws to be, a book, more giftcards, calendar. We also had some yummy cabbage tamales and a little engagement party, complete with etiquette books.

We also brought back some bottles from a bottle run to Mexico, or almost-Mexico. And of course, lots of fajitas and some tamales, my new favorite TX food.

We have some wedding stuff to deal with. So much to do, and so little time to do it in. A little more than seven months to go! Vendors are out for the holidays, so early January I have a lot of following up to do.

We leave Saturday for Bethany. That I am really looking forward to!

Favorite TV Shows of 2007

1. Lost. No question.

In no particular order...

Pushing Daisies

Brothers & Sisters

House

Top Chef

Law & Order: SVU

Grey's Anatomy (I guess...)

How I Met Your Mother...

In 2008--I look forward to catching up on 30 Rock and Dirty Sexy Money.

'Twas the Week Before Christmas

Some interesting news...

Lost returns January 31!

Joe Lieberman is endorsing John McCain. That says SO much, doesn't it? Not his colleagues Hillary or Obama. Not his former colleague John Edwards. Not Joe Biden or Chris Dodd. Not a Dem. I'm with Jonah Goldberg: I haven't made up my mind yet, but John McCain is someone whom I am least against. According to Lieberman: "There are some things more important than the political parties. One is friendship and the other is I think this guy is the best of all the candidates to unite our country and cross political lines so we can begin to finally solve some of the political problems that we have in this country and to lead us against the war versus Islamic elitist terrorism." Nice.

Well, I have made up my mind about Huckabee. Yikes. He's the only Republican, besides Ron Paul, that scares me. The GOP would go down so quickly if he's the nominee.

Jessica Simpson is a curse on Tony Romo.

Another reason not to vote for Hillary Clinton: United States Supreme Court Justice William Jefferson Clinton.

Embarrassing Songs and Good Parties

I like this. Not sure what I'd choose, but I do want to download George Michael's Freedom now.

I do have some cheesy songs: Big Country, Heart's greatest hits, Kelly Clarkson, Abba's Dancing Queen, the Bangles, Belinda Carlisle, cheesy Chicago, Shaggy. Though I have to say, my ipod is pretty cool.

We had a wonderful party Saturday night. Meg and Nate were fantastic hosts. We had some wine, great snacks like little homemade crabcakes, cheese, spinach dip, Christmas cookies. The decor was fantastic. Shay and our hosts gave us great toasts, and I was really touched by Shay's. Christina & Kumar showed up later, coming all the way from Bethesda to hang out with us til 2a.m. We even got gifts--our first gifts! Wine glasses, cordial glasses, candle holder, bubbly. It was our first champagne! What great friends we have.

The Great Upheaval

I finally finished Jay Winik's The Great Upheaval yesterday. Good book. I thought some of the Russia chapters were a bit slower, though I did find the portrait of Catherine very intriguing. And I do agree with those critics who questioned why he didn't include England. After painting a portrait of what life was like in the West that decade, I think that part of the picture was a gap.

I think Dangerous Nation will be a nice complement. I definitely am intrigued to learn more about 19th century U.S. history. Maybe I will pick up a bio of Andrew Jackson or something next. Or Washington or Jefferson. Not sure which. I want to back through that book bought eons ago of Hamilton's writings and inspired writings. I think thanks in part to Chernow he is my favorite founding father.

But the Winik book was good; I'd give it a B+. The Louis XVI/Marie Antoinette chapters were fascinating, and he portrayed them sympathetically. More to read about!

Commodore 64

Remember THIS.

December Burn-Out

It's Friday, December 7, with basically two weeks left in the working year, plus that maybe trip to Iowa. I have never wanted to do something less work-wise. I am tired and burnt out.

It's sort of the finals are/semester is over/I am really tired kind of feeling. It's the I have just gotten off a translatlantic flight and I have to go to work now and I'm tired/jet lagged feeling. It's the I need a new job feeling.

And I've had a headache for the past few days.

Lots of complaining here.

Other To-Dos
-Get a christmas tree
-figure out what to wear tomorrow night
-book the reception
-call Father Never-returns-my-phone-calls
-get a new purse
-start christmas shopping
-mail Kevin his check
-get a good run in tomorrow
-get my $16 from Doug
-get the Allison Krause/Robert Plant CD

Generation Gap

To borrow from a blogger I lurk at, here's the great Sixty Minutes piece on the Millennials.

One of the moments at Thanksgiving that I will remember is trying to get Megan to identify the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind. When I tried __ __ of the Third Kind, she blanked. She told me she had never heard of the movie--it came out before she was born! Granted, I was only one when it came out, but still, I knew the movie and could identify it as a Spielberg flick. Granted, that was still five years before she was born.

Next Christmas, if all goes as planned, I will be married and an aunt. And granted, many women reach that point before the age of 32. But living in the land of delayed adulthood, this is a big thing for me. SE will have reached these things a good two years later than me, and others of my colleagues and friends later still. And granted, parenthood is still a step beyond that.

But I am growing up. 2008 is a big year. It's my ten year college reunion, and I can remember when the thought of getting to college, finishing college, finding a job, and wondering what in the hell I would be doing with my life was a big unknown. But next spring, it will also be 15 years since Star closed. Fifteen years since I started over again. 18 years since I left St. Veronica and Detroit. More than half of a lifetime ago.

Our intern here is a full decade younger than me. At Terry's ceremony Sunday, it struck me talking to the young uns that Peter was the same age LL was when I started here, and that the scary old guys we thought were scary 8 years ago are now creepy and scary to the 22 year olds. I am the sage old lady offering advice, not taking it. What happened. At 22, I could not contemplate being the one talking about getting married and offering the advice. Now I'm beyond NEMW's Paula or Jen S. from 1019.

But it's a good thing. I like being 31 and having so much to look forward to in 2008.