Your Numbers Up

I went to Starbucks for coffee yesterday and I went to Caribou for coffee this morning. Both have their holiday cups out in force, which is just wrong. It’s not even Thanksgiving yet and I am not ok with this premature holiday celebration. Don’t get me wrong. I love the Christmas season. I love everything about it. But I’m not ready for it yet. Can’t we enjoy Thanksgiving first?

In any case, I have to say I hate the Starbucks holiday cups. Way, way too red. So Caribou, with cups in several pleasantly muted colors, wins on cups. Also in Caribou’s favor: at least in Chicago, they have pastries from Deerfield’s bakery which are very, very yummy.

Every strong, quality relationship, from time to time, is beset with arguments. So it was last night with one of my closest relationships.

I had a fight with my TiVo.

I know, I know. Everyone who knows me knows that I usually have nothing but praise for my TiVo. We’re such a great couple. How could we be fighting? After all, TiVo changed my life. I no longer watch commercials and now look at the rest of the world and wonder how they can bear to watch television without TiVo.

Some people were thrilled with the results of last week’s election and others were horrified. I can sympathize with both points of view and have friends of both political persuasions. So I was fascinated by the election. I think it is amazing and more than a little scary that our country is so polarized right now. I mean, my Republican friends hated Kerry and the Democrats. My Democratic friends had a similar hatred, an almost visceral dislike, of George Bush and the Republicans.

Anyway, This American Life, one of my favorite shows in NPR, did this fascinating story on the Republican Party. They go beyond the basics and really dive into why more and more people in the country have been voting Republican, even when in some cases it seems to be at odds with the interests and beliefs of these very people. It’s really quite fascinating from an almost psychological perspective.

So I guess we still don’t have a president.

I was watching the election result last night and it occurred to me that they are unique in that they are simultaneously thrilling and quite boring at the same time.

Anyway, I’m ready for this all to be over.

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Pepsi Holiday Spice hits stores today, but we found some in Pilsen over the weekend. We had no idea what it was when we found it, but described as “spiced cola,” it was just weird enough that we had to buy it.

It’s reddish, first of all, which makes it a little odd. And it doesn’t really have a strong cola taste, or a spiced taste for that matter either. Still, I liked it and it reminded me of something and I couldn’t figure out what. It bothered me for a moment and then I realized:

It tastes a little like Cheerwine, the southern pop (I know, southerners would never say pop, but I live in Chicago now) I fell in love with while living in Virginia.

I am completely creeped out by the Polar Express trailer. Forget slasher films, I think digital animation voiced by Tom Hanks is terrifying and perfect for the Halloween season.

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Apparently at some point on Tuesday the Chicago Tribune printed a story in Wednesday’s Women News section without the knowledge of senior editors. When the editors heard about the story, they led a massive effort to pull the section out of the paper by hand, however a few copies apparently slipped through.

Crains explains that the story, headlined “You C_nt Say That (Or Can You?)” did not actually contain the offensive word but rather referred to it. I mean, who at the paper thought that would be ok?

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I had breakfast this morning with my friend Jayne. As always the conversation was good and we had a nice time catching up over coffee and eggs.

It was raining and after breakfast we decided to walk for a bit. We decided to walk despite the rain and even though I had an umbrella in my backpack, I didn’t use it. It wasn’t too cold and there was something just nice about walking in the rain.

I love the rain. Isn’t it great to just sit inside and listen to a thunderstorm? And it’s so nice to just walk and let the rain wash over you. I felt like we were five years old again.

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Britney has written to her fans. You simply must read her epistle. I won’t spoil it by giving away too much, but know that you can look forward to these gems:

The phrase “the reason being is so”

Her mom is “running behind my sister like crazy” (what the hell does that even mean???)

She’s going to “just chill & let all of the other overexposed blondes on the cover of Us Weekly be your entertainment… GOOD LUCK GIRLS!!”

…and so much more. Honestly, I nearly spit my coffee out from laughing while I was reading it.

Screw it, here it is in full-

Dear Fans,

So, I spoke with my friend Edo last night and he pointed out that this blog is kind of boring right now. I love that he can be totally honest with me. Anyway, for the couple of you who know about this site, a note:

Eventually there will be a more formal “Blog” section to this website with more in-depth, and hopefully interesting, entries. There will also be a “Reviews” section that will contain my thoughts on restaurants, hotels, books, movies, etc.

This “weblog” section will always be for random links, thoughts, quotes, events, etc. Much more on the fly.

Anyway, so stay tuned as the other sections will go live soon.

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