five questions I'd like to ask barack

1) who's your speech writer?
2) are we there yet?
3) do you have change for a dollar?
4) nervous?
5) can we?

things that make me shiver lately

1) the future
2) law school applications
3) the military
4) fall weather
5) sara palin

being ahead of a curve that you aren't a part of

fivethirtyeight: I blogged about it a few posts ago (number 1) and then see it talked about on the Colbert Report. I think I'll take the credit for that. Yep, it's a good thing Stephen Colbert reads my blog. You're welcome Nate Silver!

five things that are surprisingly delicious
1) warm raisins
2) peanut butter and jelly mixed with yogurt
3) cold beer after a run
4) frozen peanut butter cups
5) solving a problem

bonus) peanut butter

October PhiLinks

1) if you love charts and hate the election, then this may be interesting. Or it may not.
2) screw obama and mccain, lets bring back LBJ
3) paper cutouts... why didn't I think of that?
4) carfun footprint calculator
5) get lost in photoshop genius. inspiring gig posters.
6) just in case you're feeling too loved today, there's this to bring you down a peg or two, or five.
7) random . generators . are . fun
8) free
9) Spidee

the end... 'till november

five phrases I don't want to hear in the media again for a long long time

Because they make me dread something that I have no very little control over

1) "just a heartbeat away"
2) "bailout"
3) "gotcha _______"
4) "recession"
5) "hockey mom"

five more things that annoy me the most

1) silent rooms where the smack-gnash-chew of someone grinding ferociously at a piece of gum can be heard directly behind me
2) standardized tests
3) bodily functions
4) karma
5) political . debates

make it a three-fer

five political things that make me blink

1) I guess it's obvious which party controls (most of) the internet. Although, what made me blink was the inclusion of the "bonus video." Seriously?
2) He makes a few good points... kinda. I mean he's an actor, so I guess that means we should sort of pay attention... right? Where's Tom Cruise's opinion anyway?
3) All I could think about was "his shirt is way too big!"
4) November is going to be nuts... doesn't matter who wins
5) It's hard to remember sometimes, as we get caught up in Obama-land, that there's another side to the election. My grandmother and aunt send me plenty of closed-minded and down right racist emails on a daily basis bent at appealing to my "if not this, then must be that" sensibility. If I'm for Obama, then I'm against Iraqi freedom and our military. And if I'm against the military, then I'm anti-American and unpatriotic. If I'm anti-American, then I'm Satan. Thus, McCain must be president. I just had mental flashes of the Scarlet Letter and Animal Farm (the curse of an English major). Some of the emails I've received from family members have made me downright sick. I guess they have their point and their right, as do several hundred thousand other Americans. I just hope that, as I grow older, I don't lose my ability to stay open-minded and considerate of all the factors that sit on top of Washington, DC. I hope I'm never sending my kids and grandkids intolerant and offensive emails... But perhaps tradition, like stereotypes, exists beyond our control...

Five more rock solid, solid as a rock, rock-on, rolling rock, knock on rock, solidified, truthy truths

1.) Anything can sound profound if you parallel the subject with its opposite: "what goes up, must come down;" "one man's treasure is another man's trash;" "if it doesn't kill you, it makes you stronger;" "mo' money, mo' problems."
2.) Yelling "GO! GO! GO! GO GO!" while pumping a fist in the air can get someone to do anything.
3.) "That's not change. That's more of the same thing."
4.) A deaf president would make a great president. More hand gestures. Less liability.
5.) The fifth in the list is always supposed to be a "kicker."