Things that Debbie likes

Hello Everyone! This is Becky guest blogging for Debbie! I know. Jason, you must be really excited since you 'check this blog once a week' and it hasn't been updated since November. Well, besides Erin's post yesterday. YES, I read it.

I am Debbie's knight in shining armor, stepping in to write a blog entry and SAVE this blog when everyone-Jason and Erin, had lost hope for it.

I must admit, I kind of lost hope for a little while too.

But it's fine, cuz here I am and there you are and we're going to get this show back on the road. I had a hard time thinking about what I could blog about here. Sure, no one's reading so it doesn't really matter...but what about my inner critic? The little bald guy, with glasses, wearing a suit, with a pocket watch in hand who's critiquing my every move? I need to please him. I NEED TO PLEASE HIM! That's what she said.

But I also need to please Debbie. And she's a tough crowd. So let me blog about things Debbie likes. *please note that this list is no way supposed to be considered a definite guide to who Debbie is and what she likes. it is just a few things I could think of...and I'm not very smart*

1) The Wire. I don't know anything about this show except that it mostly takes place in Baltimore. I have been to Baltimore before. It's pretty fun. There's that whole inner harbor area that's pretty, and you know...um...some other things that are there?

2) Seinfeld. HMM. Debbie really likes Seinfeld. I really don't like Seinfeld. I just feel like the characters are all obnoxious and selfish. In theory the episodes are funny, but then when I sit down to watch one I'm just like 'why is this happening to me?'. The same goes for...

3) Curb Your Enthusiasm. What I said about Seinfeld, just ditto it. The part about Debbie really liking it, too. She really does like 'curb'.

4) Trying new foods. Debbie considers herself a 'foodie' and loves to try new foods. You know of a new thai place, she's down. You heard about an awesome Korean wing place (true story) and want to go? She'll accompany you. You want to order food for lunch and have heard of a place selling pretzels with an olive on them next to a hamburger patty (untrue story)? She'll probably try that too. Now, this doesn't go for all fast food obviously. Cuz like right now there's DELICIOUS looking new sandwich at Dunkin' Donuts. It's basically two waffles with egg and possibly cheese and possibly bacon in the middle of them. A WAFFLE SANDWICH. I don't think Debbie would want to try that. Well, maybe she would...but not from Dunkin' Donuts. Or maybe she would. Well, she at least wouldn't like it if it had vanilla frosting. I know that much.


5) The Decembrists. OH YES, Debbie really likes The Decembrists. She's gone to see them a bunch of times and she talks about them. And when I asked her to give me new music for MIPOD she gave me a few albums of them. Thanks, Deb!

6) Annoying people.


HA! NO SHE DOESN'T! MAN I GOT YOU GOOD!

7) Chocolate. Debbie really likes chocolate. Like, really likes chocolate. In particular, she likes dark chocolate.
8) BECKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't know if it's because I'm adorable, or if it's because I'm creative, or if it's the way my teeth are shining INSANELY in this picture...but Debbie kind of likes me. And I kind of like her too.

8) Relaxing. Debbie really likes relaxing. She curls up in her sweatpants and her Queens long-sleeved pink shirt (you know the one I'm talking about, right Jason?) and she can stay put for hours. Good for her!

9) Not relaxing. Debbie also likes going out. In particular, she likes going to bars for happy hour, out to new restaurants (see above), over to her friends' places (preferably if they live near her), to do karaoke ('Livin' On a Prayer' anyone?), to do stuff for Barack Obama, to parties....and lots of other things.

10) The TV show 'Chuck'. It's apparently very funny. HMMM

11) Coach Bags. Is this list painting an accurate picture?

12) Cheerios for breakfast. I don't know if she really likes this...but she certainly does eat them so...they can't be all bad, can they?

13) That song 'And I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free!'. She and Erin did a horrifying rendition of it once. HORRIFYING. I've lost so many hours of sleep over that memory...you don't even know.

14) ERIN! I would be remiss if I didn't mention Erin in here. She guest blogged for Debbie too and definitely deserves some credit/a shoutout. So Erin, HI. Debbie likes you!

And what about...

15) JASON!! Debbie's one loyal blog reader and brother. She likes him too...or at least I think she does. Where would we be without you, huh? WHERE?! No really, where?

In conclusion, Debbie might be a Seinfeld/'Curb' watching, new-food trying, annoying-people hating, relaxing-loving, Decembrists-listening gal, but in the end it all comes down to this picture:

Debbie, and the three people who either a) read this blog or b) now write it.

BYE!

Yes We Can *Blog for Debbie*!

so, i told the debster that i would blog for her, in her stead, even, whilst she's gallivanting around israel. slacker.

i don't have so many blog ideas of late, but in honor of jason, who checks at least weekly (in vain) to see if debbie has actually blogged, i'm going with....

do you know what really grinds my gears?

do you know what really grinds my gears? when someone, due to their own incompetence misses out on something, and then they proceed to ask you a million questions and make it your responsibility to fix it. Like it's your fault they're in the pickle to begin with. that really grinds my gears.

do you know what else really grinds my gears? when someone dressed up as a pot smoking polar bear punches little kids in the nose. don't get me wrong, a lot of kids deserve a good nose punching, but let's be honest. polar bears don't need any more bad press. their habitat is going out of style like...i don't know, i'm not very stylish. that's not the point! the point is, if you're going to smoke illegal substances and punch children, don't pretend to be a polar bear. be a koala. mad props for mustering up the energy for punching people while high. every commercial i've seen of late involving marijuana makes it look like you'll never move again. so, yeah, that really grinds my gears.

do you know what else really grinds my gears? having to pee, but being too lazy to get up. i'm going to work on that right now, actually.

Countdown to Obamageddon: less than 48 hours until polls start closing

Just to update all of you, I am in fact going mental.

I hope all of you are dealing with the upcoming election better than I am, if you are, any wisdom from you would be much appreciated (though lets be honest, something is kinda wrong with you if you are dealing with this sanely).

This entertained me, though it also made me uncomfortable because I mean, how stupid can these people be?

Countdown to Obamageddon: 2 days to go

Wow, so here we are, less than 48 hours until the polls open, how are all of you doing? I've been better, very nervous, hoping these next 48 hours go by quickly. I've been kind of busy these past two days, so I haven't had time to watch any Obama speeches, I know you have all been waiting with breath that is bated. So, you can wait a little longer, while I tell you about what I have been doing with my time (I suppose you could just scroll down to the videos, but lets be honest you all love to read my boring commentary).

1. Canvassing! Yes that is right, my brother and I carpooled with two strangers to West Philadelphia (where I was born and raised on a playground where I spent most of my days) to canvas for Barack Obama. It was a really amazing day. It is rare to feel like you are really doing something that could help or make a difference, but I do think yesterday we got a few people to vote that might not have, and we got some people who will volunteer who wouldn't have, but mostly we talked with people we would never had a chance to meet, people whose experiences are very different than mind, but because of Barack Obama we all realize that there is more that unites us than divides us, sometimes we need someone to come along and remind us of that. I mean we met awesome people like Cynthia who pretty much insisted we come into her home and fed us delicious food and who discussed with us for her disdain for all things Mccain and Palin and why Obama is so important to elect or the 90 year old lady we met who talked about how she was the first black woman to vote in her precinct. I am so glad I went, it was a really terrific day, but still didn't make me any less nervous about the election, but I can tell you, Southwest Philly is in the bag for Obama!

2. Friends! So, friends are great and all, but can be kind of time consuming. I mean they always want to see you, and spend time with you and talk to you. And I mean I want to do the same things with them, except right before the election, when I kind of just want to be home watching Keith Olberman and Rachel Maddow and checking the same 6 blogs for the hundredth time that day. But I am lucky that my friends have forced me to not only do this, since then I would probably be going even crazier than I already am.

3. Work. I used to blog at work, ah those were the days. Work has been really busy recently, I've had all these meetings, and stuff to do, I mean it is so rude, don't they realize we are so close to an important election and my mind should be focused on these things, rather than Tu B'Shevat.

4. Halloween! I am not really a fan of Halloween, but I am a fan of cute little kids dressed up in cute costumes, and so I tolerate Halloween for this. I may have almost stole a few children, but then I reminded myself that if I was a convicted felon I wouldn't be able to vote, and I love voting, so that would have made me sad.

Now, that you've gotten through that on to the videos. I am posting three to make up for the days that I didn't post any. The first isn't too long, but the second two are on the longer side. It is Sunday though, what else are you doing (besides watching football, and this makes a great companion piece)? I thought these three speeches would all go nicely together, so sit back and remember days that seem like yesterday, but also seem like three years ago.

South Carolina Victory Speech



MLK Day Speech



Philadelphia Race Speech

Countdown to Obamageddon: 6 days to go

I just watched Obama's half hour infomercial on tv. Check it out here:


Okay, so my brother tells me that this does not count as a speech, and he is right. I may have promised that I would post a speech everyday (I am too lazy to go back and check if I actually promised this, so I am just going to do it. Check out Barack Obama at the Virginia Jefferson Jackson Dinner, it is a half an hour, so a bit of a time commitment, but well worth it.



I am going too crazy today to really write anything coherent. 6 days, I don't know how I am going to make it 6 days. I am like a loose cannon that can burst at any moment, so I would tread carefully around me for the next 6 days.

Countdown to Obamageddon: 7 days to go

One week, how am I going to get through this week?! I am starting to go crazy, the polls are in our favor now, everything seems to be in our favor, so why can't the election just be today? Alas, no one asked me when I thought election today should be, so I am left waiting another week. I am feeling frustrated with the waiting, and so tonight was the perfect night to go back to the night where it all really started, the night where we were able to believe that this was all possible.

As Barack Obama says "sometimes there are nights like this." And January 3, 2008 will be a night I will always remember, and as of now it is probably the greatest political night I have ever known (though I am hoping that will change in one week). Barack Obama winning Iowa is crazy! There are like 3 white people there! White people don't vote for the black guy, he is too inexperienced, he doesn't connect to voters, he doesn't talk about details, and so on and so forth. But he did win, and with that one win millions of people began to believe in the possibility of hope, and that maybe this time we didn't have to settle. One of the most striking things about watching his Iowa victory now is how much Barack Obama has grown as a candidate. So many of the complaints that were made against him are simply not valid anymore. He has become someone who can role up his sleeves and get to the specifics and connect to voters on a very real level. It has been an impressive transformation to watch. So watch and enjoy, and think back to this cold January night.

Countdown to Obamageddon: 8 days to go

Today was a long and frustrating day, so I am going to keep this fairly short. It is so bizarre to watch this primary speech of Obama's (from New Hampshire). I almost forget sometimes what an amazing orator he is because he has had to hide a lot of that during the general election in favor of being specific and practical. I have no doubt that he can't wait for the chance to once again lift us all up with his words, I know I can't wait.

YES WE CAN!

Countdown to Obamageddon: 9 days to go

So, I was talking to my dad on the phone yesterday, and he was wondering why I hadn't posted on my blog in so long, the idea that people have actually been checking my blog, and wanting me to post, well that strokes my ego, and so I decided I must give the people what they want. My dad suggested I blog about the election, which makes sense since I don't really think or talk about much else these days (and if you are talking to me about something else, know that I would rather be discussing the election).

I've enjoyed politics for a long time now, it is like watching sports for me, it provides entertainment, but also heart break - and as we all know, I like a healthy dose of competition. As much as pundits and the news media annoy me, I can't get enough of watching them, well at least right now...

My complete dorkiness has been coming out more recently. With only nine days to go until the election I find myself quite restless. I have been waiting and working for so long for this day to finally come, and yet I cannot quite bring myself to believe that what I want to happen might actually happen. That isn't the way things I invest in usually work out. To pass some of the down time I decided it would be fun to countdown by watching one Obama speech a day, as a way to help release some of my nervous energy. I enlisted my brother to participate in this excerise as well, since there are only so many times you can discuss how you are more qualified to be vice president than Sarah Palin or how John Mccain has run a negative campaign. See we all want to talk about how awesome Barack Obama is, and how he has run this brillant campaign, but that might be jinxing something, so by watching these videos we can discuss this in the past tense, while letting the future play out as it will.

So, today we were going to watch Obama's speech from 2002 opposing the Iraq war, but the video footage from that has been lost. Which I must say is bizarre, to be reminded of a time where things like that happened, and that wasn't long ago. I mean if you want to see any moment of the 2008 presidential campaign it is right there on youtube, but a moment from only six years ago is lost forever. We watched Obama's 2004 convention speech instead. I have seen this speech so many times and it just never gets old, and always gives me chills. I encourage everyone to watch along with us, and appreciate the possibility of what our country could be if this man gets to be president.