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McDonald's visit

I took Lulu to McDonald's tonight for a quick McNugget fix. Before going, I asked her if she wanted 4 or 6. Evidently, she was hungry so she asked for 6. However, I didn't want to get her a happy meal since a) she doesn't need a toy, b) she hasn't been eating the fries lately & 3) we were headed home so I wasn't getting her milk that she'd only drink a tablespoon of before geting home.

Thus, I was planning to get a 6 piece McNugget...until he said the total was $2.39. Periodically, my CPA experience comes in handy. Let's see...4 piece on the Dollar Menu costs, uh, well, a dollar. With Maryland's happy little sales tax increase to 6% this year, that makes $1.06. So, if I order two 4 piece McNuggets, I think that totals $2.12. Why would I pay $2.39 for 6 nuggets when I can get 8? Really? Are most people who go to McDonald's that stupid? I'm guessing....

Started watching Daily Show

So, most of my friends know that I love Stephen Colbert. I love his witticisms - "If I had a quarter for everytime I said I had a nickel, I'd have FIVE times as much theoretical money."

But I started watching Jon Stewart the other day. Always liked him, less crazy than Bill Maher & less angry...although Jon's pretty angry. But he had a great interview with Tony Blair the other day. Jon had a question about politicians and their lack of identification with religion. It seems so important in the US, which is so ironic given the Establishment clause in the Bill of Rights. See, I always appreciate the British - Blair had a great statistic on the religousness of the US versus the UK and then Pakistan. The UK is totally more reserved about it (35%) while the US is about 65% into religion while Pakistan is 95%.

I appreciated Jon's ability to actually listen to Blair - it wasn't completely about being funny. He actually wanted to know the answers.

New TV season!

Doesn't the start of a new TV season always bring along the excitement that a new show might entertain us differently than last year's standbys?

Tonight, we're starting with Fringe. What will it bring?

So far, cool camera angles.

But the start of it with the jet worries me - is it Lost set in New England? Maybe "Loston"?

MTV VMAs

Technology is a great thing, right? Well, one of the worst uses is lip syncing. I was actually looking forward to Christina Aguilera's new song - she has a great voice. She's pretty versatile and I like a bunch of her songs. But this was ruined when it became SO obvious she was lip-syncing.

Having been trained in the vocal arts for several years, I'm fully aware of the breath control aspect of singing. And I've had this discussion before.

A good singer can do this - running around on the stage, dancing, interacting, etc. Steven Tyler of Aerosmith is a great example. Mariah Carey on the other hand - a lot of her singing is studio crafted. Under the perfect conditions, she has a beautiful voice. But it is weak & it will falter.

As I finish this, Britney Spears is accepting her award for best pop video. Yes, it's a video, there's no talent behind it, except the creative director & the producer and perhaps the songwriter. None of whom are....Britney Spears.

Wow, wearing $300,000

Cindy McCain was wearing a ton o'money during the RNC. As a chick, I am conflicted about this. I do spend some money on seemingly silly things. And I feel like spending some of this money does impact other parts of the economy. For instance, my purses are made in China. So, the demand for these has pushed a new economy into China. My hope is that as these societies become more industrialized they will be able to demand better conditions given the countries that rely so heavily on them.

Sad tonight

So, I'm a Republican in terms of fiscal concerns - the last few years with the "war on terrorism" not being cool. I call myself a liberal Republican.

Wow, I don't like Donna Brazile. They liked her speech because it was the same as the last few years - substance over style. But what has Barack Obama done? He went to law school. Yes. He was a community organizer. Yes. Any major accomplishments as a community organizer? Not that I've heard. Writing a couple of memoirs before 50? Yes, that's audaciously hopeful. I didn't hear Obama talk to that single mom, though. But this is my problem - single moms without healthcare are not best addressed at the federal level of a 300 million person country. These are local problems.

I like listening to him - he's an intelligent, thoughtful man. Don't know where that gets our country, though.

Now, McCain - I've supported him since 2000. He & Michael Steele are the only candidates I've ever donated to. I appreciated McCain's independence from the Republicans. I dislike the two party system we've been into since the 1800s. His choice of Palin has changed that.

And now that I have a forum - I need to correct something: the Republicans are the descendants of the Jeffersonian Democrats. Jefferson was afraid of any power being given to the federal government hence the Bill of Rights. The Federalists wanted to centralize the power at the federal level - i.e. eliminating the states' self-governance. This is not a judgment or attack against either way but people need to research their history. Jefferson = Republicans - he didn't want the federal government to interfere in local issues. Jefferson wanted states' rights - he was from the South, people!

And Roland Martin - community organizers are usually found in the large cities. What about the small towns that are suffering from plant closures, etc? Who helps them? So, I'm ok with Palin mocking his experience there. I'm still wondering what he actually did there.

Where did summer go?

Has anybody else noticed that summer's over? Amazing that the sun is setting around 8 PM.

I am so sad that I didn't do all the stuff I wanted to do this summer. I wanted to go to the pool a lot. I wanted to go to Centennial Park for their sunset serenade concerts. But I did go to Hershey Park and had a fantastic time with Lulu & Luke & our friends.

We had lots of dinners together & spent many hours keeping our kids from fighting too much. We'll continue to do that this fall...

And we have lots planned for the fall - New York in September is beautiful. I'm so excited to go the Little Mermaid! We're also headed to Great Wolf Lodge. Hopefully, we'll remember our camera to keep our memories.