I'm such a butt head. 2 days into my attempt at LiveJournaling and Blogger-ing and I ditched one (this one) altogether. So, um, go to miss kaz for all the updates and juicy details and, best of all, comments!!

Sick Day

I'm home sick today. Caught the cold that's been going around just in time for the weekend. Hooray!

This journal needs some pictures, so here's Beans being all flat as greyhounds are wont to do.

Office Emails

"Kitchen Closing/Odor Alert
To: Everyone
11/18/04
9:32 am
The plumber is going to replace the grease trap in the 7th floor kitchen this morning. The kitchen will be closed for approximately 2 hours starting at 10:15 am. The odor during this procedure is very nasty. They will do their best to air the room out after the plumber is finished. It is suggested you may want to remove your lunch from the kitchen prior to 10:15."

"Kitchen – The Saga Continues
To: Everyone
11/18/04
10:42 am
The kitchen is now open. The plumber will be back tomorrow morning at 6:00 am to fix the grease trap. The kitchen will be closed until approximately 8:00 AM. If you arrive before 8:00, you will not be able to go in the kitchen. The odor will be very nasty."

Poor Kitty

This morning I was sitting in the living room scarfing down an English muffin (late for work as usual, but skipping breakfast is not an option). I heard these strange noises coming from the kitchen. I figured it was Kitty playing with something, so I quietly got up to see what she was doing. As I peeked around the corner, I saw that she’d found a rubber band on the floor that was caught on a chair leg. Fun! Kitty loves rubber bands.

Then she looks up and sees me watching her, and bolts. Problem is, the rubber band is caught on one of her claws. So she’s scrambling trying to get away, but despite the frantic movement of her legs, she’s barely getting anywhere – Roadrunner cartoon style. Then she suddenly gets a grip and enough torque to start moving, dragging the kitchen chair along with her. Of course a giant kitchen chair skidding across the floor scares the crap out of her and she turns up the juice even more. She manages to pull the chair all the way across the kitchen, the whole time with this wild, desperate look in her eyes like “what the fuck is this thing and why is it chasing me?!?”

She managed to break free from the poltergeist chair and scrambled to the den where she hid in her favorite “I’m freaked out so just leave me alone now” hidey-hole. Once I confirmed she was unhurt by the escapade, I realized how fucking funny that whole scene was.

Poor Kitty was embarrassed more than anything, and by the time I left for work she was back out in the living room as if nothing had happened.

Ouches

Old friend from college (Matty Drance!!!) was in town. Haven't seen each other for 6 years. Vietnamese food and martinis. Big honkin' headache this morning. That is all.

Elegant? Not so much.

Whoever said greyhounds were elegant never watched my dog sleep.


Uh, yeah, she's sleeping in this pic. Some kind of crazy REM-sleep with great (and somewhat creepy) twitchy faces and noises.

Correction

According to the thermostat in the VP's office, it's 85 degrees in here. Oh, and his office is cooler than the rest of the floor because it has lots of windows. Building maintenance couldn't fix it so they just turned off the heat and called the vendor. "The temperature will drop slowly throughout the day." Bleh.

Hot Hot Heat

Something's wrong with our HVAC here in the office, and it's like 80 degrees in here. They're "working on it." It's hard enough to shake off the sleepies on a Monday morning without it being all toasty and stuff. I just wanna curl up under my desk and take a nap. Zzzzzzz....

Now This is Definitely Cute.

No votes needed here. Kitty has found her kitty hut. Not that it was lost; it hasn't moved an inch. She slept in there all night last night.

Cute or Stupid? You decide.

Feel free to comment. I'm not sure if I really like this hat or if I'm just a big dork. I guess those 2 things aren't mutually exclusive.

Not that I have any counter space...

I want this: The Griddler. It's a panini press, contact grill, open grill, and open griddle all in one!

New Mix

The Allure of the Girl
1. Mass Romantic - The New Pornographers
2. Heart Factory - Sleater-Kinney
3. Ghosts In The Radio - Pretty Girls Make Graves
4. In Particular - Blonde Redhead
5. Atlantic - Bjork
6. Seventeen - Ladytron
7. Disposable Parts - Enon
8. free - cat power
9. Divorce Song - Liz Phair
10. A Mistake - Fiona Apple
11. Gossip Folks - Missy Elliott featuring Ludacris
12. anthems for a seventeen year-old girl - broken social scene
13. Only Shallow - My Bloody Valentine
14. Ping Pong - Stereolab
15. Roads - Portishead
16. Hit - The Sugarcubes
17. Wild Horses - The Sundays

Stupid Joke that I am Compelled to Share

After numerous rounds of "We don't even know if Bin Laden is still alive," Bin Laden himself decided to send Bush a letter in his own handwriting to let him know he was still in the game.

Bush opened the letter and it appeared to contain a coded message:

370HSSV-0773H

Bush was baffled, so he e-mailed it to Colin Powell. Colin and his aides had no clue either so they sent it to the FBI. No one could solve it so it went to the CIA, and then to the NSA, then to the Secret Service.

With no clue as to it's meaning, they eventually asked Canada's RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) for help. The RCMP cabled the White House as follows: "Tell the President he is looking at the message upside down"

I had to go to Indianapolis yesterday for work. I decided to drive because it is only about 3 hours away and, well, I haven't had the chance to take a long trip in the new car yet. I averaged 30 mpg! That's like twice what the old Jeep got. Tell me again when I'm going to feel sad about selling my first car?

Anyway, driving through the representation of Middle America that is Indiana, I was amazed by the prevalence of those magnetic car ribbon decals that say "Support our troops" or "God Bless our Troops" or whatnot. It's kind of ridiculous. I think this site explains it well.

I'm also obsessed with the sorry everybody website. Not sure why, but I went through 40 pages of those pictures last night. I think I keep expecting to see someone I know at some point...

Enough with the melodrama. Time for cuteness.

As a friend said today, "Why did America dump me?"

It feels like a breakup.

I love this country, with all my heart. It is my home. I love the land itself, the mountains and the forests and the deserts. I love the people, the diversity of opinion, culture, and lifestyle. I love that I can live in a city teeming with life and excitement, or a small town surrounded by quiet and calm. I love that I can freely travel between the two, and that most of the time, I will find good-hearted, friendly people when I do.

That's why today has been so terrible. It's like watching someone you love continually make bad decisions, slowly becoming the exact opposite of what you love about them. Like watching someone descend into alchoholism or some other form of self-abuse. What can you do? You are helpless. All you can do is stand by while this place, this beautiful, amazing place, becomes ugly and cold. The beauty and sanctity of the land you love is polluted and destroyed. The diversity of the people is squelched so everyone must mimic the lifestyle of the powerful few. The good will and kindness and trust of the people is squandered until they become bitter and mean. The lofty ideals are twisted into self-righteousness and false patriotism.

What a shame.

What have we done?

My friends, I am devastated. I thought I had prepared myself emotionally for this, but I was wrong. I am heartbroken, depressed, hopeless. America has declared a culture war. It is rural, conservative, "Christian" versus urban, liberal, scientific. And I am on the losing side - we are outnumbered, and the trend only seems to indicate it will get worse. There is a lump in my throat when I think what this could bring.

I was raised in a strict Catholic family. Although I am no longer a practicing Catholic, and consider myself agnostic when it comes to the question of the existence of god, many of the values I learned in that environment remain with me today. I remember my favorite song in church was "They Will Know We are Christians by Our Love." Years of Catholic school, religion classes, and parental guidance taught me that being Christian meant love, tolerance, and acceptance. It meant leading by example, not shoving your beliefs down people's throats. It meant that only God has the right to judge men - "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." Yet somehow these values do not seem to be shared by many, many Christians. How is it that so many people have taken such different lessons from the same Bible? How - and why - have so many taken the "thou shalt not" directives to heart, but seem to have left the overall theme by the wayside? And finally, why do they feel it is acceptable - imperative, even - that these lessons be legislated accross the board? I just don't understand.

Today I am in mourning. I mourn for the concept of a secular government. I mourn for the environment. I mourn for my gay and lesbian friends. I mourn for women's rights. *sigh* I think I need to get away from the TV and internet now, go out in the sunshine and fresh air, and just breathe.

Yay!

I voted! Got to the polls by a little after 6, and was on my way to work by 6:35. There was a short line. It was disappointing to see how many people didn't vote for the judges. Understandable, when you have to go through 70+ of them, but disappointing nonetheless. Speaking of disappointments, I didn't get an "I voted" sticker. :(

Everyone best step back

I am in a mood today. Grump grump grump. My computer at work is a mess and I can't fix it and can't really ask the IT guy to fix it because it's not a work essential thing. The sound is fucked. It plays everything (and I mean everything, even Windows system sounds) back at a higher-than-normal speed. Obviously I don't need the sound to work in order to do my job, so I can't really expect our lone IT guy to spend time on this. But I'm so annoyed! I want to play my music. I can hook the speakers back up to my iPod directly if necessary, I guess. But man I'm grumpy. Stay outta my way, people!!

Public Service Post of the Week

Alright folks, I'm on a rampage. A crusade. A political firestorm of outrage. The topic? Judicial retention in Cook County. I'm relatively new here, and decided to be an informed voter when in comes to the local elections on the ballot Tuesday.

Chicago requires that circuit court judges go up for retention every 6 years. In order to be retained, a judge must receive 60% Yes votes. Judges rarely get booted from the bench in this manner. Few people can take the time to investigate the large number of judges, and frankly, get fatigue going through such a long ballot. (There are something like 74 judges on the ballot for retention this year.)

This year, a lovely specimen of judicial incompetence is up for retention - Susan McDunn. She was elected to the circuit court in 1992, eventually, after a series of recounts and disqualified ballots. When she was up for retention in 1998, the Chicago Council of Lawyers reported in its Judicial Evaluation Report that

"many lawyers complain that she appears to have difficulty handling a large volume court call in an efficient and timely manner. Several lawyers also reported that she loses her temper in court and appears unable to control her courtroom. In addition, a number of lawyers report that she does not possess adequate legal ability. These lawyers report that they do not believe that she understood the law or applied it properly, and that she lacked adequate understanding of the rules of evidence."

Yet she was retained in '98 and is therefore up again for retention this year. In the past 6 years, her behavior has become particularly loathesome. She was publicly rebuked by the Illinois Appellate Court for judicial conduct the court says "disgraced the judiciary and the people of Illinois."

The matters that form the basis of the appellate court's opinion began as uncontested adoptions by two same-sex couples. The legality of same-sex adoptions had previously been upheld in the Illinois courts. Notwithstanding positive and favorable reports by the guardians ad litem responsible for conducting the pre-adoption investigations, Judge McDunn challenged the reports on the basis of the adopting couples' sexual orientations. She then refused to rule on the pending adoptions, and on her own motion, appointed a Washington, D.C.-based group named the Family Research Council ("FRC"), an organization with a well-known anti-gay bias, as a "secondary" guardian ad litem in the two cases.

In other words, despite favorable accounts and recommendations by experts to the court that these couples be permitted to adopt, McDunn refused to rule on the adoptions solely based on the sexual orientation of the couples. In attempting to bring in the FRC to the case (necessary because, according to her, no one was representing the point of view that adoptions by persons living a homosexual lifestyle are not in the best interest of the children) she shared confidential case files with the FRC and consulted with the group outside the courtroom in order to further their involvement in the case.

12 different lawyer/bar associations in the Chicago area unanimously agree that we should NOT vote to retain Judge McDunn. The Chicago Council of Lawyers retention report, containing all the above juicy details and more (including Judge McDunn attempting to continue to control the case after being removed and sent to Traffic Court) can be found in the Chicago Council of Lawyers 2004 Retention Report (pdf).

Hopefully, enough people will vote no on this Judge that she will be removed from the bench. However, it's not very likely. Voters rarely vote to remove judges, because you have to vote Y/N on over 60 judges, and polling place workers often advice people to just vote yes on all of them. But please, if any of you are in Chicago, vote No on McDunn.

See also: Another blogger says No to McDunn

I smell like diesel exhaust. Nice, huh? Once every week or two, CTA likes to bring out the stinky generator thingy so they can powerwash the El stop. Today I had the pleasure of standing next to the deafening, belching, smelly thing while waiting for my train. And now, sitting at my desk an hour later, I realize the smell has permeated my hair and my clothes. How's a girl supposed to strut her fishnet- and sexy black boot-wearing self when she smells like a tractor trailor?

Bank Error Corrected

Bah. Remember the bank error in my favor? The $475 check that I deposited and cleared my account, but that never got drawn from the account of the person that wrote the check? Well someone finally figured it out and drew the $475 back out of my account. As expected, with no notice or anything. Luckily I have enough breathing room in my checking account that it didn't cause any problems. But they also charged me an $8 fee for the returned check. Bullshit, I say, bullshit. I'm gonna go clear this up and then get me some sushi for lunch. Bah.

West Wing

Monday on Bravo is West Wing marathon night. I've never actually watched the West Wing all that much - but I do catch reruns now and again. Well I got sucked into that most evil of television broadcast formats, the marathon. I think the West Wing is becoming the new Law and Order, in that you can always find a station running it in syndication, any time, day or night. Anyway, the West Wing blitzkrieg infiltrated my subconscious, and I had all kinds of wacky I-work-in-the-White-House dreams last night.

Missed Opportunity

My office is offering 7-minute chair massages today. I declined to sign up for a time slot yesterday because I really didn't feel like I needed one. Of course, I slept wrong last night and woke up with a wicked aching neck/shoulders. No time slots left, either. :(

I'm Old

So the show Tuesday night went really well. I overheard lots of good comments in the crowd after the Arks' set. There was a new song that was really interesting... The Dears were pretty good, but not really my cup of tea; at least not the part I heard (we snuck out to grab something to eat). I just don't do well with 12 minute songs. Anyway, I couldn't post anything yesterday because it took all the coffee, chocolate, and effort I could muster just to get through the work day. I do not function well on 4 1/2 hours of sleep. It's so painful when you hear yourself tripping over words and just generally sounding like an idiot because your brain is so foggy, and not being able to do anything about it. Used to be I could skip a night's sleep altogether and be able to keep my shit together. Not anymore. *sigh*

I'm wearing pantyhose today and hating it. Not only are they really uncomfortable, but they make me feel like an old lady. It was a little too chilly this morning to go without... But I have a feeling these will not last the day.

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

Chicagoans! Come one, come all! Tonight, Tuesday the 19th day of October in the year 2004, Arks will be performing their unique musical stylings to the delight of young and old at The Double Door in hip, happening Wicker Park. Doors open at 8:00, show starts at 9:00.

Apology

Dear McIntosh apple,

I'm so sorry. I messed up big time - I strayed. I let myself be seduced by others - the Gala, the Fuji... Their siren songs were so powerful. I fell for the sweetness of the Fuji. I succombed to the cute speckles of the little Gala. I deserted you, my long-time favorite, for some sickly-sweet, coquettish flavor of the month. Damn my fickle taste! Damn my disloyalty!

I am here to ask for your forgiveness, dear McIntosh. I have found you again, and I will never, ever let you go. Sweet means nothing to me without the bite of your tart flesh!

Signed,

kaz

*Sigh*

I'm a bad American. I know I should have, but I just couldn't do it. I couldn't make myself watch the last debate last night. I am so tired. I'm tired of hearing the same things over and over again from both candidates. I'm tired of the spin, the analysis, the bullshit figures and skewed statistics. I'm tired of their faces, those two. Bush's folksy mannerisms and inability or unwillingness to pronounce words correctly grates on my ears. Kerry just bores me. Bleh bleh and more bleh.

So last night I ironed shirts, folded clothes, and cleaned the kitchen. I watched a couple episodes of Good Eats. The Daily Show was a repeat again. Jon Stewart, where are you when I need you?

Random Annoyances

Okay, so what good does a bank error in my favor do me when I don't trust it? Last month I deposited a personal check from someone into my account. My account was credited as usual. His account? Never debited. His bank has no record of the check ever having been written. After waiting for almost a half an hour to talk to an account manager, all my bank can say is "It's all good on our end." So now we are in limbo. In theory, we've got an extra $475 to play with. In practice, I predict 3 months from now someone is going to notice the error and deduct the money from somewhere without a word of notice.

The post office has this nifty new machine - you can buy stamps and send packages without waiting in line. Cool! Problem is, the postage sticker it prints out is about the size of a quarter sheet of paper, and I couldn't find anywhere on the front of the envelope where it would fit without obscuring a significant portion of the address. Eventually I got it to fit in the bottom left corner of the envelope. Hopefully the package will reach its destination.

Oh, and I got a blister walking all over creation to get these errands done. Ouch.
I guess it's what I get for being a fashion slave. But those boots are damn sexy.

Crazy

Kitty is completely insane. All the evidence you need:


Guilt

I'm really, really good at feeling guilty. (Obviously thanks to my Catholic upbriging.) Today's trips:

1. Didn't take Alina to the big old suburban dog park for what would have been the last chance this year.

2. Haven't done the laundry yet.

3. Ran the dishwasher but the kitchen is still a mess.

4. Have the day off while others are hard at work.

Political meanderings

I like Kerry. Really, I do! Many moons ago I started out as an ABB. Slowly, I started seeing positive glimpses of Kerry, but they were hidden behind bad soundbites and awkward photo shoots. The past two presidential debates have been very revealing. Last night was incredible.

Yes, Bush performed much better than he had in the first debate. And thanks to that low bar he had previously set, he might get a little bounce for improvement this time around. But there were times he looked like a complete ass. I hate that swagger of his. I hate that he winks at the audience - who the fuck is he winking at?? If he ever winked at me I'd probaby punch him in the face. He showed his temper last night, shouting over Charlie Gibson, who was just trying to give him more time! He did calm down about halfway through, but man, there were times I thought (hoped) he might really lose it.

A friend that is not very involved in politics asked an interesting question today. She has watched both the presidential debates and is now a fan of Kerry. Her question is, why did he have such a reputation of being a douche bag (her words)? Why do even some Kerry voters not like him?

Honestly, I think the reason people haven't connected to Kerry prior to the debates is he doesn't come across well in sound bites. He's the kind of guy with whom you could have a long, fascinating conversation. He seems like he can carry on a truly engaging discussion - I'd love to sit down and have dinner with him. Whereas Bush is the kind of guy with whom you'd watch football and trade one-liners. Yeah, Kerry's a little stiff and awkward sometimes, but I prefer stiff and intelligent to folksy and (dangerously) simple-minded. Hell, even some of my good friends aren't always the most charming people in the world. (Of course I'm always charming, heh...)

And because some of my most astute insights come while I'm in the shower, here's my thought from yesterday: why is it that President Clinton lying about a blow job is an impeachable offense, while President Bush and Co. lying about a fucking war that has resulted in over 1,000 American deaths and damaged this country's reputation across the globe might not even get him fired? If you think about the president as the CEO of a company, he should have been fired years ago. No company would keep a CEO on staff, no matter how much they liked him as a person, that has screwed up, broken promises, and offended its customers the way Bush has.

Sometimes this shit is really fucking depressing.

Oh yeah, and I want this.

Public Service Post of the Week:

An assessment of selected grocery stores on the north side of Chicago

Only since my move to Chicago have I realized the variety of grocery stores in a typical metropolitan area. With such a huge choice, how does one decide? Do you find your favorite store, get the discount card, become a loyal customer, and shop there for every need? Or, do you pick and choose stores based on the items needed and the conditions surrounding the shopping trip? For me, it's the latter, partly because there is no one store that carries everything I want and is convenient for those rushing-to-pick-something-up-for-dinner times.

Jewel, 5516 N Clark: Crack Jewel. This store is probably the closest to my apartment, but is also one of the crappiest grocery stores I have ever patronized. The produce section is gross and small, and the fish counter is to be avoided. Trust me. Yet for some reason it's really crowded. To prevent the pilfering of grocery carts, there is a gate along the front entrances, so that you cannot take your cart to the car. You must leave your cart, with all your freshly purchased food screaming "steal me! steal me!" at the front of the store while you get your car. Then you have to fight traffic and park in front of the store to load everything in. If it weren't for the location and the self checkout lanes, I would never shop here. It's the one you go to when you need something for dinner or forgot the mustard for your hot dogs.

Jewel, 2940 N Ashland: The Old Favorite. This was, for a time, my grocery store of choice. It's big, plenty of parking, you can take your cart to the car, and the quality and cleanliness are above par. But everyone else in Chicagoland likes it too, so it is really crowded at peak hours. Plus, it's pretty far -- too far if there is rush-hour or Cubs game traffic. Load up on staples and get some good produce, but during off-hours only.

Jewel, 3400 Western: Leetle Lot. This Jewel is pretty nice. It's a newer building, so it's clean, well-lit, and big. They even have these scanner calculator things that you can sign out to keep track of what you are buying as you wander through the store. But the parking lot is way too small, so you spend half your time avoiding people, carts, other cars, and inevitably poorly controlled children. Not worth the hassle.

Dominicks, 5233 N. Lincoln: Suck-fest. The only thing going for this store is that everyone knows how awful it is so no one goes there. It is never crowded. But the store itself sucks. Avoid except for last minute dinner necessities.

Dominicks, 3350 Western: No People, No Problem. This is the compromise. It's not as nice as the Jewel next door, but the parking lot is huge and it is never crowded. Lately, my store of choice. Worth the drive for big shopping days.

Whole Foods, 3300 N Ashland: Hippie Spendy. Great store. It is crowded, the parking sucks, and hippies everywhere, but it is so wonderful. Produce: incredible. Meat and fish counters: huge selection of free range and organic products, and knowledgable butchers/mongers. Prices: painful. This is the making a fancy dinner and want the best ingredients store.

Trader Joe's, 3745 N. Lincoln: Budget Friendly, Menu Happy. Trader Joe's offers a great selection of store-brand products that are high quality yet super cheap. The fresh produce is iffy, but the freezer section can provide a bounty of $2-$3 lunches for work. Coffee: yummy. Wine: so good yet cheap you can throw yourself a party. Alternate Trader Joe's trips with your staple shopping from regular grocers, and a happier person you'll be.

Now before you get yourself all in a huffy, I know that I have left out the many smaller ethnic grocers and markets. Del Mar on Broadway had good produce and latin foods. The Asian market on Broadway not only has your standard scary "Are those really eyeballs?" Asian market fare, but also hides a really cheap yet surprisingly tasty Vietnamese restaurant. But I'll leave that exploring up to you.

Vice Presidential Semi-Smackdown

I watched the VP debate last night. It was... painful. I was bored after the first 15 minutes, and I like politics! I can't imagine the average person being willing or able to stick through it to the end. That said, I'm having a hard time deciding who won (although the whole concept of one person winning the whole thing seems weird to me - each candidate did well on some questions and poorly on others). Cheney seemed gruff, fatherly, but confident (in an evil Satan-is-on-my-side kinda way,) and performed better than my low expectations. There were times when I felt like my school principal was lecturing me for missing class or something. Edwards was disappointing, because I had expected a lot from the trial lawyer. He seemed unable to get his points across concisely- I got dizzy following his tangents, although he did make it back to the original point eventually. Unfortunately many times, by the time he got to the point, he only had 15 seconds left to answer the damn question. He also tripped over his tongue more often than I had expected.

The moderator, Gwen Ifill, sucked. Some of her questions were more ballsy than I expected, but others were either total softballs or completely bizarre. She even made a mistake in giving Edwards an additional 30 seconds that he should not have been given, and then had to cut him short to rectify the mistake. And the stupid "answer this question without saying Bush or Kerry" rule was, well, stupid.

But on balance, I don't think this will change the election much. I doubt many people made it through the whole debate - those who did probably already know who they are going to vote for next month.

Do I really have to call a winner? Fine, if I must, I declare the VP debate a draw. Perfect material for the spinners on each side to work their evil magic.

Ass Cold

Brrr... It's ass cold in the office today. And they are out of hot chocolate. What's a girl supposed to do? I can't work under these conditions. Surely there are some OSHA regs out there about not having to work in a meat locker (unless of course you are a butcher or some other... meat... handling... person.)

I'm listening to The Faint again, cause it's good blood pumping music. I'm on the verge of overlistening to this album, but just like the others (Blonde Redhead, Franz Ferdinand,) I can't help myself.

Today is science day.

I missed the actual flight this morning (doh!), but SpaceShipOne has breached the earth's atmosphere for the second time, earning the $10 million Ansari X Prize. Last night I watched the Discovery Channel's 2-hour special about the development of the craft and its first successful flight. My reaction: test pilots are fucking insane. Discovery.com has a cool slide show about the race for space.

And now, Mount St. Helens is showing signs of life again. Pretty good amount of smoke and steam coming out of there right now, according to the Mount St. Helens VolcanoCam.

This is what we do on sleepy Sundays: curl up in balls on comfy couches.

Sundays, ahh Sundays. Still in PJs at 1:30 pm, watching football, drinking coffee, recovering from Maker's Mark's mark on me... Loverly. Am I always destined to root for pathetic teams, though? (The Bills, always my team, and now as a Chicagoan, Da Bears.)

entering the fray, take 2?