The Olympics are coming!

It's On!

The ARE studying has begun! I have sorted the exam study guides, arranged the flashcards, and decided on a test taking order. All that was needed was motivation.

I present motivation:
Jeff and I made a bet that whoever finishes first, gets a bottle of Jonnie Walker Blue Label. Now he pretends to be studying at every opportunity, so I need to get a move on. I had Friday off work, so I wandered down to a coffee shop to dive in. So far so good. Anticipated completion date is August 2, although ideally it will be sooner since that gives a full four weeks for each of the seven exams. My goal is to do three weeks per, with some time off between.

Pat Robertson needs to shut the fuck up!

Breitbart.tv » ‘They Have Been Cursed’: Pat Robertson Says Haiti ‘Swore a Pact to the Devil’

Seriously, we all knew that Rush Limbaugh is a blowhard, I expect nothing more from him and I do not regret the image he creates for those he claims to represent. In the case of Pat Robertson however... he does more to damage the reputation of Christianity and the church than any other single person I can think of. He represents the worst aspects of the church and it is people like him that make me embarassed to say that I am Christian.

Of course I'm inspired to write this because of his most recent comments, suggesting that the entire country of Haiti is being punished by God because they made a pact with the devil to overthrow the French colonial government in the early 1800's. He surrounds this crap by talking about helping the earthquake victims, just as he wanted to help Katrina victims while at the same time suggesting that the devastation was God punishing the US for abortion. In the same way he talks about what a wonderful man Ariel Sharon is, while suggesting that his stroke is God punishing him because he was willing to consider a Palestinian state. His own website, as well as that of the 700 Club, state that he was simply repeating the claim that scholars have made about a particular slave revolt, and point out that if you watch the entire clip you see that he is filled with compassion and is trying to help the Haitian people. I would argue that this is no defense for his comments. Advocates of slavery and the colonization of African and South American countries believed that they were doing God's work in subjugating the savage heathen, that they were really helping.

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Keith Olbermann sums up my feelings pretty well in this clip.

I also loved the response of the Haitian Ambassador on the Rachel Maddow show.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Basically he is say that if we believe Haiti is cursed because of the "pact with the devil" than we are painted by the same brush, that the entire Louisiana Purchase is a direct result of the slave rebellion.

Marimekko

Behind the scenes at the Merimekko factory in Helsinki, via Design Klub.
More photos on their site. Now that I am figuring out the sewing machine better, I think it's time to look at making a duvet cover with some Marimekko fabric.
My top choices at the moment:

Vegas Highlight

So I've given you the ups and downs of Vegas, but I left out my all important first meeting with the super cute and always smiling Evie. She drove out to Vegas the night before we left so that she could fly home with her parents. I got to hold her for a while, feed her, and get her to sleep for the morning nap.
I also got to see her again in the airport for a few minutes. Now if I could just get a chance to see those Johnson Twins and their precious/precocious big sister...

Vegas New Years

Yes, Vegas for New Years. I think I may have been there when I was a kid, but this was the first time I've been able to experience Vegas. Sadly I was still fighting a bug that I caught while home, so I wasn't really able to enjoy the fact that Vegas has become a hub of fine dining in the US. We went to the Paris casino to a French steakhouse called Mon Ami Gabi. It was nice, but pointed out the foolishness of ordering a large steak when you can barely keep it down. oh well.
The real reason for going to Vegas was to spend time with my friends, and they didn't disappoint.
We had a great time hanging out, and I wish I could see them more often.
For New Years Eve we stuck around downtown, along Fremont street. We split our time between the casinos, the Griffin (hipster bar) and the light show at the Fremont Experience. As you can see Jay classed it up with a tux, but ruined the fantasy of sophistication with his street antics.

Overall I would say that Vegas isn't my kind of town. It was fun, and I would go back to hang out with friends, but I didn't fall in love with it. Thankfully I didn't loose too much money, and I can now say that I have been to Hooters (casino) although I can't understand why they would bother opening a Hooters in a town with free strip clubs where many of the blackjack dealers are wearing less than the average Hooters waitress.

Christmas Recap

I got a new camera for Christmas (hooray!) so hopefully I will be better about taking and posting photos. First I need to figure out how to use it properly. In the meantime...
Christmas was spent mainly with the family. I got a chance to see my nephew on all of his loud and fast toys. Here he is on the quad...and my niece playing with the quad (she has her own, but doesn't ride much)
and his newest toy, the cart. This thing is LOUD and fast, but much safer than the quad or dirtbike, so I'm all for it. One of these days I will be able to watch him race, but this time I had to settle for watching him practice.
And a bit more of my niece...yes she's a darling little thing.

That's the extent of the photos. I was able to see a lot of friends and family, cooked a bit, ate and drank a bit, got sick, and went to Vegas.