If McCain can do it, so can I!

I've always wondered if I could be President. Today I found out that I can (in 9 years).

Apparently there is a debate going on about whether John McCain is eligible to be President. Article II of the Constitution provides that to be eligible for the Presidency, you need to be a natural born citizen, or a citizen, at the time of the adoption of the Constitution; 35 years old; and a resident of the US for 14 years. McCain was born on an army base in Panama. Statute, not this constitutional provision, makes people born abroad on army bases citizens. So I guess the issue is whether a person made citizen by statute is a natural born citizen; or, depending on how you interpret "...a citizen, at the time of the adoption of the Constitution", whether an army-base citizen is a type of citizen the framers of the Constitution may have envisioned in 1786. There are other interpretations too, but I won't get into those.

So anyway, it seems that most, except some far right wing Republicans, don't really think there is a problem with McCain's eligibility. So, as I was born in Germany on a base hospital, I too will one day be eligible to be President.

I've always wondered about this. My Certificate of Birth Abroad, opposed to a regular birth certificate, always confused the Tee Ball coaches during registration... but it looks like I'm alright. Watch out 2020!

D

Food Rocks!

Last night Steve and I went to Yeats for karaoke with my sister, Mallory. Someone sang Bohemian Rapsody, and it reminded Mal and me of our favorite Disney attraction:Food Rocks!

Mal and I have been going to Disney World with our parents every year since I was in middle school or something like that. My favorite park was/is EPCOT, I always made sure to see my two favorite attractions multiple times. First, there is Space Station Cool (or something like that), where you can taste sodas from around the world. Italy's soda was gross, but Japan's Vegitabeta was great!

The second and best attraction was Food Rocks. It was a musical benefit show about nutrition featuring Pita Gabriel, the Peach Boys, the Refrigerator Police, and others, who changed lyrics to famous songs to talk about nutrition ("I wanna be your...high fiber" - Pita Gabriel). Anyway, they closed down the show about 3 years ago and replaced it with a new ride - Soarin' or something like that. Soarin' is a pretty cool hang-gliding simulation, but I couldn't believe they took away Food Rocks! So it had been about 3 years since I had heard Food Rocks until last night when we heard Bohemian Rapsody at karaoke. At the end of the Food Rocks concert, the U-Tensils and all the other acts sing along to Bohemian Rapsody. So we came home and found Food Rocks on YouTube. Enjoy (and make sure to watch both parts)!





D

Flowers are nice, but...

The Philadelphia Flower Show started it all.

As I was pulling into the Haverford train station this morning at 8:56, I saw the train speeding away. It left the station 3 minutes early. Another person left behind on the track told me it was because of the flower show. I'm not quite sure that I grasp why a flower show would cause my train, which usually comes 2-3 minutes late, to leave 3 minutes early. But anyway, I missed my train because of the flower show. I was warned that train regulars hate the flower show crowd, and now I know why.

So anyway, I had to drive to school, and I had three mini-adventures. First, I was in the parking garage for the first time, pulling into an impossibly thin spot (I later found out that these were compact spots, but there was no sign). I backed out a little because I was having trouble getting into the spot, and I heard a beep. Now, I knew there was a car a little behind me, but it was stopped, waiting for me to park. I turned my head to look at the beeping, silver car, of course mouthing the words "What, you asshole", when I recognized my professor as the driver. So I stop - it's my professor, I'll let him have his way - and he peels by. This is a parking garage, and I can hear his tires screech against the concrete because he started up so fast. So now I am wondering if the professor recognized me or not. I guess it doesn't really matter, but he seems to be kind of a jerk (although I like him as a prof), so I don't want to be on his bad side and I want to know if I am on his bad side.

Second, I was in the garage later to leave. As I got to the unmanned ticket window, the red and white striped arm raised, allowing me to drive through, so I proceeded. All of the sudden, a loud, fire alarm-sounding beep starts, so I figured I did something wrong. I backed up and found no ticket slot, no one coming, people peering into the garage wondering about the noise, and a silver car behind me again. So I just left. Hopefully the silver car wasn't my professor again, and hopefully I won't get a call from the garage asking why I just left (I did pay!).

Third - and this is the big adventure - I drove down Lancaster Ave through West Philly. I've done this before, put it was particularly circus-like this time. There were double-parked cars (I've never actually seen one before, and there were multiple here!), wheelchaired-men with one elevated leg pushing themselves along with their other leg while jaywalking through the crowded and busy road, groups of 10 leisurely crossing the street at a 60-degree angle, cars passing trollys, cars driving in the bike lane, bikers zigzaging between the bike lane and the road. It goes on. If you want to test your driving skills, I'd recommend Lancaster Ave in West Philly - maybe try it during rush hour!

Now I remember why I take the train. Thanks for the reminder, flower show.

D

PS Still working on the cable.

S

Reply to Steve

Dear Steve,

Your reasoning is crap.

I don't really care to get into a debate about Playboy so I'm not even going to go beyond that.

Well, maybe just one thing - when have we ever heard one of the Girls Next Door ever talking about how hard they worked to get where they are? Maybe Bridget, as she has mentioned that she has 2 master's degrees or something like that, but that is a legitimate thing to be proud of and to brag about. Or maybe I've heard Kendra say something once about how she is a model now and she worked hard to get to that - but that would be hard work. But the girls are not saying that they worked so hard to get where they are as in getting to Hef's mansion - if they mention how hard they worked they mean other pursuits that we don't see too much of on TV. And how would you know? You don't watch the show - you just play on your iphone or computer whenever it is on (but I guess that is no different than any other time).

Anyway, the show is fun and it is something to watch for lazy entertainment. But your arguments about the show and about the show related to your magazine subscription are crap. I realize that my reasoning here is also probably crap, but that is because I haven't been thinking this through as you have and I am just posting my initial reaction to your tirade below.

Love,
Des