Rewinding a bit

I forgot to recap the other half of my weekend! Saturday, I met up with some of my college friends from The Daily Targum. I got to see Jessica, Jeannine and Jim - haven't seen these last two in ages. We met up at the Shake Shack in New York City where the burgers are sickeningly amazing. There's a big long line - but we didn't mind waiting since it gave us time to catch up.
I don't usually eat burgers, but after waiting so long, I figured I'd see what the fuss was about! We realized after there was a shorter line just for drinks - and we could have gotten beers while we waited. Oh well!

After hanging out in the park where the shack is situated for awhile, we took a walk down 23rd street and had another drink at a bar next to the Chelsea Hotel, which for some reason I thought wasn't around anymore. I always find something new when I go to the city!

When I got back to New Jersey, I met up with Randi and we headed over to the Rover. And while Randi has been there plenty of times, she hasn't been around some of my friends who you'd think never saw a female before! It was pretty funny!

On Monday, Randi and I went to lunch with Grandma, Corinne and Joanie. I don't think I've mentioned that my aunt is home now. She seems to be doing better - she was pretty coherent at lunch. Still has a lot of recovering to do. But we thought they might want to get out of the house so we had a nice lunch at Houlihan's and then had some ice cream on the waterfront.

If you've seen my previous post, you can see how I spent most of the day Tuesday. Randi went with Mike, Vez and the girls to Sesame Place, so I had the crazy doggies over. They bickered so much it was driving me nuts. But after they got it out of their system they were getting along OK or ignoring each other. I got some cute photos too.

I'm so excited to see that some of my friends are joining in the Teacher's Pet thing over at Funky Playground! I still have no idea what it's all about, but I do know they've been designing some cute mini kits! Get yourself signed up so you can grab these from Jenn and Kim! Oh I just noticed my fellow Studio Crew chick Michelle over there too! And I know at least one person should have something coming soon too!

Since Bruce Springsteen is the only music I care to listen to right now, I decided I would organize my Bruce CDs, which meant digging around my room and my car. Has anyone seen my Rising CD? LOL! Hate when I have the case but can't find the disc! I'm also missing one of my Live 1975-85 CDs and I know my stupid ex-boyfriend stole the Ghost of Tom Joad and Live in New York City. Gotta figure out what I have and then I want to load up the iPod.

Well, enough rambling for now. Gotta get some stuff done!

Attack dog!

Here's my first attempt at uploading a video! The dogs were crazy yesterday!

Magic in the Meadowlands

I have been trying to gather my thoughts after Sunday night but find it hard because I'm still in a state of post-concert euphoria. I still get chills thinking about Bruce!

The show was 3 hours and 12 minutes according to NJ.com. I was up in the three hundred level of Giants Stadium but I still had a great view of the stage and screen. While I was up in the nosebleeds with my friend Billy, our other friend Dean was down in the 100 level and said Pierce Bronsan was two rows behind him! I had been freaking out all day about the weather, but it only rained for a little bit when the encore was just starting. Otherwise, the weather was perfect!

I was thinking of doing a page or two about the show, but I think I want to do a mini-album. I have so much I can write about - I've been a fan since Born in the USA came out. It was one of my first albums as a kid. I saw the E Street band reunion tour back in 1999. I was worried about bringing a camera though because of the increased security these days and the possibility of rain. So I've had to find some (like the one above) on the web.

Here's the set list and some notes from me: (thanks to Backstreets.com)

• Tenth Avenue Freeeze-out ... I met my friend Dean after he sang this song at karaoke night years ago.
• Radio Nowhere .... from his new album Magic, which rocks!
• Lonesome Day
• No Surrender
• Adam Raised a Cain
• Spirit in the Night
• Summertime Blues ... fun cover. He collected signs from the audience for requests.
• Brilliant Disguise ... nice duet with his wife Patti
• Atlantic City
• Growin' Up .... this was a request from a 10 year old girl!
• Janey, Don't You Lose Heart ... a nice surprise! I don't even think I have this song!
• I'll Work for Your Love ... another one from Magic. Love it!
• Youngstown ... got up for a 2nd round of beers. not one of my favorite songs! LOL!
• Murder Incorporated ... still on the line. Not a big fan of this one either!
• The Promised Land

• Livin' in the Future ... another new songs that just rocks. Crowd went crazy!
• Mary's Place ... Bruce gives his little speech about going to the river. If you're not a believer by now, go home! LOL!
• Working on the Highway
• Tunnel of Love ... I think this song is so cheesy. There was a girl sitting next to us who was sitting the whole time , but got up for this one! She left early too. Lame!
• The Rising
• Last to Die
• Long Walk Home
• Badlands ... They left the stage and the crowd keep singing... until they came back for ....

* * *

• Girls in Their Summer Clothes ... oh man I love this one too. Another Magic song.
• Jungleland ... this one gave me chills. Dean says they don't play it often. It was unbelievable.
• Born to Run ... Lights went on, whole place was nuts!
• Bobby Jean
• Dancing in the Dark ... a little cheesy, but still fun!
• American Land ... they rocked this out! Two accordians, Celtic sound. Everyone clapping and thumping along. Seemed like that was it until they closed with .......
• ROSALITA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! .... my all-time favorite! I could have died right there. What an awesome way to end the night!

After the show, we met Dean and Joy back down on the ground. We had gotten a ride from a cab driver friend of Dean's, so we walked all the way toward the race track trying to find a cab. I have to say Bruce fans are pigs! The stadium tailgaters left such a hideous mess. The traffic out of there was horrible - so we just ended up waiting for Dean's friend to get back to pick us up. He knew all the shortcuts so we were out of there in no time!

I'm still pretty thrilled that I saw the show. I told Billy to remind me that if I'm every cranky or complaining to remind me that I've seen Bruce sing Rosalita - something I've always wanted to see. What could be better than that!

Today... I need that reminder. I've got Penny and Rocky here and they've been fighting all morning. I'm covered in dog hair, scratches and hives from playing referee. Gotta go play some of those videos to get back in the groove of things!

My music type...

I saw this on Meredith's blog... Weird because I usually hate this kind of music!

You Are Electronic Music

You are energetic and expressive. You love feeling alive. You never get sick of your favorite things - they're what makes life special. You don't take tradition or conventions too seriously. You live for the future. You enjoy remixes and re-interpretations of things. Life is about making improvements.

What Kind of Music Are You?

Tagged

Just got tagged by Sarah...

The Rules: Answer the questions using only one word. Then tag four others.

1. Where is your cell phone? In my pocket
2. Your significant other? Somewhere out there
3. Your hair? A frizzy mess
4. Your mother? At work
5. Your father? Town hall at work I would think
6. Your favorite thing? My dog
7. Your dream last night? I dreamed about my sister's old dog Katie
8 Your favorite drink? Diet Coke
9. Your dream/goal? Winning the lottery
10. The room you’re in? office
11. Your hobby? digi scrapping
12. Your fear? clowns
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Enjoying my lottery winnngs
14. What you’re not? Tall
15. Muffins? Can I have a cookie instead?
16. One of your wish list items? A DSLR
17. Where you grew up? In the same house I live in now
18. The last thing you did? Checked plurk
19. What are you wearing? Pink t, jeans
20. Favorite gadget? camera
21. Your pets? Penny
22. Your computer? Is where all my friends live
23. Your mood? Rockin'
24. Missing someone? My dog
25. Your car? Red hot new Corollla
26. Something you’re not wearing? A Hawaiian shirt (like all the guys at work)
27. Favorite store? Target
28. Like someone? maybe!
29. Your favorite color? yellow
30. When is the last time you laughed? a few minutes ago
31. Last time you cried? yesterday over something dumb. I blame pms.

I'm tagging anyone who wants to play!
** I didn't follow the one word rule! Ooops!

Stuck upstairs

Mike started working on the living room while I was away. He and some friends put in a new ceiling and now he's almost done re-painting the room. But in the meantime, Penny and I have been spending our time upstairs since all the furniture is jammed in the living room and there's dust all over. Not good with my asthma. Isn't Penny good at pathetic posing!

I thought this was funny. I spotted one of my pages from work on the back of a bus a few weeks ago. I got this bad shot through the bus window.

I need to get ready for work and need to pick up my new registration, but I'm procrastinating since I have a headache from the paint fumes.

Family

Randi and I finally talked Mike into getting tested for allergies, so we all went together to the doctor on Monday. We were in the car wondering when was the last time the three of us were in the car together - just us. The last time I could remember was when we drove to and from Wildwood that one summer when we went with Teri and Mikey. Mikey was still a toddler then. I remember listening to Hole's Live Through This on the way home and that we had to follow Mom, who was driving Teri's car, because the speedometer in the Mazda was broken. That was back when I was in college.

On Monday, we also had lunch at Blue Moon before heading over to see Dr. Goodstein. And I also noted that the last time we all went to the doctor together was probably when we were kids going to the pediatrician or maybe when we had dentist appointments on the same day.

We do spend a lot of time together - but it's rare these days when it's just the three of us. It's a long time since these days .....

Judging by the hair and glasses, I think I was in seventh grade. I think we're playing Simon Says at Grandma's house in Union City.

Crazy NJ Laws

I don't know how real these are, but I found a thread at SBB about the Craziest Laws in America.

Here are some strange things about New Jersey...

• Automobiles are not to pass horse drawn carriages on the street.
• Bernards Township: It is illegal to frown as the town is a "Frown-Free Town Zone".
• Caldwell: You may not dance or wear shorts on the main avenue.
• Cranford: Citizens are not permitted to park their own boat on their lawn.
• Cresskill: All cats must wear three bells to warn birds of their whereabouts.
• Elizabeth: It is forbidden for a woman, on a Sunday, to walk down Broad Street without wearing a petticoat.
• If you have been convicted of driving while intoxicated, you may never again apply for personalized license plates.
• In Berkley Heights you may not walk your cattle on the street on Sunday.
• In New Jersey it is illegal to delay or detain a homing pigeon.
• In New Jersey, it is illegal to slurp soup.
• It's illegal in New Jersey for parents to give their children under the age of 18 even a sip of alcohol.
• It is against the law for a man to knit during the fishing season.
• It is against the law to "frown" at a police officer.
• It is illegal to offer whiskey or cigarettes to animals at the local zoo.
• It's also illegal in this state to throw a bad pickle on the street.
• Lovers in Liberty Corner should avoid satisfying their lustful urges in a parked car. If the horn accidentally sounds while they are frolicking behind the wheel, the couple can face a jail term.
• Manville: It is illegal to offer whiskey or cigarettes to animals a the local zoo.
• Newark: It is illegal to sell ice cream after 6pm, unless the customer has a note from his doctor.
• Pinball machines are not to be played on Sunday.
  
• Raw hamburger may not be sold.
• On a highway you can not park under a bridge.
• Raritan: Profanity is prohibited.
• Sea Isle City: There will be no boiling of bones on the property.
• There is no horse racing allowed on the New Jersey Turnpike.
• You cannot pump your own gas. All gas stations are full service and full service only.

Making coffee

I guess I was more tired that I thought yesterday! After Mark and co. came to pick up Melinda, I fell asleep watching TV. But then I ended up waking late again so I watched Baby Mama (splurged on On Demand again) and finished reading my book. I'm still feeling a little sluggish this morning. I'm trying to make some coffee in my room and watching a really bleeped version of my favorite episode of the Sopranos on A&E. I really need to get dressed and get everything back in my bag, but I still feel pretty beat. All of that walking around must have really worn me out!

Yesterday, we did some more make and takes and we had lunch with Jen, Jeanine, Connie and Oriana. Still can't believe she came all the way here for CHA!

I said I was going to be better this year about taking photos, but I wasn't! It's camera envy or something. Everyone's got these nice DSLRs and I've got my little Cybershot. I normally love it.

But here we go with some photos....

Melinda, me and Connie working on a make and take at the Heidi Grace booth.
This is what we made there! Crafts and candy! Yum!
This is one of my favorites! We made these on Sunday at Kaiser Crafts and I was finally feeling like I was getting better at crafty stuff again.
We made these books at Basic Grey. Loved using their file set. My friend Amy Kant was there the day before and they were still talking about her - she's a legend!
Here's a cute dress form from the Pink Paislee booth! I love that little owl. Holly's designs were so cool. There was a mad rush of crazed scrappers to get on line for the make and take yesterday morning. They would have run you over, seriously!

Check out Melinda's frames at the Prima booth. This is Doris Castle's new line!
And I got to see some work by my fellow Studio Crew gals. that's Kait's daughter on the left and Denise's layout on the right! I'll have more to report on the Studio Gals at CHA on the Studio Matters blog on Wednesday!
Here's another make and take we did at Bare Elements (I think). Can you tell which one is Melinda's - the nice and neat one on the left. My poor sad little one woudln't stay together and I needed Melinda to help me!

There are a few more that I didn't photograph - they were complicated and I have them wrapped up so they don't fall apart. K&Co. had these really nice fall albums - but Connie and I were struggling to keep up! Heidi Swapp had mobile frames with these awful little jump rings that were hard to connect. But they were all really cute projects!
This one was super easy! We made these necklaces a the Tim Holtz booth. The show seemed kind of smaller than it was last year - not sure if it was a different floor plan or what. But a lot of people were also saying it didn't seem as crowded. That might not be good for the industry, but it was ok for us since they lines weren't so bad.

There were a lot of people I recognized here, but I wasn't feeling as outgoing as I was last year. I preferred being low key and hanging out with my friends!

Now I really need to get myself moving. This hotel room coffee is not very good. I should grab some at the kwik-e-mart store downstairs before I go. I'm not going to head back over to the show since I need to pack and get the shuttle.

Randi's going to be picking me up. I can't wait to see my dog!

Checking in from CHA

It's day three here in Chicago and I'm up early so we can hit the show! I'm so tired I can't even remember what I was going to blog about. I'm having so much fun though hanging out and checking out all the scrapping stuff! I'll have more to report on that later.

I've actually gotten some scrapping done! Here are some new pages. I'll link up the credits when I get these posted to the galleries...




H

I'm here!

I got to Chicago a few hours ago! I've been hanging out in the hotel lounge. Thank goodness for wifi to keep me entertained. I'm too tired to keep reading - although I did get through almost half of the new Dirty Girls sequel. So I've been scrapping a little, people watching, getting annoyed by loud talkers.

I had one of those cab drivers this morning who shares their whole life story in the short span of a ride. She kept me distracted from thinking about the flight as we drove down the turnpike. I was a bit nervous on the flight. I kept dozing off too, but didn't sleep much. I had a really tall guy in front of me who had his seat reclined. I think that's just rude - there's hardly any space on these planes!

So after winding my way through O'Hare to the airport shuttle, I got here to the Hyatt and had some breakfast. It's still too early to check in. I think you can tell there's a scrapbook convention in town. Lots of women around.

I didn't sleep much at all last night. I was debating whether I should have even tried to go to sleep since I got home late and had to pack. Plus I wanted to spend a little time with Penny. But I felt tired and ended up getting about 2 and half hours of rest. Then I was up at 5 - crazy! I really need to pay better attention when I'm booking my flights on Orbitz! Last year I booked a crazy late return flight!

Going to get back to some scrapping now. And hopefully they'll let check in early. I hope I can take a nap before I meet up with Connie later for dinner!

Politics, shmolitics

So no matter who you're going to vote for, Jib Jab picks on everyone! Their new video is so funny!

** Just realized the video wasn't working so you can see it here.

Getting ready for Chicago!

I'm getting myself ready for my trip to CHA in Chicago tomorrow. I got my nails done and went to the bank. I'm getting my hair cut later. I still need to pack though, but I usually like to leave that until the last minute since I usually can't sleep before flying. My flight is too early though - cab is coming to get me at 5:30!

Thought I'd share some recent photos before I go....

These cupcakes from Magnolia were the best I've ever had!
The polar bear at the Bronx Zoo.
The girls....

Penny got a bandana at Petsmart after her grooming last week.

Rated G!

Isn't that nice that my blog is family friendly! LOL! I am such a truck driver in person - well sometimes. I try not to swear around kids or my mom or grandma! But I work in a newsroom and hang out in bars, and I have a Cuban-Irish temper so I can't help it! I saw this over on Holly's blog and had to test it here.

Created by OnePlusYou

This rating was determined based on the presence of the following words:

• crappy (2x)
• death (1x)

That cracks me up!

Need to rant!

Maybe it's because I'm sunburned and I have heartburn, but I'm in a really annoyed mood right now. I'm just opening some mail from yesterday and got a letter from a credit card company saying a disputed charge was denied and neither the company charging me or the credit card has been very helpful. So now I'm going to have to spend my morning on hold with them! Ugh!!!! I have a billion things to do before CHA and I'm starting to freak out a little. I can't seem to get anything done on weekends anymore. I just put everything off to last freakin' minute.

Sigh! And I did have a pretty good weekend up until now. Hung out with some high school friends last night. Went to Randi's pool today and then went to see Hancock. But now I'm having a panic attack.

Quiet day

I'm sitting around watching TV today. I went out last night and am still hurting a little. And I'm going out again tonight with some friends from high school. We've found each other again through Facebook and have added a few other people to our group since our last outing.

I just finished watching Persepolis - a really amazing movie! It's an animated movie in French about a girl who grew up in Iran. Took me awhile to watch since I had to pause anytime the phone rang or when mom came back.

So this week I got SICK of driving my non-air conditioned car around and worring about whether it was going to overheat. So I got myself a little present....

It's a Corolla and I love that it's red! I've been saving up for awhile. The payments are going to be a bit of a pain, but it's worth it! Credits

And here's another one I just did from Rocky's birthday. Credits.

Now I'm going to watch Extras from Netflix. I never had time to watch the show on HBO and I just love Ricky Gervais. My other new Netflix find is another British show, Couplings. I saw an episode at a party last weekend and wanted to see more. It's like Friends, but much raunchier.

I wish there was a Mexican place that delivered around here. I'm either going to have to cook or go run to Bergenline for some dinner. Mom and Randi went up to Mike's but I'm so sick of barbeques so I stayed home. Just going to relax here with my dog - even though I should be getting ready for CHA next week. But I love having the house to myself!

Things I saw at the zoo

Randi and I took the nieces and our cousin Corinne to the Bronx Zoo yesterday. We met up with Betty and Lucia there, too! I still have to upload my photos but I wanted to jot down a few fun things before I forget!
- Taylor's feet were "killing her" as soon as we got in the zoo. She prefered sitting down to seeing animals.
- Kylie was very curious about the animals and could say most of their names and make their noises. She also said hello and goodbye to most of them.
- Kylie would tell us "I see ..." followed by the animal or tree or fish (which was a bird). She was very chatty all day. We practiced counting and I tried to ask her about things like colors.
- Taylor pretended the cracks in the pavement were animal prints!
- Lucia calls most animals "guagua" - which is a Spanish slang word for dog.
- Taylor couldn't remember Betty's name. She then said: "Oh, I know. Like Ugly Betty."
After that, Betty was her new best friend and she had to tell her and show her everything.
- Taylor couldn't remeber Lucia's name either. She started calling her Luciana, then Louisiana!
- Kylie and Taylor fought about holding Randi's hands. Kylie was calling Randi something that sounded like "my Buddy."
- The polar bear at the zoo was swimming around!!! I've never seen him do anything but sleep.
A lot of the animals were pretty active for once - the snow leopards, a tiger, even the wild dogs.
- We saw lots of lemurs and some cool frogs in the new Madagascar section. I skipped the hissing roaches.
- The girls ran around and played together near the benches outside Madagascar. Taylor and Lucia really hit if off. Kylie was a little more shy around her. They all kept running up to a mirror and smacking a picture of a lemur on a sign about saving the animals. Good thing it was just a sign!
- Randi spent a lot of time texting.
- Lucia would point and say no from her stroller when Kylie and Taylor started running away. Think she didn't like being left behind.
- Corinne and I had the silly "green, green, green" song in our heads after seeing the little toddler play about bird migration.
- Bronx Zoo was having problems with credit card machines. Not good if you didn't bring a lot of cash, considering how expensive it's gotten there. We had to tell the girls the monorail was broken. Good thing we had enough cash for the Bug Carosel.
- I ended up going the wrong way on the Cross Bronx twice! Traffic coming home was nasty and it was soooooo hot in my crappy car. We stopped for ice cream on the way home to cool off.
- On the ride back to my house, Taylor declared: "Penny and Rocky are in LOVE."
- For someone whose feet hurt, Taylor had lots of energy to run around like a monkey back at my house. The kids ran around while Corinne and I collapsed on the couch with Penny.

* I'm glad we didn't take the Skyfari! (Kylie kept calling them boats!)

My day

- Got up at 9:30, checked AccuWeather. Called Randi and decided it was going to be too crappy out for the zoo. Went back to sleep.
- Woke up again at 11. Got laundry together. Went downstairs to let Penny out.
- Hung out on the couch and watched Melrose Place and soaps.
- Went up stairs to get showered and dress. Then had to take all the sheets off my bed since a certain dog decided to pee on it. UGH!
- Drove over to Randi's so we could take the bus to NYC.
- Had a yummy cupcake at Magnolia.
- Had some yummy risotto at a restaurant in SoHo.
- Bought some records on vinyl at a shop on Bleeker.
- Walked all over the place until we got bored and took a cab back up to Port Authority. (Weather ended up being nice. Stupid AccuWeather.)
- Came home and fed the dog.
- Watched Jeopardy!
- Took Penny over to Boulevard East so we could have a nicer view on our walk. Penny barked at every dog we saw.
- Walked an extra few blocks since I couldn't remember where I parked.
- Came back home and ordered a sandwich from Sals.
- Watched TV. Hoped for good weather again tomorrow.

Testing ping.fm for blog posts....

Penny's day out

We brought Penny with us to Corinne's party today. She got dressed up in her party dress, of course! And she was really such a good pup! Taylor and Kylie were so good with her. They both wanted to walk her and hold her - but they were pretty good about taking turns. We even went for a little walk up and down the block. The rest of the family all really loved Penny, too. Some of my cousins, aunts and uncles hadn't met her yet. She also met her other doggie cousin, Angel, and that initial meeting didn't go so well! Penny went right up to sniff her, and Angel peed on her face! GROSS!!!!! But after that they pretty much ignored each other and got along fine. It was also cool just hanging out with my family. My cousins are all teenagers now and they are the coolest kids. I'm pretty tired of bbqs now though.

I'm hoping the weather is nice tomorrow. I've got two more days off so we're hoping to take the kiddos to the zoo. Betty and Lucia are supposed to meet us there, too. Forecast isn't too great though right now, so we'll see.

Gonna watch Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix now!

Two down, 1 to go

I've been to two barbecues over the last two days and there's one more today. Friday, I dropped off my friends Stef and Lisa at a party on my way to work. Mike and Vez were there too with my nieces so my friends got to meet our crazy kids.

Then yesterday, Randi asked me to go to a party down the shore with her. Some of the guys she works with have a house for the summer and were having a party. The house was a typical summer bachelor pad - air mattresses, plastic utensils in the cabinets and towels for curtains! But then I found out one of the guys lives there all year round! What a nut!

It was a pretty fun party even though I didn't really know anyone there. They were having the "beer olympics" with all kinds of dumb drinking games. But then it started to rain so we just played flip cups under the umbrellas. Dumb drinking games are a good way to make friends with people at a party LOL! I haven't played flip cups since the last shore party I was at in 2001!

I'm still pretty beat though. Today we've got Corinne's birthday party. Poor kid has been through so much lately, I hope she can have lots of fun today.

Hope you're all having a great weekend! Here are some of my latest pages...


Did this page using some of the fun stuff in the SBG Popsicle Pop kit from Scrap N Art Magazine and one of Tracy Blankship's templates. Credits

SBG now has a guest studio and the first one is Holliewood Studios! Credits
And Rachel Young is now selling at SBG too! I did this page for a Rachel play day. Credits

The Fourth and the First

Hope you all have a great Fourth of July today! I will be exercising the freedom of the press today since I have to work.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

There are times when I mortified by my profession. The coverage of Anna Nicole's death or the treatment of politics like it's a football game make me want to hide my press pass in shame! But the part of me that wanted to be a journalist when I was still in high school still hopes that we are doing some good - telling good stories, exposing abuses, even finding homes for shelter pets.

The news business is pretty scary right now. There are reports everyday about layoffs and buy outs. Papers are shrinking their products and cutting staff to save money. We're trying to compete with TV, internet and bloggers. It's great that there are so many sources of information out there, but I worry about what I'll be doing in 10 years.

So I know today we'll be thinking a lot about what it means to be American and showing our love for our troops. But I hope you'll honor another group of unsung Americans who work every day of the week, even on holidays, trying to uphold that first amendment right (even those overpaid anchors). All you need to do is watch the news or pick up the paper or visit CNN.com or your local paper's web site. It's your right as an American!

And leave you with a quote that I came across yesterday that really inspired me. I think it applies no matter what your political beliefs are ...

"Loving your country shouldn't just mean watching fireworks on the Fourth of July. Loving your
country must mean accepting your responsibility to do your part to change it." - Barack Obama