The State of the Union...

I figured instead of waiting until tomorrow to post on it, I'll do it live. Random thoughts and observations from the address as it's happening. Some might be dumb, some might be funny and all of it will be pointless.

8:18pm
Obama just made fun of the bank bailout. Haha. I wasn't aware that he proposed a fee to the biggest banks to pay back the tax payers - yes, please. I could use the cash. He's talking about all the tax cuts he's made yet no Republican is standing up; must not have been for big business. Hahaha he just said to all the Repubs sitting down, "I thought I'd get some applause on that one." Zing!

8:24pm
He just called for a new Jobs Bill. I really wish I didn't have to look at Biden nod his head over and over again. He looks like a bobblehead. Republicans aren't impressed by his desire to help small business by using money the banks paid back. Seriously, I can't take all the applause. Let's listen and then applaud when we need to. Oh man, John Dingell (D-MI) looks really old, not sure he could stand and applaud if he wanted to...

8:31
Shout out to India's growing economy. What up!!

8:34
Is it weird that I want to make out with Nancy Pelosi? She's a good lookin older woman. He just talked about building nuclear power plants. I love it. It's really one of the only ways to maintain the level of energy we need and going green. We just need to figure out a way to dispose of the waste that doesn't damage anything. Booo to 'clean coal' - no such thing.

8:37
Update: apparently John Dingell can stand up.

8:41
College tuition: If he can pull of making college more affordable and handing out more government loans, this will be awesome. Choose a career in public service and get your debt cleared after 10 years? Awesome.

8:43
Pee break

8:44
Health Care. He's got jokes. It's kind of silly that he needs to clarify why he wants to reform health care. I think he's been pretty clear about everything. Michelle is gonna tackle childhood obesity? Good luck. Just another reason for Mark Twain to love her even more. Here's what needs to happen to health care reform to get the GOP on board: tort reform. Any kind will do, just give them something. It's necessary. I wish Dems weren't in the pocket of trial lawyers, tort reform is imperative and a huge part of health care reform.

8:51
Cutting federal spending. Starting in 2011 govt spending will be frozen for 3 years for programs that don't work or are too expensive. No tax cuts for people making over 250k - Republicans just rolled their eyes. It sounds like his plan to cut the debt is going to be rough on Republicans.

8:56
Why does the GOP look so old and salty? They need to get some young vibrant people in the party to rejuvinate it. They look like they're at a funeral.

8:59
Publish all earmark requests so the public can look and see who wants to spend what and where. This is a fantastic idea. The system would get some much needed transperency. He's urging everyone to show some much needed bi-partisan voting. Dems agree, Repubs to not. Is it just me or does the whole not clapping thing seem really petty and childish? They're acting like a bunch of assh*le middleschool kids.

9:07
Responsibility to the troops after they come home. Absolutely. Finally something everyone can agree on: more money for veterans.Michelle O is working on getting more money for families of soldiers as well. I didn't realize she had as big of a portfolio as she does. I love her.

9:13
Hate crime legistlation. He's going to let gay Americans serve which is not greeted with applause by anyone in a uniform. Equal pay for all women. Sad that these things need to be addressed in 2010.

9:16
"No wonder there's so much cynicism out there. No wonder there's so much disappointment." How true. The system seems really petty these days. Change you can believe in. He's calling everyone out to stop being so wack and get their sh*t together to help the country.

9:19
"We are strong. We are resilient. We are American....We don't quit. I don't quit" Here's the inspirational President Obama I love so much.

9:21
And that's it. Here come the pundits analyzing the claps and the laughs and the times when there was silence. How can people listen to this drivel. Talk about the politics, but analyzing the moments of noise or lack thereof from the audience? Lame.

I wish that this last year had been more productive and he'd gotten more of his agenda passed. I would have loved to hear a speech with lofty goals and daring bold statements. Instead it was more of an explanation of why things didn't work out and what still needs to be done to pass old issues. Hopefully this next year things happen that will allow him to inspire next year.

And of course, a very relevant West Wing moment:



As always, go big.

-M, p, z & shredder

Run Forrest, Run...

While I was in DC over new years I had a conversation with Brown Guy about running. I used to run for 1 mile and call it quits. I wasn't necessarily dead tired after a mile, but I was bored and satisfied and sufficiently out of breath that I would call it a day. I went for a short run in his gym and was back at his apartment in about 15 minutes. He asked why I only run 1 mile and I told him the above reasoning. He proceeded to tell me that I could run 10 miles. I told him he was insane and wondered who in their right mind, aside from some dude in Kenya running a marathon, would want to run 10 miles. I told him 1 was my usual and 2 was my max. I hated cross country running and never even really liked track for that matter. But recently I've realized that it may not be all that ridiculous.

This year is turning out to be the year of healthy choices for me. Aside from my diet change, I've also upped my usual runs from 1 to 2 miles and Friday I decided to push it to 3 miles. I was definitely tired. There was also no way I could have possibly made it 10 miles but I wouldn't doubt 4 or even 5. I've also realized that what I eat has a direct correlation to the amount of energy I have at the gym. Sounds obvious right, but I have never actually put it into practice before so only now can I really see the light. In the past I would eat like I used to do normally, nothing bad for you, just lots of indian food, mostly rice and chicken and vegetables, and then I would try and run on that. Bad idea. It was part of the reason I was tired. Now I have found the wonderful joy of cliff bars and yogurt and it's not hard for me to run a few miles.













This is what came up when I googled running...





The reason I mention this is that no matter what I do (not including a drastic change) I am going to weigh in the mid 160s. I'm currently at 162. Still I actually dipped almost to 160 but that was sort of an anomaly. With my height 160-170 is pretty normal and my previous desired weight of 160 was erroneous because I forgot to take into account that muscle weighs more than fat and as I burn fat and gain muscle it's only natural I'm going to gain some weight back. I guess there's not really a point to this blog but I would like to know how far people have ran. I might have done more before, but currently since I can't remember ever doing so I think 3 miles is the furthest I have ever run. I know some people who read this ran cross country and I'd be interested to know not only how far but what people's times were. It took me about 27 minutes to run 3 miles. Not very good. It's averaging a 9 minute mile. Anybody gonna beat that?

Go big

-M, p, z & shredder

oh ps - State of the Union tonight. Pretty excited that this is GWs last year in office. Also, just a reminder that Super Tuesday is in 8 days so if you people are fortunate enough to live in a state that has a primary/caucus that matters (still mad at Michigan) please go vote. Spend this week figuring out who for and do it.