This is the coolest link I've seen in a while. Must for all Maddow-philes. [link]

Poor puppies - they have no idea that this is the last week they'll all sleep in the pile together.

What a wonderful fan letter! Those kids have a great start if they're already getting interested in politics during junior high.

I was just thinking last night about when I got radicalized in terms of being political aware. I've been on the fringes of political geekdom since college--voted for Reagan in 1984 because I just didn't know anything, then got sucked into the edges of the progressive movement on campus, with the anti-apartheid shantytowns on the quad, and watched the Iran-Contra hearings religiously. Since then, I drifted in and out of knowing what the hell was going on, all the way up to and including the 2004 election. But, I became a big-time wonk (following the political blogs and watching the news again after skipping CNN et al throughout most of the 1990s) after Katrina.

My mom doesn't quite know what to make of me now. She was the one who raised me left-leaning (her dad half-jokingly said he expected to watch the Vietnam War rallies in the late '60s and see her with all three of us preschool kids in tow, even though she never did that). However, she did disappoint me last week when she told me of her resistance to gay marriage. She has no problems with civil unions, but not official marriage. Both my sister and I let her know we disagreed with her, but let it go.

Happy Birthday, Daisy!

ChiKat, I think the hair style you linked to would seriously rock on you.

Olivia had her last speech therapy session. We agreed that she has made such great progress she's on track for preschool next year.

I was ALMOST that much of a Lisa Simpson, but not quite, then put it aside to try to fit in, and got back to it in college. But the Olbermann fangirl thing has coincided with a new awareness(And I don't just mean porn, either. Although maybe a little.) I would have *worshipped* RM, if I were a girl now.AMC is really cute...I have a thing about redheads, I think. Which kind of makes me think of Dawnie being all "I'd love to do some of the stuff Willow and Tara do." and Joyce saying "Um..."

But, I became a big-time wonk (following the political blogs and watching the news again after skipping CNN et al throughout most of the 1990s) after Katrina.

Yeah, I've been following politics much more closely since political blogs have come into existence. (Currently I subscribe to about 17 political blogs.)

Whoa, you are a braver man than I, sir. Although I did come upon one from the right today that quite literally said Keith had stupid hair. Are there RW Buffy fans? ETA: It was quite the meme for a while for neo-cons that KO's hair was a toupee. He had someone pull it on TV to prove it's not(although journalistic training makes me add that doesn't rule out a procedure of some sort.) I think that was one smear that really bugged Mom, the ex-stylist. "I could have told them that!"

When I was in college I was in the Progressive Student Network. Anyone know them? It was pretty far off to the left of the Democratic party. I went to one national PSN conference in Kent State, and the big controversy was whether the PSN should endorse Jesse Jackson's campaign, or remain true to our professed desire to work outside of electoral politics.

I'm a RM fan, but to tell you the truth I'm not that fond of the Keith. Nothing to do with his politics; his personal style affects me like chalk scraping over a chalkboard.I have no rational basis for this, just bad chemistry. But I doubt it will change anytime soon.

It seems to be a love-or-hate proposition with Keith...I'm not sure why. But it must make his new publicist want to rip her hair out in tasteful hairy handfuls.He even said recently that he wishes sometimes that he were as across-the-board likeable as RM. But then, there are those...Other Times. Obviously.