We amuse ourselves.

We sent the following to our friends as an invitation to come over and watch election results:

Fellow armchair pundits-

Change is coming. Change you can believe in. A celebration to mark the end of the election season will take place at [Ourname] Election Headquarters, home to the best news junkies watching television. We will be monitoring election results as they come in, and listening to expert analysis from the liberal 'gotcha' media. We welcome anyone, whether you're a plumber or an elitist snob, Muslim terrorist or Christian nutjob, maverick or messiah, Caribou Barbie or blowhard who has foot-in-mouth disease. We won't look into your past, so don't worry if you've asked God to damn America, or if you've harbored thoughts of secession. We'll even welcome you if you're a jack-ass who always refuses to acknowledge the elephant in the room.

When: The end of days, Tuesday November 4th. First polls close at 5:00PM CST (portions of Indiana and Kentucky). First full-state poll closings start at 6:00PM CST. Feel free to stop in anytime throughout the night (though we may not stay up waiting for Alaska and Hawaii).

We'll supply: television, green chili, 4 varieties of homebrew, Oldstyle beer, and wine.
You'll supply: small munchies to share.

Location: (our address). We are in a condo community, but there are no gates (bitter, trooper, or otherwise). We're near (local college) main campus. If you reach the Bridge to Nowhere, you've gone too far.

Preferred attire: Palin-casual

We look forward to meeting with you, though unlike Obama, we have a precondition. People who have not voted will not be allowed to enter. Polls close in (our state) at 9 pm, so you have plenty of time.

Confessions of an iPod junkie

I heart my iPod. Really. Not only can I listen to any of my CDs anywhere, anytime, but I am in LOVE with podcasts. It's like a portable education, and I learn so much every day from them.

Some of my favorite educational podcasts:
NPR's Planet Money. This was very recently started by the producers of This American Life in order to explain what the heck is going on with the economy to lay people.
The Naked Scientists. Awesome British dudes talking about cool current science.
Left, Right, and Center, a balanced debate show about politics, free from rhetoric and screaming.
A French-speaking radio podcast to keep up my fluency.
NPR's Books podcast
NPR's Intelligence Squared debate series--they debate really interesting questions such as, "Should the market for human organs be legalized?"
NPR's Science Friday

(can you tell I like NPR?)

And for sheer entertainment value:
Real Time with Bill Maher
NPR's Wait! Wait! Don't tell me! quiz show
Garrison Keillor's The Writer's Almanac. His voice is so soothing and he reads a poem every day.
My friend B's podcast Chicago Bites, about her dining adventures in Chicago.

It's so refreshing to be doing something like getting out or putting away lab supplies and learning about super bacteria at the same time. I feel like I've been losing some of my ability to use my brain since college; perhaps this is part of the cure?

Fall has...fallen?

Brace yourselves: assorted random thoughts ahead. It's late and D is watching the Cubs playoff game. By the way, D won the chance to buy Division Series tickets and got some for next Friday. If the Cubs move on to the next level, D and I will be attending Game 2 in Chicago!

Fall is here. The iPod is awesome; I continue to discover fun new podcasts. I was able to enjoy some of them on the plane to Denver--I had a great time last weekend participating in a wedding (the first of two this fall!). The aspens were just turning and the weather was beautiful, if a bit chilly in the evenings. Saw some folks I haven't seen in a while, which was very nice. :-)

I am again in rehearsals for The Nutcracker. I'm playing the same part as last year, so that's easy--I watched the DVD for a small refresher course a couple of weeks ago. It's just a matter of working with the new kids so that they know what to do and where to go. I'm happy to be performing!

The economic crisis is scaring me, especially as I learn more about the depth and breadth of the problems we are having. It's enough to make someone want to hide money under her mattress. I am SO glad that I'm not going to retire any time soon. Also scary: the election. I'm really hoping I don't have to move to Canada this time. It's cold up there.

I always enjoy seasons changing because of the different foods that come into season. We had a great meal last week with pork chops, acorn squash, and wild rice. It seemed very appropriate for a slightly chilly fall evening. Speaking of seasonal foods, our favorite restaurant in town was closed by the flood and should be reopening soon. We are definitely planning on supporting them as they try to regain business.

Forgive my random ramblings. Pretend that you're reading Faulkner and that all of this has some profound meaning that is masquerading as "sound and fury." Like I said, it's late.