school funding news

Remember when Ohio's school funding system of levying property taxes was declared unconstitutional because Ohio's constitution made the unreasonable demand of "quality" schools in all districts? (And presumably the monies for such would fly out of monkeys' butts?) The case was filed in 1991 and finally dismissed in 2002 after the state still hadn't developed a better solution. Meanwhile, local geniuses and letter-to-the-editor authors were voting down school levies because "We don't want to teach our children that it's OK to break the law."

Well, now someone is finally doing something about it. The article doesn't give details on what the proposal offers, but I'm just glad to see some activity in this arena so it can be discussed again. I was never comfortable with the way the courts closed the case in 2002 yet left it unresolved.

In other school funding news, Elyria has been trying to build a new high school since at least 1990 that I recall. Each time, in my humble opinion, a large part of the proposal's failure rests with an overly zealous school board and superintendent who only feign community input and then go ahead and do whatever they wanted in the first place. They seem to learn something with each levy failure, but even with the appearance of full disclosure, the public is still not being given the straightforward details.

Take this article from today's Chronicle-Telegram, regarding a phone survey the school board has been conducting. As it happens, my dad was one of the regular voters called for his opinions. The Chronicle reported regarding the wording of one of the questions:

However, the question also asks voters if they'd support a "one-half mill" additional levy to help pay for the perpetual costs of maintenance for the high school. And there lies the problem, Rigda said.

The question intended to say that voters could face a 0.5-mill levy for maintenance which, in addition to the 3-mill levy, would total a 3.5-mill levy. That, Rigda said, would be the worst-case scenario -- the most the district would seek.

As far as I'm aware, this survey is the first time we've even heard about a 0.5-mill maintenance levy. But what's worse, and what the article neglects to mention, is that this proposed maintenance tax would be a continuing levy. As in, it never expires. EVER.

Whether or not I agree with the idea of a tax levy for school building maintenance in perpetuity, surely the school board would realize such a proposal would spell disaster come November.

Maybe they do, and that's why it's been kept quiet. But that's the cynic in me talking. There's no question there needs to be a set fund for building maintenance (rather than simply pulling it out of the general funds), especially as various school administrators have taken a "planned obsolescence" view of the high school dating back to 1990.

Planned obsolescence meaning allowing certain aspects of the building to deteriorate either under the guise of "we'll be getting a new school soon so why fix it" and/or "if the public sees how horrible it is, they'll give us a new one."

But I think that backfires. Instead of rallying community support, a decrepit school lowers our opinion of the school system. The taxpayers instead feel as though their money is being wasted, so until you get that new school, they'll be voting down levies for regular maintenance, which only accelerates the urgency for a new school while breeding more apathy along the way. I don't necessarily agree that our money is being wasted, but it's a very real aspect of how Johns Q. Public reason and vote... And a very real aspect of how they pack up and move to Avon, North Ridgeville, Amherst, et al., taking their tax dollars with them. The community wants schools it can be proud of, and watching the high school fall apart is not the way to go about it.

That would be like telling a fat person they should plump up so they'll have a mental breakdown and finally lose that weight. Buildings are buildings, but, in the words of Pete from Muppets Take Manhattan, "Peoples is peoples."

xplosive pizza

So I bought these Goldfish® crackers that boldly proclaim on the bag to be "Xplosive pizza flavored," complete with pizza slices bursting out of the logotype and Finn™ the fish wearing sunglasses to shield his piscine eyes from the blast.

I love the crackers, but every time I look at the words "Xplosive pizza" on the bag, I instantly think of the -- as GT calls it -- "garlic dysentery pizza" that the Sundial food court at BGSU served. I actually didn't have a problem with the sauceless garlic pizza for the first two years of college, and it was a welcome alternative to their sauce-based pizzas, which I didn't like.

But, as happens to many students, one day I had a slice of garlic pizza and suddenly it hit me -- I can never eat this again. And I hope I can type the passcode to the bathroom quickly enough. (Yeah, our bathrooms had electronic locks on them.)

From then on, every time I saw that garlic pizza gleaming with grease and beckoning my consumption, I just reminded myself of what happened the last time I fell for its dirty little trick.

Well, that, and by then GT had coined the phrase "garlic dysentery pizza," which he'd shout any time one of us so much as glanced in the direction of the pizza bar, and frankly I'd sworn off most foods that included an Oregon Trail disease in the name. Except maybe those Chococholera Cream Puffs. They really aren't so bad when dipped in Pepto Bismol fondue.

By the way, there are three Goldfish® fish: Finn, Xtreme, and... Brooke. I was all set to comment on how the female ended up with a normal human name, until I caught the pun.

historical society ad

OK, I just felt the need to share this. What began as a simple resizing of a previous ad became a full-fledged redesign. This is what I started with (not my design):



The original purpose of this project was to shrink this down a bit to meet the specs for a trivia card/flyer that will be distributed in area restaurants. As I began piecing it together, naturally I wouldn't let myself settle for a clone of the previous ad. Here's the final piece I came up with (size is 3.675 x 1.938 in.):



It was pretty bland and unoriginal until I put the green bar behind the headline and made the text white with a drop shadow. Moving the photo to the edge (instead of simply lining up with the headline and address) was another step. After that, the design pretty easily fell into place. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out, as was my, uh, client.

Rationale for the design geeks out there: What I learned from this was that I could create "pockets" on the page that had their own rules. I started out with a 1/4" margin, and instantly began aligning the elements along those guides. I felt a need to keep that even border all the way around (a novice excuse for "repetition"). Once I broke out of those boundaries by moving the photo to the edge, I realized I could move the address block underneath it, creating its own little "pocket" that had 1/8" margins, reinforced by the green bar--the green bar being an example of actual repetition from the green headline block. That 1/8" spacing was used again in the main body of the ad, which gave me enough space to fit all the text while still being "breathable." It wasn't until I accepted breaking my original 1/4" margin that I was able to make this piece work.

ye goode olde dayse

Women: Know Your Limits

Seeing that reminded me of this Mystery Science Theater 3000 segment: A Date With Your Family. The first time I saw this, I literally hurt laughing at one point and had to pause the DVD until I was done. Watching it again now, several years later, the same thing happened. So as not to spoil it here, I'll tell you which part in the comments of this post.

Here's another from MST3K: How to Go on a Date

mmmm french press

For lack of finding any clothes I wanted, I spent one of my Kohl's gift cards on this French press coffee maker. (The one I got actually has a brand name of "French Cafe," but it's the exact same model and manufacturer as the BonJour one you see there. Now I kinda wish I had read those reviews before buying it, but I guess that's what I get for shopping in a {scoff} brick & mortar store instead of online. We'll see how long it really lasts.)

For those not familiar with the French press method, it works like this: you pour the coffee grounds, preferably a coarse grind, into the jug with boiling water. Put the lid on, and let it brew for about four minutes. Then you push the plunger down, which has a metal mesh screen that pushes all the grounds to the bottom of the jug, then serve.

What you get is a much richer coffee, like what you'd get at a coffeehouse, than the drip variety most people have at home. The paper filters in drip coffeemakers soak up the oils from the grounds, and thus some of the flavor. Plus, the water is in direct contact with the grounds the whole time it's brewing, rather than just briefly passing through a heap of grounds in the filter basket.

However, it's not quite as convenient as a drip coffeemaker. For one thing, you have to boil the water separately (I used a tea kettle). Since it's not electric, you can't just leave it sitting on the burner to keep warm. And as I said, it's best to serve it immediately, both to avoid bitter coffee from the grounds still in the bottom of the jug, and because it will only stay hot for so long unless you get something like this French press jacket. That makes it not quite as convenient if you're having a party or something and can't serve it right away. But if you already have a drip coffeemaker anyway, you could just use the French press and pour it into the drip's coffee pot and turn the burner on to keep it warm. This model also only makes "8 cups" (which is like 3.5 normal size mugs), as opposed to most drips that make "12."

The other down side is that, because the French press method leaves those delicious oils, that means it has "bad" cholesterol. But the same is true of coffeehouse coffee too.

But mmmmmmmmmm... I'm a fan.

quote of the day 4

You'd think it must be lovely to go through life convinced you're right about everything, yet in my experience people like that are generally angry and miserable.

--Kate Sun


I tend to agree. Instead, these people seem to be constantly frustrated dealing with alleged "morons" and their supposed "incompetence." Their lives might be far less stressful if they applied Bird's Razor.

game show hilarity

I've found some highly amusing clips on YouTube of old game shows. Take, for example, this Family Feud episode. Richard: "During what month of pregnancy does a woman begin to look pregnant?" Woman: "September!" Dawson loses it and can barely continue, even when it's the next contestant's turn.

Here's a more recent one from Family Feud, in which the family seems to think both Africa and Europe are countries.

Here's a collection of Price is Right mishaps. Sometimes you just feel sorry for the contestants, like this guy playing the Clock Game.

This one isn't so much amusing as it is unbelieveable. I won't give away the ending, but in case you're not aware, if the contestant is within $100 (now $250) of the correct price of the showcase, they win both showcases.

And I would be remiss in not posting a link to Ken Jennings' Jeopardy response of, What is a ho?

theatre resume

I've added a PDF of my theatrical experience to my music page (since all the shows involved music). I've updated it to include the upcoming Camelot.

Last week at rehearsal, someone asked what shows I'd been in. That's when I realized that the last show I was really "in" was Oklahoma, in high school. I didn't have any intention of becoming as involved in community theatre as I did; it just sort of happened because theaters needed pianists and I had friends involved. I auditioned for Joseph... at the Beck Center in 2003, but was not cast since I'm not a dancer (when I played for it at Elyria, the dancing wasn't as intensive). The piano was on stage in Forever Plaid and 1940s Radio Hour, and I sang in a quartet for Cabaret, but I don't really count those as being "in" the show.

I pretty much went non-stop with only brief breaks from the summer of 2002 through spring of 2004, then I went on a hiatus to get my life organized. Later that year, I was diagnosed with cancer, so that further put things on hold. I was almost involved in a show in Medina in 2005, but that collaboration fell through. Although I left myself open to the idea of doing another show, nothing really piqued my interest, and no one was begging me to play.

So now I'm leaping back into it with Camelot, actually music directing rather than merely playing. We'll see how much I do after this. The sheer time commitment (with no pay) of Schoolhouse Rock Live kind of soured my motivation for theatre (well, that, and my grandpa was in ill health, and I was planning to go see him once the show opened, but he passed away right before opening weekend), but I'm sort of past that now.

robertson on the fritz again

My ol' buddy is at it again: Pat Robertson draws viewers, but pastors say his remarks make Christians look bad.

In the past, Robertson has called for the assassination of a political leader and predicted tsunamis, but last week, he said God spoke to him and revealed that a massive terrorist strike would happen in the United States in late 2007.

"It's downright embarrassing," said Todd Spitzer, pastor at Regeneration in Oakland and Dolores Park Church in San Francisco. "When he makes these statements and ties God's name to it, he's like the self-proclaimed spokesman for God and evangelical Christianity. It's an obstacle to us when we want to present a reasonable faith."

I addressed the Chávez issue back in August of 2005.

what is there to do in cleveland?

It's an adage probably as old as Ohio itself: There's nothing to do here!! This was a popular phrase when I was a kid, and it always made me wonder if the kids in Sandusky were just as bored as us, what with Cedar Point being right in their hometown. Do kids in Manhattan gripe about their ennui-filled weekends even though they live in the largest city in the U.S.? (And besides, I thought Kids Today™ just watched TV all the time; at least, that's what the baby boomers say.)

I don't hear this as much now as an adult, but maybe that's just because we have busier schedules. We have spouses and friends and can drive to go out with them, unlike kids. College students in Bowling Green sometimes opined about the lack of entertainment value the city held, but those feelings quickly disappeared once they realized they could get just as drunk with their friends in their dorm room and wouldn't have to worry about driving.

I like many things about the Cleveland area, and it's not just the comfort of familiarity. My view is that, while I can't rattle off a list of things that would necessarily spur someone to pack up their bags and move here (like I could New York City), that doesn't mean there aren't places to go or things to do. Rolling hills and hiking trails and state parks are by no means unique to Ohio, but the point is, we do have them. I'm sure lots of cities have their specialty shops and locally-renowned restaurants, but guess what! So do we! Besides, how much free time does a person really have anyway? Do some laundry, for crying out loud. Or post to a blog twice in one day. :)

And good luck finding a closet-sized studio apartment for over $1,000 around here.

Don't get me wrong: NYC is great, and the difference is that you can just walk down the streets of Manhattan and discover new restaurants, shops, coffeehouses, etc.; you don't necessarily have to seek them out like you might here. But on the other hand, while NYC was fun to visit, living there would about drive me batty, and that's assuming I didn't collapse from an anxiety attack first.

On that note, today I discovered an old blog maintained by one "Mrs. H": Cleveland Love Letter. Mrs. H and her husband moved from Los Angeles ("LA LA land") to Cleveland, and this blog chronicles the various eateries and activities they've found in the metropolitan area. Unfortunately, she's no longer updating it, but the archive is worth reading.

The "Mistake on the Lake" is no more a mistake than Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, or Casper, Wyoming. Cleveland doesn't have to be New York or LA, nor do I think it needs to emulate them in every respect. We should focus on what we do have and work to preserve and improve them, rather than just throwing our hands in the air and saying, There's nothing to do here!! Our reputation as a meaningless, jobless city whose state is only notable every four years in the presidential election is bad enough, without its own residents being self-loathing sadsacks to make it worse. :)

negativity quiz

Here's a fun twist on the "quiz" theme: things I don't like.

My most hated...

BEVERAGE: Beer! Any and all kinds from any and all countries of origin. If I'm going to have something alcoholic, it had better have something sweet in it.

COLOR: Avocado, goldenrod, and sweet potato (or whatever they called that orange ugliness from the '60s/'70s).

TOWN/CITY: Oh come on, this is just asking for trouble. Undoubtedly, someone will be searching Yahoo for "[name of whatever city I say I hate]" and rip me a new one in the blog comments. Regardless, I can't really think of any cities I particularly dislike. Perhaps if I left the area more often I could think of a few.

MOVIE: The Fifth Element. I've watched it several times in the hopes that there was just something I didn't "get." That may still be the case, but nonetheless it remains one of the four movies on my Netflix list to get 2/5 stars.

ASPECT OF BLOGGER: I hate when comments get "stuck" and don't show up until the blog is republished again. Hopefully the new version fixes this.

ANIMAL: Snakes! Oh wait, that was Indiana Jones. Um, I'm not a fan of worms. Nasty slimy dirty things. And you're never quite sure just what they're up to.

SEASON: I do get tired of the snow after about January 15th, but spring almost annoys me more, what with its raging mood swings. If we could just have the April showers and May flowers, it would be fine, yet here in Cleveland we're stuck with floods on Good Friday and snowstorms on Easter morning. Kids walk to school in thick coats in 40 degree weather, but walk home in shirtsleeves in 70 degree weather. And the flowers would be pretty if they didn't get nipped by the frost and drenched in the rain. Everything about spring is a muddy, soppy mess. Stupid spring.

TALKING ON THE PHONE: Grammar check: "My most hated talking on the phone"? I hate talking on the phone when I'm right in the middle of my one hour of TV-watching a week and don't have a tape in the VCR at the ready.

WATCHING TV OR MOVIES: "My most hated watching TV or movies." Uh, sure. I like them both just fine.

EATING IN RESTAURANTS: I know I'm a picky eater, but I'm only picky when every single dish contains mayonnaise or hot spices. How about a little variety, folks? There's no law requiring onions and peppers to be in every frickin' entree.

SHOWERING: What do I hate about showering? What kind of question is this? I guess I dislike having to do it at all, because that's time I could be sleeping. But maybe that's because I shower every day, including Saturdays.

DATING: Heh, I probably have no room to talk, but what I hate about dating is that it's more complicated than most people are willing to admit.

THE BEACH: The bed of zebra mussel shells lining Lake Erie. {{crrrunch!!}}

THE GROCERY STORE: How I can never find anything quickly when I just need a few items and it takes 30 minutes to spend $5.00. And it's only $5.00 because I don't have a Super Ultra Platinum Preferred Shopper PriceChopper Card™.

HOUSEHOLD CHORE: Ironing. It looks so easy, but somehow my mom gets the wrinkles out without making new ones, in about half the time it takes me.

HABIT IN OTHERS? Unwillingness to be flexible and go with the flow in situations where "ME ME ME" really isn't that important. There's a difference between assertiveness and a persecution complex.

HABIT OF YOURS? Time wasted reading Wikipedia.

THING ABOUT WOMEN? It's kinda hard to lump the entire female sex into one group. In that regard, I get annoyed with statements that go like, "Bryan, as a guy, what do you think about X" or "If a woman did X, how would you respond, as a guy?" Because, you know, I'm such a typical male.

THING ABOUT MEN? Many guys seem to think that everyone who speaks to them is really asking for unsolicited advice. Sometimes you're just making a quip, or just thinking out loud, or just need to vent, and don't need someone telling you why you're categorically wrong about everything.

I'll continue. The other thing I've noticed in a lot of men is that they tend to get really cocky when they get in shape. They can't just be satisfied with themselves losing weight or building muscle; they have to make sure you know they did it, and that they could crack your skull in right now if they wanted to (illustration courtesy of Schutze ;) ), and that you're a fat slob who will die on your 40th birthday if you don't go to the gym at least thrrrrrice weekly. Or if you're a stick, that you should be pumping iron at the gym and they could snap you in half right now if they wanted to. These guys generally calm down after they fatten up again -- which they usually do, once real life gets in the way of their workout time.

WHAT'S ANNOYING YOU TODAY? I have a cold. I started taking Cold Eeze a few days ago, so hopefully it won't be too bad.

aught-6 in review

It was a neat little exercise doing this quiz last year, so I thought I'd rehash it for '06.

1) What did you do in 2006 that you'd never done before?
I went to Geauga Lake. I will probably be going more in '07 since I bought a Cedar Fair Maxx Pass, which will let me in to any CF park.

2) Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more?
As mentioned before, I feel NYRs are a waste of time unless you feel particularly inspired and motivated by the calendar moving to a new number. However, I do hope to accomplish several things in 2007 that are perhaps not blogworthy material at the moment (or at least, that's my way of weasling out of telling you what they are :) ).

3) Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes! Laurie gave birth to Chloe on April 4th. I'm now "Uncle Bryan." Awwww.

4) Did anyone close to you die?
I'm going to feel like a total yutz if I'm wrong, but I don't recall anyone close to me passing away. Parents of friends, co-workers, and co-churchers, yes.

5) What countries did you visit?
Never crossed the border once in 2006. I think I saw Canada on a clear day at the lake though.

6) What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006?
Interestingly, my response last year was, "An income high enough that I can afford to live on my own." Well, as of August, I now have that, but my job outlook is such that I think moving out right now would be an unwise maneuver. Since I get along with my parents, I don't really have a problem living here, and it has its advantages, but I'd still prefer to have my own living space. So I guess that would be my "like to have" for 2007.

7) What date from 2006 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
It's kinda funny what dates you remember and which ones you don't. I distinctly recall that my Hosanna! violin/piano concert was April 5th, and that Chloe was born a day before that. I can't say any other dates really stick out in my mind, other than March 5th, the day we saw Spamalot and Avenue Q in New York, which was also my first experience seeing a Broadway show.

8) What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I certainly did plenty of fun and interesting things in 2006, but nothing really says "great big ol' achievement" to me. I formulated a concept for my comic strip, Sinkwad, but haven't made much progress on it since this summer. I landed an interview with a great company in Westlake, but was not offered a position. I finally bought a digital piano and all the necessary gig equipment, but that's not really an "achievement" per se. Uhh... I didn't get cancer again? I'll go with that one.

9) What was your biggest failure?
Heh, I'll say the same thing I did last year: "Allowing too many small projects to work their way into my schedule at the sacrifice of larger projects, and allowing larger projects to work their way into my schedule at the sacrifice of smaller projects." It's easy to let things slip when you don't have deadlines.

10) Did you suffer illness or injury?
2006 was a surprisingly healthy year. My eyeglass prescription hasn't changed, I didn't have any new cavities in my teeth, I feel no differently now than I did pre-Hodgkin's, and I even had fewer, shorter, and less severe colds than I usually do. Hurrah.

11) What was the best thing you bought?
Aha, here's where the new piano fits in! What a marvelous piece of equipment that instrument is.

12) Whose behavior merited celebration?
The voters of Ohio on 11/7. In my humble opinion, of course.

13) Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
I've been unhappy with some things at work, but I don't know that "appalled" or "depressed" really describes the reaction. Let's just say that most of the things described in this post have not been properly resolved, now five months later, and have (predictably) led to other problems.

14) Where did most of your money go?
The single largest purchase was the digital piano; as far as general categories of spending, I'm not sure.

15) What did you get really, really, really excited about?
New York City was pretty exciting, especially since we a) didn't have to stay in a closet-sized hotel room, and b) had Stuart as our tour guide.

16) What song will always remind you of 2006?
This is a convoluted answer but... "And I Am Telling You" from Dreamgirls. Why? Well, Cedar Point had this "Divine Divas" show this summer that I saw. Their opening was the title song from Dreamgirls, and it stuck in my head for some reason. I now subscribe to Sirius satellite radio, and the Broadway channel plays "And I Am Telling You" with some frequency. So now, even though that song wasn't in the Divine Divas show, I associate it with going to Cedar Point this summer. Hey, I told you it was convoluted. I don't control my subconscious.

17) Compared to this time last year, are you:
happier or sadder – about the same; I suppose I am happier in some ways.
older or wiser – obviously I'm older, and until I contract amnesia, I will undoubtedly be wiser.
thinner or fatter? – exactly the same, and happy with it (you can stone me now).
richer or poorer? – richer, in monetary terms.

18) What do you wish you'd done more of?
I wish I had worked more on my comic strip.

19) What do you wish you'd done less of?
Chewing on my fingers. That will probably be true for the rest of my life.

20) How did you spend Christmas?
Christmas breakfast, then presents, then dinner, then a frustrating game of Apples to Apples. Then I had trouble falling asleep because I was worrying about work and my taking a vacation day on the 26th. Then I showed up Wednesday and found that my anxiety was all for naught. Oh, to have a time machine.

21) Question 21 was mysteriously missing last year. After googling, it appears it was supposed to be "How will you be spending New Year's Eve?" Kinda pointless question since by definition this quiz should be taken after New Year's. I went to the Landeses and we enjoyed cocktail shrimp and cheese fondue and watched Happy New Year, Charlie Brown!

22) Did you fall in love in 2006?
Interestingly, my response for 2005 also applies to 2006, I think: "Ooh, isn't that a juicy question. I might tell you all some day, but not today." The difference is that I actually went on dates with the 2005 person, whereas 2006... {mutter mutter trail off} If you couldn't guess, my love life is not exactly high on my list of blog topics, what with it being public and ranked so high in Yahoo searches. But it's not really something I'm going to talk about in private either, so don't get your hopes up. :)

23) How many one-night stands?
Just like I said last year: "Never had one and I intend to keep it that way."

24) What was your favorite TV program?
Family Guy still ranks up there. I've been watching a lot of Jeopardy! this year too.

25) Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Can't say that I do. I can't really think of many people I "hate" (as opposed to dislike, prefer not to associate with, etc.) anyway.

26) What was the best book you read?
Thinking back... I don't recall having finished any of the books I read, other than Holes by Louis Sachar.

27) What was your greatest musical discovery?
Does Sirius satellite radio count?

28) What did you want and get?
Department of Redundancy Department, line one. The digital piano.

29) What did you want and not get?
That job in Westlake.

30) What was your favorite film of this year?
I can't believe this, but as far as I can recall, the only movie I saw in a theater in 2006 was Dreamgirls, and that was just two days ago. Everything else has been through Netflix, most of which were new to me: Gladiator, The Truman Show, Pleasantville, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Master and Commander, Saving Private Ryan, Lorenzo's Oil, Jerry Maguire, The Game, Groundhog Day, and the Cube trilogy were all new to me and received a rating of four out of five stars from me.

31) What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Ah, 26. I took a vacation day off work as always. Had a job interview in the morning at the aforementioned awesome company with the slide in the lobby. Drove home in the pouring rain feeling confident and self-motivated. It was kinda nice. Had our usual family get-together with cake and ice cream that evening.

32) What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Department of Redundancy Department, when you're done with question 28, line two is for you. Getting that job would have changed many things in my life.

33) How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2006?
I addressed this in September, and it still holds true. I'm wearing more dark red and purple with dark blue. I seem to also be drifting toward "bold" colors like neon green and yellow, as indicated by my new Charlie Brown zig-zag shirt.

34) What kept you sane?
The knowledge that, even though I have desires and unaccomplished goals, my life really isn't that bad, and that I could be far worse off.

35) Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Paul Hackett probably ranks up there. Judging by how the Democrats so easily won the races in Ohio on 11/7, in retrospect, I think he could have beat DeWine. It's a sad shame that he appears to be leaving politics after such a brief stint.

36) What political issue stirred you the most?
Well, I did speak at some length regarding the proposed smoking bans. There are probably others, but that's the one that comes to mind.

37) Who did you miss?
Dee, Gregg, Lisa Marie, the other taco nighters I hardly see anymore!

38) Who was the best new person you met?
I met a few new people in 2006, but not anyone I know well enough to label "best."

39) Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006:
"Life is too short to work for crazy people." Quote courtesy of Teresa K.

40) Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
Once again I'll quote Avenue Q:

What do you do
with a B.A. in English?
What is my life going to be?

Four years of college,
and plenty of knowledge
have earned me this useless degree.

I can't pay the bills yet,
'cuz I have no skills yet.
The world is a big, scary place.

Yet somehow I can't shake
the feeling I might make
a diff'rence, to the human race.