It hasn't been announced yet, but I will be thankful when this guy returns to Smash.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

First up, the Pack. It's not surprising at all that expectations for the Pack have been low this season. With Fazekas and Sessions gone, there was no experience left to fill those gaps. True, the Sweet 16 team didn't have experience either—that's what made them cinderellas. However, the loss to UCF could confirm the Pack's impending NIT berth.

Nonetheless, Sneddon seems happy. We'll see how far Northern Nevadan optimism can take the Pack.

On the politics front, the Gleaner has launched a campaign against any Dems that refuse to regulate the mining industry. He jumped Shelley Berkeley's shit earlier for voting with 'Publicans. Horrors! Now he's parodying Harry Reid as Goldmember.

Let's take a step backwards: some of you may not know what's going on with mining law reform. Most of you don't care, but for the sake of this post, let's just assume you do.

A few weeks ago, the House passed H.R. 2262, also known as the Rahall Mining Law Reform. It did many things, like set up a new list of environmental regulations, lands closed to mine claims, an abandoned mines land reclamation system, and, most egregiously, an 8% royalty.

(It's called a royalty, not a tax, because valuable underground minerals are traditionally the property of the sovereign—thus, those who profit from it pay the sovereign a royalty, rather than a tax.)

Best of all, the Gleaner cited in his blog his own article in the CityNews. That seems douchey to me.

Yes, as I've said before, NEVADA's federal lawmakers support MINING. If this is shocking to you, perhaps you should get out of the Las Vegas Valley for a while. See some other parts of the state. Talk to those "hicks" in Ely. Oh yeah, this may come as a shock as well, but NEVADA's federal lawmakers also support the CULINARY UNION, and GAMING.

Lawmakers from CALIFORNIA support the FILM INDUSTRY, too.

And lawmakers from CONNECTICUT support the INSURANCE industry.

*sigh*

The folks at the next table are reading their poli sci exam questions and all I wanna do is answer 'em. Gawd, I've gotta go back to school and quick.

Tonite: LOLpresidents!

And my personal fave:

"I have sworn on the altar of God eternal hostility against all forms of tyranny over the mind of man." --Thomas Jefferson

Despite everything, this week turned out to be an awesome week after all. And, of course, it was not awesome in the way I'd expected it to be awesome. It was self-defined awesome.

I have not come up with a good explanation for why I've been so dead set on not hitting on women. Somewhere between my last fling / almost-relationship and now, I decided that I would not hit on any women. (I didn't really fulfill that committment, but I have been rather... inactive.)

For some reason, I decided that I would wait for the Right Woman to hit on me. I live in modern times. I'm attractive. I deserve to be pursued.

Except, I have been hit on. I have been pursued. It's just that I have either not been paying attention or caught on too late. So, plainly I've just been distracted.

I want to be in a relationship, but I apparently lack the compulsion to make one happen.

Why is that?

I felt my first real cold of Washington tonight.

I had just finished watching The Hunt for Red October when I went to the front door to lock up for the night. I felt the air come up to me, something very different from the warmth of the indoors. At first I considered locking up, as per my plan, and letting the sensation be forgotten in sleep. Instead, I took the opportunity. I went outside.

Why this is so, I don't know: I love the winter. I strongly dislike the summer. In the biting atmosphere I can actually feel how alive I am. My nose runs. My chest shivers. I grow confident of my prowess, like a warrior or a lover.

When I conquer the world, it will snow.

Mostly stolen from someone else

- You say "Hella."
- Wearing purple and silver is a fashion statement.
- You correct SoCalers who refer to freeways as "the 5" or "the 80." There's no "the"!
- You've ever explained to someone that "Sac" is not innuendo.
- You've ever, ever, EVER used the words "Sacto" or "Sactown" in conversation.
- You know that not everyone in California surfs.
- When out of state, people think you're a valley girl/gangsta. When in L.A., people think you're a hick.
- You swear there was an open field there last week...
- You're STILL bitter about Game 6.
- Alternatively, you still discuss the virtues of the "Hack a Shaq" strategy.
- You cared about Tower Records closing.
- You know that Tom Hanks is from Sac and went to Sac State.
- You know what "The Pocket" is, but you probably don't know anybody from there.
- You remember not going to school because of flood days.
- You were in your 20s before you learned that "Jesuit" is more than just a high school.
- You get Rush Limbaugh's Rio Linda jokes.
- You remember when there was nothing around Arco.
- A "quick" run to the grocery store takes an hour.
- You've never been inside the Capitol, but you've driven by it a buncha times.
- You have friends in Roseville or Davis and you can only visit them at night because of the traffic.
- The Split, the Marconi Curve, the American River Curve, and the W-X are, always have been, and always will be, on "Biz 80."

Anyone else seen the ads for this new phone from Helio? Apparently, it sends your pics and videos directly to Flickr and YouTube.

A cellphone that sends its images directly to the Tubes. I'll let that sink in.

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Oh yes. This is a disaster/Godsend.