my reaction to Virginia election results: meh

First my Anaheim Angels lost the ALCS.  Then my Hokies lost two games in a row.  THEN my Trojans lost to Oregon in the most embarrassing game I've ever witnessed.  By the time Creigh Deeds (D) lost the election for Virginia Governor my reaction was meh*.

Unlike the mass hysteria that infected conservatives when Obama was elected a year ago (OMG Virginia is now blue therefore a communist state, OMG we've just elected a Muslim terrorist, OMG we have a baby killer as president), I will gracefully admit defeat.  The Dems lost fair and square.  There's no conspiracy, no right wing effort to keep the poor from voting, no excuse. 

Yesterday, I had to convince my boyfriend to vote.  Why did he not want to vote?  Well, he was sure Bob McDonnell (R and women-hater) would win.  I was all ready to drag him to the polls, but fortunately I was able to convince him that Deeds was not the only Dem who needed our support.  But it bothered me that he didn't really care. 

Not that I blame him.  I didn't feel very personally invested in Deeds' candidacy. 

As much as I enjoy the voting process, the decision to vote for Deeds was--again--kinda meh.  Deeds was not my pick in the primaries; Brian Moran was.  I phone-banked for the guy because I really wanted him to win the nomination.  Sure, he was a long shot, but I supported Moran out of principal--he was the only candidate of the three that vocally opposed the marriage amendment that defined marriage in VA as an arrangement only between a man and a woman.  When Deeds came out of nowhere to win the primary, I was less than enthusiastic.  However, as a loyal Dem, I knew I was going to vote for him (especially, considering the opposition). 

I thought about volunteering for Deeds a couple of times but I wasn't really inspired by him to do anything.  I've been hearing since the campaigning began that the VA and NJ governor's races would be an indication of the public's feelings about Obama thus far.  I didn't so much as THINK about Obama whenever I thought of Deeds and I don't think Deeds loss has anything to do with the President.  Deeds lost because he failed to connect with voters.  He didn't connect with independents and he definitely didn't connect with the base.  I visited a liberal VA blogger's open election day thread yesterday where everyone was posting whom they had voted for.  I was SHOCKED by how many libs didn't even vote for governor.  Sure, they voted for the other candidates but they left the governor slot blank.  Wow.  That's how disconnected we were.

Why the disconnect?  Well, Deeds didn't always represent my interests.  In the second debate, Deeds actually said he would consider "opting out" of any public option for health insurance, even though polls in Virginia showed that the majority of Democrats and Independents want a public option.  Who was Deeds representing with that statement?  The GOP?  As the Dem candidate?  It's statements like that (or the one where he told a reporter that he was going to do good in Richmond because people like him there) that caused a disconnect with the base. 

Still, I voted for Deeds but my vote was not so much FOR HIM as it was AGAINST MCDONNELL.  The man makes my feminist blood boil.

I hate to be selfish but I'm so grateful to live in the liberal enclave that is Arlington (sorry, rest of Virginia).  It's going to be a long 4 years but I hope that McDonnell doesn't f*ck up the state too badly (if he is as great a governor as Schwarzenegger then Virginia is doomed). 

Oh and good luck trying to widen 66 inside the beltway, McDonnell.  It's a 10-year-old battle but I'll to be happy to join the protest against your initiative.  

*Meh--"The verbal equivalent of a shrug of the shoulders." (definition courtesy of Urban Dictionary)

same ol' crap, different era

Depression Era, people lined up for bread

 

source: nps.gov

2009, people lined up for free health care in L.A.

source: latimes.com

And for those of you who think only undocumented immigrants need health care (not sure how you can tell from that photo that the brown-skinned people aren't citizens)...

2009, people lined up for free health care in rural Virginia

source: prwatch.org

my introduction to virginia's eastern shore

Two weekends ago, Jesse and I went to the Hampton Roads area to watch his nephew play in a basketball tournament. When we weren't watching games, we were exploring the area and one of the places we explored was the Eastern shore.

I don't hear much about VA's Eastern shore as I do Maryland's Eastern shore and I was told there really isn't much there. But I saw on the map that there was a wildlife preserve which I really wanted to see and we had time to kill so we went.

One of the first things we did after crossing the Chesapeake Bay (by the way, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel is scary and incredibly long...it may be longer than the bridge over Lake Pontchartrain which is also scarily long) was go to the preserve. We didn't get to see much wildlife, but we did get to see a turtle that was slowly crossing the road. Unfortunately, Jesse drove right over it, not noticing it was there. Poor little turtle. The tragedy of its death nearly ruined the experience of the visit for me. In fact, I'm getting all sad over it right now as I type this.

At the suggestion of the volunteer at the preserve, we explored Cape Charles, which is a town on the Eastern shore with a nice, quiet beach. I really liked the tranquility and small town feel of the place, which was very family friendly.

We spent so much time doing both of these things that, by the time we left Cape Charles, we had to head back to meet Jesse's family for dinner. I was bummed because I really wanted to go to Chincoteague for obvious reasons but we decided that it was best to go another time when we weren't so rushed.

 

  

  

  

  

  

 

christmas '08: a tale of two orange counties

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday this year! This year, enjoying Christmas seemed to be a daunting task at first, but in the end, I think I was able to pull it out.

This year, we had a pre-Christmas celebration in Orange County, CA with my family. On Christmas Day, we celebrated with Jesse's family in Orange County, VA. Although the two locations couldn't be more different, the end results were similar: both were settings for two different families to get together, eat some delicious food, and open some cool gifts.

image courtesy of orangecountyva.gov

image courtesy of cpec.ca.gov
Yup, the OC is that little piece of land between LA and San Diego.

Although my brother and his family didn't make it to our OC, CA Xmas, my mom, sis, Jesse and I had a wonderful time partaking in family traditions despite their absence. Namely, these traditions consisted of spending the day making tamales, anxiously awaiting for tamales to be cooked, eating said tamales (which were delicious and, yes, we brought some home and, no, we are not sharing) and then opening presents. It was nice that it was just the four of us. Because of the intimate setting, there was no craziness or drama and Jesse and my family were able to interact more and get to know each other even better.

image from http://www.whatweareeating.com/

It was sad to leave my mom and sis on Christmas Eve, but I was grateful to be headed back home to see my fur babies. We had NEVER left them for so long. We came home to find two crying (for attention) kitties. Nicky wouldn't stop yelling at me and Gracie was all over Jesse, wrapping herself around his legs, keeping him from getting around the condo. Oh I missed them so!

The next day was Christmas and Jesse's family decided to celebrate at his aunt's house in Germanna, VA (which is in the other OC). Normally, the family tradition is a Christmas brunch but this year, Jesse's aunt decided to try something new and cook Chinese (when I told one of my Jewish friends about this choice of Christmas cuisine, she replied, "Hey, that's what I eat for Christmas!") So we had noodles and shrimp with brocoli for lunch (which, as much as I love tamales, was a nice break from eating tamales for breakfast, lunch, and dinner). After the meal, we opened presents and my gift to Jesse garnered much attention (yes, I'm bragging a bit).

I managed to get Jesse a Wii, which he had not been expecting. This means I finally managed to surprise him which is never an easy feat. He was really happy with the Wii, but probably not as happy as his 10-year-old nephew Chauncey, who got a Wii last Christmas from Santa. Chauncey was so excited, he couldn't stop talking about how cool the Wii is (you can hook your iPod to it!!!) and how he had to be 'friends' with him so they could play together (you have to tell me who you are so we can play together when we're online!!!). Jesse is really a big kid at heart, so seeing his nephew get all excited for him was pretty heart warming for me (and Jesse too).

Once we got home from Orange County, VA, we hooked up the Wii and Jesse played for hours. Despite my hatred for video games (except Bioshock on XBox 360), I have to admit that I kinda enjoyed playing the Wii too.

So...how was your Christmas?

college football recap: if only we'd move up in every bye week

It was kind of a big weekend in college football even if USC didn't play. The funny thing is, despite this break in play, USC moved up one spot in the latest BCS rankings. According to some people who live and breathe this stuff, USC has a 30% chance of playing in the BCS. Of course, we've got to beat Notre Lame and the bRuins (and the stars have to align perfectly too). Normally, I'd add some snarky little remark about how easy it should be to beat the Irish and fUCLA this year, but I've learned not to underestimate our opponent (see Stanford in 2007, Oregon State in 2006, 2008).

On to the good stuff...

• Thank you, Oklahoma. The #5 Sooners pounded on the Red Raiders of Texas Tech, 65-21, essentially murking up the BCS pool even more. I'm all for more added confusion because the more confusion there is, the greater the argument for a playoff is. And I want a playoff, darn it! And our future president does too! Make it happen, NCAA.

• In Happy Valley, everything's coming up roses. #8 Penn State killed #15 Michigan State to earn a trip to Pasadena for the Rose Bowl. Let the JoePa retirement rumors begin. Actually, I kinda like the guy. I've never heard a bad thing about him and he's clearly a good coach. I say, let him stay for as long as God wants him to coach. And if USC makes it to the Rose Bowl, I think it would make for a great match up. I doubt Nittany Lion fans are looking forward to playing the Beavs of Oregon State.

• In a game that made me oh-so-very-happy, the Tiger cubs of LSU got steam rolled by Ole Miss. Yes, you heard that right. Ole Miss beat LSU, 31-13. The best part was that this loss was in front of a home crowd in Baton Rouge. Like Nelson from The Simpons would say, "HA HA."

• OREGON STATE WATCH: In a game that made me oh-so-very-IRRITATED, Arizona couldn't seal the deal against Oregon State, allowing for a last second field goal that lifted the Beavs over the Wildcats, 19-17. Ugh. It's all up to Oregon now. And you bet I'll be watching the Civil War game with much interest this year.

• Virginia Tech, on the other hand, beat Duke as expected, 14-3. What wasn't expected was the fact that my man Tyrod Taylor had a really bad game, throwing 2 picks and going 2-for-5 in passing attempts. Thankfully, Duke isn't exactly a tough opponent and the Hokies made due with Sean Glennon as QB. And thanks to the parity in the ACC, Virginia Tech can clinch the ACC Coastal Division title with a win over rival UVa this weekend.

Up next for the Hokies is UVa. USC hosts Notre Lame.

Also, tomorrow's post is the annual Thanksgiving Day list so you don't wanna miss that!

tales from the obama campaign front lines: male PUMAs? they do exist!

Last week, I volunteered again for the Obama campaign. Latinos for Obama volunteer night is on Tuesdays and because of my work schedule, I had not been able to participate before. But I was free last Tuesday, so I walked into the Arlington office hoping to put my Spanish language skills to good use.

I worked the phone bank again. As I was getting my assignment, I saw NotFunny from my first volunteer experience and we greeted each other like old friends. Between my first volunteer experience and my latest, I noticed that much had changed. First off, there were a lot more people available to canvass. Secondly, there were tons more volunteers! The phone bank had tripled in size and every phone was manned by a volunteer. This was definitely an encouraging development. And the diversity of the volunteers was inspiring. It was so wonderful to see people from all different backgrounds and ages and skills coming together to help elect Obama and turn VA blue!

My job that night was to call likely voters (most of them were Spanish-only speakers) and determine who they were leaning towards voting for. Of all the calls I made, only 3 people were voting for McCain and those who had already decided to vote for Obama felt very strongly about doing so (I spoke to lots of Undecideds). I sat and listened to a few women going on and on about how McCain is just like Bush and how upset they are about Palin and how she's significantly set back the feminist movement. I could completely relate to how they were feeling and encouraged them to put their anger to good use by volunteering or donating to the campaign.

Of the three McCain supporters, only one of them was nice to me (one of them hung up on me after telling me she was voting for McCain and the other one said in Spanish, "I could never vote for a Black man.") He was a Democrat, originally from Arizona, and a former Hillary supporter. He explained how he had been a lifelong Dem and was pulling for Hillary during the primaries and was disappointed when she ended her campaign. The PUMA said, "You know, Obama hasn't really convinced me to vote for him, so I'm going to vote for McCain." In the background while he was explaining his position, I could hear someone chanting, "McCain sucks!" I wasn't sure what was going on.

The PUMA explained, "You might want to talk to my wife though. She's voting for Obama." She wasn't on my phone list, but I asked the PUMA to put her on the phone. PUMA's wife got on the phone and, before I could say anything, began to go on a rant about how McCain is just like Bush and Palin is a complete joke. I patiently listened to her rant (as I've been known to go off on plenty of my own) and didn't say a word until she asked me, "Why are you calling here again?" I told her I was an Obama campaign volunteer and I was just doing some surveys. At this, PUMA's wife got really excited. "I'm so happy you're doing this!" she said. "We've got to make sure Virginia goes to Obama." I assured her that there were many like-minded individuals who were fighting the good fight and I encouraged her to join in either by volunteering or donating. She responded, "You know what? I'm going to donate right now!  And maybe I can still convince my husband."

I can't tell you enough how rewarding it is to volunteer for the campaign. I've met many passionate individuals who feel the same way I do that change is really what America needs right now and the REAL candidate for change is Obama.

As we're going into the home stretch (4 weeks left until election day!), things are going to get ugly. The McSame/Vagina campaign has already announced that they intend to attack Obama's character over the next 4 weeks (Palin already did so by linking Obama to terrorists this past weekend, using the politics of fear tactics perfected by Karl Rove and his chronies) in order to distract voters from the real issues. I honestly hope that Americans can see through the ruse.

Still, nothing is going to stop me from volunteering for the campaign again. In fact, I just might face my fears head on and actually canvass the neighborhoods this weekend. Wish me luck!

college football recap: two weeks of college football in one post!

Well, peeps, because of the Labor Day holiday (and the fact that I was traveling), I did not write last Monday which means today you get two recaps in one post.

Lucky you.

Let's start with last week. I promised you pics from the USC/UVA game and here they are:

Loot from the pre-game rally in DC


The Best Band in the History of the Universe plays for the local alums:


Here's Nicky distracting us from getting ready for the game. I had to tell him several times that pom poms are not for consumption.


Scott Stadium in the first quarter:

Notice the full house of orange.

Scott Stadium after the first quarter (once USC was up by 3 TDs):

I call this photo 'The Great Orange Flight'.

The reason why fans left so early:

The scoreboard speaks the truth.  USC 52, UVa 7.  Yup, a blood bath. Just as I predicted.

The USC football team showing the fans some love:


The happy (yet incredibly hot, sweaty, and sticky) Trojans!


The post game performance from the USC band:

Yes, that would be the Trojan faithful shouting, "Beat the Buckeyes" at the beginning of the video.  We're very forward thinking.

The band was nice enough to escort us back to the parking lots:


What can I say about this game other than UVa was clearly overmatched? Their only score of the game occurred because of USC's defense committing two bonehead penalties. We literally gave them the score. Still, our offense was amazing (not sure what Al Groh was thinking when he decided to just use 3 linemen on USC QB Mark Sanchez) and our defense was just too fast for the Wahoos.

The Hokies were a different story.

Sadly, VT lost their opener to East Carolina, who just so happened to be named this season's Cinderella story after also beating #8 WVU. Why did the Hokies lose? Well, maybe because most of their starters had never played a college game before. Or maybe because the offense still hasn't gotten it together. Or maybe it was Sean Glennon starting his season with an intercepted pass FOR THE SECOND SEASON IN A ROW. WTF, Beamer. You redshirted Tyrod Taylor for this?

Sometime between the first and second weekend of college football, USC jumped 3 spots and became the new #1. I'd like to thank UVa for playing like a 1-AA team instead of a team from a BCS conference. Apparently opening the season with an opponent from a BCS conference instead of a cupcake team like Youngstown State earns you some brownie points with voters. Still, a #1 ranking now doesn't matter. What matters is being #1 at the very end.

The most surprising game this weekend was Washington vs. BYU. A last minute comeback was thwarted when an official called an excessive celebration penalty on QB Jake Locker, who ran a couple of yards to get the supposed-game tying touchdown. There was no penalty there. Jake tossed the ball away in order to celebrate the impressive TD drive with his teammates and a flag was thrown. Instead of taking the penalty on the kickoff, the yardage was added to the point after attempt. Apparently the drama got to the kicker whose kick was then blocked by the BYU defense. Ugh. Very poor officiating in my opinion and the Pac-10 ref who made the call should be fined or something. Just let the boys play, dude. Who knows what would've happened had there been an OT?

In Hokie news, Virginia Tech played Furhman (sp? also, mascot?) and won, naturally. Glennon and Taylor shared playing time. Woo hoo!

USC rested this past weekend and should be in top form for the Ohio State game this weekend. Fight on, b*tches! Bring on the Buckeyes!

with college football around the corner, my smack talking gene has activated

In two days, the state of Virginia will host the greatest college football team to ever play in the Old Dominion State: the Trojans of USC. On Saturday, USC opens its season by playing UVa in Charlottesville in what is sure to be a blood bath. And the funny thing is that the Wahoos know it too, considering the number of donor/alumni tickets that are being sold on Stubhub.com.

Quite possibly the best thing about this season for the #3/#4 Trojans is not being ranked #1 (that honor has been bestowed on Georgia). As a fan, being a pre-season #1 is kinda nerve racking, especially since pre-season polls mean crap (anyone else remember how high Michigan was ranked before losing to App State to start the 2007 season? FIVE). And Georgia has a tough schedule ahead of them so who knows if they'll end up on top? Still, it's nice that the Trojans are playing with a little less pressure than usual.

Still, we've got a good shot at going the distance, especially since all of our hardest games are being played at home this year (insert sigh of relief here). That doesn't mean we don't have our challenges. Our first one would be Ohio State on September 13th (my apologies to UVa fans). Although I don't make predictions, I expect USC to lose one game this year and it WON'T be to Ohio State. In the Pac-10, Oregon might try to play the spoiler as well as ASU. And then there's UCLA, who thinks they're going to turn things around this year, what with a new coach and our exoffensive coordinator.

The bRUINS placed a laughable ad in the LA Times recently:

 

image courtesy of latimes.com 

And the Wizofodds created the best comeback.

 

image courtesy of thewizofodds.com 

Despite our challenges this season, USC has a standout defense that is sure to help us win games. Our quarterback and receiving corp situations may need some working out, but it's all good. UVa will be a great opponent to work out all the kinks with and we should be ready for the Buckeyes in a couple of weeks.

Speaking of challenges, #14 Virginia Tech has lost a number of starters to graduation or the NFL so they're in a bit of a bind. Fortunately, the Hokies have quite an easy schedule this year, playing the likes of Furman and Western Kentucky (that away game at Boston College could pose a problem). VA Tech is sure to have an awesome defense as that is what they are known for. But the Hokie offense is still a big question mark. The only question that has been answered is, 'who will start at QB'? Unfortunately, that honor was bestowed upon Sean Glennon.

My dislike for Glennon has long been mentioned on this blog. The boy can't scramble to save his life (literally) and has made many errors, costing his team the victory in crucial games. With the less-than-stellar offensive line that the Hokies had last year (which seemed most exposed against LSU early last season), the tandem combination of Sean Glennon and true freshman Tyrod Taylor (with athletic abilities that Glennon can only dream of) seeemed to confuse defenses in the second half of last season and led to VA Tech's Orange Bowl appearance. However, Taylor's been redshirted this season (I suppose Coach Beamer is thinking of the future) and Glennon has been given the ok to start. Ugh.

You can count on this blog reporting all of Glennon's mistakes.

Other stuff you can count on:

• My attendance at the USC/UVa game (with pictures!), Virginia Tech/GA Tech game, and the VA Tech/Nebraska game in Cornhusker country.

• Monday reports on all of the games that mattered

• My constantly talking about how great USC is

I'm excited that college football is starting! I can practically smell the pigskin, turkey legs (a Lane Stadium specialty at Hokie home games), and beer spouting from kegs!

if you think it, it will come

This past weekend, Jesse and I headed down to Blacksburg for the momentous battle between the Florida State and Virginia Tech football teams. Before we left for B-burg (as I affectionately call it), Jesse had mentioned that he wasn't sure he was in the mood to hang out and party after the game. And considering how hard those Hokies party, you really just have to be in the mood to do so. So, I offered to drive back after the game if he didn't want to stay. Jesse wanted to wait and see how he felt.

Turns out, it was me who didn't want to stay. This is because I couldn't watch the USC/Cal game anywhere in B-burg. Fine, I get that I was in the middle of SW VA and maybe the sports bars would have to pay to get coverage of a game on the West Coast. Why pay for an important game between two ranked California rivals when you can get the Kansas game for free? However, this is USC/CAL, people. To a Trojan, regardless of rankings, this is an important game. So, Jesse and I had one final option: listen to the game on the radio on the way home.

As we said goodbye to Jesse's friends at River Mill, Beth turned to me after she found out I was driving and said, "Be careful." I looked at her and immediately I thought, Oh right, deer. But she was worried about the trucks. 81 is a major truck route and a two lane highway in both directions. I appreciated her warning, but I was more afraid of deer.

Turns out there were no deer on 81, but there were plenty of trucks driven by sleepy truck drivers who had probably been driving all day and were now randomly swerving into my lane. After several narrow escapes, I was anxious to get to the half way point of our journey. However, by the time we got to Harrisonburg, I was the sleepy one. I wanted to stop and stay at a hotel so badly, but we were already at the half way point and I should just stick it out and go home. I prefer to sleep in my bed anyways.

I was scared awake when we made the transition from 81 to 66. 66 was pitch black. No one else was on the road except for the occasional car every 10-15 minutes. It was scary. And unfortunately for me, a girl who is not used to driving on anything but major roads and city streets, I was deathly afraid of driving from the West end of 66, which is mostly woodsy and/or rural.

The threat of deer was imminent. I could just feel it. I had been thinking about it during the whole drive and I just knew that something was going to happen. Driving by the occasional deer carcass on the side of the road, I prayed that I wouldn't hit a deer.

I've had two encounters with deer on the road. The first was when Jesse and I went to Charlottesville for our first Thanksgiving together. While he was driving me around the neighborhood where he grew up, a deer sauntered directly in front of the car. Since we were driving at a snail's pace, the car was pretty much close to stopping anyways. And no, the deer was not injured. We waited as the deer slowly passed by the car.

My second encounter was not as pleasant. While driving through a woodsy neighborhood at night in Fairfax, the car ahead of me in the distance came to a screeching halt. As I approached the spot where the car came to a halt, I realized why the car had done so--the driver had hit a young deer and in the process had broken his hind legs. My heart broke to a million pieces as I saw the deer try desperately to get up and run away. I slowly drove around the injured deer and hoped that his death would come quickly. I wanted his suffering to end.

I thought of that night as I drove down 66 before dawn early Sunday. And then it happened. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw a deer dart out of the woods and onto the highway. I swerved to miss him and started screaming. "OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD!" I woke up a napping Jesse with my screaming and I put my hand on my heart in a fruitless attempt to calm its rapid beating. I explained to Jesse what happened. Just then, I saw large puddles of blood on the road and finally a fresh deer carcass. I swerved again and my freak out started all over again. Jesse put his hand on my leg in a show of support. I mentally sent him a message: Please take the wheel.

But he didn't. And again, I had to stick it out. But I've decided NEVER to drive home from Blacksburg in the middle of the night again.

i was on ESPN college gameday!

College football started this past weekend (well, on Thursday, technically) and long time readers of this blog know what that means...It's the return of the Monday College Football recap (except today's post is one day late due to the holiday)! If you're not a sports fan, you're welcome to scroll to the end of the recap for the beginning of the normal blog post which is about my weekend in Blacksburg, VA.

However, if you are a sports fan, please read below. Also, this post is cross-posted at my college football blog, i heart mark may.

• First off, LSU played Mississippi State and I wasn't really impressed with the LSU offense at first. Miss. State actually hung in there despite LSU's killer defense. And then, around the 2nd quarter, LSU showed why they are the second-ranked team in the country and began the annihilation that resulted in a 45-0 victory for the Tigers. Over-confident Hokies everywhere started to worry just a bit.

• Holy Crap! All of you who never thought that a Division 1-AA team could never beat a Division 1-A team were proven wrong on Saturday as Michigan suffered an embarrassing loss against Appalachian State (which most TV analysts couldn't even locate on a map...the ESPN guys actually used Google Maps to find it). The Mountaineers were able to seal the victory after blocking a Michigan field goal attempt in the waning seconds of the 4th quarter. This is now Michigan's 3rd loss in 3 games--dating back to November 2006 when Michigan lost to Ohio State (in a game many considered to be the championship game until Florida kicked the Buckeyes' butt in the real championship game) and in January 2007, the Wolverines got their behinds kicked yet again by the 2007 pre-season #1 team in the country, USC. Michigan can kiss that #5 ranking good bye. Also, should Michigan coach Lloyd Carr start looking for a new job?

• Speaking of looking for a new job, Charlie Weis, you're on notice. Notre Dame received a shellacking by Georgia Tech, which is not surprising to anyone except the people of South Bend (and Lou Holtz, who predicted the Irish would win 10 games this season). Mark May's prediction that the Irish would start the season 1-7 is starting to look pretty accurate right now. The team had no offense or defense. I know that it's a rebuilding year and all, but last year was a rebuilding year for USC and we went to the Rose Bowl (and won).

• The Hokies of Virginia Tech had plenty of distractions during Saturday's game in Blacksburg (what with the memorial tribute to the victims of April's shootings and the heavy ESPN presence on campus) but none was more potent than the ECU offense, who managed to find holes in Tech's defense and actually had the audacity to score against the Hokies. Everyone expected to the Hokies to easily beat the Pirates (ok, so I took an unofficial poll while tailgating), but those hopes were quickly dashed when Hokie quarterback Sean Glennon (who really needs to get injured quick...nothing really bad...just enough to keep him on the sidelines for a bit) threw an interception in Hokies first possession. It was literally his first pass of the game. And he had all the time in the world (his o-line actually helped him out for most of the game, unlike last year). After his performance on Saturday, loyal Hokie fans everywhere are experiencing some anxiety about next week's game against LSU.
  

• Glennon had nobody to blame but himself for all of his mistakes, but like the immature, skill-less moron he is, he actually blamed his receivers during post game interviews. His receivers were actually the only ones who tried to make him look good, by contorting their bodies to catch passes that were thrown behind them or by stretching unbelievable lengths to catch overthrown passes. Ugh. He really pisses me off.

• And speaking of being pissed off, will the real USC Trojans please stand up? During the offseason, all we heard about was how great and unstoppable they would be and they couldn't even cover the spread against Idaho, a team expected to finish last in their conference (what conference that is, I'm not sure...WAC maybe?). Jesse teased me for not thinking that a score of 38-10 proved domination (sure the starters sat out after the end of the 3rd quarter), but I was expecting more from my Trojans. First off, hello, John David Booty? Look, Booty, you're not going to win the Heisman when you throw interceptions against a crappy team. I thought he hadn't thrown any interceptions in 400 attempts during practice.

Next up for me: USC is off next weekend which will give them plenty of time to get ready for their first test of the season, a game against Nebraska in Lincoln. This weekend, I am off to New Orleans/Baton Rouge to catch the Hokies play LSU. I'm praying the Hokies will actually show up to play.

__________________________________________________________________

Ok, so like I said, I went to B-burg this weekend. ESPN was airing their weekly pregame show, ESPN Gameday from the soccer field across from Lane Stadium and Jesse and I just had to show our Hokie support and catch some Gameday action (as we're both big fans of the show, even if the only analyst I like is Mark May). As the camera panned out right before a commercial break, Jesse and I came into view and I started jumping up and down and screaming (yes, I was sober). I looked ridiculous but it was all in good fun.

So, here we are at Gameday.


And here is the Hokie Nation, representing.


A week leading up to the game, there was a grassroots campaign to bring signs saying "Thank you" to all the universities that offered Tech their support following the shootings. I thought that was a very, very nice gesture.


Before we even got to Blacksburg, Jesse took me down Skyline Drive for the first time ever. I was super excited and I got a little camera happy. Here are some pics.


Mary’s Rock


Here’s Jesse, getting in my way.


And this little guy actually stopped long enough for a picture.


On Friday, Jesse and I will be flying to New Orleans and spending the day there. The game is late on Saturday, so we may stop by ESPN Gameday (oooh...two Gamedays in a row) during out pre-game festivities in Baton Rouge. This will be my first time in Louisiana so suggestions for outings and must-see places are definitely welcome. I'm so excited!

you can’t spell BCS without ‘SC

Holy crap. What a weekend. So much college football. My brain can barely handle it. Oh yeah and USC beat Notre Dame!

On to the recap:

• Ohio State and Michigan were both idle.

• On Thursday, Miami beat Boston College for the upset (I can’t believe I just typed that). And then Miami’s coach got fired. Poor Larry Coker. I really feel for the guy. He did help bring a national title to the school in 2001, but it’s been downhill since (well actually since Miami joined the ACC). Still, in a world where Joe Pa and Bobby Bowden have coached at their respective schools forever, whatever happened to loyalty?
  

• On Friday, Texas A&M beat Texas. I’m not even gonna front. After what happened last year (you know, the Rose Bowl), I take great joy in every Texas misfortune…except for Colt McCoy’s injury at the end of that game. I could never be happy over a player getting injured. But still…the Longhorns lost! Yay!

• On Saturday, Florida squeaked out a victory over rival Florida State. How crazy is that? They squeaked out a victory? Over 6-6 Florida State? Urban Meyer (Florida’s coach) was ranting about the importance of style points in getting to the BCS title game. Well, apparently lackluster wins against a crappy team get you nowhere, as Florida continues to sit at #4.

• Arkansas lost to LSU. I’m really not surprised. That SEC is definitely unpredictable. However, I was hoping for an Arkansas win especially since USC beat them (I swear, if I hear someone else say, “but Arkansas is not the same team that lost to USC in a blowout” I’m going to scream!). Doesn’t matter. They still get to play Florida for the SEC championship. And frankly, I hope the Hogs win so Urban Meyer can shut it.

• In the battle for the state of Virginia, Virginia Tech shut out UVa, 17-0. This game looked like quite the defensive battle in the first half until the Hokies broke it open. And boy was Sean Glennon hard to watch. That QB can’t scramble to save his life. Note to Tech, whatever you do, don’t recruit Glennon’s brother.
  

• In the battle for the state of Georgia, Georgia beat Georgia Tech, making Virginia Tech one of the highest ranked teams not going to their own conference championship (LSU is the other one).

• Uh oh. Someone was caught looking ahead. West Virginia lost to the University of South Florida. So much for all that talk about the mighty Big East this season (ok, so maybe it only came from West Virginia, Rutgers, and Louisville fans, but there was still talk).

• And finally, USC easily defeated Notre Dame, 44-24. I’m not going to gloat (anymore that is, in case you didn’t read my previous two posts). The USC defense effectively shut down Brady Quinn’s offense. There was just something about seeing Brady Quinn getting sacked and completing less than 50% of his passes that brings tears to my eyes. Ok, really now. No more gloating. USC’s offense certainly didn’t need a “Bush Push” this year as Dwayne Jarrett had 3 TDs in the game. Heck even one of our Defensive Ends got in on the scoring fun. And you know what’s the best part of all this (besides moving up to #2 in the BCS poll and having a chance to play Ohio State in the BCS title game)? Notre Lame graduates 18 seniors this year, including Brady Quinn. Looks like someone is headed towards a rebuilding year.

I know you’re probably thinking, Gee, she sure is gloating a bit much. Well, let me explain why. On Saturday, Jesse and I headed over to Baileys to watch the game. Why do we go to Baileys? Because it’s the official USC bar for us DC Trojans. And what happened when we got to Baileys? Well, we noticed that there were Irish fans everywhere. Notre Dame fans actually had the audacity to show up at our bar to watch the game (hey Irish fans, in case you don’t know Mister Days is your official bar and it’s down the street from Baileys). And what’s worse (besides the chants of “go Irish” before the game and during the game) is that they actually continued to heckle us even after USC won. And what did I do? I just sat there and let them do their thing. Sure, I wanted to chant “overrated” every time Brady Quinn didn’t complete a pass. But Jesse wouldn’t let me.

Well, I’m a little drained on the college football thing, so I may not blog about it for a few days. But you should probably know, that USC will probably clinch a BCS title game berth by beating FUCLA* on Saturday. And if there are any Bruin fans who want to watch the game at Bailey’s, I say BRING IT!

*I’d like to extend an apology to my Bruin friend Lisa for expressing my hatred of UCLA.
**ALSO, I can’t take credit for the blog post title. Jesse said it right after USC beat Notre Dame.

the meaning of “overkeg” and other stuff from VT’s homecoming

It was a beautiful fall day in B-burg and the day time weather was perfect for college football. Wish I could say the same for the nighttime weather.


Since the homecoming game was a night game, we had 8 hours of good, quality tailgating time. As always, Bill (the king of VT tailgates) didn’t disappoint. Knowing that the homecoming tailgate might draw some extra tailgaters, Bill got 3 kegs instead of the usual 2. That was so nice of Bill to overkeg!



And here’s my favorite hokie…


Once darkness was upon us, the cold became unbearable. Unfortunately, I only brought a sweatshirt with me. However, Jesse came prepared and offered me his leather jacket (which, incidentally, I gave him for X-mas last year). Isn’t he a gentleman?



After the game, we decided to thaw out at a nearby watering hole (Big Al’s) where I was able to catch up on some college football and get to know Jesse’s friends a bit better. Here I am with Bill, the aforementioned the king of VT tailgates.



And here’s Jesse trying to discourage Kevin’s advances. Hey Kevin! He’s my boyfriend!!



Here are Jeff and Beth, feeling the rhythm of the music.


Jeff, a frequent patron of Bailey’s during USC games, made me happy by doing the V for Victory and showing a friend how to do it.


And right before they kicked us out of the bar, I stole a kiss from my boyfriend!


Birthday Week ’06 was the best week ever!

virginia is not for gay lovers

Dear Virginia Office of Tourism,

It is my understanding that the state tourism motto is “Virginia is for Lovers.” When I first heard of this motto, I thought it was very cute, so much so that I really wanted a shirt with the motto. When I started dating Jesse, my boyfriend and a Virginia native, I found out for myself that Virginia truly is for lovers! Because you do not specify in your motto, I thought it was safe to assume that Virginia is for all lovers—dog lovers, ice cream lovers, Hokie lovers. Your motto may pretend to be all encompassing, but I now know that it is not. I urge you to drop the motto because you are lying to the public.

In 2005, the Virginia state government voted overwhelmingly for the inclusion of hate in the state constitution—by defining marriage to be solely between a man and woman. On November 7th , 2006, Virginia voters will have the opportunity to vote to approve this hate and officially amend the state constitution. Although I am not surprised by this turn of events, I am appalled that the state government feels a state constitutional amendment is necessary when there is already a state ban on civil unions in place.

So, if the state of Virginia (or commonwealth, I suppose) is legislating with hate, where is this love that is mentioned in your motto? Since the state government has decided not to allow for the union between gay lovers, I have concluded that Virginia is not for all lovers since it’s clearly not for gay lovers. In that case, your tourism motto is misleading.

Since your motto is incorrect, I urge you to correct it. Please specify what kind of lovers Virginia is for. If you feel that perhaps these specifications of love are not necessary, then consider dropping the tourism motto. It is dishonest to mislead any potential visitors to your state. Rather than lie, be specific about the kind of love you approve or drop the act. Until you do so, I will not be wearing my “Virginia is for lovers” shirt (even if it was one of the first gifts Jesse gave me). I refuse to promote your lies.

If you’re willing to vote your hate of gay unions into your state constitution, you should be willing to amend your tourism motto to state, “Virginia is for straight lovers.” After all, that’s the only kind of love you approve of, right?

Sincerely,
an OC girl against hate

my Cali pride takes a hit

I think I might be a snob. Or maybe I’m just really proud. I’m really proud of being from California. So much so that when people ask me if I’m from here, my initial, unintentional reaction is shock (I know, I know, I feel bad but can’t help it). Then I follow it up with a polite, “Oh no, I’m from California.”

A couple of years ago, when Jesse first told me that his parents are from Orange County, VA, I was shocked. I understand that there is an Orange County, FL. But an OC in VA? That’s absurd. Why do I think so? Well, because I assumed oranges had to be involved in order to be an official Orange County. Silly? Yes. I never said I make sense. Oranges come from Florida. When OC, CA was originally founded, the area had tons of orange groves. So there you go. Two real Orange Counties. The one in VA is a wannabe OC.

Because I try to blog as truthfully as possible, I did some research to get dates for my last post. The last thing I wanna do is give you peeps some false information. How could you all trust me again? I looked up the founding of the City of Orange, CA in Wikipedia. What I read there turned my world upside down. It dispelled all my beliefs in Orange County. I have now begun to question everything I thought I knew about the OC.

Directly from the Wiki’s mouth: In 1869, Los Angeles attorneys Alfred Chapman and Andrew Glassell received as payment for legal services 1,385 acres (6 km²) of land from Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana, which they quickly subdivided into a one-square-mile town with numerous ten acre (40,000 m²) farm lots surrounding it. Originally the community was named Richland, but the town’s application for a post office was denied in 1873 due to the fact that there was already a Richland in Sacramento County. According to California from the Conquistadores to the Legends of Laguna by Roeger W. Jones, Alfred Chapman (who wanted the name "Lemon"), Andrew Glassell (who favored "Orange"), and two other gentlemen (who pressed for "Olive" and "Walnut") played a hand of poker and whoever won the game would get to rename the town. Glassell, whose birthplace was Orange County, Virginia won the game, and in January of 1875 Richland was renamed Orange.

So, the reason why the county seat of the OC, the City of Orange, was named “Orange” was because some guy from Orange County, VA won a poker game?

Say it ain’t so, Wiki. Say it ain’t so.

the trojan family knows no boundaries

Happy tax holiday, fellow shop-a-holics! There's just something about the absence of taxes that makes me want to shop til I drop. So, I decided to celebrate VA's first tax holiday by hitting the outlets.

They say Disneyland is the happiest place on earth, but I beg to differ. Outlet malls are my happiest places on earth. What's not to like? Designer stuff and non-designer stuff at super low prices...ooooh...it makes me smile just thinking about it. Having never been to the outlets in Leesburg, I persuaded Jesse to drive us out there.

My shopping buzz was about to be killed when we got there. There was a traffic jam just to get into the parking lot. Undaunted by the large number of people who didn't know how to merge, Jesse and I sought out a parking space. We eventually found one and started making the trek to the Ann Taylor Factory Store.

On our way there, I spotted an SUV with VA plates totally decked out in USC stuff. There was a University of Southern California sticker across the top of the rear window. Along the middle of the rear window was a USC Mom sticker. And adorning the license plate was a USC frame. I got excited about a fellow Trojan being out in the stix with us and pointed it out to Jesse. Proudly wearing the USC visor that I bought him, Jesse said, "You Trojans love Virginia. There are a ton of you out here." I said, "Yeah, but it still makes me happy to see stuff like that."

After hitting a couple of stores and exercising the credit cards, we had to stop by the Starbucks in the food court for a cold, refreshing beverage. Upon exiting, a woman with a toddler in her arms stops Jesse and says, "I love your hat." (I swear, Jesse gets more compliments on that hat than I've ever gotten on any of my USC shirts.) He smiles and replies, "Oh, thank you." The woman than turns to her toddler and says, "See the hat? That's where you'll be going to school one day." Oh my God, that's so cute!

Although I ended up finding tons of good deals and adding to my extensive wardrobe, that moment was by far the highlight of my day.

THE LOOT: When it was all said and done, this was the damage.

the rain is just a teeny bit excessive

What the heck? The Mid Atlantic region was soaked last night. Apparently, there were some areas under two feet of water. Yes, two feet. We don't even get that much snow. Well, I guess that means it's time for me to move back West. It's one thing to get rain during summer months (that is just odd to me). It's a whole other thing to get more rain than snow. That's completely abnormal. It's like straight out of that movie, The Day After Tomorrow. I'd rather risk the occasional earthquake then deal with this much moisture.

To give you an indication of how freakish this whole thing is, there was a mudslide. In Virginia. Apparently shutting down the beltway. Where am I? Laguna Beach?? Malibu?? Metro had to shut down two stations due to flooding. L'Enfant and Federal Triangle. During rush hour. There were 20 minute rail delays and you had to take a shuttle if you wanted to get to the closed stations. There were 1 hour delays to take those shuttles. So let me see... I guess DC just wasn't ready for this much rain. The worst part about all of this--more rain is expected tonight and throughout the week.

Why couldn't this rain have come while we were away in SF? Rain, you suck.