I'm going to make this pencil disappear.

Dark Knight Swings Past $500 Million Mark

Please, please knock "Titanic" off the top...

Woohoo My 100th Post!

OK I had to bail on embedding that video because it was taking up half my blog. So here are some hilarious links to videos on The Onion.com. Please do enjoy.

Potrayal of Obama as an Elitist...

Latest Poll Reveals 430 New Demographics That Will Decide Election

Bush Tours America to Survey Damage Caused by His Presidency

And while you're there, take some time to peruse their store. Their t-shirts should win awards.

A "flu shot" that I might actually get.

While still in testing phases, good news for an influenza vaccine. Can I get a woot? You better believe I'll get one of these when available, even though I think the annual flu shot is a load.

Researchers Test New Vaccine to Fight Multiple Influenza Strains

I also just saw a commercial for a vaccine for bacterial meningitis which I hadn't heard of before (Menactra? I think). Parents of kids, I'd ask your doc about this one ASAP. Bacterial meningitis is aggressive, nasty and unbelievably quick. As in, by the time you get a diagnosis, it's almost too late to do anything about it. Not deadly all the time, but nasty life-long complications.

I'm on Science Daily reading about the different vaccines in R&D right now. Here are a few of my faves:
Traveler's Diarrhea Vaccine (Mexico, here I come!)
Koala Chlamydia (those promiscuous tree-dwellers!)
Footrot Vaccine for Sheep!

I'm sure sheep and koalas find nothing funny about that!

Vending machine 2, Megan 0.

I just wanted a bottle of water. But by Fridays, there is nothing left in the vending machines except your off-drinks like OrangeAde. What is that??

Put $1.25 in the Coke machine, no Dasani. It paid me back in dimes. Sigh. Put $1.25 in the Pepsi machine for an Aquafina. No water, and it only refunded me $1.00.

Net loss = $.25.

Walk downstairs to the other Coke machine, put in $1.25. No Dasani. It refunded me $1.00.

Net loss = $.50.

Finally found a Coke machine that had a Dasani left, got my water (for $1.25).

Net cost of 20 fl. oz of bottled (*rip-off*) water = $1.75.

Now you know why college students are poor.

What's for dinner? Trader Joe's.

Last night I had the cheese enchiladas from T Joe's (found in the frozen section). Delish!!! A pure festival for the taste buds. I highly recommend them. And if you burn them a little, even better!

Week one, day three.

I still love grad school. What an engaging, enlightening and one-of-a-kind experience. But holy crap I'm tired. When Dr. Calhoun said to me: "You're going to be enveloped by this program for the next 2 years of your life," he wasn't exaggerating in the slightest. If I don't put in at least 2-3 hours a night (and I'm guessing most of my Saturdays), I'll fall significantly behind. That's no joke. I had to go out and buy myself 5 folders - one for every weeknight - to keep my assignments straight.

They definitely give it to you honestly the first week - no holding your hand. But they're all so great to help and understand too. They are completely invested in seeing you succeed and that alone makes it a world apart from anything else I've ever done. I highly recommend it to anyone that is interested.

I'm going to steal this quote that my friend Rachel said to me recently:
"Like the Beastie Boys said - 'Until you're up against a wall, you never know yourself at all.'"

And hey, I have to administer IQ tests this semester and need a subject pool. Hit me up if you're interested...

Yay!

One day into grad school, and I love it. Granted, I only had one class today, but all my classes are round table discussion format and no more than about 6 people. It's such a different experience than undergrad in that the professors are just leveling with you like a colleague. That's kind of the point; you are now being taken seriously as a professional in training.

For instance, in my Intellectual Assessment class we are required to administer 4 IQ tests throughout the semester. Whoa, what? That's stuff "real" people do!!

Suffice it to say, I think I was born for this! And regardless of the fact that I'll probably be tied up for 4 hours tonight reading journal articles, a good time shall still be had!

Wow, really?

How much you wanna bet that somewhere in the ad, there is a dig about Obama being an over spender. And... they spent almost 3mil on the ad... cause... what? Yeah. *Sigh*

Group to Spend $2.8 million on anti-Obama Ad

Men's Synchronized Swimming

Martin Short + Christopher Guest + Harry Shearer = A good laugh.

Christopher Guest plays SUCH a funny gay guy.

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/mens-synchronized-swimming/1980340333

A disclaimer.

School starts back on Monday. I'm telling you this because I got my class schedule and teaching assignment today and on top of still working at Grey Seal... I will probably fall off the face of the Earth for a while. Please don't take it personally; you'll be with me in spirit.

But as Meg Ryan said in French Kiss: "I will triumph!!"

World's Smallest Political Quiz

I heard a statistic somewhere that on blind polls, most Americans answer questions regarding governmental roles that would posit them as a Libertarian. Somehow, though, when it comes to choosing a political candidate, they forget what they believe and become a drone. So what are you? Take this quick quiz to find out. I scored 100% Libertarian, which was a stunning outcome.

In the words of Lisa Sayne...

Mercy.

TV Commercial Music

Funny!

And to think I gave her props for "keeping it real"

All supportive remarks to JLH are henceforth rescinded. I was really impressed with how she handled those pictures of her in the bikini that surfaced, but I'm really disappointed in this - actions speak louder than words. At least we still have Tyra...

Jennifer Love Hewitt Reveals New Thinner Body Us Magazine

In November, Jennifer Love Hewitt was criticized for weight gain after photos surfaced of her looking fuller-figured in a bikini in Hawaii.

"We know what you ate this summer, Love -- everything!" TMZ.com notoriously wrote.

Now, the Ghost Whisperer star has the last laugh.

In the new issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands now, the 32-year-old shows off the new body she got after just 10 weeks and her trainer reveals to Us exclusively how she lost 18 pounds.

"I am in a pretty good workout regimen that I like, so it inspired me to keep it up," Hewitt tells Us. "The energy level and the way I feel now is great."

"With her, it's not, 'I want to look good in that dress,'" trainer Stevie Sant'Angelo tells Us. "She wanted to start moving around because she thought it would make her feel better.

"She told me, 'They said some rude, mean things, but that's not why I wanted to change,'" Sant'Angelo says.

Check out the latest issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands now, for Hewitt's complete workout routine and diet plan plus what inspired her to change her ways and an update on her upcoming wedding to Ross McCall.

A deafening moment of clarity.

... I'll be 31 when the final "Harry Potter" movie premieres.

I am SO TOTALLY FAMOUS

Check me out... I'm at the very, very end.

Frankie Says Relax!

A new one from Dove

Please take a minute and visit this page for the new Dove video called "Under Pressure." It's short and to the point, but it brought tears to my eyes. Now I'm looking into having one of these workshops. I'll keep you posted.

Yay, I'm going back to school!!!

Megan has the morning off... and blogs.

I have this dog now. She's a "rescue" so to speak - rescued from being tied to a tree at my friend's abandoned house. I'm trying to find her a home and have been for a while. She's a sweet dog, but the years of neglect have made an impact (that I'm trying to reverse).

But anyway (I'm having a Carrie Bradshaw moment), it got me thinking as I was surfing the net, looking for adoption agencies: What is the line that separates a human's right to live from any other animal's? I read that 85% of puppies that get surrendered to adoption agencies and/or pounds end up euthanized. That's a lot of dead puppies.

But why is that the end result? When people do that to other people, we call it genocide and it usually results in some sort of warfare.

So dogs and people. Cats and people. Obvious differences. But where is the line between anthropomorphism and disregarding that animal's right to an existence? I know the Christian perspective would be that human souls are divine in nature, but I struggle with this one a little. There are many humans I can bring to mind this minute that I truly don't think ever had a right to live and honestly, I don't think every human life is precious. I don't really feel that way about any animal I can think of. Animals usually do harmful things to people because of human error. But humans also do harmful things to other humans and animals... because of human error.

But alas, it's the animals that suffer.

Your hair isn't all that great.

I'm a two-bit, worthless, sack-o-crap, lowlife scumbag!!

And now, a heartwarming story from Neal Boortz...

Sharing: A lesson on human nature. I was talking to a friend of mine's little girl the other day. I asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up and she replied, "I want to be President!" Both of her parents are liberal Democrats and were standing there. So then I asked her, "If you were President what would be the first thing you would do?"

She replied, "I'd give houses to all the homeless people."

"Wow - what a worthy goal." I told her, "You don't have to wait until you're President to do that. You can come over to my house and mow, pull weeds, and sweep my yard, and I'll pay you $50. Then I'll take you over to the grocery store where this homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the $50 to use toward a new house."

Since she is only 6, she thought that over for a few seconds. While her Mom glared at me, she looked me straight in the eye and asked, "Why doesn't the homeless guy come over and do the work, and you can just pay him the $50?"

And I said, "Welcome to the Republican Party."

Her folks still aren't talking to me.

Happy Birthday Vania!