The Voices of the Marriage Debate in MN.

Yesterday a bill to legalize passed both state house and senate committees and will be put to a full vote shortly. Many people from both sides of the argument provided passionate, heartfelt testimonies both for and against the bill. Here’s one of former legislator Lynn Osterman speaking in favor of the bill –







There you have it. A conservative, a republican, admitting that she voted against her conscience for “political expedience”. Tears welling and voice cracking as she begs those sitting where she sat to not make the same mistake she did. Explaining that her Christian values and conservative views have never made her feel like she has to treat other people’s love as something less than hers. Her words perfectly encapsulate why equality is so important.



Of course, there are two sides to every story. Let’s see one of the most popular testimonies arguing against the marriage bill –







Really powerful stuff here, too. Don’t get me wrong, Osterman’s testimony had a lot of passion behind it but this guy has science on his side. I never knew that AIDS was just spontaneously created by prolonged anal sex or that legalizing gay marriage would increase the amount of gay sex happening. I also didn’t know people with AIDS, a disease we now know is made when sperm is entered into the bloodstream, can turn regular diseases into supergerms that can be passed onto other people and make rashes that can only be cured with a $2,400 antibiotic! This isn’t even a religious motivation or plain ol’ homophobia, he’s just concerned about the well being of the public and rising health care costs!



Now, I haven’t bothered looking up the validity of his claims but he did say some pretty scientific words like “enzyme” so he probably knows what he’s talking about.



I have to admit. They both make some pretty compelling arguments. I’m not sure how I’d vote for this if I was a legislator. This is a tough one.

Sick Day

Yesterday I admitted to having the dumbest addiction ever and issued a challenge to myself to go one week without playing an online flash game. Today I called into work because I’m sick.



Shit.



I’ve got nothing but time and a laptop today. I’m not about to spring up and do a bunch of housework or run errands. The wife’s got a bunch of work to do with the website and writing and the boy’s got school so I can’t bother them with my ramblings. What the hell am I supposed to do with myself today that doesn’t involve online games?



Stare at pictures of sloths for a while

Lookit him eat that leaf.

Lookit him eat that leaf.

Sloths are awesome. That’s just a fact. Every few weeks I’ll just google image search “sloths” and think about how cool it’d be just to hang out with a sloth. Everybody wants to meet a sloth. Anybody who doesn’t probably doesn’t have a soul. Just look at what meeting a sloth did to Veronica Mars –




Watch Shitty Knock Off Movies on Netflix instant.

Compare to price of Kung Fu Panda!

Compare to price of Kung Fu Panda!





Same active ingredient as Transformers!

Same active ingredient as Transformers!

There was even a sequel to Transmorphers. It’s also on Netflix. No lie.



Get My Car’s Oil Changed
I don’t really feel like getting up and going out but this is an errand that needs to be done and doesn’t require anything of me other than to drive to Jiffy Lube and hang out in the little waiting room. While I’m there I can start an impromptu 12 step meeting with whoever’s in the waiting room with me. We’ve already got the shitty coffee, folding chairs and depressing atmosphere. I’m sure whoever else will be there probably has some shit they want to get off their chest, too. Once they hear about how lame my addiction is they’ll probably have no problem admitting they huff paint or strangle hookers or whatever.



Or I could just nap. I think I might nap.

Resolution Mondays: Confession.

Hi. My name is Bill and I have the lamest addiction ever.



It’s not a cool addiction like drugs or sex. It’s not sad or relatable like food or porn. It’ not even sad-but-interesting like the stuff you see on that “My Strange Addiction” show –

Just a man having sex with a car.  Nothing weird about that.  Wait... that's totally weird.

Just a man having sex with a car. Nothing weird about that. Wait… that’s totally weird.

My addiction is online video games.



Not even ones that other people get addicted to like World of Warcraft. I’m addicted to playing those stupid in-browser flash games on sites like kongregate and armor games. Simple little shooter and tower defense games that most people play for five minutes but I end up playing for hours.



When I made that one of my resolutions I knew I was spending a little too much of my free time dicking around on these sites but I guess I never thought I’d have any trouble quitting. Since January I’ve had some easy success and some stumbles with all my resolutions but this is the only one where I flat out have not made any progress at all.


\
Shit. Let’s see if I can do a week with no flash games and we’ll go from there. I went a week without biting my fingernails, let’s see if I can go a week without playing Gemcraft as well. Then I can get back to using the internet for it’s intended purpose. Pornography and social networking.



…or I could write and spend time with my family I guess.

Snow Emergency.

Fuck you, winter. I win this year.



Every winter (except last winter because there was no winter in MN last year) my car has been towed at least once for snow emergency. For those of you that live in warmer climates, here’s a brief breakdown on snow emergency.



Frozen water falls from the sky up here in the tundra. People forget how to drive, conservatives point to the skies and shout that it’s proof that global warming doesn’t exist and the streets need to get plowed. If more than three inches hit the ground, a snow emergency is declared and for three days you can’t park your car on certain streets while the plows try to get rid of it. If you park on the particular side of the particular street that’s to be plowed that day, your car gets towed to the impound lot.



I’ve had my car towed many a time due to my forgetful nature and I can say that everybody involved with the towing process is pure evil. I hate to make any broad generalizations but every single parking enforcement officer, tow truck driver and impound lot employee is a black hearted, souless, sadistic motherfucker. They’re the kind of people who will never experience joy so they try to steal joy from others. They do nothing to make the world a better place. I hate them and so does everybody.



There was a snow emergency Tuesday, most likely the last one of the year. more than 1300 cars were towed but mine was not one of them. It took 30 years but I’m now finally learning proper parking rules like a proper adult. I feel bad for those 1300 people this week, though. I’ve been in their shoes plenty of times. The last time I had to go to the impound lot for snow emergency is burned into my memory very clearly.



The last time my car got plowed was a couple of years ago. It happened two days before payday and since my assets were all tied up (re: nonexistent), I had to swallow my pride and ask my dad for a quick loan to get my car out of the lot. He accompanied me to the Minneapolis impound lot which is conveniently located on the corner of Murdertheft and Rape. We stood in line outside for an hour while four people behind bulletproof glass glared at us like we were fucking up their plans even though their sole job description was to collect ransom money for cars. My dad looked at the sad, slow moving line of people all waiting to pay the city $180 to get their own property back and was confused and horrified at how the city was treating us.



My dad lives in the suburbs. Nobody parks on the streets in the suburbs and if they do, the snowplows go around the cars, shovel them out, brush them off and leave a mint pinned under the windshield wiper.



Looking around and getting visibly and audibly flustered, my dad finally says out loud “this is how they treat you?” I shrugged, said something like “city living” and then handed an angry woman a bunch of money. She told me that while I can get my car back now, I’ll still have to pay for the parking ticket within two weeks because they haven’t squeezed enough out of me yet. She then snorted a line of meth right in front of us, picked up a kitten and snapped it’s little neck with one hand while rubbing her nipple with the other.



I’m so glad I didn’t have to deal with any of that bullshit this year. I hear they started piping Yanni’s “Rainmaker” in the loudspeakers on a loop in the impound lot during snow emergencies.


Hugo Chavez, Freedom Fighter / Cruel Dictator, Dead at 58.

Hugo Chavez, the man who either looted his own country to push a socialist agenda or created a socialist paradise for his people died yesterday after a two year long battle with cancer.



The controversial figure was either freely elected president of Venezuela three times or had brainwashed the people through systematically removing political opponents and tightly controlling all media in his country.



President Chavez either waving to some people or giving the "Heil Hitler" salute.

President Chavez either waving to some people or giving the “Heil Hitler” salute.





The larger-than-life figure was widely known for using the country’s vast oil wealth to either improve the lives of the poorest in Venezuela with education and health care or propping up communist dictatorship Cuba through oil subsidies.



As president, he has either been lauded as a champion for human rights of indigenous people in his country or lambasted as an antisemite who has halved the jewish population in Venezuela since he entered office through antisemetic policies in the government and media.



The streets of Venezuela will be flooded this week as people will either mourn or celebrate the passing of President Chavez.



Chavez’s vice president will take over the president’s duties in the short term until an election can be held that will either be free and fair or just a show for the international community while they place his handpicked successor into power.


New Year’s Resolution Update. FINGERNAILS.

This is getting ridiculous.



When I made 11 different New Year’s Resolutions and decided to write about them weekly I knew some would be harder than others. In fact, I may have thrown one in there that I knew would be really easy so if I kept faltering on all my other resolutions I could at least say that I had one in the bag and that’s better than nothing.



That resolution was to stop biting my fingernails.



It’s something I do all the time. The tips of my fingernails are gnarled, shredded, ugly things. I haven’t been able to properly pick a dime off a table in years. While it’s annoying and sometimes painful I figured there’s plenty worse habits out there. This one’s pretty harmless, right?



Wrong.



Oh God. According to wikipedia, biting nails can fuck up your teeth, infect your cuticles and also cause you to eat your own poop. Seriously. Nail biting can “transfer pinworms or bacteria buried under the surface of the nail from the anus region to the mouth. When the bitten-off nails are swallowed stomach problems can develop.” Scratch your ass in your sleep, bite your nails, eat your own poop.



I’ve been terrible at keeping up with this resolution, too. I was doing fine in the first week and then out of boredom on a long car trip I found myself chewing on a nail. I didn’t even realize I was doing it until I was about halfway done. I’m totally back in the habit now and last week tore off a fingernail so bad it started bleeding.



I need to get better about this. Let’s see what webMD has to offer for tips on stopping this habit –



“Get regular manicures. If you spend the money to keep your nails looking attractive, you’ll be less likely to bite them.” While I do enjoy pampering myself I really don’t have the money to spend on weekly manicures. THANKS, OBAMA.



“Wear gloves or put self-adhesive bandages on the tips of your fingers so your nails won’t be accessible to bite.” If I’m going out in public with band aids over all of my fingertips I’ve got bigger problems than biting my fingernails. Has anybody actually taken this advice? Why not just wear one of those dog cones while you’re at it?

Not only did I stop biting my nails but I stopped licking my nuts as well!

Not only did I stop biting my nails but I stopped licking my nuts as well!





The only useful suggestion I saw was to get a bitter tasting clear nail polish. I had a friend who had a nail biting problem and used that stuff in the past. When he told me about it I was curious about what the stuff tasted like and asked if I could lick one of his fingernails. I couldn’t get the taste of that awful nail polish out of my mouth for hours and my friend still hasn’t got the image of me licking his finger out of his head. Things haven’t really been the same between us since then.



Whatever I do, I need to stop biting my goddamn nails. Then I can finally start going for that Guinness world record.



I'm gonna beat you one of these days, Shridhar.

I’m gonna beat you one of these days, Shridhar.

Live Every Day As Pope Like It’s Your Last Day As Pope.

Today (or yesterday. I’m not sure how time zones work in the old country) is/was the last day as Pope for Benedict XVI. After today the man known as Pope Benedict will be humble ol Pope Emeritus –



Time to trade in that gold embroidered silk chair for a gold embroidered silk rocking chair.

Time to trade in that gold embroidered silk chair for a gold embroidered silk rocking chair.





. Here’s a few of the things on his “to-do” list on his last day as pope:



* Finally get those two wisdom teeth extracted while he’s still on the Vatican dental plan

* Ride in the front seat of the popemobile just to see what it’s like up there.

* Take care of the recent Vatican Gay Network scandal because there’s nothing worse than priests having sex with consenting adults.

* Swipe some office supplies: Gold staplers, gold staples, jewel encrusted pens, post it notes.

* Excommunicate a few people.

* Perform exit interview in case he ever wants to reapply for papacy.

* Buy normal size hat.

* Delete all work emails with biographer Paula Broadwell.

* Really just lose his shit and tell God what he thinks right before he leaves.

New Year’s Resolution Update! Work Out!

It’s Monday so that means we’re going to take a look at one of the many, many New Year’s Resolutions I made this year. Today’s resolution is “working out every day I’m not working my day job!”



My day job is pretty labor intensive but on my days off I pretty much just sit on the couch all day. I’ve never been a very active person but I’m looking to change that now. I can’t really afford any sort of gym membership at this time and it’s a little cold to go for a walk every day but for Christmas Jena got me the perfect gift for indoor exercise. Resistance bands!



Resistance bands are inexpensive, versatile and don’t take up a lot of space in your home. There’s a ton of workouts you can do with them, too! You can do the basic bicep curl –



workout 001



You can do… this one! I’m not sure what it’s called but it’s really hard –



workout 002



This one’s really not on the instruction booklet that came with the package. It just usually ends up like this after a few minutes. I’m sure I’m working a bunch of muscles as I struggle –



workout 003



Okay, this wasn’t supposed to happen. This isn’t a workout anymore. –



workout 005



workout 006
OH GOD HELP!



I never said I was a personal trainer.

Mama MiO!

I have a problem. A drinking problem. It started about 6 months ago. I’d never had such an amazing drink before. I could mix it to my specifications, to my desired strength and flavor. They came out with more flavors, and I had to try them all. I keep it with me much of the time, I have at least a drink a day, often up to 3 or 4.

I am addicted to MiO.

This is my favorite flavor.

This is my favorite flavor.

Now, I know it’s a gimmick. I’m paying a lot of money for flavored water that I have to make myself. I’ paying for the pleasure of using that little sqeezy bottle. I mean, one bottle of MiO makes 96 fl oz of flavor water, or there about. That’s only a day and a half of flavored water according to the 8 glasses of 8 oz of water a day.

But we love our justifications, don’t we?

THERE’S A FLIP TOP! AND I CAN SQUEEZE AS MUCH OUT AS I WANT AT A TIME!

Uh huh. You just paid $4 for a little squeezy toy. Freezy pops are a better investment.

BUT ELECTROLYTES! VITAMIN B! NO CALORIES! NO SUGAR!

And synthetic sugar and flavorings and caffeine and red dye. Dumbass.

IT’S GREAT FOR ON THE GO!

You know what else is? Anything you think to take with you. Like water. That you didn’t have to spend the time adding flavor to.

I CAN USE IT TO FLAVOR MY DRINKING WATER AT FEST SO IT TASTES LESS LIKE DIRT.

It’s February. Fest isn’t for another 6 months.

IT’S KOSHER AND VEGAN!

You are not Jewish. And the MiO isn’t Vegan- it doesn’t eat things. You mean it’s animal product free. And that still doesn’t matter cause you eat steak. Lots of steak.

IT’S DAIRY FREE!

Well shit. You got me there. Almost nothing is casein free. Non-dairy creamer still has synthetic dairy proteins. so, I guess, drink up!

YEA! *squirt squirt squirt*

 

Dumbass.

A Phone Conversation. And Strippers.

phone

“Hey Kitty? It’s Judy.”

“Well, hello Judy! How is your day going?”

“Oh, it’s going just swell. And you, Kitty? How are your boys?”

“They’re great, Judy. Tommy just came in second in the school wide spelling bee. We’re all very proud of him over here, that’s for sure.”

“Oh, well congratulations, Kitty! That’s just wonderful! He’s what, 14 now?”

“Just turned. Now, Judy, what can I do for you?”

“Well, Billy is turning 16 next week, and we’re going to have a little party for him. I was wondering if Tommy and Timmy would like to come.”

“Oh that sounds just wonderful! Of course they would, Judy!”

“It’s going to be a mixed party. You’re okay with that, aren’t you? We’re going to keep a close eye on them.”

“Well, of course I trust you Judy.”

“Excellent! It’s going to be at the Spare Time Family Fun Center.”

“What a good idea! But you’ll keep an eye on the kids… You know they serve alcohol there.”

“Yes, and we plan on getting several pitchers for the party. The kids do love to have a good time, Kitty”

“What?”

“Well, only cheap beer, of course. It’s not like kids at this age can tell the difference.”

“Uh…”

“And Kitty, we’re taping up the windows, and we’re going to have strippers come in from Tops in Bottoms.”

“You’re doing what?!?”

“Well, you should always have live entertainment at a party, Kitty. That shows your child you really care.”

 

A woman hired strippers and served booze at her son’s 16th birthday party. I can only aspire to be such an awesome mom. Because otherwise I might land in jail.