This = human contact

I’m sick: rattly chest + snot head. And I am in the death throes of finishing a final paper that was due TUESDAY. I probably seem like someone who hands in papers late, I certainly cut it close, but I never do that. As soon as I turn it in, I graduate. Done forever. Why am I stalling? Maybe it’s a little of this:

[courtesy of Seelander]

The only people I’ve spoken to in the last 36 hours are the pizza delivery guy and my sister Meghan. Is it sad that blogging feels like talking? Because I have some pent up sharing to do.

1. I drank two liters of Diet Coke in under two hours and I have yet to pee. I think that equals two big gulps and also the definition of dehydration.

2. Have you seen the new nickels? I have no idea when they began circulating, but it startled me when I first saw one in a handful of change. He’s looking right at you. And if you put two next to each other like this it’s like he just turned his head. Creepy!

3. This video. The choreography is goofy, and I do not get the robot arm thing, but it kind of makes you want to strap on a leotard and heels. Right?

4. Second annual Ebay Secret Santa is underway. So far I haven’t won any excess muppets, but it’s not going well. My palms are sweaty. I hope you’re excited for the big blog reveal on xmas day.

Good ideas, poor execution

1. Using playdough to clean the cracks in my keyboard.

2. Eating a spoonful of ground coffee so I can still run on an empty stomach but without falling asleep.

Bye Bye Brave Banano

I dropped my iPod in the toilet. The hand dryer could not revive him. I cradled him in my fist as he took his last shuddery breaths. I don’t know how much longer I can take this silence. It’s been a few hours.

Anyone want to sell me an old one?

My heart, it swells

Interesting article comparing Obama to JFK and McCain to Goldwater re: foreign policy.

We need a leader who recognizes “that the United States is neither omnipotent or omniscient, that we cannot impose our will upon the other 94 percent of mankind, that we cannot right every wrong or reverse each adversity, and that therefore there cannot be an American solution to every world problem.” A president who understands that “equating negotiations with appeasement and substituting rigidity for firmness” is “the pathway to war.”

Why I get excited

From an interview with Iranian blogger Omid Memarian.

Many Iranians are obsessed with Barack Obama. If he goes to Iran, I’m sure he could fill Tehran’s Azadi Stadium, which has a capacity of 100,000. To a large extent this is because of the nature of Obama’s message about change and hope. Iranian people truly want to change their situation, get rid of decades of marginalization and restore their reputation in the world. They feel connected to his message of change. They are tired of living under the threat of economic sanctions and military attacks. Obama’s remark about initiating a dialogue with Iran translated for many Iranians into hopes of normalizing the relationship between the countries and Iran rejoining the international community.

He blogs in Farsi.