My Former Governor Blagojevich Challenges the Gov't to Disclose All Tapes

Look at that head of hair, people. It's gorgeous. How can you not be in awe of that beautiful hair?

And let me tell you something... It's real!

I know this for a fact. A few years ago, I was at O'Hare Airport, back in my hometown of Chicago, waiting to catch a flight out to Aruba or Hawai'i with my best friend and her parents for our annual vacation. My best friend, Jamila and I decide we need a deck of cards to entertain ourselves with on the plane... As though the portable DVD player + all the DVDs we brought + the movies United showed on the flight really weren't going to be enough for us.

So we venture over to one of those in-airport newsstands. As we're ruffling through the magazines and candy... She and I both get a very eerie feeling. We glance over at eachother. Quickly look around the newsstand and notice, several black-suited men sporting security earpierces.

We both look at eachother again, and say almost simultaneously, "I feel like something is about to go down." So we decide to truck it out of there and go back to the gate where her parents were. Just as we step right outside the newsstand, low and behold... That beautiful shiny hair! Governor Blagojevich is standing not even a foot in front of us. So naturally, we strike up a conversation, shake his hand, give him hugs. He knows her father of course. Who doesn't?

This all happened FAR before the whole selling Obama's Senate seat scandal came about of course. However, I'm still a bit fond of him. He was a great governor and did provide all women and children in the state of Illinois with free healthcare as well as many other things. He was most recently on Celebrity Apprentice.

All that plus my encounter with him... He's still good in my book.

Especially because I watched C-SPAN EVERYDAY while they impeached him as well as read the newspaper about it and there was no real display of ALL the evidence to the public, therefore I was not able to form my own opinion about the case. Now his criminal trial proceedings are beginning and the prosecution is still not allowing full disclosure of all said wiretap tapes. For shame.

CNN recently posted a video of the former Governor Rod Blagojevich challenging the government to explain in court why they will not allow full disclosure of said tapes. He also displayed aggravation with the court's pursuit of his wife Patti Blagojevich on criminal charges as well.

Check it out:

Prepare For 2012 With A Luxury Sub

I finally saw the movie 2012 this past spring break during my visit in Texas... And though there was some terrible acting, it still made me think and put a bit of a chill down my spine.

I'll admit it, I thought about drawing up blueprints for an arch.

Then I realized how inadequate my engineering skills are and tossed that idea out of the window along with my sketch paper.

However, thanks to Gizmodo... I could just get this guy (in the picture) to build me one of those bulletproof luxury submarines.

The full article on Gizmodo: http://gizmodo.com/5516470/you-too-can-own-a-bulletproof-luxury-sub

I would prefer mine to be HUGE (I have a very large family) and not lime green. That's just never a cute color. And as for the bulletproof part, I would like to keep that because you never know who may be jealous and tear to blow holes into my cool new luxury sub right?

This one would be nice to take a spin in, but I hope this guy has bigger and better things in the works. But for now, I'd gladly take this tiny little sub out for a nice 007 adventure as Gizmodo so graciously suggests it could be used for.

Apple: Old School Technology & Fashion Statements

Apparently there is some new dock device for the iPhone to turn the mobile device into a desk phone.

Kind of ironic.

We've spent so much time getting away from cords and traditional phones... Yet one of the most advanced cellular phones could now possibly be reverted back to that traditional technology.

I won't lie though... I want one.

Gizmodo's iPhone dock article: http://gizmodo.com/5505908/theres-finally-a-dock-to-turn-iphones-into-corded-desk-phones

Next...

So I know the iPad is new, fun, cool, etc... Blah blah blah. But Gizmodo has a point, it can't fit in your pocket, but doesn't need a laptop bag.

So the question becomes, does the iPad really make this acceptable?

That's right ladies and gentlemen, the murse (man purse) is back. Well, it could be anyway.

Personally, this is NEVER okay in my opinion but who am I separate a man and his future iPad?

I know Gizmodo raises the question of people even removing their iPads from their homes frequently when an iPhone does all the same things. But the fact is people take all sorts of unnecessary things with them simply because they are attached and... Because they can.

Man purse on Gizmodo: http://gizmodo.com/5505431/does-the-ipad-make-man-purses-okay-now

Let's face it, people do not need to bring these things everywhere they go:

1. Dave and Buster's cards.... Unless you have some sort of addiction, it's just not acceptable.

2. Illegal substances... Need I say more?

3. That old prom photo... What could you possibly ever need that for in life?

4. Breath mints... If it's not something for flavorful purposes, you should be taking some sort of medication anyway to help your problem.

5. Newspaper... After you've read through it, you really have absolutely no business carrying that thing around for the next 18 hours of your life. (Let the record show: I like hyperboles.)

However, I do encourage you to recycle.

I would also like to state:

I disapprove of the murse just as much as a disapprove of mandles (man sandles... Strappy and typically an ugly shade of brown which also show off the man's feet, especially toes in a particularly even more unattractive manner). Men, please do not show up anywhere in those things, because no one will take you or your mandles seriously.

You are, however, permitted to wear one strap flip flops (no thong ones!!). Typically acceptable ones are produced by NIKE, Jordan, Adidas, and Reebok.

New Health Care Bill Signed With 22 Pens & Then Sued

News about the new health care plan finally being passed spread like wildfire late Sunday night/early Monday morning. I actually watched President Obama's speech on CNN Live after the Senate passed the bill and his words never cease to inspire me.

After checking up on the latest reactions to the bill, I came across a TIME Magazine article describing how and why the President used 22 pens to sign it... That's right. 22 pens.

Why, you ask? Well thanks attentive reader for asking. I'll tell you.

Apparently signing historic documents with many pens is a white house tradition. More pens means more historical memorabilia. It's as simple as that. These pens are often given out as tokens of appreciation to those who may have helped in the process.

Time article: http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1974490,00.html?hpt=C2

According to TIME, President Lyndon Johnson used more than 75 pens to sign the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and gave one of the first pens to Martin Luther King, Jr.

Video of President Johnson signing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LK2GdOxz3s0

On to more pressing issues...

I'm sure you're wondering about the whole suing part. Well, I'll get right to it.

CNN posted a story describing how 14 states' attorney generals are taking legal action, 13 in federal court against the new health care reform bill. CNN says, "Thirteen of those officials filed suit in a federal court in Pensacola, Florida, minutes after Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act."

CNN article & video of press conference: http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/03/23/health.care.lawsuit/index.html?hpt=T1

Reportedly, 12 of those thirteen officials are republicans and one is a democrat. Including attorney generals from the States of Alabama, Colorado, Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Washington. The governor of Washington, Chris Gregoire (democrat), criticized the state's Attorney General Rob McKenna(republican) for adding the her state to the lawsuit.

Florida's Attorney General Bill McCollum deems the bill as "unconstitutional." And the lawsuit states, "The Constitution nowhere authorizes the United States to mandate, either directly or under threat of penalty, that all citizens and legal residents have qualifying health care coverage."

Now does that even sound right?

I have 4 responses to the lawsuit:

1. Nor does the United States Constitution anywhere prohibit such a mandate.

2. Federal law always overrides state law.

3. This is a waste of tax payers money.

4. Are you retarded?

I'll leave it at that.

Edited Photos: Spring Break 2010

I had to edit the photos from my spring break trip to Texas for class... So here they are:

Could Twitter Be Your Career Counselor?

Everyone knows about Twitter, right? Even my mom has one... Though she probably forgot about it already. I think the last time she logged on was in the summer.

We use Twitter for all sorts of things and sometimes it's actually the best way to reach me throughout the day through my one of my favorite apps, TweetDeck. Often I hit "Close" on text messages that pop up just because I don't feel like exiting from my Twitter application. I constantly shake my iPhone to reload my timeline so it will display the latest tweets from my friends. 

I would definitely say Twitter comes in handy, but I never would have thought to use twitter to search for a job. In this economy and these dire times... Anything is possible though so I guess I shouldn't be surprised by the article I read on the Chicago Sun-Times website about TweetMyJobs.com (http://tweetmyjobs.com/)

Sun-Times article: http://www.suntimes.com/business/currency/2104901,CST-NWS-mTweet16.article

Apparently Twitter presents a cheap alternative for companies to display job postings and thus TweetMyJobs exists where you can receive text message alerts on job updates. Some major corporations have already signed up for this service such as McDonald's, Motorola, and most recently Sears has been added to the list.

I don't know how popular this will become, but then again... I said the same thing about Twitter when I first created my account. It seemed pretty weird to me at the time, but now... I don't know what I would do in class without it. Lbs. (Lbs = Laughing but serious... For those who don't know.)

A Photo Journal: Spring Break

The view as we leave Austin...

Cows grazing the land...

I thought this was a beautiful picture of the clouds...

More cows. I love animals...

Sky was much more cloudy closer to Houston...

Beautiful building. I believe it was a medical center...

Another interesting building, with a huge "Jesus Piece" on it...

The Houston skyline...

The rodeo was in town...

We went to one of my favorite restaurants...

The food was great of course. I love pizza...

There was a huge waterfall fountain at the park...

A picture of the stone on my necklace. You can see my leggings as well as the park through it...

Man's Bestfriend All Grown Up While Teachers Receive Failing Grades

I know these two stories aren't exactly cohesive, but they both interest me:

I must say I have always loved dogs. I still beg my boyfriend for a puppy every chance I get... And he refuses every chance he gets. I do intend on winning that argument, which hopefully ends with me having a brand new puppy and tiny lizard. I do love large dogs like Akitas and Huskies, but never would I imagine owning a dog that's over 3 feet (not standing on hind legs). However, such a dog exists:

And in a more unfortunate story, students at a public school in Rhode Island continue to perform at lack luster rates which causes the superintendent to threaten to fire every teacher:

Are You Experiencing Withdrawals? LifeWatch Can Help!

This may make me sound like a hype (however, I believe I'm not alone) but just the thought of not having access to my cell phone gives me separation anxiety! I'm pretty sure that's the typical human being in 2010, but our addiction is still astounding.

This photo is an actual screenshot I took on my iPhone, which is by far my favorite of all the phones I have ever had. If you noticed, my iPhone is also jailbroken and unlocked with the T-Mobile service in the left corner and a picture of my boyfriend as my background. Both things are something not typical of an iPhone that's operating on factory settings.

I had actually thought of changing the background from his picture for the purposes of posting that on my blog, but then I thought, "What the heck? I'll just keep it 100."

Back to the point, according to Gizmodo (I love them) there are approximately 6.8 billion people in the world and there exists 4.6 billion cell phone service contracts. Though I know for a fact many people have more than one phone for just themselves, so the statistic doesn't suggest that 5 billion people of the world have cell phones (I wouldn't be shocked though).

In the article, Gizmodo suggests that the reason cell phones are prominent in even developing countries is because of the benefits they provide to the health industry as well as it's patients. The devices are often used to send patients messages reminding them of appointments and checkups, which got me thinking about my own experiences.

The picture above is a portable heart monitor (specifically a LifeWatch ACT Monitor), it's the exact one my cardiologist instructed me to wear for 3 weeks in October last year. It's basically a walking EKG and tracks abnormalities in my heart's activity in which case it would send messages to the company's center back in Chicago. I also had the option to send manual messages listing my symptoms if I felt an episode (palpitations, lightheadedness, chest pain, etc.) coming on. If it were anything critical, they would contact 911 for services to help me, but what they don't show in that photo is the five electrodes I had to attach to my body everyday that left cords hanging out of my shirts (thus, I wore baggy clothes to cover them) but that's another story.

LifeWatch's website: http://www.lifewatch.com/CardiacEventMonitoring

Anyway, the cell phone acted as a receiver of the information for my heart and because of this new technology my doctor was able to determine at least part of the source that had been causing me to nearly black out (among other things) several times.

None of this excuses why I have a bad habit of sleeping with my iPhone under my pillow or having full phone or texting conversations in my sleep but, it is at least one instance where I really was appreciative of the way technology has continued to expand. So while these pesky little devices usually serve as distractions, one may have very well saved my life.

All My Fragile Strength Is Gone

So Valentine's Day is upon us, tomorrow in fact huh? That's great. I should be excited shouldn't I? Well, guess what? I'm not (shocker!).

Anyway, now that we've established I don't give a fuck about Valentine's Day... This brings me to my next point: I wanted to write at least one post about V Day, but I wanted it to be be more interesting than the average post about such terrible day. So what to write about? To be honest with you I still don't know. I never REALLY know what I'm gonna write about until I'm writing it. I only have a mere spec of an idea and perhaps a theme in mind and everything else expands naturally as my main point develops out of no where.

So I suggest you tag along with me on this journey of uncertainty....

I titled this post "All My Fragile Strength Is Gone" because it's lyrics to a song called Gravity by Sara Bareilles. Most of you probably know her for the hit "Love Song." I honestly love both songs, but Gravity was never released as a single so I didn't hear it every five seconds wherever I went. And the fact that most people don't know about it, makes it feel much more personal to me. Like Gravity is my little secret. And it was.

Until recently, that song meant a lot to me. It just triggered such strong and uncontrollable emotions of saddens and sorrow. It's funny how music has that effect. It's both a grand and scary feeling to know that something created by a complete stranger could have such a hold on you.

It's probably my fault for listening to the song so much during a specific point in my life and because of that, each time I heard it... I was taken right back to that place in my mind. I mean, the song even went so far as to make me feel like I was physically somewhere else.

A few days ago... I was busy downloading music and I remembered to download Gravity because it's such a gorgeous song and my iTunes simply cannot be complete without it. As I listen to it, I'm again so impressed with the melody but something is missing. I don't know what it is, but something is different. Something sounds... Off.

It took me a moment to figure it out, but it certainly was not the song. It was me. While the song was just as beautiful as it's always been... I just didn't feel anything anymore. Now, I'm not for certain why. I've drawn no other conclusion than I'm simply past that point of my life. Past the place Gravity always brought me back to. So far past it, that nothing can take me back there. It's amazing, the affect just a few lyrics, a melody, and some instruments can have on us. But it's honestly more awing when they help you realize something you were to busy to notice.

Well... I guess this had nothing to do with Valentine's Day afterall (in someways that are less obvious, it did). Oh well. I did enjoy the freeflow of writing this post. I feel sort of refreshed so I do believe it served its purpose particularly well.

But my point is, music is amazingly strong and I will always have a special appreciation for the art in my heart (sorry, I didn't mean to rhyme). But I'll also always have a special appreciation for this song in particular... And several others that have a similar impact. Perhaps this post makes you think of songs that mean just as much to you. I hope so.

And I'll probably listen to this song tomorrow.

Shouldn't You Be Married, Though? -_-

Aaahhh love :o) It's a beautiful thing isn't it?

So my oldest sister is engaged to be married this October. I'm pretty damn excited for her, especially since she and her fiance have been together for 10 years now. He's like a brother to me of course.

Oddly enough I signed up to take a Christian marriage class for this semester during registration last fall... It's a requirement, okay? It's not like I was looking for marriage courses, people. Believe me this is the last class I wanna take.

So, whatever, I figured I could get something out of the class. Talks of marriage and relationships always spark really interesting conversations amongst people... Or so I thought.

I should actually be doing the homework I have due for that class right now... But that's neither here nor there and I digress... Back to the point. I thought the class would be entertaining at the very least. Boy, could I not have been wronger. Not only is everyone always half-sleep in that class but a few classes ago, the professor drops a BOMB on us!

In the mist of some lecture he was giving about something or another that I couldn't care less about, I hear him say,"Well, I've never been married myself."

Yeahhhh.... Things got pretty awkward after that. It sure did explain his choice of style in teaching the course though. Which consists mainly of repetition (which irks me) and reading quotes from Socrates, Plato, and the Bible... No real life experiences or stories. And no real attempt to even relate it to real life, except for stories of random strangers helping him after his car broke down.

I'm sure you can see my frustration. I really just wanna sit him down and ask him... Shouldn't you be married though? Or at least have been married? Perhaps he wasn't originally supposed to teach the course and is doing so by a mere fluke. I don't know. I just know that his lack of experience in marriage and what appears to be a lack of experience in love, based on the things he's shared, makes this class one real huge gigantic riDONKulous SNORE.

Look Out... Here Come the Green Police!

I'm not a football fan at all... I actually despise it. It's long and boring to me. Ironically (not really), my boyfriend absolutely LOVES the game. Because I don't know when the Super Bowl airs, I was shocked to hear one of my friends mention that it would be on this past Sunday. "Greattttt.... Of course it would come on during the weekend I'm supposed to spend with him," I thought. Not that I had the idea of him not paying attention to me because of the game, honestly just because I hate watching football.

So, I hoped he'd forget come Sunday... And he did for a while, then suddenly at the end whatever program we were already watching, he goes, "Is the game on?!"

"Damn," I thought.

We ended up watching some of it anyway (I was mostly distracted by other things) and I did happen to see a FEW Super Bowl commercials that genuinely amused me. I would definitely say the T-Pain/autotone one caught my attention, the Google one was ADORABLE (A-DOOR-A-BLUH), but the Audi's green police was absolutely hilarious!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq58zS4_jvM (watch Audi's commercial here)

I think it was a brilliant idea to be honest, and the funniest part was the ending with the green police stopping the real police. Not only did Audi bring light to an important cause, but they successfully showed the benefit of buying that particular car while still maintaining viewers' interests.

Youtube is currently holding a contest for the best Super Bowl commercial, where people can view dozens of commercials that aired the big night and cast their votes for the ones they find deserving of the award. Obviously, I casted my vote for Audi :o)

VOTE HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/user/adblitz?feature=ticker

An Angry Private Pregnancy

This weekend I had a mass communications assignment to complete which involved choosing a television show that somehow impacted me, then survey ten of my peers, and take note of their opinions. It took a lot for me to figure out which show and episode to choose. I went through Boy Meets World, Girlfriends, and Grey's Anatomy. I was sure the last one would be perfect... Unfortunately Hulu failed me because they didn't have an episode posted that interested me enough for this assignment.

Then finally, Grey's lead me right to Private Practice as I remembered the spin-off aired an episode last week where two of the doctors' 14 or 15 year old daughter announced she was pregnant. The father (Taye Diggs) handled himself in a rather cool and calm manner while hardly displaying the frustration boiling inside him. His ex-wife, on the other hand, couldn't look at, let alone speak to her daughter. She grabs the child's arm, drags her into a different doctor's office and demands the doctor gives the girl an abortion against the child's will. And what is she to do after her daughter refuses (and rightfully so)? Well nothing else but strike her across the face of course.

This woman is against abortions herself for religious reasons and her occupation actually specializes in giving couples who may not otherwise have had a chance to reproduce, an opportunity to do so... Nor does she agree with striking children. But this same woman is willing to violate her moral standards and the same ones she has worked so diligently to try to instill in her own daughter without blinking. Someone with a "pro-choice" stance on abortion, suddenly throws all sense out of the window at the drop of a dime to suddenly become just another irrational black woman.

For shame. Do ABC writers really believe this is all it takes to break a strong black woman? And I'm not calling her strong because I necessarily prefer she be that way, rather because the series has consistently shown her weather storms time and time again while keeping her cool and holding the rest of the cast together as well.

Perhaps writers decided to finally venture down the road that doesn't include the "angry black man" by allowing Taye Diggs' character to remain level-headed. I must admit, they deserve some credit for leaving that stereotype alone. And for that, I applaud them. But I will not applaud (nor shout "encore!") for them writing into the script that the pregnant teenage girl nearly gets an abortion but changes her mind at the last minute only after seeing another woman give birth through all kinds of hell and pain, while the girl's mom says, "Is this what you want? Look at that!"... And the two see the result of a crying baby at the end, to which the daughter replies, "But look at that," as a twinkle shines in her eyes for the excitement of a baby.

That exact scene right there only reminded me of how excited I am that the Tyra Show has been cancelled. Why? Because on several episodes, Tyra Banks would have a panel of about 8 teenage girls who are either already pregnant on purpose or trying to do so. These girls are just as excited as the girl on Private Practice. Tyra interviews the girls, asks them several questions, but never once offers them any type of assistance... Like the counseling they so blatantly need for desiring to take on such a responsibility at such an immature age.

Once again... For shame.

Introducing... Me

"Take me home!"

"Have a seat."

"Take me home! I want to go home!"

"You better have a seat, Janessa. Now just hang on a second. We are not done yet."

Oh, hey... How you doing? Sorry about that, I was just reliving some childhood memories. Yup, that was me at about seven years old throwing temper tantrums in the middle of the store while my mom was trying to shop.

Funny how I hate shopping then, but I would literally kill to go shopping right this second. (Okay, not literally.) I can't possibly imagine how embarrassing I must have been to my mom while I was screaming, crying, and stomping around stores. I suppose throwing tantrums comes with the territory of being the youngest child. The youngest of four to be exact. But, I would like to think that she and I have had better times since then.

I like to think I have shaken that whole temper tantrum thing by now, but you never know if it's just lurking in the background of my personality. Anywho, since I am nineteen now, I have much better control over my emotions. Not that going to school in New York City helps with that control... Seeing as this city probably has the most crazy people in one place at one time than any other city in America. But I suppose I would not have it any other way because it makes life interesting. For now, anyway. I would not want to live here permanently.

I actually have no idea where I would want to settle down and live, but I have plenty of life ahead of me to let those things fall in place. Oh, I do not think I mentioned that I actually live in Chicago. It is far cleaner than New York and definitely less rainy. And no, it is not that windy. It is not much windier than any other city that happens to be placed directly on a body of water. I do not know why people fail to realize that fact and I am just so tired of people asking me about the wind in Chicago. Especially because it is called the windy city because of its windy politicians... Not weather. People believe what they will, however I can be found correcting people about that little fact all the time.

Anyway, that is enough about me for right now. I am sure I will spit out other things about me, random facts, and nonsense in other posts. I hope you're looking forward to it!