Random tidbits...

A woman died last week due to water intoxication. She had three kids and tried to win a Wii for them by drinking water in a contest and not going to the bathroom. She died from drinking too much water. Note to my college friends: we're idiots.

Obama now has an exploratory committee to run for president in 2008. He'll run. Clinton will run. McCain will run. Edwards is running. Many others will take their chances as well. I've been thinking lately about what kind of leader I would like, what it will take to regain my confidence and my vote. I want someone intelligent. Someone who can admit mistakes. Someone who can admit that he or she does not have every answer. Someone with good character who can command a room and command respect. Someone willing to make a checklist of important topics in our country and figure out how to make each issue better. Education. Social security. Economy. Environment. Poverty. Joblessness. Foreign relations. Someone who will listen. I want someone who will tell me and every other America that mistakes have been made, that there is considerable work to do to restore this country, that we have to stop forcing our way of life on other people, that we need to cooperate with other nations, that all the lawsuits indicate the NCLB act isn't working, etc. Don't run on how bad Bush has been. Don't run on having the perfect platform and the perfect ideas and the perfect plan. Don't run on how bad every other candidate is. Run on leadership ability, intelligence, ideas.

The snow comes down in heaps and suddenly I'm in Indiana again. Except they never have snow days in the mid-west.

My hands are always cold. What's the deal?

Leonard Cohen is an interesting guy. His voice is great, this deep, throaty base sound. He has the face and voice of a wonderful grandfather and the dark words of a troubled, depressed poet. And oh how Bono and the Edge worship him.

I don't watch TV any more, but I pay more attention to the news. Radio and newspapers and websites. It is as dark as Leonard Cohen songs. There is a great weight building, like a monstrous wave slowly engulfing the Earth (The Day After Tomorrow 2?), and we're all caught in it's widening shadow.