Palin did better than I thought, but I still can't imagine her overseas, interacting with world leaders, and talking about complex issues. In other words, Palin is absolutely the wrong person at the wrong time to even be considered for a position that is essentially one heartbeat away from the most powerful position in the world. But she's great at repeating short slogans and buzzwords like "hockey mom."

Words are inadequate to express how I feel about the Cubs playing in the playoffs this year.   If they win the World Series I might actually cry.  You know how big a deal this is if a grown man is willing to admit that he might blubber like a little baby at a game. The playoffs start tomorrow...

Today I wanted to burn off some calories so I went jogging for the first time in a long, long time.  I began my ordeal with some pre-jogging streching exercises.  Then, having successfully completed my bend-overs and ankle rotations, I felt pumped up enough to delude myself into thinking that what I was about to do was a good idea.  I turned around, waved at my dog who was looking at me out the window, and didn't look back. 

The first 100 feet went wonderfully.  At about foot number 101, I started to realize the true value of oxygen in our world.  Immediately, I wanted to back home and give up, but I wanted to hide from my wife the fact that she is married to a man who is in worse shape than his grandfather (who has been dead for five years, by the way).  As such, I had no choice but to continue jogging - or "stumbling" as it would have looked to a bystander.  After what seemed like an eternity, I reached the 200 foot mark. 

By foot number 201, I started yelling at random cars passing by -- "For the love of God, call 911!"  Actually, I don't know if I was really yelling because hallucinations had long since beset my mind. The streets were fairly quiet so I'm sure I was just feeling embarassed, but I felt as though every single one of my neighbors were peeking out their windows and laughing at the thirtysomething crazy man in jogging wear. 

By foot number 300 I had had enough.  I decided to stop, lay down, and not move until the police came and hauled me away or stray dogs started to gnaw at my face, whichever came first. My shirt was soaking wet and I was breathing heavier than Darth Vader so at least I looked as if I had jogged for a long time. I was hoping that on my way home someone would ask me how far I jogged, to which I would have flippently answered: "half marathon."  But alas, the only living creatures I encountered were birds and flies, all of which were probably laughing at my out-of-shapedness.

By some miracle, I made it home.  I was gone for so short a time period that I don't  think my wife even noticed that I had been out "jogging."  The only other being to greet me on my miraculous and triumphant return was my dog, but he yawned and went back to sleep.  After a 96 minute shower I felt better again and I was able to confirm that my lungs had not, as I had feared, distinegrated into dust.  I may actually try "jogging" again tomorrow...someone please talk me out of it.        

I voted in the Hawaii primary elections this morning, which was easy for me because the polling station was literaly across the street.  I really had no excuse for not going.  In addition to the races for state representative and mayor of Honolulu, there were also positions for seats on the board of education.  I was familar with the state rep. and mayoral candidates, but I had no clue about the board of education candidates.  Basically, I randomly chose three names.  I think this may be one of the strange quirks of our system, because I'll bet I was not the only one who chose the board of edu. candidates based on nothing more than how their name looks on the ballot (no doubt some people vote based on the ethnicity of the last names too).  Maybe I'll run for board of education in the next election, just for the heck of it.  But first, I'm going to change my name to Captain Sexy in order to attract more votes.  

Maybe you've heard about this story.  If not, it's like this: This dog was tied to a post as a puppy and used as bait for pit bulls.  Part of his face was torn off and he was left for dead.  Perhaps the people responsible for this think that they are hard-core, tough men (or women) with tough pit bull fighters.  Maybe they used the pit bulls to intimidate other people.  It takes a certain kind of person to be able to hurt weaker creatures without batting an eye - more specifically, a weak, pathetic person.  My guess is that the people who were involved with this are so lacking in humanity that the only way they feel secure is to inflict pain on others.  Truly strong people do not do this kind of thing.  Even as I sit here typing this, and look at my own dog curled up sleeping in his bed, I feel moisture in my eyes. I cannot stand to hear of dogs be tortured, and it pains me to think that this type of thing happens all the time.  I'm not a vengeful person, but in this case I'll make an exception.  I hope the people responsible for this go away and die.   

Amazingly, this tale has a happy ending.  "Oogy" was rescued and he survived.  A family brought him into their home where he lives a persumably happy and normal life now.  Despite his obvious scars, I think he's a fine looking dog.

I wasn't expecting much out of the Bears today because it's very difficult to win in the NFL when you have a rookie running back, no real "go-to" reciever, a suspect offensive line, and a quarterback who is average at best.  Coupled with the fact that the opponent was the Indianapolis Colts, with one of the best quarterbacks of all time, the chances of the Bears winning seemed very, very slim. 

But stop the presses!  Somehow the Bears pulled off a victory.  Matt Forte, the rookie running back, performed like a veteran, the defense kept Peyton Manning off balance all night, and Kyle Orton, the Bears' quarterback did not make any major mistakes.  Hopefully, the Bears will build off this momentum and start off the season strongly.

Today I have to go take a nice picture and prepare a resume because I'm going to respond to the open-casting call for "LOST" extras.  My goal is to be "Man on Beach #3," or maybe even "Asian Man."  Wish me luck. 

I created a Facebook page under my real name (yes, believe it or not my last name is not "Storm 2") in order to get back in touch with an old friend. As a result, I've gotten back in touch with at least ten other people through his page (we were in the same frat).  I'm a privacy freak so I was a little hesitant but it's nice and surreal to see people I haven't seen in over 15 years.  Some people look the same, some look...uh...old (sorry), some are married, some are not, some have kids, and all of them seem to be doing pretty well.

One interesting quandry that I encountered is that I received a friend request from a guy who was a DICK back in the day.  I try not to hold grudges so I accepted his friend request, but frankly it feels a little weird for him to act like nothing ever happened.  I guess we were both young and stupid at the time so it's probably best if we look back and laugh at our past.  I haven't freaked out yet, but I will if one of my old girlfriends finds my page!      

Associated Press has this picture of a protester getting pepper-sprayed in the face at the Republican National Convention.  Ouch.