How many stores does Starbucks actually have? Over 15,000 as of November of last year including their joint ventures with places like Barnes and Noble. That’s a lot of coffee houses. And Starbucks portrays themselves as earth-friendly, consumer-friendly, and an allaround warm and fuzzy experience. But it’s just another corporate beast.

People might like the slightly over roasted and highly addictive extra-caffeinated coffee’s bitter aftertaste, but it’s average coffee at an above average price. The fad is starting to pass. Mom and pop coffee shops are so much better. And I personally prefer Caribou Coffee when it comes to coffee chains. I’m not going to lose a wink of sleep over them closing a few stores (less than 1.5% after they open the other new stores). The economy is in the crapper and I’m happy to see some corporations struggle as much as the common man is.

Will you miss Starbucks?

Please don’t hesitate to respond accordingly . . .

This isn’t a self-pity rant, but once again, I’m a realist.  I burn people and nobody really cares what I am doing these days, so why would they be interested in reading about my life?   I am ok with this fact, but I just wanted to say ‘Yay for Obama!’ because he is the first candidate to whom  I donated money and I feel like he has a shot at becoming our next president.

Incidentally, I am seriously considering attending his inauguration with my mother and any other family/friends who would like to attend.  If you feel interested when January rolls around, I have a really uncomfortable fold-out couch, and lots of floor space.  It could be fun. . .  And you’ll be  a part of history.  I’ll broadcast this again in January.

So donate to Obama, register to vote, and please, please, stop wasting your time at my blog.

I know hundreds, if not thousands of people all over the US and the world. I can talk to a complete stranger and have their life story and their contact information in a matter of minutes, yet nobody ever thinks to contact me back. Am I so offensive that nobody wants to deal with me? Or am I just too intimidating for people to want to reach out to me? Or perhaps I am just plain unpleasant, even forgettable?

This is just a moment of curiosity. I have been told that I am mean, intimidating, abrasive, and hard to deal with at times, but yet I am complimented in the same breath. Being intellectual and brutally honest makes me regarded articulate, fascinating, amazing, evil, hateful, and unpleasant. I have also been told that certain moments of verbal outburst are acceptable in a man, but things that I say are just unappealing from a woman. So tell me, why does nobody post on this blog?

This is not a trick, you don’t have to sign up and post, just take my survey.

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On December 5, 1997 he dropped me off at school. I was in 10th grade. That morning was the last time I ever saw my father. Tragically, he had a stroke several hours later. While he was on life support for those few hours before they determined his brain was dead, I could have seen him. But I knew there were only two possible outcomes, he would survive or he wouldn’t. If he survived, I would see him again. If he didn’t, I wanted to remember him from that morning.

Now, looking back over ten years, I remember the living moments. And I try not to mourn him too much. Life is for the living, they say. But on Wednesday I remembered a story by Ray Bradbury called “There Will Come Soft Rains” about a house that continues living long past when all life is gone. Life does go on, with or without us. And from that title I also recalled this other poem, a rather morose and suicidal number, that gets to me sometimes. So I thought I would share it

I Shall Not Care

When I am dead and over me bright April
Shakes out her rain-drenched hair,
Though you shall lean above me broken-hearted,
I shall not care.

I shall have peace, as leafy trees are peaceful
When rain bends down the bough;
And I shall be more silent and cold-hearted
Than you are now.

-Sara Teasdale

Share your favorite poem, story, movie, etc.. with me.  What inspires you?  What moments in your life define you?  We could all use a little enrichment and academic indulgence.

Huckabee and McCain welcome the announcement as Huckabee stated “I think it always would probably pull votes away from the Democrats and not the Republicans, so naturally, Republicans would welcome his entry into the race.”

Now, Green Activists might argue that our country is in need or a revolution. And some liberals might say that it is in the spirit of the democratic process to allow for independent or outside party candidates to run for presidency. But lets be pragmatic, Nader is educated and intelligent and he knows, both based on previous runs, and polls, as well as other indicators, that he has a snowballs chance in hell of receiving a significant share of votes anywhere in this country. He also knows that the majority of his votes come from the more pro-environment party of democrats.

So why exactly is Nader running?

My conclusion is ego. This man enjoys the fame, attention, and the opportunity to speak to the press about his various issues. And he is a selfish son of a bitch for doing it this way. He could well make deals with the Democratic Party to rally his voters around a democratic candidate and have a more active role within our government to improve environmental legislation, but he won’t.

So my advice to Green Party members, don’t be selfish. Don’t vote for Nader to create some kind of message. You will end up putting McCain in office. Work with our system and try to slow and reverse the damage. And if you want to help more, think Global and act local. Try to lobby for local candidates that might help represent the environmental issues for your area.

Please help the environment and vote Democratic, let’s not give the Republicans another four years in office.

While this is interesting and you can probably find 100s of articles about both the Hadron Collider, and its porn counterpart the Hardon Collider, I am more interested in the safety message from CERN itself.

To summarize:

1. The Large Hadron Collider can reach energies that no other particle accelerator has reached before.

2. The cosmic collisions found in space are much more powerful than the ones being created in the accelerator.

3. The total energy in the beam is that of a 400 ton train traveling at 150km/h like the French TGV.

4. Supposedly, only a very small portion of this beam will actually be used in a single collision, less than that of a person swatting a swarm of mosquitos.

5. In theory “microscopic” black holes could be created in this process. They will be so fleeting that only their decay will be detectable.

6. Scientists may also create “strangelets” which repel normal matter and will decay on their own.

Okay, so for those of us that don’t really understand physics, this seems like a fair safety message. The scientists say they know what “could” happen and it is so small in energy it is not a threat. But since they don’t know for sure if Higg’s particles exist, and some of these conclusions are theoretical/hypothetical, will that safety message really help you sleep at night?

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Turns out she’s right, I do travel a lot.

• Create your own travel map or travel blog
• Visit TripAdvisor.com

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I am writing this e-mail in response to your recent FISA vote and I would like to remind you of one thing.

   Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

That is all that I have to say as I believe it speaks for itself.

I rolled out of bed at 1pm today, I love telecommuting. I started to head to the primary in my old college attire; flannel PJ bottoms, a t-shirt, worn out running shoes. But as I headed out the door I realized what a slob I looked like. I want to make a good impression on Obama, I thought to myself. I headed back inside and changed.

I put on some makeup, nice jeans, a new shirt, and my less-worn tennis shoes. I fixed my bed hair and then headed out the door. This time my cats wanted desperately to follow. They stood blocking the door. I thought about how cute they looked and decided to grab my camera. As I took several pictures of them meowing and staring out the glass door, I decided I would take a photo diary. I headed out the door this time with my camera, but was immediately pushed back by really cold air. It was about 28 degrees out and I headed back indoors to grab my gloves and scarf.

Then, as I headed out the door again I was accosted by my dog. “Please take me vote, please, pretty please. I don’t know what an election is and I am only 11 years old, but I KNOW I want to go with you.” She begged and pleaded. I decided instead to head back inside and put her out of the cold air. She would follow me to the ends of the earth but the poor thing just doesn’t know what is good for her. As I headed out the door once again, I realized I’d forgotten by voter registration card. I know I don’t need it, but it’s much easier for these elderly folk who generally run the polls then trying to look up your name off a license. And for some reason my name which is as common and as anglo as “Smith” seems to always trip them up. Maybe there are just too many people with my name out there. I grabbed my card and this time got all the way out to my driveway.

The day was terribly gray and cold. Most people in my area work, I didn’t expect there to be a good turnout in the middle of the day. In fact, in my area, I imagined a lot of people to be Republicans, it is a quite wealthy area, and somehow Wayne Gilchrist always gets elected as my rep, but maybe that is because of the Eastern Shore. Perhaps people on this side of the bay know what’s good for them.

I took a look at the Chesapeake Bay from my backyard. I could see the area where my voting station is, just across the water. But damn, no way to get over there without driving a couple miles around the Magothy.

Of course a lot of my neighbors have big boats in their backyards, but I’m just a poor renter. I don’t even have a water-facing lot. Hey I’m only 26, I still have college debt to worry about.

I admired a few of the boats and then got back in my car and headed to the polls.

I cranked up my Sirius Satellite Radio. Linkin Park “Shadow of the Day,” came on and I thought to myself how appropriate of a song to come on during such a miserable day. I turned it up and sang along as loud as I could. I probably looked and sounded ridiculous to people when I pulled up next to them at a light, but who cares, I’m happy, I get to be an American today.

I turned onto my road and the DJ Human Numan came on to the radio. “A 20,000 year old tooth was discovered by researchers in Greece, what do you call a toothless neanderthal?”

I wondered where the heck he was going with this stupid line. He is generally a crappy DJ and frequently says incredibly ignorant things.

“A Huckabee Voter”

I chuckled.

As I drove up to the school where I vote, I checked out the signs in front of the parking lot. A few signs for Wayne Gilchrest, McCain, and some other lesser known people. But ahh, the holy grail, a sign for Obama. Hillary had no signs visible.

I parked my card near the entrance and as I walked toward the school the only person holding a candidate sign outside of the school spoke to me.

“Are you voting in the Republican primary?” He asked me. I glanced at his sign. Wayne Gilchrest it read in white letters on a blue background. He was bundled up in gloves, hat, and heavy winter coat, but still looked cold.

“Nope, absolutely not. And I won’t vote for that cocksucker in the general election either.” I couldn’t believe I said that to the guy, but it was out before I could do anything.

“Oh ok, you have a nice day then.” He was as polite as could be.

As I walked into the school, I located my precinct (10). I headed up to the registration tables and presented my card. “Is this your first time voting sweetie?” an old lady asked me.

“Ahh, no, this is my first time voting in this district. I am 26.”

“Really? You don’t look a day older than 18?” the old man sitting next to her smiled.

After they struggled to find my name in the computer, I was finally presented with a diebold card. They had me sign a piece of paper saying I received the card and that I was indeed voting in the democratic primary. Another old man walked me to my voting machine. After I picked Obama and other various democrats, I got my “I voted” Sticker and headed out of the gym. I took one last look. There were 6 or 7 poll workers, all well over the age of 60, all white, men and women about equal in numbers. I did not see a single other voter. Of course it was 2 in the afternoon at this point. The precinct where I live is filled with relatively affluent families. There are not many elderly, most kids are under the voting age. I guess most of the voters must have been at work. But I did see a sign for Obama, and that’s the only democratic sign I saw at all. I couldn’t call where this precinct might go, but I’d say an event split would not surprise me.

Below are a few more pictures of an inlet of the Chesapeake on this gray day. I will be working for the next 8 hours, as I started my workday quite late today.