This is so funny. An imaginative blogger has written an entry comparing the Democratic presidential candidates to Dungeons & Dragons characters. He says this about Kucinich:
If there’s one Democratic candidate who knows how many hit dice a Gelatinous Cube has, it’s Dennis Kucinich. You’ve gotta know that somewhere in the back of his one of his closets is a first-print copy of the Fiend Folio, pages stuck together with decade-old bong resin.
Obviously, he’s a Druid. You know, the whole Commune with Nature thing; he’s like a Vegan, sickly-pale Beastmaster. He doesn’t actually fight monsters; instead, he casts one of his many Summon Squirrels spells, shouting out, “O, my Friends of the Silver Forest! Come to me, O Woodland Creatures! Protect me from this fell beast!” You know, that kind of pansy shit.

The author fails to mention that Kucinich’s ears give a -2 hit to his Charisma stat..

I drove my sister to the airport today for her flight to Europe. I think it finally hit her this morning that she would be spending six months in a foreign land and she started to freak out a little. She was also worried about the flight and the heightened security on the airlines. I almost said, “Whatever you do, don’t talk back to the hijackers,” but then I decided that probably wasn’t too appropriate. Here’s hoping she drinks lots of wine, eats lots of cheese, and that she brings me back some good swag.

If you feel like wasting five minutes, you can nominate The 19th Floor for a 2004 Bloggie. I think the most appropriate category is Best-Kept-Secret Blog. I’d nominate myself, but that just seems so…so un-Midwestern. I’m sure that of the three of you out there that read this site regularly, one of you has the time to fill out the nomination form. And tell your friends, boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, wives, parents, siblings, colleagues, students, fellow inmates, therapists, clients, and general acquaintances to also consider nominating this site.
If I can’t go to Europe, then I at least want to take a trip within the U.S., probably this summer. I’m thinking East Coast this time, like New York or Washington DC. Maybe Boston if I can get a hold of a friend who lives there. I know DC is supposed to be pretty accessible; not so sure about NY. If you were me, where would you go?

I was watching the NASA Channel last night when the first images from the Mars probe Spirit arrived. Everyone should be so jubilant about their work. When you think about it, their accomplishment is remarkable and a little mind-boggling. This little craft survived an interplanetary trip and a fiery re-entry to safely land on a surface full of jagged rocks and deep craters. I’m looking forward to following the progress of Spirit and its twin, Opportunity, over the next few months.
Another Green Bay Packers victory today. I was chanting “Intercept, intercept!” like a mantra just before Al Harris picked off the ball. Yet another sign that the universe revolves around me.

I’m getting fed up with the catfight that’s been going on between Dean and the other Democratic presidential candidates. It’s symptomatic of the current sorry state of the entire Democratic Party. All of the candidates are screaming about electability (mostly in criticism of Dean), but they’re all doing a pretty good job of ensuring Bush’s re-election with their present behavior. I’ve previously stated that I support Dean, but lately I’ve become wary of his tendency to run at the mouth and his quick temper. He also needs to find other ways to distinguish himself from the other candidates besides his opposition to the war. The war and its consequences will shape our foreign policy for years and Dean still wants to play Monday-morning quarterback. I opposed the war too, but we can’t bloody well walk away now. I think Dean understands that, but he isn’t articulating his vision for how he would handle the process of returning sovereignty to Iraq. He needs to demonstrate to the vast political center of America that he’s not a loony isolationist like Kucinich. Frankly, I’m starting to wish Gore had decided to run.
I want to take a moment to say “Guten Tag!” to all my uncles, aunts, and cousins in Germany who have been reading this blog. I could try writing some entries n German, but the results would make you cringe.