the latest news
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[01.07.08]
This website strives to be a lot of things: entertaining, informative, mind-blowing... I'd like to think we're ahead of the curve (bringing LOLcats into your lives, for instance!), but sometimes the entertaining part comes in when we're not. For example, this week's fave quote references something known in the business world as a "deck." Apparently a deck is a PowerPoint presentation. I knew that Annie D. spent an inordinate amount of time in college putting together PowerPoint presentations for group projects, and I'm pretty sure I made fun of her for it. Who knew that it truly is the prefered medium of communication for business people! Nay, an email, a memo, a phone call won't do. There have to be pictures--with animation and drop shadows to boot. (Although, I'll back off on the drop shadow--that effect gets me every time!) I'm caught off guard, though, by the fact that there's a type of communication I wasn't at all aware of. :-\ I LOVE communicating in all ways! Phone, email, IM, texting, good old-fashioned mano e mano... Some of you may recall that back in 2002, while trying to cope with an impending move to NYC and away from Annie D., I toyed with the idea of buying a portable AIM device just so I could be constantly connected. Next purchase? Pocket-sized deck-presenter!
[12.20.07]
Driving down the highway last Saturday, en route to the Outer Banks, five of us ladies saw a dog in the road. After two U-turns on the four-lane highway, Annie D. got out to lure the wayward dog over. Upon closer inspection, the dog appeared to be wearing some sort of tracking collar--it was a hunting hound. Leading the dog over to the car, we realized it was severely under-fed and malnourished: her ribs were protruding and her hindquarters were as skinny as her neck. Naturally we fed her nearly a whole box of wheat thins while Jen S. tried to think of the nearest animal hospital. We were all set to put the dog in the car (Habe had protected herself in the backseat--being a New Yorker, she's not sooo found of living things) when two trucks pulled up. Immediately I scooped the dog up, imploring everyone to pile in and floor it! Annie D. reminded me that hunters have guns and that we should perhaps be a little more prudent.
So we had to give the dog back to the cruel man. :( You'll be happy to know that we DID accuse him of mistreating the dog, we DID get his last name from the dog's collar and tags off his truck, and we DID place a half-dozen phone calls to animal control and the local police. Off course, Adrienne kept using the word "emaciated" and we're not sure anyone she spoke to knows what that means... BUT, we're hopeful that our actions helped and you'll be the first to know if there's any follow-up news.
[12.13.07]
As a twenty-something there are so many ways to mark time. For a while I kept count by ticking off the years since Anne and I graduated from college--but now that we're pushing five and a half, longer than the duration of college itself, I think that method is played out. Our birthdays are getting less and less exciting (diminishing marginal utility), although pet birthdays are still fun, since I get to eat the cats' cake. (Mmm, Carvel...) But a measure of time that unites more and more of us is the highly anticipated release of the A&A mix CD every year. This Christmas we'll be disseminating the NINTH EDITION. Every year we think, "this CD is the best one yet!" Yet older editions seem to only get better and better as we rediscover them. Is it possible that they're all the best? If you're us and you're just that good, it is! Anne and I have the mix-making collaboration down to a science. This is no last-minute feat. We each keep dedicated lists throughout the year of A&A-worthy song nominations before beginning the mutual process of reviewing, vetoing, and editing--and that doesn't even get into the artwork! We're one year away from A&A10, and the fans have been clamoring for a best of edition. But that would be like trying to fit a Beatles greatist hits album on one CD.
[12.06.07]
In my family, Thanksgiving is the big holiday. We're generally flung far for Christmas, and the dedication to celebrating the 4th of July in Havre de Grace (which, as you know, I love to attend and I love to write about) isn't as strong as it could be (ahem, MOM & DAD). But we all make it happen for Thanksgiving, so this update is going to be for those deserving shout-outs:
**My first-cousin-once-removed-in-law, Tracy, for being a loyal A&A reader and supporter. I had the pleasure of running into her while doing some Black Friday shopping at White Marsh. She called me out for my over-due update, citing the last day I'd added content...LOVE IT THE MOST!!
**My step-uncle-in-law, Tom, for really understanding the genius of our A&A Homecoming Tailgate and leaving me with this pearl of wisdom: "If you tap it, they will come!" Not the first time A&A have been compared to Field of Dreams!
**Crazy Sans Souci, my family's dog. Though she was temporarily barred from Nanna's house based on her behavior (and my incompetence with dog-handling) over July 4th, she was re-invited for Thanksgiving and behaved beautifully.
[11.28.07]
**YouTube response to VA delegate giving an anti-Gene speech last week
**Updated news from the Flat Hat
**YouTube video of a student rally
**Story from a Richmond paper
**Dog Street Journal audio clip of Nichol
**Washington Post story
IDEAS ON SPEAKING OUT
**Email the BOV - demand they resign! bovevaluation@wm.edu
**Email Michael Powell, Rector - mpowell@wm.edu
**Email or call Gov. Tim Kaine, tell him to appoint an all new BOV
[02.13.08]
HAPPY MARDI GRAS!! I'm just returning from a spectacular long weekend revelling in the Big Easy for the third year running. I'll be making my hotel reservations for next year post haste. You're all invited. I already have an RSVP from the Naked Cowboy, and I'm sure the Jesus freaks (or the JC Mafia, as I like to call them) have a waiting list for the next decade's worth of boob-watching while prostelytizing. My sister's favorite sign this year: "Ask me why you deserve to go to Hell." Nice! What a way to recruit fellow cult members! I was interested to see that this year, not only does God hate you if you celebrate Mardi Gras, but also if you are a sports nut, a "pencil-necked weak-willed, gutless man," a democrat, a rebellious woman, a "homo," or a racist. Guitar Boy enjoyed the combination of the last two - you can be a bigot, but not a racist? Fascinating. Another sign of a similar nature seemed to have been written by a five-year-old. I walked up to the gentleman holding the sign and informed him that God hates people who can't spell. His buddy came over and asked me if I knew what a fornicator was. I thought this was weird, considering I was wearing a wedding ring and standing next to my husband. Hello, know your audience! Kendra said he was probably asking because he didn't know himself...
[02.05.08]
It's funny how we all remember the same experiences differently, or remember different things about the same experience, or just remember things plain wrong. Morning-after phone calls are always a trip because trying to piece together the previous evening is not only hilarious, but is often the most challenging brain activity one can muster. Forget the Washington Post crossword--the brain cells necessary for that activity were killed hours ago. Sarah M. has said she prefers NOT to stroll with me down short-term memory lane because I always remind her of the party fouls she would rather stay forgotten.
But purposeful cognitive impairment aside, T. Diddy has decided to start a turf war by declaring that his nickname is a holdover from his college days--not the genius creation of Annie D. They both still agree that Mama D. can claim "T to the double D" as all her own. I say he needs to prove it--but if any A&A readers can offer proof that the origin of "T. Diddy" came from Miss Didds herself (this cracked out urban dictionary entry doesn't count), pass it along. ALSO, if any of you remember what we did for Annie D.'s 24th birthday in 2004, I'll buy you a chaiiiii. We're pretty much trying to piece together that entire year...
[01.22.08]
As most of you know, A&A are fervent animal lovers and can get pretty riled up over the sickos who own puppy mills, shoot polar bears or, as you heard about a few weeks ago, leave their starving pet on the side of a highway. In our opinion, these people don't deserve to exist. They especially do not deserve to president.
Example #1: Mitt Romney. The govnah was packing up his car for a family vacation when he realized there wasn't enough room for the dog. So he ties the dog to the roof! As the dog is barreling down the highway, it goes to the bathroom all over the car. Instead of seeing this as a sign of animal abuse, it becomes a funny Romney-family anecdote.
Example #2: Mike Huckabee. Huckabee's 17-year-old son goes to Boy Scout camp and, just for kicks, hangs a stray dog. Now there are allegations that when the police came to investigate, Gov. Huckabee fires the director of police and has the charges dropped.
Example #3: Rudy Giuliani. Wife Judith used to be a sales rep for a surgical company that tested their medical procedures on thousands of dogs . The company acknowledged its salespeople routinely demonstrated staples on anesthetized dogs as part of sales pitches! As Ghandi said, you can judge a country by how it treats its animals. A&A says, the same rule applies to presidential candidates.
[01.15.08]
I'm back! I'm here! I'm still alive! No, I wasn't on a remote island with no internet access--the hiatus was self-imposed. Let's get on with the things you've been missing but really need to know:
(1) "Did you read that article in Vanity Fair?" has officially replaced "Did you hear that story on NPR?" My sister Jenn noted the shift and I think there's no going back, thanks to the fact that I have been given, and now give several, VF subscriptions. If you don't have one, GET one, so we have something to talk about.
(2) I've discovered that Potter and Sarah M. throw away pennies. I was appalled. I told them I'd rather burn a one dollar bill than throw away a penny. They were appalled. But it's an environmental thing!
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