In desperation both of a lack of actual content and a hope for a slammin’ birthday gift, I give you this link to a Mystery Science Theater 3000 brief history lesson.

In the 2 or so years since I last logged on to eBay, I seem to have forgotten just how addicting this site can be.  Over the weekend, in my internet searching (ok, scouring) for a rocker for the new baby’s nursery that isn’t butt-ugly (a-la granny gliders in drapery-type fabrics), I happened over to eBay.  I intended to do a search merely ‘to check’ what was there and see if we could score a cool mid-century modern rocking chair at a deeply discounted price.  It started out innocently enough.

I have to admit that over the course of the weekend, I became obsessed with checking “my eBay”, or as I like to call it, meBay (why didn’t they just name it that to begin with?).  I have found the rockers of choice and I even put in some bids - but by yesterday evening I was sorely outbid in my quest for good style at a bargain price.

Evidence of my latest pregnancy craving :)

So, please, if you want to save me and my family from my horrible new compulsion, send one vintage Eames rocker in a cool color via UPS to my home address.  Or, I can even arrange for local pick-up.

What does this mean for America? Well, a quick check of the news and, no, terrorists aren’t reclining in the Oval Office, lighting Cuban cigars with blazing American flags. Also, Communist-style bread lines are not wrapping around my block, the street signs of my town are still written in English, and the local churches have not been plowed under to make way for a multitude of mosques. Incredibly, Obama won the election and nothing cataclysmic happened. (Caveat: not that mosques going into my community is bad at all.)

Last week, Megan and I voted via absentee ballots; I won’t share her vote choice out of courtesy, but I voted for Obama along with everyone living in my house. I voted for his policies, his optimism, and his hope for all people. I voted for his message of helping our fellow Americans while rebuilding our failing economy. And it turns out, lots of my countrymen and -women voted along these lines.

I don’t see it as a vote for change per se or a vote for historical significance. I see it as the bulk of America finally saying No! to ignorant assumptions and the political game of fear mongering. So much of the Republican campaign this year focused on bogeymen and hearsay, while Obama ran a campaign that actually explained potential presidential policies – imagine that!

Now I use the term “Republican campaign” rather than McCain’s campaign because I really feel he lost control of it once he accepted his party’s nomination. Suddenly, the McCain we know was swapped out for a “My Friends” Grampa Automaton. His concession speech last night was a resurgence of his true self, now that he is no longer under the GOP thumb.

And I bet McCain will never visit Alaska again.

The cutest witch in town - and I’m referring to Hazel here.

…annoy my parents who have tried to get me to wear them ALL SUMMER LONG.

Forget protecting my precious retinas from the harmful UV rays at the beach, on walks, on the lake, or when lounging around my blow-up whale pool.

Nope, I decide when I am ready to don the glasses, and apparently, a crsip fall evening after sunset and pre-bath sounds just perfect to me!

So now that we are two games into the World Series, it’s time for my Winning Prediction of Sports Ignorance. Despite spending a childhood fully ignoring professional sports, over the past few years, I have been glued to the TV for the baseball league championship games and the Series. It might have started in 2004, when my father’s lifelong love of the Red Sox finally paid off. Maybe not. Either way, it’s a real treat to only have to keep up with teams, players, and scores for a two-week stretch each year. And with the Phillies and the Rays having been on my attention radar for a whole 14 days, I am sure qualified to pass judgment on their chances of winning.

Going in, I picked the Phillies. The Rays, while young and hungry, only slaughtered the Red Sox due to a slew of homeruns. Whether all those taters (See? Sports lingo) flew about from superior batting or inferior pitching remained to be seen. And Game One made it fairly clear that the Red Sox pitching roster needs work. Of course, that doesn’t mean you should count out a team as young and athletic like the (Devil) Rays. Fueled by their collective young man anger (and Mohawks), the Terrors of Tropicana Field surged last night, fielding very well and maximizing the Phillies embarrassing errors. So with the Series tied to one game apiece, who’s my new pick?

Well, my new pick is still my old pick: the Phillies will win it all this year. Despite errors, sluggish batting, and several whiny tantrums from Jayson “I Look Like Goat” Werth, with the Rocky Theme buoying them, the City of Brotherly Love will be a bit more loving by Game…let’s say…Six.

You heard it here, folks. Now call the bookie and get a cookie.