Links of the fun sort and the serious sort

FUN: Ever wonder what happened to Winnie and Blossom? Nice to see actors with these types of values...
SERIOUS: HBO's In Memoriam promises to be a moving reminder of why we must fight against terrorism.
FUN: Don't believe the food police! Pizza is actually pretty nutritious according to this article.
SERIOUS: On all the ominous attack warnings and why the US should consider hurting people's feelings

Goodness gracious I am tired. Cannot think to write insightful commentary on the other links I have. Will get some sleep and attempt to do so tomorrow. Possible topics: Pitting hijackers' feelings against Americans' safety and sanity, baby anxiety and Generation Yers, Title IX and how it hurts mens' sporting opportunities, the gripping and disturbing nature of Unfaithful and the questions it raises. Any other ideas? Let me know.

Been encountering various problems with my blog here. I apologize for the days on end between updates. I've actually written a few little numbers, just to have my updates eaten when my computer crashed. Additionally, for some reason BlogSpot keeps publishing "I'd rather be studying about men..." in my space. Note to visitors: although I do like men, I don't see much point in studying them. They defy logic and reason :) Working on another update for news items tonight & will get it posted ASAP.

Sorry for the long lapse in blogging here. Visiting a friend in the Northwest suburbs for part of the weekend (hi ann!) and just busy in general. I saw Unfaithful Saturday evening, and I have concluded it was the most thought-provoking movie I have seen in a long time. It raised some questions with me, about the state of values, morals, trust, and faith in our current culture. Hope to write a piece on it next week.

Anyways, internet items of interest the past few days:

Scary reports from the fed today -- on TNT residue in Washington state rental trucks and reports of a July 4th plot by Islamic extremists. Keeps us on our toes though, and resolute in support of our leaders and military. Consider praying for our authorities working to prevent such atrocities and for the potential attackers to change their minds and stop these plans before more lives are violently taken.

Another frightening story out of New York state. VP Clinton in 2004? Hopefully this will never come to pass, because I think the vast majority of Americans respect Bush's presidency and will reward him with another term in two years. But if this were to happen, any wagers on how many weeks it would be before a mysterious accident would befall the sitting President and Hil would be "forced" to take over?

Gotta love elitism! Jonah Goldberg does a great defense of it on NRO today. With the exception of sports, our society rarely seems to realize that certain people are just better that others and doing certain things. I'm not sure where we quit grasping that concept, but it's a shame. As a Generation X/Yer and recent liberal arts college grad, I think I must confess that I sometimes find myself thinking in shades of grey. After two years out in the real world, I am proud to report they are usually extremely light or very dark greys though!

Token is one of my favorite South Park characters, and I think this columnist makes some valid points about roles for African-Americans in entertainment. However, I have to disagree with him about Regina King's character on Leap of Faith. I personally find her the most refreshing personality on that show, because she does defy some of the stereotypes for blacks on TV. She is the happily married one, the trustworthy one, the refreshingly real one of this wanna-be Sex In the City crew. And each character on that show basically represents a stereotype, whether it is the lovably irresponsible male, the wishy-washy daughter of a socialite who calls off her wedding at the last minute to find someone who makes her feel alive (Faith?), or the dark-haired curly one that is almost as loose as Samantha on HBO's Sex. Obviously I have been watching too much TV if I can write a paragraph about this show, a show whose mediocrity is evidenced by the fact I cannot remember any characters' names. Either that or I've just been too lazy to change the channel after Friends.

The early word on Episode II is mixed. Speaking as a woman who will sit through a 5pm Thursday showing to appease her significant other, I must say that I am happy to hear it will focus on Anakin and Amidala's romance and spend less time on "action" than Episode I. That pod race last time was almost too much for me! I think the male fascination with Star Wars is more proof that boys and girls are biologically different. I can't say that I think Attack of the Clones will be spectacularly bad though, as Ben Domenech predicts in his Saturday entry. If nothing else, I predict that the special effects and love story will make it worth watching in my book. Plus, Ewan McGregor's Obi-Wan is way more manly than Tobey Maguire's Spiderman, so that will make the movie easier to take. I have a hard time watching sort-of wussy guys play heros.

Just a few random links to articles that I found interesting today. Hopefully more tomorrow, when I figure out what's going on with these stinking fonts.

Found this article kind of frightening. Not the picture so much as the political dynasty implications, especially for a girl who has gone from future pediatric oncologist to Economics graduate student at Oxford in 10 years. I suppose you can't help who your parents are, but it certainly makes me wary of trusting her.

Can't say that I mind Martha Stewart. Seems like a classy lady and she has some nice ideas for doing weddings on a budget. Of course, my primary source of decorating ideas is the latest Trading Spaces episode, so who am I to talk?

Interesting article on the word games played by militant Islamic murderers to justify their actions. I also found this fascinating because it gave so much information on why good, peace-loving Muslims don't buy into their ideas.

Had to know this article was coming someday. I could only find it on Rush's website, but check it out just the same. The audio clips are priceless, especially the "if the President was doing it, it had to be okay". Man are kids naive.

Spent the whole night fooling around with this to get it into "posting" condition, so I haven't had any time to post links. Go figure. Tomorrow hopefully...

Posting something new now, because Blogger seems to have malfunctioned last night and put up an anti-women's studies rant in place of my site. Hoping to see if this fixes it.

It occurred to me today that if I am going to have a blog out on the web, the page at least needs to link to interesting things. I have provided a smattering at left. In doing so, I realized that I need to apologize to asparagirl for ripping off her blog name. I'm currently encountering many blogs and internet portals that leave me pondering, "Now why didn't I think of that first?" Anyways, all apologies and I promise to get up some real commentary soon!

Such a rainy gloomy day here in Central Illinois! However, it has given me an incentive to stay inside and work at constructing my blog. Welcome to Illinigirl, my first little experiment with blogging. My spot to publish all my opinionated ramblings and provide links to the best news and current events I can find on the web.

I've spent the past few weeks (months?) dreaming up my perfect web-portal / blogging site. Finally, I have decided that's too complicated to pin down -- therefore I am throwing this blog out onto the web and seeing what evolves. I'm kind of fond of this blogging idea so far. I'm a huge perfectionist when it comes to making public my actual writing/work/webpages. The blogging world seems to provide you with a bit of freedom from these constraints, so I'm going to try to loosen up and just post my thoughts out here on a regular basis. Please bear with me as this site evolves. Thanks for visiting and I hope to see you again soon!