Not a good look when your gear is 50% off before the election is over...
I took this at a Campaign 2008 gift shop in Washington Reagan airport last week.

Basically because I'm tired of trying out new templates, I'm going with this one called red white by Jackbook. I have a couple of tweaks and alignments to make but overall I am pleased with my choice. I also got the comment function fixed which is key.

Many thanks to Esteban for his unbiased opinions on my design choices.

As you can see I'm trying out a couple of new template designs trying
to "redecorate" around here. Let me know what you think. This one has
pluses and minuses but I love the icons and the color scheme. Trying
a couple more out today so let me know what you think.

Obama's campaign has spawned all kinds of creative gear - tees with the "Celtic version" of his name "O'Bama" and a shamrock, or my favorite,"Barack the Casbah". Now a guy who goes by "van20" on MySpace is making custom Nike Air Force Ones with the Obama campaign theme. Love. It.! Link to site here.

Hi I have not left the Kristasphere. I recently started grad school part-time, and have had zero time to blog.

I am going to be shifting the focus of this blog soon; so stay tuned.

Thought I'd share a few of blogs I've found interesting recently, REV-elution, Silicon Alley, and Shylock Blogging.

1. Shylock Blogging- as a Sopranos fan, I just liked this one on name alone. The subtitle is "aggressive blogging with some ethics involved." Despite its name, its purpose is how to maximize Google AdSense and others for maximum blogging profits. No word if Silvio and Paulie pay you a visit if you don't click.

2. Silicon Alley - Based in New York, this is the East coast version of ValleyWag, but more true business news and commentary gossip than 'who-came-to-the-Facebook-party-stoned' gossip. Lots of posts daily, so you may want to put this on your portal page rather than RSS.

3. REV-elution - Last but not least I want to throw some link love to a new faith and ethics blog written by a local journalist and pastor. In REV-eleution, noted intellectual, journalist, theologian and pastor the Rev. Carl W. KenneyII blogs here about issues of faith, theology, ethics, politics, and current issues in the news. A seasoned journalist, Kenney's writing is compelling, thought-provoking, sensitive, and radical. (Full disclosure: Rev. Kenney is my former pastor, and one of the coolest you'll ever meet.)

Yes, it's true. North Carolinians speed. And don't care.

The N&O has done a marvelous piece of investigative journalism recently on the plethora of drivers who speed, are ticketed repeatedly, but walk from any charges or points due to some gaping loopholes in the traffic laws. In the interest of full disclosure, I've been the beneficiary of such laws a couple of times when I got a ticket in the past.

Back to the article, one thing they asked some readers to do is drive the speed limit on their daily commute,count how many cars passed them, and report on their experiences. I decided to participate unofficially and see if all the hype was real.

It is.

I drive approximately 12 miles to work, I'd estimate 8 of that is via Interstate Highway. On the highway portion of my commute today, I got passed 12 times while going 65 mph in the right-hand lane of a 4 lane highway. Blew my mind. I thought maybe 4-5. It does seem many drivers are making a conscious effort to slow down, but still.

Now, I've always been a 'be a part of the solution' person, so here's my idea:

One of the chief reasons given for not having tougher laws and stiffer penalties is lack of capacity in the court system to handle all the offenders. I propose the following:

Empower the State Highway Patrol to act as a 'judge' right there on the highway at the time of offense and collect the fine.

Whine and protest if you want, but speeding isn't something that requires a CSI team investigation, to keep it real. You did or you didn't. If they can get a court date and print your ticket from the patrol car via computer today, how hard would it be to allow a driver to enter a plea and pay their fine right there and get it over with? No one in their right mind wants to participate in the traffic court cattle call half the day, guilty or innocent. How to pay? Have the option of swiping your credit/debit card right there or paying cash. (The technology is there; Hertz does this when you return a car.) If you don't have either, you get a bill in the mail due in 30 days to pay via mail or pay online. What happens if you request a court date anyway? Employ what they did in Illinois when I lived there: you must surrender your license and you don't get it back until your court date. Your fine and points should be higher if you are convicted going this route also.

What do you think? No I'm not a goody-two shoes who wants to cramp someone's style. I LOVE to drive and I love sports cars. This is a matter of safety and the best use of our tax dollars.
Let me hear from you and what you think about solving this problem.

Just returned from a quick trip to Target to get a couple of items in anticipation of the 'wintry mix' (Translation" we don't know what's going to come down tomorrow, just that it will be frozen.) due to hit tomorrow morning. I'm reminded of the first time my office was closed in anticipation of snow; the ground was bone dry. When one of my former colleagues from the midwest heard my voicemail saying why the site was closed,well, I can't repeat in polite blog company what it said. To paraphrase it was "I'm shocked you are not there. You should return to work. You are from the midwest you should be able to weather any storm." But I digress...

The forecast is calling for 1" of snow, and perhaps some freezing rain. Before you double over laughing, understand that: 1. The average shopping mall in Chicago has more snowplows than the entire Research Triangle area 2. I'd challenge Dale Earnhardt Jr. to maneuver the hills around here in a car with black ice on them. 3. The planning geniuses here didn't figure they needed to bury the electrical cable. Instead, they strung it on poles right under the tree branches so they can snap when the branches get weighed down with ice,break off, and knock the power out.

Generally, you'd think The End was near if you went to the grocery or Target around here during these 'severe weather' times. Ex. I stood in a line that stretched back to the meat department after going home from the aforementioned 'threat of snow'. I guess we've become old pros or gotten cocky one of the two now, because the store was practically empty. Bottled water, juice, and firelogs were in good supply. Hopefully the weather pundits called it right and it will be a veritable non-event.