so that's how they do it ...

To create your own album cover:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first article title on the page is the name of your band.

2. http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four words of the very last quote is the title of your album.

3. http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/
The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover

Add your band name and album title to your cover picture and you're ready to rock out!

Here's mine:

Unbelievable Story Awards

I don't know if you've seen the news on the Yale art student, but it sickens me so much that I can't quite write about it.

However, I can write about this ridiculous church in South Carolina whose pastor actually said that Obama's name is so close to Osama, that he wonders if Obama recognizes Christ. Go ahead, read the story and for harder kick in tht gut, read the 842 comments that readers have posted.

Quick Fire

HRC outperformed BHO in the debate tonight. Bummer for my man.

I saw the Pope's motorcade on the way to the White House this morning. Not quite the PopeMobile, but close enough.

Pat Robinson and Al Sharpton did a commercial together on climate change. And it's charming. Who knew?

Harold and Kumar Take II is coming!!!

Steve Colbert went to the Constitution Center. And probably signed the same Constitution guest book that features my signature next to Ruth Bader Ginsberg's! And when did Colbert became so fabulously Sasha Baron Cohen-like? As soon as his PA bit gets posted on YouTube, you MUST watch. HYSTERICAL.

For the first time in my life, my attendance at a job fair was fruitful. Landed an interview for a summer internship! Now if I can just get the job ...

Wha ... ?!?

I arrived home from class tonight, just in time to watch the last half of American Idol Gives Back. If you missed this fundraiser's inaugural show last year, I'm so sorry for your loss. It was an incredible showcase of the unforgivable needs and atrocities in Africa and here in the United States, as well as a celebration of the hard work that nonprofit and civic organizations have contributed to solving those problems. In one night, AI raised more than $70 million.

This year, Idol presented another impressive show with the help of a glittering slate of celebrities (including a bizarre but entertaining cameo by Robin Williams as the "Russian Idol"). Again, good show, deserves kudos for helping to raise awareness on issues that shouldn't require awareness-raising in the first place.

But. I. am. so. befuddled.

At the end of the show, Ryan Seacrest introduced the Idol contestants and their closing song -- "Shout to the Lord."

Wha ... huh? really?

Stunned, my roommate and I gawked at the TV and then promptly emitted small, high screams when the music proved that the song was, indeed, the very same praise and worship tune that churches around the world have been singing for, I don't know, a decade.

The ONLY edit made to the song was replacing the sole reference to "Jesus" with the word "shepherd." None of the other lyrics were tampered with: "Shout to the Lord, all the earth let us sing/Power and majesty, praise to the King" was sung just like that. By all the contestants. Backed up by the requisite black gospel choir.

Wha ...

Why?

No idea.

But it was kinda nice that God got a bit of a shout-out from one of TV's biggest shows ever and that millions of people heard it. I wonder how many pastors will mention this on Sunday ...



----------------
Now playing: Hillsong - Shout To The Lord
via FoxyTunes

(yeah, of course I'm listening to the song while writing this!)

BEST in BED

Best piece of spam mail I've seen in a long while, copied here just as it was sent:

1. Think about your girlfriend
2. Look attached details
3. Visit our online store
4. Buy out goods

5. Profit? You ARE the BEST in BED!

And it came with an attachment called "night2.zip." I have no idea why I find the email and the attachment so darn amusing -- it might be the typos, the random spacing and capitalizations, or the fact that it came from someone named Alphonse Gaines -- but it made me smile.

DC Walkabout

I thought it might an interesting exercise to catalog a normal day in the life of a DC resident, in the hopes that others could literally see why I enjoy living here so much. Today, I woke up to see the Marines practicing their drills, headed to campus for a group meeting, shopped at Best Buy, then came home. The day was kinda gray but hopefully the charm of Capitol Hill living wasn't lost in the flat sky.

The naked generation

While at dinner a few months ago with some of my old undergrad school newspaper buddies and our faculty adviser, the conversation turned to the topic of online social networking and privacy. My old editor in chief (now a chief blogger for a big time thinktank) mentioned the notion of "the naked generation" -- these millennials still in college now, who just don't think twice about baring their whole lives (and other parts) online, whether through YouTube, blogging, MySpace, you name it. They willingly share their intimate thoughts, fears, and joys not just with their friends but with the world. At a click of a button.

And it all makes me wonder. Is this a good thing? On one hand, it brings up policy issues like privacy -- does this trend indicate a new disregard for privacy rights? If a young adult is already willing to allow the world into her head, will she think twice about allowing the government into her phone conversations and emails? And there's the professionalism issue -- what happens when your potential boss Googles you and discovers your video blog that doesn't exactly shine the best light on you? I try to ensure that no incriminating evidence about me goes online, but that notion doesn't seem to mean much to other people. Julia and Jakob, for example, decided to chronicle their budding relationship through online blogs and videos. Although the media blogging world was mildly obsessed with the site, the short-lived lovebirds broke up and the posts have been removed from the official website (here, if you're interested). Sounds like Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey of blogging to me.

But, maybe having another outlet to express yourself and explore the world is a good thing. Maybe it helps us open up more, be more vulnerable, have a healthier emotional life. There are still a few Jakob and Julia videos on YouTube and it does reveal the fun, innocent, idiosyncrasies of two people who are trying to make a relationship work. Maybe their experiment, while sad for them, leaves the rest of us with something better.


----------------
Now playing: Ladytron - Black Cat
via FoxyTunes

You've reached the end of procrastination

Heading into that dreaded end-of-the-semester time warp, I am swamped with work.

So I spent Monday evening procrastinating.

I actually reached the point where I had run out of procrastination things to do. I had updated my profile on Facebook, played Scrabulous, uploaded some photos, read through all my favorite news websites, caught up on my favorite blogs, sent a few social emails, did a load of laundry, even flipped through The Hill Rag.

And then I ran out of stuff to do.

Which is when I started to work. I'm paying for it now.

But, in case you're also running out of procrastination ideas, here are a few more tools for your toolbox. I've assigned each of them a UOP, or unit of procrastination. Deriving the UOP involves a complicated algorithm that includes total time spent, total opportunity cost, change in net calories (accounting for calories expended by typing quickly and calories gained by snacking), the number of times the third branch from the top of the tree outside my window shakes, the depth and breadth of my iTunes playlist, and other associated factors.

1. Visit blogs/websites (35 UOPs). And go through the archives in case you missed anything (53 UOPs). Here are a few favorites:

• McCainBloggette -- John McCain's daughter blogs while on the campaign trail with her dad. I'm not a McCain follower but Meghan's posts and pictures are addicting.
• The Onion -- the satire news site is always a favorite to make me laugh
  
• The Budget Fashionista -- best part about this site is that it entices you to conduct an online shopping spree (86 UOPs)
  

2. Tidy up the house. Surely that cabinet under the bathroom sink could be re-organized? (17 UOPs) And the kitchen dish towels need washing (6 UOPs).

3. Update every social networking site you belong to, e.g. Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn (22 UOPs). If you're super-desperate, you can even include Friendster (3.7 UOPs).

4. Write out a to do list (4 UOPs)

5. Then ignore it. (N/A)

6. Do some online catching up on shows that you've been hearing about, but have never watched. Like Friday Night Lights. (102 UOPs for watching the pilot and 2 others)

And there you have it. If you complete all the aforementioned tasks, you'll have earned 330.7 UOPs. Whew! I'm exhausted just thinking about it. Before you know it, it'll be time to go to bed; you'll have accomplished nothing but at least you did stuff (just like many of the people I worked with at Big Red).

Good luck! May time not be on your side and may your brain be idle.