"Like a million eyes."

Happy New Year 2004! Hurrah!

I'm coming down with a cold. x.x

I felt the tell-tale tickle in the back of my throat sometime yesterday, and as usual I just prayed it was something else and hoped it would go away. Old habits die hard, I guess. Staying up too late last night and drinking a bit too much coffee allowed that little tickle to blossom into a full-fledged (but weak) cough by this morning, and so now I have little doubt. Lots of fluids, lots of vitamin, and quite a bit of rest this weekend, it looks like.

I'm starting the year off with no money, which is actually a blessing in disguise. I have to spend extremely frugally as rent will clear out my finances for the next week and a half or so, so I can get used to eating in, cooking dinners for myself and only buying what I need. It's about time I started reading the books I bought on simplicity, too. ;)

Discipline of the highest order will be needed for me to make sure I stick to my resolutions this year. They're simple enough, actually; all they need is the proper amount of dedication and action. If I can manage not to trick myself into falling down the slippery-slope of procrastination on a regular basis, the rest should take care of itself.

Though I fell into making a couple of the same old mistakes last night, I'm optimistic. I feel kind of badly about ducking out on a friend too soon, but I already have a plan on how to make it up to him. Hopefully, the stars will align this weekend so I can actually carry out this plan. >:)

Other than that, not much is going on. I've been kind of rediscovering the joy of making friends happy these past couple days. Well, most of them. I'm still working out kinks.

I played in my first ever cribbage tournament on FurryMUCK yesterday. I was one of the first to sign up, and alas, I got stuck in the wild-card round; so I had to win a game before I even made the qualifiers. :P The eight qualifiers make it into the four-round tournament, with the winner getting a trophy and $20. Not bad, eh?

Well, I got my ass kicked by an owl named Fe'ath, 2-0. To her credit, she's a pretty good player, but she kept getting the *most* lucky turn-up cards ever. They'd add a good 6 - 10 points to her hand, on average. I managed to keep it close both games, though, losing by 10 or 15 points each time. But still, I'd liked to have made it at least to qualifiers. ;) Maybe next time.

"Too political."

You know, I still like Dean a lot, though now that I look at what little policy he's clearly defined I don't agree with him on everything. Does he have the best shot at winning the presidency this year? Probably. Does this mean he's the best candidate for the job?

...

Wouldn't it be neat if Kucinich won by some blatant miracle? Probably far too liberal for anyone but liberal arts college students, he's the only one I've seen so far with the courage to really say what he means and the vision to clearly outline his policies. Taking money from the Pentagon to establish a Dept. of Peace? As hippyish as it sounds, *that's* precisely why I like him so much.

He's also vegan and is an open supporter of gay marriage as a "fundamental civil rights issue."

Of all the people trying to lead the country this year, incumbent included, Kucinich strikes me as the only man with honest integrity. Do I go with who I believe to be the best man for the job, or stick with the man who has the best shot at winning?

Dean or Kucinich...the rest of the candidates are little more than bitter, pandering jokes.

NPR ran interviews with all 9 Democratic candidates last year. If you're wondering who's who, this is invaluable.

Despite the debacle of the 2000 election, I still encourage everyone to go out and vote this year. Don't like the way the country's going? It's your responsibility to say so.

Sorry, I think an activist bug crawled up my ass and well, bit me. In several places. I'm gonna need ointment.