My New Year’s resolution for 2009 is to keep myself entertained. And, I ask you, what could be more entertaining than launching a worldwide exploration of music together? We’ll be starting our tour in South America—specifically Brazil, because I have a special place in my heart for all things Brazilian.

Befitting such a large and geographically diverse country, the musical styles of Brazil run the gamut from Bossa Nova to Rap to Metal. But my favorite style, not just of Brazil, but of any music anywhere, is Samba. [Read more]

It seems somewhat unnecessary to rave about a Meryl Streep performance. Ditto with Philip Seymour Hoffman. But in Doubt, they’ve both turned in flawless performances that left me with my jaw on the floor. The two screen giants are joined by Amy Adams. I’ve never seen Adams in a dramatic role before and I was impressed. In Doubt she more than holds her own. [Read more]

Ah, vindication.

Yesterday, I felt like I was the only one criticizing the Roland Burris pick for Roland Burris (as opposed to Blagojevich having the gall to make an appointment in the first place).

Today, the truth about Burris and his planet-sized ego is coming out.

Some fun links:

Burris already has his grave site, complete with a massive memorial.

The Chicago Sun-Times documents Burris' belief that he is divinely directed to hold office. [Read more]

Roland Burris? I haven't paid much attention to Illinois politics in a while, but when I was still paying attention, Roland Burris, a once respected elected official, had turned into a sad caricature of himself.

Some highlights:  [Read more]

I used to watch The West Wing. In one of the very first episodes, the fictional president gets a briefing from the fictional Chairman of the Joint Chiefs in which the term “proportional response” is explained. The president is angry because terrorists shot down a military transport plane carrying someone with whom he had a personal relationship and he is ready to unleash the power of the United States military in retribution. The Chairman patiently explains that when they shoot down one of our planes, we take out a target that would be considered equitable. We don’t, for example, destroy an entire city. We might instead choose to bomb an armory wherein a few guards might die. [Read more]

After 9/11, the Department of Homeland Security gave us a nicely color-coded Fear Chart, so that we, the American people, would know just exactly how afraid we are. You know how Deadman was saying the other day that he uses the Weather.com minute-by-minute forecast to know when to walk his dog? That’s kind of how I am with the Homeland Security Fear Chart. Because without it, I wouldn’t have any idea how scared I was. The chart has five lovely hues: green, blue, yellow, orange, and red. [Read more]

Dear fellow Liberals,

Listen up.

Obama's decision to ask Rick Warren to give the invocation at the inauguration is not a slap in the face. It's not a betrayal. It's not an indication that Obama is a secret conservative who is going to force you to have babies with a non-same-sex partner.

It's a freaking prayer. [Read more]

I've been doing a lot of research into my family history lately, for this little project I'm working on. I'm following lines back into the past, trying to figure out who came over, when they came over, etc. It's interesting stuff. So interesting that I stayed up all night on Saturday, compulsively searching for more and more information. I finally fell asleep somewhere around 6 am, and when my dog woke me at 10 to go out, I got up and started searching some more. (Which is why I was so (apparently) mean to our new guest blogger Prophet on Sunday. I need my sleep for my filter to prevent me from blurting out bitchy thoughts.) [Read more]

The other night, I was talking to a friend when she suggested that feminists were to blame for the current economic crisis. It was hyperbole, I’m certain. Although at the time I changed the subject because I was so shocked to learn that she felt that way. [Read more]

My reading of The American Presidency by Alan Brinkely continues. Chapter Two: John Adams. Here's what I learned...

Adams grew up in the country town of Braintree, Massachusetts. They later changed the name of the town to Quincy to disguise the fact that the uncommon intelligence of the townspeople was attributed to a tea made from the leaves of the magical tree.

When he was a boy, Adams really wanted super really bad to be famous. He thought and thought about which path he should take to worldwide superstardom and ultimately went with becoming a lawyer. It wasn't his last miscalculation. [Read more]

I’ve known a lot of doctors in my life. And when I say known, I mean spent five minutes in a small room with, while I explained what was wrong with me after which they made their diagnosis and got irritated when I asked my inevitable questions.

What can I say? I like to learn stuff. I’m inquisitive that way.

While I’ve know a lot of doctors—mostly because I’ve moved around a lot—I haven’t liked very many of them. They seem to be, for lack of a better word, snotty. Granted, I do ask a lot of questions. I’m like a four year old in the doctor’s office and I realize how irritating it can be when the four year old you are babysitting asks “Why?” for the gazillionth time but I think I’m entitled. The doctor is getting paid, after all. [Read more]

I love books. And I love talking about books--more than politics. Actually, WAY more than politics.

Right now, I'm reading Loving Frank, by Nancy Horan. It's a fictionalized version of a love affair that Frank Lloyd Wright had with a woman he designed a house for. So far, I like it and I especially like that it happened in Oak Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago where Wright designed many houses. I'm not far enough into it yet to say much more than that.

But my "To Read" list is getting kind of short, so I've decided to solicit suggestions. To be fair, I'm going to suggest some good books myself. My favorites list is in a constant state of flux. I change my mind a lot. But for now, here are five top reads. [Read more]

No matter where each of us finds ourselves on Thanksgiving Day, we all no doubt have reasons to be thankful. I am thankful for family and friends; for my sweet dog, who found me in March; for the opportunity to work hard to bring about something that hasn't happened in my lifetime--a Democrat winning my state's electoral college votes. I am thankful for summer, for music, for the fact that Chicago is only a couple hours away. I'm thankful for the people in my life that challenge me to be better. [Read more]

I’ve been reading the book The American Presidency this year. It’s been taking me a long time to get through because, honestly, non-fiction kind of bores me. Still, I have been learning all sorts of fun facts about our nation’s leaders, so I thought I would share some. Eleven months after I started, I'm up to James Madison. I figure if I force myself to write about the presidents, I’ll eventually finish the book. So, here we go:

George Washington – Stuff I learned: [Read more]

Vampires. They fascinate us. Whether it's Bram Stoker, Ann Rice, Josh Whedon or Elisabeth Kostova, writers keep finding ways to make the same old stories compelling, and we flock to bookstores and movie theaters or set our Tivos so we don't miss one gruesome detail.

The latest, Stephanie Meyer's Twilight, is a tale of vampires who deny their monstrous urgings to live among mere mortals. Meyer dispenses with traditional vampire characteristics like aversions to garlic or daylight. These newer, trendier vampires wouldn't be caught dead spontaneously combusting in the sun. Instead, they just go all sparkly. [Read more]

There are still pirates? I mean, I figured there must still be a few if them around because every so often there would be a really stupid movie about modern-day psychos terrorizing some perfectly nice couple on their private yacht. But the news this month has brought attention to the fact that there’s a whole culture of piracy alive and well, centered in Somalia. [Read more]

I didn't grow up in a family that talked about politics. I knew that my step-dad's parents were yellow-dog democrats and that my dad and his mom were die-hard republicans. My mom voted for Reagan in 1980, so I figured she and my step-dad were republicans, too (turns out they SO aren't, thank goodness). Beyond that, I didn't think about it much. Dinner table conversation revolved around my parents' work lives and what happened in school that day. After dinner, we played board games or watched television. Outside of the house, our family activities consisted of going to boat shows or cross-country skiing in the winter and fishing or bike riding in the summer. We weren't the kind of family that protested together. [Read more]

I first learned about the concept of micro-lending in 1996, when I had the opportunity to meet Muhammad Yunus of the Grameen Bank. Professor Yunus founded the bank in 1983, to provide small loans to poor Bangladeshi women who wanted to start small businesses. To date, the bank has served over seven million women and, in 2006, Professor Yunus and the Grameen bank were the recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize.

The Grameen Bank was founded on some specific ideas. First, that access to credit is a human right. Second, that women and children who bear the brunt of worldwide poverty have less access to credit than men. And third, that self-employment for women is the road out of poverty for entire families. [Read more]

I've always been a bit puzzled by our rush to declare something over. I suppose it shouldn't be so surprising since, as a nation, we suffer from a mad case of ADD, always enthusiastically moving on to the next new craze, be it hula hoops, cabbage patch dolls, energy drinks, or those cute boy bands made up of brothers with floppy hair.

Yet at the same time that half of us are rushing headlong into the future, the other half of us have to be dragged kicking and screaming. Could be fear of change. Could be love of drama. But whatever it is, there are those of us who prefer to look back on the mythic past as bygone days of a better era, glossing right over inconvenient truths like racism and sexism. [Read more]