jholiday's political endorsements

These are my positions on the upcoming California ballot measures and elections.

PROP 1A: An overwhelming yes. We need more mass transit options in California. My personal favorite form of transportation also happens to be trains. This is an expensive undertaking for California, but I believe it's a necessary one. Yay for trains!!!

PROP 2: This is the farm animal rights prop. Pictures of chickens kept in cages smaller than the chickens themselves breaks my heart. However, placing restrictions on California agriculture will only lead to farms leaving the state, not adapting more humane practices in the state. In an increasingly bankrupt California economy, should we really be discouraging agriculture? This prop only applies to egg laying hens, veal, and a few other farm animals, but I still say no on prop 2.

PROP 3: No. While I'm all for helping children, govt needs less involvement in health care (IMHO) and I believe bonds are an irresponsible way to fund initiatives like this.

PROP 4: NO! This prevents a minor from seeking an abortion without parental notification. The government should not have input in confidential health issues of any person, regardless of their age or situation. This should be confidential stuff. Props like this are always on the ballot and always defeated in Cali for good reason.

PROP 5: I'm leaning toward no on this prop. I don't see how increased spending on drug programs and shortening of parole for drug related offenses will solve anything. However, I feel uninformed on this issue which prompts me to further reserve my opinion on this prop.

PROP 6: Yes. My yes vote is partially out of fear which is not a strong argument, but gangs scare me. This prop allocates nearly a billion dollars yearly to law enforcement and creates approx 30 new revisions to state law over gang related offenses to create new crimes, penalties and harsher sentences.

PROP 7: Yes. If this passes, all electricity companies must harvest a minimum of 20% of their energy from renewable sources, and the percentages will go up in subsequent years. Environmental causes are dear to me.

PROP 8: NO! A resounding no. It sickens me that we discriminate against gay and gayelle couples and don't allow them to marry. Who are we to say whom one can and cannot love? The issue here should not be your stance on gay rights, but whether the government should be able to interfere in the private lives of its citizens by defining whom we are allowed to marry. If you plan on voting yes on this prop I will probably like you less.

PROP 9: I need more information on this one, but I'm leaning toward yes. This prop offers victims of crimes greater access to the criminal justice process, and limits the number of parole hearings to which criminals are entitled. I'm just not sure this prop protects the rights of the accused.

PROP 10: This is a toughy. But I'm thinking no. This prop gives huge breaks to people wanting to buy high fuel economy vehicles and provides grants to research new renewable energy sources. While I believe strongly in environmental causes, I believe there will be a huge increase in demand for the things this bill promotes in a few years (high mpg cars and cheap energy), which will dramatically increase their availability. This bill will then be obsolete in coming years and will unnecessarily take taxpayers' money.

PROP 11: I still have no idea what this prop will do. I'll get back to you. Maybe. If I don't keep dozing off while reading about it.

**update** Prop 11 will create redistricting and give the planning of the new districts to a non-partisan panel, yanking the job from the (partisan) state legislature. The new panel will be composed of an even mix of Dems, Republicans, ans Independents.

PROP 12: Yes. I feel that we owe our veterans of war much more than we currently give them. This prop provides for loans so that veterans can buy homes and farms. There is already a similar provision in place to provide low interest home loans to veterans, and I believe this enhances it. The Ca legislature has unanimous "aye" votes on this measure.

jholiday also endorses.... McCain/Palin!!!!








But Obama gets the sexy vote (jholiday licks finger, lifts finger in the air, makes sizzle sound). Rrrrrr.

Halloween Ideas

Click over to my Favorite Things blog to see some amazing Halloween costume ideas!

Found It

I was quite thankful to get this picture in an email. This is from last Halloween at my workplace, and I'm the second right in the picture. My costume was Indiana Jones. It turned out great and was quite inexpensive to put together.

Last night I bought my Halloween costume(s). I like to stretch the holiday out over several days, and wear a different costume on each separate day. I might dust off the ol' Indiana Jones-ette costume this year, but three more have been added to the line up including:

penguin!



















Leia


















and a lion!















The Calvin and Hobbes costume is still a possibility, but due to the lack of a suitable Calvin, the costume idea has been shelved until a solution presents itself.

Yarrrr

Hope you have a happy International "Talk Like A Pirate Day"! Arrr.

Secrets

I'm working on a short story, which is the first assignment of any consequence in my writing class, and I'm really excited about it. But I don't want to share a peep of what I have planned to write. This brings me to something I've thought a great deal about lately-the importance of secrets. I have never been able to keep a secret about myself. I'll often admonish myself to keep some detail of my life a secret as I'm driving up to a friends house or about to step into work. But every time my lips betray me, and the minute I confide in someone about that latest (insert exciting thing here), I feel immediately cheapened and I know that it is all my doing.

So, here forth I vow to keep secrets, beginning with my latest short story masterpiece, but this will branch to all areas of my life: thoughts, discoveries, romance, conflicts. Of course I still relish sharing stories with you loyal readers and all my friends, but there is something to be said for keeping little gems and snippets of your daily life to yourself, to guard and kindle.

"The holiest of all holidays are those kept by ourselves in silence and apart; The secret anniversaries of the heart."
-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The best card idea

Do you ever forget someone's birthday/graduation/misc. special event and think, "Oh, I can just send an ecard"? Then you actually look at the ecards and realize that they're pretty cheesy and you feel bad for being such a slacker about mailing a card. Well, if you ever find yourself in this predicament, just upload a picture and an .mp3 to go with it and www.postcard.fm will combine them into a spiffy email card.

Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

I know that a lot of my recent posts have been about entertainment/pop culture etc and have been severely lacking in jholiday personal life updates. So, I'm sorry to deprive you longer still of jholiday life updates and hot goss, but this show is too good to not talk about. And, I haven't been doing anything all that exciting lately anyways.

"Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" (avail. only thorugh itunes) is one of the greatest shows ever! It stars Neil Patrick Harris and is created by Joss Whedon who created that cult classic Buffy show that I always thought was lame. Buuuut, this show is all gold, baby. Watch it, watch it, watch it now!!! HCUOSJKFSJLJCLBS!!! I can barely contain myself.

I hate those bluetooth thingees

I found this comic online a while ago and I think of it every time I think someone is a crazy person because I can't see their earpiece.

This is one of the funniest, unintentionally funny music videos ever

I guess this is the kind of music they like in Germany. I especially like the guy jumping on the trampoline with watermelons and bananas around the 1:28 minute mark.



If you liked this, check youtube for his "Ding Dong Song". Classic.

Haaaalloweeeeen!!!!

I think the days right before Halloween are my favorite part of the holiday because I love imagining a costume and then piecing it together. The holiday itself is always fun, but the parties are never what I build them up to be in my creative, costume crazed mind. Last year I was Indiana Jones but for this Halloween I've been plotting my costume for months. I'm going as Hobbes from Calvin and Hobbes. Know any Calvin lookalikes? I'm accepting applications.

In addition to being in the early stages of planning my own costume, I'd like to help you with yours! In the coming weeks you can look forward to a veritable jholiday blog Halloween fashion show, with pictures of some jocose, inventive (and easy!) costumes that surely no one else will have.

My Favorite Song

The Korean pianist Yiruma's "River Flows Through You" tops my favorite song list. This first time I heard this song, I found it so truly beautiful that I've listened to it nearly every day since. It took my appreciation of music to a whole new level. I'm working on it for the piano right now (a daunting endeavor), so if you want the sheet music send me a message.

Book of the Week

My dad once told me that all successful people read -- and that if I wished to be so, I should read a book a week. Luckily for me, I just can't stay away from the darned things, but I often wonder if I'm not reading enough when I fail to meet the weekly mark. The last book I read, Eldest, (completed last night in anticipation of Brisingr!), took nearly two weeks for me to thumb through its pages.

Now I have my choice of materials, and I chose a collection of short ghost stories by Charles Dickens that I found at the Chico used book store. It includes the most famous ghost story, A Christmas Carol, but also holds some other really unique, clever characters in its tales of ghosts and ghoulies. More than any other author, Dickens transports me into the world he creates in his writing, and I can't wait to return again to his dusty offices, graveyards and decrepit manors in Victorian England.

A Summer Recipe

Ok, I know that summer is really almost over, but this drink has always been my favorite hot weather refreshment. I've been drinking it for years and discovered it during a spurt of kitchen creativity during a sweltering August in Los Angeles.
You will need:



Fresca

and




red wine






Pour yourself a tall glass of Fresca (a delicious calorie-free grapefruit soda!)over plenty of ice and splash in enough red wine so that the drink is a red burgundy color (usually a little under an ounce of wine per tall glass of fresca). Then, go sip it in a shady hammock with a good book :)