Stand back Anne Rice! Looks like fan fiction is headed for legitimacy. The producers of "The L Word" have given their stamp of approval, and now they want to celebrate by holding a contest. Write tantalizing fan fiction involving those lovely lesbians? Well if the story is brilliant, then it may just be the next all new episode of the fouth season.
Now I wonder if they'd be amused by my tale of my lovesick vampire and the psychotic author who keeps stalking him and then finds religion. It's very good. Honest.

Our president was eloquent tonight! I also wanted to throw puff balls at the tv set within seconds of turning the thing on, but that's besides the point.
Bush had quite a few things to say that were very interesting. Hamas is a threat, and it would be a shame to see matters escale again between Israel and Palestine. We need a leader to continue to smooth things over between those two groups. Avoid hostilities between them. Unfortunately, now that Hamas is in control, everything is substantially more complicated.
We have an addiction to oil. Next.
Wiretapping. The EFF just sued AT&T for allowing the NSA direct access to their telecommunications network without a warrant. The EFF protects the average citizen's civil liberties. This includes our right to a reasonable expectation of privacy. If the NSA thinks that terrorists are communicating then they need to get a warrant from a judge. Besides, the only way they're going to have these suspicions are if they have some other kind of evidence, which in turn may be sufficient for a warrant. Don't trample on a citizen's rights just because there might be a mention of bin Laden in a household. This very well may be a heated discussion about the fastest way to execute the murderer in Arabic!
Finally, I wonder if the senators were tired of all that standing.

It's State of the Union time. Honestly, I rarely watch the speeches because I tend to start twitching. Call it my unavoidable allergic reaction to that darlin' Texas twang. Of course since I'm known to be a glutton for punishment I may just rush home from my lesson to hear what Bush has to say.
For those of you wanting to add a little umph to the speech Wonkette has just the thing.

Coretta Scott King has passed away, and like her husband she leaves behind a remarkable legacy. The main message being to strive for what you believe is right through non-violence. She did this to the very end.

Dear Anne Coulter. If you have to announce that your statement was a joke, then what does that tell you? A) It was despicable. B) It was a threat directed to a Justice of the Supreme Court. C) It was done in such poor taste that if you had once wanted to solidify yourself as one of the leading conservative commentators with political clout, well then, honestly it's never going to happen.
Had the comment been directed towards Bush then I bet she would be wiretapped, or at least questioned by the Secret Service in the interest of National Security.

Toyota wants to acknowledge the Hispanic population here in the States. The best way it knows how is by creating an ad that will run in Spanish during the Super Bowl. Abuelitas will cry, mothers will curse, and the man of the house will shout, "Arriba, America!" Oh my.
Do you know how long I've been waiting for English music radio stations to play decent Spanish music? It takes a Super Bowl to get one ad. What's next, an infestation? And if the ad turns out to be in Spanglish then it really isn't a breakthrough. It's more of an insult.
"Ay papi, me want a Toyota."
"Pero why mijo."
"To impress las muchachonas!"
Idiota.

January is almost gone, and yet it still doesn't want to end. I'm watching the news today, and I can already tell you that it's going to be one of those years that won't be forgotten. As for me, well I'm still trying to get over the after effects of the flu.
I caught the flu, and it baffles me. I never get sick, so something like a fever just traumatizes me. A 101 temp is freaky. Call mom on the phone and say I'm dying. Now I'm just coughing, and coughing. At least it's not bird-like in nature, right. I need to think positively, and maybe it will go away.
I will say this-- I did reach one goal this month. I am the proud owner of a 30 gig video iPod. I'm broke. She's a beauty though all black and sleak and purdy. I downloaded my first podcast this morning and listened to it while rewatching "Epiphanies." Ron Moore says some very interesting things about Battlestar Galactica. I also downloaded a free episode of Monk, and that tiny screen is amazing.
I'm so broke, but I have a 5G iPod. So worth it. I will be teaching Spanish forever. At least until I find a job that requires my J.D.

The other day I received an invitation to Newsvine, which can best be described as a user contributed news portal. Think Digg and google, but oh so much more. I'm still playing around with the site, but I really like what I see.
The website indexes AP articles before they hit the major news websites, and it indexes user contributed links. Users are encouraged to blog about the articles, and when the site leaves the beta stage, the individual blogs will have ads of which 90% of the revenue will go to the user. Users don't necessarily have to blog. The site itself has an abundance of news articles. It's downright amazing.
I have 20 invites. If you want to check it out then let me know.

This name will become familiar to most Americans by this time tomorrow. Why? She's an American journalist who's been kidnapped in Iraq, and she works for a known publication, the Christian Science Monitor. It's the kind of news that CNN online places front and center, but it makes me wonder, if we, as a a nation do make a huge deal out of this won't her kidnappers retaliate ten-fold? I honestly hope they don't.

So here's a perfectly legitimate question: In the world of job offers over the internet, when is it safe to say that you're physically disABLED?
On craigslist I'm currently selling my services as a Spanish tutor, which so far has made my realize that I love Craig. Then the other day I received this offer. It was a three day interpreter job, and the pay was very nice. The woman who contacted me asked some questions and requested my resum�, and I emailed all the information that same day. I also included the D word. The next day she replied with the rejection saying I was very qualified but they had just filled the position.
I'm a native Spanish speaker. I studied it in college to make sure I could write it better. When I was a kid I would spend my summers in Guanajuato and come back speaking with a slight accent. It was amusing.
I speak better Spanish than the majority of people here in San Antonio, and I delight in making fun of the people and programing for Univision. And no, I'm not immune. I have been known to make major pochadas, and my family and I make a living out of correcting each other to a painful degree, but this keeps us from not forgetting. I tutor so I won't forget.
I'm not pissed because I wasn't qualified. If it was first come first serve then so be it. Who cares. But I have this horrible feeling that maybe, just maybe I wasn't hired because I'm disABLED.
I hope I'm wrong.