1. It's Risk, online (as a facebook app).

2. It's slightly different than Risk, to avoid a lawsuit.

3. But it plays just the same as Risk, only faster.

4. There is a little chat box to make alliances.

5. There is a chat box to talk trash.

6. It fills my desire to take over the world, without me actually having to take over the world.

7. I can take vigilante justice, and when I know that I am not going to win, take the player I feel to be the most deserving down with me.

8. I don't have to count out/move around those tiny little plastic pieces.

9. Its fun to watch losing players desperately seek alliances, as I take them out.

10. Wars on Attack don't cost anything except time.

Mom and Dad were featured in an article in Pittsburgh's paper:

Florists Warn of web Imposters

and my brother Mark won a photography contest. He's good. This one got him $1,000.

1. The edge's guitar playing. Effects heavy, rhythmically, and with simple, but beautiful melodies.

2. Bono's lyrics. Many are simulataneously personal, political, and religious.

3. The way every album sounds different with every album, but consistent with itself, and always distinctively u2.

4. Their generosity/activism that goes beyond just about any rock star, all while they still admit to being hypocritical.

5. They've been friends/band mates since high school. For at least 3 of them, this is their first job.

6. They're not just from Ireland, they are from Dublin. They're not just from Dublin, they are from cool neighborhood in Dublin.

7. They were on the Simpsons, and made fun of themselves.


8. Amazingly big live shows that feel amazingly intimate, and surprisingly like church (the way it should feel).

9. I can play (scaled down) versions of their songs on guitar, and even with my weak skills, they sound good.

10. I've never met a u2 fan I didn't like--and there are millions of us.

[link=http://blog.beliefnet.com/godspolitics/2007/12/man-bites-dog-of-war-by-jim-wa.html]
A story about priorities.[/link]

How much do we spend on the military vs. some other important stuff.

Christmas pics.

(e:Janelle) and I had a great fun time at Lafayette Church (another shameless link), including a potluck lunch/carol sing. Then we came home and decorated our house. Check it out:




This is the tree at church.


And the nativity scene on our mantle.


I also put a string of lights on our porch. Here's hoping a drunk doesn't steal our extension cord to pay for a quick buzz. Maybe I will take a picture of the lights after it gets dark. (actually, you can see some of them out the window in the pic taken with the flash. I am amazed at the power of my camera sometimes.

And in case you were wondering, yes, that is a sombrero on top of the tree, and those are chili pepper lights. They are happy memories from our "South of the Border" wedding reception. Any ugly and/or tasteless ornaments, however, are courtesy of (e:janelle).