Euro 2008

It's too bad soccer has such a bad rep in the US. I've been watching the Euro Cup, and the best thing about it is that there's no commercials. Unlike football, where the action stops about every 10 seconds, soccer goes straight through their 45 minute halves. No breaks for commercials - darn!

It also seems that soccer teams have very many good-looking players. Basketball players are too tall, and football players are too fat. Soccer players? Just right.

So I'll be watching Spain and Russia this Sunday - may the cutest team win! (The cutest team being Spain.)

Tim Russert - Dead?

I was really shocked by the death of Tim Russert. When I turned on MSNBC to watch Hardball, and saw the headline at the bottom of the screen, I thought it was a mistake. That it was Tim Russert's father who had died, not Tim.

It was hard to watch the coverage on MSNBC because you could tell a lot of those reporters had been crying. I mean, the guy dropped dead at work. I can't imagine having to go on there air and eulogize a friend and co-worker who had just died only a few hours earlier. Really sad.

Game On

Now that Hillary's out of the race, I can like her again. I thought she gave a good speech yesterday, which almost makes up for the fact that she didn't concede sooner. I'm wondering how much she'll campaign for Obama, and how many of her supporters will come around.

I admit it, at one point I felt like I would never vote for Hillary. But McCain is a warmonger who wants to repeal Roe v. Wade. Hopefully her legion of women supporters will come around and realize how ridiculous it is to vote for someone who is against their values, just out of bitterness.

A Class Act to the Bitter End

When this whole Democratic nominee process started, I didn't like Hillary that much. She seemed fake. And that was about as far as my distaste went.

Now I just can't stand her. Or rather, I can't stand the campaign that she has run. Even at the end, instead of gracefully bowing out and admitting that Obama would be the nominee, she goes on stage last Tuesday and says that she's not going to make any decisions that night.

And then proceeds to give her list of demands. Her not-so-thinly-veiled threat to Obama? Do what I want or my millions of voters won't go to your side.

So yes, I can only imagine the heartbreak of being so close and yet coming up short. But that's the game. Even gutter fighters have to know when to quit.

Blogging Wanderlust

I like Blogger. It's easy to use. But my eye is roaming; I have my eye on WordPress. Based on a cursory glance at various blogging platforms, it seems that WordPress is more powerful and flexible than Blogger.

Lately I have become obsessed with web design. My immediate goal is to make a Project Blended website, and I am plowing through a 1000 page Dreamweaver book so that I can learn how to use this massive program.

And as I cruise the web for inspiration (The Daily Slurp, CSS Zen Garden, Best Web Gallery, Smashing Magazine), my mind has gotten to thinking about other websites. I would like to resurrect my very neglected www.soniaortega.net site, as well as design a photography website that is a better reflection of my personal style. Not a downloaded template, which is what I have now.

All this has given me a much greater appreciation for good web design. I'm hoping I can design something with a little flair and attitude, and that I don't end up with an ugly, unmitigated disaster.