Well, that’s what my head says, if I supported candidates on the issues only. I think I knew this already, before I took this 11-question survey that determines how compatible your views are with those running for President. (The list is a bit dated; no Fred Thompson).

I doubt North Carolina will have a meaningful primary, but if it did, I’d probably still go with John Edwards at this point, although I haven’t been gung-ho about him in awhile, probably because I know he’s not my ideal candidate. Chris Dodd might be the most impressive candidate that Americans and even most Democrats don’t really know. I think the Democrat with the best chance of blowing what should be an easy electoral victory is Obama. He’s simply not polished enough to lead right now, and that’s going to come through in a tough general election campaign. I’ve never been more than luke-warm about Hillary, but I actually think she’s capable of convincing enough “Clinton-haters” to vote for her that I don’t worry about her electibility.

And how about Rudy being my top Republican? That’s a bit like me picking my favorite episode of Saved By the Bell or my favorite menu item at Chili’s.

Summary of my results (candidate and score):
1. Dennis Kucinich (53)
2. Chris Dodd (47)
3. Hillary Clinton (44)
Barack Obama (44)
Mike Gravel (44)
6. Bill Richardson (42)
John Edwards (42)
8. Joe Biden (36)
__________________
9. Rudy Giuliani (26)
10. Ron Paul (23)
11. Mitt Romney (15)
12. Sam Brownback (8)
13. John McCain (7)
14. Duncan Hunter (5)
15. Mike Huckabee (1)

From my UWC (University Writing Course) “culture journal”, unearthed in a supremely sappy Toastie ‘97 post from Wednesday, September 29, 1993

Tonight, I had one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. In addition to the night having a highly personal meaning, it had a lot of cultural significance as well. This evening, I drove my beloved Susan to the music building so that she could practice the piano. I had been looking forward to the day that I might observe Susan playing the piano. I knew that she has been playing for eleven years and figured that she must be very talented. But I had no idea just how impressed I would be.

I planned to listen to Susan play a few pieces and then go outside and do some studying while she practiced the classical pieces that she must learn for her lessons. Susan was worried because she hadn’t played in awhile due to her mono. But she played brilliantly. She had books of popular songs that she could play with such incredible ease. I swore to her that she can make a living as a pianist, although she didn’t take me that seriously. Her renditions of songs that I love were better than the originals. My heart swelled and tore at the same time as I listened to her play Journey’s “Open Arms,” which is my #1 song on my Top 100. Susan needs only to glance at the music she’s playing. And she adds her own energetic and emotional style to it. She attempted to play “When I Fall in Love” from the movie “Sleepless in Seattle” completely from memory, never having attempted it before. And she did a beautiful job, although she was disappointed in herself.

Susan did something which truly pulled my heartstrings. I had composed a very elementary composition using my very elementary piano-playing knowledge. It is a pretty little piece, though. Susan listened to it, and she turned into a gorgeous, flowing, masterpiece, something worthy of a film score.

I was in such awe of her talents. I never felt as if I had witnessed so much talent in all of my life.

I wish so much that I could play the piano with one-tenth the ability of Susan. I listen to a lot of classical music now in my new room. I really want to be cultured in music. It’s so inspiring. Unfortunately, it’s causing me to be very disinterested in my school work. Perhaps I’ll have to take an intro-music course next semester.

N&O’s Matt Dees | Bull’s Eye – City blocking Duke Energy tree-cutting

Well, at least for now. Duke Energy wants to cut down a whole bunch of trees along Green Street, an avenue whose greenery Duke Energy has already butchered, along with the landscapes along numerous East Campus, Trinity Park, and Walltown streets. (See my post from August 1).

My first-ever city council endorsement. While I haven’t been active in Durham long enough to know David Harris personally, those whom I trust to speak to who is best for Durham have wonderful things to say about David Harris. I’ll defer to The Independent to explain why David Harris should be elected to Durham City Council.

Harris, 58, has been a grassroots community organizer for 35 years. Currently the chairman of the InterNeighborhood Council, Harris has presided over two neighborhood associations and has been active with the Citizens Observer Patrol and his local Partners Against Crime group. He graduated from the Durham Neighborhood College and the Citizens Police Academy, and has served on several citizen committee groups working with city and county departments. This behind-the-scenes activist will be a great asset to the council; his knowledge of community policing alone will help council members work toward creative solutions to the city’s crime problem. He’s not as comfortable behind the podium as some other candidates, but the council doesn’t need another mouthpiece. We expect Harris to learn the ins and outs of the council quickly and be a reliable vote for progressive issues.

UPDATE
David Harris’s campaign website

I just found this blog post on the Googlesphere–Why do Mortgage Lenders/Brokers sell my Mortgage Loan?–so I am not terribly alarmed that a mere three weeks after closing on my house, my mortgage has already been sold. But it does reaffirm the persistent belief I’ve had that absolutely no one in the mortgage business is to be trusted. You deal with a lender and sign a thousand documents with their name on it. You get it drilled into your psyche that you will supposedly pay this mortgage company $X every month for the next thirty years. (Realistically, I figured I’d be refinancing pretty soon, anyway). Then, after you close, you get a mailing-a-day from the lender trying to coax you into buying some bullshit mortgage insurance. And then you get the letter that says your mortgage has been sold. All of the language designed to make you think you’re entering into some sort of “relationship” with the lender is bullshit.

Now, I’m not shocked that this is the way of the world. I’m sure I’d heard something to this effect before, that your lender is likely to sell your loan. I just didn’t realize it would happen before my first payment arrived at their office.

I’m not going to mention my controversial broker by name. He’s built quite a name for himself in this area, and his powers of persuasion would dwarf mine considerably. He’s still an enigma to me. He supports all these great charitable causes and has a general philosophy about mortgages that I agree with. But his customer service skills seem to be derived from the school that dictates you can condescend to your puny potential customers because you’ve already made it and don’t need to make these customers think they’re worth your time. If anyone ever asks me off-blog, I’ll tell you of whom I speak. If he personally happens to be reading this, my message to him would be that I’m sorry, but my homebuying experience was a miserable one, and you’re the one I entrusted with making it go smoothly.

Now for the mortgage company who initially owned my loan.

It has been a pleasure to service your mortgage loan.

F*** you, 1st Medallion Mortgage Corp. out of Greensboro, North Carolina. May Googlers find this post and have second thoughts of giving them their business. I’m actually paying 3/8 of a point higher interest than I could had I gone through a local credit union because 1st Medallion already had me by the balls due to the convoluted situation that Mr. Super Broker led me to.

Last weekend, I bought a new digital camera, having been frustrated with how outdated my 2-year-old camera already seemed to be. I really wanted a strong optical zoom without getting into SLR price territory. I wound up getting another Kodak, the Z712 IS.

My digital camera history:
1999 – 2004 – HP Photosmart C200 – 1MP – 0x optical zoom (can’t believe I kept this camera for so long)
2004 – Canon PowerShot A70 — 3MP – 3x (returned it, couldn’t afford, but should’ve kept it)
2004 – 2005 – Samsung Digimax 401 – 4MP – 0x (mode dial broke off, piece of junk)
2005 – 2007 – Kodak EasyShare LS743 – 4MP – 2.8x (happy with it, just wanted something a little better)
2007 – Kodak EasyShare Z712IS – 7MP – 12x

And some unoriginal photos, of my pets, of course (with more on Flickr):

[flashvideo width="320" height="240" filename="http://toastie.st/video/KeithOlbermannSpecialComment-9-20-07.flv" /]

Your hypocrisy is so vast that if we could somehow use it to fill the ranks in Iraq you could realize your dream and keep us fighting there until the year 3000.

We are THERE as Jennifer Garner takes a beating!

- Mary Hart, Entertainment Tonight, 9/21/2007

I have a Capital One credit card with a low limit, a high interest rate, and an annual fee. It’s a small annual fee, but considering there are no special benefits or rewards with this card, there’s no reason I need to tolerate this fee. I recently had a fee removed from another card, so I didn’t think this would be a big deal.

After several minutes of going through menus looking for one to let me speak to someone, I finally get connected to someone by simplying ignoring the prompts for about 20 seconds.

Overly-happy Capital One Offshore Rep: Hello! How are you today?!

T: Fine

OHCOOR: That’s great to hear! How may I help you today!

T: I’d like the annual fee removed from my account

OHCOOR: Uh, let me see, uh…yes, I am unable to do that for you.

T: I’d like to close my account then.

OHCOOR: Is there anything I can do to change your mind about closing your account?

T: Credit me the $29 annual fee. It’s pretty simple.

OHCOOR: I cannot do that. I am sorry.

T: Then please proceed to close my account.

OHCOOR: Let me see what I can do. I can transfer you to an account specialist.

(I’m on hold for 8 minutes with some jarring instrumental; why any customer service thinks that music over the phone sounds remotely soothing, I’ll never know).

(I get impatient and hang up, deciding I’ll call back and select the option to close my account).

(I go through three levels of menu options to get to the option to close my account).

Capital One Automated Voice: Continuing may result in the closing of your account!

(Great! I continue, back on hold, but the music is a little better, some sort of light pop…9 minutes on hold…)

Perky Canadian Capital One Account Supervisor: Hi, how are you today?

T: (I explain how I don’t enjoy being on the phone for a half-hour to get a simple request taken care of).

PCCOAS: Call volume, we’re busy, I’m sorry, blah blah blah…(60 seconds later, I have to interrupt)

T: Ok, so here’s the deal…(I explain why I called)…and it’s very simple now…cancel my account or refund me my $29 annual fee.

PCCOAS: I can give you that refund right now. No problem! You will see your credit within 3 business days!

Mandela still alive after embarrassing Bush remark

Over 100 million people voted for George W. Bush to be the leader of the free world, not once, but twice. You’d think I’d be used to this nearly seven years into his presidency. I still cringe…

UPDATE To be fair to President Bush, he was trying to imply that Iraq had no Mandela-like figure because Saddam had had all the Mandela-like figures killed. I’ll do better next time to find an asinine quote from Bush that hasn’t been taken out of context. It shouldn’t be terribly difficult.

UPDATE Here we go…from the 2004 campaign:

[link]