ARE YOU KIDDING ME????????????

-- Tour de France winner Floyd Landis fails drug test, his Phonak team says, according to media reports.

Yeah, but Sam Hornish didn't need the U.S. Supreme Court to get him that Indy win ...

After the formal photo, Bush spoke to Hornish about the thrilling finish of this year's Indy 500, where Hornish made a last-lap push to pass rookie Marco Andretti.

"You had a close one there. How close was it?" Bush asked.

"A little too close for me," Hornish replied.

"I've had a few close races before, too," Bush said. "And my attitude is first is first."

I'm still here!!

Yeah, I'm still here... things have just been nuts or I've been too bored to write.

Lets see... where were we?

Anyway, last weekend I went back to Toledo but this time I chose different transportation. What I ended up doing is taking the Megabus (check out megabus.com if you're in the midwest - it ROCKS!) to Detroit and was picked up in Detroit and then we drove back to Toledo. The early train to Toledo was booked and there was no way I was taking that late train again. The Megabus dropped me off right downtown Detroit near Comerica Park (or is it Field?) and there was a Tigers game going on at the time. I worked in Detroit on an election for like three weeks back in 1998 and... I don't know if Detroit has improved since then or if there actually IS a nice part of town but I was really impressed by what I saw. The field is beautiful. I love it actually. Too bad "the Cell" ain't that nice. There are tons of bars and clubs nearby and some super nice housing developments going up all around there. I'm guessing these are serious improvements for this area. That part of town made me see Detroit in a whole other light. Where I had worked before I was instructed not to go outside by myself and that there were even certain parts INSIDE the building where I was working that I should not go by myself. Ummm yeah...

So at least this time I made it to Toledo at more midnightish than 5am which is acceptable!

Saturday spent some time at the Toledo Zoo and played mini-golf that evening. Sunday spent pretty much the entire day at Cedar Point. Now let me just tell you that I am a complete amusement park flunky. I am not the most fun - I won't go on the super scary rides and thats pretty much all Cedar Point is. It was super hot that day - like 100 degrees - so the place was fairly dead with only like 10-15 minute waits for some of the most popular coasters. So its not like I had to stand around waiting because "others" were in line. So it really worked out. I went on like four of the smaller coasters but just wasn't going on the others. I'm getting better with this stuff though so maybe someday I can go on the mid-sized ones there - ha ha! Did go on all of the water rides which just rock though. I LOVE water rides - especially on a day like that. I could seriously go to an amusement park and spend the entire time on the water rides. Back in the days when there was still and Opryland in Nashville my family went with another family and we spent the whole freaking day on their rapids ride. We went on it nine times in a row. It was the best time. I really liked that place. The new mall in Nashville is super cool but too bad they got rid of that place too.

Monday morning I did Amtrak it back to Chicago but thats no big deal other than having to get up at 4am. I even slept some on the train back.

But its been sort of an odd week. Really tired to start things out and then I worked some odd shifts that threw things off even more. Went out with one of my friends the other night and stayed out much MUCH later than planned. Somehow we got into "girl talk" and I swear I cannot think of the last time I had girl talk with anyone. Its just not really me - well, at least not anymore. I think I have trouble sometimes being friends with females. Chalk that up to four years of living in a sorority house (that'll do it to anyone). But anyway, I've become pretty good friends with this person here in the last year. I honestly don't think that I have made a new consistent female friend in almost ten years; several guy friends, but not girls.

So anyway, thats where things are now. I have a million things to do this weekend but it should end up being a good weekend so I'm sort of looking forward to that. I'll try and write more next week.

Every name in the book for you today, Mr. President...

-- President Bush issues the first veto of his presidency, rejecting a bill to expand federal research on stem cells obtained from embryos.

Another smart kid!

Here's a good one!

How do you say "Ya'all" in French??

http://www.autonet.ca/Motorsports/Story.cfm?Story=/Motorsports/NASCAR/2006/07/11/1679149-sun.html

Yikes - I heard about Montoya to Nascar for sure and maybe Danica and now they're saying possibly Jacques too???????

Geez... I think I'll go ahead and book my Brickyard 400 tickets for next year right now and anything else available!

Daytona in February anyone??

Love, Melissa - Future Nascar Groupie

P.S. Despite popular perception I am not - at this time - a Nascar Groupie. I am just a fan of both Nascar and IRL. My race fan "roots" are in open-wheel racing being originally from Indiana. Nevermind that odd thing I have for Tony Stewart - short, a little pudgy, yes; but oddly enough, I love his attitude, he's a bad ass, he can drive for real and of course, he's a Hoosier boy!

For some reason...

.... this is just awesome! : )


A mouse rides on the back of a frog in floodwaters in the northern Indian city Lucknow June 30, 2006. REUTERS/Pawan Kumar (INDIA)

Melissa's Oscar analysis... months after the fact

OK ... now remember the big controversy or the made up controversy of Crash vs. Brokeback Mountain?

Well... I have now seen both movies and I'm sorry but Crash is a MUCH better movie. I was bored to death during Brokeback... it just seemed to go on and on and on ... I found nothing anymore compelling about their love story than anyone else's. It was a big ol' yawn in my book - not even close to being one of the better movies I have ever seen.

Crash, on the other hand, gripped me and I swear I thought I couldn't breathe during certain scenes in that movie.

If you had to choose between the two of them, Crash was definitely better!