Today I offer you a mixed bag of links:

Here is an interesting article about recent Democratic turns to the left. Granted, the writer is a flaming liberal, but it's still promising stuff.

On a sadder note, Mike Tyson is still a free man...

Now for two cute quizzes from Erik. The first needs no explanation:

How
Would YOU Take Over the World?

Does this mean I watch too much Oxygen? (Oh, and by the way, Cathy, Scott Foley is from Kansas City, Kansas, so he's probably not related to Dave Foley. And speaking of Dave Foley, this is AWESOME! )

You're Ontario. You like cameraderie and will do whatever you can to fit in
with your desired crowd. You may even be very exclusive in who you
associate with. Money and status mean a lot to you. But try not to let
those desires rule your life.


What Canadian Province Are
You?
brought to you by
Quizilla

Things are good and bad here. For about 90 minutes today I thought I was in the clear with money--my supervisor's father has late-stage Alzheimer's, and she was planning to drive up to Vermont this weekend to stay with him indefinitely, so I was going to work full-time. I guess one of her brothers is going up to help for the time being, so she'll be down here for at least another few weeks. I feel kind of conflicted about it--but I know she wants to--and needs to--take care of her family right now instead of working a thousand miles away. Anyway, I just told her that she needs to do what feels right, and that I'm available if she needs me to be.

On a lighter note, Mark is covering the state Republican Convention in Charlotte tomorrow, and I get to come with him! Not that I'll be attending any of the lame cocktail parties or meetings. I just get to stay in this totally posh hotel for free and wander around downtown Charlotte for a while. I'm looking forward to it, though I'm not sure what there is to see yet...

Since I've been slack about the Monday meetings, I'm going tonight. And I am totally committed to going. Vanessa is going to meet me there, so I have somebody to answer to.

I spent literally four hours online yesterday learning about apprentice programs and summer programs for next year. Believe it or not, their applications will be up in August already. My teacher says that if I work my ass off, I should be ready for those auditions come November. I found about two dozen programs that look promising (and ruled out the ones that don't pay), and will check back with them later in the summer to find out what operas they're doing next year. (A very important issue--why would I audition for them if they're doing shows I would never perform?) It's kind of exciting, but also pretty damn scary to think that I'll have to do all this for REAL next year...

Speaking of which, I need to go practice.