Singin' Our Hearts Out!

Hey, Bloggy Friends!

Well, we are officially in the midst of the busy holiday season. Are you feelin' it? Are the holidays going to be any different for you this year, because of the country's crummy economic situation? I've never been one to spend a ton of money on Christmas gifts, so I don't see it being too different for me. As a student with limited funds, I'm definitely on the look-out for creative gift ideas that won't break the bank. My gifting theme this year is going to be "locally bought gifts." I also want to purchase things that are eco-friendly whenever possible. I like creating themes, because it makes Christmas shopping fun and adventurous!


I hope your week is off to a great start. Mine started with a bit of a hangover! Sunday night we went to Yakitori Boy for my karaoke birthday bash. I had such a great time. Several of my good friends, and even some new ones, showed up to celebrate and sing the night away. I was really impressed with the room itself. It was very comfortable. It accommodated everyone very nicely. There was an on-call waiter, serving drinks and food whenever we wanted. The karaoke machine was state-of-the-art, though figuring it out was initially a bit complicated. We spiced up the evening by playing a few "karaoke games." Everyone had a chance to sing a couple of times, and everyone REALLY got into it! We even decided to stay an extra hour past the allotted time schedule. I had a great time. It was too dark to make good videos, but I did take several pictures that you can check out by clicking right HERE. Thanks to everyone for coming, and for helping to create a special night together!

I only have two more days of classes left. After tomorrow, the rest of the week is set aside for studying. Next week begins the exam schedule, which will have me heading back to campus for only three more days. I can't tell you how excited I am to get it all wrapped up. There are a few classes that I can't wait to put behind me, specifically ECON. Yuck.

I hope you guys have a great day. I notice several of the blogs I frequent have been rather quiet lately. I'm guessing it's a busy time for everyone right now. Whatever your situation is, as the year-end approaches, I hope it goes smoothly. Have a great day. I'll chat with you soon.

Love, Josh

Weekend Wrap-Up

Good Morning, Bloggy Friends!

I hope you had a nice weekend. We did. It was a little busier for us than I had anticipated, but that's how it seems to be going lately. Being busy isn't a bad thing. Isn't there a saying about idle time? Something about the devil and playthings. I don't want none of that!

Friday night my friend Jillian came down from New York City. After work Alan and I met up with her and other friends for drinks. We had a great time. It's always good to see Jillian. I miss her so much.

Saturday was a big day. In the afternoon we met up with Tim, Sarah and Alex to join thousands of others, in cities across America, to protest the passing of California's Proposition 8. The gathering took place at City Hall. There were thousands of people there waving signs, chanting and screaming for their rights. I really felt like I was a part of something huge. It was so exciting. My favorite part was when we marched out into the street. We stopped traffic as we made several loops around City Hall. It was amazing. I'm so proud to have been a part of the whole experience. I posted a video below of our afternoon there. Enjoy!

Saturday evening, after we rested up, we headed out to West Chester to attend a holiday, cocktail party with people from Alan's work. The soiree was held in the beautiful home of one of his co-workers. There were a lot of people there. We enjoyed delicious finger foods, wine and a ton of fabulous desserts. It was a nice time. I don't feel like I have a lot in common with many of his co-workers, but they are all very nice people. I always enjoy these work get-togethers. It provides me an opportunity to break away from my comfort zone for a bit. That's always a good thing. To the left is a picture of Alan and some of his lab mates.

Sunday was nice. In the earlier part of the day we headed to the Reading Terminal and Whole Foods to pick up our groceries. Later I met up with the girls from my radio show for a photo shoot. We are starting to get our promos together - complete with fliers, posters and a commercial on KYW radio. It's very exciting. I'll share those once we get them together. In the evening we had our salmon. It was delicious. For a treat, we decided to walk over to Naked Chocolate for a full-bodied, dark chocolate drink. I had one infused with hot spices. It was divine. Later we walked to Washington Square Park, and then back home to relax before bedtime. It was a good night.

I hope you guys have a great day. It's sunny and bright here in Philadelphia. We've been having some cloudy, rainy weather lately, so it's particularly nice to have some sunshine today! I'll chat with you soon.

Love, Joshua Rights

VOTE!

Hey, Bloggy Voter Friends!


I did it! I just walked into the voting booth and cast my vote in the most historic election in the history of our nation! I wasn't prepared for the flooding of emotions I felt when I walked behind the curtain. I love when emotions take me by surprise. To have the opportunity to vote for either an African-American President, or a female Vice-President nearly brought tears to my eyes. There was also a moment of sadness when I missed seeing Hillary's name on the ballot. Unfortunately, I didn't vote for a female this time around, but hopefully I'll get that opportunity one day soon.

I decided to go to the polls early with Alan, so I could avoid long lines. I literally rolled out of bed, threw on a jacket and hat, and stumbled down the street. To my surprise, there was no line. We literally just gave our names and walked inside our booths. Let's hope this ease of entry is an indication of the time, rather than the actual turnout. GoObama!

I hope the results come in at a reasonable hour tonight. I heard on the news that if Obama pulls out a win in Virginia, which is an earlier closing poll, he will probably have a victory on his hands. You can't always trust those pundits, but I'll be keeping my eye on Virginia for sure. Pennsylvania is turning out to be a major factor in this race. The polls show a pretty tight gap between the two candidates. If McCain pulls a win in Virginia, and Pennsylvania, it will be hard to stop him. It could be a nail-biter!

I'd love to hear about your experiences at the voting booths. How did you feel when you cast your ballot? Either way your button pushes you would have made history. Were there long lines? Did you cry a little? I'd love to hear how it went for you. It's an extremely important election, which has been a long time a-comin'!

Get out there and Rock the Vote!

Love you all,

Joshua Hussein OMiddleton

Halloween in Action!

Have a Maverick-y Monday!

Sarah's Halloween Party!

Hey, Bloggy Friends!

We had an awesome time at Sarah's Halloween Party last night! We were so happy she threw one, so we could have a reason to get dressed up to have some fun on Halloween. I think I love Halloween more now than I did when I was a kid. I love having the opportunity to dress up as anything I'd like. Over the past few years we have had fun dressing as some of history's most famous couples. One year we were Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI, another we were Cleopatra and Julius Caesar. This year we couldn't wait to be the Maverick herself, Sarah Palin, and one of the unfortunate Moose she loves to shoot down from a helicopter!

We hit the thrift stores yesterday in search of our costumes. Besides the pants Alan wore, we were completely starting from scratch. Thankfully we found everything in a reasonable amount of time, and for not a lot of money! While we were shopping Galileo enjoyed a little spa time at the Pampered Pooch on 11th Street. Check out his haircut in the pictures. He's such a doll.

Before we left for the party we had a few friends over for pre-drinks. My friend Terra helped me apply my make-up. She dressed as Sarah Blask, the girl throwing the Halloween party! She's so funny. Galileo fell in love with her and her bosoms. Our friends Tim and Alex also stopped by, but they weren't dressed in costumes. For shame!

Sarah's party was a lot of fun. She packed a lot of people into her small, but
reasonably-sized, one bedroom apartment. She was stunningly dressed as a lady from the 50's. She wore an authentic vintage dress and hat, given to her by her grandmother. I was blown away by the impressive food spread. The cutest part was her deviled eggs, actually dressed as little devils! My favorite food of the evening was my co-worker, Nancy's, bean dip. It was so good, and no, I didn't get the farts. There were several other fun costumes there, including Partly Cloudy with a Chance of Rain, The Gift that Keeps on Giving, a Pirate couple and a sexed up Little Red Riding Hood. Click HERE for access to my Picasa album of pictures from the evening. Check back in the next day or so for a little video footage!

Well, this is getting a little lengthy, so I'll cut it short for now. We have had a nice Sunday. We walked to the Reading Terminal for produce and fish, and are about to head to Whole Foods (two blocks away!) for the rest of our groceries. I love living in Center City. We finally have web access, and our washer and dryer was installed yesterday. Things are coming together nicely. I hope your Sunday is exactly what you hoped it would be. Have a great start to the week. I'll talk to you soon!

Love, Joshra Palin

Halloween 2

Good morning, Bloggy Friends!


Halloween continues in our household, but today with more of a vengeance! Like I said yesterday, we didn't do much last night. I had to work until 8:30, so there wasn't much partying going on. I did get a little festive, as you'll see in the picture above! After work Alan came to pick me up. We walked around Center City (our new neighborhood!) for a while, before ducking into Valanni for a drink. As I sipped by Malbec, I reminisced of the time I shared a similar glass with Mimi when she came to visit in the spring. I miss you, Girl!

Tonight we're going to a party at my friend Sarah's house, but first we have a few chores to run. Galileo has an appointment to be groomed at eleven. I can't wait to get his haircut! Then, Alan and I need to do some shopping for our costumes. We're so bad about putting these things off until the last minute. I hope we can find everything we need. We may even run into some good discounts, since Halloween is officially over! Sarah was smart when she planned her party for the day after.

Stay tuned to some pictures and videos of our evening. Below I have attached a video I made last week on our moving day. It's not very spooky, but I hope you enjoy! Have a great day!

Love, Josh

Weekend Ketchup.

Hey, Bloggy Friends!

Boy, I feel like I've been away forever. The past week was an emotional/crazy week for me. The weekend couldn't have come soon enough. Now I find myself on the other side of it. Can you believe I have been in school for six weeks now? I can't. This means my semester is nearly half over. As you know, this also means I'm at the place when mid-terms approach, and paper deadlines start to pile up. So far I haven't been faced with too much work, but that's all about to change real quick. Bring it on! Easily, please.

Did you see the VP debate on Thursday? My verdict on the outcome is probably similar to most of yours. Palin did much better than expected, but Biden came out as the clear winner. I have to say, I was much more "entertained" by this debate than the last one between Obama and McCain. My biggest complaint, however, was the part of the evening when both candidates firmly declared their opposition to legalizing gay marriage. There was a part of me that asked, "what am I supposed to be excited about?" Is it so the living conditions of heterosexuals, with actual rights, will be improved with the election of our new President? What about my rights? What about our rights, ya'll? Sure the democrats promise improvements that will greatly affect all of us, but what is the use of those things if we are denied fundamental rights as citizens? I think it's bullshit to be honest. I would really like to see a candidate get on the stage, with a pair of balls, and take a stance on equal rights for everyone. I think it's time we stop sitting on the sidelines hoping for change to come. No amount of tolerance was ever gained by minorities who sat and waited for things to happen. We need to stand up and take action. It's completely unfair. The Constitution promises all American citizens the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness - not just those who are conveniently attracted to the opposite sex. How can we fix this? I've come up with a plan. All gays, and those who support true equality, should sit out the election. That's right, completely pull out. We should stand up and say we refuse to vote for candidates who do not speak for us. Once we do that, both sides will be clamoring for the gay vote - just like they both instantly became huge fans of Hillary. What do ya say? Wanna take a stand?

I know, it's a completely hypothetical situation, but it may take a similar sort of action to bring about a change for us. We deserve it, ya'll.

And that is what you call a rant!

I'm now left with little space to talk about our weekend, so I'll try to sum it up rather quickly. It was nice! Friday we went to see Julianne Moore's new movie BLINDNESS. This was an Alan pick, and I really liked it. If you're having a hard time deciding on a movie at your local video store, and you pass this one on the shelf - pick it up.

Saturday was completely spontaneous. What began as a trip to Main Street Manayunk turned into a "why don't we hop the next train downtown." So we did, and we had such an enjoyable afternoon. We went to Reading Terminal for fresh squeezed juice, we shopped on Walnut for tea pots and hair products and browsed a street fair promoting local businesses. Later, we met up with friends, Tim and Sarah, for a delicious Thai dinner, then went to see another movie - RELIGULOUS. Religulous is a documentary produced by Bill Maher. He travels about the world questioning the beliefs of various religious fanatics. There were parts that were entertaining, but I honestly felt it was a little blasphemous. I guess my southern Baptist roots crept up, because I left feeling rather guilty. To top it off, we had a near collision in our cab, from the theater to the train station. Our driver almost rammed a car in front of us, but avoided it by swerving sharply to the right. We ended up parked on the sidewalk! We were both about to freak out. Don't go see this movie!

Today (Sunday) we did our usual chores. We went to the grocery, picked up some pet food and have been chillin' around the house all afternoon. I hear Alan preparing our traditional Salmy Sunday dinner, so I guess I should run down and offer some help - which he'll refuse - because he's smart - and I'm completely fine with that :).

Have a great night, Bloggy Friends. I hope you have a great week.

Love you much,
Joshua


Picture Title: "Just 'cause we don't care to tie the knot, don't mean we shouldn't be able to. Shit."

Birthday Shout-Out: My Friends Tim & Sarah

Hello.Hey, Bloggy Friends!

I hope you guys have had a funtastic weekend. I'm sure you are all jazzed about the three-day break! We've had a lot of fun over the past few days. Last night we attended a birthday party for my friends (& co-workers) Sarah and Tim. Their birthdays aren't until next week, but they wanted to go ahead and celebrate this weekend for whatever reason. To kick off the night Alan and I joined Sarah, and her friend Jackie, at a vegetarian restaurant in Chinatown called, SINGAPORE. It was delicious! From there we met up with a larger group of friends at a pub on Sansom Street called FERGIE'S. We basically had a whole room upstairs to ourselves. Everyone seemed to have a great time. We had drinks, chatted, acted silly and tried unsucessfully to sing with the band. It's always fun for me to spend time outside of work with my co-workers. It's a great chance to get to know one another on a more personal level. I really do work with a great group of people. I'm so thankful.

Everyone join me in wishing Sarah and Tim a happy birthday! I think Sarah stops by the blog from time to time. I hope you guys have awesome birthdays. Thanks for being born!

I've attached a slideshow of pictures from the evening below. You can also check them out HERE, to see the pictures in color. I just liked the black and white/curtain effect!

Have a great afternoon. I'm going to be honest and admit that I'm nursing a pretty grueling hangover. Ugh!

Love you all to pieces!

Josh

More Pics from the Hillary Rally!

Hello.Hey, Bloggy Friends! Here are more pictures from our trip to the rally Monday night. I know there have been a lot of Hillary posts this week, but just bare with me for a minute while I calm down from excitement! Don't miss the video I posted of the evening a few posts down. Have a great night. I love you all!

Josh

Hillary @ UPenn!

Hello.Hey, Bloggy Friends!

Today is the big day that I have been waiting a long time for! Pennsylvanians are finally heading to the polls to make their decision on who they think should be the Democratic presidential nominee. It felt so good to finally walk into that booth and push that VOTE button. I don't think I need to tell you who I pushed it for! Philadelphia had been buzzing with excitement over the past week - this election is inspiring a great deal of passion in people. It's so awesome.

Last night the Clinton's held one last rally at UPenn here in Philadelphia. I almost didn't go, but some friends from work talked me into it at the last minute. I am so glad I did. It was one of the most exciting, uplifting events I have ever attended in my life. We were blessed to find spots on the ground near the entrance. We had a chance to meet all of them, get pictures, autographs and handshakes on their way in and the way out! They obviously made themselves very available to the crowd - which I found extremely impressive. I was a little worried when I talked to them, though, because I had just eaten a falafel wrap and was afraid I had serious garlic breath!

Chelsea, Bill and Hillary gave uplifting speeches. They were fired up and completely right on point. The speech Hillary gave may have been the very best I have ever heard her give. Without jargon, she laid it all out on the table and had the entire crowd going crazy. I was sure that she would make a great president before, but after seeing her last night there is not a doubt left in my head. She wants this so passionately and she really wants to make a positive change in this country.

My experience last night was undoubtedly a dream come true. This was the very first time I have ever seen an actual President. He was very approachable and even carried on quick conversations with some of the guys in the crowd around us. He reminded me of my Dad. Chelsea was sweet, pretty and the easiest to approach. It was such a blessing to walk away with pictures of them - but the highlight of my evening was when I shook Hillary's hand, told her good luck - and then she looked at me and said "Thank you." My heart melted.

I have made a quick video of the evening. It was hard to squeeze it all into 5 minutes, but I did the best I could. Enjoy! I am headed down to watch CNN - it's 8pm and the polls are just now closing. Good luck, Hillary!!

Love you all!

Josh