Living on the edge...

I realize I'm risking all hell breaking loose in my last 20 minutes at work tonight by saying this, but wow, has it been quiet. I'm only saying that in comparison to last Sunday, when we had seven college students die in a house fire up in Ocean Isle Beach, plus a meth-lab bust complete with haz-mat suits.

My request to the chaos gods for a peaceful night was granted. Thank you.

Another thing I'm thankful for? Fall back. I love standard time. Maybe because there's more moonlight.

Weather update

Noel has moved on up the coast. Sorry, Long Island.

Hurricane Noel

The hurricane is passing us, heading for the upper North Carolina coast or farther north (unless it turns... though it's a big comfort to me to know that a hurricane has never made landfall in the MB because we're in a sort of a cove). The wind sounds like a furious cow bellowing outside my front door, and the ocean is choppy and grey. This is what Weather.com was showing me just before 11 a.m.

Yahoo!

Congratulations to Dan, who passed the Bar exam. Now that plushy porpoise is never going to leave you alone, Dan. Just don't party too hard or Andrew will call the cops on you.

An office-coffee moment

The other day, a co-worker made some snide comment about the "sludge" we drink here in the office, which I thought was a joke until this morning. I'm on my second cup because I had to get here at 7 a.m. to be the day cops reporter, and of course, last night I was Insomnia Central. Didn't go to sleep until 4, got up at 6. I LOVE those nights. But that's all just an explanation for why in god's name I would ever, ever, have two cups of Folgers, triple Sweet-N-Low and fake creamer powder. And why I no longer laugh at "sludge," because there in the bottom of my cup, sure enough, is some greyish sludge.

The good thing about being this tired? I'm so tired I just don't care, and I'm punchy. Everything is funny, including the woman who just passed through the newsroom carrying a GIANT plastic bag filled with already inflated balloons.

I'm such a slacker -- I was going to post something for Halloween, with dogs dressed up in horrible, torturous costumes. I even found some hilarious pictures, like "dogzilla," with a bulldog in a green lizard costume. But now it's over. I guess I'll save them for next year.

Caption this

I love this picture of Dan so much. It's from his and Kevin's recent cruise in Alaska. To me, it looks like the white plushy porpoise thing is saying something it shouldn't be.

I thought it would be fun to steal a page from DListed and do a "caption this" contest. I'll choose the winner and send him or her a very special treat from the MB.

Come on, be creative! Give me your funniest* caption for this picture.

* Warning: Some captions might not be safe for work or children.

Colbert in '08

Stephen Colbert: Better than the joke we have now.

If you're reading this, Steve, feel free to use that slogan.

Seriously, maybe it's time to let a non-politician with brains, heart and balls take over. At least we know Colbert can read. His state-of-the-union addresses would be better than any previous president's, and he could roast himself at the correspondents' dinner.

I wonder who he'd choose as a running mate.

Colbert's coming home to South Carolina this weekend to "campaign." Unfortunately, his publicists are not letting any local media have access. He's in Columbia tomorrow, and if I didn't have to work, I'd be there.

I'm just hoping he shows up here in the MB for the big primary debates in January. We've got them both this time, which should be interesting for the area, both because the MB's not used to a big surge of people in January and because the Republicans' heads will probably implode when they see that there are actually more than eight Democrats here.

We (not the royal "we," but the paper) are trying to come up with interesting, innovative ways to cover the debates. Our executive editor wants us to do something so creative, so new, that we will become known for it after the debates are over.

Call me crazy, but how about we ask the candidates some really hard questions and don't let them divert our attention with answers that sound good but actually mean nothing?

Nah, that'll never work.

All suggestions welcome...