I've really been remiss in not plugging the site's first advertiser, Obey the Pure Breed.  You guys should do me a favor and check the site out, it's really very funny.  And in honor of the dog-theme and the Papillon section, and in expectation of you all visiting the site (preferrably through this link), I'm going to do my first-ever dog-blogging and introduce my -- or at least my family's -- papillon to the world.  Behold, Pappy:

Julia on political centrists:

This is like saying that you drive mid-size cars because you own a Civic and a Hummer. This is like saying that Michigan has a temperate climate because it's 95 in the summer and -10 in the winter. It's like saying you're a moderate drinker because you drink nothing Monday through Thursday and then have 15 pints on a Friday night.

In some ways, it's hard to blame Frist for turning batshit crazy in the past few months. Unlike most senators hoping to occupy the Oval Office, the good doctor from Tennessee is majority leader, which means every overpowered, under-medicated constituency in the country is tugging at his pant leg to make him actualize their agenda in the here and now. And they mean to see him do it if he expects their support down the road. Frist has no choice but to kowtow to their demands, rejecting compromises, taking extreme positions, and generally grinding the Senate to a halt because his presidential ambitions don't allow for moderation of any sort.

As part of my Get a Job series, I've started having to do a lot of interviews. The problem is that I can't type fast enough to record a conversation. Some I can do online so transcription isn't an issue, but for those I can't is there some way to hook a digital recorder to my cell phone? I can't figure out how, or which ones do it (the guy at Best Buy said none of them do it), but if any of you have the technological chops to point me in the right direction, it'd make my life a lot easier.