Well, the Coolest Blog Ever that is not Raising Farrahzona. I’m talking about the official blog of TOTUS.

I dare you to read it and NOT shoot liquids out your nose while you laugh.

It’s been a crazy week here in Farrahzona. I have a rather large work-related deadline on March 16, so my life has revolved around that for the past week.

Today’s challenge will be easy. Leave the car in the garage or parking lot and go for a walk or ride your bike. I realize this may be difficult for those of you not living in the desert. That’s why it’s a challenge.

I’m going to ride my bike to the market and pick up some fresh strawberries. I love strawberry season.

Ok seriously ladies, does this not do it for you? I can’t be the only gal who has a thing for military men.

Pop on over to RedState to learn more about Adam Kinzinger and what a total stud this guy is. I’m sure he would read, and live the Man Blog if he had spare time. You know, when he’s not serving in Iraq or running for congress.

All we need is ten more, and we’ll have ourselves a GOP Beefcake calendar.

Hello everyone, Happy Friday! It’s a lovely Friday here in Farrahzona. The sun is shining bright, the birds are chirping sweetly, and I almost rearended a Honda with an Obama bumper sticker this morning. What’s not to love about this day?

This is also the Lenten season, and the second Friday Challenge will mirror my own sacrifices. I challenge you, dear Farrahzona citizens, to give up caffeine beverages this Friday. No coffee (even decaf), no EVIL Diet Coke, no tea.

Are you up for the challenge?

What could possibly make me move to a Blue State?

Aaron Schock

Goodness, how did I miss him during the convention? Sure like to see more of him… Wonder if he reads the Man Blog?

There are some interesting things out on The Internets. I read random blogs. I will eventually update my blogroll, if y’all promise not to run away screaming. Some of them are um, alternative. That’s putting it mildly.

Anyway. I want to share one of my favorite daily reads, with all ten of my readers: The Art Of Manliness.

Or Man Blog as I call it. It’s a primer on how to live life like a manly man. I’m clearly not a manly man, but there useful lessons women can take away from the blog as well (like how to start a fire with out matches - never know when it will come in handy ladies).

And at the risk of being pegged a total chick - the Man Blog gives me hope that real men, manly men still exist somewhere out there. Just need to find me one.

With posts like How To Shave Like Your Grandpa and The Mechanics of The Man Hug (with pics!) how could you not totally heart the Man Blog?

I need a change of pace. I can’t talk about finance and economics my entire waking day, every day. I’m getting burned out. So I want to stir things up a bit, talk about something totally different.

Inspired by this story, I’d like to ask…..

Why is prostitution illegal?

(Copied from my comment below.)

I have sex with someone and it’s all good.

I have sex with someone and he (or she, I don’t judge) leaves me $500 for my time and talent all of a sudden we’re criminals?

Very same act, only difference is cash changed hands. Why does the exchange of cash make a criminal?

Discuss.

I think Elizabeth Alexander has a line somewhere in the stimulus bill. Commemorative copies of the inspiring poem she wrote specifically for The One aren’t selling.

Nielsen BookScan, which tracks about 75 percent of sales, says Alexander’s “Praise Song for the Day: A Poem for Barack Obama’s Presidential Inauguration” has sold just 6,000 copies so far.

The poem was published Feb. 6 as a paperback by Graywolf Press with an announced first printing of 100,000 copies.

The inaugural reading by Alexander, a highly regarded poet, apparently lacked the spark of predecessor Maya Angelou, whose “On the Pulse of the Morning” - read at President Bill Clinton’s 1993 inaugural - became a million seller.

You remember Elizabeth Alexander, don’t you? She delivered this inspiring poem at the inuguration last month.

Each day we go about our business,
walking past each other, catching each other’s
eyes or not, about to speak or speaking.

praise song for walking forward in that light.

All about us is noise. All about us is
noise and bramble, thorn and din, each
one of our ancestors on our tongues.

Someone is stitching up a hem, darning
a hole in a uniform, patching a tire,
repairing the things in need of repair.

Someone is trying to make music somewhere,
with a pair of wooden spoons on an oil drum,
with cello, boom box, harmonica, voice.

A woman and her son wait for the bus.
A farmer considers the changing sky.
A teacher says, Take out your pencils. Begin.

We encounter each other in words, words
spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed,
words to consider, reconsider.

We cross dirt roads and highways that mark
the will of some one and then others, who said
I need to see what’s on the other side.

I know there’s something better down the road.
We need to find a place where we are safe.
We walk into that which we cannot yet see.

Say it plain: that many have died for this day.
Sing the names of the dead who brought us here,
who laid the train tracks, raised the bridges,

picked the cotton and the lettuce, built
brick by brick the glittering edifices
they would then keep clean and work inside of.

Praise song for struggle, praise song for the day.
Praise song for every hand-lettered sign,
the figuring-it-out at kitchen tables.

Some live by love thy neighbor as thyself,
others by first do no harm or take no more
than you need. What if the mightiest word is love?

Love beyond marital, filial, national,
love that casts a widening pool of light,
love with no need to pre-empt grievance.

In today’s sharp sparkle, this winter air,
any thing can be made, any sentence begun.

On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp,

praise song for walking forward in that light.

I wonder why it’s not selling. Lefties constantly tell us they’re the intellectuals, that Righties are Neanderthals. Don’t intellectuals dig poetry? Not just poetry, but the official poetry of the inauguration of The One? So why? Is it a decline in appreciation of and support for the fine arts? Technology that allows me to print that $8 poem for less than $.04?

It’s a mystery.

Happy Friday everyone!

I’m starting something new for Fridays. It’s going to be a challenge - not necessarily a contest or a game, but something to achieve for the day. Maybe one Friday it will be a contest with a giveaway. Maybe another Friday it will be an interactive challenge requiring blog participation and proof.

Whatever the Friday Challenge is for the week, it’s meant to be fun. So have fun with it.

The first Friday Challenge is this:

I challenge you to find something to celebrate today.

I know there are very serious things going on in the country, even the world these days. Things that worry you, keep you up at night, stress you out. I know.  That’s me too. Try to take a moment today to celebrate something.

We’re all so busy living our day to day lives, we don’t take the time to really appreciate the fact that we are alive. I challenge you to find one thing to celebrate today. Just one. It’s easy. Post it here if you wish, don’t post it here and keep it to yourself. Just do it.

I’ll go first.

Today I celebrate spring in the desert. With Spring comes beautiful clear sunny days perfect for picnics or golf or a hike up Camelback Mountain, spring training baseball and cool nights where a fire in the fireplace is still possible.

What will you celebrate today?

Am I the only one who finds Twitter annoying? If I want to run with the big blog dogs, I know I’m going to have to get set up with it. But man, do those little mini updates annoy the crap out of me!