We are currently running neck-and-neck in the People’s Choice Award with Kathy Tolleson and ROAR Motorcycles for Women. Please help Normal Moments win the People’s Choice Award and register to vote once every 24 hours at the Dreamers into Doers Award website. The voting runs through November 18, so there isn’t much time! Hurry over to the site and vote now! Then, spread the word to your friends and family, post about it on your blog, on Facebook, on Twitter, on Pownce, on Ning, and anywhere else you can get the word out! Help us help the critically ill children and their families now!

If you’ve voted, leave a comment below to let me know. Then I can let you know how awesome you are!

And Google’s:

I couldn’t find any other embeddable widgets from the other major networks. Of course, you can always check in on Twitter, CNN, MSNBC, or *gasp* Fox News, for the news straight from the source.

Update: This just in:

I have to be honest and say that I was a little apprehensive about attending the party tonight. Between not having a costume and not being able to scrounge up some friends to come to the party with us (advanced tickets were $75, and the rough financial times made that difficult for most of them), I wasn’t sure how I felt about being at a party where I didn’t know anyone. Then I received a call while I was in class and I found out that Tricia, the founder of Normal Moments, was going to be unable to attend the party due to a severe allergic reaction she was having. Chris and I were going to have to go and represent Normal Moments for the party, and Chris would have to give a short speech. My apprehension level shot through the roof upon hearing this.

When I got a hold of Chris, she had been unable to grab a costume for me earlier. So, she ran out and found something for me. I got home and got dressed for the evening, and then we headed for downtown.

At first, we had some trouble finding the International Museum of Surgical Science, where the fundraiser was being held. Between missing the turn to stay on the part of the LSD that the museum was located, and then passing the building two or three times, we managed to get there only about an hour after the party started. Once we arrived, we checked in with Alex, our contact with the Foundation, and got in some introductions to a few other people working with the Foundation. Shortly thereafter, we checked out the exhibits that were open, including one on X-ray machines.

After browsing around the museum to kill some time before Chris had to give her speech, we went back to join the party. We ran into Annie and her mom, and we were so relieved to find other people we "knew" at the party. We were able to get some drinks and chat for most of the evening, alleviating some of the stress of being in a room full of strangers. It was great to spend some time catching up with Annie; it was the first time I had seen here in at least 15 years, I think.

Then came time for Chris to give her speech, thanking the Foundation and extolling Tricia and Normal Moments. As usual, she gave a great speech, even with little time to prepare. There were a number of attendees who came up to tell her how wonderful her speech was, and how touching all the work that Tricia and Normal Moments does.

At that point, we hung out for a little while longer, and then decided that it was time for us to head home. Along the way we stopped by a McDonald’s in Rosemont because neither of us had really eaten any dinner. Now, we’re at home, the dog’s been let out, and it’s time to get some rest. Tomorrow’s going to be a busy day, starting off with the weekly call to Uganda. Then, I have some homework to look at, a midterm to start prepping for, and packing to get done.

Happy Halloween! I’ll try not to wait so long between this and the next post. I promise.

At this point, I’m leaning towards Canon and their EOS Rebel XSi. I have several friends who are acquainted with the Canon models, and they may have lenses I can poach.

The D90 is the camera I would be interested in purchasing from Nikon. It looks to be a more expensive alternative to the XSi, but with the HD video recording capability, it’s really a different class of camera.

So, at this point, I’m not sure which one to purchase. In addition to choosing the camera body, I have to figure out which lens will be best for my current shooting style. That may or may not be an easy task for me, as I have been spoiled by Sony H1, the advanced point-and-shoot camera that I have now, which has 12x optical zoom that allows me to shoot a variety of subjects from a variety of distances.

Does anyone have any suggestions for me? You can see what I’ve shot in the past at Flickr. Maybe that will help any real photographers out there help me decide on my first lens.

I didn’t see SNL last night, but I just saw the opening skit via the Chicago Tribune web site, of all places. Tina Fey did a great job as Palin. Check it out:

[Clip removed]

Hopefully I will be less lame in the future.

Update: Not even an hour later, and I am foiled. YouTube pulled the clip from last night. Here’s NBC’s clip, which is of better quality, but it has a pre-roll ad:

[Clip removed]

Update: Argh! NBC sucks. Not only did they get the clip pulled from YouTube, but their embed code doesn’t even show the correct video. Here’s the actual page where the video is. Don’t click on the ads. Stupid NBC.

I quickly jumped onto the EA support site, and I am now awaiting for a replacement kick pedal. I’m supposed to get it some time next week. I hope that’s an accurate estimate on their part, because I’m finding I am not as good at guitar as I used to be, and I am terrible at singing.

I saw this post on rachelleb.com about a Flickr meme. It’s simple to do: use your answers to each of the following questions as searches in Flickr. For each search, pick one image from only the first page of results. Paste the URL to the Flickr photo page for that image into Mosaic Maker. Produce a 3×4 mosaic of your photo picks, and publish it somewhere. Enjoy!

The questions:

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. What is your favorite drink?
7. What is your dream vacation?
8. What is your favorite dessert?
9. What do you want to do when you grow up?
10. Who/ what do you love most in life?
11. Choose one word that describes you?
12. What is your Flickr name?

At issue is the disparity in funding between the CPS and suburban schools. This disparity in funding is what Meeks believes leads to a disparity in school performance and student success. On that point I agree with Meeks. The Chicago Tribune reports statistics cited by Rev. Marshall Hatch of New Mt. Pilgrim Church. He attributes John Marshall Metropolitan High School’s 46% graduation rate versus New Trier High Shool’s 99.8% graduation rate to the thousands of dollars more per student per year that New Trier spends over the CPS. I think that there is more to the difference in graduation rates than just school funding, but increased funding could certainly help.

I am not sure what Meeks and the other ministers are hoping to accomplish with their boycott, as school attendance directly impacts school funding. The empty classrooms will only result in less funding for the CPS, rather than forcing the state’s hand and changing policy. The issue of school funding has been around longer than I have been, and it most certainly is not going to be resolved overnight because of a boycott.

Thankfully, another group of ministers has called for a different approach. The organizers of the 5th annual Million Father March in Chicago are asking fathers to escort their children to school on the first day. This, says Rev. Sharyon Cosey, "sets the tone for the entire year." Cosey is a retired teacher.

I wish there was an easy answer to the school funding issue, but there isn’t. Taxes, fees and fines can be increased to bring in more revenue, but the chances of that money getting to the schools that need it are slim. The budgets of wealthier schools could be cut to increase the budgets of poorer schools, but wealthier schools will do everything in their power to prevent a redistribution of wealth, as it were. I do not envy the "deciders" when it comes to choosing which programs to fund and how much to fund them. Most come out losing, and very few come out winning.

Do you have any ideas on school funding and how to fix the problems? Post them in the comments below.

• Morgan Freeman is alive, but getting a divorce from his wife of 24 years.
• John Edwards admits to having an affair while his wife is sick with cancer.
• Clay Aiken is the father of a newborn baby boy.
• Bernie Mac died from complications with pneumonia.
• Isaac Hayes died after collapsing at home.

In other news, Russia and Georgia entered into war with each other at the start of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing. At least the two countries’ Olympic shooters are friendly.