Penn State, Dubya, Richard / Anchor, & Kenny Rogers

A few tidbits for your mid-week:

Let's Go State! (Courtesy of Jeremy's Blog- thanks!)
Washington Monthly ranks colleges a little differently from U.S. News & World Report. And Penn State shoots to the top as a result: No. 3, just behind M.I.T. and U.C. Berkeley. "By devising a set of criteria different from those of other college guides, we arrived at sharply different results. Top schools sank, and medium schools rose. For instance, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, 48th on the U.S News list, takes third place on our list, while Princeton, first on the U.S. News list, takes 43rd on ours. In short, Pennsylvania State, measured on our terms—by the yardstick of fostering research, national service and social mobility—does a lot more for the country than Princeton." [Via Penn State Live]

Way too proud of my PSU degree here... I suppose they breed us that way.

The Prez. Visits Central PA
George W. visits Lancaster and York today in support of Lynn Swann's PA gubenatorial efforts. I work about 5 miles from where he is stopping in York. Better drive the speed limit today... way too much law enforcement around (including monitoring by aircraft, probably the only time where there is actual truth to those signs about traffic being monitored from above!).

Richard and Anchor
I am sad to report that Richard and Anchor fall into the first category of fish that I have owned - the fish that die within the first week. Big Red (Jake), however, is still alive, kicking, and angry as hell (as usual).

Wise Words from Kenny Rogers (via Cait)
As I was feeling unsettled this week, Cait shared a few lines from Kenny Rogers' "The Gambler" with me. She commended us for throwing out the "bad cards" of our lives - and thus pulled me out of my short-lived funk. I wanted to share these words with you all because they are oddly poignant to all of our lives, I think:

Every gambler knows that the secret to survival
Is knowing what to throw away and knowing what to keep
Cause every hand's a winner
And every hand's a loser