...So it appears that I am set to fly to France the day after the US will declare war on Iraq. A lot of my family have asked me to reconsider the trip, but Matt and I have weighed the circumstances and although we're both a little nervous-- the entire group is, naturally-- we still plan to go. I've already run the discussion into the ground with my family, so I hope you won't mind if I just leave it at that in here.

Concerning lighter matters, I stumbled upon Bounce Out a couple days ago and have been addicted to it ever since. Give it a shot-- although I recommend you turn your speakers off first or play mp3s or something to occupy your sound card, because the sound effects are pretty annoying. (At the moment my high score is 63,380.)

And in bizarre news, a study found that drinking a giant soda may add 400 to 500 calories to your daily diet, which could result in a 40- or 50-pound weight gain over the span of one year. Yet another reason I'm glad not to drink soda.