My cousin Kevin was on MSNBC. Like, the national TV channel.

He’s kind of a big deal.

I just saw this commercial on TV and loved it.

That’s right. That’s A-Rod, Tony Hawk, Michael Phelps and Kobe Bryant.

Not only is this about the coolest program ever, but I just found out today that the women’s shoes even come in my huge shoe size online! So if you haven’t already, check out this year’s shoes. If you’re interested, I’ll even tell you all the things I’ve learned about these kids over the past few months. They’re absolutely incredible.

For my second Nike shout-out in the past month, I’m posting my favorite Nike commercial below.

I don’t even like cats, but this is fantastic.

I’m hoping that if you read this blog, and are therefore a friend or family member of mine, you vote. I’m assuming you are registered to vote on November 4. I’m not going to say I don’t care who you vote for, because I do, but it’s none of my business. And if you’re interested in talking to me about your choice or mine, you know where to find me.

However, I do know that there are times when people who think they are registered, in fact, aren’t. Or they forgot to change their address. Or they’ve had their voter registration challenged.

(Side note, that article actually made me sick to my stomach. Within hours of it being posted online, a friend from Montana who now lives in Copenhagen sent it to me, my mom sent it to me, and my aunt wrote me to make sure I wasn’t still registered in Montana and being challenged. The fact that the spokesman for the Secretary of State even said that everyone should return the affidavits signed and notarized “for the benefit of all involved”, even made it worse. Also, I went to high school with Kevin Furey and I’m glad he said exactly what everyone else was thinking and that he was used as the perfect example of why voter challenging is blatant intimidation and attempted disfranchisement. I know there are a lot of assholes in Montana. I know there are lots of assholes everywhere. But I expected more of my home state.)*

Anyway, I’m asking you, as a friend or family member, to do two things.
1. Watch this video.
2. Go to the website and either register to vote if you aren’t, or check to make sure you’re registered at your current address. (You can also request an absentee ballot in case you don’t live in the same silly state I do, where everyone is required to be absent on election day).
The second favor is definitely more important than the first one, but the first is entertaining and makes the title of this post make sense. Plus, I stole the idea from my friend Julie.

You want to know the other thing? I can check to see if you’re registered if you live in Oregon. So you can’t lie and say you are if you aren’t. Creepy, huh? Lies don’t make friends!

*Update on the MT sitch.

Thanks go to Kristin for sending this to me.

You may have missed it, but right before Hillary Clinton spoke at the DNC on Tuesday, there was a goofy-looking guy from Montana on the stage, jumping around and getting excited. That man was Brian Schweitzer, our governor.

Here it is, in case you couldn’t watch it the other night:

And just in case you don’t think he’s awesome (and a total badass) after that, check out this article from Daily Kos.

I like to think of Montana as a “deep-purple” state, seeing as both of our senators and our governor are Democrats, but our (sole) representative is a Republican and we tend to vote for Republican presidents. But I’m really hoping that people like Schweitzer can help explain to Montanans why voting Republican may seem like a good idea when you want to carry your hunting rifles in the truck, even when your 15-year old daughter’s driving, but it always ends with that 15-year old daughter having one of the worst public educations in the country, thanks to our terrible school system.

Or at least just convince them to vote for Obama in November.

I was reminded of this video last night by a friend and I just realized it would be a great follow-up to my last post.

Two of my closest friends (Talia and Alex) moved to Chicago on Monday. I’m currently in denial and doing anything I can to distract myself. Bob Costas has come to my rescue.

Side note: Did you know that this is the SEVENTH TIME Bob Costas has covered the Olympics for NBC since 1992? Madness.

Even though I love watching the crazy stuff like synchronized diving, I live for beach volleyball, swimming, and gymnastics. I could watch Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh all day. They are so damn good at what they do and always look like they’re having fun. And I think I speak for just about every American girl when I say that gymnastics and ice skating were my gateway drugs to the Summer and Winter Olympics, respectively.

But swimming has become particularly interesting to me recently. Not just because of Michael Phelps and his amazing feats, but also because of people like Katie Hoff, Natalie Coughlin, Jason Lezak, Ryan Lochte, and Dara Torres. The other reason is because my cousin Kevin has been assigned by the Baltimore Sun to follow Katie Hoff and Michael Phelps (native Baltimorans) and all of their gold-medal-seeking adventures. He knows more about Michael Phelps than I may ever want to (including his eating habits), and even had to take a break from our family golf tournament in Waterton to call Michael’s mom Debbie from a pay phone to get some insight and hopefully a few quotes.

In every screen shot of the Water Cube, I’m looking for Kevin in the crowd, wondering if he’s sick of the smell of chlorine or the echoing cheers yet. Or if he still finds the whole thing interesting and surreal, even though this isn’t the first time he’s covered the Olympics for the Sun.

But at this point, I have to share with you my favorite part about Kevin covering swimming. And that is the following two videos (which I apparently can’t embed in this post).

ChloriNATION Episode 15

And the follow-up episode:

ChloriNATION Episode 16

U-S-A! U-S-A!