Throughout my time in Davis I have encountered many things that grind my gears i.e. things that annoy me (for example: naggers). Hence, I decided to make a top 10 list of things that grinded my gears throughout my stay here. I hope I don’t end up sounding like a grandpa complaining about his retirement center; I just want to share my gear-grinding list with people who may be able to relate.

President Obama has begun our first sustained effort to rescue our automobile industry. As The New York Times reported, his recent signature of a law that allows certain states to “begin producing and selling cars and trucks that get higher mileage than the national standard” is a step to reshape the contour of our national automobile industry.

Amongstmy list of innocently bad habits (i.e.constantly cracking my knuckles,biting on straws),my worst vice has to be a combination of two others:the Internet and going on random tangents. So when you’re leading an Internet-less lifestyle at home like I’ve been doing for the past month,it’s easy to devote an awful amount of time normally spent on web browsing (read:Facebook and online shopping) thinking instead about useless things,such as which ofmy friends would make the best “Chain Reaction“ teammates or what country I would visit if I were Anthony Bourdain.

By this summer,California Supreme Court judges willdetermine the fate ofsame-sex marriages performed before Proposition8passed last November.UCDavis law professor Courtney Joslinco-authored and submitted a friend-of-the-court briefthis monththat argues that Prop8should in no way affect the validity ofthose marriages.

Thank goodness it’s voting season. The Green Initiative Fund will likely appear on this quarter’s ASUCD ballot,giving students the option of funding undergraduate sustainability programs. Should the ballot measure pass in next month’s ASUCD elections,TGIF will net approximately$124,000in grant money from student tuition fees.Each student will automatically contribute$4to the fund every quarter,starting fall2009.

Teams:UC Davis vs.Cal State Bakersfield Where:Schaal Aquatics Center When:Saturday at1p.m. Who to watch:Hailing from nearby Lodi,Calif.,freshman Alex Daneke enters his first home meet as an Aggie as one of the top freestyle and backstroke swimmers on the team.

Advertisements on billboards,text in album sleeves and letterforms on book covers – the art of typography may be taken for granted,but artist and designer Simon Johnston has made quite a name for himself in the field. In the exhibit “subject/verb/object,” which is currently on display at the Design Museum in Everson Hall,Johnston explores the nature of visual language and the relationship between visual aids and their semantic roles.An artist talk and reception featuring Johnston will be held tonight at6:30in Everson Hall.

Octuplets born in SoCal A Southern California woman gave birth to six boys and two girls in five minutes. The second-known set of octuplets born in the United States arrived on Monday at Kaiser Permanente in Bellflower,Calif.,a Los Angeles suburb.The babies were born between10:43and10:48a.m.,and their weights range from1pound and15ounces to3pounds and4ounces.

Liberal arts professors tend to appear quite busy as they sprint across campus from staff meeting to staff meeting,their bags overflowing with academic journals and used notepaper.Always curious about on-campus happenings,MUSE set out to discover what exactly these busybody professors were really up to.The answer for three hard-working professors was simple enough – writing.

Revolutionary Road is essentially a reworking of1998‘sThe Truman Show,instead using themes of abstract (rather than literal) confinement. The film’s lack of linear plot renders it rather difficult to describe.It spends very little time with back-story,instead choosing to jump directly into what might be termed the conflict.This permeates every part of the film,never allowing the characters or the audience a chance to catch their breath.

A batch of contaminated peanuts was the source of a nationwide salmonella outbreak,causing dozens of companies to issue voluntary recalls. The outbreak has been the cause of488illnesses andsixdeaths nationwide as of Jan.23.

Event:UW Invitational Where:Dempsey Indoors – Seattle,Wash. When:Saturday at8a.m. Who to watch:After years of injury and many surgeries gone wrong,Tolu Wusu is mostly healthy.Mostly. “I definitely feel800percent more ready to handle the stresses I’m soon to put on my body,” Wusu said, “so that feels great.I’m shooting for a50 (in the triple jump) this meet,but I would love it if Ray (Green) was jumping further than that.I just want to get out there to prove to myself that just because I jump I’m not going to die.“