lovely. dreamy. chic. swell. darling.

Netflix Recommends...

2010-02-10T22:08:00.002-06:00

Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

Max Miedinger Would Be Proud

2010-02-09T10:42:00.004-06:00

I look for the same things in a partner as I do in a font; must communicate well, be straightforward, be bold when necessary, not need much kerning, and stand the test of time. In other words, I'm still searching for my Helvetica.

Thought It Was A Perfect Party, Now It's Just A Lot of Ed Hardy...

2009-08-15T21:23:00.002-05:00

Par For the Course

2009-08-14T11:21:00.000-05:00

On the way home from work last night I was behind a Jeep with a McCain/Palin sticker on the back window. The driver was signaling right but turned left. Sounds about right.

"Off The Hook"

2009-07-17T10:58:00.003-05:00

I was rummaging through my old Myspace blog when I found this entry from December 10, 2004, and decided it was worth a re-post here in my "real" blog.

So, Wednesday night Alyssa and I drove to the Lyrics Born / RJD2 show in Denton. As we are walking to Hailey’s, this guy starts looking at us, and we both get that “he’s going to talk to us" vibe. (Just to preface, he reminded us scarily of a tall version of the stoner in "Dazed and Confused.") Sure enough, he excitedly says “Hey, are you guys going to the RJD2 show?”

Us: “Yeah.” (Still briskly walking towards venue.)
Guy: “That shit’s gonna be off the hook, you know that, right?!”
Us: (laughing) “Oh yeah?”
Him: “Are you excited about Lyrics Born?”
Us: “We haven’t heard them.”
Him: “Now THAT shit’s gonna be off the hook.”
Us: (Laughing and shooting glances at each other.)
Him: “Where do you guys go to school?”
Us: “We don’t, we graduated.”
Him: “When?”
Me: “2001”
Alyssa: “’02”
Him (shockingly): “2002!! You guys must be like, 25 or 26!!!?” (Apparently he missed the 2001 statement.)
Us: (laughing) “Yeah…25”
Him: “No shit…where did you go to school?”
Us: “TCU.”
Him: “Are you from Denton?”
Us: “No, we’re from Dallas”
Him: “No shit, you guys drove here all the way from Dallas for RJD2?”
Us: “Um, yeah, we drive here for shows from time to time.”
Him: “This show’s gonna be off the hook!! You two are pretty hot to be driving here from Dallas.” (What does that mean?)
Us: “Umm…ok…”
Him: “Oh, you guys are with me, right? You can come up here with us.” (As he cuts in line and joins up with some friends.)
Us: “Oh, uh, that’s ok.”

During the show we see our funny guy up front, tall and lanky, with his broken arm-in-a-cast and long brown hair, waving his hat around (I have to give him credit--the shit really was off the hook). As we leave, we see him sitting on the railing outside. He looks at is with recognition and says “good show, huh?” I say “yeah, that shit was off the hook.” He replies with “Yeah it was! After party at our place—3 kegs and free chronic” (or something along those lines—he mumbled the last part). We politely declined, as we had to drive back to Dallas and go to work in the morning.

Today before work I...

2009-07-02T19:30:00.004-05:00

-Turned the compost pile, and shrieked when a snake darted from inside. It's a sign that my compost quality is good, but still started me.

-Used A/C runoff water collected in a trash can to keep compost nice and hot.

-Watched as Maggie threw up ALL over Clive, who was lying on the kitchen floor.

-Cleaned up kitchen floor, and Clive.

-Dremeled Clive's nails and have him a good brushing.

-Did two loads of laundry.

-Found a flea on Clive while he was outside.

-Dusted diatomaceous earth all over Clive and Maggie, their beds, and the carpet to kill any fleas.

-Made a few phone calls for things that needed to be taken care of.

Basically, I did almost nothing on my list, other than laundry and the compost pile.
Seriously, dogs are like children.

United As One...

2009-06-02T15:19:00.007-05:00

Call me crazy, but I always thought the whole "two people becoming one" part of the marriage ceremony was metaphorical. However, judging by the amount of "co-blogging" (I may have just made up that term, I'm not sure) going on these days, clearly I was wrong. ("We posted a new blog entry!" "We have a busy weekend coming up!" "We just cleaned our bathtub together!") If getting married also includes losing all sense of myself and not even being able to have MY OWN SEPARATE BLOG where I can have MY OWN SEPARATE THOUGHTS AND IDEAS then no, thank you. I pass. Co-blogging must be part of that "for worse" section of the vows.

Just Another Generic Blog Post...

2009-05-27T14:38:00.008-05:00

ge⋅ner⋅ic

–adjective Also, ge⋅ner⋅i⋅cal.

1.	of, applicable to, or referring to all the members of a genus, class, group, or kind; general.

2.	of, pertaining to, or noting a genus, esp. in biology.

3.	(of a word) applicable or referring to both men and women: a generic pronoun.

4.	not protected by trademark registration: “Cola” and “shuttle” are generic terms.

–noun

Dear work clients,

Contrary to popular belief, "generic" is NOT a synonym for "specific." Please make a note of this.

Sincerely,

Sleepypasture

EXAMPLES OF MISUSE:
1) "I would like a generic Chrysler car..."
2) "...show generic medical caduceus..." (I AM proud that you properly spelled "caduceus.")
3) "...need a generic [picture of an] iPhone..."
4) "...generic picture of the California Supreme Court building."
5) "...a generic car...a Nissan car would be best."
6) show a "generic United Airlines jet..."

Sleepypasture's Super Amazing Salsa Recipe

2009-05-24T17:39:00.007-05:00

Sleepypasture's Super Amazing Salsa Recipe
28 oz. diced tomatoes
1 medium sweet onion, chopped
1 bunch fresh cilantro
2 jalapenos, chopped (remove seeds from one of them)
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. celery salt
1/8 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

Put it all in your blender or food processor and mix/pulse until blended. DO NOT LIQUIFY.

1 serving size = 162g
Makes 6 servings

Calories/serving = 47
Calories from fat = 3

She's Crafty

2009-05-21T18:11:00.004-05:00

It's no surprise that I love re-using and re-purposing household items. So when my ceramic dishsoap dispenser broke, I wanted to re-purpose something else instead of buying a new one. (I can't stand to have that ugly plastic dishsoap bottle sitting out on my counter all the time, no matter how well Method or anyone else designs their packaging.)

I had a few really cute glass soda bottles left over from various trips to The Soda Gallery sitting in my kitchen window that were too great for me to throw away. So on a recent trip to the Container Store, I found out that they carry these great pour-spout-dispenser-top thingies that you can use for olive oil or whatever. I bought them *hoping* they would fit into my cute Dr. Pepper bottle, and guess what? It totally works! I love its vintage flair. Tip - try using equal parts dishsoap and water for maximum pour-ability.

Gettin' Some PRESS for Bike Friendly Oak Cliff

2009-05-20T22:54:00.003-05:00

Bike Friendly Oak Cliff got some great press on Channel 11 tonight.

Check out the video clip here!!

Local Businesses Offering Discounts To Bicyclists

Want to be green and save some green? Some local businesses are offering discounts to bicyclists. "It's really a win-win situation," said Bike Friendly Oak Cliff member Andrea Roberts.

A group of Oak Cliff bicyclists are helping the environment and saving money. "Less cars on the road; that's a big goal of ours… less cars," explained Roberts.

Members of Bike Friendly Oak Cliff have convinced businesses around the Bishop Arts District to give discounts to anyone who uses a bike to get to the area. "We thought that it would be a great way to get people out-and-about, because obviously people like discounts, especially with the economy being how it is," said biking group member Heather Lytle.

So far, more than a dozen Oak Cliff businesses are participating in the bicycling program.

Some of the discounts offered to bicyclists include – the Green Pet store offering a 10-percent discount off all non-food products and Eno's Tavern giving the same 10-percent discount.

Eno's owner, Matthew Spiller, says offering the discount is a way of giving back to the community, and helping his business too. "We always try to support the local community that's around here and then also having a different parking solution, because we're tight on parking over here. It's a different method of transportation. It brings in a great crowd," he said.

Those rolling on 2-wheels say another benefit is that riders are encouraged to spend locally. "You always think of it [Dallas] as being a pretty car-oriented city, but there are lots of neighborhoods where you can get around on your bike," said Lytle.

Pet Peeve

2009-05-20T20:38:00.002-05:00

When I send someone information about an event, and then they ask me to remind them about it later. Do I look like their personal event secretary? In my opinion, if someone is really interested they'll write it down, send themselves an email, or set a cell phone reminder.

My New Favorite YouTube Subscription

2009-05-05T19:09:00.003-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/user/rikilind

Zero Dollars Per Gallon

2009-04-18T22:38:00.006-05:00

Now that my hip surgery is over, I am in recovery and have not been allowed to exercise in months and months. My doctor told me to now bike and/or swim. So, I had to admit that my current bike was too small, as it's the same bike I have had since I was 13 or so. The Pink Schwinn. I have never ever ridden another bike, so I had no idea where to start or what kind of bike to get. But I knew I needed a BIGGER bike, and that I wanted to just bike locally, maybe to the grocery store and bike, stuff like that. I can't commute by bike to work because I work nights and have a 35 mile commute through some very dicey neighborhoods. So I did some research, tested out some bikes, and decided on a Specialized hybrid bike that I am enjoying very much.

But now that I found out about the new Bicycle Commuter Act, I am even more bummed that I can't commute to work. This new act, which started January 1 2009, entitles employers to reimburse their employees up to $20.00 a month to cover bicycle commuting costs, and was part of the Renewable Energy Tax legislation with the aim to give bike commuters similar compensation to people who receive credits for taking transit cars to and from work. Visit the League of American Bicyclists for more information!

And buy one of these awesome patches for your messenger bag.

"I Think You Might Be Confusing Tyranny With Losing..."

2009-04-18T17:00:00.001-05:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

Baracknophobia - Obey

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Economic Crisis

Political Humor

"The Rotting Racist Underbelly of the Tea Party Protests"

2009-04-18T16:46:00.006-05:00

Article HERE:
"The Rotting Racist Underbelly of the Tea Party Protests"

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

Tea Party Tyranny

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Economic Crisis

Political Humor

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

Nationwide Tax Protests

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Economic Crisis

Political Humor

I Wish I Could Take Credit For This One...

2009-04-17T18:46:00.002-05:00

Really? NO TAXES? Pfffffffffffffffft. Where would you drive your Hummer? Better yet, where would you protest? In the mud, where those tax-paid streets would've been?

http://img.skitch.com/20090415-bdk88w2xipi6ub5cugi3cxsdb3.jpg

If At First You Don't Secede...

2009-04-17T13:13:00.002-05:00

The next Texas gubernatorial race cannot get here fast enough.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Stacy and Clinton Would Be So Proud

2009-04-15T18:55:00.008-05:00

I haven't bought new clothes in a long time. "New" as in not from a thrift store or a resale shop. Owning my first home has monopolized most of my budget for the past year, and even for a couple of years before that I was paying of credit card debt and not spending much on clothes. Suddenly within the past couple of months I've noticed that not only do my clothes not fit anymore, but they are looking RAGGED. Pants are too short, sleeves are too short, and I don't have anything to wear to say, a rehearsal dinner. I already went through all of my clothes when I moved a year ago, and got rid of FIVE garbage bags of clothes and shoes. So I had already drastically cut out a good portion of my wardrobe. And for the past two years I have been strictly forbidden to exercise at ALL by two doctors and one physical therapist due to hip and pelvic problems, so I've gained 10 lbs. I am now finally allowed to do SOME stuff (bike, swim, hike, etc) so I've started to get back into biking, but in the meantime, my clothes just don't fit. Even dresses that fit just last summer are just too snug to wear out of the house. *sigh*

So I have to buck up and buy some clothes. I can't wear my chuck taylors, a t-shirt, and my worn-out chinos every single day. (I'm 29, not 15.) Luckily for me, JCrew always comes to my rescue. I can't afford their clothes at full price, but they usually have some really good sales. So I ordered two new pairs of their trusty TALL chinos in the next size up, a really cute cotton/silk lawn top that can be dressed up, and took a gamble on the "high heel flare jean" in the indigo wash (all on sale). They came in last night, and lo and behold, they ALL fit. The chinos are the perfect fit, and the heel of the hem isn't all ratty and worn like on my old chinos (probably 6 years old now). The top is perfect...doesn't need to be dry cleaned, is cool for these hot Texas summers, but just dressy enough. And the JEANS. So much cuter in person than online. Stacy and Clinton on "What Not To Wear" are always touting the trouser jean, and how it should be just 1/2" off the ground in the back when worn with heels, and I'm always thinking "yeah right, you're not 5'9". But these are L-O-N-G. I mean, I am wearing my second highest pair of heels today and they are touching the ground in the back. The rise is not too low, they have some stretch, and they have a trouser hem, not a typical rolled jean hem. No annoying embroidery or sequins or fancy-ness. Just a fabulous denim staple for the wardrobe. I have to say, I'm rather proud of myself. But I'm not throwing out those old chinos. I'm gonna roll up the right hem and use them as my new cycling pants...that way maybe they'll get loose on me again!

Repeater

2009-04-14T20:03:00.004-05:00

Remember this post? Well, I just got the SAME DARN FORTUNE tonight.

LIES LIES LIES LIES LIES!!

Grammar School

2009-04-09T18:59:00.002-05:00

Somewhere out there exists a sad, lonely apostrophe with no job to do.

Blacking Out The Friction

2009-04-01T18:43:00.013-05:00

Diane Kruger on her bike:

So I was doing my daily tour of TMZ when I spotted this picture of Diane Kruger riding what definitely looks to be my bike. Which is super-annoying because I hate having the same thing as someone else. She even has the same black rack on the back! Grrrrrrr. However, she doesn't have my super-awesome new matching black aluminum water bottle OR my even awesome-er Mexican wrestler squeeky horn. HA! Take that, celebrity I've never heard of.

me on my bike:

my awesome-er horn:

my awesome black aluminum water bottle:

rack on the back:

The True Story Of What Was

2009-03-26T17:32:00.004-05:00

My SUV-addicted uncle once told me, and I quote, that "global warming is a conspiracy created by Al Gore." It took me about 30 seconds to get my jaw off the floor afterwords. I wish I could say that these pictures, scientific proof, or common sense would change his mind, but he's one of those people who doesn't want to discuss these types of subject, he just wants to quote Rush Limbaugh until he's red in the face. Because if he and others like him actually looked at the proof and admitted that global warming is happening right now, then they'd have to re-evaluate the excessive way they live, such as their gas-guzzling addiction, and love of conspicuous consumption. He couldn't be bothered with that because sometimes living a more sustainable lifestyle requires some change and compromise.

But for me, change is something I can believe in, and I have faith that enough people in the world have the intelligence, optimism, and openness to take positive steps in leading more sustainable lives, and that we CAN face global warming and turn this thing around. YES WE CAN.

I'm Sorry, So Sorry.

2009-03-25T12:57:00.001-05:00

Always Question Authority

2009-03-24T19:31:00.001-05:00

http://www.whitehouse.gov/

Love Turns Winter To Spring

2009-03-19T18:45:00.024-05:00

It's spring break, and in my life that means one thing - my annual spring sinus infection! This year it seems to have come with an extra big wallop. Nothing really compares to the sinus infection of 1997, but that one only wins out due to the oh-so-lovely allergic reaction I had to the antibiotic the doctor gave me, which blessed me with major swelling in my lips, eyes, and ears. Think HUGE. Let's just say, my top lip TOUCHED MY NOSE. Oh and who could forget the huge quarter-sized hives all over my body. And that was ONE DAY before my flight to Florida for our 8-day spring break trip to Sanibel Island and Fort Meyers. Thanks to THAT sinus infection I am now required to wear a medical ID bracelet or necklace of my choice. (And by the way, I like how the website for Cefzil says to "Get emergency medical help if you have any of these signs of an allergic reaction: hives; difficulty breathing; swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat." ALL OF WHICH I HAD except for swelling of the tongue. The person who was caring for me at the time? She gave me some benadryl and tossed me in an oatmeal bath. NOT SO HELPFUL.) Ah...spring break memories.

But back to spring break 2009. THIS time my sinus infection has surprised me by taking it's spring break vacation to my lungs where it has set up camp for the week. I almost completely lost my voice, and still sound very manly (think 60-yr-old chain smoker), with no differentiation between my "m's," "b's," or "n's." Since I just had six weeks off work to recover from hip surgery, it doesn't feel right to call in sick, and I'm not contagious anyway. But let's just say that the cough is so bad that homeless people pandering for money RUN IN FEAR at the sound of me as I walk toward them.

My favorite question this week which I have been asked multiple times, is "are you taking anything?" What kind of a question is that? I can't breathe, hear, or smell. Um, I am taking EVERYTHING. Zicam, Zyrtek, Sudafed PE, Nasalcrom, Mucinex D, antibiotics, cough drops, echinacea tea, 3 oranges a day, green tea....

Perhaps the best humorous anecdote I can offer to you is the exchange between the nice pharmacist and I at the crowded Walgreen's pharmacy yesterday when I picked up my antibiotics. (Keep in mind, my ears are currently SO blocked that I cannot even hear the turn signal in my car clicking on and off. I can't even hear it a little.)

her: "Are you currently on oral contraceptives?"

me: "Yes."

her: (in a very soft whisper) mumble mumble "form of" mumble mumble mumble-

me: (interrupting) "I'm sorry, but I'm really congested and can't hear you."

her: (in a louder, forced whisper) "The antibiotics can lessen the effectiveness of your oral contraceptives so you will need to use another form of birth control."

Now, normally this is where my quick "wit" would get the best of me and I would make some dry mark about how trust me, there's no need for any backup birth control right now because none of THAT is going on in my life right now. I may have even been sly enough to quote the someecards graphic that I featured in my last post. But I was very sick, and I figured she really didn't care if I was getting any or not, so I just said "oh, ok."

Also, I have been challenging myself to recognize the silver linings to not being able to hear or taste or smell, so this is what I have so far:

On Not Being Able to Hear:
-I can't hear the loud whir of the uber air-conditioning system in my office building
-I can't hear the noise in the editing suite that is right next to my cubicle
-The loud dogs next door are muffled a bit more

On Not Being Able to Taste:
-It's a good time to eat up all of my least favorite flavors of oatmeal in the variety pack
-I'm finally eating some of the frozen meals I've been putting off because they're not my favorites
-I'm not as tempted to have a midnight snack when I get home from work - no smell = no appetite

On Not Being Able to Smell:
-I can't smell the stinky smoker who sits next to me at work, though I am still allergic to him (clearly)
-Cleaning the cat litter is far more tolerable

Happy Spring Break 2009! Be safe, kids.

A Ship to Pop Culture

2009-03-15T10:22:00.005-05:00

1) At my office, the men's restroom is just on the other side of the wall from the women's restroom. Do you know what that means? It means that I CAN HEAR IT WHEN YOU DON'T WASH YOUR HANDS after you flush. And then I am secretly disgusted by you forever.

2) Yesterday there were a lot of bad Saturday afternoon movies on, and one of them was Notting Hill. I've seen it before, but this time I noticed a major inconstistancy. In the beginning of the the movie there's a scene where Julia Roberts' character is invited to a family dinner where some sort of bird (quail or something) is the main course, and at least three times it is mentioned that she's a vegetarian. Then, later on in the movie she's in a Chinese restaurant, and she tells a table of men that the tuna is really good. How did no one working on the movie catch that?

3) In Texas, if you are on a bicycle, you are required by law to wear a helmet (and yes, they will ticket you). However, if you drive a scooter or a motorcycle, you are not required to wear a helmet. Does that make any sense? Personally, I think safety laws (helmet usage, seatbelt usage, etc) should be voluntary after the age of 18. Maybe they could be called "Spencer Laws" (As in Herbert Spencer, who coined the phrase "survival of the fittest"). I mean, why do we keep protecting the stupid people from themselves? If you are idiotic enough NOT to wear a helmet or a seatbelt, then we really have no need for you in the genepool. Good riddance.

Producer All-Star Of The Day

2009-03-11T18:10:00.001-05:00

"GENERIC GUN WITH PIC OF ILOLINOIS' STATE CAPITOL"

Ladies, This Is The Final Rose of The Evening

2009-03-11T01:27:00.004-05:00

It has been a week of final roses. I, of course, did not receive one. (I continue to be the "Alabaster Groomer".) Besides, the bachelor never chooses the bachelorette with short hair on that show. He's too intimidated. Luckily I have an entire rose bush in my backyard that will start blooming for me soon.

And to keep my rose bush company, I have some new additions! I bought some cilantro, chives, rosemary, oregano, basil, tomatoes, and jalapenos to plant this week. I also nabbed some nice lumber someone put out for the bulk trash to use for the beds. Hopefully I will be at least somewhat successful in my organic gardening efforts. It's worth a shot, especially after examining my receipts from Whole Foods.

Stuff I Like

2009-03-11T00:42:00.003-05:00

I have been talking for a year or so about how I want a green burial when I die, and now it seems to be mainstream enough that Re-Nest is also blogging about it. It's extremely inexpensive, even more eco-friendly than cremation, and my body becomes compost for plants. What could be better? Send me off Little House On The Prairie style please, in a pine box with a cross made of sticks marking my grave. That's all I need and want.

And for the rest of the list...
-Try using a ShamWow for an eco-friendly reusable Swiffer pad.
-Make your own laundry detergent to save a ton of money. I am definitely trying this one! Don't blame me for the abuse of Comic Sans on that webpage though. Yikes.
-I love vintage suitcases. How about making one into a cabinet?
-Oh, this is a good one, and it's LOCAL! Dallas welder and craftsman Joel Hester is taking old car hoods and making them into fantastic coffee tables with an industrial edge. Talk about a conversation starter!
-If it's time to get planting, then how about you start your seeds in a DIY growbox? I had NO idea that Christmas lights can be used for this. So awesome.
-Or just build yourself a greenhouse from old windows. Not only is it eco-friendly, but it's super cute, too!
-And lastly, I want a claw-foot tub-turned-sofa!

Producer All-Star Of The Day

2009-03-11T00:38:00.002-05:00

Today I received a graphic order requesting a "FedEx logo and genetic resume." I assume it was meant to say "generic."

Grapevine Fires

2009-03-04T21:23:00.002-06:00

Great new Death Cab video - love the animation! (found on BoingBoing)

I Have Two Words For You

2009-02-21T10:34:00.004-06:00

What do I really think of former President Bush and his crew of motorcades invading MY city? My city that was a strong dot of BLUE in a sea of RED this past November? And what do I think of him building a presidential "library" meant to house and display the documents and papers of his administration...documents and papers that he has sealed away from the public because he's ashamed of his actions as a blatant war criminal?

Look inside, look inside your tiny mind
and look a bit harder
cause we’re so uninspired
so sick and tired
of all the hatred you harbor

so you say it’s not okay to be gay
well I think you’re just evil
you’re just some racist who can’t tie my laces
you’re point of view is medieval

Fuck you, fuck you very very much
cause we hate what you do
and we hate your whole crew
so please don’t stay in touch

fuck you, fuck you very very much
cause your words don’t translate
and it’s getting quite late
so please don’t stay in touch

do you get, do you get a little kick out of being small-minded?
you want to be like your father
it’s approval you’re after
well that’s not how you’ll find it

do you, do you really enjoy living a life that’s so hateful
cause there’s a hole where your soul should be
you’re losing control of it
and it’s really distasteful

Fuck you, fuck you very very much
cause we hate what you do
and we hate your whole crew
so please don’t stay in touch

Fuck you, fuck you very very much
cause your words don’t translate
and it’s getting quite late
so please don’t stay in touch

You say, you think we need to go to war
Well you're already in one.
Cause it's people like you that need to get sued
No one wants your opinion

Fuck you, fuck you very very much
cause we hate what you do
and we hate your whole crew
so please don’t stay in touch

Fuck you, fuck you very very much
cause your words don’t translate
and it’s getting quite late
so please don’t stay in touch

Say It Ain't So

2009-02-09T14:56:00.003-06:00

Ketchup

2009-02-06T09:55:00.007-06:00

Ok, a LOT has happened in the last month and I have been a bad bad blogger.

-I had hip surgery.
-My best friend came down from Indiana with her 9-mo-old to take care of me for the first few days after surgery.
-I got a sinus infection after my surgery. That's what happens when you are ordered to stay off all meds including allergy meds, for 2 weeks before surgery.

But more on hip surgery later. Right now it's time to show you how bored I am. I am so bored in the post-surgery recovery haze, that I ordered a 3,000 piece puzzle. That's right. The knitting and reading and DVD-watching was getting old so I decided to challenge myself. So here are the beginning pictures. I think the big challenge will be keeping the cats away from the loose pieces!

Starting to separate the border pieces:

Antsy Pants

2009-01-14T10:26:00.001-06:00

8th Annual NYC No Pants Subway Ride 2009!

Lazy Gun

2009-01-13T18:09:00.004-06:00

Co-worker rummages through the drawer in our office kitchen, reaching for a plastic spoon. I open the cabinet and gesture to the stainless steel cutlery, saying: "These are available to use also."

He replies: "Yeah, but I'm lazy and this way I don't have to get up and wash them afterwards and can just throw them away"

I reply: "To go in a landfill..."

Him: "Yep."

sheesh.

Map of Prop H8 Donors

2009-01-09T17:30:00.005-06:00

http://sfist.com/2009/01/09/mash-up_map_of_google_maps_and_prop.php

"Somebody has gone and created a mash-up of Google Maps and Prop 8 Donors. Which you can see right here.

"Proposition 8, if you recall, changed the California state constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage. That is to say, Prop 8 allowed discrimination into the state constitution. Eight Maps allows you to see who the people are who donated in order to pass it.

Is this a witch hunt? No. Is it cruel? A bit, maybe. But aren't the 36,000 people whose marriages risk nullification entitled to know which of their neighbors paid to force them into divorce? Criminals are entitled to face their accusers in court. why can't married couples know who's funding their forced divorces? And do the yes-on-8 people REALLY want to play the "who's a bigger victim" game with the gays? No.

This map comes on the heels of Prop 8 supporters wanting to limit media and public access to donor info. The nerve. Simply put, they want to break up marriages, but they don't have the courage to stand up and be known for their convictions. What a bunch of cowards."

Ok. I posted this (above) on myspace, quoted directly from the source and not written by me, and it caused a bit of a tizzy, so here is my response to those:

First of all, I find it interesting that the myspace comments seemed concerned about the civil rights of the donors, the donors who are giving money to a proposition that's sole purpose is to take away civil rights from another group of people. And that no one seemed to state or realize that political donation information is public information, not private, so why would someone donate to a cause if they aren't prepared for that to become known? And for that matter, why would you donate hundreds or thousands of dollars to a cause that you are actually ashamed of? Doesn't that prove that the donors know that this proposition is inherently wrong and unconstitutonal? Another comment was basically saying get over it, any vote on a ballot is 50/50 and there is always going to be a group of people that are disspointed. I find this to be extremely callous, at the least. Losing your civil rights isn't comparable to say, not getting your bridge built or not getting funding for a new hospital.

3 last words: Go see MILK!

Run A Muck

2009-01-08T19:41:00.002-06:00

Maybe people should focus more on paying their mortgages and less on consumerism.

I just took this picture in the Juniors section at SuperTarget. What kind of values are we teaching our children? It's revolting.

That's all.

Coulter v. Franken

2009-01-06T11:29:00.001-06:00

Franken 1, Coulter 0
Via BoingBoing:

Sweet Child of Sal

2009-01-05T12:03:00.003-06:00

Family style karaoke parties are always fun!

Heavy Denim

2009-01-03T14:50:00.001-06:00

18 days until hip surgery and counting...

So to avoid thinking about it, here is one of my favorite Friends montages:

Tuff Luff

2008-12-30T21:19:00.005-06:00

More Twittering than blogging lately...sorry! *sheepish grin*

this is going to be rapid-fire style:
-obsessed with the new Bird And The Bee song "Love Letter to Japan"
-counting down the days until my arthroscopic hip surgery (and possible microfracture surgery) at the end of January
-Clive had to have part of his tail amputated due to a bad case of "happy tail"
-Mom gave me a hedge trimmer and an edger for x-mas; I thank her, and so will my neighbors
-working through Christmas and New Years for the third year in a row *sigh*
-my best friend Jill is flying down from Indiana to take care of me for a few days post-surgery (yay!)
-made some really damn good hummus this week (in my blender, for lack of a food processor)

No Forced Divorce

2008-12-27T17:41:00.011-06:00

PLEASE DON'T DIVORCE LOVE.

Divorce church and state.

Repeal Prop H8.

Stuff I Like

2008-12-09T10:56:00.014-06:00

1) The Myers Motors new NMG (No More Gas) electric car. I also like their vision for the future:

Sub-$20,000 vehicles that are practical and affordable is the vision of Myers Motors. This vision of affordable, highway speed, electric vehicles, one for every two car garage, can be met today with just a little bit of help. Te help needed is that Myers Motors needs to retool from low volume production to high volume production … and your “vote” will help that process. The help needed is also for you to make your wishes known to your elected officials that you want Middle Class Americans the same access to the $7500 electric vehicle tax credit that the rich and famous now get but that is not available to most of us because we can’t afford a $100,000+ electric sports car. What to ask for: That seven words, “and which has at least 4 wheels” be removed from the IRS definition of a motor vehicle so that all legal, highway speed, vehicles are eligible for this up to $7500 tax credit, greatly helping bring sub-$20,000 electric, highway speed vehicle to the world’s drivers.
We would love to sell you an NmG today, but we know that they cost too much to meet most people’s financial needs today. We are working to bring you practical, affordable, highway speed electric vehicles and our next step is to reduce the purchase price of our No more Gas electric vehicle … and to do it using US technology and US labor to create US jobs that put US citizens for work for products that are sold in the US. Creating additional vehicles to meet other market needs is another step. Coming December 18th, we will be revealing where we are with one of those steps. We hope to see you then.

2) Radical Cross Stitch and the Craft Cartel
I love the quote from the Radical Cross Stitch site:
"I don't regard myself as an artist. I am a craftsman. Fuck art." - Clifford Harper

3) New cupcake transport packaging posted on the Design Packaging site. So smart, and well designed.

The Bailout. Coming This January.

2008-12-09T10:47:00.001-06:00

The Coffee And Tea Wrecks

2008-12-04T18:59:00.003-06:00

I am loving this teabag design posted on The Dieline. Such a great, creative, eye-catching design that works perfectly with the company's image and branding.

I'm not an atheist...

2008-12-03T10:38:00.003-06:00

...but I respect those who are. My favorite line?

"So many atheists are in showbiz or the arts,
the simply don't believe that thunder represents God's farts."

Bless the Beasts and the Children

2008-11-29T14:34:00.009-06:00

Ahhhh...Thanksgiving.

It was my first Thanksgiving (and birthday) as an official vegetarian, and it was great! I made quinoa salad with black beans and sweet potatoes (high in protein, low in fat), and everyone loved it! The sweet potato pie was so good this year that it topped the pumpkin pie, and that is something I have never said before. I went out to the country to my mom's house and we did Thanksgiving at her next-door-neighbor's house. They have two 5-month-old dalmatian/bulldog puppies, so the puppies, plus my two greyhounds, plus twelve people at dinner made for a very bustling household. My friend Alyssa was nice enough to send me a link to an NPR article about great Thanksgiving vegetarian dishes, so I'm excited to try some more new recipes next year. The day wasn't without drama though, as someone (we never figured out who) didn't take me seriously and decided to let the greyhounds out...ugh. And then Clive suffered from "happy tail syndrome" and split his tail open, splattering blood all over my mom's walls and floors. But what's a holiday without some drama, right?

The day after Thanksgiving, I had to work, but of course I celebrated "Buy Nothing Day." Although unfortunately, a lot of people took Black Friday waaaaay too seriously, stampeding over one man in NY and shooting two others in California. Maybe these people should stay at home and teach their children that kindness is more important than consumerism. I think mortgage payments and credit card debt elimination should take higher priorities right now than 10% off sales.

Today I chilled out, busted out the Christmas iPod playlist and put up some Christmas decorations (see pic). I got to talk to my awesome friend Jill, watched a cheesy holiday movie, and ate some delicious Thanksgiving leftovers. It was a good week.

Virtual High Five

2008-11-20T11:13:00.003-06:00

ME:
I feel like giving [name left out to protect the guilty] a high five for remembering the dash in this title.

HIM:
He didn't. I fixed it.

ME:
Well, then a virtual high five to you!!

Alternative Parents Encourage Their Children to Learn by Eating Other Children's Heads!

2008-11-12T11:28:00.007-06:00

My very good friend Jill (on the left in the picture) was interviewed for this Journal & Courier article about an alternative parenting group she started called CHOICES (Choices in Healthy birth, Offering Information, Communication, Education and Support).

I have so much respect for Jill and all of the research she does on every single aspect of mothering, from vaccinations to diapering to nutrition.

In my opinion it's a shame that in much of America, so many of these ideas are looked down on. Why is breast feeding in public such a taboo? Heaven forbid you feed your child the way God created. And just try bringing up cloth diapering in a group of people! Cloth diapering was the only way of diapering for decades, but mention it now and you must be clinically insane and are deserving of being locked up in a mental institution. Obviously it's a much better choice to spend hundreds of dollars on disposable plastic diapers (not to mention contributing to the carbon output of manufacturing plastic diapers and shipping them), fill up our landfills with stinky poo plastic, and then wash your hands of all of it, so to speak, because "out of sight out of mind." Imagine if parents took every single diaper they used for a year and threw it in their backyard to actually SEE how much their diaper output contributes to our landfills.

Someday if I become a mother, I plan on being open-minded towards alternative parenting ideas, and I hope to find a group like CHOICES where I am not looked down upon for questioning parenting norms, and feel comfortable researching my mothering options and planning the best path for my family.

Pet Peeve

2008-11-11T09:52:00.004-06:00

"Supposedly." It's not a difficult word. Note the "d," which is not to be forgotten, nor replaced with a "v" or a "b." It's a four syllable word, people - that's it. And here's the thing; think how silly it would sound if people made this same pronunciation mistake when using the adjective form of the word, "supposed." You never hear "supposeb" or "supposev." It only seems to be the adverb "supposedly" that is hacked to death with mispronunciations.

Black Hole Sun

2008-11-07T12:38:00.004-06:00

I happened to see this news story earlier this week, and then by chance today I was doing dishes and looked up just as this same van whizzed down my street! In the video it drives nice and slow, but it was really booking it along my hilly street. All I have to say is that I hope it drove south on Zang, because that street is a mess!

Data For Better Roadways

Celebrating the Obama Victory, Harvard Yard Style

2008-11-06T22:35:00.001-06:00

Hackers and Spending Sprees: Secrets of the 2008 Campaign

2008-11-05T19:12:00.003-06:00

Full Newsweek Article Here

NEWSWEEK has also learned that Palin's shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously reported. While publicly supporting Palin, McCain's top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy. One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family—clothes and accessories from top stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. According to two knowledgeable sources, a vast majority of the clothes were bought by a wealthy donor, who was shocked when he got the bill. Palin also used low-level staffers to buy some of the clothes on their credit cards. The McCain campaign found out last week when the aides sought reimbursement. One aide estimated that she spent "tens of thousands" more than the reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000 went to buy clothes for her husband. Some articles of clothing have apparently been lost. An angry aide characterized the shopping spree as "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast," and said the truth will eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its books.

... McCain himself rarely spoke to Palin during the campaign, and aides kept him in the dark about the details of her spending on clothes because they were sure he would be offended. Palin asked to speak along with McCain at his Arizona concession speech Tuesday night, but campaign strategist Steve Schmidt vetoed the request.

Hoosier Daddy?!

2008-11-05T10:10:00.012-06:00

1) Indiana is officially called for OBAMA, BABY!

There will most definitely be some celebratory euchre this weekend here in honor of it.

2) Dallas County was 60% BLUE, and McCain won the state of Texas by LESS than a 10% margin, which is awesome. And for a while there, the state of Texas was BLUE on my computer screen:

3) New ObamaBats font already released.

4) My boy Clive says "ROOOOOOOOOOOO" in support of Massachusetts' vote to BAN greyhound racing!

5) Though I am very saddened that it seems California will pass Prop 8, I am also very happy that the state passed Prop 2 to provide humane conditions and rights to factory farm animals.

Yes We Can?

2008-11-04T22:06:00.002-06:00

YES WE DID!!

Trying To Understand...

2008-11-04T11:01:00.003-06:00

kleptomaniacs!

2008-11-04T10:54:00.003-06:00

Will Obama's Grandmother's Absentee Vote Count?

2008-11-04T10:34:00.004-06:00

Will Madelyn Dunham’s Vote Count?

I was talking with a coworker earlier today about how sad it was for Barack Obama’s grandmother to have died on the day before the election. My coworker took the sadness one step further, wondering if Madelyn Dunham’s vote (she voted by early absentee ballot) would now not be counted.
Not knowing the answer, I called the Office of Elections in Hawaii. Kevin Cronin, chief election officer for the state, just got back to me. Here’s what he said:

Ms. Dunham’s absentee mail ballot was received and reviewed under the Hawaii standards for processing absentee mail ballots… She was alive at that time. Her ballot will be opened tomorrow, and it will be counted in the same way that all absentee voters would be treated under our law.

The key point appears to be that Ms. Dunham was alive at the time her absentee ballot was received and reviewed, and that it met the standards for review at that time.
Madelyn Dunham’s vote will count, even if she is not here to learn the final tally.

Blonde Redhead

2008-10-31T16:03:00.002-05:00

Clive decided that he wants to be like Maggie and me for Halloween, so he dressed up as a blond:

Please Don't Undo Everything They Fought For

2008-10-31T13:19:00.001-05:00

Public Service Announcement RE: My House

2008-10-31T12:31:00.005-05:00

This is my house:

This is my house on Obama:

Any questions?

Are we getting closer and closer to, like, socialism and stuff?

2008-10-29T11:30:00.003-05:00

A few weeks before she [Sarah Palin] was nominated for Vice-President, she told a visiting journalist—Philip Gourevitch, of this magazine—that “we’re set up, unlike other states in the union, where it’s collectively Alaskans own the resources. So we share in the wealth when the development of these resources occurs.”
__________________________________________________________________

Comment
Like, Socialism
by Hendrik Hertzberg November 3, 2008

Sometimes, when a political campaign has run out of ideas and senses that the prize is slipping through its fingers, it rolls up a sleeve and plunges an arm, shoulder deep, right down to the bottom of the barrel. The problem for John McCain, Sarah Palin, and the Republican Party is that the bottom was scraped clean long before it dropped out. Back when the polls were nip and tuck and the leaves had not yet begun to turn, Barack Obama had already been accused of betraying the troops, wanting to teach kindergartners all about sex, favoring infanticide, and being a friend of terrorists and terrorism. What was left? The anticlimactic answer came as the long Presidential march of 2008 staggered toward its final week: Senator Obama is a socialist.

“This campaign in the next couple of weeks is about one thing,” Todd Akin, a Republican congressman from Missouri, told a McCain rally outside St. Louis. “It’s a referendum on socialism.” “With all due respect,” Senator George Voinovich, Republican of Ohio, said, “the man is a socialist.” At an airport rally in Roswell, New Mexico, a well-known landing spot for space aliens, Governor Palin warned against Obama’s tax proposals. “Friends,” she said, “now is no time to experiment with socialism.” And McCain, discussing those proposals, agreed that they sounded “a lot like socialism.” There hasn’t been so much talk of socialism in an American election since 1920, when Eugene Victor Debs, candidate of the Socialist Party, made his fifth run for President from a cell in the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, where he was serving a ten-year sentence for opposing the First World War. (Debs got a million votes and was freed the following year by the new Republican President, Warren G. Harding, who immediately invited him to the White House for a friendly visit.)

As a buzzword, “socialism” had mostly good connotations in most of the world for most of the twentieth century. That’s why the Nazis called themselves national socialists. That’s why the Bolsheviks called their regime the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, obliging the socialist and social democratic parties of Europe (and America, for what it was worth) to make rescuing the “good name” of socialism one of their central missions. Socialists—one thinks of men like George Orwell, Willy Brandt, and Aneurin Bevan—were among Communism’s most passionate and effective enemies.

The United States is a special case. There is a whole shelf of books on the question of why socialism never became a real mass movement here. For decades, the word served mainly as a cudgel with which conservative Republicans beat liberal Democrats about the head. When Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan accused John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson of socialism for advocating guaranteed health care for the aged and the poor, the implication was that Medicare and Medicaid would presage a Soviet America. Now that Communism has been defunct for nearly twenty years, though, the cry of socialism no longer packs its old punch. “At least in Europe, the socialist leaders who so admire my opponent are upfront about their objectives,” McCain said the other day—thereby suggesting that the dystopia he abhors is not some North Korean-style totalitarian ant heap but, rather, the gentle social democracies across the Atlantic, where, in return for higher taxes and without any diminution of civil liberty, people buy themselves excellent public education, anxiety-free health care, and decent public transportation.

The Republican argument of the moment seems to be that the difference between capitalism and socialism corresponds to the difference between a top marginal income-tax rate of 35 per cent and a top marginal income-tax rate of 39.6 per cent. The latter is what it would be under Obama’s proposal, what it was under President Clinton, and, for that matter, what it will be after 2010 if President Bush’s tax cuts expire on schedule. Obama would use some of the added revenue to give a break to pretty much everybody who nets less than a quarter of a million dollars a year. The total tax burden on the private economy would be somewhat lighter than it is now—a bit of elementary Keynesianism that renders doubly untrue the Republican claim that Obama “will raise your taxes.”

On October 12th, in conversation with a voter forever to be known as Joe the Plumber, Obama gave one of his fullest summaries of his tax plan. After explaining how Joe could benefit from it, whether or not he achieves his dream of owning his own plumbing business, Obama added casually, “I think that when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.” McCain and Palin have been quoting this remark ever since, offering it as prima-facie evidence of Obama’s unsuitability for office. Of course, all taxes are redistributive, in that they redistribute private resources for public purposes. But the federal income tax is (downwardly) redistributive as a matter of principle: however slightly, it softens the inequalities that are inevitable in a market economy, and it reflects the belief that the wealthy have a proportionately greater stake in the material aspects of the social order and, therefore, should give that order proportionately more material support. McCain himself probably shares this belief, and there was a time when he was willing to say so. During the 2000 campaign, on MSNBC’s “Hardball,” a young woman asked him why her father, a doctor, should be “penalized” by being “in a huge tax bracket.” McCain replied that “wealthy people can afford more” and that “the very wealthy, because they can afford tax lawyers and all kinds of loopholes, really don’t pay nearly as much as you think they do.” The exchange continued:YOUNG WOMAN: Are we getting closer and closer to, like, socialism and stuff?. . . MCCAIN: Here’s what I really believe: That when you reach a certain level of comfort, there’s nothing wrong with paying somewhat more.

For her part, Sarah Palin, who has lately taken to calling Obama “Barack the Wealth Spreader,” seems to be something of a suspect character herself. She is, at the very least, a fellow-traveller of what might be called socialism with an Alaskan face. The state that she governs has no income or sales tax. Instead, it imposes huge levies on the oil companies that lease its oil fields. The proceeds finance the government’s activities and enable it to issue a four-figure annual check to every man, woman, and child in the state. One of the reasons Palin has been a popular governor is that she added an extra twelve hundred dollars to this year’s check, bringing the per-person total to $3,269. A few weeks before she was nominated for Vice-President, she told a visiting journalist—Philip Gourevitch, of this magazine—that “we’re set up, unlike other states in the union, where it’s collectively Alaskans own the resources. So we share in the wealth when the development of these resources occurs.” Perhaps there is some meaningful distinction between spreading the wealth and sharing it (“collectively,” no less), but finding it would require the analytic skills of Karl the Marxist. ♦

Because We Know In Our Souls That We're Gonna Stand Up

2008-10-28T21:44:00.001-05:00

Obama '08 - Vote For Hope from MC Yogi on Vimeo.

Get the widget!
mcyogi.com/widget

With the 2008 presidential election, Americans face a pivotal choice between not just two candidates, but two paradigms. We need someone who understands the complexity of our time. Someone who believes in investing in renewable energy, in education, in women's rights, in civil rights, in healthcare for Americans. Someone who believes in dealing with global issues with diplomacy so we can restore our respect in the world. Barack Obama represents the change we need and can lead us into a brighter future.

“Vote For Hope” was written to encourage and inspire the hip hop generation—and everyone—to get involved, and contribute their time, energy, creativity, and other resources to be the change they want to see in the world. We have been inspired by the artistic and musical contributions that have been pouring out accross the nation in support of Barack Obama's campaign. Vote for Hope is our offering to this creative movement. It is our way of adding our small voice to the collective voice of millions of Americans calling for a change.

To see what we mean, check out this great speech from a worthy leader: youtube.com/watch?v=cM79CxHGhlY

Make sure to Vote on November 4th!
Here is where you can register: VoteforChange.com

MC Yogi has just released a new album, Elephant Power!
amazon.com/gp/product/B001CISIKI/

For other music by MC Yogi, check out mcyogi.com

"Vote for Hope" was written by M.C. Yogi and produced by Robin Livingston. The "Vote for Hope" video was created at Ursa Minor Arts and Media in San Rafael, CA with chief animator James Curtis, using designs and direction from M.C. Yogi. Video funded and supported by grassroots donations.

Sticks and stones, baby, sticks and stones.

2008-10-28T11:22:00.003-05:00

Call me a socialist. Call me liberal. Call me left-wing. Sticks and stones, baby, sticks and stones.

After I voted on October 20th, I got behind a car with this bumper sticker on it. Guess what? YES I CAN. And for your closed-minded information, NO ONE is "pro-abortion." Being pro-choice does not make you "pro-abortion." When Palin came on the scene and we all found out that her teenage daughter was pregnant, she said that the sat down as a family and they made a family DECISION about what to do. That's right, she had a decision. What's a good synonym for "decision"...hmmmm...that would be CHOICE.

This week there has been a lot of news to keep up with:

-Ex-GOP operative Allen Raymond published a book about how to rig an election. Oh shocker, a Republican trying to keep people from voting. I assume it's required reading for the hard-core right-wingers out there, so for your library list, the title is "How to Rig an Election: Confessions of a Republican Operative." "According to federal prosecutors, two top Republican Party officials tapped Raymond's Virginia-based telemarketing firm for the operation. Raymond then contracted out the job to a private phone bank in Idaho. Looking back, Raymond said, he thinks the scheme was ingenious in an 'evil genius sort of way.'"

-TRIVIA for your Halloween parties: When was the last time that a Republican won an election in which there was NOT a Nixon or a Bush on the ticket? 1922!!

-I absolutely love David Sedaris...I own at least two of his books. So when I saw this essay in the New Yorker about undecided voters, I laughed out loud. He sums up what I have been thinking the past few weeks when people tell me that they haven't decided who to vote for. A short little nugget from it:

Some insist that there’s very little difference between candidate A and candidate B. Others claim that they’re with A on defense and health care but are leaning toward B when it comes to the economy.

I look at these people and can’t quite believe that they exist. Are they professional actors? I wonder. Or are they simply laymen who want a lot of attention?

To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. “Can I interest you in the chicken?” she asks. “Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it?”

To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked.

I mean, really, what’s to be confused about?

What else has been happening? For those of you who only watch Fox news, you missed a lot:
-The Washington Post reports that chatter on Al-Qaeda website shows their support for McCain.

-Most major newspapers have now backed Barack (not to mention, um, COLIN POWELL), including the very conservative, very Republican Salt Lake Tribune. One of the most conservative newspapers in the country getting openly behind Barack is just fantastic.

-We all know about the RNC shelling out $150,000 for Sarah Palin's wardrobe in just the last 6 weeks. But did you realize that while she was decked out in the finest, Barack Obama's shoes looked like this? Or that, if Palin's new wardrobe were to come to life, it would get a tax cut under Obama's tax plan??

Also, did you know that McCain was AGAINST SPENDING CAMPAIGN MONEY ON CLOTHES BEFORE HE WAS FOR IT? Ooooh, a McCain flip-flop, I am so shocked. On May 25, 1993, McCain said, and I QUOTE:
"...The amendment before the senate is a very simple one. It restricts the use of campaign funds for inherently personal purposes. The amendment would restrict individuals for using campaign funds for such things as home mortgage payments, clothing purchases...If we are truly going to have campaign finance reform, I do not believe that campaign funds should be used for such things as country club dues, tuxedos...If we in congress learned one thing from President Clinton's $200 haircut last week, it should be that the public does not approve of its elected officials being treated as royalty. We should be no different."

To quote one of my favorite bloggers:

"The problem isn’t that the wardrobe cost so much. It’s that Ms. Palin has said on numerous occasions that she’s just a “hockey mom” and part of the 'Joe Six-Pack' nation. There were problems with this assertion before this latest gaffe.

The weird thing is that conservatives BUY IT. They believe that a couple making over a hundred grand a year is 'just like me'. The other people on the ticket all make more money than Palin, to be sure, but come on. Joe Six-Pack if your six-pack includes six bottles of expensive champagne. When was the last time YOU spent $75k on clothes from Neiman-Marcus?

Conservatives got all crazy about John Edward’s $400 haircut and fashion expenditures of Hillary Clinton. The shoe is on the other foot now. And that foot appears to be in the self-righteous mouth of the GOP."

-INDIANA has become a swing state. After 44 years of going Republican, Barack has so many Hoosier support that McCain has been forced to really start campaigning in a state that Republicans haven't had to sorry about in decades. ha!

-AP reports that "Sarah Palin considered herself intellectual" and that she "always wanted a child named Zamboni."

-And just in case you have forgotten John McCain's opinion on women's rights, specifically equal pay for equal work, here is a link from the US Senate Website showing how he voted on a bill that seeked equal pay for equal work.

I Have Caught Many Republicans Laughing At It

2008-10-25T13:53:00.004-05:00

First Day Of My Life

2008-10-24T22:56:00.014-05:00

Went out and voted on the first day of early voting in Dallas (took these pics when I was there...wish I had seen the Geezer/Dingbat sign there!), and I could not have been prouder of my county - there was a line out the door!! Of course, Dallas will most likely swing democratic (yay!), and we SMASHED the previous early voting record, especially in my neighborhood.

I have already done some volunteering/campaingning (phone calls) for moveon.org and will hopefully have time to do a little more before November 4th. Man, I wish I had 150K to spend on campaign clothes!!

But oh, it felt so good to finally vote after being decided for so long.

At the tone, please record your voice message.

2008-10-21T18:50:00.005-05:00

"At the tone, please record your voice message. When you are finished recording you may hang up or press pound for more options."

You know that stupid recorded notification you get after someone's voicemail beeps? As if you do NOT know how to leave a voicemail for someone? Several people have asked me how I turned mine off. Sooooooo.....

If you have Sprint, this is how you turn it OFF (hint, hint):

Call your voicemail, then from the main menu choose:
3 - Personal Options
2 - Greetings
1 - Main Greeting
3 - Add or Remove Caller Instructions
2 - Do not play the instructions

Thank you, and goodnight.

Having "The Talk" With Your Parents is Always Awkward

2008-10-18T16:15:00.001-05:00

But it doesn't have to be.

Leapin' Liars, Batman!!

2008-10-17T21:30:00.002-05:00

"I believe McCain...errr...The Penguin... will lead of the debate."

My Thoughts Exactly

2008-10-16T11:41:00.005-05:00

THE FINAL DEBATE

"Joe the Plumber"

-My name is not Joe, I am not a plumber, and thanks to Republicans, I cannot afford a six pack.

"Well, Americans have gotten to know Sarah Palin. They know that she's a role model to women..."

head...swelling...face...burning...might...explode!!!
If Sarah Palin is a strong role model for women, then this must be 1890. Sarah Palin does not represent me or any of my friends.

-I do not believe that dinosaurs roamed the earth 5,000 years ago.

-I do not believe that religions other than Christianity are witchcraft and sorcery.

-I do not believe that a 12-year-old girl who is raped by her father should be forced to have his child, a baby that would be both her son and her brother.

-I do not believe that polar bears (or beluga whales) should be removed from the endangered species list just so that drilling for oil will be easier in Alaska.

-I do not believe that people should use their power in an elected office to seek revenge on others because of personal vendettas.

-I do not believe in banning books, or even inquiring about it.

-I do not believe that folksy anecdotes or winking belong in a political race; they only reinforce her lack of experience and knowledge, and prove that she has to lower herself to flirting to get the job, something that is the most anti-feminist thing she could do. Feminism is about equality, not using your sex appeal to seem more "relatable." Would you wink in a job interview? How about a job interview with an entire country?

lovely 2009 calendar by Orange Beautiful

2008-10-15T21:31:00.004-05:00

I love this new calendar! The best feature, aside from the gorgeous typography, is the perforation at the bottom allowing you to re-use it year after year. I could see all twelve months grouped on the wall in frames painted all in the same color. And it's only $28, on pre-order now. Such a fantastic gift idea (hint).

A Run On the Banksy

2008-10-13T21:11:00.004-05:00

My favorite guerrilla street artist Banksy, has opened a new "store" in New York City. I saw his fantastic, infamous Barely Legal exhibit in LA, and have been hooked ever since.

(article from Wooster Collective)

The "Village Pet Store And Charcoal Grill" Opens in New York City

While New Yorkers have been consumed by the stock market meltdown, a tiny little pet store quietly opened four days ago at 89 7th Avenue between West 4th and Bleeker Street in the West Village of New York City.

There are no puppies or kittens in the windows here.

Instead, a live leopard lounges on a tree in the window.

Or is it?

In other windows, things get a bit more bizarre.

McDonald's Chicken McNuggets sip barbecue sauce. A rabbit puts on her makeup. A CCTV camera nurtures its young.

Clearly, that this isn't your typical pet store.

So who's the "owner" of the Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill at 89 West 7th Avenue?

Banksy.

Once inside Banksy's pet store, you discover such things as breaded fish that swim in a large round bowl while hot dogs are living the high life under heat lamps in cages near the cash register.

This is the first time that Banksy has used animatronics, and the effect is absolutely amazing.

A clear departure form last year's behemoth show in Los Angeles, Banksy's first ever show in New York City (the others have been fakes) is being held in a tiny storefront that's less than 300 square feet and can't hold more than 20 people at any one time.

One of our favorite things about what Banksy has done is that the entire show is completely visible to the public both day and night through the store front windows. And unless you're a hard core Banksy fan, or until someone like us tells you, it's absolutely impossible to know that the work has been done by Banksy. There are no paintings or graffiti in the entire space.

We're sure that as soon as people start reading this, photos and video will be all over the web. But Sara and I don't want to give too much away. It's just too much fun to be surprised (and delighted) in person.

So here's just a taste of what you'll experience in Banksy's "Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill":

Don't Mess With Dallas

2008-10-10T18:54:00.006-05:00

Just because Bush is from Texas and is moving to my city doesn't mean that the citizens want him here...trust me (the irony of a Bush Presidential Library is far from lost on us). And just because Sarah Palin has the same reproductive organs that I do doesn't mean that she's good for women. Well, unless you want to rewind history about 40 years.

Most people outside of Texas seem to view Dallasites as confederate-flag-loving, gun-toting, good ol' boy idiot carbon copies of our current world leader, but that simply isn't so. Sure, some of those people exist (most of them in the suburbs, outside of the county line, thank God). But Dallas county went DEMOCRATIC in the primary, and is a battleground county right now.

As much as I wanted to attend the anti-Palin protest (she spoke downtown at the Fairmont) held in Dallas this past week, my schedule would not allow it. Thankfully, 300 people showed up to protest this folksy, backward, winky-dinky, secessionist, anti-feminist candidate, who does NOT represent the ideals, morals, and values of any modern women. She is basically just another Bush in a skirt, but scarily in some respects is worse than Bush, and is of course, just a heartbeat away from the presidency if McCain is elected.

Anti-Palin protect in Dallas, 300 strong:

Quotation Mark Friends

2008-10-06T22:03:00.009-05:00

In life, there are "quotation mark friends." You know, those "friends" who because of various reasons (romantic relationships, children, work, sheer laziness), drop off the face of your life. There was a time of course, when you were very close. When they were in your Top Five. When you would've used them as a Life Line or maybe even your One Phone Call from jail. But one day you realize that you haven't heard from them in weeks, months, maybe even a year. Or if you have heard from them, it's only when they need/want something from you. They never actually call to see how you're doing, just to get a ride when they're stranded at the airport or something.

Now, friendships definitely go through phases and cycles. Sometimes your schedules just don't match up for a while, or your friend has a new baby and you know you won't see them for say, six months or so 'til they get in the swing of things. This is normal. But say, a year or two without a single personal phone call (I reiterate, a call that does not involve a favor or a bailout), is a BIG SIGN that your are no longer friends, but "friends."

In my life, I have noticed that it tends to be important life events that bring these "friendships" into the light. Like a major breakup, a big cross-country move, or a serious health problem. This past Thursday I had an arthrogram and an MRI for some hip pain that has been worsening since college. It was a relief to find out that it was not all in my head. It turns out I have a torn labrum in my left hip and will need arthroscopic surgery to prevent the tear from continuing to scrape on my cartilage and causing further osteoarthritis. As I was leaving the MRI, I had several thoughts running through my head , one of them being "oh my gosh I have so many people I need to tell about this; who should I call first?" But then as I thought about it, the list quickly dwindled, DRASTICALLY. Which of my friends really care about this? Who deserves a call, who can I just text, and who hasn't called me in two years? I quickly came to the consensus that I needed to call just FOUR people, and that this list of four people is completely different than the people I would've called, say, 3 years ago. I mean, these four people are the ones who I know I can call and will ANSWER their phones. (Why do people have cell phones that they NEVER ANSWER?! That's a whole other blog entry right there.) These are friends I can call when I am in recovery and need help doing laundry, picking up the dog poop in my backyard, or changing a light bulb - whatever. Actually, one of these friends lives in another state, but if I really needed her I can tell you right now that she would jump on a plane with her six-month-old and come to my rescue.

I think one of the hardest things about being out of that high school/college bubble, where I saw the same people every day and friendships that just sort of kept themselves, is admitting that some people aren't as interested in maintaining their friendship with me as I am with them. It takes two, and I can't do it alone. Unfortunately, I still take it personally and it's hard to let the friendship go. But I am starting to see the signs. If I feel I am being taken advantage of, I will stop being the one to always initiate contact, and sort of sit back and see if the other person will ever take the lead and call me for a change. If they don't and they easily drop off the face of my life, then I know that the friendship has probably run its course and I should stop trying so hard. However, sometimes these quotation mark friendships still sneak up on me, and it's always disappointing to realize that I care more about someone else than they do about me.

So if you haven't called to see how I'm doing in over a year (or, um, two), then don't expect any heartfelt e-cards from me on your next birthday.

Homer Simpson attemps to vote for Obama

2008-10-02T18:52:00.002-05:00

You're right, your vote doesn't matter, and you have better things to do.

2008-10-02T15:18:00.004-05:00

Except that it does, and you don't.

We Are Destroying the Song

2008-10-01T19:30:00.008-05:00

There is so much stuff to post that it's hard to keep track! A list seems in order.

1) McCain vs. the Des Moines Register editor board (click on link):

Shakin' in his boots and lyin' through his teeth. Or should I say, dentures.

Note:
-the beginning when he refers to himself as a dictator
-he admits he has never been without cushy health insurance that was paid for by American taxpayers (oh yeah, except for when he was a POW, what a shocker, a POW reference)
-he LIES yet again about Obama teaching kindergarteners about sex education
-he LIES when he says that Palin is the most popular governor in America (her approval rating in Alaska has dropped significantly and she is no longer tops)
-he LIES about his record of LYING
-he says that Palin's qualifications include the PTA and lists "mayor" TWICE

2) Palin can't think of a SINGLE newspaper that she has ever read

3) Palin can't name a single supreme court ruling other than Roe V Wade that she disagreed with. SHE CAN'T EVEN REMEMBER EXXON VS. BAKER which effected her OWN state. Which is funny, considering that she seemed to have an opinion about it when it actually happened.

4) In short, watching a Palin interview is a lot like watching, well, Miss Teen South Carolina:

Pillow Fight

2008-09-30T21:01:00.003-05:00

If only this demographic would get as excited about the upcoming election as they are about Facebook.
*sigh*

Green Arrow

2008-09-27T14:47:00.003-05:00

Since we're all on a tight budget these days, it's easy to choose conventionally grown produce over organic. Have you ever wondered if certain fruits and vegetables should be organic over others? Here is a list of "The Dirty Dozen," fruits and vegetables that SHOULD be purchased from the organic section of the store because the Department of Agriculture says that even after washing, they retain much higher levels of pesticides. (via Apartment Therapy)

Here are the must-buy organic fruits:

Apples
Cherries
Grapes, imported
Nectarines
Peaches
Pears
Raspberries
Strawberries

And the must-buy organic vegetables:

Bell peppers
Celery
Potatoes
Spinach/lettuce

These generally don't have pesticide residue. For the full list of rankings, click here.
Don't worry about going organic with these fruits:

Bananas
Kiwi
Mangos
Papaya
Pineapples

Vegetables:

Asparagus
Avocado
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Onions

The results are based on an analysis of government tests by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a research and advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C.

Car Song

2008-09-27T11:59:00.002-05:00

This is my friend's dad's car wash. Hmmmm...I definitely know which side I would drive into!

But The Post Helps The Turtle See Russia!

2008-09-25T20:23:00.007-05:00

While suturing a cut on the hand of a 75-year old Texas rancher whose hand was caught in a gate while working cattle, the doctor struck up a conversation with the old man. Eventually the topic got around to Sarah Palin and her bid to be a heartbeat away from being President. The old rancher said, "Well, ya know, Palin is a post turtle."

Not being familiar with the term, the doctor asked him what a post turtle was.

The old rancher said, "When you're driving down a country road and you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that's a post turtle."

The old rancher saw a puzzled look on the doctor's face, so he continued to explain. "You know she didn't get up there by herself, she doesn't belong up there, she doesn't know what to do while she is up there, and you just wonder what kind of dumb-ass put her up there to begin with."

I'll Tap the Brake While You Crack The Window

2008-09-25T09:48:00.002-05:00

Guerrilla gas signs go up in Los Angeles...oh how I love this one!

Some of Those Who Burn Crosses are the Same Who Hold Office

2008-09-24T20:28:00.008-05:00

So, some interesting footage from the Wasilla Assembly of God has emerged. It shows Pastor Muthee of the Wasilla Assembly of God praying over Sarah Palin. He says, and I quote:

"If we have God in our schools we will not have kids being taught, you know, how to worship Buddha, how to worship Mohammad; we will not have in the curriculum witchcraft and sorcery."

This is a man who conducted an actual witch hunt in Kenya. He accused a Kenyan woman of causing car accidents and of witchcraft, and after he spoke out against this woman, many villagers demanded that she be stoned. What does Palin say about Muthee? She calls him "awesome." Seriously. You can see her speak about him (just 3 months ago) in the below footage.

Of course, it's not getting much press, because Governor Palin is a white conservative Republican (can you even imagine how the Republicans would rake Obama over the coals if this was footage of him, his pastor, and his church? Or for that matter, if he had a pregnant teenage daughter?) Put an African American in the race and Republicans accuse him of being Muslim (which he's not). But they don't seem to mind that Palin's pastor is an actual witch hunter, and still boasts about it to this day.

THE FULL PRAYER:

KEITH OLBERMANN INTERVIEWS SHANNYN MOORE REGARDING THE "PASTOR DISASTER":

Unequal Pay for Equal Work - THANKS MCCAIN

2008-09-23T20:07:00.005-05:00

John McCain voted 19 times against raising minimum wage.

John McCain has consistently voted NO on increased funding for the head start program.

John McCain is against equal pay for equal work and says that women need more education and more training to do the same job as a man. He openly opposed a bill that would seek equal pay for equal work.

Ha. Maybe he chose Sarah Palin for VP because she needs more training and education, and he could therefor pay her less?

Liar Liar Pants on FIRE!

2008-09-23T17:55:00.005-05:00

For the people out there who "can't decide who to vote for" (that's a direct quote from someone I know, ahem, very well)...how about you vote for the one whose pants aren't on fire?

#1)

#2) Tiiiiimes is on my siiiiide:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/opinion/21rich.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Truthiness Stages a Comeback

By FRANK RICH

NOT until 2004 could the 9/11 commission at last reveal the title of the intelligence briefing President Bush ignored on Aug. 6, 2001, in Crawford: “Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.” No wonder John McCain called for a new “9/11 commission” to “get to the bottom” of 9/14, when the collapse of Lehman Brothers set off another kind of blood bath in Lower Manhattan. Put a slo-mo Beltway panel in charge, and Election Day will be ancient history before we get to the bottom of just how little he and the president did to defend America against a devastating new threat on their watch.

For better or worse, the candidacy of Barack Obama, a senator-come-lately, must be evaluated on his judgment, ideas and potential to lead. McCain, by contrast, has been chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, where he claims to have overseen “every part of our economy.” He didn’t, thank heavens, but he does have a long and relevant economic record that begins with the Keating Five scandal of 1989 and extends to this campaign, where his fiscal policies bear the fingerprints of Phil Gramm and Carly Fiorina. It’s not the résumé that a presidential candidate wants to advertise as America faces its worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. That’s why the main thrust of the McCain campaign has been to cover up his history of economic malpractice.

McCain has largely pulled it off so far, under the guidance of Steve Schmidt, a Karl Rove protégé. A Rovian political strategy by definition means all slime, all the time. But the more crucial Rove game plan is to envelop the entire presidential race in a thick fog of truthiness. All campaigns, Obama’s included, engage in false attacks. But McCain, Sarah Palin and their surrogates keep repeating the same lies over and over not just to smear their opponents and not just to mask their own record. Their larger aim is to construct a bogus alternative reality so relentless it can overwhelm any haphazard journalistic stabs at puncturing it.

When a McCain spokesman told Politico a week ago that “we’re not too concerned about what the media filter tries to say” about the campaign’s incessant fictions, he was channeling a famous Bush dictum of 2003: “Somehow you just got to go over the heads of the filter.” In Bush’s case, the lies lobbed over the heads of the press were to sell the war in Iraq. That propaganda blitz, devised by a secret White House Iraq Group that included Rove, was a triumph. In mere months, Americans came to believe that Saddam Hussein had aided the 9/11 attacks and even that Iraqis were among the hijackers. A largely cowed press failed to set the record straight.

Just as the Bushies once flogged uranium from Africa, so Palin ceaselessly repeats her discredited claim that she said “no thanks” to the Bridge to Nowhere. Nothing is too small or sacred for the McCain campaign to lie about. It was even caught (by The Christian Science Monitor) peddling an imaginary encounter between Cindy McCain and Mother Teresa when McCain was adopting her daughter in Bangladesh.

If you doubt that the big lies are sticking, look at the latest Washington Post/ABC News poll. Half of voters now believe in the daily McCain refrain that Obama will raise their taxes. In fact, Obama proposes raising taxes only on the 1.9 percent of households that make more than $250,000 a year and cutting them for nearly everyone else.

You know the press is impotent at unmasking this truthiness when the hardest-hitting interrogation McCain has yet faced on television came on “The View.” Barbara Walters and Joy Behar called him on several falsehoods, including his endlessly repeated fantasy that Palin opposed earmarks for Alaska. Behar used the word “lies” to his face. The McCains are so used to deference from “the filter” that Cindy McCain later complained that “The View” picked “our bones clean.” In our news culture, Behar, a stand-up comic by profession, looms as the new Edward R. Murrow.

Network news, with its dwindling handful of investigative reporters, has barely mentioned, let alone advanced, major new print revelations about Cindy McCain’s drug-addiction history (in The Washington Post) and the rampant cronyism and secrecy in Palin’s governance of Alaska (in last Sunday’s New York Times). At least the networks repeatedly fact-check the low-hanging fruit among the countless Palin lies, but John McCain’s past usually remains off limits.

That’s strange since the indisputable historical antecedent for our current crisis is the Lincoln Savings and Loan scandal of the go-go 1980s. When Charles Keating’s bank went belly up because of risky, unregulated investments, it wiped out its depositors’ savings and cost taxpayers more than $3 billion. More than 1,000 other S.&L. institutions capsized nationwide.

It was ugly for the McCains. He had received more than $100,000 in Keating campaign contributions, and both McCains had repeatedly hopped on Keating’s corporate jet. Cindy McCain and her beer-magnate father had invested nearly $360,000 in a Keating shopping center a year before her husband joined four senators in inappropriate meetings with regulators charged with S.&L. oversight.

After Congressional hearings, McCain was reprimanded for “poor judgment.” He had committed no crime and had not intervened to protect Keating from ruin. Yet he, like many deregulators in his party, was guilty of bankrupt policy-making before disaster struck. He was among the sponsors of a House resolution calling for the delay of regulations intended to deter risky investments just like those that brought down Lincoln and its ilk.

Ever since, McCain has publicly thrashed himself for his mistakes back then — and boasted of the lessons he learned. He embraced campaign finance reform to rebrand himself as a “maverick.” But whatever lessons he learned are now forgotten.

For all his fiery calls last week for a Wall Street crackdown, McCain opposed the very regulations that might have helped avert the current catastrophe. In 1999, he supported a law co-authored by Gramm (and ultimately signed by Bill Clinton) that revoked the New Deal reforms intended to prevent commercial banks, insurance companies and investment banks from mingling their businesses. Equally laughable is the McCain-Palin ticket’s born-again outrage over the greed of Wall Street C.E.O.’s. When McCain’s chief financial surrogate, Fiorina, was fired as Hewlett-Packard’s chief executive after a 50 percent drop in shareholders’ value and 20,000 pink slips, she took home a package worth $42 million.

The McCain campaign canceled Fiorina’s television appearances last week after she inadvertently admitted that Palin was unqualified to run a corporation. But that doesn’t mean Fiorina is gone. Gramm, too, was ostentatiously exiled after he blamed the economic meltdown on our “nation of whiners” and “mental recession,” but he remains in the McCain loop.

The corporate jets, lobbyists and sleazes that gravitated around McCain in the Keating era have also reappeared in new incarnations. The Nation’s Web site recently unearthed a photo of the resolutely anticelebrity McCain being greeted by the con man Raffaello Follieri and his then girlfriend, the Hollywood actress Anne Hathaway, as McCain celebrated his 70th birthday on Follieri’s rented yacht in Montenegro in August 2006. It’s the perfect bookend to the old pictures of McCain in a funny hat partying with Keating in the Bahamas.

Whatever blanks are yet to be filled in on Obama, we at least know his economic plans and the known quantities who are shaping them (Lawrence Summers, Robert Rubin, Paul Volcker). McCain has reversed himself on every single economic issue this year, often within a 24-hour period, whether he’s judging the strength of the economy’s fundamentals or the wisdom of the government bailout of A.I.G. He once promised that he’d run every decision past Alan Greenspan — and even have him write a new tax code — but Greenspan has jumped ship rather than support McCain’s biggest flip-flop, his expansion of the Bush tax cuts. McCain’s official chief economic adviser is now Douglas Holtz-Eakin, who last week declared that McCain had “helped create” the BlackBerry.

But Holtz-Eakin’s most telling statement was about McCain’s economic plans — namely, that the details are irrelevant. “I don’t think it’s imperative at this moment to write down what the plan should be,” he said. “The real issue here is a leadership issue.” This, too, is a Rove-Bush replay. We want a tough guy who will “fix” things with his own two hands — let’s take out the S.E.C. chairman! — instead of wimpy Frenchified Democrats who just “talk.” The fine print of policy is superfluous if there’s a quick-draw decider in the White House.

The twin-pronged strategy of truculence and propaganda that sold Bush and his war could yet work for McCain. Even now his campaign has kept the “filter” from learning the very basics about his fitness to serve as president — his finances and his health. The McCain multihousehold’s multimillion-dollar mother lode is buried in Cindy McCain’s still-unreleased complete tax returns. John McCain’s full medical records, our sole index to the odds of an imminent Palin presidency, also remain locked away. The McCain campaign instead invited 20 chosen reporters to speed-read through 1,173 pages of medical history for a mere three hours on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend. No photocopying was permitted.

This is the same tactic of selective document release that the Bush White House used to bamboozle Congress and the press about Saddam’s nonexistent W.M.D. As truthiness repeats itself, so may history, and not as farce.

Pro-America. Pro-Change. prOBAMA!

2008-09-17T16:16:00.003-05:00

Go to www.barackobama/plan to read the entire economic plan.

Alaskan Women Reject Palin - Largest Protest in Alaska's HISTORY

2008-09-16T18:44:00.005-05:00

picture from Daily Kos

I grew up in a feminist household with a mother who remembered what it was like to live in a country where abortion was illegal. The quote below brought tears to my eyes and reminded me of some of the horror stories my mother has told me:

"Some of the signs spoke out against Palin's anti-abortion position. Laura Kimmel, a 40-year-old Anchorage woman expecting her second baby in April, wore a clothes hanger with a sign attached that said, "This is not a surgical instrument. Keep abortions safe and legal."

Susan Soule, 65, a part-time health consultant, said she is old enough to remember when abortion wasn't legal and what women went through who wanted to terminate their pregnancies.

"I know the terror of unwanted pregnancy and back-room abortions. I know what that did to women," said Soule."

Just like the "war against drugs," if you make abortion illegal, women will find a way to get it done, whether it be in a bathroom stall with a coat hanger or in a back alley with someone who may or may not be an MD. And on TOP of that, if you remove sex education from schools and preach abstinence only, and make contraceptives more difficult to acquire, it will only make kids more interested in sex, pregnancy will rise, and thus the abortion rates will rise. Women who attempt coat hanger abortions often end up bleeding to death, resulting in 2 deaths.

You don't believe that Palin's policies and beliefs are radical? Then listen to what the Alaskan women are saying about her...after all, they are the ones who know her best.

It says a lot that this was the largest protest in Alaska's history (herstory?)!

Lots of great footage and pics here!

some of my favorite sign slogans:
Bush in a Skirt
Pitbulls Make Poor Diplomats
Real Leaders Don't Have to Cram for Interviews
Blink Before Going to War
Keep Your Laws OFF My Body
McCain/Palin: Incontinence/Incompetence
Blind Ambition Tour
Bristol Got to Choose - Why Can't We?

Daily Crime Report

2008-09-12T11:40:00.000-05:00

700 EDGEMONT AVE

FOUND PROPERTY

FOUND CRACK PIPES

Acronyms Galore

2008-09-05T18:54:00.005-05:00

RATM (Rage Against the Machine) was scheduled to play a LEGAL concert at the Target center outside the RNC. After Anti-Flag played their last song and RATM was about to go on, the police cut power to the stage. MPR (Minnesota Public Radio) did a good YouTube video about it.

Also, The video below shows a lot more of the actual a capella RATM performance:

per BoingBoing:
"Rage Against the Machine had a scheduled legal concert in the Target Center in downtown Minneapolis tonight. Police and media where sitting and waiting outside during the whole concert in heavy numbers just waiting for something to happen when the show got out. The police got what they wanted. Police pepper spraying going on right now."

This Devil's Workday

2008-09-03T22:02:00.005-05:00

She's pro-life, except when it comes to decorating her Alaskan office.

So how come a human life is more important than an animal's life? Are we not ALL God's creatures?

Answer me that.

Just Palin Wrong

2008-09-03T17:05:00.003-05:00

If you haven't read this article yet, you should. Some highlights:

1)At some point in those fractious first days, Palin told the department heads they needed her permission to talk to reporters. "She put a gag order on those people, something that you'd expect to find in the big city, not here," says Naegele. "She flew in there like a big-city gal, which she's not. It was a strange time, and [the Frontiersman] came out very harshly against her."

2) "Stein says that as mayor, Palin continued to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. "She asked the library how she could go about banning books," he says, because some voters thought they had inappropriate language in them. "The librarian was aghast." That woman, Mary Ellen Baker, couldn't be reached for comment, but news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire Baker for not giving "full support" to the mayor."

3) "We like to call this the Bible Belt of Alaska," says Cheryl Metiva, head of the local chamber of commerce. Churches proliferate in Wasilla today, and among the largest and most influential is the Wasilla Bible Church, where the Palins worship.

At the 11:15 a.m. Sunday service, hundreds sit in folding chairs, listening to a 20-minute sermon about the Book of Malachi and singing along to alt-rock praise songs. The only sign of culture warring in the whole production is an insert in the day's program advertising an upcoming Focus on the Family conference on homosexuality in Anchorage called Love Won Out. The group promises to teach attendees how to "respond to misinformation in our culture" and help them "overcome" homosexuality.

One Headlight

2008-09-02T00:12:00.003-05:00

Dear gold Hyundai driver who passed me on I-35S tonight:

Perhaps you should stop spending money on fancy exhaust pipes, and start spending money on replacing headlights when they burn out.

Just a thought....

-me

Let's get Political, Political...

2008-09-01T00:12:00.010-05:00

First I find out that there have been massive preemptive police raids on suspected RNC protesters in Minneapolis. Really...as the Republicans moan about their right to own machine guns and rant about their conservative views on banning abortion even in cases of rape and incest (*ahem* Sarah Palin), young, peaceful activists are fighting for the basic right of free speech, and being violently arrested and raided with SWAT teams and semi-automatic rifles for only PLANNING protests.

Then I hear on NPR that Magomed Yevloyev, the owner of an internet site critical of the Russian authorities in the volatile region of Ingushetia has been shot dead in police custody.

I'm sorry, do I live in the United States of America, or do I live in Russia? It's starting to seem a bit blurry.

On a side note, here is an example of some not-so-classy behavior of Sarah Palin on a radio talk show, in which she laughs along as a political opponent is called a "cancer," a "bitch," and is mocked for her weight. *oh. so. classy.* Listen to it if you don't believe me (below). Her own hometown newspaper even unleashed an article about it, calling it (among other things), "unbecoming," "unprofessional, childish, and inexcusable."

Comment Snob Plug-In

2008-08-30T11:54:00.001-05:00

New Firefox plug-in "comment snob" filters out misspelled, profane, poorly capitalized YouTube comments. If only they would make a plug-in for the entire internet!

Daily Crime Report - 2 for 1 Labor Day Weekend Special

2008-08-30T10:53:00.001-05:00

"SUSP THREW RADIO AT COMPS WINDOW CAUSING DAMAGE. ON 08-28-08 AT APPROXIMATELY 8:00PM ROS RESPONDED TO A DISTURBANCE AT THE LOCATION IN WHICH THE SUSPECT THREW A RADIO AT THE COMPLAINANT'S CAR AND CAUSED DAMAGE."

and...

"SUSP TOOK PROP AND HIT COMP WITH A CHAIR."

Bird and Flag

2008-08-29T10:54:00.003-05:00

I finally got a couple of shots of the neighborhood peacock hanging out in front of my house before it flew off. Proof!

Fancy

2008-08-28T10:10:00.005-05:00

Thank goodness for nice neighbors. This is a picture of the amazing, industrial, vintage floor fan that my neighbor down the street hauled to my house in the back of his truck when my air conditioning was out for 5 days. (I'm still trying to figure out how those 2 small wheels work.) So thanks, neighbor!

Children In Bloom

2008-08-27T09:48:00.001-05:00

This is my favorite childhood mug. I have no idea how long I've had it, but it still makes me smile.