HAPPY HALLOWEEN
I don't need a costume. I am what I am. The world's smallest panther.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Halloween Blogging
Yea! It’s Halloween! Even better, its Halloween and it’s Friday!. Halloween just sucks when it falls on Monday, it’s unnatural. Who wants to dress up like Foghorn Leghorn or a giant cell phone on Monday? Friday on the other hand, Fridays were created to so you could dress up like a giant CD or Sarah Palin.
Last year I don’t think I dressed up at all and about half the kids who came to my door chose to trick-or-treat their favorite car thief. No one was really into it. This year though thanks to the wonders of leap year I am hoping for some real winners. If half the kids who come to my door aren’t in a suit and a blue tie I’ll be very disappointed.
At work we were planning on all wearing wigs in honor of our team mate under going chemo. She was all gung ho early and started to wear her wig before she even started treatment but now that she has, she doesn’t wear the wig, instead she wears a baseball hat. It’s just as well we didn’t all go and get wigs though because she isn’t going to be at work Friday anyway.
I entertained the thought for about three seconds of maybe going full Halloween and wearing my whole Red Riding hood drag to work. I had to rethink this because I think I would spend the day frozen in self conscience terror in my office hoping no one would walk past and that I would never have to leave my desk all day. If everyone was going to do it, it would be different. If I can talk myself into it I might go home at lunch and put it on. I am definitely going to wear it to answer the door regardless.
Speaking of scarey things. I’ve been getting emails from the McCain campaign and the RNC! Fortunately they are being caught in my spam file but still, you go in to see what’s lurking in there and get spooked by that stuff! I mean you go in expecting some ad for herbal viagra or a missive from some African prince asking me to do him a solid and hold $35 million or so bucks for a few days, and instead you find something with the heading “My Friends...” I’m really curious which of the 470 different outfits that have my addy sold it to the RNC? And why the RNC is wasting time on registered Democrats? And why am I just getting these now at this late date? It just seems kind of desperate to me.
I of course did fond costumes for the animals. I tried really hard with The Kitty to find something that spoke to his personality and his inner life and came up with nothing. Actually, I came up with the idea of putting him in a Hawaiian print shirt and stuffing him into a decorative canoe but it ended badly.
I was going to try again but he told me to go to hell. Literally, he looked at me and said Go To Hell. Not with his eyes or by creative translation of his meowing or body language, he told me Go To Hell very clearly. He hasn’t said anything since.
I turned my attention to Dogger who even if she could speak would never tell me to go to hell, she would look at me as if to say Why do you hate me? I don’t hate her, I lurf her and I want her to be happy. So I dressed her up as a princess.
Yea! It’s Halloween! Even better, its Halloween and it’s Friday!. Halloween just sucks when it falls on Monday, it’s unnatural. Who wants to dress up like Foghorn Leghorn or a giant cell phone on Monday? Friday on the other hand, Fridays were created to so you could dress up like a giant CD or Sarah Palin.
Last year I don’t think I dressed up at all and about half the kids who came to my door chose to trick-or-treat their favorite car thief. No one was really into it. This year though thanks to the wonders of leap year I am hoping for some real winners. If half the kids who come to my door aren’t in a suit and a blue tie I’ll be very disappointed.
At work we were planning on all wearing wigs in honor of our team mate under going chemo. She was all gung ho early and started to wear her wig before she even started treatment but now that she has, she doesn’t wear the wig, instead she wears a baseball hat. It’s just as well we didn’t all go and get wigs though because she isn’t going to be at work Friday anyway.
I entertained the thought for about three seconds of maybe going full Halloween and wearing my whole Red Riding hood drag to work. I had to rethink this because I think I would spend the day frozen in self conscience terror in my office hoping no one would walk past and that I would never have to leave my desk all day. If everyone was going to do it, it would be different. If I can talk myself into it I might go home at lunch and put it on. I am definitely going to wear it to answer the door regardless.
Speaking of scarey things. I’ve been getting emails from the McCain campaign and the RNC! Fortunately they are being caught in my spam file but still, you go in to see what’s lurking in there and get spooked by that stuff! I mean you go in expecting some ad for herbal viagra or a missive from some African prince asking me to do him a solid and hold $35 million or so bucks for a few days, and instead you find something with the heading “My Friends...” I’m really curious which of the 470 different outfits that have my addy sold it to the RNC? And why the RNC is wasting time on registered Democrats? And why am I just getting these now at this late date? It just seems kind of desperate to me.
I of course did fond costumes for the animals. I tried really hard with The Kitty to find something that spoke to his personality and his inner life and came up with nothing. Actually, I came up with the idea of putting him in a Hawaiian print shirt and stuffing him into a decorative canoe but it ended badly.
I was going to try again but he told me to go to hell. Literally, he looked at me and said Go To Hell. Not with his eyes or by creative translation of his meowing or body language, he told me Go To Hell very clearly. He hasn’t said anything since.
I turned my attention to Dogger who even if she could speak would never tell me to go to hell, she would look at me as if to say Why do you hate me? I don’t hate her, I lurf her and I want her to be happy. So I dressed her up as a princess.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Obama in Raleigh
I came, I didn't see but there was definite conquering going on.
I had kind of thought that since the whole thing came together so recently and they only announced it Monday afternoon and it was scheduled for the middle of the day in the middle of the week that there wouldn't be big crowds. I mean, come on its Raleigh after all...
I underestemated Raleigh, and 25,000 of my neighbors. I left work admittedly late for the party but I was mindful of the James Taylor opening-act-poolza and I didn't want to stand around for an hour so I could listen to some local pols I was all ready going to vote for beg for my vote. I'm sure they all have beautifully crafted stump speeches but they were preaching to the choir. We didn't want to hear them we wanted to hear James Taylor. This time I decided I was going to skip the opening acts and go straight for the headliner.
Bad Idea. I walked right from my blessedly good parking spot and right into the front of the line. I thought, Okay. I'll just hook up with the end of the line. No problem, it's not even noon yet. So I started out on my journey. I saw a lot of people milling around heading roughly in the same direction I was but it was lunch hour and they could have just been downtown workers going to lunch. I also really didn't know where the rally was being held.
My plan was just going to keep walking until I bumped into it. I then was worried that it was all ready over and I missed it because I saw a woman with a board of buttons and it looked like she was putting back into her car. I was a little disappointed but I decided to carry on because maybe it was still going on.
I walked until I bumped into the line. The front of the line. I needed to be at the end of the line. How far away could it be? I walked and when I got tired of walking I stopped and looked at the buttons, there were a lot of booths and everyone was selling something I wanted.
I was beginning to think this was a little bigger than the Biden thing. I thought for sure that I was going to get to the end of the line at the next corner and I didn't. The line just kept going and going. I would walk a few more blocks and think Oh, for sure that's must be the end... and it wasn't! The line went up and down streets and around corners and it seemed endless. I was like Dayum, this is a lot more than Biden. I had stood in a line but nothing like this. There was one thing they had in common:
Buttons!
Thousands of different kinds. I love buttons. I bought a couple at the State Convention and I bought the blinky one at Biden and I bought three here. Two for me and one for my friend at work who wanted to go but couldn't. My Obama Button collection:
Yeah. It's not much of a collection, but buttons aren't free and one has to practice good judgement. I've found if If I see more than one table with a given button I need to say no to the button. It's about quality over quantity. I am still mad at myself for saying no to a Michelle Obama button I saw at the convention and I haven't seem one since and I regret not getting it when I had the chance. It's like in all things, if you live by the button, you die by the button.
I started to worry about the time. I was prepared to be a little late but not so late anyone might notice. Finally, about forty minutes after I arrived I came to the end of the line.
The speech started and we magically began to move. Quickly. We got to the front of the line to find that we were not going to get into the speech. I stood around for a while and listened but I needed to go. I didn't take many pictures because there was very little to take pictures of. The lines didn't photograph well at all and I had the feeling the button/tee-shirt/ sweatshirt/baseball hat/ski hats/golf hats/watch/blanket/art/sticker/magnet sellers really didn't want me to take pictures of their wares. Whatever
The crowd that did not get in.
I came, I didn't see but there was definite conquering going on.
I had kind of thought that since the whole thing came together so recently and they only announced it Monday afternoon and it was scheduled for the middle of the day in the middle of the week that there wouldn't be big crowds. I mean, come on its Raleigh after all...
I underestemated Raleigh, and 25,000 of my neighbors. I left work admittedly late for the party but I was mindful of the James Taylor opening-act-poolza and I didn't want to stand around for an hour so I could listen to some local pols I was all ready going to vote for beg for my vote. I'm sure they all have beautifully crafted stump speeches but they were preaching to the choir. We didn't want to hear them we wanted to hear James Taylor. This time I decided I was going to skip the opening acts and go straight for the headliner.
Bad Idea. I walked right from my blessedly good parking spot and right into the front of the line. I thought, Okay. I'll just hook up with the end of the line. No problem, it's not even noon yet. So I started out on my journey. I saw a lot of people milling around heading roughly in the same direction I was but it was lunch hour and they could have just been downtown workers going to lunch. I also really didn't know where the rally was being held.
My plan was just going to keep walking until I bumped into it. I then was worried that it was all ready over and I missed it because I saw a woman with a board of buttons and it looked like she was putting back into her car. I was a little disappointed but I decided to carry on because maybe it was still going on.
I walked until I bumped into the line. The front of the line. I needed to be at the end of the line. How far away could it be? I walked and when I got tired of walking I stopped and looked at the buttons, there were a lot of booths and everyone was selling something I wanted.
Buttons!
Thousands of different kinds. I love buttons. I bought a couple at the State Convention and I bought the blinky one at Biden and I bought three here. Two for me and one for my friend at work who wanted to go but couldn't. My Obama Button collection:
Yeah. It's not much of a collection, but buttons aren't free and one has to practice good judgement. I've found if If I see more than one table with a given button I need to say no to the button. It's about quality over quantity. I am still mad at myself for saying no to a Michelle Obama button I saw at the convention and I haven't seem one since and I regret not getting it when I had the chance. It's like in all things, if you live by the button, you die by the button.
I started to worry about the time. I was prepared to be a little late but not so late anyone might notice. Finally, about forty minutes after I arrived I came to the end of the line.
The speech started and we magically began to move. Quickly. We got to the front of the line to find that we were not going to get into the speech. I stood around for a while and listened but I needed to go. I didn't take many pictures because there was very little to take pictures of. The lines didn't photograph well at all and I had the feeling the button/tee-shirt/ sweatshirt/baseball hat/ski hats/golf hats/watch/blanket/art/sticker/magnet sellers really didn't want me to take pictures of their wares. Whatever
The crowd that did not get in.
Go to the News and Observer site here to see the crowd that did get in
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Doooooood
It took me 40 minutes to walk to the end of the line.
The final crowd estimate for a Barack Obama rally in Raleigh today: 25,000. That's according to Capt. Everett Clendenin of the State Highway Patrol.
Under the Dome, News and Observer.com
It took me 40 minutes to walk to the end of the line.
The final crowd estimate for a Barack Obama rally in Raleigh today: 25,000. That's according to Capt. Everett Clendenin of the State Highway Patrol.
Under the Dome, News and Observer.com
A day in the life
The other morning, I was trying to get out of the house and as I was finally leaving, one of the feral cats popped out from under my car started meowing at me, I was like Dude. I will so feed you when I get home. Later. Totally. When I come home. Bye-bye now. and the cat , Sundance, for you keeping score, kept up the whining and meowing and I was all Really. Dude? I will feed you later.
And then I remembered that I needed to put my bike back into Minnie. The bike is locked up and I now, in the dark have to get it unlocked and into the car. I took the bike out of the car Thursday night. By Monday morning I couldn’t remember how to put it back into the car there is a right way and a wrong way and I was just absolutly convinced that the wrong way was the only way...So, I’m screwing around in the dark, with first the bike lock and then the bike and having oh-so-much-fun, because I live for struggling with a bike in the dark at 6:45am and Sundance is still whining and mewing and I’m thinking You know what cat? Keep it up and you’ll spend the day in the car with the bike. I WILL FEED YOU WHEN I GET HOME! - because cats, like other non-English speakers magically grow to understand you when you yell at them. The cat would also magically grow a grasp of time as well.
I finally got untangled from the bike and got it into the car. I thought I was going to leave for work when I saw the other feral cat who was also whining and mewing. I said Hi Butch. I’ll feed you later, okay, buddy?” and then I noticed that this was a duet, it had morphed into a trio. Someone else, someone small was scampering around on my porch mewing and whining.
A new Baby Kitty! Not the old, grown up baby kitty that left Dogger, the little furry bastard, but a newbaby kitty. A wee little kitty who of course needed to be fed right now! I threw my stuff into the car and unlocked and unalarmed the house and went inside and fetched the food and and fed the cats. I tried to get Baby Kitty to jump into my arms and move into the house with me but it doesn’t know me yet. He looks like a tiny Holstein.
Anyway. I went to work, did my thing and then remembered that it was Flu Shot Day. I had to cut into my lunch hour to get my shot. I was cool with this because a few years ago I went to go get my shot and I stood in line for two hours with a throng of other people and it sucked time wise, but it was on the states time do it was okay, but still two hours of standing around. This year I had an appointment scheduled. My plan was to ride my bike over to the building where the clinic was being held then go eat lunch, and this seemed like a good idea, because exercise is good and with the throngs it would make parking much easier - until I heard this really loud noise outside and it turned out to be the wind. My new plan was to not ride my bike anywhere and park where I could.
I drove to the clinic and thought about the crowd from years past, and parked in Egypt. It turned out that I could have parked behind the building and just strolled in but I didn’t know that when I asked the Bedouin to watch my car. When I walked in there was a couple in front of me and they were looking at the huge long form they wanted us to fill out before they would come across with the flu vaccine, the guy part of the couple said Jeeze. I didn’t know there was going to be a quiz.. I laughed.
I went in front of the couple because I came in knowing my name and age and gender and I had my insurance card and a picture ID. I went and received my shot and the nurse said You have very tough skin. That was hard and I was like It’s not tough it’s just fat and she said No. It was really hard to get though your skin. and I said Well, I have worked for the state for a while now! and she said I guess you’ve had to develop a pretty thick skin!. We laughed.
The other morning, I was trying to get out of the house and as I was finally leaving, one of the feral cats popped out from under my car started meowing at me, I was like Dude. I will so feed you when I get home. Later. Totally. When I come home. Bye-bye now. and the cat , Sundance, for you keeping score, kept up the whining and meowing and I was all Really. Dude? I will feed you later.
And then I remembered that I needed to put my bike back into Minnie. The bike is locked up and I now, in the dark have to get it unlocked and into the car. I took the bike out of the car Thursday night. By Monday morning I couldn’t remember how to put it back into the car there is a right way and a wrong way and I was just absolutly convinced that the wrong way was the only way...So, I’m screwing around in the dark, with first the bike lock and then the bike and having oh-so-much-fun, because I live for struggling with a bike in the dark at 6:45am and Sundance is still whining and mewing and I’m thinking You know what cat? Keep it up and you’ll spend the day in the car with the bike. I WILL FEED YOU WHEN I GET HOME! - because cats, like other non-English speakers magically grow to understand you when you yell at them. The cat would also magically grow a grasp of time as well.
I finally got untangled from the bike and got it into the car. I thought I was going to leave for work when I saw the other feral cat who was also whining and mewing. I said Hi Butch. I’ll feed you later, okay, buddy?” and then I noticed that this was a duet, it had morphed into a trio. Someone else, someone small was scampering around on my porch mewing and whining.
A new Baby Kitty! Not the old, grown up baby kitty that left Dogger, the little furry bastard, but a newbaby kitty. A wee little kitty who of course needed to be fed right now! I threw my stuff into the car and unlocked and unalarmed the house and went inside and fetched the food and and fed the cats. I tried to get Baby Kitty to jump into my arms and move into the house with me but it doesn’t know me yet. He looks like a tiny Holstein.
Anyway. I went to work, did my thing and then remembered that it was Flu Shot Day. I had to cut into my lunch hour to get my shot. I was cool with this because a few years ago I went to go get my shot and I stood in line for two hours with a throng of other people and it sucked time wise, but it was on the states time do it was okay, but still two hours of standing around. This year I had an appointment scheduled. My plan was to ride my bike over to the building where the clinic was being held then go eat lunch, and this seemed like a good idea, because exercise is good and with the throngs it would make parking much easier - until I heard this really loud noise outside and it turned out to be the wind. My new plan was to not ride my bike anywhere and park where I could.
I drove to the clinic and thought about the crowd from years past, and parked in Egypt. It turned out that I could have parked behind the building and just strolled in but I didn’t know that when I asked the Bedouin to watch my car. When I walked in there was a couple in front of me and they were looking at the huge long form they wanted us to fill out before they would come across with the flu vaccine, the guy part of the couple said Jeeze. I didn’t know there was going to be a quiz.. I laughed.
I went in front of the couple because I came in knowing my name and age and gender and I had my insurance card and a picture ID. I went and received my shot and the nurse said You have very tough skin. That was hard and I was like It’s not tough it’s just fat and she said No. It was really hard to get though your skin. and I said Well, I have worked for the state for a while now! and she said I guess you’ve had to develop a pretty thick skin!. We laughed.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Judges, Judges everywhere and no idea who to vote for
Enter my new friend The Stinging Nettle, with helpful advice on who to vote for and why. Too many names to remember? You can bring cheat sheets in with you when you go vote.
Enter my new friend The Stinging Nettle, with helpful advice on who to vote for and why. Too many names to remember? You can bring cheat sheets in with you when you go vote.
From Sarah...
Dear Supporter,
Dear Sarah,
I'm not your supporter and you should be addressing me as Ma'm or Miz. We aren't all as casual and "folksy" as you are. Oh and by the way, the Obama campaign sends me personalized emails. I'm not just a nameless "supporter", I'm Diana to them.
We're entering the final days of the campaign and our get-out-the-vote efforts are in full swing. Volunteers across the country are making calls and knocking on doors to get every voter to the polls in important races across the country.
Your volunteers have not knocked on my door but I have received a lot of robo-calls from your party they make me not want to vote for you.
I am constantly energized by the crowds of supporters who show up at our Victory rallies. Their energy is incredible and I wish you could be there to experience all the excitement on the campaign trail.
Yes, there are a lot of people in the lower forty-eight. And as for calling your speeches "victory rallies", it sounds Orwellian and it really smacks of 1984. It's a book, by George Orwell, so you may not have read it, short answer: You don't want to remind people of 1984.
We're working day and night to win, and in the final days of the campaign we need the resources to reach every voter through mail, calls, advertisements and personal contact.
I bet it really sucks missing out on all that family time. Thus far I have had no personal contact from your party, or impersonal mail. I have seen your TV ads and to tell you the truth, your TV ads suck and they don't make me love you. They are supposed to be like little love notes to the electorate, every ad should give me a new reason to fall in love with you. So far I've seen about 278, 5721 of your ads and I still think you're a bitch.
McCain-Palin Victory 2008 helps fund ad buys and get-out-the-vote activities in important races across the country and we need your support during our final push to Election Day.
I'm booked. I'm volunteering for the Obama/Biden campaign next Saturday.
Will you help our efforts by making a generous contribution today?
Too late. I'm kind of tapped right now, I've been donating all I can to the Obama/Biden campaign.I bought a magnet from Obama last week. $10 well spent I think.
Consider what your contribution can help fund in the final days of the campaign; bumper stickers and yard signs for supporters, television and radio ads to get our message out to undecided voters, flyer's and mail pieces for door knocking, and food for hungry volunteers.
Sorry. I everything I own has an Obama sticker on it. I'm about stickered out, and I'm on my second Obama sign for my yard. I have an Ipod so I don't really listen to the radio and I'm at work during the day so I'm not around to answer the door. I am concerned though, if you can't take care of your volunteers, how are you going to take care of the nation?
These might seem like small things, but trust me they make a big impact on the ground to our staff and volunteers who work day and night to elect our ticket from top to bottom.
They don't seem like small things. Are they small things to you?
You know what we're up against- the Democrats have raised nearly $200 million in September alone and are spending it all on the largest advertising buy in political history to defeat our team.
They have that money because I gave them some of it. Lots and lots of people gave them some of it. Lots and lots and lots people gave a little money so the campaign could have a lot of money. We see it as an investment that will pay off.
Combined, the Obama-Biden Democrats' television advertising budget is larger than McDonald's and Diet Coke.
WOOT!!!
They're flooding media markets in every state with ads attacking our team with information intended to mislead voters. We need your immediate financial support to respond. Will you make a donation of $25, $50, $100, $250, $500, $1,000 or more to support our efforts?
The Obama/Biden campaign is happy with anything I can send. I sent $5 and got a nice postcard thanking me, so I sent ten more dollars when I could. It's what lots and lots and lots of us have done.
We have a choice in this election; a choice between the Obama-Biden Democrats who want to raise your taxes to "spread the wealth around," and our team of reformers who want to spread opportunity to all Americans.
I've all ready made my choice and I think spreading the wealth around is a good thing. I'm kind of tired of the Republicans keeping all of it for themselves.
Please stand with us in the final days of the election. Thank you.
I'm going to sit down now. And write the DNC a check.
Sincerely,
Whatever,
Governor Sarah Palin
Caraboo Barbie
Dear Supporter,
Dear Sarah,
I'm not your supporter and you should be addressing me as Ma'm or Miz. We aren't all as casual and "folksy" as you are. Oh and by the way, the Obama campaign sends me personalized emails. I'm not just a nameless "supporter", I'm Diana to them.
We're entering the final days of the campaign and our get-out-the-vote efforts are in full swing. Volunteers across the country are making calls and knocking on doors to get every voter to the polls in important races across the country.
Your volunteers have not knocked on my door but I have received a lot of robo-calls from your party they make me not want to vote for you.
I am constantly energized by the crowds of supporters who show up at our Victory rallies. Their energy is incredible and I wish you could be there to experience all the excitement on the campaign trail.
Yes, there are a lot of people in the lower forty-eight. And as for calling your speeches "victory rallies", it sounds Orwellian and it really smacks of 1984. It's a book, by George Orwell, so you may not have read it, short answer: You don't want to remind people of 1984.
We're working day and night to win, and in the final days of the campaign we need the resources to reach every voter through mail, calls, advertisements and personal contact.
I bet it really sucks missing out on all that family time. Thus far I have had no personal contact from your party, or impersonal mail. I have seen your TV ads and to tell you the truth, your TV ads suck and they don't make me love you. They are supposed to be like little love notes to the electorate, every ad should give me a new reason to fall in love with you. So far I've seen about 278, 5721 of your ads and I still think you're a bitch.
McCain-Palin Victory 2008 helps fund ad buys and get-out-the-vote activities in important races across the country and we need your support during our final push to Election Day.
I'm booked. I'm volunteering for the Obama/Biden campaign next Saturday.
Will you help our efforts by making a generous contribution today?
Too late. I'm kind of tapped right now, I've been donating all I can to the Obama/Biden campaign.I bought a magnet from Obama last week. $10 well spent I think.
Consider what your contribution can help fund in the final days of the campaign; bumper stickers and yard signs for supporters, television and radio ads to get our message out to undecided voters, flyer's and mail pieces for door knocking, and food for hungry volunteers.
Sorry. I everything I own has an Obama sticker on it. I'm about stickered out, and I'm on my second Obama sign for my yard. I have an Ipod so I don't really listen to the radio and I'm at work during the day so I'm not around to answer the door. I am concerned though, if you can't take care of your volunteers, how are you going to take care of the nation?
These might seem like small things, but trust me they make a big impact on the ground to our staff and volunteers who work day and night to elect our ticket from top to bottom.
They don't seem like small things. Are they small things to you?
You know what we're up against- the Democrats have raised nearly $200 million in September alone and are spending it all on the largest advertising buy in political history to defeat our team.
They have that money because I gave them some of it. Lots and lots of people gave them some of it. Lots and lots and lots people gave a little money so the campaign could have a lot of money. We see it as an investment that will pay off.
Combined, the Obama-Biden Democrats' television advertising budget is larger than McDonald's and Diet Coke.
WOOT!!!
They're flooding media markets in every state with ads attacking our team with information intended to mislead voters. We need your immediate financial support to respond. Will you make a donation of $25, $50, $100, $250, $500, $1,000 or more to support our efforts?
The Obama/Biden campaign is happy with anything I can send. I sent $5 and got a nice postcard thanking me, so I sent ten more dollars when I could. It's what lots and lots and lots of us have done.
We have a choice in this election; a choice between the Obama-Biden Democrats who want to raise your taxes to "spread the wealth around," and our team of reformers who want to spread opportunity to all Americans.
I've all ready made my choice and I think spreading the wealth around is a good thing. I'm kind of tired of the Republicans keeping all of it for themselves.
Please stand with us in the final days of the election. Thank you.
I'm going to sit down now. And write the DNC a check.
Sincerely,
Whatever,
Governor Sarah Palin
Caraboo Barbie
Monday, October 27, 2008
Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska has been found guilty on all seven counts in his corruption trial.
full story here
full story here
Oh!
This Wednesday, October 29th, please join Barack Obama in Raleigh, where he will talk about his vision for creating the kind of change we need.
Halifax Mall
Government Complex
300 North Salisbury Street
Raleigh, NC 27601
Wednesday, October 29th
Doors Open: 10:00 a.m.
Pre-Program Begins: 11:15 a.m.
This Wednesday, October 29th, please join Barack Obama in Raleigh, where he will talk about his vision for creating the kind of change we need.
Halifax Mall
Government Complex
300 North Salisbury Street
Raleigh, NC 27601
Wednesday, October 29th
Doors Open: 10:00 a.m.
Pre-Program Begins: 11:15 a.m.
My name is Diana and I am a Christmas Decoration-aholic
Hi Diana
I love Christmas decorations. I love the lights, I love the chotchkies, I love all the attendant fru-fru that makes up the season. I will say that a few weeks ago when I saw my first Christmas store of the season that I was kind of appalled - Not appalled enough to not to go inside and touch everything in there, but appalled enough that I did not walk out of there with a new tree skirt and a pet themed creche set. I have just the one tree but somehow I have managed to collect five tree skirts. I think I also have a tree skirt problem.
It was too early then. That was then. This is now. Christmas is much, much closer now and I have Christmas cards ready to go and I all ready formally started shopping for gifts. Once you start officially shopping on purpose for Christmas gifts, its Christmas decoration go time. This weekend I walked into the belly of the beast. I went shopping at New River Pottery, where the Christmas season starts in August.
I walked in the door and walked into Christmas Decoration Heaven. Or hell, depending on your tolerance for hearing Christmas carols before Halloween. Sadly, my tolerance is awesome and all I had to do was walk through the arch.
It was at that point that I drank the sugar plum cool aid and things got a little fuzzy
I was now in The Christmas Zone. I was surrounded by gilded sea shells and plastic cup cakes and festive flip flops and fish lots and lots of fish. Whole schools of fish. There can not possibly be enough seafood restaurants on the east coast to explain the plethora of spangly fish offered for sale. There was an entire tree covered with sea life.
But I had to move on. For the most part, other than the dip into The Under Sea World of Jacque Clause, it was pretty standard, you know with the Snow people
I was still feeling pretty rational and clear headed. I hadn't touched anything yet, I wasn't humming Santa Clause is Coming to Town to myself, I was keeping in mind that just because I had checks left it didn't mean I still had money and I was still grasping the fact that my house is only so big and I can only store so much stuff.
And how about Santa? There is a lot of scholarship out there about how we picture God and how important it is to us that God looks like us or shares our lifestyle, is there anything out there about Santa?It was Santa, Santa everywhere. E, I,E, Santa everywhere. Happy Santa's, Working Santa's, Rich Santa, Poor Santa, hunter Santa, Chef Santa, Fireman Santa, Beach Santa. There was a Santa with Rudolph's head on a pike... There were all kinds of Santa's. I love Santa's, I have many, many Santa's. I have a Santa problem. I liked this Santa, kind of laid back Santa.
Hi Diana
I love Christmas decorations. I love the lights, I love the chotchkies, I love all the attendant fru-fru that makes up the season. I will say that a few weeks ago when I saw my first Christmas store of the season that I was kind of appalled - Not appalled enough to not to go inside and touch everything in there, but appalled enough that I did not walk out of there with a new tree skirt and a pet themed creche set. I have just the one tree but somehow I have managed to collect five tree skirts. I think I also have a tree skirt problem.
It was too early then. That was then. This is now. Christmas is much, much closer now and I have Christmas cards ready to go and I all ready formally started shopping for gifts. Once you start officially shopping on purpose for Christmas gifts, its Christmas decoration go time. This weekend I walked into the belly of the beast. I went shopping at New River Pottery, where the Christmas season starts in August.
I walked in the door and walked into Christmas Decoration Heaven. Or hell, depending on your tolerance for hearing Christmas carols before Halloween. Sadly, my tolerance is awesome and all I had to do was walk through the arch.
I was now in The Christmas Zone. I was surrounded by gilded sea shells and plastic cup cakes and festive flip flops and fish lots and lots of fish. Whole schools of fish. There can not possibly be enough seafood restaurants on the east coast to explain the plethora of spangly fish offered for sale. There was an entire tree covered with sea life.
But I had to move on. For the most part, other than the dip into The Under Sea World of Jacque Clause, it was pretty standard, you know with the Snow people
I was still feeling pretty rational and clear headed. I hadn't touched anything yet, I wasn't humming Santa Clause is Coming to Town to myself, I was keeping in mind that just because I had checks left it didn't mean I still had money and I was still grasping the fact that my house is only so big and I can only store so much stuff.
Things changed.
I was so blinded by the sheer number of decorations I didn't even see that ugly plastic bag in the middle of my shot! I wanted ALL OF IT. I wanted the plastic candy. I wanted the stuffed gingerbread men. I wanted the metal trees. I wanted Santa Chef. I wanted, no needed every single thing I saw. I started to rethink all the stuff I all ready had and quickly dismissed all of it as old and tacky and done. I wanted the new, the pretty and the sparkly! I didn't want this old unpretty not-as-shiny-as-it-used-to-be crap I have had for years. No I wanted the paste cup cakes for 2008. I need the newest, top-of-the-line Christmas technology.
And it was all there. Any Christmas themed anything was right there at my fingertips. Are you into tiger heads? How about cheetahs? They have you covered. Are you into log cabins? Aisle 4. Are you into weird shell covered sea birds? they have two different kinds! Or how about dogs in drag? Do you like to dress your dog? How about dogs dressed like affluent Victorians?
And how about Santa? There is a lot of scholarship out there about how we picture God and how important it is to us that God looks like us or shares our lifestyle, is there anything out there about Santa?It was Santa, Santa everywhere. E, I,E, Santa everywhere. Happy Santa's, Working Santa's, Rich Santa, Poor Santa, hunter Santa, Chef Santa, Fireman Santa, Beach Santa. There was a Santa with Rudolph's head on a pike... There were all kinds of Santa's. I love Santa's, I have many, many Santa's. I have a Santa problem. I liked this Santa, kind of laid back Santa.
I thought I had exhausted the lifestyle Santa's until I ran across this guy
There is a Santa for all of us, in all of us, about all of us.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Friday, October 24, 2008
Its good to live in a contested state!
Despite the coolness and the dark and the fact that if you got there after 5pm you had to park in Virginia, 7000 people showed up to hear Joe Biden speak. Wow! read all about it! and to take his picture, in the dark at a great distance...
Despite the coolness and the dark and the fact that if you got there after 5pm you had to park in Virginia, 7000 people showed up to hear Joe Biden speak. Wow! read all about it! and to take his picture, in the dark at a great distance...
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
From the freaking Dallas Morning News!
...With all of the important issues facing the country right now, it's remarkable that we're spending time talking about pantsuits and blouses. It was always the intent that the clothing go to a charitable purpose after the campaign," said McCain-Palin spokesperson Tracey Schmitt.
Dallas Morning News
Sarah Palin's $150,000 makeover: McCain campaign says just kidding, it's all going to charity
...With all of the important issues facing the country right now, it's remarkable that we're spending time talking about pantsuits and blouses. It was always the intent that the clothing go to a charitable purpose after the campaign," said McCain-Palin spokesperson Tracey Schmitt.
Is it so remarkable? Would donors and voters expect a "maverick" to turn $150,000 of campaign cash into couture? And c'mon. Was there really a decision from the outset to donate the clothes? What sort of charity recipient would have occasion to wear outfits like the one she wore for the vice presidential debate, for instance?And, what exactly had she planned to wear if she wins the vice presidency? If she gives all that nice stuff away, that is.Now, where did I misplace that "smell test" kit....
Dallas Morning News
My Day
James Taylor was in town giving free concerts in support of the Obama campaign. Yea! The good news is that the concert was held close to my office and I was able to attend. The bad news, is that all I could find about the concert was that we should show up at 11:30am - Which would have been okay, but he didn't take the stage until 12:30pm and I had to go back to work. I did get to hear him sing America the Beautiful though and it was lovely, he sounds exactly the same as he does on the radio. While I was standing around waiting I took pictures.
And after much ado... Warning, Sweet "Baby" James done grown up.
I then had to run. However, Brosky was able to hang around a little longer and he took this
I haven't seen any coverage of it, yes, quel surprise. But I would say there were maybe, a thousand? A good crowd for the middle of the day on a Tuesday. I was late back from lunch but it was worth it. The day progressed and after I got home and was greeted by my Hammacher Schlemmer Gift Preview Catalogue Score!
I found so many things I need. For example:
This is the only ridable, three-wheeled cooler with a 500-watt electric motor that propels the unit up to 14 mph, and it has a fully insulated bin that accommodates up to 24 12-oz. beverage cans and 8 lbs. of ice, allowing you to transport chilled food or beverages up to 15 miles on a single charge.
I totally need this! I can see this being soooo useful in so many situations! I mean, really, I need this toy. For reals. If you doubt how much I actually need a 14 mph cooler, no one can argue that I do need a robot that cleans gutters.
This is the only remote-controlled robot that removes leaves, small branches, and dirt from gutters. Made by iRobot®, a company founded by roboticists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
They say good fences make good neighbors, but what happens if one of those good neighbors have a bad dog? and the other good neighbor is passive aggressive?
Disguised as a birdhouse, this patented outdoor behavior modification device quickly and humanely restores peace and quiet for those vexed by a dogs nuisance barking. When a dog barks within range of the birdhouse, it emits a harmless ultrasonic tone, inaudible to humans, that startles the animal into silence.
Speaking of our furry friends. There is a special place in hell for the person who designed this little beasty
This remote-control tarantula scurries across flat surfaces like an actual arachnid, moving forwards, backwards, and rotates 360 degrees.
Now, because this is a "holiday" catalogue, it has toys and I want this toy. Give me a good reason I should not have this next item. I deserve this. I think this is right up Santa's alley and I have been a very good girl.
This motorized replica of the headstrong little "droid" from the iconic Star Wars® films responds to voice commands, navigates rooms and hallways, and makes any home feel like it has been transported to a galaxy far, far away. R2 obeys more than 40 voice commands.
RNC shells out $150K for Palin fashion . Diana the Clerk is annoyed that it would take her SEVEN YEARS to earn the money SARAH PALEN HAS SPENT ON CLOTHES IN THE LAST TWO MONTHS!!!
GO OBAMA!!!!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Old.
When I saw that I was about to get old, I spoke with my doctor - Because that’s what you do when you start getting old, you begin to confer with your doctor about things. I told my doctor that old age was on the horizon and I needed to start nailing down baselines and whatnot. When you are old, you become concerned with baselines and whatnot. She agreed that I was old and it was time. I made vague, positive noises about a mammogram and so did she. We were in agreement, I needed to get one of those done. Now that I was old.
While I was conferring with my doctor, I made an appointment for my yearly physical and because I was not old yet, I assumed that we could get at least some of the baselines taken care of in her office. Okay fine. Well some of them. I dutifully went in for my physical and she did doctor things and I did patient things and then when I was getting dressed, I asked So. When we gonna get to that whole mammogram thing? And she said When you make an appointment for one.... Dayum. She gave me the paperwork and I toddled off to get blood drawn.
I called the number as soon as I got home. I made an appointment and much to my shock I got an appointment for the next business day. I thought That was fast. Do they know something I don’t? What the hell did my labs say?! Healthy women get these done every day? Right?
I did some research and my insurance won’t even pay for one for a woman under forty unless she has family history .Thirty-nine and you pay for it yourself, forty and it’s on the house. I think that’s odd as I know three women with breast cancer and only one was over forty when her’s was diagnosed. One was 34, the other was 36. I think an age requirement is short sighted and ill advised. I’m not saying that I think every thirteen year old girl needs a mammogram at her yearly physical, but I do think the net should be widened.
Any way. I broke it to my boss that I had another doctors appointment and I toddled off again to be patient again. I checked the site for the hospital and it said that it was the only campus that charges for parking. I made a note to stop and get cash ( they lied! As a patient, my parking was free). I got lost trying to find the right parking structure and then I stood in the elevator thinking it was broken for five minutes because I didn’t know what floor I was on and I had inadvertently told it to stay where it was. I finally figured it out and made it into registration. If you think white coat anxiety is a drag, wait until they slap an bracelet on you. If I wasn’t feeling ill when I went in there, I did as soon as they attached that puppy to my wrist. The bracelet looked so hospital-y, so in-patient. All of a sudden I transformed into a sick person. I also didn’t like being handed a map and told to go find Imaging Services on my own.
What is it about some healthcare facilities that makes them so grubby? I haven’t been inside a hospital since Tiny E was born and by comparison, that place was the Hilton.I didn't go there, I went to Wake Med. It’s a ginormous facility and every hallway looks like every other hallway and they all have scary signage Pathology Lab, MRI, Observation Unit, Chest Pain Unit, Wound Care. The really scary sign was for the hospitals retirement fund - AIG..
I had to wander the halls for a while to finally find the right waiting room.. There were three other people there when I arrived and they all looked like they had just been given very bad news. That’s it. I’m dying. . The woman at the desk checked my arm band and gave me a form to fill out. I had just copped to a family history of cancer and someone a few chairs away started to cry. I am so dying. The band on my wrist began to throb.
They called me in. My wrist band was checked again and we got under way. You know all the ugly things you hear about the mammogram experience? ALL TRUE! The nurse said it would be “uncomfortable” and it was, it is very uncomfortable and it was. It is very uncomfortable to have your tit in a wringer. I didn’t feel like screaming in pain or anything but a few good yelps would have been appropriate to the situation.
Do I suggest you get one? Oh hell yes!. If you haven’t had one, get one. If you aren’t old enough yet, make it clear to your physician that you want one when the time comes and if you have a family history you shouldn’t wait even that long. It takes maybe, twenty minutes out of your year and it could save your life. Getting you tits in a wringer isn’t the worst thing that can happen to them or you.
When I saw that I was about to get old, I spoke with my doctor - Because that’s what you do when you start getting old, you begin to confer with your doctor about things. I told my doctor that old age was on the horizon and I needed to start nailing down baselines and whatnot. When you are old, you become concerned with baselines and whatnot. She agreed that I was old and it was time. I made vague, positive noises about a mammogram and so did she. We were in agreement, I needed to get one of those done. Now that I was old.
While I was conferring with my doctor, I made an appointment for my yearly physical and because I was not old yet, I assumed that we could get at least some of the baselines taken care of in her office. Okay fine. Well some of them. I dutifully went in for my physical and she did doctor things and I did patient things and then when I was getting dressed, I asked So. When we gonna get to that whole mammogram thing? And she said When you make an appointment for one.... Dayum. She gave me the paperwork and I toddled off to get blood drawn.
I called the number as soon as I got home. I made an appointment and much to my shock I got an appointment for the next business day. I thought That was fast. Do they know something I don’t? What the hell did my labs say?! Healthy women get these done every day? Right?
I did some research and my insurance won’t even pay for one for a woman under forty unless she has family history .Thirty-nine and you pay for it yourself, forty and it’s on the house. I think that’s odd as I know three women with breast cancer and only one was over forty when her’s was diagnosed. One was 34, the other was 36. I think an age requirement is short sighted and ill advised. I’m not saying that I think every thirteen year old girl needs a mammogram at her yearly physical, but I do think the net should be widened.
Any way. I broke it to my boss that I had another doctors appointment and I toddled off again to be patient again. I checked the site for the hospital and it said that it was the only campus that charges for parking. I made a note to stop and get cash ( they lied! As a patient, my parking was free). I got lost trying to find the right parking structure and then I stood in the elevator thinking it was broken for five minutes because I didn’t know what floor I was on and I had inadvertently told it to stay where it was. I finally figured it out and made it into registration. If you think white coat anxiety is a drag, wait until they slap an bracelet on you. If I wasn’t feeling ill when I went in there, I did as soon as they attached that puppy to my wrist. The bracelet looked so hospital-y, so in-patient. All of a sudden I transformed into a sick person. I also didn’t like being handed a map and told to go find Imaging Services on my own.
What is it about some healthcare facilities that makes them so grubby? I haven’t been inside a hospital since Tiny E was born and by comparison, that place was the Hilton.I didn't go there, I went to Wake Med. It’s a ginormous facility and every hallway looks like every other hallway and they all have scary signage Pathology Lab, MRI, Observation Unit, Chest Pain Unit, Wound Care. The really scary sign was for the hospitals retirement fund - AIG..
I had to wander the halls for a while to finally find the right waiting room.. There were three other people there when I arrived and they all looked like they had just been given very bad news. That’s it. I’m dying. . The woman at the desk checked my arm band and gave me a form to fill out. I had just copped to a family history of cancer and someone a few chairs away started to cry. I am so dying. The band on my wrist began to throb.
They called me in. My wrist band was checked again and we got under way. You know all the ugly things you hear about the mammogram experience? ALL TRUE! The nurse said it would be “uncomfortable” and it was, it is very uncomfortable and it was. It is very uncomfortable to have your tit in a wringer. I didn’t feel like screaming in pain or anything but a few good yelps would have been appropriate to the situation.
Do I suggest you get one? Oh hell yes!. If you haven’t had one, get one. If you aren’t old enough yet, make it clear to your physician that you want one when the time comes and if you have a family history you shouldn’t wait even that long. It takes maybe, twenty minutes out of your year and it could save your life. Getting you tits in a wringer isn’t the worst thing that can happen to them or you.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
Friday.Thank Gawd.
My cat has CAT CHIN ACNE . It’s been our private shame for quite some time but now I come out in the open with it after I googled it and found 34,000 entries I found out we were not alone.
It turns out the treatment for cat chin acne(69, 700 entries) is just about the treatment for human chin acne. The problem being, have you ever tried to use stridex on your cat? If you thoughts cats were humorously predisposed to not enjoy bathing you should try to get your cat to start a skin care regime! The laughs never stop! Not only do they truly not enjoy soap and water they really do not enjoy astringents either. One of the sites I went to suggested that I should take my cat to the vet as soon as I notice the tell tale black heads forming. I think that ship has sailed for The Kitty and I since I first noticed those about three years ago. I thought he was a sloppy eater and tried to make it a point to scratch him more thoroughly under his chin.
Poor Kitty. He’s 77 years old in cat years and he looks like a cheese eating high school boy. Points if you know the song.
Oh, big excitement at the office today. One of the women I work with had the back window of her car smashed for the second time, the last time it was a random attack by a crazy person. This time she didn’t chalk it up to another random attack by a crazy person, which would be really odd but not entirely unexpected since we work on the campus of the STATE MENTAL HOSPITAL. And she is a Social Worker who has over time had many clients at the hospital who are crazy and are given passes to wander the grounds and some of them know what her car looks like and what building she works in now. No, this attack she blamed on a roaming attack Democrat, because that’s what we Democrats do, we bust out car windows because there is a McCain sticker on the car bumper. Yep. In her world 2+2 = 13. She said this in the hallway and the other numb nuts believed her and one went and called her husband to report that a Democrat had smashed this girls window because of her McCain sticker.
Gah. I need some pretty pictures.
My cat has CAT CHIN ACNE . It’s been our private shame for quite some time but now I come out in the open with it after I googled it and found 34,000 entries I found out we were not alone.
It turns out the treatment for cat chin acne(69, 700 entries) is just about the treatment for human chin acne. The problem being, have you ever tried to use stridex on your cat? If you thoughts cats were humorously predisposed to not enjoy bathing you should try to get your cat to start a skin care regime! The laughs never stop! Not only do they truly not enjoy soap and water they really do not enjoy astringents either. One of the sites I went to suggested that I should take my cat to the vet as soon as I notice the tell tale black heads forming. I think that ship has sailed for The Kitty and I since I first noticed those about three years ago. I thought he was a sloppy eater and tried to make it a point to scratch him more thoroughly under his chin.
Poor Kitty. He’s 77 years old in cat years and he looks like a cheese eating high school boy. Points if you know the song.
Oh, big excitement at the office today. One of the women I work with had the back window of her car smashed for the second time, the last time it was a random attack by a crazy person. This time she didn’t chalk it up to another random attack by a crazy person, which would be really odd but not entirely unexpected since we work on the campus of the STATE MENTAL HOSPITAL. And she is a Social Worker who has over time had many clients at the hospital who are crazy and are given passes to wander the grounds and some of them know what her car looks like and what building she works in now. No, this attack she blamed on a roaming attack Democrat, because that’s what we Democrats do, we bust out car windows because there is a McCain sticker on the car bumper. Yep. In her world 2+2 = 13. She said this in the hallway and the other numb nuts believed her and one went and called her husband to report that a Democrat had smashed this girls window because of her McCain sticker.
Gah. I need some pretty pictures.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
ACORN is the new ACLU.
The window is open, it’s a lovely night and I am watching Dogger listening to the neighborhood gossip. A dog a block over is going on and on about something that sounds very involved. Dogger looks concerned, about what I do not know, whatever it is, seems relevant to Dogger.
It's hard to tell what is bothering the other dog. It could be that it is delivering a particularity long response to a another dog that I was not bear a window and did not hear - or perhaps the other dog was just upset by the people across the street intermittable drama caused by getting in and out of their cars. Maybe the other dog was just suggesting that they finish up their conversation and go their separate ways. Perhaps the dog wanted to be able to give its full attention to the debate and did not appreciate the intrusion. The other dog needs Tivo.
The other dog went back to its business and Dogger seems to be napping. She had a busy day, napping and napping and then riding Minnie with me on errand. An errand where I should have stopped and bought that $3.08 a gallon gas I passed but I didn’t because there was a line and I was trying to be efficient. And I didn’t really need gas. Even $3.09 gas. Right now my tank is a hodge podge of prices per gallon. It’s all mixed up and it doubts its self worth. I feel it’s pain but if any part of me was worth $3.80 a gallon I would feel good about the parts that were only worth $3.46. It evens out, over all it should feel good about being $3.63 a gallon. It’s still over priced, even on average and still probably worth more per gallon than I am.
The dog across the street who wanted to watch the debate is a better citizen than I am. I do not want to watch the debate. I checked on CNN.com for their live blogging blow-by-blow and saw that they were arguing over ACORN. I was a dues paying member of ACORN, briefly. I stopped paying because they were useless. And my purse got stolen and I closed the account they were drafting their monthly fee from and all they knew was the checks began to bounce and they never heard from me again. I would have stopped paying them at some point but I think they were making like an unwanted gym membership - Hoping my guilt over not going would be assuaged by paying them not to bother me about it.
I quit and so did everyone else. ACORN came in told us they were going to fix things, make things better, chase the bad guys out, make the police more responsive and bring us together as a community. Instead they sent us a speaker who wanted us to feel the neighborhood thugs pain. We didn’t want to feel their pain, we wanted to cause their pain! We wanted to get them arrested and off our streets we were told if we had them arrested it would adversely effect our street “cred” with the thugs! The speaker was very good but he had gone native.
ACORN wanted us to come up with “ideas”. We told them if we had “ideas” we would not need ACORN. All they wanted to do was start after school programs and register voters. ACORNS secret plan for world domination was to educate poor black children and register their parents to vote, ultimately raising an army of educated poor black Democrats. The nerve. I quit because I thought they were boring, little did I know I was being bored by "terrorists".
The window is open, it’s a lovely night and I am watching Dogger listening to the neighborhood gossip. A dog a block over is going on and on about something that sounds very involved. Dogger looks concerned, about what I do not know, whatever it is, seems relevant to Dogger.
It's hard to tell what is bothering the other dog. It could be that it is delivering a particularity long response to a another dog that I was not bear a window and did not hear - or perhaps the other dog was just upset by the people across the street intermittable drama caused by getting in and out of their cars. Maybe the other dog was just suggesting that they finish up their conversation and go their separate ways. Perhaps the dog wanted to be able to give its full attention to the debate and did not appreciate the intrusion. The other dog needs Tivo.
The other dog went back to its business and Dogger seems to be napping. She had a busy day, napping and napping and then riding Minnie with me on errand. An errand where I should have stopped and bought that $3.08 a gallon gas I passed but I didn’t because there was a line and I was trying to be efficient. And I didn’t really need gas. Even $3.09 gas. Right now my tank is a hodge podge of prices per gallon. It’s all mixed up and it doubts its self worth. I feel it’s pain but if any part of me was worth $3.80 a gallon I would feel good about the parts that were only worth $3.46. It evens out, over all it should feel good about being $3.63 a gallon. It’s still over priced, even on average and still probably worth more per gallon than I am.
The dog across the street who wanted to watch the debate is a better citizen than I am. I do not want to watch the debate. I checked on CNN.com for their live blogging blow-by-blow and saw that they were arguing over ACORN. I was a dues paying member of ACORN, briefly. I stopped paying because they were useless. And my purse got stolen and I closed the account they were drafting their monthly fee from and all they knew was the checks began to bounce and they never heard from me again. I would have stopped paying them at some point but I think they were making like an unwanted gym membership - Hoping my guilt over not going would be assuaged by paying them not to bother me about it.
I quit and so did everyone else. ACORN came in told us they were going to fix things, make things better, chase the bad guys out, make the police more responsive and bring us together as a community. Instead they sent us a speaker who wanted us to feel the neighborhood thugs pain. We didn’t want to feel their pain, we wanted to cause their pain! We wanted to get them arrested and off our streets we were told if we had them arrested it would adversely effect our street “cred” with the thugs! The speaker was very good but he had gone native.
ACORN wanted us to come up with “ideas”. We told them if we had “ideas” we would not need ACORN. All they wanted to do was start after school programs and register voters. ACORNS secret plan for world domination was to educate poor black children and register their parents to vote, ultimately raising an army of educated poor black Democrats. The nerve. I quit because I thought they were boring, little did I know I was being bored by "terrorists".
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Good Things
It was 85 degrees yesterday. October 14. 85 degrees. In Marquette, MI it was 77. On October 14. A record.
I was really bummed that I had to spend my lunch hour inside at Sam’s Club picking up The Kitty’s meds. I’m going to have to get a new pharmacy, not that I have any problems with them, I like them, they’re good people. I go to the counter, I tell them what I want and they tell me it’ll be about 10 minutes. I then have to spend ten minutes wandering around the Sam’s Club. I need a pharmacy housed in a auto parts store.
There are so many things I want at Sam’s Club! I saw a really cute, festive albeit tasteful sweater that would be perfect for the holidays - Until I asked my self Where are you going? Do you have secret plans? The only thing you need for the holiday’s are festive flannel Pjs because sitting on the couch watching Rudolph is the yearly average of of your holiday partying, and I all ready have an extensive wardrobe of flannel Pjs. I’m not getting any sweaters. Even really cute sweaters! with a tasteful bit of festive bling. Sigh. The off white would be perfect or the gray or even the black. The only one I’m not pinning for is the red, it was a cheap red, not a festive red, a red you would see at a GOP Christmas party. In Natchez.
I saw all kinds of things I wanted! Large, unnecessary Christmas decorations of largely questionable taste! Huge boxes of bows! Whole stands of wrapping paper! Books! Books I may not want to read but Books! Kids Books! Books that you can pet books that chirp and blink or are full of pretty pictures! A stroller and assorted supplies for your stuffed Dog! Large Toys! Large Toys for Tiny E! Tonka Trucks! Tonka Front End Loaders! Indiana Jones themed Toys! Rocking Dinosaurs! Toys for me! They sell purses at Sam’s Club. Nice purses that I want and leather jackets that I need . I hate Sam’s Club.
I didn’t buy any of it. I got a cheap slice of pizza and The Kitty’s meds and I was out the door. I stopped at the Farmers Market and picked up two smallish pumpkins to soothe myself and to compliment my big plug-in pumpkin I bought at Target - So, they multi-tasked. Very efficient pumpkins.
I’ve been shopping too often. Not really spending much but spending too much time looking at things that I could buy if I wasn’t being strong. If I wasn’t poor. If I could buy things just because I like them or I think some one else would like them. I’m sure that my credit cards would doubt it, but the world is full of things I did not buy. Speaking of things I did not buy Micro-Fleece sheets. I need these. Micro-fleece sheets are what flannel sheet addicts turn to when flannel just isn’t enough anymore. And I didn’t buy them, Attention Santa, micro-fleece!
Thought for the Day : With toys meant for boys, attention to realism is important. The trucks are just smaller versions of their working brothers. With toys meant for girls, nothing is realistic, fantastical, pink and lavender, dreamy versions of the real thing are par for the course. Why is this? What does this speak to? How boys use their imaginations? How girls use theirs? How we train them to use their imaginations? If Tonka made a girl truck would it have to be pink? And why?
It was 85 degrees yesterday. October 14. 85 degrees. In Marquette, MI it was 77. On October 14. A record.
I was really bummed that I had to spend my lunch hour inside at Sam’s Club picking up The Kitty’s meds. I’m going to have to get a new pharmacy, not that I have any problems with them, I like them, they’re good people. I go to the counter, I tell them what I want and they tell me it’ll be about 10 minutes. I then have to spend ten minutes wandering around the Sam’s Club. I need a pharmacy housed in a auto parts store.
There are so many things I want at Sam’s Club! I saw a really cute, festive albeit tasteful sweater that would be perfect for the holidays - Until I asked my self Where are you going? Do you have secret plans? The only thing you need for the holiday’s are festive flannel Pjs because sitting on the couch watching Rudolph is the yearly average of of your holiday partying, and I all ready have an extensive wardrobe of flannel Pjs. I’m not getting any sweaters. Even really cute sweaters! with a tasteful bit of festive bling. Sigh. The off white would be perfect or the gray or even the black. The only one I’m not pinning for is the red, it was a cheap red, not a festive red, a red you would see at a GOP Christmas party. In Natchez.
I saw all kinds of things I wanted! Large, unnecessary Christmas decorations of largely questionable taste! Huge boxes of bows! Whole stands of wrapping paper! Books! Books I may not want to read but Books! Kids Books! Books that you can pet books that chirp and blink or are full of pretty pictures! A stroller and assorted supplies for your stuffed Dog! Large Toys! Large Toys for Tiny E! Tonka Trucks! Tonka Front End Loaders! Indiana Jones themed Toys! Rocking Dinosaurs! Toys for me! They sell purses at Sam’s Club. Nice purses that I want and leather jackets that I need . I hate Sam’s Club.
I didn’t buy any of it. I got a cheap slice of pizza and The Kitty’s meds and I was out the door. I stopped at the Farmers Market and picked up two smallish pumpkins to soothe myself and to compliment my big plug-in pumpkin I bought at Target - So, they multi-tasked. Very efficient pumpkins.
I’ve been shopping too often. Not really spending much but spending too much time looking at things that I could buy if I wasn’t being strong. If I wasn’t poor. If I could buy things just because I like them or I think some one else would like them. I’m sure that my credit cards would doubt it, but the world is full of things I did not buy. Speaking of things I did not buy Micro-Fleece sheets. I need these. Micro-fleece sheets are what flannel sheet addicts turn to when flannel just isn’t enough anymore. And I didn’t buy them, Attention Santa, micro-fleece!
Thought for the Day : With toys meant for boys, attention to realism is important. The trucks are just smaller versions of their working brothers. With toys meant for girls, nothing is realistic, fantastical, pink and lavender, dreamy versions of the real thing are par for the course. Why is this? What does this speak to? How boys use their imaginations? How girls use theirs? How we train them to use their imaginations? If Tonka made a girl truck would it have to be pink? And why?
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
It's just weird
You Have the Right to Vote. Exercise It. This November's presidential election is one of the most hotly contested, closely watched and, frankly, most important races in our nation's history. In order for your voice to be heard, you first must register to vote. Time is running out, but in many states, you can still get the job done—if you act now. Go to Rock the Vote to see if you're eligible. It couldn't be easier. It couldn't be more important.
And when you go to vote on Nov. 4, if you have any problems, questions or concerns about the process, visit Election Protection or call 1-866-OUR-VOTE, because a controversial election shouldn't lead to controversy in the voting booth.
First, Restoration Hardware waded in by celebrating the federal bail out and now E! Network wants to protect me from vote fraud.
You Have the Right to Vote. Exercise It. This November's presidential election is one of the most hotly contested, closely watched and, frankly, most important races in our nation's history. In order for your voice to be heard, you first must register to vote. Time is running out, but in many states, you can still get the job done—if you act now. Go to Rock the Vote to see if you're eligible. It couldn't be easier. It couldn't be more important.
And when you go to vote on Nov. 4, if you have any problems, questions or concerns about the process, visit Election Protection or call 1-866-OUR-VOTE, because a controversial election shouldn't lead to controversy in the voting booth.
First, Restoration Hardware waded in by celebrating the federal bail out and now E! Network wants to protect me from vote fraud.
Yea.
The Dow Jones closes up more than 900 points, according to early tallies , its biggest point gain in a single day ever.
Does this mean we aren’t all going to starve to death this winter? If so this is really going to put a crimp in Targets current Welcome to the Poor House! America! Wear our $38 dress while you stand in the bread line.” advertising campaign. The last time I went to the bank the teller made a point of telling me that they had no solvency problems and that I should worry about them at all. I would have felt better if she had looked me in the eye when she said it and wasn't holding the want ads in one had and a rosery in the other.
Speaking of the fate of my money. We got another flash email at work today telling us that we most likely will not starve to death when we retire and that they are pretty much certain we’ll get our checks at the end of the month, Gawd Willing. Then I read the story in the paper
RALEIGH - North Carolina's public pension fund has taken its lumps because of the plunging stock market, but it remains fiscally solid and is doing better than most of its peers, State Treasurer Richard Moore said today.
The pension fund now stands at about $66 billion after falling about 12 percent for the one-year period that ended Sept. 30 -- including a $6 billion drop over the last three months.
Nevertheless, Moore said, "the pension fund of the state of North Carolina, and the cities and counties across North Carolina, is sound. And the retirees out there can rest assured that we've got plenty of money we can lay our hands on to make their retirement checks come every month just like they're supposed to.".
I don’t know, he’s sounding kind of faux folksy there. I don’t trust faux folksy. It just seems Sarah Palin-y and false. I don’t want my money in the hands of a Sarah Palin .
$6 Billion drop? No wonder I can’t order paperclips! And then there was this:
"As for active state workers, you're going to get your pay checks on time," Moore said. "While the growth of government may slow, there is no reason to believe that anybody is facing an imminent layoff."
Who said anything about layoffs? I would have preferred that he not use the L word if The L word wasn’t a possibility. No one said anything about layoffs. What is it they say about scoundrels and religion and folksy-ness? I feel doomed.
Speaking of “doomed”, we opened with great hemming and hawing and pearl clutching, a new psych hospital last summer and the whole saga of the place as been, well a saga and now? Now we’re mad at it. We have as of today four mental hospitals, Broughton hat we nailed last summer and cut off their funding for months, Cherry where we just cut off their funding, Dix that is still funded and... Not so fast there Central Reginal... . The stupid, it burns.
The Dow Jones closes up more than 900 points, according to early tallies , its biggest point gain in a single day ever.
Does this mean we aren’t all going to starve to death this winter? If so this is really going to put a crimp in Targets current Welcome to the Poor House! America! Wear our $38 dress while you stand in the bread line.” advertising campaign. The last time I went to the bank the teller made a point of telling me that they had no solvency problems and that I should worry about them at all. I would have felt better if she had looked me in the eye when she said it and wasn't holding the want ads in one had and a rosery in the other.
Speaking of the fate of my money. We got another flash email at work today telling us that we most likely will not starve to death when we retire and that they are pretty much certain we’ll get our checks at the end of the month, Gawd Willing. Then I read the story in the paper
RALEIGH - North Carolina's public pension fund has taken its lumps because of the plunging stock market, but it remains fiscally solid and is doing better than most of its peers, State Treasurer Richard Moore said today.
The pension fund now stands at about $66 billion after falling about 12 percent for the one-year period that ended Sept. 30 -- including a $6 billion drop over the last three months.
Nevertheless, Moore said, "the pension fund of the state of North Carolina, and the cities and counties across North Carolina, is sound. And the retirees out there can rest assured that we've got plenty of money we can lay our hands on to make their retirement checks come every month just like they're supposed to.".
I don’t know, he’s sounding kind of faux folksy there. I don’t trust faux folksy. It just seems Sarah Palin-y and false. I don’t want my money in the hands of a Sarah Palin .
$6 Billion drop? No wonder I can’t order paperclips! And then there was this:
"As for active state workers, you're going to get your pay checks on time," Moore said. "While the growth of government may slow, there is no reason to believe that anybody is facing an imminent layoff."
Who said anything about layoffs? I would have preferred that he not use the L word if The L word wasn’t a possibility. No one said anything about layoffs. What is it they say about scoundrels and religion and folksy-ness? I feel doomed.
Speaking of “doomed”, we opened with great hemming and hawing and pearl clutching, a new psych hospital last summer and the whole saga of the place as been, well a saga and now? Now we’re mad at it. We have as of today four mental hospitals, Broughton hat we nailed last summer and cut off their funding for months, Cherry where we just cut off their funding, Dix that is still funded and... Not so fast there Central Reginal... . The stupid, it burns.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Ow. Cause, meet effect
Friday was a very weird day, My alarm went off at 6:05 and my first response was Oh. I forgot to turn my alarm off. That's really sad because its Saturday. I don't have to be up for hours. And so I stayed in bed. I didn't go back to sleep because I did have to get out of bed to take Dogger to the vet for a 10am appointment.
At 7:30 I rolled over and looked at the clock and said OH MY GAWD ITS FRIDAY!!! Fortunately, my clock is set ahead and by the time I threw on some clothes and forced pills down every ones throats and flew out the door, I arrived at work exactly on time. Whew. That's what I get for cheating on E.R by taping it and watching Life on Mars instead. Lesson learned.
The rest of the day went along swimmingly until the three-pm-news dump. We got an email from The Secretary and we learned the following:
- All travel is frozen
- All vacant positions are frozen
- All salary adjustments are frozen
- All purchases are frozen
- All directive apply regardless of funding sources.
Man, I knew things out in the world were bad but I didn't think it was going to change that fast. Speaking of fast, Target has an ad out all ready trumpeting their budget friendly prices, now that all of a sudden we're all poor. It just seems so fast.I guess the entire management team from my division are lucky they let them come back from that three day conference in San Diego last week. These cuts do not sound related to a decree that went out about a month ago from the Governors office that state agencies were to cut two percent from their budgets. This sounds like a rerun of several years ago when we weren't allowed to order paper clips for a year. It sucked.
It could be worse though. The year I was hired the budget was so short they were furloughing state employees because they couldn't make payroll. They had to get special dispensation to hire me because they position had been vacant for six months and they were desperate and the job paid so little it was practically a volunteer position. I didn't get the same salary I was getting with my last position for four years and it was almost two years after that that I finally was earning more than I was when I was laid off in 2001. It's hard out there for a state employee, once hired we are harder to get rid of than cockroaches but they sure as hell try.
The good news for me Friday was that Friday evening I finalized my Christmas card plans by nailing down my photo-cards, yes plural and ordered prints from Snapfish where I got fifty free prints! Saving myself many dollars over going to Wallgreens! I only had to pay for 20 prints at .9 each, Whoo! I also got lucky with costs because I had some photo-cards stock piled from after Christmas sale shopping , so I ended up only having to go out and buy cards for one set of the prints instead of all three. I won't be able to order paperclips at work until the end of the fiscal year, but in real life I can send Christmas cards.
Friday was a very weird day, My alarm went off at 6:05 and my first response was Oh. I forgot to turn my alarm off. That's really sad because its Saturday. I don't have to be up for hours. And so I stayed in bed. I didn't go back to sleep because I did have to get out of bed to take Dogger to the vet for a 10am appointment.
At 7:30 I rolled over and looked at the clock and said OH MY GAWD ITS FRIDAY!!! Fortunately, my clock is set ahead and by the time I threw on some clothes and forced pills down every ones throats and flew out the door, I arrived at work exactly on time. Whew. That's what I get for cheating on E.R by taping it and watching Life on Mars instead. Lesson learned.
The rest of the day went along swimmingly until the three-pm-news dump. We got an email from The Secretary and we learned the following:
- All travel is frozen
- All vacant positions are frozen
- All salary adjustments are frozen
- All purchases are frozen
- All directive apply regardless of funding sources.
Man, I knew things out in the world were bad but I didn't think it was going to change that fast. Speaking of fast, Target has an ad out all ready trumpeting their budget friendly prices, now that all of a sudden we're all poor. It just seems so fast.I guess the entire management team from my division are lucky they let them come back from that three day conference in San Diego last week. These cuts do not sound related to a decree that went out about a month ago from the Governors office that state agencies were to cut two percent from their budgets. This sounds like a rerun of several years ago when we weren't allowed to order paper clips for a year. It sucked.
It could be worse though. The year I was hired the budget was so short they were furloughing state employees because they couldn't make payroll. They had to get special dispensation to hire me because they position had been vacant for six months and they were desperate and the job paid so little it was practically a volunteer position. I didn't get the same salary I was getting with my last position for four years and it was almost two years after that that I finally was earning more than I was when I was laid off in 2001. It's hard out there for a state employee, once hired we are harder to get rid of than cockroaches but they sure as hell try.
The good news for me Friday was that Friday evening I finalized my Christmas card plans by nailing down my photo-cards, yes plural and ordered prints from Snapfish where I got fifty free prints! Saving myself many dollars over going to Wallgreens! I only had to pay for 20 prints at .9 each, Whoo! I also got lucky with costs because I had some photo-cards stock piled from after Christmas sale shopping , so I ended up only having to go out and buy cards for one set of the prints instead of all three. I won't be able to order paperclips at work until the end of the fiscal year, but in real life I can send Christmas cards.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
Yea! Friday
Is it over all ready? Last week at this time I was stressing over my friends visit and worrying that I wasn’t going to be able to keep her entertained and occupied and Oh My Gawd! I’ve Never Driven To The Airport! I’m Going To Get Lost And She’ll Be Stranded! What Happens If She Opens My Refrigerator and Finds Out It’s Empty! What Happens If We Run Out Of Things To Talk About? Happily, none of these were an issue. A really good time was had by all.
We went to the beach
And we visited with my parents and took a trip on their boat and explored their historic town and the best part? I didn’t get lost going to the airport! Picking up or dropping off! She didn’t open my refrigerator and we never stopped talking the whole weekend. I miss her all ready! And now its Friday again. This weekend my big adventure is a trip to the vet. Which in its favor, I’ve been to before. A lot.
Hey, how about that stock market? I got a tear stained letter from my money today.
CNN.com said the market closed almost 700 points down, it didn’t! It only dropped 678! I mean, that’s a huge difference! I mean it’s a news outlet, would it kill them to be a little more precise? I mean 22 points is a sizable number. I define “almost” as less than seven not more than twenty.
To distract me from the non-joy, I am continuing my card work. Snapfish emailed me today and walked right into my trap. And then I looked at how much my list would run me and I let them out. It did give me an idea about the kind of frame thing I want so it wasn’t a total loss. It would have been way cool to have a card that was all one piece, like a store bought card only not.
I think there is a reason that they don’t sell cards in card frames, I mean other than it would be really easy to steal the print or mix and match and that would mess up their inventory or it could be a great marketing thing! There is a whole generation that has grown up changing their desktop wallpaper and their skins and whatnot and wouldn’t there be a market for do-it-yourself photo cards? Offer a bunch of different images and a bunch of different sleeve choices with different colors and patterns and themes or you can use your own image and select from the sleeves. It would cost the same as a traditional card but you could personalize it. I like the idea of having a pre-written message in the card It would be Build-A-Bear for greeting cards.
I know that you can have cards made at any drugstore but those are flat cards and I don’t think they have the same oomph as a folding card. I’m a giant card snob, it’s about presentation and the flat cards just don’t carry the same gravitas as a folding card. I just ascribed levels of "gravitas" to greeting cards...
Is it over all ready? Last week at this time I was stressing over my friends visit and worrying that I wasn’t going to be able to keep her entertained and occupied and Oh My Gawd! I’ve Never Driven To The Airport! I’m Going To Get Lost And She’ll Be Stranded! What Happens If She Opens My Refrigerator and Finds Out It’s Empty! What Happens If We Run Out Of Things To Talk About? Happily, none of these were an issue. A really good time was had by all.
We went to the beach
And we visited with my parents and took a trip on their boat and explored their historic town and the best part? I didn’t get lost going to the airport! Picking up or dropping off! She didn’t open my refrigerator and we never stopped talking the whole weekend. I miss her all ready! And now its Friday again. This weekend my big adventure is a trip to the vet. Which in its favor, I’ve been to before. A lot.
Hey, how about that stock market? I got a tear stained letter from my money today.
Pretty Picture of Thinking Happy Thoughts!!
CNN.com said the market closed almost 700 points down, it didn’t! It only dropped 678! I mean, that’s a huge difference! I mean it’s a news outlet, would it kill them to be a little more precise? I mean 22 points is a sizable number. I define “almost” as less than seven not more than twenty.
Another Pretty Picture of Thinking Happy Thoughts!!
To distract me from the non-joy, I am continuing my card work. Snapfish emailed me today and walked right into my trap. And then I looked at how much my list would run me and I let them out. It did give me an idea about the kind of frame thing I want so it wasn’t a total loss. It would have been way cool to have a card that was all one piece, like a store bought card only not.
I think there is a reason that they don’t sell cards in card frames, I mean other than it would be really easy to steal the print or mix and match and that would mess up their inventory or it could be a great marketing thing! There is a whole generation that has grown up changing their desktop wallpaper and their skins and whatnot and wouldn’t there be a market for do-it-yourself photo cards? Offer a bunch of different images and a bunch of different sleeve choices with different colors and patterns and themes or you can use your own image and select from the sleeves. It would cost the same as a traditional card but you could personalize it. I like the idea of having a pre-written message in the card It would be Build-A-Bear for greeting cards.
I know that you can have cards made at any drugstore but those are flat cards and I don’t think they have the same oomph as a folding card. I’m a giant card snob, it’s about presentation and the flat cards just don’t carry the same gravitas as a folding card. I just ascribed levels of "gravitas" to greeting cards...
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Getting Carded
Have I mentioned that I love Pushing Daisies? And that you should also love Pushing Daisies? And that it is a very wonderful TV show that is almost too pretty to be a TV show? TV shows are flat and dull and not pretty and this show is bright and shiny and pretty and you should be watching it and if you were watching it you would love it too. It is on ABC at 7 central 8 eastern on Wednesday nights. It’s like the prettiest, glittery Christmas ornament on your tree had it’s own intricate plot line and Emmy caliber set and costume design.
Speaking of Christmas. I’ve been side tracked by my Christmas card. I had been watching a very smart documentary on Goya’s 3rd of May.A Very Important Work of Art, through which I learned that Napoleon was a bad man and did really awful things to the people of Spain, which I think was covered by a paragraph in my college world history class and was a question on the final : Napoleon went to Spain - True or False. I wasn’t a history major but the whole thing seemed new to me. Also the Very Important Work of Art hangs in a Spanish museum and I have not been to Spain. I should ask Alphagal, who has been to Spain and may have seen the stamps, money, murals and various gewgaws the painting adorns. Who knew?
The whole series The Secret Lives of Masterpieces is about all the art you don’t see because you see it everywhere and don’t know anything about because you know everything about it. The next featured work on my DVD is Liberty Leading the People, it’s very French and celebrates the 1830 revolution where instead of killing the King like they did in 1789 , the French people just wanted to change in the one they had for one they might like better. I haven’t finished watching this one yet but I’m sure it is Very Important Work of Art and is deeply meaningful and fraught with subtext and is also on stamps and money and gewgaws
So I was watching these deeply important documentaries on Very Important Works of Art and I began to think about the image for my Christmas card - in my house a Very Important Work of Art in it’s own right. I took 119 images of four or five separate trees and their decorations and I then winnowed them down to about 20. The next step is to get them printed out so I can see them in person and then winnow them further and then the remaining contestants I will give to one of my friends at work to look at and give me the champion.
And then its really gets down to which image I can find a picture frame card that is a good match for it. It matters! It can be hard to find the right one. If it’s a contemporary looking image you need a card that is also contemporary in style, and then the colors in the image also play a part in what picture frame card I end up with. The image I am the most fond of this time around may be a hard one to find a good card for. It’s a little bright and Christmas picture frame cards do not lean towards the bright. I can go with my vision for the card or I suck it up and go with the easy way out. Both, by the by would be good cards. I don’t take bad Christmas card pictures but I do play favorites.
Have I mentioned that I love Pushing Daisies? And that you should also love Pushing Daisies? And that it is a very wonderful TV show that is almost too pretty to be a TV show? TV shows are flat and dull and not pretty and this show is bright and shiny and pretty and you should be watching it and if you were watching it you would love it too. It is on ABC at 7 central 8 eastern on Wednesday nights. It’s like the prettiest, glittery Christmas ornament on your tree had it’s own intricate plot line and Emmy caliber set and costume design.
Speaking of Christmas. I’ve been side tracked by my Christmas card. I had been watching a very smart documentary on Goya’s 3rd of May.A Very Important Work of Art, through which I learned that Napoleon was a bad man and did really awful things to the people of Spain, which I think was covered by a paragraph in my college world history class and was a question on the final : Napoleon went to Spain - True or False. I wasn’t a history major but the whole thing seemed new to me. Also the Very Important Work of Art hangs in a Spanish museum and I have not been to Spain. I should ask Alphagal, who has been to Spain and may have seen the stamps, money, murals and various gewgaws the painting adorns. Who knew?
The whole series The Secret Lives of Masterpieces is about all the art you don’t see because you see it everywhere and don’t know anything about because you know everything about it. The next featured work on my DVD is Liberty Leading the People, it’s very French and celebrates the 1830 revolution where instead of killing the King like they did in 1789 , the French people just wanted to change in the one they had for one they might like better. I haven’t finished watching this one yet but I’m sure it is Very Important Work of Art and is deeply meaningful and fraught with subtext and is also on stamps and money and gewgaws
So I was watching these deeply important documentaries on Very Important Works of Art and I began to think about the image for my Christmas card - in my house a Very Important Work of Art in it’s own right. I took 119 images of four or five separate trees and their decorations and I then winnowed them down to about 20. The next step is to get them printed out so I can see them in person and then winnow them further and then the remaining contestants I will give to one of my friends at work to look at and give me the champion.
And then its really gets down to which image I can find a picture frame card that is a good match for it. It matters! It can be hard to find the right one. If it’s a contemporary looking image you need a card that is also contemporary in style, and then the colors in the image also play a part in what picture frame card I end up with. The image I am the most fond of this time around may be a hard one to find a good card for. It’s a little bright and Christmas picture frame cards do not lean towards the bright. I can go with my vision for the card or I suck it up and go with the easy way out. Both, by the by would be good cards. I don’t take bad Christmas card pictures but I do play favorites.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Greetings!
Hi!
Hi!
How's your dog doing?
She's doing much better, Thank you for asking!
Tell her I asked after her!
I will!
Awwww! Cutest. Thing. Ever.
Hey! Miss Diana! Miss Diana! I recorded a song about Obama and my son! I just wanted you to know! It's only $5!!
Oh. And I am totally sure she's donating ever cent to the campaign.
Hi! This is Blahblah at the News and Observer, did you have any problem getting your paper this weekend?
No. But I wasn't here.
Did you get it today?
Yes.
Well, call if you have any problems!
I always do.
Wahh! My friend went home early this morning and I should have then gone to work then like a good little worker bee but instead I came home and stripped the bed and did laundries and decided that today would be the day I put away my summer clothes. I had no where to put them but that could be fixed. Then I (sob!) pulled up most of my remaining vegetables, seven or so months later it was painful watching them try to photosynthize. I voted out the small tomatoes and eggplant but left the still nominally productive peppers and large tomatoes. My sad, chewed on, lace-like baby broccoli are on the critical list. How much pesticide is too much pesticide? I'll tell you when I find out., either I'll harvest broccali or I'll kill the rest of the remaining bees.
Post-poison, I went to the bank, got some pictures printed and went and shopped for under bed boxes . . . Not the task I thought it was going to be when I said to myself that I would go get under bed boxes and put away my summer clothes and pull out my winter clothes. I thought I would just hustle to Target when I went to the bank and pick up some boxes. I had imagined those cardboard boxes they used to sell and I assumed still sold, well, they do not still sell them. However, they do however, sell hard plastic boxes that are smaller than my card board apple of my eye, and cost more. A lot more.
Target let me down. The closet things they had to under bed boxes were heavy vinyl box-ish bag-like things that were advertised as "sweater boxes", i.e large enough to hold sweaters. A couple of sweaters. I needed something advertised as to hold my entire summer wardrobe and still be under 4 inches tall and less than the size of a double bed. My mother bought them for years, probably from Target and I should be able to as well. But again, Target let me down and they wanted me to buy the plastic lids to their plastic boxes separately. So I bought two resin pumpkins in the name of not wasteing live pumpkins for my own selfish needs?
Pumpkins in hand, I changed stores. I went to Bed, Bath and. Beyond. Even less helpful! Beyond the cardboard under bed box! All of their boxes cam equipped with wheels. I don't need to be able to steer the boxes, I think I can push them under the bed without their assistance.
Off to Wallyworld., no cardboard box joy their either, but at least they had vinyl boxes the size I was looking for in the first place. Hate Wallyworld.
Hi!
Hi!
How's your dog doing?
She's doing much better, Thank you for asking!
Tell her I asked after her!
I will!
Awwww! Cutest. Thing. Ever.
Hey! Miss Diana! Miss Diana! I recorded a song about Obama and my son! I just wanted you to know! It's only $5!!
Oh. And I am totally sure she's donating ever cent to the campaign.
Hi! This is Blahblah at the News and Observer, did you have any problem getting your paper this weekend?
No. But I wasn't here.
Did you get it today?
Yes.
Well, call if you have any problems!
I always do.
Wahh! My friend went home early this morning and I should have then gone to work then like a good little worker bee but instead I came home and stripped the bed and did laundries and decided that today would be the day I put away my summer clothes. I had no where to put them but that could be fixed. Then I (sob!) pulled up most of my remaining vegetables, seven or so months later it was painful watching them try to photosynthize. I voted out the small tomatoes and eggplant but left the still nominally productive peppers and large tomatoes. My sad, chewed on, lace-like baby broccoli are on the critical list. How much pesticide is too much pesticide? I'll tell you when I find out., either I'll harvest broccali or I'll kill the rest of the remaining bees.
Post-poison, I went to the bank, got some pictures printed and went and shopped for under bed boxes . . . Not the task I thought it was going to be when I said to myself that I would go get under bed boxes and put away my summer clothes and pull out my winter clothes. I thought I would just hustle to Target when I went to the bank and pick up some boxes. I had imagined those cardboard boxes they used to sell and I assumed still sold, well, they do not still sell them. However, they do however, sell hard plastic boxes that are smaller than my card board apple of my eye, and cost more. A lot more.
Target let me down. The closet things they had to under bed boxes were heavy vinyl box-ish bag-like things that were advertised as "sweater boxes", i.e large enough to hold sweaters. A couple of sweaters. I needed something advertised as to hold my entire summer wardrobe and still be under 4 inches tall and less than the size of a double bed. My mother bought them for years, probably from Target and I should be able to as well. But again, Target let me down and they wanted me to buy the plastic lids to their plastic boxes separately. So I bought two resin pumpkins in the name of not wasteing live pumpkins for my own selfish needs?
Pumpkins in hand, I changed stores. I went to Bed, Bath and. Beyond. Even less helpful! Beyond the cardboard under bed box! All of their boxes cam equipped with wheels. I don't need to be able to steer the boxes, I think I can push them under the bed without their assistance.
Off to Wallyworld., no cardboard box joy their either, but at least they had vinyl boxes the size I was looking for in the first place. Hate Wallyworld.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Friday, October 3, 2008
My head explodes
The other day I was standing in line and the people behind me were bemoaning the fact that they could not get gas for their cars and I was thinking Wow. Sucks to be them. I can get gas for the car anywhere!, and then tonight I went down New Bern Avenue to get gas and I couldn’t get gas anywhere. I found it eventually, but my usual sources had literally, dried up. Still though, even with the closed stations I saw and I saw a lot, four in a row, I paid $3.72 for gas while the pirates at my corner are charging $4.09. Bastards.
I went down in that direction because Dogger needed food. Mission accomplished there, I decided that my downstairs bathroom needed some bling - a soap dish, maybe some decorative accessories to make it look nicer. I’m having a guest and I’m noticing the downstairs bathroom is a little bare, only slightly less so than my wallet, so I decided to suck it up and go to Wallyworld because they should have a plentiful supply of cheap bathroom bling. They had all kinds of bling but it looked cheap but wasn’t. I then said Okay, themes are for adolescent girls, how about a solid color. Yeah. No joy there either. I could find the color I wanted but not the items and the cheap stuff they did have in stock was all ceramic and I don’t do breakables. I decided to go home and go by Poverty Barn over lunch. I mean even if it’s cheap and plastic, a cheap and plastic soap dish beats no soap dish at all.
The sirens have been tearing down the street behind my house since I came home from work. I had no idea that the specter of the VP debates were going to spawn riots! I mean seriously, it’s been hours and they seem to be running every hour on the hour. Due to how close I am to a trauma center and a fire station, I am going to hear them more than if I didn’t live so close but dayum and you know? There won’t be a word in the paper about any of it, going with the idea that the sirens are going somewhere for some reason and it’s not like they are tearing down the street for practice. I’m pretty certain that the VP debate is going to be in the paper. But not if it was held in Southeast Raleigh. Unless someone gets shot then the paper would be there and then wouldn’t that be news, if one shot the other. I could see Palen explaining how she culls wolves and caribou from helicopters and culling Biden “on accident”.
(edited to add - There were two unrelated shootings, fortunatly no fatalities , about a mile from my house)
Speaking of Biden. I went to the Obama headquarters after work today to pick up a new yard sign and they didn’t have any. They said as soon as they come in they go out. I mention Biden because the new signs have his name on them and the sign I have been using since before the primaries only says Obama. My sign is getting kind of weathered and I want to be able to save it and I can’t save it if it gets to weathered and it's looking kind of wind blown now. The headquarters did get some good news while I was standing there, the new signs would be in later in the evening and I can pick up a new sign Friday. I would gotten a sign to put away for posterity, but this is the new day of politics and they don’t give signs away anymore. You want a sign you have to pay for it. You put a sign in your yard and it’s a paid political ad.
Okay. I just turned on the debate. Is Palen on purpose looking like Tina Fey? And who did Bidens’ make up? A McCain plant? He looks like a ghost. And must she say “Heck of A” and “Darn Right”? Shit.
Corporate tax cuts do not make jobs! GAWD. Corporate tax cute make bigger executive bonuses. She doesn’t answer the questions because she CAN’T ANSWER THE QUESTIONS!!! I’m going to have to turn the channels, two minutes and I’m all ready upset.. This woman could be a heart beat away from the presidency and she can’t answer simple questions. My ovaries are very ashamed right now. But you know what really upsets me? If my hair was a little longer and I straighten it, I would look just like her. I mean, for real. I wonder how fast I can dye my hair blond and get contacts?
The other day I was standing in line and the people behind me were bemoaning the fact that they could not get gas for their cars and I was thinking Wow. Sucks to be them. I can get gas for the car anywhere!, and then tonight I went down New Bern Avenue to get gas and I couldn’t get gas anywhere. I found it eventually, but my usual sources had literally, dried up. Still though, even with the closed stations I saw and I saw a lot, four in a row, I paid $3.72 for gas while the pirates at my corner are charging $4.09. Bastards.
I went down in that direction because Dogger needed food. Mission accomplished there, I decided that my downstairs bathroom needed some bling - a soap dish, maybe some decorative accessories to make it look nicer. I’m having a guest and I’m noticing the downstairs bathroom is a little bare, only slightly less so than my wallet, so I decided to suck it up and go to Wallyworld because they should have a plentiful supply of cheap bathroom bling. They had all kinds of bling but it looked cheap but wasn’t. I then said Okay, themes are for adolescent girls, how about a solid color. Yeah. No joy there either. I could find the color I wanted but not the items and the cheap stuff they did have in stock was all ceramic and I don’t do breakables. I decided to go home and go by Poverty Barn over lunch. I mean even if it’s cheap and plastic, a cheap and plastic soap dish beats no soap dish at all.
The sirens have been tearing down the street behind my house since I came home from work. I had no idea that the specter of the VP debates were going to spawn riots! I mean seriously, it’s been hours and they seem to be running every hour on the hour. Due to how close I am to a trauma center and a fire station, I am going to hear them more than if I didn’t live so close but dayum and you know? There won’t be a word in the paper about any of it, going with the idea that the sirens are going somewhere for some reason and it’s not like they are tearing down the street for practice. I’m pretty certain that the VP debate is going to be in the paper. But not if it was held in Southeast Raleigh. Unless someone gets shot then the paper would be there and then wouldn’t that be news, if one shot the other. I could see Palen explaining how she culls wolves and caribou from helicopters and culling Biden “on accident”.
(edited to add - There were two unrelated shootings, fortunatly no fatalities , about a mile from my house)
Speaking of Biden. I went to the Obama headquarters after work today to pick up a new yard sign and they didn’t have any. They said as soon as they come in they go out. I mention Biden because the new signs have his name on them and the sign I have been using since before the primaries only says Obama. My sign is getting kind of weathered and I want to be able to save it and I can’t save it if it gets to weathered and it's looking kind of wind blown now. The headquarters did get some good news while I was standing there, the new signs would be in later in the evening and I can pick up a new sign Friday. I would gotten a sign to put away for posterity, but this is the new day of politics and they don’t give signs away anymore. You want a sign you have to pay for it. You put a sign in your yard and it’s a paid political ad.
Okay. I just turned on the debate. Is Palen on purpose looking like Tina Fey? And who did Bidens’ make up? A McCain plant? He looks like a ghost. And must she say “Heck of A” and “Darn Right”? Shit.
Corporate tax cuts do not make jobs! GAWD. Corporate tax cute make bigger executive bonuses. She doesn’t answer the questions because she CAN’T ANSWER THE QUESTIONS!!! I’m going to have to turn the channels, two minutes and I’m all ready upset.. This woman could be a heart beat away from the presidency and she can’t answer simple questions. My ovaries are very ashamed right now. But you know what really upsets me? If my hair was a little longer and I straighten it, I would look just like her. I mean, for real. I wonder how fast I can dye my hair blond and get contacts?
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