35 days and counting

I got this as an email so I'm going to be bad and copy the whole thing. I'd link if I could find it somewhere. FYI Eve wrote The Vagina Monologues.


Drill, Drill, Drill

I am having Sarah Palin nightmares. I dreamt last night that she was a member of a club where they rode snowmobiles and wore the claws of drowned and starved polar bears around their necks. I have a particular thing for Polar Bears. Maybe it's their snowy whiteness or their bigness or the fact that they live in the Arctic or that I have never seen one in person or touched one. Maybe it is the fact that they live so comfortably on ice. Whatever it is, I need the polar bears.

I don't like raging at women. I am a Feminist and have spent my life trying to build community, help empower women and stop violence against them. It is hard to write about Sarah Palin. This is why the Sarah Palin choice was all the more insidious and cynical. The people who made this choice count on the goodness and solidarity of Feminists.

But everything Sarah Palin believes in and practices is antithetical to Feminism which for me is part of one story -- connected to saving the earth, ending racism, empowering women, giving young girls options, opening our minds, deepening tolerance, and ending violence and war.

I believe that the McCain/Palin ticket is one of the most dangerous choices of my lifetime, and should this country choose those candidates the fall-out may be so great, the destruction so vast in so many areas that America may never recover. But what is equally disturbing is the impact that duo would have on the rest of the world. Unfortunately, this is not a joke. In my lifetime I have seen the clownish, the inept, the bizarre be elected to the presidency with regularity.

Sarah Palin does not believe in evolution. I take this as a metaphor. In her world and the world of Fundamentalists nothing changes or gets better or evolves. She does not believe in global warming. The melting of the Arctic, the storms that are destroying our cities, the pollution and rise of cancers, are all part of God's plan. She is fighting to take the polar bears off the endangered species list. The earth, in Palin's view, is here to be taken and plundered. The wolves and the bears are here to be shot and plundered. The oil is here to be taken and plundered. Iraq is here to be taken and plundered. As she said herself of the Iraqi war, 'It was a task from God.'

Sarah Palin does not believe in abortion. She does not believe women who are raped and incested and ripped open against their will should have a right to determine whether they have their rapist's baby or not.

She obviously does not believe in sex education or birth control. I imagine her daughter was practicing abstinence and we know how many babies that makes.
Sarah Palin does not much believe in thinking. From what I gather she has tried to ban books from the library, has a tendency to dispense with people who think independently. She cannot tolerate an environment of ambiguity and difference. This is a woman who could and might very well be the next president of the United States . She would govern one of the most diverse populations on the earth.
Sarah believes in guns. She has her own custom Austrian hunting rifle. She has been known to kill 40 caribou at a clip. She has shot hundreds of wolves from the air.

Sarah believes in God. That is of course her right, her private right. But when God and Guns come together in the public sector, when war is declared in God's name, when the rights of women are denied in his name, that is the end of separation of church and state and the undoing of everything America has ever tried to be.

I write to my sisters. I write because I believe we hold this election in our hands. This vote is a vote that will determine the future not just of the U.S. , but of the planet. It will determine whether we create policies to save the earth or make it forever uninhabitable for humans. It will determine whether we move towards dialogue and diplomacy in the world or whether we escalate violence through invasion, undermining and attack. It will determine whether we go for oil, strip mining, coal burning or invest our money in alternatives that will free us from dependency and destruction. It will determine if money gets spent on education and healthcare or whether we build more and more methods of killing. It will determine whether America is a free open tolerant society or a closed place of fear, fundamentalism and aggression.

If the Polar Bears don't move you to go and do everything in your power to get Obama elected then consider the chant that filled the hall after Palin spoke at the RNC, 'Drill Drill Drill.' I think of teeth when I think of drills. I think of rape. I think of destruction. I think of domination. I think of military exercises that force mindless repetition, emptying the brain of analysis, doubt, ambiguity or dissent. I think of pain.

Do we want a future of drilling? More holes in the ozone, in the floor of the sea, more holes in our thinking, in the trust between nations and peoples, more holes in the fabric of this precious thing we call life?

Eve Ensler
September 5, 2008

Funny with a disturbing ending

My Liberal Identity:

You are a Working Class Warrior, also known as a blue-collar Democrat. You believe that the little guy is getting screwed by conservative greed-mongers and corporate criminals, and you’re not going to take it anymore.

Take the quiz at http://www.fightconservatives.com/Inside-the-Book/What-Breed-of-Liberal-Are-You.html

Took this little quiz from a link at Cecily's site. Was funny and cute right up until that last, vomit inducing question. WTF was that about? Naked pyramid?

Life is good

Even though I'm at work, eating a birthday cake with zero trans fat (WTF?) but lots of after taste.

This might be my favorite tattoo ever

I've been wanting to get a sugar skull tattoo for a long time, almost made an appointment when we went to Cabo San Lucas last winter. I also have an idea for a Mexican style tattoo of my grandparents, but I think my mom would kick my ass if I actually got it.

Anyway, the tattoo below was done by Morag (at Tribe Tattoo) who did my map of Scotland when I was in Edinburgh in February. She made a Mexican sugar skull Scottish! I really love this and kind of want one of my own now.



I think maybe I need a new tattoo for my birthday.

Free Sarah Palin

Holy Tax Plan Batman!

This is just one of the many reasons why I'm voting for Obama.

How cute is Noah?

Lisa and Noah were in town today and we got together for a few laps around the mall.

Love Noah sticking out his tongue in the background

Reminds me of pyscho summer photos...except we're
counting something very different these days.

Sharky kinda looks like he's ready to kick ass

Look Lisa, your dolly's in the photo too!

Those are the eyes of a future heartbreaker

See why I heart Scottish boys most of all?

A transcript from the Late, Late Show w/Craig Ferguson:

“This is a very important election, this one, but you would not know it from the way it’s being reported. Y’know politics is covered like show business, now. On the Today Show this morning, they’re, like, “Which candidate would you rather have dinner with?” Here’s an easy answer—NONE! They’re politicians, I don’t want dinner with you, I don’t want your friendship. Here’s what I want to know; what are you going to do for this country, pal? What are you gonna do?...

…The news reports are either very tabloid-y, or they’re trying to be funny like Jon Stewart, maybe because more and more people say they’re getting their news from late night tv, which, believe me, is not a good idea. I like the Daily Show, I like Jon Stewart, I think he does a bang-up job, a great job, but let him do it. The rest of the news people, TAKE THIS JOB SERIOUSLY! This is important…

…Do you know what bothers me? Every election year, as well, you get the voter registration drives aimed at the young people—“Rock the vote, the vote’s crack-a-lackin’!”…are we so lost that we have to be sold our own democratic right? What the hell is wrong with, what is going on? We have to “sexy up” the vote for young people?...

…Here’s what I’m saying to you—if you don’t vote, you’re a moron. I know what you’re saying—“well, not voting is a vote.” No, it isn’t. Not voting is just being stupid.

Voting is not sexy, voting is not hep, it’s not fashionable, it’s not a movie, it’s not a video game, all the kids ain’t doin’ it. Frankly, voting is a pain in the ass, but here’s a word, look it up, it is your DUTY to vote.

The foundation in this democracy is based on free people making free choices, so, young people, if you can’t take your hand out of your Cheetos bag long enough to fill out a form, then you can’t complain when we end up with President Sanjaya.

Listen, I’m an American. This country, as it is, at war, right now—Americans in foreign lands wearing uniforms representing this country are losing their lives. Americans here in this country are losing their homes. We have two patriotic candidates, right? They both love this country, they have different ideas about what to do with it. Learn about them, read about them, question them, listen to them. Then, on election day, exercise your sacred right as an American, and listen to yourself.”

A proper post

So I've twittered away and I've got to say, it's so much easier than sitting down to write a whole blog entry. I'm currently watching a tape of Jboy in a musical at church when he was about 10 years old. He's supposed to be a mouse or a rat and has one ear that keeps falling over. He's cute but this is the age he started getting embarrassed in front of people. Too bad because he's really good. And so funny. OMG, they're dancing now. Shayne, it's the duet he did with Julie...had you already moved when they did this? (Yes, you were gone. At the end I'm telling all the kids that you'll be in town the next week.)

I was actually cleaning when I found all these old videotapes of the boys and now can't stop watching. They start when Macaroni was about 18 months old. So much for getting stuff done. I do need to get the TV out of my bedroom and ready to go, we're bringing a load to Jboy's tomorrow. Macaroni will be excited to see the dorm, he's been talking about it non stop.

What else? My cousin who I haven't talked to in years found me on facebo0k and sent me an email. That was weird. Ran to Targhetto again, I swear they get all my money. Ooh, I went to my first Tai Chi class yesterday. It was cool, but the best part is that it's just down the block from the co-op. Since Macaroni and I said we were going to start eating healthier that should help.

Now I'm watching the boys golf with a little Playsch00l thing, the day before Jboy's 10th birthday. Macaroni looks so much like Jboy did, not so much in the face but their mannerisms and stuff. Too trippy. Aah, nice shot of Mac singing and dancing in the shower in Las Vegas when he was two or three.

Okay, a few photos from my brother's wedding and then I really have to get back to work.

Twitter

So I just realized how boring most of my blog entries have been lately. Not only am I boring but now everything I write is boring too. Not a lot of inspiration lately I guess. Or time.

So I'm going to try twittering for a week and see if that makes things any better. I've just started following Felicia and Cecily there and figured I'd give it a go. I can't promise I'll be any more interesting, but at just 140 characters per post, I certainly can't been less interesting. Can I?

I'm also going to do 101 Things To Do in 1001 Days. Still working on my list, being specific is a drag. Because I know me so well.

My Big, Fat Netflix Review

I cheated and looked up my last dozen or so rentals. They get older as the list goes on, so I remember less and less about the movies as the reviews go on. Fun for everyone.
Too lazy to link, but they're all on Netflix just waiting for you to add them to your Queue.

Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall - I love, love, love Steven Sondheim. Into The Woods may be my most favorite thing ever. Fun concert with songs from all of his shows, really good performances. Although anyone other than Bernadette Peters signing Children Will Listen makes me sad. Just not as sad as Bernadette makes me when she sings it. I adore her.

Dresden Dolls: Live at the Roundhouse London – I love the Dolls, one of the busiest bands on my iPod. Their live show is incredible, all the freaks come out. It's not even really a concert but a circus show. Awesome. Now if they'd just come to Minneapolis.

House of D – David Duchovny is always yummy and I love his wife, I just never remember how to spell her name. Tia? Tea? Very cute/sweet movie about a boy, his retard and his "lady" in prison. But not really.

Cape of Good Hope – very cute South African movie set around an animal rescue, loved it!

Sweeney Todd in Concert – I still haven’t seen the Johnny Depp movie because I’m afraid that maybe they killed Sondheim. Lisa, I'm sure you've seen it...is it safe? This not-a-play version though? Super good. And not just because of Neil Patrick Harris, although everything is better with a little sprinkle of NPH. *looking for a link to him on Sesame Street*

The Warrior – I’m not sure how this ended up on my list but I’m glad it did because it was so good. Tear jerker. I’m not usually a big fan of samurai type movies. Which this really isn’t, but I don’t know what else to compare it to. Really good, makes you want to go to Mongolia.

Corpse Bride – Parts of this were good, funnier than I expected, but I think I read a lot while it was on. It's no Nightmare Before Christmas, no matter how hard it tried.

The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till – American history is ugly, and not getting much prettier. Interviews with his family and the autopsy photos, uggh. I think I was sobbing loud enough for the boys to hear over their video games. Have a box of Kleenex ready.

I’m Not Rappaport – Gotta love the cute old people. I can’t remember the ending, except that I liked it. I think. Ozzie Davis is amazing, as always. Bless his sweet, sweet soul.

The Boondock Saints – Aah, the Irish accent, second only to the Scots. Lots of blood, religious zealots, cute boys, a flaming Willam Dafoe. Oh, and Billy Connolly. Of course I liked it.

New York Doll – Oh. My. Crap. I thought this would be a cute little flick about the other Dolls, the old Dolls. No, it was a heartbreaking look at what happened to one of the Dolls after the band fell apart. Absolutely broke my heart. Seriously, even if you don’t like the music this movie is totally worth it. And if you don’t like the music, you might want to have your ears checked. Total. 80's. Flashback!

Layer Cake – Daniel Craig. Drugs. Daniel Craig is pretty. Lots of drugs. Daniel-Boom-Chicka-Waa-Wah. Funny. Damn-iel is hot. Bodies in freezers. And did I mention that Daniel Craig is pretty and/or hot? Almost makes me want to see the James Bond movie that he's in. Almost.

On a Clear Day – Classic, this is a fine example of why Brits are better. Even my parents, who can't understand English when spoken by the English, loved this one. Thank God for subtitles.

Howard Zinn: You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train – As soon as this ended I got on the interwebs to see if I could get an “I heart Howard Zinn” t-shirt. Love, love, love Howard…totally want to lick his brain. Everyone on the planet should get to sit in a room and listen to Howard, especially the ones who wouldn't want to. Brilliance. Why can't I meet a cute, progressive boy like that? I need that t-shirt.

Cache – I didn’t shoot up enough drugs to really understand this movie. Of course I didn’t shoot up any drugs so that might be why I didn't get it. That said, the movie was good. I just felt like I was missing things. Like the plot, I think that’s the part I missed.

Tsotsi – I loved this sad, disturbing movie. I really recommend this "tale of redemption", even if you don't like foreign films. So good.

That was fast

Wow, it's an illness

At least it's for charity!

Our vacation photos

I made comments on most of these. Too boring and busy to blog about anything. I should do some movie reviews...maybe over my lunch break.

A day late and a dollar short

I tried to post a happy birthday message to KK yesterday but our wireless connection is all kinds of wonky. And then there's Jboy who can't go five minutes without checking his Facebo0k page, constantly fighting him for the computer. Anyway....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KK!

I can't believe how big you're getting and I can't wait to see you again to hear about all the new, fun things you're doing now. Hope you're having fun with Grandma & Grandpa, and those puppies! They're almost as cute as you! And I hope you had a really wonderful birthday! I love you KK! xoxo

Bad blogger

I've been too busy watching Dr. Horrible to do much of anything. Trying to recover from our insane trip to Cali last weekend. Not even gonna try to form complete sentences.

• We arrived in LA at about 10 o'clock on Thursday night and then jumped in a chauffeured town car at 3am for the drive to San Diego.
• We got to San Diego an hour and 15 minutes earlier than expected, which made me mad. We paid through the nose for this stupid car and I could have slept for another hour?
• Nothing but Subway is open in San Diego at 5 o'clock in the morning, thankfully it's now Macaroni's favorite place to eat. The veggie patties are pretty good (had one today for lunch)
• We got in line for Comic Con at about 6 o'clock and tried really hard not to die of boredom.
• At about 8 o'clock we got to move inside the convention center - just to wait in another line for about an hour and a half.
• We rushed to the Dark Horse booth to get tickets to the Dr. Horrible Sing Along Blog (DHSAB) autograph session. Unfortunately they were raffle tickets and people who had been at Comic Con for two days had been picking up tickets like crazy. Seriously, I saw one woman with about thirty tickets. That bitter you hear? That's me not winning an autograph session.
• We then rushed to Ballroom 20 where Joss and Friends would be appearing about three and a half hours later, at 1:30. The idea was that we would sit through all the other panels and move up towards the front of the room after each one let out. Unfortunately about 3,000 other people also had that bright idea. We were stuck in the middle of the room the whole time.
• So it's about 10 or 11 o'clock and we're sitting through a bunch of Stargate panels. We've never seen the shows so were pretty bored, until Richard Dean Anderson started talking about his frozen poo. Macaroni loved that.
• Jewel "Kaylee" Staite is now on one of the Stargate shows so it was fun to see her. And to listen to the audience questions, many of which were about Firefly.
• Finally, Scott from Dark Horse comes out to introduce Joss. It's embarrassing to say that sitting in a room of thousands listening to Joss was a lot like sitting in a room of thousands listening to the Dalai Lama, but it really was. They both make me insanely happy and inspire me to try to be a better person. And they are both so cute! Thankfully Joss didn't give his speech in Tibetan.
• Joss introduced his brothers Zach and Jed and Jed's fiancee Maurissa Tancharoen, who co-wrote DHSAB with Joss, and then the cast: Felicia Day, Simon Helberg, Nathan Fillion and Neil Patrick Harris. The crowd totally lost their shit. Yes, I was part of that crowd.
• I'm going to try to find the links to videos of the panel rather than attempt at getting close to all the hilarity of the panel. Let's just say I love Felicia, Nate, Simon and NPH in an only slightly twisted way...but damn, those Brothers Whedon are hot! Maurissa is lucky. And you know, gorgeous.
• The panel was over way too fast and I was so sleepy that I really wanted to take a nap. Instead we walked around for hours looking at lots of awesome art and fun people watching. Macaroni went on a mad hunt for Shonen Jump stuff.
• We walked by the Dark Horse booth just as Joss was leaving but managed to get a photo of Felicia signing autographs. Autographs for lucky bastards!
• We went to the Browncoat booth to get a copy of The Guild on DVD, and managed to get it autographed by Clara, Bladezzz, Vork and Zaboo. Sadly no Felicia, I mean Codex.
• We ran into Brian, who I met on the Browncoat Cruise last December and then shared the rock star tour of San Fran with last January.
• Macaroni decided he couldn't hold out for the 10:30 screening of DHSAB. I really wanted to stay but in retrospect am glad we didn't. We got on a train at 8:30pm and didn't make it back to the hotel until midnight. Plus, the room they had for the screening held only a fraction of the crowd. They were able to get additional rooms but I'd guess there was a delay in the screening times. We would've been up for more than 24 hours if we had stayed. I'm way too old for that.
• Saturday morning we got to Universal Studios around 10 o'clock and went straight to the Simpson's Ride. After that we also hit the Jurassic Park ride, the backlot tour (we got to see the Mule from Serenity, the spot where they filmed the van heist for DHSAB and the Desperate Housewives set. Lots of Joss/Nathan goodies), Shrek 4D and a Waterworld (hey, Joss goodie!) stunt show. And then the Simpson ride about another hundred times.
• When the park closed we went to City Walk for a 9:30 showing of Hellboy 2. I only slept through a few minutes of it. Again, back to the hotel after midnight
• Sunday morning we got to the La Brea Tar Pits around 10am. All kinds of awesome. Macaroni loved this, and with the exception of The Joss Hour, it was my favorite part too.
• Lunch at Subway. Sadly no Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf or Pinkberry this trip. I was so craving some frozen yogurt...and another DHSAB treat.
• We took a bus to Hollywood and Highland to see Grauman's Chinese Theater and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It was super hot, we had only two hours before we had to be to the airport and, go figure, ten year old boys aren't interested in a bunch of dead actors. He did let me take a few photos of him; with his feet in Christopher Walken's footprint, his hand in George Lucas's freakishly small handprint and with Kermit the Frog's star. Fun way to finish off the trip.
• We got home just before midnight and I was only two hours late for work on Monday.

I'm too lazy to link right now...so you can check out flickr for our photos.

So, have you seen Dr Horrible yet? The boys and I are totally in love with the show...the final episode comes out tonight. We're going to Bobby & Marie's rehearsal dinner tonight and Macaroni asked if we should bring the laptop so we don't miss Act III. They had so much traffic after the first episode was released that it crashed the site and Dr Horrible was the number one downloaded TV show on iTunes, I'm so proud of Joss.

Speaking of Joss...I'm going to see him next week! Macaroni and I are going to Comic Con just to see Joss (and the gorgeous Nathan Fillion, divine Felicia Day and my newest imaginary boyfriend Neil Patrick Harris). Never would have guessed I'd be all lovey over Doogie Houser, but damn, NPH can sing. And break your heart. And make you pee laughing. And then break your heart a little bit more. I love everything about this show. Can't believe tonight is the last episode. For now anyway, people are already begging for more episodes or a Broadway adaptation.

So we've got the wedding tomorrow and then I'll be getting ready for yet another vacation. After Friday at Comic Con we're going to LA (where my imaginary boyfriend Ewan McGregor is filming a movie!) for a day at Universal Studios and hopefully Sunday we can hit the La Brea Tar Pits. It'll be nice to have some fun to make up for all the yuck lately.


KK...if I see Dora I'll tell her you said Hola!

mathematically challenged

So I thought Dr Horrible was going to air at midnight, then midnight EST and now I just realized it won't be until midnight PST. 2 o'clock here. Crap!

Think I might go to bed and get up at 10 to 2.

I have big exciting news to share too but am going to wait for a while. Not that it'll be exciting for anyone else, but I'm super excited about it.