Talking to the Moon

Sliding Tiles

2012-01-28T13:59:00.004-05:00

Quote of the day: “The world is a state, but the play is badly cast.” OscarWilde

Song of the day: None.

State of mind: Frustrated

Date: January 28^th, 2012

There are volumes of text in any library or bookstore about the meaning oflife. What it is. A dream. A challenge. Another turn on the wheel. A box of chocolates. According toMcCormick spices, life is like a pulled pork. M’kay… But for me it always seemsto be more like one of those sliding tile puzzles that you get in grab bags atChristmas from someone that has only 10 bucks to spend on 20 kids. The game ismade of cheap plastic that has bumps that keep the tiles from sliding smooth,made of neon colors, and going only from 1 to 9. But as a kid all you know is it’s a toy andyou're going to play with it. I never had much trouble with those puzzles.Except when the tiles stuck and you had to use your finger nail to un-wedge itso you can move it in place. But then at the time I had no idea that the restof my life was going to be the same as that damn puzzle. No matter what it is Ihave to do, I always seem to need to shift around at least 5 other things inorder to do it.

For instance, I finally bought a lap top. I'm typing on it right now. Iactually kind of like it. This is the fastest I've been able to convert thoughtto word in a long long time. (This from a person that bought a micro recorderso I could just talk my blogs. That didn't work, BTW, which is why you'll neverhear my voice on the Internet.) But this post isn't going to make it to the webfor days probably. Why? My PC is broke. Tower keeps turning off by itself. Ithink it's the power supply. At least, I hope that is all that it is, becauseif it's the mother board, I'm screwed. What does that have to do with mylaptop? My wifi. I can't get my wifi to accept this lap top without going intoit (on my PC) and telling my wifi it's OK. But I can't fix my wifi until I fix my PC. I can't fix my PC till Ifigure out what is wrong with it. And once I do I have to get the parts to fix it.Shifting tiles.

Or, I could just plug the damn thing directly into my internet cable. Yeah.That works too.

Show quote of the day: “So. Did youdefy the chicken?”

“Uh huh.”

“How’d that work out for you?”

“I think I may have killed a man.”

2012

2012-01-24T19:51:00.001-05:00

So far this year blows too.

New Years Smudging… Because 2011 really sucked.

2011-12-22T15:18:00.002-05:00

Quote of the day: “Diligence is the mother of good luck.” Benjamin Franklin

Song of the day: Heaven by O.A.R.

State of mind: Full and distracted.

Date: 12/22/11 Winter Solstice

this idea was floated around on twitter & I guess we are looking for volunteers so we can get all 50 states. Just to cover all the bases. Already have at least one volunteer from Canada, but more are always welcome. The plan? Smudge away 2011.

As per usual, this time of year makes me want to change things up from my normal routine of just getting by and living in chaos that is completely me made. So, goal one: I would like to clean out 2011 and greet 2012 with the house completely scrubbed. I want to hoe out everything non essential. Stock up on groceries so that I can focus on anything but having to constantly stop at the store. It’s insane the amount of time I spend pushing a shopping cart. No matter how thorough the list, I always need to go back within two days.

I also to make a schedule for the year. This has actually worked out for me before. One year I made a list of things I wanted to do within that year, such as concerts, and I actually went to all of them even though I didn’t know that certain bands on my list were even going to be touring in the area. So, goal two: a list. Events, projects, travel, events, appointments, ect.

I’m not all the superstitious but I do want to employ as many New Year’s good luck traditions as possible. So naturally I turned to the Internet. To me, superstitions are basically a mental exercise for a person to take charge of a situation, or accept it if they can’t change it. Hypothetical internal dialogue: Life sucks? Well, I don’t accept that. So… First I’ll do this weird series of actions, and then do something about it.

Snopes.com actually had a huge list of fun traditions to bring good luck in for the New Year, such as don’t do laundry on New Years Day, or have a tall, dark haired man come in right after the stroke of midnight with a token gift and then leave through another door…, ect. If I could get the tall, dark haired man to do my laundry on New Years Eve, that would be better, in my opinion. Take a look and find a few to try out for yourself.

And here is a list of lucky foods.

As for the smudging itself? Basically, light some sage and wave it around. Done. Or you could follow one of the many “how to” guides I found.

Show quote of the day: "Just because I tell you things, doesn’t mean you are allowed to know them!"

Uprise Books on Kickstarter

2011-10-26T09:01:00.002-05:00

Quote of the day: “Let us dare to read, think, speak, and write.” John Adams

Song of the day: The Fixer by Pearl Jam

Date: October 26th, 2011

State of mind: amused and inspired.

Link you should click.

Love books? Like thumbing your nose at authority? Here’s a fund raising effort where you can combine the two. You have 5 days left to help Uprise Books put banned or challenged books into the hands of teenage readers (that meet certain income requirements. I figure that means, “If they can’t afford to buy the books themselves”).

I adore this idea, because it’s a novel (har har) approach to getting kids to read; especially kids that are probably the least likely too. Why? 1) By making the books available to begin with and 2) all teenagers want to do what they are told by adults not too. In fact, a local high school English teacher uses this very approach in her class. She gives the students a list of banned books and tells them to pick two to read. Suddenly students that normally balk at assigned reading were eager to participate. (Kids. So damn contrary. I was never like that...)

Which the people behind this project know as well. From their site:

… we think that the idea that these texts have been banned and challenged might motivate these kids to actually read the things. A sixteen-year-old boy might not care that the Radcliffe Publishing Course called The Great Gatsby the best novel of the 20th century, but his inherent teen sense of rebellion might entice him to pick up a book challenged because of its “language and sexual references…

So, hark back to when you were young and rebellious and give Uprise Books a hand.

Show quote of the day: “Smell is the most powerful trigger to the memory there is. A certain flower, or a-a whiff of smoke can bring up experiences long forgotten. Books smell musty and-and-and rich. The knowledge gained from a computer is a - it, uh, it has no-no texture, no-no context. It’s-it’s there and then it’s gone. If it’s to last, then-then the getting of knowledge should be, uh, tangible, it should be, um, smelly.”

McGyver’d Dinner: Chicken and Pasta

2011-10-06T10:28:00.001-05:00

Quote of the Day: “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper.” ~Adelle Davis

Song of the Day: Hit Me With Your Best Shot by Pat Benatar

Date: October 6th, 2011

Wow. Where has the time gone? Summer came and went with a ton of rain. Good news for the apple crop. So as per usual I bought too many. Which is good news when I actually decide to cook. One of my favorite fall comfort foods is brown rice with sautéed apples and onions. Add cooked chicken or sausage and you’ve got a feast.

However, the other night I had no apples. I was running out of a lot of things, and that box of what I thought was broccoli (my other comfort food) was in fact spinach. Ick. I had one lonely piece of chicken breast, the runt of the little to boot. And half a red pepper. Hmm.

Well now. You can never go wrong if you can sauté some veggies. This is what I came up with:

Put a pack of spinach that you thought was broccoli in to boil. Throw in a handful of peas if you want.

Start the water for the angel hair pasta.

Pound out a chicken breast nice and thin, Schnitzel thin.

Put a good hunk of butter in a frying pan, medium heat.

Sauté half a red pepper, cut into whatever sized chunks you like, a slice of onion, chopped. After a few minutes, put in the chicken. Being so thin, 3 minutes a side is usually all it takes.

Put the pasta in to cook.

Drain the spinach and peas. Set aside.

When the chicken is done, remove from the pan to cut into pieces. Turn the heat down to low on the pan. Add about half a cup of ranch dressing. (No, I’m not kidding.) A table spoon of brown mustard, a couple of table spoons of water from the pasta pot, 2/3 cup of white cooking wine. Stir together. Add salt and pepper because nothing is done till you season it.

Drain the pasta and mix in the sauce, chopped chicken, and as much of the spinach and peas as you please. Mix. Eat. Enjoy.
There should be enough for two if you’ve got a date you need to impress.

Show quote of the day: “You say tomato, I say pimp.”

A Plethora of Pyrex

2011-05-13T18:23:00.001-05:00

Quote of the day: “I'm always collecting emotions for future reference.” ~Harlan Howard

Song of the day: The Drum Song by Florence and the Machine (another new obsession of mine.)

State of mind: busyA Plethora of Pyrex

Quote of the day: “I'm always collecting emotions for future reference.”
~Harlan Howard

Song of the day: The Drum Song by Florence and the Machine (another new obsession of mine.)

State of mind: busy

May 12th, 2011

Why does anyone do the things they do? Why do I sell insurance? I wish I knew. Why did this woman collect dolls? What was it about her life? Was it one specific moment where she suddenly said, "I know... dolls." This was said by someone other than Fox Mulder on the X-Files. I remember that episode even though I haven’t seen it in over a decade, and I remember being quite smug because I didn’t have a collection obsession.

Or so I thought.

If I had looked around then I probably would have realized I had a few, as I do today. If you were in my house you would see a series of ‘collections’; some purposeful, some not. Like things with pigs on them. I don’t know where anyone got the idea that I liked pigs, but they did and I ended up with quite a few items as gifts that came in many piggy forms.

I also have a number of watches. But in my defense I did work at a jewelry counter for many years and it wasn’t that I had to have many, it was just I kept seeing watches that I liked and would buy them. That’s not much of an excuse, is it?

Books. OK, I do collect them, but they aren’t just to sit pretty and I don’t shop for books the way people do things like Cherished Teddies or cat figurines. Each book was bought for what was in it, not just because it was a book.

For a short time though when I was around 9 or 10 I did fancy myself a music figurine collector, but it pretty much consisted of a porcelain nurse that was a gift to my dad from his mother when he was sick once and another of two swans that I think I picked up at a flea market. Two is not a collection. And as it turns out, music boxes & figurines bug me. They collect dust and the music they play isn’t really all that nice, so this foray into actual collecting didn’t last long.

I think this makes me a sampler. I am content with just some while others have to have all.

But then Pyrex happened. It started quite unexpectedly. I wasn’t looking for a hobby. I hadn’t even realized I already had a collection until I looked at what I had in my kitchen after finding out that my favorite set of mixing bowls was actually a trio. Then I noticed the name on my mother’s set of casserole dishes that I use at least twice a week. And the serving dish that we pull out only on special occasions. It was everywhere! And some of it pretty heavily used and missing things, so I did what anyone in my situation would do. I turned to the internet.

Holy cow. There is a lot of Pyrex out there and in so many colors! The mind boggled and whispered, “Get it all.” And that was it. An obsession was born.

I needed to know what exactly I was missing in sets I already had and where I could replace just those pieces. Then I had to find out what else was out there, the patterns, the colors, which was rare and which was common. A lot is on eBay, the hell spawn of online purchasing sites. Not so much on Craig’s list. Etsy was a surprising source of pretty mixing bowls in a rainbow of colors. I found a juice pitcher that we had all the time I was growing up that went missing just before my dad died. I suspect he broke it and just never bothered to mention it. But suddenly I wanted it back and made my first online purchase in my new hobby. It arrived a week later and I was giddy; until I opened the box and discovered a juice pitcher that was too small. That was when I was told, “Guess what”? The pitchers came in a set as well! Great. Now I have to find the other two sizes, the one I was trying to replace and the smallest of the trio I hadn’t known even existed!

But it’s not just completing sets I already have. I haven’t actually purchased that much so far. Just the pitcher and one mixing bowl. But I like looking. I like seeing what is out there that I could buy. And seeing the patterns in photos online always make me think, “home” and “mine”. It’s familiar and comforting and I want as much of it as I can. Also, it is pretty.

It’s even grown in my mind to the point that I’m designing a kitchen in a house I don’t own centered on a cabinet with glass doors that will house a rainbow of glass and pattern. And in my head it isn’t just a house, it feels like home.

So, I know… bowls.

Hello Sweetie!

2011-04-07T19:25:00.001-05:00

Quote of the Day: “Once confined to fantasy and science fiction, time travel is now simply an engineering problem.” ~ Michio Kaku

Song of the Day: 46 & 2 by Tool (It’s been a Tool kind of month.)

State of mind: Obsessed and contemplative

Date: 04/07/11

Since the trailer of season 6 of the Nu Who I’ve been obsessively browsing YouTube for clips of the show. Mostly because I missed the show being on and also because I started wondering ‘what if I could travel in time and show the producers of the original series a clip just so they could see how far the show has come from when they had it’ and ‘which clip would I show them?’ (Yes. This is how I think. No thanks I am sure to watching shows like this to begin with.) As I perused the plentiful choices, I came across two snippets from one of my favorite two-part episode, Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead.

This episode introduces the smart and sassy Professor River Song as an archeologist that has a definite history with the Doctor, even though he doesn’t know it yet. Unlike almost everyone that knows him she treats him like an equal. She calls him, “sweetie” and “pretty boy”. My girl crush formed immediately.

I liked her because she’s not a “companion” in the traditional sense of the show. She’s more of an ally. It seems to be widely accepted by most fans of the show that she is in fact his wife. The clues are pretty blatant in Library in those two clip. But also she has a sonic screwdriver of her own, she knows how to call him through Time and Space, and she has a diary of all their meetings and implies he does as well. Adding fuel to this theory is the fact that in later episodes it is revealed that she knows how to fly the TARDIS (better than him), knows the ancient language of the Time Lords, knows how to get his attention through time and trusts that he will show up whenever she needs him; as she demonstrates in her second appearance in the series in Time of the Angles/Flesh and Stone when she walks out an air lock into empty space completely confident that he will appear in time to save her. (Which, according to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the improbable odds against being rescued being 2 to the power of (the Islington London flat phone number) 2079460347.) That’s trust incarnate.

Although she has only appeared in 6 episodes overall, (3 two part episodes, the ones mentioned above and the season five finale:The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang.) the speculation on the Internet is vast about who exactly she is.

So far I’ve seen theories of her being:

Rose. Well, an altered version of her. I think this theory is floated the most by Rose/Doctor shippers for the sole reason that they miss Rose. There is no actual logic or evidence in any argument I’ve seen as of yet however.

Donna. Another altered version idea. And again it’s because people miss Donna. Hell, I miss Donna. She is by far my favorite of the companions. But no, she’s back home, married, and a lotto winner. Leave her be. (I say that with a lump in my throat, BTW.)

Future Amy. This is based mostly on Amy’s surname being Pond, which is another water source like River. And they’re both red heads. Maybe the names aren’t a coincidence, but until more is put forth to support this one I’m going to say “no” to this idea. Mostly because I’ve seen people look at pictures of themselves from their younger days yet when River first met Amy, she didn’t even blink. (Ha. Blink. It was an Angels episode they first met…. Nevermind.)

Amy & Rory’s daughter or granddaughter. Well why not? She could be. But why does she have to be related to any previous companion of his at all?

Jenny. Ick. Jenny’s his daughter, sort of, and even for an alien that’s just gross.

Jenny’s daughter or granddaughter. See reason for a big “no” under “Jenny”.

The Rani. As someone not that familiar with the original series, I can’t say with any authority why it couldn't be her except from everything I’ve read she’s a cold hearted bitch and major enemy. Why on any of the Earths would she make herself human and an ally of the Doctors?

Romana. No clue.

Some other unnamed Time Lady. Maybe. No reason why not.

Madame de Pompadour. This theory intrigues me because Girl in the Fireplace is one of my favorite episodes & makes me understand all the people who want River to be Rose. (And what is it with the Doctor & having feelings for woman with names that start with R?) The evidence: That River knows the Doctor's name not because they are married but because she read it in his mind when he was looking in hers when he was trying to figure out what the clockwork robots wanted with her. And she refers to him as "my love" in her letter to him just like River who calls him that when in the TARDIS (just before it blows up.) However, there is the problem with Madame de Pompadour being dead so reason says she cannot be River Song. But like the Doctor told Renette, "you never want to listen to reason." So, this is on the 'maybe' list.

The Silence: Ah. Now this one… means nothing actually. It just names her. But it’s damn interesting and if true really adds to the epic feel of her character. The ‘evidence’: The first episode she appears in is called, “Silence in the Library,” and who do we find there? River. Also, when the TARDIS explodes the voice says, “The Silence must fall.” Everyone assumed the voice meant the universe, but what if it meant River specifically? What if she was the target all along?

A future regeneration of The Master. No. No. No. No. The Master was, in my opinion, an awesome yet tragic villain and the relationship between them was a brotherly love/hate eons long battle. I can’t see it coming to a close because The Master made himself a human woman. I’m actually a little insulted on his & River’s behalf that this idea is even out there.

A future regeneration of the Doctor himself. Wow. How much of a narcissist does the Internet think he is? Galaxies of “no”.

Jack, who in the future has turned himself into a woman. Really, Internet?

The TARDIS which has managed to create itself in human form. Although I am on board with the idea that the ship has much love for the Doctor, to the point where in the scene after Rose looked into the Time Vortex and says, “I want you safe. My Doctor,” I am not entirely sure it was Rose saying that, but the TARDIS through her. And it would be bitter sweet, but I don’t think so. That’d be too fan fiction-y for even me.

I suspect she’s a Time Agent that might have gone rogue, like Captain Jack in The Doctor Dances, (an episode that was also written by Moffat).

River the bold, brash, confident, and merciless… I think River is epic...and that worries me. Epic is sometimes ruined when it’s explained. The greatest examples I can think of are from Babylon 5 and Star Wars. In "Episode III", there was a small scene between Luke, Owen, and Aunt Beroo that was reduced by the stories after. Owen reacted like a man wounded and hurt. A man betrayed by someone he admired and loved, Luke's father. All of that was ruined in the prequels with Owen and Anakin being relative strangers. They only met once! On Babylon 5, the fact that the war was ended between the Minbari and Earth when the Grey Council discovered that Sinclair had the soul of a Minbari, and that they couldn't continue to make war on humans believing that their ancestors were being reborn as human... wow! The very idea of one race coming back as another and just the largeness of it was daring, I thought. And was ruined by the reveal that Sinclair travels back in time and becomestheir legendary hero Valen & that in fact no other human has a Minbari soul. Disappointing. (Why didn't they make him King Arthur while they were at it?)

I think River Song is River Song. Just another brilliant character. Not a TARDIS reborn, A Time Lord with a Fob watch, or anyone else in some new form. She’s just…River.

Interesting dialogue, just for fun:

The Doctor: Ah, now sorry, there you are. So, where we, I was summoned, wasn't I? The Ood in the snow, calling to me. Well, I didn't just have to come straight here; had a bit of fun you know, travelled about, a bit of this and that, got into trouble, you know me. But it was brilliant. I saw the phosphorous carousel of the Great Magellan gestalt, saved a planet from the red carnivorous Maw, named a galaxy Alison. Got married, that was a mistake: Good Queen Bess! And let me tell you,her nickname is no longer... [clears throat] anyway, what do you want?

All this means is that the Doctor is flippant and maybe a bit hedonistic. Shocker. But also, that being married, (which if he’s telling the truth here), isn’t that much of a big deal if he doesn’t want it to be. And later the 11^th Doctor supposedly marries Marilyn Monroe in The Christmas Carol. So, well, all I’m saying is that he must really want to be married to River. And she treats him like an equal because she is his equal, and he treats her the same way. Even if from his perspective they aren't married yet. So it's sweet and yet doesn't make any sense. Ha!

Another exchange: (Thanks to thechosenjuan.)

The Doctor: Are you married, River?
River Song: Are you asking?
The Doctor: Yes.
River Song: Yes.
The Doctor: Hang on, did you think I was asking you to marry me or-or-or-or asking if you were married?
River Song: Yes.
The Doctor: No, but was that yes or yes?
River Song: Yes.

And one last exchange, which is funny since it's their first. Sort of like how they are, all backwards. ;)

RIVER: OK, shall we do diaries, then? Where are we this time? Uh, going by your face, I'd say it's early days for you. Yes? So, um... (she flips pages in the book) crash of the Byzantium, have we done that yet? **Season 5**

RIVER: Obviously ringing no bells. (she turns several pages) Right, um, oh. Picnic at Asgard. Have we done Asgard yet?

RIVER SONG: Obviously not. Blimey, very early days, then. Huh, life with a time traveler, never knew it could be such hard work.

RIVER (whispering): Look at you! You're young.

DOCTOR: I'm really not, you know.

RIVER SONG: Nah, but you are. Your eyes. You're younger than I've ever seen you.

*sigh*

Test

2011-04-06T20:36:00.001-05:00

Trying out the iTouch app.

Posted via email from nypinta's posterous

Dreaming Demons

2011-03-29T12:04:00.001-05:00

Quote of the day: “There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who face reality; and then there are those who turn one into the other.” ~Douglas H. Everett

Song of the day: Talk to Angels by Black Crows

State of mind: reflective & sleepy

Date: 3/29/11

The other night I was bored and not yet sleepy so I stayed up and watched a couple of episodes of Celebrity Ghost Story, where famous people tell a tale of their encounter with the disembodied. (Oh hey, I never noticed that ‘died’ is right in the word disembodied…) In one episode, one of the winners of American Idol (I can’t recall her name) told the story of something that had happened to her about a year before she auditioned for the show. She was living on her own and after a strange encounter with a mystery woman on the street telling her she had a darkness following her that she had to get rid of, she was attacked by a smoke monster in her own bed. (Yeah, like that thing from LOST.) As she tells it, she awoke during the night with this feeling that something was about to happen when all of a sudden this dark presence pinned her to the bed, said threatening evil like things, and mocked her. She tried to pray and it laughed. She claims this entity hovered over her threateningly for two hours before it went away suddenly. (Kind of like Madmartigan’s love for Sorsha once the fairy dust wore off. Yes, I’m making a Willow reference.) The next morning she called her mother to tell her about it when her mother recalled a similar experience when she was just a baby and the entity woke her mother in the night to tell her that he was going to ‘take the last breath from your baby’.

Ooooooo. Right?

I laughed it off and went to bed. During the night I had … well, not nightmares, but those annoyingly confusing dreams with not so fun imagery and started to half wake up at around 4 AM. In my sleepy state I was pondering the dreams and also thinking about her story. All of a sudden I felt this pressure in my head. It felt the same as when my ears pop from changing altitude, but it did that a few times in quick succession. Then I felt along the left side of my body (which was up as I was lying on my right side) this alternating hot and cold sensation. Within moments I felt like I couldn’t move and that it was something else that was preventing me from doing so. At first I didn’t try, but then grew angry and attempted to thrash about, with no luck. I relaxed, waited, and then wiggled my toes. Success! Suddenly I was able to move, but I was tired so all I did was roll over and go back to sleep even though those few moments were pretty scary.

It had to have been just a classic case of sleep paralysis. A touch of a lucid dream on the verge of waking and thinking I was awake. Strange. And again, really scary. I have to say I’m pretty sure this was exactly what she experienced but in her mind turned the moment into something demonic, which I can understand. It felt otherworldly. It felt menacing. And I did not enjoy it one bit.

A few hours later I woke up, got dressed, and did lazy Saturday like things including boiling some eggs for salad later. As I was putting the remainder of the carton in the pot, I see that I have seven eggs. Hey, isn’t that a lucky number? And this prehistoric superstitious part of my brain says, “Seven eggs will keep the evil at bay” like I was performing some ritual to cleanse my house of evil. And in that moment it made perfect sense.
Was it really that I thought boiling seven eggs would have some protective effect or did I just tell myself that so I wouldn’t be scared?

This is where superstitions start.

Show quote of the day: “How many things exist because people believe in them?”

BB Down. Again.

2011-03-25T15:54:00.001-05:00

Bibliographica is down. Not sure why. Email sent looking for answers.
I'm blaming LL in the mean time.

Where I’m At in Cyberland.

2011-03-16T19:47:00.001-05:00

Quote of the Day: “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” ~George Bernard Shaw

Song of the Day: Mad World by Gary Jules

State of Mind: Divided

Date: 3/16/11

Just as an FYI I thought I would mention that I have started a Tumblr blog now. It’s ridiculously easy to use, especially from my iTouch. I’m not ending this blog. This blog serves a certain function that I don’t want to give up. And on Tumblr I’ve decided not to go incognito. There are people who may have met me online as NYPinTA but are aware of my real name, and I’m fine with that. However there are people that know me as my real world self that I do NOT want to know me as NYPinTA. If that makes any sense.
So, here I am: HGP on Tumblr I also have a TV blog attached to that one: HGP on TV with reactions and commentary about all the TV I watch too much of.
That means that along with this blog I also have two twitter accounts, the tumblr blogs, one wordpress blog I’ve done nothing with, and an about.me page. Twitter I use for whatever stupid thought pops into my head or to forward (called “retweeting” for you twitter uninitiated) stuff that I think is interesting or important. There isn’t much thought put into my twitter feed. It’s a stream of consciousness given cyber bits. (So to anyone following, I am so so sorry.)
Tumblr is like a twitter/blog hybrid. I can post something that is more than 140 characters and the app makes it so easy to post various ways, text, link, photo, even audio files, plus I can ‘follow’ other people’s blogs and be notified on my dashboard when they update. Blogger doesn’t really do that; at least not in a use friendly way IMO.
This blog I call this my ‘long form’ blog. The one that (I hope) is more thought out or are projects that will take multiple postings to complete.
So, if you’re curious what I’m thinking about on a regular basis, tumblr is where it’s at. On a minute by minute basis, twitter is the thing. What’s been churning in my head for days, sometimes weeks then stick around here and I’ll post it eventually. Maybe.
And if you have a tumblr blog, hit me up for a follow.

Show quote of the day: “I want you to believe in magic, you muggle!”

Serenity flies again, on the Science Channel! Starting March 6th.

2011-02-21T17:18:00.004-05:00

Quote of the Day: “If at first, the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.” - Albert Einstein

Song of the Day: Feels Like the First Time by Foreigner

State of mind: fractured

Date: 2/21/11

As much as I wish it were true, there will be no new episodes of Firefly on the Science Channel. These are the original episodes from 2002 that aired on FOX before they made the biggest mistake ever known to TV kind and cancelled the show. Apparently each will be accompanied with commentary by physicist Dr. Michio Kaku. (I have his book Parallel Worlds and was giddy to discover that the first book he listed on his Recommended Reading list was Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, so obviously this is a smart dude that knows where his towel is.)

In an Entertainment Weekly interview, Nathan Fillion (who played the Hell out of Mal) made a quip about buying the rights to the show, and overly eager fans jumped on it by starting another fan campaign to help him achieve his “goal” of buying the rights to the show. And the figure is bandied about as if it’s written in stone, which bothers me. He didn’t mean he actually needs all 300 million for the rights. It was just a hyperbolic figure he pulled out of his hat that if he won that much he’d use a portion of the jackpot to buy the rights. It’s the “if I won the lotto” game that almost everyone plays in their own head. ‘If I won the lotto I’d buy [fill in the blank with something massively expensive here, like a private island.](Side note, the picture of Nathan Fillion they use is the one my sister thought was of Jason Bateman.)

I supposed one could just buy the DVDs and watch them whenever they want, (and trust me, once you’ve seen it you’ll want to watch it many times) but the show being put back on the air is just something special and even though I do own the DVDs (that I was lucky enough to have signed by Joss and some of the cast) I’ll be tuning in. And DRVing it too boot. You can never have too much Firefly.

PS Who is Josh Whedon? And she forgot Ron Glass. What the…?

Show quote of the day: "Well, my time of not taking you seriously is coming to a middle."

We Weeble & We Wooble But We Won’t Fall Down

2011-01-18T17:20:00.007-05:00

Quote of the day: “For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.” ~ Carl Sagan

Song of the day: Signs as performed by Tesla

State of mind: Roaring like a lion, supposedly.

Date: January 17th, 2011

I was not aware there was any controversy over the zodiac until I saw in my twitter feed one person I follow exclaim, “I’m a LEO now? What the fuckity fuck?” Even in this day and age of a ‘coarsening of America’ that got my attention.

Did he just discover he was adopted? Maybe there was an error on his birth certificate? How else could one’s astrological sign suddenly be different?

It turns out the answer is, “Just ‘cuz.”

Well, no. Not really. It’s precession. The wobble of the Earth’s axis is, well, wobbly, and now instead of the sun going straight from Scorpio to Sagittarius, it takes a slight detour into Ophiuchus.

Suddenly Battlestar Galactica makes a whole lot more sense. This must be the “lost tribe.” (*Insert lame joke about Ophiuchus’s symbol being “the toaster” here.*)

The thing is I can’t actually pin point what this all really means.

I’m probably sounding flippant, and I don’t mean too. I know a lot of people take this seriously. In fact, I have a friend who is an astrologer and has informed me that I am in fact a “triple Virgo”, which means my sun, moon, and something else were all in Virgo on the day I was born. Even though I don’t believe in astrology, (sorry Rob), I still think that’s pretty cool. Apparently it’s a rare thing to be a triple Virgo and I have to admit I like confirmation from the cosmos that I am unique, so I can see why so many people are upset about finding out they aren’t the sign they thought they were.

Except that isn’t how it works. That tattoo you got of two fish circling each other on a whim one day because you’ve always thought you were a Pisces, and as such are creative and emotional and any rebellion you make against convention will be personal…? It’s still valid.

After some Google searching, it seems that the new signs didn’t actually go into effect until 2009, so the only people that have different signs than the traditional ones we all grew up with are under the age of two and don’t care yet. Also via Google search, apparently back in the day the Babylonians knew there was a 13th sign but they booted him because they wanted there to be 12.

Huh.

So, is all of this really meaningless? I think not. At least, it’s not meaningless for the reasons one would think.

The point people are missing though isn’t that this is definitive proof that the juju of the stars telling people how to get through the day is a bunch of bunk, but that it reinforces the fact that ancient humans were paying attention.

Someone had to observe and record and realize that the sun is in a certain place at a certain time every year in relation to the stars. That’s astronomy, not astrology. And maybe at first the idea of assigning someone born on a certain day a sign or symbol depending on the constellation the sun was in was just a way of documenting a person; like splitting up files by last name in alphabetical order. Humans, we like labeling things. (Well, us Virgo humans do.) Later someone may have observed a pattern in personalities of people born in certain times of the year… but it got warped into some kind of divination through the ages. At least, that’s my theory.

Of course, I wonder if people are like their signs because, really, we’re all a little bit of everything and if a person is told they are supposed to be more of a certain way, they start to behave that way; or if they really were that way already and the system of separating by star sign has some validity. One could say it’s a nature vs. nurture debate on a cosmic scale.

This is a subject someone with more time and brain power will have to take on. You would think, based on the traits of my zodiac sign that I’d be perfect for the job. Ha. No. I’m too lazy. Oops. Score one for nature?

Show quote of the day: “What am I supposed to charge him with? Being a twin?”

The Speech

2011-01-12T21:55:00.001-05:00

January 12, 2011

Remarks of President Barack Obama – As Prepared for Delivery

At a Memorial Service for the Victims of the Shooting in Tucson, Arizona

University of Arizona, McKale Memorial Center

Tucson, Arizona

To the families of those we’ve lost; to all who called them friends; to the students of this university, the public servants gathered tonight, and the people of Tucson and Arizona: I have come here tonight as an American who, like all Americans, kneels to pray with you today, and will stand by you tomorrow.

There is nothing I can say that will fill the sudden hole torn in your hearts. But know this: the hopes of a nation are here tonight. We mourn with you for the fallen. We join you in your grief. And we add our faith to yours that Representative Gabrielle Giffords and the other living victims of this tragedy pull through.

As Scripture tells us:

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

the holy place where the Most High dwells.

God is within her, she will not fall;

God will help her at break of day.

On Saturday morning, Gabby, her staff, and many of her constituents gathered outside a supermarket to exercise their right to peaceful assembly and free speech. They were fulfilling a central tenet of the democracy envisioned by our founders – representatives of the people answering to their constituents, so as to carry their concerns to our nation’s capital. Gabby called it “Congress on Your Corner” – just an updated version of government of and by and for the people.

That is the quintessentially American scene that was shattered by a gunman’s bullets. And the six people who lost their lives on Saturday – they too represented what is best in America.

Judge John Roll served our legal system for nearly 40 years. A graduate of this university and its law school, Judge Roll was recommended for the federal bench by John McCain twenty years ago, appointed by President George H.W. Bush, and rose to become Arizona’s chief federal judge. His colleagues described him as the hardest-working judge within the Ninth Circuit. He was on his way back from attending Mass, as he did every day, when he decided to stop by and say hi to his Representative. John is survived by his loving wife, Maureen, his three sons, and his five grandchildren.

George and Dorothy Morris – “Dot” to her friends – were high school sweethearts who got married and had two daughters. They did everything together, traveling the open road in their RV, enjoying what their friends called a 50-year honeymoon. Saturday morning, they went by the Safeway to hear what their Congresswoman had to say. When gunfire rang out, George, a former Marine, instinctively tried to shield his wife. Both were shot. Dot passed away.

A New Jersey native, Phyllis Schneck retired to Tucson to beat the snow. But in the summer, she would return East, where her world revolved around her 3 children, 7 grandchildren, and 2 year-old great-granddaughter. A gifted quilter, she’d often work under her favorite tree, or sometimes sew aprons with the logos of the Jets and the Giants to give out at the church where she volunteered. A Republican, she took a liking to Gabby, and wanted to get to know her better.

Dorwan and Mavy Stoddard grew up in Tucson together – about seventy years ago. They moved apart and started their own respective families, but after both were widowed they found their way back here, to, as one of Mavy’s daughters put it, “be boyfriend and girlfriend again.” When they weren’t out on the road in their motor home, you could find them just up the road, helping folks in need at the Mountain Avenue Church of Christ. A retired construction worker, Dorwan spent his spare time fixing up the church along with their dog, Tux. His final act of selflessness was to dive on top of his wife, sacrificing his life for hers.

Everything Gabe Zimmerman did, he did with passion – but his true passion was people. As Gabby’s outreach director, he made the cares of thousands of her constituents his own, seeing to it that seniors got the Medicare benefits they had earned, that veterans got the medals and care they deserved, that government was working for ordinary folks. He died doing what he loved – talking with people and seeing how he could help. Gabe is survived by his parents, Ross and Emily, his brother, Ben, and his fiancée, Kelly, who he planned to marry next year.

And then there is nine year-old Christina Taylor Green. Christina was an A student, a dancer, a gymnast, and a swimmer. She often proclaimed that she wanted to be the first woman to play in the major leagues, and as the only girl on her Little League team, no one put it past her. She showed an appreciation for life uncommon for a girl her age, and would remind her mother, “We are so blessed. We have the best life.” And she’d pay those blessings back by participating in a charity that helped children who were less fortunate.

Our hearts are broken by their sudden passing. Our hearts are broken – and yet, our hearts also have reason for fullness.

Our hearts are full of hope and thanks for the 13 Americans who survived the shooting, including the congresswoman many of them went to see on Saturday. I have just come from the University Medical Center, just a mile from here, where our friend Gabby courageously fights to recover even as we speak. And I can tell you this – she knows we’re here and she knows we love her and she knows that we will be rooting for her throughout what will be a difficult journey.

And our hearts are full of gratitude for those who saved others. We are grateful for Daniel Hernandez, a volunteer in Gabby’s office who ran through the chaos to minister to his boss, tending to her wounds to keep her alive. We are grateful for the men who tackled the gunman as he stopped to reload. We are grateful for a petite 61 year-old, Patricia Maisch, who wrestled away the killer’s ammunition, undoubtedly saving some lives. And we are grateful for the doctors and nurses and emergency medics who worked wonders to heal those who’d been hurt.

These men and women remind us that heroism is found not only on the fields of battle. They remind us that heroism does not require special training or physical strength. Heroism is here, all around us, in the hearts of so many of our fellow citizens, just waiting to be summoned – as it was on Saturday morning.

Their actions, their selflessness, also pose a challenge to each of us. It raises the question of what, beyond the prayers and expressions of concern, is required of us going forward. How can we honor the fallen? How can we be true to their memory?

You see, when a tragedy like this strikes, it is part of our nature to demand explanations – to try to impose some order on the chaos, and make sense out of that which seems senseless. Already we’ve seen a national conversation commence, not only about the motivations behind these killings, but about everything from the merits of gun safety laws to the adequacy of our mental health systems. Much of this process, of debating what might be done to prevent such tragedies in the future, is an essential ingredient in our exercise of self-government.

But at a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized – at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who think differently than we do – it’s important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds.

Scripture tells us that there is evil in the world, and that terrible things happen for reasons that defy human understanding. In the words of Job, “when I looked for light, then came darkness.” Bad things happen, and we must guard against simple explanations in the aftermath.

For the truth is that none of us can know exactly what triggered this vicious attack. None of us can know with any certainty what might have stopped those shots from being fired, or what thoughts lurked in the inner recesses of a violent man’s mind.

So yes, we must examine all the facts behind this tragedy. We cannot and will not be passive in the face of such violence. We should be willing to challenge old assumptions in order to lessen the prospects of violence in the future.

But what we can’t do is use this tragedy as one more occasion to turn on one another. As we discuss these issues, let each of us do so with a good dose of humility. Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame, let us use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy, and remind ourselves of all the ways our hopes and dreams are bound together.

After all, that’s what most of us do when we lose someone in our family – especially if the loss is unexpected. We’re shaken from our routines, and forced to look inward. We reflect on the past. Did we spend enough time with an aging parent, we wonder. Did we express our gratitude for all the sacrifices they made for us? Did we tell a spouse just how desperately we loved them, not just once in awhile but every single day?

So sudden loss causes us to look backward – but it also forces us to look forward, to reflect on the present and the future, on the manner in which we live our lives and nurture our relationships with those who are still with us. We may ask ourselves if we’ve shown enough kindness and generosity and compassion to the people in our lives. Perhaps we question whether we are doing right by our children, or our community, and whether our priorities are in order. We recognize our own mortality, and are reminded that in the fleeting time we have on this earth, what matters is not wealth, or status, or power, or fame – but rather, how well we have loved, and what small part we have played in bettering the lives of others.

That process of reflection, of making sure we align our values with our actions – that, I believe, is what a tragedy like this requires. For those who were harmed, those who were killed – they are part of our family, an American family 300 million strong. We may not have known them personally, but we surely see ourselves in them. In George and Dot, in Dorwan and Mavy, we sense the abiding love we have for our own husbands, our own wives, our own life partners. Phyllis – she’s our mom or grandma; Gabe our brother or son. In Judge Roll, we recognize not only a man who prized his family and doing his job well, but also a man who embodied America’s fidelity to the law. In Gabby, we see a reflection of our public spiritedness, that desire to participate in that sometimes frustrating, sometimes contentious, but always necessary and never-ending process to form a more perfect union.

And in Christina…in Christina we see all of our children. So curious, so trusting, so energetic and full of magic.

So deserving of our love.

And so deserving of our good example. If this tragedy prompts reflection and debate, as it should, let’s make sure it’s worthy of those we have lost. Let’s make sure it’s not on the usual plane of politics and point scoring and pettiness that drifts away with the next news cycle.

The loss of these wonderful people should make every one of us strive to be better in our private lives – to be better friends and neighbors, co-workers and parents. And if, as has been discussed in recent days, their deaths help usher in more civility in our public discourse, let’s remember that it is not because a simple lack of civility caused this tragedy, but rather because only a more civil and honest public discourse can help us face up to our challenges as a nation, in a way that would make them proud. It should be because we want to live up to the example of public servants like John Roll and Gabby Giffords, who knew first and foremost that we are all Americans, and that we can question each other’s ideas without questioning each other’s love of country, and that our task, working together, is to constantly widen the circle of our concern so that we bequeath the American dream to future generations.

I believe we can be better. Those who died here, those who saved lives here – they help me believe. We may not be able to stop all evil in the world, but I know that how we treat one another is entirely up to us. I believe that for all our imperfections, we are full of decency and goodness, and that the forces that divide us are not as strong as those that unite us.

That’s what I believe, in part because that’s what a child like Christina Taylor Green believed. Imagine: here was a young girl who was just becoming aware of our democracy; just beginning to understand the obligations of citizenship; just starting to glimpse the fact that someday she too might play a part in shaping her nation’s future. She had been elected to her student council; she saw public service as something exciting, something hopeful. She was off to meet her congresswoman, someone she was sure was good and important and might be a role model. She saw all this through the eyes of a child, undimmed by the cynicism or vitriol that we adults all too often just take for granted.

I want us to live up to her expectations. I want our democracy to be as good as she imagined it. All of us – we should do everything we can to make sure this country lives up to our children’s expectations.

Christina was given to us on September 11th, 2001, one of 50 babies born that day to be pictured in a book called “Faces of Hope.” On either side of her photo in that book were simple wishes for a child’s life. “I hope you help those in need,” read one. “I hope you know all of the words to the National Anthem and sing it with your hand over your heart. I hope you jump in rain puddles.”

If there are rain puddles in heaven, Christina is jumping in them today. And here on Earth, we place our hands over our hearts, and commit ourselves as Americans to forging a country that is forever worthy of her gentle, happy spirit.

May God bless and keep those we’ve lost in restful and eternal peace. May He love and watch over the survivors. And may He bless the United States of America.

Unable to Separate the Case from the People Involved?

2010-12-29T14:24:00.002-05:00

Quote of the day: “When it comes to privacy and accountability, people always demand the former for themselves and the latter for everyone else.” ~David Brin

Song of the day: Bent by Matchbox 20

State of mind: tired

Date: 12/29/10

So, I was reading on CNN about the husband that is in trouble for reading his wife’s emails. It’s an interesting case, I think. As someone that very much values my privacy (despite how much I blab about myself online…) I am keenly interested in how this one ends up. E-mail, to me, is the same as mail. If it isn’t addressed to you, you don’t get to read it. I also take issue with employers reading employees e-mails and justifying it by saying it’s their equipment. So? If I were to use my work phone to call my home phone and get my messages and punch in my code to retrieve them, does that really mean my employer can retrieve my messages whenever they Hell they want just because I used their phone once to get them? I use my computer at work to get my e-mail quite often, but I don’t get my e-mail exclusively on that computer. How do you differentiate between the e-mails I opened while on their computer to the ones I opened at home?

Back to hacker husband: Reading the comments was an eye opener. Nearly all of the comments are angry at the wife (for being a cheater, slime, slut…ect.) and the prosecutor for even bringing the case against the husband because the wife is the one complaining. He was husband #3. She was having an affair with husband #2 who was also a convicted domestic abuser. Husband #3 told husband #1 so that husband #1 could go to court to get custody of the children they had together because he didn’t feel safe leaving them in the care of a woman that would sleep with her abusive ex-husband. Well, that’s all fine and dandy. The woman is a slut and has bad taste in men. Fine.

BUT. What if it had been husband #2 that was reading her e-mails and found out that she was planning on leaving him because he was an abuser? What if her e-mails were between her and a help line for abused women? And instead of using the e-mails to take her to court, he beat the shit out of her. What then? Would it still be OK that he read her e-mail? Uh, no.

That she’s a cheater isn’t the issue. The fact he took it upon himself to go through things that did not belong to him is.

I really wish people would stop judging cases by the people that are the reason they are brought about.

Show quote of the day: “He just called the Statue of Liberty a whore!”

Lunar Eclipse on a Winter’s Solstice

2010-12-20T12:50:00.002-05:00

Quote of the day: “I like to think that the moon is there even if I am not looking at it.” ~Albert Einstein

Song of the day: Moonshadow by Cat Stevens

State of mind: Amazed it’s almost the end of 2010 already.

Date: 12/20/10

This is the type of thing ancient man would have gone nuts for. Who knows how the shaman would have interpreted this
astrological display. A signal for war? For peace? For a sacrifice of some kind, probably. I imagine there would be a bonfire and maybe even some chanting and dancing. Really, it would just be an excuse to throw one hell of a party, and later they would have erected some monolithic like thing to commemorate that would puzzle humans as to WTF it means for the rest of time.

Ancient humans had warped senses of humor.

Me? I’ll be asleep. Because I’m lazy. And it’s hella cold outside right now. But if you have the hankering to witness a historical event, the best time to look up is between 20 to 2 and 40 after, when the full eclipse is in full swing at 2:41 EST. (Check local listings for times in your area.)

Have fun!

NASA
has some fun interactive things going on as well.

Show quote of the day: “For the next three months you and I will do everything in our power to see that these men are able to land safely, which means that for the next three months we must do everything in our power to kill them.”

Cyber City Bibliographica

2010-11-23T17:39:00.002-05:00

Has, so far, gone poof. I don't know what the Hell is going on. It's been up & down for weeks and now the site I had created it on is also down.
Might have to start over.

Balls.

Edit: might be back up. Email is in comments if you are having trouble getting in again.

Terriers

2010-11-22T21:57:00.005-05:00

Quote of the day: "The answer is always in the entire story, not a piece of it."
-Jim Harrison

Song of the day: Lateralus by Tool. Ask Wallz why.

State of mind: irritable.

Date: 11/22/10

Terriers is the best show most people are not watching. Fools.
Two episodes left. Don't miss them.
And if you need to catch up on the show, visit terrierists.com and follow the helpful links to see the previous episodes legally. (So it counts.) Then tell FX how awesome the show is and how much you want a second season.
Terriers is the puppy the Internet kills whenever someone is wrong. Don't kill the puppy. Be right. Watch the freakin' show. Wednesday at 10 PM EST, FX.

Show quote of the day: "So she blogs. Do you tweet?"

Tasty Treat from the Empire State.

2010-10-14T20:27:00.001-05:00

Quote of the day: “An apple? Have you ever been tempted by an apple? I would have been like, ‘cover it in caramel and come back to me’”. ~ Jim Gaffigan

Song of the day: Goodnight Sweetheart by Sha Na Na

State of mind: disconnected

Date: 10/14/10

Just a quick note about something I tried yesterday and was so tasty I had to pass it on.
Grilled cheese with apple slices.
More specifically, Empire apple slices. I used an Empire apple because to me they are the perfect balance of sweet and tart and crunchy and remind me of all the good things about autumn. The changing of the leaves, bright sunny days that still have a nip in the air, apple cider donuts, and perfect sleeping weather.
Slice the apple real thin. Butter the rye bread and sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on the buttered side. Put the first slice in, butter side down, lay out the apple slices, sprinkle some more cinnamon sugar right on them, add the slice of cheese, then the other slice of bread. Wait. Flip. Wait a little more. Plate. Enjoy.

Show quote of the day:
“I found a liquor store.”
“And?”
“I drank it.”

Quick Update: October

2010-10-08T13:56:00.001-05:00

Quote of the Day: “If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it.” ~Mary Engelbreit

Song of the Day: Chasing Pavement by Adelle

State of mind: distracted

Date: October 8th, 2010

This is the third month in my food experiment. Last month all I really discovered is I need to plan ahead and get my ass in gear and actually do what I plan. Otherwise I’m in the drive through lane on my lunch hour eating things I shouldn’t be eating on a daily basis. If I do plan ahead and stick to it my questionable math skills tell me I can shave about 100 bucks from my grocery bill a month. That’s nothing to mock. That’s a significant amount. That’s new lap top or go on vacation kind of money. Maybe a new couch… A new couch and a net book! Oh, what I could do with 1200 dollars.

This month is supposed to be about the quality of food.

Uh, yeah.

Um, no.

First few days I ended up eating the same junk as always. Habits don’t just die hard; they mount a counter offensive that is wicked awesome and overwhelming. Who knew?

Once again I think this might be due to me observing the alterations and by observing them I’m thinking about them. And as soon as you think about things you want but should not have for whatever reason is the moment that you really really want that thing. If I wasn’t thinking about the things I shouldn’t have I wouldn’t want them.

The human brain, or at least this human brain, is one fucked up place.

Also, I’m already tired of celery. How do anorexics do it? Crazy.

Show quote of the day:
“Are you here to kill me, Nate?
“Not tonight.”
“In that case, come in. There’s shrimp.”

A Treat for Today: David Tennant

2010-09-08T15:13:00.002-05:00

Quote of the Day: “Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.” ~Buddha

Song of the Day: Who Knew by Pink. Yes Pink. Shut up. It's a good song.

State of mind: Relaxed.

Date: Star Trek's 44th Birthday. So something's older than me still.

While cruising on twitter at lunch I found this link that lead to a link that lead to this YouTube clip that is quite possibly the sweetest thing I have ever seen. So naturally I had to share:

Show quote of the Day: "'Day' is a vestigial mode of time measurement based on solar cycles. It's not applicable... I didn't get you anything."

Holy crap, I’m 'Schrodinger's Cat'.

2010-08-23T16:40:00.001-05:00

Quote: “What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning.” ~Werner Heisenberg

Song: Crazy on You by Heart

State of Mind: busy

Date: Two or three weeks later…

There is a theory, or philosophy, that by observing a thing you alter that thing and it occurs to me that my little experiment has been compromised by my own self. I was going to use this month as the “control month” by carrying on as usual with my shopping habits, however it is clear to me now that what is happening instead is that I am using this month to indulge in any whim I have regarding food.
Every day at lunch time I consider the lunch that I brought in, which isn’t unusual for me, then I contemplate getting the heck out of Dodge for just a few minutes at least and I use getting lunch as the perfect excuse to do so, more so now that this is my “free” month in terms of spending and quality. So I end up at one of a few drive-thru windows and later spending a good 20 minutes in my car under a tree watching the world go by.

I swear The Federation (ala Star Trek) has been the only entity to be more of a failure at the non interference observation thing.

Whatever. It’s too late now, so I’m forging ahead by am trying hard not to so easily give in to the impulse to spend spend spend.

Show quote of the day: “I’m glad my grasp of gothic fiction is a source of amusement for you.”

Bonus for waiting so long for this update:

Huh.

2010-08-10T09:04:00.000-05:00

Google: Don't Be Evil from MoveOn.org Official Channel on Vimeo.

Self Imposed Project: Food.

2010-08-02T16:12:00.000-05:00

Quote of the day: “If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe.” ~Carl Sagan

Song of the day: Schism by Tool

State of mind: Busy

Date: August 2nd, 2010 (The day after my mother’s 70th birthday.)

Well, I’m at it again. I made another project for myself, this time involving my grocery bill.

Every week I go to the store and think to myself that somehow I’m doing it wrong. I try to plan things out but never actually do. Unless you count the scribble of a basic menu on a post it note last minute when I decide I’m stopping at the store that particular night on my way home from work a plan. I really don’t like going back out after I get home or on the weekends, especially since the store is on my way home. It makes no sense to make a separate trip. But like most people, I don’t have much energy after work so I go only when I’m in the mood, or driven by need because I know I have nothing at home. I guess you could call it “unstructured shopping”.

And I’m sure I’m wasting tons of money that way.

I think I may have mentioned before having a theory that there is a mathematical formula to life. It’s just a gut feeling I have. But I know damn well that there has got to be some kind of formula for grocery shopping. A ratio of time > quality > price. Convenience > health.

I’m a convenience food shopper mostly. Premade skillet meals are my favorite or anything I can make in 10 minutes or less. But, and I’m going out on a limb here, I bet those things aren’t that good for me.

So what’s a gal to do?

Experiment!

Make a plan!

And blog it.

So this is what came up with is a three month trial, using a different approach each month and then will compare the results when done, starting August 2st. Why the 2nd? Because August has 31 days, as does October, but September only has 30 and I want equal amount of days or it’ll throw the math off. This mostly makes sense when you consider that Halloween is on the 31st and as a holiday will totally screw with the math.

Here is how I’ve broken it down:

1st month: continuing on the same path of unstructured shopping. Except this time I’ll be keeping my receipts to tally at the end of the 30 days. In other words: easing my way into this scheme.

2nd month, September: From scratch. Nothing premade. I’d like to try a month of home made meals. But part of the goal is to also have all the meals planned out so I can shop efficiently. Homemade things need ingredients that you can’t always buy in small enough portions for just that meal. Example: heavy crème. But just try finding only 1/4th a cup at the store. Can’t be done. So the goal is to find other recipes that call for it so I can use it up. From scratch, no waste. Exceptions: ice cream, crackers, bread, pasta.

3rd month, October: healthy. Probably the hardest for me, actually. Not that I’m a junk food junkie, but I do hit the sweets pretty hard. And I can do so by living in ignorance of how many calories a lot of the things I eat are. However, for this month I’m going to use the Food Pyramid (that is provided for you on MyPyramid.gov.) I could create one to maintain my current awesome weight or even to loose a little of this lusciousness. Think I’ll try the latter. Just for science’s sake, you understand. Not for vanity. Pfft. Perish the thought.

Notice not one month puts cost first. That’s mostly because on the whole, I’m kind of cheapskate already. Plus I have found that trying to shop with only money being the guiding factor, you end up with a lot of stuff you don’t like just because it was on sale and it gets thrown out anyhow. I already try and maintain a food budget of 80-100 bucks a week, which is pretty generous for two people, I think. And all three months should fall in that range without my trying. *fingers crossed*

After all three months I’ll be tallying cost, time, how I felt during the whole experiment, and whatever stunning insights I have come up with.

Fun, right?

Holy crap I need a life.

Show quote of the day: “Dear Lord, are you still going to be here on French Toast Day?

Surprise Kitty

2010-07-29T12:09:00.002-05:00

Quote of the Day: "If cats could talk, they wouldn't". ~Nan Porter

Song of the Day: none

State of mind: giddy

Date: July 29, 2010

Enjoy!

Show quote of the day: “Just looked like a "thing", didn't it? People don't question "things". They just say, ‘oo... it's a thing.’”

Please help stop the stoning death of Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani

2010-06-28T07:39:00.000-05:00

URGENT ALERT: IRAN
June 2010

Call on the Government of Iran to stop the imminent execution of Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani sentenced to death by stoning

Equality Now is deeply concerned about Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, an Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery.

Information received by Equality Now suggests that Ms. Mohammadi-Ashtiani has been sentenced to death by stoning for committing adultery with two men. The verdict is final and could be implemented at any time according to credible sources. Ms. Mohammadi-Ashtiani is said to have been in jail in Tabriz for the past five years. She was initially sentenced to 99 lashes on 15 May 2006 by a court in the city if Osku in the North West Iranian province of East Azerbaijan for the lesser crime of having “illicit relations” with the two men, in other words, engaging in conduct that did not constitute sexual intercourse. However, on 10 September 2006 her case was taken up again by a different court, the Sixth Branch of the Penal Court of East Azerbaijan Province, where the charge of adultery was brought against her.

Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani denied the charge and, as far as Equality Now is aware, no relevant evidence was admitted against her. She was convicted solely on the basis of the judge’s opinion that she had committed adultery and was sentenced to death by stoning.

TAKE ACTION!

Iranian law indicates that a second charge on the same offence of which a person has already been convicted may not be brought. In this case Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani has already been lashed for the offence of having illicit relations. We have been informed that two of the five councilors appointed by the court stated that in their opinion there was no legal proof for the charge of adultery.

Stoning to death violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which Iran is a state party. The ICCPR clearly prohibits torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment. It also limits the imposition of the death penalty “only for the most serious crimes.” The United Nations Commission on Human Rights and the Human Rights Committee have determined that a wide range of specific offences fall outside the scope of the “most serious crimes” for which the death penalty may be imposed and this includes adultery.

Recommended Actions

Please write to the Iranian officials below calling for Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani’s immediate release, the commutation of all sentences of death by stoning and the prohibition by law of all cruel, inhuman and degrading punishments, such as flogging and stoning in accordance with Iran’s obligations under the ICCPR. Urge the officials also to initiate a comprehensive review of the Civil and Penal Codes of Iran to remove all provisions that discriminate against, or have a discriminatory impact on, women, including those regarding adultery and fornication, in accordance with Iran’s own constitutional provision for equality before the law. TAKE ACTION!

His Excellency Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani
Head of the Judiciary
Vali Asr Avenue, above the intersection Pasteur,
Azizi Street 2, No. 4,
Office of Public Relations and Judicial Procedures
Tehran
Iran
Email: info@dadiran.ir

Please also contact the Iranian embassy in your country. The following link may help you find the contact information: http://www.embassiesabroad.com/embassies-of/Iran

In the United States please contact:
Interests Section of the Islamic Republic of Iran
(Housed in the Embassy of Pakistan)
2209 Wisconsin Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20007
Phone: (202) 965-4990, (202) 965-4992, (202) 965-4993, (202) 965-4994, (202) 965-4999
Fax: (202) 965-1073
Email: requests@daftar.org

In the United Kingdom please contact:
Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran
16 Prince's Gate
London SW7 1PT
Phone: 0207 225 3000
Fax: 0207 589 4440
Email: info@iran-embassy.org.uk

Sample letter:

Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani
Head of the Judiciary
Vali Asr Avenue, above the intersection Pasteur, Azizi Street 2, No. 4,
Office of Public Relations and Judicial Procedures
Tehran
Iran

[Date]

Your Excellency

I am writing to you about Sekineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, who has been sentenced to death by stoning for adultery, a charge she denies. Ms. Mohammadi-Ashtiani was sentenced to 99 lashes for having “illicit relations” on 15 May 2006 and has already served five years in prison in Tabriz . The Sixth Branch of the Penal Court of East Azerbaijan Province took up her case again in September 2006 and charged and convicted her for adultery despite the lack of credible evidence against her.

It is my understanding that under Iranian law a second charge relating to an offence of which a person has already been convicted may not be brought. In the case at hand, Ms. Mohammadi-Ashtiani has already been convicted and punished on the same set of facts.

I respectfully ask that you do all you can to ensure that the punishment of stoning against Ms Mohammadi-Ashtiani is immediately rescinded in accordance with Iran’s law that a person cannot be tried for the same crime twice. I note that women are disproportionately convicted for adultery and fornication in Iran and I urge you also to work for the removal of all provisions in the Iranian legal codes that discriminate against, or have a discriminatory impact on, women including those regarding adultery and fornication. This would be in accordance with Iran’s own constitutional provision for equality before the law and its international obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

Respectfully yours

Please keep Equality Now updated on your efforts and send copies of any replies you receive to info@equalitynow.org

A Preliminary Review of Still Flying & the Jose Molina Story that is NOT a Downer.

2010-05-29T15:17:00.004-05:00

Quote: “Hope is the feeling you have that the feeling you have isn't permanent. " ~Jean Kerr

Song: Everytime it Rains by Charlotte Martin

State of mind: Churning like the sea.

Date: May 29th, 2010

Amazon.com delivered unto me the latest Firefly companion book, Still Flying. I’ve been witness to countless others online that had gotten advanced copies because in one way or another, they were “special.” I hated them for a while. I’m over that…. because now I’m special too, with my big glossy copy of my own!

I love the theme of the book. Still Flying. Still here after all these years. (It really would have been an even more fantastic title of a book released on a ten year anniversary of the original series.) Though the show was cancelled halfway through one season and we are never getting a sequel, fans are still active; still creating, playing, screening, talking, and shindigging. On occasion I get e-mails from one particular Browncoat friend and she signs off “Keep Flyin’” which always makes me smile. Can’t keep a good Browncoat down!

Like with the other companion books, I let myself just skim through it back and forth, only stopping when something caught my attention, like Jane Espenson’s detailing of how an episode gets written, or the travel posters (even though I have them in both full size and wave card form already), the cast photos, sketches of storyboards, photos of various props and their fate…. I skipped to the end to read about the fandom, seeing as I am a part of it. Was mostly proud and a touch aggrieved for reasons that for now will remain my own.

Eventually, like any good fan, I will sit down and pour over the book from beginning to end so I can glean every last drop of whatever I can get, probably a few times, because like any good fan, I can never get enough. Will never get enough. Might explain why I’m still here.

So far I have two complaints:

1) That Flanvention was mentioned, if only once. There it was in the pages of the prop photos. They weren’t featured in anyway, but just seeing that word sets my teeth in an uncomfortable lock jaw like grimace. Still. I realize the first was great and many people have very fond memories of it but seeing as the “fans” who ran it turned out to be in it more for what they could get from the conventions (or more precisely who they could meet) than for running a successful business, well… I’ll skip all the swearing I want to do and just say I appreciate getting my settlement check for 7 dollars and hope they had a grand time meeting other actors on my dime. I’m sure Anthony Michael Hall is fondly remembering his time with them as I type this and it was ALL WORTH IT. @!#&%!

2) That the cast pages are snippets from already done interviews, and are not new. I suppose getting original quotes from all the cast members was probably out of their reach or not something that could be scheduled in time and I like that they used the same format and similar type quotes for each page to give them a consistency and that had to mean combing hundreds of interviews, articles, and even You Tube clips of convention Q & A and probably took more time than new interviews would have so I give them kudos for that even when I’m taking them away because I’m all for recycling, but sometimes something new is just plain better. In a way using older quotes and interviews says, “The fans are still here, but the cast has moved on.” Which might be true, but I don’t really need to pay to be told that.

However, the reason I bought the book wasn’t for cast interviews or prop photos, but for the original Firefly ‘verse stories by four writers from the original 14 episodes. Although I have avoided almost all spoilers (except the few in Sci Fi Wire’s twitter feed, jerks) I was aware that there was some consternation over the story by Jose Molina. So naturally I read it first.

And worried.

I didn’t get it.

I thought maybe I missed something. So I read it again.

Damn. What a downer! Could io9 was right?

But I couldn’t stop thinking about it. The story kept rolling around in my brain, tossing and turning like a frustrated insomniac. Maybe frustrated at me for being so clueless.

Then I recalled a bit I had somehow been skipping over despite my vain attempts to understand.
Then I got it.

Mal. You stupid cranky bastard! Always looking out for your crew.

*SPOILERS* Highlight to see.

The story is set some time after the events of the movie and it turns out that Mal has given up life as a spaceship captain and has settled on some dusty world on the rim, trying to get farther away from the Alliance and all the annoyance they bring. Zoe has the ship, Kaylee and Simon have settled down with each other and spawned little duplicates of themselves that River frequently babysits, Jayne got himself rich and dead. They don’t really say what happened to Inara, just that she didn’t give up life as a Companion. She might still be on Serenity with Zoe, or on a pretty world of her own. All we know is Mal is alone.

Yeah, I can see how that would be considered a downer.

Except as Mal reminisces, as much as a man like him can, after receiving the package from Zoe I realized that Mal has accepted his fate because his choice, his belief that it was worth dying for to get out the truth of the Reavers to the ‘verse was not only the right thing to do but it also was him once again looking out for his crew. What convinced me was the fate of Kaylee, Simon, and River. They’re free. They’re happy. They have built a family for themselves and would not have been able to do so had he not made the choice he did on Mr. Universe’s compound. And I believe the story is trying to say that he knew all along that he would probably end up where he was and despite realizing it, he made the choice he did anyhow. He takes care of his own. And he will live with whatever looking out for them costs him.

Dying, it wasn’t exactly Plan A. Living always is. Even without his ship, he is still living under his own terms. And what more can a man like him ask for?

*Done with the spoilers*

I haven’t read the other three stories yet. Maybe because I know there are only four, I’m trying to draw the experience to put off that all too familar pang of sadness when it’s all over. I’ve seen all there is to see of the ‘verse. That there will be no more...

Wonder what they’ll do for the next book?

Maybe a collection of fan stories and art? Because, really, as much as Joss, cast, and crew loved the ‘verse it is us, the fans, that are the ones still here.

Show quote of the day: “Well, my sister's a ship. We had a complicated childhood.”

Women's Action 35.1

2010-05-26T10:48:00.001-05:00

May 2010

Pakistan: End exploitation and abuse of girls in domestic servitude

	Shazia's funeral

On 22 January 2010, Shazia Masih, a 12-year-old Pakistani girl employed as a domestic servant, was taken to the hospital in an unconscious state where she died shortly thereafter. According to the initial medical report Shazia’s body was covered with wounds, some caused by ‘blunt means’ and some caused by ‘a sharp edged weapon.’ Her employer, a prominent lawyer and former head of the Lahore Bar Association, Advocate Naeem Chaudhry, was arrested and charged with attempted murder.

Various human rights organizations campaigned for justice in Shazia’s case, calling for immediate prosecution of her employer and justice for Shazia. A later medical report declared Shazia’s cause of death to be ‘septicemia due to acute or chronic inflammatory disease of lung.' Despite having kept Shazia in slave like conditions, withholding pay and not allowing her to see her parents, Advocate Chaudhry is currently out on bail. A middleman, Amanat Masih, who supplied Shazia and other impoverished girls to prosperous homes for domestic servitude, was arrested for a short period but also subsequently released on bail. Also, on 11 February 2010, Yasmin, a 15-year-old domestic servant, was allegedly burnt by her employers in Okara and died five days later in a hospital in Lahore. According to Yasmin’s father this was not the first instance of violence at the hands of her employers.

The cases of Shazia and Yasmin are only two examples of the abuse and exploitation suffered by girls who are trafficked into domestic servitude in Pakistan. Research shows that there are about 264,000 child domestic servants in Pakistan, most of whom are girls. According to the ILO these ‘invisible’ children, are trapped in their employers’ homes where they are given very little or no pay, are deprived of the chance to have a childhood or receive an education, and are at risk of being subjected to verbal, physical, emotional and sexual abuse. Pakistani labor laws neither outlaw domestic work as a harmful occupation for children nor regulate the domestic work sector to protect the rights of adults working in that field. Pakistan also lacks legislation addressing human trafficking within Pakistan’s borders (whether for labor or sexual servitude), and girls like Shazia continue to be trafficked into affluent homes without recourse.

TAKE ACTION!

The ILO has reported that across the globe, more girls under 16 are found in domestic servitude than any other form of work. Plan International estimates that over 100 million people globally, predominantly young women and girls, are working in this ‘least regulated and protected of sectors.’ UNICEF reports that millions of girls who work as domestic servants are especially vulnerable to exploitation, abuse and trafficking within and across borders. According to the ILO, trafficking in children both internally and cross border is prevalent in South Asia with a high incidence of domestic child trafficking.

Pakistan has ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Article 10 (3) of the ICESCR states that ‘children and young persons should be protected from economic and social exploitation’ and ‘their employment in work harmful to their morals or health or dangerous to life or likely to hamper their normal development should be punishable by law.’ It directs States Parties to set age limits below which the paid employment of child labor should be prohibited and punishable by law. Article 19 of the CRC requires States to protect children from all forms of exploitation and Article 32 states that States Parties should ‘recognize the right of the child to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child’s education, or to be harmful to the child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development.’ It further directs States Parties to set a minimum age for admission to employment, regulation of employment hours and conditions as well as penalties to ensure enforcement. Pakistan is also a party to the ILO Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labor (No. 182), which requires States to prohibit for children any work ‘which by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children’; and the ILO Minimum Age Convention (C138) which requires that countries set 15 years as a minimum age for admission to work and 18 years as the minimum age for hazardous work.

The Committee on the Rights of the Child, which monitors State compliance with CRC, in its examination of Pakistan’s report in October 2009 expressed concern at the high prevalence of child labor in Pakistan and at the ‘growing number of children trafficked internally, sometimes sold by their own parents or forced into marriage, sexual exploitation or domestic servitude.’ The Committee recommended that Pakistan ‘strengthen its efforts to eradicate child labour, particularly in its worst forms, by addressing the root causes of economic exploitation through poverty eradication and education’; ‘take all measures to ensure the protection of children from international and internal trafficking and sale’; and ‘strengthen national and regional strategies and programmes on the prevention and suppression of sale and trafficking.’

Domestic servitude, in which girls are often confined to their employers’ homes in slave-like conditions, work for long hours with minimal or very little pay and perform unsafe tasks, should be understood to fall under the category of hazardous work. However, Pakistan’s Employment of Children Act of 1991 which bans a number of occupations for children does not ban domestic work. Moreover, under international legal standards, most girls in domestic service would be considered victims of human trafficking, since they are clearly recruited, transported, transferred, harbored or received for the purposes of exploitation. Pakistani legislation falls short of these international standards and while the Pakistan Prevention and Control of Human Trafficking Ordinance (2002) addresses cross border trafficking, it does not apply to trafficking within Pakistan’s borders, including that of girls like Shazia who are supplied to affluent households for the purpose of exploitation.

Children’s rights and other human rights organizations, such as Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) and Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Aid (LHRLA) have been campaigning to ban domestic work for children; to regulate the working hours, conditions and wages in the adult domestic work sector; for provisions against domestic trafficking to be included in the Pakistani trafficking legislation; and for administrative, social and educational measures to protect the rights of children and end their exploitation. Equality Now supports the efforts of these organizations to end the exploitation and abuse of girls and women in domestic servitude.

Recommended Actions

Please write to the Prime Minister, Speaker of National Assembly, Federal Minister for Labour and Manpower, Federal Minister for Human Rights and the Minister for Law and Justice asking them to ban domestic work for children; and to regulate the working hours, work conditions and wages in the domestic work sector to prevent the abuse and exploitation of adult domestic workers. Urge them to take administrative, social and educational measures to protect the rights of children and end their exploitation. In addition please urge them to ensure that the trafficking legislation addresses domestic trafficking within Pakistan and protects children who are trafficked into domestic servitude.

Letters should go to:

HE Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani
Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
The Prime Minister’s Secretariat
Islamabad, Pakistan
Fax: +92 51 922 1596
Tel: +92 51 920 6111
E-mail: secretary@cabinet.gov.pk

Dr. Fehmida Mirza
Speaker, National Assembly of Pakistan
Parliament House
Islamabad, Pakistan
Fax: +92 51 922 1106
Tel: +92 51 922 1082/83
Email: speaker@na.gov.pk

Mr. Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah
Federal Minister for Labour and Manpower
27, Minister’s Enclave
Islamabad, Pakistan
Fax: +92 51 920 3462
Tel: +92 51 921 3686
Email: minister@molm.gov.pk

Mr. Syed Mumtaz Alam Gillani
Federal Minister for Human Rights
3rd Floor, Old USAID Building
Ataturk Avenue, G-5/1
Islamabad, Pakistan
Fax: +92 51 924 4542
Tel: +92 51 924 4526
Email: minister@mohr.gov.pk

Dr. Zaheeruddin Babar Awan
Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs
Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs
Islamabad, Pakistan
E-Mail: minister@molaw.gov.pk

Please keep Equality Now updated on your efforts and send copies of any replies you receive to:

Equality Now P.O. Box 20646, Columbus Circle Station, New York NY 10023, USA
Equality Now Africa Regional Office, P.O. Box 2018, 00202, Nairobi, KENYA
Equality Now P.O. Box 48822, London WC2N 6ZW, UNITED KINGDOM
info@equalitynow.org

Posted via email from nypinta's posterous

Untitled

2010-05-20T16:53:00.001-05:00

Quote: “If you gaze to long into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.” Fredrick Nietzsche (And gets real bored, I bet.)

Song: “Live Out Loud” by Rob Thomas

State of Mind: Bored.

Date: 5/20/2010

Where the Hell have all of you been?? I’ve been looking everywhere! Well, I guess I should give that old adage of staying put and whoever you are looking for eventually come round a try.

So, in the words of one spaced bounty hunter Jubal Early, “Here I am.”

What have I been doing since I last posted… unfortunately, not much.

My face eventually went back to normal and I went back to work. Ho hum.

Also, I bought a new(ish) car that I love love love. Has a sunroof. And more power than my old car.

(Which means, finally, I can be the one to cut off other people.)

I chopped 90% of my hair off.

Took a vacation from work, but stayed home and puttered around. It was too cold to do anything and I was too broke to go anywhere.

My niece graduated from High School last week.

Both cats have remained healthy.

I got an infection in the cornea of my eye. Almost went blind. That was fun.

Watched a lot of TV.

Saw a few movies.

Read a few books. One I hated. (More on that later.)

Blah blah blahidty blah.

Seriously. I need a life.

Show quote of the day: “That’s a strange turn of phrase, saying, “We won” when you weren’t even playing. When watching Star Wars we don’t say, “We defeated the Empire!”

Posted via email from nypinta's posterous

Lost My Wisdom

2010-02-18T17:10:00.001-05:00

Today my dentist removed my three wisdom teeth. Only took 20 minutes. Less than a cleaning. Let's hope this bodes well for recovery. But to be on the safe side I've already scheduled to take Friday and Monday off.
Right now with half of my face numb I feel like a stroke victim. I can't wait for the novacaine to wear off so my lips wouldn't feel so hugh, (and why does that happen anyhow?), but I'm ok with being numb for now.

Got no quote.

LL's Fault

2010-01-20T20:15:00.002-05:00

No quote or song, and it's still the same day as my last post. But I have an announcement: LL screwed up my blog. I know, I know. Shocking. But can you believe he actually admitted it?! I was wondering why my posts, and they've been plentiful and hilarious, since late November started going missing... and then I get a message from him and he tells me about "mysterious icons" that he saw on my blog one day so he started to click on them willy nilly... and now *pooof* it looks like I've only posted 3 times in the past 3 months.
Coincidence?
I think not.
Well played, sir. Well played.

Saddest Day of the Year

2010-01-18T12:05:00.003-05:00

Quote of the day: "Time cools, time clarifies; no mood can be maintained quite unaltered through the course of hours." ~Mark Twain

Song of the day: Invincible by Crossfade

State of mind: disagreeable and a tad whiny

Date: Jan 18^th, 2010

Yesterday was the official day to give up on any New Years resolutions you made. Nice. Are we such a nation of quitters we actually recognize a specific date on which we should just give up, stay fat, stay disorganized, and a hundred other things we resolve to do while on a champagne high at the beginning of the month?

Maybe the realization that we will never be any better than we are at this moment and we should give up trying on the 17^th is why the 18^th is the saddest day of the year. Reality sets in; makes us all moody.

Or it’s the holiday spending spree credit card bills and Valentine’s Day displays already up everywhere.

Whatever.

My day sucks because I couldn’t get to sleep last night due to my brain churning all night long. Then when I finally did get to sleep, it didn’t last and I woke up three hours earlier than usual. I fall back asleep just in time to wake up late and miss the garbage truck. One cat was sick in my dinning room and the other peed in the kitchen. I ended up being late to work and when I got there they were plowing so I had to park on the other side of the building and walk all the way around in the slush that hadn’t been removed yet. For some reason, despite it only being 33 degrees outside, the air conditioning is on and it’s blowing right on me. My back aches, my joints hurt, my slacks don’t fit and so far I’ve had three stupid and avoidable paperwork mistakes to correct and it’s not even noon yet.

Also, I forgot my lunch.

*sigh*

But at least my house didn’t crumble around me days ago and I’m still stuck underneath it because everyone’s house fell on them and my government doesn’t have the tools or manpower capable to get me out, and even if I was one of the lucky ones that didn’t have a building fall on me I could be wandering the death filled streets with no water or food and wondering where all my loved ones are.

http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/

http://www.redcross.org/

http://www.mercycorps.org/

Show quote of the day: I'm polymerized tree sap and you're an inorganic adhesive, so whatever verbal projectile you launch in my direction is reflected off of me, returns to its original trajectory and adheres to you.

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Urgent Alert: Call on Senate to pass International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2009

2009-11-23T20:18:00.002-05:00

Subject: Urgent Alert: Call on Senate to pass International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2009
Reply-To: Equality Now <info@equalitynow.org>

EQUALITY NOW
URGENT ALERT: UNITED STATES
23 November 2009

EQUALITY NOW CALLS ON THE UNITED STATES SENATE TO PASS THE INTERNATIONAL PROTECTING GIRLS BY PREVENTING CHILD MARRIAGE ACT OF 2009

In November 2009, Equality Now issued Women’s Action 34.1 highlighting the case of Fawziya Abdullah Youssef who was married by her father to a 25-year-old man at age 11 and died in childbirth a year later after 3 days of painful labor and a stillbirth. The Action calls on the Government of Yemen to enforce the minimum age of marriage of 18 years in Yemen.

Also, in June 2009, Equality Now issued a News Alert calling on the Government of Saudi Arabia to annul the marriage of 10-year-old Amneh Mohamed Sharahili to a 25-year-old man and urging the Saudi King to issue an edict banning all child marriages.

The severe negative physical, emotional, psychological, educational and sexual implications of child marriage on girls are well-documented. Such marriages violate the human rights of girls by excluding them from decisions regarding the timing of marriage and choice of spouse. The health-related impact of early marriage and pregnancy, according to the United Nations, includes increased risks of HIV infection, death in labor, septic abortion, stillbirths, pregnancy-induced hypertension, puerperal sepsis and obstetric fistula. Early marriage also jeopardizes girls’ right to formal education, which ends upon marriage. International research has shown that married girls have few social connections, restricted mobility, limited control over resources and little or no power in their new households, and that domestic violence is common in child marriages. Equality Now continues to call on its network to urge the Yemeni and Saudi governments, respectively, to ban child marriage.

In June 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the State Department Reauthorization Bill which included major provisions of the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2009 (H.R. 2103) (the “Act”). This landmark legislation recognizes that child marriage is an obstacle to United States’ development efforts, and investments in improving women’s and girls’ education, health, economic and legal status are needed to prevent this harmful practice. It authorizes U.S. foreign assistance programs to prevent child marriage and provide educational and economic opportunities for girls around the world for fiscal years 2010 through 2014. The U.S. Senate must also include similar provisions from the Act (S. 987) into its version of the State Department Reauthorization Bill, which the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will introduce as early as this week.

As a part of efforts to curb child marriage in Yemen, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere, Equality Now urges its Women’s Action Network members in the United States to call upon their U.S. Senators to cosponsor the Act (S. 987) and urge members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to ensure that provisions from the Act are included in the Senate version of the State Department Reauthorization Bill. Click here to find your Senators’ contact information. Click here to see a list of Senate Foreign Relations Committee members.

Please keep Equality Now updated on your work and send copies of any replies you receive to: info@equalitynow.org

Sample letter
[add address of Senator]

Dear

I am writing to express my deep concern about the prevalence of child marriage in a number of countries around the world and the severe negative physical, emotional, psychological, educational and sexual implications of such marriage on girls. Child marriages violate the human rights of girls by excluding them from decisions regarding the timing of marriage and choice of spouse. Health-related impacts of early marriage and pregnancy according to the United Nations include higher risks of HIV infection, death in labor, septic abortion, still births, pregnancy-induced hypertension, puerperal sepsis and obstetric fistula. Early marriage also jeopardizes girls’ right to formal education, which ends upon marriage. Moreover, international research has shown that married girls have few social connections, restricted mobility, limited control over resources and little or no power in their new households, and that domestic violence is common in child marriages.

I am aware that provisions from the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2009 (H.R. 2103 and S. 987) (the “Act”), which authorizes U.S. foreign assistance programs to prevent child marriage and provides educational and economic opportunities for girls around the world, were passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on 10 June 2009 as part of the State Department Reauthorization Bill. As a Senator, I urge you to cosponsor the Act (S. 987) and ensure that provisions from the Act are included in the Senate version of the State Department Reauthorization Bill. Please take action on this issue so that efforts to eradicate child marriages, which undermine our government’s efforts to empower women around the world, can be expanded and girls around the world are given a better chance to realize their potential.

I thank you for your attention.

Yours sincerely

Posted via email from nypinta's posterous

Feed the puppies!

2009-11-22T13:28:00.003-05:00

Quote of the day: "Happiness is a warm puppy." ~Charles M. Schulz

Song of the day: none

State of mind: Baffled

Date: 11/23/09

Day 23.

This was sent to me by a friend and I couldn't resist posting it. Especially after a local news story about some hunters finding a beagle in the woods that had it's face and front paws wrapped in duct tape and had been left in a garbage bag for possibly two weeks with only a hole for it's nose so it could breath, or about the asshole (and I hate that word, but it is the most apt) that kicked a puppy to death in Pittsburg because he was upset he was going to miss the beginning of the football game because he had to walk the dog. How can people do that? What the hell is wrong with someone that they think it's OK to be maliciously cruel to an animal?

So, I need to do at least this small thing. Just because kicking that asshat in Pittsburgh is "against the law". Whatever.

Hi, all you animal lovers. This is pretty simple... Please ask ten friends to each ask a further ten today!

The Animal Rescue Site is having trouble getting enough people to click on it daily so they can meet their quota of getting FREE FOOD donated every day to abused and neglected animals. It takes less than a minute (about 15 seconds) to go to their site and click on the purple box 'fund food for animals for free'. This doesn't cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate food to abandoned/neglected animals in exchange for advertising.

Here's the web site! Please pass it along to people you know.
The Animal Rescue Site

AGAIN, PLEASE TELL 10 FRIENDS!

Show quote of the day: "People don't disappear off the face of the Earth."
"Sure they do. Quantum physics, alien abduction, Schrödinger's cat... One minute you're getting a hot dog in the park, the next you're fighting off Sleestaks on the farside of a dimensional rift!"

Rossum vs FOX

2009-11-13T19:51:00.006-05:00

Quote of the day: "It's weird... you know the end of something great is coming, but you want to hold on, just for one more second, just so it can hurt a little more." ~Unknown (at least by me.)

Song of the day: Somebody to Love by Queen (aka "The Happy Feet" song)

State of mind: bummed

Date: 11/15/09

Day 15. Post... whatever.

I heard the news a few days ago but have been pretending I didn't just for a little while, but I have to face facts: Dollhouse has been cancelled by FOX. Surprise! Ok, not really that much of a shock. Despite cancellation, (which I think is weird that they announced it in the middle of the November sweeps hiatus when it wasn't even on), they are going to be airing all 13 episodes of this season. So. There's that.

As is the case with most things these days, I read about it on twitter, then went to Whedonesque.com for confirmation and saw that Joss himself had posted about the news.

Hmm. Apparently my news is not news.

I don't have a lot to say. I'm extremely proud of the people I've worked with: my star, my staff, my cast, my crew. I feel the show is getting better pretty much every week, and I think you'll agree in the coming months. I'm grateful that we got to put it on, and then come back and put it on again.

I'm off to pursue internet ventures/binge drinking. Possibly that relaxation thing I've read so much about. By the time the last episode airs, you'll know what my next project is. But for now there's a lot of work still to be done, and disappointment to bear.

Thank you all for your support, your patience, your excellent adverts. See you again. -j.

Now, I'm not going to get all pissy and complain that the show was 'too smart' for the American audience. For one, I don't think most people are really all that dumb. (Despite what I say A LOT while driving.) I think the reason so many shows succeed that don't require that much thinking is that most people, even the clever ones, don't want to think while watching TV. It's supposed to be relaxing, so they choose shows that do the thinking for them. Of course, there are always exceptions to that rule because it can't be all prat falls and reality TV all the time or the brain starts to hurt... but in Dollhouse's case, it seemed that what the show was and how it was advertised were not compatible. So outside the Whedon fandom, those that were looking for another eye candy spy action show were disappointed, (except the eye candy part of course), and anyone that was looking for the next thinking show thought Dollhouse was nothing but girl fights and shoot outs. So, the audience FOX got was turned off by the moral ambiguity and those that might have appreciated it never found it. Well, there's always DVD.

But since everyone knows it has an end date, why not give it a try if you haven't already? It comes back on December 4th and the last episode airs on January 22nd. With only two half seasons, that isn't much of a commitment. (If you need a widget to remind you when it comes back, try here.) The previous episodes are available on Hulu.com or on iTunes, and I'm sure the previous season is at your local DVD rental store, which should include the never aired episode Epitaph One. (Warning, that link has spoilers included.) But the real reason you should give the show a chance is because it attracted the kinds of people that could do this kind of work: whyiwatch.com
How can someone that talented be wrong about a show, huh?
And look at the promo she made:

Now THAT is how the show should have been marketed. Not sure how it would have effected the ratings but FOX would have at least gotten the correct audience.

And now there is a fan created viral campaign online with clues and videos spread all over the net. I won't give them all away, but here are a few to start you off: ditchthetech.com,@tombness on twitter, Wipethefuture.com, and Spectrin.com.

Show quote of the day: "Ooh, I could eat that word. Or a crisp."

10 Useless Deaths in Fiction

2009-11-11T23:59:00.000-05:00

Quote of the day: "The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt." ~Bertrand Russell

Song of the day: Straight Out of Line by Godsmack

State of mind: in denial

Date: 11/11/09

A long time back io9 had a list of the 10 Most Wasted or Lame Deaths in sci fi. So of course, I decided to make my own list. I am going to exapand the criteria a bit to both Sci Fi and Fantasy, just because I can.

Let's start with the slightly annoying and move on to deaths that to this day make me want to pull my hair out:

1)Cyclops- X-Men 3. He was kind of a waste of celluloid so I wasn't so upset, except that it was pointless. What reason did Phoenix aka Jean Grey have to smelt him?

2)Mace Windu- Star Wars: Ep III. On one hand it did take an awful lot to kill him. On the other why can Anakin soar from thousands of feet in the air through traffic and land himself safely onto a moving vehicle, yet Mace couldn't?

3)Data- Star Trek: Nemisis. Brain the size of a planet and he can't get off a ship before it goes boom. Wait... am I confusing my robots again?

4)D'Argo- Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars. It wasn't that he sacrificed his life for his friends. It was the cliched way he did it. Farscape was all about tacking worn and weary Sci Fi plot devices and turning them on their head but then they kill D'Argo off in the most overdone war story way possible. D'Argo deserved better.

5)Dr Carson Beckett- Stargate Atlantis. Because they kept bringing him back.

6)Colin/Quinn- just because it looked so lame since the actors playing them quit/were fired the season before so the show runners were forced to resort to showing a guy that was vaguely the size of Quinn waving his friends through the vortex and that was the last you saw of them... except, no! They bring in a new guy that is an alternate world Quinn, but he's stupid! Was that supposed to be an insult aimed at Jerry O'connell? Childish. Also, why didn't the geniuses use the actress that played an alternate Quinn in season 3? No need to explain why she looks different since it's already been established.

7)Connor Macleod- Highlander: Endgame. Never happened. Duncan was hallucinating.

8)Marcus Cole- Babylon 5. His death would have had meaning except the person he gave his life for didn't return for the 5th season and that made his death moot. Which was a pity because Marcus Cole was one of my favorite human characters on that show. He was full of delight and sarcasm, both of which was sorely missed in the last season.

9)Wier. Wier again. Wier 2.0- Stargate Atlantis. Not only did they kill her, they killed her Replicator clone, then killed another actress playing her as yet another Replicator clone.

10)Padme- Star Wars: Ep III. Death by heartbreak? I can't believe they wrote off her character as if she was too weak to deal with the fact she married a psycho that helped take over the galaxy; especially since she was voted Queen when she was just 14 years old and now has two children that will be left alone in that now very dangerous galaxy. What the hell does Lucas have against women that he writes one that is supposed to be so strong and extraordinary yet they can't even be counted on to take care of their own children when they are needed the most?

Show quote of the day: "I think your face is going to catch fire."

Freak of nature?

2009-11-10T22:01:00.001-05:00

Quote of the day: "It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change." ~Charles Darwin

Song of the day: Undecided by Ella Fitzgerald

State of mind: muddled

Date: November 10th, 2009

Day 10! I am falling behind but still chugging along...

As stated, I am unwell. I thought it was a head cold, but now I am not so sure. No sniffles, or chest congestion. All I have is a sore, swollen throat and a headache that radiates down my back. I am suspicious that it might be due to my wisdom teeth that I have not yet had taken out. My dentist had recommended they be pulled a little over a year ago because they came in funny and he was concerned about possible decay because even with my fastidious oral hygiene, the odd angels would make them impossible to keep clean. Was that bullshit to get me to authorize an unnecessary procedure? I don't think so. And now I'm thinking that my weird wisdom teeth are making me prone to infections in the throat. This is the second time I've felt like this in little over three months. In September I came back from NYC with a sore throat too. Also, I've had strep throat twice in the past year- the last time being the worst case I've ever had.
How does this make me a freak of nature? It's the number of wisdom teeth I have. Three.
I may have mentioned the story my dentist told me about more kids being born with less wisdom teeth as they are less often necessary to replace missing teeth- which is their function. He gave credit to better oral hygene and advanced in dentistry.
I mentioned that on twitter and was challenged on it and although I dont think that it's a huge deal, I feel the need to clarify in more than 140 characters, but don't feel like spamming everyone's twitter feed with my tooth ramblings.
1) I did not mean to imply that my dentist was right. Just that he said it.
2) I know nothing about genetics.
Even still, it makes a kind of sense to me. I have no idea if a change in humans could be so quick, but it seems plausible that some alterations would happen due to environent. I have no idea if that's how changes happen at all. But in my overviewing brain, it makes sense. The Earth wasn't built for us, we were built for it. And if at one time we were all the same, from the same place (Africa) then why are we so different now? We moved to different locations with different environents. It's the reason I see as to why people with ancestors from the colder climates are furry as hell. (I'm a lot Irish, so I know.) Why people have certain skin tones depending on the amount of sunlight there is. Even eye color could be attributed to where the human was when it first appeared.
But from what I gathered by the comment to me was that evolution happens because those with favorable traits survive while those without don't and the survivors pass it on. (I might be interpreting that totally wrong BTW. Again, I know nothing about genetics.) But I have to wonder, where did the trait come into exsistence in order to be deemed by sucessful human survival to be the good trait to pass on? Something had to have happened that triggered it, right?so why not flouride in the water or good brushing habits?
Either way, after work tomorrow I have to drop off some books to the library and plan to pick up a few to answer the question, because now it's bugging me.
Besides, the real point I was trying to make on twitter was just that I'm a freak. On that I suspect we all agree.

Show quote of the day: "When they blew up the Death Star with thousands of Stormtroopers on it, they knew they were people?"
"It was called a 'Death Star', sweetie. They knew what they were getting into."

Sicko

2009-11-09T19:01:00.001-05:00

Quote of the day: "One's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains it's original dimensions." ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

Song of the day: Pig by NIN

State of mind: muddled

Date: November 9th, 2009 (Carl Sagan's B-day.)

Great. I'm sick. I was fine yesterday but I woke up sick today. My head ached so much even my teeth hurt. My teeth!
So I took the advice of every newscast on illness and stayed home. Then I took a long nap and spent the rest of the day in battle with whatever it is that is making my throat hurt and my bones ache.
What exactly is the point to the common cold? Or the flu? What is it that makes us sick and why bother?
Most things on this planet in the natural world at least has a function on the food chain and in our ecosystem. Except sore throats and headaches. It's not going to kill me, so it's not Mother Nature culling the herd. So, WTF?
I bet all colds and flues and other non life threatening illnesses are an alien conspiricy. Just wait. You'll see.

*cough cough*

They'll show up with some fancy schmancy cure all and we'll be so happy and trust them and love them and then BAM, they'll steal all our chocolate or the moon or something.

Show quote of the day: "I'm wearing my teeth kicking heels."

Top Ten TV Moments

2009-11-07T20:05:00.004-05:00

Quote of the day: "Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground." ~Teddy Roosevelt

Song of the day: Vicarious by Tool

State of mind: chagrined

Date: November 7th, 2009 (Carl Sagan Day!)

Day 7! Post 4.

TV. I love it. I watch too much of it. As a child of the 70s, it was my babysitter, my teacher, and my friend. This might explain why to this day I still believe in my heart of hearts that all my problems could be solved by a team of mercenaries in a black van and a fully equipped tool shed or that whenever I am counting I think to myself after every number, "ah-ha-ha!"

So when I saw an article on TV Guide asking the online community what their top ten TV moments were of the past decade, I thought I could come up with twice that amount easy.

I couldn't. And that bothers me. An entire decade of dedicated television viewing and I had trouble completing a list of ten things that were worthy enough to be put on a list for a blog? That makes me wonder just what am I doing with my time that I couldn't be doing other, possible more memorable things. Piano lessons? Travel? But both would require money... Volunteer work? Reading... oh wait. I do a lot of that too. Can I come up with a top ten list of awesome moments from the books I read over the past decade? Yeah, I think I could.

Anyhow... I did eventually come up with at least ten moments and despite my sudden crisis of whatever you want to call it, I am now posting it for your viewing pleasure.

This list isn't in any particular order, and not all of the moments would be considered happy ones. They asked for memorable and unfortunately sucky things count.

1) 9/11. That day and the weeks after of news coverage. I pretty much spent all my waking hours in front of the TV scanning channels from CNN, to MSNBC, to BBCA, to Discovery, to the local channels. I was mesmerized by the sheer magnitude of the event and I think it took that long for my brain to really take it all in. What an odd surreal time that was.

2) Election night, 2008. I'll admit, I had something in my eye. I spent that night hoping from my computer to in front of my TV. I really wish I had been out that night at the many gathering places folks go to watch TV together. (They're called bars.)

3) President Bartlett curses God on The West Wing. Awesome show, awesome episode.

4) Torchwood: Children of Earth. That show ripped my heart out, then kicked it around with steal toe boots.

5) The Prom, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Gets me every time! I know on a lot of peoples lists, the episode where her mother passes away from a brain aneurysm is a memorable, and gut wrenching moment, but when her fellow classmates acknowledge en masse that she is protecting them from things they don't even want to contemplate, I just want to hug my TV.

6) Serenity rises- The Train Job. Alright, I'll admit it, on Firefly the first thing I fell in love with was the ship. And of all the horrible moments in the movie, I recall cursing out a certain word smith the most in my head when Serenity was coming apart during Wash's miraculous landing on Mr. Universe's base. I thought things like, "He's killing Serenity! That bastard!!". Then the rest of the movie just kind of happened to me. (Good stuff.)

7) The X-Prize. I watched the documentary of the race for the X-Prize and the moment that gets me the most is when the team that designed the winning ship was going to launch for the second time and they came out of the hanger to an empty vista and some were down thinking that no one wanted to see this historical moment played out, and then they all came around the corner of a building to see thousands of people, most of whom had driven all night, just to be there and when the crowd saw them they burst into roarous cheers. I think that alone speaks for itself as to whether or not their is interest by people here on Earth to go elsewhere. Out there. Now.

8) Supernatural: Dean goes to Hell. I didn't particularly enjoy the fact that Dean went to Hell, but I thought it was pretty gutsy of the show runners to send one half of the shows heroic duo to the ultimate place of suffering. The consequences of that event are still being played out, and I am enjoying the ride. If you aren't watching this show, get thee to Netflix pronto.

9) Castle dresses up as Mal for Halloween. No other show that I can think of, besides maybe Supernatural, are the writers are having so much fun adding in moments for a particularly loyal segment of the fanbase. They know a lot of the people watching the show came to it as fans of Nathan Fillion and Firefly. But there have been nods to shows other cast members were a part of previous as well. And they do it all without compromising the integrity of the story, which is a neat trick.

10) Spirit Rover sends back photos from Mars. We sent a remote control car to another planet. That speaks for itself.

So, that's it. That's the sum of the coolest moments for me from the last decade.

I so need a hobby.

**Edit** I didn't include the tragic loss of the Shuttle Columbia because I heard about it from my mother when I was still in bed and I was too heartbroke to bother watching any footage on TV about it. So, I can't include it as a memorable moment I experience through TV. It was just a crappy memorable moment from life.

Show quote of the day: "Tell me the truth. When you came up with this plan, you were watching Scooby Doo."

My Heaven

2009-11-04T23:49:00.000-05:00

Quote of the day: "It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life." ~Terry Pratchett

Song of the day: Delicious Surprise by Beth Hart

State of mind: reflective

Date: November 4th, 2009

Day Four!

I am an athieist, however... if Heaven or some other form of an afterlife does exsist, the following is a description of what I would want it to be.

You know that moment when you are at the beach or just in your back yard and your plan for the day is to sit back and relax? So you set up your lawn chair or spread out your blanket to settle back and maybe read a good book. But just after you get ready to pick up that book you maybe sit back and close your eyes and the sun is so warm on your skin but there is just enough of a breeze to keep you from getting too hot and all you can hear are the leaves on the trees rustle softly and the indecipherable sounds of laughter and joy of whomever else is enjoying the perfect weather... So for just that moment your mind is serene and you can barely feel your body because it feels so light and perfect. That. I want it be a perpetuality of that. Sublime unending perfection.

Show quote of the day: "Is this about the cake problem?"
"What's the matter with you mathmaticians? There is never a problem with cake!"

Take Action to End Early Marriage in Yemen

2009-11-04T00:27:00.001-05:00

Take Action to End Early Marriage in Yemen

Equality Now has just issued Women’s Action 34.1 -- Yemen: End early marriages through enactment of a law enforcing a minimum age of marriage. Research shows that up to 50% of girls in Yemen are married before they are 18. Despite the negative physical, emotional, psychological, intellectual and sexual implications of child marriage on girls, the Yemeni government has failed to take effective steps to prevent such marriages. The campaign calls upon the Yemeni government to end early marriages by enacting and effectively enforcing a law establishing 18 years as the minimum age of marriage.

For Women’s Action 34.1 please click on the following link:

http://www.equalitynow.org/english/actions/action_3401_en.html

We hope that you will support this and our other Women's Action campaigns.

If you would like to make a contribution to Equality Now, please click here:

https://www.equalitynow.org/english/support/support_join_en.html

Posted via email from nypinta's posterous

V 2.0

2009-11-03T19:20:00.003-05:00

Quote of the day: "Darn the wheel of the world! Why must it continually turn over? Where is the reverse gear?" ~Jack London

Song of the day: Blame by Korn

State of mind: Busy. So busy, I thought today was the 2nd. Honest.

Date: November 3rd, 2009

Day Two… er, Three!

Tonight I get to take another sci-fi soaked nostalgic trip through my childhood via re-imagining. ABC starts its epic series V, based on the mini series of the same name that aired over twenty five years ago. (Whoa. Really? It’s been that long?! Damn, I’m old.)

All I know of this new version is what I have gleaned from the ads as I have not been paying any attention to the online buzz about it, despite the series star being Whedon alum Morena Baccarin. (And according to articles posted on Whedonesque that I also didn’t bother reading, Alan Tudyk has a role as well. Sweet! *Please don’t let him die horribly.*)

Despite the pedigree of some of the actors in this new version, I am trepidatious. I want to like it. However, it’s based on a show I loved when I was 11 and back then all I really needed to consider a show awesome were spaceships and weapons that shot laser beam bullets. Like all the shows I loved back then they were cartoons compared to the sci-fi offerings of today. For example, the original BSG, Voyagers, V, Buck Rogers, The Tomorrow People, The Powers of Matthew Star, ect. Which is a point lost on Dirk Benedict as evidenced by his misogynist rant. I don't think he understood that the people that watched the original Battlestar Galactica were kids and that those kids grew up and were going to be the same people watching the new version and would want something more grown up as a result… The new show was geared towards an older audience, period. And if he doesn't think the show was about family, spiritual faith, and hope, then he wasn't watching the same show I was. His thinly disguised beef with the show is a stupid as the essay complainging that women are ruining sci-fi because the skirts on female characters aren’t as short as they used to be. Ok, the essay didn’t actually say that, but that’s pretty much what it boils down to. Wahh, the women in shows now have brains and are people! Grow up, and get your porn from Hustler like everyone else.

I’d like to think in the intervening decades my tastes have matured from cartoonish action to something with a little more meat to the story. I do still like shows with a touch of the fantastic, and admittidly Firefly grabbed me the moment I saw Serenity rise up from behind the cliff... but… uh… it’s still different… somehow.

V (circa 1983) has a special place in my heart not only because it was creepy and cool, it marked the first time I really recognized that good guys could also be bad (and vice versa), and it was also the show that inspired me enough to attempt my first fan fiction. (Which I think I still have somewhere in my 6th grader scrawl. Or, wisely, I burned it.) I didn't know the political climate of the time but I was smart enough to understand the Nazi allegory and be horrified that us Americans would so easily succumd to those tactics, and I can’t believe the writers wouldn’t play up the polarization of the media as it is now as the Visitors in this version use massive propaganda campaigns to win the hearts of the humans they wish to ... control/eat/make slaves of? Hmm... I wonder if their endgame is going to be the same this time around and all they want us for is to beef up their pantries? How much is it going to deviate from the original? Will it go it’s own way like BSG 2.0 did from the romp filled skirt chasing golly gee original? Or will it stick to the story with only updated effects? I'm kind of hoping for the former. I'm not a kid anymore and space ships and lazer beams aren't enough.

So, I’m expecting it to blow my socks off while at the same time not expecting anything. The only thing I would like is for Jeff Yager (Kyle) to make at least a cameo. And no, not just because I had a huge crush on him back then.

Ok, it’s because of the crush.

Plus, I haven’t seen that guy on anything since the original show went off the air (with his character apparently doing the stupidest of stupid things by sneaking aboard one of the departing ships that is loaded with human eating aliens. Seriously, WTF was he thinking?) Oh wait, I lied. He had a guest spot on Newhart … The hoity toity maid had a crush on him I think. And at one point someone ripped off his shirt sleeves. Why do I remember that?

*Quick check of IMDB*

Holy crap! He’s been in a lot of stuff since then… how did I not know this? Well then, guess he doesn’t need the work after all… But still, it would be cool to see some of the original cast get to play some part in the new version. Like Richard Hatch, Apollo on the original Battlestar Galactica, playing bad guy Tom Zarek for 22 episodes of the new version. (What’s Marc Singer been up too…?)

Besides, any remake automatically gets cred with the fans of the old version when they pay homage to the original cast and crew. At least I think there is a correlation to make such a statement. Take the two versions of Hulk movies. The first one was pretty much universally panned, even though I kind of liked the comic book pages on the screen that everyone else seemed to hate. But the second had clips of TV Hulk star Mr. Bixby and even cast Lou Ferrigno as a security guard as well as used his voice as the Hulk, and the movie was just blatant in its honoring of the TV series. Also, JJ Abrams included the much beloved Leonard Nimoy in his explosive version of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek so it was a bit hard to dis the movie when the man that gave Spock life endorsed it enough to be in it.

But, since I'm DVRing it, I can't tell you what I think until later. I guess nostalgia is going to have to wait for a few more days.

*Original post submitted at 7:20. Corrections and edits made at 10:55. (I was in a hurry because So You Think You Can Dance was about to start. Crazy, I know. I love a show about dancing. Me! Guess tastes change as well as mature.)

Show quote of the day: “What's funny about Cylon toast?”

NaBloWriMo... (Not Dirty.)

2009-11-01T21:38:00.006-05:00

Quote of the day:"The self-criticism of a tired mind is suicide." ~ Charles Horton Cooley

Song of the day: Fly Away by Poe

State of mind: Combative

Date: November 1st, 2009

Once again it's National Novel Writing Month and I had fully intended on participating this year, but like usual, things never go according to plan. So instead I'm going to try and write 30 blogs in the 30 days of November. Some will be wordy, some not. But there should be at least something each day.
At least, that's the plan.

Day One!

To celebrate his extremely short return of the coolest character ever created, I give you a You Tube clip of Mal. Sorta.

BTW, if you look realllllly close, you might just see a nothin' part on the shelf...

And if you need a refresher in all things Firefly or are looking to do some early holiday shopping, get a new set here.

Show quote of the day: "You want to bite me, you buy me dinner."

Dr Horrible Takes On Manhattan

2009-09-27T17:40:00.006-05:00

Quote of the day: "In a cruel and evil world, being cynical can allow you to get some entertainment out of it." ~ Daniel Waters

Song of the day: "Chasing Pavements" by Adelle

State of mind: Mostly sunny with patches of rant.

Date: 9/27/09

So it's been about 5 days since I took the train down to NYC to see Dr Horrible's Sing Along Blog and Joss Whedon at The Symphony Space to benefit 826NYC.org and I wanted to do my own non-singing blog about it pronto but I caught a cold while there and haven't had a lot of energy, plus a lot of shows premiered this week so... whatever. Also I lost my notes.

I could try and recount all the witty things Joss said in the Q&A after the screening but I'd ruin each joke with my bad recall and besides you can hear it all for yourself on the 829nyc.org website. They do ask, and quite kindly too, that you throw a little cash their way in return for being able to hear the interview. Trust me, even at 20 bucks, it's a steal. So give deeply and give often.

The screening itself was a lot of fun. The theater was a pretty good size and as Abby and I had gotten in line two hours before they opened the doors we were able to snag pretty good seats. About 7 or 8 rows back, I think. Close enough to see everything but far enough away to wish we were closer. ;)

After a slight technical foul up, which was more funny than foul, Sarah Vowel explained the reason for the evening and also explained that following the screening Joss Whedon would be Q&A'd by Ira Glass. Ira got a large "woot" of applause to which she replied after a short pause, "Yeah, he's ok."

Then Joss came out to a standing ovation, and that seemed to both please and fluster him.

Then the screening! Woot!!

After all this time I don't think I have to say how much fun Doctor Horrible is. Everyone reading this has had to have seen it by now. I mean, I mention it enough don't I? It broke the Internet. It was one of Time's "Best Inventions of 2008". It just won a freaking Emmy! So if you haven't seen it, do so. It's on iTunes, Hulu, Amazon.com... honestly, if you can get to this blog you can get to the Sing Along Blog. No excuses will be accepted.

But seeing it with a room full of other people is an experience, both good and bad.

One ad lib that got a lot of approval was when someone called out, "You're forgetting something!" in the second Act as Dr. Horrible is ranting about Penny calling Captain Hammer sweet and getting off track about the Freeze Ray. (It's not a Death Ray. Or an Ice Beam. Why? If you've seen the Blog, you know. If not, I'm not going to tell you.)

What I don't approve of is trying to recite the lines along with the good (but, you know, evil) doctor. It's a Sing Along Blog, not a Talk Along Blog. Honestly, everyones timing sucked. They were enthusiastic, don't get me wrong! Just waaaaaay out of synch. I mean, if your going to say everything along with him, shouldn't it actually be with him? For all the same reasons I listed above why there is no reason that everyone shouldn't have seen DHSAB, there is no reason those who wish to act it all out couldn't practice their timing- at great length. And of course the audience wide recitals were of the best lines that are not just funny but also require the impeccable timing of someone like Neil Patrick Harris. Besides being kind of annoying, the bad synch with the lines also ruined the funny for anyone that might have been brought to the screening by their friends and had never seen it before and lost the effect of those lines because 100 other people stepped all over them. Think of it this way, if you were at a party with some great comedian and he was telling one of his (or her) more famous jokes that you knew the punch line too, would you jump in and say it just before he did? Or worse yet, say it before he even finished the joke? No. So don't do it just because that comedy is on a screen. Please.

Other than that, the screening was awesome. And funny. Then sad. Then funny. Then sad again.

It ended and the screen rose up to reveal Ira Glass and Joss Whedon sitting facing each other for their Q&A. Again, standing ovation. Again he was pleased and flustered. I think it'd be OK though to reveal a secret. The ovations are always heart felt, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Whedon fans like giving them because a) they are deserved and b) they make him blush and that's kind of funny. But shhh, don't tell anyone, 'kay?

Again, if you want to hear the Q&A, go to 826NYC.org. It's all there. Then you will understand my two tiny complaints:

1) Wooting. Anytime any actor was mentioned that had worked on anything in the whedonverse that was beloved by any portion of the audience, there would be much wooting. Which was cool, but it started to get annoying and on more than one occasion I couldn't hear the answer to whatever question was being asked because it was lost in all the woot. And one never knows if a recording of an interview is ever going to be available. (Example: It took until August for the Humanitarian Award speech to make it online.)

2) Shouts of "spoilers!" Look. For fraks sake, the finale of BSG aired in March. That was six months ago. That episode, along with every season of that show, is available online and on DVD and if you haven't made the time to see it yet, that's your problem. This is the second time where I have been present that someone asked Joss what he thought of that finale (because not only is he a writer that might have some interesting insight, he's also a huge fan) and again he was prevented from giving his opinion because people in the audience actually thought that they not having seen it yet was more important than his opinion of it. And guess what? They're wrong. When it happened in Boston during the Easter weekend, I could understand it. The finale had only aired a few weeks previous and chances are that a good portion of the audience were Harvard students and maybe watching a sci fi show wasn't a priority. But six months later? Give me a fucking break. I WANT TO KNOW WHAT HE THINKS ABOUT THE ENDING! Next time he's asked that question and if you are in the audience and hadn't bothered to watch the finale, plug your ears and let him have his say.

The Q&A ended and woot another standing ovation. Which flustered him. Hilarious.

Show quote of the day: "Every person I know is pretty poorly constructed."

From the iTouch: Pondering

2009-08-23T21:52:00.000-05:00

Quote of the Day: "Drawing on my fine command of the English language, I said nothing." ~Robert Benchley

Song of the Day: Her Diamonds by Matchbox 20

State of mind: giddy

Date: 8/23/09

The other day I was thinking random thoughts while performing some menial task and as the words of my thoughts drifted from left to right in my brain I suddenly wondered: how did one mull things over before language had been invented?

Show quote of the day: "You're saying he's a dictator that doesn't know he's dictating?"

Easter Comes to August...

2009-08-23T15:55:00.005-05:00

Quote of the Day: "There is a case to be made for hating people... it's called 'History'." ~Joss Whedon

State of mind: On an even keel.

Click Me.

Show quote of the Day: "River, you don't fix the Bible."
"It's broken. It doesn't make sense."

District 9

2009-08-21T22:15:00.005-05:00

Quote of the day: "He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster." ~Friedrich Nietzsche

Song of the day: Mr. Hurricane by Beast

State of mind: tired

Date: 8/21/09

This is not a slick movie. It isn't filled with pretty people or mind blowing fight sequences that defy gravity and resemble a really angry ballet. It's messy, unflinching, ugly and at one point I recall thinking quite clearly, "I hate every goddamn person in this movie". But it's still one of the best films I've ever seen. Even if after it was over everyone in the theater rushed to get out, including me. I think we all wanted to be out in the light and noise of 'real life' and pretend that what happened in the movie isn't exactly 100% the truth of who we can be and who a lot of us are right now.

Show quote of the day: "A gentleman of leisure never packs his gun next to his socks. It's uncouth."

Status Update: Where I've Been- Cyberwise

2009-08-02T17:13:00.005-05:00

Quote of the Day:"Lost time is never found again." ~Benjamin Franklin

Song of the Day: Fix You by Coldplay

State of mind: Moist

Date: August 2nd, 2009

I can't make my normal rounds at work anymore, for reasons that make me ranty and incoherent. So I'm using my iTouch to get mail and use twitter, but that's about all I can do. I mean, have you ever tried to write a blog on something as small as a deck of cards? It can't be done. Besides, I can't create links with the cut and paste method I favor and what is a blog post without links?

I miss my morning routine. I'd get into work, sort my stuff and rearrange it all in order of importance or time, do deals that were to be delivered before noon, and get whatever else needed to be done finished. Then I'd take my break, grab a snack, and take a whirlwind tour on the internet. I'd check my email first, then I'd make my blog rounds. Witty comment here, hilarious observation there... then I'd stop at the 2 or 3 bulletin boards I was frequenting at the time and give everyone my 2 cents plus a few dollars.

Break over. Back to work.

What is so wrong with that? It's not like I turn off my computer when I'm not using it for work so what exactly is it costing anyone when I did this? Now I still take that break, but I can't do a fucking thing. Hurray for technology and nosey employers.

And don't bother telling me of all the cases where employers won the right to know whatever it was their employees were up to while using their equipment. It's still crap.

So, I haven't been around. I try and get online once I'm home, but frankly, I'm tired of looking at a computer screen so I don't, and it sucks.

What I've been up to:

Still working on the home office. It's something else I'm too tired to do when I get home from work so weekends are my only time to try and get it done. Almost there!

I'm reading the Sookie Stackhouse novels. If you are unsure what the hell a Sookie Stackhouse is, she's a waitress with telepathy that falls for a vampire in northern Louisiana after vampires "come out of the coffin" because a Japanese company has invented a blood synthetic vampires can drink instead of feasting on humans. I'm in the middle of the second and although they are leaps and bounds better then the Twilight series, they don't compare to anything vampire written by Anne Rice. That women just knew how to write blood suckers. The Sookie books fun and just a touch smutty. Shut up.

Went to see Coldplay with a co-worker last Monday and I've been resisting the urge to sell all my belongings and follow them on tour. Damn fine show. They played at SPAC and we were lucky enough to get a dry day for the show. (Sorry Texas. If I could, I'd send you some of our rain. I'm tired of it.) Nothing better than a happy crowd dancing to amazing music while under a clear summer night sky. And I've been reliving it with the free CD they handed out to everyone as we left. 9 songs, recorded from a concert in the UK. You can download them free too off the Coldplay website. Hint, hint.

Went to a company picnic and it didn't suck as much as I thought it would. Never mind that I had been suggesting one for the past 8 years. Whatever. It's not like I'm bitter or anything. ;)

Celebrating my mother's birthday. (It was yesterday.) We had cake!

Laughing at my sister, who at the age of 39 went into the hospital on July 13th thinking she was having a bladder attack only to discover she was in fact pregnant and in early labor! A baby girl was born by C-section, right after my sister burst into tears. In my defense, her other daughter who was with her when she got the good/bad news busted up laughing too. So... it must be genetic.

Watched the 5 part Torchwood special Children of Earth. It was devastating it was so good. They really went to the dark places that most sci fi likes to skirt around. And they didn't pull any punches at the end. It came out on DVD on the 27th of July but I haven't gotten it yet. I don't know if I can watch it again! It just tears you up in ways that are inexplicable, and yet delicious. If you haven't seen it, I say go for it. Then you'll understand.

Not much else. Laundry, grocery shopping, blah blah blah.

See? This is what my company is trying to protect you from. Well, they can take my internet when they pry it from my dead cold hands!! (Or they shut it off. Whatever.)

Show quote of the day: "When something seems to be too good to be true, I shoot it just to be sure."

URGENT: Call on the Iranian government to release human rights activist Shadi Sadr‏

2009-07-18T11:43:00.004-05:00

I got this in my email yesterday from Equality Now:

EQUALITY NOW CONDEMNS THE ABDUCTION AND ILLEGAL ARREST OF IRANIAN HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST & LAWYER SHADI SADR

Equality Now is deeply concerned for the welfare of human rights activist and lawyer Shadi Sadr who was allegedly beaten, manhandled and arrested without warrant in Tehran on 17 July on her way to Friday prayers. Her friends who were accompanying her have reported that she was dragged into a car by plain-clothes officials. Shadi struggled out of the car and managed to escape with her friends’ help, but was pursued by other officials who beat her violently with a baton and then drove her away.

Please write to the Iranian Embassy in your country calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Shadi Sadr who was arrested without justification. Express your extreme concern about her assault at the hands of plain-clothes security officials. Ask for the release of all those currently detained for the peaceful expression of their beliefs.

Contact information for Iranian embassies around the world can be found on the following websites:

http://www.offshorewave.com/embassies_show.php?country_id=98
http://www.embassiesabroad.com/embassies-of/Iran

Please keep Equality Now updated on your work and send copies of any replies you receive to: info@equalitynow.org

SAMPLE LETTER

Dear Ambassador:

It is with great dismay that I have just learned of the beating and abduction of Iranian lawyer and human rights activist, Shadi Sadr, as she was on her way with friends to Friday prayers. Ms. Sadr was allegedly beaten, manhandled and arrested without warrant in Tehran on 17 July 2009 by plain-clothes officials. Ms. Shadr at first managed to escape with her friends’ help, but I understand she was pursued and captured by other plain-clothes officials who beat her violently with a baton and then drove her away.

I am deeply concerned for the welfare of Ms. Shadi Sadr and urge the Iranian government to release her immediately and unconditionally. Ms. Sadr was arrested without justification. This and her alleged brutal assault at the hands of plain-clothes security officials are unacceptable. I also ask the Iranian government immediately to release all those currently detained for the peaceful expression of their beliefs.

Sincerely yours,

The Trouble With Twitter

2009-06-21T14:01:00.005-05:00

Quote of the day:"In a gentle way, you can shake the world." ~Mahatma Gandhi

Song of the day: Turn The Car Around [Shattered] by OAR

Date: June 21st, 2009

State of mind: running in circles.

While on twitter last night, following more news of protests and violence in Iran, I ran across a tweet with a video of a Basij HQ that was on fire due to a gas leak. The tweet claimed the facts about the video where "BBC Confirmed" and unthinkingly, I re-tweeted it. A few moments later, I was asked, "Confirmed by BBC where?" Good question. One I should have asked. But it was about 2 in the AM and clearly I wasn't asking the right questions and after an unsuccessful search for any confirmation I went to bed without addressing my tweet. And maybe that is why my unconscious brain wouldn't let me attend the red carpet premiere of Serenity 2. Gorram brain. Screw you!
Anyhow, as it is a day later, all I could find about the video was a discussion on PersianHub.org where several posters discussed the video and a few heard the same calls by people who must have called into a BBC show to discuss it. Not sure what that means. It might just mean that the video was aired on a BBC news program somewhere, but that doesn't mean the BBC confirmed what was in the video either. And today, CNN put up links to the video as well. Does that mean CNN confirmed the facts of the video, that is was indeed a Basij building and that 5 members of the Basij were inside and perished? Or are they regurgitating a video that is being widely spread on twitter? Who is creating the news, and who is checking that it is all correct? I have no clue. And it's making my brain tired.
Videos of the protests in Iran are streaming out as fast as the citizens of that country can make them and upload them, so there is no disputing that unrest is happening. Groups are gathering in large numbers and they are being met with violence. The rest? Who the hell knows! Ann Curry (also on twitter) posted a warning about forwarding unconfirmed news, but now I wonder how to know the difference. I suppose with all things it's best to take everything with a grain of salt.
And to hope for the best for all those people.

And if you are following me on twitter, you may have noticed that my avatar has gone green and that many other people have done the same. "Sea of Green. Sea of Green." It's one of many mantra being used by those protesting the results of the June 12th election. Green was the color of Musavi, the main opponent against current President Ahmadinejad. The results, which seemed to be announced way to quickly to be real since they were individual hand written ballots being cast, apparently gave Ahmadinejad the win by a landslide. However, there are many (also I guess, unconfirmed) reports of major election tampering. I've read tweets by people that saw ballots being burned, that ballot boxes that were being delivered from polling places to wherever they were to be counted had been opened and all the boxes that had been opened were 100% for Ahmadinejad. No matter how popular a leader is, that's just completely unrealistic that 100% of the people would vote for him or her. I mean, you have all met the human race, right? We don't 100% agree on anything. So, I can understand the anger and frustration. It seems the fraud was so blatant as to be insulting. (Not that subtle fraud is any better.)
Does this, and my avatar color, mean I want the winner to be Musavi?
No.
I have no clue who would be a better leader for the country of Iran. I'm from NY. What the hell do I know about Mid-East politics? How should I know what would be best for the people of that country that I actually don't know a lot about. Or, anything really. All I know about Iran is what I remember hearing about during the Iran Hostage Crisis when I was a kid and what I read in the graphic novel Persepolis, and one article that was in the Smithsonian a few years ago. (It spoke of how the "Death to the USA" propaganda was a heeded by the population as we do the Pope here. Mostly ignored as background noise and that a majority of the population felt that blaming the US for their problems was just a tactic by a government that wasn't doing anything for them. And it also mentions that after 9-11, many candle light vigils were held on our behalf. How come that was never mentioned on the news here? At least, that I recall...)
My empathy with those people in Iran isn't about wanting their guy to have been the winner. It's about recognizing that they are demanding that their government be better than the leaders they have are. They are demanding what they were promised, an election, one where the actual winner of that election become their new President. I don't think that's too much to ask.

Accounts I am following on Twitter with videos and information about the protests in that country:
https://twitter.com/ProtesterHelp
https://twitter.com/madyar
https://twitter.com/persiankiwi
https://twitter.com/Change_for_Iran
https://twitter.com/globalvoices (Which has news from all over the world as well.)

There are simply too many videos and articles to link here that tell the whole story. Frankly, it's overwhelming. I think when the minds behind twitter asked the question, "What are you doing?" I don't think they ever conceived of the day when the response would be, "Witnessing revolution." Despite how much the events of Iran will not effect me personally, I still have the same general feelings I did during and right after 9-11. I was pinned to the TV as the coverage of what happened continued almost non stop for three weeks and as this horrific thing was unfolding I still had to go about my daily life. I went to work, when shopping, did as many mundane things a person could do all while people had died and others were dealing with the aftermath. It's a mind frell.
And all I can really do, is hope for the best for those people.

Edit, to add:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Irandecision 2009 - CNN's Unverified Material

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Jason Jones in Iran

Guess The Daily Show is ahead of me by a few days.

Show quote of the day: "Doctor, I'm well acquainted with human characteristics. I'm frequently inundated by them, but I've trained myself to put up with practically everything."

@twitter #fail

2009-06-13T14:52:00.003-05:00

Quote of the day: "He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster." -- Friedrich Nietzsche (quote found on twitter. Posted by @gojiro

Song of the day: Separate Ways by Journey. No, I'm not kidding.

State of mind: Baffled, but willing to tinker.

Date: Not Friday ... but it is some day’s Tomorrow.

I've been scribbling notes for days on this blog post because there is so much to say about twitter. Which I think is some form of irony. And all because Red commented her frustration on following some conversations while on twitter. Inspired by that frustration, I started a listing all the features, some twitter lingo, twitter events like Follow Friday and #hashtags, finding articles both pro and con twitter all for a thorough post on this, the latest net phenomenon. I even have a new favorites folder labeled “twitter”, several post it notes of ideas scribbled while at work, a few hand written drafts… and then I remembered K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple, Stupid.

She just asked about following what others were saying. How about I just answer that, hmm?

It can be annoying, trying to follow a conversation on twitter. Especially now that the minds behind twitter have decided to take away the option of seeing all tweets by those people you follow, even if it is an @reply to someone you do not follow. Before, you could choose to see all their tweets no matter to who or to only see those to you, to anyone else on your list, or those tweets not designated for anyone in particular. Truth be told, I had mine set to only seeing those tweets to and from people on my follow list because seeing all of the half conversations between one of my followees and someone I didn't follow clogged up my feed and I don't have as much time as I used to for web browsing (aka: time wasting). (This thanks to a cyber snoop at work. Now when I don't have actual work to do or when I take a break, I have to resort to daydreaming or playing Freecell because neither are online and "take up the company broadband". Pu-lease. If that were the case, why would have have installed a key stroke recorder? I can't even use Word at work to compose a letter (or blog post) without someone else being able to recreate it at their leisure. So, if it's not about our broadband usage and if we can all get our work done and do a little online shopping on our breaks, then WTF!? ... Pfft. Whatever.) Um, anyhow... A lot of people liked the option to see all tweets by anyone they followed because as the Robert Frost poem says, 'way leads to way' and they were able to find other interesting people by stumbling upon their page via @reply tweets. They figured, if someone they liked enough to follow found merit in someone else, maybe they should too. Now those tweets don't even exist for them and I've read it said that it's like being at a party with one ear clogged up from a sinus infection or one half of the room speaks a language too high pitched to register. How fun does that sound? All of twitter is one large conversation. Why would twitter make it impossible for people to mingle with as many other people as possible? (Yet, they are going out of their way to offer the accounts of celebrities as the ones to follow when you join up, rather than let people find followees organically. Because, let's be honest... aren't celebrities the only people we, the dirty uncouth masses, should care about following?)

Sorry. Got a bit ranty there for a moment. Back to the simple:

However, even though twitter took away that option there are still an obnoxious amount of conversations that are a pain to follow because you have to keep hitting the "in reply to..." button and read the conversation backwards. But back in the day (like a few months ago) I recall there being a twitter app that made it possible for tweets to be organized in threads that made it easier to follow who was saying what to whom and in the order they said it. Tweetree.

So, there you go, Red! Tweetree.com. Check it out and I hope it helps.

See? Easy.

The rest, I'll post later.

Except I do want to say this:

I do love it. It is a random site, inspired into creation by the status lines of AIM users and their witty reasons why they were AFK (Away From Keyboard). Despite my ranting above and as has been said on t-shirts, twitter is not a chat. And according to one of the creators of twitter during an interview on The View, it also isn't a social networking site. It isn't MySpace or Facebook. I can follow whom I choose and can choose who follows me. It isn't automatically mutual, forcing the Internet and everyone on it together with some kind of electronic passive aggression. Honestly, sometimes I expect MySpace to spontaneously burst out into Kum Bye Ya. Guess what? The entire Internet is not all friends. Shocking, I know.

I use twitter to follow news sites like CNN, the NY Times, and Global Voices that update with the latest goings on, entertainment sites with movie and TV insider info, NASA in many forms, some celebrities (mostly famous for roles they played on one Whedon show or another), some fictional characters, one cat, and people I've run into on multiple message boards. I've found quotes, poems, pictures, funny You Tube videos, stories of the odd and incredible, images of galaxies far far away and images of our own Earth in action. Before, browsing the Internet was a solitary thing. But with twitter, it kind of feels like the Internet is talking to me. It is odd because MySpace and Facebook are designed to connect people, yet with twitter I feel more connected to the Internet as a whole, as if it is a living entity with actual people on the other side of my screen, where as those other two sites just make me feel like someone sitting at home tinkering with a website.

Plus, instead of randomly surfing the web, I can tailor my twitter so that the things I'm interested in come to me, which I find pretty efficient. Well, as efficient as a time waster can be.

Show quote of the day: “Do you know how hard it is to clean clown makeup off a bone saw?”

Found on Twitter. (A place holder. ;) )

2009-06-09T07:25:00.002-05:00

The Internet hates me.

2009-05-24T10:26:00.004-05:00

Quote of the day: "Only vegetables are happy." ~ William Faulkner

Song of the day: American Eulogy: Mass Hysteria/Modern World by Greenday

State of mind: frustrated with technology

Date: May 24th, 2009

Just went over to CyberCityBibliotheca and I can't post a new topic or respond to anything in any of the threads. Is that why it's been so quiet? (As compared to what, I don't know... ;) )

I finally get my email back, but now I can't chat with folks on my own frelling message board. WTF?

Anyhow, I started a twitter account for CyberCityBibliotheca under @CyberCityBooks. The intent being when new threads were started, I'd post the link to anyone in the twitterverse, maybe get some new blood. (And by new, I mean people that won't give me crap for being a fan of Nathan Fillion. ;P )But seems that would be pointless if no one can actually post.

And I still don't know why some people can't register onto the site. Twichie never could and LL's brother (oh god, there are more of them!) couldn't either.

Frak.

Frell.

Frelling frellity frak.

So... what's up?

Show quote of the day: "I'm here for you, you brave little soldier. I know your pain. Come here! You're too precious for this world"

Locked Out

2009-05-01T22:38:00.003-05:00

Just an FYI, I locked myself out of my email account. Don't ask. So if any one has to email me, I can be reached at NYPinTA @ gmail dot com.

Show quote of the day: "They're carrots! Medicinal carrots."

Sneak Attack

2009-04-18T16:32:00.018-05:00

Quote of the day: “Betrayal is the only truth that sticks.” ~Arthur Miller

Song of the day: Lost by Coldplay

State of mind: reflective.

Date: April 18th, 2009

John pushed me down. Just knocked me down on my face on a rainy day. What did I do to deserve such harsh treatment? I think I know...

Originally during the back and forth to nail down details of my trip to Boston, I suggested we all meet up for lunch- my treat. And I did mean it. But on the actual day, Michelle couldn't come and we never really did decide on a place to eat. So when John finally made it to Borders Cafe on Church Street, and not the Borders book store at some mall, no solid plans had been made and I had stuff I wanted to put in my car that was just around the corner and thought we would find someplace to go from there. But after we dropped off my stuff the wind really picked up and I wasn't thinking of lunch, I just wanted was to find a place out of the weather to sit down so we could figure out what we were going to do, and I spotted a cafe across the street that seemed to fit the bill. Inside it was overflowing with other people that apparently had the same idea and was incredibly noisy, which made it hard to concentrate so when I heard John say he was thinking of getting something else besides a coffee, I thought he meant one of the cookies or cupcakes they had on display at the front counter. I hadn't noticed they sold sandwiches as well. In the chaos, he ended up in front of me and he ordered first, then I ended up at another register to order my hot chocolate so even though I had offered to pay for lunch in our emails, I didn't realize he was getting lunch right then and he ended up paying for his own.
That must have been my mistake. My Waterloo...
After "lunch" we decided to head over to an area in Boston that he was familiar with so we could go on a small tour and take lots of pictures. It was a short train ride and on the other side of the river the wind had let up so walking around outside wasn't that bad. One can not be from the North East and not be able to handle a little rain.
First we walked around outside in a park that I'm sure will be pretty in a few weeks, looked at the space a duckling statue should have been, and got some cool shots. (We also passed the infamous doorway to John's work were the local homeless like to leave... presents, but I didn't take a picture of that.)

Then we went to a very large mall, mostly because it was indoors and walking in the rain was getting a little old.

After walking the entire mall, we ventured again outside and took the last few shots of the day before I had to get back to my car and John had to get back home, so at his suggestion we started along a surprisingly deserted street. He claimed there were more signs and interesting things to photograph and I, like an idiot, followed along.

And that was when I "tripped" and I found myself face first on the sidewalk, my knee taking the brunt of the fall. I lay there for a moment stunned, sure I broke something. My arm, my glasses, maybe my umbrella. However, nothing was permanently damaged. He helped me up, which I suppose is only right, and I insisted that I had to sit down. The only place nearby that looked open to the public was a sushi bar. I hobbled inside and threw myself down on the bench in the corner, then began to laugh. I had to! I had to pretend I didn't know what he had done. I acted as if it was all my fault and that I hadn't seen that the sidewalk was in two levels and my foot kept going when I thought it should have hit pavement, throwing me off balance so that I fell over... it was an Oscar worthy performance. But being the amateur actor that I am, I distracted John by ordering some sushi, which turned out not to be sushi at all really, and a pineapple smoothie, and John got a passion fruit smoothie. After eating and deciding that I was all right enough to walk, I paid for everything and we left.
Why would I offer to pay for the smoothie of my attacker, you might be asking. Well, we had to get back to my car and I really didn't feel like getting shoved in front of the train.

Show quote of the day:
"Lost my mojo."
"Have you re-traced your steps?"

Place holder. (You Tube clip.)

2009-04-14T21:03:00.000-05:00

More later. (From me, not You Tube.)

Cambridge

2009-04-10T09:03:00.003-05:00

Quote of the day: "A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving." ~Lao Tzu

State of mind: mild panic.

Date: April 10th, 2009

I keep saying I'm going to Boston when in fact, I'll be in Cambridge which is right next to Boston. As someone who is always thought of as a city girl just because I come from the state of New York and thus people get the entire state confused with one city of the same name, I get how if one were from Cambridge they might get annoyed by people always referring to it as Boston.

So. I'm going to Cambridge.

After I do some laundry. And pack. And print up my maps. And figure out my freaking iTouch because it won't synch with my library of songs that I painstakingly downloaded over one whole weekend and I am not buying all those songs again through iTunes just to get them on there.

Oh, and I have to gas up my car.

See ya in a few days. (Unless you live over there, in which case I'll see you tomorrow.)

PS I didn't use a quote on the back of my iTouch. I went with my initials. And now I'm thinking that wasn't such a hot idea if I decide to sell the damn thing. What are the odds of someone else having the same letters to start their first, middle, and last name? Pretty damn slim, I bet.

Show quote of the day: '1+1=1' "You want to know how I survived 12 years in prison?"

Test

2009-04-04T13:51:00.004-05:00

This is a test of the emergency blogging network. If this had been an actual blog, I'd make more grammar mistakes. And there'd be songs and quotes and ranting and commas galore! Let's all sing!!

Or not.

This concludes the test of the emergency blogging network.

Quote of the iTouch. You tell me.

2009-03-27T23:19:00.004-05:00

Quote of the day: "It is better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it." ~Gerard Patrick Roeling (Which isn't always true. Who needs herpes? Or cancer? Or a terminal case of the dumb?)

Song of the day: Lost by Coldplay

State of mind: undecisive.

Date: March 28th, 2009

I finally made up my mind to purchase for myself an apple iTouch. It's been on my list for a while now but I've been resisting for a few reasons. Most of them green and made of paper. However, I found the cash with some funky math and was going to take the plunge and order one but as I was making my way through the ordering process, I came to the screen for optional free engraving on the back.

Uh oh.

A chance to personalize my shiny new toy? I couldn't pass that up. But with what? My name? My screen name? A witty quote? Like I don't have hundreds, nay thousands to choose from! So, in logic that makes sense to me, I'm looking for more. I'm casting my net on the net just in case the perfect quote isn't in my data banks already. In 58 characters or less, tell me what you think is engraving worthy. The most popular will be... the most popular, because like NASA I reserve the right to still pick my own. So, Colbert Nation, don't bother stuffing this ballot. (As if.) But who knows, someone might tickle my fancy and end up on the backside of my pretty (but as of yet still un-ordered) gadget.

Show quote of the day: "It's so soft. Like kittens."

Dollhouse: Man on the Street

2009-03-21T16:51:00.002-05:00

This is the one. Tell your friends.

No, seriously!

Will post more later. But if you haven't seen it, just watch.

And as a bonus, here is an episode of Terminator: SCC where things finally get interesting.

Anyone got a tissue?

2009-03-19T11:25:00.008-05:00

Quote of the day: "There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats." ~Albert Schweitzer

Song of the day: Ants Marching by Dave Matthews Band

Date: March 19th, 2009

I’m out of phase with my own comfort zone today. Just a little bit off and it’s really making me cranky. Or it’s making it so that seemingly little things that shouldn't tick me off but are, like: being interrupted, or a co-worker asking another co-worker about a form that she’s never had anything to do with in all the years she’s been here, typos, my internet not loading fast enough, the music in our showroom, the music on the radio in our office. I stopped listening to Def Leppard in 1985, why would I want to listen to it now? And talking- of any kind. This is like having a runny nose but no access to any tissues. It’s not life threatening, but it’s annoying as hell and I'm not in the frame of mind to be able to let those tiny issues just roll off my back.

It started even before I left the house this morning and because I had to stop at the store anyhow my response to this feeling of discontent was to buy a donut. After I ate the donut it occurred to me that in this direction obesity lie. I’m not sure when the tendency to buy food in response to negativity started, but I need to find a replacement for that behavior pronto or I won’t be able to fit in my Hyundai anymore.

My hands are dry, people keep interrupting my thoughts and walking behind me which makes me tense up and sigh rather loudly because I would rather that everyone just stay the hell away form me, my arm hurts and I have no idea why, I continue to not be a lotto winner, and life in general just stinks.

Frak. Frell. Fudge. Fongu. Fluck. %&#@!

And it’s raining.

Whatever.

And then I read this: Kenny the cat abuser. Although, to be honest, I’m a little concerned that his personal information has been posted online. I mean, the kid deserves to pay for what he did but I think it’s also obvious that the kid is sick in the head and needs help too and actually getting revenge by hurting this kid outside of what the justice system deems appropriate isn’t cool. I also hope someone looks into his home life because hurting those cats might have been in response to how he himself is treated. People should be expressing their outrage at what was done, and working to make sure it doesn’t happen again. But I have a feeling that something else is going to happen and it won’t be good for anyone involved. I’m just happy that the cats are in good homes now.

*deep breath* OK! Things coming up, when I’m in a better mood and able to think: Castle review, D4S Update (that I’ve been working on for two weeks but can’t get past the third paragraph- which might be ironic since it’s about my own increased productivity at work), random moments from my life that would be cool to see in a movie, but not one about my life because that would be boring, food, and other stuff.

Show quote of the day: “Maybe life is a dream and we wake up when we die?”

What Would You Do?

2009-03-09T17:04:00.002-05:00

Quote of the Day: “Everybody blames the culture without taking responsibility.” ~ James Levine

Song of the Day: Here Comes the Rain Again by The Eurhythmics

State of mind: Ponderous

Date: March 9th, 2009

In life it’s seems odd but the small dilemmas we are confronted with can cause just as much, if not more, consternation then the big ones. Mostly because they are small and one becomes torn about how much of a fuss to make to correct a situation- if any. You justify letting whatever it is go and move on with your life, but have to wonder if doing that so often makes you life’s bitch.

So, just for fun, I’ll describe one of many small dilemmas I found myself facing and just to see how everyone else would have handled it.

Today’s Dilemma for deconstruction: On Friday I called in an order of Chinese food for pick up. They gave me my order number and told me 15 minutes. Cool. I stopped at the pharmacy first and then sat down at the few tables in front of the register and waited for my food. She rang up my order and I recall the amount stirring something in the back of my brain, but I ignored it while at the register, but not enough that when I got to my car I didn’t stick my hand in the bag and see if I had the correct amount of containers, thinking I must have more than I ordered. Because I came up with the same number of containers for what I ordered and didn’t investigate further. Five miles later as I’m pulling the food out of the bag at home, I discover how wrong I was not to checked.. I knew I should have checked. Why didn’t I check!? But it was too late now… right?

What should I have done? I got order number 86 but was supposed to get 89 so that means when 86 showed up for their order, they were probably handed mine. Or they didn’t. Who knows what happened. But should I have called? Should I have packed up the food and driven all the way back to get a credit for the wrong amount and then waited for my correct order? Because I most definitely did not do that. It was the end of a long week, I was home with my shoes off, it was drizzling, and I didn’t want to go back out in the rain. And maybe I felt like it was partly my fault since I had an inkling something was wrong but ignored it. Besides, the stuff in the bag looked just as good so we ate that. I mean, I already paid for it, so why not?

So… in that situation, what would you have done?

Show Quote of the Day: “In my body, where the shame gland should be, there is a second awesome gland.”

March Muchness

2009-03-06T17:26:00.005-05:00

Quote of the Day: “When you live your life with an appreciation of coincidences and their meanings, you connect with the underlying field of infinite possibilities.” ~Deepak Chopra

Song of the Day: none right now

State of mind: hopeful

Date: March 6th, 2009

If I could, I would hug March. It is the month everything begins to change. I’m tired of winter and March gives me the first glimpse it’s almost over. Why isn’t March the beginning of the New Year? It is the month of rebirth and renewal. Spring starts in March, on the 20th. Daylight Savings starts in March. I’ll finally see the sun after work. St Patrick’s Day is in March. What is there not to like about March? As a bonus, this year there are tons of entertainment enticements in March as well. The Watchmen movie starts this weekend. Castle starts next Monday. Yeah, it’s another in a long line of mystery procedurals with bickering co-stars that actually don’t hate each other but it looks charming in that obnoxious sort of way. Next weekend is the release of Return to Witch Mountain. (What? It looks fun! Shut up.) And the week after that Knowing with Nicolas Cage opens. All I know about that movie is there is a secret code, things explode, and the end of the world has to be averted. Awesome, right? Tickets to see Joss Whedon accept the Humanist Award from Harvard went on sale in March. (I already have mine.) And I have no doctor appointments for me or my cat on the schedule. My tax refund should be coming in March and my unused vacation pay from last year is about to land on my desk. March rocks. March rolls. March FTW.

Plus, it isn’t February. February was rotten. I was sick and I missed a lot of days at work during a really busy time and that just kept causing problems for the rest of the month. Its cold, dark, and I am glad it’s gone. Valentine’s Day isn’t even enough to make February ok with its bountiful boxes of candy and fresh flowers for the giving. Every project I had in my planner had to be thrown out the window and I was so in the midst of the winter blahs I didn’t much care.

But March is motivating. It’s the name. March is a month, but it’s also a command. Get moving. Go, go, go! And I have a lot of going to do to make up for the time I lost in February. I’m a month behind in my Designed for Success project. But I have a plan. I’m going to double up this month. So, be on the look out for both Chapters 2 and 3 in the weeks to come. (When I’m not busy at the movies or outside enjoying non-freezing temperatures.)

What does March mean for you?

Show quote of the day:"What part of an inverse tangent approaching an asymptote don't you understand?"

Volunteer Center of Southern Arizona Forced to Furlough Staff and Reduce Hours

2009-02-28T13:05:00.002-05:00

A friend of mine posted this and I'm just helping to spread the word:

News Release
For Immediate Release

Media Contact: Michele Schubert: (520) 400-9206 (cell) February 26, 2009
Scott Ingram: (520) 881-3300 ext 108

Volunteer Center of Southern Arizona Forced to
Furlough Staff and Reduce Hours

On the heels of President Obama’s “Call to Community Action”, the very agency Tucson and all of Southern Arizona depend(s) on to recruit, train, organize and mobilize armies of volunteers is facing its own crisis.

The Volunteer Center of Southern Arizona announced today that it will require all nine full-time employees to take unpaid leave one day a week beginning March 1, 2009; in addition the agency will be closed on Friday’s through the end of this fiscal year. Further cuts will be necessary if additional funding is not secured to address the deficit.

“I deeply regret the impact that this action will have on our employees and fear the failure to secure desperately needed funding will have on our ability to provide services to the community. The agency faces an end of year budget deficit of over $150,000. Unfortunately, without a minimum of $100,000 in additional revenue over the next 30 days, we will be unable to meet our current expenses and payroll and will have to take the next step which will be laying off employees and further reducing services.” Said Michele C. Schubert, President & CEO.

How can you help? We need the financial support from you, our community. Donations can be accepted in any of the following ways: Call 881-3300, donate on line at http://www.voluntersoaz.org, or by mail at 924 N. Alvernon Way, Tucson 85711

The Volunteer Center of Southern Arizona is the only organization offering these services and programs in the state. If the Volunteer Center is without the capacity to assist our community members in answering this call to action, who will? The deficit the Center currently faces is a deficit our entire community bears; failure to meet this challenge will result in drastic and immediate effects in our already vulnerable community. Whether it is supporting food banks, engaging Baby Boomers in meaningful volunteer activities, implementing nationally recognized youth leadership and service learning programs, piloting best practices regarding juvenile delinquency prevention, tutoring children, convening mentoring forums, capacity building through training, or managing volunteers in a disaster, the Volunteer Center has set the standard locally, regionally and nationally.

“We do not take this action lightly,” said Board Chair, Kirk Collamer. “Although our employee service hours will be reduced, our National Service member’s hours will not, allowing us to continue our work with all our stakeholders and will do our best to ensure that the impact on our partner agencies and the youth and adults we serve will be minimized,” Collamer said.
The Volunteer Center of Southern Arizona has quietly carried out this vital work for the last 44 years, impacting over 1.3 million people, to support the programs and services operated not only by the Volunteer Center, but those provided through the Tucson Community Food Bank, United Way, Make Way for Books, and countless area schools to name a few. The Volunteer Center is a shining example of cost-effective service delivery, consistently providing unprecedented quality and quantity of services on a shoe string budget. For this reason, the Volunteer Center is unable to trim the organization’s budget without the community suffering immediate consequences. This is particularly significant given our current economic times; when communities, non profits, local government and families are growing ever-more reliant on the services and assistance of volunteers to survive.

In 2008, the Volunteer Center provided and/or assisted in supplying 12,000 volunteer hours within Pima County. Independent Sector estimates the value of their service to the community of $234,000. The Center supports the mission of hundreds of nonprofit and governmental organizations by recruiting and placing volunteers and National Service members for agencies throughout Southern Arizona. Leveraging the power of volunteerism effectively extends the reach of these organizations and in many cases agencies cannot fulfill their mission without volunteers. Nearly 100 Volunteer Center National Service members serve in local nonprofits and inject over $622,000 of Federal dollars into the Tucson economy each year, The Center recruited 2,934 adult volunteers to support the United Way Days of Caring in 2008 providing much needed help to 83 nonprofit agencies.

Sickness

2009-02-23T15:31:00.002-05:00

I haven't had chocolate in a week. I've been sick. It started out as just another cold but grew into a thriving case of strep throat. Four sleepless nights later, I'm back to just a cold but everything still taste like cherry cough drops.
During the week I must have consumed at least 100 cough drops, half a container of throat spray, multiple cold pills- from Tylenol Cold and Flu medication (which didn't work) to nasal decongestents and I even tried Musinex even though I think their commercials are the grossest thing on TV. (They're even grosser than Andrew Dice Clay being on a show with Donald Trump.) I've used 1/4 a container of Vicks, both on my chest and on my feet as per one home remedy. You're supposed to slather it on the bottom of your feet before you go to bed and when you wake up the cold is supposed to have been magically drawn out of you. Uh, no. Instead, all it did was make my socks sticky. I've eaten half a box of fruit popsicles, ate copious amounts of pasta slathered in butter and salt, and gone through two boxes of chicken noodle cup o' soup.
I really despise being sick.
And like an idiot, the whole time last week I was at work every day. Even the day I was so winded from congestions that while I was taking a shower, I grew so weak I had to sit down. Why? Why didn't I stay home rather than risk infecting my lovely co-workers? Because they didn't stay home and they infected me. I was the last one sick so I figured they were immune. Plus, I had too much stuff to do and have too many bills to pay to rely on sick time.
I finally gave in today though. My throat is fine but I still can't breath too well and since I've been sick I haven't done a lick of laundry. So it was either go into work still feeling like crap in dirty cloths or stay home and try and get some cloths clean, despite how winded I still get just going up and down the stairs just once.
By this Wednesday I should be back to my old self. And I can't wait. I really miss chocolate.

Dollhouse: Ghost

2009-02-15T13:06:00.001-05:00

Will Dollhouse, starting tomorrow on FOX, be sexist?

2009-02-12T12:40:00.006-05:00

Quote of the day: "I'm just a bitter, sad man, and this is my bitter, sad show. Welcome to it!" ~ Joss Whedon, NYC Comic Con, 2009

Song of the day: “Chasing Pavement” by Adele

State of mind: Full of guesswork and uninformed “fanwanking*” speculation. Whee!

Date: Feb. 12th, 2009

I have not seen Dollhouse yet. It premieres this Friday at 9 PM EST, right after Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Nor have I even read most of the reviews. (I’m trying to remain as spoiler free as possible.) All I have seen are a few ads and some interviews when word of the show was first released online. Despite this, I am going to address the question of whether or not the show will be sexist.

No.

Wow. That was easy.

I can understand how at first blush one would get the idea that it is, if one were only to look at the description of the Dollhouse itself that the cast resides in. True, the women, called “Dolls”, are meant to be used in whatever fantasy or situation a client needs or wants and to achieve that the minds of the Dolls are uploaded with whatever personality is needed. Basically they are using the women as objects. So, yeah, that is totally bad. Except that isn’t really what the show is about. That is just where it takes place. It isn’t a pseudo reality show were actual Dolls go on actual missions and hidden cameras catch all the titillating action for the viewers voyeristic enjoyment. Just because the show revolves around the story of a place that turns women into objects does not mean that message of the show is that is OK. Kind of like how Archie Bunker was a racist, but the show itself wasn’t.

Is it going to be sexual? I’m not sure how it could not.

There is no way that none of the people who can “purchase” one of these women with a custom tailored implanted personality and are not doing so for a little boom chick a wow wow. In those cases, it just means certain clients are both pigs and pathetic. (We seriously need to work on equating paying for sex from the unwilling or unable to consent with not being a real man. Where is the locker room trash talk about that?)

Here’s the synopsis I snagged from the official Fox site.

ECHO (Dushku) is an "Active," a member of a highly illegal and underground group of individuals who have had their personalities wiped clean so they can be imprinted with any number of new personas. Hired by the wealthy, powerful and connected, the Actives don't just perform their hired roles, they wholly become -- with mind, personality and physiology -- whomever the client wants or needs them to be. Whether imprinted to be a lover, an assassin, a corporate negotiator or a best friend, the Actives know no other life than the specific engagements they are in at that time. Echo stops forgetting as her memories begin to return, and she slowly pieces together her mysterious past.

Produced by 20th Century Fox Television and Mutant Enemy Inc., DOLLHOUSE revolves around Echo's blossoming self-awareness and her desire to discover her true identity. But with each new engagement comes a new memory and increased danger inside and outside the Dollhouse.

See, to me that sounds more like a show that is a metaphor for the feminist movement. Echo starts out as an empty shell that is defined by others. But as the show progresses, she starts to remember and that is when she becomes a real person. (In her case, again.) This, for me, is the basic fact of feminism: that women aren’t objects. We are people. Isn't the basic idea behind feminism is that we should get to choose who we want to be rather than have it choosen for us?

Ah, but it seems that the Dolls themselves did choose this for themselves. But does that still make it alright? Questions, questions!

Hmm, I'm thinking already that the story will probably be about more than just identity. It is a Joss Whedon show after all. Dollhouse is going to have many layers; even more than pie. Maybe as many as a seven layer chocolate cake with three different kinds of frosting! Yum.

For me, just thinking about the show, it’s the technology that is quite disturbing. It’s more than having one’s entire personality wiped clean and being replaced with whatever someone else wants. It’s the idea of creating a persona that can do anything and not have to feel the consequences for those actions. The Buddha (or the tiny one on my twitter account) once said: “"what we are now is the result of what we have done, said, and thought before, and what we will be in the future is thus in our own hands." But if you take away all that we have done, said, and thought, what are we? And what could we do, knowing we wouldn’t have to live with what we did? That has nothing to do with feminism. That’s just scary.

So, to sum up: Will it be sexy? Inherently. Sexual? Probably. Sexist? Only if looking at the outer chocolatey layer of the cake.

However, I could be completely wrong. (I'm not.)

Oh wait, it looks like io9.com beat me to it and they back me up! But then, they’ve also seen the first three episodes already. Cheaters.

For more online about Dollhouse, go to:

All things Dollhouse on Whedonesque.
Dollverse.com

Show quote of the day: “Here you are, living a life day to day. The one adventure I can never have.”

*MS Word wanted to change “fanwanking” into financing. Ha! HAHAHA. That makes so much sense.

Do Terminators dream of electric Oscars?

2009-02-06T15:19:00.008-05:00

Quote of the day: “Respect yourself and others will respect you.” ~Confucius

2nd Quote of the day: “I don’t believe in transcending the genre. I believe in the genre.” ~Joss Whedon

Song of the day: Fake It by Seether

State of mind: Thinking of Saturday a day early.

Date: Feb. 6th, 2009

I think the entire internet has heard the audio clip of Christian Bale loosing his mind on a crew member while filming the latest movie installment in the Terminator series. Really, it’s a doozey. A total hum dinger of a tantrum. (And if you were watching the BBC, you got to hear the un-edited version! Oops.) Is this definitive proof that he’s a colossal ass hat? Maybe. I don’t know. I do know I wouldn’t appreciate being treated the way that Director of Photography was, but guess what? I work in an office that does have a lot of yelling going on. I’m sure that is true in a lot of offices. Why would the red faced screaming boss be such a heavily relied upon cliché if it weren’t true? I’ll wager that a good number of people out there in the “real world” have also had experiences with someone that lost their temper, or been that person themselves. Does that make it ok? No. It just means it’s not just “spoiled” Hollywood actors. Basic truth of life: sometimes people (even good ones) suck.

Here is a short version order of events: The clip was released online by TMZ. Reaction (mostly online): ‘What a douche. What a schmuck. Spoiled brat actor! No wonder he beat up his mom.’ (He didn’t, BTW.) The Hollywood reaction. Hmmm, some what neutral. The lack of outrage is telling actually. Eventually some context was revealed. (Because when you have such a juicy clip, why bother with the circumstances surrounding it. Right TMZ?) The gist of it: He was tired, it was a long day, the DP walked into his frame before and had already been told not to but did it again anyhow, and it was an emotionally charged scene. Reaction to the context: “It’s not like its [insert universally praised film title here. Ex: Citizen Cane.] It’s just Terminator!”

Wait. What? Just?

And there-in is my issue with the whole situation.

From Jay Leno to online comments by supposed genre fans in response to the claim that the incident happened during a heavy emotional scene, I am most annoyed by that particular witty repartee. Should that be how all the cast and crew look at it when working on the film? Well, who gives a damn if Idon’t give it my all, it’s just Terminator. Do people really think no work actually takes place on genre films? Regardless of the story, there is still acting that needs to be done. Take out the robots, replace them with Nazis and put them on Normandy Beach. Suddenly it’s Saving Private Ryan, (which won both Academy Awards and a Saturn Award). Why is the emotional story of a man fighting for the future of mankind so easily dismissed because of who the enemy is? Basically, that one off retort is saying it would have been ok if Tom Hanks had gone off on some crew member during the filming of Private Ryan but Christian Bale shouldn't have because he wasn’t doing a worthy enough film.

For years genre fans have complained about the lack of respect any sci-fi or fantasy film receives. Yes, Lord of the Rings won an enormous amount of Oscars, but not a single one for acting. Does that mean the cast, while standing in their award winning costumes and being directed by the award winning director were phoning it in just because it was a story about hobbits and wizards? Hmm, I think not. Viggo Mortensen was reportedly so deep into his character that Peter Jackson called him Aragorn during conversations off camera and Viggo never noticed. There was no way The Academy could ignore the scope of that film trilogy, but it doesn’t mean they truly appreciated it either. They acknowledge the costumes, set design, music, even the job Peter Jackson had directing all three films but who was it that gave any of the actors an award for their work? The Academy for Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Horror Films. Star Wars was nominated for best film, but even George Lucas was quoted as saying, “It’s not science fiction.” The space ships, light sabers, swords, & elvish cloaks are just set dressing. But in both LOTR and Star Wars, the stories are classic Good vs. Evil. And more recently, the buzz about Heath Ledger being nominated isn’t only because of his tragic death, but because he is being acknowledged for his work in a movie based on a comic book character. There is always a qualifier. Always a reason why a movie that genre fans love is given accolades despite the genre, never because of it.

Here’s the thing about genre stories, something I should think isn't really a secret: They all have heroes. They all have conflict. They all are about people. Whether those people are fighting robots, battling demons, or are in deep space exploring the universe, it always comes down to character. And those characters, having human reactions to whatever situation they are in, are played by actors who (hopefully) give it their all in order to bring that character to life for us to watch, love, hate, or root for.

If anyone wants to give Christian Bale crap for behaving so obnoxiously, go ahead. But at least give respect to the work he was doing. If sci-fi fans won’t appreciate the effort everyone puts in on the films then why in the hell should anyone else give respect to the finished product?

Show quote of the day:

“That sounds like something out of science fiction.”
“We live on a space ship, dear.”
“So?”

The Before

2009-01-25T00:16:00.003-05:00

Quote of the day: “Delay is the deadliest form of denial.” ~ C Northcote Parkinson

Song of the day: Clocks by Coldplay

Date: Jan. 25th, 2009

As it turns out, I am not a Time Lord. Pity that. But none of us are, right? Yet each year we do get our own chance at regeneration in the form of the New Year. It’s the traditional time to take stock of who we are and maybe work on making ourselves into who we want to be. Truth be told I’m a radical in spirit, always yearning for change. However I’ve been in the same place for a long time now. It rankles. And might be why I often find myself standing on precipices of my own creation. So I look forward to the New Year with a sort of unusual relish and the (self illusionary) chance to start things a fresh.

I buy organizers and note books for To Do lists and make “a plan” to be a more perfect version of me. I sit and ponder what my resolutions should be, sometimes by looking back on the previous years and seeing what I did and did not do. Funny thing. “Stop procrastinating” has been on the list for quite a few years in a row now. (This might explain why this post is on the 25th instead of the 1st as I originally intended.) Along with my resolutions, I make a list of goals; things I want to get done before having to buy another calendar. It sounds like a good idea, but having scanned previous years I am getting the sense that the goals I make for myself are just make-work to distract me from the fact that I am stuck. Where I am isn’t really where I imagined I would be when I was imagining it oh so long ago. So what’s a girl to do? More specifically, what’s this girl to do?

Consult a book.

A few months back a friend of mine sent me a book called “Designed for Success” by Dondi Scumaci. When I first got it I gave it a cursory look and was impressed by its straight forward style but wasn’t sure it was for me. However, as the New Year approached I pulled it out and decided to give it a try. It’s not like it could make me more of a procrastinator or even more stuck, could it? On the cover the book proclaims that you will learn how to:

“View your career in a new way.”
“Build a powerful support network.”
“Have more fun at your job.”
“Achieve the success you deserve.”

All sound great, but as I read the introduction and first chapter I discovered a problem. I don’t have a career. I have a job. And a dead end one at that. Although I had already decided to follow the book to its conclusion to see if it could help me I was a bit downtrodden by this obvious divergence. However, I’m going to try it out anyhow. The book lists The 10 Commandments for women in the workplace. That’s 10 chapters. Plus the Call to Action (Chapter One) and Answering the Call (Chapter 12). Twelve chapters, twelve months. Each month I am going to read a chapter and try to implement the advice within on my dead end job and see where it gets me at the end of the year. And you, my lucky readers, get to follow along on my path to where ever it leads.

In order to measure my progress, one needs a base line. The place I am at now. All the diet ads have them, “the before” picture. This will be it. Let’s see, I’m a chronically shy ACOA diagnosed with ADHD (but still un-medicated) paper pusher that is so bored with my job that I create problems just to break up the monotony of the paperwork I do that in seven years just gets tossed anyhow. I think I spend more time playing Free Cell and reading Twitter than I do on my actual job because, really, any idiot could do it. Except that they can’t because there is a process that is exacting that everyone else likes to ignore, leaving it up to me to figure out and fix. So I guess we can add bitter and underappreciated to the list. Oh, and I’m underpaid. But, who isn’t?

I’ve skimmed much of the book but only really read Chapter One, Call to Action. In it she summarizes the stereotypes women face in the work place and how they can impedes our ability to achieve success. Although it is good to be aware of them, she cautions not to fixate on the stereotypes too much and giving them more power then they deserve or using them as an excuse for not succeeding.

Despite all the notes I made in the margin or sentences I highlighted in various colors, the main thing I took from that chapter is this: my job means I’m getting paid to do something for someone else and it’s not actually about me. Seems simple and obvious, right? You would think so, but ego can get in the way and cause all sorts of trouble. Like bitterness and feeling underappreciated. But I’m getting a paycheck, so really, just what is my deal? First order of business: get over myself. I took the job and have known for a while what it entails, so unless I’m willing to ditch it to find another, I need to shut up and just do it. With my lists of strengths and weaknesses in mind, I’ve decided to try and view my job with this new perspective. Isn't that one of the four things the book promises right on the cover? I’d say for this book, so far so good. Fingers crossed.

Hopefully it can do something with this procrastinating problem of mine, too…

Show quote of the day: “So here you are, my lonely angel, stuck on the slow path with me.”

Urgent: Call on Pakistan's government to protect girls and ensure their right to education‏.

2009-01-20T17:09:00.004-05:00

Equality Now

NEWS ALERT: PAKISTANJANUARY 2009
FUNDAMENTALIST PRESSURE IN NORTH WEST FRONTIER PROVINCE OF PAKISTAN, HAS LED TO ALARMING VIOLENCE AND DISCRIMINATION AGAINST GIRLS AND WOMEN

EQUALITY NOW CALLS ON PAKISTAN’S GOVERNMENT TO PROTECT GIRLS AND ENSURE THEIR RIGHT TO EDUCATION

In late December 2008 the Taliban ordered a ban on girls’ education in the district of Swat in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan. The announcement made by an extremist cleric, Maulana Fazlullah through an illegal FM radio station, asked all parents to remove their daughters from school (both private and public) by 15 January 2009, failing which schools would be bombed, girls murdered and, like the recent case in Afghanistan, acid thrown in their faces.

The Taliban have come to play an increasing role in the Swat valley and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) over the past two years. According to media reports, in the last 14 months they have destroyed 100 schools in Swat affecting about 70,000 girls. If the education ban is not effectively challenged, it is estimated that an additional 40,000 girls will be denied their basic right to education.

Women in Swat have also been deeply affected by the growing prominence of the Taliban in other ways. The Taliban have threatened to take dire action if women are found outside their homes without the company of male family members and identity cards. In addition, they have ordered the complete veiling of women. Media reports estimate that about a dozen women have been shot for “immoral activities,” including women such as Bakht Zeba, a 45-year-old councilor committed to advancing girls education. Local NGOs have confirmed to Equality Now that the situation for women and girls in FATA and more recently Swat, are grave.

Pakistan’s government is reportedly considering the application of Shariah law within these areas as a way to end conflict with militants, although it appears as if fundamentalists have already established their own courts in many areas to enforce Shariah and have introduced public executions for those who break it. Government sanction of a parallel legal system interpreted by those who deny the basic rights of women and girls is both unconstitutional and unacceptable.

The responsibility to ensure that the right to education of any Pakistani girl is not threatened or compromised, including through acts of non-state actors, rests with the Government of Pakistan. In particular, Articles 25 and 34 of the Pakistani Constitution require that the State remove discrimination and ensure the full participation of women in all spheres and Article 37 requires the State to “remove illiteracy and provide free and compulsory secondary education within the minimum possible period” and “make technical and professional education generally available and higher education equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.” In addition, Pakistan has ratified various international conventions which obligate it to ensure gender equality and to guarantee the rights to education, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

Equality Now is calling on the Government of Pakistan to take immediate action, coordinated between law enforcement, legislature (national and provincial), the Ministry of Education and other line ministries to ensure women and girls in FATA and Swat are able to fully exercise their rights without fear of violence or intimidation including the access of all girls to school as well as their security in school. In addition, the Government should reject the endorsement of any alternative legal system which does not guarantee to all citizens the rights provided under the Pakistani Constitution and the international human rights instruments to which Pakistan is a party. Please write to the officials listed below asking them to give immediate and urgent attention to eliminate the threat to girls’ education in Swat and to curb all moves to reduce or deny women’s rights in Pakistan.

President Asif Ali ZardariPresident of PakistanPresident's SecretariatIslamabad Pakistan
Dr. Fehmida Mirza Speaker, National Assembly of Pakistan, Parliament House, Islamabad, PakistanE-mail: speaker@na.gov.pk

Meer Hazar Khan BijaraniMinister of EducationMinistry of EducationIslamabad, Pakistan Tel: (0092-51) 920-1392, 921-2020E-Mail: minister@moe.gov.pk

Please keep Equality Now updated on your work and send copies of any replies you receive to: info@equalitynow.org or http://equalitynow.org/english/index.html

Sample letter

[add address of relevant official]

Dear [President Zardari/Dr, Mirza/ Minister] [delete as appropriate]
I am writing to express my deep concern about the violence and discrimination
being faced by women and girls in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA)
and Swat in Pakistan and, in particular, the targeting of girls’ schools by
militants who have announced a ban on girls’ education effective 15 January
2009. I am also concerned about reports that the Government of Pakistan is
considering the adoption of shariah (Islamic law) in these areas as a way to
compromise with the militants.

I urge the Government of Pakistan to take immediate action, coordinated
between law enforcement, legislature (both national and provincial), the
Ministry of Education and other relevant ministries in order to ensure that
women and girls in FATA and Swat are able to fully exercise their rights without
fear of violence or intimidation, including the access of all girls to school as
well as their security. I urge the Government to ensure that any intervention
upholds Pakistan’s commitments to gender equality and education under its
Constitution as well as under international human rights instruments ratified by
it. As such, I would also urge you to reject the endorsement of any alternative
legal system which does not guarantee equality to all. I thank you for your
attention.

Yours sincerely

URGENT APPEAL –NEW LAW THREATENS HUMAN RIGHTS IN ETHIOPIA

2009-01-09T14:48:00.005-05:00

I just got this in my email from Equality Now:

Dear Friend

On 6 January 2009, the Ethiopian government pushed through passage of the Charities and Societies Proclamation before Parliament went on recess. The effects of this Proclamation were set out in Equality Now Women’s Action 22.5 that you have just received, and is also available on our website: Action Network. We hope you have the time to send a letter immediately to the Ethiopian Justice Minister, urging immediate review and revision of this law. We have suggested a possible text below, but please feel free to write your own letter.

Without an amendment to the provision that restricts organisations which receive more than 10% of their funding from outside the country from undertaking any human rights work, many critical services and protections will disappear.

Thank you for your partnership.

Equality Now

Possible letter:

H.E. Berhan Hailu
Minister of Justice
P O. Box 1370
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Fax: +251 11 551 7775
Email: justice@ethionet.et

Dear Minister,

I am writing to express my extreme concern about the new Charities and Societies Proclamation which was passed on 6 January 2009 and which would drastically curtail the work of non-governmental organisations working to promote human rights. My particular concern is for all those vulnerable people who will now be left without assistance when they need it most. These would include women and girls who have been subjected to sexual and other violence and who depend heavily on civil society organisations to give them legal and material help. I urge you to think again about the terrible impact this new law will have on those who just want to secure their rights under the Ethiopian Constitution to live freely and equally in security and without discrimination.

Please do all that you can to ensure revision of the law to remove the restrictions that effectively prevent the functioning of civil society organisations seeking to promote and protect all rights granted under the Ethiopian Constitution.

I thank you for you attention and for anything you can do to help.

Yours sincerely

Cc: H.E. Muferiat Kamil, Minister of Women’s Affairs, P.O. Box 1293, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Fax: +251 11 416 6362

The One Armed Bandit meets Ebay

2009-01-08T17:27:00.004-05:00

Quote of the day: "Even a fool knows you can't touch the stars, but it won't keep the wise from trying." ~Harry Anderson

Song of the day: None.

State of mind: peeved

Date: January 9th, 2009

Ever hear of swoopo.com? It's an online auction site for all things electronic. I can only assume that they got their name from the Ebay bidding style of waiting until the final seconds and swooping in with a final bid. I found it the other day while browsing for laptops and at first, it seemed like electronic paradise. Brand new laptops, digital cameras, cell phones, and TVs for pennies on the dollar! On they day I found they site, they had quite a few laptops with only seconds to go on their auctions and in the rush of finding what I thought were awesome deals, I considered registering, which is free, but decided against it. I figured it would be best to decide which laptop I wanted and then see if it was available on swoopo rather than get antsy and bid on something just because it was cheap. Also there was a part of my brain raising flags of many colors. I mean, a brand new Sony VAIO 19" for 15 dollars? Way to good to be true. Then I read that you have to pay for each bid. Well, ok. That made sense. So it was a site for serious bidders only. Each time you wanted to bid, you had to pay the site $.75. And since swoopo.com was the one purchasing the goods that went up for auction, I figured they were getting them at a wholesale discount. Considering the money coming in from bids, plus the actual winning bid I rationalized that they were probably making a small but nice profit. I could live with that.

Later that day while at lunch I visited the site again, unable to put the low prices out of my mind. And that was when I saw it. Every time someone bid on an item, more seconds were added to the end time giving someone else 20 more seconds to out bid you. And if there were more than 2 people interested in a 20 dollar laptop, you know they are going to keep on bidding in the final seconds. It's not like Ebay at all. The end time makes no difference. And each time they bid, another $.75 goes in the kitty. I started to become irate. It's not an auction site at all. It's an online slot machine with each click of a button another 3 quarters and a hope that the others you are bidding against get distracted for 20 seconds or more so you can win. Considering how often the bids went up, I couldn’t see how people were counting all of the $.75 cents they are adding to the final tally. They're caught up in the hunt to win. It happens on Ebay all the time, but at least with Ebay you can only get caught up for so long. Once the time is up, it's up and a winner is declared.

One lap top I was watching was at 22 dollars with 3 minutes left on the countdown clock. As I sat and watched it went up by 3 dollars while 5 different people kept adding their penny bids. (That's another trick. A lot of the "auctions" are penny auctions, meaning you up someone's bid by only a penny each time- reinforcing the idea of getting something valuable for dirt cheap.) Just as the clock reached 5 seconds, the lot of them plus people that had been waiting on the side line suddenly put in bids and with 20 seconds for each bid the time went back up to over a minute. In an online auction, a minute is eternity. And then I watched as for that entire minute all of the bidders kept putting in more pennies! Idiots. You aren't going to win with over a minute left on the clock. Why keep upping the bid and throwing away your quarters when you know you are bidding against multiple people? No one wins because they bid A LOT.

Also, right under the picture of that brand new lap top was a price it had recently sold for: 377 dollars. For an 1800 dollar computer. Which I think is another trick to keep people bidding by demonstrating how well another lucky bidder made out. Because it is a steal… for one bidder. But at a penny at a time, it took 3,770 bids to be placed. That's 2827.50 dollars, before the winning bidder ever paid their winning bid price which ups swoopo.com's take to 3204.50- for a laptop that has a manufactures suggested retail price of 1800- which is not how much items are usually sold for. And if they buy in bulk, I'm sure they paid even less. But even if they had paid the full 1800 dollars, they still get over 1400 dollars in profit.

Ridiculous.

And in case anyone is wondering, no I never did register or try my luck at any of the auctions.

Show quote of the day" "Oh Mario. If only I could control everyone the way I control you. Hop, you little plumber. Hop, hop, hop!"

Carol of the Firefly

2008-12-24T11:23:00.004-05:00

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Dr Horrible takes over the Paley Center for Media in NYC.

2008-12-21T15:25:00.021-05:00

Quote of the day: "All the things I really like are either immoral, illegal or fattening." ~Alexander Woollcott

Song of the day: "Let it Snow" (I say that ironically. I'd like it to stop now, please.)

State of mind: Sluggish.

Date: December 21, 2008

A few days late, I know, but I guess that means my evil persona is The Procrastinator! Putting off evil deeds today that could, er, or until... oh forget it. I'll come up with a catch phrase later. Guess I'm kind of benign bad guy, but whatever. My evil outfit is pretty cool. (PJs.) And my evil lair is full of Lazy Boy recliners, so...

Right! The screening. Despite the weather the venue filled up with eager ELoE wannabees and Hammer groupies. My cohorts (ctheokas and aboleyn24) and I were able to successfully achieve maximum viewing exposure by choosing seats about five rows up from the front. And by successful I mean no one was sitting there yet. Actually, there wasn't a bad seat in the house. The chairs were comfortable if compact and once I got into the seat there wasn't much room for my legs let alone my winter outerwear, which would make getting up at the prescribed moment to stomp around as if I were a hulking Dr Horrible a bit difficult. Plus, the only thing I would have been stomping on was my coat and purse and I like both so I opted to keep my seat. A healthy majority however got up and squished imaginary foes like mad. But I'm skipping ahead.

After everyone was settled a short movie about the importance of the Paley Center for Media was shown. Unfortunately, no one was really paying attention. I tried. Honest. But I was too distracted by the combination of clips they were using. First the moon landing, then a cartoon, followed by a sports clip, a comedy snippet, and something from one of the major news networks. I know the Center is for all media but... huh? Of course, the fact that everyone was also playing with the things in the interactive goody bags that were passed out didn't help. Here's a Tip: don't give Whedon fans little toys if you want their undivided attention. Of the bags themselves, the contents were a bit thin but they were free so I shouldn't really complain.

It wasn't soon after the clip show ended that Arthur Smith from the Paley Center said a few words and then introduced the host for the evening, Clinton McClung. Although is someone really a host if they aren't the one putting on the production? I would say his participation in the evening was more as emcee than host. And a fine emcee he was. His monologue was entertaining as he described the event as a propaganda tour by the Evil League of Evil looking for recruits, and then gave a brief rundown of what we were to do during the show and what each piece in the bag was for.

Bubbles for the laundry mat scene in Act II.

Bad Horse finger puppet to fiddle with the entire screening. Seriously. No one could stop playing with them.

"Firefly" glow stick to wave during "Everyone's a Hero".

Plastic mustache to be used while robbing banks, or whenever the Bad Horse trio would sing.

A Party Popper for when the Death Ray explodes in Act III. I didn't use mine, but only because I have issues with party poppers that date back to my childhood and that is they never ever work for me. So I kept mine as a memento instead.

Shrubbery (real) to hide behind while Billy spies on Penny and Captain Hammer on their date.

List of instructions which was a list of instructions.

I'm not super coordinated so my ability to remember I needed to be holding a certain thing at a certain time was a little off and I forgot to do most of it except wave my little (and I mean tiny) glow stick back and forth while Captain Hammer sang in the third act. Everyone else seemed to have no problem remembering what to do and almost all of the poppers went off on cue and filled the room with a lovely sulfur cloud and paper ribbons. Also, Whedon fans in and around New York have fantastic voices. Especially the trio that sat behind me. I didn't get their names which I regret now. I didn't sing, but not only did the majority of the crowd sing, they recited most of the lines as well. The one ad lib I did hear was at the end after...well, you know... and someone exclaimed, "Damn you, Joss!" which garnered first mutually sympathetic laughter and then applause. It did break the tension that we all felt, despite the fact almost all of us had obviously viewed the entire thing multiple times and knew what was coming. But if Dr Horrible ever becomes available for more screenings (*fingers crossed*) I wouldn't want that to be a regular part of the show. *Edited to add: I was reminded of another ad lib by a few people in the audience, right before probably the most talked about line in the show. "The hammer is my penis." In the pause between Captain Hammer taunting Billy with his plans for the evening and that line, a few called out, "What is the hammer?" Hilarious. Reminded me of, "What's your favorite color?" and the responding, "Magenta" during the Rocky Horror Picture Show screenings. Hee. "Great Scott!" *Throws imaginary toilet paper at the imaginary screen in my head.* Good times. Ok, back to last Friday...

Clinton had asked if anyone in the audience had not yet seen Dr Horrible and I only spied two hands raised. They certainly chose an interesting venue to watch it for the first time, and I did try to keep an eye on the one man who was in the same row as me during the entire screening and am happy to say he seemed to enjoy himself immensely. But as the show went on I wondered if any of the story would be diminished for the newbies by our singing and reciting along. Would the jokes be ruined? The nuance of each performance overwhelmed? Judging by his reactions I'd say my concern was for naught. And I must point out that although I have seen Dr Horrible's Sing Along Blog quite a few times, there were small moments that were lost on my computer. Specifically in Mr. Harris's case. It would be a facial tick here or pause there that really benefited from the larger screen and again I am awestruck by just what an awesome job he did. Can we give him a Webby Award or something?

Unlike the LA screening during Halloween, only one person dressed up in character: as Doctor Horrible. It was a well put together costume and from the look I got he didn't seem to have skimped on the details. I did see a few official Jinx shirts. I spotted one Captain Hammer t-shirt and one of my cohorts wore her Doctor Horrible logo tee. Me? Uh, I dyed my hair Penny-esque red... but other than that, I had no costume.

During the screening I did notice that certain songs got more participation than others. Some just aren't made for actual singing along. Like the final song by Doctor Horrible as he loses Penny and finally joins the ELoE. At future screenings, it would be interesting if the audience was instructed before hand that the ladies were to sing all of Penny's songs and the fella's stick with Doctor Horrible's and Captain Hammer's, with the exception of "Everyone's a Hero" where everyone should join in. I'd like to hear an audience wide duet during "On the Rise" and "Man's Gotta Do". And I'm hoping that the DVD commentary will have a suitable song for everyone to sing over the credits, since the ending isn't exactly a huge upper. (Hurry up, Amazon!)

But we all left smiling and laughing when it was done. It was a great night and I enjoyed my self muchly. And I'm still finding party popper string on my cloths, even though I've changed at least 4 times and showered twice since then. How is that possible?

I am glad to hear that the Horrible team is working on a way to make further screenings possible. I already have a few thoughts for an evening.

For instance: Keys. To wave when Dr Horrible sings about giving Penny Australia. It's better than trying to wave Australia around. It's kind of heavy, I bet. Or a flashlight when Billy is walking down the street during "On the Rise" since I think we've all heard Joss talk about the sun going down while they were filming and that was all they had to get the shot. I think that needs to be honored. Lacey wafting curtains. Water guns to shoot H2O into the air whenever Moist enters the room. (But, it should be noted that squirting water directly at your seat mates would be greatly discouraged. He's Moist, not Soaking Wet.) Captain Hammer's hair. A receipt for 4 sweater vests. One lovingly drawn photo of Doctor Horrible to hold. Sporks. Ect.

I even have a theater in mind...

Show quote of the day: "Come hell or high water I'm going to free that dog."

Don't Destroy Our Culture. Buy a Book.

2008-12-07T18:07:00.017-05:00

Quote of the day:"You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them." ~Ray Bradbury

Song of the day: How Far We've Come by Matchbox 20

State of mind: In flux.

Date: December 17th, 2008

In many parts of the country the economy really blows. Fat chunks, actually. First the real estate market fell down and broke it's crown and the auto industry came tumbling after, so it's not surprising that the publishing industry has also taken a great fall. As the holidays approached I figured people would take stock and return to the simpler things in life like homemade wooden toys for the kids, baking cookies, and giving books as gifts for their loved ones. However, I was wrong. Books went the way of the seven dollar grande half calf latte with foam on the list of things to cut. And that is unfortunate. I mean, a cup of coffee only last a few hours from sip to drip but a book is forever. (Like diamonds, only with words and a lousy resale value.)

Up until October and November NeilsenScan was reporting that sales for books were up. But the tightening of belts across the nation left so much stock in all the bookstores that the returns effectively nullified any profits most publishing companies had gained up until that point. And because of that many publishing houses are reducing their staff and putting a freeze on acquisitions of new books.

Which is sad because I love books. I think this is what mathmeticians call "a given". Books line my walls, are stacked next to my chair in my living room, and occassionally are piled on my bed- even when I'm sleeping. I love their smell, compact size, the covers, what's inside, everything except the occassional papercut...

But the rumblings that there was trouble in paradise started back in April when the big box book stores that had slain most of the smaller independent bookstores had a new enemy in places like Amazon.com, Wal-Mart, and Costco. Suddenly the big stores weren't king of the hill anymore and found themselves on the recieving end of tricks they had used against the independents. Slashed prices and convenience. Who can beat being able to shop in your pajamas and have your choices delivered to your door? Not even Barnes & Noble or Borders with their big comfy chairs and coffee bars with sticky buns or croisants. Or the funky jazz playing over the in store sound system. I'll take PJs over the PA anyday.

What worries me isn't really that Borders or Barnes and Noble might start closing their doors. No. What worries me is that a lousy economy means less choice. It's not really the big bookstores themselves that are in trouble. It's the people that create the stock and those people pay the writers who create the content of that stock. But if they have to cut back on what they publish to ensure profit you know they are going to start choosing works that appeal to the most people. And that means "lowest common denominator". We know what is at the end of this road. Crap. Recycled crap. Bye bye daring new fiction. So long books that challenge the reader to think. They'll be looking for the next Twilight or Dan Brown thriller. Not that I didn't enjoy The Da Vinci Code, but I want more on the shelves then teen angst and mindless pulp to pick from.

So what is a bibliophile to do?

Buy a book. But a few even. Christmas is just around the corner. Need gift ideas? Books. Books make the perfect gift. They come in all shapes and sizes. There is bound to be a volume for every person on your list. Go look! I promise you'll find something that fits even the most particular of your gift giving circle. Plus, they're square and easy to wrap.

Some tips:

If ordering online, try BetterWorld.com. For each book they sell a portion goes to various literacy charities. The shipping cost for any book is just 2.97. They also recycle by accepting books for resale which keeps all of that paper out of the landfills and gives them even more money to donate to their chosen charities.

If buying locally but want to shop an independent store try indiebound.org. There you can enter your zip code and it will give you a list of independent bookstores in your area. Or if you can't get out to the shops but want to support the independents, find their websites and make a purchase online. Most, if they are smart, will fill orders via the world wide web. Like Powell's in Oregon or Changing Hands in Arizona.

Want to make your shopping even easier and judge the books by the cover alone? Here's a list of the best desinged of 2008.

If you are going to use Amazon.com, find a site that you support that has an affiliates store. The price of the book is the same but the site with the store gets a percentage of the sale. (Actually, it's like a percentage of a percentage. But these days, every 1/3 of a penny counts.) If they don't have a book you want in their store, email them and ask them to add it. You get what you need while helping out someone else. Isn't that cool?

And when you are done, list the book(s) here. They are trying to reach 1 million books by January 1st and I can't do it all myself. Although, I'll try. I'm already up by 7 books so far.

Show quote of the day: "Are you asking me to talk to a woman I've already had sex with? That's like changing the oil on a rental car."

Prop 8- The Musical!

2008-12-03T19:49:00.001-05:00

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

Every F'king Year. (Now with Meme Edit.)

2008-11-28T13:33:00.012-05:00

Quote of the day: "Show your confidence. Show you're not afraid. Go to restaurants. Go shopping." ~ Rudy Gulliani

Song of the day: "All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth (Cuz Some Schmuck Knocked Them Out In The TV Aisle)."

State of mind: A little ranty. Still.

Date: Nov. 30th, 2008

I'm really starting to hate this time of year. I used to love it. When I was a kid and didn't have to deal with the realities of the Christmas season it all seemed magical and fun: the lights that I didn't have to put up, the wrapped presents I didn't get paper cuts wrapping, the gifts I didn't wait in line 3 hours to buy, the food I didn't have to make... The most I had to do as a kid was 'behave' to rake in the goods.

As I got older and started paying attention to the world at large, I noticed a startling trend. People kind of suck, and the holidays do not mean what everyone pretends they mean. And I don't mean to sound like a Scrooge, but seriously. Come on! Doesn't the pressure to purchase the best gifts get to you a little more each year? Doesn't the constant news stories about the economy and whether or not shoppers are out there spending their dough and what that means for the future of our country put us all on the hot seat to buy buy buy? They (and I mean the 'experts' and the media that are interviewing them) make it seem like if we, the people, don't buy our loved ones gagets and gizmos that they don't really need then we don't love America. Shopping is our answer for everything and it seems that our numbers in the malls on Black Friday are the canary in the cave. (Putting all the responsibility on Main Street to keep America going.) And to keep that canary singing most chain store retailers have been slashing prices on everything to get us in the door. That last part I'm quite fond of actually. The cost for most things are just ridiculous. But it makes you wonder just how much of a mark up is on all of these high ticket items that are suddenly medium ticket items. If they can sell them for half the price now, why couldn't they before?

But the biggest deals are reserved for the day after Thanksgiving. That day it takes the truley dedicated shopper (or the ones that love America the most apparently) to be first in line to ensure the savings. And this year more is at stake seeing how our economy is circling the drain so if you want that big screen TV you better get it now. Isn't scarcity fun? So as in years past the mobs show up and wait in front of the glass doors for the store to open so they can run in and every year the local news agencies get camera men stationed just inside the doors so they can film for posterity what morons we can be and at what lengths we will go to for purses, video games, and too big TVs. And every year someone falls and gets trampled. (Or fights break out.) This year was no exception:

The Christmas shopping begins in earnest!

This time, instead of it being a shopper that was just too slow for the crowd, it was a Long Island Wal-mart worker that made the mistake of being on the other side of a closed door. The customers couldn't wait any longer so they tore the door down, killing him. For goods at Wal-mart. And the kicker is, after he had died and the police and ambulance were called to deal with his body and the injured- including one 28 year old pregnant woman- shoppers got pissed off because they closed the store due to his death. Merry Christmas! Good will towards men. Except, I guess, dead ones.

And in California, there was a shooting at a Toys R Us. A kids store. A KIDS STORE! Who brings a gun to shop for toys? Maybe if my mother had thought of that during the Cabbage Patch craze I'd have my very own adopted plastic doll right now. As it was, my sister and I saw those stories of mobs fighting for those dolls on the news and told my mother there was no way in hell we wanted one; not that she would have gone through all that to get us one any how. But the idea of my mother being in a mob and someone else shoving or hitting her for a doll even now makes my blood boil. The uselessness of it! It's not like these fights are breaking out for the last can of peas in a store with no food left or for life saving medication when more is unlikely to be on it's way anytime soon.

I know for a lot of people the season isn't just about the goodies under the tree or elbowing old ladies for that last sweater, but every year I hate this holiday just that much more because of the people for whom this is what the holiday means. Is this really who we are?

And how hard is it for those retail stores that set up the scarcity sales to get a grip on the crowds they know will show up? The only time I ever got up in the dead of night to go shopping for a present was at a ski shop to get snowboarding boots for this guy I was dating at the time. Every year this store would have a midnight sale, but unlike Wal-mark, K-mart, or most malls, instead of everyone mobbing the door to get in, the store asked everyone to line up, which had the additional bonus of the first person to have arrived actually being the first person in the door. What a concept! And they would only allow a certain number of people in at a time and only after most of those folks had made their purchases and gotten in line to pay would the next set of 20 or 30 be let in. With this completely logical system everyone could find what they were looking for without having to resort to gunplay and the people working could actually help customers rather than get trampled by them. I did spend about an hour outside waiting to get in, but once inside I was able to get to the boots, find a sales person who got me the right size, and get out of there without injury or frustration. Why aren't the discount stores enacting similar policies? Just how many shoppers or minimum wage employees have to die before everyone realizes that the crap in those stores isn't worth it?

In truth, I am not anti-gift giving. I love shopping for other people. (Which is odd since I hate shopping for myself.) But I have a few rules for holiday shopping:

1) If I start to get frustrated or it becomes not fun anymore to be shopping, I go home.

Ok. I only have that one rule.

That's it. I will not fight someone for the last Elmo. I will not shop if I'm in a bad mood. If you aren't smiling on the inside when you hand over your cash for whatever it is you are getting, is it really a gift?

This year I'm going to be doing any shopping I have online or at local stores owned by local folks and avoid the malls, mobs, and hopefully retail related death. I try to be creative with what I purchase. Pay attention to what someone needs or wants and wouldn't get for themselves. Some times I try and be practical and get a gift that has a purpose and fills a need in someones' life. Like after my father's hearing started to go, I got him a set of cordelss headphones to hook up to his TV so he could turn it up as loud as he wanted without annoying my mother (or the neighborhood). So, really, that one was a gift for everyone. And I'll try and bring to you links to other online sites that have unique gifts that can't be found at the malls and a few that can help us all to do good during the holidays for others as well as our friends and families.

BTW, I have already found two good items that can only be purchased online. That's right! Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is now ready for pre-order on DVD and will be ready on December 19th. This is the one. Tell your friends. Also, The Write Enviroment has a DVD interview with Joss Wheadon that is available for purchase right now. They have other DVD interviews with other writers, including Heroes creator Tim Kring, but whatever. ;) Buy early, buy often. And skip the retail related death yourselves.

ETA: Found this in the NYTimes Online: The Media Equation in Black Friday. And BTW, as far as I recall, every year someone gets hurt and a lot of the time they end up dead due to Black Friday sale rushes, so the economy isn't the one thing that is to blame for this tragedy.

Show quote of the day: "What do you get off brow-beating a hooker? Jesus was nice to prostitutes."

I was tagged by JennyLu to find the fourth picture in my photo album, post it, and write something about it. I have multiple albums so this is the fourth picture in the fourth folder:
This is the hotel room I stayed in when I was in NYC for the Tribecca Film Festival this past April. I love this room. I want to live in this room. I was on the 38th floor and had my own balcony and I'm pretty sure I was given that room by mistake because I didn't reserve a suite when I booked online.
But they had no room service.

Confessions of a Twitter Dupe

2008-11-18T23:51:00.013-05:00

Quote of the day: "Houston. We have a problem." ~James Lovell

Song of the day: Hat Shaped Hat by Ani Difranco

State of mind: tired, followed by giddy, followed by hurt and pissed off.

Date: This happened on Nov. 17, 2008 Posted... later.

I’m feeling a little stupid right now and I’m not happy about it. As I may have mentioned before I have a twitter account, which I love. Instant 140 character updates from people all over the globe! Awesome. I knew about the last earthquake in California only seconds after it started thanks to a few people on my account that had the bad luck to be on top of it, but despite the fact that the Earth was moving below their feet in jarring motions, they decided to tweet the event. Mostly in all caps. (Like I wouldn’t.) The news of the earthquake didn’t hit MSN for almost another half hour. Not awesome for the people there, but knowing about it instantly was.

On my account I have several NASA sites, including the Mars Rover that just went quiet after its months long mission on Mars. (It found ice.) There was just something special about seeing a tweet with a link to pictures taken by a little robot on another planet. I know that the tweets themselves were coming from a person here on Earth, but it felt like I was getting updates right from that plucky little rover and it made my geek heart swell. And when it finally stopped sending messages back to Earth I’ll admit I was a little misty. I’m going to miss that lil' guy.

Anyhow, right now there is another NASA mission going on above our heads on the International Space Station which the shuttle Endeavour docked with to deliver supplies, and when I saw that they apparently had twitter accounts as well I couldn’t follow them fast enough. The tweets themselves seemed to be a bit more personal than other NASA accounts, but I figured it was because the astronauts themselves were excited about the instant communication with civilians while they were in space so I brushed off the oddness of it.

However today*, I get to work and log in as I usually do and see that the shuttle Endeavour has a link up to watch them in space as they are performing some task with multiple capital letters. A MMLPV or MMRPG or ... whatever. It's in space, so it's just freaking cool to watch live no matter what it was they were doing or what letters they used to describe it. Plus, you could chat with them too. No freaking way. My brain almost exploded. And so I posted as my inner geek squeed, while my other person that doesn’t want to get fired acted like nothing odd (awesome) was going on:

.... Then I added, oozing enthuse:

I logged into the chat, made a few jokes (shocking, I know), and for a brief moment felt like I was on the edge of a new world. A world were highly trained scientist that are manipulating million dollar equipment will take the time to say "hi" to whomever is willing to watch. Can you imagine? Communication by a regular Jane like me with someone actually IN SPACE? Sure, this would someday be a regular occurance, (I hope), but it was new to me. I felt like a pioneer. All while seated at my desk.

And while in the chat, they responded to me on Twitter:

I, NYPinTA, was just invited into space.
Naturally I played it cool:

However, my geek joy was squished when someone pointed out that the two accounts that I thought were the people on the shuttle and space station weren't linked on NASA's official twitter account like all the rest of their various NASA accounts were. And that the "live feed" from the space station seemed to be just looped to a different site than the official NASA TV site.

Well, crap.

Those two accounts I had been chatting with were total fakers. Liars. They stole my hope for the future; a bright and shining future with gleaming buildings, flying cars, and cloths made out of smart fabric that will regulate heartbeats or alter tempature to keep us warm or to cool us down when it was too hot. But it doesn't matter, because that world was gone. It was replaced by a world inhabited by the punks that were pretending to by astronauts having fun with a new communication tool.

Asshats.

Of course, I should have wondered when the they actually used "LOL".

The Pretenders:

“ISS” http://twitter.com/ISStation
“Endeavour” http://twitter.com/SSEndeavour
SpaceVids: http://www.spacevidcast.com/live/

The real ISS, Endeavour, and NASA TV:
NASA's Twitter List: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/home/twitter.html (Compliments of "Space")
NASA TV: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

Show quote of the day: "Whip me, beat me, take away my charge cards... NASA is talking!"

FarScape Premiere and Quantum of Solace- in brief.

2008-11-16T17:19:00.008-05:00

Quote of the day: "Thank you for the tragedy. I need it for my art." ~ Kurt Cobain

Song of the day: Wings for Marie Part I by Tool

State of mind: lagging

Date: Nov. 16th, 2008

It's chilly today. A real autumn day, with a blustery wind and crisp leaves on the ground. (I don't know why I mention that. I guess to demonstrate how much I wanted to go to the movies that I would willingly get out of my warm comfy bed on such a bitter day.) I got up early and went to see Quantum of Solace at the mall. Despite what the critics are lamenting about, I thought it was a damn fine film, but then I never really liked the things about Bond that people seem to think makes him Bond, such as the gadgets, hokey villains, and the girls with the double entendre names. (Octupussy? I mean, really? Silly boys. Grow up.) It was a solid movie with a sadly realistic villainous group with sadly realistic goals to roll in the dough and control the fortunes of millions of people. And this James Bond is still a little bit pissed off about losing the one woman that he has ever loved. So was I upset to not see the suave always smug Bond? Did I feel jipped that this Bond had a bit of an edge and got dirty more than once in the pursuit of the bad guys? Nope. There were car chases, fancy hotels, tuxedos, exotic locations, and dead bystanders. It was all there. But this James Bond is still on his way to becoming the Bond everyone knows,loves, and longs for. The Bond that makes it seem like the world of villainy is one so far removed from the real world that it will never effect their lives as long as they walk the straight and narrow. But wait, just one more film and he should at least be ready for the martinis, shaken not stirred, and the torrid affairs on the run. But I think the days of bad guys with bases on the moon are over.
In the meantime, enjoy something chock full of gadgets but totally lacking in suave. (A nice yin to the Bond yang.) Farscape, from the first episode:
FarScape on Fancast.com

Show quote of the day: "Boy was Spielberg wrong."

I Gap Art

2008-11-13T10:59:00.009-05:00

Quote of the day: "Things are beautiful if you love them." ~Jean Anouilh

Song of the day: Into the Sun by Candlebox. (BTW, I had no clue they were even still together!)

State of mind: tired to the point of manic.

Date: Nov. 13, 2008

Saw this quiz in JennyLu's blog and couldn't resist. Give it a go.
Or you could skip it and vote for John instead since he's been nominated for a blogger choice award. And if you aren't sure he deserves it, just vote for him out of sympathy because he had the hiccups for 5 days. Or because he could be dead any day now. And if that happens, won't you feel guilty you didn't click a button for the man?

There Are 1 Gaps in Your Knowledge

Where you have gaps in your knowledge:

Art

Where you don't have gaps in your knowledge:

Philosophy
Religion
Economics
Literature
History
Science

Do You Have Gaps in Your Knowledge?

Show quote of the day: "Oh yes, I'm back too. Thanks for asking. Back to being me. Back to being ignored."

The Arc of History

2008-11-08T00:42:00.006-05:00

Quote of the day: “Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him.” ~Dwight D. Eisenhower

Song of the day: Prelude 12/21 by AFI

State of mind: Reflective

Date: Nov. 7, 2008

I was having a bad day yesterday. I can’t recall what exactly about it was so wrong, but it was off. Co-workers spent a lot of time discussing nothing and doing it with a lot of yelling and having to repeat themselves, which is a huge pet peeve of mine. If you ask a question, listen for the god damn answer. And actually HEAR what the other person is saying and respond to that, not some imaginary point you pretend they made so you can say something that has no bearing on the actual conversation. My ability to concentrate is greatly reduced if I have to hear someone else’s illogical arguments. It trips something in my brain that wants to strangle things.

In order to combat the stupid insignificant stresses of the day, (and BTW, if you are thinking that working in an office isn’t stressful, go here: Desk Rage), I pulled out the text of President-elect Obama’s acceptance speech from Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning to buoy my sinking mood. It was hell of a speech, wasn’t it? I’ll admit I was misty eyed. (From allergies.) (No. Not really.) It sure will be nice to have a President that is articulate. Right or wrong, whether I agree or disagree with what is being said, I’d rather hear it from someone that doesn’t make me cringe when they speak.

I got to the part in his speech where he mentioned the 106 year old voter and all of the history she has been alive for and that got me to thinking about my less than 106 year long life and all the history that I’ve seen as well. Like her, I remember the Berlin Wall coming down. Two shuttles being destroyed. 9-11. The Human Genome Project. The Hubble Space Telescope and ISS being set into orbit. Mount Saint Helens erupting. I was 8 at the time and I recall being in my parents’ bedroom watching TV when I saw this red glow peaking through the curtains. I got up and pushed them aside and looked at a sky that was on fire with the slowest moving flames. Turns out it was the sun reflecting off the ash that had finally made it to our side of the continent. It was the most beautiful sunset I had ever seen. Too bad it was at the expense of the side of a mountain and all the people that were in the way. What else? A few presidents. Tsunamis, earthquakes, fires. The rise of the PC, the Internet, blogs. Humans breaking barriers, being stupid, being brilliant.

But when I’m 106 (and I plan to be) what else would I have like to see happen? Flying cars? Teleporters? A cure for all cancer? The ability to re-grow limbs that have been lost to accident or defect at birth? The first person on Mars? Permanent homes on the Moon? A clean Earth? A woman elected President? Equality for everyone all over the globe?

Yes. To all of that, and all that I can imagine and all that I can’t. But what would everyone else like to be witness too? What do you want to see happen? Inventions invented, mysteries revealed, and events unfolded? Post it here or link to a blog post of your own. I think I’m going to need more uplifting and inspiring things to read for the next time my co-workers make me want to commit a crime against nature.

Show quote of the day: “Do I look like a ditchable prom date to you?”

President

2008-11-06T11:56:00.006-05:00

Quote of the day: "Just as despair can come to one only from other human beings, hope, too, can be given to one only by other human beings." ~Elie Weisel

Song of the day: Viva La Vida by Coldplay

State of mimd: Calm

Date: Nov. 6, 2008

Transcript of acceptance speech.
Ballot measure results.
Newsweek's Special Election Project Report.
Change.gov
WhiteHouse2.org

** This will be my last "political" blog post, except for maybe later when I post on my thoughts from Election Day. **

Show quote of the day: "The world is a mess, and I just need to rule it."

Vote.

2008-11-04T00:13:00.015-05:00

Quote of the day: "If you're listening to a rock star in order to get your information on who to vote for, you're a bigger moron than they are." ~ Alice Cooper

Song of the day: Long Road as sung by Eddie Vedder

State of mind: Decided.

Date: Nov 4th.

Vote. Just do it. Vote. Vote early. Vote often. Ok. Don't do that last one. But vote. Even if you don't like the choices you have for President there are still local elections and propositions in nearly all states. Those can be even more important than who is in the Oval Office. So vote. Vote, vote, vote! Don't make me come over there.

Last minute resources:
FactCheck.org
Barak Obama and Joe Biden
John McCain and Sara Palin
Where to Vote
Know Your Voting Rights
Election Protection

For fun:

NY Times Word Train. It's hypnotic.

NaNoWriMo Word count: (because I can't get into the stupid frelling site and update it there!) 1747. Which is where I wanted to be on the first day. But... that didn't happen. I had like 300 or something sad like that. The next day I expanded on that 300 to about 500. And all of them crap.
Originally I was going to write about the worlds laziest serial killer. I still might. But on the eve of November 1st, I decided to just sit and write whatever popped into my head. (Hey, it works for this blog. Right?) But what popped into my head stopped after about 6 paragraphs. I created 3 characters, one of whom wakes up one morning to discover her entire body is covered with tattoos that move. Pretty cool. Except I had no idea what to do after that. The story just stopped. And with so much potential! It could have been alien conspiracy or ancient evil waking after centuries of slumber. Anyhow, I decided last night to chuck all that and go by the old adage, 'write what you know' and what I know is fandom. So after a rockin' episode of Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles and finally getting to see last weeks episode of Supernatural, I got in more than a one day goal of 1667 words. Only about 1/8th of which are probably accurate. Whatever.

Show quote of the day: "She hated Star Wars! She lied, Ted. Search your feelings. You know this to be true."

NaNoWriMo. WTF?

2008-10-31T00:45:00.003-05:00

Quote of the day: "The more I wrote, the creepier I got." ~Joss Whedon

Song of the day: "Kashmir" by Led Zeppelin

State of mind: Full of grandeur.

Date: Oct. 31st, 2008

What was I thinking? No. Seriously! What. The. Fu.... oh, I know. I was under some delusion that I could actually write a 50,000 word 175 page book in a month.

So this is insanity. It's not as bad as I thought it would be.

For those who are still sane, you might be wondering what it is I'm going on about. NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month where other people of the same broken brain bent as I sign up to crank out a whole book before the end of November. This year marks the 10th Anniversary of the first NaNoWriMo competition that included a whole 21 participants. According to the book No Plot No Problem by NaNoWriMo creator Chris Baty only 6 made it to the 50,000 word finish line. This year 77,860 people have signed up. That's a lot of insanity. But if the math holds out about 25,953 will complete their fevered masterpiece. (Hopefully some folks by the names of stellar, b!x, and cabridges will be among the 25k+ to succeed.)

I have no clue if I will make it. I could fail by either waving the white flag early on in defeat or from not making the necessary word quota, although I have a feeling the word count won't be my problem. No... Based on past experience my main obstacles will be: procrastination fueled by some deluded idea that 50,000 words (which breaks down to about 1667 words a day for the 30 day month of November) won't take that long, so I'll put off starting each day and if I skip a day I'll be sure that I can make it up in just a few moments. (Wow. And here I am thinking that just today I went insane.) The other obstacle will be the lack of follow through. After a few days of being "too busy" to write and thinking I can make up the word count in one mad session of mad writing I'll realize it's a whole lot harder to crank out those daily 1667 words and after a wave of whelm passes overhead I'll throw in the towel and tell myself it doesn't matter because it wasn't for anyone else but me anyhow.

Or not. Or I could actually do this thang.

Anyone else want to give it a go? Still one day left to sign up! Join the crazy. It's pretty here.

Show quote of the day: " If you act drunk long enough, you get a REAL hangover."

Kill My Blog? (With an added dash of Firefly.)

2008-10-26T20:15:00.006-05:00

Quote of the day: “Existence is no more than the precarious attainment of relevance in an intensely mobile flux of past, present, and future.” ~ Susan Santog

Song of the day: I’m Alive by Flyleaf

State of mind: bored

Date: Oct. 26th, 2008

According to Wired Magazine the blog is so 2004 and they suggest if you have one you should drop it in favor of something like Twitter.com, the micro-blogging site where people with accounts update everyone that is ‘following’ them in messages of 140 characters or less. Although I do have a twitter account and love it so much it is one of the first pages I open in the morning, I still like the apparently passé long form blog. Do I strike anyone as the kind of person that could be as succinct as to get my point across in fewer letters than it takes to say:

At work now. Would very much like to use my calculator as a weapon of mass destruction on the next person that tells me I'm behind the times.

See? That took me 141 characters. Byte me Wired Magazine. Besides, how would I be able to fit in the quotes and songs that I do? And pictures? I have a lot to say, dammit, and I’m going to keep saying it old school.

Their argument is that professional blogs have taken over and personal blogs will never show up in a google search. Well thank god. I don’t write this to be quoted on Nightline or 60 Minutes. I blog for me. (And friends. So they know I didn't trip down the stairs and break my neck or something- which is a complete possibility.) For a while I did get caught up in the idea of having readers and keeping everyone entertained with each blog post. Obviously, I’ve gotten over that.

I have been considering moving my blog though; getting an actual web site with my very own domain name just to feel like I’ve staked out a nice piece of the Internet real estate, so imagine my surprise when I checked to see if talkingtothemoon.com was already taken and it was! As was tttm.com, whatever.com, and wtfever.com.

Bastards. Now what? Nypinta.com is available, but do I really want that as a domain name? I’ve come up with a few others, but I don’t know. It seems like such a final thing, paying for a web address. It’s hardly a tattoo, but still… decisions, decision.

I supposed I could just stay here. I mean, I like it here. It’s comfy and I know where everything is. But I should update it. However, I hate change. When I first started this blog I spent so much time going through the code of the template and tweaking things to my satisfaction. Plus, with the update that blogger keeps trying to get me to accept takes away the ‘previous posts’ list. Not sure why I am so attached to that list, but I am. And I’d have to recreate all my other link lists, which is just a pain in the ass.

Ah, screw it. I’ve got plenty of things to worry about that updating my blog or if I’m with the times shouldn’t be one of them.

Show quote of the day: “Did you just feel that?”

Firefly Sunday continues!! Our Mrs. Reynolds. It's the episode that gets funnier every time I watch it.

The Projector to Nowhere & The Question Inside by Martin Firell

2008-10-18T22:02:00.014-05:00

Quote of the Day: “Statistician: A man who believes figures don't lie, but admits that under analysis some of them won't stand up either.” ~ Evan Esar

Song of the Day: Drops of Jupiter by Train

Date: October 18th, 2008

It’s probably the most famous ‘overhead projector’ in America right now. The one that in two debates Senator John McCain mocked Senator Barak Obama for trying to get funded, pointing out that it would cost 3 million dollars while at the same time using phrasing that would make the audience picture those 200 dollar projectors in High Schools across the country. I did a little googling and it’s hardly your AP English teachers projector.
What the Adler Planetarium in Chicago IL needs is a sky theater planetarium projector because the Zeiss Mark VI projector which is 40 years old and malfunctioning is no longer supported by its manufacturer. The Adler had asked six Illinois U.S. representatives and both Illinois senators for assistance in obtaining federal funding for various projects. Both Republicans (including Senator Dick Durban and 3 Congressional Republicans) and Democrats (including Senator Barak Obama) agreed to sponsor the earmark for 3 of the 10 million it will cost to replace their current projector. The planetarium was raising the other 7 million with private donations on their own.
Because the earmark was not approved they got creative and put an option in their online store. If one was inclined they could purchase a piece of the projector to help raise the extra 3 million the planetarium needs: Give the Gift of starlight.

Because of the attention the projector received due to it’s mention in the debate, planetarium officials felt compelled to release this statement:

To clarify, the Adler Planetarium requested federal support - which was not funded - to replace the projector in its historic Sky Theater, the first planetarium theater in the Western Hemisphere. The Adler's Zeiss Mark VI projector - not an overhead projector - is the instrument that re-creates the night sky in a dome theater, the quintessential planetarium experience. The Adler's projector is nearly 40 years old and is no longer supported with parts or service by the manufacturer. It is only the second planetarium projector in the Adler's 78 years of operation.
Science literacy is an urgent issue in the United States. To remain competitive and ensure national security, it is vital that we educate and inspire the next generation of explorers to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math.
Senator McCain's statements about the Adler Planetarium's request for federal support do not accurately reflect the museum's legislative history or relationship with Senator Obama.

I understand what Senator McCain was going for. Voters hear of 3 million dollars going to one place for one piece of equipment and start to think about how much of their taxes are going to pay for it and anyones knee jerk reaction is going to be one of shock and maybe outrage. Except sometimes earmarks aren’t evil. Occasionally they are for things that have a benefit to the public, which is what taxes are supposed to pay for, right? (I’m sure that is up for debate though.) They do pay for the Federal Government to keep the country going: Fix roads, education, to keep us healthy, safe (from actual enemies, not ones made up so we can exact a little revenge or have greater access to a resource we can’t get enough of), and supposedly help out in times of crisis like hurricanes and floods. Our taxes also go to pay for opportunities for people that might not otherwise have them, and yes, sometimes those people that get the opportunities suck, but a greater number of the time they don’t. They just need that boost to get going on their own again. I’m not a fan of giving anyone anything for free but in a country this large with the resources that we have no one should ever feel like they are alone. (Unless they want to be. And I mean, alone to make their own choices and not have someone snooping into their life, mind, or body to make sure they are living their life they way someone else deems correct.) And has been pointed out on a few news sites, earmarks make up only .06% of the entire Federal Budget. So for every dollar I send to Uncle Sam... well I don’t know the math, but I’ll bet that less than a fraction of a nickle of that dollar ends up going towards a special project that some Senator asked for to help the constituents in his state. And isn’t that’s what Senators do? They work for the Federal Government but their first concern should be for the people in their home state that elected them, and getting them things to improve their lives is part of that. Was the bridge to nowhere just because they wanted a bridge? No. It would have created jobs. The island that it went to would probably have been developed. It had a purpose, just not one that was as plain to see as the universe would be on The Adler’s ceiling.

... Or as clear as “The Question Mark Inside” that will be on the roof of St. Paul’s cathedral after

Le (not so) Grande Cirque!

2008-10-12T23:07:00.006-05:00

Quote of the Day: “There's a sucker born every minute!” ~PT Barnum

Song of the Day: Solisbury Hill by Peter Gabriel

State of mind: In denial. It's warm here.

Date: Oct. 12th, 2008

I don't want to say that Le Grande Cirque is a rip off of Cirque du Soleil since traveling shows with contortionists, jugglers, and daredevils balancing on a tower of chairs have been around since there were people, things to juggle, and chairs. But it was a rip off. (They even admit it on their website!)And if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery than Cirque du Soleil is the only one that's getting a compliment today.

I recently went with co-workers to Le Grande Cirque at the Times Union Center, (which used to be the Pepsi Arena, which used to be the Knickerbocker Arena. People around here still call it The Knick.) We had what would usually be considered great seats except that the way the stage was set up we couldn't see a thing and had to ask to be relocated. Luckily for us, (and not so luckily for The Times Union Center or as they are trying to get everyone to call it, The Tuc (pronounced "tuck")), the place was less than half full and we were able to move to a section with a much better vantage... of a mediocre show.

Although the individual acts were impressive they seemed abbreviated and the overall show felt unpolished. It was as if I was watching the teaser version of the circus or a promotional video made by amatures and showing on You Tube. Where this event mirrored Cirque du Soleil was it's stage presentation- the use of etheral and overly dramatic music plus having extras as background noise while the primary act is being performed, only they did it with inferior cosutmes that were sewn from the cheapest made-to-look-fancy fabric, canned unoriginal music, and lack of any overall creativity. Plus, in between acts they filled the stage with dancers to distract and entertain while they changed the equipment but each time they were onstage I noticed how out of synch they were with each other and it was oddly reminiscent of a bad High School production.

However, one act stood out: an aerialist act on chiffon. He came on stage alone in tattered jeans looking like a homeless man with a Jesus complex (if Jesus was known for walking around bare chested) and for the only time during the entire show there was no one else on the stage. But they weren't needed. The music was more sublte and fit his act perfectly. His movements hit the dramatic moments of the score, his transistions flowed seemlessly and was so compelling to watch there was no need for filler as he performed. If the rest of the show had been as enchanting as his lone act, I would have gotten in line to see the entire show again the next night. Alas, it wasn't.

What the show was instead was almost two hours, but I think I only enjoyed about 45 minutes of it total. And in todays economy, if they expect a family to pay from 35 to 55 dollars per ticket on an evening out they better produce a show that is much more solid and pulled together. If they are coming to your town, I suggest you give it a miss and get Cirque du Soleil on DVD from Netflix instead.

Show quote of the day: "But I like my belongings. That's why they belong to me."

He Talk Pretty

2008-10-01T16:38:00.013-05:00

Quote of the Day: "I love things made out of animals. It's just so funny to think of someone saying, 'I need a letter opener. I guess I'll have to kill a deer.” ~David Sedaris

Song of the Day: none

State of mind: relaxed

Date: October 1, 2008

I had written down on two different calendars that David Sedaris would be at the Palace Theatre on the 19th of September; one being the calendar on my desk and the other on my bedroom wall. I was wrong both times. And it’s a good thing too because on the 19th I had a horrific headache and had decided to stay home. Even though I was confident I had made the right decision I couldn’t help but look at the clock between the hours of 8 and 10 and think periodically, “He’s being funny right now. People are laughing at this very moment. I wonder who is sitting next to my empty seat.” I discovered my mistake days later thanks to a blurb in my local paper about our local entertainment journalist being there at the upcoming performance and ‘twittering’ from the audience. Hurray! I could still go.

I spent all weekend preparing, (and by that I mean doing laundry). Despite the forecast Saturday was mostly clear and I was able to get most of my Sunday errands done. Sunday had been forecasted to be better than Saturday so when I woke up to the distinctive sound of raindrops on the air conditioner my heart fell just a little. However, I soldiered on. (As my mother likes to say, I am in fact not made out of sugar.) Besides, I had missed him once already so I wasn’t going to let a little moisture ruin my plans.

I headed out the door at 20 after 6 even though the show didn’t start till 8 o’clock mostly because I wasn’t sure about the parking (that section of Albany is still a bit dodgy despite recent upgrades) so I chose to err on the side of caution. Apparently the gods of parking rewarded me with a spot- the last spot- right in front of the theater, facing the direction I needed to go to leave. Plus, on weekends you don’t have to feed the meter! Double score.

If it had been dryer out, I could have sat in the little park across from the theater, but with the misting rain I ended up in this tiny coffee shop that sold baked goods and odd sodas as well. I think it was too distracted by the nostalgia to remember that I don’t like cherries that much but I got a Shirley Temple flavored soda. It was awful. But the peanut butter cookies will dry your mouth like fear, so I had to drink it. While waiting, I perused The Metroland, read about ACTA and how our government & world governments want access to your computers and if no one is paying any attention they are going to get it. (So, you have been put on notice!) I also read an opinion piece about Sara Palin. They didn’t like her. I agreed. Then I decided to go over earlier than I had planned, which was also fortuitous as he was in the lobby signing books and the line wasn’t all that long. (Unlike this blog post so far.)

I have never been to any of his shows so I wasn’t sure what to expect. On the stage was a podium and that was all. No backdrop even. He came out and the person behind me said over the applause, “He’s so tiny!” in that way that people say it about puppies, meaning they want to snuggle with the bundle of cuteness incarnate. None of the stories he read were from his latest book When You Are Engulfed In Flames. He explained that he was tired of that book. That elicited laughter from the audience. As did most of what he said all night. He read stories about talking to people on his book tours, two stories about the undecided voters of the US election- one from the perspective of a person that can’t understand how someone could be undecided and the other as if he were one of those unsure folk, a trip to Costco with his brother in law, traveling, meeting a taxi driver that wanted to be in the Guinness Book of World Records for traveling with the youngest child to all 7 continents, and a few of his favorite bits from The Braindead Magaphone by George Saunders. A book he apparently liked so much that while reading a selection of letters called “Dear Optimist” he kept having to stop he was laughing so hard himself. I have a feeling that if people were more on the ball, this book would be on the ALA’s most frequently challenged list. He took questions from the audience but I don’t really remember any. On person did ask if he was still not smoking, which he isn’t. Then he confided that he sometimes dreams of smoking but in his dreams after he remembers that he had quit, he starts to feel guilty, which is what happened to me when I quit over 10 years ago. I’d wake up just gutted that I had succumbed to having a cigarette after not having one for months until I would realize it was a dream and I hadn’t actually had one. And that was the thing about the evening. Even though as a home town bound woman 16 years his junior to his world living life, his thought processes that he revealed during every story mirrored what I probably would have thought had I been in his place. (Even when he was putting men he had seen on a list of viable candidates should the need arise... You know what I mean.) And judging by the reactions of everyone else in the audience, I suspect I'm not the only one who felt that way. The laughter was inspired by his humours turn of phrase but also by recognition. Yes! We would laugh. Exactly! He then announced that if anyone had any more questions they could ask him personally because he was going to be signing more books, wished everyone a good night and left the stage to thunderous applause. And that was it. My review: I’d go again in a heartbeat. In rain or no, horrific headache or picture of health. Laughter is the best medicine anyhow, right?

Click to purchase any titles from the David Sedaris library or the book by George Saunders.

Show quote of the day: “Oh... I don't drink. In general."
"Well, it is 3:00 so... it's a good time to start."

It's not a "bailout". Except that it is. Sorta.

2008-09-30T10:20:00.009-05:00

Quote of the Day: “If you would know the value of money, go and try to borrow some; for he that goes a borrowing goes a sorrowing.” ~Benjamin Franklin

Song of the Day: Eulogy by Tool

State of mind: very confused

Date: September 30, 2008

Will they call yesterday Grey Monday? The plunge the stock market took wasn't as severe as the one in the 80s that has been dubbed Black Monday. Nor was it anything like the freefall just before the Great Depression. (And what exactly is so great about a depression?) Maybe it should be called Blue Monday since it was the Democratic majority in the House that ... oh wait... they voted for it! Well, except for 95 of them. Yet, it's just the Democrats fault? Wow. Seriously. Just fucking wow. And the main reason the Republicans are claiming they didn’t vote for it? The speech Nancy Pelosi gave just before the vote. Holy crap. Is our country really being run by temperamental children? Listen kids, put on your big pants and suck it up.
Besides, everyone has a part in this. It isn't just a 'your side, my side, your side' thing. There are no clear lines of that team doing A and this team doing B and the A Team not being able to find the right tools in the tool shed they conveniently find themselves trapped in that is surrounded by the Army & Colonel Decker ready to take them back to prison. Wait… Huh? See. It's that confusing.
Anyhow, the "bailout" that isn't. Again, this is a case of perception that is making life difficult for everyone because of a word. And a poorly chosen one at that. All last night I listened as every local and national news team went to the 'man on the street' and get America's take of the failed bailout. BTW, the bailout didn't fail. What happened was that it didn't get voted through the House. There's a bit of a difference. A failed bailout would be if it had passed and the banks still tumbled like a Jenja tower. (Man, I used to love that game.) But if you were to listen to the regular Joes that were interviewed last night you would think that the money that the House has been haggling over for weeks was a gift. It’s not. It’s a loan. A loan we the taxpayers are being asked to give to the financial institutions that collectively had eyes bigger than their stomachs. Each person said something along the lines of, “let them clean up their own mess” or “why should we reward failure” and “why not use the money to help out the little guy”. All are sentiments I can relate to except, they can’t clean up their own mess, it isn’t rewarding failure, and this is to not only help the little guy, but keep us from getting crushed by an overfed elephant whose knees just gave out. The only visual analogy of the proposal I can give is this: Say you live in a small bungalow. It’s got a cute front yard, a small garage and an herb garden in the back. Your next-door neighbor used to have a house similar to yours but with a pool out back. Then he decided to upgrade (mostly because of the deregulation that was granted in the 90s thanks to Phil “mental recession” Gramm) and he turns his cute bungalow into a McMansion. Now the place towers over yours and the house comes right up to your property line. While he was building his McMansion he asked if you wanted to go halves on some rose bushes to grow around the fence between your yards. You do so willingly because A) you love roses and your small investment will grow for years to come and B) you don’t want to have to look at his ugly wife from out your kitchen window anymore while she's in the backyard sunbathing naked. Things are fine for a few years and you are enjoying your roses until one day you notice a crack in the foundation of his house on the side facing yours. That crack continues to grow and engineers have come out to examine the problem and report to everyone that if the house isn’t braced it will come down. Now, some of your neighbors are thinking, ‘good riddance. That house was too big anyhow. Who needs all that room?’ but you realize that 'Oh My God, if that house falls down, it’ll crush mine! And then it'll roll down the hillside and wipe out the whole street!' Then your neighbor confides in you and the rest of the neighborhood that he doesn’t have the money to shore up the house and asks for help.
That’s the bailout. It’s for the bracing to keep his house from taking out yours. And after the bracing secures his house he has to fix his house himself and then pay you back for the bracing and if he doesn’t he gets fined. Plus, by having had the bracing paid for by you he can’t decide, 'the hell with it, let the place fall, I’ve got this nifty golden tent to live in'. The tent was taken away the moment he took the loan. So, if it were me, I would stand back tsk tsking his choice of McMansion because it's quite obvious that he doesn't deserve it, but I’d be worried about my herb garden and place to sleep.

...However, if everyone decides to yank him out of his house AFTER he's shored it up nicely and your house is no longer under imminent threat of becoming kindling and he gets bitch slapped by the entire town well.... I won't tell. Or, you know, gets put in jail. Because deregulation or no, there has to have been something hinky going on and someone has to answer for that.

Some reference material: (But by no means all that there is. I’m sure there are thousands of pages with articles on .. well, everything.)
CNN Money Article 1
CNN Article 2

Show quote of the day: “You better not forget the pie!”

The Phantom Panic: I Hate Who Now?

2008-09-26T20:21:00.042-05:00

Quote of the day: "If you’re not bitter and you’re working in Hollywood, then you’re not really participating." ~ Craig Ferguson

State of mind: Ranty, and possibly making stuff up. Everyone else is.

Date: September 26th, 2008

It’s getting a bit ridiculous to have people I’ve never met tell me how I am feeling or who I am hating, and it’s been happening a lot lately. In fact, just the other day I found out I hate the people in marketing that have to sell Dollhouse to the public. I had no idea. What a revelation! I feel so free now. Except, oh wait, I don’t hate marketing. I don’t even not like them. In fact, I’m actually a little intrigued by what they do in marketing and maybe I sometimes think about them when I’m in the shower. Take that Clay Shirkey! Not only does he claim that fans hate marketing, he does so without any substantiation. Not one quote, link, or an anecdotal retelling of a run in with a fan to support this claim. I know I’ve never seen anyone hating on the marketing for Dollhouse on Whedonesque, but it could be because there hasn't been much marketing of Dollhouse yet. It won't air until January. And even if it were true you would think that of all places some traces of this claim would have appeared there as it is the site that Joss himself sometimes posts on. (I was going to say, “The Man” instead of “Joss” but it didn’t feel right. Joss is boss. And “The Man” has a twofold meaning (at least to me), one being the person with the power holding everyone else down, which doesn’t sound like Joss Whedon at all, and the second meaning is the actual man, the first man, Adam. Adam, who you might recall, was paired up with Eve. He told her not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge and said it was because God told them not to, but did he offer any proof that God said to lay off the apples? No. See? No substantiation. And look where that has gotten us. Good work, Adam.)

I guess this is all part and parcel of being a member of the "Whedon Fandom". I don’t think it has an official name. Or handshake. Although there should be. Oooh… And maybe jackets. Yeah, that’d be cool. I do sometimes refer to myself as a "Whedonist" because, as someone pointed out, it has the word hedonist right in it. (Although I never call myself that out loud.) I should mention that I love being a part of fandom. Sometimes I even develop a crush on the fandom... especially the kind that throw me and a few hundred other fans a Backup Bash on short notice. It has a bad rap however. A negative reputation as a collection of overly obsessed fanboys and girls with nothing better to do than watch TV, read comics, go to conventions, and post online. And what the hell is wrong with that anyhow? Why can’t I share my thoughts on a particular episode that touched me deeply or struck my funny bone enough that I rewound a scene a few times just to savor the comedic flare more than once? Why should my being online or meeting people from around the world with a common love of a particular show be any less worthy of time than the friends of mine that I know that spend an entire weekend figuring out their Fantasy Football stats? It’s my time and I’ll do with it what I please and I’d appreciate not being judged for it. Jeez. It’s not like I’m drop-kicking kittens.

And there are other downsides besides being generalized and mostly dismissed, like fanwanks, trolls, stalkers, fandom fatigue, fandom factions, and finding out people that you thought were your friends are perfectly OK with lying to you and other people they called their friends just for the chance to meet their favorite actor and then have the gall to act as if it is you and the friends that were lied too that are in the wrong for being pissed off about it. I mean, where in the hell was their logic processor installed? High School? And occasionally I come across people inside the fandom that seem to forget that they are a part of it. They try to remove themselves from the perceived herds by throwing around the "fanboy" label which ticks me off because by using it when they disagree with a certain show, episode, or storyline, they reduce the opinion of others as a reactionary dogmatic one yet try and claim some sort of superiority because everyone but them have obviously succumbed to the hive mind. All of this while posting on the very board dedicated to the show/actor/writer that they are implying everyone is overly obsessed with. Over identify much? And tell me, oh removed one, you registered why? And have been posting for the past so many years because...? To enlighten everyone that you never mentioned thinking of as sheep before of their narrow minded ways? Oh get off it. You’re part of the fandom too. Just embrace it. Fandom isn’t a dirty word. It isn’t the obnoxious uninvited guest to the party. It is the party. So relax and enjoy and stop being a killjoy. Disagreement is fine. I welcome it. But being dismissive and condescending I don’t. And P.S. Someone pointing out that facts do not back up a claim are not being condescending, they are just pointing out the facts. So next on my list of fandom pet peeves are the walking wounded, the posters that think that anyone that disagrees with them is being disrespectful. Seriously, grow up. However, all the bad in any fandom I’ve participated in is always outweighed by the good. I’ve met some amazing, generous people, have had the chance to participate in some worthy projects, and have had my horizons widened. (Which isn’t as dirty as it sounds. Usually.) Plus, I’ve gotten rained on in LA. Twice.

I’ve been thinking about all of this a lot lately because of the so-called panic Joss Whedon fans fall victim to whenever any news about his up coming and highly anticipated show Dollhouse is posted.(It’s on FOX this January. Yes, FOX. Deal with it.)

If one were to believe the entertainment journalists the fans are in an unthinking frenzy about the fate of the show before it has even aired. But I don't. (Well... who knows, maybe somewhere there is a group of Whedon fans making up a batch of Kool-Aid with that groups admin declaring Dollhouse’s early demise. Hope it’s at least grape. Their last sip of sugar filled refreshment shouldn’t be that awful blueberry crap. But seriously folks, bon voyage. Hope you don’t end up in the shrimp dimension. I hear it’s boring.)

Besides, fandom isn’t like the Borg where one person represents all and from what I've seen it seems that the greatest number of negative comments appear under online articles but not so much on forums or other online communities. And when there are concerned comments on the boards someone else points out why they shouldn’t fret and calm is restored quickly, the panic smacked down by actual information and not enflamed by supposition and guessing. I sometimes wonder if they are getting the idea the fandom is worried by reading the threads but don't follow them all the way through and recognize them as thoughts from a moment in time and not an unwavering position. Posts are part of a continuing fluid conversation, not static declarations. So when they say “the fandom” do they mean the communities or just the random guy that comments under the online articles on their home page? Why do they get to represent the entire fandom? Again, NOT BORG. Of course, the idea the fandom is in a panic could be that for every article that claims it is there is one that feels it has to say, "Don't panic!" or "before you start to panic" and "thanks for the panic attack". And if anyone who has been paying attention knows it's that if you say a word often enough it becomes truth. Misrepresentation leads to misconception which leads to suffering. (Yoda had it totally wrong.)

I once raised the idea that there actually wasn’t a panic and was asked if I recalled the Save Dollhouse bru-ha-ha. I actually hadn’t. So I did a little googling (also not as dirty as it sounds) and found the forum and a few articles on them. What I discovered wasn’t that the site incited fears about the shows future but that their forum would make the rest of the fandom look like idiots and that the effort would be a waste of time or have a backlash effect. Very valid points. But still, it did not cause panic about the fate of Dollhouse itself. Besides, the board name was meant jokingly. Mostly.

From what I’ve read when I visited the site it’s more an attempt to use the fandom to promote the show early on and less to do with actually trying to save a show before it has even aired. But the pre-emptiveness of it isn’t totally unwarranted. Despite the credentials of the new guy at FOX, shows get cancelled. It’s just a fact. So I’d say that Save Dollhouse is made up of 2 parts promotion, 1 part joke, and 1 part dread of an actual cancellation.

I’d also like to point out that the comments that fans are worried because of Joss’s “track record” or “history” are illogical to me. He is 1 for 3 on the TV show “failure” scoreboard. Buffy the Vampire Slayer had 7 years. Angel had 5. Firefly was the one of his 3 shows that got axed before it’s time but that went on to be successful on DVD. (And now I’m wondering if anyone is twitching in anticipation of what my next words will be. Will I perpetuate the myth? Nah.) But despite the oft-repeated claim that the DVD sales of Firefly garnered a big screen adaptation of the show, they didn’t. I actually believed they had though until I started posting on Whedonesque. I wasn’t active in the fandom at the time Firefly was axed or the campaign activity afterwards. I was too busy trying to save Farscape. Which, although we did get a made for TV four hour movie, I call a fail. We didn’t get the fifth season like we wanted. (Screw you, skiffy!) Unlike Serenity, The Peacekeeper Wars wasn’t one story from the Farscape universe, it was the storyline that would have been told over the course of the 5th season and it lost a lot in the compression. Which is a pity because Farscape was a stellar show and it deserved better. No. Mary Parent and Universal saved Firefly and gave us the "Big Damn Movie" Serenity. Now... the marketing for Serenity... them I'm not so keen on.

In short (ha) no panic. No hating. So please stop telling me how I think and feel. I can do that for myself.

By the way, I’m not going to provide links to the articles claiming that fans are panicking. I mean, they didn’t when they made the claims we were so why should I to dispute them?

*The word "Panic" appeared in this blog nine times.*

Show quote of the day: "Kind of makes you wonder—of all the things we’ve hunted, how many existed just ‘cause people believed in ‘em?"

Green tip of the day: Recycle, bitches!

Hurricane Ike made Texas its Tina.

2008-09-22T11:48:00.009-05:00

I realize this is a few days late seeing as the hurricane hit the week before last, but a friend of mine lives just 70 miles from Galveston and I haven't heard from her since just before the storm hit. I'm sure she's fine, but very very busy. But that made me think more about the people down there and the devestation they have to clean up. So if everyone could spare a few thoughts for her and everyone else in the region, I’d appreciate it.
But also I know with the economy playing Twister right now that a lot of charities are suffering and I think a lot of the emergency services charities are falling short on what they can do for people in storm ravaged areas. I was thinking maybe an online garage sale on Ebay using Mission Fish so that money from the auctions goes directly to the charity of choice via Ebay would be a good way for people that can’t otherwise donate to contribute. I believe the Red Cross participates with Ebays charity program as well as some others. As usual though, I caution everyone to research the charity they choose and a simple way to do that is with Charity Navigator. They even already have a page with a list of charities to help out with Hurricane Ike relief.
Charity Navigator

Not listed on Charity Navigator I found the McCormick Foundation that has a matching program for hurricane relief. I don’t know much about this foundation as of yet, so donators beware. But I’ll include the link anyhow.

McCormick Foundation

Found another useful charity, in my opinion.

Habitat for Humanity

Thoughts? Suggestions?

I started a thread at Serenitymovie.org and on SFSD for a wider audience discussion, because I would like this effort to transcend any particular fandom so I’d like to get as many people as I can to help out with this and we can organize our ‘garage sale’ for a specific date. Serenitymovie.org SciFiStraightDope.com

Seeking a President Who Gives Goose Bumps? So’s Obama.

2008-09-21T23:19:00.004-05:00

Link

By MAUREEN DOWD
Published: September 20, 2008

Now that he’s finally fired up on the soup-line economy, Barack Obama knows he can’t fade out again. He was eager to talk privately to a Democratic ex-president who could offer more fatherly wisdom — not to mention a surreptitious smoke — and less fraternal rivalry. I called the “West Wing” creator Aaron Sorkin (yes, truly) to get a read-out of the meeting. This is what he wrote and sent me:

BARACK OBAMA knocks on the front door of a 300-year-old New Hampshire farmhouse while his Secret Service detail waits in the driveway. The door opens and OBAMA is standing face to face with former President JED BARTLET.

BARTLET Senator.

OBAMA Mr. President.

BARTLET You seem startled.

OBAMA I didn’t expect you to answer the door yourself.

BARTLET I didn’t expect you to be getting beat by John McCain and a Lancôme rep who thinks “The Flintstones” was based on a true story, so let’s call it even.

OBAMA Yes, sir.

BARTLET Come on in.

BARTLET leads OBAMA into his study.

BARTLET That was a hell of a convention.

OBAMA Thank you, I was proud of it.

BARTLET I meant the Republicans. The Us versus Them-a-thon. As a Democrat I was surprised to learn that I don’t like small towns, God, people with jobs or America. I’ve been a little out of touch but is there a mandate that the vice president be skilled at field dressing a moose —

OBAMA Look —

BARTLET — and selling Air Force Two on eBay?

OBAMA Joke all you want, Mr. President, but it worked.

BARTLET Imagine my surprise. What can I do for you, kid?

OBAMA I’m interested in your advice.

BARTLET I can’t give it to you.

OBAMA Why not?

BARTLET I’m supporting McCain.

OBAMA Why?

BARTLET He’s promised to eradicate evil and that was always on my “to do” list.

OBAMA O.K. —

BARTLET And he’s surrounded himself, I think, with the best possible team to get us out of an economic crisis. Why, Sarah Palin just said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had “gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers.” Can you spot the error in that statement?

OBAMA Yes, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac aren’t funded by taxpayers.

BARTLET Well, at least they are now. Kind of reminds you of the time Bush said that Social Security wasn’t a government program. He was only off by a little — Social Security is the largest government program.

OBAMA I appreciate your sense of humor, sir, but I really could use your advice.

BARTLET Well, it seems to me your problem is a lot like the problem I had twice.

OBAMA Which was?

BARTLET A huge number of Americans thought I thought I was superior to them.

OBAMA And?

BARTLET I was.

OBAMA I mean, how did you overcome that?

BARTLET I won’t lie to you, being fictional was a big advantage.

OBAMA What do you mean?

BARTLET I’m a fictional president. You’re dreaming right now, Senator.

OBAMA I’m asleep?

BARTLET Yes, and you’re losing a ton of white women.

OBAMA Yes, sir.

BARTLET I mean tons.

OBAMA I understand.

BARTLET I didn’t even think there were that many white women.

OBAMA I see the numbers, sir. What do they want from me?

BARTLET I’ve been married to a white woman for 40 years and I still don’t know what she wants from me.

OBAMA How did you do it?

BARTLET Well, I say I’m sorry a lot.

OBAMA I don’t mean your marriage, sir. I mean how did you get America on your side?

BARTLET There again, I didn’t have to be president of America, I just had to be president of the people who watched “The West Wing.”

OBAMA That would make it easier.

BARTLET You’d do very well on NBC. Thursday nights in the old “ER” time slot with “30 Rock” as your lead-in, you’d get seven, seven-five in the demo with a 20, 22 share — you’d be selling $450,000 minutes.

OBAMA What the hell does that mean?

BARTLET TV talk. I thought you’d be interested.

OBAMA I’m not. They pivoted off the argument that I was inexperienced to the criticism that I’m — wait for it — the Messiah, who, by the way, was a community organizer. When I speak I try to lead with inspiration and aptitude. How is that a liability?

BARTLET Because the idea of American exceptionalism doesn’t extend to Americans being exceptional. If you excelled academically and are able to casually use 690 SAT words then you might as well have the press shoot video of you giving the finger to the Statue of Liberty while the Dixie Chicks sing the University of the Taliban fight song. The people who want English to be the official language of the United States are uncomfortable with their leaders being fluent in it.

OBAMA You’re saying race doesn’t have anything to do with it?

BARTLET I wouldn’t go that far. Brains made me look arrogant but they make you look uppity. Plus, if you had a black daughter —

OBAMA I have two.

BARTLET — who was 17 and pregnant and unmarried and the father was a teenager hoping to launch a rap career with “Thug Life” inked across his chest, you’d come in fifth behind Bob Barr, Ralph Nader and a ficus.

OBAMA You’re not cheering me up.

BARTLET Is that what you came here for?

OBAMA No, but it wouldn’t kill you.

BARTLET Have you tried doing a two-hour special or a really good Christmas show?

OBAMA Sir —

BARTLET Hang on. Home run. Right here. Is there any chance you could get Michelle pregnant before the fall sweeps?

OBAMA The problem is we can’t appear angry. Bush called us the angry left. Did you see anyone in Denver who was angry?

BARTLET Well ... let me think. ...We went to war against the wrong country, Osama bin Laden just celebrated his seventh anniversary of not being caught either dead or alive, my family’s less safe than it was eight years ago, we’ve lost trillions of dollars, millions of jobs, thousands of lives and we lost an entire city due to bad weather. So, you know ... I’m a little angry.

OBAMA What would you do?

BARTLET GET ANGRIER! Call them liars, because that’s what they are. Sarah Palin didn’t say “thanks but no thanks” to the Bridge to Nowhere. She just said “Thanks.” You were raised by a single mother on food stamps — where does a guy with eight houses who was legacied into Annapolis get off calling you an elitist? And by the way, if you do nothing else, take that word back. Elite is a good word, it means well above average. I’d ask them what their problem is with excellence. While you’re at it, I want the word “patriot” back. McCain can say that the transcendent issue of our time is the spread of Islamic fanaticism or he can choose a running mate who doesn’t know the Bush doctrine from the Monroe Doctrine, but he can’t do both at the same time and call it patriotic. They have to lie — the truth isn’t their friend right now. Get angry. Mock them mercilessly; they’ve earned it. McCain decried agents of intolerance, then chose a running mate who had to ask if she was allowed to ban books from a public library. It’s not bad enough she thinks the planet Earth was created in six days 6,000 years ago complete with a man, a woman and a talking snake, she wants schools to teach the rest of our kids to deny geology, anthropology, archaeology and common sense too? It’s not bad enough she’s forcing her own daughter into a loveless marriage to a teenage hood, she wants the rest of us to guide our daughters in that direction too? It’s not enough that a woman shouldn’t have the right to choose, it should be the law of the land that she has to carry and deliver her rapist’s baby too? I don’t know whether or not Governor Palin has the tenacity of a pit bull, but I know for sure she’s got the qualifications of one. And you’re worried about seeming angry? You could eat their lunch, make them cry and tell their mamas about it and God himself would call it restrained. There are times when you are simply required to be impolite. There are times when condescension is called for!

OBAMA Good to get that off your chest?

BARTLET Am I keeping you from something?

OBAMA Well, it’s not as if I didn’t know all of that and it took you like 20 minutes to say.

BARTLET I know, I have a problem, but admitting it is the first step.

OBAMA What’s the second step?

BARTLET I don’t care.

OBAMA So what about hope? Chuck it for outrage and put-downs?

BARTLET No. You’re elite, you can do both. Four weeks ago you had the best week of your campaign, followed — granted, inexplicably — by the worst week of your campaign. And you’re still in a statistical dead heat. You’re a 47-year-old black man with a foreign-sounding name who went to Harvard and thinks devotion to your country and lapel pins aren’t the same thing and you’re in a statistical tie with a war hero and a Cinemax heroine. To these aged eyes, Senator, that’s what progress looks like. You guys got four debates. Get out of my house and go back to work.

OBAMA Wait, what is it you always used to say? When you hit a bump on the show and your people were down and frustrated? You’d give them a pep talk and then you’d always end it with something. What was it ...?

BARTLET “Break’s over.”

PS A Poll: Is Palin qualified?

Firefly Sunday! Shindig

2008-09-14T21:52:00.004-05:00

Shindig. Or the episode where Mal almost gets killed. Again.

I know you've all been eagerly anticipating the next installment in Firefly Sunday, and so I bring to you here on my wee blog the episode Shindig. It is the originator of the phrase, "Captain Tightpants". All hail the wit of Kaylee. :D

Republicrats: Craving Approval

2008-09-12T21:46:00.004-05:00

Why do I have the feeling that this might be the most honest Presidential campaign?