Within 10 minutes Martha Coakley disqualified herself as a possible choice (IMHO) because of her support for the Patriot Act. Forget it, lady. You definitively lost my vote right there.

Five minutes after that Steve Paglica disqualified himself when he started insisting that "job training" and tax credits was the key to overcoming jobless woes. Having gone the job-training route myself in the past and known people who've gone that route, job training doesn't work when no one's hiring at all.

Alan Khazei is well-meaning and even seems to have some good ideas, but seems singularly clueless about how to actually get shit done in Congress. Plus, he confused TARP with the Stimulus. A reluctant fail there, but fail nonetheless.

So, it appears my vote is cemented for Mike Capuano at the 40-minute mark.

I suppose I should feel proud of myself. I was sufficiently aware of where the candidates stood going into the debate. (I was torn between Khazei and Capuano going in, with a lean toward Capuano.) The fun for me is watching which candidates ended up on them "The only way I'm voting for you is if you're up against one of the Republican candidates for Kennedy's seat."

Not that I'm crapping on Republicans in general. It's just that the two Republican candidates are running to the right. In Massachusetts. Yeah. That'll work.

And then one of them (Scott Brown) came out in favor of the death penalty. In Massachusetts. In public. While he probably won't get negative numbers, I'm willing to bet that someone in the state Republican Committee wept into his or her cornflakes when Brown went public with that little tidbit.

That last paragraph is brought to you by the phrase: "You know you live in the Bluest of Blue States when..."

To be fair, though, Jack E. Robinson, the other Republican candidate, is pro-GLBT rights. The rest of his platform, though, is...yeesh. Yeah. I'm not seeing him getting too far, either.

Still, it was an entertaining hour all around.

And I admit that Capuano endeared himself to me by visibly wanting to strangle is opponents while refraining from doing so. Also good: the other three were all about creating new programs (notably for jobs), while he was pointing out that the programs already existed (true), but had been badly underfunded for years (also true), so why not just use what we had without inventing the wheel.

Yeah. I think I feel lots better about my choice now.

Off to hear the presidential address now.

Hunh. I was not aware that one of the co-writers of "M.T.A." was a woman.

The Boston Globe reports today that Bess L. Hawes died Friday at the age of 88.

*ponders*

Since I was thinking about posting a song a day as a gift to all my peeps out there in L.J. Land, I guess I know what my first track will be.

In the meantime, please enjoy this video of the song from the Kingston Trio.

For those of you who are interested, the first 3 seasons of Farscape are now streamed on Netflix.

*puts on party hat and fires up the Roku*

In other news, have felt like crap all day complete with gastrointestinal distress. Finally caved and drank a 12 ounce bottle of Gatorade and zonked for a half-hour.

I woke up actually hungry and feeling oodles better. Yay!

But in case this is nothing more than a brief upswing, I'm going to cancel the nature walk tomorrow.

Just the same, though, I'm freezing.

I have to say one good thing about the Congressional delegation from MA:

They're very big on Tele-Town Halls.

And somehow, I got on the list of people who will actually drop anything for them and listen in which means that in the past two months I've ended up in two Tele-Town Halls — it would've been more except that I hadn't been home to answer the phone.

Anyway, it's no secret that there's a bruising fight going on here to replace the late Sen. Kennedy.

Lucky me, the candidates are calling me. And what do you know? A call tonight from candidate and Congressman Mike Capuano for a Tele-Town Hall complete with Q&A for voters.

Most of the people on the phone are asking questions I would ask, so I was just going to listen to the answers, when a question popped into my head:

Female veterans. Namely, lack of services for female veterans within the VA system itself.

I have a relative that runs a homeless veterans shelter and he's felt that he lacks the resources to help female veterans. THis, with Iraq and Afghanistan bringing in a lot more female veterans than past conflicts. Also, ginmar, herself a veteran of Iraq has mentioned this issue in her journal.

So, yeah. I hit him with the question: There are a lack of services for female veterans. I know people experiencing this first hand. Can you do anything about this?

There was a little bit of a "Humina, humina, humina" when I asked. *evil smile*

But, and this is the important bit here, I'm the first person to bring up the issue of female veterans to him. Period. Amen.

He acknowledged that the VA is under stress across the board. I also definitely got the sense that the idea that female veterans might require different services from their male counterparts was not an idea that actually crossed his mind. To be fair, the female moderator seemed to be taken aback by the question when I put my question into the queue as well, so I suspect that this simply isn't an issue too many people even think about, male or female.

According to Congressman Capuano is that a big part of the problem is simply that there doesn't appear to be a whole lot of information out there. (Keep in mind, this is the first time Congressman Capuano had even been asked about services for female veterans.)

Although he was very receptive to getting more information about the issue, the problem is getting the information to him (or to any congressman/senator who might be willing to do something about it, really) from a reliable source with hard data.

The other issue is that the VA tends to try out reforms in large urban centers before rippling out to smaller centers (which the congressman pointed out is SOP). So, the issue, based on the Congressman's answer seems to be this:

• Getting veterans' organizations to actually raise this as an issue
  
  
• Getting Congress-critters attention about the issue
  
  
• Getting a local large VA medical center to collect data and try something to address the issue
  
  

He was definitely intrigued by the question, though. And that's something

In short, noise needs to be made if attention is to be paid. A lot of noise.

My brain officially hurts. A lot.

And I can't even figure out where to begin. Also in my way: not a veteran, not a member of any veterans' organization. My family was mostly an Air Force family (the odd Army and Navy person aside), and the last conflict where any of them actually needed to fire a gun was in World War II.

My Air Force vet dad, for example, spent most of the Vietnam war decoding coded signals from Russian fishing trawlers in Japan. He was more at the military intelligence/geek end of military service, and not so much at the actual carrying of guns end of military service. Other post-World War II people in my family fell very much into that same category of "geeks" (although, it could be because they were more the geeky Air Force-type people as opposed to the front-line boo-yah people).

So, no juice there, either.

*sigh*

Of course, let me add that I feel like I've been run over by a Mac truck (I've been under the weather since yesterday morning) and I'm not firing on all cylinders mental-wise.

Well, at least I raised the issue. Lord knows what good it'll do. Maybe someone out there has ideas and can run with it with their own Congress critters.

ETA: To be fair to Congressman Capuano, he gave an honest answer to my question. Even if you had the hard data in hand, it's not an issue that would be resolved easily or soon. I also give him credit for taking it and trying to answer it without resorting to a pat answer and without fluffing me off.

I had been leaning towards him for the election anyway. His answer didn't really change that.

At some point, my workdays will be less than 12 hours so I can actually respond to comments.

In any case, I wanted to wish you all a Happy Turkey Day. Yes, yes. 'Tis a day early, but I will be out of bed early in the ayem, and who's gonna be online anyway? (Okay, okay. All you non-American type people will be online. Americans will be doing their Turkey Thang.)

Aside from helping my parents navigate the Black Friday Joy that is Best Buy so they can replace their 7-year-old computer tower (all the peripherals work fine), the big event I'm looking foward to is a local nature walk on Sunday afternoon. I'm all like, "Woo-hoo!" about it to a crazy degree.

I mean, no one does nature walks in late fall New England. And here is a local group planning to do just that! I don't know why that thrills me to pieces, but it does. I'm definitely planning on going. There may even be pictures.

And speaking of New England, in honor of Thanksgiving, I'm posting links to the Boston-360° Panorama site for Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower II, a replica of the original ship.

The Boston-360° Panorama site is associated with The Boston Globe. Directions to navigate the 360° pictures are under each photo.

And, ummmm, yeah. Before you ask, that really is what Plymouth Rock and Plymouth Harbor looks like. *cringes*

Or rather, Stafani Germanotta before she created her Lady Gaga persona.

And, ZOMG! The original songs she's performing are fantastic. The first is gorgeously torch-y and quite beautiful. The second is a bit more pop-ier, but in a girl-and-her piano kin of way.

And neither one would never, ever get within a million miles of a Lady Gaga album.

So, if you Flove Lady Gaga (like moi who really, really digs pop tart diva performance art) you have to see this.

If you hate Lady Gaga, but love classic-sounding love torch songs, you really have got to to see this.

Plus, you get to see what Lady Gaga really looks like without the stage props.




Yup. That's why I'm a fan. The woman's got actual talent. Plus, I actually get the sense (as someone on my FList pointed out) that she does have control over her own image and agency in how she choose to present herself.

Oh, and for the hell of it, Lady Gaga's performance from the America Music Awards last night (a melody of a pre-recorded version of Bad Romance and a live performance of Speechless) is under the cut.

( Under the cut because I'm pretty sure the stage costumes are NSFW )

I don't know why this article from the Boston Globe cracked me up so much.

I think it's the picture (see below).

Apparently a juvenile barred owl has decided to move in at Faneuil Hall, which is basically tourist trap/city government/lots of businesses in tall buildings central (not to mention a historical landmark).

Anyway, it appears that "Hooter" (at least that's what most of the locals have taken to calling him) decided to oversee the folks putting up the Faneuil Hall tree by sitting in the tree and watching people while they decorate it.

*falls over laughing*

Oh, wildlife. You never cease to amuse.

Fun fact I did not know but learned from the article: Logan Airport apparently has some snowy owls living there. Hunh.

Now, a hilarious picture of "Hooter" supervising the tree decorating.


Photo by James Egan as published in the Boston Globe

DeepDiscount DVD is selling the entire series of Farscape for $74.38.

That is easily the best price I've ever seen for Farscape ever.

I have a question for my FList:

Can anyone tell me about the Wii Fit Plus? Is it any good?

I ask because I have a a couple of exercise DVDs, but the problem is that whenever I use them I'm never sure if I'm doing it right, so I wind up being hesitant to use them, especially the Yoga one.

From what I can see, the peripherals that come with it seem to give you some guidance on that score, which is actually what I need.

So, any of you out there who's used the Wii Fit or owns it, drop me a line and tell me about it. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

Gracias.

Oh, Xander Mood Theme. I love you. You know I do. I will never, ever give you up.

But see, I found these two other mood themes that are just *beautiful* and I must have them.

The problem as you can see dear FList-ies, is that you can only display one mood theme at a time.

Which should I use? The Pixar Animated Mood Theme, or the Earth Animated Mood Theme.

Both mood themes are by the fabulously talented upsa_daisy.

So, dear FListies, it's POLL TIME!

Poll #1483928 New Mood Theme
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 60

Which mood theme should I use?

Sometimes I forget how genuinely dark Bruce Springsteen's lyrics are on both The Darkness on the Edge of Town and Nebraska.

The again, the ghost of Charles Starkweather hangs over Nebraska, so maybe I shouldn't be surprised by that one.

This message brought to you by, "Things you re-discover when you listen to a CD that you haven't listened to in a zillion years."

Faced with another 12-hour day (work sucks).

Also, Maine sucks, too, although the vote was close. I'd write a huge rant about how much putting other people's civil rights to the popular vote is simply evil, but see my first sentence (work sucks).

However, all you bigots in Maine, I'd like to leave you with this factoid: After 5-years of equal marriage (as in, any two adults can get married to each other regardless of sex, sexual identity, ethnicity, and creed), Massachusetts has the lowest divorce rate in the nation.

What's our divorce rate? Why 2.3 marriages per 1,000 end in divorce here in the Bay State, which is what the U.S. divorce rate was in 1940.

I think this is the point where I raise my middle finger at Maine voters who voted YES on 1 and tell them: "You've been lied to, motherfuckers. Plus, you're evil for fucking over your fellow citizens."

Dear GLBT people: Massachusetts still loves you. So does Connecticut. And Vermont. And New Hampshire (for Christ's sake, New Hampshire.) And Iowa. Please come. Bring the spouse. And your tourist dollars.

Hunh. I guess I had time to make a little rant about Maine.

On the fandom front: V was kind of boring. And of course the black guy, who was one of two visible ethnic minorities in the cast (and that includes extras), was a good alien who's gone native.

I think I fell off my couch laughing when I looked at the "inner city church" that was showcased in V and noticed that it was very, very white. Ummm, bwah? I mean, a Catholic church in a major urban area and not one Latino (at the very least) is in the parish? Seriously? That's a major FAIL right there.

Plus, again, the action takes place in NYC. In the world of TVLand, NYC apparently has a total of 2 black people (seriously white cast with seriously white extras to the point of distracting), one of whom is really an alien. *facepalm* FAIL!

I know it seems like a small thing to be bugged about, but it really, really bugged the shit out of me through the entire episode. NYC, people! Can we try to get a little more "color" in the cast? Please? To make it look like it actually takes place in 21st Century NYC as opposed to TVLand NYC? Pretty please?

*sigh*

Although V bored me, I'm going to give it a couple of episodes before deciding whether or not to wipe it from my DVR. To be honest, it's not looking good for V, especially since the DVR is about to get eaten alive by Hitchcock movies.

I'm sitting here at my desk and faced with another 12-hour day.

I realize, "Oh crap! I forgot V is on tonight, and I'm dying of curiosity. Plus, Alan Tudyk is in the cast, so I must watch."

(Although Alan Tudyk's presence does not automatically mean I'll tune in next week if V sucks. For example, the horribly derivative and overrated Firefly still bored the tits off of me, despite Tudyk's presence.)

Then I remembered, "Hey! I have DVR now!"

Which means I can sign onto the Verizon Web site and tell my cable box to record V since it is unlikely I'll be home by 8 p.m.

Plus — I can record in HD.

YAY! I will see V on...wait...

ABC-HD? Really? ABC now has the rights? How the hell did that happen?

I vaguely remember the original series V that ran on NBC, but I think I was a little too young for the two V mini-series that proceeded it. In a lot of ways, I'm going into the pilot totally unspoiled because I don't even remember the original.

The only thing I actually remember from the original series is that Robert Englund (a.k.a., Freddie Kruger) was in the original V. He played a good guy, vegetarian alien who was subject to religious persecution from his own people. He and the other people in his alien religion ended up joining the human rebels to help them fight the new alien power structure.

Okay, maybe I do remember something from the original V.

Yeah, I'm kind of surprised I remember that, too. Then again, I was kind of a Robert Englund fangirl at one point. I'm kind of hoping he pops up in the new series, assuming it lasts beyond the next 2 weeks.

Title:  Reaping the Whirlwind (Boom Boom Ba Remix), Part 5/14
Author:  liz_marcs

Summary:  What does the addition of supernatural-related reaps to the reaping workload, Roxy’s promotion, the addition of a new grim reaper with supernatural experience, a new sort-of boyfriend who may or may not be a pirate, and an approaching apocalypse all have in common? New grim reaper boss George doesn’t know, but she’s willing to bet that in the middle of it all the universe will kick her ass. Again.

Fandom:  Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Dead Like Me crossover
Characters:  Dead Like Me (order of appearance) — George, Mason, Daisy, Roxy, Kiffany, Delores, Penny, OCs.  Buffy the Vampire Slayer (order of appearance) — Dawn, Buffy, Willow (appearance only), Giles (appearance only), Xander, OCs.
Pairing:  George/Xander (nothing explicit)

Rating:  R for language, cartoon violence and death, sexual situations
Warning:  Spoilers for all of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV show only), Dead Like Me, and Dead Like Me: Life After Death.

Original drabbles:  Six Drabbles About Dawn and Death by nothorse

 
( Read more... )

I usually don't get trick-or-treaters, mostly because I'm off the main drag and it's fairly dark (plus, I haven't been home the last few Halloweens).

So, I do what any sane person would for Halloween. I buy candy I like, because I know I'm going to end up with most (if not all) of it.

So that means Perugina Baci for moi! (The Italian bit of my Yankee semi-muttishness really does come out at times.)

Anyway, I spotted a rare sight this evening. Trick-or-teaters! YAY!

There was a Japanese family (son UPS driver; daughter princess).

There was a Chinese dad and his daughter (princess).

There was an Indian family (son clown).

I love my neighborhood. &hearts

Anyway, I run out of my apartment with my Baci as they were collecting candy from someone else who ran out of their apartment to pass out candy and said, "Can I have trick-or-treaters, too?"

Awwwwww, so cute!

The adults in all three families, being cosmopolitan sorts, took one look at the box and started doing happy dances. The wife in the Indian family was like, "Best. Halloween. Stop. Ever."

And the Japanese wife was so totally cute. She was carrying around a bowl of candy and while I was passing out the bon-bons of deliciousness to kids and adults alike, she asked me if I'd like a piece.

I looked at her and blinked. "Um, you're new to trick-or-treating, aren't you?"

She beamed at me. "Our first year!"

I bit back the urge to say, "I would've never guessed."

Instead, I grinned at her like a loon, took the candy, and wished 'em all a Happy Halloween.

Awwwww! Sooooo cuuuuuuuute!


And so, to one and all: Happy Halloween. Blessed Samhain. And Happy New Year. My the turn of the seasons find your health, wealth, and happiness grow, and may your ancestors watch over you, guide you, and keep you in wisdom and grace.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to keep my eye out for more random trick-or-treaters just in case.

I've been AWOL in large part due to work. I.e., 12-hour days for all!

I can't actually complain since the bosses are actually putting in 18-hour days themselves.

The good news, the work spigots are opening up, which means better job security for those of us who managed to hold on to our jobs through this mess. The bad news is the economy is still jumpy enough that no one's hiring anyone anywhere near as I can tell.

Right now, I'm feeling a bit burned out.

Which means that there hasn't been a whole lot of TV watching goin' on. At least, not live TV watching. So, I cue up the VCR (which I admittedly haven't used since my fam went half-sies with me on a new TV for my B-day last year to replace my soon-to-be useless 16-year-old TV).

*takes deep breath*

Do you know what happens when you attempt to watch a VCR tape on an HD, flat-screen TV that was rated a Consumer Report's best buy because it's good quality for relatively cheap?

You can actually see the movement of the VCR tape on screen. We're talking jump-y, fuzzy, skipping pictures because the TV — which is in some respects smarter than the average bear — is just not having it.

I had a headache in 5 minutes of even trying.

And so, technology has kicked me in the ass. I was forced to upgrade since not everything I want to watch is streamed online (how I've been watching Glee) or available on-demand from Verizon (how I kept up with Kings).

So...I bowed to the inevitable. I decided to swap my run-of-the-mill cable box for a DVR cable box. And since Verizon does so love holding a gun to your head, I've got to live with an HD DVR cable box.

*puffs breath*

Fine. I don't like the extra cost that goes with HD, but fine. As it turns out, thanks to a whole bunch more discounts Verizon decided to throw at me, plus my canceling of a premium service that I wasn't really watching anyway, my Verizon bill only got bumped up $4.

Then Verizon pulls a dope move. I get to install the box myself. I don't have a problem with self-installation because I'm pretty good hooking up electronics. No. My problem is they delivered this HD DVR cable box to my front door and left it outside my front door. They left it there all day, giving any naked ape a clear shot at grabbing this oversized box for themselves.

Okay, no one did, but c'mon. Human nature being what it is, I'm shocked that the box didn't sprout legs and walk away.

So, in any case, I now have an HD DVR thingie, which is kind of cool. However, Verizon managed to be boneheads again and not include instructions on how to operate the damn thing. I pretty much figured it out on my own the basics, but I have no idea how many hours can be stored on the thing or what channels I actually can access (it appears I've got a mess of HD channels that I didn't have before...and they don't necessarily match up with the channels I've got on regular cable), or...or...or...

So, anyway, I tested the thing last night, and I've been playing with it half the day to figure out what I can and cannot do. (Checks clock and swears profusely about how I wasted my day.) I kind of like the fact that I can do the delayed watching maneuver so I can fast-forward through commercials.

Of course, this is where you figure out how many commercials there are stuffed in your average hour of TeeVee. For example, do you know that a single Burn Notice episode has 17 minutes of commercials? I did not know that before I started watching it on a 20-minute delay and almost caught up to the live stream on the USA HD channel.

*facepalm*

Also, watching Burn Notice on HD you notice a lot of tiny things. Like how Bruce Campbell looks entirely too healthy underneath his character make-up to play a washed up intelligence operative with a serious alcohol intake, how Gabrielle Anwar has really lousy skin, and Jeffrey Donovan manages to look pretty rat-like (or rather, more so). You also notice that Sharon Gless (God bless the Gless!) does not do plastic surgery and she looks all the more awesome for it.

Yes, I watch Burn Notice for Campbell and Gless. Now I'll actually be able to watch it regularly because the DVR's memory is better than mine.

*ponders that a bit*

Shit. I've got a piece of television equipment that's smarter than I am.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to run off to the Verizon storefront to shove my old cable box into their hands, and to give them hell about how the HD DVR was delivered.

Maybe if I'm lucky, they'll have DVR operating instructions instead of the nonsensical Q&A on the Verizon Web site that manages to go on for pages without being at all informative.

If I'm really lucky, they'll be able to tell me what channels I actually have, because I'll be damned if I can make heads or tales of it. The on-line list doesn't seem anywhere near complete, because, seriously, what the hell is the "Create" channel and why is it randomly set in the 500 block of channels? Although the HD Movie Channel is kind of cool, where the hell does it even come from? Because I haven't been able to find evidence it actually exists, beyond the fact that it's streaming through Verizon FIOS to my TeeVee even as we speak.

*throws up hands*

Technology! It's enough to make you want to go Luddite. I shouldn't have to think this hard about my entertainment choices, damn it!

Around these parts, Halloween is not just A major holiday, it's THE major holiday of the year.

It's bigger than Christmas, and almost as big as Thanksgiving.

Considering that I live within spitting distance of Plymouth Rock, geologically speaking, this should give you a pretty good idea just how big Halloween is in New England. Salem sets off fireworks on Halloween Night, fer Christ's sake!

Not for nothing is Stephen King from Maine, Nathaniel Hawthorne from Massachusetts, and H.P. Lovecraft from Rhode Island. Hell, New England Horror Writers have their own writerly association.

I mean, the online version of The Boston Globe has an entire online section just for Halloween. While other parts of the U.S. have there "XX days of shopping before Christmas", we've got the "XX days of shopping before Halloween" countdown.

Most people I know (at least those who are lucky enough to have jobs) have Halloween parties where they work, as opposed to other parties for other holidays.

*dreams of my company Halloween party and the delicious food everyone's going to bring while we completely shut down the company from lunchtime until close*

To prove my point about the awesomeness of Halloween in New England, I present to you a picture of the grave of Mercy L. Brown, Rhode Island's last vampire.

Okay, it was Mercy's corpse that was accused of being a vampire, which resulted in it being exhumed, the heart removed, burnt, and the ashes mixed with water. The slurry was then fed to her brother, whom everyone believed was a victim of Mercy's blood-sucking ways, as a cure. (It didn't work, in case you're wondering.)

Ummm, did I mention that this happened in 1892? As in "less than 8 years before the start of the 20th century".

Just to remind everyone, less than 12 days of shopping before Halloween!

Or in my case, less than 12 days to come up with something yummy for the company holiday party.

Yeah. Pretty much anyone who knows me will tell you that this result is completely no surprise at all.

( Whoops! Forgot Cut! )

*checks watch*

I don't care. I'm out of here at 5:15 p.m. so I can hit the gym for an hour.

*hyperventillates*

Just came back from an hour cardio at the gym and the rain is just this side of freezing. The news is reporting that the coast is getting hammered with a Nor'easter.

It's only October and we already have a Nor'aster! Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!

I know it's true because I just came home to find a flock of very pissed off and confused seagulls in the parking lot.

The local crows, I should note, are equally pissed off and are massing for all out war on the seagulls. There will be birdie blood on the pavement for sure.

Meeting the fam for lunch and a movie promises to be fun.

It's only mid-October and it's snowing!

This winter is going to suck.

And despite my debilitating cold (held in check by the magic that is Robitussin gel caps — even more awesome than liquid form!), I crawled onto YouTube to check something out recommended by kurukami.

I didn't get to the video (sorry!) because, as befitting my somewhat whacked out brain (due to cold and Robitussin), I got distracted by shiny!

I learned something new. See, it appears that Pachelbel is the most played composer in the world and the Father of All Pop Music.

How did I reach this conclusion you ask?

Please meet the Axis of Awesome and their song "4 Chords", which they contend is the basis of all pop hits.

First, let's start with them singing it live (it also appears to be a more up-to-date version than the one they recorded).

( 4 Chords (Live) )

Wheeee! That was fun. Now here's a fan-made video of the recorded version of "4 Chords", except it comes with an "answer key" of artists and songs.

( 4 Chords (Studio Recording With Answer Key) )

So, who is the genius that discovered that golden progression? Who is this giant among men that delivered it unto our ears first?

The answer, according to comedian Rob Paravonian, is Johann Pachelbel.

It goes without saying that Paravonian is not happy about this state of affairs one bit. He even has a very, very funny rant about it.

Which you can watch here...

( Pachelbel Rant )

And so, I have spread a little knowledge today.

There are days when the Internet is simply Good.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to crawl under my comforter and sleep for a year.

I best not be getting sick.

I've been dealing with a sore throat all day. Not a scratchy sore throat indicating that it's allergy season. Oh, no.

It's the swollen, achy sore throat that's just >>this side<< of making it painful to swallow and just >>this side<< of an ear ache.

In short, I recognize the signs of something Strep coming my way.

*checks calendar of saints*

*wipes brow*

At least it's not the Feast of Saint Blaise where they bless your throat. Whenever I'd do the ritual I was guaranteed a case of Strep by the end of the day. Guaran-fucking-teed every single time.

(Seriously. Saint Blaise had it in for my ass for some reason or another.)

As it is not the Feast of Saint Blaise, nor is it anywhere near the Feast of Saint Blaise, I suspect that I will manage to kick this.

I will go home and drown myself in hot green tea with honey. *nod-nod-nod*


This message brought to you by the saying that says: "You can take the person out of the Catholic Church, but for some reason you can't get Catholic Church out of the person."

I think just about everyone and their brother knows that my fanfiction brain has been on a bit of the blink.

Okay, okay, there was Reaping the Whirlwind for the Remix this year...a fic I still haven't managed to finish transferring to this ElJay and I still haven't finished responding to all the comments on it both here and on the remix community.

Anyway, I was cleaning my apartment this weekend after five months' of neglect (I still haven't gotten to my bedroom, but my office, bathroom, kitchen, and living room are ♥ spotless ♥), and I come across a burned hardcopy of my soundtrack to Living History tucked in some odd corner.

You have to understand how excited I was to find it. I thought the entire thing had been lost when a computer motherboard crapped out on me several years ago and forced me to buy my current computer tower. Yet, here was a hardcopy of that same soundtrack. Clearly it was meant to be a gift for someone because it had been burned to my "gift CDs", which are designed to look like 45s.

Somehow these CDs got lost or overlooked, and here was that same soundtrack, complete with tracks that I thought were pretty much gone forever, right in my hand.

I did a little jig when I put the CDs in the player (it's a two-CD set) and...

While the music was playing this plot bunny for a Xander-centric, post-apocalypse story drops right into my head. Mid-size story (not a short story, but definitely not as long as Reaping the Whirlwind), so infinitely do-able.

(Of course, it would be a hell of a lot more helpful if the bunny could help with some additional material for the WiPs, or help fix the stories that are finished but the endings are such messes that I simply refuse to post them until they're fixed — for that last one I'm looking at you "Last Tin Soldier.")

While I'm thinking, "What the hell? Maybe just picking at this will inspire you to deal with all the other stories you've left to rot," I snap on the computer and began picking away at bits and pieces of of this post-apocalypse story idea. I still have to work out some of the rules how this post-apocalyptic world works, as well as a few other things, but I think it's workable.

I'm not an apocalyptic writer in general — although I'd say Ishmael Sings of the White Whale comes fairly close, there are no actual apocalypses involved in that one — I'm finding myself really, really drawn to this idea. I think the premise is fairly unusual, and I'm kind of enjoying making up the new slang words Xander's using. Plus his traveling buddy is...different.

Do I have to tell you that the story's gen? Do I? If so? It's gen.

Anyway, I couldn't figure out there this mania to write an apocalypse story has been coming from. This, as I open my FList this morning, I see some chatter about apocabigbang.

*smacks self on forehead*

I suspect that I had been seeing people on my FList chattering about this fic-a-thon, but due to my horrendously busy schedule I hadn't been paying it that much attention. Obviously the whole thing lodged in the back my brain and, possibly triggered by listening to my Living History soundtrack, the idea for this story just fell from the sky and landed in my brain.

So, I've signed up. (*deep breath*) The first draft isn't due until February. I'm very, very sure I can make this deadline, even if the bunny fairy finally does something about my WiPs.

I know, I know. Late in the game but...

How many of my peeps out there have been watching The National Parks: America's Best Idea over on PBS?

Let me tell you something: It's things like this that make me sooooooo happy that my parents/brother went half-sies with me on a new T.V. for my birthday because I can't imagine seeing such gorgeous images on my old set (which to be fair was 16 years-old).

See, I totally forgot it was on this week, which is amazing when you think about it since the Boston Globe has been running a National Parks photo contest with filmmaker Ken Burns himself picking the winners.

In any case, I accidentally stumbled across it Wednesday while I was flipping through the channels and landed on WGBH Channel 2 just when that installment of the National Parks documentary started. I was totally and completely sucked in by the pretty, not to mention the history. (Have I mentioned that Ken Burns documentaries are like totally crack? Because they are. He's worse than Frontline, Nova, and American Experience combined.)

Last night I had a mouth full of ache after my final (and worst) dentist visit in my campaign to fix my damn mouth. I decided I needed comfort television, which meant I turned on the tube for Project Runway and...well...see, I had left my teevee on Channel 2 from my previous night's viewing of the Burns documentary and I had turned it on just as the latest episode of "National Parks" started and...and...

DAMN YOU KEN BURNS! DAMN YOU!

The series is totally awesome, educational, and did I mention...PRETTY PICTURES!

By the way, did you know that We the People own 391 national parks? I did not know that. I thought the number was smaller. Here's where you can read more about the different kinds of National Parks.

And there's always the National Parks Web site itself if you really want more information about the national parks in your back yard. (I just checked Massachusetts and...hey, there's a few in my state that I didn't even know about.)

PBS hasn't started streaming the series through Netflix yet, but you can watch the entire series online via the PBS Web site.

As an illustration of just some of the pretty, I leave you with a photo from Acadia National Park in Maine, because as it turns out I own this. But know what? If you're an American citizen, you own it, too.

It's kind of nice to be reminded, isn't it?

We've all seen the list of celebutards who think Roman Polanski should be let off the hook. Some of those names took us by surprise (and certainly pissed me off).

To make you feel better, via my FList this morning, a list of famous people who want Roman Polanski to pay his debt to society.

Although some of those names are a surprise (as in "I'm surprised they said anything at all rather than keeping silent") it warms the cockles of my to see director Kevin Smith was one of the first to call bullshit, which actually not a surprise if you're at all familiar with his movies. And how happy does it make me that Neil Gaimen is on that list?

Celebrity names are going to be added to the "good list" all day. If you see a celebrity tweeting or blogging that Roman Polanski should pay his debt, go here.

While the whole Polanski thing is infuriating, it's so rare to see the assholes admit to their assholery that it's kind of nice in a twisted way. I call it, "A list of people that I'd cheerfully push in front of a speeding bus if I ever had the chance."

Also, SF&F author Jim C. Hines jimhines has some good thoughts on the whole business here. (The facepalm icon is especially appropriate.)

Why did none of you tell me about the pop-punk-surf The Queers out of Portsmouth? (Warning: Page goes to the band's Last.FM page, but you can stream most of their tracks for free there.)

I mean seriously. I should be deeply annoyed with the lot of you. Especially since I only just heard about these guys from Crooks and Liars.

*pouts*

I like pop-punk with a garage-band sensibility, a bouncy beat and screwed up lyrics. (Just FYI, there's some swearing, so if you're listening at work, headphones are recommended.)

You can see "Punk Rock Girls" over on the Crooks and Liars site.

Here's "Psycho Over You."

I hope your fast goes easy, that your family does not become cranky with hunger, and that the food you'll be eating to break your fast will be delicious.

FYI:

I believe that reypolyo is an anti-health care reform spam-bot, which comes armed with its own link to Blue Cross Blue Shield.

I have banned reypolyo from commenting and have reported it as a potential spam bot. Please keep on the look-out for the little bastard and report it if you see it.

If I am in error, please let me know.


FYI 2:

Yes, yes. I've seen the big hoo-hah about paid accounts/permanent accounts being able to earn a little extra pin money for allowing GoogleSense ads on their LJ.

I, personally, am *meh* about it (Firefox/AdBlockPlus/ScriptBlock means I see nothing I don't wanna see, including ads). As I have a decent job with decent pay, I will not be putting ads on this ElJay. However, I'm not going to begrudge people on my FList from doing so, especially if they're financially hurting and unemployed desperately looking for income streams.

That said, I also reserve the right to reverse myself about allowing ads here if I do find myself in the unemployment line. I promise to warn first if I do such a thing.



FYI 3:

I tentatively started allowing screened Anon Comments a few weeks ago (where I get final approval on whether anyone will see said comment). I've decided to continue allow screened anonymous comments.

Abuse it, and I will shut it down again so fast it'll make your head spin.



FYI 4:

September is so fired. Between a piled high desk at work, and the constant trickle of money going to the dentist, the mechanic, and other necessary but expensive items, I'm ready to start whamming my head against the closest brick wall.

I just *love* watching my savings account amount drop by about half. Jesus.

I just had a delicious, super-juicy, sweet, tree-ripened nectarine grown on a family farm located 5 towns away from where I live for lunch AND YOU DID NOT!

OM NOM NOM NOM...

Of course, I don't actually remember buying delicious, super-juicy, sweet, tree-ripened nectarines, but I did. Five of them in fact. Along with the 6 delicious, super-juicy, sweet, tree-ripened Italian plumbs that came from the same family farm.

Yet, when I opened the refrigerator last night (after spending the day sleeping off my flu shot...and apparently cleaning the bathroom...don't ask) there was a tupperware bowl piled high with this fruit.

Since I don't think the Farmers' Market Fairies came to my house and gifted me with fresh locally-grown fruit, fresh cherry tomatoes, fresh regional cheese, and fresh locally farm-baked bread, I can only conclude that I bought these things.

See, here's the thing: I remember going to the Farmers' Market because it's held in the parking lot of my bank (and I had to go to the bank before I crawled home and died from the flu shot). I remember walking over to the stall selling the bread products because I had promised a friend's MiL that I'd check for a certain kind of molasses bread that she wanted and that I'd get it for her for the next brunch.

I remember they didn't have it, so I picked up a cinnamon raisin bread as a substitute (and a sourdough loaf for moi) and then I thought I walked straight back to my car.

Apparently not. I apparently picked up nectarines and Italian plums and cherry tomatoes and three different kinds of Gouda cheese on the way back to the car. I then put the loaves of bread on the kitchen counter (both loaves are now in my freezer because no preservatives equals something that'll look like a fuzzy pet in less that 4 days) and apparently put my reusable shopping bag full o' fruit in the fridge without even opening it.

You can imagine my surprise when I found it in my fridge last night, right?

While the mystery is a bit beyond me at the moment (You think it could've been Farmers' Market Fairies? I think it could be Farmers' Market Fairies...) I still have to say:

I just had a delicious, super-juicy, sweet, tree-ripened nectarine grown on a family farm located 5 towns away from where I live for lunch AND YOU DID NOT!

OM NOM NOM NOM

I got the flu shot yesterday morning (for the regular flu, not the H1N1 since that won't be out until October), and I remember why I haven't gotten one in several years.

I always get flu-like symptoms when I do because my immune system always goes batshit bananas when DA FLU (even a weakened version that's used in vaccinations) breaks through the defenses.

Me and vaccines have never got on. It's like...here's the vaccination (for any disease, really) and there's my immune system going, "KILL KILL KILL KILL!" And then there's me going, "Siiiiiick."

But this...usually I'm down for the count for a few hours and then fine. It's a day later and I still feel like I'm on the verge of getting the full-blown flu.

I'm going back to bed. I feel like holy hell still.

I'm not even sure this post makes a lick of sense. I just felt like whining.

via ontd_political and The Guardian.

According The Guardian:

A team of scientists from Britain, the United States and Papua New Guinea found more than 40 previously unidentified species when they climbed into the kilometre-deep crater of Mount Bosavi and explored a pristine jungle habitat teeming with life that has evolved in isolation since the volcano last erupted 200,000 years ago. In a remarkably rich haul from just five weeks of exploration, the biologists discovered 16 frogs which have never before been recorded by science, at least three new fish, a new bat and a giant rat, which may turn out to be the biggest in the world.

Read more here....

This link will take you to a story about how the scientists finally got into the volcano's caldera.

You can hear an audio of the adventure here.


And also check out the awesome pictures of the new species. As a taste, check out the newly discovered king bird of paradise. Tell me that doesn't look like a phoenix.




Photograph taken by Ulla Lohmann/BBC and published in The Guardian on Wednesday, September 9, 2009.


Happy 09/09/09 everyone! Wish me luck with my Novocaine adventures, because baby needs her teeth drilled this afternoon.

As it turns out, the my Congressman's Town Hall Meeting was listed incorrectly.

It was held August 6, not September 6.

Note to self: Next time, call and confirm with the congressman's office when you see a town hall meeting scheduled for him.

On the upside, there were a couple of us who showed up. On the downside, the nice people in the temple were mighty confused about why we all had the wrong date for the meeting.

So, there was no LULZ, nor anything else to report.

*ponders*

I suppose I could go to Rep. Barney Frank's next town hall meeting since he represents the congressional district next door to me. The LULZ will certainly be in full force there if only because it's Barney Frank that's involved. That's not even taking into account that Frank is nothing if not entertaining.

However, Frank's already voting the way I want (as is my congressman, to be honest), so I guess my attendance will depend heavily on whether work is continuing to beat my ass.

On Paying the Price for Summer

At the beginning of the summer, I decided on a path of, "Screw housework. Life is too short."

Unfortunately, due to a series of events, I decided that paying for a cleaning crew to come in twice month was not a financially intelligent move on my part. Cue me keeping the house clean enough to keep the cockroaches away, but that's about it.

Not helping my cause over the past few weeks is that work just got insane, which means that my minimalist approach to housekeeping has become more so.

Making it worse is that thanks to a summer of kayaking, my stamina has gone through the roof. If I don't get in at least 45 minutes to an hour of cardio a day (even if it's a fast walk around the block), I don't sleep. Period.

Yet despite eating healthy and keeping my calorie count to a level that would have me losing 1.5 pounds a week without exercise, I still look like a freaking butterball.

On the other hand, (as I discovered) I can outlast and outrace even grown men in a kayak. Go figure.

Anyway, while it's been a fun (but horribly busy in a I'm-never-home-even-during-the-week kind of way), I am now left with dust bunnies that are on the verge of of sentience. I've already caught a few doing the hunting-and-gathering thing in broad daylight.

What finally cut it for me is that just a few days ago, I caught a dust bunny attempting to invent the wheel (it was kind of squarish, but I think he was close to a breakthrough). That's nothing compared to his buddy, the dust bunny who was well on her way to inventing fire!

Right. Time to wave the white flag and Do Something.



In Which Our Heroine Attempts the Worst Room in the House

My office. It's the place where I chuck clutter, which attracts a layer of dust that's so dusty that everything looks like it's got a grey film.

To say that my office looks like it's straight out of a schizophrenic mind is a bit of an understatement.

It doesn't help that the dust bunnies in that room have organized and invented religion. They're on the verge of a religious war right now, in fact.

(The Veriozonists believe that my wireless FIoS router is the source of life, probably because of the blinking green lights. The HPists believe that the computer is the source of life, mostly because it makes noises and occasionally speaks. The Bookists have been making dust bunny sacrifices to my book cases, whose claim to deity-hood have something to do with size I expect. I won't get into the CDists and the Empty Boxists, as they are too small in number to count.)

Needless to say, it's been a hard slog, and I haven't even gotten to that one closet where I threw my stuff I'd deal with "later" when I moved into this apartment 5 years ago.

On the upside, I found a 1943 Mercury Dime under my desk. I have no clue where it came from, but it's mine now!



The Accidental Ocean Kayaker

What has not helped my progress with the Office of Religious Dust Bunny Warfare is that through a series of complicated and convoluted events I, in the company of one of my co-workers and her family, wound up accidentally doing some ocean kayaking yesterday.

You must wonder how that's possible. It's not like you can go rowing in some random spot and accidentally end up in an ocean environment. Oceans are pretty big things, and not subject to picking up and changing location on a whim. I mean, it's not like the Atlantic Ocean goes, "Hmmmm, this spot of Massachusetts coast is all fine and well, but I'm bored. Let's check out how things are a little bit more inland. I hear the Berkshires are nice this time of year."

However, it is possible to find yourself unexpectedly battling the pull of the Atlantic and 1- to 1.5-foot swells. Swells, I might add, that are breaking over the bow of your 16-foot-long Wilderness Systems Tsunami 165 (with rudder, which you suddenly discover is the Best Thing Ever instead of the Useless Piece of Hardware I Never Use).

I won't get into dodging speeding yachts and power boats that can't actually see your little floatilla of desperate souls wondering what the fuck happened to turn what looked like a pretty placid piece of salt water into a wind-whipping not-so-good time.

For the beginning kayaker my ass.

But how I got myself into such a predicament (even though I kicked the ass of just about every man in and all of the women in the group) is a long story for another day.

I have to admit that today I hurt. Turns out there are some muscles in my upper back and chest (not to mention by biceps and triceps) that are Not Happy about the adventure, which is making my cleaning even less fun than I thought it would be.

Who thought that was possible?



Diving into the Crazy

I won't be finishing my office today, either. In a few hours, I'll be pulling my shit together and going to my congresscritter's town hall meeting.

In theory, healthcare won't be on the agenda. In reality, you bet your bippy that it will be. I expect the crazies to be out in full force, which means that I better get my ass there as a counterbalance.

One good thing about being in Massachusetts. No one'll be packing heat. That shit'll get the police doing more than just frowning at you for your faux pas around here. There's something to be said for that.

Although my congresscritter is on record for healthcare reform and a public option. While I expect he'll be patient about explaining his position, I suspect he won't put up with him or anyone else getting shouted down by the out-of-district lunatics in the back.

Either way, I'll be back to report the LULZ.



ETA: A Mystery

Also, I forgot to add this...

While watching Project Runway this week (Shut up! I'm all about the Gunn...) Lifetime was doing some ad for the "September Secrets" over on the Lifetime Movie Network. Usually I don't bother paying attention for the ads, but this is one of the few times I happened to be watching the screen. I swear I saw Nicholas Brendon in one of the clips, or an actor that looked an awful lot like him.

Just thought I'd throw it out there, because *hands* I dunno what to say about that.


Now, I really must (ugh) get back to cleaning.

Wish me luck. The broom of Divine Sweeping is sure to cause angst among the dust bunnies this day.

What?

Hollywood Golden Age Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, and Leslie Caron dancing to Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal."

What did you think I meant?

Sen. Kennedy has died.

He's been senator longer than I've been alive. Hell, longer than most people I know have been alive.

The news of his cancer last year made me feel mortal in a way that I hadn't before. His death has left me on the verge of tears. The man certainly had his personal demons, no one is going to to deny that and only a brain-dead fool would say otherwise. Demons that were certainly bad enough (and deadly enough in one case) to keep him from ever being president.

But as Kennedy later said: letting go of the idea of ever being president made him realize that some people were just better suited to be senators and that he was one of those people.

As senator — as the Last Lion of Congress — he has done more to help the working men and women in this nation than he ever could have managed as president. He was unapologetically liberal in his belief that the the least of us should be protected and that government could be a positive force for change. He fought for that every step of the way, from the minimum wage to the fight for health care reform and some form of national insurance in the US.

If you've ever been grateful for minimum wage because you knew your boss would pay you less if he or she could get away with it, benefited from the HIPAA, used your health insurance to pay for mental health services (Mental Health Parity Act), accessed your state CHIP to get health insurance for your children, taken advantage of COBRA after leaving a job or getting laid off, been glad that local businesses and public spaces were forced to adhere to the ADA for yourself or a family member, been low-income but able to gain access to AIDS treatment thanks to federally funded programs, or taken advantage of Title IX requirements that schools offer women a chance to play sports, you should thank Sen. Kennedy for being the moving force behind these and many, many other bills.

Although the history books will more likely remember his assassinated brothers, Jack and Bobby, at the end of the day Ted is the one who created the lasting legacy — the one that benefits and will continue to benefit the regular citizens of this nation. In the end, that's the legacy that truly counts.

So, good-bye Senator. Some people laughed at you. Some people hated you. Some people idealized you. But a whole lot of people loved you for the things you did on our behalf in the Senate, warts and all. That is why we kept electing you for 47 years, and that is why we're sorry you're gone. We shall never see your like again.

Rest in peace, Senator, and God speed.

For full coverage from The Boston Globe, go here.