coinage of my brain

First time watching "Say Yes to the Dress."

Bride 1 - her mom feels like anything more than $800 is wasteful and bride's view is "Mom is well-off and doesn't have to pinch her pennies" ('cause Mom's paying for it). I agree with Mom and think her daughter's a snit. "You can AFFORD to buy me a gorgeous dress therefore you should just shut up and do it" seems to be the attitude here. Grr.

Brides 2 & 3 - a lesbian couple who came to get matching white pantsuits 'cause they can't see themselves in "big fluffy bridal gowns".

The only thing I can say to ALL OF THESE PEOPLE (well, except Bride 1 - but definitely to her mom): You Came to a High-Priced, Trendy, New York Bridal Salon. What Did You EXPECT?!

Surprise, lesbian brides! The girly bridal salon doesn't have bridal pantsuits! (Also, you're on a show called "Say Yes to the DRESS" - that should've been a clue.)

Bride 1? STFU. Your attitude makes me want to slap you with a dose of reality and courtesy. The fact that the show seems to be taking HER side in the way they showcase Mom's constant sticker shock (seriously, a $5,600 wedding dress....not counting the $500 veil?) and outright call her cheap just makes me sick. Also, I feel completely superior: my unique and beautiful wedding dress -with tailoring & alterations!- is less than $1000.

Not sure my feeling of "Ha ha!" is worth watching this show. Oh, I love the consultant who said, "If there's a person with the bride constantly obsessing over the price, it causes a problem." Yeah, it causes a problem with you getting your commission and the Wedding Industrial Complex continuing its tight-fisted control over what "should" and "Should NOT" happen at Every Woman's Wedding.

OMG did they just say $1,000 was a "modest budget"? O.o I can't get over this concept. I'm aware that, in WIC-world, it is, yes. But...seriously? Debt should not be a requirement for getting married.

...oh and the bride with the "modest" $1,000 budget? Was just convinced by this bridal salon to buy a $4,000 dress. (though I'll admit, she did look very nice in it)

>_< You know, I have a DVD player here in the laptop. Screw this show.

Well, with Grandma Charlotte's help, my old TV stand (that I'd had when I lived up in Castleton - Dadoo had been storing it) is now a nice, understated black. It'll go upstairs, my TV and DVD player will go on it and then I can figure out where I want my computer desk to go.

We're in that stage, where we have enough stuff that I want to put it where it'll live, but I can't because I'm missing these other elements that weren't originally considered important. Sure you need a lot of stones to build an arch, for example, but without the keystone, you're not gonna get very far with that. We've moved a BUNCH of stones...and now we need the keystones.

Can't put this here until I figure out where that's going...and that is at The Old Place (TOP). We need this from TOP to do that. Oh and we don't REALLY need this from TOP, but it'd be really nice to have. Of course, we're starting to make trips again, now that our legs have recovered. My calves still ache sometimes if I make a lot of up-and-down-the-stairs trips. This weekend though, the dishes'll be packed up. The cleaning will start.

We're still working out the logistics of what goes where. Even self-contained stuff, that doesn't have bits back at TOP, is sort of floating around. Of course, as usual, we can't figure out where those bits go until we figure out where OTHER bits go and those bits are keystone-less. Argh. @__@ Should probably get my butt out of this chair and head back to the old apartment...but...well, it's so nice here at the moment.

My favorite thing about our new place though has GOT to be the cross-breeze. In the afternoons, I open up the windows and the front door and then pull open the back door, and soon, there's a nice cool breeze coming through. The A/C is completely unnecessary on days like this. Today I opened the upstairs windows too and turned my bedroom fan on for some extra circulation (we have our dining room fan going down here); if upstairs airs out like downstairs does, it'll be perfect. Even Joe is okay with the temperature when I do this, and I really expected him to complain about the lack of A/C. The cats love it; I got a bunch of pictures on Joe's camera of the kitties looking out the open upstairs windows.

So, for the moment, I think the cats and I'll enjoy the cross-breeze. (Joe's working on the entertainment system.) :)

...why am I still awake?

Probably because my choice of "I can't sleep, so I'll just read for a bit until I get sleepy" material is The Deception of the Emerald Ring. I can't believe she followed him to Ireland! Letty may be my favorite heroine of these books yet (aside from Jane, of course, but we don't spend near enough time with her).

Schrodinger seems to like the place well enough, but I think she wants to go home, being in this context "the old apartment". Murph is content enough now that he's found familiar furniture and is back to his usual tricks: eating Schrodi's food when her back is turned, snotting Joe, demanding snuggles from me and scoping out the area atop the fridge as his own personal domain.

I think, more than intelligently written historical romances, the reason I'm still awake is just that whole "newness" of a place. Sure it's the same bed, same dresser, same sheets, but it's a new room (with more space to it, no less), arranged differently. There are no curtains yet, just the blinds. This is an old townhouse, relative to the Bloom apartment, and so the stairs creak and the building settles. So long as my legs aren't moving - more than that, so long as they're not going up and down stairs, really - I don't really feel like I spent the whole day lugging boxes and dresser drawers and cats around. So instead I just lay there and drink in all the newness.

My eyes are a little sore now, but I'm not convinced that it'll be worth trekking back upstairs (going "Ow, ow, ow..." the whole way) just yet. The rhythmic buzz of the dining room ceiling fan is presenting some compelling arguments on that score though, and I have a Murph here, flopped on the floor nearby, who is sulking at his lack of snuggles. So I suppose Geoff and Letty will have to wait. At least, I hope they will, 'cause I'm leaving them downstairs, and if there's one thing worse than traversing the stairs once, it's having to do it twice.

"...it ought to be the happiness and glory of a representative to live in the strictest union, the closest correspondence, and the most unreserved communication with his constituents. Their wishes ought to have great weight with him; their opinion, high respect; their business, unremitted attention. It is his duty to sacrifice his repose, his pleasures, his satisfactions, to theirs; and above all, ever, and in all cases, to prefer their interest to his own. But his unbiassed opinion, his mature judgment, his enlightened conscience, he ought not to sacrifice to you, to any man, or to any set of men living. These he does not derive from your pleasure; no, nor from the law and the constitution. They are a trust from Providence, for the abuse of which he is deeply answerable. Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion."

- Edmund Burke, "Speech to the Electors at Bristol at the Conclusion of the Poll "

Moving sucks. But we knew this. It would've sucked a lot harder w/o Dadoo and Jack to help us schlep stuff over.

Pretty much all the big stuff is over in the new place now: sofa, bed, dresser, DVD racks...and the Internet. Later tonight I go get the kittehs (and stuff to take a shower with) and that'll be most of what we need right there. :) We moved a shite tonne of boxes too.

I am sweaty and icky and disgusting. Dadoo says I "outworked" the guys, but that's probably a matter of perspective (and heavy bias): I moved lots of little things and I don't like stopping for too long 'cause it just makes it harder for me to start moving again. The guys were hauling couches and Joe's heavy-ass mattress and things like that. So of course they needed more breaks; I didn't even go NEAR that stuff. Makes me tired just thinking about it.

But we're all pretty worn out now. My legs are what's screaming at me the most: up and down all those stairs at Bloom and up and down the stairs here in the new townhouse (at least these stairs are air-conditioned though). Every time I sit for a bit (say, driving across town) when I have to stand up and move again, they scream bloody murder at me.

My dress fitting got moved to tomorrow at 11 AM.

Seamstress: ...you lost some weight.
Me: All yesterday.
Seamstress: 10 lbs.?
Me: Yep. 10 lbs. of sweat, all gone.

That's how I envision it anyway. Likely it won't happen that way.

Soon is the lunch though, and thank L-Sama and deities everywhere for that.


Edit - 9:10 PM EST: The kittehs are exploring. Finally. Well, Schrodi started exploring RIGHT AWAY. She was all about it. Murphy went and hid.

We gave them wet food; when Murph finally came back downstairs (he hid in the half bath and behind the couch before running upstairs to hide under the bed), he plowed through most of his. Schrodi started eating hers when she discovered it and then ran off to 'splore some more, after only a couple of nibbles. She seems to especially love the sliding glass doors. BIGGEST WINDOW EVAR.

She meows a lot too. Every few steps, meow. And when their paths cross ours, there is much rubbing and loving and affection. Yes, kitties, we are still yours.

Grandma Charlotte brought over brownies. <3 <3 <3 That and some Coca-Cola are all I've had since lunch, so I am pondering ordering some 'za up from the Hut. Part of the point of moving here was that we could walk down to Pizza Hut, or make the short drive for carryout, but I am staying off my feet as much as possible. (They hate me too.)

Reply to this meme by yelling "Words!" (or you can just ask for the meme, I won't mind) and I will give you five words that remind me of you. Then post them in your LJ and explain what they mean to you.

So, hitosyura threw these at me. I'm pretty sure none of these will come as a surprise to peoples.
( I cut because I care )

I load up Wiki this morning and I find this. I think my favorite part is "[I]t was normal practice for a medieval street name to reflect the street's function or the economic activity taking place within it."

Also within the article is the spelling of "rascal" as "Raskalls" and the great word "Sneakesbyes", which conjures all sorts of wonderfully dark and playful images in my mind.

I <3 you, Wikipedia.

Edit: BUT WAIT! It gets BETTER. The "true" Saint Nicholas is a lot more interesting than our jolly Coca-Cola version. (Today is the celebration of his translation, apparently.)

I am intrigued, amused and educated, all at once! Hooray for Wiki! :D

Some people have clearly become too dependent on support services.

Now, I'll grant you, without these people, I might not have a job. There might not be enough demand to employ me without the Abjectly Helpless. This is small comfort to my despair when situations like this crop up.

A young woman here for the summer journalism camp just informed me that she had left her username and password in her dorm room, and was unsure what to do about this fact.

Presented for my amusement (and hopefully yours), is how I WISH this conversation could have gone (thus her quotes below are approximately correct; only mine are complete fantasy):

Journalist Wannabe: Um, hi.
Me: Hi. *customer service smile*
JW: So, I'm scanning these two pictures in...on a computer with a scanner...
Me: Well, there's one problem solved already. Very good.
JW: ...and I left my username and password in my dorm room.
Me: Ah, then you're not scanning anything in at the moment, are you? Since, as you've discovered, you need a username and password to access the computers.
JW: I'm in the journalism camp.
Me: The Fourth Estate is shuddering in horror, I'm sure. If you know your username and password are in your dorm room, I would suggest you GO BACK THERE AND GET THEM. To my understanding, most of the summer journalism students are staying in dorms near the library: Wright, Teter or Read, I thought. And whether you're just across the street or not, you'll just have to chalk this up as the consequence of leaving your information behind.

Back in the Really-Real World, I don't have any way of helping her, so I sent her to the circulation desk. But, honestly? Maybe I'm a freak somehow, but if I'd made it to the library only to discover that I'd left something vital back in my dorm room, I would sigh, pout, turn around and walk back to my dorm room, cursing my forgetfulness and resolving to do better at remembering stuff I need.

Again, maybe that's just me.

Palin's resigning? She does know this is the Fourth of July coming up and not the First of April, right?

This is what I love:

Palin added in a statement that she was "determined to take the right path for Alaska even though it is not the easiest path. ... Once I decided not to run for re-election, I also felt that to embrace the conventional lame duck status in this particular climate would just be another dose of politics as usual, something I campaigned against and will always oppose."

So basically she made a decision not to run for re-election and decided, "Well, if I'm not going to be governor THEN, I might as well not be governor NOW."

Also, note that the Republican strategist's response boils down to, "Yeeeaaaah, we have NO idea what the f*ck she's up to or why someone would DO something like this."

I am irked that the DNC even commented on this. DNC? Um, let the pundits do that. Let Jon Stewart babble about her "bizarre behavior". By taking the time out of your day to make an Official slam of her, you just sort of come across as, well...petty and stupid. And, really? We don't need your help with this one.

There is some speculation that she's gonna try for a 2010 Senate seat to help her get a 2012 Prez. nom. That's the only thing that makes even a modicum of sense, but if that's what she's doing, she really hasn't thought about how that's going to play. "She took an oath to do a job, and instead of seeing that job through, she got ambitious and ditched it to make a power play." It looks self-serving and greedy, and that's not what people want in a senator or president. It's what they pretty much always GET but we'd like you to at least PRETEND that it's not so.

'course, she probably doesn't want to take advice from a Democratic voter. ^_^ But I'm just saying.

(Joe's playing some game and almost all I can hear from his side of the computer room is "System Updates" from the video game. It seemed appropriate, so I snitched it.)

Well, we're going to be staying in Bloomington. We'll narrow that down by this Friday. That's the deadline we've set. So far we've looked at...one place. But it's quite do-able, so if we end up there, I don't think we'll be massively unhappy. It's not ideal, but given our situation it's pretty close. I'm going to try to line up some other places to look at, but I've got the dress fitting this week too, and work and such....it'll be hard. I'm just glad not to be moving up to Indy while things are all still so uncertain.

I registered for classes, appealed for financial aid, and submitted my fall availability for work. Hopefully, I'll get Monday & Wednesday graveyards; those are my lightest days (I've got Japanese drill on Monday and that's IT). Fall semester will be more Japanese, a couple computer classes and the Early Middle Ages. Couldn't get into any English classes I wanted, but I'll knock out the rest of my N&M and one of these classes is an actual SLIS class (400 level too!) so that'll be good.

Still need to pack. Still need to do all kinds of things for the wedding. Dear God, how did it get to be this close to time already? @__@ I was going to put my fall WoW schedule into effect early, but that's not going to happen this week. I have guild...administration to deal with this week, and then the Manders MC run on the 6th, so I'll put my schooltime WoW schedule into effect on the 7th. This schedule is: No WoW except on Weekends (weekend to be defined as Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday). Period.

It's a little harsh, but I think my grades for last semester prove I can't keep playing WoW through the week AND maintain A's. (even the A I got would've been a B in any other class.) I don't want to completely disappear off WoW, 'cause I'd like my guild to survive, especially after all the time and effort I put into it (and the sacrificing of my A's last semester). So being around on the weekends only (unless something special's going on) is just going to have to be the way it is. I want an A in that SLIS class at the very least, and it's a 400 level class (on computer based information tools). That will take some effort.

I'm putting it into effect early because...well...I have a lot of stuff I need to do. Packing, bead stems, various wedding things. Dishes and laundry and my long-ass reading list. I can ChaCha for some extra coinage and take stuff to Goodwill. Exercise. So after I'm done dealing with what needs to be dealt with, WoW on weekends only.

Got stuff to deal with today too. Not sure if I'm going to stay up to deal with them early and then sleep or go to sleep and then wake up to deal with them. Joe's game's loud enough, I may be able to stay up. (just teasing, sweetie ;) )

I think I pulled a tummy muscle. Some muscle in my abdomen is not happy with me. Proper lifting (and lowering) techniques, kids: Use 'Em. Also, earlier this week, I buggered up my left shoulder. It hates me at completely random times.

BUT! Today I have packed 10 boxes, emptied the two small bookcases and the tall barrister's bookcase and one shelf each off of two of the big bookcases. Joe just went to the store and of course I forgot to ask him to get more packing tape. I r teh most smrtest of the mall.

I have fake-narcolepsy in that I get very suddenly, very randomly, very very tired. Sleepy tired. Like right now. And even when I don't get up and go do something, the feeling wlil eventually pass. More often, I decide to go to bed and then it passes. *grumble*

Need to pack more, but I'm resting my tummy muscle for a bit. We'll have a lot more boxes this time around, but I'll be able to help more because I'm packing books in small boxes, for the most part. Did pack one kinda normal sized box full of books. That's what I have a man around for (just kidding, just kidding...). I raided Wal-Mart's pet section on third shift a couple weeks ago, so I have all kinds of smaller boxes (and a few larger ones too). I don't mind making a bunch of trips up and down the stairs, so long as I don't have to count stairs just to survive. (This is what I do when I'm carrying something heavy: I count my steps. Especially when there are stairs. Dunno why it helps me, but it does.) Looking at the boxes pleases me: we're so obviously geeks. Everything's labeled "Books", "Manga" or "Games" at this point (except for the one box labled "Toys & Games").

And I'm realizing that I have a LOT of stuff that's been squirreled away around the apartment that I just have NOT looked at or needed the entire time we've been here (or if I did need it and forgot I had it, I bought a replacement already). The local charities (Goodwill, Backstreet Mission, etc.) are gonna LOVE me.

Next week we go to look at some apartment choices up in Indy. I still don't want to go, but gotta do what you gotta do, hm?

And I am demanding Donato's that first night we move up there.

No, not being 31. It feels a lot like being 30, which in turn felt like being 29, etc. etc. on back to...about 23, I'd say. I could go into "Why 23? (and no it has nothing to do with the Illuminati...OR DOES IT?!)" but I have to leave for work soon.

Birthday was a rollercoaster: on the one hand, I got some more books (even on top of the ones Lisa and Christina got me), took myself out for Japanese, picked up a stunningly comfortable pair of denim capri pants and a couple tops at Old Navy, got a haircut (just a trim), grabbed ahold of "Black Lagoon - The Second Barrage" and would NOT let go, and got birthday run-through of the undead side of Strat! Today I ordered The Librarian - Quest for the Spear and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog on DVD from Amazon (since local Best Buy did not have either, and they are REQUIRED to be in my DVD collection). So that was all really really awesome; I basked in the awesomeness of being a geek girl.

On the other hand, we lost power (in the middle of my shower) for a few hours. When I came home again, the power was back on, but the flat panel monitor for my desktop was not on...and wouldn't come back on for ANYTHING. *sigh* Fortunately we found the old CRT monitor in the closet. THAT is what "God this is weird..." is referring to: having my screen resolution down so low again.

I know, I know, I have a laptop. But I've kind of gotten used to multitasking: playing WoW on the laptop and looking up information on boss encounters on the desktop, or talking on AIM. I have become spoiled. Probably the biggest bummer is that, if I'd known the flat panel was fried, I probably wouldn't have bought the books, Japanese food, etc. and would have blown the birthday cash on a new monitor. We have to move soon after all, and I'd rather have carted this big, bulky monitor to the recycling center than to bring it with us. But oh well.

And now? I go to work, where I will continue the adventures of Captain Abney and Mister Everhart, to the best of my ability. The other consultant may not be coming in tonight, and if it ends up just me and Dan, he'll want to talk to me through the whole shift (about completely random stuff at completely random times). This does not help the creative flow.

Oh, PS: also got a cake from Angel B's (same people doing my wedding cake). Om nom nom soooooooo tasty. I swear their butter cream is made of sugar, air and crack.

Had dinner with Dadoo and Julie and Olivia last night (you know her birthday's tomorrow! She'll be 11!). Turns out she's already "Executive Vice President of Marketing and Sales" for the company my brother and sister-in-law are starting ('cause she's the only one who knows how to use the computer. "They'd be so lost without me," Olivia so humbly explains); me, I'll be a 31 year old junior in college. Something feels...a tad off about that.

But! Olivia showed me something AMAZING last night, and I made a solemn vow that it must be shared with the world! Well, I think the exact words I used were, "I am *SO* putting this on my LJ when I get home." Then I came home and went straight to sleep.

To make amends, I shall share it with you at this belated time. (I wanted to embed the video here, but it's sort of...wide, and it creates scrollbars. No fun to watch that way. Better you go to the link and see it there.)

Greg (the joker "playing" piano and lip synching Freddie Mercury) is my oldest nephew. We're all so proud of him. Clearly, he'll go on to do great things with his life.

Packing up is never fun, but it's less fun when you don't even know where you're going or what things'll be like when you get there. I feel less like I'm putting things in the box temporarily and more like...I dunno. Like I'm waving goodbye to old friends from the backseat of a car, and we're headed for some other country, or at least another state. I feel like I may never see them again, which is silly; even if stuff goes into storage, I'll pull it back out again at some point...right?

I had a really good time tonight with Kristina and Matt, even if KT's a little down in the dumps (understandably, since a colleague of hers just died). But at the back of my mind is always this oni that says, "Enjoy it while you can, 'cause soon you'll move up to Indy and you won't get to have fun times like this anymore." We went to the Steak 'n' Shake by Matt's and got our usual waiter, Philly, who's Faaaaaaaaabulous and funny and constantly takes things off our checks just because we chat with him, aren't a hassle, and tip well. He told us that we come in almost every Monday and he looks forward to Mondays so much because of us. I said I didn't realize that it was that often and Matt and I simply HAD to declare it a Tradition.

We take Traditions very seriously - at least, the ones we declare. Traditions can be broken, but only for very very good reasons. You don't just mess with Traditions.

And as soon as we declared it a Tradition, the oni in the back of my head said, "It's a Tradition...until you move up to Indy" and I tried not to sigh aloud. We'll see Philly again Thursday; he's working the late shift and that's SG-1 night anyway. But...I know it's going to be there again. ( The oni. )

This turned into a very long post, but the short version is: I hate packing and I hate moving, but it's gotta be done. They both gotta be done. I'm just being childish for now, folding my arms, poutingly determined to stand my ground and saying, "I don't wanna."

My GOD people.

It's the INTERNET.

I know, I know: the Internet is for Porn. Yadda yadda. BUT! The Internet, at its inception, was largely for learning and quickly transmitting knowledge. You know what? It can still do that.

Want to know the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow? The Internet can answer that.
Curious about the Romanian word for raptor? The Internet can answer that. (rapitoare)
Not sure what the capital of North Dakota is? The Internet can answer that.
Need help with your plans for world conquest? The Internet Can Answer That.
Want to type the phrase "meniacle laughter" but aren't sure that first word is spelled correctly? THE INTERNET CAN ANSWER THAT.

These are all Google searches, clicking on the first link that pops up - they take a matter of seconds. The correct spelling of Maniacal took a couple extra seconds because that site, when you type in "meniacle" (and yes, I've seen someone spell it that way *shudder*) gives you a list of possible words you might have meant. "Maniacal" is the second suggested (behind "manacle").

It amazes me that when people don't know how to spell something or don't understand something, they just go on right ahead with their ignorance (and, quite often, belittle people who actually CAN spell things or at least know how to look up information). Sometimes, it's all you can do, but my GOD, when you're sitting RIGHT IN FRONT OF A COMPUTER WITH AN INTERNET CONNECTION....argh, there is just absolutely no excuse. NO EXCUSE.

Maybe it's me.
Maybe it's because I grew up having to look information up the Old Fashioned Way: in ACTUAL dictionaries and encyclopedias and thesauruses. Maybe it's because I had a mother and father who encouraged me to find answers for myself.

But c'mon! We all use the Internet when we need to find research for school papers, right?

*pause to remember this last semester, when I looked up all kinds of scholarly, peer-reviewed articles through a simple Google Scholar search, and thereby amazed the crap out of most of my group members*

Okay, so maybe not. Although WHY NOT?! WHY THE HELL NOT?! There is SO MUCH information that you can find with a few keystrokes and less patience than you need to microwave a burrito!

Of course, it's the spelling that really gets me. "Meniacle"? SERIOUSLY? This was posted on the Girl Genius comic feed LJ, in one of the comments. You read a comic about mad scientists, and you still don't know the correct spelling of "maniacal"? COME ON! Bad spelling runs rampant across the Internet, even leaving aside "text-speak". To be very clear on that: I'm not opposed to text speak - WHEN YOU'RE TEXTING. If you aren't sending me a short note on my cellphone, you better be speaking normal English (or Spanish, or Japanese...most other languages I won't be able to understand...though I can always try and look them up on the Internet! Mwahaahaha! <---see, THAT is maniacal laughter). And, hopefully, if you don't know or are unsure about how to spell a word, YOU CAN LOOK IT UP TO BE CERTAIN.

PLEASE.
The Internet is one of the most powerful educational tools ever created (if not THE most powerful).
USE IT.
for something besides pr0n.
Thank you.

You get a very different perspective on things when you work graveyard shifts. Especially if you sleep beforehand. You're just getting going and the rest of the world is just waking up. It's a little disorienting sometimes, but it has its perks (first in line at Dunkin' Donuts, for example, or an easier time getting daily quests done in WoW).

Part of me kind of likes watching the world wake up: it gets lighter and brighter out, the buses start running again, everything feels kind of cool and damp - it sort of feels like the world is yawning, and most places you go smell like coffee.

The rest of me is convinced that, at nearly 31, I'm too old to watch the world wake up on a regular basis. As much as I <3 graveyard shifts, it's getting harder to do them. Maybe my circadians are out of whack again. I dunno. I'd really like a few months where I had no work, no school, no absolute time schedule requirements so I could sleep when I was tired and wake up when I wasn't and see what my natural rhythm was like. But with a wedding impending, that's just not going to happen anytime soon.

Just got back from the cake artist; this'll be quick as I'm en route to knightwraith's to do some more SG-1.

This is what me, and Mooms, and the nice cake lady figured out:

Hexagonal cakes with three separate tiers (so each tier is a hex). Butter cream frosting that starts with a very light shade of blue on the top tier and goes down to a deeper blue on the bottom (like my dress) and each layer has white drippy style frosting on it. The tops will have little silver balls (edible - like you get at the store) on them and around the bottom will be smaller little frosting balls too (like scalloping only...y'know, not scalloped).

INSIDE! The top layer will be a strawberry cake filled with strawberry marmalade; the middle layer will be vanilla cake filled with white chocolate mousse; and the bottom (biggest) layer will be chocolate cake filled with chocolate mousse. :3 I wanted options for people who aren't so crazy about chocolate (though obviously there will be more chocolate than anything else - as is good and proper). Mooms suggested having the cake be sort of "neopolitan" like that. <3 Is why I invited her to come along. She suggested the white drippy bits too. Well, I knew I wanted drippy bits, but she suggested them being white.

My cake, in short, shall be nifty, filled with spiff and covered in awesome.

This is one of the better articles I've read about Republican rebound lately. It doesn't offer any more solutions than most of the other things I've read, but I think it does a better job of summing up what the GOP used to be and what it is now, from a man who helped the GOP rebound after 1964.

I'm a Democrat. Have been...well, for as long as I can recall having a political identity. But there have been issues where I've agreed with the Republicans (of days of yore - this doesn't happen so much anymore), and back when it looked like the 2008 Presidential race was gonna be between Hillary and John McCain, I seriously considered voting for McCain (this was before McCain became Presidential Campaign McCain - back when he still disagreed with the Republicans on certain matters and stood by his principles instead of bowing to party line and platform on everything, even if it contradicted his earlier, loudly-voiced opinions).

I agree with Mickey Edwards here about the need for at least two political parties, and as thrilled as I am to have a Democratic majority for a bit, I wouldn't want this all the time. We shouldn't have one party dominating everything - America benefits much more from opposing voices than from lockstep party loyalty. (Part of why I like many of Obama's appointments, even if I don't like the people he chose.)

And the GOP he describes: "There was a profound belief in the dignity of the individual, a reverence for the Constitution and the founders who proposed it, a belief in doing whatever it took (including spending tax dollars to build a military second to none) to preserve the peace. Republican platforms preached prudence and the virtues of small business." - well, I can't say I agree with all of that, but I can't say I entirely disagree with it either. I, too, have a reverence for the Constitution and a belief in "the dignity of the individual". I think I understand what that means to Republicans, and I think it likely means something else entirely to Democrats, but then, I think that's supposed to be the point. To agree on where we're going and disagree on the best way to get there.

Of course, that won't always be true. Sometimes, we think we need to go different ways. And I think we're at that sort of crossroads now. So much has changed since I was a little girl. Maybe it always seems that way, to each generation, that change is coming quickly and we need to hurry to keep up with it. But I know that computer technology moves forward in leaps and bounds too, so maybe not.

I do know also that America is in its adolescence. Europe, for example, is older and wiser and has realized that countries working together accomplish more than they would alone. We've been sort of arrogantly isolationist for a long time, convinced that WE are so much better than the rest of the world, so therefore WE didn't need them. Well, I DO happen to think we rock it pretty hardcore, but that doesn't mean we're the only ones on the planet.

So yeah, I think this is one of those moments when we have to look at where we're going and what we're doing and decide where to go from here. We have some growing up to do, and it's natural that the two parties will want us to go in different directions. But we need some reasonable discussion, and I'm not sure I feel like that's happening here.

To be fair, I'm not sure there was much reasonable discussion from the Dems when Bush was in power either. I think we've gotten to a place where the Party-in-Power calls the shots and the Party-Not-in-Power bitches about those shots and nitpicks them apart, no matter what they are. I have hope that President Obama will try to rectify this, but, of course, I'm not holding my breath. As Mickey Edwards says in his article, "These are serious matters and deserve serious, and constructive, engagement."

I agree.

I'm kinda sorry I missed this last night. Obama was quite amusing. He didn't hit every mark (the Larry Summers joke, for example), but he poked at friend and foe alike and seemed to be enjoying himself. And he ends by telling the press corps that even when he doesn't like what they publish about him, he respects them for doing it and wants them to keep at it. He talks about how necessary a free media is to a government.

Mostly though, he gently mocks himself and his administration. The Rahm joke slayed, though I was fond of "And my next 100 days will be so successful, I'll complete them in 72 days. And on the 73rd day I will rest." Also the thing about Michelle Obama, and her reaction to it. Priceless. But enough babble! You want video, yeah?







I'm told Wanda Sykes emcee'd it very well, but I am sleepy and the kitties are demanding gooshy food. I have to set my sleep schedule up for work: Tuesday 8 - midnight and then a Thursday graveyard. So, I'm looking at being awake 7 PM - 11 AM. Tomorrow is the season finale of "Castle" - and, I hope, some awesome "Daily Show"-ness about the WHCD.

P.S. - are the conservative pundits really making a big deal about Obama ordering mustard on a burger? Tell me that's a belated April Fools' joke. THIS, however, is hilariously nerdy.