Wednesday, April 30

Still another reason to leave Alabama...

No. Seriously. A Hello Kitty vanity plate parked in the lot of Whole Foods, and she had on the same exact car a Code Pink Ribbon? You can't mix Code Pink and Hello Kitty. Can you?



Next thing you know, someone will be marketing Hello Kitty/Strawberry Shortcake/Care Bear underbust corsets for the into-infantilism sex worker. Oh, nevermind.

Funniest image I've seen all month.



If you have time to track the "progress" of your posts? Come clean my house.

Tuesday, April 29

For the knitter who blogs, and vice versa.



The hand-knit laptop privacy-slash-headwarmer, um, garment? H/t Akabini, who tells us she only has 118 different kinds of yarn in her stash, poor girl.

And by the way, if you have a Boyfriend With Moods who occasionally does not feel social, I'm sorry, you cannot knit this for him. It totally counts for the curse.

Monday, April 28

Skype Salon 9 Eastern - See you there!

Blue Gal's Salon 4/28 hosted by blue.gal.

Join now


Chat about what's on your mind. More about public chats.

Give yourself permission.



A couple of bloggers have expressed guilt and angst this morning over not blogging more. Damn right. You should be blogging every single day no matter what.

Except in May.

I my own type-A self have come to the conclusion that in May there are actually better things to do than blog. So as the self-appointed den mother of the blogosphere, I hereby give you permission to step outside, clean up your house or your yard or take a walk or a bike ride or whatever else you've forgotten about doing.

This image (with it's blue forget-me-nots which I thought a nice touch if I do say so meself) will stay at the top until the beginning of June. Some days in May there will be a fresh post right below, and some days there will not. Because it's May.

Enjoy the springtime, keep the faith, and keep blogging. At least some of the time.

Sunday, April 27

Oh please.


Could this eventually be the end of the Democratic Party?

Who's asking, Neil Cavuto?

Shut. Up.

I don't know how old PM Carpenter is, but he sure is lacking perspective. In 1968 (which even an old bat like me is too young to remember, for real) people thought the world was coming to an end. Every charismatic leader who said things could get better was taken out and shot. In the United States. Hell, even 1980 was more of a problem in terms of the future of the Democratic Party: Kennedy and Carter had serious disagreements about issues, man. Clinton and Obama, really, truly...not so much. Which in part is why it's so damn nasty.

But the end of the Democratic Party? Get your head outta your belly button, my friend.

In addition, people are feeling like shit because gas is a necessity in this world and none of us can think outside a box where we don't need to use it every single day and we're having a price shock like we haven't had since the 70's and that's scary.

Oh. Food is a necessity, too. And so is housing. And believe it or not people are trying to cut back on both.

And I think a lot of Americans when confronted with the news that people in Haiti are living on dirt biscuits think, there but for the grace of Citibank Visa go I.



But as far as party politics is concerned, take a pill, and make sure it isn't one of those that diminish your sexual function or make you loopy. Priorities, people.

Saturday, April 26

Saturday Song

"I'm gonna give it to you." And Sharon Jones is one of those singers, you never have to guess what "it" is. Happy Saturday, folks.

Friday, April 25

Yet another reason to leave Alabama...

Love and kisses to the beautiful people
coming here from Crooks and Liars.


I'm moving out of Alabama in the next few weeks. As if I needed an extra special reason to move, I used this handy tool to find out who in my zip code had given contributions to Presidential Candidates of over 200 dollars.

In my current zip code in Alabama,

20 people made a contribution of that size to Fred Thompson.
25 to Rudy Giuliani.
6 to Duncan Hunter.
6 to Tom Tancredo...oh wait...the 6 for Tancredo all came from the same guy. Nevermind about that.
and 29 to Mike Huckabee.


And in my new zip code, 66 percent of the contributions went to Barack Obama. And Duncan Hunter got zero. Whew.

Don't miss



The audio slideshow at the New York Frakin' Times entitled "Darwin's Garden."

Wrong! Just plain wrong!!!



So where do I begin with how wrong this is?

Strapping on a video game device?
A game where a firehose-like stream of urine is the weapon?
A weapon that is used on a cat sitting in a toilet? And pissing hard on the cat gets you points?

Actually, isn't it nice to see something that is wrong on so many levels and has nothing to do with electing a Preznit or bringing justice to the many, many wrongdoers on this planet?

Sigh. Happy Friday.

Thursday, April 24

Just wait...

I've never been surrounded by so many wiped out Democrats in my whole life. Whew.

I know this youtube is a little heavy-handed, but someone out there made it for a friend who was suffering some bad life changes. An act of kindness needs no judgment. If you're tired today, here:

Wednesday, April 23

I hardly ever read Daily Kos...

...let alone link them. But I'm one of the 759 comments in this post, and I'm proud to be, even if she used the term bitches (and I think she did it in a very Tina Fey way, btw). And I feel I should say something about Pennsylvania. I don't think everyone who voted against Obama yesterday is racist. Not a bit. It bothers me, though, to hear that some voters say they will vote for McCain or stay home if Obama is the nominee, and then they have no reason listed as to why. To me, "racist"/"sexist"...and "Democrat" are oxymorons.

And then there's this:

Shirley Temple is 80 today.



(h/t David E.) There is so much social history in this clip demonstrating about what needs fixing in America regarding race, gender, war, incarceration, and well, there's just too much.

But happy birthday Shirley.

By today's standards...

Sophia Loren is FAT. I know. What outrageous BS is that? But then again, by today's standards, the Peter Sellars character has Asperger's syndrome. Just saying.



I love his last line..."Madam, if I examined all the ladies in whom I inspire confidence, I'd be exhausted." Yep, Aspie.

________________

This week Batacchio at Vagabond Scholar is hosting Carnival of the Liberals, with a focus on human rights. Well worth the click.

Tuesday, April 22

My real problem with Obama?
It's the whole "Nixon-Eisenhower political machine" thing.

Julie Nixon Eisenhower maxes out her contribution to the Obama campaign. [link]

nixon loves obama

Ike for obama

I know. What do you expect from the descendant of dead white men? But I'm sure Mr. Rodham's daughter won't bring that up, though.

Just a little music for today...


Take Back the Blog postponed until June.



The election season is taking up the blogosphere's attention, and way too many life-changes are taking up mine.

The other organizers of this blogswarm actually approached me this morning to ask about the postponement, and when I heard my own sigh, I sensed that it was clearly the right thing to do.

Watch this space. Early summer we'll work on this important blogswarm. Thanks.

Monday, April 21

Salon tonight 9 Eastern... see you there.

Blue Gal's Salon 4/21 hosted by blue.gal.

Join now


Chat about what's on your mind. More about public chats.

Sorry folks.



I was really going to try to keep the duct tape on until after tomorrow but I find I cannot.

I'm one of those Democrats who has told herself over and over that yeah, if Hillary is the nominee of course I will vote for her over McCain. And I will. But if Hillary Clinton is going to take swipes at MoveOn.org at this juncture, then she has no interest in my support, or the support of the strong organized Democratic base MoveOn represents, during the general election.

That freaks me out.

MoveOn is way too big a creature to need my defense. But I have no doubt that if Hillary pulled a landslide in Pennsylvania and won every single superdelegate vote between now and June, and in a truly stunning upset won the nomination, that MoveOn would spend their considerable clout to get her elected in November.

Not anymore they won't. Sigh.

And I lost it again this afternoon when a Mother Jones columnist illustrated that some young(er) Obama supporters are simply rejecting Hillary because she reminds them of their mothers. Please. As I wrote over there:


I would be grateful if someone would give me "permission" to vote for a candidate based on the issues. Hillary Clinton's foreign policy is a hawkish nightmare. She tells AIPAC that nuclear weapons are "on the table" vis-a-vis Iran? Could I please be "allowed" to vote against nuclear armageddon without being told my feminism isn't seasoned enough?

And the idea that I have to support the tactics of James Carville, Sandy Berger, and Terry McCauliffe in order to show gratitude to my mother? She would spit.

Do we as women want to be taken seriously as strong, intelligent, capable voters? Then we can't make special pleas based on gender with no regard to the issues at hand.


We've had a week of hearing what a wimp Obama is over the ABC debate questions. Clinton argued that the questions were tough, Obama argued they were stupid and meaningless, and all of us agree they were a media travesty.

Yet without irony, one of Clinton's supposed arguments against MoveOn is that their members "intimidated" her caucus supporters. At the same time, Clinton is still running her "if you can't stand the heat" advertisements. What gives?

Hell, the hardcore caucusing Clinton supporters I know would not be intimidated by Sam Kinison:



I hate this train wreck. I just hate it.

And then I have as one of my homepage tabs a random wikipedia page and this one comes up. Pardon me if I'm just pissed off right now.

Vlogging about blogging and more help for new bloggers, I hope.



Over the past week I've noticed people posting youtubes to their blogs and the image is either cut off or running over their column margins. Just to be helpful to everybody (because what is on your blog is none of my business) here's a post I did earlier on how to post a youtube to your blog. Most people already know how, but just in case.

The new blogger I mention, Rechtaw, is here. I also am responsible in part for kicking Physioprof's ass into the blogosphere, but Physioprof is responsible for kicking my ass into serious knit blogging over on Ravelry starting when, today? Oh fuck, you're kidding. You're fucking kidding.

I so need to re-connect to my past knitting life. Oh nevermind.

A good review of the book I quote, Art & Fear, is here.

UPDATE: Hey, while we're looking at our blogger belly buttons, Godless Liberal Homo points out this 2006 article which says only five percent of internet users have their own blogs and only 0.1 percent post to blogs daily. If only Milton had known about Shakespeare's lousy posting habits.

And I did find that GLH post by checking my Technorati links. (Busted.)

Sunday, April 20

Coincidence? I think not.

NO that's not the actual logo, folks.

There are not enough women writing about politics in the blogosphere. Look at the signatories of this important letter. I count about, what, 4% female?

Next weekend is Take Back The Blog. More on this after Tuesday's Primary, but I wanted my regular readers to have advance notice.

I'm organizing TBTB this year. I guess Arianna was busy.

Please think about ways that we can encourage more women who are already blogging, about their kids, their knitting, whatever (and you know I blog about that stuff here too sometimes, so I'm not judging) to take a leap and write about what can change this country for the better.

Is it about feeling safe to do so? Ya think?

Saturday, April 19

Um.

No kidding! I was really kidding about the "must show picture of abs" bizness! I swear!



By the way there are a great many of you nice men in Tunisia, Qatar, and Iran with high speed internet, who try to contact me at 1:45 in the morning your time (ahem?) via Skype. While I'm all about the fostering better relations with the Arab world, for real, when your profile says "favorite song" is the Arabic version of "If I said you had a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?", I have to confess that Nobel Peace Prize that accompanies all that Skype phone sex? Well, it comes at too great a personal price. Try skype username Jimmy.Carter and thanks.

Okay, now that the song is stuck in BOTH our heads...

Saturday Song

So what's your favorite Dave Mathews Band song? I would have never thought of a Picard/Crusher angle, but then there's very little that ain't on the Youtubes...

Friday, April 18

Just a little E-Card for the Democratic Party.



And in happier news, betcha Howard is already ensuring we never have another "seventh-inning stretch" in the Democratic Primary season. Ever. And this one ends in four days. Happy Friday.

Image from here.

Thursday, April 17

I just wish...


Zencomix would stop sugarcoating it.

Rushing about today 1 kid special French class breakfast at school (who knew croissants could be crunchy?) 2 kids to dentist one to OT and grocery shop and flop.

Wednesday, April 16

Go say hi to a new blogger.
And here's some unsolicited advice, too.

Go say hi to Rehctaw (watcher backwards) over at Rawrahs. He's been a brilliant commenter at some other blogs and has finally been convinced (ahem) to blog his own self for real.

I'm going to repeat some stuff I wrote back in 2006 (!) on what a new blogger might want to consider. Please add your best advice in comments. Thanks.

Dear fellow blogger,

I can tell you are interested in driving up traffic to your blog, which is great. You're a good writer and your traffic will increase as you keep blogging (daily, if possible). The other things you can do are:

Leave comments all over the place. Find a nice long blogroll (mine is over there but there are others) start going down it and leave a comment everywhere you see something you like. My blog went from zero to 70 hits a day from just doing that and then I was on my way.

And don't leave a "visit my blog" comment. They'll visit anyway.

Only leave on-topic comments or sincere compliments. Nobody likes trolls or self-pimping***. Make the compliment TRUE, and specific where possible. Only praise posts you really do like. And link to them where possible, too.

We're all human, and we bloggers are more narcissistic than even the average American. And most of us work very hard on our blogs with little thanks. Every comment matters.

Also, use Google Blog Search and Technorati to find out who else is blogging about the same topic or link you are. That can lead you to new ideas and some very good bloggers who have similar interests.

I have personal likes and dislikes but if I follow the rule of "only say something if it's nice" I really like Shakespeare's Sister and Crooks and Liars. The other big blogs I can take or leave, and I leave'em. Those two have nice people attached to them: people who care about small blogs, the blogosphere, and are not puffed up with their own importance. We all need to emulate those qualities. Don't forget it.

Do you have comment moderation at your site? Get rid of it, for the time being, until somebody bothers you. As a Blogger user, I've found word verification works very well to keep out the spam. Better at the beginning not to put too many barriers between you and commenters. You can always hand-delete those comments you don't like, if you're lucky enough to have that many comments.

Keep blogging and keep the faith.

***Big exception: DO pimp your blog when Shakespeare's Sister has a blogwhoring day, usually Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Tuesday, April 15

Why the whole "who is more progressive" thing doesn't register.

Because I still have this in a box in the basement. And I've decided to pack it for the move. Geez.



Oh yeah we all love Al Gore now, and of course there's no way I would vote for Nader this time. But spare me the "your candidate is not progressive enough" meme because I can't stand it.

Monday, April 14

Salon tonight 9 Eastern.

No headphones or special equipment needed. Just download skype at the link below... it's live type text chat only. Hope to see you there!

Blue Gal Salon 4/14 hosted by blue.gal.

Join now


Chat about what's on your mind. More about public chats.

I got yer women in politics right here.



That's Theresa Heinz Kerry, who, yeah, owns quite a bit of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

But let's have fun and compare Theresa Heinz's Foundation:



to Cindy McCain's Foundation:



And let's not get into how her husband says she applies said foundation, shall we?

Okay, I kid, I kid. Of course there is a real "John and Cindy McCain Foundation". And I Googled it and provided a little emphasis for you:

Harper’s Magazine has taken a look at the giving by Sen. John McCain’s foundation and writes it has primarily given money to private schools his children have attended.

In the article by Ken Silverstein, he writes that from 2001 to 2006, the foundation awarded $1.6-million, with $500,000 going to Xavier College Preparatory and other “elite” schools the couple’s four children attended.

“There’s nothing illegal or improper about the foundation’s contributions,” writes Mr. Silverstein, “but it’s not exactly the pattern of giving you’d expect from someone who has cultivated an anti-elitist image.”

A spokesman for Mr. McCain told Mr. Silverstein that the giving simply reflected the couple’s charitable interests.


Well, as First Lady she'll probably be a lot more like Nancy Reagan than Laura Bush, then. You know, classy.

You know what I hate?

I hate that people who have much more interesting and free-flowing lives than I do....



...send me their text messages by accident.

I dunno, anthony, it depends. Is there a "Club Wet" in Vancouver?

Does anyone else find this kind of stupid?


There are some people who can't bring themselves to vote for a black president, but wouldn't blink, and in fact would thank Jeebus, if this was the team designated to operate on their GRANDCHILD'S BRAIN.
And yeah there is a "three pediatric neurosurgeons walk into a bar" joke in there somewheres...

Sunday, April 13

Okay.

Got an email from a Clinton supporter who provided me with thirteen links proving their point.

Obama is not a progressive, Fran. I wish you would tell people that.

Done.

And while I'm in the giving vein...

A word about "bitter"

Bitters are the defining ingredient in cocktails and the roots from which all cocktails are sprung. Derived from the dark roots, bark, herbs and fruit, the function of bitters is to give any cocktail "body." Bitters often incorporate a secret blend of exotic ingredients. Bitters can range from bitter with a sweet side to old-man-with-a-dog bitter. In either case, they are best served with a nod to their classic heritage.




Mr. Obama appears this morning to be apologizing. But he was explaining the appeal of Lou Dobbs and anti-gay marriage. He got caught doing an intellectual exercise at a wealthy fundraiser, duh. Don't put that exotic cherry in Pennsylvania's drink, Senator, it's a California thing. Instead, let John Edwards tend bar for an hour or two, swizzle in a little "Union Yes" bitters and please don't be afraid to get a little angry as long as it's about the suffering of white people.

Then watch Pennsylvania get a little tipsy over it.

Saturday, April 12

Saturday Song

And now for something completely....bizarre.

From "Dames," a Busby Berkeley musical from 1934.

Friday, April 11

But of course...

...he's a systems analyst.

And so is he:



I love working with guys who make their own armor to, you know, work on the database. Database, by the way, is never a verb. And if your boss asks you if you databased today? You are soo fraked.

Yep.


What American accent do you have?
Quiz Created on GoToQuiz
What American accent do you have?
Your Result: The Inland North

You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop."



I called it "pop" until I went to college with a buncha New Yorkers. It was "soda" from then on.

And here's a crappy photo of me from high school. I know. It really is time for me to update my look. (h/t to the only friend from high school who I know reads this blog. That's your shoulder, Brian.)

I can't explain this.

Okay, okay, I know this ad has been parodied to death and at first I thought for sure it was another parody. But it's from the Hillary Clinton dot com Youtube channel and it just doesn't make any sense to me. My only guess is the check to her creative team musta bounced or something.

If anyone has a McCain or Obama ad that is this tone deaf (and I wouldn't be surprised) please email me the link at bluegalsblog AT gmail I love running/analyzing these things:



Okay, if I'm the POTUS and ANYONE wakes me up at 3 in the morning concerning the housing bubble, they're fired. I know this is probably supposed to just be analogy except they still show my little dumplings sleeping safely in their beds and about to be attacked! by the housing bubble!



I don't mind anyone going after John "well after tax cuts for the rich I got nothin'" McCain on his non-response to the sub-prime mortgage crisis. Good going on that, Senator Clinton. It's just that, well, in the world of ideas, there is such a thing as too much recycling.

This is my 1500th post to this blog.


The Great Escape
Originally uploaded by ukaaa

And some days you just gotta step away from the computer. Um, wait I got just one more post to write today...oh then there's open thread plus something came up re Laura Ingraham and Iraq. Could someone grab me a sandwich?

Thursday, April 10

My entry in today's dumpster dive contest...



...if there is one.

Someone in my subdivision threw away this 10x13 fake oriental rug. I went and knocked on their door about it, to make sure there wasn't anything wrong with it (they have a dog, and...). They were throwing this one in the landfill "because we got a new one."

So I got the old one. Heh.

Since I know my mortgage on the new casa BG is not going to be zero down, because I'm not an idiot, I'm going to see just how cheap I can be about decorating it. Free is a pretty good price.

Dear Condi:



"This is your baby. Go do it."

I hope she runs with McCain so we can examine her record. Betcha she runs off to Stanford to hide, though. I would. And Condi? If I were you I'd pray that there is no God, because if there is and God is just, obviously you're in deep fucking shit for all eternity.

h/t Sandy xo

Tuesday, April 8

Just one conversation.



So tonight I'm about to go into a restaurant and I notice that the convertible parked next to my minivan has an Obama sticker on the back.

The black guy sitting in the driver's seat is just finishing a cellphone call. His kid is sitting in the back with an ice cream sandwich.

"I like your sticker. Gobama!"

"Hey. Thanks. Gobama." He stretches out his hand to me and I shake it. Warmly. We look each other straight in the eye and realize.

But I have to say it:

"We wouldn't be shaking hands like this if it weren't for that man," I say. "The world is gonna be a better place."

"Yes it is. Amen."

Amen.

All that needs to be said
in four words and four sentences.


I know I know, I need to write for Six Sentences and yeah I'll get to that promise.

In the meantime, the Executive Director of Amnesty International has a letter in yesterday's NYFT which, in four (rather longish, but still) sentences says everything that needs to be said about the Bush Administration and torture.

It’s high time that the authors of the Bush administration’s legal recipe book for torture be brought out of the kitchen and into the courtroom. Yet despite volumes of highly credible evidence of human rights crimes, or even war crimes, a negligent Congress continues to fail miserably in its responsibility to mandate proper investigations into these cruel policies.

The United States’ moral and political standing in the world have completely eroded, and legitimate prosecutions of crimes against humanity against the United States have been compromised. Congress must finally face its own complicity in torture with concrete measures — not shortsighted hearings — by ordering a full, independent investigation into how torture became United States modus operandi and holding those responsible accountable.


I really can't add anything more to that except a buncha names for both Congress and the President's cadre, that, you know, aren't fit to print anyway.

Monday, April 7

Salon Tonight 9 Eastern

As Zaius would say, (and yeah I must get over there and see what he has to say about Heston) "no time for blogging [or vlogging] today!" But salon tonight see you then.

Blue Gal Salon 4/7 hosted by blue.gal.

Join now


Chat about what's on your mind. More about public chats.

Sunday, April 6

Saturday, April 5

Saturday Song



I discovered Eleni Mandell through a random Wiki search. For real.

"I'm never sleeping again....the Makeout King is in my bed..." Good stuff.

Yarn Stash: Container Three
Originally uploaded by meliass
Porn on the internet? Yep, I just go to flickr and "search everyone's photos" for

"yarn."

And spank yourself if you looked at this photo and said, "Noro!!!"

(that's the yarn company for non-knitgeeks)

I love the title of the photo, too. Ha.


And if you think I'm crazy, remember that there are some smarter knitters out there who always keep "emergency sock yarn" handy.

Friday, April 4

Yup.

The Caffeine Click Test - How Caffeinated Are You?
Created by OnePlusYou

...and why I'm not supporting her.

Her stand on Israel is one reason. A big one. The Mother Jones article linked indicates that I might be wrong, in that I've always assumed that Hillary Clinton's Middle East policy is essentially the same as that of Mr. Bush.

I don't want to assume too much here and I want to be very fair. If this article is correct, it may be that Senator Clinton's Israel right-or-wrong "policy paper is intended as empty rhetoric."

Okay. Just. Don't. Get. Me. Started.

But if she means what her position paper and earlier speech to AIPAC say, then the Middle East and the millions of people who live there are (gag) better off (gag) with Condi (scuse me while a barf a little in my mouth).

And here are three other reasons I'm not supporting her in the primary season:



Mark Penn, James Carville, and Sandy Berger. I didn't have room for Terry McCauliffe.

AL at Threadingwater has written the post of the year on this subject:

What I fear with a Clinton presidency is a White House influenced by the same element that is directing her campaign: More hard-line foreign policy decisions and direction, more military engagement to protect and shore-up the right wing elements in Israel, more of the Republican playbook when it comes to protecting and rewarding corporate polluters, more industry/government coziness in federal oversight of public safety when it comes to our food supply, drugs and consumer protections.

I don’t see myself ever pointing to a portrait of a President Hillary Clinton and telling my young nieces that therein lies proof they can achieve anything they want as women, because I will also need to tell them about the power brokering, criminal, wealthy white men of questionable morals who helped to get her there.

I agree with Gloria Steinem that it’s time to put women first, and for me, feminism means putting the welfare of my country first.


To me supporting right wing elements in Israel (and the status quo in Saudi Arabia) is NOT progressive. Giving James Carville and company (even if he moves back the New Orleans) power lines off which to feed is NOT why we elect women to public office.

The discourse lately has been about pantsuits and whore-calling and makeup and ageism. I know Clinton supporters are sick of that, and so am I. Let's get back to the issues. I for one don't think the two Democrats are identical on the issues. Apparently Barack Obama has both an "Israel problem" with the AIPAC folks and an "abortion problem" with the pro-lifers. Gee. Those are both pluses in my book. And while I still have a big problem with his "across the aisle" get along with Republicans mumbo jumbo, if that kind of talk prevents a Florida 2000 or an Ohio 2004? What if those voters stupid enough to vote for Bush once or twice (gawd) are given permission to fake amnesia and vote for the young winner over the old poop McCain?

I hope my friends who are supporting Clinton take and appreciate this post for the issue-oriented argument. We don't need any more ad hominem crap in this primary season.

Because there are women worth listening to.

Lots of them. But today I like this one right here. She uses her position on the stage to say something. Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings:



Women (and men) who use their position on the stage to...well, she should be off the air. And if she had said the same thing about Michelle Malkin or Ann Coulter? Still.

Now if she wants to say that every single member of Congress is a fucking whore to the oil companies and airline industry and insurance companies and big pharma and the fundies? Okay. That's a policy statement, not an ad hominem attack.

BTW I'm doing the round up for the next three days so if you see (or write) something good email me. Just know that readers at the big blogs are out in their gardens, too.

A "speaking of spring" cellphone photo


Staging a protest outside the gas station?

Thursday, April 3

It's spring, bloggers, but don't let that get to you.

Dear fellow bloggers:

You are about to experience (and I have already so maybe you have too) a slight slump in your blog's traffic. (The same slump happens at yarn stores but I digress.) It's something called "Spring", and for some reason this coming of "Spring" thing leads people away from their computers and into the outdoors.

I seem to be in a Hitchhiker's Guide frame of mind this week: Don't Panic. This "outside" thing is temporary, it's an election year, and as long as you've posted today you do have permission from one of the goddesses of the blogosphere to go outside. Remember, those garden people will be back to check on your blog later and they'll want to know they missed something while they were gone.

Have a good one. xo


cornflower

spring cleaning

Just a quick note that May 1, 2008 I'll be closing my cafepress store. Nothing happening there and I really want to streamline my sidebar to the essentials.

Wednesday, April 2

Rub that candle if you get impatient....

Bad Democrat no pantsuit panties.



I'm going to write up a little more about Hillary Clinton today.

Earlier today Drifty made a joke about Taylor Marsh and referenced "little green pantsuits." Some commenters are using the word "misogyny" in response. The gentleman from Chicago hardly needs any defense from me, but I did find this video at, ahem...

Hillary Clinton dot com

and I thought I would share it as a reminder.



Folks, if your candidate can have a sense of humor (and clearly she does) I think it should be a lesson for y'all.

Then a fellow blogger, a Hillary supporter who works very very hard and does not get nearly enough credit for it imho, wrote me to say that they thought Obama would get a pass or even a cheer, because Rupert Murdoch's daughter is fundraising for him, while Hillary Clinton got slammed for a fundraiser that Rupert his own self held for her early on.

I wrote back to this blogger:

From: Blue Gal -- yeah I call bullshit on any Murdoch working for any democrat. thanks.

And I do. Rupert Murdoch and his money have been an incredibly destructive force in this world. Period. Senators Clinton and Obama should say so, throw the blood money back in their Murdoch faces, and stop making nice.

I got this reply:

From: fellow blogger -- "I hope you know that Obama is a conservative."



I've tried to put the past six months behind me, but I just had to write back.

oh you make me laugh. You're talking to a KUCINICH supporter. Obama is my FOURTH choice. Hillary is my FIFTH.

And McCain didn't make the cut.

I just wish Fidel Castro would come in as a savior and end this madness.

Tuesday, April 1

One last thing for today....

Breaking: Gloria Steinem to "Sir" Rush: Gee, your hair smells terrific!

dreamy Ms. Magazine's April issue promises to be a boffo sellout as the editors have finagled a contest to give away a one-night fantasy with everyone's favorite sensitive male, Rush Limbaugh.

Last night we caught up with Rushie and his new love interest Gloria Steinem, at the Fashion Institute's benefit honoring the history of the long line girdle. Ms. Steinem was clearly hoping for an intimate evening, but for the sake of the magazine she did let us in on how she acquired the talents of the shy, retiring gentleman from Cape Girardeau: "Well," she said, blushing demurely, "being such a huge fan of Limbaugh, I told him that I listen to him every morning and I think he works too hard. We Ms. girls got together after scrapbooking class and decided to do him a favor and find him a girlfriend because we think he's too busy to date, poor guy, and to our surprise, Sugar Booger was a good sport about it and agreed."

The lucky winner, who will be selected just in time for Mother's Day, will win a free dinner with Rush at her choice of Hooters or Olive Garden, and tickets to a screening of "I Think I Love My Wife."


(happy April Fool's Day, everyone)

In my volumnuous spare time...



This is your brain on knitting. In knitting. Anatomically correct, bitchez. From The Museum of Scientifically Accurate Fabric Brain Art. Not making that up. Thanks Sandy for the image xo.

So this spring I'll be...

felting my own dryer lint(1),

spinning pill bottle cotton into yarn(2), and

crocheting plastic grocery bags into totes(3).

(1) Oh, you actually have to do laundry to make that. Nevermind.

(2) I'm waiting to die before I spin. Seriously.

(3) Actually the totes look pretty useful, especially for kids' wet swimsuits in the summertime. But then again, I usually just use a grocery bag for that without all that crocheting...voila look at the time I saved!

I noticed the babes at FireDogLake are pursuing a "Knitting Liberally" thing and I'm in...as long as I can simultaneously drink wine and I don't have to make anything cute or for charity. That sounds bitchy but my knitting time is way too precious for cute or charity.

One hundred years ain't so bad, Iraq. Ask the Cubs.

Dear Homeowner's Association Clipboard Nazis:

Yeah I know my Christmas wreath is still up.

Somebody's living in it.



And she's got her hands full right now. Fuck off.