...becuase you really should, stay all the way through the credits, there is a scene at the end.

( my review )

I know it must be hard to be so unpopular. A gift! To everyone! A great idea to bump your popularity, Christmas in May. Here are some problems with your idea George.

-Your Vice isn't running, so it's not going to give him a bump, nor can he harken back to it during the general election. McCain is running to your coattails like a bitch in heat, and frankly, it's just sad. He used to be respectable, now he's a crony.

-You are a lame duck, this is not going to get anyone in your own party to come near you, much less independents. While I admit that history may vindicate you, you might have just driven the last nail into your own coffin, why?

-WE CAN'T AFFORD IT!!! The debt has skyrocketed, Iraq is beyond expensive, and the economy has stalled due to a lack of regulation on the credit industry (thanks Ron!). And what do you do? Send out gifts that you don't have a way to pay for. You won't raise taxes becuase you have helped teach America that taxes are always bad. But the fact of the matter is that you are furthering the culture of deficit living that is destroying the un-rich. You won't cut anything to pay for this gift, you won't raise taxes. So all you've done is take a loan out against the next guy's (hell, the next two or three peoples') presidency, one that we are going to pay through the nose for.

-Why? You know you're going down and the GOP is going down with you and this is a last hearty middle finger to the Dems, except it won't be them who gets fucked, it will be every helpless American who gets by on little to nothing and whatever the gov't can spare for them when it's not bombing little brown people into submission. Cuz I can guarantee you, they won't cut military spending or waste, they won't cut Congress' salary, so they take it out of the people who can't fight for it, don't matter to the electorate (becuase they don't realise they are the electorate!) and need it absolutely the most. The poor, the elderly, the young, the disenfranchised. Americans.

So thanks for the $1200 George, but seriously, fuck you.

Quite a while ago I liberated a pattern from my mom's stash. A cute little dress

I had two weddings to attend on May 3 (had to pass on wedding three that day!) and I decided at 9:30 on Thursday night to finally finish the dress, of which only the skirt panels were even cut out.

Using some lovely gray moire faille that bloodredrosev gave me, I went to work.

First things, I had to take out the torso length my mom added back in the day. We are the same size around but back then she had five inches on me.

Then I needed trim. I dived into the stash and came up with this plaid scrap. I scraped 37" of trim out of the scrap, w00t!!

A run to the big Longs at 51st and Broadway at 9pm Friday night for a zipper was necessary, as was the Top Dog (no bun). I finished setting the zipper in at 9:25am and was in the car at 9:45, fresh and clean!This was several hours later.

And a good time was had by all!

Woman Gains Silver Star -- And Removal From Combat

From Feministing

That's right, women who receive exactly the same training as men can do exactly the same jobs as men, just as well. Revolutionary.

The immensely archaic idea that a soldier shold be removed from a station where she is an asset to her fellows because women shouldn't be in combat is a massive disservice to our armed forces. But then again, it's par for the course for an administration that has done nothing but stab our service people in the back at every possible turn. Hell as ssr2k pointed out, McCain is against upping the GI Bill so soldiers will have no incentive to leave the armed forces, not seeing that he is talking about removing the impetus to join in the first place. Not everybody is up for the career and it's designed that way. It's a transition state for most people as a way to get money or experience or just the hell out of a trailer park and become better equipped to deal with civilian life.

Soon, our first bona fide generation of female combat veterans is going to hit industry and politics. I cannot wait. I cannot wait until one of these chicken hawk, draft dodging, neo-cons has to stand on a stage with a woman who has taken a bullet for this country and tell the world how he knows more about defense because he went to college. Who'll be flip flopping then, you ignorance peddling hypocrites?

(and did you see that Cheney gave her the medal? That man has some gall, won't even tell people where he was during Vietnam. When it comes out that he was an intelligence agent, doing top secret work I'll happily let that go, but until the 50 year limit is up, I'm nursing this grudge like a 3-month old baby panda)

Got the bloody image over here!

A larger post later, just a check in with Mr. Bicycle fund, which currently stands at ....

$785, with 7 weeks to go,

wait, got a commission payment this weekend, make that

$885 - Specialized TriCross, here I come!

buying a digital camera very soon.

Recommendations?? Price range is $200-$300, I 'm looking at getting a Canon. I want a stick it in my pocket camera, not a DSLR.

CHeers!

http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/82013/

I often feel a deep unhappiness, I know there are a lot of other things going on, but when you are unhappy becuase you don't feel stylish enough or that you _need_ new shoes, well, read the article.

My response has been to take the six month pledge for this

http://nikkishell.typepad.com/wardroberefashion/

The only "new" things you can buy are shoes and underwear. Everything else is hand made or recycled.

I realized yesterday that while I make a lot of clothes, I havn't been making anything for myself recently. So I made a skirt out of a remnant that I got from bloodredrosev (the dark green wool blend). I did it in about three hours. Super refreshing. It fits, it looks nice, it wasn't hard. Heck that time includes the zipper and the buttonhole.

Next up, the little red cardi and photographinc documentation.

"What I want is not oppressive taxation," he said. "I want businesses to thrive and I want people to be rewarded for their success. But what I also want is to make sure that our tax system is fair" and able to finance new spending programs.

"And you can't do that for free," he said. "And you can't take out a credit card from the Bank of China in the name of our children and our grandchildren and then say that you're cutting taxes, which is essentially what John McCain has been talking about. And that is irresponsible."

Someon with the balls to say, yes I'm raising taxes, cuz frankly, all this stuff the goverment gives you, it ain't free!

For now, mister bicycle gets another $30 from last week, I was very bad. So $525, but I sold two hats, which brings us to $640. Getting there!!

I bought it.

I do not know if ever before or after I shall know such retail joy.

My dear brother, knowing my predilictions gave me a highly desired video game for my birthday.

I did not install it, nor did I play it obsessively last night until all hours of the morning.

An exercise in pure will, that. (no promises for tonight though!!)

Went to Actions without Jonny. Tired, sunburnt, hair very large!

For Mister Bike, another $100 last week (I'm just being generous with myself)plus $45 for old costumes sold at Actions.

We're up to $495 with 9 weeks to go!

How boring, a velo update.

I credit myself with $100 last week, as I was sick and couldn't buy lunch, and it's my birthday week, so whatever!

So there is $350. I have two commissions going out this weekend, they will be $115, so we are up to $465, with 9 weeks until I buy my bike. Nine weeks? you say. Why yes! Alameda Bicycle has a fantastic Father's Day sale every year and that would be the optimal time to buy my bike. Also, they do this awesome thing.

They have a 90 day price guarantee on all bike purchases. Find it cheaper within 90 days, they refund you the difference. The catch is that it applies to them as well. If you buya bike and they put it on sale within 90 days, they refund you the difference. So I could buy my bike now and if they discount it at the Father's Day sale, they'll give me a refund. I got some cash back on inner tubes last year. It's awesome.

Please read and pass on if it please you.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/gefood/SmallWonders.cfm

"Religion has no place in the science classroom, where it may abridge
students' opportunities to learn the methods, discoveries, and explanatory
hypotheses of science. Rather, its place is in the hearts of the men and
women who study and then practice scientific exploration. Ethics can't
influence the outcome of an experiment, but they can serve as a useful
adjunct to the questions that get asked in the first place, and to the
applications thereafter. "

Today is my birthday. That is fine with me.
Thanks mom and dad!! I'm quite fond of my existence.

JT is taking me to see Billy Connolly tomorrow night!

Good Lord, I'm almost thirty.

whew what a weekend!!

Congrats to Jennie and Doug, a lovely day. Good to see all the peeps. I went to bed at 9:30 on Saturday night, I was exhausted.

For le Velocipide, $65, I brought lunch twice, I am week and the frig was empty. Total for my little friend, $250.

I oogled shweet bikes at Alameda bicycle on Wednesday. mmmmm, Specialized Ruby Compact....... I love my bike shop. They remember who I am, they always give me free stuff and they never try to up sell me on anything. Real service. Come June I'll be test ridign there first.

I'm looking at this in the best possible way. I just paid three months of COBRA and another month is due on the first. I just wrote a check in the amount of a month's net salary at my old job. Almost exactly.

This could be very depressing.

But I still have enough money in the checking to pay all of the bills for April and that iss before next week's paycheck.

That's pretty damn impressive from where I'm sitting. I was worried about becoming profligate and increasing my spending to go with the increase in my salary. I have avoided this. Admittedly, when and if I am hired permanently, my take home will decrease. When you calculate the the health coverage, however, I'll probably be exactly the same, if not up on the deal.

Write the check, mail it, then sit back and think of the Buddha.