In case I don't have time to get online again...

Everyone have a very....

MERRY

CHRISTMAS!!!

Must Read Column... For everybody BUT Marc, since I don't feel like arguing around Christmas

Live and Let Spy
by Ann Coulter
Posted Dec 21, 2005

...Which brings me to this week's scandal about No Such Agency spying on "Americans." I have difficulty ginning up much interest in this story inasmuch as I think the government should be spying on all Arabs, engaging in torture as a televised spectator sport, dropping daisy cutters wantonly throughout the Middle East, and sending liberals to Guantanamo.

But if we must engage in a national debate on half-measures: After 9/11, any president who was not spying on people calling phone numbers associated with terrorists should be impeached for being an inept commander in chief.

With a huge gaping hole in lower Manhattan, I'm not sure why we have to keep reminding people, but we are at war. (Perhaps it's because of the media blackout on images of the 9/11 attack. We're not allowed to see those because seeing planes plowing into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon might make us feel angry and jingoistic.)

Among the things that war entails are: killing people (sometimes innocent), destroying buildings (sometimes innocent) and spying on people (sometimes innocent).

That is why war is a bad thing. But once a war starts, it is going to be finished one way or another, and I have a preference for it coming out one way rather than the other...

Finally!

So, Memoirs of a Geisha comes out tomorrow... Who can I drag to see it with me? ;)

Book heads up: The Dittohead's Guide to Adult Beverages

Ok, got this in a Newsmax email, and I just HAD to pass it on, since, well, it's too funny not to, lol! ;) (I wonder if our library system has a copy of this yet?)

The Dittohead's Guide to Adult Beverages
Britt Gillette

Following is an excepted recipe:

Dead White Guy Ginger Ale

Glass: A Clay Bowl Stolen from Native Americans (by dead white conquistadors)

Ingredients:

1 Part Vodka (a colorless ingredient symbolizing white European oppression)
3 Parts Ginger Ale (containing blood-thirsty, intolerant, white supremacist sugar)
A Splash of White Wine (reminiscent of Napoleonic French imperialism)
A Splash of Lemon-Lime Juice (made from fruit hand-picked by indentured servants)
A Dash of Sugar (due to safety concerns, no brown sugar allowed)

Instructions: While attending a college seminar on multiculturalism, with an emphasis on Native American, Afro-centric lesbian poetry, combine ingredients in a clay bowl stolen from Native Americans. Consume on Columbus Day while attacking white males who have the audacity to continue to breathe.

Origin: This adult beverage is named in honor of Christopher Columbus - a capitalist, European bigot responsible for the death and murder of eighty trillion pacifist, nature-loving Native Americans (and a man whose lone accomplishment was the "discovery" of someone else's backyard).

Special Warning: Under no circumstances should you add brown sugar to this adult beverage, as it is sure to be ravaged and destroyed by the racist, imperialist, homophobic white sugar already present in the ginger ale.

You are 'Hark! The Herald Angels Sing'. You take
Christmas very seriously. For you, it is a
religious festival, celebrating the birth of
the Saviour, and its current secularisation
really irritates you. You enjoy the period of
Advent leading up to Christmas, and attend any
local carol services you can find, as well as
the more contemplative Advent church services
each Sunday. You may be involved in Christmas
food collections or similar charity work. The
midnight service at your church, with candles
and carols, is one you look forward to all
year, and you also look forward to the family
get together on Christmas Day.

What Christmas Carol are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

:deadline looms:

So, I know what I'm getting my brothers- food related giftcards for both (what else is practical to get a teenage boy? lol!), movie giftcard for the younger one and a gas card for the one who's in love with his car- and I found my mother something I wasn't necessarily planning on buying her, but it's great and I'm sure she's going to love it.

However...

I can't find anything for my adorable baby sister.

Who was supposed to be the easiest person to buy for.

So go figure, huh?

I mean, she already HAS lots of cute clothes (hands down has the best wardrobe in our family), God knows she's got enough stuffed animals and she's not old enough to be into lip gloss/glittery stuff yet. Hmmm... Dilemmas, dilemmas...

And I have less then a week to figure this out, lol.

Ideas?

Btw, God is it COLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLD today. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Thought my girls would like this...

I'm sure I've forwarded this to you two before, but I thought you would still enjoy another laugh at the Deck of Weasels. ;)

While you're at it, the Deck of Hillary is also quite humorous! :)

Yummy!

I could die decently happy with this... Probably because I would NEVER get out of the shower if I had them, lol! ;) ;)

Seriously, I've got the Keylime Pie shampoo... And it makes me very, VERY happy... So I have to space it out so the bottled euphoria lasts for longer, lol!

I mean, who wouldn't want to smell like hot cocoa/eggnog/apple cider everytime they washed their hair?

(Or maybe I'm just weird like that...)

Much love for philosophy's products, even though their fundraiser things can be a tad... wacky, lol.

:hmms Mannheim Steamroller music:

Maggie, great to see you the other day. We need to do that again sometime. When's Betsy home again? Week after Christmas?

Also, you girls need to check out Marc's blog:

You forgot your mom's birthday! What can you make out of super glue and olive pits?
A smokebomb, grappling hook, and helicopter homing beacon. Not much of a present, but a hell of an escape plan.

A) Because he's my amusing (if inherently WRONG) ex-bf, and B) anything titled Bomb Throwing Pacifist is worth reading through at least once. ;) ;)

I sliced my hand with a knife today. I'm VERY bright. :eye roll:

Weather is nice, but I don't trust it after six years enough to last for very long, lol. However, this next week for Christmas would be good.

Brother is better, so yay for that.

I have officially done no Christmas shopping, but that's ok, since I know what I'm getting. (Good thing about teenage brothers is that it's much more cost effective to get them Chipotle giftcards then to waste time wrapping something, lol.)

Good luck with your finals, Owen! :)

Random thought about weather...

Problem with it "warming up" right now... More snow... Hmmmm... Maybe 10 degrees was better? Lol! ;)

Owen, did you drop off the face of the earth again?

Update:

My brother's going to have to stay overnight again. (Poor kid.) However, his best friend/his parents came to visit him this afternoon and all his other friends (and his "girl friend"!) called him on the phone right after school... Naaaaaaaaaaw! :)

Also, while it was sunny and warmer at 2:30, now we've got dark/cold/snow globe effect going on in full force- I wish the weather would make up it's mind!

In addition- my three most often emailed contacts (read: Maggie, Betsy, and Owen), I forwarded you some pics from my aunt's wedding earlier. Isn't my aunt beautiful?? :) (Also, did the brown dress work on me?)

Ew, nasty

So, I've been lacking of online accessing the last few days, because my dah-ling 13-year-old brother managed to get a staph infection in a scrape on his elbow- which then mutated into water/puss filled/blistery things. Fairly nasty looking, actually.

Long story short, they stuck him in the hospital on Saturday, and he's still there getting antibiotics pumped into his arm via IV.

Blah.

However, no one's had to stay in a hospital overnight since I was like ten, so he was (originally, now I think he's just getting bored, because it's not like he feels sick or anything) having a good time getting fussed over and getting to play with the buttons on his bed.

Case in point, I called like an hour ago and, while my mom was talking to me on the phone, he kept putting his bed ALLLLLLL the way up- and then immeadiately ALLLLLLL the way down.

Went to visit him last night, and my sister loved the hospital cafeteria. (Go fig, since I thought the food was kinda sad looking, lol.)

Anyways, his infection isn't responding to the antibiotics as much as the docter wanted, so he may be coming home tonight... Or he might not, which would suck.

(I tell you, people in my family.... I ALWAYS get the strain of strep- C, I think- that you can't treat normally, and my brother is not only allergic to normal antibiotic pain medication, he also has to get the unusual strain of staph!)

So, prayers for my brother, and his arm!

WARNING: I HAVE AN ATTITUDE AND I KNOW HOW TO USE IT

So, sorry I haven't been writing like AT ALL since I got back, but I'm still sorta in the 'catching up on things and readjusting to the Eastern time zone/below freezing temperatures' stage. (With emphasis on the problem being on the second half. Seriously, I can't get out of bed/to work earlier/on time lately because I'm having problems forcing myself to get out of my fleece blankets and into the not-so-warm air. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!)

Good news is that it's going to snow 4-6 inches to night.

Don't look at me like that, Maggie- this is GOOD NEWS because it has to 'warm' back up to closer to freezing for snow to happen.

Bad news... Shoveling for the first time this winter at dark thirty in the morning. :whines:

I mean, since it was a high of SEVEN when I went to work this morning... And that's the 'minus WINDCHILL', which I assure you there was. :shiver:

Also, Maggie and I were talking about going to see a movie next Tuesday as it is her day off and if I whine that I haven't had one in weeks, I should be able to get it off too. (I don't know who else is back in town/if you're interested, but consider this an open invite.)

According to Fandango (as in the site, not the salad or a Mexican dancing oriented party) we have the following options, as Maggie and her family have decided to see Narnia this weekend... Which leaves me with no one to go with... But I'm not bitter at all, really! ;)

Pride and Prejudice (PG) 12:45 or
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (PG-13) 11:50am in town and

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (PG-13) 11:30am at the bigger, better theater.

Or, we extend where we're going a bit farther, and see Pride and Prejudice at a decent theater, since that also looks really good... Obviously, nothing's set in stone here, lol! ;)

And, once Memoirs of a Geisha is released nationwide, I'm going to insist on dragging people with me to see it. Maybe the week Betsy's home?

Btw, more pics/clips/trailers are up on Yahoo Movies, if anyone's interested...

Oh, and contrary to the subject heading here, I'm actually in a good mood. I just found it amusing. ;)

One last thing-

SOMEONE MAKE IT STOP BEING COLD! I'm SICK of it already! :P

:STANDING OVATION:

Just had to add... Betsy, you're AWESOME! :hugs: Fight the liberal system sister, and you SHOW THEM they can't make you encourage little kids to have sex outside of marriage! :)

:creative post title would go here... If I had one...:

Hey ya'll-

So, yes, I am back and then I was REALLY busy again through right now, so you'll have to excuse the lack of forthcoming information on my part.

So, California.

Amazing, sunny, and WARM. And, actually, possessing of cities and inhabiting people and things to do, which is also a good thing, lol!

We flew out Weds., and everything there went smoothly- minus the fact that my sixteen-year-old brother kept sticking the digital camera in my face and snapping pictures periodically = death to all sixteen-year-old boys! I mean, COME ON, who on this earth wants photographic evidence of themselves after a day of traveling that includes 6 hours on planes??

Had 3 Way Cincinnati spaghetti during our layover- which = pasta and chile with Cheddar cheese on top. I'd seen it on Food Network a few times, so I had to try it. Not as spicy as Texas chile (but is anything?), but it was something I'd definitely have again.

Got invited to sleep in my aunt's hotel room on her other bed, which was cool because A) got my own bed and B) no sharing shower/etc time with anyone else in my family, lol! ;)

Thursday = Thanksgiving. Had breakfast in the hotel lobby type area with all of my mom's family (we were all staying in the same hotel). Had a big pool/fountain thing with koi in the middle; very cool.

Had lots of family (my grandparents, my family, my uncle/aunt/cousins, and my aunt and Almost Uncle) posed pictures taken at the civic center/police station that was right next to the hotel. (I SERIOUSLY loved how everything was really close- read: not in another small town nearby that isn't YOUR home town) Took slightly less time then forever, but it was kinda fun and we should have good shots out of it.

Thanksgiving dinner was at a resturaunt my Uncle-to-Be's friend own that had the traditional turkey/whatever... But I had pasta with artichokes. Why? Because it's PASTA with ARTICHOKES and I have turkey on Thanksgiving EVERY year.

Side note: ACLU is pro the phrase "Turkey Day" instead of "Thanksgiving" because it makes Thanksgiving sound less of a religious based holiday. So, I hereby vow never to use the phrase "Turkey Day" again. Also, I would recommend atheist/etc not use the phrase "Thanksgiving", as there is no one they are technically giving thanks too. (You know, just so we don't confuse them with God fearing people who are not right in line to be toasty for eternity.)

Saw my Uncle-to-Be's/my aunt's future house and my uncle's bird after dinner. Jake is very cute, but seems to prefer to hang out with his "friend" in the mirror inside his cage then be examined by my sibs, cousins and myself, lol.

Friday = Repeat of sleeping at my aunt's room night before and family breakfast type situation.

Went with my mom, my aunt, and some friends of my uncle's (mother, 19-year-old daughter, and 16-year-old daughter) to get our fingers and toes done. Place was VERY California in a 'I think everyone who worked there was a Korean immigrant who didn't speak much English' sense. My nails turned out good (but the ends of my fingers had gotten so chipped after three days of being back at work/traveling that I took the polish off last night.) and the leg massage I got with the pedicure was AMAZING. :sigh: Could DEFINITELY do that again, lol!

I didn't have time to get shoes before we left (remember me panicking about that?) so my mom and I walked over to this huge, really nice mall and found those and some other things we needed to get last minute. And, actually, first day of Christmas shopping in L.A. wasn't QUITE as bad as I thought it was going to be. And my shoes (which were so what I was looking for- a sexy little black strappy high heeled number that was actually comfortable to wear- that I was GOING to crazy and pay full price on) were half off! Whoohoo!

Mom and I ran (literally, there was running through parking lots to get back to our hotel/car) to the wedding rehearsal, which went off with too much of a hitch, aside from of having to shudder through being in an Episcopal church again.

Wedding rehearsal dinner was a the Old Spaghetti Factory (I think that was the name, anyways) with pretty much everyone from both sides of the family. Awesome food, great atmosphere.

My mom and I then ran back to the mall and hit up Victoria Secret for something- and debating getting my uncle to be a gift card and my aunt a black feather boa. (Actually, when we talked to her on the phone, she said she already had one... SO do not want to go there, lol!)

Saturday = WEDDING! FREAK OUT!!!

Got our (my aunt, my mom's, my grandmother's and mine) done at 8. They put my hair through those hot curlers (name?? I'm SO dyslexic about hair/terms!), which took forever since my hair is so darn thick. The women who pulled it up did a GREAT job on my updo- I loved it! However, my aunt (who's hair looked gorgeous EVERYTIME THEY REDID IT) was having a last minute nerve spasm attack and made them change her hair like five different times.

Ironically... Just like her last wedding, lol.

Finally, we're all "you're going to be late for your own wedding because of your HAIR", dragged her out the door and went to the church.

Insanely fast changing operation happens, as we're totally behind schedule. As in- my mom is getting herself changed and calming down/helping her sister get changed, so I got my sister changed/did both of our make finishing touches. (Not very much for her since she's nine, but she was walking down the aisle first, so she had to have some blush, lip gloss, etc.)

Wedding goes down without a hitch, everything was gorgeous, mine, my sister's, and my aunt's flowers were BEAUTIFUL. Church was packed, which was nice, you know?

Reception was at a historic Spanish style home (think Stan Hywett except in California) that was being used as an art gallery/etc, so the atmosphere was really nice. Food (brunch) was REALLY good- especially this one salad with oranges, fetta, etc on it. Roughly three million pictures were taken, so I'll be sure to email ya'll a link to the photographer's site, etc. When he has them posted.

Sunday = DISNEYLAND/California Adventure park! And, OMG, THAT was a good time. Honestly, I wasn't all that excited about going because I figured it was probably overhyped and I'd probably be too old for a lot of it, but I was totally wrong! My Now Official Uncle knew where everything was, when to get fast passes (we never really had to stand in line for anything), all the little cool things tourists would totally miss.

Much loved the Star Wars simulator ride (DUDE! THEY HAD AN INTERACTIVE R2D2 and 3CPO FOR WHEN YOU WERE STANDING IN LINE! :freaks:), Space Mountain- it was AWESOME, the swings, the kid's rollercoaster, Pirates of the Caribbean (so old school, it's cool), etc. :)

Tuesday = We got up God awful early (3) to get to our plane on time, got on without a hitch, watched the sun come up while we were taking off, got to Cincinnati- and proceeded to miss our connecting flight because they held the plane at John Wayne so some passengers who were late could get on. = Spent WAY longer (seven plus hours) in that airport then anyone EVER needs to doing pretty much absolutely nothing.

Got home way after midnight, honest to God set my alarm clock so I could get to work, but never heard it. And no one in my family work up until after noon. Sooooooooooo.... I totally missed work, but no one mentioned it on Thursday, so we should be good there, lol.

So, I'm done typing for today, since I gave myself a attractive HUGE blood blister on my thumb today and it's REALLY throbbing now that I've typed this lovely novel, so I'll have to try and come over and individually email people Monday or something on my break. (Sorry!)

Missed talking to you lots,

Me

And we're back!

Trip was awesome, wedding was beautiful, Norma told me today that I actually got something minorly resembling a tan,. and I'm on break and have to get back to work, but I promise I'll blog more (with ACTUAL DETAILS) ASAP.

Miss me? ;)