joy and shadows

Dry Cheerios
Cucumber salad
Beer

Any questions?

That's the number of the Red Cross. Which all of you Americans lucky enough not to be affected by Hurricane Katrina should be calling. It doesn't matter if you can't give hundreds of dollars. Give what you can.

You can also go to their website: The Red Cross

If you want to wear your support, you can get one of their super-cool field bags or shirts or knit kits in their Red Cross Store. I have the t-shirt and the bag, and they look great with jeans.

A lot of people were left with a bad taste in their mouth after 9/11 regarding the Red Cross. However, the ARC is a disaster relief organization, not a charity operation. They move in after situations like a natural disaster or during wartime and dispense aid. What money they don't use, they save for the next disaster. So let's all move past 9/11.

And can I say this to all you media people out there in TV-land who are trying to find something or someone to blame this hurricane on: CUT THAT SHIT OUT RIGHT NOW. KATRINA WAS AN ACT OF GOD, IF THAT TERMINOLOGY PLEASES YOU. IT IS NOBODY'S FAULT. PEOPLE ARE NOT PSYCHIC AND HINDSIGHT IS ALWAYS 20/20. KATRINA CAME ASHORE AS A CATEGORY 4 STORM, AND IF YOU DIDN'T EXPECT THAT TO BLAST A CITY THAT LIES BELOW SEA LEVEL BACK INTO THE 18TH CENTURY, YOU ARE OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MINDS.

I was thinking about all the unfortunate people who have been victimized by this storm, and it seems to me that it must be very hard to reconcile living in the 21st century with the reality of what has happened. You know that 150 miles in any direction, people are living their lives with water and electricity and communication and food, all these things that we have come to take for granted because our society is so advanced. You can understand why people are upset - it's more than the disaster. It's the whole "We live in the United States - how can this be happening to us? Where is food, where is water, where is transportation?" And then they think about aid to tsunami victims and Florida and get angrier. Then they get a gun. And then things go to hell.

Would one of you nice Naruto fans make or point me to a good screenshot of Tenten? I understand that she's something of a minor character, so I don't know what episode(s) to look in to find a good shot of my own. I've been working on the cosplay section of my site, and I need the cap for a graphic.

Thank you so much!

I saw an advertisement for Naruto on CN, which is premiering the second weekend in September.

Brace yourselves, anime fans.

Dear Hugo Chavez,

Please do not listen to Pat Robertson. He is a bona fide fruitcake. I don't know why anyone is paying attention to him in the first place.

Dear OCD gym room,

Whoever keeps putting on the Food Network during their workout should be taken out into the street and shot without trial. Let this be a warning to you.

Dear CC board,

If anything else is wrong with my documents, I will beat you with a stick.

Dear Biotin-BMCC,

Please dissolve in something or I will spit on you.

Love, me.

I already accept that I'm a hypochondriac. It's what happens when you read too many ominous articles from such qualified publications as Reader's Digest.

But when there's an intermittent sharp pain from the base of my throat down to the inside of my arm, I start to get worried.

And my doctor won't see me for a checkup until at least December.

I think I need a new doctor.

Sometimes I enjoy getting spam because of the preposterous names that come attached to the email. So far, the best name I got was Roughage O. Satire, which I use over at Fandom Wank. But, I think I got a better one today:

Postdoctoral G. Tailpipes.

I'm so using that.

Back to work, sigh.

It was so godforsaken hot this weekend that it was hard to want to do anything but sit in the air conditioning. It's been so hazy that you can't see the sky, even at night - very disappointing, because I wanted to watch some of the Perseids.

After being turned away from the reservoir last weekend, husband and I were bound and determined to do something in the water this weekend, and his friend suggested tubing down the Delaware. So, off we went on Saturday morning to River Country. For $20/head, they load you on a bus, take you to a drop point, and off you go. The water was low and the current was not very swift, but we had a wonderful time drifting down the river. It was deep enough in portions to swim around a little, but other times it was too shallow and we had to get out and walk. We got there early to beat the crowds, and by the time we left, they were packin' them in.

I spent a lot of the remainder of the weekend working on the hakama in fits and starts. To anyone who plans on trying these, my advice is: baste the pleats. It will save you a lot of trouble. The front is almost finished - needs some edgestitching on the ties - but the back still needs work. To make the koshiita, I'd originally bought some Timtex, but it wasn't as stiff as I'd like. At the fabric store, they had some buckram with the other interfacings, and I discovered when I got home that it was (OH JOYNESS!) fusible. Layering two sheets of that with two sheets of Timtex produced a very nice semi-stiff backboard.

We did watch the football game on Saturday night, and true to form, the Giants were pathetic. It's going to be a long year. I also discovered that my folks had given away all the preseason tickets, which was annoying, but I put a word in for opening day since it's a 4:15 game.

Low point of the weekend was breaking the washing machine - the damn thing won't spin, thanks to me forgetting that the beach towels are really heavy when wet. Something must have stripped in the gears. Oh well, call the repairman.

Seen in lalieth's journal.

20 of my favorite pairings, in no particular order.

1. Luke/Mara (Star Wars. this one got me into reading fanfic. I am ashamed.)
2. Ron/Hermione (Harry Potter)
3. Vash/Meryl (Trigun)
4. Keith/Allura (Voltron)
5. Wildstar/Nova (Star Blazers)
6. Laguna/Raine (FFVIII)
7. Squall/Quistis (FFVIII)
8. Jin/Shino (Samurai Champloo)
9. Tidus/Yuna (FFX)
10. Silverbolt/Blackarachnia (Beast Wars)
11. Orihime/Tatsuki (Bleach)
12. Ichigo/Rukia (Bleach)
13. Skif/Nyara (Mage Winds trilogy)
14. Vanyel/Stefan (The Last Herald-Mage trilogy)
15. Daetrin/Kiri (The Madness Season)
16. Phèdre/Hyacinthe (Kushiel’s Dart trilogy)
17. Michael/Robin (Witch Hunter Robin)
18. Andrew/Marita (Sable, Shadow, and Ice)
19. Gwydion/Aeron (Copper Crown trilogy)
20. Bren/Jago (Foreigner series)

Starkle, starkle, little twink,

Who the hell are you I think.

I'm not under what you call

The alcofluence of incohol.

I'm just a little slort of sheep,

I'm not drunk like thinkle peep.

I don't know who is me yet,

But the drunker I stand here the longer I get.

So just give me one more fink to drill my cup,

Cause I got all day sober to Sunday up