end of day lol

good morning, hallelujah

The fact of the matter is that we have made it this far. Despite the parade of disappointments and disillusionments with the world, despite our self-inflicted list of self-complaints about how we've slipped up, we are doing pretty darn well. Despite the nauseating bail-out requests, unaccounted for funds, Blackwater killings, Maul Mart deaths, and governor arrests by the F.B.I., we are still keepin' on keepin' on. If weight gain is the extent of our problems, then we are pretty blessed.

and i do love oprah
i would like to join a gym here. i can't afford it, so i need to make myself exercise anyway. and i need to give up the smoking. for good. and i need to, and i need to, and ... dammit i AM pretty blessed. i need to tell the voice inside my head to pipe down instead of berating me constantly.

give me a break self.

iwearyourshirt.com

this guy is going to make $66795 over the next year all because he's going to wear someone else's shirt.

wish i'd thought of that.

quincy jones asks obama to create a secretary of the arts

there's an online petition asking obama to create a secretary of the arts. a cabinet member.

quincy jones was interviewed on wnyc's "soundcheck," and he says his next goal in life is to have the position created. why not? all the other industrialized countries have one. the united states could certainly use someone at the top rooting for all of the creatives. finally, a position in the cabinet that i would totally go for.

info quelled from the chronicle of philanthropy blog

wnyc

i've finally made it inside the ride! i'm working at WNYC as their marketing coordinator. very exciting.

i'm really liking it so far. the building is AMAZING, the people i'm working with are, so far, incredibly talented and hard working. good aesthetics and hard work are my favorite qualities in coworkers and surroudings, and in people in general. they'er also good humored.

things WORK here. meaning that i'm actually really liking working as a marketing rep. and i love this place, meaning i believe wholeheartedly in what i'm preaching. that makes it so much easier to do a good job. hopefully the good feelings will continue after the new wears off!

i've decided we need to live in park slope or brooklyn heights, if we're not to move to manhattan. not immediately, of course, probably not in the next year or so. but after that, when we're both established well. god did right by me having me find my way to WNYC!

there's great stuff around the office, too. soho's just up from here, the village, and the post office is across the street, nick arrojo's studio is 1 block over, there's a chipotle, korean bbq and falafel trucks out front. wachovia is pretty far away, but that won't matter soon.

i've done it! not without some assistance from very wonderful colleagues and people, but i feel like i've arrived (for 25 years old, at least). i expected to hit my stride, and the universe gave me what i was after. even amidst the financial turmoil.

ok - i must get back to the phone calls i was making. but have no fear, i do not believe this is the end of netta producing. i think that is just on hold for now. we shall see what path i choose. the doors have been opened.

sarah palin pardoning a turkey

so we know that she can't talk about most anything that requires intelligence. apparently, sarah palin can't talk about turkey either.

several updates

1. i got a job. several jobs.

i started at air america as a part time call-screener, and i'll be doing that for the rest of this week. those people will hold for almost 3 hours. that's an entire show. i'm well-impressed with that.

i also have some gigs lined up at wnyc. thank you to everyone that has helped out with that!

i was working, as well, at a documentary studio as an intern. i got a little bit familiar with final cut pro, but i definitely think it was time to dip before they got too used to how hard i work! hah!

2. snoop dogg appeared on martha stewart?!



indeed my friends. indeed.

3. the number of hate crimes across america have gone up exponentially since barack was elected president. i don't understand. what the hell are people afraid of? i don't understand continued shows of racism. that thing people do when db2 shows up where they snap their head back a little like, "oh. i thought you were a white guy!" it was so subtle for so long, but i guess barack being elected has given people a reason to let that shit fly. well. that's what it is. shit.

4. thanksgiving is almost upon us, and it snowed today in nyc! i can't wait to go home to nc, shop at jc penny's, do some laundry for FREE at my mom's, and squeeze the hell out of some of my homies. it's the little things.

spacebar on macbook

i am really annoyed. the spacebar on my macbook is now sticking. causing me to have to hit it really hard to get a space. AAAAAAAAAAHKKHHHHHHHHHH.

i just went to craig's list again

because i'm still applying for jobs ... just in case
and i can't even bring myself to write another cover letter. i guess i should give myself a break.

went over to shara's and re-dyed the hair. hair appointment thursday.
we watched part of sex and the city - the movie. loving it, too. forgot how much i miss that show.

davey b goes on tour for a few days now. he's out somewhere tonight with ryan. i thought they'd be home by now ... i beat them! i am so glad that he is with me on this adventure.

new york - you are making me stronger. i am still me, but i am just as strong as i thought i was, and god really gives you what you need when you need it. support and love surround me even as i'm 100's of miles away from little ol raleighwood.

i miss dance class the most.

this is how i feel right now

interning at a documentary studio

blowback productions

while i wait to hear back from wnyc, i figured why not do something else with my time other than watching house reruns that i dvd'd? so, i'm interning at a really cool documentary studio in chelsea that is in a sweet building with sweet freakin views.

i watched "selects" of two docs they're currently working on - brick city and out of fashion.

brick city is about newark, nj. i found it to be REALLY interesting, and i REALLY, REALLY want to know what's going on with the people in it.

out of fashion is about the demise of the nyc garment industry, and it was really depressing. especially since i don't have a paying job right now. that will all change soon, but still.

i've made a new frand - who's profile pic on facebook features her dressed in a bathing suit and heels. she has no shame and i am lovin her ideas already. she's working on another project that involves the music of the african diaspora.

i read the other day about a dj named frank gossner that is right up her alley. he gave up a super lucrative dj'ing career and just moved to africa to collect records. that's some balls!

we're off tonight to a drum n bass event. shara and i are also going to panty raid. /hi kicky

re: taxes going up

i originally posted this in response to the status of my cousin and her former roommate, but i feel it should have a place on my blog, too.

you know, ladies, please share this with chelsea, too. the taxes that we pay here are SO substantially less than in places like canada. taxes pay for things like the roads, the high schools you went to, programs to help victims, they pay to keep jails secure and kept up. in the grand scheme of things, i can't believe that is politically the most important thing to the two of you. if it is, i'm very sad about that. i was not going to say anything, but i truly would like to have an open conversation about it.

the taxes that we have been paying have also been going to pay for the billions of dollars we've spent in iraq. they're going to bail out the financial disaster on wall street. taxes are a necessary evil in life, and they end up benefiting you whether you like them or not. you would go through life without health insurance for yourself or your children, would you? not if you could afford it.

taxes are like insurance. the higher rates you pay - the better protection you receive.

disbelief

last night we felt disbelief. we felt honor. we felt so many different things.

but i am mostly taken by my feelings of surprise. i expected barack to win, but it feels so good knowing we didn't screw this one up. after electing bush, unbelievably, twice, i didn't know if america had it in her. i still can't believe the number of friends and family i have that voted for mccain/palin. not to be sour, but palin can take the bridge back to alaska.

i think voting for mccain/palin was a foolish choice, but they probably believe the same of my choice to vote for obama. the race in nc is still too close to call whether obama or mccain won. that is incredible to me. it looks like obama has done it, but at the time of this writing it's still unclear.

what IS clear, is that dole is going home. and hagan is going to dc. i'm very pleased about that. pleased that we have a democrat governor, even though i don't particularly care for her, she's a better choice than mccrory. democrats in nc are different from democrats in other states. they're much more conservative and old boy's club - even the women.

that being said, i can't wait to see if there are celebrations today. i've got an interview at 2 in chelsea, so i will get to see the atmosphere and feeling in manhattan.

police shut down speakers outside storefront for art and architecture

Police Shut Down Speakers Outside Storefront for Art and Architecture
Originally uploaded by wnyc

similar scenes in williamsburg last night, apparently. i got messages that there were fireworks at some point. much celebration going on in the street. i txted and called everyone i could think of - we are so proud. tears and champagne.

later last night i got txts that there was rioting in williamsburg. i read on gothamist that it was just a celebration, maybe a few bottles being thrown, until nypd showed up in full riot gear. that apparently made everyone angry.

i'll be waiting to read what went down in my neighboring hood. we went outside when the race was called and there was no one on the streets of greenpoint. at least not on kingsland. got up early this morning to go get some papers before they sell out.

what a night. we've done it!

oh hailloween

how was your halloween?

mine was OK. next year i will know that if i want to go to the east village halloween parade that i must either arrive much earlier, bring a stepstool, view from the other side of the street, or some combination of all 3.

i went as a voodoo priestess / witch doctor. i scared the bejesus out of some people riding on the train because i blacked my teeth out. that was very good fun. in fact, here's a photo of me re-applying blackout to my teeth! unfortunately, there wasn't a photo taken of my entire outfit by anyone i know.

a lot of people took their photo with me, and a lot of photographers took my photo, but somehow we forgot to take one.

anyway. we later came home and changed back into our regular people clothes because my foot was giving me some serious trouble. shara wasn't having any of that, and she promptly put a stache and beard on me.

hilarious. she also let me borrow a beautiful parka that she got somewhere for a steal. beautiful embroidery. got my jones going for a sample sale!

i sold a bunch of stuff at buffalo exchange, which is the raddest little outpost i've stopped into in awhile. i scored davie b some pf flyers he's been jonesin, and i scored the gold mids i've been stalking for almost a year now. and a rad puma bag, and a jacket for work. oh and a flask.

brooklyn, you are so good to me. so rewarding. it makes schluffing up to the laundromat with my underwear out for all to see worth it.

we tried some place called habitat in greenpoint, but it wasn't in our neck of greenpoint. they also weren't serving food by the time we got there. so a car back to willy b, falafel by the l stop (not so great ... my falafel from costco is hella better). then to muggs, where i had some beer. duvel. who knew that i could even drink a whole beer?

i didn't hate it. but i still like shara's birthday beer better. leffe.

on that note ... back to craig's list. which has also rewarded me significantly.

an evening with ira glass?!

really? for $25? is there a catch here ...
the ymca? REALLY?

18 Nights of Inspiration: An Evening with [title of show] and Ira Glass

18 Nights of Inspiration: An Evening with [title of show] and Ira GlassThe New York Times called [title of show] "DELECTABLE ENTERTAINMENT! A postmodern homage to the grand tradition of backstage musicals like Babes in Arms, Kiss Me, Kate and A Chorus Line."

Join the extraordinary company of Broadway’s huge hit [title of show] for a lively conversation and performance, moderated by Ira Glass, in celebration of the little musical that could. Participants include creators Hunter Bell and Jeff Bowen and their co-stars Heidi Blickenstaff and Susan Blackwell, Director Michael Berresse and Musical Director Larry Pressgrove.


Date & Time: Wed, Nov 5, 2008, 5:30pm
Location: 92YTribeca, 200 Hudson Street
Venue: 92YTribeca Mainstage
Code: T-MM5TH01-01
Price: $25.00

voting

the day is almost upon us. i feel like ... no, i know, we're living some serious history the next couple of days. here we go.

obama 08

deep breaths!

ok brooklyn. i am here.

we are living in greenpoint, and everything in our new apartment is still pretty much a wreck, but god i have never been this floored in my life. we have an adventure every day.

neither of us house secured a job yet, but we're both expecting to in the next week or two.

i miss the people of north carolina. but lord have mercy do i belong here.

david put together a pink bike from target for me all by his self (so proud!!), and i can't wait for his to get here so we can go riding and explore.

i still can't believe we live here, but at the same time i totally believe it because i shouldn't be living anywhere else. what an incredible journey the last week has been.

hey life! here i come!!

things i learned ...

[from shara]
it's ok to wander around bklyn at nighttime and talk to all the strangers we see and take our picture with them.
it's more than ok to nick a glass on your birthday.
leffe is good. i don't hate all beer.
red bowl is the bomb . com for a saturday night.
it's always sunny in philadelphia.
my boyfriend is one of the last nice guys.
how to really capture life by photo.

[from bklyn and manhattan / lately]
always carry bandaids and talcum powder if you're going to walk around and get lost.
your feet ... they are not used to this.
it's hard to have bad food here.
it's hard to find a good apartment.
you should keep the faith. faith comes through.

[from rob haining]
there are some people in life who are so beyond kind and giving that they sometimes leave you at a loss for words and usually leave you at a total loss of how to respond other than to thank them profusely.
rob is an ever-lasting kind of rad.

[from db2]
always call continental when they say you can't check in online.
do not ride the bus to jfk. it is scary.
go to drum n bass shows. even if you don't think your feet feel like it.
somebody always loves me. for me.

[from basil]
even with a deformity, you can be the most handsomest thing ever.

[from bee]
shake your toys. hard. people will get out of the way.

[from wnyc]
find someone on the inside when looking for a new job. always. somehow.
be persistent.

from [mtv/nickelodeon/viacom]
be persistenter.
always know that nothing is for sure. but keep the faith.

wanna see our new apartment?

i can't wait to be king[sland]!!

we dun moved to brooklyn

to greenpoint. kingsland ave. our place is huge. we are beyond stoked.

shoes and politics

are my 2 favorite topics.

hey look! over there!

krystle has a blog tumblr thingy now, too

and she made a post. for me. i'd never seen this one. but it makes me tear up a little. my little raleigh. i've grown up, and i'm going to leave you. but you will always have my heart. (you, too, joe, pete, krystle, rob, anita, bode, emy, devon, chris, jaire, jeffrey, brian, lashawn, joi, jill, carson, joy, adam, johnny, kyara, eric, dana v, jack, jason, gray, paul, jenn, sarah, mat, spclgst, mollie, andy, nick, holly, marcus, trevor, alex, dre, jeff, king, renee, the other joe, the other joe, and the other joe, all the scotty's, tash, allie, shannel, all the other andys, napoleon, alison, allie, and oh god i'm forgetting people.)

but if you were in my orbit, then you have a place in my heart.

i will miss you, but this is not the end.

ps - happy birthday to me!

dilbert from july 24, 2002

12 greek words you should know

here are my favorites from the list of 12 greek words you should know

1. Acme

The highest point of a structure. The peak or zenith of something. One could say that Rome reached the acme of its power on 117 AD, under the rule of Trajan.

The acme of modular, factory-built, passively safe reactor design, however, is found in South Africa. People there have been experimenting with so-called pebble-bed reactors for decades. (The Economist)

4. Anathema

Anathema is a noun and it means a formal ban, curse or excommunication. It can also refer to someone or something extremely negative, disliked or damned. Curiously enough, the original Greek meaning for this word was “something offered to the gods.”

Some thinkers argue that while collaboration may work for an online encyclopedia, it’s anathema to original works of art or scholarship, both of which require a point of view and an authorial voice. (USA Today)

6. Ethos

Translated literally from the Greek, ethos means “accustomed place.” It refers to a disposition or characteristics peculiar to a specific person, culture or movement. Synonyms include mentality, mindset and values.

Consumerism needs this infantilist ethos because it favors laxity and leisure over discipline and denial, values childish impetuosity and juvenile narcissism over adult order and enlightened self-interest, and prefers consumption-directed play to spontaneous recreation. (Los Angeles Times)

11. Plethora

You have a plethora when you go beyond what is needed or appropriate. It represents an excess or undesired abundance.

In California, for example, some neighborhoods have been blighted by the plethora of empty homes. Joe Minnis, a real estate agent for Prudential California, knows foreclosed homes in San Bernardino that have been systematically stripped, trashed and tagged by gang members. (Business Week)

sup nyc

see ya nc

how the us became what we supposedly hate most

i ain't no france hater. and i ain't no socialist hater. but most of the us could be characterized as such. my favorite article from time of the week explains why we're late to the party, broke when we get there, and the laughingstock of the entire guest list.

So yes, while we're still willing to work ourselves to death for the privilege of paying off our usurious credit cards, we can no longer look contemptuously at the land of 246 cheeses [France]. Kraft Foods has replaced American International Group in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the insurance company having been added to Paulson's nationalized portfolio. Macaroni and cheese has supplanted credit default swaps at the fulcrum of capitalism. And one more thing: the food snob French love McDonalds, which does a fantastic business there. They know a good freedom fry when they taste one.

who invented the :)?

this man, apparently.
i think i might try to do a show on him!

financial crisis

EXplained. it's really not all that complicated. and i laugh at the part that reads:

Conservative Republicans always want the government to stay out of business and avoid regulation as long as they are making lots of money. When their greed, however, gets them into a fix, they are the first to cry out for rules and laws and taxpayer money to bail out their businesses. Obviously, Republicans are socialists.

true. story.

she's not ready

But there is a profound double standard in this country. The likes of John McCain and George W. Bush can do the craziest, most irresponsible things imaginable, and it only seems to help them politically.

the posts are getting better by the hour

double standards abound in politics

If you spend 3 years as a community organizer growing your organization from a staff of 1 to 13 and your budget from $70,000 to $400,000, then become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review,create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new African Amerian voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor,then spend nearly 8 more years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, becoming chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, then spend nearly 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of nearly 13 million people, sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you are woefully inexperienced.

If you spend 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, then spend 20 months as the governor of a state with 650,000 people, you've got the most executive experience of anyone on either ticket, are the Commander in Chief of the Alaska military and are well qualified to lead the nation should you be called upon to do so because your state is the closest state to Russia.

a sound article on the wall street meltdown

is here

i agree that all of those who are libertarians and democrats, those who favor deregulation, really think about what deregulation has done for wall street and the economy. it's been proven time and again that allowing it to happen creates networks of disaster that end up in millions lost. from enron to wall street we go!

eve ensler - drill drill drill

i've always been a fan of the vagina monologues
the creator, eve ensler, has written a poignant piece on sarah palin

after reading that, i noticed a link to a story about a rally held in alaska - the alaska women reject palin rally. not the most catchy name, and it hasn't gotten a whole lot of media coverage, but over 1400 people attended. in alaska. that is the largest rally in the state's history.

i am still incredibly pissed off that john mccain has chosen her as a running mate. it dominates my thoughts.

oh my god. hilarious:

Gee whilikers, the McCain vampire just won't die! Hit him with a hammer, and he explodes like a jellyfish into a hundred hungry pieces.

unfortunately, the rest of the article i find to be highly alarming. palin is NOT a feminist.

mccain lies and distortion

karl rove appears bitterly divided on the experience issue

netta's political thoughts of the day

so, because i'm a journalist and i work in the
media, i bristle whenever i hear a reference to the "liberal media."
my view on all of this is that the majority of the media, particularly
television news, has actually become a mouthpiece for propaganda -
propaganda that is far from liberal.

what you see on tv news is usually a 30 second soundbite that doesn't ever deliver the entire story.

i enjoyed reading this piece: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/09/opinion/09herbert.html

and i found this comment on the piece to be quite poignant, and i agree with the poster:


Not to blame the media in the calculated and cynical way the
Republicans did during their convention, but it is hard to stand up to
the lies and illusions of the Right when the media insists all
arguments are equally valid and is so afraid of losing access that it
refuses to call a spade and spade and call out the transparency of the
lies politicians (of all parties) spew in order to be elected.


You saw this after the McCain campaign abused CNN for serious
questioning of its spokesman. The next day CNN fawned over McCain's
speech saying at one point it was more substantive that Obama's. It
wasn't until the next day when more rational minds dissected the speech
did it get reported that the speech was in fact virtually devoid of any
substantive policy positions and many of the "facts" cited were
completely fabricated.

The press has to get back to the task
of impartially observing and investigating the issues of the day. This
24/7 cycle of Jerry Springer where the most obnoxious and chronic liars
come out on top is a big part of the current lack of substantive
discourse in this country. And while the media organization bear a lot
of responsibility for this dereliction of duty, they couldn't get away
with this "reality journalism" if large portions of the public didn't
eat it up.

— David Stewart, New York, NY

while
i'm not fully in line with either party these days because i'm
frustrated with democrats for not standing up for themselves and for
the people of this country, and i'm irate with republicans for allowing
things to go the way they have ... i'm even more frustrated with the
way the media has remained in a cycle that has presented the
investigative journalism of days gone by.

i would like to
encourage those reading this blog to please pay attention to the
newspapers of the world, please listen to npr and the bbc, and please
watch cspan. fox news, cnn, and even msnbc are not giving you a
balanced or truthful idea of what is really going on because that can't
be delivered in 30 seconds.

it's much cooler to pay attention.

thank you for tuning in to netta's political thoughts for the day.

:)

/np

books palin wanted banned

when sarah palin was the mayor of wasilla, she wanted the following books banned. when the librarian refused to ban them, palin tried to have the librarian fired.
the list is taken directly from the official minutes of the wasilla library board.

1. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

2. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

3. Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden

4. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

5. Blubber by Judy Blume

6. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

7. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

8. Canterbury Tales by Chaucer

9. Carrie by Stephen King

10. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

11. Christine by Stephen King

12. Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

13. Cujo by Stephen King

14. Curses, Hexes, and Spells by Daniel Cohen

15. Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite

16. Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Peck

17. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

18. Decameron by Boccaccio

19. East of Eden by John Steinbeck

20. Fallen Angels by Walter Myers

21. Fanny Hill (Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure) by John Cleland

22. Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes

23. Forever by Judy Blume

24. Grendel by John Champlin Gardner

25. Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam

26. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

27. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

28. Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

29. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

30. Have to Go by Robert Munsch

31. Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman

32. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell

33. Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

34. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

35. Impressions edited by Jack Booth

36. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak

37. It's Okay if You Don't Love Me by Norma Klein

38. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

39. Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence

40. Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

41. Little Red Riding Hood by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

42. Lord of the Flies by William Golding

43. Love is One of the Choices by Norma Klein

44. Lysistrata by Aristophanes

45. More Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz

46. My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

47. My House by Nikki Giovanni

48. My Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara

49. Night Chills by Dean Koontz

50. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

51. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer

52. One Day in The Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn

53. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

54. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

55. Ordinary People by Judith Guest

56. Our Bodies, Ourselves by Boston Women's Health Collective

57. Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy

58. Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl

59. Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones by Alvin Schwartz

60. Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz

61. Separate Peace by John Knowles

62. Silas Marner by George Eliot

63. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

64. Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs

65. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

66. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

67. The Bastard by John Jakes

68. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

69. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier

70. The Color Purple by Alice Walker

71. The Devil's Alternative by Frederick Forsyth

72. The Figure in the Shadows by John Bellairs

73. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

74. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson

75. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

76. The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Snyder

77. The Learning Tree by Gordon Parks

78. The Living Bible by William C. Bower

79. The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare

80. The New Teenage Body Book by Kathy McCoy and Charles Wibbelsman

81. The Pigman by Paul Zindel

82. The Seduction of Peter S. by Lawrence Sanders

83. The Shining by Stephen King

84. The Witches by Roald Dahl

85. The Witches of Worm by Zilpha Snyder

86. Then Again, Maybe I Won't by Judy Blume

87. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

88. Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare

89. Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary by the Merriam-Webster

90. Editorial Staff

91. Witches, Pumpkins, and Grinning Ghosts: The Story of the Halloween

92. Symbols by Edna Barth

i wish mccain had gotten barack'rolld like this ...

patsy stone? or mccain's wife?

i usually don't like to participate in ridiculing someone else's looks. in fact, not only do i not condone it, i usually look down upon those that snark in that manner.

i can't resist here.

who's familiar with patsy stone? from ab fab?

she's the blonde in the first 3 photos. now. who does this look like on the far right in my last photo?

can we also talk about:

a. how creepy john mccain looks manhandling palin's youngest daughter

b. how uncomfortable palin's husband looks

c. the grip that middle daughter has on trig (not the grip that pregnant eldest daughter usually has)

d. pregnant daughter's bf has had a haircut

e. mrs. mccain's lovely legs. they match her suit.

oh body language.

the host whisperer

i've been fortunate enough to have been trained by david candow once. i can only hope that the station will bring him back again. this article, in the washington post, explains why they call him "the host whisperer." he's re-trained and trained many a host and producer in the npr-sphere. and he's a great teacher and story teller himself.

i love james carville

sometimes i love him, and sometimes i hate him, because sometimes i agree with him and sometimes i vehemently disagree with him.

here, he shows exactly why he is such an important voice.

friday's off

i've declared that i'm now coming in at 7am m-th, and i will be taking friday's off. i will be spending my friday's pursuing other things - my crafting, relaxing, working on me, and trying to figure out what my next step in life may be if things that i'm hoping for don't pan out. i will be exploring what doors are open and which ones i might be able to shove open a little further.

that being said, i'm feeling delightful.

why i hate it when db2's mom leaves fox on the tv

hallelujah

150 days until bush leaves office

it's like seeing a light at the end of a tunnel that has felt never-ending.

let's just hope it's not extinguished.

in sort of related news, i discovered today that my senior year (high school) english teacher, mr. lake, is still freakin cool. he's in a band. and they recorded a song and posted it on youtube. he's the one singing.

i give you ... "new born south"

the girl effect

http://girleffect.org

in more exciting news

i came from a place of power. my big sister coworker is now officially a life coach! she passed down to me some knowledge that she's gotten from talking to her life coach about the workplace and how to grow, how to come from a place of power. i followed her instructions!

i went home friday afternoon and laid out a plan of what to say. i've been feeling less than satisfied because i know that i deserve to be called a producer. i may not have the same time as other producers - i may be only 24, but i'm not green anymore. i've shown my worth, and i've produced and produced and produced. so i knew that having this talk with higher ups was coming from a place of truth.

after laying out my plan of what to say, i didn't cry! i almost always cry when i have to ask for something or ask for something serious, but not this time. and i got what i wanted!

i will be away from the office on friday's from now on working on other things, and i will be coming in at 7 am starting the week of september 5 (that's next week) instead of at 8 in order to get in 4 extra hours. i'm so excited i could pop!

there has also been talk of changing my official job title. and maybe a few other things. i love it when i feel like i've taken back the power!

now i'm going to talk to big sis's life coach. what a day already!

no sooner did i make the pact

... we totally went shopping this weekend. while i kept it way under what i would normally when going to marshall's and kohl's, i still shopped. i kept it under wraps at target. but kohl's broke me down!

i had a nice outfit for saturday night's viewing of another gay sequel: gays gone wild, but it was an expensive one!!

so i made a pact with db2 this morning. together we will not spend. we will do this!

another gay sequel - we laughed, we were grossed out, but it was mostly just nice to see my gay homies and hang. some of them insist that i must see the first part in this series that it is much funnier. it can't be much grosser. butt plugs and puke. mm.

moving right along. the water park. well, it was fun. i do have a hilarious picture of me on a ride called "the edge," but db2 and i were both struck by how many areas of the park smelled of urine. straight up. the rides were fun, but i felt sick every time the wind would blow while waiting in line. i have a feeling they don't take care of the water there like they should. it was also pretty chilly at 79/80 degrees, and the water was even chillier! i don't think we'll be back at wet n wild. next time we'll buck up and head for myrtle waves. although, it might be just as gross. it has been many years since i've been there!

schlitterbahn spoiled me. db2 insists we must try the one in new braunfels and we must also go tubing. we shall see. we. shall. see.

oh. there was also a black tube that we went down, we raced each other (see picture in post below). i was informed that it "didn't hurt at all" and was a lot of fun. it was great until about half way down i somehow ended up flipped over and face down. i almost drowned, and it was pretty painful. i don't think i'll ride that one again. all in all, the dragon ride was my favorite. we rode that one twice, and i'd ride it again fer sure. especially if the water didn't smell like piss. :)

24 is a hard year

i think, for a lot of people, that 24 is a really tough year. i know that it's been a rough ride for me - in terms of what's going on in my head. the immediate outside world has been relatively calm; i technically own half the property i live in, i have a live-in boyfriend that helps to pay the bills and take care of the weenie dogs (and me ... when i admit to it), i bought a car earlier in the year - my dream car, and i have a mother that still provides me with a pretty steady stipend each month.

that's part of what makes 24 tough, for me. i don't have all the money in the world, but i don't really have to struggle either (monetarily speaking). i'm struggling in other areas, but i find myself questioning whether or not i should struggle more monetarily to prove myself. i mean, who would want to give up free money, right? but there seems to be a cost to accepting help from my mother. yeah, sometimes she will say something like, "well we really need to reduce this credit card bill." and i swear to myself that this month, this month i will not shop at target with total abandon. but target is so delicious when i go in, and i go in with this feeling of not being whole and needing to fill it with ... things from target.

i don't need anymore clothes or shoes, and that's the understatement of the year. people have beyond noticed that they don't see me in the same thing twice and can't recall the last time they saw me in the same pair of sneakers or high heels. hell, i can't recall the last time i wore a lot of things.

anyway, my point is that i'm provided for. hell, i'm pampered to the point of being spoiled, and sometimes i'm selfish and don't want to share. but i see that as a serious character flaw in other people. so why don't i hold myself to the same principle?

i'm incredibly hard on myself, and i play the victim so often because that's what's comfortable. that's what i've been doing for so long it's like an old shoe. i'd like to call myself out, but even when i do, i don't seem to really make a change. i guess i'll try one more time.

if you've got skeletons in your closet - you'd best learn how to make them dance. playing the victim is definitely a skeleton i need to make have the wiggles if i can't figure out how to dismantle it and move it out.

i absolve here and now to not shop for 1 month. will i cave? we will see. i must put away the jc penney, the forever 21, the h&m (which i can't even get to unless i'm on vacation), the TARGET! (lord have mercy), the ikea (if i could get to it), the fm goods and sounds, baker's, etc.

my reward for not shopping for a month will be to go thrifting in september. this is not just to save money, but to prove to myself that i can break this habit of filling empty with stuff. and to make 25 a little less of a conflict in my head.

water park!

so the water slides i like to ride are big and bad ass. i like to have the crap scared out of me. i've never seen one like this one to the left, and it looks pretty bad ass. check out that pool at the bottom. i'm thinking it has to be a photoshop.

...

we went to a place called schlitterbahn in galveston while we were visiting db2's family over the weekend in texas. they have the bomb lazy river ... because you can veer off in your inner tube and be in the not-so-lazy river that is known as "torrent river."

they ain't lyin. it can be a bumpy ride. db2's sister swore up and down that she almost drowned after tipping off her tube. needless to say, the rest of us had a wild time.

this weekend we're off to wet 'n wild emerald pointe. while at schlitterbahn, we rode something that looks like this. this is the slide that is also at emerald pointe in greensboro. this is the slide that made me exclaim, "OH MY GOD I DIDN'T KNOW SO MUCH WATER COULD GO THERE!" and also almost ripped off my future sister-in-law's bikini top. i'm totally stoked.

this picture just does not do this slide justice. it does not show you just how high up it is. and you don't realize it until you're peering over the side and the lifeguard shoves you.

you're screaming, there's water going places it shouldn't, and then you're done. you get up, and water is coming out of you for much longer than you think is female-y possible. but you want to do it again.

and that's why we're going to the water park again this weekend.

hellooooo ikea

i had my first trip to ikea while in houston over the weekend. it seems such a cruel joke that i've had to live without it for 2.4 decades. really.

there are so many things in the ikea catalog to entice you, and yet, so many of them you cannot order online. dear light fixture, i covet thee, yet you are not to be mine. because i couldn't fit you in my suitcase, and because i cannot have you shipped. i must wait until the ikea store in CHARLOTTE opens in 2009. still 3.5 hours away from where i live, but closer than the 5 hours i have to drive now to get to the closest one in washington dc.

i can have a couch shipped to me for $89. that's a miracle.

but the goods, the goods. that's what you want me to get to. here's what i did score: (and didn't leave behind on the bus to park and ride at the airport)


an innocent wall shelf. desperately needed in the craft room that is currently the disaster room. waiting for db2's dad (db1) to mail these bad boys. i'm ready for them.

the kvartal system. so we left the rods for these on the bus at the airport in our tired stupor. which i'm sort of pissed about, but luckily that is an item that you CAN still order on ikea.com. so my living room shall not go naked.

the kryssbo light. for above the bed. i've never been more in love with a lamp that looks like an octopus than i was when i laid eyes on this bad boy.
i can disguise the cord and run it back behind the headboard. since my house is sorely lacking in overhead lighting ... this also leads me to my greatest heartbreak. the lamp that i could not score because

1. it was too large and heavy to go in our suitcase
2. i've discovered you cannot order it online
3. i was so in love. damn you ikea.



this lamp has broken my heart. i will live. hopefully it will still be in the store when it opens in 2009.










dramatical candelabra.










i can't wait to sit outside with db2 under this. under the hammock. i think i got some other things, too. but i can't remember at the moment. i still have to unpack that bag ...

creepy dudes.

according to wikipedia:

Stalking is the obsessive following, observing, or contacting of another person, or the obsessive attempt to engage in any of these activities. This includes following the person to certain places, to see where they live or what the person does on a daily basis, it also includes seeking and obtaining the person's personal information in order to contact him or her; e.g. looking for his or her details on computers, electoral rolls, personal files and other material containing the person's private information without his or her consent.

so i usually wouldn't claim someone was stalking me ... partly because i assume people i meet in regular life are normal, and partly because that seems so dramatic. i mean, who would really stalk me? right?

well i bought one of these gorgeous little cars about 6 months ago:
and i love my little car. i really do. i bought it from a guy who i initially thought of as kind of sad ... if not a little weird. he seemed like the kind of guy who lived with his mom and didn't really know how to interact with women, and i thought that he might be gay.

turns out he's just weird.

it all started when i got a phone call a few months after i bought the car. i picked up the phone thinking, oh, car dude's just checking in on me. but i know car dudes, he probably just wants to see if i know anyone interested in buying a car.

he was checking in on me. but just on me, not really on the car. the whole conversation was awkward and weird and i thought i made it pretty obvious i was ready to get off the phone.

he just txt msged me today with, "where are you now?"

so i called db2 and said, "db2. you used to sell cars. this is creepy, no?"

he confirmed that it's creepy. he called up to the dealership where i bought it from b/c for some reason he thought i mentioned the guy doesn't work there anymore. not only does he not work there anymore, he hasn't worked there in quite sometime.

team creep?

i mean ... i would normally just brush it off as some lonely guy who doesn't understand social norms. but he knows where i live, knows where i work, and knows what i drive. hell, he's seen my credit history.

so i guess i should be a little more wary when leaving work. although maybe it hasn't reached quite that status yet. unease.

backyard steez

i'd really like to have a nice backyard sometime that i could put a garden in that's inspired. that's what i'm dreaming of ...
here are some nice ideas that i like from cottage living.


i like that this area would sort of seem like a surprise when you open the door. you think it's just going to be a garage, and suddenly there's nice furniture, candles, and romantic netting.



focal points are really something that i need to focus on more in my design of things. i have had trouble establishing a focal point in my living room b/c there's a fireplace with a mirror over it, no good place to put the television, and 2 built in bookcases, and a sliding glass door, and the stairs. perhaps if i had better furniture to disguise the television or a flat screen. or no tv at all (haha).



who wouldn't want their very own treehouse with drawbridge and hanging bed? seriously? died and gone to heaven if this was in the backyard.



our sunflowers are huge now. monsters.

hot map

we've all seen that website gasbuddy where you can find the best gas prices in your area ... they've now got a map that shows gas prices across the country. i want to live somewhere with public transportation to die for.

i thought i got this.

go for the moon. if you don't get it, you'll still be heading for a star.
-willis reed

i feel kind of like the star implodes here though because i don't get a raise or a 401k. or health insurance.

didn't get it

well. i didn't get the job i interviewed for, but that seems to be the theme these days. so, i'll roll with it. cause i guess i don't really have any other choice. i kind of expected that, but at the same time ... san francisco here i come.

sadly funny thought of the day

No matter how many speeches future presidents give, they will never
quote George W. Bush to reinforce a point unless it's about dishonesty
or failure.

quadruple cross posting!

This is unrelated to my work, but I
feel like this video is important for people to see what Iraq is really
like these days. Having now met the Iraqi man behind the diaries that
we have filed for our show, Iraq has a personal face for me. His wife
and children, as well as the rest of his family, are still behind in
Iraq. I struggle every day to come to terms with what has happened
there and in Afghanistan. Some of us are hearing about the troop surge
in Iraq and its effectiveness or ineffectiveness, but this will show
you what it is really like and put a human face on Iraq. Please help
me to spread this information.


http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/5/12346/33766/512/562900

true story.

the big red button

so. you're sitting around the internet. just like you'd sit around your living room. and you're in need of a little entertainment.

can i recommend to you the big red button?

wordle!

testing testing 1 2 3!

ok scribefire stopped working for a minute
anyway - i think that wordle is a good way to waste a few minutes. i used it to make a graphic of all of my tags on delicious. you can use it to make an image of all the words on your website, or of whatever words you paste into a box.

it didn't work so good in mozilla 3, but i used ie.

100 posts in 100 days

not that i need to be encouraged to post in my blog. i may go missing on the weekends, but i'm here in full force during the week.

i like this lady's blog fer sure: http://tobietal.blogspot.com/

tobi. she's funny. it all started with a post about cowboys and miss kitty. and mustard. ahh kindergarten.

high heeled crocs?

a lot of people share my haterade sip for the croc. they've gone entirely too far now with this ... the high-heeled croc.


what a croc. ha. that joke was as ugly as these shoes.

other haters:
ihatecrocs.com
the case against crocs - newsweek (i think i'll start playing this game with people)

things i'm getting for the house

so, i've visited this website before - fawn & forest

i'm ordering some nifty wall graphics from them, even though everything there is geared toward childrens and people with childrens, i'm a child at heart. so these things are appropriate ... did i mention the hot pink dachsund lamp?







all of these things can go on glass or any flat surface, furniture ... we'll see where i put them!

friday night!

i love fridays. especially first fridays, because that means fm and blacklisted.

in fact - it's the last blacklisted of the summer. not to be missed. there will be lots of dancing and laughter.

in other news

you remember that position that i was going to interview for internally? it's the producer position.

yeah, i know, some of you are thinking, "but i thought you were ALREADY a producer." well. i am. but not in name. technically speaking, i'm just a temp and i'm a researcher, but realistically speaking, i'm a producer. i just don't have any benefits or business cards.

but after that interview i just had ... that may all be changing.

I AM A JOURNALIST - HERE ME ROAR!

ok fine dammit

found me a new delicious blog to snack on. this lady is hilalalalarious.

giving away your power

that last quote is the thought of the day. i've spent a few days over the past week talking to myself about the open position where i work saying - well those other people that applied, they're probably more qualified than me. i mean i heard one of them used to work at the ny times. and one of them does more editing than i do, so they'll probably hire her.

HELLO NETTA! you already do what would be required of someone in that position. you just do it for less pay, no benefits, and at the crappy desk. so, i applied this morning.

i'd like to thank the editor of the show for reminding me that i hadn't submitted yet and reigniting my shine. for a second i was thinking, they won't even miss me if i don't apply. they missed me!

lesson in this - don't wait for someone to miss you. go ahead and step up to the plate, and cut it out with all that negative self-talk. you just talkin yourself out of fabulous! girl bye.

be fabulous.

Our deepest fear is not that we’re inadequate. Our deepest fear is
that we are powerful beyond all measure. It is our light, not our
darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be
brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not
to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the
world.

-Marianne Williamson

drag bingo

oh yeah - drag bingo was THA BOMB. i highly recommend that others attend. mary kay mart is hilarious. devonetta was in full effect.

loft 135 saw a number of lesbians and special guest played some nice diddies. several other friends showed up and we went back to my homie's palace at progress energy for a late night poobah dance session.

why i want to live in sf

there are many reasons i want to live in sf. not least that it's the most walkable city in the united states. surprise!

check out this website to find out how walkable your neighborhood is ... mine scored a shameful 32. 32 out of 100!

to don't list

everyone has a to do list. do this, do that, complete this, complete that. and it's healthy to make lists, but everyone should keep in mind to not make it too complicated along the way. if you overcomplicate something you're trying to achieve then it's not nearly as much fun getting there.

what i'm trying to say is - don't sweat the small stuff along the way and continually persist in any situation that becomes tough. the worst thing they can say is no.

it is with that in mind, that i present you with my "to don't" list:

1. don't overanalyze your body, your job situation, or where you live
if i had negative self talk and kept getting mad at my body for not working the way i want it to, then it's not going to push me toward progress. a body is just like a child, it needs to be encouraged and loved in order to bloom. the same applies for those looking for a job - whether or not you have one now that you hate, love, or don't have one at all. you must stay positive during all the bumps in the road. if you hate where you live, make a list of the positives and find another place that has those positives and more. work towards your goals with a positive outlook and you will find yourself there before you know it!

2. stay positive
number one feeds right into number two - if you're overanalyzing you are very likely to see the negatives in a situation. it will be so much easier to spot the possible disaster that could occur should you venture down a path not taken. if you overwhelm yourself with the possibilities of all the bad things that could happen - you run the risk of never getting started in the first place!

3. don't be a martyr
it's ok to ask for help no matter what you're working on. in fact, you should get as many people as you possibly can helping you out. sure it might feel great to say, i did this all by myself! but you can get their more quickly and you'll be less stressed if you just ask for some help. no one likes a martyr.

4. it's ok if it's not perfect
nothing is perfect. no path or outcome will be a perfect ride. fall down 7 get up 8, and you will get there with good enough. perfectionism will only frustrate you and those people that you're asking to help!

5. laugh and keep it movin (ok so this isn't totally a to don't)
so things aren't going to go right all the time in whatever task you've chosen to tackle. when they don't, keep it movin! it's ok to be upset for a minute, no one can be positive all the time, but it's so much easier and more enjoyable if you can laugh at the downfall, learn from it, and move on. so keep a sense of humor about you.

plastic ocean

i guess someone else decided to go ahead and make a documentary of the same thing that i did a show on. i wish cnn had covered my piece.

i guess that's enough bellyaching for one day. i'm feeling tortured. but not like an artist.

ain't that the truth

Paul of Tarsus, got it right when he said, ‘In all your dealings with one another, speak the truth to one another in love that you may grow up.’

from an article called "an ideal husband"

paperbackswap

so i read. a lot. well, a lot more than a lot of people i know, and it can get really expensive to read a lot because books are expensive, shipping's expensive, and i ain't paid. solution to this problem? paperbackswap.com

i've sent out a ton of books, and so far, i've been credited for a few of them being received. i'll report back on how all this goes ... i'm still waiting for my first one to arrive.

they're going to get us all killed

one way or another, the bush administration is going to kill all the little people.

"Mr. Burnett’s letter said the council 'requested that I work with C.D.C. to remove from the testimony any discussion of the human health consequences of climate change.'"

cheney's office had people from the epa remove from the official testimony on climate change any mention of the negative effects that it will have on human health.

i don't understand why they would do that or why in the world you would want to prevent fixing the problem. i mean, unless the bush administration members are not human. which, i'm not saying is impossible considering ...

rut of nc

i cannot get back into the rut that is chapel hill
i feel like i fell right back into it when i got off the plane

the food
the job
the tired
the kind of bored

sf i am coming! i don't know how, but i am!

note to self - maybe work for 2nd life?

design blog

happy mundane she's got some good links. i pine for good design! but i'm lazy and broke!

i have no room to complain. haha

monsanto owns your food

why is it a problem that we grow only 4 kinds of potatoes in the united states? why is gene modification a problem?

we eat corn, a lot, it's in almost everything we eat (high fructose corn syrup). most of that corn was planted using seeds from monsanto, who has genetically modified the corn so that if a worm eats any of it, the worm dies. do you think that's a good thing for us to be consuming? that's only the tip of the iceberg as far as the problem with having seeds that are patented.

i want to run away

wouldn't that just be so much easier?

are you next?

this article that i read in the independent weekly (the independent newspaper here) called "are you next?" reminded me of a thought that i have regularly. the sentiment is that we've spent so much time hating a group of people based on their ethnicity in the united states. there's a new group ever few decades, and in hindsight we always think it odd that we though that way. we're doing it again by preventing aliens from community colleges. granted, they're illegal aliens, but if they're paying to go to community college, then why should we bar them from bettering themselves and actually contributing to society in a way that's bigger than picking fruit every season?

abortion rights

i've always tried to explain my position on why abortion must remain legal. a former gynecologist who saw many botched at-home abortions because he had to repair the damage done wrote a piece for the ny times essay section that i read that explains why.

the reason is because even if the procedure is illegal, it will not prevent women from seeking them out, but it will kill them. it will leave them maimed for life. they will be subjected to horrors. because historically women get abortions whether or not they're illegal.

i saw some men protesting near the gynecology/obstetrics office that i go to. white men. who i'm sure had the friday off while i was around the corner having an ultra-sound done to see why i have been so sick recently. they had these big posters of aborted fetuses, which are gruesome.

i think that maybe pro-rights people should take a different stance in their protest. start showing photographs of the women brutalized by procedures done illegally and in back alleys. while i don't really think that someone should be exploited in that way, these men and pro-life protesters are exploiting the fetus. they're exploiting the parents of the fetus.

i just don't understand why you would struggle so hard to control something that doesn't effect your own body and won't. something that you will never understand because it is physically impossible for you to understand.

i've had conversations with myself about abortion, and i've had friends who have been through them. they're awful, they emotionally rake a woman over the coals and leave her thinking about what could have been her child for the rest of their lives. but those are children that would've been brought into an unhappy life, for the most part. one that couldn't provide them with a fair life. these women were not ready, and neither were the fathers.

people make the decision to have an abortion for all sorts of reasons, but they are their own. we shouldn't be relegating them to unsafe practices when a safe procedure is available. women will have abortions. the question is whether or not they will have them safely.

live on roe v. wade. live on.

birth control and me

i've taken ortho cyclen for years because of a condition i have that causes cysts on the ovaries. after switching to the generic - sprintec, i've noticed a number of crazy ass side effects. i'm not pleased. i can't really afford the brand name since the price went up to about $50 from $5 about a year ago (thank you congress). the doctor's office have now called in a prescription for ovcon 35. after reading the reviews of its generic - balzivia or something, those side effects sound even worse. oh joy.

flavor tripping

have you heard of miracle fruit? it makes everything - even lemons, taste like candy. it's a natural fruit grown from the ground - from west africa. they go bad very quickly, and they're expensive - $2 a fruit. this guy in nyc is throwing flavor tripping parties for $15 a head.

flights and hotels

i'm waiting on other people to tell me what they're doing so that i can make my moves.

lots of time other places soon. :D

plastic bags decompose in 3 months

so a teenager from canada named daniel burd has devised a way for plastic bags to decompose in about 3 months. you know i'm always up for a plastic story.

my day in brands

this is a reminder to myself to do this later.

looks like fun. and eye-opening.

socially smoking

this would explain why i have such a hard time not smoking when i go out and see my friends. they're all smokers.

a photo every day

i've often thought of joining those groups on flickr that take a photo every single day, but i'm not sure i have the discipline because my day is so full of other things.

apparently, it's not a new idea to take a photo every day, and someone did just that, with a polaroid camera for many years.

another harpo update

someone in my office just got a phone call from an author who's writing an unauthorized biography of oprah. kitty kelly.

apparently this someone in my office used to work with oprah back in the dark ages when she was a reporter.

the plot thickens. this someone says they're not going to give up anything even though she knows things. duly noted.

excitement. harpo update.

someone i know, knows someone who used to be on the inside people!!

that's right. i think i've got my foot a little closer to the door of harpo.

cha cha now y'all!

ahmed writes home

Hope is all that I have left right now, and I pray to God every day to see it happen. I hope to come back to Baghdad and be able to drive in its streets without fear and without the concrete blocks the army have put everywhere, without seeing any guns, and without hearing about explosions and dead bodies being found every day.

To be able to park and go to a shop without anyone asking me to move my car because it may be a car bomb. To be able to sit on the Tigris bank and enjoy eating a fish with my children, to be able to visit the museum and show my kids the glorious history of their ancestors, to be able to smell the roses in its gardens and to see its sun fall and hug the waves of its river. And the most important of all, is to see the faces of the people whom I love.

ahmed regularly files an audio diary, and he also works for the ny times. he posted that in his blog today because he has left baghdad and is now here, in the town and state where i live. i cannot imagine what it must be like for him - going from a city like baghdad that has been ripped to shreds, its history destroyed, its people and their lives shattered, everything they knew decimated, to a city like the one that i live in. small. college town. people speaking english, white people speaking english everywhere.

i am thankful. i am regretful that i can't and haven't done more.

sober reminders come from people like ahmed. people who you will never fully understand because you haven't walked in their shoes, but people who are willing to share their story so that you can take a glimpse inside their world and maybe begin to comprehend what life must be like for them.

thank you ahmed.

exposed

saw an interesting article on the front page of the ny times this morning
it's from a girl named emily who used to be employed by gawker. and she has blogged about her personal life. several times over. now she's over-exposed herself (her words, roughly) by talking about the whole thing in a front page ny times magazine article.

over-exposure. gotta be careful on that one. makes me wonder and think about all those times that my mother tried to wonder aloud to me about the fact that my generation puts it all out there online and how dangerous that was when you're looking for a job, etc. or anything really, i guess. anyone can google you. i used to be so much more anonymous because i used only my nickname. thanks to facebook i'm not really maintaining that separation anymore i suppose.

food for thought. considering people with addictions usually spill over into another addiction after "handling" another without dealing with the feelings that go with them.

good thing i'm making a heartfelt attempt at dealing with the feelings.

iran and the white house

they're so planning to bomb iran before they leave office. so planning to bomb.

clinton supporter offers $1 million for delegate votes

well. we all know how i feel about the clinton campaign - like it's just as slimy as a lot of things that went on during the first clinton presidency.

now, i feel the slime all over again. taking this with a grain of salt because it is a clinton supporter and not actually clinton, there's only a little doubt in my mind that the folks surrounding clinton and clinton herself would support this kind of move.

february 14 2008

ok. so, today IS officially valentine's day, and i continued the valentine's dress!

my velvet pants are pretty old. they're from the guess? outlet in myrtle beach, they're pink, and they're fuzzy! all of those things (pink and fuzzy and nostalgic) make for a good valentine's day piece of your outfit.

my turtleneck shirt (i just love turtlenecks this week i guess! 3 in a row!) is from kohl's. again with the wicked sale going on there ... scalloped sleeve caps.

my bracelet says "love," and i can't remember where it's from. probably forever 21.

my shoes. oh these shoes. they've seen better days. they're from rugged wearhouse. and they're falling apart. almost time to retire them.

david's still here - he's been helping to work the phones during the valentine's day fund drive!

also, thanks to woodley for the assist on the photos. the wood cubicle in full effect son!!

february 13 2008

another one of my hits! for valentine's day this year i decided to dress like the valentine's fairy all week. here we have:

heart earrings

a sweater with the back cut out ... which i, unfortunately forgot to take a photo of. it's from express. i love it's detail! so i paid full price. :x

a zebra skirt with perky bow! yes, i said perky. it was at kohl's - on sale. you know i love a sale. and the kohl's here is off the chain! unlike the mexican food ... oh chapel hill, how you hurt my heart.

and my red elf boots. everyone needs a red boot. they were on sale at jc penney.

i think i need a haircut ... but i can't decide what to do with it!

in other news, david is here!! :) YES! he is here. so my smile is extra smiley.

oh, and you can also see that there is a new location for my photo shoots - i'm now working here: http://thestory.org
check it out! NPR. yeah!



there's some zebra skirt detail for you. oh! and my coat!

my coat is from target. not on sale. but if you look really closely you can see the giant velvet heart on the back and the little velvet sleeves caps. the front has heart pockets!

happy valentine's week!

february 13 2008

thank you goes out to awoodley for the assist with the camera shot. we're back folks.

ok, so david's in town, and he sort of helped me get dressed. ok, not really. but i had to mention that he's in town.

oh my

i forgot all about this little blog!

i guess i should get back to it.

i promise. tonight. there will be a post. or maybe tomorrow. ;)