The Bananaverse

For ZenMondo:

Check it out. They have done the work for you! (:

Not to mention the stuff here and here that will help your campaign against stupidity, prejudice, and rampant dumbassery.

If you want to add your voice to those already being heard, feel free to make with the clicky. For those out of the loop:

“Postcards From Buster” is a PBS show, and a planned episode called Sugartime! took Buster to Vermont to see farms and maple sugar.  Along the way he met two lesbian couples. 

Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings denounced the episode, requested that PBS refund a federal grant that was used to pay for part of the show, and demanded that PBS remove any links from DOE to the show. 

She began as Secretary of Education on Monday, January 24 and one of her very first acts is to attack the GLBT community.

Sun’s out today. It’s nice. I gave Graham some lovin, hit him with the armor-all wipes for the dash and the windows, cleaned out the stuff that inevitably accumulates in that catch-all under the e-brake, topped off the wiper fluid. He’s a happy Mister Sakamoto now. He got a wash last Saturday, so he’s in pretty good shape now I think. The Scoot is washing his car as we speak.

I’ve been reading Eleanor Rigby, the new book from Douglas Coupland. So far, like everything else he writes, I’m devouring it. I’m sort of nervous, though, since the last few I’ve read seem to take a big ol’ left turn smack in the middle and then things are just a bit further out there than I’d like. In a Stephen King book they seem a bit unreal to begin with, so going “there” isn’t quite the stretch it is when I read a Coupland book which seems like it’s going on *right now* and not far from here. So hopefully it’ll be good. I was having a terrible time trying to focus my brain earlier and I only got like 100 or 125 pages read and my brain was like, “hey! you’re done reading now! do something else!” and it was very very odd.

But now I am back, and it is still a good book. I might edit this later today to let you know how it was, since I’m sure you’re all on the absolute edge of your seats with suspense.

(:

I need some minions.

Not necessarily because I have evil plots to carry out which require the use of minions, which is true, but not what I desire. I desire minions who will be at my beck and call so that I may have amusement. This is the heart of the issue. I’m sitting here and I have ZERO entertainment. J.Ro has his faithful sidekick, and I have TiVo I guess. Hanging online used to be a lot more fun. I guess it was because there were less people, I don’t really know.

Anyway.

Flashback: Does anyone else remember Bunnicula? I loved that book and I remember it talking about minion onions. I always thought that was kind of funny. So there you go. Onward!

Took a tour of Quicken with the Scoot. Turns out there’s a little pile of money that doesn’t have a pile, so we can get some new clothes and things. Yay! So since J.Ro was Waiting For The Man (but not with Lou Reed), he called me and said they have some cool things, I should come see them. So off I went! Sixty bucks later I have four new hair clips (not that I need them for life, but around the house and fresh out of the shower they are nice to have), two new pairs of pants, a black Polo shirt, a nonstick pan, a tube of shea butter for my ankles (fuck you and your fourteen dollar ankle goo, bath and body works!) and the XL version of JULIUS SIMMONS!!!! I’ll have to put up a picture somewhere, it is the cutest thing! It’s so pink, though, and that seems odd to me, but I just don’t care. I love it!!! And my pants are fab, one has a subtle pattern of squares on it (like pinstripes, but horizontally too), and they’re black, and the others are vertically pinkishly striped. Not horrific or anything. And oddly enough I have stuff that matches! Crazy, but we’ll see how it goes.

I also bought some jeans yesterday at Old Navy, but I just pulled them off the rack and brought them home. So much for that! They’re the same size as what I have (which fit me fantastically) and I can’t get them more than about halfway up my thighs. wtf? So I have to take them back. Dammit. Why can’t shit like that just be easy? I want to have girl sizes like guy sizes-a 30 waist is a 30 waist is a 30 waist. Certainly a lot easier than “Well in Calvin Klein I wear size 8, most stuff is a size 10, but then Polo is always a 12…” just sucks sucks sucks.

Plus tomorrow I have to read Eleanor Rigby since Douglas Coupland (DOUGLAS COUPLAND!!!) is going to be at Powell’s on MONDAY. eeeeeeeeee!!!!!! I can’t wait. I don’t know what I’ll say to him! I hope he’s cool. I hope the rumour about Shampoo Planet being set in Tri-Cities is true. I hope that I don’t end up looking like a total idiot. I hope I hope I hope. When I got to meet Wil Wheaton, he was just this guy. He was cool. I could relate to him on a level of people. I hope hope hope that Mister Coupland is like that. I think mostly what I want to know is this: People called him “The Kerouac of his generation”. Well when I saw the comparisons I figured I might as well give it a shot, so I went and read some Kerouac. I hated it. It was dreadful. It was boring. Not to mention I didn’t give a crap about any of the characters. Maybe I read the wrong couple of books, but boy if that were me and they compared me to something like that I’d be pissed!

Anyway. More CSI and maybe some more blanky time.

yay for margaritas! J.Ro made some so we’re having a drinkie and watching Passions. I think it will be more fun to watch with a drink. Even more so for DOOL.

Blah. What a long week. I’m glad I am done with it! Now for sleeping in!

Went to the Hatter’s tonight for cards. Turns out it was supposed to be last night. Cuz I’m a tard. Ah, well. I also was bowling today, which was fun. It was with work people, a teambuilding event. I think it was a lot of fun. I’m very thankful every day that I am there.

Blah. Now I’m home and all sleepy.

I got a new book today, Douglas Coupland’s new one. And he’ll be at Powell’s on Monday. eeeee! I can’t wait. I haven’t been this excited about someone coming to town in a long time. Yayyyy! And I got a milkshake too. It was tasty. I love Coffee People!

That’s all. I want to go crochet a bunch since I flaked it yesterday. nighty night!

Daily Kos has a post that I think is just brilliant. I am adding my name to the list of bloggers opposed to the nomination of Alberto Gonzales to the position of Attorney General of the United States, and I strongly urge every United States Senator NOT to confirm him. From the post:

In January 2002, Gonzales advised the President that the United States Constitution does not apply to his actions as Commander in Chief, and thus the President could declare the Geneva Conventions inoperative. Gonzales’s endorsement of the August 2002 Bybee/Yoo Memorandum approved a definition of torture so vague and evasive as to declare it nonexistent. Most shockingly, he has embraced the unacceptable view that the President has the power to ignore the Constitution, laws duly enacted by Congress and International treaties duly ratified by the United States. He has called the Geneva Conventions “quaint.”

Read that again. I’m going to leave it here all by itself:

He has called the Geneva Conventions quaint.

Please fix this. I beg of every senator, stop and think before you do this. Do NOT rubber stamp him to give us the first hispanic AG. It is more important to put the right mind in the job than to put the right skin color in the job. It is crucial.

Thank you.

What sort of jackass, fresh off the sentencing of someone involved in torturing prisoners, looks the world in the eye at a press conference and says that we expect the world to embrace the principles of decmocracy, INCLUDING HUMAN RIGHTS????

And then says that the KING of Jordan supports him on this? Do you really think there’s another staggering intellect like Bush on the other side of the world agreeing that he should be phased out? “Gee, I’m King, and you want democracy, yeah, I can see that.”

Jebus.

How is he going to spread all that democracy anyway? Are we headed towards Clone Wars ourselves? What?

Jebus!

TiVo, TiVo, TiVo. Why oh why oh WHY would you suggest Boston Legal to me? I cannot POSSIBLY add another show to my list, and yet you insist on tempting me. What a lovely show. I enjoyed the hell out of it. Dammit TiVo!

Now I’m watching Desperate Housewives, which I love.

Anyway! On to the topic!

Remember El Nino? Remember how EVERYTHING was pinned on it? (”I’m having bad hair!” “It must be El Nino.”) Remember how it was a cycle that repeated every X years? Remember? What happened to that? Why isn’t there an El Nino outbreak this year? Or last year when we had the crazy snow?

In other news, I would like to remember that last night as I ran amok all over town (I bought a new mug from Coffee People and some cool hair stuff), I decided to surface street home. As I was driving down Burnside, the Statue Of Liberty waved at me and smiled. I had been having a crummy day and a slight touch of retail therapy perked me up a bit, but the Statue Of Liberty made my day. I don’t know who she is or why she was standing there, but Statue Of Liberty, thank you.

(:

Just got a call from the Hatter. (He’s mad I tell you, MAD!) Here’s a delightful story for you:

Hatter’s friend, henceforth referred to as FroggyPurse (he has one, it’s fantastic), works in a salon, removing hair from people. Sometimes just a trim, sometimes a rip from the roots. Before you ask, yes, he will wax you *there*.

Last week while at work, trimming some schmo desperately in need of it I’m sure, the subject of the protests and the inauguration came up. Well, of course, this buncha hippies was talkin some smack about dubya. Someone said “Why are they protesting? It’s not like it matters, everything’s done, so there’s no stopping it now.” To which our FroggyPurse jokingly (since in all this time I’ve never heard him say anything dead seriously, he’s too busy wearing sarongs and sensible shoes and having fun fun fun!!) replied, “A bullet would.” And he giggled a lovely cross-dressing giggle, and the other stylists joined in.

One of these things is not like the other, one of these things does not belong…

This guy over here? NO sense of humor. Went home and called whatever number it is that you call to fink on your neighbors for being dirty pinko hippie communists and threatening Der Homeland Securiten (sig heil).

So earlier today some men in suits paid dear FroggyPurse a visit. It’s their job to follow up on all this bullshit, whether it’s bullshit or not. Poor FroggyPurse.

My question was this: How does a man, A MAN, who doesn’t own a pair of pants POSSIBLY pose a threat to Homeland Security sig heil? He owns an astroturf skirt for sobbing out loud, it isn’t like he could POSSIBLY be conspicuous about anything.

Again, wtf?

But GORD what a funny story! It’s even funnier if you know FroggyPurse in real life, since I make him sound like a cartoon character but he totally is just that way in real life.
(:

Johnny Carson passed away this morning. I haven’t been to bed yet, so it might as well still be Sunday.

I was watching a thing about him on the news just now, and it really affected me. People far better at this than I will go on at length, and deservedly so. He was a great man. I couldn’t figure out why I was so sad about it, and when it hit me, I realized I needed to get it out of my brain so I could go to sleep. FWIW, here’s my two cents:

When I was very young, I was very high maintenance. I was always in the midst of some problem-allergies, ear infections, skinned knees. Just because everything gave me hives didn’t mean I was missing out, that was for damn sure. I did my best to keep up with the other kids, even with the itching and the bad eyesight and whatever else. One thing that always knocked me flat was earaches, though. That sucked.

I would get earaches and be up real late at night, laying on the couch with the heating pad on low on top of my pillow, with my blankie and my Bert and Ernie dollies. Probably in my Star Wars nightgown. I would lay there, miserable, and my parents would both be up, trying to do what they could to help me. All that ever really helped was time, but nobody wants to sit and wait when their baby is sick. So up they were. With me. And sometimes we’d see Johnny on tv, because I was just that miserable and couldn’t go to sleep. I would lay at the bottom of the couch, with my feet touching the one armrest, so that I only came to the middle of the couch and my parents took turns sitting on the other half to stroke my hair, which always made me feel less miserable.

Even though I couldn’t see Johnny, I could tell he was funny. Of course he was, he made my parents laugh! This was right around the beginning of the end as far as I can tell, so to see both of them happy, while not a clear memory, is still one that I cling to. For years they were barely civil, so it was nice to know there was a point where they still got along and even seemed to enjoy the company. So I laughed too, sometimes. Why shouldn’t I, my dad is a funny person and I think my dad is the greatest, so if he makes my dad laugh then dammit this is a funny guy and I should laugh too. Probably at Carter jokes and Nixon jokes and how hot it was, but I didn’t know better, and I didn’t care. It felt like I was in on a secret.

Johnny made my parents happy. It was a long time before it seemed like anything else could or did, so he was always really important to me for that. I really liked him because neither of them was happy for quite awhile after they split up, so having that moment of absolute knowledge that they did smile, and they did laugh, well, that was really important when I was five.

Thanks, Johnny.

I’m glad.

I’m glad for lots of things lately. I met some new people, I got a new job, and I’m striving towards being a better person for myself. Not for anyone but me. I’m trying to balance my job and my house, and I am working on myself to see if I can be someone I want to be instead of just someone I read about or wish I was.

I still don’t think I’m writing very well, but I think it’ll get better as I do more of it.

I noticed recently I have blogged every day this year. Yay me!

Well, the Cat Orgy is on TV, so that means it’s time for me to go to bed.

no kitty that’s a BAD GODDAMN KITTAH!!!!!!!!

Thanks to The Joy That Is MAL Conduit, I am now able to load my Palm full of AvantGo goodness. Yay! Fuck you, Palm, for being bitches about this. ha ha ha! We got around you anyway. Buncha punks.

Anyway.

I’m mostly excited about that and that I’m almost done with the first skein of my blanket. What a cool stitch! It goes so fast I can really wail on it.

I haven’t mentioned it lately, but CSI is a really good show. I wish that I knew what order stuff went in, but otherwise this is a brilliant program.

Boredom!

It was nice to do a bunch of blanket though. I didn’t really do a lot today, other than clean my desk. Then I didn’t do a bunch more stuff.

Lately I have discovered a delicious treat! Table water crackers with some Nutella on them. yum yum yum.

Finally posted something new on metblogs. I’m sort of disappointed that more people aren’t posting or talking about it. I’m wondering what sort of promos I can do to make it happen a bit more for that site. Someday I am going to find a way and then when I take over the world you will all be FORCED to read it! mwahahahahaha!

so sleepy.

glad work is over, though…it was just a long week.

I will be off to bed soon.

it will be nice to sleep until I’m done sleeping.

then tomorrow, I’ll be washing my hair. but not combing after, oh no. I’ll try the sneaky trick of wash, condition, comb it in the shower with conditioner, then rinse and it’ll be all put back together properly. an actual test of my new haircut.

yawn gurgle stretch mmmf.

oh yeah-battlestar galactica is actually pretty cool. thought i’d share.

My CD does work in my car. I’m terribly excited, since these CDs are much easier to come by than the 5inch.com ones that I found that work. Which I love, but they’re a bit spendy.

I had to back up a BUNCH on my blanket I’m working on. I screwed up the edges and it got all retarded looking. It’s pretty easy to keep going on it though, this stitch goes pretty fast.

Battlestar Galactica (the new one) is hot! I just don’t understand some stuff cuz I missed the miniseries. Maybe I’ll hit-oh, no, I can’t hit suprnova and pick it up. damn. Where do you all get your torrents from now? I have a couple places but well, let’s be honest, they aren’t suprnova.

What a long week. It better pick up soon. I don’t feel like I made any progress at work at ALL this week, so it hasn’t been fun.

Well, I am off to write something that is not a thrilling account of shoegazing, for a change. here goes!

Here’s the CD I made just now:

Wonderful Night - Fatboy Slim
Soccer Practice - Gay Pimp
Rollin - Big & Rich
She Sells Sanctuary - The Cult
Generation X-Wing - Matthew Good Band
Praise Chorus - Jimmy Eat World
Misfit - Curiosity Killed The Cat
Man, It’s So Loud In Here - They Might Be Giants
Overkill - Colin Hay
Bangin On - Johnny Marr & The Healers
Goodfoot - Justin Timberlake/Timbaland
Looking At The Sun (Acoustic) - Matthew Sweet
Party Crashers - Radio 4
Love Comes Again - DJ Tiesto feat. BT
Tougher Than Leather - Run DMC
All Night - Sam Phillips
Radiophonic - Pet Shop Boys
Wave Of Mutilation (UK Surf Mix) - Pixies

I went around all day going “Unconceivable unbelievable!” gah!!

Now to test this little vinyl looking disc in my car!

I just did NOT want to go to work today. Not because I don’t like being there, but just that bed sounded SO much better! That’s all.

Yawn mumble hmm scratch

I just…

I aspire to someday be half as good a writer as the ones I read all the time.

Right now though, I just feel like a dork with a livejournal.

blah.

I found this definition:

insurgent

adj : in opposition to a civil authority or government [syn: seditious, subversive] n
1: a person who takes part in an armed rebellion against the constituted authority (especially in the hope of improving conditions)
[syn: insurrectionist, freedom fighter, rebel]
2: a member of an irregular armed force that fights a stronger force by sabotage and harassment [syn: guerrilla, guerilla, irregular]

Since I read somewhere that there is an estimate of like a quarter million Iraqis involved in the “insurgence”, and based on what I’ve seen and heard and read about the casualties, doesn’t it sound like maybe *we* are the irregular armed force and they are the stronger force?

I’m not denying Iraqis have died or anything, but I wonder if maybe they shouldn’t start using a different word. Are they so opposed to calling the Iraqi force the majority in their own country? Or is it that we just refuse to recognize that we haven’t whipped it into shape?

Just kind of throwing it out there.

In the Post, this article:

With his inauguration days away, Bush defended the administration’s decision to force the District of Columbia to spend $12 million of its homeland security budget to provide tighter security for this week’s festivities. He also warned that the ceremony could make the city “an attractive target for terrorists.”

(which then goes on to quote him)
“By providing security, hopefully that will provide comfort to people who are coming from all around the country to come and stay in the hotels in Washington and to be able to watch the different festivities in Washington, and eat the food in Washington,” Bush said. “I think it provides them great comfort to know that all levels of government are working closely to make this event as secure as possible.”

OK, so by forcing the city to take the cash out of their HOMELAND SECURITY pile, you are going to make people safer? wtf? Is this more of that crazy Enron accounting that I just don’t understand? Protect the hell out of em if’n they’s here for the swearin-in, but fuck em if they want to stay?

Seeing as how I’ve mouthed off plenty in the past, I’m sure you administration people have my number. Call me and tell me how this works. PLEASE.