Holiday fic

Today's bloggity is inexplicably delayed due to technical difficulties. Somewhere out there in cyberspace, there is an email floating around with tonight's content. Unfortunately, it hasn't arrived, and I'm not sure what authorities to contact to report a missing email. I assure you, however, that it was a very excellent post, full of wonderful, humorous and insightful comments, and not a turkey to be seen.

In lieu of that, I'll make an offer here that I've made in other venues:

Leave me a comment, and I'll write you a holiday fic of at least 500 words in any of my regular fandoms (Star Treks except TOS, X-Files, X-Men, Without a Trace, JAG, Commander in Chief). All you have to do is give me a character, a fandom, a scenario, a pairing, etc., anything you'd like. If there's something you'd like to see and I haven't specifically mentioned it here, ask anyway and I'll try to oblige. Pretty much no restrictions. I'm planning on posting the finished stories sometime between December 20 and the 23rd.*

And since this is a fannish post, I leave you a link to 10 reasons to watch "Commander in Chief".

Okay, so I haven't posted anything in any fandom in a really long time, but this is a painless way to get back on the writing bandwagon.

Turkey Link of the Day

For those of you who need MORE in the way of turkey coverage, go here. Flash and sound very necessary. Many thanks to Rocky for providing today's turkey coverage.

Yum!

When I got back last night, the food situation was a wee bit dire. I'd raided the parental kitchen and pantry, but rather haphazardly, so that meant there were no real obvious options for dinner. So I got a little creative and came up with a twist on quesadillas that, amazingly, turned out pretty well.


Mediterranean Quesadillas

2 flour tortillas
1/2 red pepper
1/2 small onion
1 small tomato
1 tsp olive oil
pinch each of oregano, basil, and chives
salt and pepper to taste
shredded mozzerella cheese

Set oven on broiler mode

Mix all ingredients except for the cheese and tortillas in a bowl. Then fold the tortillas each in half and break them so you have four halves. Spread some cheese on the two of the slices, spoon the veggie mix onto the tortilla, spread more cheese on top, and then cover with the other half of the tortilla. Put on cookie sheet, stick in broiler for one minute or until golden brown, and then flip the tortillas so the other side can brown as well. Serve immediately.

Thanksgiving

I hoped everyone had a most excellent holiday weekend with their family and friends. I certainly did, car troubles aside, and much food was consumed -- including things made by yours truly that were neither burned or otherwise tragic victims of my culinary skills -- and thankfully, I have heard of no stories of turkeys falling from the sky.

Pop culture

What I'm reading: America, the Book, Live Your Best Life

What I'm listening to: Something to Be, Confessions on the Dance Floor, Breakaway

What movies I'm watching: Sideways, 21 Grams

What "must see" shows I'm watching: "Desperate Housewives," "Grey's Anatomy", "Gilmore Girls," "Commander in Chief", "CSI", "Without a Trace"

Huzzah

I have no details on the aforementioned Turkey Drop, except for the radio station doing a live broadcast from the Honda dealership and apparently, this was the second time such an event had been carried out. From that little fact, I deduce no one was killed the first time, and since our local television news "OH MY GOD MOVIE THEATERS ARE DIRTY" stations didn't report on any deaths by falling turkeys, I'm forced to conclude that somehow they pulled this thing off. Still. Stupid.

In lieu of falling turkeys though, The Fainter and I went to the Renaissance Fest on Sunday, where turkey legs were consumed with great gusto by people who weren't us, and where somehow goth Vikings with an S&M bent frolicked with fairies pixies and where gypsies seemed to walk hand in hand with the Knights of the Round Table. AND OH THE CLEAVAGE WE SAW. We heard rumors about people who come dressed up as Storm Troopers or in Star Trek uniforms, but we didn't actually see one. I did, however, see a Roman centaurion. 'The Renaissance' is apparently a lot more loosely defined in time than I've ever given it credit for.

Anyway, a good time was had, the highlight being the "Joust to the Death". Really, there was jousting, all with horses, trumpets, swords, Henry VIII, favors, and a whole bunch of princesses named Bridget waving bras and panties around. I AM NOT MAKING ANY OF THIS UP. The Fainter felt she had reached a whole new level of ridiculousness. Me, I promptly launched into the story of how Henry VIII fell off his horse during a joust, Anne Boleyn got freaked, had a miscarriage, and that was effectively the end of their marriage. Obviously, one of us has less of a grip on reality than the other, but at least neither of us came dressed as a Storm Trooper.

Tis the season

I'm convinced there is something in the air in November and December that makes otherwise rational people go completely insane. Maybe it's the fact Christmas carols are now on 24/7 play on radio stations (and some even started back before Halloween!) or maybe it's the cold or maybe it's the eggnog or the rampant consumerism, but whatever it is, it isn't pretty. Yesterday, though, I heard something on the radio that absolutely took the cake. A car dealership here is sponsoring 20 free turkeys for Thanksgiving. And I thought, "Oh, what a nice idea. I'd really go for that if, y'know, I actually ate turkey." And there I was, basking in the warm of humankind's generosity, so much so that I almost missed the next part of the message:

THEY ARE GOING TO DROP THE TURKEYS OUT OF A HELICOPTER AND IF YOU CATCH ONE, IT IS YOURS.

I had, and still have, no words.

Brrr!

It's cold here in Sweat Sock City and if there's something I just can't abide, it's COLD. In fact, I think I'm rather like an amphibian, needing my ambient temperature to be around 80 degrees. At the office, in the AC, my finger nails turn purple and my hands are blocks of ice. I don't like cold, Sam I am, and the fact that I'm actually from Vermont is no evidence to the contrary. In fact, I often argue, I was just as cold in Vermont as I am here, it's just that everyone else was cold with me. Here, the mercury drops down to freezing, the wind is blowing hard and cold, and everyone's excited, saying, "It's so nice out!" And I just want to grab them and say, "Have you BEEN outside?"

I'm just saying that two days ago it was 90 degrees and today when I woke up, it was 31 degrees. The weather is Red State's only competitive advantage and if I have to live in the land o' Bush, well, they can dang well turn up the thermostat.

Newsies

Because the last post was so obviously digging at the bottom of the bloggy barrel, I thought I'd give the Republicans in Congress a hand for eliminating the 'bridges to nowhere' out of the highway bill and instead, the money will be spent on other projects in the state of Alaska. Doesn't look like Rep. Ted Stevens who threatened to quit if the money was taken away from the bill is going to quit though. Dang, that could have been a fun one to watch.

I thought this editorial proposing a privacy amendment was excellent. Seriously. I'm a supporter of Roe, but even I'm not sure whether it's a Constitutional right (well, I think it's my Constitutional right to have a say in what I will or will not do with my body, but I don't think that's written into the Constitution). So why not, for once and for all, end all arguments over whether the average American bear has a Constitutional right to privacy by codifying it into the sacred text?

Bob Woodward has stepped into the Name Plame Blame Game. What I do find interesting is that Woodward says his source is not Scooter Libby, the guy recently indicted. Libby learned of Plame from Cheney, but would Cheney really be so stupid as to tell Woodward first? I don't like Cheney at all, but I also think he's smarter than that. This is a verrrrrrrrrry interesting development, to say the least.

Material Girl

Madonna has a new album out, "Confessions on the Dance Floor" and I heard the first single today, "Hanging Up" and liked it a lot. I've always been a big Madonna fan, especially much of the material from "True Blue" and "Ray of Light". I hear this album is Madonna back to form after the politicized "American Life" (which I know nothing about other than it was controversial for the anti-war stance she took). Anyway, I was definitely bopping in the car and for that reason alone, I think I'll pick it up; for my long drives, it'll be fun to have some upbeat music.

Discussion points

I missed Friday's news round-up because I was busy partying my weekend away, so much so that when Sunday night came around, I was a boneless sack in front of the television, watching that weekly crack fix: "Desperate Housewives" and "Grey's Anatomy". I did, however, fold laundry while watching television, so I feel slightly better about my whirl of gaiety this weekend. However, this weekend's events have sparked four questions:

* At one point did you officially add someone to your cell phonebook rather than just relying on the 'incoming calls'/'outgoing calls' list? Two months of phone calls, maybe? Or maybe six months?

* At one point, do you decide you're officially exclusively seeing someone? I mean, is there a number of dates? Number of hours? Months? Weeks? The count is getting up there -- on any measure, especially hours -- and I need to figure it out.

* And as an addendum to the previous question, if you're not exclusively seeing someone and the subject of exclusivity never comes up, do you tell them if you're going on a date with another person? Or just keep it to yourself? Past experience tells me the latter, but honesty and guilt make me want to admit the former.

* Also, how do you know when you've met 'The One'? Is there an overarching symphony playing in the background or more of a rational, "You're pretty cool, you're everything I'm looking for, you'll do." Obviously, I haven't got a romantic bone in my body, otherwise I'd be hearing violins and swooning over the roses, rather than thinking my way through a checklist.

This all fits into the "when do you tell someone about the blog?" post from a few days ago. I am ashamed to admit that while I may be in possession of mad HTML skillz, I flat-out told The Guy (tm) I used to do web design but no longer am in the business (which is kinda of true, as the site is here, and not being actively (re)designed, but that's more of a Clintonesque semantic twist, I think). And obviously, there are some posts which obviously I wouldn't want a (potential) significant other to read, ESPECIALLY in retrospect (which begs the question of why I post these things publicly anyway, but I'm a blogger, and thus must navel-gaze like nobody's business).

Your thoughts, dear readers, are much appreciated.

The patter of little feet

The NY Times had an article last week about rowdy children in cafes. Today, at lunch, we had a similar experience when two children, between the ages of 5 and 7, were running around like no one's business, banging on the piano, climbing on the railings, and generally making a nuisance of themselves. I get that kids will be kids, but what drove me nuts were the parents sitting back, eating their lunch, and every now and then, making a half-hearted effort to rein their children in.

At one point, the kids were banging on the piano about a foot and a half behind me and when the parents -- who were looking right at me -- didn't do anything, I turned around and told them to stop. I don't like disciplining other people's kids (unless I'm the babysitter, which isn't something I've done in a long time), but this seemed to be extenuating circumstances. I got a dirty look from one of the people in the parents' party, but I didn't care. The kids could have hurt themselves on that railing or even on the piano (I pinched my thumb trying to close the cover), plus it was a buffet-style restaurant, so the kids running around made for an unintended obstacle course diners would have to navigate.

When I expressed my annoyance to my uncle, he said with a knowing smile, "We'll see what happens when you have kids." That's always the thing that sticks in the back of my mind -- I don't have kids, so maybe my impression of the "sit in your seat and eat otherwise we're leaving" attitude is way off base. I don't think I was wrong to be seriously annoyed though.

Link of the Day

On this past week's "The Apprentice", everyone was running around clueless about "Star Wars", and in the case of one group, not realizing Darth Vadar was a central, if not the main character. How can there be such a dearth of pop culture knowledge among otherwise supposedly intelligent people? Maybe they should have watched all six movies at the same time. If I were The Donald (tm), I'd fire the whole lot of them. Not know who Darth Vadar is, SHEESH!

The new crack

I've discovered Sudoku. I've only heard about it, never actually tried it myself, until I found this online version at the Washington Post. My brain is completely tied up in knots, but I guess that's what I get for starting at the hardest possible level. I may never ever leave the house again.

Oink oink

I love this editorial by Richard Cohen about Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) throwing a hissy fit on the floor of the Senate if his famous $230 million 'bridge to nowhere' is taken out of the highway bill and and the money is diverted instead to New Orleans, where God knows, they need the funds. You can read more on Stevens' remarks here.

Stupid headline of the Day*

This story takes the cake: "Proposition 2 a winner." Please. Since when is condoning discrimination by a 3 to 1 margin a winner? Stupid, stupid, stupid.

* Can this count as Thursday's HotD, Jessica? (g)

Grrr...

I'm pretty sure that when you get your hair professionally dyed, it should stay dyed and NOT bleed all over the place whenever you get a little drop of water on your hair, yes? To say that I'm unhappy about the nice purple stain on the back of my commemorative World Series t-shirt would be an understatement, not to mention the stain on the beach towel I used to dry my hair, and OH, the nice chemical odors that CONTINUES TO LINGER, even though I washed my hair TWICE and conditioned it. Not. Happy.

Miss Manners, maybe

Yvonne asked an etiquette question and it's a good one, and I think the answer would be highly personal depending on the blogger. See, it goes without saying we bloggers like attention, are shameless navel-gazers, and want to be read and adored and we want to be talked back to. At least that's the theory and every blogger is different.

The cool thing about blogging is that we can talk to the world at large without any real fear of consequences. I don't actually ever expect to run into someone who reads this blog regularly (unless you're my mother, in which case, HI!) and I would be honestly weirded out if someone found my blog and then met me and associated the two of us together since I try to keep at least some modicum of privacy. If this happened to me, I'd probably think the person was a stalker, especially if I had not told that person I had a blog (and generally, I don't tell people about the blog except some close RL friends).

So my advice is, if you think you've met a blogger in RL and even if in a non-stalkerish way and also in a way that is completely unrelated to the blog, I still wouldn't say anything at all unless the person ventures out information about the blog. In fact, until you get to know the person better, I'd say nothing and maybe down the line, if all is well and good, then you can admit the truth if you want to. (And of course, all of this is moot if the person posts their full name, picture, etc., on their blog and at that point, I think it's fair game to say you read their blog, because really, there's nothing stalkerish about that and the blogger is being quite obvious about wanting to be found out). But in general, I wouldn't say anything, because strangely, despite all the soap boxing, blogging is kind of a private thing.

Any other bloggers have thoughts?

Festival of Lights

Last week was Diwali. Here are a few pictures I took this weekend.



One of the hallmarks of the holiday are little oil lamps which are set throughout the house. Here's a close-up of one of the lamps.



I love looking at the little lamps burning all in a row.



A close-up of one of the lamps.



Not to mention eating lots of good food! The more colorful items on the plate are sweet and sticky and utterly indulgent. I, however, prefer the spicier items.



Every year, I draw little pictures on the tile with sand for Diwali. Here is just one tile I did. I did other tiles in yellow, blue, purple, or a mixture of all of those colors. It's pretty painstaking work, and I do have a small little brush and pan so I can scoop up any designs I mess up or any excess sand.

'tis the season

Apparently, these days the Christmas season starts right after the last of the jack o' lanterns have been extinguished. The local easy listening radio has already started playing Christmas carols. A little too early for the drummer boy to come out and play, I think!

Friday round-up

November didn't start off so hot for President Bush, as it turns out more Americans than ever just don't approve of the job he's doing. This, by the way, isn't a "I told you so" moment as we still have three more years of Bush, and while I cannot be convinced that he isn't anything BUT incompetent, I'd like to think he isn't going to completely fiddle while Rome is burning -- unfortunately he hasn't given any evidence to the contrary. Without some significant quality action that a) shows he's actually in touch with people, that b) he cares about the integrity of his staff and c) that he's capable of solutions other than cutting taxes, and d) skips vacations for the next three years, it's quite possible we'll see that rating continue to slide south. The Times of London nicely recaps Bush's Very Bad Month here.

Meanwhile, Jimmy Carter isn't being shy about where he stands on the Bush Administration (how much you want to bet Jimmy Carter wasn't among the 130 at the dinner for Prince Charles and his wife?) and shock! The CIA has secret prisons around the world and gasp! the 't' word might actually be taking place. Dude. Maybe the ethics training Bush ordered will help. Still, Republicans are pretty pissed off at Democrats for this week's closed session meeting, that apparently was a year in planning.

Tom DeLay may have found a judge after a merry-go-round whirl of 'blink and you'll miss 'em' Democrat and Republican shuffle. Scooter Libby pleaded not guilty to perjury and obstruction of justice. As for that other little legal matter -- the appointment of a new justice to the Supreme Court -- Slate has rounded up a bunch of articles here and NY Times full coverage is over here.

Going back to Rome burning, the French are rioting and apparently have been for a couple of weeks. Not to be out-done, there are protests in Argentina as well. There was looting in New Orleans after Katrina, but gosh darn it, Michael Brown looked good; who knew the key to hard-working fashion are rolled up sleeves? Not so interested in fashion was Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall who faded in a navy blue ensemble next to Laura Bush' gown. Camilla is no Diana, nor would she want any comparisons, so my guess is the dud of a gown was a calculated one.

Maureen Dowd talks about feminism here -- and I'll be honest, I couldn't get through it -- but she has another thing or three to say to media guru Howard Kurtz over here.

Meanwhile, a Zogby Poll shows that Americans overwhelmingly want to elect Matt Santos to the White House. You'll have to check out the West Wing live debate on Sunday to see if Santos (played by Jimmy Smits) can outsmart the whip-smart Alan Alda. Still, viewers seem to prefer Geena Davis' version of the West Wing.

All in all, not quite as exciting a week as last. Will Karl Rove resign? Will Bill Frist calm down? Will the $800 gazillion bridge to nowhere in Alaska remain in the highway bill? Will Kevin Federline's rap rise up the charts? Stay tuned.

Accomplished day

I got my hair trimmed and colored today, so for the first time in a very long time, it's all black, and my kind of grown out layers are nicely back in line. Having a coupon for the free color was the best part. Still not sure how I feel about the cut. The stylist assured me long was better for my hair being thick and curly, but I've always had this impression that when you get your hair done, it has to be DRAMATIC so people notice, y'know, nothing short of hacking off 10 inches or something like that (which, btw, I HAVE done). And I do find it harder to deal with when it's short -- more opportunities for Insta!Puff and unruliness. At any rate, I'm liking the fact my hair is actually all one color now.

On a less frivolous note, I sent in my absentee ballot today. There were a ton of constitutional amendments I'd never heard of, but at least I got to vote against Proposition 2. It won't make any difference, but I felt very strongly that I had to register my opposition to formalized discrimination.

Those crazy, crazy kids

People who aren't me are trying to write a 50,000-word novel during the month of November. For those of you playing the home game, that 1,667 words a night (or day). After three years of this mad fest -- twice I actually completed the dang thing -- I'm sitting this round out. I'm putting this in writing and in public just so I don't change my mind because I know someone (initials j.p., natch) will remind me the month is still young...

Privacee

Strangely, I think of this blog as being private. Never mind that it's online for God knows who to read, and here I think it's private. So even though I don't know most of you who read this blog (introduce yourselves!), it doesn't bother me at all -- mostly because I have control over what content actually appears here. But I always feel some trepidation over letting Real Life people know about this blog. It's not like there's anything terribly controversial here (other than being a liberal in a Red State but pretty much everyone who knows me know that about me) and no deep secrets or revelations or even feelings here. But still, I don't know. I just never know when it's the right time to tell a Real Life person about this blog, if indeed I should ever tell the person.

All hallow's eve

You know you have a good friend when you hang up on her four times (five, actually, but she'll insist she hung up first that last time) in two hours and she still (mostly) takes your phone calls. Florida Girl and I have been friends for 10 years now and we've had some very strange conversations over the years, but tonight's took our intellectual discourse to a whole new level. Since this is a family blog, I can't tell you about the underwear conversation, but I can relate this snippet:

Me: So I was babysitting, and when I went to the bathroom, the dog didn't even notice me. I just walked right by it, me, a stranger, and the dog didn't even lift its head as I walked by.

FG: What kind of dog was it?

Me: I don't know, it was a DOG.

At some point, I think I even described it as a 'yellow' dog, but FG said as a descriptive, I was falling pretty short of the mark. There was also a bit about trick o' treaters at FG's place and how a neighbor came up to her door:

FG: She says she lives across the street from me. I've never even seen her before. That's what happens when you have bad eyesight.

Me: You don't meet your neighbors when you have bad eyesight?

FG: No, they're blurry. Blurry people with dark hair. Who knows who lives across the street when you have bad eyesight?

FG is possibly the only person in the world with whom I can have such ridiculous conversations. One of these days, when this blog is no longer so Disneyfied, I'll think about telling you about FG's theory about the world economy and underwear. Fascinating stuff, but maybe you just had to be there.

Dear Seema

It's always easier to give advice than to take and follow advice. Lately, I've been dispensing advice with all the heart of an ice-cube and just as chillingly rational too. For all I know, I could be spewing words and directing people the wrong way. Or I could be right, and be responsible for putting people onto the right path. Advice giving requires acknowledging the other person might have issues you don't know about, might have reasons for not acting on your advice (ie 'been there, done that'), or simply may not be able to act for reasons you don't know about.

It's easy to say what someone should do or not do when you're on the outside looking in. But when you're the takee, it's a lot harder because sometimes advice means change, and no matter how resiliant and adaptive you can be, change is never easy -- especially when it means acknowledging your own behaviors and character might be self-sabotaging. The other thing is, making these changes takes a long time. It's not something a person just wakes up one day and says, "I will now be like THIS" -- it's a series of small steps, and each one is just as difficult as the preceeding one. Acknowleding that, I think, is a major step in the right direction.

And since I'm doling out the tough love as of late, anyone want some? (g)

November blog sweeps

I suddenly have so many ideas of things I want to blog about; lately the pickings have been slim because I have a rule about not blogging about personal personal stuff, work, or about family or friends*. I also don't want to talk about politics that often because I'm aware not everyone who reads this blog is a raging liberal like yours truly, and besides, I'm kind of lazy in having to keep up with all the Stuff (tm) that's going on**. The same thing goes for a subject-matter blog, where trying to keep up with all the news on one subject would drive me crazy. Plus, there's that rule of blogging I violate on a daily basis: I average one post a day, if that. Convention dictates that bloggers need to blog about 12 to 15 times a day, but that's impossible with the day job; I'm pretty sure my employer would not be happy if I started blogging on the job.

That being said, I'm following the cue from the television networks and trying to come up with a November-sweeps schedule, in an attempt to boost this blog's ratings***. Here are some of the Very Important(tm) topics I'm contemplating:

• Why 'Top Sekrit' or 'Lost' diaries make for Very Bad Historical Fiction
  
• Why I hate call-waiting and think it's the worst invention EVER
  
• And while we're on communication devices, what's up with the lack of cell phone ettiquette?
  
• Is Starbucks price-gouging their coffee?
  
• And while we're on food, does anyone else think Subway sandwiches, while low on the caloric intake are kind of soggy and blah?
  
• I only have two feet, which means I can only wear one pair of shoes at a time. So why do I have nine pairs of shoes sitting in my foyer, including two pairs of sneakers? BTW, this doesn't include any shoes that may or may not be lurking in my hall closet or in other locations across the state.
  
• And speaking of shoes, why is that I walk into my huge walk-in closet every morning and think I have nothing to wear? I may also have other closets in other locations across the state.

These topics, and MORE, coming in November!

* The RL family and friends who do make an appearance in this blog have been warned ahead of time and on occasions, their appearance has even been discussed before the actual blogging occurs.
** I am contemplating a Friday round-up of the week's news, just so I can be lazy one day of the week and snark
*** I'm joking. Really.

Hear all about it

What a news day. Seriously, if I were still a reporter, I'd so want to be in DC just going after the news coming out of the Capitol (though a Washington Post reporter recently said after covering a president having an affair with a thong-wearing intern, everything else was rather anticlimatic). But still, wow, what a day.

First Scooter Libby, whom no one has ever heard of before, has been indicted in Plamegate, but Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald isn't saying if anyone else might soon join Libby. In other words, Bush's brain can't relax. Meanwhile, Valerie Plame is out of a job.

Second, bye bye Harriet. There are any number of reasons why she withdrew from consideration, and at least the White House is white-washing Miers' lack of qualifications, choosing instead to follow the exit strategy proposed last week by Charles Krauthammer. I do feel sorry for Harriet. She was thrown into the fray, so obviously in over her head, and the President did her loyalty and friendship no favors by keeping her as long as he did. Now it's a question of who's going to sit in for the murder boards next. In the meantime, may I suggest Patrick Fitzgerald?

The President's Very Bad Week (tm) continued, when the grim milestone of 2,000 dead Americans in Iraq was reached. If you're curious, here is the Iraq body count.

Jeb Bush, who unlike his brother, is a pro at the hurricane thing, had his hands full this week with Wilma. Meanwhile, Newsweek took forecasters to task for their hurricane coverage. All this, while sad sap Nicholas Cage takes to the airwaves in The Weatherman; just how many movies a year does that guy make, huh?

Hail to the chief!

Some of you already know "Commander-in-Chief" is my new favorite show, mostly because it's pure fantasy and I'm also a feminist at heart who can't believe Pakistan has had a female leader before us. Anyway, The Nation has a commentary on the show over here that sums up my feelings entirely:

... President Allen is sending in the Navy to rescue a Nigerian woman scheduled to be stoned for sex out of wedlock, sending in the Air Force to restore democracy to an unnamed Latin American country by threatening to destroy its coca crop, and using her summit meeting with the arrogant and sexist Russian president to win freedom for imprisoned dissident journalists. Can a woman be tough enough to lead the free world? Take that, misogynists and drug lords and enemies of free speech! In future episodes Mac will capture Osama bin Laden, rewrite the Iraqi Constitution and raise SAT scores by 75 points--all while dealing with a sullen teenage daughter who wishes Pat Buchanan had her mother's job.

High exposure

Eigar isn't Everest, but still Richard Bangs' expedition looks interesting, because unlike Everest -- which I have never come close to seeing -- I have been to the Matterhorn and Jungfrau and so Eigar doesn't seem to be as distant a dream as Everest.

Rec

I thought I'd mention the Washington Post has politics chats at 11 am ET M-F, which are very illuminating and interesting. If you can't make the actual chat -- which can be slow -- do what I do: read the transcripts. I also like the advice chats -- relationships, career, financial, auto -- and of course, it's nice to see the reporters on feature stories being made available. Lately, because of this feature, I find myself spending more time at the Post than the NYT -- especially since the Post seems to really be capitalizing on the web and offering *more* for free than the NYT, which now charges to read columnists. Not sure Maureen Dowd is worth $50/year. Maybe Friedman, but not sure about Dowd.

Proposition 2

Very Red State is having its referendum on banning gay marriage in two weeks. I'm not sure I'll be able to vote against it, having been completely out of it, thus forgetting to apply for my absentee ballot. I know the proposition will pass and I'll be like one of 10 people in the entire state who thinks banning gay marriage is a Very Bad Thing (tm). It's not so much that I'm for gay marriage, but rather I'm strongly against the constitutional amendment.

I find it disheartening that people think it's okay to disenfranchise an entire section of our population. I find it sad that people think it's okay to deny productive, good people equal rights. I also don't buy the whole 'sanctity of marriage' argument because for one, you can't blame people who can't get married for the fact that 50 percent of marriages end in divorce. Unless heterosexual marriages start falling apart the very minute two men or two women are allowed to legalize their commitment to each other, I'm going to remain skeptical of this particular argument -- especially as J. Lo and Britney Spears seem free to marry and divorce as often as the seasons change and Dr. James Dobson doesn't seem to care.

And let's be frank. Unless you're gay, this issue has very little bearing on your personal life. If someone can give me one good and profound reason why two men getting married will RUIN their lives forever and ever, well, I'm listening. Heck, I can't even think of a good or bad reason -- unless you're related to me or a friend -- how a heterosexual marriage affects my life. Even if one has strong religious convictions on certain issues, that does not make it RIGHT to codify discrimination into a document that spells out inalienable rights. I find it appalling and I wish more people would as well.

Politika

I haven't had much to say about the shennagins besetting the Republican Party lately because a) I've been busy and b) GO HOME TEAM! But now that I have a few minutes, oh my God, WHERE TO START? So, by category:

Things that make you go HEM...

Did you know Harriet Miers has a blog? Me either. Poor Harriet -- she got completely eviscretated by Slate today, including a psycho-analysis on her finances and another questionnaire she ought to fill out, given the mess she made of the first (and doesn't Leahy and Spector's letter sound just a bit like a teacher asking a student to re-do their homework? I thought so). And what does it say about Miers when even reliable Bush-cheerleader, the Wall Street Journal, calls the nomination "a blunder of the first order"?

Mugging for the cameras...

Tom DeLay was arrested in court today and you'd think it'd be a Very Awful Day for Mr. DeLay, but his Harris County mug shot says he's having a good old time. I don't get what he's in trouble for (last I heard, being a bully isn't against the law), but if he does end up in jail, I bet that smile runs away from his face real quick.

Playing the Plame game

Looks like Rove and Libby are in a heap of trouble, maybe Cheney too (but I suspect that's wishful thinking on the part of many, many people). I get allegedly leaking classified information is what they're all under scrutiny for, but I'm still confused about what Judith Miller's role (non-role?) is in all of this. The NY Times talks about it here, and Judith Miller continues to be obscure over here; I bet Clinton's wishing he had a Judy Miller on his side during Monica-gate. Meanwhile, special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has set up his own website here, but what it all means, I couldn't tell you.

I hear rumbling that Frist is in trouble too for some Martha Stewartesque deal, and here's Senator Judd (R-NH) getting richer. Have I missed anything?

For once, the Democrats are doing the right thing and keeping their mouth shut. To quote Napoloen, "Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake."

This is how a heart breaks

I was going through my old writing notebook from a few years ago and I found the following sentence written in the margins: "The hardest part about breaking up is getting your stuff back." I think someone in my writing group actually said it and I merely recorded it prosperity. I've always been meaning to write a story with that as the opening line, though, but I've never quite gotten around to it.

What I'm learning is that really, the hardest part is moving on and letting go and not necessarily in that order either, nor do I believe it's the same thing. You can move on, but still be emotionally attached to the idea of a person, or you can let go of a person, but still be emotionally attached to the relationship you shared, which makes it difficult to form new ones. Plus, it's all easier said than done. I admire people who can just put themselves out there within days and think twice. I unfortunately have a nasty habit of thinking twice, and then thinking that over twice, and before you know it, I've gone nuts and in turn, have driven most of my RL friends nuts in the process.

But I think there comes a time, a moment, a person, and you realize that yes, it's okay to let go/move on and that it's time to stop second guessing what's happening to you, around you. So it took me a year to get my metaphorical 'stuff' back, and oh boy, did it suck along the way -- so much so that one of these days I'm going to write a book: "How Seema Got Her Stuff Back." In the meantime, the whole unconditional, unemotional move-on/let go feels awfully good. Thanks all for being
there.

p.s. Go Home Team!

Defeat, from the jaws of victory

Nothing like 2 outs, 2 strikes, top of the 9th and then comes Pujols, with a home run to take away the two-run advantage of the Home Team. So disappointing. Seriously. I honestly thought we had it, but alas. I have spent SO much time at the ball park this week that I'm at this point 110% emotionally invested in the outcome and anything other than victory is unthinkable. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Play ball!

I was so wound up from yesterday's ball game that I neglected to come on and blog last night. Admit it, you all missed me TERRIBLY. Anyway, the game was going along just fine until the ninth inning, when suddenly everything seemed to go to POT and there were runners on base, including one at third and I had nightmares of a tied-up score. I think my exact thoughts were, "OH MY GOD, WE ARE GOING TO BE HERE ALL NIGHT." But Home Team didn't let me down, and they tagged the guy at third out at home plate, and despite some controversy, managed to keep their cool. And then came the MOST SPECATULAR DOUBLE PLAY EVER and the game was over and we were up by 3. I nearly fell out of my chair, and then, I was on my feet with the rest of the crowd, cheering and clapping.

Will tonight be the clincher? I'm almost too stressed to watch.

Oh, I should mention: there's nothing cuter than the Kiss Cam zeroing in on Former President Bush and Barbara Bush. TWICE they've been zinged by the Kiss Cam. Such good sports.

Yo, Jerie!

2-1.

I'm just sayin' ;-)

Game day

I had a "Sports Night" marathon last night and rewatched my favorite episodes -- mainly the last five of the first season. When I watch those eps, especially "What Kind of Day Has It Been", I realize just how underutilized the wonderful Felicity Huffman is on "Desperate Housewives." The break-up with Gordon ranks right up there with Sally Field losing it all in "Steel Magnolias" as one of the few scenes that gets me right there every single time I watch that ep.

I may have posted this snippet of dialogue before, but I love it THAT MUCH, because it's one of the most brilliant moments of the show, and possibly Felicity Huffman's finest moment on that show:

DANA: I think I'm funnier than you've given me credit for being in the past.

GORDON: Here's what I've been thinking the past few days--

DANA: I'm just saying that if you're calling off the engagement because you don't think I'm funny enough--

GORDON: Would you stop.

DANA: Are you angry right now?

GORDON: Dana--

DANA: Are you mad at me?

GORDON: I'm not--

DANA: First you spend six months making me feel guilty for liking my job, then propose to me, two days later you tell me that you've slept with the woman who wants my job, I say fine. I say "fine". Six days after that you tell me you want to break off the engagement? Here's the thing: I think only one of us should be angry at a time, and I have a hunch it's gonna be me.

GORDON: I think you're hung up on Casey.

DANA: That's what this is about?

GORDON: That's what this is about.

DANA: I'm not.

GORDON: You are, and you don't cover it well.

DANA: This is a cheap excuse to get out of marrying me which you never wanted to do in the third place, and the only reason you proposed in the second place was out of guilt for having slept with Sally in the first place.


GORDON: You say fine? I sleep with Sally and you say "fine"? Casey sleeps with Sally and that's a different story.


DANA: You're calling off the engagement cause I wasn't mad enough when I found out you were sleeping around? How 'bout if we do the whole thing again and I just beat the living crap outa you?

::sigh:: I miss Sorkin.

Friday round-up

I usually watch the "Today" show every morning as I'm getting ready for work, but I'm rather bummed I missed this segment. However, I did catch the Duggar family talking to Katie and Matt about their sixteenth child.

Check out modest swimwear out there. One question: if you wear something like this, why on earth would you need a slimming version?

In other news, I have tickets to both of this weekend's home games. GO HOME TEAM!

Big Yellow Taxi

I went on my first taxi ride in just about forever yesterday, and I should apologize since my headline is misleading: the taxi was actually green. I was supposed to take a cab from the airport over to my final destination, ie the office. I should have figured out something was up when I told the cabby the address. He kind of gave me a blank look and repeated the street name over and over again.

Luckily, I had written down directions from the airport to the office before leaving in the morning so I directed the cabby down the street and asked him to get on the highway heading west. For reasons still unknown to be, he decided to get on going EAST. And when I pointed this out to him, he agreed to turn around, but seemingly was oblivious to the CONSTRUCTION in the city (Big City to the North can certainly give Sweat Sock City a run for the money when it comes to moving major arteries around!). Anyway, cabby gets off the highway as I ask him to, but discovers he cannot go west. Excellent. So we end up going further East ("Look, kids, SKYLINE!") and finally, get off and manage to get on a west-bound ramp. OH THE DRAMA.

Then I tell the cabby expressly, "I want to get off at exit 39 and oh, by the way, that over there is the building I want to go to." There was plenty of pointing to go along with the verbal -- which is an improvement over many situations, as my brother says to me quite often, "Use your WORDS." Anyway, cabby somehow misses exit 39 and we end up on another highway. I say, "TURN AROUND. WE ARE GOING THE WRONG WAY." Does he turn around? NO. Meanwhile, I'm starting to panic. I'm due for a meeting at noon (lunch beforehand), and I had planned my trip with an ample cushion for exactly this kind of situation. But, pray tell me, how does a normal 15-minute car trip suddenly turn into an HOUR?

So while I was watching my cushion of time evaporate, the cabby finally realized we had to turn around. I happened to look at the meter by then, which was dismally climbing up with every wrong turn. And what do you know, once we're back on the right highway, he gets off at the WRONG EXIT. We then proceed to drive around in a shopping center for 10 minutes, all the while my office building is in plain sight, and YET THE CABBY CANNOT TAKE ME THERE. Did I mention it was a $2 charge just to sit in the taxi? That every quarter mile is 40 cents? OH THE BILL.

Finally, he flagged down a fireman who directed us to another road that would take me to my office. The cabby finally deposited me in front of the building, and I honestly felt like stiffing him his tip because all of his errors ended up costing me $10 to $20 in additional cab fare. However, I was just eager to get out of the car and up into the meeting, so I did the nice thing and gave him a nominal tip. I made it into the lunch with about 15 minutes to spare. Oh! I forgot to mention the cabby gave me his card so I could call him when I needed a ride back. Thanks, but no thanks. The rest of my business trip, thankfully, was cab-free.

You gotta believe

I was lucky enough to score a pair of tickets to the division championships on Sunday, and after eighteen innings over SIX HOURS, the home team ran away with the win and is now headed to the play-offs (and hopefully, I will get lucky with tickets there too). I made two predictions during the course of the game: one, when the team was losing 6-1, I said there would be a 9th inning rally (I was early by one inning, but the score did tie up in the 9th), and that it would be all over by 6 pm. Regardless, Best. Ball. Game. Ever. People, this could be LOVE.

But I admit, during the first eight extremely dismal innings and as the pitchers kept getting rotated out, the following bit of dialogue from the "Sports Night" pilot popped into my head.

<Dan: Lambeau, 3-com and Foxboro. Casey's got Tampa Bay and the mighty Bengals of Cincinnati.

Dana: What's in Cincinnati?

Dan: Well, the mighty Bengals, for one thing.

Dana: Ah.

Casey: They're going to cut Santori.

Natalie: The place-kicker?

Casey: He's made eight field goal attempts in three games and has connected on a grand total of none of them.

Elliot: Oh, I've met him, he's a good guy.

Casey: He can't kick.

Natalie: He is a good guy.

Casey: He can't kick.

Natalie: He'll get picked up by another team.

Casey: No, he won't. You know why?

Elliot: Why?

Casey: 'Cause he can't kick.

Dana: All right, commercial one, then on to the dugout report.

Elliot: I saw him kick in practice.

Casey: At this level, they pretty much want you to be able to kick in a game.

Home Team, I totally apologize for doubting you. You can hit and you can pitch.

On the town

Last night, we hit the town for dinner and drinks, and for most of us, it was the first time in a very, very long time we were going to take in the bar scene. The night started off classy enough, with tapas and sangria. And then there was the unfortunate incident when I bit down on a RAZOR BLADE -- nestled nicely in some vegetable pilaf. We managed to get the pilaf knocked off our bill and an extra pitcher of sangria for the table, but still. Dinner was pretty much over at that point (though they were all amazed that I kept munching away on the marinated mushrooms after the razor blade came to light).

We then decided to be bold and head downtown. The kindest thing one can say about Sweat Sock City downtown at night is that it's not very... alive. Sweat Sock City downtown's waking moments are literally between 5 am on Monday morning to 6 pm Friday evening, and even by 3 pm, most places have shut down for the day. It's hard to find somewhere to eat dinner there, I mean, hard for a major metropolitan area. Anyway, so off we went, enduring all sorts of parking hijinks, and we ended up in a bar.

Where the waiter actually laughed at me when I asked him what was non-alcoholic on the menu. In the end, I got water.

We then decided to head up one block to Main Street to check out the sights, and OH THOSE SIGHTS, sights we never expected and hope never to sight again. Honestly, not to put too fine a point on it, it was like we had suddenly entered a meat market of the type we had never seen before. Despite the fact it was freezing out, there were women barely clothed. What was the most astonishing fact were the skirts -- we're talking two inches of material at best; the best analogy I can think of are those skirted swimsuits you see at the beach -- but of the shorter variety. While we were gawking, one woman's 'skirt' flew up and revealed her matching thong underwear; we suddenly knew way more about this random woman's physique than we -- or even she -- had ever wanted to know. In addition to the preponderance of teeny tiny should not be legal skirts, there were a lot of strapless and plunging tops that seemed to defy gravity.

The whole time, I was hunched over, arms crossed against my chest, thinking, "OH MY GOD, AREN'T YOU PEOPLE FREEZING?" I grew up in New England, so warmth ALWAYS trumps high fashion. Plus, in cropped pants and a nice blouse, I was way overdressed for this scene, as were the rest of my friends. We ended up checking out one bar that didn't have a cover, spent about three minutes in it, and left. The music was pulsating, kind of like a audio strobe light, the air was thick and smoky, and just so many people everywhere. We escaped to the coffee shop next door, and the air felt so clean, and it was just so nice to be away from that music.

We ended up leaving shortly after. I don't think we spent more than two hours and we all left feeling incredibly... icky. I'm not sure what people see in the bar scene because the type of language, the attire, the attitudes and behaviors were so incredibly off-putting to me. I mentioned to my cousin that maybe I'm getting too old for this kind of thing, and she corrected me gently. "We're too classy, you mean," she said.

All in all though, we had a good time, and there was plenty to laugh at -- it took us a long, long time to get over the barely butt-covering skirts -- as the people watching opportunities were excellent. But really, as we were walking back to the car, and the wind was picking up, all I wanted to do was the hand all the women a nice big overcoat.

Cupcake time!

Bloggity might even be more sparse than usual this weekend due to the arrival of a college friend this afternoon. I can assure you, that though we have a jam-packed weekend of Stuff (tm) to do, there will be time for cupcakes. And for my Sweat Sock City friends, you will finally have proof that, yes, I have always been this neurotic.

TV Watch

The new season has started, and while I'm still hanging on to some favorites from last year like "Desperate Housewives", "Without a Trace" and "CSI", I've also added two new shows: "Commander in Chief" and "How I Met Your Mother."

The latter is such a cute little comedy. It's funny, the acting is very good, and I actually laugh at some of the gags. And I have a very low threshold when it comes to obscene humor, so I'd daresay this comedy might actually even be family-safe, since nothing that's happened in the two episodes I've seen has made me want to run and dunk my head into a vat of bleach.

I like "Commander in Chief" for acting and yes, the set-up is schmaltzy, and there's a generous dose of suspension of disbelief required for key story points, but the presence of Geena Davis just transcends it all and I'm not even a Davis fan. I also think Kyle Secor, as the First Gentleman, is absolutely adorable. Plus, it's more of a political intrigue, rather than issues-based -- which got old real quick with "The West Wing" -- and that appeals to me.

Shows I've dumped this year: "NCIS", "ER", "The West Wing", "The Apprentice", and "The Amazing Race" (family edition and racing across the US not doing it for me; I liked this show because, y'know, it featured people bungee jumping off cliffs in New Zealand or going on a safari in Kenya).

What is the world coming to?

So, just days after the birth of little Superman Cage, along comes the news Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are expecting. You know, this creeps me out in so many ways, and the scary thing is -- and I'll admit to you, dear readers, because you are kind and understanding people -- at one time, I had the MOST ENORMOUS CRUSH ON TOM CRUISE.

Listen, you would have crushed too, if you were 10 years old, and you went to the movies, and there was "Top Gun", with planes buzzing up against a cloudless blue sky, and in the middle of all that flying was Tom Cruise, who apparently taught George W. Bush how to swagger, and who also, singlehandedly resurrected the Righteous Brothers into the best pick up line ever. Those dimples! That buzz cut! That volley ball scene! That SHIRTLESS, SWEAT-GLISTENING, VOLLEYBALL SCENE! Boys of summer, indeed.

My crush on Tom Cruise lasted throughout college, even though some people pointed out very helpful that despite those dimples, twinkling eyes, and blindingly white smile, he was short. Which I always thought was incredibly insane thing to say. First, Tom Cruise, while short, will always be taller than yours truly. And second, what difference does it make if he's short? It's not like I was ever going to meet him and run off with him. Because a) he had a wife at the time, and b) I was too young for him.

Eh, scratch that last one.

I'm just saying, that before the whole couch-jumping, chest-thumping, crazy-in-love Tom emerged, I kind of crushed on the guy and while it's been many years since I've felt quite the same about the man, I do feel nostalgic for the non-crazy, nice guy action hero I'd gotten used to. Tom Cruise, still short, but now weird as heck too. Ah for those days of yore, when celluloid fantasy still trumped the flesh and blood.

It just goes to show

While I'm so underwhelmed by the SCOTUS nominee, I have been trolling right-wing blogs to get an idea of what the feeling is out there. And this thread at Red State totally amused me as it goes to prove that no matter how dignified the debate is or how serious the subject, all discussions eventually lead to one person calling another a Nazi. My one word on this: really, would Bush pick someone who wasn't a conservative? Would he really give the left a gift in Harriet Mier? I don't think so. Still, the right's apoplexy is rather fun to read.

Things that make you go huh

So the president just went and nominated a random somebody for the Supreme Court and I'm surprised at just how little I care. I've made my peace with the whole "let's overturn Roe" movement, and even though I totally don't agree, I understand that there are people out there who think abortion is an issue of greater consequence to the American public than the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, health care benefits, poverty, and alternative minimum tax -- just to name a few.

Also, just when I thought celebrity baby names couldn't get weirder than Apple, along comes Nicholas Cage to prove me completely wrong. Meet Kal-El. Now there's a kid who is most certainly going to get beat up in middle school. Let's hope he inherited the superhuman genetic make-up of his Krypton ancestors.

Two random things

I'm a firm believer that when you can't take something anymore, suddenly the solution magically arrives and voila, problem fixed. Of course, that doesn't mean things don't suck in the meantime. But I think getting through the suckiness makes one appreciate the unsucky times that much more.

Second, Mozilla keeled over and died this morning, which means I'm using the Spawn of Microsoft, IE. I MISS MY TABS! How do you IE users browse without TABS? It's so uncivilized. I'm curious as to whether the new version of IE will incorporate tabs. It took some getting used to, but multiple windows are hard -- and annoying -- to deal with.

Coffee break

I tried to blog several times over the last couple of days, including the latest misadventures in the kitchen (think: explosion) and blogger kept eating my posts. Bad Blogger, no biscuit! Anyway, I'm still picking bits of things out of the carpet and I have cabinets to wipe down, and the blouse that unfortunately got assaulted during the explosion -- happened to be drying on the back of a dining room chair, and then kerplooey happened and a blouse that was clean a few seconds before, well, not so much now. I'm thinking those cooking lessons I was considering a few months ago would be a very good idea.

Lesson 101: Cooking soup without it exploding EVERYWHERE*

*I'm just going to leave that to your imagination, as I've written the post up several times, and blogger just seems to keel over and die every time I try to publish it. I think the description is pretty self-explanatory.

Random fact

Today, I spent many, many hours pouring over a map of Louisiana. When I came to Terrebonne parish, I discovered a town called Waterproof. Seriously, one of the more ironic names around. I'm also fond of Cut And Shoot, Texas, and there's also Truth or Consequences in New Mexico. No other particularly weirdly named places come to mind at this time.

If it's not one thing...

I'm feeling particularly heartless today. I just received one of those forwarded UNSNIPPED emails promising me CASH from BILL GATES if I just forwarded it to TEN OF MY CLOSEST AND DEAREST FRIENDS. It amazes me, after all of these years, how these things keep getting passed around. The first couple times I get one of these emails from a friend, I usually ignore it. By the fifth or sixth time, I reach the breaking point, because dang it, that's yet another email I must DELETE, thus slowing my email productivity down even more than it's already been slowed (current speed: glacial; I need a color chart). It seems rude to send the Snopes link, but aaaaaaaaaaaagh! Make it stop!

If anyone has a more polite way of responding to these annoying serial forwarders, I'd love to hear it.

Stop, thief!

Thanks to help from my brother, I finally figured out who at Laundromatic.net -- a teen auction site -- has been stealing my bandwidth. My brother replaced the picture being linked to with a revenge picture, and while I feel it's a wee bit harsh, I'm also sufficiently annoyed with the person in question to leave it up for another 24 hours. Maybe that will teach them to steal my bandwidth! In the meantime, it's time to look at why my .htaccess file failed to protect me.

ETA: I emailed the person in question because I felt bad about the revenge picture (but not enough to take it down!). I had to stop myself from saying 'please' and 'thank you' in the email. I don't want to be rude or mean, but really. It's so not cool to steal bandwidth.

In other news, still recovering from the last four days. Yes, I know, it sounds melodramatic, but I'm not the only one who feels this way. I think it's just the build-up, the adrenaline rush, and tension, and it's impossible to let go of so suddenly. This morning on "Good Morning America," the weather man noted a tropical formation in the Caribbean. I just stood there thinking, "Oh you've got to be kidding." My attraction for hurricanes are over, thankyouvery much.

Also, just on a very random note: anyone watch Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Meals? I love that show. It comes on just around the time I get to the gym, and I love the fact that in the time I can cover 2 miles on the treadmill, she has dinner ready. Now if only that dinner could be magically transported to my kitchen...

On the lighter side

jemima has been compiling the new rules to live by over here.

Aftermath

I slept through straight from around 10:30 last night until 9 this morning. It's very rare that I sleep past 7:30, even without an alarm, so that gives you an idea of just how tired I am. I'm still tired, but I feel stronger and ready to take on the piles of work in front of me. I assume we're all returning to work tomorrow, but we'll see. City services are not expected to resume until Tuesday or Wednesday, depending.

I had dinner with V & K last night after their power came back on. Originally, they were going to come stay with me, as I had never lost power, and it was getting hot; now that Rita is gone, she's left us with the gift of 100+ temperatures once again. I wasn't planning to drive anywhere last night, but the idea of a home-cooked meal with friends was very tempting. Plus, they only live 10 minutes away.

V and I were discussing our exhaustion. It's not even like we came back to disasters! I mean, how crazy is that? We came back to intact homes, and minor damage. Yes, we have big clean-up jobs in front of us, but hey, better to scrape masking tape off the windows for hours rather than having to deal with water, broken glass, leaking roofs, etc.

The emotional strain, I think, is what's done us in. Ever since last Monday, we've been on Rita watch, and it was as if time had stopped. I kept checking the National Hurricane Center's forecasts, and it seemed to me they never updated their charts quick enough. The local media cut out Wednesday night (except for ABC) and went 24/7 with coverage. As far as I know, they're still at it.

The idea of a category 5 hurricane barrelling towards you, the third most intense storm ever, is a lot to process. I don't care how many hurricanes anyone has been through, but this is something that emotionally takes a chunk out of you. All of that was exacerberated by Katrina, so recently and so close, and the reminder that just over 100 years ago, the island had been completely wiped out by a hurricane.

V and I made the decision to leave on Wednesday afternoon. I spent 30 minutes in line waiting for gasoline, and filled up with premium -- the only option; in retrospect, I was one of the lucky ones. That evening was spent preparing our respective homes for the worst case scenario. None of us slept particularly well. The panic increased big time when we woke at 5:30 in the morning and realized that getting out of the city was going to be an absolute nightmare. We prepared to stay.

I went to the grocery store, because I had not considered staying, had no provisions to do so. I walked up and down the aisles with my cart, completely at a loss. I had no idea what to buy. I kept stealing glances into other people's carts to see what they were getting. People were buying tons of meat (???), water, and frozen dinners. None of that made sense to me. Finally I ended up in the canned vegetable section. There wasn't much left there, so I figured I was in the right place. I bought cans of kidney beans and chick peas and corn -- things I knew I could eat right out of the can. I also bought 3 gallons of water, not because I thought I needed them, but because everyone else was too.

Yesterday I mentioned to V how peculiar that whole shopping trip was. Here I was, with the financial and material resources to supply myself and to transport it all home, and I was stuck. I have no idea how people in New Orleans were expected to transport a gallon water per person for per day (3) to the Superdome. At the very least, they would have to carry 3 gallons of water. A family a four would have to take 12 gallons. Without transportation, God, what a nightmare.

I got home around 7:30 am from my shopping trip. Even in the two hours I'd been awake, my phone had been ringing off the hook. I was deeply distressed about The Fainter who had been sitting in traffic all night. Another friend called and told me she had been planning to evacuate, but was just going to hunker down now; she'd never make the Arkansas border given the conditions on the road. V & K decided to make a run to Ye Old Grad School Town on back roads, but I was too scared to go with them. Even at that early hour, we knew gasoline was scarce and that businesses were shutting down. I didn't want to take the chances.

My panic increased all that day. It was still a Cat 5 storm, my zip code was suddenly declared to be in a mandatory evacuation zone, and I couldn't figure out what to do. All day, I was waiting for V & K and The Fainter to check in, and my nerves were growing increasingly raw as I watched the traffic snarls on television. Towards the end of the day, I was having second thoughts, that maybe I should have left with V & K, rather than waiting for the contra-flow lanes to open (they never did). Between my stress and the constant phone calls, I couldn't sleep.

You know how this story goes. V wondered if the media was to blame for all of this, given Rita's eventual track, but having constantly watching the National Hurricane Center, I don't think. It wasn't until the early hours of Saturday morning did we realize we dodged a bullet. Even later Friday night -- we went to bed around 11 -- that storm was still making its way towards us. All night I tossed and turned, and I could hear the wind outside. I was very surprised to wake up and find we had power.

All in all, it was a 'dry run' for hurricane season. When you live on the Gulf Coast, you know it's a question of sooner rather than later. You know a hurricane is coming and there's not much you can do about it. It's the way of things. Even so, I cannot even imagine how people cope when they come back to having lost everything and how they rebuild their lives. Sure, I'm complaining about the fact that the tape on my windows won't peel off, and the fact I moved all my furniture around for nothing, but really, isn't this a better scenario than what could have been?

Next time, I'll know better what to expect, and I think it'll be less panicky. Maybe by then an evacuation plan will have been drafted that will work. At the same time, given what happened in NOLA and what happened here, I wonder if it's even possible to evacuate a major American city without problems. For that reason, I don't blame city officials. They didn't know where the hurricane would strike for sure, and they took prudent measures to warn people. No need to repeat NOLA's mistakes here.

There is damage throughout the city and along the coastal plains, but nothing major, and the loss of life, I believe, is minimal in our area. There are still issues to contend with over the next few days, but in general, we should be back to normal by Wednesday. This blog shall also return to its regular programming, unless something more deep regarding these past few days hits me. Thank you all for listening and your comments. It's much appreciated. You have no idea how much it meant to me.

Home sweet home

I decided to return home sooner rather than later, as traffic is starting to pick up and I had no desire to spend 12 hours in traffic just to travel 20 miles. I did run into some back-ups trying to get onto the freeway, and heading east, there was some traffic, but it eased up as I got closer into the downtown area. Damage is minimal and I saw a lot of damaged billboards and downed trees. Signs also had been blown off their poles.

At my apartment, it doesn't look like we ever lost power; my microwave clock isn't blinking. However, there are downed trees on the properties. I wasn't particularly worried about my windows, as they face south and the winds were coming from the north, but even so, I didn't see any shattered glass, though in downtown -- less than a mile from where I am -- some buildings did have their windows blown out.

A evacuee return plan has been set into motion. I decided it didn't apply to me because I never left the city limits (g), but it'll be interesting to see if people trying to return are turned back. I doubt it. However, it's quite the gamble as there's very little in the way of supplies in the city or along the routes into the city.

In the meantime, I have a lot of work in my apartment to put it back to pre-hurricane condition. Furniture needs to be moved back into their regular places, tape removed from windows, etc. I have, obviously, plugged everything back in and removed all the plastic coverings from all the electronics. I think I'm going to wait another 24 hours or so to drain the bathtub, simply because I heard one coastal city -- in its attempt to get back into shape -- lost power and residents were suddenly without water. Little by little, I'll get this place back into order.

But first, a nap (g).

How do you spell R-E-L-I-E-F?

Rita is still swirling around, but it looks like we've escaped the worst of her wrath, which has been inflicted on the eastern part of the state and Louisiana. As far as we can tell, there's been no serious damage or flooding in the city, and no deaths reported. Obviously, we still have power and phone service, though around 500,000 to 800,000 people in the city are without electricity; no word on where those outages have occurred.

Right now, there are dark clouds above still moving in the counter-clockwise rotation, some strong winds, but no rain. In fact, we get more rain during our daily afternoon thundershowers than we've gotten with Rita (I don't know what happened while I was asleep, though). The afternoon Gulf showers are also more violent than Rita has been.

I haven't decided when I'm going to return home. There's some damage to downtown, falling glass, that kind of thing, but nothing more serious than that. I don't know if there is power in my area or not -- I will call a friend who lives in the area and didn't evacuate. Either way, given the glancing blow we received, I assume it will be business as usual on Monday and people will start swarming back beginning today. I'm hoping the lack of gasoline will keep people 'stranded' where they are for the time being. But I'll be watching the traffic and the minute it looks like I'll be on I-10 for any length of time, I'll be heading home. Of course, I will wait for the winds to calm down; they are still tropical storm force.

So, so very lucky. It's as if Mother Nature has been taunting us for the last week, and then at the very last minute -- literally -- decided to change her mind and veer off to the east. Only six more weeks left in hurricane season, but man, I'll be so glad when it's over. It's been stressful -- I can't even tell you -- and the uncertainty of it all has been difficult. I think coming so soon after Katrina made the whole thing worse and then the evacuation, with several of my friends stuck in traffic for insane amounts of time... no need to run through this excercise any time soon!

Rita

Rita has announced her presence, and while approximately 95,000 people are without power in the area, our luck has been holding; lights flicker, and occasionally go out, but so far so good. We're about 70 miles or inland from the storm, and Rita's jog to the east means our neighbors in the adjacent counties are taking the brunt of the storm. It's a relief for us, but not so good for our neighbors.

We went to the park this evening. I was afraid at first because the wind is strong, and while 20 mph doesn't seem like a lot, it's enough to push someone around if they aren't strong enough to resist. I watched the clouds swirl above me. The counter-clockwise motion of the storm is very easy to see. When we were at the park, the outerbands of Rita were just starting to move into our area. It was very odd, because we could see the sun and blue skies between the thin clouds to our west, and then to the east, the clouds were bigger and angrier. It's been like that all evening, as the outerbands move gradually out of our area and the bulk of the storm moves in.

Sunset was absolutely beautiful. To our east, there was a rainbow, brightly colored and complete, straddling the fluffy gray clouds. And to the west, the sun set, the clouds rimmed with red, the tops a light gray. The sun illuminated it all in rich golds. I joked with my uncle that it looked like something out of a Renaissance painting. Think Sistine Chapel and you get an idea of what I'm talking about. BTW, it is still hot here, a balmy 90 or so degrees.

The rain has just started. Nothing serious, but it's here. My uncle expects we will lose power sometime during the night. So far it's quiet. None of that howling hurricane wind sound I was told to expect, but of course, it's still early. The eye is moving ashore around 3 am, and that's when we'll probably get the most ferocious part of the storm. We do not expect to have power in the morning.

Right now, on all channels, it's Rita 100 percent of the time. I feel curiously cut off from the rest of the world. World, is there something going on with you I should know about? At this point, the stations aren't showing commercials at all. However, I find it funny just how often they roll the same film over and over, kind of like the Bush's Beans commercial: "Roll that beautiful bean footage!" The redudancy of the footage makes it difficult to discern what's going on. I am however vastly amused by the scene of the FEMA trucks rolling in and the anchors are beside themselves with glee. "Look, kids, FEMA!"

I think we're very lucky. Of course, like I said, we're still in the early hours, and I'll know more about what's going on tomorrow for sure, but we missed a bullet that's for sure. It's still scary, that's for sure, and it's not an experience I recommend for most people. But so far, my first 'head on' hurricane experience hasn't been that bad. But again, all of that is said with a major disclaimer: we're six hours away from landfall.

Waiting game

I have reached my uncle's place. The freeway was completely empty, a stark contrast to yesterday when so many people were stranded there. In fact, it was so eerie; kind of reminded me of the time we hosted the Super Bowl and I cut out of the Super Bowl party early to get home before the stadium set free its hoardes of happy/angry spectators. The clean stretch of freeway almost had me considering making a run for the Big City to the West, but my head was still hurting, and I had no idea what conditions were ahead of me. Plus, gasoline is a major issue and there are no supplies between here and well, anywhere else.

The wind started to pick up during my drive and were pushing my little car around. The clear blue skies of this morning are gone, as are the benign wispy white clouds. The clouds moving in now are a mixture of white tinged with gray, and then wholly gray. The black clouds are not here yet. The winds, three hours after I arrived here, are considerably stronger. It's certainly not skirt weather and if I go out again, it'll be wearing jeans!

I'm having minor angst over my car and have moved it three times since getting here. I've finally found a spot that I'm somewhat comfortable with. While residents have boarded up their windows here at this complex (unlike mine), they have not evacuated their balcony of stuff (unlike mine). So there is danger of flying projectiles -- things like toys, plants, bicycles, lawnchairs, that kind of thing. But what happens now happens. Material things are insured and can be repaired. Meanwhile, I'm not riding the storm out alone and that's the important thing. More later, depending on the power/phone line situation.

ETA: In just the last 10 minutes or so, the lights have started to flicker. No serious loss of power yet, but it's only a matter of time.

Decision time

I have to be where I need to be for the storm by 3 pm. Here's the current plan (after much, much debate): I'm going to my uncle's place. At least, that's where I'm going to start. If it looks like traffic won't let it happen, I'm going to turn around and be in my apartment for the duration. This is no time to idle in traffic, if indeed, they haven't cleared the roads.

I want to thank everyone for their support, emails and phone calls. It means a lot to me. It's been very stressful. Another friend -- whose evacuation plans didn't pan out due to the traffic -- told me this morning, "The last day and a half has seemed like for a week." Indeed, but it's been more bearable because of you guys. I hope to be able to touch base with everyone sooner rather than later. Be well, and hopefully, I'll be able to blog at you later on today.

Friday

Believe it or not, it's absolutely serene outside. The sky is a pale blue, the sun is bright, and wispy white clouds are starting to move in. I haven't been outside to check the wind, but my uncle reports seeing some pick-up. In the meantime, my heart goes out to those poor, poor people in the bus that exploded just short of I-45. It's the most tragic example of what has been going on on the freeways here, and it's simply awful. The only silver lining is that people are cautious, and are heeding the requests to get out, rather than kow-towing to some macho sense of "Been there, done that, no big deal."

I've decided to make a move to my uncle's place. My dad has found some alternative routes for me that don't involve the freeways. I don't know what the true picture of the freeways are; the news keeps showing old footage from yesterday and at this point, I'm sufficiently freaked out enough to not attempt it. I am torn between moving my car from a parking garage (above ground) to a surface lot, but I'm also not thrilled about riding out the storm on my own. As soon as I feel better (migraine; talk about crappy timing, huh?), I'm going to leave. Hopefully, I'll be able to blog from my uncle's place. As jemima observed, blogging is the most important thing.

Bedtime update

I'm getting ready for bed now and we'll see what the morning brings. I'm feeling a bit of relief as a friend of mine has stopped after 24 hours on the road -- covering probably between 75 to 90 miles during that time -- and her parents are starting out from Big City to the West to bring her the rest of the way. So at least there's some sense she'll get home, but who knows? I'm still waiting to hear from another friend of mine. Last contact was around 4 or 5 pm, and I don't know where they are now. Another friend, calling from Florida, was unable to reach them.

The freeway dramas are amazing. People in their cars, running out of gas, breaking down in the heat, and just taking hours to cover as few as 3-6 miles. I can't even imagine the stress those people must be enduring, not to mention the panic they must be feeling -- the outer bands of the storm are nearing the shore.

The picture on my television is starting to pixelate, like it does during heavy thundershowers (or when someone looks at the satellite wrong). I imagine this means the winds are picking up. When I walked out into the parking garage about 40 minutes ago, I didn't feel any wind; the air was still and heavy. However, if the winds are going to start kicking up in the morning, I don't know how much longer I'll have internet access and power. Telephone service is already sketchy in this area due to overloaded circuits (my phone has been ringing off the hook from since about 5:45 am, for example).

In the morning, when I can think again, I'll start making decisions about whether I'm going to stay here or make a move to my uncle's place. Either way, I'll be here for landfall-- something not originally in the plans, but what can I say except mice and men?

Wave white sand

My zip code has just joined the list of storm surge evacuation zones. This is completely news to me. I've been comforted this entire time that I did not live in one of the evacuation zones, and while I anticipate localized flooding, I didn't think it'd be a big deal. I'm not sure what to do now. Traffic is still bogged down, there's no gas, and whatever/whereever I go, it's a one-shot deal. I won't get a second chance to make a course correction if the route I choose is congested.

I keep telling myself that I'm better here than out there on the streets, in the heat, worrying about the gasoline situation. At this point, I don't plan to leave. I'm at the possible place I can be right now and there's no good reason to venture out into 100+ degree heat and take my chances with traffic.

If I only I can get some sleep, I think I could make some sense and get a plan together.

Beautiful day

It's hot out, as I've mentioned before, but there are no clouds in the sky and the sun is bright. It seems impossible to imagine a hurricane coming our way, when you look out the window. Around my complex, it's incredibly quiet and calm. The heat is heavy, stifling, and there is absolute no movement in the air.

I just walked out into the parking garage. There are tons of cars parked, but very few signs of life. I saw a empty box labeled "Ozarka" by the trash bin, so obviously there's at least someone else out there planning on hunkering down. I also met a couple two buildings down who plan on staying, saying they don't think there's anywhere safer than where we are right now.

I'm really tired. I keep trying to sleep, but I can't. Sometimes the phone wakes me, other times it's my neighbor listening to the news, and earlier in the day, someone was moving things around. Even if I could get out, I no longer trust my ability to stay awake or make coherent decisions. I'm indecisive under the best of circumstances and while I'm prepared here, I'm torn between the relative safety of my apartment versus heading to either my uncle's or my friend's place -- for their company.

Update

I'm still here. The situation is precarious in terms of getting out of the city and after consultations with my uncle (who has been through Alicia -- the last huge hurricane here) and my parents, I'm staying put unless the evacuee routes clear out. A friend called at 6:30 this morning and she had been on the interstate for 12 hours and had traveled about 10 miles. Another friend called a few minutes ago, and in just over 2 hours, she's gone 6 miles.

Added to this, the heat is record levels today -- 100+ -- and there is very little gasoline to be found anywhere. I don't want to risk driving around and getting stuck and then running out of gas. Unless the routes clear up considerably, I'm not going anywhere.

I have stocked my kitchen with non-perishables, water, and I have batteries for a radio and flashlight. I wasn't intending to ride out the storm, and I'm still optimistic that I can get out of the city, but as the day progresses, the chances of that grow less and less.

So just maybe I *will* blog the storm for you guys.

It's 3 am, I must be lonely

In a little over two hours, we're going to hit the road. Theoretically I should be sleeping, because what's normally a 3-hour drive is going to take at least twice as long, if not longer, but I can't sleep. I know the drive is going to be tense and difficult, especially given the record temperatures expected for tomorrow, not to mention the obvious difficulties of 80 gazillion people clogging the freeways. I don't expect there to be any stores or restaurants open along the way since most people will probably be eager to get out of the city.

It's kind of weird to look around my apartment. It's as if I've packed the place up and I'm moving out tomorrow. And frankly, it's just weird to look at my bathtub all filled up with water. It reminds me of a piece one of the news stations did on Katrina, about a group of people hunkered down in some random person's apartment and how the owners had filled every sink and bathtub and at least a dozen pots and pans with water. I think I could give that person a run for the money. When I've been at a loss at getting ready for Rita, I've filled another water jar.

Part of me is fatalistic; if the hurricane continues on this current trajectory, no amount of anything is going to save my stuff. I don't have a lot of stuff, but what I have, I love. But stuff is stuff. It can be replaced.

The phones have already started to flake out, but probably due to panic or concern more than anything else. You can make an outbound call, but it'll take several tries to get either landline or cell connection. At one point, frustrated, I emailed my brother and had him call my parents for me. We'll see if this situation continues tomorrow. It's hard to imagine it won't.

What strikes me odd about this whole situation is just how much we don't know. I could be leaving just for the weekend, back on Sunday, or I could be gone for days or weeks. It's impossible to tell because it's still not clear where the storm is going to hit. Unfortunately, it's not looking good for us at this particular moment. We're still on the 'dirty' side of the storm, but it could just as easily shift to the east and then we get a nice, mild tropical storm. Right now though, it's at the worst possible place and if it keeps at that trajectory, well, Sweat Sock City, it's been nice knowin' ya.

Getting ready

I forgot to mention one of the sillier things I've done to get ready for this storm: putting garbage bags over my electronics. I'm not exactly sure how that's going to help, considering this is the third most intense storm ever to form in the Atlantic (as of the date stamp on this post), but again, gestures are what's important. Also will be taping my kitchen cabinet doors shut, turning the refrigerator the coldest setting possible, and unplugging all appliances when I leave in the morning.

The calm before the storm

It's been a stressful week so far here in Sweat Sock City. You can see the tension etched across people's faces, hear it in their voices. The lines at the gas station are long. Premium is sometimes the only option available; some pumps are completely dry. The grocery stores are empty -- I didn't even bother; I stocked up with snacks and drinks at the local Walgreens.

I've finished taking pictures of my apartment from every angle for insurance purposes. I've put masking tape -- provided by the apartment complex -- across all three of my double-paned picture windows; I'm not delusional enough to think my windows will survive a Category 5 Hurricane, but gestures are sometimes necessary. I've filled a couple pitchers of water, though I have no intention of being here for landfall. In the morning, I'll fill the bathtub. Just in case. All appliances will be unplugged. I'll back up my computer hard drive. All papers have been gathered, put into a folder, and packed. Plants and CDs have been moved away from the windows. The rest of the stuff, I'm leaving to chance because I'm simply not strong enough to move any of it.

Even though I know I will not be here for landfill, I'm scared. Seriously, totally scared. I hate uncertainty, I hate not knowing how long I'll be away, what I'll come back to. It'll take a few hours to just get out of the city tomorrow. I'm stocking up wtih music, snacks and drinks and will try to remain calm as I inch out. I'm hoping to be gone before mandatory evacuation takes place; that's when you have no choice as to what your final destination will be and you must keep driving on the freeway until the Powers that Be let you off.

I regret not being able to blog the storm for you when it comes on land, but people, if anything, you should know by now I'm a big, big wimp. It's not so much the storm I fear as what comes afterwards.

This is all. I will update when I've moved further inland.

Light Speed

My writing has taken on a new urgency, and some of you might understand why. Currently, I'm working on writing a 'backwards' story. In other words, the beginning is really the 'ending' and the ending is the 'beginning'. I really enjoy the challenge of writing this kind of story, though it can be nerve-wracking because it does need to flow both forwards and backwards. The beauty is that I can slowly reveal information as I go along and things become more clear. The other issue is making sure each invidual scene is important, reveals information in the right order, and works with the scene that comes before and after it. Thank goodness for cut, copy and paste!