Happy Halloween

She's a Princess (are you surprised?)

Pretty Scary!

Stroller Derby ran a story this morning about this Republican who has no idea why using pornified illegal robocalls might be offensive. Can you imagine your kids standing next to the answering machine when you hit play in this? I'm pretty sure injecting BDSM porn into your congressional campaign isn't a winning choice. He defends his vast ignorance with this:

"...various issues including in passing the so called "Patriot Act". This is simply appalling. And if a message needs to go out that is "appalling" in a sense in order to get the discussion going, than I believe it is a worthy cause.

Let’s think outside the box, let's not be scared, let's talk about the issues that really matter. I am here to listen. I am here to take responsibility and to be accountable to the District..."

Way to stay classy Zane.

Project Runway the Bombadee Edition - Season Two (Fall)

Ella picked something from the dress up closet for tomorrow. Feeling a little bad that she didn't get anything new for her costume I went and got some white fur (fake of course) and spent the afternoon sewing some nice little warm bits for her to add. What is she going to be? Tune in tomorrow to see.

Yes We Carve

Thak you Cameo for sending this to me. Get your own Yes We Carve stencil HERE.

Remember Getting Your Candy X-Rayed for Razor Blades? Ahh the Good Old Days.

Ohio.com had this to say today:
"While the FDA has not recalled any candy from an American maker, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has recalled Sherwood Brands Pirate's Gold Milk Chocolate Coins, which were made in China and sold at Costco stores in Canada, after they tested positive for melamine.

Sherwood, located in Rockville, Md., has numerous China-made candies on local store shelves, including Lolli Pups, bone-shaped lollipops, and Spooky Eyes Bubble Gum, the package of which states, ''May contain milk.''

Sherwood company officials did not return a phone call seeking comment."


The San Franscisco Chronicle had this advice:
"Any tips on avoiding tainted candy? You need to look through all the candy before the kids eat any of it. If it has any Chinese lettering on it, toss it. Some Chinese candies have been identified as containing melamine. That's what Formica counter tops are made of, and you don't want your kids eating that. You can find out about recalls by going to fda.gov/opacom/7alerts.html. "

Just buy American this Halloween!

Richard Trumka

I read alot of political blogs and watch alot of political videos and and sometimes I stumble across something I can't let go, something that I keep telling people "I wish you could see this," something I wish I could put on my phone and make everyone watch when we start talking about the election. I don't remember where I originally saw it so thanks for positing it internet and now I will share it with you my dear bloggies:

AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Richard Trumka blasts racism and underlines why workers should vote Obama in 2008. Excerpt of speech given at Steelworkers convention July 1, 2008, sponsored by USW President Leo Gerard.

Entire speech at http://www.usw.org/multimedia/video Mr. Trumka formerly served as president of the United Mine Workers of America.

IF THIS VIDEO WON'T LOAD CLICK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QIGJT...

Games All Day

Yesterday, me and some of my skatey mates put our uniforms on and went out to Rock-Con (Rockford's big game convention) and taught strangers how to play "Roller Derby Mayhem" the board game. Dan and I wrote the rules with lots of help from skatey mate DD Hunter and we used those little happy meal my scene roller girls for skaters and we gave away a t-shirt to one lucky winner. It was complete fun. We did alot of yelling "Hit someone!" followed by "Roll a one!" It was particularly nice to be able to direct out of town gamers to their local roller derby leagues. So the kid from Iowa will definitely be going to see a Mid Iowa Rollers bout and the fellas from Chicago were happy to hear about the Chicago Outfit and the Windy City Rollers (who had free beer at the UIC pavilion last night WOO HOO!) Lots of players asked if the game was for sale, it's not but in a couple weeks we'll be posting those same rules on the SRDD Blog.

After the mayhem cleared we packed up and went out for sushi followed by bowling. The bowling alley had a Halloween event and so we got to see zombies, army guys and batman, Ella was very excited about that. She also beat me 72 to 65 (with bumpers that is, I would've totally beat her if we had gutters - so there!) Ella had a little 5 pound ball and every time she ran down the alley and stopped at the line to roll it she'd let out a war cry that was cracking me up. "YA!" she'd yell and then she'd jump up and down and clap while the ball crawled it's way to the pins.

I'm Subliminally Selling you Obama Right Now

I was going to be Sarah Palin for Halloween but I can't afford Prada or Dior so I'm considering Christmas sweater Palin, or evening gown Palin or camouflage Palin.

***

Babble recently asked the question When the Times Call for Frugality, What Goes? What Stays? and people are talking about giving up their lattes and cleaning ladies. That's real nice and all, and I realize we haven't suffered much in this climate though we are still cutting back alot, I can't help but think of my pals that have lost jobs and are wondering how to buy gas to get to the next interview. It has me thinking about what I'll give up and in what order. I've already given up the daily paper, new clothes, 8 degrees on the thermostat as well as weekly trips to the city, and cable may be next, but the internet is staying. If I have to sell pencils on e-bay to pay for my internet then so be it. What won't you give up?

***

I'm addicted to The Pickup Artists. It's a show on VH-1 where this fella Mystery (yes, that's really his name) teaches totally nice guys how to be meatheads. Ok, ok, he really is helping these fellas find some self confidence and become more socially adept, so they can pick up chicks but the discussion of women as "targets" and the science of it all is both offensive and riveting. I am really interested in marketing and the sociology of how to sell things. Subliminal marketing, the use of color, smell, design and product placement to evoke feelings of want and worth is fascinating. So to hear Mystery talk about how to stand and what to say when trying to make a first impression so that you are selling your worth to a person in the first three seconds is marketing gold. It takes a good hard look at women as the consumer and breaks down to a science how to market men to women. Deceptive? maybe, but alot of times if you don't like someone in the first five seconds you aren't gonna spend any more time getting to know them. Does anyone else watch this or am I the only one trying to justify my crap television addiction?

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The view from my desk today.

Who Buys This Crap Part III

From Feministing this morning; a picture taken at a Target in St. Paul, Minn. It seems Target really has a problem understanding what's appropriate for young children. This isn't the first time they've thought projecting sexual body images onto babies was funny. The first time was with the pink onsie "I'm to sexy for my diaper." (ew!)















JC Penny's had the same problem but wised up under pressure from letters by shoppers;

"Thank you for taking the time to contact us with your comments about the Onesie that we offered for sale. Very specifically, we attempt to avoid themes that would be considered offensive to JCPenney Customers. We sincerely regret that we have offended you. It was not our intent.Based on concerns such as yours and our re-evaluation of the item we have decided to remove it from sale. Although we can not change our catalog we will no longer accept orders the "Too Sexy for my Diaper" onesie through our catalog or our Internet site."

So what am I gonna say now? Let's drop Target a line and tell them to get their heads out of their butts on this one. E-mail them at GuestRelations@Target.com and let them know that even though they are trying to be funny it's not ok to make sexist comments especially when it involves children.

Stuff we don't have room to store anymore

I think I'm ready for the giant project I've been putting off. I'm going to start going through clothes. The one's that no longer fit and the one's that are for summer and then I need to get them put in the proper places. Then I'll start the great E-bay project. Maybe I'll open a little e-bay store and call it "Stuff we don't have room to store anymore." I think I'm going to have to get Ella to sort through toys too. The holidays and her birthday are in the coming months and if I try to fit one more toy into this house, it might pop and all our socks and books and Legos will spill out onto the street and then the neighbors will have to help me clean so that the traffic can get through town.

The Infinite Possibilities are Making My Head Hurt

I looked at the whole internet today and was bored. I thought about blogging my whole existance, I tried to paint the universe, I surfed 1500 cable channels, I looked at a library full of paper, I stared into space.

I have no idea what to write... Feminism, Momming, Roller Derby, Art, Liberal Politics... Blah Blah Blah.

Guest Blogger

I asked Ella what I should tell the internet about our day, she dictated this:

"We went to the pumkpin patch. And we saw the J. family and we rided some rides and didn't get a pumpkin but we did fling pumpkins. We putted them in the little bag and pulled it and pulled it and pulled it and then let it go and it went really far. Mine didn't even break but Dan's breaked and flobbered all over the ground. And then we ate at a resturaunt next to the pumpkin patch. Now we're at home."

3 Million Dollars

Who in the hell thinks wasting money on education when you could be giving tax breaks to rich people is a good idea? I mean a projector at the planetarium... get real. It might make kids want to be scientists or astronauts instead of stock brokers and pimps. When I was a kid we had commies to inspire us to go to the moon and that was good enough! Besides learning about the universe just leads to understanding the big bang theory and we all know what a crack pot idea that is.

"Health"

I want a president that treats women like they are people who deserve all the human rights American's enjoy. That means privacy and resepct when it comes to making desicions about their health. Does McCain really believe women have late tearm abortions all willy nilly just for the heck of it? Really?! Like a medical desicion like that isn't excrutiating and complicated enough for parents and the doctors already? And how can he say that he wouldn't apply a Litmus Test to supreme court justices before he appointed them and then, in the same breath, say judges who uphold Roe vs. Wade would not meet his qualifications for the role of justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. That's what applying a Litmus-Test means!

FTW

US and NATO forces killed at least 60 Taliban troops trying to take seize the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah of Helmand province in three waves of attacks over the weekend. Anytime I hear about shooting there it worries me, our neighbor and Pal, Dave is still there. But Dan thinks it's good news; if the Taliban is attempting grand gestures before winter to capture a moral victory than they are getting desperate, and there were no civilian casualties or US/NATO casualties. So yay for stopping the Taliban from advancing their control and here's hoping Obama can pull some troops out of Iraq to help my buddy in Afghanistan.

Autumn Days

The Fastest Women in the East

Yesterday I was in Madison at Derby in Dairyland watching Roller Derby Eastern Regionals and today I will be sitting at my desk watching the championship. You can too. There's live broadcasts all day but the championship is at 4:00pm CST just CLICK HERE. Amazing skating, just amazing.

Amazing Orionids

On the way home from practice last night I was blessed to witness the closest shooting star I’ve ever seen in my life. Its tail was a bright three inches long trailing across the sky with a green sparkle flinging off to the East rapidly turning yellow and then orange. From the time it came into sight to when it rocketed behind the line of trees about three seconds passed. Pretty slow for a shooting star. I said to DD who was driving but still maganed to also see the spectacular display, that it could’ve been fireworks but she assured me fireworks don’t really look like that on the way to the ground and it was much farther away than a bottle rocket. I had to agree and then later on the way home after much discussion about UFOs and other unexplained phenomenon I saw another shooting star off in the dark distance over a field. This one was more the very far away white streak accross the sky kind, not the previously seen in the middle of a city filled with light pollution and looking like fireworks kind. But it still confirmed that indeed we had not seen a crash alien landing. Dang.


What was it actually? According to Mediatrix P. Cristobal in Bits of Halley's comet spark up October sky

"The Orionids meteor shower is capable of producing interesting activity from October 17-25," the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), in its monthly astronomical diary, said.

The Orionids are fast meteors and can produce fireballs. At maximum rates, the shower may reach 10 meteors per hour that may be observed at favorable sky condition, but sometimes there are lulls even during the traditional maximum peak nights of October 21-22.”

$273,000.00

Spoiler: F word at the end.

Facts Confirmed here and here.

Drink!

I had roller derby practice, Dan had a meeting. We both raced home directly after to see the recorded presidential debate. I popped a bag of kettle corn and grabbed two beers on the way to the couch. Dan put head phones on Ella and plugged her into Mulan on the computer. We all stayed up late watching intently. Dan and I were glad we didn't go with the plan of doing a shot every time someone said "Fundamental," we had things to get done today.

Fun with Color

Check it out, I was at this website for hours experimenting with color. I don't feel like it's something I fully understand yet. I studied the color wheel and love to use color and can put things together pretty well but here's what I really don't understand... what colors to use while painting to make skin/people look vibrant. I think I should be layering purples and greens and yellows but I'm not exactly sure, and it's not something I learned in three years of painting classes. Really we all just did a painting a week and then we all showed up to discuss it in a group, there wasn't really an emphasis on the classic styles or discussion about methodology. I mean one chick just smeared paint and ranted on about her ex-boyfriends for a whole semester while critiques became a little navel gazing group therapy for her every week. I guess I'm just saying I wish I would've learned a little more classic methodology instead of being accepting of any angst expressed on canvas, but I didn't run the class. Perhaps an illustration course would've given me more. I mean how did Maxfield Parish do it?! So anyway, I'm playing with this website and thinking I'd like to smear some paint around and see if I can accomplish something. The website might give me a good starting point for what tubes of paint to squeeze first.

Too Soon For This?

Ella: I can't go to school today because I'm a little sick.

Me: Oh no, I'll call the doctor and we'll get you a shot so you can feel better.

Ella: I don't wanna get a shot!

Me: Honey, I want you to get better.

Ella: But I'm not gonna be sick all day.

Me: How long are you gonna be sick?

Ella: When school is done I'm not gonna be sick anymore.

Smart

6 Frustrating Things about the Debate

1. Just answer the question that was asked!

2. I'd like to say "Hi" to some 3rd graders who are stying up late and getting extra credit for this? (what? Who gives a shout out to 3rd graders during a serious debate about the future of health care, war, economy and the lives of millions of Americans? Thanks for taking it seriously.)

3. It's pronounced "New Clear" NOT "New Q Lur."

4. Only been at this for 5 weeks.

5. "Maverick" count 8.

Overheard

While walking the kids to school yesterday:

Me: Wow, it's really chilly today!

Ella: Yes, I'm cold, my nose if freezing off.

Bouncing Boy: Yeah, I feel like Ice Man.

Cool Kitty: And I feel like Ice Girl.

Ella: I'm just regleear (sic) girl and cold.

Bouncing Boy: I'm using my Ice Man powers and shooting ice rays at you.

Ella: Stop it! You don't have powers.

Bouncing Boy: Yes I do. I drank Power-aid today.

Why So Serious?

Halloween costumes I'm considering talking Dan into this year...

McCain & Palin (ooooo Scary with a capital S!)

Blown up Racheal Daws & the Joker

Dancing With Stars Contestants