Today I wear black.

I wear black in remembrance for the teenagers and children who lost their freedom of individualty, education and in some cases their lives after Columbine. I wear black to show that in real life, difference is honored and respected and that justifying conformity with fear damages society and the future.

My son, and every other 12 year old boy in the world, is a big fan of Danny Phantom. One day he was watching an episode where Circus Gothica came to town and took over the minds of the kids and whatever. What struck me was there was something about the bad guy, Freakshow's voice... I knew it from somewhere and just couldn't place it. Later that day I changed the station and saw an ad for 2 and a half men. And it dawned on me... Freakshow is Jon Cryer. Therefore, Freakshow is Ducky! *sigh* And somehow after not seeing that movie for over 10 years, I had the feeling that I should know and love this guy just by his voice... and I was right!

Speaking of things that haven't happened in over a decade, I don't think they painted my high school since I graduated in 1992. Ah well, they let MTV in anyway...

My grandma is moving into an assisted living facility and is getting rid of a ton of her stuff. One of the things she gave me was my great grandmother's pie plates. These are gold rimmed and have a lovely pink flower motif, perfect for girley movie night or a lovely tea gathering. I was in love.

When investigating these pie plates, I noticed something... a big glob of pecan pie. QUITE OBVIOUSLY pecan pie that has been dried and festering on this plate for some time.

Consider this:

My grandmother is the biggest neat freak in the known universe. Everything, for her, must be meticulously cleaned before being put away, while being stored and before being used. It is obvious that her negligence was not the cause of the pie residue.

My mother, who has a keen eye for the visual, does not remember ever seeing or using these plates. She was born in the late '40s

I don't remember grandma ever serving pecan pie.

So basically, some 50 years ago +, some kind soul who had dessert at my grandparents' offered to wash the dishes and did a shoddy job. My grandma bought new desert plates and pushed great grandma's to the back of the cabinet. Here I am, in the next millennium, scrubbing off ancient pecan pie because of some lazy sot who can't do dishes.

Let this be a lesson to you-- honor your descendants by ensuring that they do not need to go through the same struggle of sandblasting old pie off of fine china.

Can anyone recommend some video editing software? My camera films in mov files, so linux software probably won't work*. I prefer free/cheap (non-pirated,) but feel free to suggest things that aren't. Thanks!


*I have windows, I just don't use it. Ever.

The more I think about your choice of running with Sarah Palin, the more pissed it makes me. While I am a woman and a feminist, and I dream to someday be able to vote a qualified woman into office, it is obvious that you have missed the point.

It is important to me as a woman, a worker, a small business owner and a mother to have someone qualified working for me and my country. I don't care what chromosomes they have, if their skin is black, white, purple or green, or any other stupid division that should have been put to rest decades ago... I care that they are qualified.

The fact that you have decided that a less-than-one-term hockey-mom is your best concession to equality is laughable. The idea that a woman as VP is being hailed as groundbreaking, when the democrats ran a qualified woman when I was 10, is ridiculous. The fact that you think that you can court my vote by throwing up a token beauty queen onto your ticket is utterly insulting.

You, Mr. McCain, are consistently proving that you belong somewhere in the last century. Your so called "maverick move" only shows that you don't get it at all. I'm not voting for someone just because she is a woman, I'm voting for the best person for the job. Thinking anything less of me, and women like me, is the biggest insult an out of touch man like yourself can give.

I have a website that I never use.

I have a novel that hasn't been touched in years.

Somehow these two things really need to get together.

Sewingfreak is now the home of Lovely Rita's Guide to Life. I also plan to accentuate the story with related materials, links and music. It should be fun!

It also has an RSS Feed and a LJ Syndicated Account.

And apparently over-choreographed.

This woman makes me sick! Parents are supposed to teach their kids right from wrong, not play into their reindeer games! It's just shocking, you know. I mean, I've had drama in my life, but I've kept my son out of it!

Ick.

But at least I'm making croutons!

Cut up bread into squares.

Shake up with some garlic power and basil. (I would have added mint, but I'm out.)

Add a mix of olive oil and red wine, and shake again, so their covered. It's kind of tricky to get it so their all covered instead of the oil/wine soaking into one piece, but I trust you all to make that happen.

Put on a cookie sheet and bake at 350F until crispy, stirring once or twice. Takes about 20 minutes.

Hint: If you ever want your kitchen to smell really good and like you can cook, make some of these.

I think it's time to cut myself off of Raindancer. I'm getting ridiculous, just listening to their album all the time. If I keep this up, I'll get sick of it for sure.

I have 3 drawers of socks and stockings, half of which don't match anything or are unwearably ruined. They are going to go, even if I'm stuck wearing sandals for the rest of the summer!

Edit: I'm done, and it went quick... I just can't believe that I found socks that I didn't know existed. Um, yeah I can.

When I was working in Cincy at a business dress job, my socks were the only thing I could get away with. When I moved up here and my soul was getting sucked out, I'd buy socks when I went to Meijer for groceries to keep myself just a little sane. I have stockings that I can tell you, "I wore those to such and such rave" or "I got those on my 21st birthday." I have stockings that were owned by friends, fishnets that my great grandma crocheted, and all marks of sundry hosiery. And though I don't wear them much, I still had to keep a pair of off black woolworth's stockings because they were the best in the world!

I have to wonder, however, why I had 3 pairs of red fishnets. How many times does it take for me to realize those are one of the least complimentary clothing items someone can own?

I did get rid of my Veronica tights.

Did William Carlos Williams have a plum fetish?

I have a new phone! Now the trick is to try to get all of my pictures off of my old phone. Ugh. Bluetooth doesn't work, and they got all weird when I called and asked where to get a driver so I could download them to my computer. Apparently I have to email them to myself one at a time at great expense. Lovely.

Considering my determination to redesign my webpages ended like this....




No, I didn't fall asleep. (Surprise!) My cat did on my book while I was looking at lol cat pictures with the boy. So what's a parent to do? Wake up the cat to take a picture (otherwise he wouldn't have shown up) and make my son his own lol cat.

I have boundless creativity, I just can't harness it.

Or I don't want to.

I have a wedding dress.

I want to put fake blood on it.

After an evening of craziness, I want to get the fake blood back off of it.

Can this be done? Without dry cleaning? What kind of blood should I use?

Thank you for your feed back.

BTW, it's not *my* wedding dress. I mean I own it, but I didn't get married in it or anything.

Wired posted guide to eating locally. Okay, it's mostly a bunch of links, but it's a pretty good resource.

Klaus Dinger, former drummer of Kraftwerk, died.

I discovered podcasts. And I also discovered that I don't have nearly the hard drive space that I previously believed. Go figure.