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I am super tired, don’t have to go anywhere or do anything, and have the house to myself (well, Brian is here too) after weeks of constant commotion, so I am taking the day off.
Month: November 2007
All hail the construction guys!!
My master bathroom is finished! The ceiling and walls were repaired and then they were lovingly painted in a brownish neutral. It looks really good. Much better than we could have done. YAY for professionals!\
After I showed my bathroom to Brian, he exclaimed, “Let’s go see my bathroom,” and ran off. But, erm… Kevin decided that we didn’t need the kids’ bathroom painted. Currently, it has some splotches on the wall from when Max’s room was originally painted blue, the counter is littered with paper cups from last night’s drinking needs, and the rug has toothpaste gunk on it because I refuse to wash it more than once a week. In short, the kids’ bathroom is not fabulous. He said, “The walls are CRAP!” I was shocked, “What?” He repeated, “The walls are crap! They’re ugly. We need the construction guys to come fix it.” Haha, no. Sorry, kid. Mommy and Daddy are about ready to tear their hair out at the thought of even one more day of strangers in the house; no way are we adding to the list.
It’s beginning to look a lot like… it always does.
I stole this from Aunt Margie:
| You Are a Minimal Christmas Tree |
\ You’re not a total Scrooge, but you feel no need to go overboard at Christmas.\ Less is more, and your Christmas reflects refined quality. |
This is totally me!! I love the family, friends, and food aspect of Christmas, but hate the the stress of gifts and the work of temporarily redecorating. Grabbing my family and going somewhere fun, like Hawaii, would be way more enjoyable than sitting at home and watching The Sound of Music for the 59th time.\
Kevin and I have only had one full-sized tree since we’ve become parents. Oopsie! Since we are traveling again this year, in addition to having work done on the house, I doubt we will put the tree up. I am so bad at Christmas that my mother-in-law once stuck a wreath on my front door because she knew I never would. I have been thinking about buying a lit-up village-surrounded-by-a-train-thingy, so maybe I am finally coming around.
Bigshot? More like MonkeySh*t.
TWoP’s TV Bigshot has been a huge disappointment and I apologize to any that I inspired to participate. The number of mistakes made by TPTB is now more than 50. 50!!! It’s like the game is run by a bunch of monkeys. I stopped playing awhile ago and can now laugh at the complete meltdown. My network’s rank peaked in the top 50, out of 25,000 networks, before I quit. Not bad, eh?
Four Score and Seven Years Ago…
Today, in 1863, Abraham Lincoln gave one of the most important speeches in this country’s history after the worst battle in the history of the United States.\
I love reading it. It’s profound, and in a few words, explains what’s truly great about this country. Not that we fight or disagree, but that we believe that the ideals this country was founded on is worth fighting for, that freedom is worth fighting for.\
<blockquote>
<p>Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.</p>
<p>Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.</p>
<p>But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate – we cannot consecrate – we cannot hallow – this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us – that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion – that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain – that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.</p>
</blockquote>
My folks
Yesterday was my parents’ 35th anniversary. Woot. Let’s hear it for my parents! In this day and age, 35 years is almost miraculous. When I was in high school, my parents were one of the few couples still together. Twenty years later and they are still going strong. I hope that Kevin and I are lucky enough to end up like them. We have the same attitude as my parents about money and general decision-making, so I bet the odds are in our favor. :)\
Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad. I love and miss you.\
ETA- Now with more better grammar and punctuation.
Got a dollar?
I am 100% behind the writers in the strike, but also want the strike to end because tv is fun to watch. Except for reality tv; me no likey that. But regular tv? That I like a lot. The strike means no new tv. Boooo. If you’re wondering how to show support for the writers and put pressure on the other side to end this strike, well, I just happen to know:\
United Hollywood has organized a Pencils2Moguls campaign a la the peanuts to the network for Jericho.\
As stated by Joss Whedon on Whedonesque:
The campaign itself is fairly simple. We’d like to start it right away, and it goes like this:\
Point the fans to http://unitedhollywood.blogspot.com/, where there will be a banner or button allowing them to click through to buy boxes of pencils. The pencils are plain wooden \#2’s, and the company uses sustainable farming for the wood (seriously. They do.) The pricing will be “a buck a box.” (Sustainably harvested wood pencils + PayPal cost per transaction puts us a little higher than the cost of a box if you buy at Office Depot, sorry.) If there’s any money left over, it will be donated to the Union Solidarity Fund, which is a nonprofit for non-WGA members affected by the strike.\
When fans click to buy the pencils, they can choose to identify the show they are supporting if they want. (This will generate a database of fans by show – among other things, allowing showrunners to thank fans by group if they want to.)\
The pencils will be delivered in bulk, by trucks, like the peanuts were. The deliveries will be to the 6 CEOs of the 6 congloms (Disney, News Corp, Viacom, Time Warner, CBS, GE) one by one – we’ll probably start with GE. If we get enough to pencils to do all 6, then we will. If we don’t, we’ll concentrate on one or two.\
If the logistics can be worked out, showrunners who choose to can take part in a “load the pencils” photo op – unpacking the boxes of pencils and shoveling them into bins or boxes for transport to the CEO’s. The visual has the potential to be worth a thousand words – for the fans as well as the general public.\
We will suggest that the fans send a message similar to this: “We’re all on the same page. Make a fair deal.”\
This has the potential to be a historic moment in fan history – the first time that all fandoms band together to show that they are a force to be reckoned with to the corporate world. Given the passion and commitment the fans are already showing, this seems a good way to both show our appreciation and respect, as well as giving them the direction they’ve been requesting.\
We hope you’ll be willing to join us in this effort. It won’t be our last.\
Carol Barbee Jericho\
John Aboud\
United Hollywood\
Jane Espenson\
Buffy, Battlestar Galactica\
Jeffrey Berman\
United Hollywood\
Rob McElhenney\
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia\
Laeta Kalogridis\
United Hollywood\
Ron Moore\
Battlestar Galactica\
Marti Noxon\
Buffy, Private Practice\
Jaime Paglia\
Eureka\
Bill Prady\
Two and a Half Men\
Shonda Rhimes\
Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice\
Stephanie Savage\
Gossip Girl\
Joss Whedon\
Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse
Go ahead. It’s \$1.00 per box and it’s a way to be involved and show our support.\
Plus, I get to feel like the 12 year old fangirl I never was!! (Until I hit my 30s. Shhh, let’s keep that between you and me, ok?)
Adapting to Web Standards: Going to Press!!
I just saw the e-mail today that the book I helped write is going to press on Monday!! It’s called Adapting to Web Standards: CSS and Ajax for Big Sites
Writing the book (well, my chapter) was… difficult. I don’t think I’ll write another one any time soon, at least while I have a full-time job. It was a great experience, don’t get me wrong, and Christopher and Victor, our editor, handled all the hard bits. I’d always wanted to write a book, and am grateful that they gave me the opportunity to write a chapter for this one.\
I can’t wait to hold a copy in my grubby mitts and hear from folks what they think of it (good or bad).
Mysteries Revealed!
For those who don’t yet understand my many Flying Spaghetti Monster references, CNN has an article. For the record, I am not anti-religion; I am anti-“let’s teach ‘intelligent design’ in science classes.” Big difference.
No more whining
My husband is home, yay!\
The office now has closet doors (that match! Way to go above and beyond, contractor!) and it’s time to pick a paint color, yay!\
I FINALLY saw some awesome tv tonight, yay!\
Potty-training hasn’t been nearly as horrible as I remember, yay!\
It’s Friday, yay!