At random

Let others deal with the important stuff like the Voting Rights Act (if it's not so necessary anymore, why are Southern Republicans so angry about it?) and North Korea's nuclear weapon. I'm going to keep splashing in the shallow waters a while.

*Let GWB twist it as he will; the Hungarian Revolt is well worth celebrating! And I'm sure they will be, in October and November.

*Why are some people so mean about animals? I just noticed an article about China's panda population coming back, and looked at the comments in Yahoo! News. Usually it attracts trolls anyway, but I don't even want to think about the kind of sick mind it takes to write some of the horrible comments attached to this article. It's mostly about eating or hunting or wearing them, interspersed with racist comments about China and insults of "tree-huggers." As if the efforts of the "tree-huggers" weren't what helped; as if "tree-hugging" isn't about keeping the world fit for humans and the things we love. I hope the sick wastes of carbon don't have pets, or Chinese people in their work and school, for that matter.

*Yesterday was the Summer Solstice. I've long felt that the Fourth of July was more of a celebration of summer, at least for me. (I've been Pagan since 1997.) But I celebrated in my own way, by refusing to b&c about the heat, thanking the sun for its presence and all it does, and barbecuing dinner (grilled corn on the cob! Yummy!).

*Why is it, when you use the calculator function on Windows, that you can't c/p your answer to your document? It's very annoying.

*And what kind of slackass am I to be annoyed by that?

*We got totally packed this morning! I love not having to rush around at the last minute. We packed the minimum of cosmetics and scents and stuff. No doubt we'll be bringing back lots more.

*I think Ripe Red Delicious will be the hot new hair color of Fall 2006. L'Ailee decided to wear a curly shoulder-length wig to fulfill her co-matron-of-honor duties rather than let her hair grow. (Hey, if it's good enough for ancient Egyptian royalty...) She got inspired by the color of a very dark, well-ripened apple. I recreated it by mixing plum and cherry temporary colors with a clear glaze, then applying it to the "boring black" wig. It looks awesome with her Snow White coloring and the pink dress she'll be wearing. She wants me to do the same to her own natural "boring black" curls one day, but given the heat/humidity we've been having, that won't be for a while yet!

*Conservatism is forced on me, thanks to my round face and light olive skin. In the right hair and clothing colors, I look nicely sunkissed, but it's oh-so-easy to make me look sallow, or even jaundiced. Too much red in my hair does it, and I've tried various temporary dyes and been very grateful that I could wash them out. No, I have to stay within my natural blondish-brownish range. So I boringly lightened my boring amber-colored hair with a boring lemon half, then rinsed it with boring chamomile tea, just as I've done since high school. At least I could somehow go with the fruity theme. I know I should be grateful for what I've got and all, but *still*!

*L'Ailee loves "So You Think You Can Dance." So do my mom and my aunt, who both called last night to ask her if she tried out for it, and if not, why not! (She didn't, because she didn't want to couple-dance with men she doesn't know or like or perform in a show.) I like that they show the names and artists of the songs; I was pleasantly surprised that they used a selection from Sinead O'Connor's big band CD for the foxtrot. She's just as versatile as the dancers, doing everything from progressive to big band to reggae to electronica. So I hope to hear more, as long as none of those bitches decides to belly-dance to "I Want Your (Hands on Me)" or "I Am Stretched On Your Grave"! :-)

And surprise surprise, I got links.

An Idaho library refused to capitulate to the community's self-appointed morality police!

The "little man in the boat" ain't so little, it seems...

A conservative calls Ann Coulter's garbage what it is.

I am totally in love with Agatha Ruiz de la Prada. Next trip, Spain!

I believe I've seen this mother and son on the buses I take! :-)

And finally, something really useful--What foodstuffs can you bring back from a foreign country? I'm really okay with not being able to bring back tinned pate...