Today Is a List Kind of Day

Once again, I find myself without a big topic to blog about, or at least not ones that I have original or adequate words for. I have lots of things on my mind. So I'll just put them out there. Links get less safe for work--well, most peoples' work--as you scroll down.

* First of all, if you like country music at all, look at my blog entry below! That represents a week of spare time for me and my work husband B. We're not opposed to God, patriotism, and family, but damn, we're tired of the sappiness and pervasiveness with which today's country music addresses it. Finding a Focus on the Family-approved list of 20 "pro-family" country songs for a playlist was just the last straw. So with lots of help from B and others, I made my own playlist, one that can not only give FOTF supporters the vapors, but serve as a weekend soundtrack for several hours.
* The surge in Iraq is officially over!!!!! So there's a positive start for everyone, no matter what kind of music you like.
* But damn, this economy's getting scary as hell. L'Ailee and I find ourselves wanting to shop while we can. We shouldn't, we know. We should be saving, if anything. But we feel like we won't be able to get the nicer things we've come to like within a few months. We're trying to talk each other out of that feeling. It's hard. Even worse is that most of our friends feel the same way.
* One place we blew some money was at BandGeekHero.com. Fun T-shirts for people who know that music doesn't end with the guitar. She has a "Cello Hero" T-shirt because she plays the cello; I have a "Kazoo Hero" one because...well, they didn't have one for people who've tried to be turntablists. Hey, at least we didn't line up for iPhones!
* Bad little sign--it's now a "most everything $1.10 store" and not a "dollar store" in Chicago.
* I feel like we're going to revisit the 1970s very soon, even though the only good things made then were some of the country music and most of the people. (1974 here.) Check out, or buy if you can, Thomas Hine's "The Great Funk." Hine argues that the roots of our current culture, politics, etc. are derived from the 1970s. Not only is Hine a great writer with an awesome eye for detail, but he urges readers to shop at independent bookstores.
* Let's just hope to all the Gods that nobody tries to make us decorate our homes like this or dress like this if my theory is correct.
* What the hell is going on with Barack Obama? Seriously? He is losing everything that those of us who supported him from the early days of the primary liked about him. I fell in love, or at least kinda-like, with the "skinny kid with the funny name" who noted that he'd been "called everything from Osama to yo' mama" and ruefully noted after one campaign stop that he "tried to bowl." In other words, one of those rare candidates with a sense of humor about himself, which is a sign of true confidence. Where is that guy now? Getting all upset over that New Yorker cover, which really satirizes the right-wing rumor-mongers more than him and his wife, even if the article inside was generally pro-Obama. And even if it did mock them inside and out, so what? That means he's in the big time, right? A former professor of constitutional law really should know better.
* This is probably the first time in a long time that so many people outside NYC saw a New Yorker cover, at least! I really did find it funny. I actually hung it up by my desk at home, where it will live for a few weeks. (Not my work desk, alas--people would get all offended. *sigh*) That said, I want to see the McCain cover soon.
* This is bubbling up. Speaking of McCain, he's got yet another questionable friend. No, not that asshole Phil Gramm, but Alabama Attorney General Troy King. King has come down hard on homosexuality and sex toys in that state. Well, surprise surprise, King was apparently caught in bed with another man by his wife. Now all mention of him has been wiped from the McCain campaign website. Damn it, when *will* people get it?!?!
* It looks like same-sex marriage by non-state residents will be legal in Massachusetts. Which means L'Ailee and I can try again. Which is good, because in the four years since our wedding, we sort of fell through the cracks, legally speaking. We are going to be very cautious about it, however. For one thing, I don't think we will be welcome at the bed and breakfast where we did it the first time!
* Not that we'll be counted properly in the 2010 census anyway. Jerks. As one commenter said, we can always count on this administration to follow the letter of the law...when it suits them.
* No race this weekend, so we're going to the beach! But at least Tony Stewart gets to relax a moment. He looked so cute at that press conference, but damn, he did *not* look like someone who was going to be trusted with millions of dollars and hundreds of peoples' livelihoods!
* Speaking of cute, Mei Xiang at the National Zoo is still on cub watch as I write. What a restless bear! I started watching the cam soon after darling Tai Shan popped out of her like a pink champagne cork. So I thought pandas had easy births. Apparently this isn't so, because she's been looking very uncomfortable and acting very maternal for over a week! Some actress had her twin babies while we panda fans were awaiting a blessed event, but this is much more exciting to me. :-)
* I am an advice column connoisseur, and I hate most of Cary Tennis' "advice" at Salon. So I think he totally deserved this questionable question!
* Lastly, if that wasn't enough of an attention-getter...guys, would you want remote-controlled birth control? I'm not even concerned about that sort of thing anymore--not only am I married to a woman, but I'm infertile--and I'm still having a good laugh imagining that on Ex-Boy back in our twenties....