Tuesday, February 20, 2007

I beheld, and held him!

Little Christian was born. 7 lb. 4 oz., 19 1/2 long. Lots of brown hair, long fingers. The other grandmother and I were there throughout the night, and went for coffee on the morning. When we got back a half hour later, he was already in the world!

Friday, February 09, 2007

So where's Darcy?

I took another one of those goofy quizzes. Thank goodness I'm not Charlotte Lucas.


I am Elizabeth Bennet!


Take the Quiz here!


Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Why punctuation matters

Taken in downtown Salinas:



Begging the questions, "So what are you serving now?" and "How many moms were cooking?"

Friday, February 02, 2007

What if...

...a shadow saw a groundhog?

I am aware of what a stupid thought that is. Don't mind me. It's all the personal stuff happening right now. If it weren't for Irish and the grace of God, I couldn't endure it.

I'm reading Pride and Prejudice, which of course has nothing whatsoever to do with my personal problems or Groundhog Day.

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Our site is down

Our Spindle Sisters site is inexplicably down, and I don't know when it'll be back up. Our good friend Rob very kindly gave us space on his server, which is obviously suffering something or other. Hope it's not for long.

Saturday, January 27, 2007

A very not broken disclaimer

One of my favorite sites, This is Broken, posted this remarkable disclaimer on their Not Broken page. Already it's going into the cylinder for the '07 Best of Best Awards.

Probably wouldn't hold up in court, but pointedly amusing nevertheless.

Friday, January 26, 2007

Aw, forget it

Just to be nominated was an honor.

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Sharshan Award Nominees, pt. 3

HEROES AND SHEROES, PERSONAL CATEGORY:
*My daughter, for doing the right thing in a very difficult situation
*My husband, for allowing tribulation to bring out more of the pure gold within
*Elena, for not just holding on, but triumphing through another year
*My in-laws, for taking care of my mother-in-law who's not having an easy time of aging

HEROES AND SHEROES, BROAD CATEGORY
*Every woman who gave her baby a chance to live, despite circumstances
*Every man who took seriously his obligation to care for the children he fathered
*Our American troops serving in whatever capacity, wherever

LOSER/ANTIHERO OF THE YEAR, LOCAL OR PERSONAL CATEGORY
*Smuckers, for leaving Salinas and laying off 167 great workers, including my husband
*Salinas, for library chaos, poison spinach, the community college strike, out of control gang problems, and an all-around bad taste anytime we got mentioned in the press


LOSER/ANTIHERO OF THE YEAR, BROAD CATEGORY
*The President. Whether you voted for him or not, whether you admire or hope an anvil falls on his head, no one lost more in 2006.

MOST ENCOURAGING, PERSONAL/LOCAL:
*Salinas, for electing a good man as mayor and daring to Imagine a Great City

Thursday, January 18, 2007

2006 Sharshan Award nominees. pt. 2

GREATEST PERSONAL ANNOYANCE:
*Panhandlers lying that they're trying to "get a bus to Monterey"
*Telemarketers ignoring the Do Not Call
*The crack dealer downstairs who stretched out his eviction notice for 6 months


WORST PERSONAL NEWS OF THE YEAR:
*I'm going to be a grandmother
*My metabolism once again readjusted itself to "slower"
*Not so easy for 50-somethings to find new jobs after layoff

BEST PERSONAL NEWS OF THE YEAR:
*I'm going to be a grandmother!

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

2006 Sharshan Awards nominees pt. 1

This is all I have after too much thinking. If I'd just intuit, it'd probably come faster. Blame it on the bluegrass jam I went to Saturday. Sure, why not.

MOST EXCRUCIATING NEWS ITEM:
*Ted Haggard forced to resign as NAE chief
*Sago, WV mine disaster
*Amish school shooting


GO AWAY, JUST GO AWAY:

*Michael Jackson
*O.J. Simpson

LEAST WORTHY OF NAME RECOGNITION BUT THE PRESS WOULDN'T SHUT UP ABOUT THEM ANYWAY:
*The creep who claimed he'd killed Jon Benet
*The ex-congressman from FL who hit on underage male pages
*The vapid Pop Tarts who can't seem to remember what is customarily the first layer of clothing

More to come.

Monday, January 08, 2007

2006 Sharshan Awards

Why "Sharshan"? Because that was my first online moniker back in '97 when I crawled into the Computer Age on (gasp) AOL. I miss that name. It was fun. It was weird. It gave my friends plenty of quip material, like "What, is your favorite movie 'The Sharshan Redemption'?" However, AOL ate it when I finally ejected them from my life experience.

So, to the point: My list is named for me. No other explanation needed.

Over the next few days I'll post the nominees. Then, after the various aspects of my personality confer argue fight like monkeys in a Jif factory and one emerges dominant, I'll name the winners.

I'm sure they'll all be just thrilled.

Sunday, January 07, 2007

If you can't beat 'em, just beat 'em up


She did her best. In the end, Seyran Ates could no no more.

Hell is chortling.

I dunno; do you think she still practices the religion of her birth? Or are her detractors and would-be assassins actually the "true faithful"?

Good men, this is the result of your not standing up to bullies and cowards. Christians, pray for and support Ates like your life depends on it. Free Americans of any persuasion, you'd better pay attention--coming soon to a country near you!

Friday, January 05, 2007

Not for the squeamish (this means me)

Feeling a little potato-ey after the holidays? Anxious to get those New Year's resolutions going? No need to join the gym or waste time on all those old Richard Simmons videos piled up in the basement. Just get on over to China and hike up a nice mountain trail.

Two words of advice: Best wear shoes with good tread. Also, see your lawyer first.

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Shadowfoxwriter steals my brain

Julie did it. She went and posted precisely what I was gonna say on this, my first full rant of the 2007 (not counting the FBI and George Bailey one)--title and all.

Girl, how'd you accomplish that, cosmic rays? Got my place bugged?

Maybe I need one of these.

Monday, January 01, 2007

An oddity and an about-face


Consider first that insidious corrupter of American values, that master stroke of propaganda which oozed itself into our modern psyches and seduced us, like so many frogs in so many warming pots, into accepting godless anticapitalism into our midst: It's a Wonderful Life.

No, really. The FBI said so.

Who knew Frank Capra was really a Communist sympathizer? Well, wasn't there a comical character from Minsk in You Can't Take It with You? And didn't said character wrestle a wealthy financier to the ground? Need we more proof of Capra's real agenda?

Eejits. Some 90-lb. white-shirted wonkocrat in a cheerless cubicle decided he'd defend his manhood by declaring George Bailey a subversive and Potter the exemplar of the American way. Evidence? George remained a common, "little" hero; while the successful bankgrubber was the undisputed villain. Connect the dots! Capra said that good=less money and bad=more money! Anti-American, anticapitalist, Marxist bum!

Never mind that one of the main supporting characters was the very wealthy founder of a plastics factory, who generously gave to help his friends the Baileys in time of need.

Somehow, Mr. Wonko missed that. Apparently, even someone as unbalanced and wild-eyed as J. Edgar Hoover couldn't bring himself to follow up on something so absurd.

Candidate for Top 5 Dumbest Accusations in History.

(Cue segue music)

I skate dangerously close to the icebergs of political comment here, something I declared I'd eschew. But can the zebra change her stripes, or the leopard her Blogspots?. That's why I'm starting afresh in 2007 by moving Spindlings (Spindle Sisters news) over to our MySpace page blog, and returning here to my most ardent cultural and other rantings. I will post much more frequently on both blogs--especially now that on Dec. 30 I amassed over 5 million points and level 35 on Bookworm and am totally done with that game, knowing I will never get there again.

If you love me but can't stand my stances (you and I know who you are), I'll not be upset if you choose not to read this blog again. Just head on over to the Spindles blog and we'll keep it light. I'll alert here when I've posted something new over there, in case anyone's interested. Meanwhile, the fire within forbids my silence.

So beware, Republicans. Shudder, Democrats. Avast ye, moonbats and wingnuts alike! She's on the loose again, and none can escape the wrath of Scothia the Warrior Queene, Keeper of the Flame of Eyriedom, Equal Opportunity Offender!

Oh yeah, and I'll say nice stuff about people sometimes, too.

A blessed New Year to one and all...except those who hate freedom, light, and truth.