Quodlibets

I don't reject your Christ.I

I don't reject your Christ.I love your Christ. It's just that so many of you Christians are so unlike your Christ. -Mahatma Gandhi

I saw this quote on a t-shirt on a blog today. I like it.

Ornamental Originally uploaded by

Ornamental Originally uploaded by manogirl.

This is an ornament my mom painted when I was just a little girl. I think it's me; S says it does eerily look like me, if I was a muppet. It's my second favorite ornament. I had S take a picture of my favorite ornament, but then I realized that it had my full name on it, so I think I won't post it. It's less attractive anyway, since it's homemade out of some puke yellow playdoh and some weird teal playdoh. I was about two when I made it (with some help from my dad) so you'll have to understand that aesthetically, it has no value. Now, sentimentally yes, it has value, if a sort of splotchy value at that. I was thinking of doing something dumb, like posting pictures of random ornaments every few days and explaining them. Ornaments are one of the few things in my life that have such explicit sentimental value. I mean, usually I know where and why I got the suckers, so it just sort of makes sense to talk about them. I'll think about doing it, but before I can, I have to convince S that it's a good idea to take pictures of ornaments every few days. I'll keep you posted.

I'm currently cross-stitching a gift

I'm currently cross-stitching a gift for someone, and I've hit a snag. Fortunately, not with the actual sewing, which (knock on wood) is going really well. I'm flying along with the backstitching, and preparing to do the lazy daisies and french knots. However, tonight, my embroidery hoop called it quits. Yes, the embroidery hoop stopped tightening. Just won't tighten anymore. So I can't hold the fabric with tension, so I can't sew. Annoying altogether, as I had set aside two hours to sew. Now I have to reshuffle the deck and do homework instead (so I can sew tomorrow night, after I go buy a new hoop).

I love cross-stitching. But I am really, really scared to start my next project. It's this amazing kit I found online. My sister is working on one right now, and I have to say, it's looking fantastic. Anyway, I'm scared because it is a totally different sort of cross-stitch. Instead of working on normal cross-stitch material, it's all on a very fine linen. I just feel like if I mess up, it will be way worse than the time I had to take out hundreds of stitches on my current project. Which, I promise, I'll have S take a picture of when I'm done with; I'd link to it, but my fear that the recipient of the gift will somehow find the blog prevents me. (Though S assures me it's a virtual impossibility.) I'm not sure if a picture will do it justice, and I want to stress that I would never cross-stitch this ever if I weren't sure that the recipient will love it. I expect to finish it within the next week, so if you're curious, keep your eye out.

Which brings me to another problem. The lack of good patterns. I'm having a really hard time finding a lot of big projects that I'd like to work on. The Wright patterns were found because I was looking for something to to do after my first project, but in the interval I started the gift project. If anyone reading this has any ideas of where I can get cute, trendy, modern designs, please leave a comment, because I'm hitting a wall. And I know Katrink would also appreciate a source for new designs.

It's funny, isn't it, that I love cross-stitching? My mom has always done that and needlepoint, my sister loves it, and now I find that I absolutely love the sense of accomplishment that comes with the whole thing. As well as the beautiful things you can create. Can't wait to post pictures!

Well, after the excitement of

Well, after the excitement of the tree, I thought it would be a great day today. Nope.
I ruined basically my entire wardrobe in oh, 90 minutes. Somehow, I let a chapstick escape into the laundry, and it washed and dried before I found out. Hence, the whole load is stained and unrescueable. Really. The spots are just too small and spread out to even attempt to rescue them. I tried on one of my shirts (of the 7 in the load) and it just didn't even work at all. And we're talking about 7 of my shirts, two of S's, and one pair of his pants, and one of mine. All fucking lights. I mean, they are light colored. With big dark chapstick splotches. It would take us so long to rescue each of those items that I don't think we're going to even try. I went online earlier and blew money I don't have so that I can have a wardrobe. Because here's the thing with laundry--if you're doing it, it means you probably wear the item on a regular basis. Argh. Five good shirts, ruined. A pair of pants I wear all the time. S's favorite (and nicest) pair of pants.

And lest I forget, I ruined two other items of S's clothing earlier in the year. I put two new (NEW!) PJ shirts in the laundry with a red towel. And OLD red towel, but no matter. S now has two new (NEW!!) pink shirts. He said he wasn't mad, but come on. And now the pants. Oh well, clearly I shouldn't be let loose near a washing machine. How depressing. I just ruined about a quarter of my wardrobe.

And if you think I didn't cry, you clearly don't know me very well. Poor S. I ruined his clothes, and I cried all over him. I suck as a girlfriend.

But at least the Christmas tree is pretty.

Our first Christmas tree

Our first Christmas tree Originally uploaded by manogirl.

Even after our busy day yesterday, S was still a good sport, and helped me put up our new Christmas tree. It's very pretty (pre-lit, too!) and yes, the whole back of the tree is ornament-less. But still. We have decided that we don't need a tree skirt this year, so I'm going to take the one we got at Target back and get some more ornaments. I love it. It makes me feel so happy and very peaceful. And it takes up a good amount of space, but that's okay too. I like having it here. I really like Christmas. So many people scoff at what it's become, and I understand that, I do. But if you keep the rampant consumerism at bay, and remember what Christmas is supposed to be about (oh yeah, but not the Christian purpose, since I'm not), then you can have a nice holiday. For instance, family. Christmas is about family, and it's always been about that for mine. And a Christmas tree just represents all the good things that come with Christmas.

Okay. Today was quite a

Okay. Today was quite a day for S and I. First of all, S had to work early at the bookstore (ah, Black Friday), so at 5 in the morning, the alarm went off, and I was awake and my stomach hurt and being the dram queen that I am, I thought I was going to die. I didn't.
Then, I went to lunch with my friend A, who works at a bookstore as well, so we gossiped about that, and talked about politics (we hadn't seen each other since oh, forever) since we hadn't rehashed the election yet.
Then, after A left, C came over, which totally sucked for both of them, since they both wanted to see each other. Like two ships passing in the night. Anyway, for some reason, C and S and I started to talk about politics, and S said, "What would happen if Condi ran against Hillary?" And I said, "What if Barack was VP for Hill, and Colin was VP for Condi?"

Oh horror of horrors. Sam said he would equally vote for both teams. But I could never vote for Condi. I would vote for Hillary, under some duress, and unhappily, and I would vote for Barack (even though he has no experience), and I would even, god help me, vote for Colin, if I absolutely had no other choice.

Don't get me wrong, it would be amazing to have two women running for pres. and one of them a black woman. What a coup! What an amazing thing that would be. But I really have problems with Condi (and Colin, for many of the same reasons). She's done an amazing thing, no doubt about it. A black, woman, Secretary of State! It's unbelievable. It's an accomplishment, no doubt about it.

Here's the problem: how did she get there? How did she become Sec. of State? By being a yes-woman. Man, all she did was cover for Bush's ass. He's a liar, and she's aided him in lying. She avoided testifying before the 9/11 Commission for as long as she could. And probably never would have if she could have avoided it. Alas, the publicity was too bad. She's no less guilty than any of the members of that administration for what's happening right now in Iraq, too, and it's sad. She's let herself be used by the administration: "LOOK! We're progressive and good. It's a BLACK WOMAN!" And I hate it. She's a qualified, fantastic woman who deserves to be where she is. But not by fucking kissing Bush-ass.

Lately, there have been some unflattering, RACIST portrayals of her in political cartoons, and I admit, they were bad. They were unfortunate, and not funny. But. But. In my head, the way I see Condi is in an office, taking dictation from Bush, saying, "Yes massa, yes massa." Oh god, I'm going to hell. I hated typing that. But I really feel like she's done a diservice to herself, and to her community by bellying up to the very people who are tearing down the things that can help her community. And spare me the bullshit about "her community"; if we can rejoice about how a black woman can get to the position of Sec. of State, we can call Condi a member of the very community she is (in this scenario) respresenting.

I don't know. I'm very conflicted. A huge part of me, the feminist part, is so happy that we have women bashing through these glass ceilings. But oh, the pain of watching a woman have to play this role.

(And as for Colin, I feel sad that his reputation and legacy are besmirched by an administration that used the general good feeling toward him to set out their misleading bullshit justification for war, and then hung him out to dry when it was discovered that it was all a lie.)

Do not eat refried beans

Do not eat refried beans for lunch on Thanksgiving.
Yes, it seemed like a good idea because the snowstorm made you miss out on the Thanksgiving Eve Mexican food feast you wanted to attend, and you really missed the beans, but please quell the urge.
You'll thank me next year.

I feel compelled to do

I feel compelled to do this, just because it seems like the right thing to do.

Things I'm Thankful For, Right Now:

• Goldfish. As in, "I love the fishes because they're so delicious."
• The bed. There are two great places to be in the world, and one of them is your bed. The other is....
• The shower. There is only one thing better than a bed, and that is a hot shower.
• Cucumber. That's right, I said cucumber.
• S. Can't I be sappy on Thanksgiving?
• Apple computers. Except when I want to play computer games, and then I want to hurl my laptop against the wall.
• That my family and friends are healthy, alive, safe, and for the most part, happy.
• my first paycheck. Any doubts I had about the job are gone, and the shiny happiness of depositing a check (small though it may be, and practical as I may be with it) in my checking account will stay with me for a couple of weeks, at the very least.
• My new Christmas tree! My grandparents were so nice to buy me a tree, and I love it. I want to put it up now. We have no ornaments in the apartment now, but I want it all lit up. Now.
• True intimacy. Where I have it, I love it.
• Crazy. I'm thankful that crazy exists.
• oooh, the smell of Tide. I wish I could wear Tide perfume.
• Magazines. Did you know that I have a magazine addiction?

That's all for now. Maybe I'll add more later, but right now I'm fresh out of things I'm thankful for. It's probably because the gloomy spectre of cleaning is hanging over my head. And I'm not at all thankful for cleaning. Unless S does it, and then I'm thankful for it.

I'm not sure if my

I'm not sure if my regular readers (okay, my family mostly, regular readers! ha.--and S, who will get his butt kicked if he doesn't read this) ever click on my blogroll links, but I've been reading a blog for a while now (and even took a week-long sojourn into the nether regions of the site's archives) that I can't get over.

It's like reading a book. It's that well-written. And I'm sure that many of you will be uninterested in it, and I totally understand. There is something a teensy bit strange about reading the details of someone's life. Someone you don't know, and you will never know. But I have a semi-voyeuristic personality; when I drive through residential areas, I like to see if I can see TVs on in houses. And reading about other people's lives satisfies that little part of me. And it's just fucking good writing.
I don't know, I read a lot of blogs, and I read a lot, period. There are a lot of substandard writers out there. In my opinion, this site, well, it's not written by a substandard writer.

Okay, that's my gratuitous recommendation of the holiday season. Hopefully.

You know when people say

You know when people say there are no stupid questions?
They're lying.

There are totally stupid questions.