asimplechord

1. I disconnected myself from Twitter b/c I'm watching the SPN season finale late - had to go for a run first. ( real-time babble and squee )

2. Mom and extended family have been going through Mommom & Poppop's house. Things that were given to them as gifts are being returned to the children/grandchildren who originally gave them, and everyone is entitled to one other item before everything gets assigned to the estate. I asked for a set of decoys. For as long as I can remember, the living room had a map of the Susquehanna Flats marking known local decoy carvers, with a set of decoys on the brick hearth on the near wall. Through every change of carpet, paint, paneling, and furniture, those decoys remained. Decoys belonged in Mommom and Poppop's house. It seemed weird to Mom when I asked for them, because decoys are not something I'm into at all - I collect music and books, and that's about it - but it's not about the decoys as OBJECTS so much as it's about them as an accessory to memory.

So. They're sitting on the buffet in the dining room at the moment. I had a Serious Discussion with the cats (most notably Sandy, who was studying them with an "oooh, birds!" gleam in her eye), explaining that it would be a sad, sad day with tragic consequences if I came home to find the decoys molested or otherwise disturbed. They meowed at me and went on their merry way.

3. >:/ I am not amused by all the FoxNews-type attacks on Elena Kagan before she's even gotten to a confirmation hearing. I know she's the most conservative of Obama's short-list, and clearly she was chosen because she's the most easily confirmable. The Court is pretty conservative at this point, and I'd hoped for a more liberal nominee, but we can't know how she'll vote for certain. I mean, Kennedy ended up being far more conservative than expected, right? And Eisenhower nominated Warren thinking he'd be conservative (IDKwhy) and he ended up being pretty liberal. But I digress. I'm tired of the harangues about Kagan already.

Dear Pundits: a) Several notable justices had little or no experience on the bench (John Jay, for instance, served a mere two years on the NY Supreme Court; Thurgood Marshall was a judge for five years; Taney - notable for Dred Scott - wasn't a judge at all, I think, nor was John Marshall, best known for Marbury v. Madison, or Earl Warren, whose court ruled on Brown v. Board of Education and gave us Miranda) before being nominated to the Supreme Court. b) Sexual orientation didn't appear to be relevant for (supposedly, unquestioned) straight men. No one asked Alito or Roberts if they would be unduly influenced because they had a wife and/or children. STFU, conservative assholes. Also? Playing softball does not equal lesbian. DIAF, Pat Buchanan.

1. Lollapalooza tickets purchased! (Soundgarden. Green Day. FUCK YES. That is all.)

2. Semantics. Apparently if you're a white American planning to kill law enforcement officers and terrorize citizens for political purposes, you're a militiaman, not a terrorist. Whatever, mainstream media. It is AMAZING what a difference skin color, nationality, and religion make, isn't it?

3. GK kink meme. :D Glasses!kink fic is partly written on my computer at home.

4. (I almost called it a ficlet, but I'm sort of not able to use that word anymore. Thanks, Andrew Exum, for that.)

5. Tonight's activities: watch last night's Castle? Finish the kink-meme fic? Or go see The 71s open for Seneca Ireland?

ETA:
6. WaPo's annual Peeps Show results are up. Some of the dioramas are amazing. I like the Where The Wild Peeps Are and Peeps and Prejudice and Zombies ones, myself. :D

1. ( Patrick Vaughn Stump )

2. New White Collar.

3. \o/ Bill White in the Texas democratic gubernatorial primary.

4. IF BUTCH WALKER DOESN'T COME TO TEXAS IN APRIL OR MAY I MIGHT CRY. AND BY CRY I MEAN TAKE A TRIP TO SOME OTHER CITY TO SEE HIM. (It'd be awesome if he brought Discos with him. You know. On tour. Or just to TX.)

5. Thin Mint ice cream.

# I am ridiculously excited to see Green Zone. I mean, Matt Damon, Jason Isaacs, and Brendan Gleeson. Plus political/military intrigue! OK, also, there are guns involved, and I am shallow.

## I've flailed about the video for Re-Education Through Labor before. An uncensored version was released this week. ♥ Rise Against. (I cannot WAIT to see them at Bonnaroo. I'm hoping they and Gaslight Anthem will be on the same stage, same day. :D)

### I got a raise! And a promotion! UT declared no cost-of-living or merit pay-raises or bonuses last year, so I wasn't expecting one, but my boss was not happy about it because the state/university budget doesn't pay my salary, his grant does. So he wrangled with the departmental chair, who originally said no. But he got around it by promoting me, and the new title comes with a raise, effective 1March. :D

#### I loved living in Utah for a variety of reasons, and I miss the mountains a lot. But I do not miss the political climate. Keep your laws off my body.

##### A judge's life experience informs his/her rulings? Shocking.



I believe I am going to go make brownies, watch some Olympics sports, and maybe write a little, either my BBB fic or more frat boy Kyle/Brendon comment fic.

♥

I get that Tiger Woods is a big deal, and in the end maybe a more influential sports figure than even Michael Jordan.

But seriously?

His "transgressions" (whateverthefuck that means) need to be the headline on Yahoo over, say, IDK, Obama's decision to escalate the war in Afghanistan?

I mean, this is a pivotal moment in his presidency, the one that makes this war HIS OWN, rather than the Shrub's, a moment that may disillusion many young people in whom he instilled hope, and Yahoo chooses to put the salacious details about a personal matter on its front page, rather than encouraging discussion and debate about Obama's decision, debate which has been remarkable by its absence, even in the NYT and WaPo op-ed pieces on this subject. Well done.

Oh, BTW, the Taliban? Formed as resistance against the Soviet Union's invasion and occupation. Guess who's now the occupier. Ironic, or simply a tragic commentary on misguided American foreign policy?

Filibuster-proof Senate, Y/Y/MFY!

ETA: Also, DC rocks.

It's not like this is a surprise. But it still makes me smirk.


ETA: Mostly unrelated... \o/!

This earns \o/ /o\ together. One for Iraq, one for Afghanistan.

Gonzalez says he 'should have been more engaged'?

WTF?

When I'm half-asleep in a lab meeting, I'm disengaged. The barista who waited on me at the cafe this morning, who's only working there b/c she's writing the Next Great American Novel, which does not pay the bills, is not engaged.

The ex-Attorney General of the United States cannot tell me that he was disengaged for the ENTIRETY of his tenure and expect that to be an excuse for what happened under his direction. Any more than he should expect us to believe that his repeated "I cannot recall"s while under oath were actually the truth.

link courtesy of J

ETA: What drugs is he taking? They must be some fine, fine pharmaceuticals, because seriously?

[H]e believes history will favorably judge his tenure as attorney general.

REALLY? That sounds a lot like the Shrub's belief that he won't go down in history as the Worst Decider Ever.

I heart Jeremy Scahill so much, you guys don't even know.

Thank you for writing what I've been thinking, each time I hear a new announcement of possible cabinet secretaries and transition team members and advisors.