Gayest Puppy Ever!

Josh's mom knitted this doggie sweater in the unfortunate color of lavender. But hey, I love my adorably gay dog. He's quite the happy camper in Miami right now, living it up in my parent's big house with a yard and plenty of cats to chase. I think he's going to be depressed when we get back to DC.

“I’m not going to let the Patriot Act die,”

Bill Frist said. I am really starting to belive that we are living in some Orwellian nightmare. I don't think the general population really cares about civil liberties. The pigs are in charge!

On a lighter note, we go to Miami today! Yay for 80 degree wonderfulness!

The Patriot Act Gets Rejected (and cries alone in the girl's bathroom)

Wheee! The Senate rejects renewal of the expiring Patriot Act provisions. We get to retain a little bit of our civil liberties for now. For now....muhahahaha

Book Banning and Other Facist Fun Times!

When I was in middle school I was reading Clan of the Cave Bear...which I checked out from the library at my synagog. All the other girls were jealous. Oh those were the days! Now we have these idiots at Carroll County banning books in a school library. 'Cause you know, teenagers might find out about S-E-X!

Aslan, the sexist!

After seeing The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe yesterday I returned home vaugely disappointed. I had a sense that the movie got it wrong somehow, yet the movie was very faithful to the book. It took me a while to figure out what I didn't like. The movie attempted to update Lewis's very dated gender roles but in doing so it turned the story of four children into Peter and Edmund's story. Yes, they take out the line "Battles are ugly when women fight," changing it to "Battle are ugly things." Yes, Susan gets to actually fire her bow and Lucy bravely flashes her knife. But what is lost is Lucy's close relationship with Aslan and her role as the ultimate beliver, a Mary figure, if you will. Now, I am not one to go touting the movie as religious allegory but C.S. Lewis was certainly drawing on the New Testament as a source and that can't really be denied. In the books, Lucy's faith sets her apart from her brothers and sisters and in a way makes Narnia hers more than anyone else. Peter's character is rather wooden in comparison. He's a bossy square and he doesn't change much over the course of the book. Then in the movie, all of a sudden the whole Narnia adventure is a story of Peter's heroic deveopment. The battle scene, which is only recounted after the fact in the book, becomes Peter's shining moment of heroism. He dramatically rushes into battle with the White Witch as the sound stops and everything happens in slow motion. Nope, sorry in the book Peter was just not that important. Yes, the books were dated and traditional gender roles were staunchly adhered to. The White Witch is certainly an example of women with political power gone unchecked. But at least Lewis saw a role for girls as the imaginitive and spritual power of Narnia. I felt that the movie did not even give them that.

White was everywhere....

It started snowing this afternoon and it's pretty georgeous outside right now. Driving home from work was a bit of a terrifying experience. First, I really wanted to look around at the trees and sky instead of at the car in front of me. And then there was the fact that it's a bit hard to see with the air full of white flurries. But I got home safe and sound and now I am happily gazing out at the cold, wetness from the warmth of my apartment and from here is it quite a sight.

Dogs are not babies!

Michelle sent this to me. I should make a poster and hang it on my door.

It is a truth universally acknowledged....

that Colin Firth is the ONLY Mr. Darcy. I saw Pride and Predjudice (I refuse to use that stupid & that they use in the movie title) with Michelle today. It was better than I expected. The movie left out alot of the wonderfully witty conversations between Darcy and Elizabeth but I actually really liked Kira Kinghtly's Elizabeth and the rest of the cast was excellent. The only really disappointing performance was Darcy. The actor who played Darcy was nervous and brooding enough but he wasn't very...well, proud. He seemed afraid of Elizabeth most of the time. He was certainly no Colin Firth. Overall though...a good try. It's such a good story with such great characters. It would be hard to entirely dislike any telling of it.

turkeystuffingsweetpotatoescranberrydeliciousness...

Thanksgiving was a success. Jason made a wonderful turkey. I had fun playing the Obi Wan of the turkey galaxy. I think everyone had fun and it was nice to be around good friends and lots of yummy food. The deserts were (as usual) my favorite part. Valeska made a chocolate cake that tasted like a candy bar and these shortbread fig cookies that I could not stop eating. Her co-worker Kevin made ice-cream cream puffs...yummm. I made a bourbon pumpkin cheesecake which went over really well. I was worried because it was a different recipie from the one I made last year but I really think this one was even better. It didn't snow in Philly but that was just fine with me. It was certainly cold enough. And then everyone came down to D.C. for the rest of the weekend. Valeska, Sophia, and I did some major shopping in Old Town and I ended up with a new pair of boots. Sorry Josh, but I can't help myself. Shoes never make a girl feel fat. It was a great weekend and now I am sad that it is over and I have to actually start on that ten page paper due next week.

We saw a deer standing on the side of the road next to the zoo. It was like fucking Bambi's father all magestic and shit. What kind of place is this where deer just hang out on the road? This is why I am not driving anywhere at night ever. Crazy deer!

Confession...

Ok. Ok. The dog is growing on me.

Mommy Dearest...

Emerson just threw up all over the floor. Josh is gone taking his final so I have to clean up doggy vomit all by myself. I want to give him back. Yes, I know that makes me a horrible person and yes, I would say the same thing if he were a baby instead of a dog. I am a bad mama.

Love that dog?

We decided on the name Emerson. I came up with the name Caliban but Josh hated it. Not that any of that matters since we still tend to forget and just call him Copper.

So in typical fashion for me, I have decided that I am not sure about the dog. I just don't love the idea of a dog following me around all the time. What's wrong with me? Emerson's actually a pretty well behaved pup except he wants to sleep in the bed with us and there is just no room. Last night he wouldn't stay in his bed and kept trying to sleep on my head. Josh evenutally had to put him in the hall and close the door. That might have made me sad but it was 3 in the morning and I was too sleepy to care. I might be a horrible person. At least Josh loves that dog more than anything in the world. And Emerson follows him around and lays in his lap like a baby. Ugh, babies. I can't even begin to explain how much I do NOT want one of those anytime soon. I'd be the worst mom ever!

Shoot me if I ever call him my furbaby....

We are adopting this pup today. His name is Copper but Josh wants to change it. I say we need to come up with something that sounds like Copper. Cooper? Caper? Kafka? Help!

I was a Freudian Slip...

Halloween Pictures

Some of these are really awful but there are a few cute ones.

My new favorite poem.....

Litany by Billy Collins You are the bread and the knife, the crystal goblet and the wine... Jacques Crickillon You are the bread and the knife, the crystal goblet and the wine. You are the dew on the morning grass and the burning wheel of the sun. You are the white apron of the baker and the marsh birds suddenly in flight. However, you are not the wind in the orchard, the plums on the counter, or the house of cards. And you are certainly not the pine-scented air. There is just no way you are the pine-scented air. It is possible you are the fish under the bridge, maybe even the pigeon on the general's head, but you are not even close to being the field of cornflowers at dusk. And a quick look in the mirror will show that you are neither the boots in the corner nor the boat asleep in its boathouse. It might interest you to know, speaking of the plentiful imagery of the world, that I am the sound of rain on the roof. I also happen to be the shooting star, the evening paper blwoing down an alley, and the basket of chestnuts on the kitchen table. I am also the moon in the trees and the blind woman's tea cup. But don't worry, I am not the bread and the knife. You are still the bread and the knife. You will always be the bread and the knife, not to mention the crystal goblet and--somehow-- the wine.

Ask me, I'm a...

A patron at work mistakenly called me a librarian. Suckers.

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree....

Faced with the aftermath of a hurricane and no electricity or water my mother informes me she is depressed because the chocolate ice cream bars in the freezer are melting and she is going to lose them. This is why I love my mother.

I spend the night nibbling on a seven dollar bar of chocolate from MarieBelle, a posh chocolate store in New York. I am a sucker for expensive chocolate. Ah, 70% single origin Venezuelan Cacao...I can feel the endorphins happily humming.

Michelle is awesome....

and an inspiration. She said, "let's start blogs" and I did because I always listen to Michelle. She's been known to pee in shoes if ignored.

So I started a new job today and decided that working is way over rated even if it is in a library.