They socialize the losses; privatize the profits.

We don't have money to fix Social Security or Medicare or provide health care and take care of our veterans, but here we are bailing out effing Wall Street and MILLIONAIRES.

It's bullshit.

I did try to look at how my Roth IRA account was affected but a) I don't care much because I won't need this money for decades, so it doesn't really matter for me and b) I couldn't make any sense of it anyway.

Luckily, when my dad switched jobs, he had to wait a while to do something with his 401K from his previous employer. So right now it's sitting in the safest place possible. Whew.

"Where the pellets of poison are flooding their waters"

Okay, I am loving Bob Dylan at the moment. I always love him, but now I'm listening to him about 24/7, especially the albums Nashville Skyline, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan and all the bootlegs with Johnny Cash (two of my favorite people ever, together!)

It's sad that so many of Dylan's lyrics are still relevant to many situations today.

So every sports team I follow basically got slaughtered this week. My old high school got killed; they didn't even make it on the scoreboard.

The Browns better win today, or this rivalry with the Steelers isn't even a rivalry. It's a dominance. To be a rivalry, there has to actually be COMPETITION.

My brother and our friend watched The Ohio State Buckeyes play in a bar last night. Oy vey. That was just embarrassing, too. Our best player was injured and didn't play, though, and it's always best to lose early in the season.

Yeah. An employee at the bar last night was incredibly rude, unprofessional, and lacked decent customer service. I think he was the night manager, which makes it worse. I don't want to get into the specifics, but let's say he lied to our face about what we could use a discount on, and refused to grant it at the end of the night; charged us for drinks the guys didn't order; and our bill was messed up in other ways, too. I say he had poor customer service because none of the things were corrected. So I wrote in a letter of complainant to the corporate office, and someone better respond, because it's the principle of the thing.

Ha.

OMG.

The women on The View slaughtered John McCain today. They're better journalists than the actual media - except for Elisabeth. She's just ignorant.

I'm impressed. They shot down all of his, okay, a lot of it, bull like whoah.

Barbara pointed out that Palin sold her plane at a loss and that McCain also used the lipstick on the pig line, they pressed him to name one of her reforms and he couldn't, and they pointed out that Palin has accepted earmarks. And they called his ads lies.

They talked about separation of church and state, Roe vs. Wade. He gave some bullshit answer, and Barbara said that's an answer from someone who wants to overturn it. People in the audience were pissed when he then admitted Roe vs. Wade shouldn't have happened.

More on the interview.

I'm just impressed that they stood up to him and weren't afraid to ask him anything they felt like.

Look at the Date, redux.

I was looking through some old posts on here, and remembering what date today is, I thought it'd be appropriate to repost this snippet from an entry on Monday, Sept. 11, 2006:

Look at the Date.

I haven't watched any of the memorials or human interest stories or "how the U.S. has changed" or etc. (the polite term for it) segments on the television this week. I just...don't want to. Too many emotions would come from them, bad or good. I don't think I'll ever be able to watch any of those movies dealing with September 11th.

It just feels surreal still. I can't believe what happened. I can't believe what terrorists and OUR OWN government have done to us. I can't even read lj entries about it because I never know if they will make me want to cry or throw something--either at the media or the government or the poster. Wow. I think I just realized George W. Bush makes me angrier than terrorists. Maybe because they are abstract and so far away and Bush is supposed to be HELPING us, not making everything so much, much worse.

But I did watch Ellen today, and she had a segment about a woman, Ann Nelson, who died in one of the World Trade Center Towers. A while after she died, her parents found her Life List on her computer. (Ellen has been all about life lists this season: those lists where you write down everything you want to do/be in life.) Ann's story has been in The New York Times, Cosmopolitan, etc., and she has inspired people to keep their own life list (one such woman was also on Ellen, with Ann's parents). Her list was all about bettering herself and the people around her, not superficial things like "own a car" (which might actually be a big thing for some people).

I don't know what is was about her and her story. It was her picture, her parents, her love of life, the woman she inspired and what she told Ann's parents, the shots of her actual list...But my mom and I looked at each other, and my mom was crying, and I said, "I know! I feel like crying!" and then I started crying and...even if I had spent all day watching stories about 9/11, no other story would have touched me as much.

I tried to find something online about her with no luck.

I should make a Life List...but I'm almost afraid to. Like I'm afraid I'll never accomplish anything on it. I don't even know what I'd put on it.

ETA: I found The New York Times's article! Read it below.

***

May 17, 2006
About New York
Hope, Saved on a Laptop
By DAN BARRY

For a long time, Ann Nelson’s laptop computer remained dark.

It had been returned to her family in North Dakota, along with the other belongings she left behind in that great city 1,750 miles to the east. She was 30, lively, working near the very top of the World Trade Center, and — you already know.

In the small town of Stanley, halfway between Minot and Williston, a fog thick enough to blur time’s passing enveloped the Nelson home. Amid the many tributes to Ann, amid the grieving and the absence, it became hard to remember just when and how the laptop wound up in the basement of the one-story bank that the family owned.

There the laptop sat, for years, tucked away from sight in a black case. It was a Dell Inspiron 8000, bought shortly before Ann called home that day in early 2001 to say she had gotten a job as a bond trader at Cantor Fitzgerald — in New York! Soon she was living near the corner of Thompson and Spring, and working in an office 104 stories in the air.

Ann’s parents, Jenette and Gary Nelson, say the laptop remained unopened because they are not computer savvy. But it was more than that, Mrs. Nelson admits. “To tell you the truth, it was just too painful.”

Three summers ago, during an art class Mrs. Nelson was teaching in that basement, a couple of students showed her how to use the computer. After the class, she says, “I just left it there.”

Who knows why never becomes someday, and someday becomes today. One day last fall — “when I got to feeling stronger,” she says — Mrs. Nelson finally opened her daughter’s computer. She pushed its power button and started by looking at the photographs stored in its memory.

Soon Mrs. Nelson was learning how to play the computer’s games, including solitaire and hearts. These distractions both relaxed her and reminded her of the games she used to play with Ann. Somehow, this little black machine made Ann seem present, there beside her.

Getting lost in the computer became part of Mrs. Nelson’s after-work ritual, though she never bothered to open a file that said “Top 100″; probably some music, she figured. Then, two months ago and who knows why, click.

What she found was a catalog of goals, humanly incomplete: a list that reflected a young woman’s commitment to the serious, to the frivolous, to all of life. That night, Mr. and Mrs. Nelson sat down with the list, and were with their daughter again.

1. Be healthy/ healthful. 2. Be a good friend. 3. Keep secrets. 4. Keep in touch with people I love and that love me. 5. Make a quilt.

Mrs. Nelson used to sew all the time, until it simply became too hard to guide a needle properly with a joyous little girl frolicking in her lap. Then, when Ann grew older, mother and daughter decided to sew a tablecloth.

“I don’t think we ever finished,” Mrs. Nelson says, laughing. “She had to be doing 100 things at a time, and consequently some of them didn’t get finished.”

As for this goal of making a quilt, she adds, “I’m sure that I would probably have been deeply involved in this process.”

6. Nepal. 7. Buy a home in North Dakota. 8. Get a graduate degree. 9. Learn a foreign language. 10. Kilimanjaro. 11. Never be ashamed of who I am.

“Ann was in many environments where being a girl from North Dakota may not have been the most sophisticated label to wear,” Mrs. Nelson says, recalling that her daughter had traveled to China and to Peru, and had worked in the high-powered environments of Chicago and New York.

Even so, Ann always conveyed pride in who she was, who her parents were and where they came from — though never in a boastful way. “It’s an important point about her personality,” her mother says.

12. Be a person to be proud of. 13. Always keep improving. 14. Read every day. 15. Be informed. 16. Knit a sweater. 17. Scuba-dive in the Barrier Reef. 18. Volunteer for a charity. 19. Learn to cook.

By her late 20’s, Ann had actually become a fairly decent cook. Still, her mother laughs in recalling late-night calls, like the one that began: “Mom, what’s drawn butter?”

20. Learn about art. 21. Get my C.F.A. 22. Grand Canyon. 23. Helicopter-ski with my dad.

Then Ann Nelson’s list repeats a number.

23. Spend more time with my family. 24. Remember birthdays!!!!

Birthdays loomed large in Ann’s life. She would celebrate her birthday not for a day, but for a week — in part because her father’s birthday came the very next day, in part because she was proud to have been born on Norwegian Independence Day — which is May 17, today.

“Ann would have been 35,” says Mr. Nelson, who turns 65 tomorrow.

25. Appreciate money, but don’t worship it. 26. Learn how to use a computer. 27. Visit the New York Public Library. 28. Maine. 29. Learn to write. 30. Walk — exercise but also see the world firsthand. 31. Learn about other cultures. 32. Be a good listener. 33. Take time for friends. 34. Kayak. 35. Drink water. 36. Learn about wine.

Ann was supposed to attend a wine class the evening of Sept. 11, in keeping with Nos. 13, 19, 31, 36 — the whole list, really.

After 36, there is a 37, but it is blank.

Mr. Nelson reads the list as an inventory of his daughter’s values. “You don’t see any Corvettes in the garage or any of those material things you might expect from someone that age,” he says. “She recognized that you appreciate a few things and kind of live your life wisely.”

Mrs. Nelson interprets the list as another way in which Ann seems to communicate with her when she is most in need. So, just about every day in a small North Dakota town, halfway between Minot and Williston, the screen of a laptop computer goes from darkness to light.

E-mail: dabarry@nytimes.com

Wacko.

From ABC News: Sarah Palin Defends Experience, Takes Hard Line Approach on National Security:

On the anniversary of the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history, Gov. Sarah Palin took a hard-line approach on national security and said that war with Russia may be necessary if that nation invades another country.

Well, of course. She is an expert on Russia, what with Alaska being located next to it and all.

"There ain't no reasons things are this way."

About a year ago, I discovered folk/pop singer-songwriter Brett Dennen. I love him. I love his voice, and I love his lyrics, filled with social commentary. (Although, I admit he looks nothing like I thought he would!) Some of his songs really speak to me, particularly: "Ain't No Reason," "There is So Much More," and "I Asked When."

Yea!

May not seem a lot to anyone else, but I achieved my highest score ever on Bookworm today!

Rank 21 - Wordmaster
400,870

My best word was "panty," at 2,790 points. That's embarrassing!

And I'm a bit annoyed with Bookworm. It didn't recognize some of the words I tried to play, although they are certainly words, just maybe not words people should say.

Donate!

Today I donated $80 to the Barack Obama campaign and $20 to MoveOn.org. I can't donate thousands of dollars like some people (I'm always amazed at comments on AMERICAblog about people donating that much), but I figured EVERYONE should contribute what they can, even if its $10 to $20. It makes a difference and adds up.

If you've been reading news online, you'd know that the Obama campaign needs donations, in part because of the way its rejected using public financing. The campaign relies on donations from people like us.

From The New York Times: "After months of record-breaking fund-raising, a new sense of urgency in Senator Barack Obama’s fund-raising team is palpable as the full weight of the campaign’s decision to bypass public financing for the general election is suddenly upon it."

Maverick? Must be opposite day (or year, since it's not like anyone in the media challenges him on it...)

QUESTION from MATTHEWS: Are you proud of the work and the work and the leadership of the commander in chief in this war?

MCCAIN: Yes I am. I think the President has led with great clarity and I think he's done a great job leading the country, don't you all? [MSNBC, Hardball College Tour, 4/23/03]

MCCAIN: The President and I agree on most issues. There was a recent study that showed I voted with the President over 90 percent of the time, higher than a lot of my even Republican colleagues. [Fox News Channel, 5/22/03]

MCCAIN: The fact is that I have agreed with President Bush far more than I have disagreed, and on the transcendent issues, the most important issues of our day, I have been totally in agreement and support of President Bush. [Meet the Press, 6/19/05]

Hee.

We've always been at war with Eastasia.

From AMERICAblog:

McCain campaign: Palin won't do any interviews, she's just going to read speeches from now on

Okay, if it looks bad when a small-town official refuses to grant interviews, then it's gottb be a catastrophe when someone who is running for VICE PRESIDENT refuses.

Classic.

Oh, the Republicans can pretend in public that they like the pick of Sarah Palin, but you know they're really as irritated as the rest of us.

As a segment with Chuck Todd ended today, Republican consultant Mike Murphy and Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan - both conservatives - were caught on a live mic ridiculing the choice of Sarah Palin.

"It's over," said Noonan.

She then responded to a question of whether Palin is the most qualified Republican woman McCain could have chosen.

"The most qualified? No. I think they went for this - excuse me - political bullshit about narratives," she said. "Everytime Republicans do that - because that's not where they live and it's not what they're good at, they blow it."

Murphy said, "The greatness of McCain is no cynicism, and this is cynical."

The family and I went to the Great Geauga County Fair this Labor Day weekend (and that is the official name!).

We always go to the Democrat booth to get stickers, signs, and the like. No signs this year! Bummer. And we had to pay for stickers and buttons, when usually they're free.

I did buy some buttons, mine just says "Obama '08" with the campaign symbol and the Web site address. My mom's says "Women for Obama" (she still prefers Hillary, but she says she was just trying to rile me up whenever she defended McCain. Palin firmly pushed her over, though.).

Anyway, mom was, like, "Let's go in the Republican tent!" With our buttons on. I was, like, no, no, we can't do that! She wanted someone to claim that McCain was for women, too, so she could argue with them, I guess (she was mostly kidding).

But we didn't go in. I'm too chicken, I guess, or too polite.

At the fair, it was $5 a bag at the library, so I shoved about 20 books in the bag! Good deal.

All in all, I had a v. nice Labor Day weekend.

Once Upon a Time She Said.

I don't think Hillary Clinton put 18 million cracks in that glass ceiling so some gun-lovin', anti-choice, anti-environment fundamentalist could sneak through.

Sarah Palin is not fit to even say her name, so how dare she use Hillary's words in her speech.

If I hear one more time that Sarah Palin has more "executive experience" than Barack Obama, I will scream.

She has been the governor of Alaska for a year and a half. Alaska, which has the population of Memphis, Tenn., or better yet, the same population as Obama's Illinois *state* Senate district.

Population of Illinois' 13th congressional district: 653,647
Population of Alaska: 683,478

Cuyahoga County, Ohio, has more population than Alaska.

Oh, but wait! She also was mayor of Wasilla, Alaska for two terms!

Wasilla has an incredible population of 6,715!

Let's see...what is comparible.

Hmm.

The City of Geneva, Ohio has a population of 6,595! Let's recruit the un-elected city manager and tell him he's qualified to be the vice president of the United States!

Ashtabula, Ohio is bigger than Wasilla. Nearly triple the size.

My God. Can you imagine anyone from that city being thrust into national and international politics?

If this is some ploy to attract Hillary's supporters, I am offended. I have to believe that women are smarter than that. Sarah Palin is no friend to women's rights. She is no friend to human rights.

Hillary had to prove that she could be commander in chief over and over. Now the mainstream media is going on about how Palin has "executive experience" because she was leader of Hobuckville and has five children, so she appeals to women.

I feel ill.

Oh, John McCain. Either you're brillant or you're stupid. Time will tell. But one thing is for sure: there were dozens more qualified Republican women you could have chosen from.

lkfldfkgl

So, in my Disk Utility of my MacBook I get this worthless "Invalid node structure" error.

I do some research online, and apparently the only way to fix this error is to buy a $100 software called Disk Warrior.

Lovely. Just what I need.

Dem convention.

I wish Hillary was the vice president.

Get a free DVD! Seriously.

You can use a promotional code at www.blockbuster.com that will allow you to get a free DVD - or two DVDs for cheap!

The promotional code expires Sept. 1. Use the code to get $10 off your next purchase of $10 or more on any new or previously viewed DVDs from blockbuster.com.

Use the code augappreciation

Used DVD orders have free shipping, so if you buy used DVDs and your order totals $10, you get it for free.

After many of the DVDs I wanted were unavailable for purchase (Pride and Prejudice BBC miniseries, Gone with the Wind, The Incredibles, etc.), I finally got Elf and To Kill a Mockingbird for $4.24 total.

City Xpressions.

Pointless.

What the hell is the point of the steeplechase?

Michael Phelps is awesome.

Aw. Just watched Ryan Lochte win the gold medal in the 200M backstroke, and his dad is in the stands crying and clapping. It's really a nice moment.

Olympics, part deux.

If I hear an announcer use the terms "smash" or "smashing" one more time, I will smash my TV. I have heard them say that word probably 20 times.

Also, I think the announcers are a bit rude to all of the athletes, frankly. Knock it off.

During the men's gymnastics, one of the Chinese men messed up, but he smiled after his routine. The announcer was bitchy about it, said that he didn't like to see him smiling after he messed up. WTF. It's a game. People mess up, and people should try to move on and do better on the next thing. The woman who announces the girls' gymnastics is the rudest - to both the Chinese and American girls, whining about all of their the "silly" mistakes, giving away points, blah blah blah, just cutting them down. I'm sure they do better than she ever could.

Olympics.

I have issues with basketball players who make millions of dollars calling themselves "The Redeem Team," like they're some sort of underdogs.

...

Oh, and I smoked *part* of a cigar at Vintage Ohio on Saturday (this from the girl who never even tried a CIGARETTE before). Yeah. I don't know.

We are all made of stars.

Way cool.

The brother, his friend, and I were sitting out by the pond tonight, looking at the stars.

For the first time ever, I was able to pick out a constellation!

I saw the Big Dipper, the North Star, the Milky Way, some kind of planet, and three satellites. I saw two other groupings that I thought must be constellations as well, but I couldn't identify them by name.

The brother and his friend saw a shooting star (or possibly a meteorite), though. Jealous!

ETA: One of the constellations is called the Queen (Cassiopeia)!

ETA #2: I went back out. We found the King (Cepheus), the Little Dipper, and the Dragon (Draco).

We think the planet we saw was Jupiter. I am 99 percent sure, because underneath it, we found the Shield (Scutum).

So if we saw Jupiter, then we also were prob. looking right at the Archer (Sagittarius). I don't think I could pick out enough of the shape to say I identified it, though. So I was looking at it but didn't know that I was looking at it.

And, hey, I saw three shooting stars (or meteorites).

We also saw another planet. We're not sure which one. Maybe Neptune, as it is supposed to be visible now.

This site is really useful for picking out objects in the sky.

I prob. could have found more objects, but I'm tuckered out from being at Vintage Ohio all day.

And when I first posted this, or made an edit, the time stamp read 11:11 p.m. One day, I might write a post about how I am always looking at the clock when it reads 11:11. It's really creeping me out.

I always love Shark Week on the Discovery Channel, but this year it's kind of irritating. It seems overloaded with shows about shark attacks, and so many claims of how the great white shark is so dangerous and blah, blah, blah. In the last 100 years, the great white shark has only killed 50 people. So usually the Discovery Channel is more about educating people than creating this fear...Respect the sharks!

I'm not using my Xanga account anymore. This is it.

Brill.

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Global dance party!

Okay, I find this video strangely beautiful and touching.



(Make sure you watch in high quality!)

If you don't know the story behind Where the Hell is Matt?, it's about this man, Matt Harding, who posted videos of himself dancing all over the world. In this new video, people from many, many countries join in for a global dance party, and I defy anyone to not feel moved by it.

Tegan and Sara!

Ohio board votes to ax teacher accused of branding

COLUMBUS, Ohio - An Ohio school board has voted to fire a science teacher accused of using a device to burn the image of a Christian cross on students' arms.

The Mount Vernon school board passed a resolution Friday to end the contract of middle school teacher John Freshwater. He can't be fired until after he is given a hearing to challenge the decision.

The instructor is accused of preaching his Christian beliefs in class and teaching creationism.

A family says Freshwater burned a cross into a child's arm that remained for three to four weeks. The family has sued the teacher and the school district.

Wait, are we sure this didn't happen in Jefferson? It sounds right up a certain math teacher's alley...

Ugh.

I am sitting in a car dealership, waiting for my oil change to be finished. I have been here for an hour and 20 minutes! I think they took some walk-ins before getting to my car, which is crap because I had an appointment. Whatevs.

This place has wireless...obviously...and I just got an e-mail from the car place saying that it's time to schedule my oil change. Uh. It's getting done right now, so you're a little late there.

My brother has a job interview this week! Let's all hope and pray he finally gets a job.

Me, of Arcadia.

Freaking hell. People with my level of paranoia do not need this.

So this morning I woke up, went to fix the Internet connection, and I notice that there is a frickin' bug, like, stuck to my skin. At first I didn't know what it was. So I just pulled it off, which was not like brushing off a fly or something - it was, like, hanging on.

And I looked at the bug, and I had never seen one up close before, but I thought, shit, that looks like a tick. So I looked it up on wikipedia, which is my bestest online friend, apart from YouTube.

So now I'm all paranoid I'm going to have Lyme disease, because I remember in an episode of Joan of Arcadia, who talked to God, that a story developed that people said she was crazy and thought she could talk to God because she was bitten by a tick and had Lyme disease.

Anyway, I don't see any bite marks, though. So maybe it hadn't bitten me yet, and even if it did, I'm sure Lyme disease is very rare.

I guess symptoms don't show for, like, 24 hours, so I'll let you know if I start to hallucinate that I can talk to God or whatever. Or maybe I won't be able to tell - and you'll have to tell me if I start sounding crazy.

Am pathetic.

So eharmony has/had this special where you could join for three months for the price of one, so I, uh, subscribed to it. Yeah. I don't know.

I'm in communication with five people at the moment. That just means we have sent questions back and forth...and then with two of those five people I'm in "open communication," which means we can send real messages back and forth. Like I'm typing here. One person I just realized is nearly three hours away, so no. I should end communication with him now, but suddenly all of these people looking for relationships make me sad. Like, what if they never meet anyone (nevermind me never meeting anyone!)?

I don't know. I feel like it's too late for me. Not that I'm too old or am an old maid or anything, just that I never had the proper emotional/intimate development when I was young, you know, that first love and all that jazz, and now I'm too old. I can't explain it here.

Anyway.

I've rediscovered my love for Party Ben, that DJ who mashes up songs. My favorite still has to be Somebody Rock Me, a mashup of the Killers and the Clash. Awesome.

It's raining, which normally I would like except Mom and I were planning on riding our bikes tonight. Ah, well.

Today this adorable, old British man came to my work. The office is closed to the public, but I heard him knocking on the door, so I let him in and asked, can I help you? He said something like, "I hope you can. I was wondering if there's anything left of (name of famous short story author from my town), here, about his life."

I recognized the name of the author, but I doubt many people around here know who he is. His family actually started the place where I work, I believe. We read some of his short stories in high school, and I think one of his homes is still standing.

Anyway, I told the man how to walk to the library, because that would prob. be the most helpful place for him to go.

So off he went, and I was left wondering if the library was any help! It was near the time I got off from work, so I finished up and went to the library to see if he was still there, ha. He was - he was sitting at a desk with one of the librarians, and they were pouring over several books, looking stuff up. I don't think these books are normally on the shelves. Anyway, I asked, so they were able to help you? And he was happy and said they were getting along fine, or something to that effect.

Anyway. I guess that was a rather pointless retelling, but I was curious to find if he was able to find information on the author! It would have bothered me. So often we don't find out the results of things.

Yesterday I bought a print of "Girl at Mirror" by Normal Rockwell (see here).

Blank stares at blank pages.

(Copying some older entries from my Xanga account. This one is from March...)

The bad news.

I've been without power for four days! Stupid ice storm.

The good news.

it's back - and I finally get to use the fast Internet that we had installed!

Yes, fast, cable Internet is now in the boonies!

Yes, finally the phone line is free and two people can be on the Internet at once!

Except someone is still constantly whining about it slowing his down. Whine, whine, whine.

Whoah.

I finally understand what the heck people mean when they say someone is their so-and-so cousin, once removed.

I've been calling people my second cousin when I meant my first cousin, once removed.

I don't know who is considered my second cousin, though.

The site that made me understand!

Rocky Mountain climbing.

I want to go skydiving.

"If you're really such a celebrity then where's your posse? Where's your hybrid? Where's your inappropriately named baby?" - Marc, Ugly Betty

My brother has finally applied for a job! Fingers crossed! Seriously, seriously, fingers crossed.

Xanga annoys me because it couldn't find the artist I'm listening to in its little database, so I can't put anything in the "currently listening" to section, because Xanga doesn't think they exist. Well, they do. Because I am listening to them right now.

Ashtar Command - "Blister of the Spotlight"

Wino.

Okay. I loved this week's episode of Ugly Betty so much that I had to watch it twice. I <3 Betty and Gio. Lots of tingly moments. I like Betty with Gio because she has fun with him; with Henry it's just too stressful. Plus, he's so uptight.

Mom says I need a "Gio." Ha. I am rather like Betty, though.

Today, the parents and I visited several wineries. First, we went to Debonne Vineyards, where a model airplane show was going on. We didn't sample there, but we bought a bottle of 2005 vintage Pinot Gris. Debonne has a line of bottles that feature artwork celebrating various neighborhoods in Cleveland, like University Circle, Warehouse District and Tremont. We bought the one with the East 4th Street label, but only because that one was on sale!

Debonne holds a hot air balloon festival June 6-7, so we'll be going to that.

Our next stop was Virant Family Winery in Harpersfield Township. This winery is now my favorite winery. We sampled six wines here and had an appetizer.

Their wine, White Silk? Amazing. It smells like you've stepped out into a vineyard, and it tastes just like you're eating green grapes off of the vine. I had a bottle of that wine already at home, so I bought Blazzin' Blackberry (which you can only buy at the winery or online) and a bottle of Chiffon.

At every other winery, there's usually at least one wine where that first sip makes you pull a face at the acid, where the first sip is rough. Especially red wines. But not at Virant. Every wine was pleasing to taste. I even liked - heck, loved, their Red Silk, and I don't normally like red wines.

But I also liked the relaxing, unpretentious atmosphere. It's a family-owned winery; well, that's not any different than the other wineries, but it's a lot smaller than the others in the area. I think the wine is better for it, because there's so much care that goes into each bottle. Their wine is made in more of the old-fashioned way.

The people also were nice. We chatted about the wines and Geneva, and it was a pleasant visit.

Completely unlike the horrible visit at the next winery, Harpersfield Winery.

I will never go back to this winery. Oh, don't get me wrong - the winery is beautiful inside. Huge fireplace to sit around, etc., etc. But the woman who greeted us was rude and pushy. She basically forced samples of wine on us. I felt uncomfortable. The wine wasn't that bad - it was made from a grape that not many other wineries use. My mom hated the wine, though. Just bad customer service.

Anyway, buy Ohio wines! Especially from Virant.

Since the bluegrass festival will not be held this year, I am definitely going to Vintage Ohio, which is August 1-2.

Free camera tripod!

Found out about a free camera tripod through freestuff over at livejournal.

From an entry there (it is friendslocked):

This deal is contingent on certain factors. You have to be a new Google Checkout customer and must live in the continental United States to qualify for budget shipping.

Buy.com is selling a KraftTech 60" Adjustable Camera Tripod w/ Nylon Carry Bag for $10. If you are a new Google Checkout customer and use that as your payment option you get $10 off. Then choose budget shipping (7-9 days) as your shipping option to get shipping for free.

What's the best '80s band of all time - or, at least, of that decade?

The Clash. Duh.

   

I just answered this Featured Question, you can answer it too!

The other's shy and quiet.

I can't even remember why I started suddenly thinking of Sweet Valley High, of all things, but I found this awesome site that recaps (with quite a bit of snark) most of the Sweet Valley High books. There's also this site and this one.

Ahahaha. I love it. Love, love, love it.

I loved those books when I was younger. I loved Sweet Valley University more, but there's not many recaps of them on the site.

I was actually a bit frowny at some of the recaps...they're quite snarky, like I said. They pick on my poor Liz too much!

But then I dug out some of my Sweet Valley books and read a few pages...and, wow. They really were quite bad and melodramatic! I still love them, though. I was definitely not into The Babysitter's Club, by the way. Sweet Valley High owns them.

Honestly, though, they did deal with some heavy issues at times, when they weren't being ridiculously campy and soapy and promoting an unrealistic existence. Anorexia, suicide, attempted rape, death, uh, attempted murder times 1,000?

Really, I definitely would not encourage any daughter of mine to read them. They're is so much under-reaction to the violence and the many near date rapes. And the boyfriends are usually sexist jerks, I can see now.

I used to have almost all of the Sweet Valley High and University books (I bought them for $.25 in bin sales, never new). Then I gave most of them away to my first cousin, once removed (see last post at my joy of finally understanding what that means). Damn it! I only have 14 Sweet Valley High books left in my possession...no University :(, about one Sweet Valley Kids and a handful of Sweet Valley Twins.

I do have some classics, though. Two out of the werewolf arc. The first book that started it all: Double Love. And some from the Margot arc (awesome, awesome). I don't know why I gave some of my favorites away, though, like Dear Sister, where Elizabeth is in a coma! That was my all-time favorite. And Kidnapped!...in which Elizabeth is kidnapped.

I also loved the Little House on the Prairie Books, the American Girls series, the Phantom in the Tollbooth, and Sideway Stories from Wayside High!

But this post does have a point.

The Sweet Valley High books are being re-released with a "modern" look.

These modern changes include the Wakefield girls now being a "perfect size 4." In the old versions, they were a "perfect size 6."

This change bothers me. It's, like, why? What is the point of this change, except to give even more girls an eating disorder? I guess I should be glad they aren't a perfect size 0.

I mean, why do they have to make a mention of their size at all? And that "perfect size 6" was emphasized in every book, in every description of the twins. Just get rid of it, mmmkay? There's no need for it.

And remember the TV show? Yes. You can watch most of season four on ABC Family. Oh, it's so bad it's awesome.

Epic.

Blake Lewis, why couldn't you have had this level of awesomeness on your album?!?

WTF.

This video is the most bizarre thing I have ever watched in my life.

Crafty.

Okay, this site, Instructables, is awesome. We always say we want to make our own little crafts, and this site gives instructions - complete with pictures - for lots of little odd and fun do-it-yourself things, like wallets made of floppy disks and other random stuff. Coolness.

Jump.

"There's only so much you can learn in one place
The more that I wait, the more time that I waste

I haven't got much time to waste
It's time to make my way
I'm not afraid of what I'll face
But I'm afraid to stay
I'm going down my road and I can make it alone
I'll work and I'll fight 'till I find a place of my own

Are you ready to jump?
Get ready to jump
Don't ever look back oh baby
Yes, I'm ready to jump
Just take my hand
get ready to jump"

Whew (American Idol).

OMG.

Was that David Cook in the Risky Business-esque commercial for Guitar Hero?

I am dying for laughing. That commercial is one of the best. things. ever.

I need to watch it on You Tube now!

...They should have shown that last night...HOT.

EDIT: Way to ruin a good song, David Archuleta. Get off the effing stage with OneRepublic.

EDIT: I am so happy for you, David Cook! You so deserve it. Top Shelf kind of guy.

Yea for YouTube!

For years I've been trying to locate this movie I loved as a child in the '80s. It's been difficult to find it because the only thing I could remember about the movie was this:

"It was animated, the characters were animals, and I believe there was a cat who was a witch. The main animal could be transported by the wind, I think there was east wind and a west wind. I remember a scene in the beginning where there is either some sort of deer or unicorn lying in the forest, maybe. I think the main character meets some sort of hedgehog character on an island."

I was reminded of the movie again when Whitney at Pop Candy Blog (a v. cool site) posted a link to a collection of forgotten animated movies.

It wasn't on there, but I posted the above description in the comments.

It turns out that this movie is more popular than you might think, because someone posted this comment a few comments before mine: "My favorite animated and forgotten film that was not on the list: UNICO!!! That was one great movie."

After seeing my vague description, the person wrote: "@turtle: zomg! see my previous post! I think you're talking about UNICO!!! I <3 Unico. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unico"

And indeed we were thinking of the same movie! How random.

I had found it before that person's comment, though, because I searched YouTube for "witch cat." That was my exact search. And the first link that popped up? Unico - "Witch Cat Chao" (aka Katy), which is a scene from the movie!

I can't believe so many people loved this movie!

AND YOU CAN WATCH IT ON YOUTUBE!: Fantastic Adventures of Unico!

I am so excited.