~yawns and stretches~

It's 5:26am, and I'm just sitting down with my first cuppa joe. My caffeine consumption is seriously lagging these days, and that is probably not a bad thing.

I am relatively wide-awake for it being such an early hour. I was awakened around 3:30 by a combination of the pain in my back and the wretched feline yowling downstairs... sounded too much like my daughter saying "mom." Does that "mother hearing" never go away? ~sigh~

I hope you all liked yesterday's entry on The Story of Stuff. Other than some statistics, it really didn't present any information that I didn't know, but I hope it gets spread around the internet enough and seen by enough of those with the "Wal-Mart mentality" that SOMETHING in there strikes a chord with our consumer-driven masses.

Not that I think Wal-Mart is really any worse of a retailer than Target or K-Mart or Sears or Abercrombie or Macys... I see the same countries of origin on the labels of products sold in those stores as I do in Wally-World.

You know, if Americans were to not shop for a month (hell, two weeks), it would do more to damage our economy than high gas prices, plummets in the stock market, the failure of large banking/insurance corporations, and the housing crisis combined.

Whomever is to be the next president of this country (I really pray that it isn't McCain, and I'm a Republican. A Republican with a conscience, that is.) is walking into a truly fucked-up scenario.

Another big thank you to the Clinton administration. It was his administration that deregulated the securities industry in '98/'99 (somewhere around there, I'm getting old, gimme a break, OK). Those controls had been put in place after the GREAT DEPRESSION. And, hey, look... it took us less than a decade without those controls and regulations in place to totally screw things up. Gotta love the global economy and the fact that our currency is backed by nothing of any value. We have tremendous national debt and trade deficits. Oh hell... you all know how we got into this mess.

Oh, hey... I got one of those DVD's that Clarion sent out in order to smear Obama. If you didn't receive one, it is titled "Obsession." The "O" in the title is the Islamic crescent and stars and the cover art definitely lends an "apocalyptic" tone. I didn't get to watch it. The perverse and twisted part of my nature really did want to watch it for purely vicarious reasons. The offspring (another Republican with a conscience) however, stated quite matter-of-factly, "You know we're not watching this, right?" as she deposited it in the trash on Saturday - the very same day that it was received in the mail. I really don't know where that bitch gets it from.... ~insert giggle and wink here~

Well, it's 5:50am... shower time.

Ciao!

... and two become one...

A relation between hell and heaven: your couple may be a real challenge for you two to make it last. With determination and courage, you can make your relation a joy and a very significant source of evolution for both and remain together for long years. You have very different natures and the adaptation to your partner must be considered before acting and unwillingly hurting the sensitivity of your partner. Think "mobility", "flexibility", "mutual comprehension" and you will in most cases win the challenge of your beautiful love story.


I had to post that little blurb "just because"...

If you peruse this page, you will have long ago noted that my astrological birth chart is posted. As an experiment, I emailed that man who is referred to as significant other/better half/jackass/him who sorely vexes my soul to have him send me the time and the location of his birth. Himbeinghim, ignored the email. Mebeingme, plugged the data as best I could into the program anyway.

The above statement of compatibility is what resulted from that little experiment.

I don't put much stock in horoscopes and astrology, so to speak. At least not as it is practiced by charlatans and is misunderstood by the masses. There was a time when the stars and the planets and the signs they conveyed were recognized and understood.

It was an interesting experiment. The result is accurate. Proves nothing but was fun to do and to read the results. Just to see...

The Official 2007 Christmas Letter

TO: Friends, Family, Extraterrestrial Intelligent Entities, Charismatic Evangelicals, Devotees of Anime, Double-espresso Drinkers, Knitters for Political and Social Change

RE: All the news from my reality that isn't

Salutations and such -

As I am sitting here with the non-Maoist Cultural Revolution Gang of Five and taking a break from finishing the last three-and-a-half inches of the turtleneck on my Christmas sweater, I pause to reflect on events of questionable relevance from the last year.

I missed, without regret, much of the celluloid schlock and all of the banal television broadcasts of the preceding 12 months.

I spent way too much time at work and way too much time with my grand kids. A myriad of advantages and disadvantages to both scenarios.

2007 was the year of disarray. If it was possible to be messed up, it was. If it was possible for it to be broken, it happened. Procrastination was the order of the day. Money went faster than it came.

Social blogging networks were the new prevailing distraction this year. I finally got around to doing a bit of something with my MySpace and Multiply pages. I still post to del.icio.us on occasion. Stumble Upon just didn't do it for me. I have yet to peruse Digg. (I feel I need to leave something for the new year.) I think I'm also on Facebook and Tagged. I gave up my memberships for the Pogo game site and don't miss it at all after it having been an internet staple for nearly 6 years. I gave up a couple of internet forums and joined a few more. Other than a couple of friends, I have completely disassociated myself with all people and things relating to The Way International.

I reconnected with some old friends and acquired some new friends. There are still a couple of friends that I need to reconnect with. And, I really need to quit being such a lazy ass and find a couple of people from years gone by.

The last time we were all together as a family was at my dad's funeral. Today we will be all together with my mom's new boyfriend.

I have met my soul mate, and he makes me crazy to the very depths of my soul.

My daughters are my daughters. In some ways consistency is good; in other ways it serves merely to make me wish I lived further away.

The summary of all that is that isn't is complete.

Wishing you a cool yule & a great 2008!