Experts confirm:

That George Bush really is closer to primates than any human being should be. I knew it!

In other news Terri Schiavo has passed away, Wolfowitz has been confirmed to lead the World Bank, and the Presidential Commission has concluded that agencies were DEAD WRONG about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Sometimes politics just wants to make me jump out of my tower window.

On the other hand it's a beautiful, warm, breezy day here in Los Angeles and it's almost weekend. Maybe there is hope after all.

Did you know that?

The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue and polar bears are left-handed. Well now you do!

To my little sis...

Happy 24th babe!

Reason # 367 to go back to school...

The tax benefits from education are amazing - guess who's getting a huge refund?

17 Questions asked and answered.

Every so often I get one of those crazy forwards that asks you to reveal things about yourself. Here are selections from one that I figured I'd share:

1. What is your favorite breakfast food?

French toast from Marmalade Cafe - french toast, fresh fruit, powdered sugar and maple syrup. What more could a girl want?

2. What is your favorite alcoholic beverage?

Peach Bellini from Cheesecake Factory, White Russian, anything my roommate/bartender mixes up!

3. What kind of car do you drive?

Toyota Rav 4. It's Zippy!

4. What do you do in your free time?

I have free time? Knitting, reading, watching movies, spending time with friends, mudding, blogging.

5. What is your biggest pet peeve?

When you're in a lane, stopped in traffic, because some idiot decided to make a left turn and some jackass behind you cuts you off from getting in the next lane to go around the first idiot.

6. Where would you take your dream vacation?

Australia & New Zealand.

7. Gold or silver?

Silver silver silver... platinum?

8. What is your favorite movie?

Sense & Sensibility starring Kate Winslet, Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman and Hugh Grant.

9. What is your porn name? (first pet's name, first street you lived on)

Either Alberta Pelham or Alberta La Condesa.

10. Inked or no?

No tattoos, don't want any either.

11. What's your sign?

Taurus

12. Favorite song?

"In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel, "Wonderful Tonight" by Eric Clapton

13. PC or Mac?

Mac convert... don't miss those Microsoft viruses!

14. What is your most embarassing moment?

I don't think so... a girl's gotta have a few secrets.

15. Favorite Quote?

"It was by chance we met, it was by choice we became friends."

16. Green thumb?

I have an orchid from my grandmother that seems to be surviving but not (as Carl the Orchid Man would say) flourishing.

17. Languages?

I understand Spanish, and I speak passable French.


Enjoy!

The Easter Bunny...

On a day which some celebrate the resurrection of Christ, and others eat chocolate eggs laid by bunnies rather than chickens, one Easter Bunny was very unlucky.

Those of us who don't believe enjoy a great Cadbury Creme Egg and a free day off when you don't have to run errands because everything is closed. We blog surf, knit, watch tv & movies, do some homework and housework and prepare for another manic Monday. This promises to be a busy week, ending with a bridal shower, and maybe more Buddy-sitting.

I also watched 3 movies this weekend, Facing Windows, a beautiful Italian film about who we are and what we want in life, and Before Sunrise and Before Sunset. Guess it was a weekend to watch romantic movies and wish my guy could be here with me.

People do the darndest things

So I was blog-surfing and found the oddest Google ad yet. And there's really a website. Check out this contest for the best duct-tape prom dress! Now I don't know about you, but I got teased enough in High School... I'm not sure I needed any help.

Silent until now...

But no longer. As we enter day 6 of Terry Schiavo feeding tube mania, I see on the news that Governor Bush may file for custody of Terry Schiavo so that he can restore her feeding tube according to the wishes of her parents. This event, in the midst of the war in Iraq, nuclear threats throughout the world, terrorism, homelessness, unemployment, the biggest defecit ever, seems to be the only one that is polarizing the nation. I have yet to weigh in, but since Congress seems to think it's important enough to fly back for, I might as well take a stab at it.

I would like to preface my conversation by stating that I'm neither a huge proponent of taking someone's life, nor a utilitarian. That said...

Terry Schiavo suffered a tragic injury long ago that has left her devoid of any quality of life, and almost completely braindead for over a decade. Her loving husband has never run from the burden of caring for her, but rather tried to get her the best medical care possible, and stuck by her side, and refused to divorce her despite the relative hopelessness of her situation. After many long years, and what I'm sure was an inexplicably agonizing period, he has decided that in her current condition she would not want to be kept alive and that she would rather end the suffering for both herself and her family. He has gone through the numerous hula-hoops that the courts provide to insure that this privilege and right does not get abused. And yet at every step of the way he has been thwarted by people arguing that they know Terry's wishes better. Some, like her family, may indeed. Others, like Congress, have more than two cents even though they probably didn't even know who Terry Schiavo was before a week or two ago.

So you want to know my opinion?

1. Her husband is best suited to make this decision. He has stuck by her through thick and thin, and well beyond what he could have expected from the bonds of their marriage. There is no reason that he would want to take her life other than to fulfill her wishes and end her suffering - there is no money, there is no benefit that he will receive.

2. Congress has no business getting involved in this, nor does the public. Mr. Schiavo went to not one, not two, but three (or more?) courts of law and was able to convince independent third parties that what he wanted was in Terry's best interests. Congress may make the laws, but the judicial system interprets them. Enough is enough.

3. This is as ripe a case for euthanasia as I have ever seen. Terry has been dead for all practical purposes for over a decade, with no possibility for recovery in sight. My only problem with this is that I wouldn't pull her feeding tube out. Starvation seems an even further extension of her suffering. If you ask me, we should alleviate her suffering by administering a lethal dose of morphine and letting her drift peacefully off.

4. This whole situation - the treatment, the court cases, the controversey - is costing a fortune. Terry's parents want to assume responsibility for the costs of her care, but they don't have the resources. The settlement from the hospital is almost gone. Terry is beyond help. If everyone who wanted to support this cause donated $10 to medical research perhaps doctors could find insights that would mean one day the next "Terry" wouldn't have to live and die like this.

5. To all the people standing outside protesting - you are allowed to have opinions, and your caution is warranted. This could easily be abused as a precedent. However, let the Schiavos grieve in peace. Their daughter hasn't lived for years, but now they must say goodbye forever. Go home and mind your own business.

I don't think they canonize atheists...

But here's what I came up with for if I had been alive in the 1400's.

The Prioress You scored 13% Cardinal, 56% Monk, 55% Lady, and 45% Knight!

You are a moral person and are also highly intellectual. You like your solitude but are also kind and helpful to those around you. Guided by a belief in the goodness of mankind you will likely be christened a saint after your life is over. You scored high as both the Lady and the Monk. You can try again to get a more precise description of either the Monk or the lady, or you can be happy that you're an individual.

Pet-less

I have returned to the world of single carefree adult with no pet, and as much as I hate to admit it, Wes was right.... I kind of liked it. This morning Buddy let me sleep until 7:30am and then he wanted to go out and play. He waited patiently while I threw clothes on and then bolted for the door only heading back to get under my feet on the stairs and encourage me to go with him. We had a nice early morning walk (ok, so mornings aren't ALL terrible) and then I had to say goodbye and head to work. He looked so forlorn I hated to leave him.

Anyhow, on to a new day. Lots of work to be done for today, then school tonight and then more work tonight - TAing and graphics hats on, check!

It's a dog's world... and mine too.

So its 11:23pm and I just returned from Buddy's last walk of the night. You might wonder what the hell a single woman was thinking walking a dog so late at night. Well... he needs it. And frankly I enjoyed the quiet time. See Buddy lives on the border between LA and Santa Monica, 2 blocks west of where I used to live with my ex, and it's a ritzier zip code than mine. So besides the nicer digs, it's just so peaceful walking on tree and lawn-lined streets late at night, under the stars, feeling so totally far away from the concept people see when they hear "LA".

Sure, I wasn't really safe and I should have had either mace or a big maglight with me (and no I couldn't logically argue that Buddy would keep me safe - he'd probably jump all over the guy and lick him to death), but something was just kind of quiet and magical about it. Guess I can see why people like having pets.

Thank you Mr. "Yellow"

Who you might ask is Mr. "Yellow"? Well he's the neighbor in this condo complex who has the unsecured wireless which I am now using to get to my adoring public - we thank you Mr. "Yellow"!

So doggy-sitting is interesting. He's awfully cute (looks kind of like a Chow-Chow version of Benji) and he's a pretty good dog. But woe is me if I ever really decide to have pets. Buddy likes to go out about every 2-4 hours and it's often a question of who is walking whom. And beware other dogs, cats, squirrels whatever. He loves chasing them. He also sits on the street corner and cries if I don't let him go the way he wants to go (like into traffic). But he also comes and cuddles up with me and sleeps on my feet or next to my back at night, and he's always there patiently sitting and waiting outside the bathroom door when I get out of the shower. So I'll treat this like I do most children - I'll take him for a few days, but the best part is giving him back.

Other than that, just reading, enjoying the digital cable and heading to the theatre tonight. See you all for another Manic Monday!

A quote...

Men always want to be a woman's first love -- women like to be a man's last romance. - Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

Drat I forgot one!

I realized last night that when I was...ermm...extolling the virtues of the film I forgot to mention that Alfred Molina was among the members of the cast. Now in all seriousness, Alfred Molina is one of my favorite actors. You may remember him as Monsieur le Maire in that wonderful movie Chocolat, or as Diego Rivera in Frida, or even most recently as Doc Ock from Spiderman 2. But my favorite Alfred is when he comes and works with L.A. Theatre Works. I used to get to eat dinner with him before his performances and listen to him do impressions of American actors (for those not in the know, he's a Londonite!) and describe what it is like for a foreign actor to live in Hollywood. If you haven't seen one of his movies - you're missing out!

70's Flashback

What do you get when you combine Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, Burt Reynolds, Don Cheadle, William H. Macy, John C. Reilly, Heather Graham, Luis Guzman, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and more? Well add a lot of porn, a lot of drugs and some rock and roll - and you have Boogie Nights. Maybe I discovered this movie late in the game, but wow was it...umm... interesting. I'm not sure if I liked it yet or not.

In other news - I will be taking a brief break from my blogging to doggy and house-sit this weekend. Wish me luck - I'm a pet newbie!

TPS Reports

Do you ever feel like your worklife is just one TPS report after another? Do you hear echoes of Gary Cole saying "Um yeah.. I'm going to need that TPS report as soon as possible?" And do you wonder if TPS stands for Total Piece of Shit?

Just checking.

Corollaries to Murphy's Law

Rule of Accuracy: When working toward the solution of a problem, it always helps if you know the answer.

Corollary: Provided, of course, that you know there is a problem.

What kind of yarn are you?

You are Mohair.
You are a warm and fuzzy type who works well with
others, doing your share without being too
weighty. You can be stubborn and absolutely
refuse to change your position once it is set,
but that's okay since you are good at covering
up your mistakes.


What kind of yarn are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Best pickup line...

Hey baby, nice Hendecagon.

Ebbers Found Guilty.

Well this just in folks, after 8 days of deliberation, WorldCom's Ebbers has been found guilty on all counts. In what might grossest example of earnings misstatements EVER, this guy claimed that while he counted teabags and coffee refills, he knew nothing of the massive accounting fraud occuring within his company. And we wonder why Sarbanes-Oxley (or SOX as my Finance Professor says to people "in the know") came to be. I think Ebbers miscounted his beans.

Little Devil Works

ldw
Originally uploaded by littledevilworks.

Gotta have a pic.

So beautiful, so blue.

Judge Says California Can't Ban Gay Marriage. Right on!

Testing the Scientific Properties of Crystal Light Lemonade

A while back the boyfriend and I wondered what might happen to a glass of Crystal Light if left undisturbed. We posited that the primary reason certain liquids develop mold (when left standing) is due to their sugar content. What about Crystal Light given that it has no sugar? Well I'm here to tell you that it does mold, but not in the typical way. Normally when a beverage molds you see things floating in it - small clusters of spores. Today I arrived at work to find the leftovers from Friday (oops!) in a glass that didn't have small clusters floating, but was in fact entirely green on the inside of the glass. That's right folks - the liquid was still clear, but the entire inside of the cup was green. EEEEWWWWW. Another mystery of life uncovered.

Weekend Accomplishments

1. Read all 5 Wall Street Journal's from last week... amazingly they say the same thing almost every day.
2. Read Glamour and Fortune - the girl's guide to beauty and business.
3. I'm a red-head again. Who knew?
4. Cleaned the ole bachelorette pad. 'Nuff said.
5. Enjoyed the Forsyte Saga and Frida courtesy of Netflix. Would recommend the first to anyone who likes BBC period dramas, would recommend the second to everyone. Salma Hayek is fabulous.
6. Got inordinate amounts of sleep.
7. Talked to/ate dinner with the fam.

Status: Ready to face a new week...NOT.

Destroying an icon.

Apparently that wascally wabbit and his fwiends are getting makeovers. They really do destroy legends these days. Besides... don't those characters look a little dimented - I'm thinking of Sonic the Hedgehog.

QOTD

"Never underestimate the power of large groups of stupid people."

Or as President Bush would say... "Never misunderestimate very stupid people with large power."

Why I Love LA.

For those of you naysayers, I want to tell you why I love LA. Last night I went to the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills for the Alzheimer's Association Los Angeles "Night at Sardi's" benefit. Aside from being a truly moving event to raise funds to eradicate a horrific disease, this evening is a star-studded extravaganza. Only in LA could I rub elbows with Jennifer Garner & Victor Garber (Alias), Ben Affleck who came to see his girl perform, Eric McCormack & Megan Mullally (Will & Grace), Peter Gallagher (The OC), Sharon Lawrence (NYPD Blue) and many, many more. As I told my father last night, I'm not normally a star slut, but it's hard not to be at an event like this. So yes there's traffic, but I love LA!

Public Transportation vs. Walking to Work

Given this story, I may very well be walking to work sometime soon. Yes it's 11 miles, and I'd have to get up at 4 am to make it to work on time (and we all know what a lovely morning riser I am), but with gas this high, I'm just not sure I can afford to drive any more.

Which brings me to my second point - public transportation. LA fares worse than most of the major cities because no one really had the foresight to plan for public transportation. Now LA is a case of the worst urban sprawl, and the few metrolines we do have only go so far. This would be particularly useful because I have just started receiving the Wall Street Journal which, unfortunately, is delivered every day. I could use that hour commute time on public transport to read my papers in a timely fashion, rather than stacking them up all week and reading them on Saturday.

Of course, between gas prices and lack of public transport, maybe someone will just come up with pods like the Jetsons.

Enough randomness for now. Time to party at Sardi's! (after driving there of course ;))

Are you knitting yet?

Well I finally found a monthly club I could handle - a yarn of the month club. For only $6.95 per month they will send you 4 different yarns per month - enough to make a 4x4 square. What better way to get to work with different materials and make an awesome patchwork blanket?? And I get to give in to my package desire and get one each month. Hmmmm best move some homework out of the way so that I can knit!

PS - I would also like to mention that I have been knitting steadily since high school (and learning when I was a kid) so I'm not one of those people who all of a sudden is going with the fad!

Bureaucracy Strikes Again!

Well just when you think someone's got it all figured out, this happens. Ahh the absurdity of it all.

In my own life, bureaucracy means you have to get 3 separate signatures in the bookstore to return an unopened, unused item that was purchased last week to receive in-store credit only.

And Spring Break has started for me folks. What am I going to do with it? Well let's see... I have some homework, and some studying, and a few case studies, and some homework... Hmm methinks the professors have little understanding of Spring Break.

More later after I dig out of my desk.

Fluffy Bakes a Bridal Shower

Fluffy has just returned from High Tea in Aptos. Ok if this is all greek to you - Fluffy is yours truly, High Tea was the Bridal Shower for one of the brides-to-be, and Aptos is outside Santa Cruz (about 1.5 hours outside of San Francisco for the non-Californian's). This weekend was the big bridal shower showdown of 2005, and it being my first hosting event and one with hands on experience, I would say it went quite well. Special mention to Ritter Gifts for selling the Victorian Tea Cups (party favors), Bristol Farms for their amazing tea selection, and Foodnetwork.com for their recipes. We feasted on cream cheese and cucumber sandwiches and cantaloupe and prosciutto sandwiches lovingly de-crusted by the bride. I suprised myself with domestic capabilities and included cheesecake cupcakes with cherry filling, brown sugar shortbread, amaretto raisin scones and lemon bars. (Side note - adding the lemon juice to the baking soda-flour mixture produced some 5th grade science results - think of the erupting volcano!) In all a fun trip!

Which brings me back to home and back to school. What a week this promises to be - Wednesday is the much anticipated Sardi's event and then Spring Break baby!

Well cry me a river...

Ok ok ok - I've heard enough about Martha Stewart being released. But this one takes the cake. She's worried about her image? Well why didn't she think about her image and "the long road to redemption" when she decided to do some illegal things?

Now I admit I have been caught watching Martha's shows occasionally, and she does indeed have some great crafty tips, but give me a break. If a less famous celebrity had done what she did, he/she wouldn't have gotten 5 months at Camp Cupcake, nor would he/she get to spend the next 5 on house arrest in a palatial mansion (decorated to the nines I'm sure). They would have found their asses rotting in prison for quite a while. So don't hit me with the sob story lady, I'm playing the world's tiniest violin for you.

Hooray for Re-classification!

No longer am I a lowly Administrative Coordinator, but I have been upped a rank to Project Specialist. Guess those 2.5 years paid off somehow. :) Go me!

Blog-Surfing: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Dear Fellow Bloggers -

I would like to take a few moments to make a few suggestions on do's and don'ts for your blogs.

1. Please don't write in code. uRmeye/lucky* only means "you are my lucky star" in your own little language. To the rest of us it's just damn annoying.

2. Please do make your site easily loadable (ie give the graphics a break dude).

3. Please don't use lots of little pop up windows to say "pleez dont leev me" "eye miss u" etc. And see above about using real english when you do.

4. Please do feel the need to punctuate and spell properly.

5. Please don't put things on there that automatically start downloading (like mp3's etc). Didn't you know it was rude to force downloads on your visitors?

Best wishes,
your friendly little devil blogger

Knitters Abound

Since starting the "blog thang" I've found that there are many neat blogs by knitters. I admit I'm slightly jealous of those who talk technique and have pictures of their ongoing projects. I can't find enough hours in the day to breathe, much less work on my knitting.

Anyhow, I thought this quiz was amusing. For those interested, what kind of knitter are you? I am:



Pink Aluminum.
Retro, straightforward and fun, you love classic things. You are moved by striking colors and tasty morsels, and you like a stitch-n-bitch session in the sun. Just remember, while you're being kitschy cool, don't get too cold. Ice cubes are best kept in your cocktails, baby!
What kind of knitting needles are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

A real gem...

I unearthed this little goody from the depths of my saved emails today. Wes sent it to me a while ago and we both mused that we know people like this. Scary huh?

Patriotism

As I was leaving campus last night, I walked by the flagpole at the center of campus. The DPS officer had just arrived, at dusk, to take the flag down for the night. I started a stream of consciousness about the flag and its symbolism and patriotism.

First of all, I've never been an overly patriotic person. I'm grateful to live in a country where I have freedom of speech and choice, and can basically be anything I want to be. Sure I have my gripes, but on the whole, America is a pretty nice place to live. My patriotism however, is not something that I've thought about very often. I don't believe America is better than the rest of the world and I don't always believe in the stances or actions we take as a country.

When it comes to the flag, last night I was struck by how many rules and regulations we have about one of our main symbols. Did you know that flags cannot be flown at night unless they are lit? Obviously there's the whole flag burning issue. Now mind you, I'm not advocating defacing our nation's flag. (As a side note - sometimes I think representations of the flag go too far - do we really need to wipe our feet on an American flag doormat?) A certain incident that still irks me came to mind however.

I grew up in an affluent suburb of Los Angeles. Within a few days of 9/11 city officials had put up American "flags" around the city. I use flags in quotations because they were not real flags - rather they were banners with a few stripes and a few stars in red, white and blue. These "flags" were hung from plastic poles throughout the city. After the horrific event that the US had endured, I found it a tremendous show of patriotism and sympathy. Though I've never been a patriotic person, it brought tears to my eyes. So I was shocked to find out that the flags were gone a few days later, because members of the community were up in arms that these "flags" weren't lit at night and had demanded their removal. Even now, 3 1/2 years later it still irks me that a simple unifying gesture, that was in no way intended to harm the national symbol, was perceived as such a threat. And they weren't even real flags, but representations of flags!

I guess it just goes to show you that you can't please anyone any of the time.

Maize al Coche

For those of you non-linguaphiles that's "Corn in the Car". Yup, I'm sitting in horrific traffic this afternoon at La Brea and Sunset. I look over and a man in the car next to me calmly pulls out an ear of corn and starts eating row by row, using both hands, steering with his knees. Now I've seen shaving, makeup, eating of various kinds, but THIS I have never seen. I was hoping to be regaled by full flossing, but then the light changed and I could finally turn the corner. Only in LA.

And score one for me. I got lost, parked in a no parking zone for 2.5 hours and managed to avoid getting a ticket. Shhh don't tell the City of Hollywood.

Pass the Ass Please

Have you ever really wanted to grill someone's ass and then serve it up to them on a platter? Just take them outside and give it to them, no holds barred? How about a firing squad?

Common sense and conventional wisdom prevent us from doing these things in our every day life. Etiquette requires that we barely even disagree lest we be seen as troublemakers or mal-adjusted individuals these days. But sometimes, on a bad day, I just sit and dream of what the world would be like if we were really allowed to tell someone to shove it once in a while.