Odds and Ends

Well, crap. I got home late from the Shedd tonite, and am so tired I just want to sleep. But a few notes before that....

It's Veterinary Technician Appreciation Week. So if you go to the vet, hug a tech. Or bring them food. They LOVE that.

Kona, I will do the picture meme, I promise. But not till Friday, when I have time to do it justice. KarateMonkey probably can't figure out how to post pics, so I doubt he'll fill in for me...

I WAS going to post an awesome macaroni and cheese recipe, but Minstrel Boy beat me to it. Jerk.

Ass update: still hurts. Improvised donut at work didn't help. New solution is to avoid sitting down.

That is all. Carry on.

Jail for Judges

So, I'm driving into work this moring and I hear this.

South Dakotans will vote next month on a proposed state constitutional amendment
that would strip judges, jurors, and other state officials, of their immunity
from lawsuits for their official actions.

What the hell is wrong with South Dakota? Here's the way this works. If you have a problem with a judicial decision in South Dakota, once all appeals are done you can request a special grand jury made up of 13 citizens determined by lottery. They'll review the case "All allegations in the complaint shall be liberally construed in favor of the complainant" and determine whether the judge(s) in the case can be sued or even go ahead and indict them. The proponents argue that it's needed to prevent judicial corruption, and ensure that judges follow the law. Opponents point out that you can convince 7 out of 13 random citizens of pretty crazy shit. I can only begin to imagine what lengths crazy people will with too much money will take this. Judges aren't the only ones in trouble under the law. Anybody protected by judicial immunity can be sued for acts done in an official capacity. School board member, county commissioners, jurors, prosecutors, defense attorneies could all get in on the action too. Bill Stegmeier, the guy behind the move is apparently a 9/11 conspiracy nut and an income tax resister. So we know he already has some interesting ideas about how this is going to be applied. And the scary part is that accoring to one early poll the amendment was narrowly winning.

Further links:
No on E
JAIL4Judges

Updated with a couple more links:
http://no-e-sd.blogspot.com/
If this law passes the Slave Freedom/ Mark of The Beast Class Action Law Suit will no longer be held up by evil child molesting judges.

Depression both sucks and blows

[God I love that sucks and blows thing.... Somebody mentioned it in a Shakespeare's Sister thread, and it's just stuck with me.]

I've mentioned it before, but it's recently relevant -- I have depression. Not the "have the blues sometimes when my boyfriend won't call me back" type, but the "haven't gotten out of bed for 3 days except to pee and don't really want to see another human being again" type. Fortunately it's medication controlled, mostly.

Unfortunately, sometimes I have break through blues. Days when just getting out of my pajamas is an accomplishment. Days that, if it weren't for the people (and animals) who love me, I don't think I would bother. KarateMonkey and I call them "sad days".

Lately there have been several sad days in a row. It makes it hard to blog, because the little voice in my head, with no basis in rationality, says "Who the fuck would want to read what you would write anyway?" And while I know it's the depression talking, I still listen. It's hard not to.

So posting has been light. I'm feeling better. Lots of hugs here at home, and that helps. So, my point is twofold:

1) If someone you love is depressive, hug them lots. It means the world to them, even if they can't say it.

2) If I post that it's a sad day, please think happy thoughts for me. Sometimes I think I hear them.

Halloween

I gotta admit, I enjoy halloween. I was never hugely into the candy or anything, but I like coming up with fun costumes, or at least ideas. Last year I thought about going as Hurricane Katrina, and gluing a bunch of farm animals and trees and stuff to an outfit, but decided that was in bad taste. So at the last minute I was looking for costumes, and boy did that suck.

See, the problem is that most commercial halloween costumes are slutty. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy flirting and showing off my bod, and my favorite costume as a single girl was a kissing booth. But going to a party hosted by a coworker, outdoors in October, I don't feel like having my ass hang out. For example:


The infamous Dirty Martini. Please note that the model is NOT plus size, though it is a plus size costume. So I have no way of knowing what it will actually look like on me. Yeah, I've got the cleavage to pull it off, but the skirt is a bit much -- or not. Urgh.


This is pretty much what I went through trying to find a costume this year. I finally found one that has some cleavage, but actually goes full length, so my ass won't freeze. It also drapes nicely, to hopefully hide what I want hidden.



I tried to get KarateMonkey to go as Plug and Socket with me, but he refused. He says he goes as a "responsible adult" every Halloween, and that's as good as it's going to get.