Everyday Goddess

Thank You for Being You.

Spain's defense minister Carme Chacon reviews troops in Madrid, Monday April 14, 2008.

Danica Patrick becomes the first ever female IndyCar winner, taking the Indy Japan 300 race in her 50th start in the series. Sunday April 20, 2008.

Hillary Clinton runs for President of the United States, winning the most recent primary in Pennsylvania by a 10 point margin and vowing to fight on, April 22, 2008.

For this, I would switch to gold jewelry.

Thank you, Hollywood Reporter, for every year having your Diamonds & the Movies issue, so that I can covet shinies I will never own.

Behold, the Arman Sarkisyan 22kt yellow gold and silver chalcedony dragonfly and yellow sapphire ring, available for $8,250:

Dude, it's a yellow sapphire!  Sigh, I love it.

And then I found the Arman Dragonfly Necklace ($3,175) that came up in my Google search when I was looking for the ring:

 

I can't imagine ever spending that kind of money on jewelry, but these pieces are truly stunning, aren't they?

Where do you get your news?

Because television news and commentary and the printed newspapers sure seem like a whole lot of wasted space and resources lately.  So here's a couple links to pull back the curtain on the things they say to us and the things they choose to ignore or downplay.  Seriously, the pathetically obvious bias is really just sad when you realize we've all got a box on our desks that brings us the truth anyway.

The Internet - It's so new!  (Miss you SO MUCH, Jon Stewart!)  And yet, even in America, most of us can still read AND figure out this scary, new-fangled device.

I know you think I'm going writers strike, and I am, but first, this from Media Matters is really a must read about Hillary Clinton:

A "terrible" performance

The dominant political story of the past week and a half has been Hillary Clinton's performance in the October 30 Democratic presidential debate. During and immediately after the debate, the general consensus was certainly not that Clinton had fallen on her face...

Time's Ana Marie Cox also wrote about the debate in real time. At 10:53 p.m., Cox wrote that Clinton had made her "first mistake of the night" -- an hour and 53 minutes into the debate, and about nine minutes before the end.

But as the media feeding frenzy continued, the pundit class convinced themselves that Clinton had turned in the worst debate performance in years. It was "terrible," the New York Post announced more than a week later.

So it starts about the debate and how it was reported, but it also gets into the whole ridiculous "gender card" snoozefest.  Media Matters articles are long, but worth the read.

I just never get tired of documented proof of old media and commentators making shit up as it suits them.

OK, back to the strike.  Last Friday, 4,000 people rallied at Fox.  Jesse Jackson was there.  The LAPD said it was 5,000 people.  And looking for news coverage felt like when you see an accident or a random shooting and look for it on the news.  Because those kinds of things sadly do happen every day, so often they aren't on the news.

Writers striking for the first time since 1988, thousands of people rallying, productions closing down, people losing their jobs by the hundreds in one of L.A.'s most important industries - Well, you can see why news coverage was so difficult to find.  Um, WHAT THE FUCK?

So I've got some shiny video for you today.  Handpicked for truth, justice, and the American way.  And the ninja way, baby.

WGA strike Log Day 5 - The Rally - Totally newsworthy, people. Amazing to watch.

WGA Strike Log Day 3 - The Showrunners - The guy who talks about how he walked off his own show, something he'd been working for for 22 years, really brings home what it means to work in this business.

Voices of Uncertainty - Watch moguls declare the mysterious Internet to be a cash cow.  And a great way to document hypocrisy for all to see.

Ask A Ninja Special Delivery 17 "Writer's Strike" - Just Funny Shit.  And let's face it, that's what the Internet is really all about.  Although, I'm coming around to the other possibilities.

Finally, I find it really hard to believe that anyone actually cares how much money writers currently do or do not make.  Seriously, I full-on don't get it.  Is there an income level over which you are allowed to be shit on just because you should just be happy and shut up?  Writers are skilled, creative workers in a major American industry.  If they don't make more than me, America is broken.

What's still relevant is that the residuals system allows some people  in this industry, the key creative people that create the product, not to get chewed up and spit out.  And that's important, because that allows writers to live to write another day.  It's how they write your favorite show one year, and then again ten years later.

Yeah, I wish I was further along or anywhere near my career.  I sure as shit wish I made more money.  But even if I never break in, and I never have a successful career, the writers are still just right.

It's not rocket science.  It's not even the mysterious Internet.

Hillary for President Bumper Sticker Engaged!

I missed the Hillary for President representative at BlogHer, so Britt Bravo was kind and sent me a bumper sticker!

Yeah, it's a little huge.

This is what a 36-year-old woman looks like.

The day after her birthday.  First thing in the morning.

Click here for more "Rise and Shine" pics.  Jessica from Daughter of Opinion started it back in April.

But if you've ever sent me an email, you know that 2 months later is just how I roll.

Got a new digital camera for my birthday and hooked it up to the (painfully slow) laptop for the first time this morning.  I'm hoping to have more pics on the blog from now on and a little more posting about my day to day type stuff.

Of course, I completely forgot to pull it out at birthday poker, which makes me want to slam my head against the wall, I'm so bummed about it.

Instead, I just posted a picture of myself the moment I sat up in bed. 

Thankfully, the puffy eyes go away after a GINORMOUS cup of coffee.

Feminists and Modest-ists on "Girls Gone Wild"

I noticed that both Jessica Valenti at Feministing and Elizabeth Neville at Modestly Yours addressed "Girls Gone Wild" today.

Jessica's post is called Feminists Gone Wild:

I keep seeing these threads where folks say that young feminists somehow think that Girls Gone Wild is “empowering” or “feminist.” What young feminists—or even young women—say this?! I don’t think that anyone is trying frame drunken performances for male pleasure as feminist. And I think that if you talked to the young women participating in GGW or similar things, most would say that they do it because it’s “fun.” (And it would pay to have conversations with, rather than about, these young women about why they think it’s fun and what that says about what girls are learning about pleasure.) But even if the occasional young woman did use feminist rhetoric to explain “going wild,” it’s not because of third wave feminism—it’s because of the mainstream appropriation of feminist language.

And Elizabeth's post is called What's Really Empowering:

Paradoxically, that choice and empowerment comes by way of the difficult lessons of self-restraint. The group [Youth Empowerment Mission and the Blossom Program for Girls, in New York City] defines its four critical goals in saving these kids lives:

• A sense of competence: being able do to something well
• A sense of usefulness: having something to contribute
• A sense of belonging: being in a community and having relationships with caring adults
• A sense of power: having control over one’s future

Funny how it doesn't say anything about appearing topless in a Joe Francis video.

I thought these posts - from different bloggers on two divergent blogs - were really thoughtful.  It made me feel good because what I read in both of these posts was a true concern and care about the empowerment of young women.

And I'm glad we're paying young women that attention, and thinking and talking about it, even when we disagree.  It means all sorts of young women have somewhere to turn, and that's pretty great.

Ultra-conservatives to Media Matters: Stop Copying Me!

OK, there's no way this is going to become a political blog, I promise - what with all the sex & relationships and all - but, dude, do you read Media Matters?

Here's what they do:

Media Matters for America is a Web-based, not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media.

Launched in May 2004, Media Matters for America put in place, for the first time, the means to systematically monitor a cross section of print, broadcast, cable, radio, and Internet media outlets for conservative misinformation — news or commentary that is not accurate, reliable, or credible and that forwards the conservative agenda — every day, in real time.

Using the website www.mediamatters.org as the principal vehicle for disseminating research and information, Media Matters posts rapid-response items as well as longer research and analytic reports documenting conservative misinformation throughout the media. Additionally, Media Matters works daily to notify activists, journalists, pundits, and the general public about instances of misinformation, providing them with the resources to rebut false claims and to take direct action against offending media institutions.

So basically, when Rush Limbaugh or Bill O'Reilly or Don Imus, or whoever, says something flamingly sexist or racist or, um, BOTH, Media Matters reports it.  You remember reporting, right?  That thing where you share facts using like transcripts and video footage?

Well, since the Don Imus thing, the conservatives are on the war path with Media Matters.  They're on and on calling the website names and saying they've been taken out of context.  Because you know how the other two hours of your show excuse calling college students "nappy-headed ho's."  If only we'd heard that comment in context.

Except that Media Matters does provide quotes in nice big paragraphs.  And, you know, shows the video.

And basically, all they do is report what the conservatives are saying.  Verbatim.

And now, when the conservatives attack them, they are reporting on that.  Verbatim.

And it's frikking HYSTERICAL.  Media Matters has essentially turned all these conservative blowhards into 7-year olds.  They're all pissed off because Media Matters is reporting exactly what they have actually said.  Stop copying me!  Stop copying me!

Damn, that's some seriously funny shit.

Red, Red Wine

Here is what I have learned.  If I have work to do after work - which is the case on multiple days of the week - I cannot have a glass of wine.  Wine consumption at any level - even a real "glass" with all it's mere 4 ounces of goodness - renders me useless for evening work.

And much more likely to decide not to do it.  Hence the lack of a post last night when I have plans tonight and tomorrow night.  Which means now I either have to squeeze blogging in, or my BlogHer post waits to Saturday, otherwise known as The Last Minute.

It was the wine.  And the Tivo.  And Bones.  Blame it on Emily Deschanel.  'Cause it certainly wasn't that awkward diner scene between David Boreanaz and the bounty hunter.

If I have work to do after work, what it really requires is a stop at Starbucks on the way home.  And that I sit down and write immediately.  I mean, I wanted to write.  I had the idea and the energy... and then I had a glass of wine and it all went to hell in a hand basket.  Bad blogger!

Now, on those delicious evenings when I plan to come home and relax and watch television, the glass of red wine is my delicious friend.  Those are good nights, and I enjoy them thoroughly.

But I have to stop blowing my work nights with the grape.

Work nights require the bean.

COUNTRY MUSIC IS BACK ON THE AIR IN LOS ANGELES

I've not tested it out, but go to 105.1 FM and supposedly, they've gone country.

Since KZLA went off the air, I've been listening to dance music on KIIS FM (R&B, Rock, & Hip Hop).  So this should be an interesting morning mix from now on!

WooHOO!!!

UPDATE:  The new station is called KKGO Go Country 105.  I can't google their website, although I heard Sean Parr say it, it just didn't stick in my mind.  More important, I had clearly pushed deep down how much I was missing it.  To hear country music in my car again on my way to work was like someone turned the sunlight back on.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, KKGO!!!

(If someone's got the web address, link it up por favor.)

Thank you for being a friend.

Days later, I find myself thinking about Thanksgiving.  It was so wonderful.  Such tasty food and such good friends.  We were six for dinner, and the laughter was flowing at the same rate as the wine.  I am truly blessed.  So thanks to my wonderful friends who joined me - you give me so much to be thankful for.

The room cleaning went well, too, slowly but surely.  I still have a laundry basket of crap to go through, but the closets are in much better shape.  I think I see a glimmer of catch-up light at the end of my crazy year tunnel.

And then Sunday was knitting with my knitting group, meeting with my editor to work on music for my short, and picking The Boyfriend up at the airport.  Sweet!

Life is good.