sshg_giftfest is open for signups. Go on, you know you want to...

In less than 150 words, this is hands down the best statement of why/how both standing for the national anthem and kneeling for it are not just appropriate and valid choices, but also respectful, important, necessary, and yes, patriotic. So far as I can find, this was written by Andrew Freborg, a Libertarian from Oregon. I don't know when it was originally posted (last fall, perhaps?), but I took it from this post. I'm grateful that someone has put into words so much of what I've felt about this over the past few months.




I stand to honor the promise the flag represents.
You kneel because that promise has been broken.

I stand to affirm my belief that all are created equal, and to fight alongside you for that promise.
You kneel because too few stand with you.

I stand because we can be better.
You kneel to remind us to be better.

I stand to honor all that have fought and died so that we may be free.
You kneel because not all of us are.

I stand because I can.
You kneel for those who can't.

I stand to defend your right to kneel.
You kneel to defend my right to stand.

I stand because I love this country.
You kneel because you love it too.

Buttbart.com - A spoofy version of Breitbart, featuring Domald Tromp, the star of a series of books by mysterious author Chuck Tingle (other Tingle titles include Space Raptor Butt Invasion and My Ass Is Haunted By The Gay Unicorn Colonel). I wish the site had more content, but just the article titles alone are a hoot.

How Would Dracula Deal With Isis? - I think the title says it all, here.

Evolutionary biology meets Adam and Eve in the archives - Artist Jenifer Wightman has designed and hand-printed a leaf to match the Gutenberg Bible, correcting some of its misinformation ;) I love the idea, her approach to it, and the way so many archives are open to her proposal.

Two articles (here) and (here) in which a YouTube engineer explains how YouTube's goal of maximizing engagement unintentionally promotes videos that discredit the media and favor conspiracy theories, divisive content, and general nuttiness.

Once you've read those you'll be depressed and discouraged, so here's a very funny one to end with:
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Deficiency, in which The Medical Journal of Australia explains The Hobbit in terms of Vitamin D deficiencies XD Hugely funny, especially for the completely poker-faced approach it takes.

So there you go: the fruits of falling down teh interwebz rabbit hole today.

Oh, and it's still snowing here. ::curses quietly but viciously::

Prompt claiming is open over at sshg-promptfest! Many luscious, fully ripe, ready-to-pick art/fic/craft ideas await your eager hands :)

We saw A Wrinkle in Time today. Visually it was gorgeous, and it definitely had the bones and the heart of the original book. I loved the girl who played Meg, the family dynamics were well done (her missing her father, acting out at school because of cruel comments, etc.), and the positive message for young girls was clear and uplifting (if a wee bit heavy-handed for adult viewers). I also liked the way they worked in the larger message about the many different ways that The Black Thing can affect people (fear, anger, cruelty, etc.), even to the point of showing that the girl who bullies Meg is dealing with her own issues, and a tentative move towards friendship.

On the other hand, they changed a few things for no discernible reason (e.g. instead of the winged horse we get a weird leaf-creature, and Camazotz is a weird hallucinatory kind of place, less cold war and more LSD). The storyline/script was a bit of a mess: erratically paced, oversimplified (for example, Meg's math and physics gifts are underplayed), and too many things glossed over or info-dumped instead of organically revealed. I wanted to like it much more than I did; on balance I have to say that it was just OK. I think perhaps it's aimed at viewers around age ten, vs tweens.

On the letters front, I got a real letter in the mail -- you know, the kind with multiple pages and coherent thoughts and everything! As a bonus, it was sealed as shown below :) Now I love getting letters, and it happens so seldom these days that I was enormously pleased/excited to receive it. I will be writing back. One is never too old for a pen pal, is one?

(click to embiggen)

I made my first rolled cake this weekend - excitement!! A bourbon-banana cake with cream cheese/buttercream frosting. So much fun, and it actually came out looking like it was supposed to. I got the recipe from Deb Perelman's new Smitten Kitchen cookbook; she is my go-to recipe source, always so easy and tasty, and this did not disappoint. Best thing is the trick about not needing to separate the eggs, just beat the heck out of them for ten minutes. Worked like a champ, all soft and springy. The frosting also you beat for quite a while, so it too was much less rich than I expected. I wanted to do a bittersweet chocolate glaze but Mr Psmith is a banana purist and lodged a protest :)

Next time: chocolate with coffee filling. Because chocolate.

( Click for noms )

New Year's Day it was -15 here. Brrrrrr.

Just finished re-reading Bridget Jones Diary and had to laugh at this quote, which expresses my current feelings exactly:

"It seems wrong and unfair that Christmas, with its stressful and unmanageable financial and emotional challenges, should first be forced upon one wholly against one's will, then rudely snatched away just when one is starting to get into it. Was really beginning to enjoy the feeling that normal service was suspended and it was OK to lie in bed as long as you want, put anything you fancy into your mouth, and drink alcohol whenever it should chance to pass your way, even in the mornings. Now suddenly we are all supposed to snap into self-discipline like lean teenage greyhounds."

New Year's Eve we binge-watched Season 1 of Game of Thrones. Remarkably, it is just as good as everyone said it was. I live in hopes that Seasons 2 will see Sansa murder Joffrey (who is a Draco Malfoy clone; even his parents are strikingly similar to Lucius and Narcissa) and that Aria Stark continues to kick butt, but Tyrion's whore provided my favorite exchange of the series so far:

Tyrion: Where did you find one so pretty at this hour?
Bronn: I took her.
Tyrion: Took her? From whom?
Bronn: From, uh...Ser...what’s his name? I don’t know. Ginger cunt, three tents down.
Tyrion: And he didn’t have anything to say about it?
Bronn: He said something.

*chortle*

Which seems an oddly logical segue to the fact that I just finished reading Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House , because it's actually quite a lot like Game of Thrones only with more suits and fewer swords. Also less incest. Hm, not completely sure about that, actually. It has a cast of thousands, lots of backstabbing, and even a Wolff lol!!

sshg_giftfest has begun posting! And the opening double-header is awesome. Go ye and marvel :)

Also, here is a picture of a new trick our cat learned. Are we nervous? Um, yeah...

(click for larger view)

snapecase is still open for signups! Go on, you know you want to :)




snapecase: Celebrating Severus Snape throughout his ages!

snapecase will be a thing again! This makes me so happy :)


snapecase: Celebrating Severus Snape throughout his ages!