Butterflies are free

These suckers were everywhere in the Cattail Creek Community. That mountain was just lousy with butterflies.

Mountains are pretty!

This is a view from one of the overlooks on the Blue Ridge parkway (the area near Mt. Mitchell, I think). I'm sure you're all (like I have so many readers) wondering, "Where all the political posts at?" Well, since the big political story of the moment involves accusations of interest in sex in a public bathroom, and I have an unfortunate connection to Mayor Robo-potty, I'm staying away from all things political at the moment.

You see the most interesting buildings in Appalachia

Yes, for those of you who were wondering, those rusty signs are advertising Royal Crown Cola.

New Orleans, 2 A.K.

People Get Ready features the best anniversary post I've read. Please read the whole thing. This is just a sample:
"The disaster which happened two years ago was just the leading edge of disasters to come if we don’t respond as a nation like New Orleanians are trying to respond every day to the challenge of the century — the challenge of the millenium — to rebuild our public institutions as ethical, efficient, transparent, democratic, and capable of responding to the crisis of global climate change — as well as the many other multiple crises we confront. "

Cabin Cat

The cabin where I spent my vacation was rented for the whole month of August by my mom and two of her friends. One of those friends brought her cats with her. It was so nice to have kitties around to ease my withdrawal from Fang and Pumpkin. This is a picture of the one I called Lil Bit. She was recently feral and had recently had kittens.

There's no place like . . . Burnsville?

This is one of several murals throughout historic downtown Burnsville, NC, where the folks at First Presbyterian Church certainly made us feel at home.

Wish I were here

I spent the first week of August at a cabin in the Cattail Creek Communtiy outside Burnsville, NC. The above is a picture I took on a walk up North Star Rd. God, it was so much cooler up there.

Arrr!

My pirate name is:

Captain Jenny Bonney

Even though there's no legal rank on a pirate ship, everyone recognizes you're the one in charge. You can be a little bit unpredictable, but a pirate's life is far from full of certainties, so that fits in pretty well. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

HT TPD.
Sorry about the abundance of quiz posts. Very distracted right now, between recent woot off, shirt.woot, semester winding down, and impending vacay.

Which Finger Are You?

I am this one:

You Are a Ring Finger

You are romantic, expressive, and hopeful. You see the best in everything. You are very artistic, and you see the world as your canvas. You are also drawn to the written word. Inventive and unique, you are often away in your own inner world. You get along well with: The Pinky Stay away from: The Index Finger

What Finger Are You?

HT: Teh Portly Dyke, who is a pinky, which must be why I lurve her so much!

Smiley Intervention Video

OMG, thanks to PD for the heads-up during the VP at Shakes.

Tonight, tonight . . .

See West Side Story tonight . . .
They're showing it at 7:00 at the Ritz!
Tonight, tonight
See Natalie Wood lip sync,
Hear Marni Nixon sing, just 5 bucks
Tonight!


Talk about suspension of disbelief! A guy walks around the back alleys of Spanish Harlem calling out "Maria," and ONE girl comes to the fire escape!? Yeah right!

Update: So I didn't end up going. Broomelli Boys was busy, which would have made me late anyway. Oh well. I have it on DVD. Besides, I came home for the wootoff and So You Think You Can Dance. Just wish Lauren had been sent home instead of Anya. Not looking forward to the Danny/Jaimie partnership.

Quote of the Day

“Now when it comes time for them to get married, the marriage pulls apart so easily,” he said, trying to unite the grimy strips. “Why? Because they gave the stickiness away.”

From the New York Times article on abstinence education.

Ew. Does he use this schtick with high school kids?! I can just hear the snickering and giggles now.

The fact that he's saying this while illustrating his point with two pieces of tape does not keep the vomit down. If the "stickiness" of your marriage depends on abstinence, you've got pretty weak "stickiness." Ew again. I need a shower.

"The Trojan Women" Concept

Each semester, my students create a production project for their final. They are to present a design/concept/budget/monologue for a play they have read. This semester, in order to better illustrate what I am looking for, I have decided to prepare a presentation of my own. I chose Euripides' "The Trojan Women" as the play. I decided to assume the role of director and present the director's concept to them. "The Trojan Women" is about more than the sacking of an ancient city. At its core, it presents the audience with the idea that war is hell, especially for the "survivors." While I realize that the genocide in Darfur is not a factual parallel with the defeat of Troy by the Greeks, I felt that the emotional truth was there. I wanted to make the play relevant, demonstrating the timeless nature of its themes. I am working on a power point presentation showing visual elements, casting ideas, and musical inspiration. The following is a slide show I found on You Tube produced by the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee:

The Democrat Fisherman

A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost. She lowered her altitude and spotted a man in a boat below. She shouted to him, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."

The man consulted his portable GPS and replied, "You're in a hot air balloon, approximately 30 feet above a ground elevation of 2346 feet above sea level. You are at 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude."

She rolled her eyes and said, "You must be a Democrat ."

"I am," replied the man. "How did you know?"

"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to do with your information, and I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help to me."

The man smiled and responded, "You must be a Republican."

"I am," replied the balloonist. "How did you know?"

"Well," said the man, "you don't know where you are or where you are going. You've risen to where you are, due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise that you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. You're in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but, somehow, now it's my fault."

Thanks to Billie for sending me this joke.

I'm off to see the Wizard!

Golden Isles Arts And Humanities (in conjunction with Comcast and Turner Classic Movies) is showing The Wizard of Oz at the Ritz Theatre in Brunswick tonight at 7:00. Tickets are only $5 (you can't see a movie at the multiplex for that), and all proceeds benefit GIAHA. Maybe I'll see you there!

My Two Passions Collide in one Glorious Video!

Ok, it's not a perfect video. Some of the images at the end are not what I would have chosen, but the very idea of adapting Hamlet's advice to the players into suggestions for Democratic presidential candidates is so genius that I urge you to watch this:


All the world's a stage, and I'm glad The Hermit is one of the players.

For those of you keeping score in the Angst-Loss Chalenge, I took the following action for this post: I followed the link above to The Hermit's blog and gave this video it's first digg, submitting it as a story in the process. I'm still learning all the wonderful things one can do with the internets, so I hope I did it right. I encourage everyone to do likewise. You may even help finance The Hermit, if you're so inclined.

I completely forgot my Blogiversary!

My first post was June 8, 2006. Ah, those heady days when I truly believed we might get rid of Jack Kingston. Maybe next time.

Glynn Democrats Newsletter

E-MAIL NEWSLETTER
July 2007

Time for the monthly reminder of meetings:

The regular monthly meeting of the Glynn County Democratic Party will be held on Monday, July 16 at 7:00 PM at St. William’s Catholic Church, 2300 Frederica Road on St. Simons Island.

Loyal, Committed Democrats continue to meet and work on the issues which are important to us. At the last meeting, local objectives and principals were discussed as well as receiving the overview of the African American Preservation Society’s quest to save the Selden Park gym. Our Chair continues to be impassionate about mental health issues. Vice-Chair, Tom
Mullen apprised the group about Federal Employee Free Choice Act before Congress now.

Also, on Saturday morning, July 21, at 9:00 AM the Glynn County Democrats will meet for BREAKFAST. The Breakfast will be at Ryan’s Steakhouse on Scranton Road in Brunswick. The Speaker will be Woody Woodside of the local Chamber of Commerce.

In other good news, more progressive individuals are writing letters to the editor of the Brunswick News. Very interesting reading lately. Keep thinking those thoughts and putting them on paper…or whatever you write them on.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee met its million dollar challenge to continue to work toward more of a majority in Congress next election. (dccc@dccc.org)

The Democratic National Committee will be hosting the 2007 Democratic Reunions on July 28 with an emphasis on a cleaner environment. Something we can all endorse. If you want to host a party see the DNC site or email them at democraticparty@democrats.org and sign on.

The Georgia Presidential Primary has been moved up to February 5. Six months away.

Take care.
Audrey Stewart, E-Newsletter



(This newsletter is authorized by the Glynn County Democratic Party, P.O. Box 776, Brunswick, Georgia. Phone 912-634-1774. Jim Norris, Chair; Tom Mullen, Vice, Chair; Joan Anderson Ross, Secretary. Not authorized by any candidate or campaign committee.)


Note from Kelly: I teach Monday nights, so I've had to miss these meetings this summer. I encourage others to attend, though. I have tended to skip the Brunswick News, but I'm going to have to start reading it, obviously. My goal today is to read the paper tonight and send them an email to the editor before I go to bed. I'll probably do this while Cat Deeley blathers on in between the dancing on SYTYCD.

Update: read the paper, but wasn't really inspired to write a letter. I really want letters I write to be in response to something I read in their paper (I also might be inspired by a lack of coverage). If I'm not inspired by Saturday, I'm writing a letter anyway!

Hairspray Star in NYTimes

Check out this article in the Times about Nikki Blonsky, the 18-year-old novice from Great Neck who landed the role of Tracy Turnblad in the movie musical based on the Broadway musical based on the John Waters movie Hairspray.
“I am not going to let myself be typecast,” she said. “I am going to show the world that I am not just going to play the plus-size girl, that a plus-size girl can be a love interest. Anybody can play any role if they have the chops and if they work hard enough at it.”
I sure hope it works out for her!

Take the 30-Day Angst-Loss Challenge

We of the blogosphere have been issued a challenge: no more complaining without action. Teh Portly Dyke has sworn to take some form of action every time she posts or comments on an issue. For instance, sign a petition, write a letter to the editor or your representative, donate to a cause or campaign. She has a point. We spend so much energy posting about things, and not enough actually doing something about it (at least I do). So join me in accepting her challenge. Sign up over at her blog.