this really needs spelled out...AGAIN

dear you,

hi. i heart you, but you really annoy the piss out of me when you miss spell 'definitely'. it's not:

definiately
defainetly
definately
definatly
definitately

or any other variation you quickly type out...incorrectly. nope. it's DEFINITELY. it turns out i'm not the only one who has noticed (and is annoyed by) your habit of misspelling this word. there's an entire web site dedicated to you: http://www.d-e-f-i-n-i-t-e-l-y.com/.

i hope you are taking this well. i'm not trying to be mean but you're not a sixth grader anymore, you know? i think you can handle a ten letter word, but if you can't there's this really cool thing called 'spell check.'

best,
holly

lying liars and the lies they lie

bill clinton has been in iowa this week campaigning with his wife and talking smack. he actually said that he "opposed Iraq from the beginning." oh hell no he didn't!!! oh. hell. NO. i remember seeing him on david letterman right after we invaded iraq and while i can't remember his direct quote it was something like this: he was glad our military invaded iraq because saddam hussein is "a thug." - i know he called him a thug and i know he didn't express any opposition.

you can read more about this lying liar and his lies HERE.

this just goes to show politicians will say anything if it might result in a vote for themselves or the person they are married to, even if they said something completely different on national tv earlier.

so gross.

i always feel like somebody's watching me...

we are living in a society that captures the 'average american' on a surveillance camera at least 100 times a day. our phone calls, visits to web sites, and emails can and most likely are monitored. our purchases are tracked and our information is well known to, well anyone with smarts or a bit of cash, but do we stop this infringement on our rights? oh hell no, we don't even complain about it as much as we complain about rain. so the infringement on our rights continues...

according to slashdot, the houston police department was filmed "testing an unmanned aircraft in a secretive gathering on wednesday". what is the purpose of this unmanned aircraft? well, it could be used to record information and give you a traffic ticket, or it could be used for a bit more...

the company suspected to make this aircraft is called ScanEagle. their unmanned aerial vehicle (uav) is described as an, "economical, long endurance UAV and can be an enabler of network centric warfare." apparently it's "the only UAV in its class with an inertially stabilized camera turret, designed to track an object of interest for extended periods of time, even when the object is moving and the aircraft nose is seldom pointed at the object." the description continues to boast about how the uav has infrared camera capabilities, how it doesn't need a runway, and how far and well it can see its 'target'.

what the hell does the houston police department need this for?

in related surveillance news, washington post ran an interesting piece today on federal officials "routinely asking courts to order cellphone companies to furnish real-time tracking data". in some cases such requests were granted without the government having to provide probable cause.

what the hell happened to probable cause?

so yeah, know your rights because you have 3 of them, and if you don't know where you are at that's alright...there's a lot of companies and government agencies that do.

so call me weird, but...

i'm the opposite of a furry and/or a plushie. my friends and i were researching furries over the weekend and with our shocking education on furries still fresh on my mind i had an epiphany while looking at one of my favorite photos ever:

i don't know why i love a photo of a teddy bear being stabbed with a big ass knife so much...i just do. it brings me solace and makes me smile each time i look at it. does this make me sick? does this make me anti-furry? does this make me a stuffed-animal hater? hmmm...

i was never into stuffed animals when i was young. i thought i was into barbie but then i realized i just had a big interest in fashion and interior design - who cares about a doll with INSANE measurements? i just wanted the bitches clothes and furniture. i never really got into toys that consisted of fake animals or fake people. i can remember worrying about the mental stability of my playmates who had over ten stuffed animals. it just didn't seem healthy to me.

perhaps i've felt for a long time that the illusion of a soft fake animal providing comfort needed to be squashed - it really is bollocks.

perhaps the valentine's day motif of this stabbed teddy bear has something to do with it -what an ultra lame holiday.

perhaps i am prejudice against plushies rather than furries (because there is a big difference, i've recently learned). i don't know, it's such a strange world that i can't find my fascination with a photo of a stabbed teddy bear that strange when there are people who want to (and do) have sex with stuffed animals.

no, i'm not kidding. click the links above and find out for yourself. i have to warn you though, once you find out about furries and plushies there is no turning back. you can't just erase it from your mind. my friends and i have tried, and we have FAILED.

i second this:

"I want to more closely associate humans with the other animals, because if we took Biology 101 we know we are all animals. It’s just that we decide we’re gods, they’re trash. That’s just invalid, wrong from every point of perspective: scientific, moral and everything else. I want people to relate to the other animals."

read more HERE

how to be a bigger bitch:

encyclopedia dramatica is helping me discover all of these sub-cultures i never knew about, but now know about and know how to insult properly!!! i think you should check out this web site because it will help you understand this weird world better and throw out better insults.

your mama.

i'm thankful

since thanksgiving is tomorrow i'd like to share what i am thankful for and encourage you to take a moment and give thanks as well. here goes:

• the muppets - they bring me such joy, these cranky bastards especially:
  
• creative expression - thousands of people have touched me and brought joy and understanding to my life. i'm so thankful for creative types who are brave enough to take what is inside of them and share it with the world. this whack world might piss on them, but i will always be their biggest fan.
• my family - no matter what i do or how bad i mess up, they love me unconditionally. this means the world to me.
• everyday acts of compassion and revolution - there are a lot of amazing people who impress me with their compassion, their fight, their spirit. since i don't have the BIG THINGS i want in societal terms, i'm thankful for the small things because they give me a reason for optimism.
• my chosen family - i am blessed with amazing friends who have become a part of my tribe, my chosen family, and i know that there is nothing that time and distance can ever do to break our bond. this is special, and i am so thankful that they are in my life.
• potatoes - i love potatoes so much; fried, french, mashed, raw, on top of shepherd's pie. potatoes are my comfort food, and i look forward to eating a lot of them over the next few days.
• health - i've had some crazy health problems in the past and i'm an aries so i can't stand being sick, laid up, or unable to rush around and act independently. i am so grateful that i am in good health. when you miss death by six months (ala cancer) or you can't walk (ala broken bone), you start to view things differently. i'm thankful i am cancer-free. i'm thankful that i can take long walks everyday. i'm thankful that i am here because there's a lot more i want to say.
• lady - i'm so glad this adorable dog came into my life almost a year ago. she is my best girl and my stalker, she truly is. i heart her.
• my voice - i'm thankful that i am brave enough to trust my voice, use my voice, and share my voice. i'm thankful that i have found a vocation that allows me to use my voice in a meaningful way, and that i now have the nerve to use my voice more than ever.
• edith - edith is a chimpanzee who changed my life. she was born in the '60s at the saint louis zoo. like many chimpanzees born in captivity, she was shipped off by the zoo when she was no longer a cute baby who brought in visitors ($$$). she was taken from her family at three, shuffled around to numerous facilities, and then ended up in a roadside zoo where PETA found her in an empty, disgusting concrete pit - hairless and living off of rotten produce and dog food. i've wanted to help non-human primates my entire life, and after i learned about edith's plight i decided to act on this desire.
• LOST - psychological disclosure is fantastic! i'm addicted to this program!!!
• ms. pac-man - this might seem trite to some of you, but not to me!!! ms. pac-man chills my mind out, puts me in the zone, and brings me great joy.
• the moon - my last home had these gorgeous bay windows and because i was on the top floor i didn't need to cover the windows. i started looking at the moon every night (i couldn't help but notice it) and i've continued doing this. no matter what happens during the day, the moon is up there and glorious every night.

there's more, but that's enough. you need to think of what you are thankful for yourself, and we both need to expand on this and give thanks each day. it's good for our hearts.

is that a used condom in your hair?

my bff from back in the day sent me a story today that is just strange. i can't help but share:

according to afp USED CONDOMS are recycled, turned into hair bands, and sold in bags of ten for three cents at various markets and beauty salons in southern china. the state media said today that these recycled condom hair bands threaten to spread "sexually-transmittable diseases they were originally meant to prevent."

government officials are saying the recycled bands are very popular because they are cheaper than other hair bands, and the afp article notes that recycling condoms is illegal and this is just another blow to china's image of being a country that manufactures unsafe products.

i'm curious as to whether or not the people in southern china KNOW they are putting recycled condoms in their hair. surely not...

"privacy no longer can mean anonymity"

i'm curious if there is anyone in this country that actually believes conversations via landline, cell phone, or computer are actually private. if there is someone who believes this i really want to ask them, "what in the hell are you smoking?"
so congress is debating privacy right now, and it's interesting in that big brother, 'two minutes hate' kind of way. you can read more in an associated press article on cnn's site. while you're there check out the part about AT and T diverting and copying every e-mail, internet site, and call made on the company's lines directly into a government supercomputer. wow, this company isn't joking when oasis sings, "all around the world, we're going to spread the word" in its commercials.

there a very telling quote in the associated press article from a senior staff lawyer with the electronic frontier foundation (a group that defends privacy and online free speech - the same group at the heart of the lawsuit that has prompted the discussion on privacy in congress): "The government has tremendous power: the police power, the ability to arrest, to detain, to take away rights. Tying together that someone has spoken out on an issue with their identity is a far more dangerous thing if it is the government that is trying to tie it together."

only terrorists eat falafel. duh!

our government actually took the time to go through customer data collected by san fran-area grocers in hopes of finding iranian terrorists via middle eastern food sales. yup, that's right - only terrorists eat falafel:

it's rather hard to believe, right? i found it hard to believe. after a friend sent me a blog link about this i had to check the source because it's so far out (source: jeff stein, congressional quarterly -we can believe this).

this data mining venture is the brain child, i mean brain fart, of two top fbi counterterrorism officials. the 'falafel sales means terrorists in san fran' project didn't last very long because the head of the fbi's criminal investigation division, michael mason (soon to be head of security for verizon), "argued that putting somebody on a terrorist list for what they ate was ridiculous — and possibly illegal."

possibly illegal?

top counterterrorism officials truly believed that they could justify declaring war on iran by scaring the 'stupid american people' into thinking that we have iranian terrorists in this country, and we know this because falafel sales are WAY UP.

think about this next time you go to the grocery store and pay with plastic or use your grocery store's 'reward card' - it's all data that is mined and your innocent purchase of falafel, hummus, saffron, or basmati rice might result in your name being added to a terrorist list and the u.s. government having 'proof' of iranian terrorists in this country.

it's so hard to believe, but we can believe this.

woah...

i came across a news story earlier about a 2-year-old girl from india who underwent surgery today. she was born with 8 limbs:

isn't she AMAZING? the first thing i thought of was a spider (and spiders, to me, are amazing beings). the second thing i thought of was lakshmi. it turns out that people in the village where she is from thought of lakshmi as well. according to news reports the young girl is revered as a reincarnation of the hindu goddess.

sadly, her parents have had to protect her from people who have tried to buy her so they can exploit her in a circus. it seems to me that when someone is different people handle it in three different ways - they either want to exploit them, they want to revere them, or they want to 'fix' them and make them normal.

i'm not judging the parents for opting for surgery, but it does make me sad that our world is always searching for 'normal' instead of revering 'different.' different is often AMAZING.

bitch-a-rama

every monday i don't even know where to start the bitchin,' so here's a bitch-a-rama:

• first we had susan smith, a woman from south carolina who told the cops that an african-american man killed her children before she was charged for murder, and now we have another woman from south carolina who told the cops that a 'knife wielding carjacker' killed her son before she was charged with his murder. i looked around and i couldn't find a description of the 'knife wielding carjacker' but because she's from south carolina (where the slave quarters are still standing) i feel pretty confident she didn't say the man was white. racist child killers...south carolina must be so proud!!!
  
• wow, the GOP candidates really know how to win friends and influence people. fred thompson is hanging out with murderers, and giuliani still likes to hang out with people that invade taxes and make money off of taser's 'non-lethal' (but 100 dead and counting) weapons. it makes me wonder, who is mitt hanging out with these days? o.j.?
  
• shia labeouf, one of the 'stars' of the "transformers" movie was recently arrested for acting like a big 'ol drunk at a walgreens in chicago. i wonder if he finally realized how bad "transformers" SUCKS and went on a bender.
  
• a 'bull-rider' from missouri completed his 8-second ride and then died after a bull 'accidentally' stepped on him. well that's the story according to the incoming president of the united rodeo association president. he calls it, "a tragic accident." no one asked the bull, but i don't think the bull would have called it an 'accident.'
  
• writer's...keep on striking!!!
  
• late night talk show hosts...wow, you just made it very obvious to all of us that you aren't the real 'funny person' on your show.

two days...six years...

i have this method for dealing with the hard stuff in life. i allow myself two days to wallow, cry as much as i feel like crying, eat as much junk food as i deem necessary, and be absolutely obsessed and miserable over the situation. then, on the third day, i move past it.

this method works well for most of the hard stuff - break ups, losing a job, messing up in life, having a friendship go sour, and so forth. this method doesn't work, however, when it comes to someone close to you dying.

today, november 3rd, is the day my older sister was born. six years ago she was killed in a car accident. she died in august and i honestly don't remember the six months of my life after her death. i only remember being in complete darkness that fall, that winter... i knew she wouldn't want me to be so unhappy for so long, but i couldn't move past her death. i didn't know how to deal with all of the loose ends, the thought of never seeing her again, and the absence of someone who had been a part of my life for so long.

what finally helped me move out of that darkness was thinking about what my sister wished for me in life and what she would have wanted me to do. her presence in my life changed who i am as a person and when she left my life she changed who i am as well. i'm out of that darkness now, but i haven't moved past her death. i don't think i ever will. there are things in life that tears, junk food, and two days of wallowing and obsession can't cure.

one of the biggest lessons i learned from losing her is that NOW is always the best time to say it, to do it, to feel it, to live it…NOW is the time, because this moment is the only moment you are guaranteed.

think about it.

sit together, make friends

years ago i used to work for a couple who came to the u.s. from china and owned a restaurant, and a few years after that i worked for a family that came here from south korea and owned a hibachi and sushi bar (yeah, we joked a lot about how everyone assumed the hibachi chefs were japanese). i adored working for all of these people and what i noticed while working in their respective restaurants is how they asked their customers to "sit together, make friends."

i heard "sit together, make friends" often because white people would come into the restaurant and expect to have a private table or booth when all we had were large tables that required people to dine with complete strangers. you could see the discomfort on people's faces when they were told this. however, i would regularly see these same people make friends with people at their table. they would end up buying each other drinks, sharing stories about their children, getting drunk off saki together, exchanging cards and numbers, and telling each other jokes.

recently i went to a restaurant owned by a family from china and noticed that all of the diners had opted for the booths that lined the restaurant rather than the large, open tables in the center. it was rather pathetic looking, really. i found myself wishing that the booths didn't exist so people would be forced to "sit together, make friends."

even though we all crave and need personal connections, there are so many things about american society and culture that prevent us from making new, personal connections with people. we need a push in this respect.

my mom recently said to me, "i don't get how you can move to a new city and meet so many people so quickly." i told her it's because i'm her daughter (my mom is incredibly friendly and chatty), but after thinking about it i also think i'm able to meet new people because i don't think that sitting in a private booth is the best option.

his machinations and his palindromes

the washington post has an interesting article out today about donald rumsfeld's 'snowflakes.' the memos that he penned after meetings (or after the media wrote something that he didn't care for) were often referred to as 'snowflakes.' how quaint. here are a few gems:

• after retired generals came out against rumsfeld this snowflake fell from the sky; "Talk about Somalia, the Phillippines, etc. Make the American people realize they are surrounded in the world by violent extremists..."
  
  
• the post couldn't help but notice rumsfeld's penchant for the term 'bumper sticker.' apparently rumsfeld thinks that ideas, in order to strike a cord and be sold to the stupid americans, must work on a bumper sticker. in may 2004 a rumsfeld snowflake advised his aides "to test what the results could be" if the administration 'renamed' the 'war on terrorism. yeah, those 'war on terrorism' bumper stickers didn't sell really well (and how ironic that bumper stickers require OIL to be produced and transported into stores).
  
  
• muslims, rumsfeld wrote, are detached "from the reality of the work, effort and investment that leads to wealth for the rest of the world. Too often Muslims are against physical labor, so they bring in Koreans and Pakistanis while their young people remain unemployed..."

rumsfeld wouldn't give the post a comment about his 'snowflakes.' i don't find this suprising at all. i don't think a comment is even necessary when his broad generalizations (i.e. racism - what else do you call it when someone makes a negative generalization about an entire group of people?), his position, his ego, his hypocrisy, and his spin already tell us so much about him.