IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God* entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

*This is the only instance of the word "God" in either the Declaration or the Constitution. "Nature's God". Kinda makes you think ;-).

Yeah, I know, the Founders weren't pagans and that wasn't a hidden shout-out to the Green Man. But I still like the term.

( More notes below the cut... )

Cross-posting to morgan_gw and wiiconvert -- apologies on the political stuff on the gaming journal.

Found on Watercooler Games, USA Today posted the results on an online poll:

What parents say they would find most offensive in a video game:
37% a man and a woman having sex
27% two men kissing
26% a graphically severed human head
10% multiple use of the F word

I've always said our "culture" was messed up when it came to the relative "evils" of sex and violence . Or, to pick up a quote from "Women of the House" (which I know is older because I remember hearing it in the 80s):

Under the current ratings system, it's more socially acceptable to cut off a woman's breast than to kiss it!

Damn, there's a lot of good quotes on that page :-).

( What the heck... )

Oh, and since I'm on a roll here, California just got a law that "protects domestic violence survivors from the threat of incarceration when they refuse to testify against their abuser in court. The law mirrors an existing statute for sexual assault victims." Today, we get a law saying "don't lock up the victim." Oy.

Despite all the other crafty posts, I have been working on more Project Linus blankets on and off -- I'm just behind on posting about them :-). Standard note: See my original Project Linus post for details. This one was started a looooong time ago (like, well before I met Roland).

( Blanket #6 details and photos under the cut )

I actually made this one last year, because I got tired of my back sweating against the nylon back of the wheelchair and wanted something nicer looking than a towel. The piece also provides a bit of cover for my black purse when it's hanging on the back of the chair in the sun :-).

( Info and pics after the cut... )

Seen on selenesue's LJ, figure what the heck,let's see if I can come up with three:

The meme: List three things that you've done that you think no one else on your friend list has ever done.

In the order I thought of them:

1) Been ballast in a full-sized trebuchet. Great Western War I, Caid, Feb. 1997, video on-line (I'm the one giving the roller-coaster scream on the second firing *g*).

2) Marched in a parade and/or sang with a choir at Disneyland. Both were during high school, when I was with the tall flags unit of the band or in the choir, respectively. The first was America On Parade in Feb. 1976, on the day they were shooting a TV special (the bands start at the 9 minute mark; the two near the front in green with white busbys were ours, and a bit behind them you can see some green/gold/white flags among the red-and-white stripes ones, flanking the first balloon/float -- carrying one of those would be me). The best part of the day was after the evening parade, when most everyone left and it seemed like we had the park to ourselves (I'm guessing 2 or 3 bands worth of kids and chaperones). Empty boats in front of and behind our nearly empty boat on Pirates, only having to wait for one or two bobsleds on the Matterhorn... we were literally running from ride to ride to see how much we could get in before we had to get back on the bus to go home :-). The second was for the living Christmas Tree they do (or at least used to do) for the holidays, IIRC in Dec. 1976.

3) Lived at the Pacifica complex of the Church of Scientology. That's the big blue building near Hollywood and Vermont with the big sign on it that's visible from the 101 when the air quality permits. I put this in my "young and ignorant" stage :-). Maybe a better one for #3 would be exploring the grounds of Hollyhock House in Barnsdall Park after closing time, which was during the year I lived at Pacifica. The view from the "back yard" is stunning. The statute of limitations is long since passed on that one, I think ;-).

Tag...whoever wants to play :-).

Your result for The Commonly Confused Words Test ...
Advanced
You scored 100% Beginner, 93% Intermediate, 100% Advanced, and 73% Expert!

You have an extremely good understanding of beginner, intermediate, and advanced level commonly confused English words, getting at least 75% of each of these three levels' questions correct. This is an exceptional score. Remember, these are commonly confused English words, which means most people don't use them properly. You got an extremely respectable score.

Compared To Other Takers
You scored 100% on Beginner, higher than 59% of your peers.
You scored 93% on Intermediate, higher than 14% of your peers.
You scored 100% on Advanced, higher than 70% of your peers.
You scored 73% on Expert, higher than 28% of your peers.

brawndo.com ;-) And you can even get the t-shirt!

For those who don't get the joke, it's from Idiocracy. The film's on YouTube, but we weren't able to finish watching it. The stupid burned :-(. Still, it's an interesting film if you can take it. If not, there's always the Wikipedia entry on Idiocracy.

Wow, I hadn't realized how far behind I'd gotten on my craft posts :-). I'll try not to flood my friends' "friends" pages, and keep this down to one or two a day. Besides, this is the only one I don't have to go and take pics of before I can post :-).

These were actually complete in February, in time for our honeymoon trip (which had such nice weather that they never got used). But at least I have them for future winters.

Note: Edited to add photo of finished mittens.

( Directions and photos under the cut... )

"I Am Aware of All Internet Traditions"

Seriously, a commenter on a political blog said that, after taking exception to a "Shorter whoever" type post, and then having the concept explained to them. It's already becoming a meme, but I wanted to share the joy. Ain't I a stinker? ;-)

I'm particularly fond of "All your Internet traditions are belong to us."

More laughs: when searching for explanations of the "shorter" thing, I found that the meme is already spreading :-).

...to all my fellow Californians who will, as of 5:01 pm PDT today, be able to enter into the legal contract of marriage. As they say, "the arc of the universe is long but it bends toward justice."

So, to Del and Phyllis, and all the others who will follow them, congratulations and Bright Blessings!

Loving Day is an annual celebration held on June 12, the anniversary of the 1967 United States Supreme Court decision Loving v. Virginia which struck down all anti-miscegenation laws remaining in 16 states citing "There can be no doubt that restricting the freedom to marry solely because of racial classifications violates the central meaning of the equal protection clause."

In honor of love, and of being able to enter into the legal contract of marriage with the one you love, I raise my virtual glass to those who worked to get rid of restrictions based on "racial classifications," and to those who continue to work on similar laws based on sexual preference.

Finished my second play-through of Okami yesterday. Invulnerability is a wonderful thing :-). Also, completed missions 17-19 on Devil May Cry.

I also got a bit further in Tomb Raider: Anniversary the other day. St. Francis Folly is positively Escheresque in parts ;-). For those who care, I'm still trying to get out of the Damocles section.

Also in the queue: Dealing with Mama Metroid (aka Metroid Prime) in the game of the same name, then playing Prime 2 so I can get back to Prime 3 (which is sitting at the "point of no return" while I play through the first two games -- I want to really appreciate taking out Dark Samus when the time comes *g*). I may also go beat Ganon so I can totally finish my second playthrough of Twilight Princess, but then again I may not.

I don't count Wii Fit here -- that's not gaming geekery, it's working out :-).

I don't do meme's often, but I thought I'd give this one a try. Good thing (?) for me the lefty blogosphere discovered Rickrolling last weekend ;-). I removed the "powered by" from the default code, though, since I have no interest in promoting their products.

I just watched Sen. Clinton's speech, and I have to say I can't think of anything we could reasonably ask of her that she didn't give us. Her unequivocal support of our presumptive nominee and her call to her supporters to back him as fully as they'd backed her, looked sincere.

I don't entirely forgive her for the B.S. of the last few months yet. But she's earned a chance, and I'm wiling to let it go as long as her actions between now and November 4 live up to her words of today.

Like the lady said, "Life is too short, time is too precious, and the stakes are too high to dwell on what might have been."

GObama!

Not as in "political geeks," but as in "political humor for geeks." From Economist.com on McCain's speech Tuesday night:

Addendum: OK, I lied, there's one surprise: The terrifying death rictus grin-and-snicker after every joke line. I don't know whether Americans are ready to vote for Mr McCain, but I am prepared to pay him one million dollars not to release deadly Smilex gas over the New Year's Eve crowd at midnight.

Very political stuff below the fold, mostly links, so unless you want to follow a bunch of links on John McCain, don't bother :-).

FTR, I'm no Obamabot, not having decided to back him until Edwards was obviously out, and I know the man doesn't walk on water. He has his flaws, I just think he has fewer political flaws than the other options :-).

( Polictical junkies, read on... )

Because I want something positive for political posts instead of my "worst president ever" icon :-).

I would have done this sooner, but I decided to wait until the delegate math was settled.

Found on icanhascheezburger.com:



If you don't get it, you may need to consider getting your SF geek creds renewed ;-).

Note off the top: I'm kinda being silly, but OTOH I do believe that when a lot of people put energy into a given concept, it affects objective reality to a greater or lesser extent. YMMV.

Dates of the National Orange Show this year: May 22 - 26

Weather this weekend (ZIP 92408): Thursday (22nd): 20% chance of showers and thunderstorms...
Friday: 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms...
Saturday: 20% chance of showers and thunderstorms...
Sunday: slight chance of showers...
Memorial Day: Mostly sunny...

Granted, I haven't been watching the weather sites like I do during the rainy season (this time of year, it's usually just an exercise in "exactly how hot will it be?"), but this kinda came out of nowhere. At least we're getting lower temps to go with that humidity :-þ.

For those not familiar with Inland Empire history, legend has it that the Orange Show Grounds were build on native burial land, and that said natives cursed the NOS that it would always get rained on. The show was originally held in February, to coincide with the harvest. I remember in the 70s and 80s, they started moving it into March, then April, and eventually it became a Memorial Day event. Still, nearly every year, it rains.

I guess we get the rain that "never" falls on the Rose Parade ;-).

My sister sent me the link to this site, so of course I had to look up my old stuff. Turns out, my second computer (a Tandy 1000 on loan from my Dad) is too new to be on here.

That said, the first computer I bought, in Dec. 1983 IIRC, and which I still have: The TI-99/4A (including the speech synthesizer)

Now, I'm going to go blow up some aliens ;-).