ladykatza

This year, I believe the revolution was televised. Mine is a generation that has seen the expansion of comunications go from the Daily News and Morning Television to tiny computers that fit our pocket. Computers that can send sound, images, and text almost instantly across the globe. Where the generation before would stage their protests in the hope that it would be filmed, or photographed and end up on the cover of Newsweek, ours can take the footage with a small handheld device and have it up on the internet, viewed by MILLIONS, in the matter of hours.

We missed the Industrial Revolution. Many of us watched The Cold War end and the Berlin Wall come down. I have a piece of that wall on my mantel. It was brought to me by our foreign exchange student, whom to this day, is still one of my closest and most dearest friends. But even still, there was a sense of fear in our government. An Old Guard that still remembered Pearl Harbor being bomded. That felt the cold chill of nuclear attack looming over them. A mentality that prevented an honest and open dialoug between countries different from ours.

Then there were those that came out of the Civil Rights and Anti-War movement of the Sixties. They looked toward D.C. with the idea that they could make things better. They could make things different. But the road was long and it was hard, because the Old Guard feared them too. Many were convinced to take the same stance, or the Old Guard’s progeny replaced them and perpetuated that fear.

But along comes a new generation. One that looks restless, aimless, and disinfranchised. A generation that has not known a Cold War because it has ended. Instead we see our parents who had accomplished so many things they set out to do, but once they accomplished those goals, what then? Well, we have Prosperity. We have Growth and Innovation. We have a technological revolution that was the breaking tide after landing on the moon. We consumed, but we felt empty.
To fill that emptiness, we turned toward new forms of communications. Phone, and then email, and then chat rooms, and then massive online communities that span the globe. We learned that there were things for which to fight. Innovations that haven’t worked as planned, such as agriculture, or energy, or ways of governance. But yet we floundered.

Almost every day I‘ve talk to peopl e from all over the globe. People who see the world differently. People that have a different type of government and yet still thrive and are happy. I’v talked to people who have witnessed immense atrocities in places like Africa and the Middle East. I talk to people who have seen terrible things here in our own country. We talked and discussed and have seen and thought of better ways to do things. But it was just talk, because we didn’t know where to start.

The Old Guard has accomplished many things, and Their Progeny have done more. Much of it was good, or with good intent. But after their goals were accomplished they floundered. They lost direction, and our generation floundered with them. But then, we started to Communicate. We became active, we started to think and discuss. We had information and each other at the touch of a button. We became The Age of Communication.

The only thing missing was inspiration. A good swift Kick in the Pants. Someone who saw this new communications as the tool needed to bring a aimless generation together. To make us step out and blink our eyes against the sunlight. To realize that action is required to make the communication worth something.

This year, my country did not elect a single person to fix all the problems. We elected a leader that inspires us out of apathy. A leader that has convinced not only our country that we can make a difference, but that this large, and shrinking, world can communicate to make a difference. We COMMUNICATED a revolution and the Old Guard and their Progeny have been found lacking.

They heard our message from the ivory tower.

We cannot look to one person and one government to solve the world’s problems. That has been put in our hands. We must look around and say “What do I want my world to look like in 100 years?”

And then, we must roll up our sleeves and get to work.

I wrote the following letter in response to the emails of fear that I got from some in my family. Written a bit in haste, so excuse grammatical errors.

I think its silly to be fearful. There was a lot at stake no matter WHO won. IF one looks at this with the eyes of history, this is what America is about. Almost all of us were immigrants at one time or another. Not less than 40 years ago a black men were beaten and killed and shot for trying to win the right to vote and less than 100 years ago, women did not have the right to vote. We have come far enough in our fight for “Truth, Justice, and Liberty for ALL” that a man of mixed heritage could be elected to office. A man that I feel is a great inspiration to what can be accomplished.

I would also like to remind everyone that its not just the President that makes all your decisions. There is congress, and local governments, and the judiciary system. Your representatives there have a lot more weight. Your voice and the ability to WRITE A LETTER or MAKE A PHONE CALL to your other elected representatives makes a difference.

If you want smaller government, the fight to take back some of the States rights of governance. If the government is too big, it is because we have become too complacent in speaking up and becoming involved. This is not a time to sit back and wring our hands. There are many MANY things that need to be fixed. So pick what you believe in. Be it better education, sustainable agriculture, or taking the control of government OUT of the Corporate Oligarchy. Whatever it may be, ROLL UP YOUR SLEEVE AND DO SOMETHING.

And no matter what, you are still family and welcome to eat at my table.

With Love and Respect,

Ladykatza

–
Jesus was a community organizer.

Google announces an agreement with The Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers (AAP)

Of the official announcement on their blog, here is my favorite paragraphs.

With this agreement, in-copyright, out-of-print books will now be available for readers in the U.S. to search, preview and buy online — something that was simply unavailable to date. Most of these books are difficult, if not impossible, to find. They are not sold through bookstores or held on most library shelves, yet they make up the vast majority of books in existence. Today, Google only shows snippets of text from the books where we don’t have copyright holder permission. This agreement enables people to preview up to 20% of the book.

What makes this settlement so powerful is that in addition to being able to find and preview books more easily, users will also be able to read them. And when people read them, authors and publishers of in-copyright works will be compensated. If a reader in the U.S. finds an in-copyright book through Google Book Search, he or she will be able to pay to see the entire book online. Also, academic, library, corporate and government organizations will be able to purchase institutional subscriptions to make these books available to their members. For out-of-print books that in most cases do not have a commercial market, this opens a new revenue opportunity that didn’t exist before.

OOO OOO, and…

As part of the agreement, Google is also funding the establishment of a Book Rights Registry, managed by authors and publishers, that will work to locate and represent copyright holders. We think the Registry will help address the “orphan” works problem for books in the U.S., making it easier for people who want to use older books. Since the Book Rights Registry will also be responsible for distributing the money Google collects to authors and publishers, there will be a strong incentive for rights-holders to come forward and claim their works.

Georgia is YELLOW! Seriously. I don’t think we’ve had an even close race since the sixties ’round here.

*mind boggles*

When you both forget your own anniversary.

I hope you love me anyway, hon.

I went to the fabric store. They were have a SALE! All their clearance fabrics and their home decor fabrics are 50% off (JoAnn’s). I have been eying a particular fabric for curtains in the front room for some time now. It started out at $18 a year, it finally got knocked down to $6 on clearance. So, I got it for $3 a yard. WOO!

Simplicity patterns are $.99 each (limit 10 per person). Then there was the “project fabrics”. I have to get crackin’ on holiday gifts now. And finish the baby gifts.

******

I just got word that my husband’s grandmother has died in the hospital. The call came in while he and his brother were digging around the house to find the water leak that has been eroding the foundation of my house.

More news later.

Why are more banks not doing this?

“I have to say if there’s a prettier state than North Carolina, I have not seen it yet,” [Obama] said at a Democratic dinner [in N.C.] Saturday night. “I confess that I haven’t been to Alaska.”

The assembled Democrats lapped it up, cheering wildly as a man in the back of the room shouted, “You can see it from Russia.”

So the “Do I have a job or not” is still up in the air. Its like the false suspense they try to create on bad reality TV. Only its real with bigger consequences. My co-workers seem to think I have nothing to worry about, and that may be. But I won’t believe anything or anyone until I sign paperwork and my paycheck get deposited. Really, can you blame me? Sleep has not been my friend these past few weeks, either.

There’s a new schedule, of which I KNOW I will work for three days. Then my contract is up. IF I get to stay, then it will be awesome. I’LL HAVE A WEEKEND DAY OFF AGAIN! I’ll be working overnights, but that doesn’t bother me so much. I HAVE A WEEKEND! (If I don’t get to stay, then obviously I’ll have all weekend, not just one day.)

But I’ve been fidgeting, and pacing. I’ve been trying to finish off projects that have been laying around and neglected. I’ve cleaned windows. I’ve been rolling willpower saves to not go out and buy “Organizational tools” to file and sort things. I have to remind myself I have plenty to do without that.

The kids know something’s up, they can tell I’m stressed. I’ve been half-heartedly looking for other jobs. Even had some bites, but all of them pay so little and are so far away that unemployment would make me more money.

*sighs*

*goes off to sort laundry*

I’m working on a Christmas present for my parents and came across this following quote:

Life doesn’t count for much unless you’re willing to do your small part to leave our children – all of our children – a better world. Even if it’s difficult. Even if the work seems great. Even if we don’t get very far in our lifetime.

BARACK OBAMA, speech, Jun. 15, 2008

I never heard this speech, and now I wish I had. I find it ironic he gave it on my birthday.

Ok, I’m actually just re-posting an opinion piece from NY Times. However, he stated eloquently what I’ve been thinking as well. I’ve been struggling for some time. Part of the reason is I made mistakes with credit early. I had that moment of clarity as I went “This is a trap, and if I don’t get out now, its only going to get worse”. I’m right, and millions of Americans just don’t see it. The only thing we’ve bought on credit in the past five years is our car and our house. Both times they were willing to give us more than we asked for but we looked at the numbers and said “If something happens, we can’t afford this” so we went with what we could afford. We try to live slightly below our means. What I would be putting toward savings is instead going toward paying off credit card debt. It amounts to the same thing in the long run.

Article Here

The Borrowers
On Monday, in a vote that will go down in history, the House of Representatives said no to a $700 billion plan to bail out the teetering financial system. Members of Congress chalked the rejection up to populist rage over the idea of rescuing Wall Street while helpless homeowners flail, and some representatives who voted no say they’ll vote no again when the version of the bailout passed by the Senate on Wednesday comes up in the House.

I’ll say this upfront: I hope the titans of finance who expect us little people to save them are ashamed of themselves. But at the same time, in painting Main Street solely as a victim of a rapacious Wall Street, we are being hypocritical.

We are all to blame.

Step back. The securities that are poisoning the financial system are made up of mortgages and home equity lines that are going sour. They may soon consist of sick credit card and automobile debt as well. “Innovation” on Wall Street meant that the institution that made the loans could sell them off, and bankers could carve up those loans into new instruments, which they in turn sold to investors around the globe, with the result being that no one felt responsible for ensuring that the person who got the mortgage or the credit card or the home equity loan could actually pay for it.

But who made the decision to take on that mortgage she couldn’t really afford? Who lied about her income or assets in order to qualify for a mortgage? Who used the proceeds of a home equity line to pay for an elaborate vacation? Who used credit cards to live a lifestyle that was well beyond her means? Well, you and I did. (Or at least, our neighbors did.)

In other words, without the complicity of Main Street, Wall Street’s scheme never would have flowered. Some would argue that the modern sales machinery — remember those ads telling you to let your home take you on vacation? — is to blame. And it is.

But we’re supposed to be adults, not children who can’t keep our hands out of the cookie jar. (Those who were lied to by brokers about the reset rates on adjustable-rate mortgages and other elements of their loans are in a different category.)

Just as many of us deserve a share of the blame, many of us also got a share of the profits. No, not the kind of profits that Wall Streeters got, at least individually. But if you sold your house over, say, the last five years, you got an inflated price because of the proliferation of credit made possible by the Street’s practices.

If you bought a house, then you got a lower mortgage rate than you would have if it weren’t for Wall Street.

If you made money on the shares of Merrill Lynch or Lehman Brothers or another participant in this mess, then you shared in the profits. One could even argue that the overall stock market wouldn’t have achieved the heights it did were it not for our housing and debt-fueled economy. So if you cashed out at all, then you got some of the profits.

This isn’t an argument in favor of the bailout plan. There are big questions that need to be answered. When Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson argues that the plan can’t impose onerous requirements on financial institutions because otherwise they won’t participate, I think, “Well, if they are in good enough shape that they actually have a choice, then why are we offering them a costly lifeline?”

This also isn’t an argument that a bailout would be fair to ordinary Americans. We are to blame, but we don’t deserve all the blame. We profited, but we didn’t get anywhere near the lion’s share of the profits — and from the sound of things, a bailout would stick us with a disproportionate amount of the bill.

But it’s also true that if the experts are right, a failure to act will stick us with most of the pain as the economy seizes up. The Wall Streeters who pocketed million-dollar bonuses can handle a layoff. Most Americans can’t.

Didn’t your parents teach you that life isn’t fair?

Bethany McLean, a contributing editor for Vanity Fair, is the co-author of “The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and the Scandalous Fall of Enron.”

Simon has had a loose tooth for some time now and would not let anyone touch it. When we picked him up from school today his tooth was finally missing. The following conversation ensued.

Me: Simon! Where’s your tooth?
*he points to his belly*
Daecon: Its in your underwear?
Simon: NO! Its in my stomach!
Me: You swallowed your tooth!
Simon: Yes, but I survived!

You’ve all seen this one before. But its FUN.

* Grab the nearest book.

* Open the book to page 56.

* Find the fifth sentence.

* Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions if you want to.

* Don’t dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the CLOSEST.

There is no fifth sentence, so I’ll just go with the last one.

“I see that if my facts were sufficiently vital and significant -perhaps transmuted into the substance of the human mind — I should need but one book of poetry to contain them all.” - Thoreau quote in “The Little Book of Zen”

Yes, it stays on my computer desk almost always, if its not in my purse.

The quote on that page in its entirety:

“I have commonplace book for facts, and another for poetry, but I find it difficult always to preserve the vague distinction which I had in mind, for the most interesting and beautiful facts are so much the more poetry and that is their success. They are translated from earth to heaven. I see that if my facts were sufficiently vital and significant –perhaps transmuted into the substance of the human mind — I should need but one book of poetry to contain them all.” - Thoreau

Yes, I’m cross-posting this everywhere. Why? I think its important to look at it from every angle.

So one of the things that has been pointed out to me by some arm-chair economists: Its not the actual debt, but the debt to gross domestic product we need to worry about. I found this chart that is of great interest to me.

Ok, so I found it on the internet. I’m often skeptical of information found on the internet so I went digging. The site the graph came from listed their sources, so I went to them myself. I found the 357 page PDF file posted for the 2009 Fiscal Year Budget on www.whitehouse.gov . The table in section 7.1 is the one that is where this data comes from.

Right, so now I’ve gotten myself worked up a bit more. Yay.

Link to full article here.

The quoted paragraph in the article:

I am now even more firmly convinced that there really is a predator class. The people responsible for creating and bingeing on the mortgage junk bonds, derivatives and financial insurance scams that are now being bailed out are our society’s most educated, highly trained and wealthiest professionals. The Meltdown of ‘08 was not caused by con men, crazed moguls and panicked masses. It was caused by financial bureaucrats of the baby boom generation who were paid megabucks for office jobs, who wear Patagonia fleece, $12,000 Brioni suits and read books about “reinventing the Self.”

And probably my favorite paragraph, as yes, this is EXACTLY how I feel:

Already Americans broadly believe politics is low-rent at best, corrupt at worst. Confidence in the news media is a relic of the Cronkite era, even among practicing journalists. Americans are suspicious of lawyers, doctors and the clergy.

Its been beautiful out lately. Barely into the 80’s (farennheit, for you foreign folk) and sunny with light breezes. I hadn’t felt up to going out and enjoying the weather lately. But today just felt like a good day to do so. There’s a new place still being built a few miles away. They have the most amazing playground, lots of walking paths, HUGE fields and they are even building a skate park and a doggy park. And something for frisbee golf. But having two small ones, its the playground we were after. Also, I’ve been experimenting with my photography. I’m working with a lower end digital but I still manage to come up with some cute photos.

Here are a few.

Bouncy Bridge

Spiderwebbing monkey ropes. Why didn’t we have anything this cool as kids?

The pseudo rock wall.

Felicity LOVES to pose.

And of course, brother and sister together. I had to snap it quick, they could barely sit still.

It was a lot of fun, though the other parents were looking at me funny as I climbed up, over, and under everything to try and get the good shots. The other kids kept jumping in front wanting me to take their picture too. I find a lot of kids are natural hams. There were a few that I snapped, some of a little boy that were just so awesome I asked the mom for her email instead of deleting them. Told her to email me and I’d send them along. We left right as things were getting really crowded and went to pick up costuming materials for Felicity. Simon wants to be a werewolf so I’m going to work with a friend who does full body suits for a living. Nothing like what he charges several thousand dollars for, though! No, just something easy and simple for one Halloween night. (Its www.lionofthesun.com if you want to look him up)

So I have had many a conversation with Mythos and other “northerners” in recent months. Mythos pointed out to me that “the other day” seems to be a phrase more commonly used in the SouthEast. Apparently confusing since “the other day” could be any time between yesterday and months ago (or in the case of some old folks, years).

Right. So, I have this conversation and Mythos says “You know that conversation we had earlier about ____?”

I’m thinking and thinking and I realize. Oh. Wait.

Me: “Oh, you mean the other day?”
Mythos: “Well yes, I’m trying to get into the Southern idea of time.”
Me: “That’s awesome, but ‘earlier’ implies the same day. You meant “the other day” since its not really the same day.”
Mythos: “Why does it have to be so confusing?”

Ok, so this is somewhat paraphrased, but you get it, right? So I’m relaying this conversation to my husband because I thought he, being raised in the South, would appreciate it. He laughed and then said. “Well, its not as confusing as Next Friday on a Thursday afternoon”.

My mother-in-law just called to tell me that she had to sit in line for three house to get gas after searching for an hour just to find a station that has some. Then the pump ran out in the middle of filling up. The Circle K near my house has been out of gas since the day after Ike made landfall in Texas.

I remember sitting in gas lines when I was very little, playing with toys in the backseat. We had two cars, one with even plate numbers, one with odd. The system was odd fill up on odd numbered days, even on even. So every day for six months Mom and I sat in gas lines in the scorching California sun listening to AM radio while she did embroidery. I hope we don’t have to go back to that any time soon.

This has not been the greatest of weeks emotionally. I finally got over being sick to be faced with some turmoil in my employment situation. I’m in a holding pattern at the moment. This good news is I’ll be able to pay my mortgage. This month.

Wednesday I had gone over to K&J’s house for game night. Ben was there, though J&A were not. This was probably not the best thing to do. Usually when I’m feeling that upset I hide, but that might have been a worse idea. Still, I ended up yelling at K and he was very confused since he wasn’t present for my bitch fest. Daecon grabbed my purse and led me out to the car. I was very upset with myself for being such a bitch, but it seems I’ve been forgiven. J&A took me out for dinner Thursday night. After talking to to them for a while, I did feel some better.

I have been meaning to post about Dragon Con and how much fun I had, how incredibly cool it was. I will still do so. Soon. I recently got a copy of Photoshop Elements after my photoshop CS3 trial expired. PS CS3 is not for me. There are too many widgets and I find it difficult to navigate. PS Elements though is just my thing. Its geared toward your average user who just wants to do some touch-ups and maybe a few fun things for scrapbooking. I’m loving it.

Its getting cooler finally. The leaves will start changing colors soon and I am suppose to be getting together with Emmanuel later next week to go searching for good places to take urban photos. I also have to start on my crafting projects for friends’ new babies and the holidays. I started playing with my sewing machine’s embroidery function. I’m loving the heck out of it.

The kids are doing wonderfully well. Felicity is really getting into school and is learning how to read and write. Simon still has trouble with focusing in class. He’s exceptionally bright and inquisitive, just a space case sometimes. Daecon and I knew that at least one of them would have this issue. We’ve been doing some research in how to help keep him on track and, so far, his teachers have been very responsive to him and feedback.

A lot of people I know really dislike the area we have chosen to live in. Mostly because of the “conservative rich snobs”. But there are a few reasons we chose the area. One: My husband’s family lives close and gives us a support network. Two: The schools are some of the best in the state. Simon and Felicity both have less than 20 kids in their class. The Kindergarten teacher has an assistant and they also have “room moms” who volunteer to help out for both of them. My mother-in-law will switch off working in either Simon or Felicity’s class.

If I do not get the permanent position at my current job, I will most likely start volunteering at the kids’ media center, plus go back to working with the homeless outreach program’s computer center as well. I miss doing that work a great deal.