The Vice President's daughter is pregnant and due in late spring.

I am overjoyed for what seems to be a close and loving family, by all accounts, to be adding a new member.  I am beyond happy for Mary and her partner Heather that they are about to realize their dream of becoming parents.

Seems a lot of people can't feel that way.  On one side, they're too busy blaming the VP for supporting policies that go against his daughter's (and her partner's) interest.  On the other side, they're panicking because a conservative leader is about to have a grandchild with homosexual parents.

Every article I've seen on this goes out of its way to point out that Gays and Straights are both up in arms over Mary Cheney's bundle of joy.

You'd think it was the second coming, or at least a new Brangelina baby for all of the fuss going on out there today.  Or maybe that you'd picked up an old newspaper.  Didn't we go through this when Melissa Etheridge and her (then) partner Julie Cypher had children a decade ago?

Can't we get past this and just say that a healthy baby is a blessing to a family, no matter how traditional?  Can we admit that two stable parents are always better than one, whether it's two moms, two dads, or one of each?  Can we agree that this child will have some wonderful role models for strength and integrity?

I am disgusted.  These opportunistic political vultures have taken what should be a happy occasion for the entire family and turned it into a political fracas.

For myself, I will say this much:  Congratulations to Mary and Heather and their families.  I wish you a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby, and all the joys that come with that.  Anything else that anyone has to say on the subject is bullshite.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 01:59 PM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
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1 I agree with you 100%.

Posted by: Fausta at December 07, 2006 02:10 PM (ANpp6)

2 You said it. Conservatives need to stop screeching long enough to see what asses they're becoming. And yes, that's coming from a far right wing Christian conservative. I think both parties need to take a timeout and cut the mindless rhetoric. Idiots.

Posted by: Janette at December 07, 2006 02:22 PM (hkz5l)

3 Leave it the polcats on all sides to make an ISSUE out of non issue. Really...and of course the media is eating this one right up. I say- let the baby come in peace and leave the Cheney's alone. We have more important things to be concerned with.

Posted by: Raven at December 07, 2006 02:55 PM (5FCgi)

4 Exactly right. Mary is not in politics (at least as far as I know - maybe I missed something) so she should be left alone, with the possible exception of congratulations. Just as I would never say anything about Chelsea Clinton - unless she went into politics. Her life is her own to live - regardless of what her father does or doesn't do.

Posted by: Teresa at December 07, 2006 03:32 PM (5UR9t)

5 I agree.

Posted by: Sissy at December 07, 2006 03:34 PM (e+8WB)

6 "I am disgusted. These opportunistic political vultures have taken what should be a happy occasion for the entire family and turned it into a political fracas." Well said. VERY well said. And on another note, do you realize how long it took me to figure out who in the hell "ctg" was?? I was like, this person seems to know me really well, but I have no idea what these letters stand for. I'm blaming it on finals. It only took me three days to figure it out. Not bad, for a major dork, eh?

Posted by: Mia at December 07, 2006 07:54 PM (MxZ0R)

7 Well said. You are right on the money on this one (as usual).

Posted by: Greta at December 07, 2006 08:09 PM (yy954)

8 I may not necessarily agree with Mary's and Heather's lifestyle choices, but as you say, there is NO need to turn it into a 'political fracas' by either gays OR straights. And the fact that the Cheney political family neither pushes Mary into an active role nor tries to 'hide' her, shows how much they love her, and respect and support her.

Posted by: Mrs_Who at December 09, 2006 10:03 AM (ororX)

9 I mostly agree ... except I'm still trying to figure out how Heather got Mary pregnant, or how Mary convinced Heather that she got Mary pregnant ...

Posted by: IB Bill at December 11, 2006 12:40 PM (6WcMd)

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PBS gets it right this time with a great story about Project Valour-IT on their MediaShift blog:

...While most of the bloggers who supported Valour-IT have been on the conservative side of the political spectrum, FbL notes that the project cuts across ideology by focusing on helping out wounded veterans.

"Doing a program like this is so beyond politics," FbL said. "You have someone here who is hurt, and you have the ability to make their lives better, why wouldn't you do that? That's part of our success with this. How do you say no to this without looking like a total jerk? [laughs] You can say, "It's all George Bush's fault." Yes, it is, but how are you going to help? It's beyond politics and it's so human. It's a winning concept and I am lucky enough to know brilliant people who have made this project work."

Valour-IT is another result of average folks banding together online to make a difference, getting beyond petty politics and government bureacracy to get something done and do it right. It's one of those classic holiday stories of people giving of their time, their money and even the bully-pulpit space of their blogs to help others in need.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 11:14 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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NY Post gets it right:

Posted by: caltechgirl at 10:59 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I told you you were next, chica!

Go wish Amanda a happy birthday!

There's a present for you below the jump, sweetie.... more...

Posted by: caltechgirl at 10:44 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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About 8:00 tonight I finally got my "Christmas" on. We cleaned up the house and brought out the decorations. The wreaths are up, the door hangers are out, and the countdown clock and advent calendar are out. I need to put up the rest of the outdoor lights (upstairs ones) and the indoor garlands and the stockings, and we need to get a tree, but things are looking a wee bit more seasonal already.

Yay!

Posted by: caltechgirl at 11:19 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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1 My woman and I fired up our house the day after Thanksgiving. We live in a completely different environment until the New Year. Juju Lady takes this decorating thing serious, and Christmas musicÂ…cannot be played until she sees Santa Claus in the MacyÂ’s Day Parade, after that, weÂ’re in all out holiday mode. I love it.

Posted by: Yabu at December 07, 2006 07:47 AM (b1/rU)

2 That makes one of us. Okay, perhaps everyone but me.

Posted by: Thomas Warlock at December 07, 2006 09:28 AM (NvS/T)

3 Yay! You got the holiday going! Woo Hoo!

Posted by: Teresa at December 07, 2006 01:37 PM (5UR9t)

4 We got hit by the bug about the same time. Funny!

Posted by: Sissy at December 07, 2006 03:35 PM (e+8WB)

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You Are Vixen

Sexy and sultry, you're the one all the other reindeer dream about. Why You're Naughty: That fur pulling spat you got into with Dancer over Santa. Why You're Nice: Because even when you're nice, you're still delightfully naughty!

Posted by: caltechgirl at 10:38 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Some of this is a spun argument, for example most kids in high income homes have two parents because most of the time it takes two incomes to reach that level, but all in all, an interesting hypothesis and a new interpretation of data that social scientists have been mining for years.

In this article from the City Journal, sociologist Kay Hymowitz posits that there is an increasing gap in marriage between the educated and the less educated in America, and that this gap has startling implications for the children of both married and unmarried parents.

Princeton sociologist Sara McLanahan, co-author of the breakthrough book Growing Up With a Single Parent, has fleshed out the implications of the Marriage Gap for children in an important paper in Demography—and they’re not pretty. McLanahan observes that, after 1970, women at all income levels began to marry at older ages, and the average age of first marriage moved into the mid-twenties. But where mothers at the top of the income scale also put off having children until they were married, spending their years before marriage getting degrees or working, those at the bottom did neither.

The results radically split the experiences of children. Children in the top quartile now have mothers who not only are likely to be married, but also are older, more mature, better educated, and nearly three times as likely to be employed (whether full- or part-time) as are mothers of children in the bottom quartile. And not only do top-quartile children have what are likely to be more effective mothers; they also get the benefit of more time and money from their live-in fathers.

For children born at the bottom of the income scale, the situation is the reverse. They face a decrease in what McLanahan terms “resources”: their mothers are younger, less stable, less educated, and, of course, have less money. Adding to their woes, those children aren’t getting much (or any) financial support and time from their fathers. Surprisingly, McLanahan finds that in Europe, too—where welfare supports for “lone parents,” as they are known in Britain, are much higher than in the United States—single mothers are still more likely to be poor and less educated. As in the United States, so in Europe and, no doubt, the rest of the world: children in single-parent families are getting less of just about everything that we know helps to lead to successful adulthood.

All this makes depressing sense, but when you think about it, the Marriage Gap itself presents a puzzle. Why would women working for a pittance at the supermarket cash registers decide to have children without getting married, while women writing briefs at Debevoise & Plimpton, who could easily afford to go it alone, insist on finding husbands before they start families? For a long time, social scientists assumed, reasonably enough, that economic self-sufficiency would lead more women to opt for single motherhood. And to listen to the drone of complaint about men around water coolers, in Internet chat rooms, on the Oxygen Network, and in Maureen Dowdworld, there would seem to be plenty of potential recruits for Murphy Browndom. Certainly when they talk to pollsters, women say that they donÂ’t think thereÂ’s anything wrong with having a baby without a husband. Yet the women who are forgoing husbands are precisely the ones who can least afford to do so.

There's lot more to the article, including at least 2 more sections I'd like to excerpt. Go here to read the whole thing.

h/t Ron Coleman at Dean's World

Venomous Kate also has an interesting take on the article.

So, what do you think?

Posted by: caltechgirl at 10:04 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Well, baby steps I say.  Here's a start, huh?

A Christmas meme stolen from Cobb:

1. Egg nog or hot chocolate? Hot Chocolate.  Egg Nog is nasteeee.  NASTY.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? WRAP!!  Where's the fun otherwise?

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White is too boring to bother with.  Colors on tree and house.  The more the merrier.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?  Occasionally.  Usually the plastic variety. 

5. When do you put your decorations up?  Usually the weekend after thanksgiving.  Tree stays up until at least Epiphany (Jan 6).

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? My stuffing or latkes and bacon, our traditional Christmas eve fare

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child: Hmm, that's a tough one.  Let's put it this way, I can tell a Barbie wrapped up under the tree from a mile away....

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? You mean that Santa isn't just one dude with a sleigh and Rudolph?  I STILL believe in Santa.  Come on now.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? My Dad's side comes to our house on Christmas Eve, so we open those presents then.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? well, we have a bunch of ornaments, most of which have some meaning for us from characters to tradiational ornaments, as well as colored globes and glass icecicles.  Big Gold Star for the top.

11. Snow! Love it or dread it? I love love love snow!  I hate the idiots who don't know how to drive in it.

12. Can you ice skate? Nope.  My ankles are too weak.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? My favorite gift I ever got was DH getting holiday leave from Basic Training.  The best gift I ever gave was the microwave we got Mom last year.  She was shocked!

14. What's the most important thing about the holidays for you? The time to relax and enjoy, to sing songs and smell pine trees.  To act like a 4 year old.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Peppermint ice cream.  My favorite all year round, but much easier to find at the holidays.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Christmas Eve at my parents' house.

17. What tops your tree? This year, a big gold star.  Previously a Winnie the Pooh Angel (which makes a better table decoration since it is usually to big for the HUGE ASS TREE we always get).

18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving? I love giving.  I'm very good at it, and I love to watch people's faces light up at the surprise.  I'm terrible to buy for because I want to be surprised and blown away like they are, but no one has managed it yet.

19. What is your favorite Christmas song?  All of them.  The songs are the best part!

20. Candy canes: One is generally enough.  Really.  Give me the ice cream!

21. Favorite Christmas movie? 1. White Christmas 2. A Christmas Story 3. Love, Actually

22. What do you leave for Santa? Whatever Santa asks for.  Usually popcorn and fudge and a glass of milk.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 09:17 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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1 Favorite Christmas movie... The Desk Set. *grin* Guess I'll have to get hold of Love Actually since I've never seen it.

Posted by: Teresa at December 06, 2006 06:20 AM (5UR9t)

2 1. Egg nog or hot chocolate? Egg nog, no contest 2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? depends on how my family was feeling when I was a kid... of course, I never believed, but I played along for the presents... 3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? neither 4. Do you hang mistletoe? If I thought someone would be dumb enough to actually kiss me, I'd nail bushels of the stuff all over my ceilings... then invite them over to my place... 5. When do you put your decorations up? I don't decorate 6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? hmmmmm.... cranberry sauce 7. Favorite holiday memory as a child: when "Santa" tripped over and crushed the Hot Wheels city my brother and I received... and he was asking what happened... I knew my grandmother had gotten up in the middle of the night and forgotten about it being in the floor... 8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I've always known Santa was someone in the house; mom asked me when I was six if I believed, and I told her no; she told me not to tell my brother... too many illogical things happening where the Santa myth was concerned, and I wasn't a child who took anything at face value 9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? I don't do Christmas, although I buy for my kids while secretly awaiting their realization that Christmas is BS 10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? blah 11. Snow! Love it or dread it? snow? no such thing anymore... global warming killed it all out... unless you live in or near the Arctic Circle or near the South Pole... anyway, I like snow 12. Can you ice skate? no 13. Do you remember your favorite gift? no 14. What's the most important thing about the holidays for you? When they're over 15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? pumpkin pie 16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? hiding in a closet until everyone's gone 17. What tops your tree? what tree? 18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving? are we still talking about holidays? 19. What is your favorite Christmas song? Christmas Time is Near ~ Chipmunks (I think that's the title) 20. Candy canes: ack! no 21. Favorite Christmas movie? 1. Die Hard 2. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Boris Karloff rocks) 3. nada 22. What do you leave for Santa? a loaded bear trap...

Posted by: Thomas Warlock at December 06, 2006 04:00 PM (qeZ2A)

3 White Christmas is my all time favorite movie. LOVE IT.

Posted by: wRitErsbLock at December 07, 2006 08:21 AM (MwQOF)

4 Thomas, my husband also swears Die Hard is a Christmas movie. And it's one we watch on Christmas Eve.

Posted by: wRitErsbLock at December 07, 2006 08:22 AM (MwQOF)

5 Well, Die Hard 'is' a Christmas movie... sort of. It takes place at the appropriate time.

Posted by: Thomas Warlock at December 07, 2006 09:30 AM (NvS/T)

6 I'm not arguing with you. I was backing you up, in case people in your life give you the hard time my husband gets.

Posted by: wRitErsbLock at December 07, 2006 07:34 PM (0Pi1o)

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I don't know what the f*ck is wrong with me. I STG it's already December 5 and I have no decorations up, no cards sent, and no gorram christmas tree.

ME. The queen of Christmas. The one who has the Christmas blog theme up and running by Thanksgiving. The one who counts down the days until her Hubby will let her sing Christmas songs. The one who drags other people into the spirit.

Yeah, not feeling it so much this year. I've seen White Christmas twice and Ralphie 3 times. I watched half of Miracle on 34th St last night (the original) before I fell asleep, but that's it. I haven't seen Love, Actually yet this year, or any of the others. I haven't switched the CDs in the car over to the christmas ones or anything.

I guess everyone has an off year, huh? Maybe next week.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 08:10 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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1 I've never been a holiday person, and it doesn't make things any easier to have a boss who insists on playing Christmas music in the store from the day after Thanksgiving to the day after Christmas. It's a porn shop, yet she imagines it will increase the morale and 'buying mood' of the customers. I had several customers last year complain about the music; one even asked if I'd change it to ANYTHING else, as he said it didn't seem appropriate to the venue. Anyway, I'm surrounded by 'holiday cheer' and other pretenses, yet I'm the only person who will admit this time of year is little more than a drain on the wallet and will be happier once it's all over; the only thing I can imagine worse than Christmas is the death of a family member.

Posted by: Thomas Warlock at December 05, 2006 08:50 PM (MSCTZ)

2 C'mon, you need to drag me into Christmas!!! I'm the one who lags and hates to decorate (have to take it all down again... LOL) I've got my little fiber optic tree up - my husband even put some colored lights on the bush out front this year! This weekend will be the big "shopping spree" (gift cards for the nieces and nephews) I need a push here cause I still should get some other stuff out and do my cards - I'm relying on you. *grin*

Posted by: Teresa at December 06, 2006 06:18 AM (5UR9t)

3 Join the club. I'm usually the same way. Not feeling it much this year. Don't know what the deal is.

Posted by: Sissy at December 06, 2006 10:51 AM (afJvI)

4 "gorram?" good lord, you just shot way up in geek points. Quality geek points, mind you, but still...

Posted by: rsm at December 06, 2006 05:02 PM (IyNwh)

5 some years it's hard to feel the spirit.

Posted by: wRitErsbLock at December 07, 2006 06:27 AM (MwQOF)

6 What the hell is 'gorram'?

Posted by: Thomas Warlock at December 07, 2006 09:31 AM (NvS/T)

7 I second the geek points. I'm not christmassy either. The whole family (including the 4 month old!) have been sick for a month. We're lucky we managed to eat and have clean clothes. I'm so tired of being sick... All my free time is invested in sleep.

Posted by: silvermine at December 07, 2006 02:12 PM (hn7Rm)

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Barenaked Ladies Tickets: $130.00
Gas, Dinner, and T-shirts: $121.50
Finding out that the tickets you thought were at the BACK of the floor were really in the FOURTH ROW: Priceless

No really, 4th row.
From our seats before the show:

Posted by: caltechgirl at 06:18 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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Well, ok, not the wizard, but we are off to see BNL tonight

Yay!  Pictures later if I get any good ones (they generally don't mind cameras, not to mention that they often come out before the show and take pictures with fans)

In any case, here's a little bit of what we're going to see tonight:

Did I mention I love YouTube?

Posted by: caltechgirl at 10:27 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Did you miss me? Of course not, there was too much going on.

Kudos to Rachel for jumping in and covering for me with such a great post!

I just spent 3 days locked in Los Angeles area hotel (literally) at a planning retreat for our university.  Interesting to say the least, and definitely worth the trip in terms of understanding the individuals and issues in my workplace..... but still, I am VERY glad to be home in my own bed with DH and our princess puppy.

The hotel's king sized bed was comfy, but somehow I missed my two living hot water bottles an awful lot.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 12:01 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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(cross posted over at my little blog)

It's a lengthy rant full of profanity, so I'll put it into the extended entry. more...

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1 My ex-gf was a size 12, and I thought she was awesome. Most of her mass was in her ass, so her hips were thick and she had plenty of cushion to grab onto. She was not a tiny girl (I should know, since I did lift her and scrape paint off the walls during some wild sex sessions), but she had a great body. I'm sure most people wouldn't consider that size appropriate, sexy, or whatever, but what they don't like is irrelevant. Do what you want, with whom you want, when and where you want. Well, just make sure they're legal.

Posted by: Thomas Warlock at November 29, 2006 10:40 PM (Y1qMM)

2 Babe, it's you. I think you looked great. But we see all of our own flaws. We know what to look for, after all. The thing is, in the world of fashion, plus-size is size 8. EIGHT!!!!! One of the skinny flat chested models on Project Runway this year was considered a "large, difficult" model because she was a size 6!! The average American "fit" woman is a size 10. So I guess by that definition, plus-sized is normal.

Posted by: caltechgirl at November 29, 2006 11:10 PM (Gk+J0)

3 Oh man, you spewed my words here. I hate that I'm "Plus Size" please . . . I'm a big girl, no hiding that, but I agree, size 12, not plus size!

Posted by: oddybobo at November 30, 2006 05:57 AM (mZfwW)

4 Now you know why I refuse to watch that garbage. And it is garbage... I've been a size 12 for years. There is even a magazine called More for plus sized women - those over size 10. Screw 'em. You do what you have to do to keep yourself feeling good. All the rest is Hollywood BS. They're so twisted, they could hide behind spiral staircases without a problem.

Posted by: Teresa at November 30, 2006 05:59 AM (5UR9t)

5 When I was nineteen, some guy I'd just met told me I was fat (I'm 5'5" tall, and weighed 125 lbs.). I started dieting, eating 300 calories, or less, a day. I exercised two to four hours daily. After three months I got down to 110 lbs. My brother told me that I had no more ass, and I was so happy. I wonder what would have happened to me if appendicitis hadn't interrupted my "diet." Who defines "beauty," and why do we all follow along like brainless idiots? Wish I had some answers.

Posted by: Carol at November 30, 2006 07:03 AM (dkSde)

6 Marilyn Monroe was a 14, if I remember correctly. And yeah, Hollywood sucks!

Posted by: Lisa at November 30, 2006 07:27 AM (S64wG)

7 Cindy Crawford, at her height in popularity, was a size 8. I always considered her, in my adolescent mind, to be perfect. "Plus Size" (like many things in life) is a matter of perspective. If you're 100kg and 1.5 meters tall, that's overweight; if you're 50kg at the same height, you're considered adequate. Still, most people ignore height and focus entirely on mass, regardless of the fact that it is irrelevant without a frame of reference. 50kg may be "ideal" in the minds of some, but if the person in question is 2 meters tall, they would be little more than a skeleton.

Posted by: Thomas Warlock at December 01, 2006 08:40 PM (DrJ3w)

8 Excellent post. Excellent.

Posted by: Richmond at December 02, 2006 06:32 PM (e8QFP)

9 Hate to break your bubble, but you look like you weigh 220 pounds in that picture. You are obese, accept it and move out of denial.

Posted by: Ellen at December 08, 2006 10:47 AM (5f5DF)

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I'm not certain she should trust someone like me with her blog while she's working hard at a workshop.

What to post, what to post...?

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At a three day work retreat.  If you have keys, jump in and post!

Back Friday!

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I don't know about his heart, but certain other organs sure seem to respond to food:

Thirty-one men, aged 18 to 64 years... underwent olfactory testing with the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT), a 40-item, forced choice, scratch and sniff odor detection and identification test...  The effects of 30 odors on penile blood flow were assessed by comparing a subject's brachial penile index while wearing an odorized mask to his average index while wearing an unodorized mask. This was done for each subject for each odor.

1.  Lavender and pumpkin pie
2.  Doughnut and black licorice
3.  Pumpkin pie and doughnut
4.  Orange
5.  Lavender and doughnut
6.  Black licorice and cola
7.  Black licorice
8.  Doughnut and cola
9.  Lily of the valley
10. Buttered popcorn

Posted by: caltechgirl at 11:17 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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Oh wait.  It sure as hell does:

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Lifted from Karen:

1. How old were you when you learned to read and who taught you?
I was about 2 and a half when I started reading.  I have no memory of NOT knowing how to read.  My mom says that Sesame Street and the Electric Company taught me to read, and I believe her.

2. Did you own any books as a child? If so, whatÂ’s the first one that you remember owning? If not, do you recall any of the first titles that you borrowed from the library?
Did I own any books, are you kidding?  I had dozens.  Among the earliest were: Go Dog Go, Hop on Pop, Wacky Wednesday, Put Me in The Zoo, Big Dog, Little Dog; and and all the Little Golden Books.  Later I had the Little House, the Anne of Green Gables books, The Narnia series, Encyclopedia Brown, the Ramonas, the Fudge books, and dozens more.  My favorite library books were the Obadiah books, by Brinton Turkle

Did I mention my mother is a children's librarian?

3. WhatÂ’s the first book that you bought with your own money?
Oh Boy.  No idea.  I think it was a full (8 volume) box set of Anne of Green Gables.

4. Were you a re-reader as a child? If so, which book did you re-read most often?
I still AM a re-reader.  The Little House Books and the Anne Books were definitely read to bits and replaced.  And Sherlock Holmes mysteries.

5. WhatÂ’s the first adult book that captured your interest and how old were you when you read it?
I always loved the Sherlock Holmes mysteries, and I startes reading them before I was in second grade.  I also read a lot of my mother's crime novels, Elliot Roosevelt, Margaret Truman, and Tony Hillerman were some of her favorites, and I read them when she was done.

6. Are there childrenÂ’s books that you passed by as a child that you have learned to love as an adult? Which ones?
I didn't read a lot of Dr. Seuss as a kid.  Mom wasn't a fan, so I didn't get them.  But  Green Eggs and Ham is seriously one of my favorite books of all time.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 09:41 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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About the Hobbit?  MGM is PISSED:

In the most recent flurry of events, Peter Jackson and producing
partner Fran Walsh posted a letter Sunday night on the "LOTR" fan site
Theonering.net saying that New Line told them last week that it was
going to make "The Hobbit" without their services.

The letter
also reiterated in detail Jackson's stance on "The Hobbit" -- that he
is not willing to have a serious conversation about directing the film
until his ongoing lawsuit with New Line over what he considers improper
accounting practices over "LOTR" profits is settled.

New Line's
given reason for proceeding sans Jackson is that the studio's rights to
the pic are about to expire, and seeing as the lawsuit with Jackson
isn't moving ahead, well, the message was that New Line is.

All
of this has riled MGM, which in recent weeks has been openly touting
the fact that the newly revamped studio is serious about making "The
Hobbit" -- with Jackson.

An MGM spokesman said that "the matter of Peter Jackson directing 'The Hobbit' films is far from closed."

Though
New Line no-commented inquiries about Jackson's statement, the
mini-major's move is a loud statement to both MGM and Jackson that the
studio is in the driver's seat when it comes to "The Hobbit."

Big studio $$ vs little studio  $$.  Gee, I think the winner will be all of us.

h/t Anwyn at EV

Posted by: caltechgirl at 09:15 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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1.  Best Buy.  They put the laptop I wanted on sale enough that A. I could afford it now and B. the sale also paid for the "Oh Shit" warranty.  You know, the one that includes dog teeth and sand.

2.  The dudes at Mozilla.  I have over 200 blogs in Sage and dozens of buttons and book marks, not to mention about a dozen extensions and not a few passwords (like for the blog and some news sites, not the bank or anything).  Literally one click and a few keystrokes and VOILA! I was able to get everything going on the new laptop!  SWEET!  The last time I tried to do that (with my work computer) it took me HOURS.  Even with a cheat sheet....  I shoulda known there was a shortcut.  Just go to firefox help and search for profile.  Then click on the bit about restoring or moving your profile.

I've been wanting a new laptop for a while, as my trusty old Fujitsu gave up the ghost about 3 months ago (after SIX years!!!), and DH and I have been sharing his laptop ever since.  Well, he got grumpy with me eating his laptop time and I wasn't a fan of how much space his games took up, so we decided a compromise was in order.  I would get a new laptop for me since the last new one was his.

Also, the Dell Inspiron we have weighs 9 lbs and about 11 if you include the power cord, so it's not much of a traveler.  And my RA makes it hard for me to carry it around, so I went for a small, light laptop.  More pricey, I know, but it's a MUST for me.

Aside from cleaning the house for Thursday, I've spent the majority of tonight getting this baby street legal: transferring files, downloading programs, and installing them.

Not to mention re-learning a smaller keyboard.....

Posted by: caltechgirl at 12:22 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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