Joss Whedon's Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog is, par for the course for a Whedon project, delightful and wonderful. (Is it possible at all to dislike Neil Patrick Harris? He seems to have made an array of interesting and excellent choices in his adult career.)

But am I the only person who gets the They Might Be Giants song "Mr. Horrible" stuck in my head when I hear Dr. Horrible referenced?
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So here's just a bit from the wedding we went to in London - there was an afternoon Mehndi party for the women, where we had our hands tattooed with henna. The artist was amazing - very quick:
( Quick video and some photos under the cut... )

The ink starts out raised on your skin, and after letting it dry for about 45 minutes you brush off the dried dark ink and it leaves the henna stain on your skin. The color on that first day is a light reddish-brown - but it turns much darker over the next few days, to a rich chocolate brown. I had it done a week ago today, and it's only now starting to fade.

Coming soon... photos from the engagement party, videos of dancing, and much much more...
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This. This is just... I can't even... *facepalm*... the misspellings... "liberal good ol' boys.".. little Satan and his gay friends... can't decide whether to laugh or cry.

Ah, Oklahoma. The source of so much amusement.
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EDIT: Link fixed
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My dear friend whose wife is pregnant just mentioned that her employer, the state of Massachusetts, only offers two weeks for maternity leave.

Two weeks? Two fucking weeks?

Meanwhile, in the UK, they just upped maternity leave by law to a year (if desired.) A year. And my friend gets TWO WEEKS?

I'm appalled and thoroughly baffled that this is even legal. Why aren't the "family values" politicians up in arms about this? Is it because they don't think the women should be working in the first place? And where are the women's rights activists? Shouldn't this be something on which change should be immediately forced?

Once again we're far behind the rest of the Western (and much of the Eastern) world.

*head desk*
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Last night I went looking for web forums for people on gluten-free diets to see how they handled them, particularly when traveling and when trying to do Weight Watchers (I'm sure I gained 10 lbs in London - I indulged in Fish and Chips quite a bit). The answer seemed to be that it's very hard when traveling, especially abroad (well, duh - I'm fairly sure I won't be able to keep it up in Budapest) and that Weight Watchers doesn't work with a gluten-free diet.

Here's fun fact #1 about going gluten-free for health problems: it's an all or nothing thing. If you eat ANY gluten once you've emptied your system, the problems comes completely back and you have to start all over again.

Here's fun fact #2: just about everyone on the forums I was reading said that they gained 10 - 20 lbs when they went gluten-free. My goal will be to stick to lean meats and veggies, and hopefully that will negate a big weight gain - but we'll see.

And here's a question for everyone - how do you feel about the New Yorker's cover illustration of Barack and Michelle Obama? My own feeling is that I get what they were trying to do - it's supposed to satirize the myths about them - but it's an epic fail. I think there have been too many interviews with average citizens who believe those myths, and thus it's not going to be received in the spirit intended by your average citizen. Perhaps after an Obama victory, when he would have proved himself against those myths, THEN it would have been clever to run the cover. But right now it's a sore sticking point, and the cover just emphasizes that in an unpleasant way.

Thoughts?

Today I got back the signed version of my very first real client, planning a program. I have lots of little on-site management gigs coming up, and I've done a few of those, but this is the first time I've gotten to send my very own contract to a client, with my company name, and with my company invoice attached for the deposit. It's not a huge program - just a one-night hospitality event, but it's the first, so I'm excited! THIS is really what I want to be doing - planning, not just supporting.

*looks around for bottle of champagne to pop*
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For the last few months I've been composing posts in my head, and then not getting around to actually posting them. And then I felt that that too much had happened since my last post, and I'd never be able to catch up. So now I present a quick Top Ten Rundown of What's Been Happening in Muse's Life Since She Last Posted Three Months Ago:

10. I resigned from my job and started my own company (per rednekkid's recommendation I've removed the link, but I'll re-post it in a friends-locked post.)

9. Speaking of husband, he got a fantastic new job with Teach For America as a director in their marketing department - a terrific organization and one that he's really enjoying working for. Glad one of us is now doing something worthwhile and generating some good karma!

9. I've been very worried about getting business, but suddenly I find myself completely booked up for October (including a meeting in Budapest) and with a few scattered event gigs between now and then. Now I need to learn to juggle my time for multiple clients and make sure not to over-commit myself.

8. I joined the board of Actor's Express, and am now trying to plan their annual fundraising gala.

7. I turned 35 and have decided that I'd like to go back to being 32, as 35 is just a hair too close to 40 for my taste. Sorry, I'm not ready for that yet.

6. Husband and I went to London (just got back today) for an Indian wedding for a friend and had a fantastic time - husband took over 1,000 photos with our new SLR camera, so there WILL be a link to photos posted sometime soon.  To my delight it was pretty much just as I had envisioned it thanks to movies like Monsoon Wedding and Bend It Like Beckham. And yes, we both bought and wore fabulous authentic outfits, which we fully intend to wear at the next opportunity.

5. I took over as Managing Editor for the quarterly magazine for the Georgia chapter of Meeting Professionals International, and articles for our next issue are due to the publisher tomorrow. Most of them are ready with one major and important exception. D'oh.

4. Going back to the Indian outfits thing, someone I met at the wedding suggested throwing a party with the theme: Wear That Thing You Have That You Never Get To Wear But Want To. Now I just have to find a free weekend to do that....

3. When last I posted, contact had just resumed after six years (with extremely infrequent exceptions over that time) with my sister, her husband, and four children. They actually wound up visiting us twice since April - once with the family split between our house and my mother's house (yes, my sister is once again talking to her as well - we think it's the influence of the Quaker church they seem to have become enthusiastic members of) and once with the entire family (all six) crashing at our house. It worked suprisingly well, and my favorite part would have to be the sight of my 14 year old nephew and his father (complete hippy, has never cut his hair or his curly beard, wears very bohemian clothing etc) playing Wii boxing together. The two eldest kids, the 14 year old nephew and 12 year old niece, are coming back next week by themselves, and I'm very excited to play auntie again.

2. I've seen a new doctor who is convinced, and presents a convincing argument, that the skin problems on the soles of my feet that have been plaguing me for years are the result of an allergy to gluten. So, starting in September I'm going to attempt two months gluten-free to test that theory. Why September? Because in August we're going up to visit my dad and step-mother at their house in Cape Cod, and I need to have fabulous French bread one last time (possibly) with my lobster. I'm so incredibly not-thrilled about this diagnosis, I can't even express my frustration. I'm a total foodie, and have always prided myself on being able to eat anything set in front of me. I hate the idea of having to be careful and cautious about what I eat, and I hate becoming That Person who has to inquire about all the ingredients of a dish when eating out. And I love bread. I ADORE bread. So, not happy. But if it makes the problem go away - and I can sleep and no longer look like I have leprosy on my feet - it's probably worth it. Probably.

1. Husband and I are well and happy, and enjoying the coolness from the brand spanking new HVAC system we had to have installed when our old one died during a week when the temperatures didn't get below 90. I spent a lot of time that week melted on the couch, while the cats sprawled next to me on the floor, all three of us unmoving until husband got home.

I'm sure there are some other crucial and important updates I've completely forgotten to post. I've been reading my LJ friends' journals, though mainly lurking and rarely commenting. I'll try to be better about both posting and commenting in the future.

Now off to sleep in an effort to get my body clock back on schedule.
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I've gone through various periods of liking and disliking Andrew Sullivan over the years. But with this blog post I have a whole new level of respect for someone who is most definitely a conservative (by his own admission, a "Reaganite and Thatcherite") in his general politics - and who supported the Iraq War in the beginning, but is intelligent and principled enough to admit when he's wrong. And sadly, I agree completely with this quote:

"What the war has done to what is left of Iraq -- the lives lost, the families destroyed, the bodies tortured, the civilization trashed -- was bad enough. But what was done to America -- and the meaning of America -- was unforgivable. And for that I will not and should not forgive myself either."

His whole text is worth reading. If only more initial supporters of the war had come to these realizations sooner, and had spoken out.

I can only hope that this sentiment is strong enough to keep John "We Can Stay in Iraq Another Hundred Years And Also The War Is Going Swimmingly And I Heart Torture When We're The Ones Doing It" McCain out of office.
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This morning is not off to an auspicious start.

According to the doc at the Minute Clinic at CVS last night, I have a respiratory virus. I feel like hell, I'm coughing up interestingly colored pieces of gunk - but on the plus side my voice sounds like Kathleen Turner before she turned into a drag queen.

Anyhow... I've discovered that for long trips rather than pay to park at the airport, I can get Husband to drop me off at the Holiday Inn a mile or so away, and take a shuttle for $25. One has to make reservations for this shuttle, and apparently they lost mine. So I'm sitting here in the lobby, hacking up baby aliens, waiting for the driver they have now promised me will be here in 10 minutes.

Not sure I believe them. I may be hopping in an overpriced cab.

And for those of you in Atlanta thinking, "well why don't you just walk up to the Square and catch MARTA?" the answer is - because I have gigantic heavy luggage, plus my heavy laptop rollerbag, plus my carry-on bag. And did I mention the part where I'm sick?

Oh yeah. Great start to the trip.
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Thought this was a fun quiz - the Deep and Meaningful Winnie-The-Pooh Character quiz, thanks to fierce_rabbit:

( This is really pretty accurate - I'm a meeting planner, after all... )

Except the part where my friends don't think I stress or worry - oh no, they know better.
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I'm sitting in the Jury Duty room at the Dekalb County Courthouse in Decatur - they have wifi, but I'm not able to get internet access on it for some reason, so I'm using my Blackberry's modem functionality. Not too shabby, as long as I don't have to download any emails with attachments greater than 2 MB.

So - weekend update!

1. Last Thursday the Husband and I went to the Tabernacle to see Flogging Molly, a fabulous punk Irish band, whom I have now added to my very short list of Bands I Will Actually Bother Seeing Live. They had two great opening acts, one of which was just hilarious and weird:

The band is called The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band, and it's made up of a guy on a series of vintage guitars who is an AMAZING plucker (check out his wiki entry for a pretty cool story on that), his slightly scary looking but wholly entertaining wife playing a washboard (yes, a washboard) hooked up to an amp, and his brother on drums. They look like a bunch of redneck hillbillys, and their music is basically a punk version of 20's and 30's bluegrass. For some reason baldsug, I totally thought of you  - I think you'd really get a kick out of them. They sang songs that included such fabulous titles as "Your Cousin's On Cops" and "Mama's Fried Potaters."

2. Went to the neighbors house on Friday night to watch the latest installment of Lost, eat dinner, and drink too much wine followed by a little sipping Tequila. Lost has been fantastic this season - very gripping, very interesting, eliciting a disappointed "Nooooooo!" whenever we realize the episode is over.

3. Was very excited about going to supergoober's birthday party (happy birthday!!) and campaign launch on Saturday night, but by 2 PM my head felt like a cannon ball and my sinuses had drained into my throat to the point where the pain was such that I couldn't talk. *I* couldn't talk. Those of you who don't know me in RL may not realize how devastating and bizarre it is for me not to talk. Anyhow, spent the rest of the weekend drinking tea (ginger and lemon tea is my salvation), juice (orange mixed with pomegranate - absolute yum) and soup (chicken with wild rice.) Husband took good care of me as I snuffled and croaked my way through the rest of the weekend. Now I'm snuffling my way through jury duty (note to the people sitting around me: sorry about that.)

4. So most of you know about my Crazy Sister Who Lives in a Yurt - well after reading this, I've decided she may be crazy (no, my mother's alleged disapproval of the midwife process did NOT cause you to have a caesarean, you nut) but she also may not be stupid. She and her husband carry around jugs of water from their own well, and avoid having their kids drink public water at all costs. As this study points out, we just don't know the long-term effects of all the pharmaceuticals in the water, and it's probably a lot safer not to find out.

And speaking of my sister: she, her husband, and their four children will actually be coming to visit the first weekend in April. Most of them will stay at my mother's house (where my sister has chosen to never visit, in the 10+ years my mother has lived there) but we're thinking maybe two of the kids will stay at our house. Since I have virtually no contact with my nieces and nephews, I'm very happy about this.

5. You know that awful, fear-mongering "who will answer the phone while your kids are sleeping and bad things are happening" campaign commercial from Hillary Clinton? Turns out the little girl in the stock footage is now 18 years old and an active Obama campaigner in her high school. I'm thinking Hillary's reaction to this was probably, "you are fucking kidding me."

6. Husband and I are making another attempt at organized sport - after having a blast a few weekends ago playing kickball, we've joined the kickball league and will be playing on Wednesday evenings. WooHoo!

Have a lovely week, all, and please keep your fingers crossed that I'll be dismissed and not put on a jury. I leave on Thursday for a 1,000 person conference in Las Vegas and I'm just a teensy weensy bit busy trying to prepare.
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And now for your viewing pleasure, 28 seconds of Luna working on her box:


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I've mentioned a few times that we're afraid our new cat, Luna, is bored, because Ariel, our older cat, won't play with her. Here's our proof:



This was a box which previously held bathroom shelves.

 Slowly but carefully she gnawed away at it, taking a bite, and spitting it back out, into tiny puzzle pieces.

 She had already made a good dent in the box when we took this picture, and Husband had already cleared up a good bit of box bits.

 But take a look at the end of the box, and just imagine the former actual size.










Here you can see she's just about done - only a few actual whole pieces of box left.

She seemed proud of her work, and often stretched herself out to snooze on top of the hundreds and hundreds of tiny bitten box bits.













  Destruction complete. Nothing more left of the box but tiny little Luna-bite-sized pieces.

  Husband tried to start cleaning them up this morning, and Luna has lodged a protest - after all, she worked really hard on this project...

  I just can't describe how bizarre and hilarious it was to sit there and watch her take a bite, spit it out, take another bite, spit it out, day after day.

  Yup, I guess we need to get a third cat...

Happy (day after) Birthday to moxiegirl  !

I just finished reading No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy. I can honestly say I have no desire to see the film. It's an excellent book, but...

On a completely different wave, I also re-watched Peter's Friends, which, while charming and featuring a terrific cast of wonderful actors (Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson, Kenneth Branaugh, and many more), now seems like a very dated and British version of The Big Chill. It's lovely to watch this talented cast interact, and of course for those of us now used to seeing Hugh Laurie as the cynical American doctor on House, it's great to be reminded of his musical and comedy abilities (although he gets a chance to use his drama chops, as well.) What seems dated is the death knell that sounds when Peter announces he is HIV positive: I think it's a wonderful thing to be able to say that 16 years later it is no longer the absolute death sentence that it was. Thank goodness for modern medicine.

And finally, Husband and I were invited by the neighbors to spend Saturday playing kickball in a tournament (and drinking beer, beginning at 10 AM.) Considering that was the only sport in elementary school for which I did NOT get picked last, it was quite fun. I'm pretty sure it's been 25 years (ye gods that makes me feel old) since I played it last.

With March 1 comes the loss of my Gold Medallion status on Delta... I'm now only Silver, which essentially makes me a peon. It means I'll no longer get frequently upgraded, and will have to be content being squeezed into coach with the rest of you lot. Actually the only real reason I really like the upgrades is NOT for the alcohol or larger seats (I'm small enough that coach is generally fine in that regard) - it's for the meals served on longer flights. Totally worth it when it means an actual full meal with protein, vegetable, starch and dessert - instead of a pack of crackers, something that passes for spreadable "cheese", and a teensy box with about 8 raisins. Ah, woe is me. I somehow think I'll survive; I just had to whine a little.
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I know I overreacted with the Delta business - it was really just the principle of the thing.

And it's not just Delta: the airline industry has a business model that makes no sense. I realize they're mostly failing, and so they'll grab fees where ever they can. But I still believe their practices are unethical. They have us over a barrel - we couldn't function without them unless someone manages to invent an actual teleporter. So because of that they can get away with things like charging me NOT to fly, or not allowing a name change on a ticket (and it's not a security issue - if you got the name changed in advance, the person would still have to show ID at the airport.) They can do these things because we need them in order to get from point A to point B.

The road to profit is paved with con men and thieves.
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Dear Delta Airlines,

Congratulations on having the most unethical customer-gauging policies in the travel industry.

Originally I was flying round-trip between Atlanta and San Antonio. I had to add on a trip to Miami and it turned out the most efficient way to get there was to fly through Atlanta anyhow, so I paid $201 to add on an additional Atlanta to Miami leg, and Miami back to Atlanta leg.

The case that I was supposed to testify for in Miami has settled* so I no longer need the additional two legs, and I wish to remain in Atlanta when I get off the San Antonio to Atlanta leg of my flight.

You want to charge me an additional fee to NOT get the Atlanta to Miami and Miami to Atlanta flights. You will no doubt re-sell those seats, but you want me to pay IN ADDITION to the $201 that I paid to HAVE the seats reserved.

You have told me that I will be forced to check my luggage** in San Antonio all the way through to Miami unless I pay this fee.

This is extortion.

I will be contacting Clark Howard, the Better Business Bureau, my congressman, and anyone else I can think of who has anything to do with regulating business practices to complain about this. It is extortion, and it is unethical.

No love,

Muse

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* The bastards realized they had no case - HA!

** And yes, I have to check my suitcase - it's huge.
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I've become a huge fan of "Bill in Portland Maine"'s Cheers and Jeers blog on the Dailykos site - it's become regular daily reading for me. Today he posted this excerpt from the book "How to Win a Fight with a Conservative" by Dan Kurtzman. I admit I don't have permission to post it here, but if it's any consolation to the author, I plan on buying the book - plus a few copies for friends.

This is why I'm a proud liberal:


Right on.

In cat news, Ariel absolutely hates Luna, Luna is getting depressed about it, and Husband thinks the solution is to get a third cat, Luna's age and approximate size (she's twice the size of Ariel) so she can have a friend. I'm not thrilled at the prospect of that much cat litter to deal with. What say you, oh multiple-cat owners?

I'm off to San Antonio at the buttcrack of dawn tomorrow morning. Alas, I'll be working, so I'll miss the Oscars with my beloved Jon Stewart hosting - thank goodness for TiVo (and I can fast forward through the tacky dance routines and overly long retrospectives). Next Wednesday I head straight from there to Miami to testify against the Asshat Company who owes my old company money. At least I'll get to hang out a bit with my old boss and some coworkers, whom I adore.

In politics, I'm thrilled to see Obama's campaign picking up speed. Newsweek has a great article about Michelle Obama, and she's a refreshingly REAL person. I'd like to see both of them in the White House.

And finally, Husband and I have been invited to a three-day Sikh wedding in London, in July. For those of you who have seen Bend it Like Beckham, yes, apparently it will be just like that. If I have to cash in every frequent flyer mile, every hotel point, and every other reward point I have, we are so going to this. Oh - whyvette and supergoober, I need Indian garb to wear! And so does my husband! Wanna help?

Have a lovely week, all.
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I'm in Mexico City for work, staying in the lovely Sheraton Centro Historico, in a spacious room on the 26th floor.

This morning I stepped out of the shower and decided to open the bathroom door as the mirror was all steamed up. I pushed open the door, and it gently started to swing back closed, so I moved the solid trash can in front of it, and turned back to the mirror. Behind me I saw the door PUSHING the trash can. Well that didn't seem right - the trash can was pretty solid, and the door wasn't that heavy. Then I realized the door to the toilet was swinging back and forth.

Oh great, I thought, ghosts in my bathroom. After all, Mexico City is built over Aztec ruins.

Then I realized that *I* was swaying, and so was everything else.

I stepped into the bedroom to see the curtains and curtain rods swaying and banging against the wall.

"Earthquake?" I thought. I've never been in one. But there weren't any sirens going off, and traffic was still moving in the city down below. I made my way back the bathroom and realized I was having trouble walking and that the building was definitely swaying.

Well, I'm wrapped in a towel and on the 26th floor. So really, what is there to do? I sat down on the bathroom floor and waited for the swaying to stop

I wondered if perhaps it was incredibly windy outside, and this building was built to "give" more than it should.

Oh no, it was an earthquake. Well, the tremors from a 6.4 magnitude quake in southern Mexico.

So there's my excitement for the week - my very first earthquake - or as close as I ever want to be to one.
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Swiped from Crooks and Liars, a quote from James Dobson:

“I am convinced Sen. McCain is not a conservative, and in fact, has gone out of his way to stick his thumb in the eyes of those who are. He has at times sounded more like a member of the other party….

“I cannot, and I will not, vote for Sen. John McCain, as a matter of conscience…. Should John McCain capture the nomination as many assume, I believe this general election will offer the worst choices for president in my lifetime. I certainly can’t vote for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama based on the virulently anti-family policy positions. If these are the nominees in November, I simply will not cast a ballot for president for the first time in my life.”

Apparently Rush Limbaugh, Tom deLay and Rick Santorum are all agreeing with him. If enough of the Religious RightWrong fall in line with them, that gives me more hope for a Democratic win. (Oh thank you McCain, for being so divisive in your own party!)

Naturally I have to take issue with the "anti-family policy" statement. Oh get over yourself, Dobson. They're not the least bit anti-family. And as conservatives you should be against amendments that involve the government over-controlling your personal life - like who you can marry and how or when to have children. I've never understood that hypocrisy.
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My Rainy Day Playlist:

Kingdom of Rain - The The (featuring Sinead O'Connor)

Like Cockatoos - The Cure

Riders on the Storm - The Doors

Here Comes the Rain Again - Eurythmics

6 Underground - Sneaker Pimps

I'm Only Happy When it Rains - Garbage

Bloodletting - Concrete Blonde

I'll probably keep adding to this as other appropriate songs pop up
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