" How was it ? " Can i get a woo hoo!

So - do you guys remember my first date scale ?

It is a scale on which to rate how well this first date went. For those of you who dont remember or never even read that post ( shame on you! ), here's what i'm talking about:
1. " Argh! " = terrible; horrible; could not have been worse;
2. " meh " = yea, it was alright .... i suppose...
3. " Woo hoo! " = great; fantastic; mind blowingly ace;

Well, this past Saturday i had myself a " Woo hoo! ". Yay me! I went on a really great first date with a young guy we shall, from here on in, refer to as Mr Gil. This is not because its his name, but rather refers to the town he lives in ( anyone i date and blog about must retain some amount of mystery - at least for a while ). It wasnt like we did anything crazy/dangerous/fun - like all the first dates are trying to be on MTV's " Next! " - but it was great. We went for lunch at a pub bistro and stayed for almost five hours, having a few drinks and a talk. And it wasnt like some great soul connecting, in depth, meaningful conversation either - it was plain old, getting to know you type of stuff. But it was light and it was breezy and he made me laugh. A lot.

So yep, it was a great date and yes, I'd like to see him again. And, before anyone asks, we are right now, as i really slowly type this blog post, making plans to see each other this weekend. Possibly for a movie marathon, if we can get the timing right ( either way, i'm totally seeing " Watchmen " this weekend.... ).

I'll repeat - yay me! Stay tuned folks...

P.S My sister ate my Furry Friend. What a bitchface.

CPAC 2009

It's exciting down here. No doubt about it. Conservatives are fired up. I desperately needed a right-wing re-charge after 12 months in blue-state Maine.

I was surprised, however, to learn that even though Geert Wilders was in town, CPAC sponsors "couldn't fit him in." Was that it? Or did they run short of courage? Lots of mumbling and speculation about that.

Thankfully, some more gutsy new-media types like David Horowitz, Pam Geller, Robert Spencer and Andrew Bostom sponsored a reception for him last night in another part of the hotel - separate from the CPAC function rooms - and I was able to attend.

Surrounded by tough-looking bodyguards, Wilders delivered a stirring speech - the highlight of my visit. He's a brave man.

More later about him.

Trust me on the Sunscreen

So yes, i have been quite the past week but you'll just have to forgive me because i have been away on a little holiday. To the coast. With beaches and stuff. Jealous much ?

Ok, dont all hate on me at once. In truth it was just a very simple getaway for a few days. My uncle was getting married ( for the THIRD time... ) on a Sunday, and seeing as how i would have had to have taken the Monday off work i decided to take a whole week off. It's the first full weeks holiday i have had in over a year, so i figure i deserve it - even if two of the days would be taken up with driving to my destination. Yes, we drive places around here -thats one thing i never could get over when i lived in the US. People never to seem to drive far there ( like we went for a weekend away, to a place only an hour and halfs drive, and the boys needed a a DVD player in the back ).

But i digress. So my convoy and I ( that would be my parents in car#1, my sister and I in car#2 and my brother and his family in car#3 ) got up at 5am to be ready to leave for Wollongong at 6am. That sounds kind of early but when you have a 7hr trip in front of you, you might wanna leave a little early. We had to stop a few more times than would be usual because we had a 3 yr old and a 7 week old with us, but overall the drive down wasnt too bad. The wedding on Sunday afternoon was quite nice too but my apologies - i forgot to take my camera so until my rello's come through with some photos, i have no pics of me in my dress, my cute flowergirl neice or the idyllic beach location.

Monday we hit up the waterpark i mentioned in my previous post. I hadnt been to theme park or waterpark for a few years, so i have to admit i was kind of excited. It turned out to be good fun - except the sunburn part. Let me just explain something to you - apparently teh sun also hits the lower half of your body so you should probably apply sunscreen to your legs aswell. I was so diligent with my shoulders, back and arms - the places i usually cop the dreaded red burn - but i completely ignored my legs and feet, which resulted in a lobster red calves and feet that looked like they had been painted up some kind of chilli bbq sauce. I'm one of these girls who wear long, surfing style board shorts ( especially when their is the chance of getting a huge wedgy down a speed slide ), so i know have a distinct difference in colour between the top and bottom halves of my legs. ( Again, my apologies, no pictures for your amusement ). Oh well, live and learn i guess.

Aside from general exploring of the area, the only other activity we got up to was shopping and snoozing, two of my favourite things to do. Its nice to go hit the shops when you come from a smaller town - the bigger places have outlets that we dont and besides, i could shop anywhere, anytime if given the chance. Same applies to the napping really.

And thats about it. I suppose in a future post i could do a rundown of the great stuff i bought ( two pairs of shoes, silver and garnet ring to add to my collection, cute new handbag, a few long 'grandpa' cardigans for winter.... ) but without pictures, who would care ? Til then though, i have two more days off before i'm back to work. Poo to that.

P.S For those of you who find the title of this post familiar, click here. Or here.

Pork, Lipstick, and Suckers Like Me

From Gateway Pundit

Don’t know much about economics, but the economists I’ve been hearing lately don’t seem to know much either. To this ordinary guy, it looks like a rough road ahead, so I’m just going to trust my instincts and hang on tight.

A couple of months ago, I paid off my mortgage. For the first time since I was eighteen, I don’t owe anybody anything - no car payments, no student loans, nothing. My old truck still runs, but it’s rusting out underneath - kind of like our country. I’ll drive it until the frame breaks while I save up for another. I don’t feel too bad about junking my old pickup, but it’s hard watching Congress and the President junk my country.

My wife and I have worked long and hard. Can’t remember when I didn’t have at least two jobs. We scrimped, went without, raised four kids, sent them to college, and paid our bills. We still work hard, but we’re playing around some too. We have everything we need and our tastes are modest. Trying to figure out what to do with extra money is our problem now. Nice problem to have I guess, but a problem nonetheless. It’s not a lot but I don’t know where to put it.

Don’t know much about the stock market either. I’m not against putting some there , but like so many others, I’m wondering where bottom will be and it looks like we’re not close to it yet. Gold? Many are buying that and it’s up over $1000 an ounce. Maybe I’ll invest some there, but for now I’m listening, thinking, and worrying.

Obama said last Saturday he has a plan for “restoring fiscal discipline.” Uh-huh. That was a few days after announcing he wants to give $75,000,000,000 to people who can’t make their mortgage payments. We all know someone who bought more house than they could afford and defaulted, and someone else who could make payments until they burned through their equity and can’t anymore. According to CBS.com: “Homeowners in states without significant foreclosures will subsidize those in states like California, Arizona, and Florida. And borrowers who initially had affordable mortgages -- but then refinanced during the housing bubble and used their homes as ATMs -- stand to benefit.”

Now you want wagon pullers like me to pull harder because they’re jumping on? This is “restoring fiscal discipline”? Bailing out speculators and irresponsible borrowers? When the re-default rate on them is over 55% in six months? And sending the bill to people like me, my children, and my grandchildren? We’re not going to take this.

The week before, Obama and his “economists” rammed a $900,000,000,000 “economic stimulus” bill through Congress. He doesn’t have that money either. So where’s he going to get it? With the US debt at over $10 trillion and climbing fast, China is reluctant to lend us any more. So, he sent Hillary over there to try and change their minds. If I were a Chinese leader, I’d give her a firm “No.” I’d like to say no too, but my two “Republican” senators here in Maine voted for the $900,000,000,000. I’ve had it with those two RINOs, but that’s another column. My fingers are cramped typing all the zeros.

Last fall, Obama said, “You can put lipstick on a pig,” as the crowd cheered. “It's still a pig.” You were right then, Mr. President, but that’s what you’re doing now. We know pork when we see it. I’m angry, and so are millions of other ordinary guys just like me.

Looks like President Obama is going to print the money. I suspect he already is. I don’t have to be an economist to know that the value of my money, which is in cash, is going to decline unless I do something else with it. But then I think that if inflation goes up, interest rates will too and I’ll be all right. And, my money will be secured by FDIC - the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. That makes me feel better - except for one thing.

I’m no math genius either, but I can add and subtract. FDIC had about $52 billion to cover deposits of over $4 trillion, and that was a year ago before all those recent bank failures. What happens if there’s a bigger run on banks? Will Obama just print more and give some to me to cover my lost deposits? Won’t that lead to more inflation? Oh, but then there’ll be still higher interest rates, so I’ll be all right . . . Now I feel better . . . No I don’t.

It was simpler when I my problem was not enough money. I didn’t have time to think because I was working too hard to pay my bills. What a sucker I was, huh?

Shiny, Happy People...

Uh...person. Meaning me. Yes, this is a feel-good, everything-is-going-great, you-cant-get-the-smile-off-my-face kind of post. I have just had a really good day, and again i'm not exactly sure why. Just lately, say in the last 6 or 7 weeks or so, I have found myself smiling, whistling, humming all the time and i have really been enjoying my job. I've come to realise that i love talking to people and i especially love advising people on the fashion aspects of getting glasses. Sure, Yogi and The Bell still get to me, but not to the point where i want throw the towel in anymore. Its a relatively new feeling - this shiny happiness. I like it!

I'm starting to become one of those incredibly chirpy people that i used to loathe. Is this a good or a bad thing ? Is it good that I'm consistently happy, and enjoying the conisistent happiness? Is it a bad thing that i used to really dislike people like that ? Either way, it doesnt matter - what matters is things are on the up and up.

Lets see: I've bought property and have a million and one ideas buzzing through my brain about how to decorate it; I'm loving my job at the moment and, i think consequently, have really brought my store up in the business side of things; I have the next week off work, during which time i will be attending a wedding, going shopping and spending a day at a water park; and i have a casual lunch date next Saturday.

Seriously, i know this post is sickly sweet and your all sitting back going " Oh God, what is she so happy about ? Seriously, all this sap makes me want to throw up ! " - but smile people, and embrace the happy....

Scarey Court Cases

Two recent court cases on two continents make me very nervous. That they’re even being tried is outrageous. That either may succeed is ominous, and few people know anything about either one.

First is the case of Roger Barnett - an Arizona rancher who has been under siege by illegal immigrants and drug dealers. In the Washington Times, Barnett claims illegals “tore up water pumps, killed calves, destroyed fences and gates, stole trucks and broke into his home.” Now sixteen illegals are suing him in federal court for $32 million, accusing him of “conspiring to violate their civil rights when he stopped them at gunpoint on his ranch next to the US-Mexico border.” The sixteen illegals claim Barnett caused them emotional distress by holding them at gunpoint and they want $2 million each.

Chief among our federal government’s responsibilities is to protect American citizens from foreign invasion, but it’s done little or nothing to help Barnett. Rather than protecting him, our government instead enables foreign invaders to sue him. That’s how bad it’s gotten.

The US Department of Homeland Security acknowledges virtual anarchy on the border and warns that Mexico itself is on the verge of collapse. That would come as no surprise to Barnett, who must wonder about his own country as well if it cannot, or will not control its borders. The DHS report states: “[Mexico’s] government, its politicians, police and judicial infrastructure are all under sustained assault and press by criminal gangs and drug cartels. . . . Any descent by Mexico into chaos would demand an American response based on the serious implications for homeland security alone.”

Drug cartel power depends on moving drugs across our border. We are their market. I’d say an American response is overdue already, wouldn’t you? USA Today reported in 2005 that: “First [New Mexico Governor] Richardson, then [Arizona Governor] Napolitano, declared a state of emergency this month in portions of their states along the border with Mexico.”

The second case is that of Geert Wilders in Holland: A Member of Parliament, Wilders has been charged with hurting Muslim immigrant feelings in Holland by “inciting racial hatred.” He made a film called “Fitna” comparing the Koran to Hitler’s “Mein Kampf.” As Dr. Sami Alrabaa reports in Canadian Free Press: “Wilders’ comparison of the Koran to Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” and describing it as a fascist book is not inappropriate. Hitler referred to the Jews as “rats and vermin” and the Koran and fascist Muslims call the Jews “The descendants of apes and pigs.”

When radical Muslims incite racial hatred in Holland, it’s okay. When a member of Holland’s government points it out, it’s a crime.

Dr. Alrabaa also writes that “Muhammad Sayyid Al Tantawi, president of Al Azhar University [established 975 AD in Cairo] also approves of killing and maiming Christians, Jews, and other infidels. He added, ‘This is not my personal view. This what the Shari’a Law says, the law of Allah, the only valid law on the earth.’”

There. I’ve pointed it out. I’m a criminal too.

Geert Wilders was invited by a member of the British House of Lords to show his film there. When he landed in London last Friday, he was promptly deported. The London Daily Telegraph reported: “Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary refused Mr. Wilders entry because his opinions ‘would threaten community security and therefore public security’ in the UK.”

So, when Muslim clerics in the UK preach hatred and violent jihad against the British government, it’s all right. But when Wilders expresses a negative opinion about that preaching, he’s the threat, not them.

This is what Europe, seat of western civilization and democracy, has come to.

Back here, groups like MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund) use the US Constitution to bring suit against Americans like Roger Barnett when he tries to defend his property. MALDEF doesn’t recognize the US border. Similar radical Mexican groups like MEChA deny the legitimacy of state governments all across the southwestern United States, calling the area “Aztlan” and claiming themselves as indigenous people not subject to US law. MEChA has chapters in most colleges across the American southwest. If you check out their web site here, you’ll see their symbol: an eagle gripping an Aztec war club in one talon and a stick of dynamite with its fuse lit in the other. Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante are former members.

MEChA receives funding from La Raza (“The Race”). Politicians across America go out of their way to pay homage to “The Race.” President Barack Obama and Senator John McCain addressed the organization during the 2008 campaign, where both virtually promised amnesty for illegals. Two out of three voted for Obama.

Barnett and Wilders are brave men defending western civilization on the front lines. If they go down, watch out.

Missing You: Teenage Me Edition

So - my sister and i were chatting the other day and she started talking about stuff she missed about " being a teenager ". Ahem - what ? My sister is only 18 years old! Yes, she works almost full time and she has a car loan to pay off and is all done with school, but i had to gently remind her that at 18 years of age, she is still technically a teenager. But it got me to thinking - as depressing as most of my time as a teenager was, what do i miss about the teenage me ? You know, things i had, or did, that i DONT have, or do now......

1. " Rollingstone " magazine - I used to buy " Rollingstone " magazine every month and read it cover to cover. I devoured all the articles, reviews, critiques, everything i could and i discovered some great albums and artists because of what i read in " Rollingstone " - stuff like Nikka Costa, Pete Yorn and Rilo Kiley. I'm not exactly sure why i stopped buying it. I think i can blame America. When i moved to the US i didnt have the money to buy all mny regular magazines, and unfortunately " Rollingstone " was the one that fell by the wayside.
2. Lunch breaks during the last year of high school - ah, lunch breaks, my favourite part of the school day. They were even better than normal during my final year of high school because for a while we " seniors " had what was known as the Year 12 Rec Room - we had a fold out sofa that we could sit/lie on, a stereo, a microwave, kettle and sandwich toaster at our disposal. It kind of rocked not having to share all our stuff with the junior grades - we were big fish in our little ocean! Rock on man! Even when our school had to up and move sites and we'd lost our Rec Room we started bringing picnic blankets and had our own little Year 12 territory on the grassed area of the playground. We'd lost the sofa and the appliances, but we still had a stereo, so each lunch break was like a mini music-fest with your friends. I miss that feel good vibe...
3. Posters on my bedroom wall - i loooooooooooved having posters on my bedroom wall, from the time i was old enough to ask mum to buy me magazines. I used to get a music/film magazine called " Smash Hits " ( which, as you may have guessed, was eventually replaced by " Rollingstone " ) and tear out the posters of my favourite stars, and plaster them to my walls and cupboards. I'd change them monthly - coincidetally, when the new issue came out - but i still had my favourites. Early on, i believe i had a picture of Dean Cain in his " Lois and Clark " days that was kept up for quite a while - but then, thankfully my tastes matured. There was a particular poster of Gavin Rossdale from Bush ( or now better known as Mr Gwen Stefani ) that i had posted on the side of my wardrobe, closest to my head, so it was the first thing i saw when i woke up and the last before i fell asleep. Gavin Rossdale was ( IS ) totally hot!
4. Bonfire parties in winter - pool parties seem to be all the rage here in Australia during summer, but what did we teenage type party people do in winter ? Bundle ourselves up and still have our parties outdoors, with everyone sitting around a huge old oil drum that had been set up as bonfire. The highschool parties i went to didnt really match the parties we saw on tv - it was more set up the bonfire, set up some old logs and stuff as seats and get your drink on. Which would lead to much talking, shouting and occasional making out. Oh, and also random groups of people yelling out " Hey, lets go for a walk " and then you end up losing yourself down some dirt road with only the glow of your mobile phone to guide you back.... yep, that was me.
5. School holidays - or the Americans amongst you would call " summer vacation ". We dont get a whole season off - down here the school year is broken up into four terms/semesters and you have a two week break between three of them and five or six weeks between the end of the school year at Christmas time and when school goes back in January. Its not so much what i got up to during school holidays ( going away with my family, bike tag, three day sleep overs at friends houses ) that i miss - rather its all that free time off! As a working adult it would be som awesome if i could have a five week period off, with pay. Seriously. Awesome.