Home Ownership Thus Far

Well, it's been almost a month since we bought the house, and 10 days since we actually moved in. A huge branch fell in the backyard (that was the first day), the water heater conked out, we had to get a new sewage line put in, our old range was a piece of crap so we got a new one installed, I had to install a curbside mailbox since our original one was no longer protected by a grandfather clause, and the cats pooped & vomited on the new carpet.

Other than that, it's been peachy!

The Joys of Property

Baby G and I are officially homeowners. We bought a lil' place last week and have started cosmetic renovations. Wallpaper came down, paint went up. I am exhausted, my right arm is dead, and I could sleep for 1000 years, but I still have enough excitement to muster the energy to do a little happy dance!

Huh?

Why does Florida offer a decapitated Jesus as a license plate option?

Support Winter Stef!

She's got a new hilarious line of wearables featuring everyone's favorite depressed bear, Sad Panda.

The End of Christian America?

Jon Meacham's essay on the decline in the numbers of Christian Americans is a milder take on the notion of a "Post-Christian" nation.

I don't think we're post-anything yet; there's simply too much change going on. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as major shifts do not happen overnight. However, I am keen to see how these changes will affect society and politics in the future.

From the folks at LOL News

see more Political Pictures

All the Star Trek Trailers to date....

Check 'em out! Opens May 8.

Health "Care"

"Just nine people accounted for nearly 2,700 of the emergency room visits in the Austin area during the past six years at a cost of $3 million to taxpayers and others, according to a report. The patients went to hospital emergency rooms 2,678 times from 2003 through 2008, said the report from the nonprofit Integrated Care Collaboration, a group of health care providers who care for low-income and uninsured patients."

And the beat goes on...

Turns out the Texas State Board of Education is headed by an out-n-proud "Young Earth Creationist" who wants to put Creationism into the textbooks used by public schools in the state. News blurb here.

What is a "Young Earth Creationist" you ask? Well, it's someone who, despite ample scientific evidence to the contrary, believes that the Earth was created in a literal 6 (six) days and that the planet is a mere 10,000 years old because the Bible says so. Now, what I want to know is, who put this guy in charge of what the children of this state will learn? Why does he think it's okay to put his religious and political beliefs ahead of scientific facts?

Scary stuff. Next thing you know, the fire department will hire an arsonist to run their operation.

UPDATE: How to argue with a Creationist.

From the "Why, God? Why?" Department

American Idol trading cards. Sheesh.

Show My Favorite Charity Some Love

Girls Rock Camp Austin is part of the Social Media Charity Smackdown for Charity March 16-26, where various celebrities with a team of people are trying to raise money online for their favorite charities. Girls Rock Camp's celebrity is Brea Grant, best know for her role on Heroes. We've been doing pretty well, but the High School Musical guy is kicking everyone's ass. Help us out with just a $5 (or whatever you can give) through PayPal, here.

Cost Curious

Curious about what something or a service might cost? This site has helpful estimates and allows people from around the country to post what they paid for a similar service/good. It's not exact, but knowing a ballpark number before you set out to do something or get something done can bring you back down to earth.

Brand new cedar fence around the backyard? Sure it sounds lovely and desirable! The three to five thousand dollars you're going to spend doesn't sound as pleasant.

I finally joined the 21st century

I bought this marvelous thing called a cable and used it to connect mp3 player to a tiny jack in my dashboard and now I can listen to podcasts in the car! WOO! nerd out!

Buggin' Out

I killed a bug this morning in the kitchen. Not just any bug, but a weird semi-translucent thing with 100 legs. Sure, the pest control ppl came out last week and hosed the house down with pesticide, and yes, the bugs that don't die inside the walls usually stagger out for a dramatic death in the open where they can just get sucked up by the vaccum, but damn, this particular bug looked like it was from another planet.

I smacked it deftly with my shoe, but got so weirded-out that I couldn't do the clean-up. Baby G came the rescue and scraped the tiny corpse into the trash for me. Usually I don't get so worked up, but this bug was just so foreign and so odd that it triggered the goosebumps and I was momentarily incapacitated by a ridiculous dose of fear.

[Shudder!]

I'm goin' back to Cali...

It seems the Mormon & Catholic churches did not go through the proper procedures when putting the discriminatory Proposition 8 on California's ballot last November. Oops.

Turns out you cannot simply slap a prop on the ballot to legislate discrimination by majority rule. (However thin that majority may be.) The CA "State Senate Judiciary Committee voted 3-2 Tuesday to approve a resolution that says the proposition's ban on same-sex marriages was a constitutional revision. As such, it would have needed approval from the Legislature to reach last November's ballot." The state Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in the case on March 5.

Holy Crap!

Can our President be ANY cooler? Seriously!

I watched his report to Congress tonight and feel so uplifted and so hopeful and SO ready to LIVE. He totally gets it --- WE have to be responsible for OURSELVES. WE can change this SITUATION. WE have power to make our lives, and AMERICA, a better place.

I'm near tears.

Cool stuff in Space

"The US space agency's Fermi telescope has detected a massive explosion in space which scientists say is the biggest gamma-ray burst ever detected, a report published Thursday in Science Express said." Check it!

Daemonia Nymphe

Daemonia Nymphe Live from ermitikos on Vimeo.

Bacon Storm Moves Across Texas

This is when I first noticed it: And then, barely a minute later, it's moving out of Austin:

Catholic Church reinstates Indulgences

Yep, they're back. Apparently just going to confession and praying aren't enough to get you lowly sinners into heaven, you also need one of these babies. The Church isn't selling them this go-around, but they are bringing them back as a way to get Catholics to stop reading self-help books.

The NY Times reports:

According to church teaching, even after sinners are absolved in the confessional and say their Our Fathers or Hail Marys as penance, they still face punishment after death, in Purgatory before they can enter heaven. In exchange for certain prayers, devotions or pilgrimages in special years, a Catholic can receive an indulgence, which reduces or erases that punishment instantly, with no formal ceremony or sacrament.

There are partial indulgences, which reduce purgatorial time by a certain number of days or years, and plenary indulgences, which eliminate all of it. You can get one for yourself, or for someone else, living or dead. You cannot buy one — the church outlawed the sale of indulgences in 1857 — but charitable contributions, combined with other acts, can help you earn one. There is a limit of one plenary indulgence per sinner per day.