I just ordered this knitting organizer thingy - I'm very excited about it.

I am very tired (had to come in early for a crisis) - I read that as a "kitten organizer." Which I need. And then I need some kittens to try it out.

Some idiot on Facebook posted a link to some gibberish about Obama's trip to India costing $400 million dollars and how he's going to be living in luxury with an entourage of 3,000 people and 34 warships and how wasteful it is so he can witness the Festival of Lights while everyday Americans are cutting their expenses

I read an article about that on the Fox News website. The first part of the article was talking about those numbers. The second part of the article was about people in the government saying how crazy the rumors are. 34 warships would be 3 carrier groups.

Re the serial comma -- the whole thread on Making Light is delightful and erudite, but in particular, let me quote one reaction:

#47 ::: Jo Walton ::: (view all by) ::: October 22, 2010, 11:31 AM:

Some people may say we've seen it all before, but I thought Merle Haggard was a truly classic cowboy film.

Here we have two men riding into a small town, two very different men who have nothing in common except that each of them bears the scars of having spent a decade being married to Merle. We can see the way Merle (and Merle's aftermath) has shaped both of their lives -- and Merle, although dead before it begins, shapes the film the same way.

Duvall is a cowboy, taciturn, reclusive, and you can still see how very gorgeous he must have been when he was young. Kristofferson is a singer who won Merle away from Duvall with a song. (The chords of the song haunt the movie, but we do not hear the words until the end.) They were once rivals for Merle's love, but now that Merle has been murdered they have to work together. They come to what's first a grudging respect for each other and later an actual friendship with just a hint of romance. The final shootout is beyond tense, and the last moments brought tears to my eyes.

People will compare this with the old chestnut Brokeback Mountain, but the difference goes far deeper than just shepherds vs cowboys. Brokeback Mountain focused on the angst of being gay and a shepherd. Merle Haggard leaves the angst out -- these men are rough Westerners who just happen to love other men. And lets face it, the position of women in the Old West has always been ambiguous. The lives and loves of cowboys have always been each other -- Merle Haggard just makes explicit what so many other films from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid on have left implicit. What women we do see are well done -- Kristofferson's sister-manager, Duvall's niece, and Sue, the saloon-keeper who knows everybody's secrets. The film is stronger in that nobody questions the direction of anybody's sexuality, it turns instead on who they love and how long love lasts. All right, the real Old West wasn't like that, but it wasn't like Shane either, and people always make films for a modern sensibility.

It's nonsense to call Merle Haggard a documentary, however. This is a western pure and simple. I'm glad I saw it, and I shall be buying the DVD as soon as it's available.

I read an article about that on the Fox News website. The first part of the article was talking about those numbers. The second part of the article was about people in the government saying how crazy the rumors are. 34 warships would be 3 carrier groups.

I just inundated the thread with links to the Indian Embassy's photos of George W. Bush's state visit to India, the White House press gaggle about the G-20 trip as well as a statement that basically asked if anyone had ever watched The West Wing before. Seriously--they didn't bitch about the cost of Bush's secret service detail, his doctor, his body man, the snipers, the cost of shipping the presidential limo, the press secretary, the white house press corps before. Now some asshole starts spreading a link like the Obamas are partying like rock stars across the globe while the US economy is in the toilet.

Note the Bush visits took place when the US was conducting two wars AND running up the highest deficit in history (even adjusted for inflation).

(My rejoinder for "Obama is taking away our liberties" is "Where were you when Bush suspended habeas corpus ?")

My mother has some great pictures of her in a sari when she was young. But she could pass for many ethnicities at that age, so it didn't look as weird as I might.

Hmm. I have a salwar kameez, and never thought twice about wearing it. Maybe because I can actually put it on myself? I also wouldn't think twice about a qipao.

I did pause this morning over the African rock sculpture shirt. I do feel weird wearing clothes with writing on them, and it basically says "Africa" and "African rock sculpture."

Der. I've just worked out why the Indian guys are all carrying food this morning. I'm not swift.

If my boss dings me for wearing too short skirts I will be disappointed. Not hugely surprised, but disappointed. And then I'll want someone to ding the women in sleeveless dresses, because those are explicitly forbidden, and I saw two yesterday. And I'm vindictive like that.

Now some asshole starts spreading a link like the Obamas are partying like rock stars across the globe while the US economy is in the toilet.

The single thing that worries me most about our future is the trend toward fact-free discourse. Climate change is a hoax. The deficit is because of Obama's new spending. Cutting taxes increases revenue. America has the best health care system in the world. Obama's policies are communist. Iraq was behind 9/11. Scott Brown advocated violence against Martha Coakley. Palin said "I can see Russia from my house". Al Gore said he invented the Internet. So many things flying around are just not true.

So, we heard from the campus police officer that 5 shots were fired at a woman 1 block away about an hour ago. We haven't actually gotten any notice of this officially.

eta: All the shots missed.

And yet - somehow the fact that all the shots missed isn't all that reassuring, is it?

Gads, I'm glad they missed.