Lent

Do you observe the Lenten season?

If so, how? Why?

Or, why not?

Do I or Don't I?

Ask that really cute guy from the dance Saturday night (assuming I see him again) out/for phone number/etc...?

I ask this because I just want to hear the yelling that will ensue from Miss O'Hara. She hasn't vented enough lately.

I'm IT!

Kat (who is one of my favorite people-EVER) tagged me. So I'm IT. Of course I am. I am the fizzle shinizzle banizzle or whatever izzle is going around these days. She thinks I won't do it but... mwwhahahahaha... I am!

What Were You Doing 10 Years Ago?

1996? I was in college. In the student senate, raising all sorts of ruckus when I proposed to veto the SGA budget because the President couldn't get it to us on time and spending the money anyway. The press loved me. I loved them. And the loved me for loving them.... Then I became President of the Senate and a year later was nearly impeached because of a miscommunication about the budget. Guess what.. the President of the Senate couldn't be impeached. Hee. They were stuck with me.

I was also in my favorite class of my college career, Judiciary and the Constitution. Spring Semester 1996 is when I became a classical liberal. A year later, I became a libertarian after working for the TN General Assembly. My paper on the Supreme Court's decisions affecting women in the workforce was published in the student academic journal. Yes, I still had some lingering feminist tendancies but at least I wasn't foaming at the mouth anymore. I did my senior seminar paper that fall on Russian Ethnic conflict.

I spent more time starting at Mr. Anderson's eyelashes than listening to anything he had to say in class. Wow... he had beautiful blue eyes. Too bad he was an atheist.

I was also working at the ice rink (talking back to customers and collecting some of the dumbest things ever said and posting it in the break room. The manager didn't like that.) And I turned 21 that year. I spent way too much time online in roleplaying games.

What Were You Doing 1 Year Ago?

Here it is.

Five Snacks You Enjoy

1) Chocolate covered pretzels
2) Apples
3) Wendy's Frosties and French Fries.. again with the sweet/salty combo
4) Chedder and Sour Cream or Kettle potato chips
5) Fried mozerella cheese sticks (and you thought because I was losing weight that I'd forgotten about those great fattening things. No!)

Five Songs To Which You Know All The Lyrics

1) Salam ya Salama by Alabina - it's in Arabic and Spanish so I can make stuff up and no one will notice, but I actually have learned a good bit of the words to that and Habibi Ya Nour El Ein (My Darling, You are the light of my eyes)
2) Happy Birthday
3) Give It to Me Good by Trixter - This popped up on yahoo launch a few days ago. All of a sudden, I was 16 again. I listened to that CD every morning while I was getting ready for school. I wore it out. Really. I had to buy a second one. I was in love with them and was going to marry the lead singer. When I met them back stage at Starwood that was the highlight of my life in high school. I still know every word to that song... even after almost 15 years. That's sad.
4) Gold Digger by Kanye West. Question: When he finds out after 18 years that the baby wasn't his, can he sue the mother for fraud?
5) Go Daddy-O by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
(OK - that was cheating....)
6) Come live your life with me by Peter Cincotti

Five Things You Would Do If You Were A Millionaire

1) Start my own dance studio
2) Be sure I am out of debt
3) Save some
4) Travel some
5) Sponsor DC in his first poker tournament (but not one of those $10K deals. I like you but not that much.)

Five Bad Habits

1) Misplacing my check card (AmSouth hates me)
2) Biting my nails
3) Leaving the back door unlocked
4) Blogging at work (eh. I'm honest, at least)
5) Speeding

Five Things You Like Doing

1) Dancing
2) Talking about dance
3) Spotting notorious fashion violations
4) Blogging about notorious fashion violations
5) Hanging with my peeps

Five Things You Would Never Wear Again

1) Frosted anything
2) Snarky buttons (I had a jean jacket in middle school that I covered in buttons. I was often late to class because I got stopped in the hall way when people wanted to read them.)
3) Chunky rubber sole/heeled shoes. They make my feet look 2x's bigger than they are. I can't believe I ever thought they looked good.
4) Tapered leg pants. How to make your butt look bigger than it really is? Wear tapered leg pants. NEVER wear tapered pants. Straight or boot cut. Wide leg is on its way out and if it isn't done right, you look like a freak.
5) My favorite khaki pants. They are now 2 sizes too big. Hee!

Five Favorite Toys

1) My mp3 player (Sansa)
2) My Sig (but I don't treat it like a toy.)
3) My Smith and Wesson (the cats) and any of their feathers on sticks
4) My massive collection of hip scarves (the sequined ones are my current favorite. Some of the coin scarves are so heavy they fall right off. I need to velcro them to my hips.)
5) My still in the box Darth Vader

Five people who will not likely do this but you are tagging them anyway

Elena, Miss O'Hara, Digital Cowboy, Res Ispa (now that you are blogging, you are going to do all those stupid quizzes and stuff.. heh), and Erik. I would tag Ashley the Blue Raider but none of us knows where her blog is... or if she has one.

Junk Mail

I got a packet yesterday from the "Citizens United for the Bush Agenda" organization.

The letter said "Dear Friend of President Bush."

I threw it out after I stopped laughing. It took about 5 minutes. Whew. He's never been my friend. I voted for him because, at the time, I found him less detestable than John Kerry.

I won't make that mistake again.

Overheard on Campus

Sometimes, even I don't know what to say about the stuff I hear.

Location: Near dorm parking lot

Guy 1: So how did it go?
Guy 2: Awesome. We f*ed for a solid hour. My sheets are a mess. I am making her wash them tonight.

At the Ryman

This past Sunday was my second trip to the Ryman. I'm ashamed to say that I've lived in Nashville for 30 years and only went to the Ryman for a concert for the first time last December.

I repent! I shall go to the Church of Country Music more often! But they do play more than country there (and we are all glad for that).

But I was there for the country music - the MuzikMafia show to benefit the Country Music Hall of Fame with Gretchen Wilson and Big and Rich.

Show Review:

Gretchen is very confident in her ability to sing because she came out and sang the first song acapella... and without a mic. That also speaks to the acoustics of the building because once everyone shut up, you could hear her clear as bell. That rocked.

Big and Rich's show was a circus... but what else would you expect? I loved it. And the little girl down front who got John Rich's guitar became the envy of everyone the building. I saw her during intermission and she wouldn't it let go. Can't say that I blame her.

Special guest artists: Tom T. Hall and Randy Owen (of Alabama). Randy and Gretchen did a duet that was beautiful. I could listen to him sing all day long.

Fashion Review:

For crying out loud... must I be subjected to horrific fashion everywhere? I guess so. That night was particularly bad. I saw a real mullet. I mean the "business in the front/party in the back" mullet. Talking about a Billy Ray Cyrus circa 1990 mullet. On a girl.

Lesbian biker chic. Eww. She was also wearing a t-shirt where the sleeves had been ripped off so it was like a muscle tee. Double Eww.

A blue jean shirt with lace on the shoulders. That is so very 1980's Reba.

Three words: frosted Mom jeans

Two more words: frosted hair. Did I just land in a time warp that sent me back to 1987?

Those that were trying to look hip and chic were trying way too hard. One lady tried to look like Anna Wintour, Editor in Chief of Vogue magazine.

The worst one the night (as if the mullet wasn't bad enough) was this girl wearing a denim mini skirt (with lace on the hem) and halter top... in 15 degree weather. Oh! It gets better! She was wearing sparkly flip flops! Chick! It's 15 f-ing degrees outside! Put some clothes on!

Hello. My name is Pink Kitty...

And I have a disease. It's called perfectionism.

I achieve something and it is never good enough. I cannot rest. I receive a compliment and then feel obligated to push one or two notches higher so that I will continue to receive compliments. It isn't that I doubt the sincerity of the compliment giver... I just want more. I want to be sure that they continue to give me compliments.

I would never hold anyone else to my standard because there is no way they could meet it. In fact, I can't meet my standard because it is ever-changing. Always pushing higher.

I find a new activity and throw myself in head first.. wanting to know everything about it NOW. This causes me to burn out on activities I really enjoy because I've tried to master it too quickly. Too much information far too soon. I don't allow time for the information to sink into my brain.

I get frustrated when I don't get something right the first time. I think too much and mess myself up. (I said this in my dance lesson the other night. My instructor said "You're right. Let's take it really slowly. Stop thinking about it. Just do the steps.)

I'm overly competitive. As Elena said to me "there is no such thing as a friendly game with you" because even if I throw the score card out, I will still keep track of the score in my head. My dance instructor and I were talking about the possibility of my entering some dance competitions later in the year. I looked at him and said "I will win. I won't settle for anything less." I think it un-nerved him to see that part of me come out because for the most part I've been pretty laid back about learning and being there to have a good time.

I am alot better than I used to be. When I was in college, I couldn't let anything go. EVERYTHING was a competition. I had to be perfect at everything I did.

I achieve a goal and look back and think "I could have done this and this and this better." I am never satisified, never good enough. The amount of pressure I apply to myself is insane. My nutritionist has been particularly vocal on this point. "PK, you met the calorie goal. So what if you were over these couple of days. You are still doing great! Don't be so hard on yourself." Even on the weeks where it is perfect, I look over the journals and go "I shouldn't have eaten that.." or "I could have walked a little further that day."

There are those who would find my drive for perfection good.. that it is a part of the American way of operating. Always pushing for the next big thing. In some circles, it would probably be admired.

It is a sickness. It is unhealthy. I don't know how to rest. I don't know how to stop.

Workshop Report

When one spends, uh... 6 hours over the course of weekend in a bellydance workshop...

the glutes REALLY start to hurt.

And we won't even talk about my shoulders.

My knee didn't start hurting until Sunday night when I smacked it on the pew at the Ryman because Mr. 6' tall wouldn't move so I could get back to my seat after I went to the bathroom. OK, I know the space between rows is very narrow but would have killed you to swing your legs out of the way so I don't have to step over and straddle your lap? Is this something your significant other, who is sitting right there!, approves of? Thank goodness I wasn't wearing a skirt.

Reasons to Love Homestar Runner

Reason #1: It's funny.
Reason #2: Strong Bad has an outrageous accent
Reason #3: It isn't every day you get to see gummy bears in milk.
Reason #4: Lady-ing
Reason #5: Trogdor! Trogdor!!
Reason #6: Cheerleader, So and So, What's her face... The Ugly One! Soooooooo goooooooooood...!!
Reason #7: "Virus = Very Yes"
Reason #8: "On a scale from 1 to Awesome, I am Super Great!"
Reason #9: "The critics agree! "A triumph!" "A cinematic breakfast snack of some kind!" "It {very slight pause} sure was a movie!" {quickly} Now playing in select cities. {rapidly, in the manner of a disclaimer} This Strong Bad Email has been rated P for The Poopsmith and a graphic scene of The Paper."
Reason #10: The Bellydance Superstars love the Web site!

List largely courtesy of Elena. Links added by me. For all things Homestar, visit the wiki. That's wiki, not wookie.

To Digital Cowboy:

Do you still love me, fat bird toy?

Assessing Ashcroft

As I previously stated, former Attorney General John Ashcroft was on campus last night. Newton, I apologize for not getting back to you regarding the ticket. Ashley the Blue Raider went with me.

She wanted to take a picture of the one protester outside Ingram Hall. No one could read her sign because it was dark and written with a sharpie marker. Kudos to her for standing up for her beliefs.

Ashley took notes. Maybe she will post them on her myspace blog. If you do - link it here, Ashes. I should have live-blogged it but my lap top is not working. So on to the lecture...

1) John Ashcroft is a funny man. I mean it. He has a very personable, likeable style and presentation that made it enjoyable to listen to.. even if you don't really like him.

2) No hecklers veto - bonus!

3) The hippies in front of me kept saying "he's not answering the question." Well, just because he's not answering it the way you want him to doesn't mean he isn't answering the question.

4) Best moment of the night - Ashcroft delivers the smack down on a smug student who thought she was morally superior when she asked her question about what he thought of other countries using the death penalty such as China, North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Yemen.... [applause from the anti-death penalty crowd.]

Ashcroft (rough paraphrase): Well at least they got something right. Just because they also have the death penalty doesn't mean we apply it the same way they do. We take great care in the applying the death penalty. The standard for seeking it is very high, very stringent. It isn't applied to everything. We don't make a spectacle out of the executions or put them in the public square as some of the countries you listed do. It isn't morally equivalent because of the different standards set up by each country. China also has running water. Should we get rid of that, too?

I saw a video from Afghanistan while still under Taliban rule. During a soccer match, the moral police rolled in and stopped the game to conduct a series of executions. One woman had been accused of adultery. Her husband and his family forgave her, hoping to spare her life (in accordance with Islamic law). She was still shot in the head. That is the equivalent to the state putting Tim McVeigh to death? Not quite. Now, should the US have the death penalty in general is a better question and one that should be considered carefully.

5) Religion Professor asking about Ashcroft's justification of the death penalty in light of Jesus letting the adulteress go "Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone." First, the professor kept paraphrasing Scripture 'in the spirit of' or some such statement. Ashcroft kept telling him to quote it exactly. He finally did. Ashcroft ultimate responded with a passage from Romans about the Sword of God. The professor said "The Romans didn't execute with the sword. They used the stone and the cross" and sat down to applause from the anti-death penalty crowd.

My problem with the whole exchange was that the Professor didn't acknowledge that the woman brought before Jesus was a part of a trap. If Jesus had pronounced a sentence, they would have gone to the Roman authorities since it was Rome who made the life/death decisions. That is why the Pharisees couldn't execute Jesus - they had to take him to Pilate for the actual act.

In all likelihood, this woman was pulled from her bed - not actually caught in the act of adultery as they said she was and prescribed by law. But the community knew about it and ignored it till this point. If it was in the actual act, where was the man? They are both to be punished (in this case stoned) according to Jewish law.

Jesus was pointing out the lie in their own story.. in addition to telling all of us to act with mercy and compassion. Jesus acknowledged the woman's sins and forgave them. I don't believe that Jesus was advocating a position that we just forget/forgive/let pass criminal activity.

The follow-up comment by an audience member to this discussion was that we were showing so much compassion for the guilty but where was the compassion for the victim and their family? They would never see their loved one again. Where is the justice for them? This doesn't mean that all victim's relatives are blood thirsty but if you just let the guy go, where is the justice?

6) Ashcroft asked the question: say you take a scout troop to the local prison to meet the warden and talk about crime and punishment (hoping to scare the youth straight). The warden has a pistol. An escapee breaks in and shoots the warden. He then turns his gun on the scouts. How long do you wait before picking up the warden's gun to shoot the escapee? He said that he has friends who would never pick up the gun and that he can respect that belief.

As for me: if those close to me or I am threatened, I shoot first.

Update: I thought of more stuff he talked about.

7) State Attorney General Paul Summers was there. He didn't say anything though.

8) He stated that - at the Federal level - one is more likely to get the death penalty if you are white than Hispanic or Black. There are multiple reviews along the way and checks in the process. The Federal government provides for 2 attorneys for the accused. He said there were those arguing that more women should get the death penalty because over 90% of those who received the death penalty were men, that they should be proporinate to the population. [OK...] He thought that was just stupid because most of the crimes that merit the death penalty are committed by men.

Update #2: Here's the article in the Vanderbilt paper about it with some good quotes.

Recycling

From this week's Nashville Scene sex issue: Bondage Unmasked.

They talked about this before... in 1999.

Yes, this is a part of my deep dark past. About the same time, I spent time off and on at the dungeon described in the 1999 article. Didn't participate, however. It has been said that I would make a great professional dominatrix. That would mean I have to get over my utter distaste for submissive males. And... I just can't do that. Even if it meant making $100 an hour. Blech.

I may still have it but I have a draft of a post on the psychology of the submissive buried somewhere based off of Vox Day's random discussion of the Gor novels by John Norman a few months back. I may post it if I still have it.

Bet you didn't see that coming, huh? Heh.

Happy Birthday to the Blog

The Scratching Post is 3 years old today.

So very ancient.

In 3 years, I've attempted to cover politics, fashion, pop culture, Survivor and other reality TV shows, and the random crap I hear on the street.

Thanks for reading, y'all. I know there are many many places to hang out online. I'm thrilled that you spend part of your day here.

Your "Chicken Little" Report

Get ready, Nashville! The sky’s gonna fall...

My mom said this in an e-mail just now: “I have had the TV on local stations this morning, and one might get the idea that snow was the great earthquake of the century. The stations are breaking in on programming, scrolls ongoing. Better make sure that I have igloo-making supplies!”

And bread, milk, and eggs. Yes, all good Nashvillians know that you must rush out pronto and purchase these items as soon as the dreaded four-letter S-word raises its ugly head in a weather broadcast. Because nothin’ says lovin’ like French toast when you’re holed up in the house against the 2-inch snow accumulation…

I wonder if the local reporters will report live from the snow showers. “Yes, Demetria, I just talked to a snowflake, and the snow is apologizing for being a couple of hours late. They promise to show up right on Bill-Hall time the next go-round.”

Don't Be Modest

Elena sparked this post but it isn't her fault. We were doing one of the things we do best recently - shopping - and she said something about a shirt she liked and wearing it over another piece to make it more modest. I think I agreed with her because the scoop on the neckline was a little low to wear to the work-place but other than that, it was a cute top.

Now, before everyone has a heffer, I am not saying women should dress like skanky ho's. I don't need to see anybody's naughty bits... or a hint of their naughty bits. You have them. I have them. We all know this. Cover them up, please. And for crying out loud - it is WAY too cold for that short of a skirt.

What I am saying is that the word "modest" and attaching it to clothing makes me cringe. There is a whole modest-dressing movement that seems to wear turtle-necks and ankle-length skirts like a badge of honor. I've poked at them before (ladiesagainstfeminism.com is a personal favorite of mine when I need a good laugh - prarie rats.. er.. muffins.. of the future! Let's all dress up like Laura Engels! That will be so cool!).

Modest doesn't equal frumpy in just the same way fashionable doesn't equal almost naked.

Not... all... that... bright...

On my way to lunch yesterday, I happened across a group of students watching one of the campus hawks having lunch. Well, still killing his lunch - a big, fat squirrel.

This young lady was throwing rocks at the hawk because "the squirrel is still alive!"

PK wanted to say (but was sooooooooooo close to saying but didn't for fear of someone figuring out that I work in that building just down the way):

"What? Do you think pelting him with rocks is going to make him give up his meat eating ways and go vegan? That he will stop hunting and shop at Wild Oats instead? Have you stopped watching Style long enough to see what happens on the Discovery Channel? It is called the food chain, dear. Hawks and other birds of prey do us a favor by killing disease carrying rodents like rats and squirrels. Yes. Squirrels are rodents - they just have better outfits. If you don't like watching nature happen, keep walking."

Happy Baby!!!!

Erik of Emunda and SpunkyPunkyGirl just had their first baby, a son, last Thursday!

Yay! Congratulations and God bless!

The Super (Boring) Bowl

Phone coversation last night:

Elena: I can't believe I beat you to getting a post-game analysis up! You didn't even have a draft of something.
PK: Yeah. I was going to write something about how we came up with all this blog-worthy stuff during the game but didn't write it down so now I've forgotten it. But I decided that I wouldn't do that, because that's just cheesy.

This morning:

Call me Cheesy McCheese.

Really. The game didn't get good until sometime in the 3rd quarter. I was sitting there looking at my cookbooks, trying to decide which ones I was going to bring with me when I moved. And the commercials really weren't that good. I know---we probably expect too much. But dang, y'all!! Jessica Simpson singing her crappy-turd version of "These Boots Were Made for Walking" re-made into "These Bites Were Made for Poppin'" has permanently damaged my ears. I should sue.

Bueller? Didn't someone get the memo over there at Pizza Hut that the Dukes of Hazzard movie sucked? That doing something as a faux tie-in well after the movie bombed at the theater and came out on DVD is... well... you know... uh... so 5 minutes ago? Bueller? You're late.

We snacked. We viewed. I blogged it.

The Super Bowl adventures of PK, Duke Diva, and Elena found here

People should not be afraid of their governments....

Governments should be afraid of their people. - V for Vendetta (trailer from the Super Bowl).

It makes me all warm and fuzzy.

Announcement! One Ticket Available

Former Attorney General John Ashcroft will be speaking at VU on Feb. 13 (that's a Monday evening). The topis is the Death Penalty.

I have another ticket. Would anyone be interested in going? If so reply here (be sure to include an email address) or send me an email.

More information is available here.

Or you can get your own starting Monday.

Funny Signs

The guys at Team Swap found a uh... interesting Subway sign and have a caption contest going on.

Heh. Good find y'all.

Elena made a funny

Office Perfumes

Best Potential Captioning Photo Ever

I think this needs little introduction.... other than to say I laughed. I cried. I blogged it.