Bad Blogger

Okay, I admit it. I've been remiss. I haven't blogged and I'm ashamed. It isn't because I don't have things to say... I'm just lazy. But here I am, unemployed, waiting to start school again... and I'm going to do better. I SWEAR.


Now the problem is, I can't POSSIBLY blog about everything that has had an effect on my life in the last 6 months... and there really has been oh so much. So here is a list of things that I would talk about if I had been blogging all this time.


#1 - Amy Ray's new CD - Didn't It Feel Kinder is a work of art. The more I listen, the more I want to sit down with her and just talk things over. My favorite is "Bus Bus". And the publicity that she is getting is amazing. I get at least 5 google alerts on her a day. If I could say one thing to Amy Ray, it would be this: "Please - in the name of all that is holy - play Washington DC or Baltimore on your promotional tour... I'm dying to see your solo show." So yeah, there you go.

By the way - she looks like my girlfriend in this picture AND I'm not just saying that because I want it to be true - I've heard it said by way too many other people for it not to be true.

#2 - I stumbled onto Rachel Maddow by accident one night. I was skipping through the channels one night, and there she was - sitting in for Keith Olberman. The gay-dar went off of course - even in make-up this girl is obviously a lesbian. So of course, I was mezmerized and made it my goal to learn everything about her that I could. Not two days later (and quite coincidentally) my good friend Katie (a much more superior blogger than myself) posted about Rachel. And now the news has come out (no pun intended) that Rachel is getting her own show on MSNBC. Let me tell you - Rush Limbaugh is thrilled. I would give you the link to his quote, but I don't want to promote his website in ANY WAY...so to save you that agony, I'll just throw it in here

"There's our buddy Dan Abrams, by the way, the last voice you heard there. Again,
he's been replaced by Rachel Maddow, or will be, in early September. He's losing
his show to somebody with more testosterone than he has. It's just a shame."

Ick... I need a shower.

And finally ....

#3 - It is everyone's civic duty to go out and get - AND THEN READ - this book:

Yes, that is Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. It will change the way that you look at your food forever (but not in that gross way like Skinny Bitch). Think you are being socially responsible by eating tofurky at Thanksgiving? Think again!

More later.

Up on the Watershed

Okay, I'm going to say it. I think it is slightly sneaky and unoriginal, and well...shitty, that k.d. lang has named her new album Watershed. It's not like Emily Saliers and the Indigo Girls have a copyright on the word, but it just seems wrong that the more commercially successful lang is...yeah, I'll say it... stealing Watershed from Saliers. What's her deal? She can't think of her own cool, at the crossroads of life motto? Seriously, k.d.? Where's your loyalty? And when the songs from this album end up on crappy-ass adult contemporary radio, will it somehow eclipse the original? Well, not in my eyes..but it still seems wrong somehow. It irks me. I'm irked.

I'm worried about Emily Saliers. She's sick, and the Indigo Girls have been canceling concerts left and right. I'm disappointed that I won't be seeing them tonight in Richmond, but mostly I'm just worried about Emily. I think it would be hard to be on the road, never sleeping in your own bed, and miserably sick. [I also have a secret fear that an experience like that will cause her to throw up her hands, say "enough" and walk away from touring...but banish the thought!]. But here's hoping she finally has the time to recover and that the rescheduled Richmond show is on a night when I can go.

I've got your back, Emily.

Indigo Lyrics of the Week (or month, or whatever, I just like this song)

"And it's alright if you hate that way, hate me cause I'm different, hate me cause I'm gay
Truth of the matter come around one day so it's alright
I look at this lifeline stretched way all across my hand
I look at the burned out empty like a plague across the land
And for everything I learn there are two I don't understand
That's why I'm still on a search through the weather strewn church I'm doing the best
I can and it's alright...

And it's alright though I feel afraid my plans in pieces my plans mislaid
It's the will of the way the will of the way the will of the only way
that could have brought me here today and it's alright."

It's Alright - Emily Saliers

New Years Resolutions...

Okay, so I've decided to post my resolutions. My strategy for doing this is two-fold: a) If I put them on paper (digitally speaking) then I will own those resolutions for myself - I can't say that I didn't know what I wanted; b) I will have others keeping tabs on me... which just out of pride and stubbornness will hopefully spur me forward towards fulfilling said resolutions. SO - here they are!

Liz's Resolutions for 2008!!

Financial (hey, I didn't say they would all be exciting) -
1) Pay down credit card bills
2) Get my interest rates lowered on my credit cards
3) Look for other ways to build and strenghten my credit
4) Create a savings account and actually put money into it

Health-
1) Stick to a vegetarian diet, including eating VERY little dairy and VERY little sugar
2) Do the Couch-to-5K Running Plan
3) Do strength training 3 times a week
4) By the Fall of 2008 I want to be physically fit enough to join/participate in this group (in particular, I want to learn how to rock climb and I want to do a bike trip and a canoe trip (yeah, I know... that's not that "particular")

Personal-
1) Take more time for reading
2) Learn how to make patterns and sew my own clothes
3) Create a career website for Women in the for-profit and non-profit sectors
4) Blog more (hehe.... *gulp*)
5) Take the time from school and work to attend at least 2(!) Pride Festivals and at least 3 (but hopefully more) Indigo Girls concerts
6) Find some honest-to-goodness friends to be my urban family
7) Find a way to bring the LGBT community in Frederick and surrounding areas together

Professional -
1) Take the job that I have now and try to put some creative spins on it to make it more interesting
2) Figure out what it is that I REALLY want to do for a living and create myself a path to get there

Alright, I've laid it all out there. Any comments or words of encouragement would be greatly appreciated.

Paula Deen's voice makes me want to vomit....and other ramblings.

1. I don't understand the love affair that America has with Paula Deen. Her voice grates on me to the point that I feel nauseated. It's a mix of a headcold, the south, and a purring cat. Ick.
2. I also hate George W. Bush's voice. Now I realize a great deal of the reason for this dislike could be my utter contempt for everything he believes in, but his accent is so infuriating. We are from the same place (except, of course, he has an Ivy League education and I don't), but my voice is fairly innocuous, with just a hint of an accent when I get mad or get around too many Texans, while he sounds like the guy that works down the street at the gas station.
3. I love how wine tastes, but it makes my feet feel hot.
4. Can anyone tell me the difference between Andy Williams and Tony Bennett? Which one sings "Moon River"? I love that song.
5. If Oprah is going to go all over the country campaigning and may be the only person that could single handedly swing the vote, why doesn't she just run for president herself?
6. Blue lights are my favorite color for Christmas lights. Even though blue isn't a traditional Christmas color, they still give me the most Christmasy feeling.
7. I love Alan Alda - I think that the tall and skinny Hawkeye Pierce is still the sexiest man on television.
8. Come to think of it, I like tall guys in general. CJ from Top Chef was by FAR my favorite chef of the season. Although I really liked Sandee, too - her fauxhawk was adorable.
9. Girls with fauxhawks are hot.
10. Girls with guitars and fauxhawks are really hot.

1-2-3-4

Feist is Numero Cinco (that's 5, people) on PopCandy on USATODAY.com. I have been lovin' this song on the ipod commercials, but I the entire video is the coolest thing since OkGO danced on treadmills. And oh, I wish I looked that good in a blue-sparkle cat suit.

Oh, it's that label discussion again.

I'd like to begin this post by clarifying that I am NOT an expert when it comes anything. I tend to be humble, I don't ever want people to think that I am full of myself. But I have to admit something, I have a damn good girl-gaydar. I can spot a lez a mile away. It is so finely attuned (and has been throughout my adult years) that for the longest time, I thought other people were just being stupid when they couldn't see that someone was so CLEARLY in the family. I always thought "HOW CAN THEY BE SO BLIND??"

In no way do I condone judging someone by her appearance (that of course is meant as a disclaimer since I am about to discuss how I judge people by their appearances). The clothes someone wears, the way she styles her hair, that is all fluff (but a good indicator to look closer). I see gay - let me rephrase - I see queer ;) in the way a woman walks, or stands, or reacts to a surpise. There is a dash of discomfort (I don't fit into my own body or I feel out of place, like I don't belong) mixed with a subtle hint of "fuck you, I'll be whoever I want to be." YA know what I mean? And of course, there are other little hints - body language and tone of voice that reveal attraction to other women around them. OH, and soooo many lesbians wear man pants...what's with the man pants, ladies???? Okay, sorry, I get upset about the man pants.

I've often wondered how I came to have this amazing power... and it's frustrating because once I spot a live one, I secretly admonish myself for making a judgement from appearance alone. It's a Catch 22 (and perhaps, also, an indicator of some sort of mental disorder, but moving on...)

I have to admit, when I was in the middle of my "Am I really gay" drama, I put a lot of stock in my girl-gaydar, I felt that it was somehow a sign to me that YES! You're GAY (ya know, like only gay people have gayday, so I must be gay...). But to tell you the truth, it isn't clear. I think there are so many people that are...for lack of a better word... fluid. They might live as a straight person, or live as a gay person, or sleep with anyone, regardless of anatomy. And that is FINE with me. So why...WHY... do I insist on putting a label on someone (even if it is just in my head)? Am I just looking for common ground? A possible future date? I don't know, it's tricky.

UPDATE: like right now, there is a lesbian on Jeopardy! She seems like she'd be cool, even if she doesn't know what the largest island in the pacific is.