Nienna

I only have one more Aubrey & Maturin book left to read. Woe.

I'm kind of in love with Weird Fishes.

Via Slacktivist, a group of about to be evicted mobile home owners in Washington banded together and bought the land they were parked on. And then they named their new permanent home:

The experience brought neighbors together as "one big, huge family," resident Carol Calkins said.

"It's been a real joy to participate in this kind of experience," Calkins said.

Now renamed Hidden Village, it's the first in the state to benefit from a new manufactured-home program established by the state's Housing Trust Fund. The former owners are also the first to receive a tax waiver that was approved by the Legislature this year to provide more incentives for park owners to sell to residents rather than to developers.
. . .
State officials are now looking at Hidden Village as a model that can be replicated in other parts of the state. (link)

Awesome. And good on them.

If you commented on one of my last two posts and have found your comment deleted, I apologize. I thought I was in my comment inbox and was removing comments. But no, I was on the comment management page and was deleting stuff permanently. Go me.

The challenge this week was to design a day to night outfit for Brooke Shields' character on a show I've never heard of before. Lipstick Jungle, I think. It's our first team challenge of the season!

( The wrong team won )

One of my goals before I move in September was to finally pay off my credit card. Happily, I am ahead of schedule:





That feels really good.

Sometimes I'm not sure whether to chalk up my political cynicism as inborn trait or something I absorbed growing up in Washington, D.C. I'm fairly certain most people's first reaction to McCain's latest mudslinging is not to wonder what other politicians have accused their opponents of being the Anti-Christ. It can't have been the first time. Outrage came close on the heels, but still. Second reaction.

The designers had to make an outfit for the American Olympic team to wear during the opening ceremonies. (Er, not really - that's Ralph Lauren's job - theoretically.) The very easy on the eyes Apolo Ohno was the guest judge.

"There's too much drama 'cause there's too many queens around" - Joe

Shut up, Joe.

( They should test for listening comprehension )

ETA: I loved Heidi's runway top and want it for myself.

I have a strong reaction to the first chapter of this book.

( Let me show it to you )

* * *

Also, omnivorously has written an awesome crossing-dressing Tenten fic with bonus Naruto friendship.

So, chapter 411 of Naruto. Slashiest title page to date, yes? Also, Sasuke getting ignored will never stop being entertaining.

One of my college friends is in Nepal right now, doing graduate work, and she sends fat missives by email just about every week. Her most recent email made me laugh, and I don't think she'll mind if I share a bit of it with you. (Bidhata is a member of her home-stay family)

The big political news this past week has been over the newly elected Vice President, who in a fit of self-sabotage took his oath of office in Hindi rather than Nepali. This touched a nerve because of a widespread (and who knows, perhaps well-founded) belief that India would like nothing better than to annex Nepal (just look at what happened to Sikkim, people say), and so an oath in Hindi gave people the fear that the VP would sell the country out. So there have been protests all over the country, a lot of burning of effigies and tires (tire-burning being the stock idiom to publicly express outrage, though I have never been clear why). There was a quite amusing gesture made in Pokhara, though: a demonstration took up a collection of money and announced that, since the VP’s Nepali was clearly not up to the task of oath-taking, they would use the proceeds to purchase him a big-print Nepali grammar. Bidhata laughed about that for a good 15 minutes when she heard it on the radio; she ran in to tell me about it, then called everyone she could think of to share the joke.

Yes, it's Project Runway time again. Fear my going on about fashion like I actually know something about it.

( The Camera Product Placement Episode )

Happy birthday, mariebernadette! Your FST is still under construction because I get obsessive about these sort of things. I think the finished product will make you laugh.

I just went back through a year of entries on this journal and came to two conclusions. One, I really don't post a lot. And two, half the time I do post, I have no point. Self-indulgence, thy name is Nienna.

And to make this post not fall into point two, mariebernadette! You! Birthday! Did you ever come up with a fandom for a FST? You know you want one.

Jhegaala comes out tomorrow!

Via Making Light, the fantastic video: Where the Hell is Matt?. I defy anyone to watch it and not be left with a big grin on their face at the end. The song info goes by pretty quickly at the end, but you can get it here