BUCKLE YOUR SEATBELT

Ready for a little stream of consciousness today, kids?

It all started with another *$&#^% sinus migraine yesterday morning. Now I know I keep kvetching about them, but I thought I had finished these in my 20's. Nope. Looks like they are here to stay. At about 4pm I decided to stop stuffing stuff up my nose and to stop popping the Sudafed and Tylenol like m&m's and I hit the sleigh bed for a nap. Miraculously, I awoke with the headache gone and I felt rather clear-headed for the first time in a month. So I have decided to do nothing. Maybe all the medicine was giving me rebound headaches? I mean, I'm not a doctor (I just play one on TeeVee), but I think the cure was worse than the curse.

So I sat down to watch my boyfriend Brian Williams after having a lovely bowl of soup for supper, when what did I see but Maria Bartaromo on the floor of the NYSE. Normally this wouldn't be news, but as Maria reports that the economy is ridiculously bad and that we are all going to end up on the streets and that the economic world is coming to an end, there are people behind her with COCKTAILS AND HORS D'OEUVRES in hand having a cocktail party. A COCKTAIL PARTY. ON THE FLOOR OF THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE IN THE MIDST OF THE WORSE ECONOMIC CLIMATE SINCE THE GREAT DEPRESSION.

So I did what any normal outraged citizen would do. I picked up the phone and called NBC Universal right there in New York City (after having a fabulous conversation with the directory assistance operator) and expressed my....um....disappointment. I'll be sure to watch tonight to see if Brian Williams comments on the "nut from Indiana who ranted and raved about a cocktail party going on while Rome was burning , etc. etc." but I won't hold my breath.

Then after very careful consideration, I decided that I am taking Crazy Aunt Purl's advice and not participating in the recession. Nope. Not going to read/listen to/discuss or agonize over the state of things. And right after I made this decision I heard on the BBC that a professor at Oxford discovered that the NEWS of the recession was actually making it worse, i.e., people are so scared that they are not spending or saving or investing or innovating. So I'm out, kids. I'm not going to buy an island or a private jet just yet, but I am NOT going to let the bastards get me down. I'm going to be careful and watch what I spend, but I'm going to keep patronizing local businesses and living my life as best I can without the news that the sky is about to fall right on my big fat head. So I guess what I should have REALLY ranted to NBC about was the fact that I wasn't invited to the party. What I did instead was call back and say "Nevermind" on their answering maching.

Then Aunt Chrissy called to tell me that she has just received a needlework catalogue and there are several charts therein that look amazingly like those of our favorite girl designer's work. So today when I received my copy, I saw it too, and got very peeved about this subject in general. Now I'm all for being inspired by someone else's work, and I can imagine that there are only so many themes that one can use when designing needlework. But when your designs are practically identical to a sister designer's and you make no mention of it (or hope that we won't notice), I think this is bad form. See, we respect your copyrights and greatly appreciate the work that goes into creating and publishing new things (which we demand on a regular basis), but it makes me sad that one's "brand" is not protected in a creative art form. So why not come up with new stuff on your own, or at least say that you are offering the piece as an homage' to Designer X. Wouldn't that be a nice thing to do?

I started Season Seven of The West Wing and I'm a little bummed. Most of the episodes are on the campaign trail, and I much prefer to see the inner workings of the White House. I do, however, wholly endorse Jimmy Smits for president. Hubba hubba. What ever happened to Jimmy Smits? Or, for that matter, Benjamin Bratt? Can't a girl get a little love on a cold winter's night? Where are you boys hiding yourselves these days? (And yes, in case you were wondering, I am fully aware that my one-true-love boyfriend Chef Robert Irvine His Very Self is headed back to Dinner Impossible. Woo Hoo! Now where did I put my lipstick?)

Stitching last night was on the background of the birds. I have decided to do a slanted gobelin stitch in #3 perle cotton. When you look at the pic, you will notice that I started on the OUTSIDE of the purple border, which seems kinda nuts. Well, there are actually two reasons for me doing this: a) when finishing needlepoint into a pillow you need to have a couple of rows of extra stitching on the edges and b) I think I'm going to try to couch a purple ribbon for that border and I want it to nestle down into the white perle cotton. Woo hoo, aren't I just getting jiggy with it? Although very boring, I think I will continue to plug away on the background to see if I can finish it up before Friday night. Then, methinks it's time to pull out something new.

OH!!!!! One of my lovely commenteers mentioned that she clicked on my photograph and was able to see my stitching up close and all personal like. WHY DIDN'T I REALIZE THAT THIS WAS EVEN POSSIBLE? If I knew that y'all were able to actually SEE my craptastic stitching, I would never have posted pictures at all. Yikes...its' like having somebody seeing the crumbs under your kitchen table...know what I mean?

That's the rant for today. Thanks for stopping by! Please don't feel too bad that I'm over caffeinated and tilting at windmills...it's actually good for me to get a little hepped up about something every now and then.

Oh, and if I've offended anybody out there, I'm truly sorry. Not my intent at all. If I want to offend you, I'll do it right to your face. I promise. So please don't be mad and come back real soon!