here you have it

t-day

t is for turkey. unless you're a vegetarian, in which case t stands for vegetables.

the week leading up to thanksgiving was a bit of a blur. with preparations for the t-day feast, preparations for abby's incoming family, and new touchups to my tattoo, i can't believe the whole thing has come and gone without so much as an ever so slightly increased sense of impending doom.

the menu:
mashed sweet potatoes
roasted red potatoes, carrots, and parsnips
homemade challah bread
green bean cassarole
homemade cranberry sauce
the obligatory turkey (for the meat-eaters)
no-meat stuffing (yay and yum!)
one homemade apple pie
one pumpkin pie
three bottles of wine
and (most importantly) a table full of friends

this year was the first year i've had anything at all to do with the cooking of the meal. generally i cook things that come with directions, and even then it always gets burned or singed. generally i still eat what i cook. but dinner guests? thanksgiving dinner? in my kitchen? with vegetables? eek! with abby's mom safely in charge of the beast, and the pies and the bread baked the night before, all that was left was the veggies. everything made it to the table hot and right on time. i couldn't believe how much time and ingredients and love went in to so much delicious food, or how quickly it was devoured.

seriously, the food was freaking awesome. so were the pies, which we continued to make snacks out of (along with some ice cream) for the next 2 days.

for the first time since, well, since i can remember, i was excited about food. i had taken such a part in the preparation of the stuff (real food, not condensed and dried crap in a box) that i truly couldn't wait to taste what i had created. it helped that most of the veggies were my starchy favorites, but still, i had this overwhelming feeling of goodness about eating that i've never felt before. even dessert felt somehow extra special.

well-fed, loved, warm, happy, content.

quote of the day:
"why can't they tweak their *own* nipples?"

huh.

it's hard to be bitter
about the things
that make my stomach turn
when i'm this in love.

littlepuma

so my cat has her own live journal thing now. she can be kindof abrasive sometimes, so if she's rude please bear with her. she's a cat. if you scold her, she'll just pout.

in other news: i went to minnesota this weekend to visit my family. ended up helping build the roof of my cousin's garage. in all honesty, i was totally excited. i realized just how much i miss doing things like yardwork and neighborhood construction. i finally had a real reason to wear a tool belt, and even came home with a lovely black and purple bruise on my leg as a testament to my work. maybe someday i'll get some experience and volunteer for habitat for humanity or something as such.

i'm feeling particularly drifty today. maybe it's the rain. maybe it's the list of things to be done that never really goes away. maybe the poles are shifting.

itunes is on random.

random is the tune of the day.

i can see through your clothes

wow. with all of the election day hullabaloo, and pesd (post election stress disorder), i completely forgot to post about national radiologic technologist week! damnit! it was my week, MY WEEK! abby even reminded me several times, and i still couldn't muster up the motivation to post about anything other than our impending civil war.

so anyway, in the article abby posted, it says that airports are considering using low energy level x-rays to see through peoples' clothes to look for metal objects. well, duuuuuuh. of course x-rays can "see" through clothes. x-rays inherently charge right through most materials like it ain't no thang. the thing that does scare the bejeezuz out of me, though, is that now all of those dumb-ass tsa people will be in charge of radiating people and not just luggage. radiation physics says that an x-ray of lower "power" (kVp) may actually cause your tissue more damage than higher kVp x-rays. the low energy ones don't have what it takes to make it all the way through your entire body (which is why you don't see bones and other body structures on the images in the article) and therefore have to be dealt with in some way by your body's tissues. although, at a low enough dose to make these images, that tissue would probably be your skin, causing no more damage than an average day at the beach. probably. still, i shudder at the thought of being x-rayed by anyone who hasn't taken proper radiation instruction. shoe salesmen used to x-ray peoples' feet inside shoes to ensure a proper fit until it was realized that x-rays are ionizing radiation and cause cancer. but i guess it's ok to increase peoples' risk of malignant disease for the sake of freedom.

it totally blows my mind how people can freak out about radiation exposure when i'm taking x-rays of their spine in the trauma room after they've just totalled their car, and then they turn around at the airport and say things like: "i don't mind if the pictures are a little more personal as long as I'm safe in air -- that's what matters." does this person ralize that she's just been radiated? it's not "personal," it's RADIATION! basically, people are willing to let idiots radiate their tissue for the sake of false security. the orthopedic surgeons at the hospital where i work don't effectionately call our x-ray machines "gonad guns" for no reason.

oh, and by the way, incase you haven't put it together yet: these x-rays units are designed to visualize your soft tissues and only your soft tissues. think of removing all of your body hair and covering yourself in nothing but a very thin and even coat of white powder and parading around in front of tsa agents. friendly skies, indeed.

seeing things?

i've seen this picture more than once while perusing the news in the last few days.

is it just me, or does it remind you of something? maybe...

please tell me that mainstream media isn't trying to spin gw as our savior. i find few things more disturbing.

here is one of them:

even hitler was democratically elected.

so where do we go from here?

... so ... angry ...

my head can't decide whether it wants to explode or implode.

ignorance has taken over. and they actually won this time. the bush administration has proven that lies and ignorance can win the race after all.

a *very slight* majority of people in this country voted yesterday to overturn roe v wade and to amend the constitution of this *free* country to *ban* people from marrying whoever they want.

freedom, huh?

listening to: rage against the machine and ethan miller
(not at the same time)

e-day

i can hardly stand it. it's finally here. election day. maybe it's because i've only just started really paying attention to politics in the last 5 years or so, but it seems like this could be the most important election of my lifetime.

remember, folks:

YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO VOTE. anyone who says otherwise is a terrorist. if you get hassled by ANYONE, even if they look official, especially if they look official, you should write down their name and call the ELECTION PROTECTION LINE AT 1-866-OURVOTE IMMEDIATELY.

so what are you waiting for? GO!