Craigslist scams [updated]
I just nearly fell for one of these scams running around Craigslist and eBay. Thankfully, I managed to recall the package in time. Basically, I posted something on Craigslist, was offered more than I was asking along with an additional $100 for shipping the item to Nigeria. Yeah, I know, this should have been my first clue. I received an email stating that I had received payment through PayPal. It looked very authentic.
I urge every one to always check the actual PayPal site before believing any e-mail purporting to be from PayPal. Also, when dealing with Craigslist, always, always deal locally. One more thing I’ve learned, never send any merchandise to Nigeria! After looking through various posts on forums all over the net, there are various scams for regular folks selling stuff online.
If this helps even one person out there from falling for this type of scam, then it was worth my learning it the hard way.
***Update: I was able to get the item back before it left the country. I posted it again on Craigslist and the next day someone tried the same thing again! Suffice to say I didn’t fall for it a second time. Just remember, be careful!
Election Anxiety
Whether you are rooting for Obama or McCain, we all have to admit to some level of anxiety about this election. I get a quesy feeling in my stomach every time I think that my candidate may still not win. I read an article on MSNBC recently where a woman was quoted as saying if her candidate did not win, it would be like “a death.” My initial reaction was one of shock and then “oh come on!” Then I started thinking about it more in the last few days, and I think I understand.
That is exactly how I would feel! I have invested so much of myself into this race emotionally, keeping track of the news online, on radio shows like The Rachel Maddow Show and The Ron Reagan Show on Air America, on TV with the Today Show on NBC, Anderson Cooper 360 on CNN, The Rachel Maddow Show and Countdown with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC, reading the news online on MSNBC.com, Huffington Post and Newsweek. I am surrounding and immersing myself in the news right now. I have had to suspend political conversations with close friends because they disagree with me, just to preserve that friendship!
I am confounded by the other side’s position and the dehuminizing or more like alienating of Obama. I am scared of the schism such tactics are creating in our nation, or perhaps not creating but more truthfully, revealing.
I have to admit to a certain level of anxiety here. Obama is ahead in polls, but that does not translate to an automatic win. McCain could still pull this out at the last minute. If you are in any of the heavily contested states, VOTE! Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Nevada, all the rest of you get out there and vote for your candidate. Do not rest on your laurels here.
That there was my way of dealing with my anxiety. Did it help? A little, but I cannot be calm until I know it is all over. I pray that there will not be another repeat of the 2000 and 2004 elections, not just because those elections gave us a Republican President but because they ushered in the beginning of a very terrible time in our history.
WIP’s!
I sat down with the Eli’s dad this weekend and ordered the fabric for her dress. I am excited! The little one is into geckos apparently, so I can stop looking for Batman/Batgirl fabric for now. I will keep an eye out for it anyway for a future project, but at least I can get to work on her Christmas present.
I cut all the fabric pieces for the second Supergirl dress and started cutting the fabric for Haley’s dress last night. I’m feeling good about finishing them all in time. I will be using the dragon fabric for my niece’s second dress from the same pattern envelope the Supergirl dress came from, so I will be cutting that dress after the gym. I hope Eli’s dress fabrics arrive in time!
I will post pictures as soon as I have something to show. Wish me luck to finish all these projects in time!
Voter Suppression: The snag pulling at the fabric of democracy
I had promised to myself that this blog would never be a political one for several reasons. One, I do not like how quickly some of those blogs with a political bent quickly degenerate into troll and flame wars in the comments; and two, because I am no expert. I feel that if one is to expound on something as serious as politics one should at least know what he/she is talking about. However, I have been in the last few months absorbed in listening to and reading about politics and the presidential race which has shaped my views and current interests in such a way that to not talk about it in this blog would be to deny myself something important.
Having said that, I want to talk about something I have hearing a great deal of lately in the liberal media shows, like The Rachel Maddow Show, Countdown with Keith Olberman on MSNBC, and The Ron Reagan Show on Air America radio, voter suppression. I have generally believed, perhaps naively, that Republicans were very much Patriots, lovers of all things American at the top of the list being Democracy, and above all the in love with the Constitution (not to say that I believed Democrats to not also love America, Democracy, the Constitution, or are unpatriotic).
I feel now that I was fooled by the party line. The RNC’s attempts to suppress minority, poor, or primarily Democratic voting districts is a suppression of democracy. Is it not the central tenet of democracy especially in the American model that the people have a vote and therefore a voice in the running of government. By keeping people from voting, no matter their political preference, is wrong. Voting is the essence of America and American democracy, and by suppressing a person’s right to vote by whatever means, that is the only thing that is “unraveling the very fabric of American democracy,” to paraphrase John McCain’s statements at the third presidential debate regarding [registration] fraud allegedly perpetuated by ACORN.
Registration fraud is indeed a problem, but there is very little evidence that it actually leads to voter fraud. This is not the big terrible problem the RNC has made it out to be. It is only an excuse, a distraction in order to continue perpetuating their terrible un-American vote suppression.
I think we can all agree who love democracy that there needs to be an easier way for every US citizen over the age of 18 to cast their vote and through that vote their voice.
Christmas Sewing Projects
So I have made the ambitious decision that I will make 4 dresses for 4 little girls ranging in age from 2 – 7 for Christmas. Now I know I can make these each in one day, if I just sit down and focus. However, I know myself and know that this isn’t my strong suit when it comes to things that confound me or rather that I don’t immediately excel at, like sewing. Anyway, I’m making a second Supergirl dress for the 6 year old, a variation of the Supergirl dress for the 7 year old with a different print and view B (purple polka dot one) from Simplicity 3512 for both the 2 and the 3 year old (hoping that cutting this out won’t be too difficult while preserving the size markers for the smaller dress). My problem arises from the fact that I also promised that one of these dresses will would be in a Batman/Batgirl print. Unfortunately, all the fabric I find related to Batman is way too boyish! I am at my wit’s end here and quickly running out of time. (November is NaNoWriMo, so that month is shot.) Can anyone help me? I did find some cute Echino Bat print fabric, but I’m not too sure on the weight of the fabric.
NaNoWriMo 2008
So I mentioned a little while ago that I had a story idea I wanted flesh out which was in part inspired by Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book. I had almost forgotten about it. However, after receiving a great bit of news from NaNoWriMo’s Chris Baty about the 2007 winners (which I was, thank you very much!), I realized that the sequel I had in mind for The Rising could take a back seat to, Betti Jo the murderess. I know the name is a terrible pun on the girl-next-door theme, but I can’t think of anything. It’s the name that fits this blonde bombshell from a tiny (and I do mean tiny), slightly sinister town who murders a boy and comes back to hide from what she’d done.
I dreamed this story up, of course. My dreams seem to be the sole origin of most of my stories lately.
Betti Jo (short for Bettina Josephine) is the darling of her small town. There’s an understanding that she will marry Luke Wilson, the son of the “wealthiest” family in town. His father owns the mechanics shop and his uncle owns the general store along with most of the plots of land in town. Betti Jo is not overly happy with the situation. She’s the only one of the kids her age in town who was allowed to attend and nearly graduate from high school. She’s smart but inexperienced. She does not understand the ways of the world outside her small town. She meets Michael, the football hero from the neighboring town. He promises her the world and then some if she would agree to run away with him. She agrees, telling her folks she was eloping with Michael. This next part is a little vague. Something happens and Betti Jo is forced to kill Michael. Police don’t find enough evidence to pursue any suspects and drop the case. Betti Jo essentially has gotten away with murder. She returns home in shame. Luke’s pride won’t let him approach her, and believing herself damaged goods or at least not good enough for Luke she avoids him. She loses the respect of the townsfolk and with it her status. She is reduced to the role of flighty and unitelligent daughter of a respected family.
Enter, David, Betti Jo’s newest conquest (at least in the eyes of the town). She was allowed to go to the community college even after the Michael Incident. She meets David there and comes home to introduce him as her fiance. The townsfolk are suspicious. David gets a feeling that there is something not quite right about the town.
This is where it takes a strange turn in my dream. The townsfolk are not quite human. I haven’t figured out how it will work in the book yet, but in my dream they are ghosts. Not all of them, just the elders.
There that’s it; the basic premise. I finally got it written/typed, so I can refer to this come November 1. Wish me luck!
Why do we enjoy tearing down Sarah Palin?
I was listening to The Rachel Maddow Show on Air America last night on my iPod, and noticed how much Maddow enjoyed talking about Troopergate, the scandal Sarah Palin is involved in in Alaska. Even after realizing that she talks about this issue too much, she could not help spouting out a few quick updates on the issue. I realized then that I and many other liberal women in the media or in politics enjoy watching Palin make a fool of herself.
I asked myself why. My first thought was that as a powerful and influential woman other women feel intimidated and want to bring her down. After thinking that through, though, I did not find that to be true, at least not in my case and I find it hard to believe in her Maddow’s case. I came to the conclusion, that as an educated woman with a left of center point of view, I find Palin’s disdain for the educated and the well prepared/informed, the “elite” if you will distasteful. Distaste, actually, does not begin to describe how that makes me feel. I feel disgusted and offended by the assertion that because someone is well educated with a healthy intellectual curiousity they are somehow elitist.
I enjoy seeing her make a fool of herself and to ridicule her for it, frankly, because it reinforces an integral belief. Those who lack intellectual curiousity, who refuse to explore the entirety of an issue or policy including the view points of those who hold an opposite opinion, are not prepared nor should they be allowed to serve the public good.
We are a nation of many colors, creeds, and opinions. We all hold political views and opinions that do not fall comfortably on the Right or the Left but somewhere in between. Palin’s and by extension the McCain campaign’s racist and divisive vitriol will not heal this nation. Palin’s ideas of otherness, of parts of the country who are anti-American is disgusting, and a huge step back in healing the rift that has appeared since George W. Bush assumed the presidency.
Enough is enough; we as women do not want to represented to the world through Sarah Palin as intellectually incurious, a puppet, or as a mouthpiece for racist and divisive rhetoric. I welcome Tina Fay’s portrayal and Rachel Maddow’s and other media pundits’ continued scrutiny of this person regardless of her gender.
The Graveyard Book
The first novel by Neil Gaiman that I have read cover to cover, The Graveyard Book, is absolutely wonderful. I read Gaiman’s Journal on a regular basis and have come to love his writing “voice”. That voice was apparent in this his latest published book. Reading about the writing process excited me and made me want to read it. When my husband spotted it at the library about a week ago, I had to bring it home. I read it in a few hours and refused to put it down even though it was after my bed time.
Bod is a curious child, craving knowledge of the world, books, and the metaphysical which is unsurprising considering he was raised by a ghost couple and a vampire, and on occasion taught by a werewolf. He is pursued his entire life by a man named Jack who was responsible for the death of his entire family when he was only a year old.
A darkly humorous coming-of-age novel, often compared to The Jungle Book, this is a must read for both children and adults whether your a fan of Gaiman’s other work or not.
This novel has definitely inspired another story, which I dreamed of last night. I will posting about that later. Perhaps it will be my NaNoWriMo contribution this year instead of a sequel to The Rising.
Al Smith Dinner
I honestly have never heard of the Al Smith Dinner until last night while watching The Rachel Maddow Show (heart!). Apparently it is tradition to invite both candidates for the presidency to this charity event with the caveat that the speeches made be funny. Both candidates had me and my husband rolling in our chairs. McCain played it straight with deadpan deliveries while Obama was laughed at his own jokes. McCain was both hilarious and warm, praising Obama’s history making career. Obama’s moments of seriousness really could not match McCain’s, but then I feel he had less to work with. Below are clips with (I hope) the entire speech from each candidate in order of appearance.
McCain:
Obama:
Presidential Debate: First Impressions
Did any of you get a chance to watch the debate? My husband and I are cracking up trying to figure out the level of condescension McCain was showing when he referred to Obama as “that one.”
I also noticed how he refused to shake hands with Obama at the end when they were both shaking hands with the audience. Obama was left trying to shake hands with Cindy McCain who had an expression of distaste as she offered her hand. See the video below for the Obama McCain “handshake.”
I thought Cindy was very cold keeping her hands behind her back while, Michelle Obama was very warm and open, shaking hands and conversing openly with the audience members.
Aside from the impressions regarding demeanor, one thing that terrified me was McCain’s health plan. Right now my company has introduced an HSA (health savings account?) health plan. Right now one of the benefits is that it is non-taxable money, a tax shelter if you will, which under McCain’s health plan would now be taxable? That is absolutely insane! Obama made a great point when he said that if we allow shopping of health plans across state lines, the insurance companies would just move to states whose laws would not be as stringent as others just like credit card companies have done now moving to Delaware.
Frankly, I cannot understand how taxing my company provided health benefits and forcing me to wait for a $5000 refund from the US government in April is supposed to help me. A tax refund?! Really?! The way I understand it, I would not see a dime of that money until I filed my tax returns in April. What if I make too much money that year or made a mistake on my W4? That “refund” would go straight to my income taxes instead of my pocket to repay me for the money I ended up spending to buy a lesser value health plan the year before.
Again a reminder, this is not normally a political blog, so I do not welcome debate or flames. Any such comments will never be seen by anyone other than myself because I moderate my comments.
