foodie

I read an article on CNN.com today that had been posted in honor of Hunger Week that really opened my eyes. I'd always read about how beef consumption is aiding in hunger and pollution around the world, but it was always facts and figures, never real people starving, never real mothers choosing which children received rations and which ones didn't. The gist of the article was basically, "every time you eat beef, a child somewhere in the world starves to death." It didn't leave me feeling very good. Who knows, maybe this is a gross exaggeration and it's not really quite that dire. I'd rather not take my chances though, so, I am deciding to take a step that I know I should have been doing for a long time now, but never cared enough to. I'm going to cut meat out of my diet one day a week. I've chosen Saturday, because this is the day I'm most likely to eat fast food, and I'm hoping this will help curb that impulse. I love cooking and contemplating food, but I've never really considered the role it plays in a global sense. How what I put in my mouth can directly or indirectly affect people around the world that I have never, nor ever will, meet. The statistics say that if every American cut 10% of their meat consumption out of their diet, our country alone could feed the planet easily. This Saturday, I take that first step. Before, I would have considered doing this a burden and too difficult to deal with, but now, I see it as a challenge to overcome. I can do this. To paraphrase the President-Elect: "Yes I can!"

I've decided, that since the word "marriage" is now considered so sacred and precious that gay people aren't allowed to use it, then it should no longer be used in any other circumstances other than talking about a marriage of a straight man and a straight woman. So, no more describing things as "a marriage of this and that" or "all the flavors marry together well", that's apparently a sacrilege. Somehow, though "all the flavors domestic partnership together well" just doesn't have that same flow to it...Ah well, maybe some day we'll get to use the word again...

I've just seen pictures of a new planet they've found a kajillion miles away. It really makes you see the wonder and majesty of this universe, and how vast it truly is, and how minuscule our planet really is in the midst of all of it. And then I think about this fighting and arguing about letting gay people marry in our country. I'm just struck at the ridiculousness of it all. It's all so stupid. I guess it takes moments like these to give a person new perspective on it all.

It's 8:15pm on November 4, 2008, and I have already used up a second tissue to wipe away the tears as I celebrate the election of Barack Obama.  I have wanted this for so long and it feels so good to have it happen.  I know that not everything will change overnight, and not all of it may ever be completely fixed.  But this is a start.  A watershed moment in our country and I took part in it.  I was there to watch it.  What a great day...

I'd like to take just a minute of your time to remind all of you to get out and vote tomorrow.  We all have a wonderful chance to usher in a new era in American history.  Please take advantage of this and participate.  To help inspire you, here are a few lyrics from a popular movie:

Well after a few months of not writing a single thing, but continuing with my researching and doing things like creating a huge list of surnames, I finally wrote something.  My goal was to attempt NaNo again this year, but I don't think I can handle that pressure.  After each paragraph or two I write I have to stop and do some more researching, it's very slow-going.  I want to work on the writing though, but I'm feeling super overwhelmed at it all.  I just don't know where to start, or how to do it.  It's all so much harder than I first thought it would be. 

So, I started a piece, and managed to expand it quite a bit, and then it sort of fizzled, went nowhere.  I'd love feedback on it, and any suggestions on how to improve it or thoughts on how I could continue the piece.  Thanks!

( Zarik )

Why don't they make these most awesome theme songs anymore?  Can you just imagine what they'd come up with for Obama or McCain?  Sigh...I miss those good old days I never lived through.  Can one miss something they never experienced?


Text here

I must admit that this is the first presidential election I have really payed attention to on a daily basis.  I have always studied up enough to choose a candidate, but I've never really watched the news or read the papers about all of this stuff.  Is it a normal thing to question the readiness of a candidate?  One of the biggest "issues" the Republican party has against Obama is what they think is a lack of experience.  But the problem is, nobody who's never been president has presidential experience.  Unless you were a VP before running, you really can't claim to have any true presidential experience.  Is this something that has always been and I've never noticed before, or is this one of those codes the party is using?  I've been hearing about these "codes", which are words used to substitute blatantly racist terms, but which have the same meaning.  I wish there was a way to find out about this.

So, after last night's debate, I have come to see McCain in a new light.  I think he knows he's not going to win this election, no matter what he does.  So that anger we see when he's on tv, is the anger of a person who sees his dreams dying before his very eyes, and who is helpless to stop it.  Think about it, he's 72 now.  In four year he'll be 76, there's no way a person that old would be elected.  This is his one and only chance, and now it's slipping away from him.  It is sad, for him.  Not that I think he should be elected just cuz it would be nice for him, but I see his situation differently now.

So, last night's debate wasn't nearly as much fun as I had hoped it would be.  I got bored with each candidate about 30 seconds into each response.  Neither seemed to sound very coherent.  Or maybe it was the fact that I was reading one of my message boards at the same time.  Who knows. 

Good things for both sides:  Caribou Barbie managed to speak in full sentences.  Biden did the same.  He also did nothing to embarass himself too much, nor can he be accused of sexism or anything along those lines. 

Bad things for both sides:  Biden needs to learn to focus better when he speaks.  He actually does know what he's talking about, but it gets lost in the babbling.  Barbie tried too hard to relate to "Joe Sixpack" and the "Soccer Moms" of America.  Way too much of the "Golly gee willikers!" and dropping the "g" at the end of her words.  It just makes her sound uneducated, which if that's who she was appealing to, it would work, but call me classist or elitist, but I want somebody very well educated, and who sounds like it, running my country.

But those of us who are already decided, don't really gain much from these debates.  They won't sway us to the other side.  It's all about the Undecideds now.  This election depends on which way they'll vote in a month.  Those are the statistics to look out for and monitor.

A beautiful human being has passed away today.  I never knew him from the movies as much as I knew him from his food company.  A great actor, a great humanitarian, a great person.  Another one lost to cancer...just too many...

So, with crusty old McCain in the running for the presidency, the Republican party had to do something to enliven the party. Something to show, they're hip, and with it. So, they did what any other good sitcom does, they brought in somebody newer, cuter, and sassier. The Cosby Show brought in Olivia; Growing Pains, Family Ties, All in the Family, they all did this. When the original kids get to old, bring in newer ones to keep the show going. So, I have decided that this is why the Republican Party is like the Brady Bunch. Because Sarah Palin is the Cousin Oliver of that party. In which case, said party has truly jumped the barracuda bulldog pig shark...

So today's lesson is about the American political system, for those of you who may not be familiar with it.  We've enjoyed the "fun" that was the conventions, but now they're over.  What now, you may ask.  This is the phase after the conventions, but before the debates.  This is the super duper fun time that we get to listen to the candidates on TV as they whine and cry about who said what about who that hurt their feelings.  Each side tries to show themselves as the bigger victim.  You see, most Democrats and Republicans already know who they're going to vote to, so this is the time both sides pander to the undecideds.  These are the ones who will actually elect the next president.  So, by the time the election comes, we will all look at both parties, and decide which one conducted themselves in a way that disgusted us less than the other party, and vote for that party.  And this is how the President of the United States is elected!

But humble, ever so humble...

I just wrote this out now, cuz I was hit with inspiration somehow.  Maybe Divine inspiration, who knows...

Bible scenes Right-wing Style:

Jesus heals a blind man

22 They came to Bethsaida and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him.  23 He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village.  “Why do you beg for healing?” Jesus asked, “Why don’t you have a job?  If you had a job you could afford proper health care and not need to ask for handouts from others.”  But Jesus took pity on the man.  When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?”
24 He looked up and said, “I see people; and they look like trees walking around.”
25 Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes.  Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.  26 Jesus sent him home saying, “Go, and now that you can see, you are a valued member of society.  You can get a job and help support your family so that you no longer burden them or your community.”      

Scary thought huh?  If the Bible was written the way Right wing folks actually speak and act...

So I'm home today, trying to not get a cold and catching up on some much-needed sleep.  I'm eating lunch and watching coverage of the Democratic National Convention, aka the DNC.  They're talking about former Clinton supporters who are still so bitter they refuse to support Obama and are planning on voting for McCain instead.  I can't help but think to myself, WTF!!??  What is wrong with these people?  They would actually let a case of sour grapes undermine all they supposedly believe in and fought for?  These so-called women's rights activists and human rights activists would actually rather vote for a man who would do his best to repeal a woman's right to choose what to do with her body, outlaw same sex marriages, and continue fighting this crappy war, rather than vote for a person they didn't support at first?  Are you kidding me?  Idiots!  Grow the hell up! 

Oh, and if this is you and I've totally just insulted you?  Let me try and say this as nicely and politely as possible:  I don't care!  Think about what you're doing with your vote and the repercussions it could have.  If you truly vote for John McCain in this presidential race, and you're a Democrat, then you are doing your gender a disservice.  If he's elected, and suddenly you see abortion's rights being chipped away at, keep your damn mouth shut and know that it's your own stupid fault.

And now, I'm done venting.

What do you think? As an adult Ginny Potter, nee Weasley?

Which is apparently what I just wrote.  Inspired by Elf's post and the responses.  I couldn't resist.


Draco’s Amor

A ficlet, in which Draco falls in love with somebody you might not expect…

Warnings:  This fic contains scenes of bloodletting and BDSM.

This fic contains character death.

This fic contains anger and characters playing footsies.

This fic contains a snake.

This fic contains Draco wearing Gryffindor-colored clothing.

This fic contains rats, bugs, and monkeys.

A puppy is kicked in this fic.

Improper use of English grammar is used in this fic.

This story takes place in modern-day New York and Draco is actually American in this fic.

Harry is not in this fic.

This fic contains a female character who does not shave her legs.  Read at your own discretion.

Sweeney Todd makes a surprise appearance in this fic, with his razors.  Be warned.

This fic may or may not take place on an island in the Indian Ocean and there may or may not be a hatch with a button that has to be pressed every couple hours.

Draco sings Broadway showtunes in this fic while in the shower.

Draco visits a farm and touches a cow in this fic.  He is also chased by a chicken.

Enough with the warnings already…and now, on with the fic!


Draco had always known he was a little bit different.  He woke up in his Manhattan loft and looked out the window to see---Oh damn, I ran out of paper to write this…Oh well…

And he lived happily ever after.
The End

In spite of my ear hurting, which sucks, I have finally found the HP/Labyrinth story.  It won't resemble the orginal idea that much, except in some ways.  It'll still be about Draco and Hermione, and Jareth's backstory will be there.  But pretty much everything else will be different.  But good I hope.  And of course, like anything else I tend to write, it'll probably be on the longish side.

Well, time to watch the Ugly Betty season finale.  Hopefully it won't be as depressing as all the other finales have been so far...

Title: Second Chances: A Christmas Tale
Author: Foodie foodie
Summary: This is my take on the classic story of A Christmas Carol, with Snape as Scrooge. Can Snape make a change in his life when he is given the opportunity to see his life from a different perspective? AU
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairing: Severus/Lily(unrequited); Neville/Ginny; Draco/OFC
Word Count: 2416
Disclaimer: I don’t own these characters, they are owned by JK Rowling.
A/N: This was written before book 7, so there are no spoilers for it, but there are spoilers for the other books.  Enjoy!

( Chapter Five )

Title: Second Chances: A Christmas Tale
Author: Foodie foodie
Summary: This is my take on the classic story of A Christmas Carol, with Snape as Scrooge. Can Snape make a change in his life when he is given the opportunity to see his life from a different perspective? AU
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairing: Severus/Lily(unrequited); Neville/Ginny; Draco/OFC
Word Count: 2329
Disclaimer: I don’t own these characters, they are owned by JK Rowling.
A/N: This was written before book 7, so there are no spoilers for it, but there are spoilers for the other books.  Enjoy!

( Chapter Four )