ding! dong! pinochet is dead!

The Amy Grant Christmas album is over 20 years old. How did that happen?! This morning my walk to work was powered by her glorious rendition of Emmanuel and Little Town. Man oh man, how I used to love that record (yes, it was on vinyl). The music is all synthesized-out. The trumpets are not trumpets. The guitars are not guitars. The harps are not harps. It's truly a perfect Christmas record.

And then I got to listen to the Flaming Lips.
And Gorillaz.

I'm feeling better. Not 100%, but better. I credit my recovery to hot toddies and alot of sleep. I did go to the shop. I am officially a moron. I spent a ridiculous amount of time Saturday trying to figure out how to most effectively trace and cut a pattern piece only to do it the most ineffective way. Yesterday one could find me pondering which direction darts were supposed to be ironed and putting a skirt together completely out of order: one side seam, the CB seam, and finally the other side seam. Lord. The only thing I felt good about was how quickly I threaded the machine and how easily I fixed a bobbin/tension problem. I have a fitting tonight at 5pm for my body block and I'm going to recut and stitch the bodice before that. Hopefully this week I'll finally get to drape. That's really the fun part. No math, no curves, no rulers. Just me and a form and miles of muslin. The math, the curves, and the rulers come later.

Borat is funny. Go see it. I hear there were complaints about him being too "mean" to people, but I didn't think so. Most of the people he interacted with deserved to be made fun of. Racist white cowboys, misogynistic drunken frat boys, insane pentecostal religious freaks...Good times.

G.W.B. is giving the appearance that he's listening to everyone's opinions on an Iraq strategy and says he will unveil the new approach by Christmas. I hope his Christian base is praying for a Christmas miracle because that's what it's going to take to get that man to change his mind. I agree wholeheartedly with Biden: "He has this wholesome but naive view that Western notions of liberty are easily transposed to that area of the world." I had the pleasure of watching Sunday morning news shows (my church) this week and was pleased to hear people--intelligent people--discuss what a monumental disaster this entire operation has been. And discuss the various options available to the U.S. all of which are terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad options. I get so angry now watching everyone say what a mistake this war was. Four years ago those of us who thought that way were called unpatriotic and unAmerican. Stupid electorate. Stupid politicians. Stupid G.W.B. Unfortunately, my self-righteousness will not solve anything, nor will my rage. Iraq is a mess and will remain a mess. Nothing will make it better. America should be ashamed of itself.

My Obamamania continues to thrive. He was in New Hampshire this weekend selling out like a rockstar. He hasn't announced whether or not he will run and is doing his best to control the message that he's the Democratic Party's savior. He's not. He's just a man. And a politician at that. But politics is perception and everyone sees the hope of a new direction in Obama.

I love him.

You know who I don't love?
Pinochet.
May he rot in hell.