Refuting Entropy

I'm not going to say much of anything. Others have done so more than I can in various places on the web. However:

• We are still here...despite the efforts of Bush/ChaneyCo.
• We are still Americans, still making an effort at being a Democracy.
• In spite of things like the Iraq War and the Patriot Act and the Wiretapping and the Torture, we haven't *completely* thrown out the Constitution, and I am cautiously optimistic that we might make it through and come out able to fix things on the other side.

Tonight on my way home from work (late, because I ALWAYS end up working late these days), I was stopped by a procession of motorcycles. Initially I thought it was a funeral procession (they were treating it as one), and I did see a flag-covered casket being towed by one of the motorcycles - but mostly it was bikers with flags streaming off their bikes, heading down towards the Circle. I haven't been able to find anything about it on the local news. I just know that seeing that flag-draped casket choked me up as I remembered.

The last vehicle in the procession was a fire truck, lights and sirens on, waving to those of us who had been stopped. I gave them a big thumbs up.

I refuse to bring politics into this post, mostly because I am angered so much by those who use it for their own purposes.

But what is remembered, lives.

OK, Jessica (my 14 year old) wants to dress as the character "River" from Firefly/Serenity for InConJunction this year. I have one week to come up with a dress for her. However, I'm not a fan of the show, so I can only get sketchy pictures of what she looks like from Google Image.

Jess said something about a plain, dark colored dress, either long or short-sleeved, but from the pictures I've seen it seems to be slightly more involved than that.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can help her put together, for not very much money or in not a very complicated fashion?

I really want to help her out, she thoroughly enjoys the masquerade & wearing a hall costume; I was expecting her to go with a character from the anime she likes (Naruto) but she picked this instead, I believe thinking it would be easier.

TIA for any help anyone can give.

EDIT: Would a deep forest green flowy dress with short cap sleeves work? I also found a sleeveless black knit tank dress.

My friends list RAWKS!

I learned from Harry Potter (as written by my friend, daisymaeevans):

Everything I Ever Needed to Know I Learned from Harry Potter

• No matter what anyone else tries to tell you, there is something extraordinary inside you.
• A real friend doesn't care whether you're rich or poor.
• A person can be handsome on the outside and still be a snake inside.
• You always have choices.
• Sometimes you have to break the rules. Just be sure you’re prepared for the consequences.
• If you make fun of someone it may come back to haunt you.
• A good friend will get mad at you, but they won’t stay mad.
• Always trust your cat.
• Laughter is the best antidote to fear.
• If you fancy someone don’t hesitate to say so, or someone else might say it first.
• Question authority, but listen to reason.
• People sometimes do the wrong things for the right reasons, and the right things for the wrong reasons.
• The most unlikely people can become heroes.
• Even the wisest of us make mistakes.
• Good guys don’t always wear white hats, bad guys don’t always wear black ones.
• There is no magic stronger than love.

Per Daisy, feel free to share - just give credit where credit is due.

Normally I don't post this sort of thing, but I just couldn't stand it:

Fifi the Shih Tzu from Daily Puppy.com

If you don't go awwwwwwwwwwwwwww, you have no heart. ;)

Thanks to syreene, I recommend this link to RPG Motifational Posters. Even if you're just a gaming widow, or only have a peripheral relationship to gaming, these are very, very funny.

I must say, though, that this is a personal favorite:

A most wondermous thing occurred Friday & yesterday; royalcrow won tickets Friday to the playoff game yesterday against Kansas City at the RCA Dome. There was initially some question as to whether or not he would get 1 ticket or 2, but eventually he got 2 and so we both went to the game. They were arranged for him by his boss, so it would've been "noticed" if he hadn't made it.

Anyway, we ended up getting treated to lunch at St. Elmo's Steakhouse - that's another long story - and then over to the dome. The seats were *very* good; upper tier, 5th row basically at the 20 yard line behind the Colts bench.

We had some concerns early on; for example, a defense showed up who was previously unseen in many regular season games - this was good. However, Payton Manning didn't appear to show up at the game until sometime late in the 3rd quarter, despite the fact that there was someone in the #18 jersey on the field. (Tony wanted to know if the coach was going to fine him for showing up late to the game - LOL!)

However, we screamed ourselves hoarse, had a wonderful time, COLTS WON, and overall it was a grand thing. I never thought I'd ever make it to a playoff game, EVER, and so that was just...well, it was awesome.

GO COLTS!!!!!!!!!

...you *must* watch this video:

The Pachelbel Rant

(Thanks much to tmplrbob for sharing this gem!)

(Found via kightp)

LiveJournal is saying "sorry" for the recent outage, and if you have a paid members account, you can have your membership extended by a week. This is a limited time offer, which expires next Monday, 11/20/06.

Just in case you haven't heard.

As the wheel turns on this year, we have lost many. This year, as in previous years, I am posting the Litany of the Dead, as compiled by Dagonet Dewr. Feel free to pass this on as long as the attributions remain.

( We turn the wheel... )

Thanks to beldar for posting this list, as well as a link to Honorary Unsubscribe, which posts additional losses which may be missing from the above litany. Thanks also to the perennial favorite Dead People Server, which, as always is a fascinating read.

For myself, I would like to specifically make mention of the following who were not (or don't seem to be) included on the Litany list:

Michael Piller - Writer & Producer; Star Wars DS9, Voyager and The Dead Zone.

Barnard Hughes - American actor; Grandpa in The Lost Boys, among many many many other roles.

John M. "Mike" Ford - Writer & Science Fiction fan.

As usual, my apologies for anyone missed.

What is remembered, lives.