GRRRRRRRRRR

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All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms;
Then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lin'd,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
His youthful hose, well sav'd a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion;
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans every thing.

( KVETCH )

It's really almost funny, if it weren't for all the picking-up I have to do now.

It's a night for quoting.

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From this day forth, I renounce the right to marry save as a freemate. No man shall bind me di catenas and I will dwell in no man's household as a barragana. I swear that I am prepared to defend myself by force if I am attacked by force, and that I shall turn to no man for protection.

From this day forth I swear I shall never again be known by the name of any man, be he father, guardian, lover or husband, but simply and solely as the daughter of my mother.

From this day forth I swear I will bear no child to any man save for my own pleasure and at my own time and choice; I will bear no child to any man for house or heritage, clan or inheritance, pride or posterity; I swear that I alone will determine the rearing and fosterage of any child I bear, without regard to any man's place, position or pride.

From this day forth I renounce allegiance to any family, clan, household, warden or liege lord, and take oath that I owe allegiance only to the laws of the land as a free citizen must; to the kingdom, the crown and the Gods.

I shall appeal to no man as of right, for protection, support or succor: but shall owe allegiance only to my Oath-mother, to my sisters in the Guild and to my employer for the season of my employment.

And I further swear that the members of the Guild of Free Amazons shall be to me, each and every one, as my mother, my sister or my daughter, born of one blood with me, and that no woman sealed by oath to the Guild shall appeal to me in vain.

From this moment, I swear to obey all the laws of the Guild and any lawful command of my Oath-mother, the Guild Elders or my elected leader for the season of my employment. And if I betray any secret of the Guild, or prove false to my oath, then I shall submit myself to the Guild-mothers for such discipline as they shall choose; and if I fail, then may every woman's hand turn against me, let them slay me like an animal and consign my body unburied to corruption and my soul to the mercy of the Goddess.

'Taxation without Representation'

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I saw something in the grocery store's parking lot when I stopped there before work -- ( this license plate )

Now, for those who might not quite 'get' the eyebrow-raising aspect of this (I can see soupytwist nodding sagely), let me 'splain.

Washington, D.C. hasn't been the tidy square mile originally laid out for some time. It has a fairly good-sized population, many of whom have nothing to do with government buildings... but do live in a weird legislative limbo between Maryland and Virginia. For quite some time, D.C. has been badgering Congress for a representative of their own, because they pay federal taxes, provide electoral votes and other state-like functions, but have no Senator and no redress to many federal funds that are reserved for state support.

Here's an appropriate quote from the Wikipedia (which I'm finding increasingly useful):

Residents of the District vote for the President but do not have voting representation in Congress. Citizens of Washington are represented in the House of Representatives by a non-voting Delegate, who sits on committees and participates in debate, but cannot vote. DC does not have representation in the Senate. Citizens of Washington, DC are thus unique in the world, as citizens of the capital city of every other country have the same representation rights as their fellow citizens.

There have been efforts to attain voting representation for many years. These efforts are endorsed by the current Mayor, Anthony Williams and by the current Delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton. As part of the effort, the words "Taxation Without Representation" were added to DC license plates in the 1990s, and the words "No Taxation Without Representation" were added to the DC flag in 2003. Advocates of statehood who supported these changes have said that they are intended as a protest and to raise awareness in the rest of the country. These measures in particular were chosen because the DC flag is one of the few things under direct local control without requiring approval from Congress.

Wow... lobby by tourism! Protest by reverse-tailgating!

Science in your home

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This may or may not come in handy; might be applicable for paints, by the way.

( Really geeky comment about heat, evaporation, packrattishness and commercial packaging )

Important reading!

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A scientific study of the 'Five-Second Rule'

(gacked from the ever-informative yendi)

Art kvell

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This is twitchycat's fault. ^_^

I think her treatment of hair is too distracting, but LOOK at those fabric folds! LOOK at those knuckles!!

*drool, semi-swoon*