All Or Nothing

Also, All I Had For A Blanket Was My Discarded Bridesmaid Dress

No more giant fuzzy bangs picture.  Enough of you!

Ahh.  That's better.  Now I've just got to think of something to say.  Actually, I've got plenty to say.  My little brother-in-law, who might as well be my real brother given the sheer amount of time I've spent with him over the past 10 years, got married a little over a month ago.  And then my actual brother got married the following weekend.  And then there was Mardi Gras in Lafayette, and then we went to Galveston and came back home where I painted the chairs a horrible army green and then a darker brown and then a creamy eggnog.  And then I went to Los Angeles for market.  And now I'm back home and I haven't really written about any of that, except for Galveston which, although it was certainly the most relaxing event out of the list, wasn't really the most blogworthy.

Or was it?  (Apparently, yes.  Yes, it was.)

I have been waiting to do my wedding recap posts until I've seen all the pictures from both weddings.  I think we can all agree that weddings aren't nearly as interesting sans-illustration, unless they were disasters and someone left someone at the altar, or someone passed out in the middle of the ceremony,  or a drunk uncle went around groping all the bridesmaids - all things, I would imagine, that you wouldn't really want recorded for all of posterity.  But since nothing like that happened and both weddings were gorgeous and fun, I figured pictures would be the way to go.  Besides, all of the sister-in-laws I've been busily collecting over the past few years are so dadgum cute, it would be a shame not to plaster their cuteness all over the Internet.  Also, I haven't asked permission.  So that's out.

Mardi Gras, well, that was just a big whirlwind of tiredness, since we had just spent the last 4 days in Los Angeles getting ready for, participating in, and somewhat directing the reception of my brother's wedding, and the weekend prior we had spent in Arkansas (yes, Arkansas) participating in my brother-in-law's wedding.  We left the Los Angeles wedding at about 10:30pm on a Saturday night, drove straight to LAX, hopped on a red-eye flight to Lafayette via Houston, and proceeded to Mardi Gras like rockstars.  Except that I am SO not a rockstar, because really, the cross-country party circuit is, well, tiring, and I think it sounds better on paper. 

"Yeah, we partied in Arkansas (replace with cooler state for more impact), and then went straight to Los Angeles for like a week-long party and then took an overnight flight to Lafayette for Mardi Gras and partied there all weekend.  It was wicked, dude."

Instead of:

"Ugh.  This carpet is freaking uncomfortable and it's FREEZING in here.  Do they not know it is 35 degrees out?  Oh, is that the heater going on?  I smell that heater smell.....ahhhh....oh.
(Heat from heater sets off some sort of airport emergency alarm)
Oh no. 
(Ear-splitting noise) 
Make it stop.  I have had no sleep for approximately two weeks, it is 6am, I am lying on the FLOOR of the airport in Houston, and there is an ALARM going off that is rattling the inside of my already hung-over skull.  Do we really have to do Mardi Gras?  Look, if you pull the backpack over your head like this, you can hardly hear the alarm anymore. I think we should just stay here and sleep."

Yeah.  You never hear Paris Hilton saying that.

And That, Folks, Is Why We Call It All Or Nothing

Last post, thought anger inducing politic games.  This post?  HAIR.

I got bangs!  Yay! 

Right?  Or, terrible mistake?

I am undecided.

P.S. - sorry for the HUGE picture of AWFUL quality.  I am, as I think we all know, completely sucky at pictures.  And posting them.

It's All About The Money! I Mean, The Health Care!

I'll be the first to admit it.  I keep my head planted firmly in the sand most of the time when it comes to playing politics.  Even when I'm only partially sand castled-in, I'm usually not going to write about it here.  There are so many other sites, so many other writers who have so much more knowledge and have done so much more research than I ever would have.

Also?  I'm kinda dumb.  I like clothes.  And Us Weekly.

Today, however, marks the second time I have (on this site) ventured into the wild jungle of - sigh - politics.  I'm going to try and avoid the branches of evasiveness and stay out of the swamplands of insidiousness, and just state my opinion on a particular issue.  However, and I am stating this up front, since this is MY opinion, it will probably be expressed every bit as strongly as I feel it should be.  It being my opinion and all.  So, with that, here we go.

Have you ever heard of this state, Texas?  It's kinda at the bottom of the US, that big giant state, where everyone has horses and wears cowboy hats and says howdy before they lasso you into their Southern Baptist Church, make you repent of all your sins, proclaim your undying love for George W. Bush, get real stupid-like, and then go out back for the church potluck barbecue?  Well, that's where I live.  Minus the horses, and the cowboy hats.  Oh, and all of the rest of that stuff, too.  But I digress.

Rick Perry is what, or rather who, I want to talk about.  He is the governor of Texas, and apparently the man really has a heart for health care.  Or, reelection campaign donations.  What?  Did I let that slip?  Of course I meant health care.  Obviously.

Because Governor Perry, in February, made a ground-breaking decision.  Governor Rick Perry decided that the vaccine Gardasil, manufactured by pharmaceuticals giant Merck and Co., should be a mandatory requirement for all 11 and 12 year old girls before entering the 6th grade.  This vaccination is supposed to help guard against HPV, a common sexually transmitted disease that can, if untreated, lead to cervical cancer. 

This mandate would take place in 2008, making Texas the first state to require the vaccine for school admission.  For girls.  I'm not sure why Merck didn't come up with something for the boys as well.  I'm sure they're in the labs right now, working on that.  But for now, it's just for the girls.  If anyone knows someone high up in a plastics or scrap metal company, I would suggest that they start work now on a prototype to lock up little boys penises.  Because if they can't stick 'em in the girls, then hey!  No more HPV!  And that's just the tip of that iceberg.  I mean, think of the possibilities.  No more pregnancies, no more sexually transmitted diseases at all, no more broken-hearted little girls....oh but seriously, I'm getting off the subject of HEALTH CARE and SAVING LIVES and OTHER BUZZ WORDS, so let me return.

Merck and Co. has donated a lot of money to Governor Rick Perry's reelection campaign.  Oh, and Perry's former chief of staff is now a lobbyist for the drug company.  Weird.  I'm sure the decision was about HEALTH CARE, though, and nothing else.  Just looking out for the girls!  Those sex-having, HPV contracting girls!  Silly things, they better ALL GET VACCINATED OR NOT BE ALLOWED TO ENROLL IN THE 6TH GRADE, because obviously they can't think for themselves.  Long-term effects be damned!  Cervical cancer must be prevented!

Governor Rick Perry, he felt so strongly about Health Care, he had to circumvent the normal routes to get this requirement signed into law form, and issued an executive order instead.   When can I expect the bank transfer to take place, Merck?  As soon as I sign this paper here?  Alrighty then! 

Handily, our government does have a system in place, a system that Perry overstepped with his executive order, a system that has since convened and voted 118-23 in support of squashing Merck's Perry's brilliant Health Care Scheme Greedy Plan Order.

Oh also, Governor Rick Perry is getting sued.  By several parents of preteen girls who, I suppose, don't want to be required to subject their daughters to expensive and largely untested vaccines that might help prevent against one type of STD if the girls start having wildly unprotected sex.  Weird!    Obviously they don't care about their children, because Governor Rick Perry CARES ABOUT HEALTH CARE.  And they're suing him!

Recently, Merck & Co. made the tough decision to suspend its lobbying campaign aimed at getting states to require the vaccine for middle-school-aged girls. "It distracted from the real issue, the importance of the vaccine and the ability to save lives," spokesman Chris Loder said.1  Is that right, Chris Loder?  Or was it just too uncomfortable, too weird, for you guys back at Merck, when every single governor in the nation rejected your ridiculous vaccine?  Well, every governor except for our very own Rick Perry.  And then the lawsuits?  Well, that was just awkward.  I mean, LET'S FOCUS ON THE HEALTH CARE, SERIOUSLY, IT'S NOT ABOUT THE MONEY.

House of Representatives member Dennis Bonnen said parents should consult with doctors and decide whether their daughters should receive the Gardasil vaccine. He also argued that it would be unprecedented for the state to mandate a vaccine for girls only and that the state should wait to see the long-term effects of the vaccine, which has been on the market less than one year.2

Wow, now those are some heady thought processes.  Good thing we have Mr. Bonnen to reason all that out for us, because obviously it is a concept far above the normal person's capacity for understanding.  Or, at least, Rick Perry's.  Or, at least, we haven't all gotten enough money from Merck yet.

This whole thing infuriates me.  Oh, you noticed?  Huh.

I just cannot believe the audacity of Rick Perry.  How does one reach a place in life where you are so willing to sell out?  And I have no idea what Merck is offering to Perry, in terms of perks and actual monetary amounts.  All that has been officially reported is a well-timed $5000 campaign donation (the same day Perry's staff met to discuss the state's immunization program - weird!).  I'd like to think it would take more than a paltry five grand.   But however much the giant pharmaceutical company paid him, and however much blame they should (and they really, really should) receive, I can't get over Perry.

I would have had to get this vaccination.  An expensive, scary, untested vaccination, spread out in three rounds, and I would have had to have it before I could start the 6th grade.  Do you remember what you were like in the 6th grade?  Perhaps you have a 6th grader at home right now, or a daughter close to that age.  She's probably scared of needles, and of shots.  She's busy hanging out with her friends, dealing with puberty, trying to figure out whether or not she wants to be a cheerleader or play volleyball next fall.  She wonders if the boy she likes notices her.  She likes to go to the mall.  She would be horrified, embarrassed to know that her parents and school ASSUMED she was either already having or was going to have unprotected sex.  She might, if she were especially mature, wonder what those shots were going to do to her body.  She might get on the internet, and type in "Gardasil".  She might freak out at the possible side-effects.

Or, she might already be having unprotected sex.  She might be cynical, damaged, and hardened.  She might be on drugs.  She might need help.  Maybe she should consider doing something, anything, to protect herself against STD's and pregnancy.

Or, she might be somewhere in the middle.  The point is, all 6th grade girls are not alike.  And even if they were, even if somehow Governor Rick Perry could predict the behavior of that subset of society - 12 and 13 year old girls (ha!  haha!) - requiring them to have the Gardasil vaccination would STILL not be the right move.  The drug has been out for LESS THAN A YEAR.  For all we know, Merck might end up having to pull the drug altogether because it's CAUSING cancer.  Happens ALL. THE. TIME.

This is old news, really.  It all started on February 2, when Governor Rick Perry made his fabulous announcement and, I assume, simultaneously sold his soul to the devil.  The reason I bring it up now is because it was only yesterday that the bill to overturn Perry's decision passed.  Perry now has 10 days to sign, ignore, or veto the bill.  He has not yet said what he will do.  If he does issue a veto, two-thirds of the House and Senate will have to overrule him.  Considering the last vote was 118-23, I feel that it has a pretty decent chance of being squashed, at least for the time being.  But it's incredibly scary, nonetheless.

When did everyone become such sell-outs?

Source 1

Source 2

Bear In Mind, I Still Don't Have My Camera Cord, and iSight Is Only So Good: Blame Steve Jobs, Not Me

Can you see the little flowery things in the seat cushion pattern?  The one right on the corner, is OLIVE GREEN.  The chair matches it, PERFECTLY.

Sigh.  This photo will never be able to accurately impart the true nature of the Green.  But trust me, it's there.  Squint your eyes, and think of overcooked peas, and military fatigues, and....HORRIBLE GREEN THINGS.

I think this one kind of shows the olive tint.  See, where the light is hitting the chair, right there in the middle?  It looks green.  See?  DON'T YOU SEE IT?

Oh shut up.  It's green.

Ol' Blue Eyes Himself!

Galveston Island, once known for its Southern charm and as a location of choice for artists such as Tom Wolfe, Mark Twain, and Frank Sinatra, has all but fallen off of the map in recent years.  Deteriorating boutique hotels, the addition of too many inexpensive chain lodging options, and a few ill-timed oil spills combined to make Galveston a destination to avoid, at least for the travel-savvy.  However, several Galveston purists and a major cash infusion have, in the past few years, joined forces to renovate this sleepy beach town and bring back the "Queen of the Gulf" status Galveston once proudly held.

Ha, how much would it suck if I always wrote like that?  Like some kind of wannabe travel writer?  Oh, it's better than my normal drivel, you say?  Huh.

Anyway, Cody and I are in Galveston this weekend.  It's really lovely, even though all I've done so far is arrive really late last night and sleep for about 10 hours.  Sleeping for 10 hours, anywhere, at any time, is always a positive experience for me.  So, yay Galveston!  Thanks for letting me sleep here. 

Today I think we're going to walk around, all tourist-like, and peruse shops on the Strand, sit on the piers and watch the boats come in and out from sea, and eat seafood.  Seafood that must, by proximity, be fresh.  That's always my issue with ordering up a nice plate of seared Ahi Tuna in, say, Dallas.  I mean, how fresh can that fish be, really?  Because last time I checked, the nearest beach was several hundred miles away. 

Anyhow, enough of my brilliant logic, and onto a chair update.  I know, you've all either been dying to know what happened with the chairs or else you've completely forgotten and don't care at all.  So!  You all need to know, clearly.  I painted the first chair creamy, eggnoggy, white.  It looked good.  I chickened out.  I called my best friend, who had recently painted a cabinet set a color that was brown, but looked black.  Perfect, I thought, not as much contrast, and still a high-end and formal look.  I bought the paint.  I took it home, opened it, and noted that it looked much lighter than I would have expected.  Kind of like baby-poop brown, rather than a super dark chocolate brown.  But!  I know paint, I told myself.  I have painted LOTS OF THINGS.  The paint doesn't always look the same wet as dry.  Carry on, I told myself!  Carry on.

The chair is now baby-poop GREEN*.  How, I do not know.  But what I do know is that I will be paying a visit to the paint lady at Home Depot.  I thought she gave me a snide look when I suggested that the base paint needed to be level 3.  Base 3!  My friend told me!  Do what I say, woman!

I think she screwed me.

 

*Did you get that?  Did the enormity of that statement sink in?  GREEN.   Like olive, army, green.  It's every bit as terrible as you think.  Except worse.