Deni's Dream House

I was going to do the meme that Steph did yesterday, but in thinking about it, I found that the "Furniture Shop" part ended up very long and more than what is appropriate for the meme. So I thought I'd just post it on its own.


If I had unlimited funds and good health, I would love to have a house built to my specifications. I would start with one of the George Barber houses, which were made in the late 19th century as mail-order kits. People would buy the lumber and other materials pre-cut and it was sent to them on a railroad car to be built on-site. There are quite a few variations of style and I'd have to look closely at them all to make my decision as to which one to start with.

But it would be more than just an historic exterior and floorplan. I would work with a designer who has expertise in historical interior decoration, to start with an accurate design for the time that the house was first built. This design would be completely on paper.

Once the first design was finished, I would work with the designer and an architect to show how the house evolved over the years. What things would change in the decoration? What gifts would be given to the family and what mementos would be added? What modern conveniences would be added? Every five to ten years of the history, there would be another decorating makeover, with treasured pieces being kept, without worrying about any anachronisms. I figure we'd work it through the mid-30s, with the most recent redecoration being in art deco style.

Once the 1930s structure and design was set, we'd work on adding as many 21st century conveniences as possible, while trying to maintain as much of the integrity of the design as possible. (There's no way I'm living without a microwave!)

It's not going to happen, but just thinking about it is fun.

Small town values

As sad as I was over the passing of Proposition 8 in California, this made me smile.

Some random thoughts on the election

First ... YAY!!!

That said, I'm trying to temper my enthusiasm. The last time I felt anything like this (June, 1968), things didn't go so well. I don't think it'll happen again, but, well, once burned....

At least it's a decisive win. With more than 2/3 of the electoral votes, there won't be court challenges. They would have to bring so many suits and win them all in order to affect the outcome, that it wouldn't be worth it. Which is something in favor of the electoral college. It might be possible to challenge 4 million popular votes, but not that many electoral votes.

I hope that those around the world who have assumed that all (or even most) Americans were racists have changed their opinions of us at least a little bit.

As I said to Jim this morning before he went to work, "That Mr. Obama is pretty good at speechifying. You know, he might have a future in politics."

In other election news, it looks like South Dakota won't take away a woman's right to choose, which is also a YAY!! California is teetering with their anti-gay-marriage proposition, but I still hold out hope. I haven't followed other propositions closely, so I don't know about them.

Here in Washington, the most important proposition was the Death With Dignity law, which is very similar to Oregon's law. It was very contentious with those opposed to it even hiring Martin Sheen to try to scare people into believing that it would mean that poor and disabled people could be legally murdered. It passed.

Almost all of the things and people I voted for went the way I voted. The ones that didn't were ones that I had no passion about, so I'm considering the whole election to be a win for me. :-)

I have some thoughts about McCain and his campaign, but I'll wait to express them. I know there some McCain supporters out there and I think it would be unnecessarily unkind to rub salt in the wounds at this point. I think he did make a nice concession speech.

Lots of work to do. They were just saying that Obama is heading back to the Senate to try to pass some more legislation to help the economy, even before he is inaugurated. No time like the present.

I say again... YAY!!!

Maybe Caribou Barbie got fed up

There has been a lot of talk in the past few days about Sarah Palin going "off message" and having the audacity to speak what is on her mind, rather than the scripted remarks that the RNC has fed to her. Good for her. I wouldn't vote for her in any case, but I'm rather pleased that she's starting to stand up for herself a bit.

What bothered me most about the whole $150,000 wardrobe thing and the makeup person thing was that it really does seem like the RNC is happy playing with their Caribou Barbie -- dressing her up and making her say what they want her to say. I don't think she's the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, but no woman should be treated by men as just something to manipulate for their own agendas.

The whole thing just is another example of how little regard the RNC has for women in general.

Oct 22

Even though I'm on the fifth day of a migraine, I thought I'd post this:

Some birthdays

• 1811 Franz Liszt, romantic composer/virtuoso pianist


• 1845 Sarah Bernhardt, actress


• 1887 John Reed, journalist who reported on Mexican, Russian revolutions (his story is the subject of the movie Reds)


• 1917 Joan Fontaine, actress (Ivanhoe; Rebecca)


• 1920 Timothy Leary, Harvard prof, LSD taker


• 1929 Dory Previn, pop singer (Love Be My Cover)


• 1936 Bobby Seale, black activist


• 1938 Christopher Lloyd, actor (Taxi; Back to the Future)


• 1938 Derek Jacobi, actor (I, Claudius; Cadfael)


• 1939 Tony Roberts, actor (Annie Hall; Edge of Night; Lucie Arnaz Show)


• 1942 Annette Funicello, actress (Mickey Mouse Club)


• 1943 Catherine Deneuve, actress (Repulsion; Hunger)


• 1951 me


• 1952 Jeff Goldblum, actor (The Fly; The Big Chill)


• 1952 Patti Davis, aka Patricia Ann Reagan, 1st daughter (House of Secrets)


• 1996 Sofia Vassilieva, actress (Ariel on Medium)

Some other events on this day

• 4004 B.C. Universe created at 8:00 PM, according to the 1650 pronouncement of Anglican archbishop James Ussher (presumably, that was GMT)


• 2136 B.C. Chinese make 1st record of a solar eclipse


• 1692 Last hanging for witchcraft in the United States.


• 1844 The Great Anticipation: Millerites, followers of William Miller, anticipated the end of the world in conjunction with the Second Advent of Christ. The following day became known as the Great Disappointment.


• 1934 Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd shot dead by FBI in Ohio


• 1936 1st commercial flight from mainland to Hawaii


• 1938 1st Xerox copy made


• 1957 First United States casualties in Vietnam.


• 1962 JFK imposes naval blockade on Cuba, beginning missile crisis (I thought my dad came home from work early because it was my birthday.)


• 1962 Pacific Science Center opens at Seattle Center


• 1964 Jean-Paul Sartre is awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, but turns down the honour.


• 1966 USSR launches Luna 12 for orbit around Moon


• 1968 Apollo 7 returns to Earth


• 1975 Soviet spacecraft Venera 9 soft-lands on Venus

Truly beyond the pale

Newsletter by Republican women's group depicts Obama with watermelon, fried chicken, ribs

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - A San Bernardino County Republican group has distributed a newsletter picturing Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on a $10 bill adorned with a watermelon, ribs and a bucket of fried chicken.

Linking Obama to demeaning racist stereotypes drew denunciations from various GOP officials after the illustration appeared in the October newsletter of the Chaffey Community Republican Women, Federated, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reported Thursday.

Diane Fedele, president of the group, said she had no racist intent.

"I never connected," she told the newspaper. "It was just food to me. It didn't mean anything else."

The Obama campaign declined to comment, saying it does not address such attacks.

The newsletter was sent to about 200 club members and associates last week by mail and e-mail. The club is a volunteer group that is not directly responsible to the state party, said California Republican Party press secretary Hector Barajas, who denounced the newsletter.

Fedele said she had received the illustration in e-mails and decided to reprint it to poke fun at a remark by Obama that he doesn't look like other presidents.

"It was strictly an attempt to point out the outrageousness of his statement. I really don't want to go into it any further," Fedele told the newspaper. "I absolutely apologize to anyone who was offended. That clearly wasn't my attempt."

Sheila Raines of San Bernardino, a black member of the club, complained about the image to Fedele.

"This is what keeps African-Americans from joining the Republican Party," she said. "I'm really hurt. I cried for 45 minutes."

Source

Right. She didn't connect those foods with racism. If you believe that, I've got this really nifty bridge you might be interested in.

Finished something!!

I finished the baby afghan I was working on. It's so satisfying to see something grow under my hands.

I'm not sure how well the color will come out in the pictures. The yarn is a combination of an off-white strand and a thin strand of baby colors. It looks to me like the colors in an opal.