Sometimes I can't help myself...

I find all the discussion of Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayer to be incredibly disheartening. Although I’m in full support of people questioning her credentials, questioning her past judgments and even questioning (to some extent) her religious convictions (since they often have an effect on one’s moral compass, which is an important tool as a judge.). What I do have problems with is the discussion of the efforts to “court” the future votes of Latin Americans here in the US.

Even Rush Limbaugh went so far today as to say that he doesn’t think that many Republicans will give this nomination the thorough screening that it needs because Republicans are so busy trying to get Hispanics to vote for them and they fear that holding up the nomination would hurt that.

Are we so dull in this country to think that people actually wouldn’t vote for someone because they questioned the credentials of a Supreme Court nominee? I’m not going to say that I have the utmost faith in the power of our country as a whole to pick the correct leaders all of the time. In fact, I’d probably saw we’re batting about 60% on leaders that should actually have the power to do what they do. That being said, I don’t really believe that the majority of the people would have ANY idea what their local reps and senators did on a particular issue, especially a Supreme Court nomination process. Please raise your hand if you know (without looking it up) what your senator or rep had to say about any previous nominee. No hands? That’s what I thought.

That being said, even if in some miracle universe where people pay very close attention to their elected officials actions, I don’t think the majority of them would vote one way or the other based solely on this issue.

As a woman, I was still adamantly opposed to George W. Bush’s ill-fated nomination of Harriet Miers for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Using the current pundit thinking, I must just hate woman and I should probably somehow be disowned by all other woman for not support our cause. I also should hate every Representative or Senator who dared to speak against her. Yet, I don’t. In fact I would applaud them for taking the confirmation of this extremely important position as seriously as they should. I wouldn’t dare support a nominee based on such a random qualification as gender (or in this case race) without anything to back it up. If there is a woman on the bench, representing me and my interests, I want her to be the best damn Justice out there, not just a token woman to say they have one.

It is the job of our representatives to evaluate the candidates for this job with all of the scrutiny that they feel is necessary to make sure she is fit for this job. And I hope that they do scrutinize her and that she still passes through with (which I’m pretty sure she will). But don’t try and claim it is all just to pander to the Hispanic vote, that is an insult to Hispanics everywhere.

I'm a Re-Crafter...

I've spent a lot of time and energy (not to mention money) on crafty things. My mom is probably the most creative person I know, even though she likes to pretend that anyone can do what she does. Sometimes she gets ideas from other people, but most often things come straight from her head. She is the queen of making an idea come to life. I really envy that trait of hers.

Me, I'm a "re-crafter" and yes, I totally made that term up. I can take things that exist and that I see elsewhere, and then I make them. Sometimes I can remake them better than the original, sometimes not so much. I've just recently realized this seems to be my artistic calling. I should have realized it much much sooner. My first big hope as an artist started because I thought I was really good at "redrawing" things from a Lisa Frank coloring book. Seriously, I was amazing at putting a piece of paper next to one of those drawings and redrawing it (and NO I don't mean tracing it). Yet, I could never just draw on my own from ideas in my own head. It would always turn out a mess.

One great example of this would be the cover of the Aaron Williams Band "special edition" CD I did this past summer. Blogger seems to be having some difficulties this morning, so I can't share pictures, but I'll add them later. I had the intial version of the CD, and we wanted to do a similar, although not completely identical screen printed version for the special edition. So I stared at it for a while, and eventually came up with a workable design by working with the medium of choice (Gocco scrreen printer). It turned out wonderfully! But it wasn't my original idea, and I surely couldn't have come up with it all on my own.

My current project is similar. I fell in love with some cool bottle cap magnets, jewlery etc. at the One of A Kind Show in Chicago last year. After a few months of thinking about it, I'm doing something similar, but with different images that I personally find a lot more appealing and intersting. I'm taking the best of what they did and making it my own.

I'm a Re-Crafter... and I'm proud of it.

Weather in Ashley's Brain: Cloudy with a Chance of Rain

Today is one of those days where my brain can't seem to focus on any of the million and one tasks at my desk. I'm trying to muddle through some serious changes to one of our Union contracts, and it's like my brain is two steps behind my body. I'm here, I'm looking at the contract, but my brain can't quite seem to focus and figure out what it needs to do to get this thing done. Not to mention the million OTHER things I have floating around me... phone calls, e-mails, newsletters, questionable committee actions.... it makes me want to crawl under my desk and cry. Really mature hey?

I keep trying to come up with something more interesting to say about this... but it just isn't there. I guess that's how it goes when your brain isn't firing... I can't be witty or even come up with something productive to say. Other than, suck it up woman and quit your whining.

Well, that helped.

I'm a bad bad blogger...

I know I'm terrible... I talk all about a vacation and then I disappear after it.  Hopefully none of you got the postcards we sent to Zach's parents that said we were going to stay in Mexico, otherwise you might have actually believed it!

No no, we're back at home and I've been awfully busy with a variety of work and semi-work related activities.  I'm busy drumming up crafty things to sell, so not work related but maybe new work related.  I purchased a Klic-N-Kut, which is a super sweet computer operated paper/vinyl/chipboard cutter.  I've had it a week, and so far it is awesome!!  The software is a little difficult to deal with but I was up and cutting in a day, so I think that is pretty good.  I'm hoping to use it make some cards and other goodies, as well as create some cool vinyl wall art stuff.  

The Klick-N-Kut

I've got a lot of crafty ideas in the works... so far nothing that is actually done... but a lot in my head.  Zach  is gone pretty much all this weekend so I'm going to be crafting it up and hopefully have something to show for all my talk!

The first goal would be to actually create some things to be sold.  My first "selling" goal would be the Fairy Festival at Monches Farm (Where my mom works in Wisconsin) which is held in August.  I'm hoping to have some fairy goodies for the kids and their moms who show up at that event.  I can't decide if it should be first or after that, but I want to create an etsy shop as well.   A part of me would like to exhibit at the  Renegade Craft Show in September, however that might be a little ambitious, especially with a $310 booth fee and the possibility of a terrible rain-out weekend (like last year!).  Maybe I'll be ready for the Christmas one (not to mention the weather will be less of a threat since it is indoor!). 

I'm pretty committed to this little venture... I'm plotting designing a logo and such right now and determining some of the packaging as well.  I'm all about packaging... I know that is dorky but that's me.

I'll make sure to keep this updated when my ventures are more fully baked... I'm a little nervous about putting everything out on the Internet without it being sold by me or something... I know... totally lame.  Maybe I will if your lucky... especially since no one reads this :)

If you need a good laugh...

I highly suggest you check out the blog F**k You Penguin. You will die laughing, and if you don't well, I'd suggest you visit a doctor. Basically the site takes those million and one super cute animal chain e-mails you receive and berates the animals in them for their cuteness.

Below is a little gem from last week:

"First I thought this blue-footed booby was just doing a cute little dance, which is bad enough (personally, I can dance fucking circles around this loser). But it turns out this is a fucking mating ritual, which basically means dude is hitting on me.

But the fucked up thing is that these sexed-up douchebags do this sort of thing all the time. Take a look at this piece of work. Does she even know you are videotaping her, Romeo? Then halfway through, he invites his goddamn friends over! She's having none of it, of course, which is why a minute in she pees right where he wanted to do it! TAKE THAT YOU FUCKING SLIMEBALL."

Is it totally unnessesary? Of course it is. But it also made me laugh out loud at my desk on a day when I was a bit stressed and that is simply priceless. Go check it out, and if you have a Google Reader, I highly recommend you subscripe to it because it is a great way to start the day.

Some thoughts about today...

Jenna over at That Wife raised some interesting questions regarding Obama's inauguration today. In short she said, "If we turn Obama into “The Black President” and judge all his successes and failures as those of the black man who once ruled the free world, are we really living “The Dream”?" The more I thought about it, the more it plagued me, and the more I felt compelled to respond. Below is my response, with some more thoughts added once I moved it here:

I think it is silly of us to think that the media isn’t going to have a field day with anything that is a “first”. They look for any angle they can to exploit, and Obama’s race is just that angle. Remember, if it is “historic” than we all have to watch it, and that means ratings for them!! It would be the same thing had it been Hillary (she’s a woman!) and it would have been something similar had it been McCain/Palin (he (I think) would have been the oldest, and she the first woman VP). When there is only 44 of something, you can find a “first” pretty easily, and they sure will.

In the same respect, I think it would be inappropriate to not acknowledge that him being President does indicate that our country has come a LONG way… it wasn’t too long ago that someone like Barack Obama would have had to sit at the back of the bus and couldn’t have eaten at the same places as you and I, him being President would have been a joke. That now his is President, says a lot about us as a nation and how far we have really come. Just because you and I may not judge him based on the color of his skin, doesn’t mean a lot of other people (both past and present) do. It is just nice to know that enough of us have gotten past that to elect him President.

I think unfortunately, the media has really latched on to the “historic” stuff and not focused on his policies as much as they should have. To imply that many people who voted for him did so only because of his race and not because they believe strongly in what he has to say and where he wants to take this country, is just plain inappropriate. Are there people who did so? Of course. In the same light, there are likely people out there who voted for McCain only because they wouldn’t support a black President. Did you ever notice that the news media always talks to the person on the scene who is probably the LAST person they should talk to? The always sound goofy, and never have much to really add? I feel like that is how the media has covered Obama voters. Like we're a bunch of sheeple who didn't bother to look past his race to see what he stands for (For the record, some of us did, and we actually liked what we heard!). Hopefully for ALL of us, the majority of us voted with our thoughts, morals, ideas and goals in mind and not just with our eyes.

We all have to find the balance between celebrating the fact that he is the first African American President and the fact that he is our President, our leader and hopefully the one to get us through a seriously trying time in our nations history.

Kennedy was once celebrated as the first Catholic President, but he is judged by history for his actions, not his religion. Let’s hope Obama will be looked at similarly. I think when that is the case, we will finally be living “The Dream.”

It seems almost all great changes generally come in steps, and Obama’s election was one of the steps to get us all to the ultimate goal of true equality, and that does deserve some level of celebration. You'd celebrate your engagement before you were actually married right? I think all the steps that get us to the things we aspire to be (both personally and as a nation) deserve recognition and appreciation. This should be no exception.

I can't wish the Obama administration enough luck and courage in these comeing 4 years. Whether you agree with him or not, he faces an uphill challenge bringing this nation back from the brink. Let's hope he can live up to everything he has promised.

Cruise Preparation

We'll be in a room very similar to this (complete with portholes) very soon!!

Zach and I will be heading out on our Carnival Cruise from New Orleans in a few short weeks!  In fact, we have just two work weeks left and we are going to be out of here!!!  I have been ploting what we'll be doing on our two port days (Cozumel and Progresso) and what we will do on our weekend in New Orleans before we leave on the ship.  Sometimes I think that the Internet is really more dangerous than helpful as I can spend hours learning about a million more bits of information than I would ever need about all of the locations above.  In fact, sometimes I think it makes me worry more about what I might miss than what I'm actually going to do!

In addition to all of the planning that I've done in preparation for the many places we will visit, I have also been plotting what exactly we will be bringing with us.  My luggage arrived earlier this week (and is AWESOME by the way) and I've started a fairly serious wish list on Amazon for all the books I want, including some Sudoku books, a few to read and a guide book about New Orleans.  I've got to have something to do on the plan before we go as well as on the boat when I'm lounging right?  When we went to the Dominican, I think I brought like 3 books and managed to read, ah, maybe one.  Not to mention I plan to bring some knitting with me as well, which probably has a much better chance of actually getting done (as long as they don't confiscate my needles when I try to get on the plane!).