It has been a never ending battle this week. A few jerky movements, if you will. The promotional gig has been rewarding and it lets me kind of people watch again, from a different perspective. It is also a lesson in futility. No matter how much I dont want to scare kids, the sheer height of my costume might just be too big for most wee ones. The randomness I get is frequent enough, as it should be.

Still, despite the fun, I been trying to push myself to relax. At times, this part time job sometimes weighs on my shoulders--literally. No matter how well I adjust the harness frame underneath that costume, it still seems to be agitating a nerve of some kind. So I often rush to power down for the day, as I get into a working groove.

Finally Im here at the house, actually being able to blog or do something freeform. I break that “date with myself” every time and each time I do I kind of feel very disappointed because I know we all need that kind of time block in our daily flow, or even less frequently, a weekly energy flow. Im slowing things down a bit, since that is how I have wanted to keep it since the BM Reset happened. The amount of inspiration I get seems overwhelming, when it seems that I just cant get them all to paper because of this, that, some other distraction, etc....It goes without saying, that getting myself to relax more is a work in progress. :)

12 dead, 30 injured...

National Post: Texas army base shooting kills at least 12

HOUSTON -- At least 12 people were killed and 31 wounded in a shooting at a U.S. Army base in Fort Hood, Texas, an Army official said Thursday.

Two suspects were in custody at the military base, one of the largest military installations in the world. There could be a third shooter involved, MSNBC reported.

The suspected gunman was identified by ABC News as Major Malik Nadal Hasan.

...

Lt. Gen. Bob Cone, speaking to media at Fort Hood, said:

"At approximately 13:30 hours today, a shooter entered what we call a soldier readiness facility, where soldiers who are preparing to deploy go for last minute medical checkups," he said.

"A shooter opened fire, and due to the quick response of the police forces, was killed."

"The shooter was killed. He was a soldier. We since then have apprehended two additional soldiers that are suspects."

"There were eyewitness accounts that there may have been more than one shooter. They tracked the suspected individuals to an adjacent facility and they were apprehended."

The main shooter (killed) was apparently a psychiatrist, and a long term Muslim (not a recent convert to Islam). Gleaning bits and pieces from comments in sites listed in the Updates below...

Updates

- BlackFive

- Gateway Pundit

Oh boy, it's another insane amnesty bill for Illegal aliens in the USA that the citizens get to pay for EVERYTHING on. I don't normally watch CNN, but this is 3 minutes and 32 seconds of info you really want to watch.

Youtube: CNN Lou Dobbs on Piece of S#*% Bill



Hat tip to Elephant man over in a live chat at The Rott

( Playa Journey )

http://jerans-den.blogspot.com/2009/11/to-michael-duvall-and-his-ilk-among.html

To Michael Duvall, and his ilk among those politicians who paint themselves as exemplars of family values:


see more Lol Celebs

Eldest is going as Zelda, young one is all dressed up in Canadian-flag stuff and is going as "Miss Canada".

They've carved up 4 pumpkins of their own design, including a "Kitty" Pumpkin

The rain has FINALLY let up and the sun has come out! It looks as if the kids are going to get a rain-free Halloween. (Thanks Environment Canada for predicting the "dryest fall, evah...") *facepalm* And wow has the wind ever picked up...

We have stuff ready to give out to the little ones.

Obama The Cat gets confronted (cat girlfriend betrayal mashup/remix)


Ganked from Cmblake6

The raid that rocked the Met: Why gun and drugs op on 6,717 safety deposit boxes could cost taxpayer a fortune

Says one of the commenters: "This smaks of Nazi wealth grabs of the 39-45 period. The State and the Police have become one and it looks like Gestapo raids disguised as something else."

Uh huh.

Don Surber: CNN’s numbers drop 68% in prime to last place

I have been reporting CNN’s bad numbers for some time and now it will be official when the October numbers are in, CNN is in last place behind MSNBC, HLN and you know who. { Tiger: Fox News }

CNN’s numbers have dropped in half overall (52%) and 68% in prime time comparing October 2008 to 2009, TV by the Numbers reported.

In the 25-54 demographic, CNN dropped 62% overall and by 77% in prime time.

Even the mainstream press is now reporting it.

They earned every one of those drops in percentage points of popularity. Every stinking one of 'em.

I haven't watched CNN, MSNBC, or their ilk in years. Why bother? It's the same as the CBC in Canada: The same old, tired, heavily-left-leaning dreck that just doesn't play well with the reality on the ground.

Or if you prefer: It's useless schlock, and my time and attention are better spent on other things.

Mind you, I don't bother with Fox News either. All the major TV news media are a bunch of sensationalistic hacks anymore.

Okay, enough posting, I'm off to enjoy a computer game!

Found via a comments from Dave Markowitz at GeekWithA.45's site, we have this wonderful offering:

Josh Blackman: My JHNGALT License Plate

So I received a call a few weeks ago from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation regarding my “JhnGalt” vanity license plate. The official asked if I had ordered a vanity license plate. I replied, “Yes.”

Then, she asked me, “Who is John Galt?” I almost burst out laughing hysterically.

That IS good. :)

Advertising Filter funny moment... I was over on SlashDot.org where I picked up the last story I posted about. I see this checkbox in the upper right corner of the site: "Disable Advertising", described thusly:

"As our way of thanking you for your positive contributions to Slashdot, you are eligible to disable advertising."

What advertising? *bwahahaha* I've got my frontal advertising filters turned up to "11" so I barely see an advertisement, and that's the way it's gonna stay. Thanks though!

Movie fans might have to wait to rent new DVD releases

Some major studios, grappling with sharply declining DVD revenue, are considering a policy to make new releases initially available for purchase only.

For those who like renting movies, Hollywood may soon have a message: Prepare to wait.

In an effort to push consumers toward buying more movies, some major film studios are considering a new policy that would block DVDs from being offered for rental until several weeks after going on sale.

I say: Do your worst. Here's the gun, please, shoot yourself in the foot. Might be the most entertaining thing you've done in a while.

I go by the whiteboard in my little local movie rental shop anyway, that tells me what's coming out, when. From this perspective, NOTHING CHANGES.

Times Online: Climate chief Lord Stern: give up meat to save the planet

People will need to consider turning vegetarian if the world is to conquer climate change, according to a leading authority on global warming.

Okay, I've considered it, for all of the 5 seconds it took. I've decided to stay a meat eater. Since I've "considered turning vegetarian", I've done my part to save the world. *snicker*

Stolen from HouseWench, who had tagged me from her Blogger site.

( 10 truths... )

Here's my advice boiled down nice and condensed:

- If you're running XP right now, stay with it. XP SP3 is being supported until 2014. No reason to upgrade, XP works well. Microsoft won't give you that advice, but I sure will!
- Don't "Upgrade in place". Here there be dragons and an end-product that runs slower than your existing setup. Just don't.
- Go to Windows 7 as a fresh install on all new hardware. Leave your existing machine alone and make sure the new machine well exceeds the specs Windows 7 wants. Don't bottleneck yourself.
- This is a new release, with untested/unproven code, with a host of vulnerabilities just waiting to be found and exploited by the forces of darkness. Be smart. Wait at LEAST two service packs before jumping on their wagon. Early Adopters get burned.
- The price will come down over time. Wait.

Bottom line: Wait. Time is on your side if you do.

I wont lie, I had moments like that today, moreso than the other 2 days I had been mascotting as Corny the Rooster (Kellog's Cornflakes). Truth be told, I wasnt all that surprised that I was going to have a day when things didn't go right, because I was prepared for the ills of guerrilla marketing.

This morning, I left earlier than other days given that this was the farther locations of the 5 Stater Brothers grocery store venues. Got there early (which is usual for me), mused over some text messages from my love and looked at the cloudless sky. I went into the store to interface with the manager to find a place to set up. It was a dead end convo as the manager didn't have any capacity to give me the time of day. He brushed me off with an offer of the back food storage area (where the palettes stack surplus product) or the public bathroom. The attempt to notify the manager of the complexities of my costumer were shut down so I went back to the booth and explained the situation to my supervisor.

Of course this was also the morning that my guide was replaced by a stand-in. I had no idea who it would be. There was double relief when she finally showed up 10 mins. before showtime, and I discovered it was the gal who played Corny during the Monday when I picked the suit up. We scrambled back there and discovered the public bathroom was now blocked with boxes. *facepalm* As we contemplated what to do, some more helpful store staff directed us to the maintenance room. Overall, while I didn't take it personal, I lived up to the "mascots get in people's way or at least people's the way of people's sour moods" concept that seems to be more and more of the truth. Being someone who achieves this without a mascot costume, Im used to it by now.

The emergency sheet I packed was definitely needed, as the floor was way too dirty. There was no seating and no table so screwing the head onto the pod body was definitely a pain in the rear. We took a bit more time, getting us outside at 10:30 instead. :( There were lots of people coming by and Lucy was already painting little faces with footballs, bees, butterflies, soccer balls, and ladybugs.

As usual, the day flew by but the snags definitely made me feel unsynched time-wise. In my 4 hour stint, there were fewer kids letting out that traumatized wail and more that actually wanted to hug this big rooster that stood before them. I chicken danced my way to my shift and had fun in the grocery store aisles. Im getting more and more into some new routines that I have not tried before, since there are some routines not compatible with Corny's suit build (some hand gestures get lost beneath the feathers) or that just arent matching Corny's character personality much.

The times spent changing in and out of costume were a bit of a headache and required me to twist my body in ways that seemed over the top, but were actually necessary for a dirty room with scattered crates and cleaning items...and with a light overhead that Corny's comb touched. Thank dog for being a bellydancer. :) The room was constantly visited by staff, our warning given by hearing "cleanup on/at...." over the PA system. Caroline definitely felt my pain, having had a snafu like this on the one day that she did this.

Breakdown of the booth was quick and Lucy was definitely rushed as she signed our sheets. I was a bit sorer today when I got home since I had not had a seat once since leaving the car earlier that morning. I zoomed up the hill, got some chores done and then had a good rest. Time to switch predator-prey roles again tomorrow! :)