(no subject)

All meetings and no play makes Ellie a dull girl.All meetings and no play makes Ellie a dull girl.All meetings and no play makes Ellie a dull girl.All meetings and no play makes Ellie a dull girl.All meetings and no play makes Ellie a dull girl.All meetings and no play makes Ellie a dull girl.All meetings and no play makes Ellie a dull girl.All meetings and no play makes Ellie a dull girl.All meetings and no play makes Ellie a dull girl.All meetings and no play makes Ellie a dull girl.All meetings and no play makes Ellie a dull girl.All meetings and no play makes Ellie a dull girl.All meetings and no play makes Ellie a dull girl.All meetings and no play makes Ellie a dull girl.All meetings and no play makes Ellie a dull girl.All meetings and no play makes Ellie a dull girl.All meetings and no play makes Ellie a dull girl.All meetings and no play makes Ellie a dull girl.

*Ahem* Sorry about that, I haven't quite returned to semi-sanity two days of meeting hell. Seriously, I've done nothing but meetings for the past two days. One of those days was 12 hours long and included only one break long enough to gobble some food then starting all over again. I apparently have a reprieve today and tomorrow, praise the Flying Spaghetti Monster!

Rehearsals (which I almost didn't make due to, you guessed it, meetings) went well last night, though dancing for like 2+ hours in my pearl and velvet costume is not so comfortable. It also makes said costume a tad smelly and sweaty. Finally sometime after 9 I gave up and went and changed then did a bit more dancing in my sweats. But I think overall that we're going to do well on Saturday and that most folks seem to know where to go and what to do when they get there. That's something. Of course we also found out Saturday that it's against the rules of the show for a troupe to perform twice, so Alyne had to split us up, half doing the morning show and half doing the Extravaganza. I can't say I'm too broken up about this, I mean the only routine that scared me was Raks Suhaila and now I don't have to do it...at the same time, though, I learned the damn thing, pushed myself hard to learn the damn thing, and now I'm not dancing it. *sigh*

Ah well, such are the trials and tribulations of a dancer's life I guess.

Somehow I have managed to gain two pounds since the weekend. I'm currently trying to tell myself it must be water weight. Surely I couldn't have eaten enough since Saturday to have gained two pounds, even if I've mostly spent my days sitting around a conference table. I'm not sure I'm convinced, though. In any case, I looked blobby enough last night to make me want to weep...and then to get me inspired to get back to exercising every night this week. I found a great buns routine on On Demand and tried it out Monday, it's fantastic! So tonight after cleaning and getting things ready for ravenmb's visit, I'll do my abs and buns routines, and maybe even do a little walking around the block as well. If that doesn't help, well at least I'll feel like I've done everything possible before the big show.

(no subject)

via Eschaton

Well what do you know, I guess it turns out that Governor Blanco, despite being a Democrat, actually did what she was supposed to during the Katrina disaster. Gosh, I guess it actually wasn't local government's fault after all. I'm sure this will be played up all over the MSM. Sure it will...in fairyland, anyway.

But hey, Brownie's gone, you say, surely this means that the administration has learned its lesson and will henceforth appoint only competent, qualified people to positions of authority. In which case there's a lovely bridge in Brooklyn I'd just love to sell you:

via No More Mr. Nice Blog

"Mike Brown, the subject of blistering criticism after Hurricane Katrina battered the Gulf Coast and overwhelmed the government's response, quit Monday as director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency....

Bush named R. David Paulison, head of the FEMA's emergency preparedness force, to replace Brown...."

Who's R. David Paulison? Oh, you remember February 2003:

"Americans have apparently heeded the U.S. government's advice to prepare for terror attacks, emptying hardware store shelves of duct tape.

On Tuesday, less than 24 hours after U.S. Fire Administrator David Paulison described a list of useful items, stores in the greater Washington, D.C. area reported a surge in sales of plastic sheeting, duct tape, and other emergency items.

These items, Paulison said, can be helpful after a biological, chemical or radiological attack...."

THE DUCT TAPE GUY! THEY REPLACED BROWN WITH THE FRIGGING DUCT TAPE GUY!

I feel much more secure now, don't you?

Meanwhile, back in the real world Operation Clap Harder doesn't seem to be going so well:

BAGHDAD A series of bombings and assassinations here on Wednesday killed more than 150 people, and injured hundreds more.

Militants loyal to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian linked to Al Qaeda, said in an Internet statement Wednesday that they had carried out the wave of suicide bombings to avenge an offensive by U.S. and Iraqi government troops in the northern rebel town of Tal Afar, Agence France-Presse reported.

Another car bomber blew himself up in northern Baghdad, killing 11 people who had lined up to get gas canisters refilled. Gunmen also dragged 17 people from their homes and killed them in Taji, a northern suburb.