Helping Keep The Grain Plentiful

The link to donate to STAR in the emails from Blogathon seems to be FUBARed, so I strongly suggest that all my wonderful sponsors simply make a donation to STAR directly from STAR's homepage. Let me know if there are any problems there.

Sponsors: please email me your snail mail addresses so I can send you your thank yous! Email star DOT barnkitty AT gmail DOT com.

cross-posted to rafaela

Total money raised for STAR: $333.32

Thanks go to all to my wonderful sponsors: 1phish2phish, nonethewiser, bikergeek, ladymorgaine, daev, spoothbrush, joxzer, eustaciavye, chris_walsh, supremegoddess1, twofiveandseven, snarkypants, chaoticmatter, amethysta, Mom, Bubbe, and an anonymous donor.

More thanks go to Team Venture supporters excursively, mirrored_echo, pseydtonne, and marmota who helped keep us awake, fed, and caffeinated. Also to unofficial Team Venture monitor chaoticmatter and cheerleader chris_walsh. Without these supporters, we would have had a much harder time.

Finally, thanks go out to the rest of Team Venture: shadesong, wired_lizard, mllelaurel, and slipjig. Together, we made it.

cross-posted to rafaela

Fall over dead now. Night!

Well, this is the next to last post from me. I've had a good time, so far - it's been rough here at the end, but I'm determined to finish. I am proud of myself for accomplishing so much. It's been a big thing - raising the money, staying up day and night, shvitzing in the heat, and acting like a fool - I'm still proud of myself.

But the ones who should be most proud? My wonderful sponsors. Thank you a thousand times, a million times, for your generosity. You've raised over $300 for STAR. You've done wonderful.

To our numerous online cheerleaders who have been commenting, following along, and giving us encouragement along the way. I'd especially like to thank chris_walsh, 1phish2phish, and Team Venture's unoffical monitor chaoticmatter.

Adam made us a lovely breakfast, and now we're working on finishing Blogathon. We're getting into striking distance of our goal!

Sponsor me here!

slipjig prepared a nice breakfast for Team Venture - marble loaf cake lightly toasted with butter. yendi is now awake and in need of coffee. Team Venture is banned from coffee at this point - it would carry second wind beyond 9:00 am, which would be - um, inconvenient.

I am now doing as well as I can. Frank the Rubber Chicken would like to say hi.

Anna's gone bye-bye. What've you got?

For your benefit, I am posting my BPAL swap list. If you see something you like, then drop me a line and we'll talk.

Cordelia
Moon Rose
Ochosi
Nocturne
The Bloody Sword
Crossroads

Sponsor me here.

Okay, one list. Jobs I have worked.

- telemarketer

- making cold calls for sales reps for a FUNERAL HOME

- pizza lady

- barista

- desk assistant in a dormitory

- volunteer at an art museum

- teaching assistant at my synagogue

That's plenty of work experience, in my book...some of you have known me through all of these, and remember me then. These aren't in order, and certainly not all of them were pleasant. Personally, I think that working with the public is great except for one thing - the public. (See also "This job would be great if it weren't for the !@#$ing customers.")

Okay, not a great post, but it's something, and it'll mark time and space while I come up with something profound and witty.

...I am sitting down with an empty coffee mug and my watch to my left, and a sonic screwdriver and a glass of Sprite to my right.

It's approaching the end of Blogathon, and we've all caught our second wind.

Right now I want to remind readers that there's a grace period of 48 hours to donate to Blogathon after 9:00 am Eastern Time. Sponsor me anytime, and be sure to e-mail me your snail mail address (email it to star DOT barnkitty AT gmail DOT com) so I can send you a thank you note with a surprise.

We're a little wired, and definitely more energized than we would have been alone. Be sure to check out mllelaurel, slipjig, shadesong, and wired_lizard. All of them are doing Blogathon here for good causes.

And now, the top ten most overrated rock artists:

10. Grateful Dead
9. The Doors
8. Patti Smith
7. Nirvana
6. The Residents
5. Led Zeppelin
4. The Eagles
3. Eric Clapton
2. Steve Winwood
1. ELP

And the most overrated folk-rock act: Steeleye Span

...who are staying up to keep tabs on Blogathonners. Stand up and comment!

As an incentive, I will answer any questions you have about anything. (Within reason and the bounds of good taste, of course.)

Until then, another Top Ten. I give you the Top Ten Most Overrated Albums.

10. Trout Mask Replica
9. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
8. Tales From Topographical Oceans
7. Tommy
6. Nevermind
5. Ten
4. Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols
3. Strange Days
2. The Wall
1. Workingman's Dead

Someone suggested stars and rainbows as inspiration.

Of course! Stars are nifty. I like being out in the country where I can actually see them and make out the few constellations I can pick out of the sky. I remember being at summer camp and some nights lying on the ground, just looking up at the sky and picking out stars. How much nicer could it be?

Rainbows are a rarer sight for me, but no less enjoyable. Rainbow flags are a nice sight - I don't see them much in Glens Falls, but when I do, it's a refreshing sight. (A lot of people in this world tend toward the narrow minded side of things.)

And getting back to stars, there's STAR - which is an inspiration in its own right. Sponsor me here to keep the inspiration going.

I just opened a fortune cookie, only to find the message "The fortune you seek is in another cookie."

And then mllelaurel hallucinated cats, and I imitated Bucky Katt from Get Fuzzy, and realized that coherence had slipped another notch.

Where is this cookie? Whence comes my fortune? I can only hope it is near - and it comes soonly. I am not a patient woman by any means.

I opened another cookie, and it says that the respect and help of influential people will soon be mine.

That I already have. I know it, because I have managed to raise a small fortune to help the two-legged and four-legged therapists - not to mention the riders - at STAR. The amount I have raised will almost cover a season's worth of lessons for a rider there.

Sponsor me and help the therapists help the riders there. I'm happy with my fortune, because it turns out my fortune helped STAR.

There's a rubber chicken on the dining room table where all the laptops are. Adam is singing a nonsense song and has been joined by Tory and Lily. We are all going out of our minds.

It's still wicked hot and humid here. Outside it's cooler, but not cool enough to get the humidity down. I'm not exactly sweet-smelling at the moment, and I'll probably want to burn my clothes afterward.

I'd like to recognize our non-blogathon supporters excursively, pseydtonne, and narmota. They have cooked, brewed coffee, and provided hugs and emotional support through the rough patches.

And that's that for now. Um, yeah. I'm not exactly coherent. Well, I did warn you. Sponsor me! And help give me inspiration!

...aaaaaand I am seriously insane. This is a problem. I am running out of ideas rapidly. Beloved readers, can I trouble you for more ideas?

Meanwhile, I'll give you a top 10 most overrated movies:

10. Citizen Kane
9. 2001: A Space Odyssey
8. Breathless
7. Last Tango In Paris
6. The Last Emperor
5. In The Realm Of The Senses
4. The Exorcist
3. Texas Chainsaw Massacre
2. Badlands
1. Reservoir Dogs

Being a hardcore fan of both Doctor Who and H2G2, I suppose it's only natural to follow a post about Doctor Who with one about H2G2.

For a long time I felt unfortunately identified with Marvin the Paranoid Android. I had a great deal of existential despair. Then I found out that Douglas Adams had suffered from recurring bouts of depression during his life, and I didn't feel so bad. He accomplished a great deal in the face of his depression.

I wanted - dreamed - about the Heart of Gold landing somewhere nearby and getting picked up by Arthur, Ford, and Zaphod for a lunch date at the Restaurant At The End Of The Universe - or perhaps the Big Bang Burger Bar. I'm not picky. Still do dream about it. I even keep a towel ready to go.

When I was in the hospital recently, Adam brought me my towel. It made me feel a lot better. Certainly it didn't cure anything, but it made me feel better.

When I found out that Douglas Adams had passed away, I called my mom and we both cried. I remember it vividly - it was right after I got off work, five days before I had my tonsils out. I was 20 years old.

*sigh* With H2G2 I don't feel fangirl squee so much as quiet devotion. I always will.

[Fiction. Meta. Not very good.]

You're lazy and pathetic.

You're waiting for a blue box to materialize in your apartment. Out would step - what? He has many guises.

There's the one with the outrageously long scarf, prominent teeth, piercing blue eyes, and a thick thatch of dark curls. He'd offer you jelly babies (which you hate anyway) and goof off in the face of danger, making your temper rise high, higher, and finally explode into sparks flying everywhere. The chemistry? Volatile at best. Humans may be his favorite species, but you are not his kind of human. At all.

There's the one wearing a cricket outfit, reserved and kindly, cooperative and all around nice. But how would you deal with him? He would not be affectionate enough for your needs, nor would he be strong enough to handle the extremes of your passionate nature. Sorry, as much as you like him, he would not do.

There's the lyrically romantic looking one with a thick fall of dark hair, big eyes, and a lilting accent. Oh, how affectionate he could be...if only he would remember your name and who you were. You can't count on it. How frustrating that would be for you.

There's the rough cut one - tall and lanky - dressed plainly and darkly. Could he accept your humanity? Could he accept your temperament, the match to his own? Please - you'd be at each other's throats.

And the one with the long coat and the toothy grin would just drive you up a wall. Child-like and seemingly incapable of paying attention to something for more than a minute, he would quickly provoke you - and not in a good way.

Why do you bother with these daydreams? Why don't you focus on something more concrete?

You really are a pathetic dreamer. Think of something practical for once. Then you might pull yourself out of your gloom.

Courtesy 1phish2phish

Anna's Top Ten Cover Versions

In no particular order:

1. Elvis Costello, "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood"
2. Annie Lennox, "Whiter Shade Of Pale"
3. Richard Thompson, "Kiss"
4. Letters To Cleo, "Dangerous Type"
5. Shonen Knife, "Top Of The World"
6. Richard & Linda Thompson, "Dark End of the Street"
7. Fairport Convention, "Percy's Song"
8. Aimee Mann, "One"
9. BuiltForSpeed, "Digging In The Dirt"
10. Heather Nova, "I Have The Touch"

(Sponsor me!)

Courtesy chiara607

My main interests in the SCA are music and dance. I love to dance - not bellydancing, but English country dance and Renaissance dance. My persona is Provençal, about 13^th or 14^th century. (My SCA name is Isabella Ferrand du Lac - Isabella after a song I like, and du Lac because I like Lake Champlain.)

I love playing dress up, I love playing the role to the hilt, and again, I love dancing and music. I love the ceremony, the roleplaying. It sounds cheesy, I know, but that's what I love. I also love helping out with projects like making favors. And despite the jerk I encountered, I did enjoy manning troll. It's a labor of love.

And did I mention garb? Love the garb. In my mundane life I'm a jeans and t-shirts kind of girl. With garb, I'm a shameless clothes horse. Love the garb.