surprise!

People, I totally apologize. I know how disorienting it is to land on your favorite a beloved a familiar blog only to have it change its stripes on you.

But I've been meaning to migrate from the nesty blog to something less specific for a while now. And with all the work I've been doing on other peoples' blogs, it seemed like a case of "Physician, heal thyself."

So this is the part where I obnoxiously demand that you take additional time out of your day to update your links. Go ahead, we'll wait. It's E L L I E Q U E N T. No dash. Capitalization optional.

All set? Brilliant, thanks.

I want to thank everyone for the incredibly kind feedback on the shop. I'm delighted - and slightly shocked - to say the response has been amazing. Custom orders are coming in at the rate of about two a day! I've been working four projects deep all week, and it's been a blast.

And can I just say that posting my first testimonial in the shop was absolutely thrilling?

But the really exciting news is that I've just found an incredibly talented graphic designer to work with! Well, she found me, really. And I am over the moon ecstatic about it! With her on board, Rainy Day will be able to provide a whole new level of service. And by "new" I mean "ridiculously gorgeous".

There'll be a full announcement and reveal in the shop very soon, so please keep an eye or two peeled.

In related news, XHTML books are not as sexy as they sound. But plotless strings of code be damned! ...I'm on a quest for total technical omnipotence. Or something like that.

Again, thanks to all for the enthusiasm and encouragement. Sorry I've been missing your news on your own blogs. But I'd be lying if I said I hope I get a break soon.

I'm loving this insanity!

Kick my tires, please. Harder. Wait!..not that hard.

Psst, people. I need your help. But ya gotta keep it on the down low, k? I'm just a few days shy of opening the template shop, and I would loooooove to tap my lovely readers for Beta testing.



Certain things are still unfinished, including

• the Terms of Service
• purchasing isn't set up yet
• there are loads more templates to come, including much more simple and basic styles
• I haven't set up all the full-size images on Flickr
• I haven't redirected to the custom domain yet
• some fun stuff (like a Blogsonality Quiz!) hasn't been written yet
• still trying to decide on pricing

...but I can't wait anymore. I'm just too excited. So if you guys wouldn't mind taking a look, clicking around, and letting me know what you think? I'm particularly looking for feedback on stuff like aesthetics, navigability, and, well, anything.

If you have specific suggestions regarding business or legal stuff, please take a second to email me (grumpgirl@gmail.com).

But general impressions - oh, and praise. lots of praise - are welcome here!

OK, HAVE AT IT!

making fun of the unfunny

I'm probably going to get some heat for this post, but I'm going for it.

One of my best friends is going through hell chemo right now. He's out of state, so I'm pretty much limited to bombarding him with pep talk-style text messages and calls. Which is a darkly humorous situation, because what do you text to someone to ask about their day battling cancer? Hey! How are ya? Whatcha up to?

Right.

Thankfully, he has a bulletproof sense of humor (which is WHY he's one of my best friends). When I offered my pathetic, limited help, he told me to just write him some top ten lists. People, I write mad hilarious top ten lists (though strangely, I've never posted one here - must amend that).

So I summoned my muse (she, too, is furious about the New Yorker travesty), and we sat down and worked up half a dozen funny top ten lists.

I printed them, put them in individual envelopes, and bundled them into a package with instructions to only open them as needed. Along-the-way pick me ups for when he has a particularly bad day (as opposed to those FUN chemo days).

So far, they're a hit. In fact, yesterday he told me something that totally made my day - his doctor asked if she could post one of my lists he'd shared with her in the treatment center, to cheer up the other patients. Humor is the best medicine, she said. I was so flattered, truly.

Anyway, tragically, cancer is everywhere. I'll count myself lucky if he's the only loved one I'll ever have to watch suffer through chemo. So in the spirit of possibly raising someone else's spirits, I present

TOP TEN BETTER NAMES/EUPHEMISMS FOR CHEMOTHERAPY

10) onco-roma therapy
9) bad juju re-allocation
8) mullet prevention sessions
7) nanoblasting
6) Tuesdays with morphine
5) loosely controlled subtraction of unwelcome division
4) cellular jihad
3) hero insurance
2) tumorcide
1) magic

Oh, and the heat I mentioned subjecting myself to is from my friend himself. He hates anyone knowing, thinking, or suspecting he's sick, in any way. He doesn't want to trouble, worry, or stress anyone about what HE'S going through.

What a selfish guy, huh?

I'm caving under the weight of my own secret.

...and I just. Can't. Take it anymore! You are all about to become accomplices. If co-complicity does not appeal to you, close your eyes and back away carefully from this post. Don't trip on the chair on your way out. Now, the rest of you - ready?

The reason I've been woefully remiss in my blogging duties days these days IS...

I'm opening a blog template and makeover shop! And I have been working like mad to get it set up so I can launch ASAP. I'm going to sell both premade, "prêt-à-blogger" templates and offer custom blog design, as well.

Why on EARF would I imagine I could do something like that, you ask? Well, over the past few years, I've started, like, twenty seven blogs. And along the way, I've managed to pick up tons of tweaks to help customize my templates. I've learned how to manipulate blog architecture, as it were, and how to make subtle - but aesthetically impactful - changes. Plus, it's just a super fun creative outlet for me.

Did you know that Technorati alone lists 112 MILLION blogs? That's a market if I ever heard of one. My mission is to help beautify the big ol' blogosphere, one template at a time.

So right now I'm juggling trying to finish the shop itself, working on some custom projects, and trying clean up TLN a bit, as well. Madness!

Anyway, I can't wait to show you guys the shop, and let you see some of the designs I've been working on. I am CRAZY psyched about it!

call the police; I've been robbed

Oh my god, I am so bummed. I KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN. Remember my supreme confidence over The New Yorker caption contest? How I was sure I nailed it, but also pretty convinced I wouldn't be the only one to come up with my caption?

Worst case scenario...realized. Here's what I came up with:

(I took a screenshot when I did it, for proof - I also told a couple of friends.)

And the three finalists, garnering votes as I type:

I think taxidermists is better than taxidermy myself - I mean, it's a play on taxes, not taxing - but whatever.

I'm not bitter, I swear. =(

"I like the way you be nice to the environment and stuff."

I'm supposed to be working, but...

via Yes We Can (hold babies)

say tease!

This is why I should just give in and use Twitter. Rather than committing myself to a whole post (a whole post!) I could just phone in an update. BUT I WILL NEVER PHONE IT IN, PEOPLE. Ok, maybe on Fridays.

Here's the deal: my new blog launch, scheduled optimistically for yesterday, has been delayed. Because I sort of got sidetracked by something, oh, TOTALLY EXCITING AND WONDERFUL! (No, not Obama, though that has had me in a glorious mood.)

And that's all I can say for now. I'm juggling two major projects and working like crazy to complete them. Can't wait to announce both!

PENNSYLVANIA! OHIO! YAY!

Just ungluing my eyes from the TV for a second to post a link to this great piece.

Also, there's hilarious liveblogging on Wonkette tonight.

I can't believe it's almost over. Thank GOD.

Ok, back to the telly...

**UPDATE** YES! YES! YEEESSSSSS!!!!! CNN HAS PROJECTED THAT BARACK OBAMA IS OUR NEXT PRESIDENT!!!

via Cajun Boy in the City

I'm shaking. I'm not crying, though I thought I would be. But wow, am I shaking.

Thanks so much to everyone putting up with my ranting and raving these last few weeks. I don't know what I would have done without this outlet. You guys have been great, so supportive and enthusiastic, and it's been awesome to commiserate - and now celebrate! - with all of you.

I can't stop smiling...

**2nd UPDATE** Just watched his acceptance speech and lost it. Seeing the first family walk out..oh my god. I've never in my life been so moved by anything even remotely political. I was so, so proud to be an American at that moment.

Wow.

I feel like a hundred pounds of tension has floated up off of my shoulders.

this is no time for memes, people!!

You all are a bunch of tag-happy sadists, good grief. Do you hear me, Broke-Ass Bride? Woman, can't you see how busy I am working myself up into an unhealthy political lather in the final days before the election?? ***glares***

For this one, I'm supposed to grab the nearest book, turn to page 56, and type the fifth sentence on the page and a few lines following. From Lost by Gregory Maguire:

It was a worrisome habit she had, of vacating the premises mentally and transposing herself into the same premises, organized otherwise, fictionally. Like Alice and the mirror over the mantel, where the world looks the same but different: not just backward, but uncannily precises, and precisely strange...

There. Take THAT on your hungover-from-Halloween Saturday morning.

Oh and I'm supposed to post this...

...and tag six others. Same deal as always with me and memes - take it if ya want it!

for some reason, I think someone tagged me for something else recently, but I can't find it...

five bad reasons to vote for Obama

There are plenty of good reasons to vote for Obama. His economic and energy plans, his progressive ideas on infrastructure and health care, his devotion to protecting women's rights...

But I'd admit it. I get equally excited about the "little" things, too. Things that I might be criticized for pointing to as reasons to vote for him. Well, guess what. I'm pointing.

FIVE "BAD" REASONS TO VOTE FOR OBAMA

1) The way he interacts with Michelle speaks volumes his character.

This is a man who looks at his wife of sixteen years with warmth, affection, and respect. I look at these photos, and I'm uplifted. I really am.

2) There's something heartwarming about younger children in the White House.

It just makes the first family seem more...human. More relatable. And Malia and Sasha Obama are about as adorable as adorable gets.

3) I don't know if this story about a young Obama helping a woman in need some 20 years ago is true...but I could see it being so. Sadly, I can also this one, about John "McNasty" McCain verbally abusing his wife, being true, too.

4) Obama's critics like to make a mockery out of his eloquence, his mellifluous speaking voice. They snicker and snarl sarcastically, "Yeah, that's right. Vote for the guy who sounds prettier." Well, you know what? I am sick and tired of listening to George W's constant incoherent, nonsensical verbal fumbles. The guy can't even pronounce "nuclear" correctly. And I've said before what I think about McCain's nasal whine.

What is wrong with wanting to be captivated? To be inspired by our leaders? Since when are oratory skills something to deride? Democracy finds its earliest roots in a model where speechmaking and debate were prized, after all.

And while we're on the subject, am I the only one who is confounded by the idea that Palin's colloquialism is something to be lauded? Since when we do want "ordinary folk" running the country, anyway? AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO'D LIKE HER LEADERS TO BE SMARTER THAN HER??! LIKE, A LOT SMARTER??!

5) Keywords. I listen to McCain talk about foreign policy and again and again I hear the same buzzwords. "Dangerous", "terrorists", "defense"--"surge." I hear jingoism. From Obama I hear "diplomacy", "openness", and (much to Palin's shock) "talk." The tragic events of 911 have been a hot button for the Bush administration to push on Americans, whenever they want to justify military engagement. Week after week, McCain keeps playing that same fear card.

I'd rather just be dealt a new hand.

If you have "bad" reasons for voting Obama-Biden, you're welcome to confess below...

I like Google's optimism.

If only search results were a reliable predictor:

Now if you wouldn't mind rapping your knuckles against your computer screen...

Thanks.

congrats, my friend =)

I have a friend. She's having a baby. Only, it's still a secret. But she shared it with me. Clearly, she has the mistaken impression I can keep my mouth shut. KIDDING. Until she comes out of the baby closet I can't name her...but I can post some of my favorite baby & kidlet Flickr finds in honor of her discovery.

(click photos for sources)

I don't know why, but I get CRAZY EXCITED for my friends when they get pregnant. Usually because they've been trying for quite a while...or they just want it, BAD. That sort of joy is undeniably infectious.

Anyway, can you believe it, woman?!! You're having one of these!! A hundred hugs and congratulations. =)

just a cool photo, that's all

photo by stop.down

"REPUBLICANS THANK MOORE" Nooooooooooo!!!!

We all have one or two of those friends. They're apathetic, lazy, or both, and if we had to guess, we'd say they won't be schlepping their butts to the polls on Tuesday along with the rest of us dutiful citizens. Well, Move On made this hilarious, customizable video for just such peeps:



Send one to friend (or yourself) right here.

everyone needs to download this song.

Immeeeeedjiately.



It's "South America", by Shout Out Louds. I guess it's off an album from last year, but I recently heard it on Sirius 26 and have had it on loop ever since.

Oooh! Typing of music reminds me that I totally forgot to download the soundtrack to Michael Cera's Infinite Cuteness Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. One can never have enough iTunes gift cards. NEVER.