Loosening Up For Ten

I'm going through this period where some days I just...forget to blog. Same thing happened with my 365 Self Portraits project. One day I just...forgot. I tried to get all worked up about this last night and then I realized that maybe it's not a bad thing. In fact, maybe it's a good thing. Balance, friends and neighbors, I'm looking into it.

Today is 10 Things Tuesday, though! It's been a while since we walked through my starred file and I just reconfigured my reader since site redesigns for some ventures left me lost. There ought to be at least one interesting thing in here for everyone, right?

1. Via Gothamist, here's a court room exchange worthy of an episode of Ally McBeal. Click through just for the priceless headline.

2. Back at Blogher this summer I attended a great panel about advice blogs. One of the panel members, Aunt Becky, launched a community blog last year called Band Back Together. Sometimes it's tough to read and sometimes it's hilarious. It has a real life of its own and it's a group of people who are truly helping each other. Today I read a wonderful post by a woman who is pro-choice and why. It's a beautifully personal story told in a lovely way.

3. This, also from Gothamist, is pretty much solely for Auntie. I know how bent she gets when people don't clean the weather off their cars and this story lends big flaming dry logs of fuel to her fire.

4. I have probably already squeed and whooped and hollered at you about Miss Doxie being back. She's back! Squeeeeee! Usually she talks about the dogs (the doxies, of course) but there's a post up today with a slide show of her cat's shenanigans that I cannot recommend to you highly enough. Love her. Love her cat. Am really glad I don't have crawl space plumbing to contend with.

5. You know how there are things you see in other people's spaces that you know would look silly or forced or grungy in your own? That's pretty much anything on any design blog ever for me. People, I do not keep a tidy home. It's comfortable, y'all. (Mostly.) Anyway, these things recommended by Design Sponge are that feeling times eleven but I still want them all because they are cool.

6. Speaking of well designed people, there's Aaryn. I cannot wait to lay eyes on her this summer! She recently did some soul searching and found inspiration in a site called Advanced Style. Both her words and the photos of Advanced Style gave me hope for my own rather "comfortable" way of putting myself together.

7. Anissa Mayhew is another fabulous blogger I heard speak this summer. She also has a community blog and it's called Aiming Low. Recently Chicky Baby wrote there about the fact that it's National Dog Training Month. Chicky is a dog trainer, she should know. I have been half assedly participating since she gave the heads up and it helps. It always helps. I do know this I'm just slow to action. I'm going back to basics, I've been letting the basics slide, but damned if Ed's whole being doesn't seem fucking thrilled when we finally get down to doing some work. Finally a job! Something important to do! Can we do it a million more times? Can we do it all the time? Forever? Me! Want! Purpose! Turns out that whole dogs-are-like-their-people thing is bullshit.

8. I'm finally back on track with Feministing's feed. Whew! One of the first things I read is about an anti-immigration bill working its way through the Mississippi legislature. In case you were one of those people who said that Arizona had its reasons for stopping people and demanding papers from them and it wasn't anything to be worried about other states wouldn't go ahead with it and they had every right and extenuating circumstances and constitution made to be fluid and and and. Well, not meaning to offend but what's that movie or TV show where one of the characters starts yelling out WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG, WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG, WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG, WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG, You'reWRONG, You'reWRONG, You'reWRONG to the tune of a grandfather clock striking the hour? Yeah, please refer to that. (OK, I'm willing to admit that you may have some valid points within your philosophy but I'm still against the legislation and I really like that movie - or TV show - even though I can't recall which one it is right this very second.)

9. I love Jim's photos of crumbling Detroit at Sweet Juniper. I love German Shepherds. This photo is pretty much a huge present specifically to me!

10. Today I leave you with this photo (perhaps not for the morally vegetarian among you) that I believe was styled and shot with my cats in mind.