Hey guys, I've been meaning to do this for a while. My flist has gotten to be too much to handle, and I haven't been keeping up with it the way I'd like to be. I still love you, but for whatever reason -- growing apart in interests, not enough time -- I've been finding myself scrolling through a lot of people's journals, and that's not fair to you or me. So no hard feelings, OK? :) Also, I'm extending this opportunity for anyone to defriend me, no questions asked, no hard feelings!

I figured I didn't have much of a shot at winning the banner design contest, so I just got around to checking today to see if anyone I knew won. And what do you know, but the first place design was completely ripped off from someone else.

Go look at the first-place design, which won $1,000 and will be used all over the place by SixApart and other companies -- a design that won a contest where the rules state you must own the copyright to anything used in your graphic. Then look at this site, where you can download graphics for only personal, noncommercial use. What irritates me even more is that this was pointed out in the comments on one of the posts to the contest site. I looked at the names, and there doesn't seem to be a connection between the person who does the graphics for Shabby Princess and the person who won.

In any case, congrats to phuck , whose design was chosen as the most popular!

ETA:

• To e-mail the Shabby Princess site, whose work was stolen: princess@shabbyprincess.com
• From the article about the contest winners: Six Apart Media Contact JoAnn Peach; Office: 415.344.0056 x 107; E-mail
• Does anyone know the e-mail addresses of the LJ higher-ups?

What kind of crap is this? Because I know women needed one more barrier to reporting rape!

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Most sexual assault victims must pay for tests they undergo in emergency rooms after an attack, from a $50 insurance copay to hundreds of dollars in bills for the uninsured, The News & Observer of Raleigh reported in Wednesday editions.
Roughly 3,000 emergency room patients are examined for sexual assault each year, according to state records. Victim advocates say the rape kits, which provide DNA evidence for criminal investigators, should be paid for by the state and treated like evidence collected at other crime scenes.
"Rape victims are being treated differently than any other victim of crime," said Monika Johnson-Hostler, executive director of the North Carolina Coalition Against Sexual Assault. "The county doesn't charge me for fingerprinting if my house gets broken into."
Hospitals send bills for uninsured patients to the state Department of Crime Control and Public Safety, which has a modest fund that enables reimbursements of up to $1,000. The average cost of a rape kit exam is $1,600.
In reaction to the newspaper's story, lawmakers promised Wednesday to try to find money to cover such costs.

I'm passionate about my husband, about my family and my friends. About loving them and holding nothing back, about sharing joy and pain and forgiveness and acceptance.

I'm passionate about wearing sandals and going barefoot all year long, even in the snow. About sea otters and penguins and polar bears. I'm passionate about books -- books with sentences that make you pause and find somewhere to copy the words down because it's so good it makes you want to cry. About books that transform and transport, that stay with you long after you've set them down. I'm passionate about words -- short, concise words such as vex and mull and long, silly words such as flibbertigibbet and scrumptious. I'm passionate about syntax and grammar, connotations and denotations, prose and poetry. I'm passionate about the belief that a good book on a comfy couch can solve many of life's problems.

I'm passionate about being a geek, in all areas. I'm passionate about Harry Potter and Doctor Who and math jokes and fan fiction and having caffeine molecules and obscure references on my T-shirts. I'm passionate about wearing costumes for opening night and release dates. I'm passionate about kitchen gadgetry and my shiny red Kitchenaid mixer. About things that need a USB cable. I'm passionate about my laptop and wireless and being able to check my friends list from anywhere I can get a strong enough signal.

I'm passionate about design, about that feeling you get when the puzzle pieces of your news page just fall into place. I'm passionate about chocolate, in all its forms -- expensive dark chocolate, hot cocoa with marshmallows melting on top, the first fudgy bite of a warm brownie. I'm passionate about laughing, whether it's at my husband's tickling me, a puppy's antics on YouTube or at the local news program's flubs.

I'm passionate about my cats -- the way Worf stalks and hunts and begs, the way Miss Kitty loves to drink water out of the tap, sit in my lap and knead the boob. The way they seem to enjoy soaking up the sun as much as I do. I'm passionate about the way it doesn't feel quite real when the wind stops completely and the air is the perfect temperature, so much so that you can't tell if it's hot or cold and without that feedback on your skin, you can't tell if you're really standing there.

I'm passionate about life's absurdities and actualizations and emotions, about those moments when you are entranced by the shape of the water beads on a spider's web or the soft down on a newborn's head. About the absolute joy that resonates in the squeal of an excited child and the heartbreaking sorrow of a widow's tears.

And I'm passionate about noticing and experiencing and living and appreciating all of these things, so that some day, when I'm a mother, I can hand that passion down to my children so that they can live a life that is as full as it can possibly be.

Comment for a fic or treat on Halloween!
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Looks awesome! I hope it's better than last season! Don't watch if you don't want a big spoiler about the big bad revealed.

24 trailer

But I was just watching Dancing with the Stars from last night. After Marie Osmond's performance, she fainted and collapsed. They went to commercial, and when they came back, she said that sometimes when she gets winded, she stops breathing and passes out.

So, Jane Seymour was up next. I started laughing hysterically at the juxtaposition as soon as I realized she was dancing to Toni Braxton's "Breathe Again."

Please understand, if love ends,
then I promise you, I promise you that,
that I shall never breathe again.
Breathe again, breathe again,
that I shall never breathe again.

I've got a bunch of credits at Audible that I need to use up, so I'm trying to think of some good books to download and listen to. I'm in the process of downloading the new Stephen Colbert book, but I have about 10 more credits :-) Any suggestions? I read/listen to just about anything, so all genres welcome. :-) I'm just looking for something from a really good narrator with an engaging plot. Not too much to ask, right? :)