Mind Stain

On the Subject of Media and Stereotypes

2012-02-16T13:34:00.002-06:00

I figured out this morning how incredibly incensed I become by stereotype in media. In this case, it was a Bounce fabric softener commercial and the stereotype they were propagating was gay men. In this commercial, the OVERTLY gay man in question is heavy-set, has the stereotypical gay "lisp", and is carrying a little white purse/designer dog, and is (of course) worrying about his black

I live on AVENUE Q

2012-02-16T00:08:00.000-06:00

I know that this news is a bit late in its arrival, (being that we are into our third week of rehearsals) but some of my readers do not follow me on Facebook. I was cast as the Bad Idea Bear (girl) in Bower City Theatre Company's production of Avenue Q! For those of you not in the know about this musical, here's some information provided by the Bower City Theatre website; Avenue Q Directed by

The Sound of Her Feet

2012-01-11T18:58:00.001-06:00

The sounds. The sounds of soft claps against the pavement. My feet moving forward, ever forward. I know that about this time of year, people are starting to bring themselves to task, making resolutions-- promises for the future. They are recounting the year past and planning for the year ahead. This is where we differ. I don't plan, I just do. I have goals, but they are spoken only to me so I am

Welcome Back... not Kotter.

2012-01-11T17:23:00.000-06:00

Oh, roller coaster of life... you are a strange and mystical creature. So I am sure some of you are wondering where the hell I have been, why I dropped off the face of the Bloggersphere for a while, what's been new in my life. or maybe you haven't, and that's okay too. The truth of the matter is that I felt harassed. I felt harassed by politics, harassed by some random "Anonymous" asshole,

On the Subject of Roller Derby, Neil Gaiman, and The Case of the Catastrophic Equipment Failure

2011-10-25T22:02:00.001-05:00

Well, I am back home and on to my second attempt at this blog post... the first one went all Harry Houdini on me and escaped into the ether of my new tablet. One day I may find it lurking in there, but for now I have decided that a rewrite is in order... What a weekend it was! There was a WHOLE lot of good with a sprinkling of bad (as I write this, the rain is hammering the metal roof of my

Balloongate 2011 or The Case of the Heart-Shaped Balloon

2011-07-29T11:53:00.002-05:00

I think that the most ridiculous articles circulating the web and drawing the attention of Wisconsinites right now are the articles referring to knife wielding Department of Administration worker Ron Blair and heart-shaped balloon carrying citizen Leslie Amsterdam. It's a thrilling tale with knives, balloons, and mysterious blood on the stairs... or the most ridiculous thing you've read today in

Eating Time or the Case of the Absent Blogger

2011-07-28T16:50:00.000-05:00

I just realized that is has been a HELL OF A LONG TIME since I have posted anything here, and I figured that I should remedy that as soon as was humanly possible. I would like to say that my absence has been due to the overwhelming amount of writing I have been doing, but that would be a sad, sad lie. The truth is that the Bristol Renaissance Faire has me pretty exhausted during the week so I

A WINNER!!

2011-05-09T23:40:00.001-05:00

Warm and well deserved congratulations to Nicole for winning the American Gods Audiobook Contest!! Can't wait to hear your reading!! A winner is selected!!!

American Gods Audiobook Contest Leaderboard

2011-04-17T15:07:00.071-05:00

For those of you paying any attention to the Neil Gaiman "American Gods" Audiobook contest (that I happen to be a contestant in) here's the leader board starting 4/17/11. I will try to update this list daily, if time permits. *Updated 10:30am 4/19 I wouldn't complain if you guys threw me a sympathy vote now and again for my hard work... ;) *Updated 5:45pm 4/19 *Updated 10:40am 4/20 (Removed

Busy, busy, busy!

2011-04-15T09:47:00.000-05:00

Because spring has finally sprung, so to speak, I am on to even more adventures than before. I have so many projects that I am working on now, and that's an exciting thing for me. Winter has always felt like a kind of stasis I find myself in, and Spring has always been the time that I renew and grow. Winter is reflection and Spring is rejuvenation. As I did last year, I'll be joining the Bristol

New Sun Rising: Stories for Japan

2011-04-03T13:43:00.002-05:00

It's a typical Sunday afternoon for me, except it isn't typical. I have spent the last couple of days editing and writing for a project I am involved in that I would like to share with you all. Wisconsin has surely been through what can only be known as a democracy mess as of late, and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight for some time yet. Through all of this hustle and bustle, tragedy

Response Letter from Councilman Perrotto and My Response to Him

2011-03-30T22:50:00.000-05:00

I was absolutely gobsmacked to receive a letter back from Frank Perrotto and in such short order. I will note that any and all grammatical and spelling issues are his own. I copied this straight from the email. Following his letter is my response. Dear Naomi Thank you for your E mail. It is quit obvious that you have strong opinions about my behavior and those of Yuri Rashkin. I respect your

An Open Letter to the Republican Party of Dane County

2011-03-30T17:48:00.000-05:00

This is a response to this post made today by the Republican Party of Dane County: To whom it may concern at the Republican Party of Dane County, Since I refused to be limited to 500 characters, I decided to write you directly so that I may be not only succinct, but also concise. It's possible that others are able to rattle off a nasty message rife with curse words in that small an amount,

Open Letter to Janesville Councilman Frank Perrotto

2011-03-30T13:53:00.001-05:00

Dear Mr. Perrotto, I read your email to Yuri Rashkin today and it made me want to spit fire. I am going to share that email here so that everyone else can read it as well, because, let's be honest... it's a pretty funny email when you consider certain things that I will share following that email. "Councilman Yuri I went to your web site and I was appalled. How dare you conduct yourself, as

Backward Walker in Forward Janesville

2011-03-30T12:30:00.000-05:00

Solidarity flag waves at the Janesville Protest of Scott Walker. Photo by Craig Gibeaut I would have posted this last night but since I was among the very last of the people to go home, I was too exhausted to put words together in a coherent fashion. My throat is pretty much still thrashed, my feet and back are sore from at least five hours of standing, but to be honest it's the best kind of

An Apology and Some Random Thoughts

2011-03-24T15:32:00.000-05:00

I'll start off by saying that I'm sorry I haven't been on here daily to moderate comments. They all get published, whether I like them or agree with them, I am just slow to get them on here at times. I took a step back from politics for a while because it was beginning to consume everything I was doing in my life, and adding stress that I had no control over. It has also taken over a part of my

My Letter to State Senator Tim Cullen

2011-03-16T00:03:00.000-05:00

I am going to be honest with you, I thought at first that this article HAD to be a hoax. Why would one of the Heroic 14 all of a sudden switch sides like this? After some light digging, I found article after article stating the same thing. I am not sure what the tactic is here, but I decided to write to Senator Cullen to let him know my feelings on the matter, being that I live in his district

Schoolhouse Rock Lied to Me

2011-03-10T01:55:00.000-06:00

It's so hard to sort out what I am feeling emotionally. This post isn't about political right or left, it's about feelings. Emotions. Every time I see, "Quit crying" or "Quit whining", it makes me sick. Who WOULDN'T be crying at a time like this?! Those who feel like this passing was the right thing to do, sure. But WHY do they think it was right? I remember when I was in the sixth grade,

And Your Little Dog Too...

2011-03-04T17:06:00.003-06:00

It seems as though every time someone reads through this budget bill, another horrific thing is uncovered and that one worse than the last. I am not exactly sure exactly how Walker intends to save our budget with THIS little gem, but I would like to share with you some of the bill that I think make you as sick as it made me. I'll post what I understand of it afterward, and if I am misinformed or

Missing Senators to be Fined $100 per day and Other Relevant News

2011-03-02T16:28:00.003-06:00

According to an article at Channel3000.com (a local news station for the Madison area) Republicans have decided to pass a resolution that attempts to bring the missing 14 Democratic Senators back across state lines and in this blogger's opinion, it's not going to work. This resolution, passed by unanimous votes, states that it would "charge each senator $100 each day for every day the lawmaker

Scott Walker Asked to Leave Local Restaurant (THE "HOAX" REVEALED!)

2011-03-01T02:07:00.005-06:00

As promised, I am adding the pulled blog post (with restaurant name and contact info redacted) so that everyone can understand what all the chaos at this site has been about. Then I am going to do a breakdown of Badger Blogger's recording and tell you which bits of it are TRUE. That's right. Parts of what they say are actually right, but as always, it's never what you think. Let's get started,

WI Capital on Lockdown

2011-02-28T17:13:00.002-06:00

As stories fly about windows being welded shut at the capital building (and a credible source for this hasn't been found) one thing that remains and IS verified is the lock down on the capital building for "cleaning purposes". Though, there are tweets from inside the capital saying that they can't see anyone cleaning the capital. Here's the deal. Like it or not, Left or Right, this is in our

What I have to say about the negative

2011-02-27T15:02:00.000-06:00

I am going to come straight out and say it. Some people in this world are just despicable people. Some people in this world just commit despicable actions. What is the difference, you might ask? I'd like to think that the people writing the horrid things that they are about me are, in the real world, good people; They stand by their beliefs and care very much for their friends and families. They

Scott Walker Asked to Leave Local Restaurant

2011-02-25T14:40:00.013-06:00

Come looking for an article about Scott Walker being booted from a Madison restaurant? Yes, you came to the right place, but at the request of the restaurant owner due to abusive phone calls, the article has been hidden for the time being. PLEASE REFER TO THIS BLOG POST: http://mymindstain.blogspot.com/2011/03/scott-walker-asked-to-leave-local.html This raises a wonderful point. Why should a

A Tribute to Despair on Valentine's Eve

2011-02-13T23:06:00.001-06:00

Dear Diary,Today I killed her. Or as good as. Today I took a life that belonged to God... or I would have believed it belonged to God if God had deigned to show up at all tonight... The scratchy hempen rope, the swinging legs... Oh, for you to have seen her swinging legs! The eyes that stared back at me, her empty eyes, spoke of the sadness she had felt all her life. The rose; surely a

Fantastikal? We'll see, I suppose.

2011-01-21T01:11:00.000-06:00

It's getting to be that time of year again, where auditions for Ren Faire are coming back around and I am going back to try for Fantastikals (which has been my promise to myself to keep trying until I either make it or until I just get so depressed from NOT making it that I stop trying). I have been looking into some things for my movement piece as suggested by a friend called "Eurythmy". I know,

An Astrological Identity Crisis

2011-01-13T15:36:00.019-06:00

Work it, girl! Do you follow Astrology? I used to, but now I am not sure I should anymore. According to the "news" today (and I am guessing it's a slow day if this is what is making headlines this afternoon), we have all been thrown into an Astrological tailspin trying to understand our new identities, with the "debut" of a new sign; Ophiuchus. Sounds a bit like "tucchus" in my pronunciation,

Welcome to 2011

2011-01-03T17:24:00.000-06:00

Ahhh... the sweet sounds of silence. Not only is everyone in the house but me taking a nap, but the holidays are over and that makes my house a tolerable place to be. I'm not saying that I hated every part of the holidays... I had a really great time... I am just saying that I am glad it's done and over with now. I have been able to get some novel writing done, which has been nice. What's NOT

Yule Tidings!

2010-12-21T00:47:00.000-06:00

This year, for the first time in several centuries, there is a full lunar eclipse on the Winter Solstice. I plan to do some very simple meditation tonight, and in the spirit of the season, I plan to start fresh. The last year has been filled with many ups and downs, the downs sometimes outweighing the ups, but my family has managed to pull through them all. Oddly, every time something bad has

Things Forgotten and Karaoke

2010-12-18T18:03:00.000-06:00

After all that I wrote yesterday, I totally forgot what I was going to say at the end, which was that I met up with the photographer from the photoshoot I did (Al) at the Denny's and had lunch. We needed to get some model release forms signed and as a gift, he gave me five BEAUTIFUL framed prints of some of my favorite pictures from the shoot. It was a wonderful gift, even if my daughter made off

2010-12-17T17:17:00.000-06:00

It's really days like these that I don't have any kind of appreciation for being a woman... I am in all sorts of pain, when I thought I had done a good job of keeping it under control. So much for that plan, and now it takes twice the normal dose just to get it back to a tolerable amount. Thankfully I now have insurance for the first time in four years, so I am able to see if there's something I

Clean Misery

2010-12-06T18:14:00.000-06:00

I'm not going to lie, I am exhausted. I have been giving my house a total makeover (much needed, of course) but right at the moment I am just too tired to move much more than my fingers. I am thankful for that much at least, so that I can actually post something. I took my laptop along to the future-in-law's place so that I could post but their love for making me miserably cold put a damper on

Cleaning, Gay Marriage and Snow

2010-12-04T23:13:00.000-06:00

I keep being asked to continue my blog so I guess I will do that. It has been kind of therapeutic to get the thoughts circling around in my head out of there every day. Plus, keeping a type of journal is good practice for just making sure I am writing something. The day after my birthday I came down with some sort of mini-sickness, but again, this was just a 24 hour bug, which I am thankful for.

Birthdays, Paintings, and The Dream King

2010-11-30T23:04:00.001-06:00

I just realized that I completely forgot my posting for yesterday mostly because I went to sleep at a decent time for a change, after not really having a normal sleep schedule for a week or two. I feel bad about it but at the same time I really didn't enjoy being sick last week and would not like to repeat the process. I figured that since I missed it I had better have something phenomenal to

Fear and the Voice Within

2010-11-28T20:03:00.000-06:00

After writing about four thousand words into the wee hours of this morning, I found myself at a complete impasse in my novel. The hard part is that no one has really read the book in its entirety so far, or if they have they aren't very forthcoming with constructive criticism, so I can ask for help all that I want but no one really has any clue exactly what I am trying to get accomplished here.

Bubbles in a Fish Tank and Filet Mignon

2010-11-27T22:11:00.000-06:00

I have been sitting here staring at a blank page, and figuring out how to conquer it. I am looking at bubbles in a fish tank, and a TV that is only just a noise. I am listening to a song that touches my heart. I am smelling the remnants of dinner. I am feeling like thirty is approaching too fast. What is it about years of our lives that make us feel a certain way? Why should thirty be different

Nope, it has nothing to do with polar bears.

2010-11-26T20:38:00.000-06:00

Well, I promised that I would post more about my Turkey Day stuff, and now that I have had both time to make up for the sleep lost because of it and time to think about it all I think I can finally write about it some. I find it hard to explain to people the relationship between my mother and I. I know that I have said that plenty of times but unless I go off on a rant for an hour about all of

Turkey Day posting

2010-11-25T21:57:00.000-06:00

Just going to pull a quick blog post out before I head out into the cold, cold night to do some Black Friday shopping... which I am not really looking forward to. Today was interesting. I got no sleep because mom called me at two in the morning to let me know she was too sick to do our Turkey Day stuff, so I ran to her house to pick up the turkey for cooking so the whole thing didn't go down the

Music, Poetry, and Thankfulness

2010-11-25T01:45:00.000-06:00

Tonight at the show was a very good time. I sang "Come to My Window" by Melissa Etheridge, "What's Up" by 4 Non Blonds, and "Me and Bobby McGee" the Janis version of the song. Everyone seemed to enjoy my singing and at least I didn't get booed or anything. Though I don't really see that happening... I never did get my little bit of snow, but in an effort to please me, the sky drizzled a little.

Random Tuesday

2010-11-23T23:20:00.001-06:00

So, why Random Tuesday? I really have no idea. I just woke up feeling very scattered and chaotic, so I just went with it. Sometimes it's no use fighting against the current, you just have to go with the flow. So this blog post is going to be all about the art of freewriting... Whatever comes to me will come out as it comes to me, even if I break in the middle of a sentence to get there. I'll even

BLEH!!

2010-11-22T22:52:00.000-06:00

So sorry that I haven't been posting. Starting with a really nasty flu and followed up with the thing that comes at the end of a sentence is just cruel... I haven't been able to get a lot done, which is irritating. I hate just having to lay around and rest when there about a million and a half things that need done, or that I would like to be doing instead of not feeling well. I feel like I owe

A Bridge Under Construction

2010-11-18T22:51:00.000-06:00

Well, I am feeling about at 85% now in comparison to this morning, so I suppose I have to guess that it was a 24 hour bug. I am thankful for that much at least. Tonight, my daughter hugged Dustin for real for the first time in many years. I think she is slowly (and finally) starting to come around to the fact that he will be sticking around. After six years, I would like to think so. I think

Sickness in the Life and Times of Me...

2010-11-18T12:01:00.000-06:00

Well, yesterday was a complete bust for pretty much anything, sadly. I had some writing plans aside from the blog but at about 1 p.m. a very nasty tummy bug pretty much laid me out. In and out of the bathroom, the tub, and the bed, I am pretty sure I wore a track in the floor. At about 7 p.m. I was finally unconscious, which meant missing out on one of my favorite shows; America's Next Top Model

Following your Heart

2010-11-16T22:55:00.000-06:00

When a psychology instructor asks you to write about your thoughts on intuition, it's probably a good idea to do just that... or maybe it's not at all a good idea... how do you make the distinction? I could be working myself into some sort of Psychology 101 conundrum here but I am, as always, willing to take on the challenge. My gut tells me that everything is going to be okay. ;) I have always

Those Places Were Mine

2010-11-15T23:55:00.000-06:00

When I was in my teenage years, I used to do whatever I could for a thrill in this sleepy town. After moving from Madison to this little place (and it was little-minded then, too) I found myself without anything constructive to do. At first, I would just ride my bike everywhere, trying in my own way to get lost and never go home. After a while it was all by foot, and it took longer and longer

IMPROV-A-BLOG!! All the randomness you can fix in a leeeetle box.

2010-11-14T23:36:00.000-06:00

So, I asked people on Facebook what I should blog about, and this blog will contain all of those subjects, in one form or another... I shall begin with pickles. Why is the delicious pickle only called a "pickle", when it must be referenced back to the cucumber? Did "pickled cucumber" not sound as delightful to the palette? Are there cucumber haters out there who only delight in pickles without

Pagan babies! Oh noes!

2010-11-14T00:46:00.000-06:00

So, I am late for my blog post on the 13th, but since I have yet to go to sleep, I am going to go ahead and post it now. Take that, rules! I do what I want! It was requested that I talk a little bit about my Pagan-ism or Pagan-ality, or whatever you like calling it, and so I plan to do just that. I have been Pagan for as long as I can remember. Grandma was described as a "kitchen witch" and was

It's not Lupus...

2010-11-12T23:15:00.000-06:00

Because my back has really been bothering me, I really didn't want to do a blog post tonight. I really just wanted to lay in bed and read a book, and not move around... so much for that, but this is going to be a quick one. Had a pretty good day today, mostly because I went to a movie with my daughter and a friend. We saw Megamind which has Will Ferrell as a voice actor of the main character,

Bubbles, Bob and the Need for Talking

2010-11-11T21:10:00.002-06:00

So, inspired by my lovely mind fish here, I decided to go out and finally put a couple of fish into my salty tank since my coral beauty died. They are green chromis (but they are actually a lovely light blue-ish), and their names are Bubbles and Bob. I don't know which one is Bob and which one is Bubbles, but they seem to like the names just fine. Chromis are in the damsel family of fish, and the

Peaks and Valleys

2010-11-10T17:43:00.000-06:00

Well, it's been an interesting couple of days. I have seen some major highs and major lows since I posted my poem yesterday. I'll start with the low, and get that right out of the way because I'd rather have something sweet to calm my mood at the end. First; Dustin's job search isn't going very well. I wish it was going better but the economy, especially in Janesville, is just awful. There are

Candlelit Soul

2010-11-09T23:01:00.000-06:00

A friend posted a bunch of her poetry on Facebook to read, and it inspired me to share some of my own. So for this blog post, I'll share a poem I wrote long ago. Enjoy this rarity, my friends. Candlelit Soul