Writing Successes: Went to chat and helped do a live critique.

Music Playing: KINK "Lights Out"

Exerpt from "...And You Think You've Got It Bad"

The Care of the Skin - To avoid freckles, wear a brown veil whenever complexion is exposed to sunlight. French-women never think of going without a veil and English-women generally carry parasols. However, if the need be, let some horseradish stand for five hours in some very sour milk. If this wash doesn't work, crush some strawberries and rub them over the face at night just before going to bed or, as a last resort, catch a frog in a brook and rub him all over your face while still alive.

Well, let's start at the top. I do have freckles. And as a child, did the whole "lemon" thing. (Rub a lemon on your face. It was...let's just say I only did that once.) I'm totally afraid of letting horseradish soak around in very sour milk and then rubbing THAT on my face. Hand me the lemon again. And two things about the last sentence: First, ew. And second: While the frog is alive, or while I am? I hope both of us are, really.

I'm using the new "Blog This!" doohicky. It's pretty neat. A little box instead of the whole browser. Now I can surf and blog at the same time. Innovative.

And I know I promised you further adventures with Kellye today, however, I have something stuck in my craw and feel the need to share. It's about war and freedom of speech and Dixie Chicks. Feel free to run off.

I belong to several internet chat groups. Mostly this is because I wanted to be in their rather large and pretty webrings. Chat groups are kind of fun, even if you do get an insane amount of mail some days. There's a sense of belonging, of sharing, and of (since most are female-based) sisterhood.

Since the war began, almost all of them have gone patriotic. "Get a waving flag!" "Get your support banners here!" "I made a great page about the troops!" Things of this nature. Then there were forwards of this inspirational message and that letter and yadda yadda.

I'm a calm kind of girl. I have opinions. Lots of them. I generally don't share these because I'm shy and don't like to piss people off. How many times in this blog have I sworn? Hardly ever. At home? Well, a lot more than here. Just an example.

I believe in peace. There was a peaceful solution to the Iraq problem. Shrub chose not to take that path. Fine, since we're on this path, let it come to a swift conclusion. I support our troops, in that I hope they can come home as quickly as possible. I do not support the war. I think the US and our rather idiotic leader were beyond stupid to go stomping around in Iraq. "Aw! Nobody's doing what I said! WAH! Lemme shoot them!" This is how things really came across to me.

Know what? I have every right to think that way, to say that I think that way, and to put it up anywhere I want. Okay, I'm not a country superstar of a country band located in the President's home state. So what? Does her fame lessen her right to speak out? No.

Today, someone sent a link through the egroup. This link led to a page where the author had showcased a supposed "letter from a soldier" insulting the Dixie Chicks and calling for a ban of their music.

That's like making a web page to ban the constitution.

I wrote back in as little a nasty way as I could:

You know, they have as much right to express their opinion as you do. Not to put too fine a point on it. I know I wouldn't want you saying, "No Deo." just cause I wasn't afraid to share how I thought.But, whatever. Ban them all you like. That's your right. - Deo

Brief, but to the point. And it is her right to make that web page. But here she is, using the same Freedom of Speech right to speak out against someone who exercised her Freedom of Speech. More, she didn't even use her own words, she used those of a much-forwarded letter of a supposed military man.

Well, I still hate being a pariah, so I did apologize, in a way. It did sound nasty, and it wasn't what I meant. What I meant was: Why not ban the USA? Boycott freedom! Down with the constitution!

Which still sounds bad, so I didn't say it. But I wanted to say it. That's why I'm saying it here. It's unpopular, it's not the "correct" thing to say, whatever. Bullocks. It's the right thing to say, and all those folks marching around in the middle of my city and in the middle of YOUR city might be unpopular, but they are are unafraid and they are doing exactly what the soldiers are fighting for. They are being FREE.

Stop being a lemming.