i recently bought this lovely necklace from mescla gifts. they had submitted their site to craftPOP.com, and like all other links submitted, i checked out theirs. not only did i think they were a great addition to craftPOP.com, but i loved their jewelry enough to buy my very own piece! very good customer relations -- emailing me to let me know the necklace had shipped, and follow ups to see if it had arrived. and, they even included an extra gift as a thank you -- another necklace, called a lariat. photos of that necklace soon.

in the past week, i've seen fahrenheit 9/11 and outfoxed -- two documentary films covering, respectively, our administration's handling of the events leading up to and after september 11, and the completely (un)fair and (un)balanced manipulative "reporting" presented by fox news. i cannot express how angry each movie made me feel. after digesting each film, i am extremely embarrassed by/for and, more importantly, disappointed with the current government seeming confused and the fox news channel for going against everything legit journalists stand for.

after the last presidential election hoopla, i've had the feeling (like so many people) that my vote didn't count and my effort wasn't worth it. in the past couple months i've never felt more urgency to cast my one measly vote in november, and i've filled out my voter registration form (via declare yourself) that i've put off for the past three years since moving to california. these two movies really struck a nerve in me, and hopefully things will change and improve in the future.

My Justice League Unlimited superhero jar!

for the love of all that is holy... why can't people post pictures of completed knit objects when they give you pattern instructions? i'm not advanced enough to be able to imagine what a finished product will look like based on a bunch of written instruction. is it asking too much to take a photo of what you knit and put it next to the pattern? GRR...

the fireworks were pretty much the same as last year around here... still fun to see though. i took a few pictures, but not many. my favorite photo made one firework explosion look like music notes due to the slight shake of my camera.

yeah! fireworks galore tonight!!