Post-Halloween, post-football-season, early-election-day kibbles and bits.

I said I’d post Halloween pics. It seems a little late now, and more than a little inappropriate, given the import of the day, but I promised Eva, so…

And while I rarely/never post pics of my children out of respect for their privacy, I have permission from Chickalicious (also known as Youngest Spawn) to post this one. And even if I didn’t, it’s just too, too charming to skip.

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And hey! WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT made the October bestseller list at Amber Quill Press/Amber Allure. Nifty.

1. Calendar Boys—October: Trick Of Silver – Jamie Craig (Gay / Werewolf)
2. Shattered – M. L. Rhodes (Gay / Shapeshifter)
3. A More Perfect Union – J. M. Snyder (Gay / Shapeshifter)
4. Vampires Of Noctra: Blood Bounty – Darcy Abriel (Gay / Vampire)
5. Crave – Vivien Dean (Gay / Dark Fantasy)
6. Tall, Dark, Tattooed And Twisted – Lee Avalone (Gay / Vampire)
7. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot – Selah March (Gay / Ghosts)
8. Hungry? – Helen Louise Carrol (Gay / Futuristic)
9. Wild, Wicked, And Haunted In Hollywood – Lee Avalone (Gay / Vampire/Ghosts)
10. This Time For Keeps – Christiane France (Gay / Ghosts)

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I attended a Youth League cheerleading competition this weekend. It was cheer-TASTIC. One might almost say cheer-GASMIC. My ears are still ringing. And then there was the Youth League Cheerleader’s Ball, which I chaperoned, that consisted of dozens of pre-and-barely-pubescent girls dancing to “Cotton-Eyed Joe” and shrieking the lyrics to Kid Rock’s “All Summer Long.” And I quote:

And we were trying different things
We were smoking funny things
Making love out by the lake to our favorite song
Sipping whiskey out the bottle, not thinking ’bout tomorrow
Singing Sweet home Alabama all summer long
Singing Sweet home Alabama all summer long

The irony is that ninety-nine percent of these kids wouldn’t know “Sweet Home Alabama” if it jumped up and bit them on the toes of their Uggs…except for Chickalicious, who’s been basting in Southern Rock since she was in utero. Still, it was disturbing to watch her pantomine chugging Jim Beam from a bottle with her little friends. We’re both glad her father skipped the party.

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On the issue of the election and its importance to the country and the rest of the world, I don’t have much to say that hasn’t been said before, so I’ll post this video…which isn’t much to look at, but the lyrics? Killer.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHIROoYpRyQ&feature=related]

Lyrics: Long Road Out of Eden, The Eagles:

moon shining down through the palms
shadows moving on the sand
somebody whispering the twenty-third psalm
dusty rifle in his trembling hands

somebody trying just to stay alive
he got promises to keep
over the ocean in america
far away and fast asleep

silent stars blinking in the blackness of an endless sky
cold silver satellites, ghostly caravans passing by
galaxies unfolding, new worlds being born
pilgrims and prodigals creeping toward the dawn
but it’s a long road out of eden

music blasting from an suv
on a bright and sunny day
rolling down the interstate
in the good ol’ usa

having lunch at the petroleum club
smokin’ fine cigars and swappin’ lies
he said: “gimme ‘nother slice o’ that barbecued brisket!”
“gimme ‘nother piece o’ that pecan pie!”

freeways flickering, cell phones
chiming a tune
we’re riding to utopia, road map says we’ll be arriving soon
captains of the old order clinging to the reins
assuring us these aches inside are only growing pains
but it’s a long road out of eden

back home i was so certain
the path was very clear
but now i have to wonder, what are we doing here?
I’m not counting on tomorrow
and i can’t tell wrong from right
but i’d give anything to be there in your arms tonight

weaving down the american highway
through the litter and the wreckage and the cultural junk
bloated with entitlement, loaded on propaganda
and now we’re driving dazed and drunk
been down the road to damascus,
the road to mandalay
met the ghost of caesar on the appian way
he said, “it’s hard to stop this bingeing, once you get a taste.”
“but the road to empire is a bloody stupid waste.”

behold the bitten apple – the power of the tools
but all the knowledge in the world is of no use to fools
and it’s a long road out of eden….

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EDITED TO ADD: Read a little about the early suffragettes and what they suffered to earn our right to vote.

I love that quote: “Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity.”