(e:Drew) suggested last night that I need to post more often. I haven't thought of a topic but then I realized I could just answer the question(s) most frequently asked when I meet someone.

1. How's the transition to Buffalo?

I think this might be obvious already, but I love Allentown. I'm very much enjoying Buffalo, all the cool stuff going on and the friendly people. Last night, I went to the ElmwoodJesus fundraiser at Cole's and hung out with (e:Janelle), (e:Vincent), & (e:Jason) while (e:Drew) served as happy hostess. We watched the presidential debate afterwards at the Obama campaign watching party at Cole's - very convenient!. (Thanks for the ride home, (e:Vincent)!)

Thursday night I went to Nietzsche's for a fundraiser for the WNY LGBT domestic violence committee that works with Haven House (domestic violence shelter).



I met some very cool folks there, including Reg and her partner Liz. Reg works for Haven House. I won some cool prizes in the raffle. Does anyone need a copy of Candyland? Kristen Becker hosted the event - she was very funny, definitely a professional, polished comedian. She hosts comedy night at Nietzsche's every Tuesday night. I want to go, but Tuesday's are in the middle of my work week so that might have to wait until break. Ava LaFey, burlesque goddess, did a fantastic sketch (? not sure of right word - it was extremely funny without a lot of skin) where she, as Sarah Palin danced for a lifesize cardboard cutout of John McCain to the Pet Shop Boys Opportunities ("I've got the brains, you've got the looks, let's make lots of money!") When she unbuttoned her conservative red suit jacket, her bra was stuffed with money. Too funny.

Last weekend, my friend A and my puppy Nisha visted. A and I went to see the Pointek/Michaud Jazz Trio (yeah, Nietzsche's again... I love live music.) and saw a Grateful Dead cover band Saturday night. A and I see our favorite local band pretty often in Tioga County but there's always a 30-60 minute drive involved. Live music 500' away? We're there.

Nisha got her hair cut at Pawprints by Penny... cutest poodle cut ever!!! Penny really listened to how I wanted her hair cut and did a fantastic job. The atmosphere there was very friendly. The dogs in doggie day care like to "help" ring up customers.




I'll also give a shout out to Patrick at East End Salon. The grad program I'm in had class pictures taken and I desperately needed a haircut quickly. He gave me a great cut and totally listened when I said I don't use product and the only "styling" I do is combing out my wet hair after a shower. This is a very difficult concept for most stylists to understand.

I would not have been able to find such a fantastic location and some immediate social contacts without all the advice and information I've found on (e:strip). Thank you so much for helping make this transition about as easy as it could possibly be.

(Update from (e:heidi,45556) : my apartment electric situation got resolved and my stuff is now well protected. Thanks, Tim!)

Great set of articles about what issues in housing & community development the next president needs to address:

Housing, transportation, urban policy... geeky geeky! I used to work for Moises Loza and Leslie Strauss, two of the authors, at the Housing Assistance Council in Washington, D.C. HAC is a national nonprofit dedicated to improving rural housing.

(Just so (e:tinypliny) doesn't go around thinking that I believe reproductive issues are unimportant...)

Bruce Fisher's article in this week's Artvoice is a really nice discussion of the importance of oil $ in our national politics and more importantly, why we should be looking at Sarah Palin's oil connections rather than her and her daughter's reproductive choices:

So it is that Big Oil rules Alaska-an enormous land mass with a tiny population of only 630,000, which is only two-thirds the number of people in Erie County.

All that money makes public services in Alaska very cheap, and the oil industry very popular. According to published reports, public opinion in Alaska strongly favors drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Reserve. Alaska public opinion generally favors exploitation of every natural resource. Though Alaska's workforce of a little over 300,000 contains only about 15,000 oil-industry workers, the majority of voters there like the idea of more drilling.

Earlier this decade, a person named Sarah Palin, who is married to a sometime oil-worker, was commissioner of natural resources in Alaska. In other words, she was in charge of Alaska's Office of Oil Affairs.

Now that she is the marquee candidate for vice president, Governor Sarah Palin is front-page news and the front-and-center story for everybody who wants to discuss teenage pregnancy, out-of-wedlock births, Down syndrome and the breathtaking pivot of the Religious Right-which until recently (about three weeks ago, to be exact) frowned upon and fulminated about sex education and out-of-wedlock births.

One cannot help but observe, however, that the longer we discuss Sarah Palin's uterus, the more likely it is that American politics will remain distracted from the central issue of this election: whether the lords of oil will continue to control the United States as surely as they control Alaska.

Anyone know of a yoga studio in Allentown?

Thanks!

1. Location: it's on allen street.
2. Location: it's two blocks from the metro.

(Even though the metro doesn't have a "stand to the right" convention, it does have public artwork which the DC Metro system definitely does not have.)



3. Location: There are real live lesbians nearby. I know this sounds very strange but for the past five years of my life, the nearest out lesbians lived at least 10 miles away.
4. Sunny south-facing windows.
5. Hardwood floors.
6. Cute mini clawfoot tub.
7. Full-size range. (e:tinypliny), i know you're afraid of that gaping maw in your kitchen... have you developed a liking for cookies? How about some spicy molasses cookies? (Ginger, cloves, cinnamon...)
8. One very large closet, plus a small one in the bedroom.
9. Dishwasher.
10. China Cat Sunflower lives with me.

Right now she's refusing to come out from under the bed to have her picture taken. She's hanging out with my puppy's turtle.



Just a month or so ago she was happy to be photographed with Nisha:



What I hate about my apartment:
1. The three-prong electrical outlets are ungrounded.
2. There are several two-prong outlets (obviously also ungrounded).*
3. The building doesn't recycle. (this might be a "yet"... but my very large closet is starting to bulge with recyclables. I'm a little obsessive about recycling.)

• The only things of (dubious) value I own are computers and peripherals. In Tioga County, Pa., the electrical service is unreliable, has frequent large power surges, and suffers brownouts, so I have surge protectors on everything except lamps. Without grounded electrical, the very very important surge protectors are useless.

To remedy the electrical situation, I bought some of these adapter thingys:



But the surge protector still reads "ungrounded." (As does the electrical outlet grounding tester that I have. Yes, I'm that much of a geek.)

• grump*