I confess; I have a weakness for animated shows. I've been in love with the Simpsons since I first "discovered them" in syndication several years ago. I'm a big fan of Futurama, also created by Matt Groening. Back in the day, MTV's "Liquid Television" was *the* place to catch new, experimental animation (it's where both Beavis & Butthead and Aeon Flux got their start - both shows I *love.*). Ren & Stimpy, Pinky & the Brain, the Tick...I've been devoted to them all at one point or another.
And I've just discovered a new love. The Oblongs, created by Angus Oblong, airing on Adult Swim and TBS. It's actually in syndication, since it originally aired in 2001 and lasted only 13 episodes. But this show has got to be the most radical, subversive thing I have *ever* seen.
Just a quick summary: the Oblongs are a family of variously-mutated people living in Hill Valley. The dad, an armless-and-legless torso named, hilariously enough, Bob, is the button-down, pipe-smoking dad straight out of the 1950's. Pickles, the tall matriarch, chain smokes and drinks. But that doesn't make her a bad mother. The kids are Biff & Chip, conjoined twins; Milo, the bald middle child with every known childhood disorder; and Beth, the cute-as-a-button 4-year-old with an enormous growth sticking out of her head.
The Oblongs live in the Valley - the toxic, polluted wasteland where all the poor people live. Up above them and the cloud of smog, the Hill folk are surrounded by pristine, manicured lawns, live in big houses, and all look exactly alike.
It is in this setting - a microcosm of modern America - that the issues of class are confronted head-on. On the surface, it's just a strangely-morbid sitcom about a mutant family. But barely scratch the surface and you see laid bare the Big American Lie: namely, that we have no classes and everyone can attain the American dream if we just work hard and try hard enough. No other show (that I'm aware of) deals with economic class issues in such a frank, honest, in-your-face way.
I'll spare you my full sociological analysis of the show (since I want to save it for Ms. Magazine), but for more info you can check out the creator's site: www.angusoblong.net/theoblongs.html , or for more in-depth treatment of the characters and history of the show, the Wikipedia entry: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Oblongs . And, of course, you can catch the show yourself on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim at 10:00 CST (opposite another fave, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart). The show also airs on TBS on Saturdays, between 2 and 5 am.

Monday was great - we had my folks and a couple of friends over to just hang out, eat hamburgers & hot dogs, and play games. It was a lot of fun.
But the *best* thing about Monday was, I got the whole house really clean. Even though my hubby is home all day (he works like 3 nights a week), he doesn't clean the house very much. He gets offended when I say this, because he claims he cleans. But it's very slap-dash: he'll clean only one room, like the bathroom, and the rest of the house still looks like a pit. And what he does clean, he doesn't clean all that well. The inch of dust on the entertainment center will attest to that.
So my mom brought out a vacuum for us to borrow and I cleaned the *shit* out of my house. We haven't had a working vacuum in months, so the carpet was *filthy.* Now, the house looks so good...it made me feel so much better. I have a classic Type A Personality; when my surroundings aren't neat and orderly, I'm tense and annoyed. So just having a clean house has made me more relaxed. I know, it's picky...but I believe it's a behavior we evolved for a reason.
Think about it: if your home is dirty, you have a much higher chance of breeding disease in that dirt. And of course it will attract parasites & vermin. A dirty home - especially if that home is a cave or a tent in the wilds of the Neolithic - would be an unsafe home for everyone in it - *especially* infants & small children. So, the slightly anal types who just didn't feel right unless their cave was neat and clean would be less likely to have diseases or mice or whatever, thereby being (on the whole) healthier, stronger, and more well-fed (since mice wouldn't be eating all their food).
The slobs would have a higher chance of dealing with disease and pests, which would make them and their children (on the whole) less healthy and well-fed. Guess who's gonna win that race.
So I don't feel bad about my slightly "obsessive" need to have a clean house. I'm carrying on a very important lesson passed down through thousands of generations of women - keep your house clean and your family healthy.

So I've been thinking about going to Grad School. Since I want to write, I thought the Creative Writing program might be the thing to do. Though a friend of mine says that the program is very narrow and the professors are hyper-critical, I thought just *having* to write every day would be good for me.
But of course there are practical considerations. If I went to grad school, I would have to quit my extremely cushy job. I would *have* to get a graduate assistantship, which pays my tuition and pays me a modest stipend (I'd be taking a pay cut of about $400 a month). Which won't be a big deal, if my hubby can get a full-time job. So, the decision isn't an easy one.
And here is where it gets interesting...I was at the Journalism department getting my summer classes in order, when they offered me a graduate assistantship. I didn't even ask - they offered it to me, specifically. I would be working for a friend and former professor. She told me the job was mine, all I had to do was accept. Wow. Talk about having a solution fall into your lap...
But do I really want to get my Master's in Journalism? I don't see how it would hinder my desire to write for a living. It might be more practical, since with my Master's, I could teach - I'd be in acedemia, and still able to write.
It's almost too perfect. My pessimistic side wants to find fault with it. But really, a lot more fault could be found in going for Creative Writing than Journalism.
I feel like I've stepped into a fast-flowing river, where the current is just pushing me along. I have no idea where I'm going, but in a way I'm not sure that's important. Perhaps in trusting the Universe to carry me, I will be where I'm supposed to be, and maybe the destination isn't as important as the journey.

As of today, I am officially a student of the University of Arkansas (again)! I was re-admitted today, and Monday I'll register for my last two classes...all I have left between me and that shiny sheepskin.
Truthfully, I'm not really going back to campus life. One class I'm going to CLEP out of (which, for you non-students out there, means you take a test, and if you pass, you get credit for the entire class), and the other will be "independent study," which means I don't have to actually attend any classes. Whoo-hoo!
I can almost taste that sweet, sweet diploma. It's only taken me 15 freakin' years to get it! And so of course the question of grad school is on my mind. I'm tempted to try and do it, though I can't for the life of me decide what for, other than I really enjoy being a student. I could totally do the "professional student" gig - I'm so at home in acedemia. I like the free time, the intellectual challenge, and the cultural opportunities on campus. I'm just not sure why I would want to get a Masters degree.
Well, that's getting a bit ahead of myself...now I just need to focus on getting my Bachelors this summer!

It was a lot of fun. I'm so glad that *finally* I had a good fest - the last two were total busts. I didn't make a pile of money or anything, but I broke even with a little extra. And, I did a lot of local (Eurekan) kids, so I'm hoping that I'll get some parties out of it.
Mainly I did teenagers, wanting typical butterflies or hearts on the shoulder, hip, or ankle. Meh. I did get to do one young woman who wanted a big, crazy traditional Indian design. I gave her a lot more than what she paid for, since I was so happy to do some actually *artistic* henna for once.
This weekend I'm going to the Midwest Wimmin's Festival (www.joricostello.com/mwf ), then I'll be at the Eureka Springs Sunday Market for Memorial Day weekend. Wish me luck!
I'm also looking into some other fests out of state - but I'm being really paranoid right now (see previous post), so I won't post the details till I've got them booked.