First, to answer Becky's comment on the last post, my dream never did give me a definite confirmation on who Obama's actual VP pick was -- there were just lots of names out there due to the psychic paper. My own note indicated Kathleen Sebelius, since I was kind of hoping he'd pick her (I really like her record, and picking her would have served as a preemptive measure against McCain picking a female running mate to lure disaffected Hillary supporters)... but she was so damned dull at the convention that I'm glad Obama didn't go with her. In waking life, I actually expected him to bite the bullet and pick Clinton -- even with the change argument, he could easily have justified the pick by saying that this election is also about the people. And you can't deny that whole heck of a lot of them wanted Hillary!

Regarding McCain's actual pick -- after Obama didn't pick Hillary, and given McCain's ads about his choice, and especially given how hard the Dems hit McCain on his less-than-female-friendly record this week, I kinda figured he'd pick a woman for his running mate. I doubted it would be Sarah Palin, what with her being under investigation for corruption and all, but eh. Anyway, I pretty much agree with the general consensus -- choosing Palin is a gamble with fairly unpredictable results. It clearly seems like McCain is pandering to female voters by selecting a woman as his VP (especially since there are a number of more qualified Republican women), but given my low opinion of the public I'm not sure whether disgruntled Clinton voters will be energized or offended.

I also think this shifts quite a bit more responsibility to Biden and Clinton. If the latter comes right out and picks the woman apart when campaigning for Obama, then it's less likely that her supporters will fall for the trick. If Biden destroys Palin in the debate (without coming across as a woman-hating bully), McCain will really be in trouble. If she even remotely comes close to holding her own, though, that could lend her quite a bit of credibility.

If I had a higher opinion of the voting public, I'd think McCain just threw the election -- but since I don't, this pick leaves me a little worried.

I had a dream that Obama sent packages to his supporters in order to inform them of his running mate. Each person received a large box, inside of which were more boxes, of various sizes, nested matryoshka style. In the smallest box at the center of the package, buried below a layer of pale blue packing peanuts, was a handwritten note containing a personalized message to the supporter. Obama named his running mate in the last sentence of the letter.

Except the notes were written on psychic paper, so each supporter saw the particular vice presidential pick he/she wanted and/or expected to see! And with all of the conflicting reports, pandemonium ensued among the media.

My subconscious is a very strange place.

Do you ever have dreams in which people from your life make you very, very angry -- and although those particular infuriating events may not have happened in waking life, the characterization is believable and accurate enough that you stay angry with those people anyway?

I've been having lots of dreams like that lately. 😐

So for the past couple of weeks or so, I've been on an extended Faith kick. I rewatched the Season 4 episodes of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" in which she appeared, her appearances in Seasons 1 and 4 of "Angel"... I even sat through those godawful "Buffy" Season 7 episodes for her. And now I'm in the process of watching Season 3 again (skipping the heathen -- that is Faithless -- episodes), though I think I'll take a break from them tonight to watch the "Buffy" Season 2 episodes with Kendra.

(With my renewed Faith and Buffy kick, I ordered a Buffy figure online... but they sent me Kendra by mistake. Of course I shipped her butt back and am awaiting the correct item, but the ordeal has left me with a desire to watch Kendra's few appearances again.)

Anyway, it's sort of fitting that I've been so into Faith lately, since yesterday I accompanied my mother on this church retreat to see the Sight & Sound Theaters production of "In the Beginning." Of course, I really only went because the trip also included a stop at a shopping center with KB Toys and Disney Store Outlet shops, but I did have some minimal interest in seeing the play. I'll write more about the day on Scary-Crayon -- or at least that's the plan; we'll see -- but suffice it to say that few words describe the play so well as flipping retarded. Picture, if you will, brachiosaurs in the Garden of Eden; velociraptors running around in the wilderness following the Fall; Adam and his progeny riding about on a woolly mammoth; horrific angels that looked like a cross between harpies and the robots of death; and, worst and most hilarious of all, a nine-foot-tall purple serpent with glowing red eyes. Adam and Eve's problem wasn't so much that they were disobedient, but rather that they were dumb. Anyone who trusts a giant purple snake with flaming eyes -- and jets of smoke erupting behind it -- deserves whatever the Hell happens as a result.

Anyway, back to Faith. I didn't find quite as much as I'd hoped at the KB Toys Outlet, and all of the other stores were a total bust... but I did come across Faith figures! And given my current kick, it almost seemed too good to be true -- I was even planning to order a Faith figure this week -- if not eerily coincidental. I mean, while I've seen DC Direct and Mortal Kombat figures in KB before, I'd never seen Buffy figures in KB Toys until that moment. Granted, they looked kind of bad (I had to pick through them in earnest to find ones without completely screwed paint jobs), and Faith was the only character in stock, but still. I had a Faith figure! Even if it didn't look like her, I was rather pleased.

But I recognized that it seemed too good to be true, and the toys did look a little flimsy... so I got two just in case. And sure enough, as soon as I got home and took the first Faith out of the package, I noticed immediately that something was very, very wrong. Almost every single one of her joints was stuck fast. So right away she went into the freezer, and a good half hour later I removed her to try my luck again. And off came her leg, just like that -- given the way it came off, it looks like the attaching peg was cracked to begin with. I was disappointed, but I did still have the other Faith. She didn't even get the chance to go into the freezer, though, as removing her from the package resulted in her leaving her leg behind right from the outset.

So, yesterday, I lost an entire day on a trip to see a crappy uber-creationist religious play and had my Faith broken. Twice. 👿

On the bright side, I'm holding out hope that I can fix the Faiths (or at least one of them; I may just return the other). You may recall my experience with Chun-Li, who broke after I ordered her a while back and had to be replaced. Well, I still had the broken figure... and inspired by these Faith mishaps (what is it with left legs?!) to try my hand at fixing her, I sat down today and did just that. And, as you see, I was successful! Faith looks like she'll be a more difficult -- part of the reason the figure broke in the first place is poor design; while a metal screw will certainly be stronger than the brittle, toothpick-thin plastic peg with which the leg was originally attached, forcing the head of a screw into the tiny space between her legs (hm, this is sounding kinda dirty) will prove rather difficult -- but I'm confident that it can be done. I suppose if all else fails, I could try the Hasbro approach and peg the leg up into the torso. Faith's waist doesn't move, so there should be a lot of space up there for an anchor.

Also, shoofly pie? Terrible. If you ever find yourself in Lancaster County, do yourself a huge favor and pass on that dessert. 😐