This kind of has nothing to do with my girl-crush on Rachel Maddow, except it does because now it’s too hard not to have a crush on her smarts.

It’s no secret that I’m a liberal Democrat. I watch and read the news with as open a mind as I can manage. Though I may say that politics are ridiculous, there’s nothing better than following all the flip-flopping, pandering, gaffes, and mind-bending statements made during an election year. Because politics are ridiculous.

Our president is not perfect; no president is. I support President Obama, and with my support comes criticism as I believe it should.

This new healthcare reform law that the President presented to Congress that would require all companies to cover contraception with no copay for women is one I support. Women have the right and responsibility to take care of our bodies with what medical science has provided. Whether we use the contraception to prevent pregnancy, or like in my case to prevent acne, using contraception is a choice made by 98% of American women.

Rachel Maddow can explain the details much better than my politically amateur brain can manage:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

So now you’ll see why Rachel Maddow is a wizardly representation of me.

There are times when I watch her show and cringe at how she makes her point, but even the Sweet, Sweet Baby Jeebus and Mama Oprah aren’t always perfect.

You, Ms. Maddow, are my Patronus.

I’ve also reserved a chimichanga as my Patronus, so if you see an apparition of Rachel Maddow eating a deep fried burrito, you’ll know it’s my energy protecting myself from evil.

© Angie [A Whole Lot of Nothing] for A Whole Lot of Nothing • Your Favorite Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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I believe that positivity begets positivity and all that shit.

When things start to go wrong around me, I blame my lack of attention to positive thinking.

Which, I guess me blaming me for a negative attitude is kind of the opposite of the point.

While I was sleeping last night, I must have been extra hard on myself because after waking up 15 minutes late, forgetting to hit the “on” switch for my coffee, DirecTV being shut off for non-payment, and then finally my credit card number being stolen that ended in my whole account being drained, I now need the entire mother fucking chorus of The Sound of Music to bring me up to a pleasing disposition.

That whole Golden Rule thing works on yourself, too, yo.

And this is when I thank the Baby Jeebus, Oprah, and Zoloft for working their magic on my happy and keeping me from quitting today. If I’d quit on today, I wouldn’t have signed a new work client, seen the blue sky, been kissed by my wiener, and found these books that I ordered.

Also, thank Baby Jeebus and Oprah for Amazon Affiliate money ’cause mama ain’t got no money in the bank now thanks to some jackhole buying a train ticket in England with my debit card.

I’m a super non-artsy person. The only creative part of me involves thinking of excuses for not cleaning and coming up with topical Tweets during a live broadcast.

I’ve seen these books before and admired the person who can keep up with them, and today I made the commitment to actually use them for me. Rarely do I buy things for myself, unless it’s a bowl of nachos or a “Yay Cleavage” shirt, so I figured after the day I’ve had, I deserve Keri Smith’s Wreck This Box books for me.

To some, it may seem like a small feat to set a goal and keep up with it. But for me, the girl who has no idea what lives at the bottom of the laundry pile, sticking with a personal goal will be triumphant.

I’m setting the goal to open my Lady Flower creative mind.

It’s time to color outside the lines and teach myself that creativity is not about perfection. Not everyone is an artist, especially not me.

If I stick with it, I want you all to pat me on the back and tell me how pretty I’ve become since completing a goal.

If I don’t stick with it, just like me cleaning the shower, this never happened.

And if you’re super lucky, I’ll scan some of what I do in the books and show off my hard-earned Lady Flower creative mind openings.

artwork via Wicket Paper on etsy

© Angie [A Whole Lot of Nothing] for A Whole Lot of Nothing • Your Favorite Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: creative mind, keri smith, wreck this book

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Oprah: Helping me make a point and teach a lesson since 1976.

I’m not a lawyer*, but I play one on the internet.

Since pretty much my whole life online is spent in a perpetual state of snarkasm, I figured it was time for me to actually read some laws about what I do.

This also proves that I’m in a perpetual state of procrastination.

And what with all of this SOPA/PIPA/LMNOP juggernaut happening around my workplace, I figured I could use my wee brain to actually learn something. I read up on the bill going before Congress, tried to understand what it would mean for the internet, and put together a list of resources for which you can learn, too. I’m a giver.

Basically what I’m pretty sure SOPA/PIPA says is that if you or your website or any of your comments include a link to or an actual something with a copyright, your internet service provider can put a blockade on your website. With just an accusation by the copyright holder of fault on your part, your ISP prevents your site from being reached. No cease & desist, no court order, no investigation. BOOM. DONE. Your site is blocked.

But Pangie, what about Fair Use? 

Friends, until this week, I had only heard a whiff of what Fair Use really is and how it affects me. Being the investigative journalist I am not, I looked it up.

I don’t think there’s a more vague addendum to a law than that of Fair Use.

Oprah doesn't understand it either.

Granted, I haven’t spent much time reading actual laws. Just like any Terms & Conditions to which I sign my name, I assume my peachy personality will get me out of being held liable for anything I say and do.

I earn my meager contribution to the family budget with my peachy personality, using images I find on the internet to enhance my hilarity.

According to Fair Use, I’m all good. It’s OK to use images and video in a satirical manner (phrases bolded to draw attention to my point).

The 1961 Report of the Register of Copyrights on the General Revision of the U.S. Copyright Law cites examples of activities that courts have regarded as fair use: “quotation of excerpts in a review or criticism for purposes of illustration or comment; quotation of short passages in a scholarly or technical work, for illustration or clarification of the author’s observations; use in a parody of some of the content of the work parodied; summary of an address or article, with brief quotations, in a news report; reproduction by a library of a portion of a work to replace part of a damaged copy; reproduction by a teacher or student of a small part of a work to illustrate a lesson; reproduction of a work in legislative or judicial proceedings or reports; incidental and fortuitous reproduction, in a newsreel or broadcast, of a work located in the scene of an event being reported.”

Laws are hard, Oprah.

Well well well. It looks to me like, as long as I’m using an image in parody to parody the “work,” no trouble for this girl.

But wait.

The distinction between fair use and infringement may be unclear and not easily defined. There is no specific number of words, lines, or notes that may safely be taken without permission. Acknowledging the source of the copyrighted material does not substitute for obtaining permission.

So, there’s no specific rule on what exactly can be used or not used or be legal or illegal?

What the crap, U.S. Government? Where’s the examples of what’s cool and what’s not? I need pictures and illustrations, lawmakers!

Thank Baby Jeebus and Oprah for Stanford University and Google because I found a better explanation:

A parody is a work that ridicules another, usually well-known work, by imitating it in a comic way. Judges understand that, by its nature, parody demands some taking from the original work being parodied. Unlike other forms of fair use, a fairly extensive use of the original work is permitted in a parody in order to “conjure up” the original.

… a fair use is any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and “transformative” purpose, such as to comment upon, criticize, or parody a copyrighted work. Such uses can be done without permission from the copyright owner. In other words, fair use is a defense against a claim of copyright infringement. If your use qualifies as a fair use, then it would not be considered an illegal infringement.

But what, pray tel, is the definition of parody?

A parody is a work that ridicules another, usually well-known work, by imitating it in a comic way.

Ridicule while using the original work is permitted.

I play a lawyer on the internet, so I’m thinking, Pangie, you’re all good in the hood doing what you do. You CAN use images to make a comedic point, as long as I’m ridiculing the original work.

As long as I’m making fun of something to make what I post funnier, it’s legal?

HALLELUJAH!

Oprah says, "HALLELUJAH!"

My life on the interwebs is saved.

For now.

dun dun dunnnnnn…

*I’m really not a lawyer, so take everything I said here with some question in your head that I could be 99% wrong. What you read here cannot be held up in court as any sort of evidence for anything. Except if you need to prove I’m a badass, and then, and only then, can you use this information in any scientifical or lawyerly ways to prove I’m Awesome.

© Angie [A Whole Lot of Nothing] for A Whole Lot of Nothing • Your Favorite Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Blogging, copyright, fair use, oprah, pipa, sopa

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I wish it didn’t, and I know it’s a choice, but drama is entertaining to see unfold.

It’s a personal decision I have to make every day to not let the negative energy of drama enter my consciousness. I often give in and peek at the latest butthurt or check out the gossip. Yes, I even participate at times, giving my own opinion on a discussion.

I don’t think of me being a better person. I just never make personal attacks on people in public forums. Ever. I never tell someone that their idea is stupid or what they’re doing means they don’t love their baby. Calling someone out as a terrible mother or outing them as a liar is just not something I do.

Many times I think these things in my Neanderthal brain, but I keep it to myself (or gossip with close friends). Making a public spectacle of my negativity will do no one any good.

It’s more about the people who make it a point in leaving their comments to out-right disagree in a hurtful way. To say, “Lame article,” then follow up with a diatribe ending their comment by writing that the author is “blog(ing) things just to make themselves feel better…” really has no place in a forum for adult people. It is NOT OK to make the comment, “That kid is seriously NOT cute. Ugh.”

Yes, I love seeing conversation with disagreements. Not everyone is exactly the same with exactly the same opinions, which, Awesome. But it takes a mature person to be able to share their disagreement in a way that doesn’t insult the author of the article or post.

Reading the comments left on news articles and news blog posts should make you feel worse about the future of humanity.

But how does this stop? How does the perpetuation of negativity and the expectation of drama end?

The publishers of the websites end it. By letting the readers, commenters, and writers know that it’s not allowed and it won’t be tolerated. Negative comments for the sake of being negative can be deleted.

I realize it’s a slippery slope. People have the right to say what they want to say. But the publishers of websites have a right to allow the negativity to appear on their site. Many blogs and discussion boards have disclaimers that hurtful comments will be deleted, but many don’t abide by their own rules.

I would like to see more publishers disallowing blatant insults. I’d like to visit a site, read an article, and possibly participate in a discussion, knowing I was in a safe place where my voice wouldn’t be insulted.

Time.com released their list of 50 Best Websites, and at the top of their Family & Kids list is CafeMom. Described as a place for “conversation, advice, friendship and entertainment,” the site is more than just those things to me. I’ve seen more negativity from participants in the discussion forums and blog comments than I feel should be allowed by a site that is ranked so favorably by a reputable magazine like Time. The “conversation” I’ve seen is, more often than not, argumentative, negative, and mean. There are always exceptions in some of the sections of the site, but from what I’ve seen, the negative overtakes the positive.

I have several good friends who are writers for Babble.com blogs, and I’ve seen more than several times that they have comments left on their posts that are down-right cruel. This atmosphere does not allow for fostering creative writing; it fosters more pageviews.

Unfortunately, more drama means more pageviews, and more pageviews means higher advertising rates.

Let’s realize that even though we may be sitting behind a screen where we can’t be looked in the eye when we write what we write, our words impact the reader as though they are being spoken to directly.

I’d like to see more publishers realize that the allowed negativity perpetuating on their hard work, their sites, their hard-earned living, keeps more people away than are currently reading.

© Angie [A Whole Lot of Nothing] for A Whole Lot of Nothing • Your Favorite Blog, 2011. | Permalink | 9 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Blogging, butthurt, negativity, rant, soapbox

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I’m addicted to TV.

Thank you, Captain Obvious.

I have no shame in my game of TV-watching. It makes me happy to see new shows start, old shows come back, and all of the hype that goes with everything TV. Coming from a home where the TV was on at all times and was made a priority for family time, I can blame my parents for instilling my respect for television.

If I could afford have multiple HD DVRs set up to my DirecTV dish, I would. Maybe I should start a fund. * notes to self *

Sadly, the one over-priced DirecTV HD DVR is all we have for recording my precious, and that’s capped at 40 season passes and recording two shows at a time, so I have to pick and choose what I’m going to record on any given night during the Fall TV premiere season.

Weep with me, nerds!

I like to think of myself as a professional TV-watcher, where “professional” does not equal “getting paid,” but I watch like it’s my job. I’ve thought about developing a TV-centered blog or website, but then I’d be watching TV for work and not pleasure. That? Would be a travesty.

However, if anyone wants to hire me to live-tweet any live televised event, I’m your girl. I’ll live-tweet the shite out of award shows, sporting events, important Presidential speeches for you. * hand phone ringy dingy * call me *

With all of the TV I love, there are things on the boob tube that irk me. I’m finicky about what I watch, though I’m sure Patrick would argue that recording The World According to Paris (RIP) is the opposite of being finicky. So I’m arguing back with, “IT WAS THE SUMMER AND NOTHING ELSE WAS ON FOR ME TO WATCH WHAT DO YOU EXPECT FROM ME?”

As of today at this moment, I’ve made a short list of what’s bothering me on TV. Think of it as Robert is Bothered, but with a less sexy version of Jimmy Fallon’s Robert Pattinson impersonation.

• That new show, Whitney, about one of my favorite comedians, Whitney Cummings, has cast an actor to be her boyfriend/husband/ubiquitous level-headed male that, even from just seeing the onslaught of premiere episode commercials, can’t act. Like, he may be a worse actor than Keanu Reeves. As much as I like Whitney Cummings, I don’t think I’ll be able to watch the show with him on it.

• I admit it: I watch daytime TV. The Talk is CBS’s wannabe version of The View, just with different ladies around a different table in a different studio on a different coast. Same show, different time. I didn’t want to like the show just because of its blatant rip-off of another show, but I started watching it, and I started to like Leah Remini, Holly Robinson Peete, and the other 3 co-hosts and their rapport. I might have actually laughed out loud at Leah and Holly’s antics. But at the last minute, like a week or two before the show returned from summer hiatus, they replaced Leah and Holly. According to both women and their Twitter streams, they were basically “not asked to return.” Of course, with my interest in TV dramas, I tuned in this past Tuesday to see how they were going to explain the replacements of Molly Shannon (love her) and another lady (she was annoying). ONLY THEY DIDN’T. No mention from Julie Chen, Sara Gilbert, or Sharon Osborne as to why the two other co-hosts magically disappeared. Nothing. So, I won’t be watching any longer. Any show that refuses to acknowledge a major change is a show I can’t watch.

• Craig T Nelson’s hair during the first season of Parenthood still bothers me. I’ve never recovered.

• Two- and three-hour long reality shows should be against the law. Period. It’s stupid and lazy and it bothers me. Drawing out the fake drama of The Bachelor/-ette/Pad makes me want to mail the producers an envelope of herpes. Cut that crap down, and make your shows actually good enough to watch.

• The cable networks (TNT, A&E, HBO, USA, etc) have started airing their original series in mini seasons of 10-12 shows rather than the traditional 24+ episode season. I realize they’re doing this to be able to air their shows (which, many times, are so much better than the network’s) during the Big 4′s off-season, but just when I get into watching a season and invested in what’s going on with characters, BOOM!, they end the season. That leaves me with 6-12 months of not having some of my favorite shows to watch, and in the meantime, forgetting what happened on the previous season. Can we all get together and decide on airing whole seasons with weekly shows back-to-back with NO REPEATS during the season (which BTW, is another major irk)?

This list is in no way comprehensive, so of course you have your own ideas of what bothers you on TV. What is it? No detail is too small (see: Craig T Nelson’s hair).

image via Fallon Fans original credit NBC/Universal

© Angie [A Whole Lot of Nothing] for A Whole Lot of Nothing • Your Favorite Blog, 2011. | Permalink | 18 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: fall premieres, jimmy fallon, robert is bothered, TV

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From back-to-school kid-free pooping to dreaming of taking the virginity of Chinese men, it’s been a wild week of Awesome. I’ve compiled a Friday Fun Day Best of Pangie. You? Are welcome.

I’m guest blogging over at the Kissimmee Visitor’s Bureau’s blog, i.seeKissimmee, this week imparting my touristy wisdom. If you’re visiting the Kissimmee/Orlando/Disney World area anytime soon, it’s a good place to find visitor information.

You should be reading and subscribing to We Know Awesome. There’s a Facebook page, too. Like it like you love it. And a Twitter. Follow like a puppy.

Random Opinion: Photographers are professionals who deserve to be paid and/or credited for their work. Being the subject and person paying for the photos doesn’t mean the photos are yours to use as you wish. When you sign a contract saying you’re not allowed to use a photo for commercial purposes or change the photo in any way, the photographer means that. It’s the photographer’s work – not yours. If you want to use your image in a commercial setting and you didn’t pay for it, the photographer has the right to invoice you or request it be removed.

Related: My friend Mishelle Lane is an AMAZING portrait photographer in the North Atlanta area. If you live in North Georgia, HIRE HER. She took my avatar photo, up and over ^—> there.

Speaking of my Mishelle Lane original, go to my About.Me page and vote to have it on a giant billboard in Times Square. Please?

Apple is reporting that Steve Jobs resigned from his position as CEO, but I’m thinking it was an iPhone auto-correct issue. (image via IMGUR)

I had my own HILARIOUS autocorrect on my iPhone.(...)
Read the rest of Friday Fun Day! See Also: I’m Inviting More Men To My Bed (311 words)

© Angie [A Whole Lot of Nothing] for A Whole Lot of Nothing • Your Favorite Blog, 2011. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: fun friday, videos, we know awesome, week in review

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If you follow me on Twitter (which you probably do) or follow my Tumblr (which you probably don’t), you’ve seen some of the quotes from my kids, friends, and family that I document and share. I have a horrible memory for details, so I wanted to keep track of the insane quotables that fall out of my kids’ mouths. Last April, I shared the quotes I’d posted on my Tumblr up until then, and today I’m sharing the quotes I’ve collected since then.

Weirdos.

I also kind of want to know that I’m not the only one who has kids who say random and insane things. I’m not the only one, right? RIGHT?

(...)
Read the rest of Not-So-Quotable Quotes (3 words)

© Angie [A Whole Lot of Nothing] for A Whole Lot of Nothing • Your Favorite Blog, 2011. | Permalink | 16 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: girls, kids, quotes, tumblr

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Neveryoumind the goat cheese brownie from The Batter Bowl dessert food truck I’m holding.

Unbelievably or not, I’ve never noticed that I have something in which to compare myself to Megan Fox.

No, we both don’t have Marilyn Monroe tattooed on our forearm. No, we both don’t sleep with David Silver. No, we both don’t have abnormally smooth skin stretching out our abnormally large lips.

She and I? We have deformed thumbs.

It was brought to my attention by my sister-in-law that my thumb is jacked up. It’s just one more thing that brings all the crazy fetish weirdos to my yard.

photo credits: Me, Hand Facts

© Angie [A Whole Lot of Nothing] for A Whole Lot of Nothing • Your Favorite Blog, 2011. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: brownie, deformed thumb, megan fox

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Whatever opinion you or I have about the Murdoch/News Corp scandal here and in the UK, you have to give it up to Wendi Deng for sticking up for her man.

In front of the British hearing on July 19th, a protester threw a shaving cream pie in Rupert Mudoch’s face. Murdoch’s wife, 38 years his senior, was sitting behind him during the hearing.

Appearing more like a ninja-in-waiting than his wife, Deng sprang up in a split-second to help others protect her husband.

Bitch got her arm in gear and punched the shit out of the protestor. The punch was so hard, you could hear it on the video. You don’t mess with a woman and her sugar daddy.

I can’t say I would have done the same thing for my husband. But, I’m not married to an 80-year-old man who is nodding off in “the most humble day of (his) life,” in front of people who could control his future in British media.

Because there’s no way I could sleep with a man who needed me to wipe his mouth more often than he needed me to wipe his ass.

image via TNT Magazine

© Angie [A Whole Lot of Nothing] for A Whole Lot of Nothing • Your Favorite Blog, 2011. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: murdoch, news, pie, wendi deng, wife

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There are some rules that are meant to be broken:

• eating after 7pm
• watching more than 2 hours of TV a day
• drinking a Zima after prom

There are some rules that are meant to be adhered to:

• drinking and driving
• staying in school
• wearing rompers as an adult women

Let’s discuss the last rule at length, because it’s really one that should be honored by all women over the age of fresh-out-of-college. Like me, most women are what you’d call Fashionably Challenged, but even the majority of women know there are some things meant to be worn by toddlers or teenagers who count Ke$ha as their fashion icon.

It’s unsure whether dressing in the same shirt day after day in each of the colors sold by the clothier of your choice (my personal fashion secret) may not get you out of being caught in a from-the-neck-down Fashion Don’t on Tim Gunn’s next Bravo special. However, wearing one of these currently- or recently-available frocks, should get you a one-way ticket to TLC’s What Not to Wear.

Jumpsuits are meant for fighter pilots.

Ladies over the size of 00 can not wear horizontal zebra print, especially in a romper.

"Plus Ruffled Slub-Knit Romper" should never be allowed for adults.

Harem Pants belong in Harems and Kardashian sisters.

Even though you admire your circa 1986 2nd grade teacher, you shouldn't dress like her in an applique denim dress.

Don’t do it ladies. Just, please don’t.

What’s your #1 (or #s 2-5) fashion don’t rule?

photo credits: oldnavy.com, lanebryant.com, macys.com, amazon.com

© Angie [A Whole Lot of Nothing] for A Whole Lot of Nothing • Your Favorite Blog, 2011. | Permalink | 28 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: bad fashion, clothing, fashion, This? Is Not OK, women

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