My so-called life (or, Alline Blathers on...)

As I'm sure you've noticed, I've been obsessed of late with the Ideablob contest. (What? You haven't voted yet? Go here, now, and do so!). We're still number two, which is quite honorable, but Project H Design is wiping the floor with us and slam-dunking us into the nearest dumpster.

Back when I played basketball in college I learned a valuable lesson from a coach that, up until then, I had considered to be ruthless and a bit heartless. But the day we played a team that wasn't as good as we were, and got to be 40 points ahead, she said "enough." We still did our best, but with the coach's blessing felt no need to win by a hundred points, which we easily could have done. I wish the Project H people would go have a celebratory party somewhere, and all get divinely drunk and stop all the voting hoo ha.

Aside from LOSING, the Ideablob contest has been really wonderful. I just did an online interview with Mike Sowden of Ecosalon. He asked great questions, which were a blast to answer. The interview was also a reminder of why I am starting this business, of what is most important to me, and I hope will help me keep MY BITTER CRUSHING DEFEAT in perspective. The Mercantile is getting amazing press (that is, SOME press, rather than none), and people are reading through our website, even if they are not buying anything yet. Yet! I remain hopeful. Is this how people who launched businesses in June of 1929 felt? Jeez, I hope that the stock market woes of late will not be anything like what happened in the 30's. Because what am I going to do with 30 recycled coffee tumblers, dozens of organic cotton/hemp menstrual pads, a dozen trash cans woven out of trash (so clever!), a couple dozen jars of organic cuticle cream, hand lotion, cleansing gel and four dozen bars of soap with names like Filthy Viking and Swashbuckler? We'll all be very clean, delightfully scented with dazzling cuticles during the depression.

Wonderful, talented, fablous Ziggy filmed a short promotional video for the Merantile and put it up on DRTV today. I look fat, exhausted, and in need of a good hair cut, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. He did such a great job. Now vote, darn it, vote!

The days are getting shorter, and fall is really in the air. What sounds like a cliche is based in truth. The sun is lower, the light a bit more diffused, and the poison ivy is turning a spectacular bright red. It always reminds me of the year some of our wonderful interns decorated for our annual Land Day party which is held each October. They made stunningly beautiful floral arrangements; unfortunately what they used were big bunches of golden rod and rag weed, with poison ivy trailing out of the vases and along the tables. They made one itch just to look at them.

Gotta go. I'm not going to wait up for the results tonight. It's funny how much more I liked this contest when we were winning!