You might not know this about me, but I love the Wizard of Oz stories. I mean, the originals as well as the film, and Wicked (the musical more so than the book), and other books I've read that have adapted the story, and SyFy's Tin Man miniseries. It's kind of like Alice in Wonderland. I just find the stories fascinating. Plus, when we're talking movie here, I love Judy Garland. I always have. She was just amazing. I always wanted a pair of the bright red slippers with the sequins all over them when I was little so I could go around clacking my heels together. My mom would never buy them for me. I still think every little girl should be allowed a pair of ruby slippers if she wants them, and the right to call her dog Toto if she wants to. As cynical as I might be on occasion, I still believe there's a little magic to ruby slippers and yellow bricks and scarecrows. I can't help it. (And yes, I am aware that the slippers in the books are silver.)

I realized I haven't listed anything quotable in ages. Probably because it was just something random that I did when quotes came to me. But, I have one this time. I was looking up a quote to find out who said it, but it turned out it wasn't attributed to a specific person, it's from one of the posters marketed for The Wizard of Oz. I love all of the items listed on the poster, so I'm sharing them with you.

So incredibly frustrated right now. I opened up one of my documents for Portrait from my flash drive, and half of it is gone. Ugh. Just poof! Vanished. So glad none of my saved resume disappeared. I would probably be crying right now.

And it doesn't really make sense because I had it open (and saved it) last night. On a different computer now though. Crazy!

So, I think it's fair to say that most people on the planet are aware of the oil that's all over the Gulf of Mexico right now, correct? We've already seen how awful the coast of Louisiana is and all that. But, I've seen several local Florida newscasts “live” from St. Pete beach talking about the issues, and so far, no oil, just projections of how long it will take before the current brings it as far as the Florida keys. However, a couple of days ago, guess what started washing up on beaches in the Keys? Tar balls. Yes, tar balls. And what do officials say? They just keep saying that the oil and resulting pollution will reach the Keys in... however many days. They keep saying that tar balls aren't going to be in the Keys anytime soon. So, then, where exactly are these coming from? Are they just magically falling out of the sky? Do people keep them in their houses and they're throwing them away in the ocean now? Really? Seriously? You expect people to believe that?

Also, WTF? The president of BP said that the damage is minimal? What an ass. Not to mention an idiot. Is he unaware that oil kills animals? Birds can't fly when its in their feathers. When they try to clean themselves, they swallow it and die. Fish can't filter it through their gills. They die. Turtles ingest it when they try to find food. They die. Seeing a pattern here? Or how about that it damages our water supply when it gets into the rivers? And what about all of the people who work on the water? None of them can work until the oil is cleaned up. But the damage is minimal? Really? I don't even know how to respond to something like that. I just... how can someone be so stupid and callous? Ugh. I don't understand. It makes no sense to me. Especially since representatives for BP have publicly said they'll pay more than the normal government cap for the clean up. I don't get it. They're willing to clean it up, but don't seem to care how long it takes them to do it, or that while everyone on the Gulf coast is waiting, the beaches are basically dying. No sense! None!