I've been in need of a pick-me-up lately (no, not that kind!), and I got it from reading through the Carnival of the Vanities and the Bonfire of the Vanities. Nothing like a lift, and I'll try to highlight some from each. (Erick and Erica are the respective hosts -- the symmetry of which appeals to me for obvious reasons.)

The 86th Carnival of the Vanities is hosted by Erick-Woods Erickson at Confessions of a Political Junkie. He does a marvelous job of editing and commenting. I have to thank the host for his generous praise of my Iraqi prison post, because it's a topic everyone is talking about now, and even if you have something original to say, it's tough to get it out there.

All the Carnival posts are worth reading. A few choice ones follow.

Start with Erick's observations -- "The Prison and the Soldiers." Some good (if certain to be ignored) questions for the Dems!

A blogger new to me -- Small Town Country Girl -- offers some very articulate, original thoughts on the dishonest and overplayed "Iraq is Vietnam" meme. She also explains why blogs are better than Old Media©.

Chuck Simmons offers more perspective on the Abu Ghraib matter -- including this gem:

Making an Iraqi wear panties is not a crime against humanity.

And be sure to read QandO on the breaching of the MPO/MI line.

The Iraq war stuff is damned important, too. Every post in the section Erick titles "The War & The Prison" should is a must-read.

And for amusement.....

The real John Kerry was exposed by Ross White as a pork-porker! Yet, for his troubles, all Ross got was twelve new Republican readers.

Reading that motivated me, as I can use twelve more Republican readers! So, I humbly offer something not terribly original that I altered for the occasion.

(Wish someone would take me by the hand and teach me how to use PhotoShop, because I just never seem to be able to get it to do what I want.)

Solomonia recalls his past as a leftist, his thoughts on 9-11, and concludes with some advice for leftists today:

One Vietnam was enough. Now one might be able to accept the idea that the protesters of the day (many of them, anyway) did what they did for love of country. Fair enough. But grasping for the next chance to repeat the trauma is perhaps too much love, or more likely, no love at all.

There's a nice collection of dog thoughts here. (And of course, the feline equivalent here.)

As to advice on facing some of life's difficulties, Caleb Walker has a new twist on a popular expression.

You never know! Reading this post, I'm inclined to think it sometimes works.

Read 'em all!

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Now onto the Bonfire, which is hosted this week at the artistic Erica's blog Swirlspice. Erica offers her lava lamp entry as a starter. (Nice gif too; I didn't know they made that many of the things, and shame on me for not noticing the butt-plug, er, connection....)

A naked bike ride made me think of John Kerry baring his soul. (It'd get more attention than the goofy outfit he's been wearing.)

The American Mind posts about one of my vices: Krispy Kreme doughnuts! (I am allowed one per week because they're bad for me, but imagine the outcry if we fed them to the Iraqi captives.)

Much to his dad's relief, Aaron's son failed to draw a donkey in school.

The 50K blogger milestone is discussed by Jennifer. I don't know how to measure my total hits, because my Site Meter and my Awstats don't match, so I really don't know when it's appropriate to celebrate anything. (All I know is that I am grateful for the traffic I get. It helps keep me going.)

Dodgeblogium is stuck in the mud with German girls, and isn't complaining. (Go look, and understand why.)

Gleeful Extremist has a nice pirate post with the kind of graphics I'd like to see in more blogs.

Suicide prevention as a cure for terrorism? Sound too good to be true? Read about it at The Everlasting Phelps.

(Following good hygienic practice, Erica quite properly incinerated my most em-bare-assing embarrassing post of the week.)