This is the lounge. You can discuss anything you want, but you will do it kindly. What is that thing? Some kind of ape? Creepy.
Status: Heavily Moderated; Previous thread
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
Whatever that thing in the photo is, I suggest you send it back. Nothing good comes out of a small human…
What sort of genetic defect made all of its facial hair fall out/not grow? And where are its teeth? Ewwwwwww…
Hi baby.
Reddit atheism page done good for once. This submission to CNN’s ireport section was flagged as inappropriate, not to mention attracted many vitriolic comments. The update message from the CNN producer is nice.
Hah! I just submitted a fellowship application to the Smithsonian (Botany dept, Natural History Museum). Won’t know until April. But one of the investigators is in love with my proposal. I’d guess my chances at about 33%.
Not only that, but I get to the Lounge, and it’s actually of readable length!
Baby is already dreaming about noodly appendages.
Cannabinaceae:
‘s a good thing!
Hey, Cannabinaceae!
Good luck.
OK, well now I’m exhausted, and W.U. informs me that corns are to be popped.
WMDKitty @1: “Nothing good comes out of a small human…”
By the transitive property of things coming out of humans, and some dubious logic, that means nothing good comes out of any humans.
rq:
Do what the huh?
You are going back to lurking?
I haz a sad :'(
I will miss you. Do stay in touch from time to time.
rq!
I too will miss you. I hope whatever it is that has reverted you to lurker status is benign and temporary. Keep well, and the best of luck with the house. [Even with framing starting on the 23rd I’m still pretty sure you’re going to win our domicile race. :)]
I must beg to differ.
This morning Mrs. Fishy and I were discussing what needs to be done to the Fishy-mobile. One of the cosmetic but annoying things is that front bumper/sidepanel unit thingy is loose. Mrs. Fishy asked if I would fix it or would be get the garage to do it next service. At which point my little beloved human pipes up:
“They should do it like the Mythbusters.”
“Uh, what do you mean honey?”
“With duct tape!”
Pretty much the best* thing to ever come out of any 5 y ear old ever! My day started with a race between bursting with pride and busting a gut laughing…
*There might be a little, teensy, tiny bit of bias here, just maybe.
Jadehawk Add me to the lopsided pile too. It’s almost always the right nodes and the right side of my throat that hurts when I have a cold. Get well soon.
Hey FossilFishy… wanna buy my amp? :)
Cannabinaceae: Best of luck with your application.
–
Cannabinaceae, tentacles crossed for you.
Cannabinaceae, good luck with the application!
Oh iJoe, I most certainly do. But alas, wants and means are rarely in sync in my life and never more so than right now. Er, that said: how much?
Cannabinaceae: That’s excellent! Another purely non-superstitious octopetal crossing for you.
[Examines life in light of Cannabinaceae’s, sighs.]
FossilFishy
Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure the shipping is more than I’d want for the amp. Otherwise, I’d probably sell it to you for $250-300 :(
hello
Hello Jafafa Hots
… was there more? :)
good luck, cannabinaceae!
Hello, Jafafa Hots!!!! :)
Also, fuck Top Chef.
(the last sentence above was not directed at either Jafafa Hots or Cannabinaceae)
Hugs and best wishes to everyone have been delivered to the Lounge. Can someone sign for this delivery? The bacon is on backlog and someone ate all the chocolate.
****
Blast it! Now I have to get a headlight. Seems the 40 minute drive home *was* darker than normal. So glad I didn’t pass a police officer. Wonder how much of my minimal funds this will take…
I miss having cable to watch Top Chef. What happened carlie?
Tony
What sort of car? New bulbs can be as cheap as $4.
#12 FossilFishy (Νεοπτόλεμος’s spellchecker), Jadehawk (previous thread?):
Not sure whassup here (could not load the previous thread on my iPhone), but FWIW the right side of my throat always hurts more than the left when I’m ill.
And to whomever “Get well soon” may have been directed, I concur wholeheartedly.
IJoe:
$4 would be great. I have an 05 Mazda 3.
The Judge Rotenberg Center in Canton, Massachusetts, has been torturing disabled people since 1971. This essay is relevant to A+ concerns, as I see it. Judge Rotenberg Center Survivor’s Letter
Trigger Warning: Extremely detailed description of abuse and torture of a disabled person.
Cannabinaceae – Good luck!
Jafafa Hots – Hello!
Tony,
I’m assuming you’re still accessing the Internet from your phone? I don’t mind doing your searches for you, since the mobile sites are a pain to deal with.
I’ve found headlight bulbs from AutoZone and Advance Auto for around $15-20. Not no money, but not ridiculous stupid money.
Carlie:
You can add my “fuck you, Top Chef” to that. What a bad godsdamn decision that was.
Hallo, Jafafa Hots!
rq
Re: relurking.
First reaction: “Nooooooooooooooooooooooo you caaaaaaan’t!!!!!!!!”
Second reaction: “Get it together, Portia.”
Third, most-approaching-normal reaction: I will miss you, as everyone else has said. You are a great voice here and you are great company in the lounge. You’re just great in general. I hope all goes well with the house, and second the wish that whatever is causing your relurking is benign and temporary. Take some hugs and tea for the road.
Cicely
On the topic of an afterlife, I totally agree with you. It does have a lot of shitty connotations that follow necessarily from the premise. All of them piss me off. Not the least of which is when people telling me how to feel about my grief. Like, godbots can’t just let you be fucking sad. They have to tell you that you’re not allowed, because you will see them again.
====
I hope everyone who is sick gets better soon. Take two hugs and call me in the morning.
====
I finally finished my hat! I started with this pattern. It doesn’t look much like the picture, but I still really really like it. :D First hat I’ve knit for myself.
FossilFishy
Oh, once they’re mobile and verbal and housebroken, human cubs are pretty awesome. It’s those first few stages, where it’s kind of a flesh-loaf that does nothing but eat, shit, cry, and puke, that nothing good (or pleasant) comes out of them. It’s all stomach contents and snot, neither of which I can stand… including my own!
Of course, you’re obligated to think your kid is The Greatest Kid Evar — you’re a parent. (But yes, that was incredibly cute. And awesome. And heartwarming. And just the coolest thing ever because I like geeky kids.)
Yes, on using my phone.
And a hearty THANK YOU, Joe.
There is an Advance Auto near my house. Twill be done tomorrow. You rock!
Hah! Fair enough WMDKitty. I didn’t mind the excretory blob stage anywhere near as much I thought I would. Massive sleep deprivation and extreme life stress FTW!
Yay Tony!
You’ve changed a bulb before? It isn’t that hard, and shouldn’t require any tools.
Normally I could give a damn about a larval human, but that one is pretty flippin’ cute. Looks like a cartoon monkey. Reminds me I read somewhere that the young of closely related species look more similar to each other than the adults of the respective species do. Or something.
CUTE MONKEYS!
FossilFishy
I have no kids. Partly because I’m just not parent material. I refuse to inflict my fucked-up-ness on a child. And that’s without getting into the whole physical disability thing — pregnancy and parenting from a wheelchair is… not something I want to tackle. On top of that, there’s the issues I have with certain bodily excretions (including my own); I can NOT handle snot or vomit. I gag if I get my own snot on me, forget about wiping a boogery little nose or cleaning up after a mondo sneeze.
And I’m fucking terrified of the whole “there’s something living in my body and feeding off of me” thing, and then getting it out… no. No. I’ll leave the breeding and the parenting to those who can handle it.
For those of you who are parents, I raise my bong to you in salute, because you are doing something pretty goddamn important — shaping the next generation of skeptics and atheists!
(Oh, and tell FossilKid that he’s awesome, ‘cuz he is.)
Some of them really go for the ‘now with god and that’s good’ thing. I remember feeling really, really sorry for the woman who ran the choir. (No derails into what a Congregationalist raised atheist was doing in a catlick church choir.) She was late for a practice because she’d been at a friend’s house where the husband had just died, that day. He’d been sick for quite a long time. There she was, trying to get with the program, saying that it was truly a joyful occasion because he was now where he wanted and deserved to be. And tears kept leaking from her eyes.
I don’t know whether she’d not recognised the difference between the parties, literally, in the convent when an over 90s nun peacefully ended her quiet life and the overwhelming grief of a family with teenagers losing their husband and father. Or something. But she’d obviously convinced herself that it was right to be joyful if not glad when someone died. Talk about self-inflicted angst.
Since I just recently changed a bulb on a car, I can suggest the following site:
http://www.sylvania.com/
then scroll down to: “Automotive Replacement Guide”, and click on that link.
I can plug in your year/make/model info, but then it says “w/Composite” or “w/HID H/L”, and I have no idea what those options mean, let alone which of them apply to your car. But I guess you need either an “H7” bulb, or a “HID-D2S”. Maybe? Don’t take my word for it.
Good luck, and remember, DON’T TOUCH THE BULB WITH YOUR BARE FINGERS. Body oils on the glass will make bad things happen when it lights up and gets hot, or so I have been told.
But otherwise, your car manual should tell which screws to unscrew to access the bulb, and that should be a piece of cake.
YMMV
IANAM
HTH
mildlymagnificent
Wow. That is tragic. It’s quite the insult to injury. I’ve never lost a member of my immediate family but I have felt like I’ve been denied the ability to grieve properly for a loss of a loved one. It sucks long term.
On that uplifting note (I’ll be cheerier tomorrow, promise!) I’m going to turn in. I hope to find you all safe and healthy in the morning. Or as closer to it than I left you, at the very least.
WMDKitty
I always wonder why we childless folks aren’t also allowed to say “I refuse to inflict a child’s fucked-up-ness on ME.” Sorry, little parasite monster, but your food interferes with my toy-buying, and your time-suck interferes with me sucking down a dozen cold brews. And I don’t even have to suffer the direct parasitism that the mother of the little fun-ruiner has to deal with.
Anecdotes on babbies:
My wife’s best friend has five children by three successive fathers, I watched her burst into tears when she realised menopause would put an end to the whole process of pregnancies and helpless little bundles of poo. She genuinely loved her nursing time.
My wife however only had the one, and that was one of the scariest things that ever happened to her, with an early birth at 6 months when she was 40. The lad has survived and is healthy and nearly 29 now.
So I don’t blame any woman choosing to be childless, it’s your choice and only your choice. Maternalistic feelings are by no means universal.
On one hand, definitely. The pregnancy idea sounds vaguely like being infected with a chestburster and I’m just… *shudder*
On the other hand, sometimes I think that pregnancy would be interesting to experience, as it is, over long history, a fairly universal experience for people of my anatomical configuration. But then there’s the parenting and the “fuck you” inherent in someone with my shitty genes passing them on to the innocent. (Haw haw, yer gonna have some unpleasant times ahead of you larva!) And the fact that I don’t particularly like children until they’re communicative.
I guess what I’m saying is that I would really like to have kittens. Kittens aren’t expected to be verbal, are much less dependent and for a shorter period of time and are adorable instantly, instead of looking like Winston Churchill.
(Took the Furry One to the vet today to have her anal glands expressed. Almost cried when she started howling. Ugh. That little wail is a kick in the feels.)
Good morning
So, #1 wants to continue being a pain in the ass.
I know, I know, it’s her way to react to the whole grandma-tragedy but freaking out because your sister picked you the wrong spoon when you’re totally allowed to pick another one?
That’s the thing about having kids: It’s very likely that your difficult times will also be their difficult times.
But now for a cute kids story:
#1: Mum, is a platypus a real animal?
Me: Yes, honey.
#1: But I have never seen one!
Me: Me neither. Maybe we can look for some videos?
#1: Sure, maybe you have one where a platypus is friends with an ahumat.
Me: A what?
Talking about babies, a friends baby seems to have failed completely in making his appearance on my birthday.
#1: An ahumat, you know!
Me: What kind of an animal is an ahumat?
#1: (annoyed) An ahumat! You know about them, you told me!
Me: Sweetie I have no clue what you’re talking about. Can you describe the animal?
#1: Ahumat! The animal that lives in Australia and looks like a hedgehog!
Me: You mean an echidna?
#1: (indignated, finally I got it) Yes! That’s what I’m saying all the time!
Oh, forgot:
Jadehawk
I often have infections that afflict only the right side of my body. My right amygdala is much more prone to swelling, my right nostril is more easily blocked. Sometimes that’s the only symptoms, sometimes it spreads to the other side as well.
Get well soon.
But what happened on Top Chef?! I only get to see it sporadically.
*
Also, come back TLC!
iJoe
That’s fair enough, yeah. And I prefer the term “childfree“. “Childless” implies that I am somehow “missing” something.
Lofty
Some women enjoy hosting a fetus, more power to ’em. My maternal instincts (towards human babies) are non-existent. What maternal instincts I do have tend to be for the four-legged sort — and I spoil my fur-baby rotten.
Nepenthe
Kittens are always awesome! The best thing about kittens is the fur-pile. Nothing like a pile of sleepy kittens on your belly, man.
And, uh, don’t count on them being “nonverbal” — I have one extremely vocal cat who does “talk back”, often in a very sassy tone! I shit you not, she has different meows for different things, one for “top off my dish”, one for “my dish is empty”, one for “I wanna go outside”, one for “let me in”, one for “oh my gods if you don’t open the door NOW I’m gonna die!!!!!!!” And she has a “Dinner! Dinner! Yay, DINNER!” meow.
rq.
Be glad to see you back when you delurk. Hope the real life, real house stuff goes well with you.
Infected people generally. I’m glad I’m not the only one who seems to get swellings and other symptoms on just one side. I’ve never bothered to mention it to the doc – because I rarely mention such things since I became allergic to every useful antibiotic ever invented – but it’s good to know that it’s not at all uncommon.
Nepenthe
Hate to tell you, but some cats talk A LOT. I have two of them. One of them engages in long conversations with me, where me and he both end up pretty exasperated by the time it is done. The other has a speech impediment and lets out these gravely “Eeeeghn” noises non-stop when she wants attention.
Major peeve on my part – I cannot stand the term “childless”. Blecch. That implies it’s a loss of some sort, poor, pitiful me, missing out on the wonders of breeding. No thanks. I’m childfree and joyously so.
Also, “childless” has historically been used in a pitying sense, about those who have found themselves unable to have sprogs, while wanting to have them. That does not, in any way, describe me.
Jebus, I have kids.
And there’s no people i respect more than those who make the considered decision to choose not to.
There are, rather.
Amblebury:
Josie is still there.
Amblebury, if you want all the spoilerage, see here.
Beyond all of that, if I did, for some crazy reason, want kids, I would adopt an older (5+) child.
Part pay-it-forward (I’m adopted), part “get out of diaper-duty free” card, and big part “not going off my meds for any reason EVER because the resulting anxiety and OCD (I’m an obsessive worrier, and will think up things to worry about if I have nothing else. Hell, I’ve laid here and obsessed over not having anything to worry about.) are of the non-functional, blubbering, pukey variety, and I rather like being (at least semi-) functional.”
…holy crap, I go off on a lot of mid-sentence tangents. Huh. Welcome to a glimpse of how my thoughts “order” themselves.
Just tell me if I’m being confusing or too random — I will try to clarify.
WMDKitty, the one that gets me is the half-meow half-purr with a rising intonation that indicates “Hey, here I am, human dolt! It’s homage time!”.
Thank you, Hekuni Cat and thunk. The hugs are very much appreciated.
.
Good luck Cannabinaceae!
.
Nepenthe
Exactly. This is why I wore a T-shirt the whole time with “WARNING – Alien on board” in the biggest letters they could print.
John Morales
Ah! The “love me?” prrrrrp. (roll the “r” for the approximate sound.)
Gracie will sometimes wake me up by sneaking up next to the bed and YELLING IN MY EAR! Because it’s MORNING! And I’m awake! Why are you sleeping?
Love her to death, I do, but that early-morning cheerfulness? I can do without.
Thanks Caine.
Fools! FOOLS!
I should know better than to get invested in shows like that.
Amblebury:
No shit. I’m seriously pissed over it. In terms of sheer talent, there is simply no way Josie would win, none. I was already leaning toward you know who winning the whole thing, too.
Yes.
–
Why can’t producers be smart enough to realise that an audience who is still watching at that stage in the season, are doing so because they probably have enough knowledge to appraise the contestants and their performances intelligently, and Shock! Horror! Surprise elimination! is just going to piss them off?
–
Don’t Tom, Gail and their ilk have any input? Or integrity?
–
Oy. This is why I should know better.
Scritch Agnes for me. I checked out the Christmas pics. She’s thriving (:
STATEC
This report (in French) from the Luxembourgish Statistical Office has two significant bits of information.
First, for the first time ever, in Luxembourg the median salary for women in full-time employment exceeds that of men. The data is from 2010, and the reason is that also for the first time, the salaries in the public sector (Education and Administration) were taken into consideration.
Second, the highest median salary is found in Education. Yes, in Luxembourg we pay our teachers more than our bankers.
Amblebury:
I will, and she is. She’s doing great. :D
Cats? Talking? Just wait until your beloved furry lap-warmer goes deaf!
Our aged deaf owner who so graciously permits us to provide her with food, laps and pillows where she can lie in the middle while our necks get a crick from being displaced to somewhere our joints were never intended to support has a habit of announcing her entry into the house, room, your vicinity with multi-decibel complaints. As she can’t hear anything you might say, when this happens in the middle of the night you have to wait through several minutes of this until she decides to check the bedroom – because you can’t call her. The only alternative is to get up and fetch her.
Same thing happens if you’re knitting, on the phone, watching teev or doing anything at all – she can’t hear if you call and she’s too stubborn to check whether or not we’re actually there before complaining, at length and volume, that we’re not exactly where she wanted when she wanted. At least she seems to have given up on “the stand in the bedroom doorway and complain that no-one’s in bed” when she wants someone to be in bed. (For the time being – I’m not silly enough to think that she won’t take this up again if the mood takes her.)
Feed the kitty
Feline Frame-Up
Improbable Joe #43
Well it’s kind of rude to call someone you’ve never met ‘fucked-up’ – it also implies that all children are fucked-up, which I can see irritating a lot of parents, as it’s easily seen as criticism of their parenting skills.
Wouldn’t want one myself, mind.
Caine,
1) How’s Vasco doing?
2) “Childless”: speaking as someone embuggered with a spawn, I envy you and agree with you. The term should at least be “childFREE” with HEAVY emphasis on the last syllable. I’m also thinking “happy”, “comparatively well off”, “able to have a proper social life” and other such synonyms apply.
(The only non- serious thing in the post is regret at having a kid. I do love the little blighter. Sort of. Nearly. A bit. But the poo. The poo, even though there is so much, so very, very much, is the easy bit. Being nutted awake is not an easy thing to cope with!)
Louis
Louis, Vasco is doing well. His eye still looks a mess (it’s filled with blood yet), but the tear is no longer so apparent and the pus has all drained out. He’s still on antibiotic eye drops and oral antibiotics and will be for a while longer. He does now have that “squinch the eye shut just at the right second” business down to an art.
Phew. End of day, end of week – and I am off to Adelaide tomorrow! Must remember to pack coffee. And ventolin.
In other news, I hate Excel.
Had to log in just to add a SO MUCH to this.
Heh heh, it’s always good to know you’re not alone.
Bill Openhalt
That’s why we hate you.
Just kidding. Salu from across the border. Maybe I should have learned French and move there.
Exactly! And I know that reality shows are really planned out, and that the producers get a big say in who stays and who goes for DRAMA! PURPOSES!, but seriously.
Bill Openhalt:
That’s fabulous. Now, maybe you can work on that whole “it isn’t rape culture, it’s rape nature” bullshit you’re spreading about.
Is it wrong to send one’s wife flowers at work signed “from your secret admirer” if done spontaneously for purposes of a) romance and b) comedy?
Louis
Louis:
Nope, but flowers with a card signed “from your not-so-secret admirer” might be better.
Adding to mine @78, ’cause we live in an age of stalkers and the like, so…
Gilliel
Not that is does us much good – further in the report it says that the Luxembourgish residents stand out by the high fraction of workers (29%) who did not get beyond lower secondary education. The Belgian residents have a high proportion of university educated workers (41%), whereas the majority (63%) of German residents have a higher secondary degree.
For the entire workforce the percentages are 30% tertiary, 47% higher secondary and 23% lower secondary education.
No need to learn French, by the way. German is also spoken by all Luxembourgers, or you could learn Letzebuergesch :-)
Is it a secret from her, or from her co-workers? If the former, not so good though possible if enough Clue is provided. If the latter, go right ahead.
Since you all seemed to enjoy it when I posted a link to an analysis of the zombie apocalypse, I indulge in shameless self-promotion.
I have written up some thoughts on aliens, religion, and science fiction and fantasy. Comments, questions, pointing out where I’ve got things entirely wrong, and disagreements about how well Dune was written are welcome.
Please look here: http://clementsgame.wordpress.com/2013/01/15/scifi-round-ten-aliens-and-religion/
Caine,
Ah yes, but I want her to guess for at least 2 seconds! I thought the idea of an actual secret admirer might provide the beloved with a small frisson. She’ll know it’s me almost instantly though. I have a reputation for random acts of comedy for some reason…
Louis
Louis, as I consider the calendar an instrument of Christian control, every day is a good day to send your wife flowers. Especially on a mischevious impulse. I can’t bear to wait for a significant date to cheer my wife up with a little pressy.
Oh yeah…I didn’t think about stalkers!
{Facepalm}
There’s that privilege again! {Shakes fist} CURSE YOU PRIVILEGE!!!!
That said, I’m relatively sure, like 99.9% sure, she won’t think of stalkers first either. She will, however, likely think “what is that husband of mine doing spending money on flowers?” whilst being secretly pleased.
Louis
Tom now claims that he would have sent a different chef home had he known what he now knows from watching the episode. Right. Sure. Yes, the one who shouldn’t have gone home should have spoken up about that other chef not doing what they were told. But still.
Lofty,
She Who Must Be Obeyed and I avoid Valentine’s Day etc like the plague, random is more fun for starters and £1234789092616 per rose is a tad over the top. I suppose I just had a romantic URGE today. Must be hormonal. I blame some convoluted conspiracy involving Interflora and KFC.
Louis
Carlie, in fairness, during judges table, the knifed chef was saying to herself “bite your tongue, bite your tongue” and refused to clarify what went down. There was a serious divide going on, too. Padma was intensely in favour of sending the knifed chef home, while Tom and Gail were more focused on Josie fucking up.
Knifed chef? As in a chef that got stabbed by another chef?
This reality TV lark sounds more fun than first I thought.
Louis
Hope you enjoy the concert Alethea! I have a different one on Sunday in Ballarat, so you won’t see me at yours.
Bill Oppenhalt
I know. I adore Letzeburgisch.
Also I’m wondering about the data for Germany. 40% of the population only has 8-9 years of school education. Many then have professional training which is seen as the equivalent of higher secondary schooling, so I think that paints the picture nicer than it really is.
I stepped knee deep in my privilege here once with regards to spawning and I have no desire to do so again. I may occasionally be an idiot, but dammit, I want my idiocy to at least show a little variety.
I tend to talk about the good things that fatherhood has brought me, not because it’s non-stop peaches of the un-freezey kind, but because I’m very, very good at seeing the down side of things. I struggle with that negativity constantly*, and I fully acknowledge that I deliberately indulge in post hoc rationalising and selective recall to get me through.
That deliberate choice to be irrational makes me hope like hell that none of what I say here comes across as judgemental of those who have made different life choices. Right for me is only right for me. Even where I to be appointed King of Everything ™ I wouldn’t presume to dictate how others should live.
*All part and parcel of a history of depression. As an example: I can never shake for long the feeling that I’m held hostage by The Small Fry’s health and wellbeing. For fuck’s sake, I’ve never had a pet as an adult because I can’t stand the thought of loving something that will die before me. All the ways a little human can die are never far from my thoughts to the point where if I awake in the night I won’t be able to go back to sleep unless I’ve checked on her. A pointless endeavour with a healthy five year old, but at least it makes me take things like bushfire prep seriously.
Caine – definitely. But they’ve been doing this long enough that they should have known which questions to ask to elicit what happened, starting with asking what the actual conception of the dish was and when exactly it went off the rails (because it was right at the beginning with the timing). They also could have asked the other chefs on the team what they saw going on. I still think it’s fundamentally unfair the way they judge kitchen wars that certain people just get judged on making a dish, and others get judged on making a dish while trying to force other people to do their own jobs, and others get judged on making a dish while serving as a glorified waiter.
Carlie:
I agree, absolutely. It’s the main reason I loathe restaurant wars and have from the first season. It’s rare that the person who should go home is the one who is knifed.
It also irks the hell out of me that someone who refuses to toss someone else under the bus and takes responsibility gets knifed, while someone like Josie, who *always* blames someone or something else for her failures gets to stay.
Giliell
It’s difficult to compare educational systems, but since Bologna it has become more reliable (arguably :). Comparing apples with apples is one of the most frustrating challenges in statistics (I do statistics for a living).
Talking about statistics, the use of the median means that on average, women could still earn less than men, and that on average, salaries in Banking are still higher than in Education. Don’t trust statistics unless you have access to the raw data.
Biss geschwënn.
Heya.
re kids: I’m at least tacitly against having them right now (but this could change, obviously). When I was five, I was apparently spooked by the concept of pregnancy, even though I’m male-bodied. I can totally see people not wanting to go through that, or raise young squealing things (I also hated any children younger than me.)
Hello, all!
Happy Friday!
WARNING: DREAM REPORT
None.
/DREAM REPORT
rq:
Do what you need to do. I hope your return.
Hugs.
Yup. Not only is the programme shit, but 98.54% of the shit done on Excel is absolutely useless. Why do we have an Excel sheet in our park server that keeps track of parkwide paper inventory when each division orders their own supplies!
No.
@ Pharyngufoodies
I am looking to buy a Tefal rice cooker (linky). It looks like good value but I don’t know enough about the devices.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
theophontes:
My question would be why? But then, I’m a gadget minimalist in the kitchen (I actually got a crock pot only 18 months ago, and my mixer is so heavy that it is a major project to use it), so take my question with a grain of NaCl.
What comedy? It could go very wrong if she thinks it’s either a) some creepy guy at work/on the bus/ etc. she’s been kind of worried about for months but has never said anything about, or if she thinks you’re “testing” her by seeing if she’ll mention it to you. And I don’t know if there’s any comedy other than “ha ha, you thought you were still attractive to other people, but turned out it was just me!” which is…not comedy.
For romance and a little fun, though, you could sign it from “your secret admirer who saw you.. [x]”, where [x] is something far back in your history – the place where you met, or that time you found her trying to to change a flat tire in the rain, something that kind of stuck in your minds but that she’ll have to think awhile to recall.
Theophontes, I don’t have or use a dedicated rice cooker. I have an all purpose steamer which cooks rice up just fine, and it was cheap, too.
theophontes – I love the heck out of my rice cooker. It’s a cheapo model that I got at a yard sale for about $4. Since they work by creating steam, and therefore don’t have hotspot problems, depending on what you want to do with it the lower end models definitely serve the purpose.
Oggie – I am also one of those “don’t buy a single use item” people, especially when it’s the size of a rice cooker, but man, I ‘ve been surprised at how awesome that thing is to have. No stirring, no worrying about it burning or sticking to the pan, just pour in and set the timer.
@ Ogvobis
My reportback: Very little to report. The last few days have been very short on dreams (at least that I can remember). A few short flash-dreams, the most notable was meeting my brother, but too short to talk to him.
:(
I blame having to be woken by an alarm.
@ Ogvobis
Mainly for convenience, Spawn needs rice to take to work, I need to watch my diet and eat at home more often. I was planning to use it for millet, quinoa, brown rice, veggies and the like too.
@ Caine, carlie
OK, I’ll just dive in and get one then.
theophontes – try checking out your local thrift stores – people get rid of them all the time, because they do take up room and then the people end up not using them.
Just popping in and out:
Child-FREE!! YES!! Free of that misery/responsibility/constant state of fear. I sometimes freeze up thinking I’ve accidentally let one of the cats outside to die, there’s no way I’m dealing with a kid.
Rice cookers are AWESOME. I’ve had the absolute most basic model for about 6 years now, and I love it. I paid like $12 for it, and I use it pretty much every week.
re: Rice cooker.
I make rice maybe once a month (two or three times if I include risotto) so for me it would not be worth it. Wife is not wild about rice so I usually do some udon or somen noodles with the stir fries. For someone who uses a lot of rice it makes sense.
Oh man, I love rice. I cook it all the time.
:thinks about putting some Basmati in the steamer:
We eat rice at least once a week.
I ♥ ♥ ♥ my rice cooker.
I also ♥ Excel.
Access is an abomination.
carlie,
Me too.
Hearing about rice cookers makes me go Huh?. Take pot, pour water, add rice, cook*. If it’s a risotto, take your time playing with it (recipe, what recipe).
*I can see how someone can enjoy having more free time, while leaving it to cook. I’m just so used to doing it my way that it’s really not all that much of a time waster. I can come read pharyngula in the meantime and if it boils over…. oh well :)
I bought a rice cooker a while ago, but I haven’t used it yet because the gross sticky gelatinous mess in the pots made THAT much of an impression on me.
OMFG I’m home.
Those long days are killing us. How do families manage for whom days are <i<always this long?
re: rice
I have a Tupperware rice steamer for the microwave.
Those times I manage to find all three pieces it’s wonderful. It’s also nice for cooking small amounts of pasta.
TRIGGER WARNING at the link, RAPE AND SUICIDE AND BULLYING
“As a thought exercise, how many predators would have to be on the team before you’d no longer feel like cheering?” http://www.salon.com/2013/01/17/notre_dames_double_standard/
I thought after the stupid championship game I could stop hearing about Notre Dame football. No such luck. And, of course, it’s American football so there’s a misogynistic/rape culture undercurrent.
AmericanU.S. football.Oh joy. My cats have fleas. I think the carpet may be housing these damn things. Fuck. One more money drain…
Tony : ( I’m sorry, that really sucks.
—-
And because I just remembered I promised to be cheerier, I have a babby story too. I skyped with my nephew last night. He will be 3 next month. Naturally, I think he is the most adorable, funniest, smartest almost-three-year-old out there. Anyway, my sister works as a teller at a bank. She told me the story of the time he pushed the silent alarm button and the cops came and everything. At the end of her story he announces, with the best mischievous look, “An Ahmunna doo et agin.” Priceless.
Oddest dream I have ever had came the night after I – in the space of a single day – watched first Ten Things I Hate About You and Brokeback Mountain. Dream featured Julia Stiles and Jake Gyllenhaal fighting over who got Heath Ledger.
I suppose I should be glad that I hadn’t also watched The Dark Knight that day. *shudder*
*waving* at Jafafa Hots.
Hi.
–
michaelbusch:
“And so unless their members are very careful to avoid it, human societies quite rapidly develop numerous elaborate and very specific fictional scenarios to try and explain things that may not even exist. And things can get very dangerously confused when those different scenarios conflict with each other. To use TVTropes vocabulary again, religions are very devoted fandoms.”
I like this. Very much.
–
Ogvorbis: Happy No Dream Report!
–
TEST
♥
♣
♠
&diamonds;
(This concludes our Not-Entirely-Successful TEST)
–
Then be on the look-out for worms.
Supposedly, washing your kitties with dish soap will kill fleas at least as well as many/most flea goops; just don’t get it in their eyes, and rinse thoroughly.
Flea collars are a complete waste of money.
Quite possible. I think that we’ve finally broken the cycle of fleas to carpet to more fleas.
*crossing tentacles and burning magnesium ribbon for good luck*
–
cicely:
You forgot no-trump.
♦
♦
weird
Ogvorbis: Of doom, or otherwise.
:)
–
Weird indeed! Maybe there’s a character limit, and ‘diamonds’ is just too long?
–
I fail to grok.
3 no-trump is often a doable game bid. Doom?
Phew, so much I’ve missed… and I have to abscond again… right after the link dump…
*pouncehug for cicely and Caine*
My lymph nodes don’t seem to react when I get ill, or I just don’t notice; but when one nostril is clogged overnight, the other nasal cavity can dry out all the way into the throat, leading to a one-sided throatache. Get well soon, Jadehawk, and remember the flu has been circling around for months in the eastern US.
Esteleth, such jumps in temperature ought to be outlawed. I’d want to wall myself in at home with my computer. The concept of a blanket fort seems quite appealing.
<Mr. Burns>Excellent.</Mr. Burns>
(…I guess that’s an officialization of what would be called a common-law marriage in common-law countries. But looking it up might ruin it.)
Impressive!
Ooh, yes. *shudder*
Link dump:
Religion may not survive the Internet
The Hitler gun control lie – as I learned a few gun control threads ago, the Nazis loosened the regulations a lot instead of tightening them further.
Piers Morgan is a UK citizen and has a show on CNN, where he “has been vocal in his criticism of American gun laws (or lack thereof)”. Some dolt made a whitehouse.gov petition to “Deport British Citizen Piers Morgan for Attacking 2nd Amendment”. The White House told them to stop attacking the 1st Amendment. =8-)
I missed this in June: the Southern Baptist Convention now allows congregations to call themselves “Great Commission Baptists” instead of “Southern Baptists”. “The name change is meant to distance from their past association with racism, but it does much more. To those in the know, it announces that their future will be focused on turf wars – on competing for members and dollars rather than any kind of forward-facing spiritual leadership. To draw an analogy, imagine that Coca Cola decided to distance from their past sales of cocaine drinks by dropping the ‘Coca’ and calling themselves ‘World Dominance Cola.’ Imagine them announcing to the public: Rather than improving our product, we’ve chosen to focus on our marketing department. That’s essentially what the new name means.” :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D The article goes on to show in some detail how everything is now subordinated to proselytizing, the “Great Commission”.
16 more signs improved by hilarious graffiti.
Back to Early Cretaceous froggies (some 110 million years old) from Brazil, and the glorious origin of the hypno-toad along with poison-dart frogs, pacman frogs, other pacman frogs, glass frogs, and many more.
Oh, wait: that German science news service has an article about a new paper that says crabs can feel pain – you can condition them like Pavlov’s dogs: they avoid situations that have been associated with pain. Unfortunately, the paper isn’t actually online yet, so I can’t link to it… and don’t need to start another comment. :-]
I thought that anurans dated to the mid-Triassic? Or am I misremembering again?
Oops. Sorry. Reading comprehension fail on my part. This is about frog radiation towards extant species. My bad. Disregard my #125.
So, tomorrow mum’s going to the university hospital. After this had been discussed since last Friday(!) they finally could be bothered to call them today. The result was that the people at the university hospital said something like “why hasn’t that woman been here already for the last week?”.
We also found out that she’s been getting two different types of antibiotics (you know liver failure be careful with medication) without them ever having established that she has a bacterial infection and if yes what kind of.
I’m seriously considering lodging a complaint as soon as mum is out of their incompentent hands.
Giliell,
It’s good to hear that your mum is finally moving to a hospital where she should receive better care.
You probably should lodge a complaint.
chigau
BAH! Libreoffice for the win.
Tony
Have you got a flea comb? If so, comb the fleas and eggs out of the cat’s fur and drop them in hot water with dishsoap. To deal with the ones in the carpet, spread Borax around on it (lock the cat in the bathroom or something first), leave it down for about half an hour, then vacuum. Between them that should get most of the fleas.
Gillilell
*hugs* and best wishes. You definitely should file a complaint, these people are complete screwups.
Ogvorbis
More good news about the dreams.
I blew a co-worker’s mind yesterday. We were doing data analysis, and I was using the program I usually use for this (i.e. KaleidaGraph) and she was all WTFISTHATITISAWESOME because it didn’t utterly suck.
(Also, I hate Excel. When I need to do an Excel-type thing, I usually use iWorks, because it doesn’t utterly suck).
Hey, sorry for a quick derail, and I’m sure it’s been answered before — I just haven’t seen it…but is there a set of Windows/Internet Explorer commands, e.g., that can format the new FTB screens so that you don’t have to scroll left to right to see the entire text on each screen?
Thanks for any tips,
An inadvertent neo-luddite
I can’t write a coherent comment any more :/
—-
anbheal,
What are you using? Because on an average computer screen, it would take going pretty wild with ctrl + to make scrolling horizontally needed (if you did this and it was unintentional, hold ctrl and push -).
Ogvorbis: Either the Trump of Doom at the Last Judgement, or Trumps of Doom, by Zelazny.
:) :) :)
–
“Anthropologist Jennifer James, on the other hand, has called fundamentalism the “death rattle” of the Abrahamic traditions.”
If only….
–
I was very pleased when I discovered that Ctrl 0 gets you back to the neutral, in case you’ve zoomed way too far one way or the other.
Beatrice
No, it’s a problem on mine too, and my zoom is normal.
Dalillama
True. I have nothing else on my personal machines.
—
iWorks
*shudder*
I’ve bought my mother a rice cooker and a small deep fryer, and plan to buy some other appliances for her in the future.
She’s strapped for cash taking care of me and I figure that any appliance that makes dinner faster, and can turn cheap food into interesting food would help her save money on the food front.
Does anyone have any ideas for other appliances? I’m getting money from my father and sis on my birthday at the end of the month and with that I could by more things for my mom to make caring for me easier.
@ Cain
I’m going to try to email you tonight about the art; radiation has made me very, very tired all day the last few days and so it’s hard to find the energy to communicate.
Nap time.
Strange. I don’t know then.
katenrala
Personally I love me my Sandwich-maker, because it turns simply sandwiches into hot meals with about the same amount of work.
beatrice
It’s this blasted new layout. Why can’t ftb move things back? *whine*
Dalillama (and possibly anbheal)
Are you getting the mobile version? (not that I could help in that case either, just curious)
Beatrice —
I’m Windows 7, and since the FTB format changed, there’s a big FTBvertical advertising bar on the left, which forces the text off the screen to the right. I issue no commands, I browse my blogs the way I always have, it’s there as soon as I hit the FTB main screen, and continues onto the Pharyngula and other blogs. It’s that newvertical “Advertise on FTB”bar that banjaxes the full-screen view.
Katen Rala — I recently observed that the George Foreman taco maker produces absolutely the most perfect over-easy eggs in human history!
Beatrice
Nope, regular version. It’s like anbheal says, only I’m on Xubuntu with Firefox
¢ ¢ ¢
¼ ¼ ¼
½ ½ ½
⅞ ⅞
—
huh.
Some times Ed Brayton just says it best:
Re: FTB fitting the screen. I never had that issue, but I had some serious problems with it in Firefox where the text was too small and I had to zoom in to read it. Now in Chrome, it works perfectly. It’s a strange mystery.
katenrala, I’ll second a sandwich maker. They’re fantastic, quick, and surprisingly versatile. A bit of butter and sugar spread on bread with some fruit inside and you quickly have yourself a little pastry.
Giliell, yeah, Ed nailed it.
—
One of my cousins has gone completely into “RAWR GUNS GUNS GUNS” mode and will. not. shut. up. about how absolutely critical they are for our freedom and safety. The majority of what he repeats (or, delight of delights, forwards on FB and in email) is the subtly racist stuff about protecting your neighborhood from inner city thugs, too. I have the urge to grab him by the shoulders and force him to look in a mirror. Most of these “freedom warriors” he’s siding with would shoot him or one of his kids for walking the streets while brown.
It really annoys me that Chick Corea is a Scientologist.
Mellow Monkey: Just yesterday evening, I successfully restrained myself from telling my employer, “Look, dude; neither Obama nor the UN is going to take a battering ram to your door and confiscate your dick. Get a fuckin’ grip!”
But it was difficult.
–
sigh
If anyone here has a passing enjoyment of baseball and was a fan in the 90’s this name will mean something
John Rocker.
His an unmittigated ass and if you weren’t a fan of baseball you probably heard his name about an interview he had describing passengers on an NYC subway. Let’s just say John is not sensitive to people who are in anyway different from him.
Well he’s showing his dumbfuckery again. Why anyone would pay attention to him again is beyond me but (yes I know that I am paying attention now) here he is in his… um… glory
his = he’s
Rev:
Your post reminded me of a lightbulb moment. I heard the argument recently that the Nazis upped gun control and thus gun control = bad. The response was that Aryans were allowed to have guns, thus empowering the chosen demographic. And it occurred to me, that that’s what happening in our society. It’s well-documented that the prison-industrial complex is racist and oppressive to POC. This functions to disarm mainly POC with laws that prevent felons from owning guns. So only those in the oppressive majority are allowed to own firearms. It was like “whoa. That wingnut just compared himself to a Nazi…”
Why did you have to go ahead and tell me that?
Actually, much of the jewish citizenery simply didn’t believe that this was happening. They were decorated WWI veterans, men who’d shed their blood for Germany in the last bloody war. They thought they were safe. They just went along.
Also, in many concentration camps the Nazis made very sure that people didn’t know what was happening because they actually feared uprisings by trained soldiers.
Mellow Monkey — Oh man, gunnuttia is the worst! I live and work in the fantastically safe and beautiful Sierra Gordas, but my home away from home is very frequent visits to my ex and daughter in Columbine. The ex’s brother got arrested for spousal battery, with his second wife, and LITERALLY ALL HE OBSESSED ABOUT was the likelihood of having his guns taken away. His first wife is poised to deny custody and visitation with his two kids, but that’s just secondary. He actually said to me: “there’s no Constitutional right to child custody, but the court is VIOLATING my Second Amendment rights as an AMERICAN!!!” Take away my kids, meh; take away my guns, my life is ruined. Jaw-dropping.
Then my ex’s mother asked me:”how can I smuggle a gun into Canada?” I replied that she can’t, and she’d be subject to avery thorough search, because she has a half dozen NRA andmacho-gun-slogan bumper stickers plastered to the back of her car. “Why would you wantto smuggle a gun into Canada?”, I inquired. Her reply was apriceless mirror to what the NRA is all about: “because there are black people up there, too!”
And to be sure, none of these people has ever met a human being who was victimized by a home invasion. I know only one — a fellow journalist. In Toronto. The perps were looking for….wait for it…..wait for it….wait for it……GUNS!!!!
The mind reels.
sorry
Ugh, yes, fuck Top Chef. I haven’t been able to watch the episode yet but decided to just get the bad news over with by following your link, Caine. I was also hoping you know who would win the whole thing.
*
I have a question that anyone can answer, but I’m especially interested in the responses from people who have had a baby. My neighbor is going to go into labor any day now. Hell, it’s quiet in her apartment right now so for all I know, she’s at the hospital because today is her due date. I don’t know her very well but I’d like to get her a gift.
The first time I met her, I mentioned that I liked her socks. She said, “Wait right here! I have a new pair just like them and you can have them!” I thought that was very nice of her, so for this gift I thought that it might be a cute thing to buy three pairs of socks; one for her, one for her husband, and one for their new baby (not necessarily and likely not matching, because that idea bothers me a bit). If you were a new parent and you received that gift, would you be annoyed that it wasn’t more brand new baby oriented, or would you be pleased?
In other news, tomorrow I’m off with my husband to the 3rd biggest city ’round these parts. We’re seeing the premiere of a play by an author I’m a fan of as a late birthday present. So excited!
Parrowing buıʍoɹɹɐd:
I have no kids, but from what I’ve seen of new parents, they’d most likely be pleased. As exciting as a baby is, stuff that isn’t specifically baby-oriented can be a relief from the omnipresent sprog swag.
I don’t have kids either, but the gift idea sound really cute. I would like it.
parrowing
As a mum I would really have liked that.
Actually I though that it sucked that I did all the work and the little alien got all the gifts.
Also, most new parents are really happy if you bring some food if you visit. Cooking with a newborn can be a real drag (avoid too farty foods, because many people think they give the baby winds)
Dalillama:
That borax idea might work if the four cats got along.
I will look into a flea comb.
I like the baby gift idea, parrowing : )
It’s thoughtful, personal, and comprehensive.
(Although I am also childfree).
===
I love how Rachel Maddow is carefully explaining why the NRA is trolling everybody. I just love her all the time
Why can’t I focus on work today?
Parrowing: from what I’ve heard and bits of what I recall, newborn stuff tends to be overrepresented among the gifts, so things that aren’t JUST newborn things can be a nice surprise.
Also, Nashi-pears are awesome.
Their taste is pretty unremarkable, but their texture is much like apples.
Never thought I would miss biting an apple so much when I still could eat them.
Ok, cool, I will do that then. Thanks, everyone!
Catholic Church is really on the offensive these days.
There’s a movie from 2002, Fine Dead Girls (imdb) that has recently been adapted for the theatre. The main characters are two lesbian women. Catholics got a bit upset over the promotional poster : two Virgin Marys hugging.
Unfortunately, they succeeded and the poster got pulled. The fucking mayor got involved to protect the religious feelings.
Godsdamnit. My uncle called and says he’s going to get a divorce from my aunt. Then one of my personal heroes is on the front page of a major newspaper…because she wanted to announce she has Lou Gehrig’s disease. This is a bad bad news day. Arglblargle.
Portia,
*hugs*
*hugs* and sympathy, Portia.
–
Thanks, Beatrice, needed that.
I might just have a cigarette for once.
Thanks cicely. It helps.
She is such a wonderful person. She broke so many barriers for women in government and politics, just by being brilliant and driven. She fought for minority rights in the 50s, and she championed the rights of mentally ill people. Yet when I was a baby law student she made time for me and was kind and helpful to me. She didn’t have to do that, she’s a big enough deal that her diagnosis is literally front page news.
Thanks for listening. You guys are great. *hugs* back.
Sorry to hear, Portia
When my uncle and my aunt split up we decided to keep my aunt ;)
Hey, thanks for all the tentacular wishes on my fellowship proposal! If successful I would be working with filamentous algae – kind of tentacular, if you think about it. Certainly creepy, sticky, drippy, and icky!
I, too, use Libre Office. I find it cumbersome in the extreme, but the price (and other things) is right. I expect my next machine to be a laptop (my first one, though W.U. has been using a Mac laptop since 2008. It will probably run Ubuntu, but definitely some form of Linux. Currently I am on a 2008 Mac desktop. I run my machines into the ground, and then bury them in mud.
Let’s see if I can recall my computer ownership history: TRS-80, Amiga, Mac IIX, screwdrivershop Intel/Win95, screwdrivershop Intel/Win2K, Intel iMac (at present). For work I’ve had to deal with everything from RT/11, RSTS/E, VMS, Unix, CP/M, DOS, and MacOS from pre-Multifinder up through whatever animal name I’m dealing with now.
Re: feline talking
I should have said that cats aren’t expected to speak with words, so they never go through that maddening burbling phase where they’re clearly trying to speak but I absolutely can’t understand them. (I have difficulty understanding spoken words to begin with.) And even more maddening is that everyone else can understand them.
Cats, well, cats speak Feline from birth and if you’re fluent you can understand them. My cat is definitely a talker. Actually, she’s a complainer. I’m not petting her enough, the food is terrible, the portions are too small, the service is too slow, etc.
My favorite cat word is “I’m jumping now”.
After today I’m totally quitting drinking for at least 30 days…
… this is going to be a nightmare. :(
Tony – Good luck combating the fleas. Been there, done that. Flea combs are very important. *hugs*
Dalillama:
♥ My application suite of choice too.
Portia – *hugs*
Portia:
Hugs to you and yours.
========
I was going to make some pork enchiladas. The crappy corn tortillas were so stiff that no way would they roll. So I made enchilada pie/enchilada lasagna/ lazy enchiladas.
I do not plan to make rolled enchiladas ever again. It was delicious and easy.
News for paleontology enthusiasts. The dating of the volcanism related to the creation of the Atlantic ocean* has been fine-tuned and lands smack in the time for the end-Triassic mass extinction. Not at all as big as the end-Permian mass extinction (that one was even bigger than Big Asteroid Bang) but still big enough to count. It was after this that dinosaurs really dominated the world.
.
*The rip did not exactly match the previous border between Laurentia and the eastern land masses. Pieces of Europa got stuck in North America, and vice versa.
Hekuni Cat:
Thanks. Never used a flea comb, so I am off to buy one as soon as I get my headlight installed.
****
cicely, this one is for you:
http://m.nydailynews.com/news/world/horsemeat-burgers-horrify-u-article-1.1241906
Xanthe, I wasn’t planning to go to the AIV concert – I had not even realised that the dates coincide, it’s random luck. But now you mention it… Hmmm. Possibly. It is the Rach, which is quite an incentive.
Excel – well, it has its uses. But *why* must it take 15 minutes or more to simply delete 100,000 rows? If you can’t support that size data, then don’t pretend that you can! FFS! &*%^$% you bloody piece of microsoft shite. Enforced by work, I can’t install anything else.
Okay, since Thunderdome is being eaten alive by the maunderings of a dim as dirt creationist, I’ll put this here:
Me:
Nakkustoppeli:
Me:
Anyone have any idears on this odd word combination insult?
Katenrala:
Please take your time. Take all the time you want. With all the shit you get to deal with, you don’t need to be worried about me. ♥
Caine, maybe this was said during the period of time when lobster was considered a disgusting and worthless “paupers’ food” and so a lobster itself was seen as an insulting comparison?
I’m not sure exactly what the time period on that was and when lobster was elevated to the status it holds now, but I know it was seen as a lowly and unappetizing animal for a while there.
Caine:
I am here to help you!!! :)
I’m going to make a semi-educated guess, and assume that “pussy lobster” is a reference to pubic lice, also known as “crabs.” I say this because I’ve lived and worked in several states in the American South, and folks get creative with the euphemisms. I’ve also heard pubic lice referred to as “saber-toothed crotch crickets”… YEAH!
Mellow Monkey, I think you hit on it! This was in the early 1900s, during the ‘Muscular Christianity’ phase, you know, xianity for Manly Men™ Sunday was one of those who bought into all of the Manly Man™ tropes, including the “real men eat meat damn near raw and dripping with blood!” business. He also called intellectuals as “fudge-eating mollycoddles” who would rather eat “fried oysters and tea” rather than red meat.
So, I don’t think it was because of the pauper’s food rhetoric as much as it was that he saw lobsters and other seafood as feminine.
Ah, that’s better. Now I can stop thinking about it.
IJoe, um…eeeuw. I hope that’s not what he meant. Actually, I think MM got closer to what was going on. Masculinity got all tied up with certain foods and other foods were considered to be all icky feminine and if men ate those, well, they were pussies!
Chipotles in adobo (and roasted red peppers), for the win! Finally, a vegetarian dish that (for me) supplies the umame or whatever of meat, and doesn’t leave me unsatisfied:
Smoky Beans
1. Saute a minced onion and sliced othervegetable (carrots, or a red pepper or something you like to saute to start out a soup with. Napa cabbage works well.)
2. Add a large (USA) can of crushed tomatoes (28oz?), two small cans (USA) of black beans, a cup of roasted red pepper (diced up).
3. Mince a couple of chipotles in adobo (here they come in a small can, I use about 1/5 of the can) and put them in, with a teaspoon or so of the adobo sauce.
4. A teaspoon each of thyme and cumin.
5. Vegetable stock or ale – use your own experience here, but a whole bottle of ale, maybe a pint of stock
6. This is going to be pretty watery (for my taste: I like a thick glop), so add some water-absorbers: macaroni or rice or something. Again, depends on your taste and experience. A couple three handfulls, depending.
7. Simmer for 30 minutes.
8. Add the zest of 1/2 an orange (microplane grater for the winnie-win-win). Zest of a whole orange is too much for me; however my S.I.L. is quite fond of overpoweringly citrusy flavors in savory dishes, so you could use more if that’s what you like.
I’m feeling better! I feel human again! Yay! I called the dental clinic and since it’s a nightly first come first serve emergency deal, the receptionist told me Monday is the slowest and best time to go, if you can. Which I can so that’s what I’m going to do. The weekends gets really busy because of everyone trying to get things done while they aren’t working. I mean it’s still busy during the week but it’s a better shot at getting in quick.
—
—
On cat’s talking, the Babysitting Kitty is driving us up the wall. There’s females in heat around and he’s been meowing so loudly for hours on end. He meows in my Roomie’s ear and wakes him up. I seem to be immune because I don’t really sleep, as much as pass out. Sleeping as always been hard for me. I’m out so cold, he’s even scratched me and I didn’t realize til I woke up later.
He’s family may not be able to take him back in so he might soon be officially our kitty. First thing I’m doing is getting him fixed. I disagree with the owner’s position on fixing animals but am not going to do that unless he’s officially our cat. I agreed not to do it so we could take him in, otherwise he’d have been turned in and most likely put down.
The only other time I’ve been totally satisfied with a vegetarian dish was “General Tso’s Surprise” at the Sunflower in Vienna, VA:
http://crystalsunflower.com/
I brought some home to W.U. who tasted it (I had only told her it was “General Tso’s” without clueing her in to the vegetarian-ness. She said: “wow! this is the best General Tso’s Chicken I’ve ever had”, and then I said: “Oh no, it’s not!!!!”
Too bad Vienna is so far away from north Multibore: we’ve only been back there a couple of times and it would surely be on our restaurant rotation if we lived close enough.
Caine, awesome. Glad to have helped.
Cannabinaceae, that sounds delicious. I’ll be adding that to my vegetarian recipes folder.
JAL, congratulations on feeling better!
Re: cat talking. Mine is very quiet and always has been, but she communicates pretty effectively through scratching and meaningful headbutts. She’ll actually wake me up some nights by burrowing her head under my hand to demand I pet her. As a result, I’ve taken to sleeping with my hands under the pillow and out of her reach.
Shitfuckdamn! I’ve messed up two parenthesizings, even with preview. I’m too used to having my IDE complain when they are not matched.
Threadizens.
(Tips hat…)
It’s -20, here, now. Going to -24 overnight. -30 with the windchill.
I just thought it might cheer you up to know… y’know… If you’re somewhere where it’s not and you’re not into this kind of thing.
I’m not sure I am, on this occasion. I’m a bit tired. A lot, even. Very busy few days, huge deliverable today, slept like an hour and a half last night (and seriously, I’m getting too old for this stuff). I’m pretty used to cold, but I do feel it a lot more when very tired, like this. Like my body just can’t rev as hard to pump out heat…
And seriously, I think I can feel that air mass out there through the walls.
I hear rq has gone lurker. I hope things are okay, rq, if you see this. You’ll be missed.
And hey, Portia. May tomorrow be better.
I wonder what effect weed would have on cats. In all seriousness, I am trying to figure out how I can wash Kayta and Cassie. Kayta likes the flea comb, but she has always liked combs or brushes. Cassie likes neither. And she hates water even more. Plus her claws ae sharp.
????
–
Tony: The Husband told me about this, just about an hour ago.
I do not eat The Meat.
No telling where It’s been.
(Plus, They eat people, you know. Cannibalism By Proxy is totally Not My Thing.)
–
But then, so is assclam.
–
JAL: Yay for feeling better! Yay for imminent dental appointment!
–
cicely:
!!!!
On our new (well, not so new now: 17 months old) poodle*, it has the effect of making her stagger around, sleep a long time, then attempt to get into the weed for some more**.
Not that I gave her any – she found it on her own. The staggering was frightening, but the next morning’s poop pretty much explained everything. And no, there were no Cheech and Chong moments thereafter.
Also: do not leave your drink unattended around our poodle, unless you don’t mind doggie saliva in your drink.
The Former Poodle*** could not be bothered to sniff at smoke nor drink. Cat shit, on the other hand…
*Toby Brownie Sunflower Noodle Poodle
**”Where’s my pipe? Where’s my fucking pipe? What’s my pipe doing on the sofa?” — I’d left if set up for a nice morning start-up on the end table… Toby staggers out from underneath the sofa… “Ah, now I understand, good girl, lucky girl!”
***Daisy Noodle Poodle, aka “Noodlius”
The pipe part of that story should have read “What’s my pipe doing on the sofa? Why is it empty?”
Two things:
(1) I am devolving into a giggly mess because I met someone. *blush*
(2) My parents sent me a birthday card (my birthday is Sunday). It contained a check that makes me uncomfortable.
Also, the trolls that have surfaced tonight are getting on my nerves.
So I’ve been more or less working on cleaning my daughter’s room, while she’s out, for the past hour and a half. At least. Sort of. We’d established that it’s too overwhelming for her to deal with herself, and I haven’t been able to sit down and get her to focus along with me because there’s been something scheduled so often, so I’m planning to get it cleaned up and then charge her with making sure it doesn’t get like this again, which was successful for parts of the past.
I can see why she finds it so overwhelming, though. There’s not actually THAT much stuff out (less than half of her total toys) but she’s gotten it mixed and distributed so thoroughly and evenly, and there are so many kinds of it, that it sneeringly defies efforts to pick a place to start and stick to it, or take one kind of thing and focus on getting all of it cleaned up. I’m almost tempted to leave it as a monument to chaos. O.O
Esteleth:
Aaaw, sweet. Gonna tell us about her?
She’s a lapsed-Catholic social worker type. We have bonded over cats, Downton Abbey, and tea.
She’s telling me “WTF Catholic parochial schools” stories, and I’m telling her “WTF Calvinism” stories.
Esteleth,
Early happy birthday!
If you’ve got a check that makes you uncomfortable because it is for a rather large amount, the easy solution is to stick it in a rainy-day fund and forget about it, and then use it to buy your parents really nice b-day/Xmas gifts for a goodly amount of time. Also, you can spend some on me! :)
If you’ve got a check that makes you uncomfortable because your folks wrote “fuck-off money” or “dildo fund” in the memo section, I don’t know what to tell you.
It is uncomfortably large, yes. However, I’ve already decided to apply it to my debt, because I dislike being in debt. I will still be in debt, but not as much.
And by way of saying good night: Shed IPA, from Stowe VT is quite good.
However, I begin to doubt my ability to critique beer. I suspect that I get beer fatigue*, that most beers are good, and trying a new beer after having developed beer fatigue anent one’s current rotation makes it seem special somehow.
That self-regard some people have about being beer-snobs** perhaps derives from this situation, un-self-recognized.
*Although not a very fatiguing fatigue.
**Yes, yes, I have some of that.
First timer here, my friend showed me this site, pretty neat commentary so far :)
Oh, hello, sprayingsalt!
Welcome to the Lounge. There’s grog and tea and biscuits (may want to avoid those, Louis made them) on the table.
Welcome in, sprayingsalt.
:)
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but but Louis makes the best biscuits! (Do I get to move up in line now?)
Erm, Threadrupt again, will be posting sporadically. Also, move in a week. A week. Cross country. Bloody hell.
What do you guys/gals think of Obama’s actions on gun control so far?
Oh, Louis’ biscuits are nummy, but I am suspicious of some of his ingredients.
Starting with the mild, noncontroversial stuff first, I see! ^_^
I think that it is weak weaksauce. There is no reason whatsoever for any civillian to own anything other than a handgun or pump-action/bolt-action rifle or shotgun.
There’s also a rumor that there is Horsemeat on the buffet, but I don’t recommend it.
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Esteleth:
All good things. :)
sprayingsalt, there are a number of posts and threads on the gun control issue on the main page, have a wander. And a “hey guys” or “hey gang” or “what does the horde think” will suffice.
Did you know handguns are used in most homicides in the USA? Why not ban all guns?
Also, the lounge is for generally mild sort of chat, the heavier stuff goes in the the other endless thread, Thunderdome. It’s not as scary as it sounds. :) Although a creationist is being eaten alive over there right now.
Yes.
Ugh. I ache. I think I’m going to fry up some eggs for a sandwich and see if I can’t drug myself with cholesterol and carbs for sleep. Mmmm, artery clogging. Last night, I ended up sleeping for close to eleven hours, which was…strange and new, considering my insomnia.
I hope I’m not getting sick. :(
Argh. Messed up my blockquotes.
Thanks for the advice, I’m a noob
This Lance Armstrong interview is such bullshit…
What are your opinions, sprayingsalt?
MM:
Could be you were just exhausted and body took advantage of a major catch up. That happens to me sometimes, given how little I actually sleep. It feels…alien to sleep like that and for so long.
I hope you aren’t getting sick.
Dammit… one of these days I’m going to trick someone into funding my bobblehead addiction. :(
Esteleth:
*confetti* *sparklers* *little candy hearts*
Esteleth: yay!!! on the new person : )
Giliell, Hekuni Cat, Ogvorbis, et al: thanks for the hugs. One of the things I hate about being a lawyer is that I know things about friends and family that I have to sit on. Not that I like to gossip, it’s just hard to have everybody’s secrets.
sprayingsalt: Welcome in. One of the most interesting things I’ve read recently related to the gun control debate is this: http://truth-out.org/news/item/13890-the-second-amendment-was-ratified-to-preserve-slavery
iJoe: good luck with the not-drinking. You’re doing that to re-direct your funds towards the guitar, right? Just keep your eyes on the prize, I believe in you!
Esteleth
That’s pretty awesome that you met somebody! In the grand scheme of things, that’s at least as good as a big check, and potentially way way way better… no pressure though. :)
Portia,
Yeah, and also to re-direct my energy and attention to the various projects I have. A night of drinking usually means 5-7 hours wasted, plus sleeping in an extra hour in the morning. I’m not saying that I’ll get back every one of those hours by not drinking, but an extra 2 hours a day and the lack of distraction gets me closer to crossing things off my list.
Wanting to get my fucking Strat off layaway quicker doesn’t hurt either. I have to pay about $70 a week on it, and cutting out the $30-40 a week I spend on beer gets me halfway there. The quicker I pay it off, the sooner I have it, and the sooner I can move on to the next expensive thing. My wife wants a table big enough to seat both of our families at for Thanksgiving, and the sooner we start putting money aside for that the better. That’s the next thing we’ve got going on… not thrilling for me, but those are the trade-offs you make. :)
O.o Shaking the black ink cartrige worked. O.o
Esteleth Congrats! Good luck, have fun, all that jazz! ^_^
iJoe: good for you. I’ve started doing the “self-discipline to get what I want faster” thing recently, too. For the table, might I recommend craigslist? I have found many an under-priced gem that way, including a huge oak table for client conferences.
Been dealing with our Lotus servers crashing all night.
I cannot begin to express how much I wish I knew how to speak urdu, bengali, tamil or hindi or whatever it is the nice man trying to help me speaks because I cannot fucking understand him at all. And it is infuriating me.
I do not mean this as an insult at all, I really really really wish i spoke all of them. Communication tonight has been difficult at best.
Portia,
I’m not against CL buying at all, and since I now have an orbital sander for the hope chest refinish I’m doing, I don’t have a problem buying a table that just needs a little work. :)
I’m also using the “self-discipline to get what I want faster” thing to help with the diet/cooking. The less groceries I buy, the more money I free up for other stuff. So I’m really conscious of the portions on my plate, and the portions I’m cooking in the first place. For stuff that naturally makes larger portions, instead of getting seconds I’m immediately freezing the leftovers for another meal down the line. Saves calories AND money AND sets up a couple of meals where I don’t have to do anything but reheat stuff.
Crispy Christ onna stick, there are some people I never expected to be rape apologists. Not only rape apologists, but dedicated, digging that hole rape apologists.
Caine,
The worst part, the part you just pointed out over there, is Paul’s refusal to address any of the points anyone is making and treating it like a one-on-one conversation with Chris. The rape apologizing seems much more intentional when it comes along with ignoring what rape victims are absolutely shouting at you over and over again.
iJoe: Yeah, my table could use a little TLC but I don’t have the acumen for it. Since you do, all the more reason to search for treasures! That’s a pretty handy skill to have.
The groceries/portion/freezing thing is something I’ve been trying to do better at. A lot of the time, I’ll be at SOs for several days at a time and so my food spoils. I haven’t bought groceries in a while and the fridge is a mess and my eating habits are awful right now. But I’m encouraged by your resolution (they can happen other than NYE!) and I’m going to renew my own resolve.
On the note of renewed resolution, I am proud of myself tonight. I overcame social anxiety and went to a large group gathering where I was unlikely to know anyone. I did end up seeing the one person I would know, and met lots of new people, and had a great time. I’m wallowing in self-satisfaction for getting my butt out of the house and out of my comfort zone.
IJoe:
Yes, I agree. I’m really not an ‘all caps’ type of person, but holy rats, he is infuriating me. I loathe asswipes like him playing like we’re invisible.
esteleth
That’s great news! Yay for meeting someone
ijoe
Good luck on those various plans.
Caine
I’ve been trying to catch up with that thread all day, but I’ve been at work since Paul made his first post, and haven’t been able to keep ahead of the new comments, let alone compose one of my own, which I’ve been wanting to do ever since he dropped that steamer in there.
Portia
Also great news. Congratulations on managing to go out and have fun.
sprayingsalt
hello and welcome.
Esteleth, Portia, congratulations.
Thanks Dalillama and Azkyroth : )
How’s the cleaning coming, Azkyroth? Alternatively, that’s a lovely Monument to Chaos you’ve got : )
Dalillama:
Oh, it’s not just one steamer anymore. He’s now denying that he said what said. And intent is magic, whaddayaknow. I’m…I’m damn near speechless with fury. He’s not only playing “you’re invisible!”, but he’s behaving as though he’s sitting in his study, wearing a smoking jacket and sipping tea with Chris while they’re having an ever so philosophical chat.
Geez. I did a cursory scan of that thread, and I’d say the caps were more than warranted. What an assclam. (Yeah, where did that combo come from?)
I’m turning in, pretty sleepy.G’night all!
More or less done. Thinking about trying to vacuum tonight, not sure yet.
Caine
I just got to the second one, and the first two sentences have already caused a headache to start throbbing behind my eyes.
Go Portia!!! I have a bit of social anxiety myself, so I know what an achievement it can be to get out and among people. As far as the food stuff, I’ve been learning to buy food that goes bad at different rates, so that I can space them out through the two weeks between paychecks. You know, the first few days it is lots of yellow squash and zucchini, then mushrooms and salads and green beans, then the baby carrots and Brussels Sprouts, and the last few days before payday it is canned or frozen stuff.
A word about acumen/skill, if you don’t mind me riffing off of your comment for a minute?
I’ve never owned a sander before. I’ve never done any sanding before, other than a little hand-sanding when fixing holes in the drywall. 95% of the things I know how to do are self-taught or on-the-job training or watching and helping other people. My parents didn’t really teach me much in the way of skills, sad to say. A whole lot of it has been simple expedience: I’ve never had a whole ton of money, but I’ve often had just enough money to get the job done if I was just willing to take the risk of doing it myself.
And OF COURSE you have to know your limitations. I’m not suggesting that everyone can do everything. I personally can’t really do any sort of fine or precision work because my hands shake too badly, and I leave high-voltage and heavy lifting to the professionals. I can’t play drums or piano, and my guitar skills are limited to a short list of techniques. But a lot of stuff, you can kind of just say “fuck it” and take a swing at it… and the more things you succeed at, the more things you CAN succeed at, because skills build on each other. Maybe this time I’m just repairing the cracked lid on a chest, but I’m also learning how the pieces are joined together, and maybe next time I’m building a chest from scratch because I’m really only adding one or two new things to my skill set.
What it really comes down to is that your world consists of all the things that are within your “bubble” and every new thing you do expands that bubble, and opens up new avenues to expand even further. When you learn a skill or try a new food or get out of the house and socialize with strangers, you’re making your world just a little bit bigger, and that’s almost always a really cool thing. And if you fail sometimes? Big deal! As long as you are wise enough to make sure you can afford to screw up a bit, it can be a learning experience… even if all you learn is “don’t EVER do that again!” I had a rather unpleasant experience trying to deep-fry… shit, I can’t remember what it was, all I remember is that the oil shot straight up and covered the whole ceiling and then came down and caught on fire!!! :)
Got a bit ramble-rific there… sorry. It just seems weird when people say “it is cool you can do X” when I couldn’t do X until I did X.
Amelia just raced in, jumped on the bed, jumped up and down a couple of times, then dived under the covers, my cue to reach under so she can roll on her back and have her belly tickled while she grabs my fingers and chews on them.
She’s a tonic.
Ok, one more comment before bed, because Joe, that was awesome. Had to let you know that you made me a little misty-eyed, in a good way. Your thoughts really reflect my own efforts at expanding my life lately. I’ve been trying to teach myself new skills and trying new things and doing things I wouldn’t have tried out before. I taught myself a lot of new knitting techniques with youtube videos, and I’m learning to sew lots of new things. Not to mention all the things I have to teach myself in order to keep my small business afloat. I’ve been trying to tackle more household stuff instead of waiting around for SO or my uncle to have time and memory to get it done. The way you expressed this sort of effort is perfect and inspiring and I thank you so much for the encouragement and morale-boosting. On this happy note, I will bid you good night, for real this time (I think).
Oh, and…Staggering the shelf life of the produce…great idea :D
Hugs for those that need them; welcome to the delurkers/newbies.
Re: rice cookers. I bought one because, well, the spawn would eat rice every night if we let him. My wife was “hmm, don’t like” because it takes up counter space. But since I cook most of the meals, I really wanted the “dump in N cups of rice, pour water to marking Y, push button, leave it ’til it beeps” while I did the other parts of the meal without the “damn, it boiled over” or “it takes up a burner and is in the way” or any of that stuff. Wife has come around and concedes that counter space to convenience ratio makes it a win.
Excel. Bah, hate it when colleagues use that shit. We’re a scientific institution, use the real fucking tool for the job. I don’t think I’ve ever used it without being forced to. Though I can see why my wife uses it to keep track of grades in her classes; because the online “Blackboard” style tools suck even worse.
No, the one that gets me is “Word”. I’ll tell you the word I have in mind whenever I have to use that pile of steaming poo. And “Powerpoint”. Especially when given a template document for either. Usually that means I’ll spend 2 days working at it to put what would take me an hour to type into a flat text document. Yeah, that yearly “Accomplishment Report” for my annual review almost got submitted with an bullet point “filled out Accomplishment Report” because the template didn’t wrap to the next page correctly and just scrolled off the bottom.
LibreOffice (aka StarOffice, aka OpenOffice). Sigh. It is … adequate. Until such time someone hands you a official MS formatted file (with all their quirks and wrongness) and it can’t handle it. cf. Accomplishment Report.
“…unless you don’t mind doggie saliva in your drink” Hmmm, that sounds familiar. One of our cats loves to stick his whole head in my son’s water cups. It’s not like he doesn’t have a water dish of his own (the cat that is), or the dog’s if he wants. No, better to drink (and possibly spill) the tall glass on the table. He used to be a talker, but not so much lately … unless the spawn is carrying him around. Chu-chunk [as cat is locked-and-loaded like a pump action shot gun]. Other cat can barely squeak out a audible “meow”.
Caine:
Yay Amelia! Feels good, don’t it?
I’m with you on that whole “sitting in his study, wearing a smoking jacket and sipping tea with Chris while they’re having an ever so philosophical chat” thing. There’s few things more infuriating than people reducing your real-life experiences to a casual intellectual puzzle, a trifling curiosity that they can pick up and put down and twist and turn and warp and stretch as they see fit.
Portia,
Thanks for the kind words. Most of you folks are way more accomplished than me, so I’m glad when I can contribute in some way. Also, if you cook the food right before it goes bad, it is good for 3-4 more days… that’s the magic of cooking!
IJoe:
Yes! I desperately needed that now, too. She’s really special, that one.
Yes. It’s like they’ve found an interesting Rubic’s cube or something. Meanwhile, their attitude has you feeling about 6 inches tall, jumping and leaping on the ground, far below, in a vain attempt to get their godlike attention.
*spits*
Reminds me why I wanted to kick Dan Fincke in the shins… that same sort of dismissal of real people in favor of the dispassionate, academic-style discussion that shuts out the people who experience the thing being discussed, and limits the participants to people who don’t know jack shit.
Esteleth – Good news! =^_^=
sprayingsalt – Welcome to the Lounge. Pull up a chair and get comfortable.
Joe:
QFFT
Yeah, my years on Pharyngula have not made me fond of the objective philosopher type.
Improbable Joe/Caine,
Care to give a hint as to what blog post you’re all ticked off about? I probably don’t need the extra outrage for the day, but apparently I’m a glutton for punishment.
Don’t even get me started. >.>
Well, it makes sense. I mean, people’s live experience is ONLY “anecdote,” right?
*joins spitting*
dontpanic, it’s this one: http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2013/01/16/nyt-women-cause-rape-by-being-too-scarce/comment-page-1/#comment-538211
Azkyroth:
Yep. Any impact on people’s lives is worse than dismissed, it’s never considered in the first place.
Although sometimes a laugh or two can be had. I remember a work situation where a white guy said something racially “questionable” to a black guy, which was overheard by a third party/second white guy. Second white guy RAN to the office to report it. The first two people had worked together for half a decade and traded ridiculously rude banter back and forth every night for years, and the third was a new employee who was looking to advance on the backs of everyone else. Anyways, they were having a big meeting about what to do about it among the management types around the time that we were about to clock out, and we could all see them in the office in a tight huddle. All white men, as management tends to be.
The black guy kind of shakes his head and laughs and says “Ain’t that some shit? A bunch of fucking white dudes in a circle trying to figure out how offended I should be!”
Really though… AIN’T that some shit?
Azkyroth
Yeah, well… I ran into that Steersman idiot earlier today. He was demanding “proof” that Shermer’s sexist comment was really sexist. Because obviously if there’s not a bar graph or forensic report or equation attached, it is just meaningless irrational opinion.
I’ve been accused of being anti-intellectual a time or two because I’m not particularly respectful of certain “names” and I’m not really impressed by a whole lot of academic stuff… but that’s not really a fair criticism. What I’m against is people hiding behind intellectual (and pseudo-intellectual) posturing as though you win if you have the best credentials or name-recognition or can be the most dispassionate and least emotionally-involved. And I guess sometimes I feel let down that being really good at some academic thingy doesn’t make anyone particularly good at thinking about other things.
Thanks, I think, Caine. I was avoiding that one because from the title I could tell it wouldn’t be good for my blood pressure.
IJoe:
*Snorts* That’s pretty much what jacksul was doing to me in the Dillahunty thread. I wasn’t allowed to talk about being raped because it might hurt my feelings. Sometimes, you have to laugh.
Recipe time!
I’ve been sick for about a month and am incredibly cranky – my parents keep going away on holiday leaving me to care for bub on my own (which is nice, but not fab when sick and he gets it too) so I’m all burnt out and desperate for a little time off. Bleh.
In the meantime, I make cookies as comfort food, and melting moments are a huge favourite both of me and my friends. Also, they work using a 1:3 ratio of the main ingredients, so it’s easy to make any quantity you like.
Melting moments
240g butter
240g plain flour
80g caster sugar
80g custard powder*
Preheat oven to 160°C
Have butter at room temperature, add sugar and mix until light and creamy. Dump in the flour and custard powder and work the mix together, it will look dry but come together into a silky dough. Roll into walnut-sized balls, place on a baking tray about 4-5cm apart and flatten each a bit with a fork. Chill for 10min in the fridge and then bake for 10-12 minutes. You don’t want them to colour, but if they do a bit it’s no issue. Leave to cool completely before filling and eating, they dry out and melt in your mouth better.
Sandwich two biscuits together with some stiff buttercream icing, which I make really lazily by grabbing a chunk of soft butter, beating it with a little vanilla until creamy and then mixing in icing sugar until it’s a nice consistency. Add a little milk if you accidentally add too much sugar!
Om nom nom.
*I’ve heard that some people don’t know what custard powder is, or can’t get it locally. If you can’t, just use cornflour, vanilla and a drop of yellow food colouring if you want to get the ‘authentic’ colour going.
dontpanic:
Reading it will not help. The first part isn’t terrible at all, but then you get to 1) Bill Openthalt, who argues (constantly) that there’s no rape culture, that there’s just rape nature and it’s present in *all* men, because the overriding reason men fuck is to procreate, then 2) Paul W’s immense wall of text, which can be boiled down to “I think there are times when it’s okay to point out a woman’s (rape victim) imprudence…
Hey Sophia!
Sorry you’ve been sick. At least cookies, right?
I think for custard powder and caster sugar, some of us will find it easier to substitute instant pudding mix. Somebody stop me if I’m wrong. :)
@Joe
Hm! I’ll have to look at the ingredients. If there’s egg powder or something in there it might not work. Cornflour and vanilla is pretty good, especially if you use vanilla paste. yum!
Yeah, it looks like pudding mix has weird stuff in. Oh, and caster sugar is just sugar, it just has finer crystals as far as I can tell.
Custard powder really is just cornflour with sugar, food colouring and vanilla flavour in. You’re supposed to add hot milk to make custard, but it’s kinda gross so I just use it for cakes, or cheating at proper custard if I’m in a really lazy mood :)
Sophia: you say “weird stuff” and I say “added chemical goodness at no extra cost!”
I’m still having an issue with what Shermer said in his latest response… I don’t think anyone else has really picked up on it. Here’s the bit:
Compare it to this over in the current rape thread:
Does anyone else see what I see, or am I just imagining it? Because what I see is Michael Shermer disappearing Rebecca Watson from ElevatorGate, and re-imagining it as something that happened to and is mainly about Richard Dawkins. ElevatorGate isn’t about Rebecca Watson being propositioned in an elevator, or about the year and a half of abuse and threats she has suffered over making a casual mention of the situation and saying “guys, don’t do that,” or about the creation of an explicitly sexist and harassing faction of people who live to tear down feminists in atheism and skepticism. Nope. It is all about how a fellow rich white college-educated man was criticized. That is really ALL that Shermer sees, all that he knows, and all that he takes away from the situation: “one of my peers wasn’t treated with enough deference by those fucking feminists.”
If I’m NOT just imagining it, that takes away any wiggle-room Shermer had left, doesn’t it?
Caine,
Yup, just got to Bill Openthalt’s 1st comment and had a WTF moment. Thanks Bill, but, ah, you don’t speak for me. And if you think that’s “natural” (or even if you think it is natural, that it can’t be overcome by the barest minimum of anyone w/ humanity) … says something wrong with you. Paul W? Haven’t gotten to that yet. Usually, despite the “wall-o-text” he’s mostly sensible; perhaps I shouldn’t read on.
It’s 12:30 and I should be going to bed. Still waiting for my wife to get back from teaching; sometimes she stays late to grade or put away the lab equipment (Thursday is lab day, that’s probably it) and such but it always worries me a bit. She says I shouldn’t stay up and wait, but…
—
On the lighter side. Purrrrrring cat just walked across my chest twice before she decided which arm of the chair to settle on. Ooohff.
IJoe:
Oh, you aren’t imagining it. Shermer attaches the “equally innocent comment” to Rebecca Watson to emphasise that Dawkins’s “Dear Muslima” was a perfectly innocent comment which should have caused no fuss whatsoever.
Ohhhhh yeah.
And it misses the point entirely that the point of the the academy is not to be a dispassionate, detached from reality, observer who really couldn’t say about such a fraught and abstract issue. The point of the academy is to take a fucking switchblade to reality so it can rip its guts out and look at it under the microscope.
Caine
Can you do me a big favor, and explain to me how Rebecca Watson’s comment can be innocent, and Richard Dawkins’s dismissive and insulting attack on it can also be innocent? Because that makes no fucking sense whatsoever. Shermer isn’t exactly one of the most consistently brilliant thinkers the world has seen, is he?
But again, my main point is that Elevatorgate is about Rebecca Watson and other women targeted for abuse and treated as sex objects, not about Dawkins getting his millionaire white dude fee-fees hurt. Changing the subject to Dawkins is horseshit.
For those who need it, here’s a moment of zen that defunked me when I was feeling all depressed going into work this morning. There was a young hipster couple walking together in a big hug while wrapped up together in a giant blanket as they sort of shuffled down the street together.
It was possibly the cutest thing I’ve seen in a while.
IJoe:
No, I can’t, because Shermer can’t have it both ways, no matter how hard he tries. He’s turned himself into a caricature. As for Dawkins’s Dear Muslima, it read as nothing more than a shocking dismissal to me – and to most everyone else. I suppose, if one was feeling insanely charitable, it could be put down to his age, status and being privilege blind. However, after having how many fucking people patiently explain to him in 5K3D why he was wrong and continuing to maintain his stance? Nope, no quarter.
I should really go to bed…
Cerberus, I agree. What the fuck is the point of academia if not to do something with all that knowledge and thinking shit? At some point, if you’re not taking the things you figure out and applying them to real world situations and using your smarts to guide some sort of action, then what’s the purpose? You don’t get a job so that you can tack your checks to the wall and feel satisfied staring at them all day. You don’t cook food, take a picture of it, and then throw it away and order take-out. Why would you take the time to develop a rational mind and a deep knowledge base, and then use it for the sole purpose of doing meaningless thought experiments with no connections to the real world?
Cerberus:
:D
Artemis is in my shirt (front), Chester is on my leg, properly territorializing it (peeing on me), Vasco is in my shirt (back), Theo is curled up against my ass, Gytha is on my shoulders, Giles is on a table in front of me eating Nutella and Amelia is chewing on a twist tie I’m holding for her, while typing one-handed.
Life is good.
And Chas just joined the party. :D
Caine @274
Sitting here stroking my partner’s back as she winds down for bed, our kitty purring between us as I confirm a date with my new secondary (my first ever! (my partner and I have been in a poly relationship for 7 years now)). Plus someone who has been a thorn in my side at work has decided to pull themselves out of the position that had been turning them into a colossal fuckweasel. And I’m back on Pharyngula.
Yeah… I agree. Life is good.
Good morning
Guess I should be glad that all of you did the hard digging while I was asleep.
No, Joe
It’s alway about them. What did that woman do to that poor man to drive him there? Just like with domestic violence: What did that evil woman do to that good man so he would break her jawbone?
Cerberus:
Excitement! That’s wonderful news.
Tony
Every cat I’ve gotten stoned has done the same damn thing — get comfortable and pass out.
Well.
This was a much better catch-up than the Thunderdome.
hugs all around
—-
IJoe
re: not drinking for one month
I do this about once every year-and-a-half.
The first five (or so) days are the worst.
After that, the extra hour (or so) per day is very productive.
After that, the trade-off becomes harder to justify.
Go for it anyway!
***
Giving up the booze for a short while has been easier than giving up meat for a short while.
Well, Paul W weighed in again. This time, with a lament over being so misunderstood and that’s why he rarely comments here anymore. People are just so misunderstanding.
Dear Abby snuffed.
belated scritchies for Amelia and all her siblings and cousins and parents and aunts and uncles and whatevers.
and for all non-ratties who need scritchies.
Chigau
Again?
Cerberus
And congratulations to you too. Since that seems to be the topic of discussion at the moment, L and Roommate are now an item as well. They’re very happy together, and scheduling isn’t usually a problem :).
Dalillama
No. Not again. That was the other one.
Chigau:
Done. Amelia has been a sheer bundle of joy tonight. Oh, and Beatrice and Mallory and Neville have joined the bed party.
Rats are amazingly fond of jumping on up and down on a bed.
Oops, I went and put some bag balm on my wrist and Oliver came running up, chomped my arm and tried to run off with it. So now I’ve had to hold out the tin while they all help themselves to large scoops of delicious bag balm.
anbheal, your page view has possibly switched to mobile view.
(Check at the bottom of the page and see if it offers you the option for full view)
Caine,
I can work that mode.
(But then, I’m known to be an asshole)
Yes, I know, John. However, you generally have a purpose for doing so and most of the time, you certainly don’t dismiss the lives of other people as irrelevant.
To clarify, I think IJoe, Azkyroth, Cerberus and I were more talking about the person who becomes so bound up in the objective philosopher role that they not only completely remove themselves from the reality of people and their experiences, they reach a point where they view people as objects.
That, you don’t do.
Aaaaaaaaand he’s posted twice more now. We’re wrong, we’re fucked up, we misunderstand him, he wasn’t saying it was sometimes okay to bring up imprudence, he was arguing against it, we’re just all too damn stupid to understand that. Or something.
There’s nothing more to say. He’s more fond of his rape apologetics than anything else. Apparently, it’s simply not possible for him to be wrong.
Ahhh, different hospital
Just called the university hospital to see if they could give me a schedule (you know, it’s no good visiting mum at 2pm if she’ll be getting an ultrasound then). I just said my last name and they knew whom I was talking about and were sorry they couldn’t tell me anything yet but yes of course I could come anytime I want to.
Caine
Clearly, my English must not be what I thought it is if I so totally got him wrong.
What’s your excuse?
Many kisses to Gytha
Azkyroth
I found out that the kids can deal with small portions of cleaning, while the big one just is too much for them. So, since I insist that they clean up the toys they played with before we leave the house chaos has gotten better. And they are starting to realize that it’s much nicer if you can just take the pencil-cayon box and find whatever colour you want instead of having to search the whole flat for it.
Giliell:
Oh… being hysterical? :eyeroll: Thing is, he insists that it’s wrong to blame women, but sometimes it might be okay, if you’re really careful, and of course, being imprudent blame isn’t the same as moral blame, so you know, we’re stupid. Because walls of text.
This is Paul W? So disappointing. :(
Esteleth, yay!!!!
There is a newish bar I drove by the other day – their sign out front said:
18 great beers on tap
3 crappy ones
Why?
Carlie:
Because a whole lot of people are fond of certain crappy beers.
Yes, and disappointing doesn’t begin to cover it.
Have we heard from our Australians lately (considering the fires raging down there)?
Hay! Hay! Hay!
Kitty :3
I have been fostering this cat above for the past month and a week, aaaand I decided to keep him cause he and Snip get along very well. He’s still afraid of me and runs and hides when I come in the room – I am big and loud and do not move delicately so I can imagine why he’s frightened.
I was gonna name him Theory cause I was referring to a theoretical other cat for the longest time, but then when I fostered him they called him Ayden, and that’s totally a people name, so I called him The Other Cat since I got him…
So his name is now Toc. Or Tock. Or perhaps T.O.C.
I still call him “Other Cat” tho.
Aaw, he’s adorable, Kat Lorraine. Concatulations!
Fires? I’m well away from that – I’m in Adelaide. So far, so good. otoh, February-March are usually our worst times so we’ve a way yet to go.
The amazing thing about the eastern states is that the “Bushfire Plan” strategy for households seems to have worked pretty well. People are preparing, packing early and leaving early. I’ve heard of one death in Victoria as well as one firefighter dying from a heart attack in Tassie. Considering how much land and how many houses and other buildings have been burned that’s a much lower death toll than we’d have seen even a couple of years ago.
Well. My partner’s grandfather has had a heart attack and their options are short because of his condition, so he’s having open heart surgery today. There was a lot of “better come in and see him, just in case this is it” talk last night.
I imagine it’s going to be a long day.
Hey Beatrice.
Things are okay where I am for the moment. Here in Victoria there’s a huge fire to the south of me that’s out of control and is looking like it will burn for weeks. If that happens, and it looks likely as the weather is predicted to continue to be hot and dry, I’ve been told by a local firefighter that it could reach us. Currently it’s threatening a few communities and if the rumours I’ve heard are true there are some folks who’ve been trapped. Very scary stuff.
Tonight another fire started about the same distance away to the north of us. No idea how bad it really is yet, they’re saying it’s small but much depends on the terrain it’s in. The worrying thing is that the wind is blowing from there and I can smell the smoke. Still, it’s a long way away as yet, so our run-like-hell plan hasn’t been put into motion.
Truth be told, I’m more worried about a new fire starting near us than one’s already going. Known ones at a goodly distance will give us time to escape should the need arise.
On the map here: http://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/warnings-restrictions/warnings-and-incidents/ we’re almost exactly between the Donnely Creek fire and Burrowye/Corrong fires.
@Mellow Monkey:
Ouch… *hug*
Please insert this “…in the middle on a straight line…” in the above.
I should also add that the fire that started 10k from here is now out. Two days of brutally hard work by the firecrews and 30 or so helicopter runs did the job. I wish I could thank everyone of those folks personally. The hell-crew did show up in my shop, so they’ll be the stand-in gratitude recipients unless I meet any of the others.
Hooray for competent medical folks Giliell! It may not help her prognosis, but it couldn’t hurt.
I’m so sorry to hear that Mellow Monkey. [leaves some hugs on the floor in case their needed]
threadrupt, putting this here so the main thread isn’t all about me: thank YOU all you invisible pixels. Please don’t apologize to me; since I only had one point to contribute in support of all y’all’s work on that thread, I had to make it a good one.
Pteryxx:
♥
MM:
I imagine so. Hoping for the best for all.
*anklehugs to whoever needs them*
I know I should be social and catch up with everyone’s piles of good or bad things but I just don’t have it in me atm. So have hugs and best wishes, and random link because it’s neat:
http://io9.com/5976338/coconuts-can-mimic-iv-bags-+-ready
*chocolate* and *anklehugs* Mellow Monkey. I’m sorry : (
Wow, I’m so sorry for everybody having so much trouble. :(
mildlymagnificent,
I’m happy if I can remember everyone’s continent, let alone the right part of it. :)
—–
FossilFishy,
Fingers crossed for continued good luck in fire staying away from you.
—-
Mellow Monkey,
*hugs*
I hope your partner’s grandfather pulls through.
——
Katherine,
The Other Cat is quite beautiful. He does the “catch my good side while I look contemplative” well.
Pteryxx:
Don’t feel bad, neither do I.
John Morales
No, this is not the problem. The problem’s that the blog navigation tools take up a big chunk of the left side of the screen now.
Am I the only derp who uses Google Spreadsheets (or
import csvfor more computational jobs?)anbheal
Firstly firstly firstly if you’re using IE7-8, upgrade to 9/downgrade to 6 asap. There’s a zero-day exploit in 7-8.
Secondly: May I ask why you’re using IE? There’s simple ways in Firefox to do what you want: http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/font-size-and-zoom-increase-size-of-web-pages#w_how-do-i-use-text-zoom
(ctrl- until it fits in your screen, then resize the font to something readable via the link above)
I’m assuming you’re on a netbook or similar – is this right?
(PS – hey PZ, there’s a nice css trick that resizes the width of text columns to something more suitable various screen sizes. I’ve implemented it here, and if you like the effect, I can get you the code. Try resizing the window to check out the effect, preferably in Firefox or Chrome (*cough* IE sucks *cough*).)
Cannabinaceae
…can I convince you to try Linux Mint?. I find it a whole lot more responsive than the Unity bar of 12.10, and goddamnit, if I search “nautilus”, I want my file browser, not some books about seashells.
(Also – 12.10 allows package updates without sudo, which scares me so much).
iJoe
Completely agreed. I know a lot of people who are like “hardware? Get it away from me!”
…it’s not that scary.
The first furniture piece I made was…my loft. Yep; I trust that thing to suspend me six feet off the ground every night. It’s not perfect (dear self, don’t paint the wood pieces first next time, and glue everything together!), but it’s totally functional.
dontpanic
Last time someone asked me to submit a word document for a scientific write up, I (mentally) told them to fuck themselves and wrote it in Latex instead.
Also – the fact that various Powerpoint/Excel/Word versions are not the same is annoying. I wrote a macroset for a lab I worked in (during high school) – it works on one computer, but not the other. As far as I know, this is because the two computers run two different versions of Windows, although they run the same version of excel.
Grr.
(and I’ve never had a Powerpoint-transfer between versions of Powerpoint that went smoothly)
I’m almost caught-up on everythread.
Would it be bad to start drinking at 10AM?
nightshadequeen
Dammit, I don’t want to have to reformat my browser every time I enter or leave FTB. I’m having the same problem abnheal is, on xubuntu with FF.
This, so much. I had endless troubles with that at university.
chigau
That depends…do you have to be productive the rest of the day? ;)
nightshadequeen,
I miss writing in LaTex. I used it for my classes all the time, and for my thesis, of course.
At work, I have to use Excel and Word. And then sometimes export Word documents into Pdf. But…. I could write them with LaTex right into Pdf and they would be easier for me to write and prettier. :(
Dalillama, Schmott Guy
I use Nosquint, which resizes things automatically for you (by domain name) so you can set frethoughtblogs to be a specific size without affecting the rest of the net.
Uncle called today and said that they “worked things out” and that he doesn’t want me to think he doesn’t love my aunt, because he’s “crazy about her.” I told him I love them both and that won’t ever change, and I’m glad they worked it out. Also told him I’d be happy to recommend a counselor if they want that, because I have names on hand for clients if they need it. He asked me not to tell my mom, and I told him that professional responsibility would prevent that even if I didn’t just respect their privacy on a personal level. So glad that they are over that hump for the moment.
s/frethoughtblogs/freethoughtblogs
In my defense, I got very little sleep last night.
Seen on facebook: “If you’re pronounced dead when your heart stops beating, why aren’t you pronounced alive when it starts beating?”
ANSWER, DIPSHITS: Because when you’re pronounced dead, you’re typically not inside another person.
Also, no one says an embryo/fetus/whatever stage of development isn’t alive! That’s not the damn debate!
…need moar coffee
Portia
And that depends on what you mean by “have to”;)
I have elevated procrastination to an art form.
Also, you’re not pronounced dead when your heart stops beating. You’re pronounced “Start CPR” or “Grab the defibrillator”.
chigau
I advocate day-drinking in that case.
And yeah, it’s taken me a few weeks to get around to it, but my new years resolution is to quit procrastinating. ;)
…I’ll get started on it next week.
Touché, nightshadequeen! Let’s play “How many layers of wrong can we find in the pro-life quip?” :D
I made the mistake of reading the comments, and I am glad I did, because I learned that “Abortion is the sacrament of liberalism.” So, who’s with me? I didn’t know I needed one to be a liberal for real. So I gotta get knocked up first.
GOOD MORNING!!!!
I think I just sold the guitar amplifier that I traded away my gun for, for $400 cash. If so, and I take that money plus the $40 in my wallet that I was going to use to buy beer with for next week… and the $80 I was going to spend out of next Friday’s grocery budget… that puts me at $520, and leaves me owing $300 on the SpokesGuitar, with 10 weeks to pay it off. If I start masturbating on webcam for cash, I can probably pay it off in 9 weeks. :)
chigau, you need to start early so you can drink my share AND yours tonight. I’m SOBER**!
nightshadequeen, yay loft! It works, and the next time you build something you’ll remember the glue!
Mellow Monkey, best of luck to your partner’s grandfather.
Giliell, glad your mom is out of that hellhole hospital.
Australians, stay safe and fire-free!
Who did I miss? Kat Lorraine’s new-ish kitty!! COOL!
**Temporarily sober… let’s not get carried away here, right? Right?!?!
Chigau, if my pancreas would allow, I’d be drunk already.
Holy Rats, the sun is out. It’s been so long I forgot what that was like.
What I will most likely do is see what ISOs are available as BioLinux distributions – basically, a distro with install scripts for the major popular bioinformatics software, and get a laptop that fully supports that ISO.
When I buy myself a laptop to reward myself for getting a job, when I get a job.
There’s a piece of paper in the W20-5 computer cluster that reads “Hey, look on the bright side, you don’t get to see a sunrise every day”.
Quick drive-by linky goodness:
Independence, USA: What Does Glenn Beck Have in Common With the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors and Tama-Re?
(For added entertainment: The Wikipedia entry for Nuwaubian Nation.)
–
Cannabinaceae
Okay, BioLinux is cool. Let’s see if I can download/install the relevant package without having to dual-boot :D
LinuxMint’s a fork of Ubuntu; anything that works on Ubuntu should “just work” on LinuxMint (with a few exceptions – *cough* the debathena install script *cough*).
…why does biolinux only have packages for precise?
arg. I’m running Linux Mint 12, which is forked from Oneiric. Hope this works :D
It’s also incredibly annoying because only 12.10 has UEFI secure-boot support.
nightshadequeen:
I set up a VirtualBox from one of the BioLinux ISOs, but I could only give it a gig of ram, and it proved too slow to actually use. Plus, when I ran the install scripts several of the packages spewed warnings/errors.
I didn’t pursue them since I’d never really use that VM for any devel work, I just wanted to poke around with some of the sequence munging tools. Mainly I use Perl and BioPerl for what I’ve been doing recently.
(Note, at first I remembered a Charlie Stross plot element as CASE NIGHTSHADE GREEN, and thought that your ‘nym might be referring to it. Then I googlemembered it was CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN)*.
*Yay! parenthesuccess!
Hi.
Threadrupt.
Doing a drop and run.
Sometimes you cannot make this shit up.
Headline for a local news story: Police find crack hidden in W-B man’s buttocks.
The kind of thing a bored editor dreams of.
This Invisible Pixel is now feeling completely beaten up and down into the ground. I hope some of the Infuriated Pixels can pick up, because it’s not getting better and all I want to do is cry. Or vomit.
Cannabinaceae
I’ve managed a fair amount of success just by adding the ppas and installing the packages manually, despite the fact that I’m not using 12.04.
My nym isn’t that clever; I came up with…like…in seventh grade, and it’s mostly because I thought that Atropa belladonna was pretty cool for being both a medication and a poison.
Caine, *hugs*
*hugs* for Caine
Ugh, why are a certain type of Philosophy Major always trying to get me to hate all Philosophy Majors? My partner has a dual degree in Philosophy and Literature, so I know that they aren’t all like this, but goddamn sometimes.
Go have a break, Caine. There are enough of us weighing in now that it’s getting more visibility in the recent comment sidebar, to attract even more people to comment. I don’t want you to get burned out.
Caine-
*hugs*
You are seen. You are correct. You are heard. You are appreciated. You are loved.
And yes, the way casual sexism like the complete erasures of rape victim narratives from discussions of rape are infu-fucking-riating to see and deal with.
Beatrice, Portia, Carlie, thank you. ♥
Cerberus, love you. Always.
Caine
*hugs* from me, too.
Go play with some rats:)
Caine
I’m sorry that this asshole is causally AND morally to blame for how shitty you feel right now. You don’t deserve it, and he’s not worth your time. Take care of yourself, and let other people have a turn.
Hugs to Caine.
Rev. BDC, a ♥ for you, too, because your comments always make me smile and have the good effect of making me feel a bit more on the sane side.
Chigau, IJoe and Ogvorbis, thank you. Much love.
I would go play with rats, but they’re all sleeping. They get right grouchy when woken up, too. Make me look like a cheerful morning person in comparison, and that’s saying something.
…AAAAAAND Chris Clarke just redeemed himself.
Yeah I was a bit worried about Chris when I was reading some of his first posts. But he saved it.
Caine
Hugs if you want them.
I feel a little guilty, like I should be in that thread fighting the good fight but I can’t right now. Sorry.
Kudos to those who can.
Caine
I’m not sure what I did but thanks!
Oggie, there’s no reason to feel guilty, at all. Not everyone has to fight every battle, especially if it is going to hurt you or wear you down more than you can take.
*whining*
Not another rape apologists Thread….
*sigh*
I think I’m gonna save it for later tonight. Or maybe tomorrow. Sometime after this headache goes away.
–
Katherine Lorraine: Congrats on Moar Kitteh!
–
*hug* for The Mellow Monkey.
–
Portia: Glad to hear that your uncle and aunt got sorted out.
–
*hugs* for Caine, and *industrial-strength chocolate*.
–
I cannot even express the amount of happy feels I have seeing Cerberus in the comments.
Hi folks
Tonight I managed a total of 30 minutes of exercise. I’m proud of me.
The Mellow Monkey
I’m sorry to hear about your grandpa. Hope everything goes fine.
+++
And now I’m going to write a mail to the county’s official for equality and women and ask her how they’re planning to keep women safe from the catholic hospital mafia.
Well, I just got back from my first walk in my new shoes. Just 20 minutes, but I’m planning on increasing it by 30 seconds a day until I get up to an hour or so.
… finding out that they sell shoes in 4E width changed my life. Seriously, having shoes that actually fit is a pretty big deal, especially considering how flat and screwed up my feet already are.
Cerberus:
Congratulations!
Katherine – Other Cat is beautiful! I second or third or whatever requests for more pictures!
The Mellow Monkey – I’m so sorry. That is a very difficult situation, especially when all you can do is wait. *hugs*
Caine – *hugs and much love*
Can somebody here try to access Urban Threads? (urbanthreads.com) I’ve been having problems loading it for some days now and I don’t know if it’s me or them.
Giliell,
It loads for me.
Thanks for the well-wishes. I’m home sick and in bed today, so I’m just awaiting news now.
Giliell, it loads for me.
Giliell,
Down for Everyone or Just Me claims it’s up.
As everyone already knows, Republican state legislators gerrymandered voting districts to ensure that Republicans would win or retain seats in the House of Representatives. About 1.4 million more people voted for Democrats to represent them in the House, but Republicans kept their majority. Washington Post link.
Republicans are so happy with this cheating scheme that they are bragging about it, and they are planning to do something similar to rig the Presidential vote in 2016. It’s not cheating if you get away with it, right? Link to full story, with video.
Excerpt:
…I wonder if it’d make sense to exclude the winning party of a state from re-districting….
nah.
Caine
*hugs* Sorry not to be more active there, but I haven’t been able to be at a computer much lately, for a variety of reasons. Your (and Caerie’s, Pteryxx’s, and to many of you other wonderful folk to list) comments have been amazing over there, to the point where all I feel I can add is basically ‘This’ (I’m adding what I can anyway, though). So, *hugs* to all of you who want them, you people kick ass.
nightshadewueen
I see no reason for elected or party officials to have any say whatsoever in districting, really. A population density map, a grid, and some calculus should do you right dandy.
Moments of Mormon Madness that may have already been highlighted (I am threadrupt):
Manti Te’o is mormon. Some ex-mormons have pointed out that the requirement to constantly “bear one’s testimony” of the truth of the LDS church provides all the practice in lying that one needs.
Another mormon leader has been caught committing fraud. Carl B. Holm is a former Bishop and the current Pocatello Idaho Weststake Stake President. He has been charged with Five Felony counts of Medicaid fraud and one count of grand theft.
Mormon friends have been filling up the comment sections of newspapers reporting on the fraud charges. The main mormon line seems to be that the $7,300 fine connected to actual fraud (as opposed to legal fees) is so small that it certainly is not worth committing fraud, and that therefore the $7,300 must represent accounting errors — or some other innocent mistake. Carl Brett Holm is being persecuted.
The amount of Medicaid fraud documented is almost ten times what the mormon scam artist is being required to pay in fines. Holms is getting off with a slap on the wrist, due in part to the fact that three judges in heavily mormon Pocatello, Idaho recused themselves.
Some of the newspaper articles don’t mention that Holms is mormon, but here’s proof that he is: http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/62678/New-stake-presidents.html
Drive by-ing… I swear one day I’ll have enough time to actually hang out here with y’all, like I’ve always wanted to do.
Leaving piles and piles of hugs for Caine. Your posts always, without fail, lessen my despair for humanity.
Do you think that Obama used 23 “Executive Orders” to affect gun-control policies?
No, he didn’t.
He issued zero executive orders. I doubt that the truth will affect the new right-wing push to impeach him for the nonexistent executive orders.
http://themonkeycage.org/blog/2013/01/17/on-my-own/
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/01/18/16588688-total-number-of-obama-executive-orders-on-guns-zero
For some reason the local fire station has changed their big-truck-siren to something like an extended version of the sound made by your cat when you step on it’s tail.
It truly freaks-out my kitteh.
You know, I recognize that booze will probably not help my migraine and ear infection, but I think it’s going to help my poor stupid lady brainz tonight.
Still waiting on some definitive word on the surgery. Ugh.
Caine
Just point me towards the right pair of shoes, I’ve got a hairball ready….
Daily Fail baffled by dude with pink shoe laces (Link is to sociological images)
I have a small Korean food problem. Just putting that out there.
Jadehawk,
You could have shortened that to “Daily Fail baffled” and had more information content. Bafflement is a permanent state of the scripters of that organ.
;-)
Louis
Well, I have a Korean food problem, I’m not sure if they who made what I ate are small.
,
Also, Lost Abbey Brewery and The Bruery kick the ass of a thousand giants.
RIGHT NOW I HAVE ALL THE LOVES AND ALL THE FEELS FOR THIS PLACE AND THESE PEOPLE
♥
♥ back atcha, Carlie.
Surgery went okay, but he’s still not awake. ::fingers crossed::
I have decided to keep bees.
Louis
…where?
Let me be the first to link to this
:)
Louis
Where?
Carlie,
Whilst I am deadly serious, I was thinking of just that bit as I typed the post.
Louis
P.S. Azkyroth, in my (small!) back garden. It’s something I’ve always been fascinated with, and let’s be honest mead = GUD. That’s the serious answer over with. In my pants. Obviously.
damn
Gracie is currently passed out in the seat of my motorized wheelchair. She’s doing that thing where she just… curls up into a ball, like, “Morph Ball Acquired”, man.
I can’t blame her — as far as wheelchair seating goes, that’s a pretty cushy seat.
Not quite dwarfish combat bread: “Woman attacks man with Swedish sausage” http://www.thelocal.se/45688/20130118/
Parents beat 9-year-old girl for ‘being a witch’ http://www.thelocal.se/45690/20130118/
There is some speculation about the parents being immigrants from parts of Africa where they still belive in witchcraft, but I am unable to confirm or deny it.
— — — — —
Gilliell, I read that as Nazi pears.
Many Many hugs for Everyone in The Horde. I offer my great appreciation to those who fight the good fight relentlessly against what sometimes seems a never ending supply of hatred and stupidity.
–
I am learning so much here. I am learning how to push back. I see arguments I would make already posted and I know my time here is well spent. Being able to be around people who value knowledge is priceless to me.
–
My husband and I are so glad to know we are not the only two people in the world who want to work to improve this world.
–
We humbly Thank You.
Louis@ 383, Covered in bees? Actually, beekeeping sounds fascinating. Yay bees!
Has anyone heard anything about a repeat of the Reason Rally this year? I so enjoyed the first one! Want,want, want to do it again!
Hi Ray!
Everything good?
chigau@ 393,
All good! How are things in your neck of the planet?
Louis@387,
In your pants? Sounds… uncomfortable.
By the way, did the random act of flower giving work out?
Ray
Temperatures range from -10°C to +10°C in the same day in January.
So confusing.
Otherwise good.
@ Ogvorbis
WARNING: *DREAM REPORT*
1. The night before last I dreamt I was on top of a hill looking down on a criss cross of luges (?) going down to the seaside. I was sitting in a type of cart. I decided to see what would happen if the brakes where removed and started whizzing down the hill. I was aware that (a) I was dreaming (b) I was still awake(c) I could dream and write about it at the same time. And then awoke fully. (This happened shortly after going to bed and I’m pretty sure I was not yet quite asleep.)
2. Last night I had a much longer and more complex dream. I met an old ‘varsity friend and was invited to see where she was now staying. It was a complex of townhouses on a lush hillside. The houses each had a type of gatehouse seperated from each other, on the side, by glass walls. This led into a small courtyard type garden beyond which the 3 storey house. The dream appeared quite long, much of which was talking. The house was shared by several others and the atmosphere was quite bohemian. She suggested cooking lunch and we continued our conversation as she fried large racks of fatty lamb in a large skillet. The conversation took on a more flirtatious aspect. At some stage I recall meaning to ask her about her brother and parents. Also round about now some other person appeared in the conversation (her boyfriend?). We decided to decamp to the roof for drinks while the lamb simmered. At that stage I woke up.
{Oi Vey! I had a crush in the past? I carry this (Eeeeep!)? What with all the barriers (boyfriend, fatty meat, change of topic) I brought up? A good dream though (for our purposes), in being quite vivid and that I was engaging in it.}
chigau@395,
We had 70ºF Then a few days after (yesterday) heavy snow, Go figure.
theophontes@396,
Dreams can be so cool. I consciously tried to do lucid dreaming for a time, but never could get the hang of it.
Thank you all. ♥
Ogvorbis! You will not be feeling bad about not weighing in on that thread. You are not obligated to do so, and sometimes you just can’t. That’s okay. I don’t manage every thread like that – there have been plenty of times I’ve seen one, already well into swing, looked, and have been so overcome with exhaustion, I’ve shut the computer down and walked away. Sometimes, it’s what you have to do. ♥
I was reading the blog of Charles Stross, specifically his post “Fang Fuckers” about a vampire novel he has recently completed.
I want to share comment @ 89:
“Today, whilst working on a vampirical shortish story of my own, I thought the vampire seemed more like a cat. Cats often like to fight, to laze about, have special powers at night, play with their food before killing it, and have lesser beings running around after them. Plus lots of loud sex, if they havn’t been neutered. And they’re not so gregarious.
So, vampires as human versions of cats!”
— — — — — — — — — — —
Also, plenty of discussion of what would make bloodsuckers tick, how to provide enough food without alerting authorities et cetera. Gamers, SF enthusiasts and people with medical knowledge ganging up to retcon the vampire myth for plausiability.
Hello from Adelaide! I have had a lovely time so far eating fabulous tapas and gelato and buying chocolate and a tin pirate. I have discovered how to tether my iphone to my ipad so I can bypass stupid hotel wifi charges, and I’m about to meet mildlymagnificent for afternoon tea.
I see the thunderdome and rape apology threads have gone kaboom. Good luck, hugs, kittens and chocolate to all who venture there. Don’t forget to come up for air and sanity breaks!
Hi Alethea.
What’s a tin pirate?
Esteleth:
I am feeling so derelict in my posting duties this week.
By all means, continue your deevolution into a giggly mess. If it makes you happy, then I *think* the world can handle Esteleth, she who is a big giggly mess :)
I am happy for you!
I should be taking notes. >.>
sprayingsalt @204:
Welcome to ze Lounge.
Cocktail?
Grog?
Sangria?
Peas (see cicely for these or if you want to ride a horse)?
****
IJoe @242:
brussels sprouts?
I thought much more highly of you than that. I mean, what is the world coming to? There are people that eat peas, brussels sprouts and burgers laced with horse?
I’m taking the first train to Earth 2.
seconding the “what’s a tin pirate” query.
Caine:
Can’t speak for anyone else, but sometimes when I hear that some of you have been engaged in a particular thread, I feel like a call has gone out. Not that any of you need help, so much as hey, there’s some serious shit going on, and I feel like one more voice on the side of reason, rationality and equality is a good thing.
Dammit, I can’t wait til I get internet access back at home. I’m going to be a posting fool again.
So, there’s a local singles’ group on Meetup I’m semi-considering joining sometime soon. The “join” page has a few questions: what are you looking forward to, what are you thankful for, what’s your favorite dance, that sort of thing… and the last one:
“* Can you keep the tone of your public comments positive?”
…how would neurotypical people interpret that? More of a “please don’t start any fights” thing, or would you get a “we don’t CARE if you have a problem with something” kind of vibe? :/
Tony
This is me, as well. I never manage to heed the call as often as I’d like, though, simply because of the volume of threads and my own time constraints.
Katherine:
That’s one adorable kitty!
****
Mellow Monkey:
I am sorry to hear about your partner’s grandfather. Hopefully he will pull through.
****
carlie:
I know it’s a pipe dream, but I’ve wondered what it would be like if…just once…some day, when the planets align just right…if ONE DAY, we could all be OK. Not necessarily rolling in the dough, or feeling perfectly healthy, or some incredible high. Just one day where we can *all* say “Today was a good day” (however everyone defines a “good day”). I kinda want that for you all (and me too).
Let me just throw a pile of chocolate weed brownies on the floor of the Lounge.
Azkyroth
My first impression is “please don’t start any fights”.
There could also be “please don’t start out by telling us everything bad that has ever happened to you”.
Dalillama:
I hear you.
It’s enough to try keeping track of the threads at Pharyngula. When stuff happens at other blogs, OMG!
chigau:
I may have you beat.
How many months do you keep clean clothes in baskets/on the floor in your room before you put them up?
Ahh….
Tony
The clean clothes stay in the basket until the pile in the cupboard requires laundering and I need the basket to carry them to the washing machine.
It’s all very scientific-like.
Don’t we have some fans of The Tick here?
So NSFW.
chigau:
I see your procrastinatory skills are as good as mine…
Rollerblading naked. That won’t end well. x.x
(Also, is it TMI to mention that I find flaccid circumcised penises kind of creepy? O.o)
Azkyroth:
What. Ever. Are you talking about?
Ah, I think I found something in one of the baskets that I haven’t seen in over a year and a half.
Here, I’ll let you in on the secret … buy more baskets.
Cross-posting here from the NYT thread for those who chose not to go back to that mess.
I am joining Esteleth in the giggly mess corner. I met someone over the holidays. She lives a few hours out of town, but she’s completely awesome and visits at least monthly. We’ve been Skyping and texting, and this week I am going to buy pretty underwear in anticipation of her next visit.
God, I’m glad I came out.
Tony,
Well, when one applies quantifiers to a proposition, one implies that they’re necessary to it; in this case, it informs us of what types of penes Azkyroth doesn’t find kind of creepy; thus the TMI.
*steals Tony’s brownies*
OM NOM NOM
Sweet Ceiling Cat, I wish these were real fucking brownies — my lungs need a break!
I’m minorly threadrupt but I am trembling with rage so I have to get this out. Trigger warning for discussion of rape.
I got in an argument at a bar jnst now with a middle aged white man who was very anti gun control. At a certain point he said “I know you’re a smart girl, you can research this…” I snapped “Don’t condescend to me..” To his credit, he apologized, but then went on to the worst shit I heard all night. He said twice “In Florida, 33 women were raped in 9 months.” I yelled “What’s your fucking point?” Because I knew he was about to tell me that gun ownership lowered the rape rate. Yep, that’s what he did. I cursed and refuted him, and told him correlation =/= causation, but I did not have the courage right then to tell him the source of my rage: that a fucking handgun would NOT have prevented my rape.. Fucking fuckers think guns are magic talismans that people can carry around to protect them from danger. Fucking straight white middle aged men who don’t know real fear about everyday situations are telling me what it’s like to need protection from stranger-danger. I am so livid. Especially after that thread that’s still going on. I mean, does that mean it was my fault I was raped because I didn’t shoot the guy? the person I loved? the person I trusted? the person who changed my outlook on the world forever? rargh. I wish I had the courage. I wish I could just shout in their face the real reason that I’m brimming with fury when they say those things.
Yay!!!! for Nutmeg : D
Hope you have lots of fun (of the wink-wink-nudge-nudge variety or otherwise) when she visits.
Portia
What a total shithead. *hugs* if desired, and general supportive noises.
Nutmeg
Congratulations!
/mood whiplash
John Morales:
And “whatever are you talking about” is commonly employed to call attention to one’s acknowledgement and recognition of, if not precisely sympathy with, a previous statement, while ironically drawing attention to the notion of requiring plausible deniability for such identification. Usually a wink and a nudge are implied.
As for the “TMI,” there are generally arbitrary and demonstrably inconsistent rules neurotypicals have about what topics are acceptable to discuss to which degree in which circumstances. See previous note about ironically calling attention to expectations.
Thanks so much Dalillama. I had a bit of mood whiplash myself when I caught up on the few dozen comments I hadn’t read and saw Nutmeg’s good news
Getting that out of my system and getting hugs (which are always happily accepted) made me feel less stressed about it. And now I will crash out and sleep hard and wake happy. So it written, so it shall be.
One lazy jug of sangria later – along with a few cleaned plates of not at all bad tapas – we can report than mrmagnificent and I met up with alethea. Adelaide actually put on one of its better seaside suburb, Mediterranean style, steady sunshiney afternoons. Of course, we were sitting outside, shaded from the glare, in exactly the right place for the one and only tram service in Adelaide to slide quietly by us to pick up the beach-leavers.
We’re now home. Alethea is off to the concert. All’s well in Adelaide. Except I’ve completely forgotten the name of the great jewellery place she told us about that laser cuts shapes of molecules – caffeine, theobromine, capsaicin all seem appropriate for lots of people. If I can’t search it out tonight I might have to interrupt the holiday journey tomorrow.
Good morning
Hugs to Caine
Katherine
The kitty is gorgeous.
++
I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with my computer
It loads everything except UT which loads dead slow…
+++
Last night Mr. and I had a bit of philosophical wankery about the nonsense of gender.
I mentioned before that I like to wear men’s retro-shorts because they’re damn comfy, which means that Mr. and I have some relatively alike undies that only differ in size.
So, last week he accidentially packed some of mine.
The question is now: Did he wear ladies underwear?
Ray, #394,
Define “work out”? ;-)
If you mean “pleased my wife” then yes.
Louis
Louis:
I think your wife is onto you…;-)
Azkyroth – interesting. You might go to one of the meetups and just mostly observe, to see if their “keep it positive” is in a useful or suffocating sense. I kind of lean towards the “don’t tell us everything that is bad about life in general” proposition. I could see where they want meetups to be interesting and fun, and there are people who always complain and think life is always against them. I know one person like that, who has legitimately had some problems over the last few years (although not overwhelmingly so), and who I am always nervous being around just because they ooze negativity about, well, everything, and every topic of possible conversation ends up in an angry rant. Perhaps the meetup people want to try to a) avoid that happening at their meeting, and b) try to help people out a bit by reminding them that it’s good to be nice and talk about good things. Or, they just want to avoid any conflict. Observing one meetup quietly might help you figure it out.
Portia, that’s awful. My only bit of light I’m clinging to in the gun debate is that the people who want gun control are being more loud, more heard, and there seem to be more of them than before. Any other time gun control has come up in my personal memory, there hasn’t been nearly as sustained and obvious a discussion about it; it was always shut right down. Now maybe there’s hope to get something accomplished.
I think a case could be made for him wearing a lady’s underwear, assuming of course that you self-identify as a lady.
One of the things I’ve been wondering about with gendering is whether or not it can sometime be beneficial? I admit a very poor grasp of the subject despite the education I’ve been receiving here.
The bicycle industry is one of the few retail sectors that has been seeing growth despite a general downturn in retail trading. A big part of that reason is because women are taking it up in growing numbers. And a big part of that growth is because there are more and more gendered cycling items available for women.
Now I’m not just talking about fashion here. Women, as I’m sure will be no surprise to anyone here, have different proportions than men with regards to arms, legs and torso. If you have a woman and a man of equal overall height the woman, assuming average proportions on both parties, will be more leg than the man.
Bike frames need to take this into account in order to fit properly. What we used to do is put women on the next size down of man’s bike and say good enough. But it isn’t really. If we have a man’s bike where the size is right for a woman’s leg extension then the handle bars will be too far away for proper positioning. So we put her on the next size down, but now the seat is too low so we have to pull it up and that makes the handle bars too low for proper positioning. The are work arounds for this but most of the time that effort was not made.
The end result was that a lot of women tried cycling and did the right thing by going to a bike store. They were sold a bike that didn’t fit and were told by an “expert” that it was right. But riding it they found that it was uncomfortable and hard to control, and because they’d been told by an authority the it was right it seems like a lot just gave up. I can imagine many thinking “Blokes are mad for doing this, I’m going to do something else.” not realising that for us the experience was quite different.
So now manufactures are really cluing in to this problem and it’s becoming much easier to get bikes frames that are gendered. It seems to me that in this specific type of thing gendering is okay, or is there some hidden problem here that I’m missing?
I will point out that the pinkification of women’s bikes has been waning for the last few years too. Women’s bikes that are for fitness, competition and/or real mountain biking are almost all black, silver, white or grey. The might have a few small pink bits on it somewhere, but even that’s becoming rare. I’m pretty sure this is because it’s becoming generally understood that women who don’t care about colour, don’t care about colour. And women who do care about colour understand what a neutral is and what it means with regards to the rest of one’s cycling attire.
Anyway, apologies if this is too 101. I think about this issue just about every day because I get a lot of “a bike is a bike, stop making this difficult” attitude from folks when I try and get women to buy one that will actually fit them.
I have just been out into the virgin snow and built my first proper paternal snowman with my 3 year old son. I am so filled with fatherly emotion I could burst. I am going now to smoke a pipe and mysteriously saw bits of wood in the garage for no apparent reason. I may even attempt an automotive repair or put some shelves up.
Louis
I feel this way, too. I had checked out for a while (real life (sorry (it happens))) and then read the part about how a woman getting onto a bus can be said to have caused her rape and all I could think of was my decision to join cub scouts and I had to walk away.
Seems like it’s more “sexing” than “gendering” given that this is adapting a product to physical body shapes rather than to social roles and expectations. Making things that work with people’s bodies is justified and, as you noted, desirable; the issue is that there’s no excuse for, say, painting the lowest-end bikes HOT PINK and increasing the price because they’re FOR WOMEN.
(“Women’s bikes” have existed for a while, at least over here, but they have a scooped-under shape on the frame which accommodates skirts but reduces the strength and rigidity of the frame somewhat. What you’re describing sounds encouraging.)
the U.S. Transportation Security Administration has announced it will remove all body scanners that show nearly nude images from airports. :-D
1)Last time I was in Germany, my mom noticed I wore men’s shorts. This time I was in Germany, she said she stole the idea, and it was the best idea she’s ever stolen from me. “it’s ok to wear men’s shorts”= best epiphany ever :-p
2)boyfriend and I also wear the same brand and style of shorts, so they look the same except for size. Except in our case, an accident like yours would be unlikely: I’d never fit into one of his, and I’m pretty sure mine would just fall right off him.
3)yes, your husband wore ladies’ underwear (if only because I want to spread the idea that men’s shorts are ladies’ underwear as much and as often as possible ;-) )
FossilFishy and other bike people please correct me, but when I was last looking at bikes it seems that there is more of a trend to offer low-shape frames not just for women and skirts, but as an ability accommodation – it’s really good for people of any gender who have flexibility/motion problems to not have to haul their leg up to their waist just to mount a bicycle. I think they’re referred to as “low step” bikes?
note to self: buy men’s bikes.
Though actually, my legs are so disproportionately short, a bike that’s just the right height will have a too short distance between handlebars and seat. My current bike has the handlebars pushed so far forward, the bike is very hard to control. But any other setting requires me to ride with a curved back, which is uncomfortable
Ah, they’re more commonly called “step through bikes” according to the internet.
Jadehawk:
Apparently, only the X-ray scanners will be removed, and will be replaced by MMW scanners. Curse.
Underwear:
My wing last year apparently was quite fond of having pantsless activities. The first time, as everyone removed their pants, people told me “Haha tighty-whities!” to my face.
Thankfully, that never happened again.
Does anyone know where this dumb-shit villifying of briefs came from?
Fossil Fishy
Well, nobody denies that there are some very clear physical diffeences between men and women, but many things trade in averages. The average woman will have longer legs at the same hight. So, to make bikes for all kinds of people with different proportions of whom one subset will be mostly female while another one will be mostly male is totes OK.
It’s actually something feminists fight for: Don’t treat us like a smaller version of the male body which means we end up with a standard and quality that’s much lower than what guys get because the things were modelled after their bodies.
But with the enormous variation among humans there will always be people of “type A” whose body is more like the average “type B” and who should therefore be totally free to get the “average type B” stuff. I should rather get a bike for small men because I’m a sitting giant.
But if things are “gendered” that might still work for women (you know, men = better, therefore a woman getting men’s stuff is trying to overcome her inate failure), but leaves the men out.
I can just say I’m wearing mens undies, but imagine what a bloke would get if he admitted to preferring ladies strings…
Azkyroth:
I have no idea. Probably a sign of not being “masculine” enough, like I have any desire to be.
thunk,
I hope there wasn’t pressure put on people who didn’t want it. There would be no way in hell I would participate in such an activity.
Methinks you need better people to hang out with.
So, here’s a bit of a funny story to lighten the cumulative effect of all the threads of frustration.
Last night, spouse and I got into a bit of a tiff. I brought up the idea that I’d like to repaint all the trim in the house. We’ve been discussing how it looks a bit shoddy but we can’t redo everything, and I said that the trim would be relatively easy, require little money, and would make it all look much better. He scoffed and said there was nothing wrong with the trim and he had no idea what I was talking about. I couldn’t believe he could think that about our crappy trim.
This morning, as we were going about our activities, he suddenly laughed and pointed out the source of our disagreement: there is indeed a lot of damage to the paint on the doorways, but it is almost entirely on the bottom half of the trim. As he is a foot taller than me, he literally does not see it when he walks around. Me being shorter, it’s all I see. Perspective. Heh.
What qualifies as “masculine” underwear?
chigau:
Loose, I imagine. I always figured the mockery of briefs was based on the idea that they too clearly displayed the body. In many parts of the US there’s a similar–and usually more dramatic–disgust expressed over men wearing speedos to the beach.
You’d think underwear designed to conform to and thus emphasize male genitalia would…
I also think there’s some odd stereotype along the lines of: briefs = kids underwear, therefore adult dude wearing briefs = his mommy buys him underwear
no. only Teh Ghayz care about being sexy. also Metrosexuals, but they’re Teh Ghay lite, not manly at all.
(TRIGGER WARNINGS, all the TRIGGER WARNINGS)
(Yup, TRIGGER WARNINGS)So I woke up this morning, or rather right before I woke up this morning with a little delayed action gift from my rapist and the rape apologia thread. In my dream state before waking, I apparently wedged myself into the corner next to my bed and started shaking violently and breathing heavily. In my dream, I found myself back at the scene of my sexual assault, with my rapist rubbing himself off on my thigh. Except this time I wasn’t ignorant about what was happening. I wasn’t ignorant about what my mom and partner were trying to communicate. I knew exactly what was going on and this time I stayed in that position despite all that. And even though conscious me knows that doesn’t mean anything at all, dream me felt so strongly that this made it so much worse because I knew better and still it was happening and how could I be so stupid to have let it happen at all.
(STILL TRIGGER WARNINGS)I woke up breathing heavily and shaking and crying. I ended up needing my partner cuddling me from that side (the side HE touched) for awhile because when I shifted that side to the bed to hug her properly, I could still feel him there… rubbing on me. I ended up needing to go for a jog this morning just to reset myself and I don’t tend to do that on non-track-and-field days sine I’m really not a morning person.
(And still more TRIGGER WARNINGS)It was my most intense flashback probably ever and certainly the first to occur in that pre-morning-wakeup time. And I suspect it was partially due to this last rape thread being the first one where I wasn’t constantly minimizing my sexual assault as “a minor sexual assault”, but actually wrote it down as it was regularly.
(Okay, I think we might be out of it) And it reminded me of how important speaking up on that topic really is. Despite how I felt waking up and despite needing to shake it all out of my system in a matter of hours so I don’t drag down my date this afternoon, those voices are way too powerful, way too reinforced by our culture, and the counter is all to often too brief and tiny in comparison. But it helps. Because now that I’m awake, I can stare that shit down. I can remember.
And that makes all the difference.
{{Cerberus}}
That sounds like a very harrowing night. Please keep in mind that there is no such thing as a “minor sexual assault.” All that matters is how it has affected you. Sometimes facing that can trigger some really awful reactions, but like you said, it’s important to stare that shit down. I really hope doing so now has helped you.
Ogvorbis:
Another example of the real time harm Paul was perpetrating and refused to see.
Cerberus, *much love, minus touching* I’m so sorry. I had flashbacks triggered by that damn thread too. Not fun. I hope you shake this one off with relative ease. I’m so glad you have your understanding and wonderful partner there with you.
California octopus. Seems awfully small.
Caine, Cerberus, Ogvorbis
Big hugs to you. You are brave people because you’re still here fighting.
Seconded
Cerberus:
You have my profound sympathy.
It’s scary how these threads that attract rape apologists can be so triggering.
Be safe.
Is dealing with reality (whether in real life or in dreams and flashbacks) really bravery? I mean, what choice do we have?
Thirded
Is dealing with reality (whether in real life or in dreams and flashbacks) really bravery? I mean, what choice do we have?
You could choose to just chuck it and stop arguing/fighting, is what I think was meant.
Oops. Borkquote.
I’m not sure if that was an option for the last 18(?) or so months. Once the memories started showing up, I really had no choice in the matter. I had a choice as to whether I wanted to be part of the conversations, but I would still have been dealing with it in real life. Having a place to talk about it may have preserved me. Thank you all.
Ogvorbis:
Go to the other side, a la erv, hide our heads in the sand, sit in the corner and be quiet, have a nervous breakdown, live in denial…
True. I could’ve become his version of what a man is. Shudder
Ogvorbis:
This too, and that’s the worst of all. You could have become a predator yourself. It’s a path some victims take.
I don’t feel comfortable unless my scrotum is comfortably cupped and my penis nicely nestled.
…
(I refer to underwear, of course)
@mildlymagnificent – http://www.crankybot.com
And a tin pirate is, well, a pirate made of tin. A toy or decoration. He has a ginger beard, an eyepatch, and a parrot. I’d share a photo but he’s nicely packed in bubble wrap and cardboard.
John:
Thank you for that clarification. It’s appreciated.
When have I become such I wimp? I was trying to watch The Woman In Black, but got spooked.
I missed this when Ed posted about it a few days ago, but
1)DeMint is now the head of the Heritage Foundation? Somehow that makes me even more pissy about my economics textbook using so much stuff from them (yeah, I know, that’s chronologically confused, but still)
2)Ed notes that DeMint bullshits about welfare, but not that he also bullshits about missiles in Poland. No one cares when Republicans bullshit about my birthplace *sadface*
3)in the article Ed links to, DeMint also can’t resist to make a climate change joke. Because misery for fuckloads of people is funny. Fuck, I hate that guy.
Wife and I are serious wimps. We tried watching The Bone Collector some years ago. In our living room. We made it about 30 minutes in, popped it out and put in The Muppet Movie.
Beatrice:
Mister and I tried to watch that, we gave it about an hour, but were so damn bored, we popped it out and watched something else.
Thanks, alethea.
And there’s a nice assortment of hugs , cuddles , personal space , quiet times , cushions , favourite music and chocolates available here for anyone and everyone to use according to their needs and wants for the next day or so.
One day, when I’m all mature and brave, I’m going to watch the original Japanese Ring. And then possibly other Japanese quality horrors that would probably make me run screaming now.
If it makes you feel any better, I refuse to watch horror movies at all. I have an overactive imagination, and if I’m watching with other people, I get self-conscious about how easily I jump. If I’m watching by myself, I have a tendency to accumulate weapons.
I won’t watch horror movies. They end up in my dreams. It is bad.
Spent a couple of hours prepping walls and ceilings for painting. I apologize in advance that I won’t be on the internet much tomorrow due to working on the house and stuff. Hopefully nothing big comes back up.
Oh, that reminds me, Congratulations on the new person find, Nutmeg!
Horror movies with supernatural oogie-boogies generally leave me giggling.
Horror movies with “the call is coming from inside the house” leave me sitting up all night with all the lights on.
[Is The Ring* on VHS yet?]
[*the curse, not the movie]
Thanks, Caine! I am shocked, in a good way, by how well this is going. Give rattie scritches and belly-rubs to Mallory for me, please.
Beatrice:
The good news about a lot of Asian horror is that it isn’t all that horrifying all the time to Western viewers… different cultural triggers and all that. The stuff that works though… it REALLY works!
I’m a HUGE horror fan… and I’m also so desensitized that hardly any of it works on me anymore. The stuff that is supposed to work, the really “extreme” stuff? Works even less because it wears out its welcome almost immediately. There are films whose titles I will not even list here because even the mildest, most censored description of them will likely be triggering to almost everyone here, and I don’t even want someone considering Googling them and having the experience connected to me.
And, they’re often BORING. That’s the worst part: here’s a series of increasingly complex and terrible happenings, that elicit less and less of a visceral response and absolutely no emotional response. Put down the animatronic two-headed chicken and the arc welder, I’m just not feeling it.
Nutmeg, done. :) Mallory has been doing really well, she even managed to work up the nerve to come into the annex the other night and join the rat pyjama party on my bed.
Onto something else – I think Stephanie Zvan could use a little support. http://freethoughtblogs.com/almostdiamonds/2013/01/19/rape-goggles/
Chigau:
Be pretty useless if it were.
Joe,
I once googled that movie called after that creepy little crawly slimy thing with many legs, after reading the title here. Yeah, you probably guessed which one. *shudder*
I shared the “OMG what have you made me read?!?!?!” with y’all here afterwards.
Let’s see if the ‘joke’ works better like this:
[Is The Ring* on DVD or Netflix yet?]
[*the curse, not the movie]
Beatrice, Human Centipede and its sequel (yeah, there is one) are pretty much universally reviled.
Caine,
I can’t say that I’m surprised.
Greetings from Washington, Horde!
Here I am, having carefully packed a bag full of all the stuff I’d need for a weekend away, and then driving off without it. I’m just glad that I put my medicine in my purse. In other news, one of the first things I did this morning was locate a store and buy a handful of shirts, socks, and salacious undergarments. Because while I’m sure the DC-local Horde want to see me, Stinky-Esteleth would probably be somewhat unwelcome.
*facepalm*
In other news, I went down to the Mall today. There was a veritable zoo of people there. And a dude was walking around wearing sandwich sign that said:
[Front]: Say no to same-sex “marriage”!
[Back]: Let the people vote!
So I asked him that (given recent polling) he really thought that submitting things to a vote would go his way.
He said, “Oh, yes. Truth will come out, when Jesus leads!”
I called him an asshole and went to go look at dinosaur fossils.
Greetings, Esteleth.
Every time I go to the Smithsonian, I always go to the hall of dinosaurs. I love the T. rex skull on display. My parents have a photo of me, at the age of three, standing in front of that.
Beatrice, the best horror movie I’ve seen in ages is Whedon’s Cabin in the Woods. It was brilliant, utilizing all the standard and old horror tropes in a wickedly clever way. It’s a fun homage to the horror movie all while turning the genre on its head. There is much gore in it, though, so if that freaks you out, best not watch.
Oggie, you are in that general area, are you not?
If so, would you be up for Stuff and Socializing tonight and/or tomorrow? :D
Nope. I am about 250 miles north. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, PA. And tomorrow is Monday.
…In that case, I’ll be heading home (my) Monday, and the map indicates that I’ll be passing through Scranton.
??? :D
I’ll be at work all day and Wife and I have plans for the evening. Sorry.
:( :(
Some other time.
Beatrice & Caine:
Those movies are celebrated by horror fans worldwide! Or, usually, someone likes one and not the other because they are two completely different films. The first has a disgusting concept that really doesn’t go anywhere interesting, and the second is a weird semi-meta mess that goes so far that it also winds up being boring as shit.
Now I’m trying to think of a good horror movie that I’ve seen recently… and I’m sort of drawing a blank. Maybe The House of the Devil? That’s a pretty good one actually, mostly slow-burn creepiness.
Same here. Never ends well. Once, I tried to tell a date that it would be a bad idea for me to see a horror movie, but he insisted it couldn’t be that bad, and we saw Wicker Man. He believed me after my fingernails nearly broke the skin on his arm.
Hopefully.
But I am also very afraid of actually meeting any of the horde in real life. But, my insecurities are well known.
I’m very fuzzy. And nice in real life.
But mostly fuzzy.
I’m pretty fuzzy. Especially when I haven’t used enough conditioner in my hair.