This is the lounge. You can discuss anything you want, but you will do it kindly. He’s not really happy, he’s just hungry.
Status: Heavily Moderated; Previous thread
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
Hi again, I’ve read all your comments and I know some of you think I am a troll but I was after some genuine advise. Although some of the comments were a little harsh, you were right and I needed to hear them.I was wrong and would like to thank everyone for making me see the error of my ways. I would also like to thank everyone your comments and I will take all your advise wholeheartedly.
page 2
dammit
Improbable Joe:
There is no such implication.
(My wife makes all our vacation plans, and I don’t care to know about such until it’s necessary to prepare; or, when we bought our current house, the first time I saw it was on moving day. Different people are different.)
—
thunk:
Probably because it’s being used as a proper noun, and normal English grammar capitalises those, and because habits are habitual.
John Morales:
I know that. I’m teasing.
Set: 40 s
Off to chisel the car out of its icy tomb.
thunk, why, it never entered my mind that you were being rhetorical! ;)
Nope.
* sticks toungue out *
You can probably get more guitar for far less money if you found a used guitar without all the geegaws. For example, my almost-50-year-old Martin, a plain-jane dreadnought, retails, used, for around $3,500. And the sound is so rich and vibrant . . . .
(and there is no cord (but lots of chords))
Mine is named ‘Marty’. Not sure of the gender, though. Could go either way.
Or Inny.
* spits *
No where I can go with that without going right back down the fucking depression rabbit hole.
Sorry thunk, my finger instinctively reaches for the shift key at the start of each name without me thinking. I’ll try to not fuck that up again… but the urge to randomly capitalize oNe or MorE LETterS in your name is strong right now. :)
Oggie, I’d consider a used Martin or Taylor, absolutely. I’m really glad I got my Les Paul used, there’s no way I could have afforded the $2700 they want for new ones.
I understand.
The only reason I have my favourite Martin is that my dad’s arthritis made it painful for him to play guitar.
Shit.
Four out of five consecutive comments on one thread. Sorry for trolling, PZed. Not intentional (but intent isn’t magic, right?).
Sorry Oggie, I’ll respond faster to break up your streaks, ok?
Sorry about your dad too, but it is pretty cool that you have something to share and that he had something to pass on to you.
iJoe:
Not here, over on the most recent Ken Hamm thread.
Shit-fire. If that’s really his non-negotiable position on it, then it sounds very much like a choice between being done, or being his doormat. I want to shout, “Run, WMDKitty, fast as you can! Get those paws a-movin’!”, but I don’t know your situation. I’d suggest that at least you look at what your options might be.
*scritches* and sympathy.
–
*hugs* for Portia. And also sympathy. And you are so lovable!
–
Tony: I’m very happy for you!
:) :) :)
–
*careful hugs* for Giliell. If it’s going to punish you for being cleaned, then it should be let wallow in its own filth and misery, until it learns manners.
–
Minnie!
*pouncehug*
–
*hugs* also for The Mellow Monkey. You’re not being over-sensitive. He should have discussed it with you, before spilling any beans.
–
thunk!
*pouncehug*
–
Ahem!
*points just slightly upward*
–
cicely: Yes, I have this nasty habit of saying “everyone” when I really mean “a significant fraction of people”. You’re good. *is pouncified*. *pounces back*
Okay, finished up Manhood in America: a cultural history by Michael Kimmel. That was an engrossing and excellent read, learned a lot. I’m looking forward to what Esteleth has to say about it. Now it’s on to Guyland by Kimmel.
X-posted.
Since The Lounge is moderated, maybe PZ will notice this more quickly:
At scienceblogs.com/pharyngula, there’s a caps-lock dodo, calling itself “PZ MEYERS IS A FUCKING DOUCHEBAG” who has spammed a scream into at least 10 of the articles. Dodo’s complaint seems to be that it missed the 30-day cutoff for comments on the January 8th article on Stan Burzynski.
Now, back to lounging. Sorry for the disturbance.
@ All
恭喜發財 !!!
Happy (Chinese) New Year to you, too, theophontes!
rq
You’re right. I have just always been terrible at adjusting. Everything from my family’s one-mile move at age ten to my grandmother’s death. I cannot get myself to move on and accept change, because then it’s like I wasn’t really invested in what I’m leaving behind. It’s like the past didn’t really mean anything to me. I know it’s not rational, but it’s my lizard brain, tripping me up.
I don’t want to adjust to this new reality with S because if I do then I am accepting that I am not his closest person anymore. I am not the person he goes to. I am not the one he loves. And for so long, that has been who I am. It’s an identity shift, and it’s really hard to do the emotional work I know I need to do in order to adjust.
Tonight, I watched movies at my friend J’s house. I picked out Celeste and Jesse Forever. It looked cute and funny. It was a bad choice. It’s about a couple who are divorcing but hang out all the time and remain best friends. Predictably, it’s an emotional trainwreck. There was a moment though, when Andy Samberg’s character says to his friend, “Oh, I don’t think it’s over, I just think she needs some time and she’s confused.” It sort of hit me like a ton of bricks because I think deep down that’s still where my head’s at. I know I need to get on with it, and get over it. I know I need to tell him that we need to just talk if we need to talk about work, I know I should. I just feel like I can’t. I feel like if I am the one to make the moves towards more separation then I lose the right to grieve the relationship or something.
I have a lot to sort out, and it’s hard. I really appreciate being able to get it out here. I talked with J about it a little bit but he doesn’t quite get me. Thank you all for listening, and thank you all the more for caring. Even if you do have slightly different opinions on the right course. : ]
I did manage to go a whole day without talking to him, though. Do I get a cookie or something? : / (He is habitually unconcerned if we don’t talk for extended periods.)
You guys make me smile.
cicely
Thanks, cicely. *hugs* back to you.
============
I don’t think I ever posted about my lunch with New Lawyer Friend. We spent most of the time talking about sexism, how prevalent it is, how much it sucks to try to fight it and not be a “feminist bitch” and the various ways it expresses itself in our lives. I am a little in love with her. After the lunch, I told S that I think she’s more feminist than me, possibly. He said, “I don’t think that’s possible…” J’s response to the statement was, “Is that possible?” :D
=============
I got a cute dressy red dress that was originally $70 for $15 at goodwill yesterday. I know it was originally $70 because the tags were still on it : )
Friday’s Set, about 3:30.
Saturday’s, 2:02.
omfg not fair!
+++++
inthelemonlight, let’s say and.
+++++
stevenbrown, hey! I’m glad someone got some use out of it.
+++++
anonymouschristian / Anon Christian, if you’re still reading, drop in and say hi again?
Blah. Sinuses. Spring is here. *sniffle*
Seconded
Good morning
So, last night we took kids, dad and sister to the Chinese restaurant to celebrate dad’s birthday.
I love that place. The food is great and they have a big playroom for the kids.
Only that during the night the little one barfed, which is strange since:
A) she hardly ate at all
B) is known for having a robust stomach.
If #1 had barfed I wouldn’t have wondered since she ate a huge mixture of beetroot salad, ice cream, Jell-O, popcorn and Kröpök.
Also, my arm hurts and my butt is the colour of mashed black currant.
Portia
Hugs and support.
There are a few couples who can do the friendship thingy, but they are really the exception.
Joe
You know what’s funny? I have a ladder. I didn’t use it because I would still have to stand on the kitchen counter and wouldn’t be able to put it close enough to step onto it from the counter safely…
Happy New Year to you, Theophontes
Giliell, is it possible that your youngest had a bit of an upset tummy? That would explain the lack of appetite and the pukage.
Also, I’m afraid to ask what Kröpök is.
Hi everybody!
Threadrupt!
I have an announcement! I got a Surly Amy grant to go to Austin!
Yay!
But I have to raise money for travel and lodging. Mostly travel. The link above goes to the post on my blog where I’ll update with details about how to donate, once I get it set up.
Also, I’m blogging more! Again! Getting the scholarship has kind of kicked my butt about it a little bit.
That’s all, carry on, you delightful people.
WMDKitty
Oh, she definetly caught some belly bug or other. But I wasn’t worried last night because she’d eaten a big lunch and a big 5 o’clock meal so I didn’t think anything when she found playing more interesting than eating.
But damn, couldn’t she start barfing next week? I need to study this week, I have an exam on Thursday…
Sally Strange
Yay! Congratulations!
Can anybody tell me why that when I log onto Pharyngula, instead of getting the usual site with all the whistles and bells, I get a full screen black and white version.
@ WMDKitty
A common Asian snack. It is made from the sweepings and boot scrapings off the prawn factory floor, which are mulched together, dried and fried and eaten like chips.
(The above description may be slightly exaggerated.)
@ Don Quijote
No idea. I have had this a couple of times before. Try refreshing or clicking about on the screen.
Don Quijote,
That’s random mobile version. Refresh or follow through to one of the posts, chances are good it will open as usual.
It’s a bit dead around here on Sundays. Do I have to start talking about peas to liven things up a bit?
@ Beatrice
Not at all. The topic for the remainder of the year will be: Snakes!
@ Beatrice
It does not help either, that every other living soul within a 2000 km radius is hungover. I got so bored this afternoon, that I clicked the “Does God Exist” xtian advert in the sidebar. That took me down the rabbit hole to a land where Anne Jones dwells. (The arguments are all the same as hers. Quelle surprise!) Now I am even more bored than before.
When I’m bored, I browse through archives of all my bookmarked foodie blogs.
I’m currently trying to find recipes for the dishes from yesterday’s Dolce Vita (a cooking show by Canadian-Italian David Rocco) on the author’s website. He made pizza. Lots of different combinations, I forgot half. I want to make them all.
Now I’m hungry.
Thanks for the info Beatrice.
13.05 local time. I’m on my first vermouth before lunch. Roast costillas de cerdo with potato wedges and onion rings. Arroz con leche or tarta de Santiago for postre. Coffee, coñac or two) and a cigar after.
Winding and pissing down outside and today is our local carnival. Sad for the kids.
Sooo, I’m taking over the sick kid watch and Mr. is off for lunch at his parents.
Don Quijote
Para mi, la tarta de Santiago y un cortado, por favor. Puedes quedarte los tobacos, como no fumo yo.
Well, maybe I’ll take a nap, too. Last night wasn’t the most relaxing one…
Well fuck you Westley.
“That is the penalty for lying, Highness. Where I come from, when a woman lies, she is reprimanded.”
And fuck you for being an asshole to her.
Good morning, all.
Had a truly bizarre dream last night.
I dreamt that a new volcano began erupting in the Klamath River up in northern California and I was sent there for a detail as security manager (to manage the roadblocks, etc.). Of course, winter is the rainy time of year for the Trinity Mountains and the river was in full flood. And was blocked by a volcano that was growing faster than the lake upstream of it was rising. Because of a shortage of SEC2s and SEC1s, I had to take a shift at a mountain pass in my rig (which was a rental — a Mazda Miata (great car for dirt roads, mud, cold and heavy rain!)) and discovered that the pass that I was at was the lowest upstream escape point for the new lake. And I got to watch as a trickle turned into a stream turned into a deluge turned into a raging river inside of a new canyon being carved by the new bed of the Klamath River. I drove my Miata higher and higher up the mountain, off-road, to keep away from the widening canyon. There were incredible rapids and waterfalls and cascades and lots of trees floating down the roaring river as the lake emptied itself through a 1,500 meter high pass and I barely made it to the bathroom before my bladder let go.
Giliell:
Bueno entonces no cigarro pero ¿qué tal un coñac?
O las dos cosas? Tengo un cigarro en la casa que está impregnada de coñac Louis XIV. Ni idea de cómo será el sabor – que todavía está en un tubo sellado.
@ Ogvobis
Is that car not a little too little for you?
What the hell?
I’m 6 feet tall and weigh in at around 250 so yeah, way too small. It was an odd dream.
Happy New Year.
Ah. Like the seeds and spices and herbs on an everything bagel.
I have frequently been getting the mobile view version come up on my laptop, which is what that sounds like. And then no matter how much I refresh it won’t go away, and sometimes if I go to another ftb page and then back it works, and sometimes I have to shut down my whole browser and start over.
Don Quijote
No gracias. El unico aguadiente que tomo es el whisk(e)y y a veces un buen ron cubano.
Saw Django Unchained yesterday.
Liked it. Very entertaining.
Haven’t seen any of Tarantino’s last couple of movies. I might try this one.
PZ must be reaaaaally bored today, to have started that thread.
Just finished watching “Reservoir Dogs” for the first time evah.
Hey, if JAL is around, JAL? You have an email…
Giliell
Sorry for puking kids. : / Hope #2 feels better and you can get your schoolstuff done.
Beatrice
What should we discuss? I bet if we mentioned the h-word cicely would join us post-haste.
Ogvorbis
When I got to the end, I laughed.
…why the fuck isn’t the lounge updating for me?
Eeee
Watching the first X Files episode
Vampire Diaires Groan of the Day:
Damon: “I can’t read her mind. She’s too strong.”
Sage (a woman character) “She may be strong, but she’s a girl.. Find her weakness and exploit it.”
*grooooooooooan*
You know what’s a really good idea? To go investigate a crime scene, in the woods, with only a flashlight, in the middle of the night!
Sally Strange:
Congratulations! Rock on!
*takes notes*
Now, is this restricted to crime scenes bearing markers of supernatural causes, or just any crime scene? Because I mean I have some waiting for investigation…
…and then next time you visit the same crime scene, wait for the nightfall again!
Portia,
If there is something supernatural going on, then definitely. You should try doing it in other cases too. It almost guarantees you will stumble over something, or someone. Or someone will stumble over you in a couple of days.
Congrats to Sally! That’s AWESOME!
Set: 42 seconds
Today’s puzzle is a visual whack in the head. Icky solids.
If we’re talking about snakes, Her Scaliness has been pretending to be a cobra all morning. It’s bloody adorable.
Super Special Scientific Experiments I Have Done Today:
Hypothesis: Beer and Pizza make an excellent breakfast
Experimental Design: Consume beer and pizza for the first meal of the day
Data: Feel great
Conclusion: The hypothesis is supported.
\o/
Esteleth:
When I was a whitewater raft guide, there were two brothers whose normal breakfast was warm Red, White & Blue Beer poured over Rice Crispies. They ate it while sitting but the trunk of their Saab. In full view of the people who just signed a document to the effect that if they die, it ain’t our fault.
Btw, thanks to all you responded to my comment way upthread. I’ve had a few ugly experiences as an out atheist, so I tend to fret a lot when it involves people close to me.
Dung beetles navigate by the stars. I’m tempted to use one of my severely rationed exclamation points.
For some reason, this makes me very happy. There’s got to a joke in there somewhere about astrologists.
Check out the link to see an even more happy-making photo: a dung beetle wearing a tiny hat.
There’s some serious talk in the article about light pollution negatively affecting the ability of creatures to navigated by starlight.
Apologies for failing to close the link tag.
Lynna:
I hate dung beetles. You know why? Ya wanna know why? I’ll tell you why. Their silly little shit-eating grins, that’s why.
Walking Dead returns tonight….
And yes, despite its flaws Mrs BDC and I are fired up.
Ha! Made me laugh Ogvorbis.
Personally, I am somewhat offended by the dung beetles choice of all black as a fashion statement. True, there is both matte black and what looks like black patent, but really, would a pop of color be out of place? Other insects manage it.
Yuk yuk
Well, they do sometimes accessorize with small bits of brown, butterscotch, greenish brown, and shit brown.
(and before someone points it out, yes, even though I am an historian, I do know that dung beetles do not have the proper mouth parts to be able to achieve a smile!)
I forgot about The Walking Dead. I didn’t watch all the screened episodes of this season, so I’ll probably just read the review* on http://www.fangsforthefantasy.com/ , pat myself on the back for not watching it since it’s obviously still bad and possibly watch the last episode.
* I can’t help it, I’m still curious about what’s going to happen, even if I don’t want to spend my meager 15GB a month on downloading the episodes
Humm. I think it’s entertaining. I’m glad it doesn’t follow the comic exactly because I’ve read all of them.
It’s no breaking bad or mad men but it is pretty good tv considering the rest of what’s out there.
Lynna
Dung beetles here are a shiny greeny-blue-purple. They’re quite beautiful. (Or at least, what the locals call a dung beetle; I think they’re something else, not true dung beetles – definitely of the scarab sort.)
In recent years, I have almost completely lost the ability to follow a series without getting bored, with Doctor Who being an exception.
I’m trying to get into the X Files again, we’ll see how that goes.
In the spirit of New York Fashion Week, I like your “butterscotch” reference, but will edit the rest to, perhaps, “pavement,” “heavy cream,” “buttered steel,” “brass,” “copper,” “raw umber,” or “sour olive.”
Ooooh. If there are colorful dung beetles, I want to know.
Sean Banana: An ordinary day in Gothenburg http://www.thelocal.se/46110/20130210/
Real name S. Samadi. *Baron* Samadi ?????
— — — — — — —
Cool stuff on Phys.org about GM virus whacking liver cancer, but I do not have the background knowledge to say if this is something for the patients of next decade or the next fifty years.
— — — — — — — —
Dung beetles are useful. We need big fucking GM versions to take care of the dog droppings asshole dog owners leave behind.
— — — — — — — —
People in Stockholm just had a fifty mile (80 km) skating race (Vikingarännet) open to the general public. A shorter version of the race was open for children.
Lynna,
http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/dung_beetle.htm
http://www.naturephoto-cz.com/dung-beetle-photo-14208.html
My dreams are haunted by fragments of space opera novels I have read. But fortunately The Alien rarely shows up these days. Boy, that 1977 film really made an impression!
*snort*
I don’t know if anyone else is a Television Without Pity fan, but here’s a reason for the site being down the last couple of days. I’m getting twitchy, I tells ya.
Have you watched breaking bad?
Thank you, Beatrice. Lovely. I think these dung beetles are pop-rockers of the 1980s. Or maybe the spandex-clad bikers of today?
I’ll second Rev Big Dumb Chimp’s recommendation of Breaking Bad as a non-boring TV show.
Sons of Anarchy can boast a lot of good moments.
Beatrice
Second, although it’s not that recent for me, really, nor have I watched Who.
RevBDC
No, I got bored with that one when I heard the plot summary; It really doesn’t sound like my cup of tea. Also, the hero makes a huge, huge mistake starting out: LSD is a much better bet for lots of money if you’re an actual, y’know, trained chemist, which amphetamine manufacturers typically aren’t. It also has the advantage that the people you’ll be dealing with to distribute it are significantly less likely to be violent sociopaths.
Are you supposed to let a burn breath initially? And will antibiotic cream with a numbing agent be a good idea? Bread baking is treacherous.
*breathe.
(Save it, John Morales ;) )
Portia – no! You’re supposed to cool it down as soon as possible to limit the damage. Put it under cold running water for awhile.
Mayo Clinic says:
Cool the burn. Hold the burned area under cool (not cold) running water for 10 or 15 minutes or until the pain subsides. If this is impractical, immerse the burn in cool water or cool it with cold compresses. Cooling the burn reduces swelling by conducting heat away from the skin. Don’t put ice on the burn.
Cover the burn with a sterile gauze bandage. Don’t use fluffy cotton, or other material that may get lint in the wound. Wrap the gauze loosely to avoid putting pressure on burned skin. Bandaging keeps air off the burn, reduces pain and protects blistered skin.
Take an over-the-counter pain reliever. These include aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others), naproxen (Aleve) or acetaminophen (Tylenol, others). Use caution when giving aspirin to children or teenagers. Though aspirin is approved for use in children older than age 2, children and teenagers recovering from chickenpox or flu-like symptoms should never take aspirin. Talk to your doctor if you have concerns.
Minor burns usually heal without further treatment. They may heal with pigment changes, meaning the healed area may be a different color from the surrounding skin. Watch for signs of infection, such as increased pain, redness, fever, swelling or oozing. If infection develops, seek medical help. Avoid re-injuring or tanning if the burns are less than a year old — doing so may cause more extensive pigmentation changes. Use sunscreen on the area for at least a year.
Caution
Don’t use ice. Putting ice directly on a burn can cause a person’s body to become too cold and cause further damage to the wound.
Don’t apply egg whites, butter or ointments to the burn. This could cause infection.
Don’t break blisters. Broken blisters are more vulnerable to infection.
Why not just make giant assassin bugs to take care of the asshole owners?
Thanks. I did have the presence of mind to that step, should have said. Soaked it for a few minutes, immediately after it happened.
….now,seeing this didmt submt and seeing our follow up, im holding it under for longer.
thanks carlie!
Portia
I hope the bread turns out better than your finger!!! Ouch.
Lynna
The colour of Latvian dung beetles. Like dark, shimmery stones.
rq,
the bread is awesome, I even managed to butter it with my nondominant hand. :)
Portia
If it’s fresh bread, I can do a lot of things to it with my non-dominant hand… :)
Good night!
exactly, nothing like bread from the oven.
night!
But sinuses are Evil all year ’round.
–
*hugs* for Giliell. One day it will happen—all of your family will be unsick at the same time.
Bronze that moment!
:)
–
SallyStrange: Yay! for your Surly Amy grant.
–
At 4:51 in the fucking morning?!? Better not come around here pea-talkin’ at any 4:51 in the fucking morning! Not if you value your life!
–
Not at 4-fucking-fifty-one-o’clock in the fucking morning. On a Sunday.
Hell, no!
–
*nodding*
Investigation in the dark, with or without a flashlight, is particularly necessary for supernatural mysteries—the spoooooky ambience is part of the evidence, you know!
Also true for crime scenes involving dark cellars and abandoned houses.
–
For Science!!!
:) :) :)
–
Ogvorbis, re dung beetles: *groooooooan!*
–
Dung beetles default to Goth?
–
The Mellow Monkey, Portia, etc.
Awesome. I keep meaning to get involved with Adult Fans of LEGO.
Also, sorry to hear about the dispute! Can you slow it down, put the fetus-making efforts on hold, and talk it out?
WMDKitty
Sorry for the ongoing trouble! If you’re not feeling respected, then that’s a good sign that breaking it off might well be warranted.
SGBM
I agree. Awesomeness it is!
Portia
Aww, I’m sorry for that! Keep on looking ahead! Getting over someone always takes a while. It’s a testament to the depth (and duration) of your feelings for your former partner. But I can say that it is possible to move on and be very happy with a close friendship that ended up working better than the preceding attempt at a relationship. So much of the pressure is off now!
And please don’t blame yourself for supposedly failing to be worthy of love, or whatever. So many little things can unravel a relationship, and it sounds like in this case it had nothing to do with you failing at anything. Except maybe failing to be irrational about it. * grins *
Tony
w00t!
UnknownEric
* giggles * Comment win!
Gregory Greenwood
Very interesting comments.
FossilFishy
I love this!
Esteleth
I’ve been very much wanting to read Far from the Tree. If I get around to it anytime soon I’ll let you know!
AnonymousChristian
I agree with the others! Still out there?
SallyStrange
Congrats!
Ogvorbis
Hehe!
Beatrice
I clean out my Firefox bookmarks when I can’t sleep. Last I checked there were over a thousand, most of which are in the unsorted folder. I’m usually so compulsively organised that just knowing about that backlog that I need to work through sometimes makes me twitch. * twitches *
This made me laugh and cry. You are so right about there being less pressure. It is quite a relief to not stress about this and that and the other thing that he did or said or screwed up. Or that I did or said or screwed up. Thanks for this :)
Oh, and I have a Wonder Woman lego person key chain and a firefighter one. A friend saw them at the Chicago lego store and got them for me.
carlie
Thanks again for looking up that Mayo clinic thing. I don’t know why i came here instead of google…crowdsourcing is good for a lot of things, but first aid isn’t one of them, ha. (Except you came through, so maybe it is? : ) ) I never think of ibuprofen for things besides headaches. I am hoping it helps. So far, tkaing my hand out of the water is a pretty painful exercise.
intehlemonlight
We’ve put it on hold for the next year now. He’s really anxious, but I think we need to get a lot of stuff settled before going any further. Especially since that anxiousness is one of the things making me feel like a misbehaving baby dispenser.
Portia
Oh wow. I’m jealous of your Wonder Woman LEGO person. I need to get one of those!
So, I finished Manhood in America. Fascinating!
Found a quote that resonated deeply:
I’ve noticed this as well! A lot of the conservative types (and many EvPsych types seem to be conservative) seem to have these deeply regressive views of men as barely restrained rutting beasts.
And they call us “misandrists”!
Glad to hear that. Hopefully you can both get to a place where you’re happy and comfortable with the important details.
Esteleth
Ain’t that the truth. It goes right along with “Men can’t help but ogle if you wear a top like that!” and “Boys will be boys” They really do have a terrible opinion of men. It’s not surprising, given how old the idea is that women are the moral ones, who rein in those unruly men without any conscience.
http://shop.lego.com/en-US/LEGO-Super-Heroes-Wonder-Woman-Key-Chain-853433
:)
SallyStrange, more congratz! May I email you somehow? nym at th’ gee mail here.
ESTELETH SMASH!!!
So I was at my Friendly Neighborhood Food Seller recently, and was cheered to find that they sell looseleaf of a tea blend I like. So I cheerfully bought some.
Come home, put the kettle on, get out a mug and other paraphenalia, and ready my strainer. Open the package, to find THIS.
>:(
Worse, I irately contacted Teh Louis. He informs me that in Ye Olde Englande (this is a British tea company), they don’t grind the tea up like that.
What am I supposed to do with that? Put it in the coffee maker I don’t own?
Congrats to Sally Strange, and a hearty Kung Hei Fat Choi! to everyone.
I had a very nice time at our local multicultural festival yesterday. Mostly involving food. My friend speculates that every culture in the world has a deep fried dough option, with the possible exception of hunter-gatherers. At this particular fair there were doughnuts from Nepal, Turkey, Tonga, Greece, Italy and Australia. And I didn’t buy any as I already had simits, baklava and Italian honeybread.
For your amusement:
William Shatner calls out Reddit for racism and hate mongering
William Shatner just made my night.
carlie
thanks for starting me on Television Without Pity. I’m reading their tumblr. And I found this gem. :D
Ogvorbis and rq might also appreciate that one.
That… was a thing of beauty.
Also, I second the “How is he 81 years old?!” sentiment. Dang.
Turned out to be a good day/night.
My wife had to work this weekend, and she’s been pretty angry about it. We cancelled our weekend plans, and she wasn’t even able to take a nap today because work called her and woke her a couple of times.
So instead, I made it a stay-at-home day. Lots of crappy bar appetizer food and movies, and we both got off of the Internet for a solid 8-9 hours, and just hung out with each other. The phone only rang once, and I sort of had to bail on a large part of one of the movies. Otherwise, it was pretty nice. We’ve found that we now have to work for things that used to happen automatically, but they are worth the effort every time.
I’m really glad you had a good day with BossNurse, Joe!
Even if work was annoying. So sweet that you two can get in some enjoyable R&R.
And now I’m going to bed. Night!
Oh Tentacled Lord, I thought I could go to bed, but marksheffield showed up just before I could…..
All hail the genderneutral rats of Caine! (That’ll make more sense if you read the end of the thread in question.)
G’night Portia!
Good for him, but look at all those “BUT WHAT ABOUT FREEZE PEACH!” posts attached to that article.
Go the Shat! I love his sense of humour and self-deprecation. He is a seriously cool dude. (BEST. CAPTAIN. EVAH. also too.)
PatrickG, what thread? Will I regret it?
@ Alethea: I’m off to bed, but it’s the http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2013/02/10/i-am-asked-a-question-about-commenting/ thread. It had devolved quite pleasantly into discussions of whether or not Caine, fleur-du-mal, etc. were masculine or feminine names (and such similar highly controversial topics), but then some idiots (Marksheffield and Mister Michael) showed up to restart it all.
Okay, I’m not a fan of William Shatner (I find his acting style eye-rollingly cheesy), but that was fucking awesome.
Oh, and regarding The X-Files, did anyone else notice that the metal implants & accompanying nosebleeds (ever present during the Scully-has-cancer arc) actually showed up in the very first episode?
Hello, Chekhov’s Gun
And yes, it did take me 15 years (and a re-watch) to notice this.
Birds evolved ultraviolet vision several times, research finds http://phys.org/news/2013-02-birds-evolved-ultraviolet-vision.html
Birds are some really cool dinosaurs.
Ah yes, CaineE FLEUR du mal with the PINK avatar with the WOMAN symbol in it, whose nym links to an EMBROIDERY blog with a picture of a FEMALE torso – surely male! Just like everyone else on the internetz. Also, I have a beard. No, there are no women here.
Damn, that was a timesuck. Bad naughty me, I should have been working. But I have found lots and lots of missing dead people, so work went well anyway.
WMDKitty: BUT CHEESE IS DELICIOUS!
I’m not claiming he’s a great actor, I just love him anyway.
Rev.
Nope.
Maybe when I get bored with the X-Files.
—
inthelemonlight,
Oh, you wouldn’t want to see my bookmarks. When I started bookmarking things, I only had recipes, science and books besides university-related folders. So I tried to fit all kinds of things into those three. Crafts or DIY went with the recipes (well, those are recipes of sort); sciency things went into science; comic books, fanfics, fanfic archives, interesting articles or blogs (that wouldn’t fit in either recipes or science) went into books. It’s pretty chaotic.
—
WMDKitty,
I have watched the first episode yesterday, so yes, I noticed them in the first episode, but kinda forgot that they reaper later :)
On the matter of human plurality.
Genghis Khan supposedly said “My empire will crumble when our people will live in stone houses”
After decades of communism, people leave Ulaanbaatar again to live in a yurt.
http://youtu.be/AGa-3j2bMT0
cultural heritage in the non-christian perspective.
“teach you children how to ride a horse.
how to handle the bow.
and always to speak the truth.” – from the Altai cultures-
(This is human reality. Not compatible with atheism.
Spiritualism required? Not if you sit in a heated apartment in front of a computer, that’s for sure. )
Hey, I can understand why Shatner appeals to some people, not judging — he’s just not my cup of tea. He does, however, up the fun (and ham) level of classic Trek. It’s like classic Who; the cheese is part of the deliciousness of the show. (Well, that and it’s the 70’s, green-screens are obvious, FX are awful, and that is one heinous — and insanely long — scarf.)
@WMDKitty
Don’t dis the Baker™
Nah, I’m loving the Baker, I just keep expecting him to trip over that scarf at the worst. possible. moment.
Of the classic Doctors, so far, he’s my favorite.
Mine too with Pertwee a close second.
Oh, gods. This fic is So Bad It’s Good.
Re Trek: exactly, WMDKitty, a nice serving of cheese and ham is most enjoyable at times. I find Next Gen just too pompously self-important for fun, and not deep, consistent or complex enough for good drama.
And I’m not going to look at your fanfic :)
…wait, what?
Breaking BBC news says Pope Benedict is going to resign.
Damn, I wanted to say that.
Does that mean we have to take him back?
Giliell
PLEASE do! With our compliments!!! ;)
BBC TV says: Vatican confirms Pope to step down 8 pm Feb 28; no cause has yet been given but obvious guesses would be the child-abuse scandals or possible ill health; and the last time a pope resigned was in 1286? if I heard that right.
I’m watching the text appear on this page:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-21411304
That’s news to brighten up my day.
Wow. That surprised me — this is a highly unusual event. Word is he’s resigning due to health problems.
MSNBC says the last papal resignation was in 1415.
Huh, I just popped in to see if the Pope resigns story had made it here yet. Oh well, bedtime. No doubt there will be lots of commentary tomorrow. Nighty-night, all!
Awww. My Poe broke :(
Rats! Beaten to the punch.
I suspect his “health concerns” are at least as much a convenient excuse as a legitimate cause.
Portia – :) Wait until it comes back! They have threads on every show you’ve ever watched, probably. And their moderation is wicked heavy, so the threads tend to be easy to read and full of decent content. I’ve been commenting there longer than anywhere else online, and their mods scare me.
And their recaps are a good mix of info and snark.
Well, I had an exciting weekend…
On Thursday I woke up to a barfing cat barfing up blood. Emergency vet, pills, x-ray, and exam later – $600, but since I needed to keep him on a pill regimen (a couple pills every 12 hours) I had to deposit him in the kennel at the vet for the weekend – and they had to give him an examination at THAT vet for some other thing… that cat cost me $1000.
And the worst part is he probably just ate plastic and it’s irritating him…
But Friday I went up to my parents’ house, which was full of people. See, my gramma (88-year old) was getting re-married, which is awesome. So we had a good time, the two of them make a great couple.
Of course I could do without the “marriage is between a man and a woman” sermonizing from the priest…
So now I’m back at work. And I have to catch up on a lot of stuff. Yay!
Good TV, current and recently past:
The Sopranos
Six Feet Under
Carnivale (I liked it)
Breaking Bad
Sons of Anarchy
Mad Men
Boardwalk Empire
Weeds
The Wire
imo.
Portia
That was, indeed, a gem! ;) *giggling quietly to myself*
Hope your hand is a bit better!
Improbable Joe
Ah,
thea lack-of-spontaneity phase. The kids have put us into one, but I’ve heard they’re transitory (the phases, not the kids…). Just remember, planning things doesn’t make them any less fun (just sometimes a leetle bit more predictable). I’m glad you two had a good day to yourselves!Katherine
Your grandma is absolutely awesome. Congrats to her and the family!
Good luck with the cat. :/
WMDKitty
Thanks for that article about Chekhov’s gun; I have learned something new today: Apparently there’s a name for everything these days. ;)
+++
*hugs* and morally supportive thoughts to those in especial need (Mellow Monkey comes to mind, but I’m including everyone here).
re: Chekhov’s gun
When I was 17 I did an internship at a local theatre that was in the middle of a production of Smoke and Mirrors. The gun on the wall actually went off in the first act. During the intermission, it was my job to take it offstage. I hated touching that thing even though I knew it was a prop! It was much more fun to roll the tray of pickled thingies onstage (I say thingies because I don’t remember what it was that was pickled).
Hi, everyone!
Set: 16 s
And I’m pretty sure that’s as fast as I can go with this internet connection and trackpad.
@Esteleth
Wtf is that? The tea place run out of stock and fill your tin with floor sweepings?
I still cannot eat butterscotch candy. Or butterscotch pudding. Or butterscotch anything. After two children, going through diapers like shit through a . . . baby? I just can’t do it.
Just using the writings in the lounge, someone could create a very nice volume of unintentional, and out of context, pornography.
And it would be far better than most (yes, I’m thinking about the ET fanfic (does anyone know how to bleach a brain?)).
See what I mean?
Three ways: one, he has celebrated his 81st birthday, second, he has not celebrated his 82nd birthday, and, D, he is still breathing.
Everyone have a nice fucking day.
OK?
@chigau:
Shouldn’t that be a “fucking nice day” cause a “nice fucking day” is an entirely different thing.
Although I wouldn’t mind one of those – I doubt I can call out for 8 hours of sex leave ~_^
chigau, are you okay?
Crossposted with Ed Brayton’s blog:
.
“Tea Party organizations have ties to tobacco industry dating back to 1980s, study finds ” http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-tea-party-ties-tobacco-industry.html
“US Tea Party project” goes back at least to 2002, with roots in the 1980s astroturf organisations against tobacco regulation.
.
Tea Party sabotaging congress from 2010 is a bogus conservative grassroots movement? I am shocked, I say! Shocked!
Carlie
I look forward to reading it voraciously. I actually had been wanting to read television commentary but could’t find anything good.
rq
The hand is pretty functional, thanks :) I put on a bunch of bandaids and even managed to knit.
Katherine
Congratulations to your grandmother! That’s really sweet.
Good luck with the kitty : /
Ogvorbis
Yuk yuk yuk ;) I thought of it after I submitted it, and you didn’t disappoint.
WHY. WHY would you make me remember that. ;)
So glad you found the Snark Hat, I hadn’t seen it in a while! Now give it here, you’ve used quite enough for the morning!
rq
how was the first night in the new house?
Oh lord, truly some of the cutest pictures ever.
Happy new year, chigau!
Good morning friends and far-off neighbors!!
How is everyone doing? I’m doing AWESOME.
+1
–
Indeed!
–
I suspect the same thing.
–
Katherine Lorraine: I’m sorry to hear about your kitty. Cat barfing up blood is no fun—mine turned out to have been poisoned, and it was too late. (This was…hmmm…25-ish years ago, so no present-era condolences are called for.)
–
:D
–
chigau????
*preps hugs*
–
sqeeeeeee!
–
‘Morning, iJoe. Glad you’re doing awesome.
:)
I’m laggin’ and draggin’. Monday…morning…bad combo any way you slice it.
–
Blah
That’s great
I’m doing okay. A little lethargic. But, I’m going to toast up some of my bread (easy, Ogvorbis…) and have a snack to get me through this reading about testamentary trusts.
Glad you’re feeling good today, Joe :)
Hi cicely!
Hi Beatrice. I’ll join you in the “blah” corner, shall I? Bread with jam?
Any computer gurus out there who could help me with a little weirdness? I have a colleague who I email periodically. The email format is firstname.lastname@institution.edu. Sometimes I put that in and everything works. Other times I put the same thing in and it doesn’t work. At this point, the computer has two autofills for colleague. They are, as nearly as I can tell, identical. But one works, the other fails. There are no obvious extraneous spaces and I’ve checked for misspellings and extra periods. Anyone got any other ideas? (PS: This is a curiosity and a mild nuisance, not anything important so no one waste any time they don’t want to on it.)
Portia,
Thanks! Tasty
So I have a query:
Can one be both gender-fluid and transgender?
I don’t always identify as a woman, but I identify as a woman FAR more than I do not.
rq @594
Holy crap! Fire opal-like?
Katherine:
I don’t see why not, given that no cis person conforms 100% to stereotypical gender expectations, either. More importantly, though, I think it’s definitely up to you to determine your identity.
But then, I see that I didn’t totally comprehend your question and the implied definition of gender-fluid you’re using. So my answer is amended to: I don’t know, but as long as you are happy how you are, that’s what matters.
Katherine Lorraine, sorry to hear about your cat. My dog ate a ham bone once and perforated her intestines. She was shitting blood for awhile, scared me to death and cost us like $1400, so I know your pain.
Morning cicely, Portia, Beatrice… sorry for the blahs. I’m actually feeling sort of physically lousy, but I figure if I drink enough tea and lie to myself enough, I’ll feel better. :)
I’m playing Dead Space 3, which is some fun… dismembering reanimated/mutated corpses and then impaling them on their own severed limbs? What’s not to like?
Katherine, since these are all descriptions people have created to try to communicate complex ideas that don’t always fall neatly into binary categories, I don’t see why not. Gender-fluidity doesn’t require that someone constantly be in flux or lack a sort of “base” gender identity. Being transgender doesn’t require that someone remain static, either.
And I just blew a Dex roll.
:(
The 2 second rule does not apply to food hitting this floor.
:( :( :(
–
Portia…how did you know what I just dropped on the floor?
The dirty, dirty floor….
:( :( :( :( :(
–
Joe,
I think I’ll make myself some tea, watch another episode of X-Files and try to fool myself into believing I’m not blah. Thanks for the inspiration ;)
—
Katherine,
I just don’t know enough about gender identity to give you a good answer. What Portia and Mellow Monkey wrote sounds good, though.
blah.
Mellow Monkey said it really well.
cicely
…the house elf ratted you out, sorry. Which side landed on the floor?
Beatrice and Joe
Tea for me too. Vanilla chai is the best on a cold windy day like this.
Aw, *hugs* for cicely.
Probably stupid question about gender: Has anyone here ever felt non-gendered? I’m sure I’ve never identified as male, but sometimes don’t feel particularly female either.
Hugs and more bread with jam for cicely.
Is it even possible for bread to fall jam-side-up? I don’t believe the Laws of Nature allow it.
–
Thanks, dianne.
–
@Carlie #656
Awww, you made me squee :) Where’d my blasted man card go? Glenn Beck must have revoked it :-/ it’s in a drawer next to Obama’s.
Seriously, I had no idea baby piglets were so small! Or so freakin’ cute!
dianne, that’s how I usually feel, as a matter of fact. It’s only on rare occasions that I experience serious dysphoria about my body, so I’m usually all right with it, but I normally don’t feel much of a connection to gender.
I used to struggle to find the right label for where I fit, but I’ve mostly given that up now. I always fear going into too much detail on it just makes me come across like a self-absorbed special snowflake. This is probably my own depression and internalized self-loathing more than anything else, but I feel like much less of a jerk if I just don’t talk about it much.
cicely:
Little known by-law: it is allowed, but if it ever happens, then you will drop the piece of bread again shortly after, this time jam-side-down.
*
Hugs for everyone feeling blah. I’m a bit blah myself today, but only a little bit.
*hug* for Parrowing buıʍoɹɹɐd.
And I’m guessing that the second drop comes after an obligatory bread-juggle wherein half of the jam ends up on your hands…and clothes…and any paperwork that may be available.
–
Thank you, cicely
Naturally.
I will join the *blah* crowd for today. I let myself sleep in, made nice food, did my hair, and put on clothes that I feel good in. And I gave myself permission to not go in to school right away. I feel almost capable of leaving the house soon.
I’m going into the lab to find an ancient computer to run an ancient and poorly-supported stats program for stuff that I don’t understand. On a day that I have a combination of winter blues and screwy hormones and thesis stress. I do not predict that this will end well.
So…all things considered, it would be a far, far better thing to just throw the damned thing at the floor, jam-side-down, and as hard as possible…and have done with it.
–
Plus, one of the gaming gang wants to discuss Taxation As She Is Rightly Done (In A Fantasy-World Setting).
*sigh*
And it’s not even my taxation—The Husband is DMing it.
*double sigh*
I believe that I perceive an attempted end-zone-run around the Whim of the DM in the making.
*pause*
I believe
That I percieve
A doomed attempt to thwart
The Husband’s Word
That he conferred,
Playing the DMs’ part.
Nah.
–
Monday is sort of rough, huh?
So if you cover both sides of the bread with jam, does it get within a few inches of the floor, hover for a moment, and then start spinning confusedly? Didn’t they come up with a perpetual motion machine on Discworld using such a device?
Nutmeg, I have some undropped bread and jam for you, too, if it would help with your blahs. I slept in too, thinking it might give me more energy. (Helpful in that decision was a 3am med call…) Anyhow, hope your day picks up.
—
I think I just broke another culinary Law of Nature: I stirred up a jar of peanut butter without spilling any oil off the top. (Oh, is it just me that always does that? Ok.)
Good evening
Joe
No, the death of rats invented a machine that would drop sandwiches in a way that would result in a 50/50 split. When this went off they knew the Auditors were up to something.
The perpetuum mobile is tying a sandwich onto the back of a cat. Since they always land on their feet ut a sandwich always on the jam-side, it should be impossible for them to hit the ground.
Ah, yes; the incident with the Tiny Toasties.
–
Ooh! And if you rig the cat-and-sandwich assemblies such that the cat’s back rubs an amber rod as it comes around, you can store the electricity!
–
ARRRGH! I hate my employers (and the U.s. health care ‘system’) so fucking much right now. I had to choose whether and which health plan to sign up for within the first week of January, and can’t change the choice until next fucking January, but no one would tell me how much it was going to take out of my paycheck or even what my paycheck would be without it. (For those who haven’t been following, I was part time until December, when I got promoted to full time, but I didn’t’ receive my first paycheck with the new hours until February first, so I had no idea what it would look like). I was informed that if I covered L, the insurance would be taxed as income. how much income? No one would tell me. How much tax? No one would tell me that either, but he has a lot of health care needs, so I figured covering him would have to save money, , and added him to the plan, which took such a huge fucking mite out of my check that we’re too broke to even afford the fucking copay, making the goddamned insurance worthless, but I can’t fucking cancel it because you’re only allowed to change your fucking insurance options once a fucking year. I have no idea what we’re going to do.
Lynna @664
Black fire opals.
+++
For what it’s worth, blah.
But I may have a photo or two later this evening for those curious (Portia – no ghosts so far, but I haven’t done any midnight, flashlight reconnoitering yet!).
This is probably my own depression and internalized self-loathing more than anything else, but I feel like much less of a jerk if I just don’t talk about it much.
Depression gnome be gone! You don’t sound the least bit like a jerk. I’m interested in hearing what you have to say. Um, if it isn’t too much prying anyway. Don’t want you to feel obliged to answer my questions, especially if they get too newbie and/or obnoxious.
Dalillama
Oh damn, that sucks.
*hugs*
+++
A fucking brilliant description from a German blog about non-marginalizing language:
“And then the heterosexual white guy throws himself on the floor at that language supermarket check-out and throws a temper tantrum since he can’t have the n-word.”
Oh my gods, Dalillama, that’s horrible. I’m so sorry.
*lotsahugs*
rq
Yes pictures! And you have to have a device that will measure electromagnetic pulses…because…somethingsomethingmumblemumbleGHOOOOOSTS.
Ha, very nice.
dianne, no, I’m fine answering questions. I’m in the midst of a deep depression right now where I feel stupid and worthless, so actually being able to answer something kind of helps me feel better. That’s different from (what feels like) self-indulgently talking about myself. :)
I played around a lot with gender when I was a child and then when puberty struck and everything about gender performance was Very Important, I just failed to connect with this “playing at grownups” version of it and found that the ideas underneath the performance didn’t really connect with anything I experienced either. I was aware of Two-Spirits at a young age, so didn’t feel any great angst over not fitting the binary. I already knew things could be more flexible than that. Because male is seen as the default, I’m quite often “sir”ed in public, despite being AFAB and not making any effort to hide my breasts. I assume it’s because what I’d consider a gender apathetic presentation is seen as male to a lot of people, anyway.
“And then the heterosexual white guy throws himself on the floor at that language supermarket check-out and throws a temper tantrum since he can’t have the n-word.”
Pity the poor straight white guys. They’re the real victims you know.
Dalillama, I agree with Gileill: that sucks! Any chance of throwing a (justified) tantrum and threatening to quit if this isn’t worked out? It sounds like at this point all your income is going to a health insurance you can’t use so there’s no point in working.
*hugs for Dalillama.
Fuck the USAian “health care “system””. Fuck it running. Fuck it sideways. Fuck it, in fact, anywhere a squirrel can go.
–
Dalillama:
I’m sorry, that is really awful of them. *hugs*
*
rq:
Pictures! Yes, please!
*
I hate having anxiety. I’m anxious about going out on Friday for a Valentine’s dinner with my husband. I’m anxious about the trip I’ll be going on next month. I’m anxious about seing friends this weekend. Fuck, I’m anxious about going to sleep. I really wish I could feel complete calm for just one waking moment. It would be the first of such moments in 15 years.
*hugs* for Mellow Monkey. I like reading you!
*moarhugs* for Parrowing. I know that feel. I feel guilty or anxious about almost everything Stupid lizard brains! Hopefully you can enjoy your date and other activities anyhow.
Dallilama,
That’s horrible. *hugs*
—-
Mellow Monkey,
*hugs*
Depression sucks.
Shit. Dalillama. That’s horrible. I don’t have anything constructive to add. Just a whole lot of sympathy.
I vote we throw today back, and try a do-over.
–
-…..and *hugs* for Parrowing
I think we’ll just need to leave a giant pile of hugs and cuddly puppies in the Lounge again.
cicely, I’m on board with that. Maybe can we order one that’s less windy so I can enjoy a walk?
Beatrice:
Speaking of puppies, I met my cousin’s new golden lab puppy yesterday. He’s a little doofus, it’s adorable. (They didn’t buy him, they got him from a friend of a friend who had bought the puppy for a girlfriend who then broke up with him.) Funny enough, the puppy literally went to live on farm in the country where he could be very happy. He managed to chew on his own harness in an adorable way. Hazel, their collie, is tolerating him like a champ.
I vote we throw today back, and try a do-over.
Sounds good to me. Is there a limit on how many do-overs we get per year?
dianne and MM: good term that, “gender apathetic”. My experience of gender mostly has been ‘what is everyone else making a big deal about and wtf is up with all these silly rules’.
dianne:
I don’t know, but let’s test it. And one of my e-mail accounts got hacked today, so I’m down with the redo.
Thanks for the hugses from everyone and the puppies from Beatrice. One of them is chewing on my shoe! O.o
Oh and thanks, Portia. There are things that can be done to lessen the anxiety, like not having to take the bus to a different city to go to a nice restaurant (which I don’t want to do because I’mscaredofbuses! and the buses home are either at 9:15 pm or 2:45 am :-/). That means we settle for a not as nice place but I know my husband feels bad doing that, because he feels like Valentine’s Day has to be special……
Dalillama: I’m not an expert on health insurance fuckery but you should have some legal recourse because of the nondisclosure. My first guess would be your state attorney general’s office.
I’m so sorry. Not sure if hugs nor outrage will do you any good but take plenty of both.
cicely,
I agree.
Bad Monday! Go sit in the corner until you learn how to behave yourself!
—
Portia,
Labrador puppies are adorable! I’m glad he lives on a farm. I don’t know a lot about dogs, but labs don’t seem like the kind of dog that should be kept in a small apartment and taken for a short walk (not run) once or twice a day.
“Gender apathetic” is a really good term. Describes how I feel most of the time — “what’s the point of doing/wearing all these specifically feminine things, when I find them boring/uncomfortable/inconvenient?”
And speaking of having been “sir”-ed… it’s happened to me a few times. While wearing a long skirt. And a somewhat revealing top. *facepalm*
MM
Hugs.
It’s the monkey brain, it lies.
Parrowing
You can come over and hide in my corner. If been putting off handing in copies for months because of…?
Every time I try to do it I get a massive “hide under the blanket” attack.
gender
Hmmm, I’m one of those people who always experienced gender as something that was inside of me and I hated, hated, hated being misgendered.
I was a wild kid, my hair didn’t really start to grow until I was 8 or 9 (there was an incident of lice. Even the lice said “no thanks”) and those were the 1980’s when children just wore clothes (I need to scan that picture my sister gave me for christmas: It must have been taken around christmas 1980, I guess, and it’s her, me and our male cousin.There isn’t a hint on gender on any of us) and I was constantly misgendered with a usual mixture of admiration (I was so strong for a girl) and disapproval (I wasn’t a real girl, I should have been a boy). But I never felt anything but a girl/woman. That’s why I hate the idea of “gender expression”*. As if a certain set of looks, colours, clothes, behaviours made you more or especially less of a gender.
*I still want it to be protected, of course.
^^ this. I’m still learning from the community here just how much folks value their gender identities and expressions, in spite of all the cultural crap loaded onto same, whether or not *I* have any clue what the deal is.
I have fought with statistics and might have a working program. Not the one I originally wanted, but progress.
I wish I could call it quits for the day right here.
Here is a *GIANT PILE OF HUGS AND PUPPIES* for everyone.
Dianne
Not really, unfortuantely. At present, I at least have enough to keep paying the rent, and if I quit, I wouldn’t even have that.
Mellow Monkey, Parrowing, others who need them
*hugs*
Pteryxx
I doubt it. The problem is that HR apparently doesn’t have access to my tax information/can’t give it to me because of confidentiality (I’m not sure which is the case, they were very confusing and neither option makes any sense at all to me), which means that I couldn’t calculate my paycheck with or without the insurance. There were some other missing bits of information, but it all seems to be perfectly legal. /bitterness
@gender
I’m pretty gender apathetic as well (good term, that). I’m AMAB, and I don’t have any problem with being male, but I don’t have any problem being identified as female, either. I’m not really sure what people mean when they say things like ” [I’ve] always experienced gender as something that was inside of me ” (from Gilliell, although L has said similar things); I accept that they are reporting their internal state, I just can’t really model that state in my own head very well.
*Ahem.*
I have significant differences!
Here are some celebratory *cake* and *beverages* for everyone.
I actually have no idea what these differences mean yet. So I’m going to go be excited and confused in a corner of the lab now.
*grumble*
So, I blew 2 hours today.
Went to the doctor for a scheduled appointment (to get my cysts cut off). Appointment was at 2 pm.
Arrive about 1:45. Check in, get paperwork. Fill out paperwork, return to receptionist.
Continue waiting.
At 2:45, nurse calls me. Checks my vitals, sends me back out to waiting room.
At 3:00, nurse (different nurse) calls me, sticks me in exam room.
Continue waiting.
At 3:15, nurse (still different nurse) comes in, looking for something supposedly stored in that exam room. I ask where the doctor is. Seems that there are 2 more people ahead of me, but the doctor will be by “soon.” I protest (gotta go back to work). Nurse looks startled by this, says to hold on a sec.
Hear nurse exclaiming in hall that the patient in room [x] says she has to go back to work!!!!11one
Get irritated.
Nurse (still still different nurse) appears. Introduces herself as the NP. Says that this is pre-surgical consult, yes? If I show her the cyst, she will sign the paperwork and get the excision scheduled. Five minutes pass, am given paperwork.
Go back out to lobby to check out and schedule excision. Receptionist does so, commenting offhandedly that yeah, they’re really backed up and have been all day, because of clusterfuck that went down at 9 am.
Mention gently that maybe that would have been relevant news an hour and a half previously? Receptionist appears astonished by this idea.
Jesus tapdancing Christ.
At least I have a procedure date!
Can anyone explain why there’s a function on my car that allows me to take the key out and leave the power on? And why the universe chose to combine that with a car port that buries the nose of my car so the battery is all but unreachable by jumper cables?
*grumble grumble* When we gettin’ that do-over?
Dalillama
It seems to be something very fluent. With all shades of grey and green and in between. Those two boxes of male and female seem to be a very bad idea
Pteryxx
I think that most people try to navigate their identities within the current gender-salient context. Of course cis-people have a huge privilege that we can get away with a lot more than trans* people, although we all know how eager people are to put us back into our little boxes.
So, in a world where a pink skirt is a shortcut for saying “I’m female” it is reasonable that people use it as such to express their gender.
Only that I hate it. In Giliell Utopia people get handed their bag and then there’s the big pick and mix and nobody gives a fuck if you only want red jelly-beans or only peppermint humbugs or cristalized ginger or a mixture of everything and that the end-result is simply you.
Arguably. I’ll get back to you on this in more detail.
I’m pretty well gender apathetic or possibly antagonistic. I think it doesn’t matter and I hate the idea that it should. I do get the idea of sex, as in physical body structure, so trans involves a distressing mismatch of the mental map to the body. I did have a very odd experience last year when I had an ultrasound to check out a uterine fibroid. My main reaction was not “eeep, tumour” but “wtf am I doing with a uterus? I’m not supposed to have one of them!” Though I am perfectly fine with having breasts & vagina, so what was that even about?
Dalillama
I suspect that internal experience of gender is often more pronounced when the external cultural ideas about gender don’t match it, too. Someone who is cis just isn’t going to have to think about it much.
For a brief time, I identified as a man, because I so clearly didn’t relate to a feminine identity. But, I found I didn’t really relate to a masculine identity either. Sometimes I feel more “male” and sometimes more “female”, but it’s usually tied more closely into how I feel about my body itself than actually performing cultural ideas about gender. In contrast, my partner has always felt male, even if he doesn’t fit many ideas about traditional masculinity.
I relate to this very much, with the appropriate substitutions. Ever since I was a kid, I always took “Girls do X, boys do Y.” as a challenge, for the most part. But I never felt anything but female.
Dalillama: um, SOMEbody has to have access to your tax information, payroll if not HR, because the company’s legally liable for withholding the taxes, writing your checks, and reporting all this to the IRS, as far as I know? Something just doesn’t make sense here. I hope you get a chance to follow up.
—
re gender…I still don’t feel either masculine or feminine, and never have, but I dislike having to check a box or being ascribed a gender by others. Internet’s awesome that way, except that not caring about gender itself is gendered as masculine. It’s kind of strange to have to fiercely defend a gender identity of “meh”.
Interesting; it seems like I’ve encountered the opposite: that being OBSESSED with one’s maleness and masculinity was a defining trait of it. Not caring about gender and similar concepts seem to mostly be dismissed as “cis privilege talking.” :/
Actually, what I feel most like is ME. Female is part of that. And the toolbox is me, and the sewing machine is me. I had more problems coming to term with the “femininine” traits of mine (like the sewing and the cooking) than with the masculininine ones. Cue internalized misogyny…
Thank you, Dalillama and Giliell.
I am right there with you, Giliell. There are some things that I just don’t know why I’m so scared of doing, but I am. I hate having to try to explain it to people who don’t experience anxiety in the same way… I have a very specific hierarchy of needs when it comes to finding a place to sit in a classroom, theatre, etc. that won’t trigger a panic attack. I hated when teachers would guilt students into moving closer to the front. It was only within the last year or so that I realized I could say no, but I still feel a need to explain why I’m saying no.
lawl, and Lee just assigned me male. Ew.
Azkyroth: IMHO and in my experience, macho posturing goes with maleness, but simply saying nothing about gender also gets read as masculine more or less by default. That’s because in a relaxed environment of merely background sexism, there’s an assumption that only women would bother using inclusive pronouns, for instance, or suggest that a slate of characters should be more diverse. (A lot depends on what part of the internet… I’m mostly drawing from experience with the less-assholish strains of gamers. Also it’s changing hella fast.)
Parrowing
This.
It’s so frustrating. I’m trying to explain it to Mr., and he tries to understand but if I say “and then I just want to hide and not think about it” I can see the question “why don’t you just get it done” hover over his head. He’s smart enough not to ask it.
+++
Now, off to bed.
Good night
Dalillama
All I can offer are some *hugs*. Will that do for now?
+++
Also feeling gender neutral for the most part, though with a heavy leaning some days towards the female, but mostly I don’t care how people see me; I have things to do, and I shall get them done.
+++
Photos. Welcome to Conifer Lane! Click through for views of the outside. Indoor views when the (un)packing becomes something more organized.
*hugs* to all the anxious, depressed, and pissed off, if wanted. Replace with *scritches* and/or various drinks, as preferred.
I’m for to bed. Good night!
Gilliell
Pretty much this. The way I usually frame it is that I only care marginally at most about my gender, I really can’t see why I’m supposed to get so damn upset about other people’s gender. I don’t really have many of the supposedly ‘masculine’ behaviors, but I never really coded that in my head as being gender transgressive per se, just not normative. My thought process was something along the lines of ‘I’m male, so everyone says, I do these things, therefore these things fall into the category of male behavior. QED, right?’ At the time I really had very limited conception of concepts like trans*, institutionalized sexism, etc, and didn’t realize the potential problems with that syllogism, but that was my thought process as best I can reconstruct.
Pteryxx @729
This had also been my experience, which is why I generally don’t bring up the ‘not really ‘feeling’ my gender’ thing in discussions of trans* issues very often. I am concerned that it will come across as just being my cis amle privilege, and intent not magic etc. Besides, it’s never really been a problem for me ( I get to be defaulted to as male most of the time in social interactions, so I default to that identity for convenience, but I don’t really think of it as ‘who I am.’ I’m not bothered by people identifying me as female, or for that matter by the concept of being female-bodied. (This is something I’ve seen come up a few times in discussions of trans* issues, when a trans* individual will ask e.g. a cis man to imaging how he would feel if he woke up tomorrow and found that he had breasts and a vagina instead of a penis. This is meant to convey how unpleasant that sense of dysphoria is, and allow the cis party to empathize with a desire to transition, but it never worked on me. That is to say, of course I support the rights of trans* people to get their needs met, but the idea of being female bodied instead of my current setup just doesn’t seem that significant to me. Once again, I am fully aware that others are different, and do not wish to marginalize or exclude their experiences.
Gender apathetic? Yeah, pretty much. It’s something I only get to try out online, since my body type is such that I haven’t been assumed male since puberty, including during my shorn-head punk-rock phase. (My celebrity look-alike: the Venus of Willendorf.) It doesn’t bother me to be thought of as a lady-person; I feel no need to do any sort of transition in meatspace. I dislike being assigned a gender by others online because of the political implications usually present (when I’m being competent, you assume I’m male, when you’re upset with me you assume I’m female, your sexism is showing Sparky); but my other personas are explicitly genderless. (ie when I’m not going by Nepenthe I ask people to use gender-neutral pronouns kthnx; I only am female under this ‘nym because it’s my feminist persona)
TL;DR: I’m a special snowflake.
Can I make a slight diversion from the discussion – as Pharyngula is the only place that I know of that I could raise the following – and I am really, really freaking angry about it.
I, and a number of my colleagues and students (bearing in mind that we are in the UK with UK identifiable mail accounts) got spammed/emailed on Sunday and it was wierd enough to be a topic of discussion across both staff and the groups I saw today.
It was about US gun control, and started with the line
“Overwhelming evidence has surfaced to prove that Sandy Hooks is a hoax.”
I am not going to pollute this thread with the rest of it – for a start it is quite longand is equal parts NRA propaganda, ‘ dog given rights’ stupidity and conspiracy theory, but… wtf! Some of the students (16/17yos) were upset to think that the survivors or victims families could see this sort of thing – the degree students were angry and dismissive, and a bit creeped out that they had been sent something like this and have reported it to their providers.
Are you folks across the pond getting this sort of trash too? How dare anyone use these deaths to try and defend the indefensible??
The only good thing about it was that it was a distraction from everything else.
Sorry all – just needed to vent.
eclipsse, yeah, I’ve seen some of the conspiracy theories about the shooting. I’ve also seen the video of a father of one of the slain children being heckled. He held his own, but I imagine that was even more visceral than seeing an email. People are just awful.
eclipsse
Yeah, that’s a thing in the States right now. Can anyone who’s lived both in and out of the U.S. help me with this? It seems to me that American culture is completely riddled with conspiracy theories of every outlandish and absurd stripe, to a much greater extent than elsewhere, but this may just be my parochialism talking.
Thanks for the pictures, rq… the last one was such a mindtrip. Everything converged in such a way as to remind me heavily of one of my IRL friends. Now I’m afraid I’m going to imagine you as similar looking to her as opposed to my previously fuzzy and nondescript imagined image. Anyway, that’s neither here nor there. Yay for the house! Yay for the pictures! It looks like a really awesome place to live :)
*
Ugh, that sucks, Giliell. Luckily, my husband is very understanding and does what he can to alleviate my anxiety. My mother, on the other hand… no such luck. She is very much a “just do it and stop complaining” person.
Thanks folks. Just spent 20 mins joining the geek-out on the ‘Shatner/redditt thread and now am capable of slightly more rational thought.
Mellowmonkey: that horrifies me. And makes me angry. How can anyone even consider saying that to a grieving parent…
There are times when I am ashamed to be a member of the species Homo sapiens. Isn’t one translation of sapiens ‘intelligent’? Gah.
Maybe this will brighten your day, eclipsse
http://www.theonion.com/articles/resigning-pope-no-longer-has-strength-to-lead-chur,31248/
And yes, that conspiracy theory is particularly grating to me, too. It’s astonishing to me that anyone can give it a second serious thought, much less people I love and respect.
====
My darling uncle came and jumped my car. I gave him a loaf of bread, because yesterday he mentioned how good the bread I brought to the party was last week. Flattery will get you somewhere after all, ha.
Farming arrived in Europe with migrants, isotopic data show http://phys.org/news/2013-02-farming-europe-migrants-isotopic.html
.
Computerized ‘Rosetta Stone’ reconstructs ancient languages http://phys.org/news/2013-02-computerized-rosetta-stone-reconstructs-ancient.html
.
The perpetuum mobile is known as “the buttered cat array”. I read about it in New Scientist.
*shouts down the empty hallway*
Helloooooo-oooo-ooooooo?
Anybod hoooooome?
*echo*
*echo*
*echo*
@Portia – yes it does, though the Tim Minchin song says it more… pithily.
@birgerjohansson – the buttered cat array does not function as expected – cats like butter and are flexible enough to remove it, thus removing a key element of the array. To add insult to injury, having removed that key element, they just sit somewhere and look really smug about it. No respect for scientific endeavour.
Howdy hello good evening!
I have a giant roasting pan/small oven situation. I’m already plotting Thanksgiving dinner, you see. Dinner for 10-12 people. I was thinking about renting a second oven, but ovens come with that giant plug and I don’t have any place to plug in a second oven. My roasting pan leaves no room for anything else in the oven. Now I’m thinking I will be forced to deep-fry the turkey.
In the meantime, I’m roasting a chicken. The whole house smells yummy!
Mmmm that sounds delicious, Joe. Enough to make me get off my butt and make some tacos for supper. Maybe you could get creative? Plug the oven in elsewhere besides the kitchen?
rq – I love the house! =^_^=
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Great big granny-hugs to all having a Horrible Monday™*
Almost half-way through Tuesday here. It does get better.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stuck at home awaiting the delivery of a sewing machine for Number 4 Son. It’s his and his twin’s 20th birthday today. As of today, I currently have no teenaged descendants! It’ll be another 19 months before Number 1 Grandson turns 13.
The twins had their party on Saturday. Yay for geeks/nerds and a park-next-door! Following a late ‘Morning Tea’ at Adore Tea, they (about two dozen young people of all genders and orientations) collected at our place and had a picnic afternoon party with water games, foam weaponry, swings, climbing-frames and pizza-eating; they followed that with an evening of assorted computer games/anime-watching. No booze, smoking or other shenanigans. At about 3pm a friend took me out for a coffee “to escape” and then hubby and I went out to a Chinese New Year party. When we got back shortly before midnight, the guests had left, all the resident young men had gone to bed and the house was neat and tidy*. >Ô.ô<
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Blech to the 'commenting' thread which took hours to wade through; hooray for the William Shatner thread!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Oh, all right: I found a few crips crumbs and two lolly-sticks that hadn't been properly binned and were on the floor. All the empty soda bottles/pizza boxes were in the recycling bin, along with the used picnic plates and tumblers and all other rubbish was in the rubbish bin.
I made bean tacos tonight and lost a bean down my shirt. I have no idea where it went, but I’ll probably find it mysteriously squished somewhere embarrassing now. Sigh. Messy food, why do you have to taste so good?
Now I’m trying to mellow out with some Peter Tosh. At least my evening is looking up now!
Hmmmm… Portia, that’s a good idea. Maybe there’s another high voltage outlet in the garage?
*gets up to look*
No, but there is one outside. Weird. I’ve seen some horrible things with fried turkeys, explosions and fires and such, so I’m hesitant to go that route. I’m considering learning how to make everything in a slow cooker, since I’ve seen some triple-crock slow cookers for pretty cheap, and that would free up the oven for the turkey… and free me up to enjoy the day rather than spending the whole time cooking.
Child 2 has finally succumbed to the lure of My Little Pony. Woke up early the other day, binged on several episodes before anyone else woke up. Child 1 was kind enough to tell him that there are a lot of bronies at the high school who are cool guys, so child 2 now says he can watch it at home without embarrassment. :)
Improbable Joe, you can cook a turkey on the grill. The bird is heated from below (rather than from all around as in a convection oven) so the breast meat (assuming breast vertical) cooks more slowly than the legs/thighs, if that is a concern to you, vis-a-vis drying out. I brine, so it is not a concern to me.
Note: a 22-pound bird is too large for a standard sized Weber, as I learned this Thanksgiving (yes, yes, one can adapt, which doesn’t have to involve burning your hand). We usually cook a big bird* because we and our guests generally like lots of dark meat. 22 pounds is big enough so that everybody gets as much dark meat as they want. And there’s still about 3 pounds of white meat left in the freezer.
Had I followed my own advice, which I am about to give, I would have roasted two chickens at once in the Weber to get a feel for it; things worked out OK at any rate.
*(though not a Big Bird
Shitfuckdamn, I clicked submit rather than preview. I was going to go on about piling the coals to either side of the bird, and using a big aluminum “roasting pan” to keep the piles separate. I used my oven roasting pan to catch the juices (Awkward in my case since bird+roasting pan didn’t fit on the grill itself. I had to put the pan below the grill and the bird directly on it). This resulted in some shifting around during cooking such that some of the juices leaked out and what was left in the pan also got kind of burnt. Not quite a gravy disaster, but next time I’ll either do a smaller bird or use a larger device*.
You will, no doubt, if interested, do exactly what I did, and research all of this on the global electrical library thingie, and then do things as you see best.
*I believe I hear the Rev. recommending a Green Egg grill. Yes, all the way from Charleston to Baltimore; the acoustics must be quite good tonight.
I have done several breasts in a slow cooker for thanksgiving. It worked.
Final note: 22 pounds is enough dark meat for 17 dark meat lovers, most of whom are also geezers who don’t really stuff themselves anyway. Your kilometerage may vary.
@ Dallilama regarding Insurance:
______
Woohoo, something I may be able to help you with. Okay, so here goes.
______
Quick summary of how this usually works: employee pays employer for insurance; employer buys insurance through broker, broker buys insurance from actual insurance company.
______
I don’t know all of the details, but it sounds like you can only change your insurance at open enrollment (which I am assuming was Jan 1). That’s normal for employer-sponsored plans in the US. What is strange is that they told you that you it would be taxed as income. The reason that you have to wait for open enrollment is because the deductions are pre-tax. That’s a federal rule per the IRS required of employers that provide qualified cafeteria plans (benefit plans). They have to follow the open enrollment plan BECAUSE they are pre-tax. That part is weird, and I would be interested to see the plan document. If you are able, ask to get contact information from your HR department from the plan broker directly. Most of them are willing to provide info if the employer doesn’t really know what they are doing.
______
On to what to try to do. If it is a qualified cafeteria plan, you CAN change it outside of open enrollment if you undergo a “qualifying event.” Qualifying events are things like getting married, registering domestic partners, having or adopting a child, or (important for you) obtaining other coverage. If you are looking to get your partner off of your work coverage outside of open enrollment, shop for a personal medical plan, get your partner enrolled in that plan, then cancel your work insurance because you have had a qualifying event. You/your partner are now enrolled somewhere else, thanks much, I/we are cancelling.
______
The trick to this obviously is to find other coverage that is cheaper. Unfortunately with that, the only thing to do is tailor your plan to what you think you can live with. For example, if you aren’t planning to have children, you might want to forego maternity coverage. If you can live with a deductible, look at those plans. That sort of smart shopper thing.
______
This would also be the same if your partner became eligible for their employer’s (as opposed to your employer’s) heath plan. Say they get promoted to full time, the plan at their employer is cheaper, they sign up on new employer, you drop them from your employer because of a qualifying event.
______
Regardless of what you decide to do, my advice would be to request a meeting or a call with the plan broker to determine what constitutes a qualifying event under the cafeteria plan. Under what conditions may you alter coverage? Request a plan document from your HR department. With Health Care Reform, employers are required to provide them.
______
I really hope some of this helps. This advice is more California-specific because that’s where I am, but most of the rules are federal so that shouldn’t matter too much. Post any other questions you may have, and I’ll be happy to see what I can find.
Cannabinaceae, I…ummm… don’t own a grill. CURSES!!
I brine too, mostly. And there’s a lot of options including electric roasters, and I’ll probably use a combination of something for the turkey, plus slow cookers for the sides, and then the oven for bread and pie.
…and tentative good mood gone. The TB test my partner had to take for a new job came back positive.
Holy crap, Mellow Monkey! I hope xe’s okay!
Damn Mellow Monkey, that’s bad news!
It’s a good thing I like cumin, because I dumped a lot on these tacos.
Mellow Monkey, are they going to retest? False positives are not unknown. I hope your partner, and you, will be okay.
Oh no, Mellow Monkey. I hope it’s not active and just a false positive (from the vaccination, maybe?). Or partner’s results have been mixed up with someone else’s.
In either case, I hope it works out well.
Hey all, just dropping a note on all the geek-friendly forums I frequent: My gaming buddy Jim finished “Misfit Heights,” an independent puppet/zombie horror/musical film, a few years back. Right now, he’s trying to get it into distribution, so if you like zombie flicks and you’ve got some cash to spare, please contribute to his new Kickstarter:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/unfetteredent/misfit-heights
If you’re unable to pledge, the please let others who might be interested know. Jim put a lot of hard work and effort into this and it be great if he can finally get his movie out to the general public.
IJoe, you don’t have a grill… I… But you … House, dog… *faints*
Ok, I’m fine now. How much is it to rent an oven? If it’s even close to $100, you can get a decent kettle style grill or one of those r2d2 smokers for about that, I think. Plus you get to keep it, and it won’t need the socket for your dryer (if you have one, which you may not in the desert). With some minor mods, those r2d2 smokers are pretty darn good (let me know if you want the mod info).
Mellow Monkey, do you have any reason to suspect exposure? I have to get tested often, as does my boss, and the tests themselves can sensitize you enough that you can come up positive. My boss probably would have come up positive if she had another test, but I get this research cruise, so she gets an extra year off. Usually, it just means they have to go to an x-ray as the second test. I hope that’s all it is and partner is OK.
morgan, Tigger_the_Wing: He’s getting a chest X-ray and retested. He hasn’t had any symptoms, so if it’s not a false positive, it’s most likely latent. There’s treatment for that to ensure it doesn’t become active.
So, hopefully it’s no big deal.
Anybody else seen that KY jelly ad that says “This Valentine’s Day, give him what he really wants.”
…for feck’s sake, I am not a thing to be given. Sex is a mutual activity to be engaged in together. (Redundant indignation is redundant.)
Denverly
Thank you.
My insurance isn’t, but having L on the plan is treated as equivalent to additional income; this is the way it works for all employees here; I have a friend who’s on the same plan with his partner, and they’re taxed on that as additional income too. If it was just me, it wouldn’t be taxed.
If we could afford such a plan we would have one already; we can’t and we don’t.
L is not employed and his health issues preclude regular employment. He’s been trying to get SSI/Medicaid for 5 years now, without any luck.
You listed them above. None apply.
Not really, but I appreciate the effort. All it does is tell me that I am, in fact, as screwed as I thought I was.
MM
Shit, that’s no good. Hopefully it’s a false positive.
MikeG, no reason to suspect it, but it’s not entirely outside the realm of possibility. He interacts with a lot of people through the college and the animals, so there’s no telling with whom he’s come in contact. I think this is his first test in years.
Portia
Aww, you’re welcome! Also, that keychain is AWESOME.
The Mellow Monkey
This is good to hear! Sometimes you just have to slam on the brakes.
Also, ‘Misbehaving Baby Dispenser’ = best worst band name ever.
Esteleth and also Portia again
Very interesting.
Esteleth, more recently
Argh. What a drag!
Beatrice
Hehe! Whatever works!
WMDKitty
Love the bit about the Baker scarf.
Katherine Lorraine
Aww, that is so sweet! Congrats to your grandmother and new stepgrandfather!
Also, I agree with Portia when it comes to the gendery things.
(everyone in the ‘blah’ corner)
Hi! Hang in there!
Dalillama
Ugh! I’m so sorry!
Alethea
Nifty! Not sure what to make of that, but…well…nifty!
Giliell
I love this.
I’ve been disturbed lately by how some great gender-neutral toys have been ultrafeminising themselves. Like LEGO. I’ve seen worse than their new girly ‘LEGO Friends’ line, but still…ugh. I hate seeing targeted marketing and other things that try to tell little kids how to be a good example of a boy or a girl.
Very interesting. But is it really misogyny, or just an understandable aversion to traditional gender-roles? (Fine line there, I realise.)
(a few people)
I had a gender-apathetic phase in my mid-teens. AFAB and these days I’m comfortable identifying as female, but it wasn’t always that way; I reacted very negatively to watching my female classmates turn into teenagers, and wasn’t sure I wanted to be a girl if it meant having to be as fickle and shallow as most of them kept striking me as being for quite some time. (Some of them were harmless and some of them weren’t, but none of them were talking about anything I found interesting!)
More recently I decided I felt female, but was going to be female on my own terms, not Western society’s. For instance, I do like skirts and dresses and the occasional shiny accessory. I also like sewing and knitting. But I don’t do makeup, nail-polish, high-heeled shoes, or piercings. No thanks. And I love mathematics and computer programming. This was all true of me at the age of 10. It’s also all true of me at the age of 25. I feel pretty fortunate that my identity made it through to adulthood pretty much intact.
Pteryxx
This is fascinating. I totally understand the sentiment, though. If ‘meh’ is what really works for you, then by all means go out and fiercely defend it!
(Asexuals have a similar problem: dealing with the vast numbers of sexuals going, ‘How could you just not be into that?’)
Nutmeg
Yay!
Also, I’m really good at not refreshing the page before posting.
Mellow Monkey again
Yikes. Yeah, get partner a retest and see how it goes. Either way, sorry for the scare!
The Mellow Monkey, in that case, tentacles crossed for a simple false positive, via hyperactive histamines, previous tests, or whatever else – and a clear x-ray.
What the fuck
??????
…There’s a shortage, because no-one foresaw a rise in demand, so they haven’t any spare capacity. I get that; it happens. Nothing to do but make a wry grin and try not to think about all the potential profits not being made.
But, but, but…
…They are going to dilute their product to make it go further?????
…Does. Not. Compute.
It’s just so wrong.
*hugs* for Esteleth.
So you just wasted an entire afternoon on a “pre-surgical consult” that was supposed to be a removal? Sucks.
–
rq: Looks very nice. But sooo cooooooold….
–
1) Yes.
2) Because it looks like a fear-lever, and they can use that.
I apologize that our USAian politics are so full of shit that it slops over. And that you took some of the splash damage.
–
Well, you see, when it is considered perfectly acceptible for a news reporter to stick a microphone in a grieving parent’s face and ask, “So, Mr. Jones—can you tell our viewers just how you feel about finding your entire family chainsaw-murdered in your living room”, well…you just haven’t got much further to sink.
Mind you, I think that my response would be something along the lines of, “Well, Jim, I feel that I’m going to ram that microphone up your callous, heartless, inhumane ass right here on live TV“.
–
iJoe: That’s some impressive forward planning you got, there!
:)
–
And so, the Equine Evil plants another hoofprint in the mind of yet another innocent young victim.
–
:(
–
I had a coworker inform me that she’s an atheist yesterday (actually, one of the other managers). I was telling her about FtB (as well as the current pushback against A+) and how enjoyable I find it.
Does anyone have any ideas what would be a good “dipping the toe in” post? Obviously, I enjoy PZ’s blog (having come to be pretty much the only blog I follow, but that’s largely a time issue, what with having to venture elsewhere to get online), but it need not specifically be from here.
to respond to 12-hour-old questions before catch-up:
Kitty #651
yeah
“fucking nice day” makes more sense.
Expect a similar sentiment tomorrow at the same time.
Oggie #652
cicely #658
I’m fine.
It’s just that I have a two-month 9-to-5 contract with the gummint.
*whimper*
—-
Now catch-up.
Tony: intro to atheism, intro to becoming an atheist, or intro to FTB/A+ style social justice?
My knee-jerk response *without* knowing any of that is to recommend Greta Christina’s “Why I have hope” post. It’s not really about atheism per se, but it’s a great introduction.
http://freethoughtblogs.com/greta/2012/06/21/why-i-have-hope/
*hugs* to poor chigau. Everyone around here had a blah day in your honor?
Esteleth
I missed your story earlier about the doctor’s office. What utter horseshit!
Damn you mobile site!!!!
*fistshake
I have discovered I can knit and read at the same time. My unfocused, must-multitask brain may finally be able to read for more than a paragraph at a time!
I was right. Pineapple lasagna is really good :D
Thanks, Portia.
I don’t think the blah was my doing.
something about axial tilt and/or magnetic shift
—-
why don’t we use “or/and”?
—-
Hugs and cheap red wine for all in need.
Portia
How do you knit and read at the same time?
The only time I tried, I held the book in my toes, which resulted in horrible foot cramps.
chigau
Because “and/or” is in alphabetical order, and looks better that way.
</OCD>
chigau
I’ll investigate this axial shift you speak of…I think everyone maybe just had a case of the Mondays (womp womp)
Reading while knitting: I have to read pdfs at the moment, so I just prop my laptop up. No cramping :)
Good night all! I have to go to
churchRotary bright and early. : p*slings back a glass of chigau’s red wine*
Ok, now it’s time for bed.
Because modifiers go in front in English; andor, like xor, is a type of or.
Esteleth, you are so right. Guyland is profoundly depressing.
X-posted
ॐ
I like your explanation.
Especially the Venn diagrams.
Venn diagrams rule!
Pteryxx:
I should have clarified that. Oops.
I haven’t had the opportunity to discuss much with her, but after a discussion about chiropractic, in which I expressed my views on the destructive power of woo and the value I find in freethinking, she paused to ask me if I believed in god. My thinking is something related to atheism obviously, but with a dose of social justice too.
Random question: are all the MRA trolls who comment here on PST time? Seriously, I should go to bed, but …. Horde : lee coye :: cat : ragged piece of string.
Not a great analogy, but hopefully the point comes across. :)
I find they enhance truthiness.
Azkyroth: Pineapple lasagna?! Sounds awesome. I had never heard of it, so I googled it. Did you use this recipe from Epicurious, or a different recipe?
Sunday Sacrilege is usually good.
Beatrice:
Similar to the discussion a short time ago about watching a movie together, when I read your comment, I thought it would be cool if a few of us watched X-Files (or any other show, really) and shared thoughts, comments or what have you. Of course, then I remembered that me and spare time don’t get together very often any longer
****
Giliell:
Hold on, lemme think…uh, NO.
I wouldn’t send him to his worst enemy.
I certainly wouldn’t send him to someone I *like* :)
****
Katherine:
Any word yet on your cat?
I feel your pain.
I had a cat several years ago that had some health problems and I invested a good chunk of money trying to save her life (in one of those emergency vet clinics that charge a *lot* on weekends) only to have to put her down (kidney failure).
I hope your furry feline companion will be ok :)
****
Portia:
I had it for a while, but decided that I-being prim, pure, and proper-just cannot do snark, so I graciously passed it on to a far more worthy recipient.
/snark
****
WOULD YOU PEOPLE STOP WASTING BREAD WITH JAM.
That is all.
****
Dalillma @690:
Damn, I’m sorry to hear that my friend.
****
Mellow Monkey:
Please do not listen to your depression.
You are not worthless.
****
For all those feeling blah and down:
You are awesome.
****
If we’re on the verge of another gender discussion, I am *so* not getting any sleep. Already, what I’ve read has been quite illuminating.
****
rq:
*Love* the house.
But seriously, what is with all that white stuff everywhere?
****
Dalillama:
Could some of the outlandish conspiracy theories be explained by the Just World Fallacy?
****
Portia:
‘Tis not a Mulligan Monday.
It’s just another manic Monday.
****
IJoe:
If you need a guinea pig for your cooking, the USB food transport system is primed, ready and aimed straight at Pensacola, Florida :)
****
Speaking of Pensacola, I thought I’d share some images of the area I work at. It’s along the beach:
http://www.pensacolacelebritychefs.com/blogspot/boardwalk_00.jpg
Rey Fox:
That’s one I am unfamiliar with.
oops. Screwed that up.
That’s just *one* image.
No, I put layers of homemade tomato-mushroom sauce, crushed pineapple, and cottage cheese, and lasagna noodles (in reverse order), inspired by pineapple-topped pizzas. I wish I’d gone with chunk pineapple; other than that it’s good. (Is it possible to get canned pizza-topping-size pieces of pineapple?)
I need sleep, so I’ll gender discuss later. >.>
Tony
In an inverse sort of way, I suppose. The world is a just place where everyone gets what they deserve–%gt; I’m not getting what I feel I deserve –%gt; Someone is stopping me from getting what I deserve–%gt; CONSPIRACY!!!!!! I really think it has more to do with magical thinking and attribution of agency, i.e. religious thinking. Basically, the people who push conspiracy theories appear to be completely unable to grasp the idea of systemic causality, and thus attribute absolutely everything that happens to some direct cause by some agent. Those things that have no obvious agent causing them must have a hidden agent causing them. If it’s perceived as a good thing, that agent is god or similar, if it’s perceived as a bad thing, it’s a conspiracy.
Whoops, tpyos and preview fail. Those are meant to be –>
I do like the idea of pineapple lasagne; it just so happens that I have a can of pineapple chunks in the cupboard and it will be a matter of mere moments to empty it into a bowl, get out the kitchen scissors, and cut the chunks down to size. Snip, snip, snip!
There’s always pasta sauce, cheese and assorted cooked veggies in the fridge.
And the menfolk have gone out to the cinema for the evening (it’s the twins’ 20th birthday, and hubby is taking them and Lodger to see some Tarantino movie. YEUCH!) so I have the house to myself and can eat whatever I want!!! =^_^=
Let’s get cracking!
The next time I think “hey, you know what would make a nice romantic Valentine’s Day gift? Two giant audio editing projects rushed out the door in like 2-3 weeks!”, could one of you fine folks slap some sense back into me?
I don’t think I’ve stolen away more than an hour of free time for myself in who knows how long. On the plus side, one of the projects is done for now and the other will only be a little late… hopefully.
would any of you folks be interested in hearing about the rather bizarre experience I just had at the bar? Nah, probably not
Good morning!
Mellow Monkey,
Wishing good results for your partner after the retesting!
Tony,
You’re welcome to write about it. I can’t guarantee that I’ll be able to comment until later, but you know no one minds when you write about people you encounter. It’s always interesting.
*Looks up from nomming deeeeelicious lasagne*
Yes please, Tony! Especially as it will probably prevent me relating the weird fever-dream I had this afternoon…
Good morning
Kids, WTF?
So, they conspired that I wouldn’t get sleep last night. It started at around 2:30 with the little one coming over to complain that her Rattie had vanished. Get up, find rattie under blanket.
One hour later, same kid, very cheerful “Mummyyyyyyyyyyyyy” Tell kid she can stay in her dad’s bed if she’s quiet. Another hour later, kid #1, probably woken by the sudden lack of snoring, comes over, too. Tell her that she can share with her sister. Another hour later, #1 gets cold feet and decides to sneak under my blanket because it’s nicely warm there. But at least she got up on time and got dressed, as opposed to the little one…
MM
I had a positive TB and strange ling x-rays as a kid, too, but it turned out to be OK. It was strictly monitored. I mentioned it some time ago when talking about needlephobia.
Inthemonlight
I think it’s both. Aversion to traditionally female stuff is often underlined by the idea that those things are inferior to the guy things and that you’re a cool girl and not one of those silly chicks.
Tony
I heard he’s going to retire to a monastry. I think they still haven’t figured out whether he’s still a citizen or not…
Just to make my day complete, I went to leave work and found I had a flat.
ॐ,
It’s possibly coincidental that the logical connective order of precedence matches common idiom.
John Morales
Can you translate that wiki page into plain english, please? It made less than zero sense to me.
Mild sex talk ahead…
So I am at the bar having a drink and catching up on some of the threads here. In walks a woman who asks the bartender for a hand grenade (it is a drink). He has no clue. I wasn’t trying to pay attention, but I have developed good hearing around a bar, so I decided to look it up (grain alcohol, vodka, gin, rum and melon liquor…not my cuppa). The bartender makes the drink and the woman enjoys it. She inquires about my nationality (a frequent question I get) quite insistently (I realized she was drunk at this point, but a pleasant drunk). After telling her, I get the girlfriend question, to which I answered dryly “I suck dick”, which caused her to giggle. Then she proceeded to talk about how sexy I am. I have mentioned before about my self esteem. It passes muster…barely. I had to make myself not dismiss her compliment and say thank you instead. Then I get the GF question again, followed by my marital status, to which I told her I cannot marry in Florida (it is at this point she mentions she has had a GF for 15 years). Then she asks if I have a BF, to which I said no. The climax came when she started talking about how good I must be in bed, taking control. My response
“I like to get fucked”
After she laughed a bit, her response:
“If I were a man, I’d bend you over this bar and have my way with you”
I actually had to say I was without words.
WMDKitty, it’s somewhat analogous to precedence in arithmetic operators.
Lemmesee… There’s only one unary operator ¬ (negation), which has the highest precedence; the others are binary, where you can think of ∧ as equivalent in precedence to × and ÷, and finally ∨ as equivalent to + and –.
(Um, perhaps that was less than pellucid English)
*blinks*
*cocks head to side*
You broke my brain.
Tony,
That was bizarre.
John Morales,
I get what you meant. :)
WMDKitty,
When you have sum and multiplication, multiplication takes precedence (as in 5+6*5 = 5+30).
Similarly, when you have a logical statement ¬A∨B then that is (¬A)∨B. So the unary ¬ is applied to A and then ∨ to ¬A and B.
I still don’t get it. Then again, it’s 2:00 am, I’m stoned, and I really ought to be going to bed. Except I won’t, because distractions, and I’ll look up and it’ll be, like, 6:00 am.
Tony
That was bizarre and pretty creepy IMO.
But I think it shows again the difference between women being inappropriate towards men and men towards women: After the first few exchanges my thoughts would have been “how the fuck do I get out of here and make it home safe”?
WMDKitty,
I never tried marijuana. I always wanted to, but I don’t know where to obtain it or anyone I can get stoned with.
—
Giliell,
Those were my thoughts too.
Creepy, Tony. :/
… And now for Tigger‘s fever dream…?
+++
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention – all that white stuff surrounding the house? That’s fairy dust. The Kind Horses sprinkled some around to create a feeling of Magic and woo-ness.
Portia, just a quick note – our electromagnetic pulses are currently measured by our cat, who is still in survey mode. But I’ll let you know what the results are, once he stops being nervous and excited all at the same time. (He’s a jumpy one, at the moment, he is, yet he can’t resist the lure of cardboard box…!!!
+++
Mellow Monkey
Sorry about the TB results. I hope it’s a false positive, good luck!!!
+++
Thanks again for the gender discussion. Learning all the time.
See, I can’t tell whether Tony’s anecdote is creepy or not… I just can’t use neural mirroring for that, I have to try to nut it out all Vulcan-like.
My cogitations tend towards judging it not creepy (rather, robust banter); also, I interpret Tony as being bemused more than anything.
(I’m ready to stand corrected, and I shan’t argue about it, either)
Tony,
Please
tell meconfirm that was deliberate linguistic playfulness!John Morales
It is playful banter. Of the kind that women get quite often when going to a bar, when trying to reject being hit on in a more subtle way (because Go away is impolite, yeah). Being told that hey, it’s ok to bend her over the bar! Right here! Right now! And have-my-way…! Because she’s trying to say No, I’m not interested. It’s all very playful and funny and bemusing, really.
So when it happens to someone like Tony, it’s just more playful banter, and totally ok, because it’s a woman doing the talking. /quitealotofsarcasm
Tony:
Yikes. Good thing she’s not a man. Especially not one that drunk.
Also I’d bet that for Tony, as for guys in general, being hit on by an overly friendly ~creepy member of the opposite gender is relatively rare. For some women it happens almost every single time they go out. The repetition alone raises the annoyance factor, before considering the threat level.
FWIW I read the encounter as bemusing to me; that’s about the level of banter I’d engage in (towards guys, mostly). However I also read the flags that make it probably creepy and scary towards most women, thanks to folks here spelling it out. (Srsly, ‘bend you over right here’ is pretty rapey.)
—
Katherine: oh poor kitty! Hope the vet and all turn out okay.
To clarify my own opinion, most of the banter was ok, up until the last line. When guys (used to)* come back with that line, my creep-o-meter would go (still does!) right through the roof. Even if, right before that, I’ve mentioned how much I enjoy sex.
*Happens more rarely these days.
I would get uncomfortable much sooner, rq. I don’t like when total strangers pry too much, so I would have donned my “fuck off” face at the question about nationality.
But I’m weird.
Yeah, I think it boils down to power-differentials.
Now, I don’t know how Tony reacted non-verbally and in tone, since that can make a lot of difference, but I consider it generally inappropriate to push your sexual fantasies onto a stranger who hasn’t given much indication that they’d like that.
But still a woman objectifying a man doesn’t have a few millenia of male objectification behind her. She doesn’t remind him immediately that his place in society is to be an object and totally depending on how fuckable he is deemed.
And there isn’t the aspect of threat and safety behind it. Yeah, my reaction would probably be to call somebody to pick me up. Yeah, wonderful, need a white knight to the rescue….
rq
The House looks wonderful, I envy you.
How did I miss photos of rq’s house?!
It’s lovely. And it looks like you have a nice plot around the house, for a garden maybe?
Set: 27 s
Mornings this early should be banned. I don’t know why the cat is so enthused.
Tony, yikes! That was some experience. I sincerely hope she didn’t continue to harrass you; particularly after that last, outrageous, comment. >Ô.ô<
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
rq, you really want to read my fever-dream? Well, OK…
I think I’m going down with flu. This isn’t an ordinary cold; my glands are up in my neck, armpits and groin and I keep falling asleep at random moments and waking up after equally random intervals in a great sweat. The following happened when I fell asleep around 2pm.
The dream started promisingly. It was a dark and stormy night…
No, really, it was; in my dream! Outside, in real life, it was a warm (26ºC), overcast summer’s day.
I was at school (usually a sign that the dream is going to be very weird – I left school in 1976 and have never been back) and odd things were happening. The school buildings had transformed themselves from your typical 1950’s two storey glass-and-concrete suburban boxes into some huge multi-storey Gothic structure in a seaside area, complete with palm trees and interesting rocky outcrops.
I was trying to find my sisters. I had managed to find one but the youngest sister (in my dream she was about 14, although she’s actually 43) was missing. So I rang her mobile phone (I love dream anachronisms!) and found she had just got on the school bus. I was trying to persuade her to get off, but the bus moved off as I was talking to her. I asked her to get off at the first bus stop and I grabbed my other sister’s hand and ran to the car park. We got into my huuuge, black four-wheel-drive car (pretty much like this; I’ve never seen, let alone driven one!) to chase after the bus through the storm.
I don’t recall actually stopping to pick up my other sister in the dream, but she’s certainly in the car when we arrive at our brother’s place.
This is also a weird building, very tall, right on the beach. I’ve been showing off my vehicle’s prowess on sand, and water – it was quite happy to drive on top of the waves that were nearly up to the house, because I had to drive on the sea to get around a lighthouse.
Anyway, we all get out of the car and go into the house; which is very spooky. We end up in the kitchen, which is quite high (several floors) up and gives us a great view of the storm over the sea. My brother’s still in the process of building it; there are tools and building detritus all over the place. It has been built on the site of a much older construction, and he and his wife have salvaged a lot of things (that look as if they’ve come from some kind of temple) to use as fixtures and fittings.
When I open the larder door, I find some smashed glass. Dream me immediately realises that something dreadful is about to happen – the glass is the remains of one of two big glass rods (about six inches thick and six-eight feet long) that had been sacred to the temple goddess, and should never have been removed from the site, let alone damaged.
Sister-in-law comes up to me and, all blasé, explains she didn’t like them; she’d smashed them and thrown them away, just keeping a little piece in a jar as a souvenir, which she shows me. I put some fruit in the jar as an offering to the goddess but it is too late – the storm grows in intensity, the mood in the room becomes menacing and, as I try to shut the jar in the larder, the door handle starts to move under my hand. It is a large animal-head doorknocker, a bit like one of these, covered in verdigris.
I jump back, and it leaps from the door, becoming a complete animal the size of a large cat. As it snarls and starts walking towards me menacingly, my little sister walks up to it and starts rubbing it behind the ear; it purrs!
At which point I woke up, swimming in sweat and terror of unnamed goddesses.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I rapidly calmed down because it almost immediately occured to me that such events never, ever happening outside dreams and fiction give the lie to the existence of any supernatural realm. If gods existed, such things would be possible. They aren’t. So, no goddesses are really going to get me!
Oh yes; and I needed the loo, too. =^_^=
(When my children were little and awoke with nightmares, I would take them to the bathroom to go for a wee. I’d explain that they had tried to wake themselves up when their bladder started to get full, but they had been too deeply asleep; and so the only way they could make themselves not want to be asleep any more was to tell themselves a scary story in the form of a nightmare because that always woke them up!)
Beatrice
You’re not weird. In my defence, I grew up with three brothers (younger and older) and I learned not to back down even when the joking got all kinds of borderline and over-the-line bad. But once it gets into the whole bend-over…
And yes, what Giliell said about the context/power differential. But I still find that last phrase a creepy thing to say about someone… Rape-y.
the House
Giliell, I now have lots of spare thumbs I can hold for you. And for a house (if you wish).
Beatrice – there’s a garden, but come spring, Husband and I will find out how avid we are in the weeding department. It’s always a toss-up. I hate planting flowers every year, so as long as there’s stuff that blooms on its own every year, I’m pretty sure it’ll be fine.
Also, 55 different types of roses around the garden (under the snow currently). Once those wake up and start blooming, I’ll be practicing my flower photography (macrooooo!). And memory (to remember all their names!).
We also have (I can now use this phrase!) a walnut tree, an apricot tree, a cherry tree, an apple tree, a raspberry patch, two blueberry bushes (the large kind, not the small foresty kinds), and assorted evergreens ranging across spruce, pine, cedar and the like. And a small pond with a dwarf weeping willow over it.
In between everything, there is lots of grass for Husband to mow (yes, I plan on doing it, too, but it’s a special meditative hobby of his… at least, he says so now).
Tigger
I love your nightmare explanation for children! It sounds like something I could use every now and then.
Also, weird dream. Awesome car, though. (I wish cars really could drive across water.) Sounds like you have those long, story-like movie dreams that I have sometimes (completely different themes and topics, though!). I love those dreams, even when they’re freaky (ok, I mostly like them better when I wake up), because if I write them down fast enough, they make a cool non-sensical story. :) Thanks for that!
For the curious:
Snip is alright. He was not hungry the first day, but he’s alright now. Of course the fun thing is I still have to give him some pills. He is a PAAAAIN in the behind when I have to give him pills XD
The house really does sound/look amazing, rq
I’m imagining a salad followed by a fruit tart, comprised mostly of these ingredients… yum!
*
Tigger_the_Wing: Oh yes, the flu dream. Mine tend to be horrible, fantastic, and memorable. Yours sounds like it will be too.
Katherine
Yay for Snip!! That’s good news. No, excellent news. Now you can tell him how much he owes you! ;)
And *solidarity* for giving cats pills. Or medication of any sort (ours fears the flea-drops, too).
Parrowing
You’re invited! :) I love making tarts and pies, but I love eating them even more. And yes, I like feeding them to people.
I’m trying to expand into vegetable dishes (I do ok with meat dishes), but so far, I would have to say that desserts (esp. involving fruit) are my currant specialty.
* For those fearing for my children, there is a fence around the (very) small pond. But I’m going to be paranoid about it until they’re all sensible, which will be well into their middle-age (probably). ;)
Dogs may understand human point of view, researcher finds http://phys.org/news/2013-02-dogs-human-view.html
.
Newly identified natural protein blocks HIV, other deadly viruses http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-newly-natural-protein-blocks-hiv.html
.
Reducing sodium in US may save hundreds of thousands of lives over 10 years http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-sodium-hundreds-thousands-years.html
.
One-two punch strategy against bacteria and cancer http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-one-two-strategy-bacteria-cancer.html anti-microbial peptides (AMPs), “counterclockwise” version called D-KLAKLAK-2
rq:
Thanks! I am also bad about veggie dishes… I’m a little bit obsessed with pasta, so I’ve been trying my hand at different sauces and homemade pastas lately.
Hehe.
Parrowing
Trouble is, I like vegetables. I just don’t spend enough time with them. ;) But I’m working on it, it’s definitely paying off.
And I loooove pasta. I like taking a regular basic-type of sauce I make, and adding strange and not-strange things to it. (Like cocoa and cinnamon, that we talked about.) I think one of my favourites was adding curry to a broccoli-chicken-alfredo-type (I say type because it’s rarely the real thing, see below!) sauce. That, and the chili with cocoa and cinnamon. I had a great pork marinade that also used tomato paste, onions, cinnamon, chili, cocoa, balsamic vinegar, lots of garlic, and a secret ingredient (because I can’t remember what it was). So good on a grill.
And I like remembering different food genres I’ve liked, and trying to reproduce them. Sometimes a challenge! Rarely, I bother to use a recipe, but I (almost) always add garlic, even if it’s not on the list. ;) My favourite non-dessert following-the-recipe dish was a Greek-style marinade for ribs (lemons, garlic, onions, bunch of spices and herbs….) that was perfect for grilling. Or for folding into aluminium and cooking slowly in the oven (2 – 3 hours).
I’m getting hungry. :)
I also love cheese.
Oh, I’m pretty good at vegetarian dishes.
I totally fail at vegan. No cream, no cheese, no dinner.
rq
Hey, maybe some of the roses are extra-special rare and you can sell them off and pay the house with the money :)
rq,
*jealous*
We have a garden out of town, and it has more fruit trees and lots of vegetables, but yours sounds beautiful (and practical, since it’s right there).
Oh man, cats and pills – my old cat was a master at hiding them in the back of her mouth and spitting them out after. Didn’t matter how far you put them in, how much you tried to trick the swallowing reflex into happening, how long you held her mouth closed after. She was having none of it. Pill pockets? Ha, she could see right through those.
carlie
How does a cat keep pills at the back of the throat…? I’m impressed.
Giliell
To be honest, I hadn’t thought of that. But we will look into it. ;)
(Or I can at least pass them off as extremely rare. Someone on eBay is bound to believe me, right?)
Beatrice
We have yet to see how abundant our harvest will be… Knowing our luck, next year will be a bad fruit/berry/nut year. :)
I like having the raspberry patch, since they’re my favourite berries ever, but they’re expensive in shops and markets (tend to be, anyway). But now I’ll have my own!!
Has anyone heard from katenrala?
I was wondering the same thing, chigau
*
Cheeeeeeese, nomnomnom. And pasta covered or filled with cheeeeeese, nomnomnom.
Your marinade sounds spectacular, rq. And no, I don’t think the words “Too much garlic” have ever come out of my mouth (at least in that order and not preceded by the words “That’s not” or succeeded by the words “is impossible”). I can’t wait until I can have a grill. I’m going to try out so many marinades. It’s nice to do in the oven, but just not quite the same. Sorry for the rambling, but cheese! and sauces! I put the cocoa and cinnamon in the chili, by the way. It was deeeeelicious! Thanks for the suggestions :)
Caine:
Have you gotten to the part where Kimmel discusses the
sexrape of women on college campuses after being deliberately gotten drunk/drugged and the results of a survey he did when he showed stats on this to 40-something college grads? Specifically, the, uh, imbalance in responses of men and women?Oh, and how the #1 force pushing back against colleges putting in firm rules regarding alcohol, drugs and partying in relation to sex is alumni complaining about “banning fun”?
“Profoundly depressing” ain’t half of it.
Parrowing
I can’t wait to have a grill, too. I’m pretty sure we’d do 75% of our cooking on the grill. Summer or winter. :)
My favourite comfort food involves macaroni and a cheese sauce made from any strong-ish cheese available (I say that because I have no access to good cheddar), cream (preferably whipping, but coffee will do in a pinch), roasted and crushed garlic, and salt-and-pepper. *swoon* Bits of ham/sausage optional.
Something for astronomy enthusiasts:
“NightWatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe (4th Edition)” http://www.bookcloseouts.com/Store/Details/_/R-9781554071470S?
— — — — — — — — —
Congressional High Priest Concocts Farm Subsidy Bill In Legislative Cauldron http://www.theonion.com/articles/congressional-high-priest-concocts-farm-subsidy-bi,31229/
— — — — — — — — —
World solar power capacity exceeds 100 gigawatts http://phys.org/news/2013-02-world-solar-power-capacity-gigawatts.html
— — — — — — — — —
Study highlights link between poor animal welfare and meat quality http://phys.org/news/2013-02-highlights-link-poor-welfare-meat.html
Argh: Indeed, I was assuming the presence of a grill. In my defense, the first two grills I had were acquired for free: one was left by the previous homeowner; one was set out in front of someone’s house with a “free” tag (probably 5 minutes before I saw and grabbed it, seeing as how it was still there and that sort of thing doesn’t last very long in my neighborhood (ruined furniture, OTOH, lasts quite a while)).
Still, when we did buy, we got the cheapest Weber, on sale somewhere. At any rate, since you have several months before the next Thanksgiving, I would bet a cheap grill could be in your future if you applied yourself to the task. Plus, I don’t know if you even can rent an oven; even if so, buying a grill would give you a permanent appliance. It’s a drag to monopolize the oven with a bird if your guests are bringing side dishes that need to be cooked or reheated there (of course, letting the bird rest for a half hour gives you some leeway). We are fortunate that one of our usual guests lives two houses down from us so we can enlist her oven when necessary.
I used to hang out with a fellow (now dead, alas) who did, in fact, grill most of his food, in all seasons. He had three grills in the breezeway between his kitchen door and garage, and they all got plenty of use. Even after he remodeled his kitchen so that there was a grilling setup as part of the stove island.
Good morning!
I’ve only just gotten up, because I woke at 3 am with a protomigraine, so I took ibuprofen and grabbed an ice pack and slept as long as I could. It still hurts, but I’m hoping to be functional today. Must…get…work…done…
rq
How fun to have so many trees that produce yummy things! The kiddies will have work to do collecting up the walnuts before Husband can have his meditation, ha. So happy for you that you’re finally moved into your home!
Tony
Yeesh! That lady was a little pushy, huh? I bet most people are properly taken aback when you respond to the GF question with “I suck dick.” though, ha. It’s an invasive question, so an “impolite” answer seems perfect for it.
Katherine
glad the kitty is ok.
Re: Cheese. I love cheese with all my heart. I could maybe be a vegetarian, but I just don’t think I could psychologically survive veganism.
Oh and Tigger
Hope you feel better soon!
Glad the twins had such a fun birthday :D
Katherine
Yay for kitty being ok.
birgerjohansen
From the “Dogs understand human point of veiw’ link
Really? This is their premise? I’m sorry, but anyone who’s ever had a dog (or a cat, or a a ferret, for that matter) knew this one already. They’ll wait ’til they think another pet isn’t looking to steal its food too; it doesn’t imply any special understanding of humans. I’m afraid that the researchers are reading a lot into this one that isn’t really there.
Mildly creepy incident from yesterday: Came home with the small one to find that someone had left a bag and a coat on our doorstep. No evidence of anyone getting inside the house, though I did go through it to make sure, just a bag sitting, inexplicably, on the doorstep. A neighbor said that thieves often discard the bits of stolen property they don’t want this way so called the police who confirmed the pattern and hauled the stuff away. It might even get back to its owner some day.
I expect I’m overreacting-from the thief’s point of view, he or she probably threw it at “some house” or maybe just “away” and has no interest whatsoever in the house I live in. But I can’t help feeling a little bit targeted. The small one decided to hang out with me all evening too because she didn’t feel safe.
I know I’m a wimp and the average person deals with worse, but this sort of thing makes me want to move. Out of Philadelphia or maybe out of the US. Are the thieves in Canada politer about not involving random people?
It probably didn’t help that partner called yesterday morning to say, “Uh…it looks like I’m supposed to be in Washington today. See you tomorrow-can you pick up small one?” I could, as it happens, but notice would be nice…I’d be ranting about unconscious sexism and assumptions about priorities if I hadn’t pulled similar stunts on him from time to time. Sigh. Maybe our lives are overly complicated and it’s time to move to Vermont and grow cabbages or something.
Re: veganism.
I’m not vegan, or even vegetarian (I’m a sympathizer*, but I last about one day before menu fatigue and hunger cancel idealism if I try switching over). However, I do make vegan dishes** and try to keep the meat consumption fairly low, about two pounds a week. I’m currently experimenting with approaching one pound a week by interspersing vegan dishes with meat dishes.
*Mainly from a carbon-footprint/pollution point of view
**The fact that I don’t really like veggies or fruit*** is a real hindrance here, but I have at least one bean and one lentil-squash dish that are tasty enough that I look forward to eating them. Unfortunately they work like a good appetizer and leave me hungry and craving meat.
***I do like roasted cauliflower (and roasted asparagus) and dried figs, and will occasionally eat an orange a day for a few days. But menu fatigue (argh!) kicks in if I overdo it.
I’m with you there. I’m lucky in that I live close (within 20 miles) of about 5 cheese-makers, two of which have won British Supreme Champion Cheese! I would find it very hard to give up those cheeses.
@Canna: Do you have any tolerance for/liking of seitan, hummus, falafal, tofu, etc? These can be made into quite good vegetarian and often vegan meals. Including some that are distinctly non-healthy. I have a cookbook in the back of my mind that I’d like to write some day called “The Decadent Vegan”, containing recipes like deep fried tofu that are vegan, yummy, and not particularly good for you.
I can cut out meat. I can cut out eggs. I just can’t do without cheese for very long, though. I’m actually going to try my hand at making some homemade mozzarella-style cheese. (It’s not going to be made with water buffalo milk and I’m sure I’m doing other things that would be decried as inauthentic, so it’s only mozzarella-style cheese.)
I could probably get the right umami experience with soy products, but eating very much of it makes me break out in eczema all over. There was a nutritional yeast-based cheese replacement recipe I’d perfected that I really liked, but I lost it in my house fire. I really need to experiment and try to figure it out again.
dianne:
Hummus/falafel, not so much, although chickpeas as ingredients are something I’ve enjoyed (but have yet to cook with myself – they’re sort of on the list of things to try). For the most part seitan and tofu leave “something to be desired” to my palate, leading to meat cravings. I do enjoy using frozen tofu, and I’ve seen it cooked to some sort of caramelized excellence (thin strips of tofu cooked somehow to an almost sweet-and-sour pork like consistency) that I have yet to do any research on.
The best solution for me would seem to be vegan recipes that work or taste “just like” meat dishes, but when I go that route it never really succeeds. What I’m mainly seeking is a vehicle for the green beans, okra, tomatoes, carrots, etc. that makes them palatable and leaves me with that stick-to-your-ribs feeling. Adding chipotles en adobo to black beans gives a sufficiently potent umame-or-whatever essence that I can add extra veggies; Pureéing roasted winter squash with lentils doesn’t act so much as a vehicle for other veggies as simply each main ingredient providing a counterpoint to the other such that the dish is not insipid (and with a grind of fresh nutmeg, quite desirable).
What I aim for in my day-to-day eating is not meals consisting of a main dish with sides, but standalone but very tasty “glops”, which I make vats of and freeze individually in portions, such that I eat one portion (of something) at lunch and one (a different one) at dinner. Generally I start the day with a small bowl of oatmeal or some 100% whole grain toast. I’ve been trying to stretch my vegan glops out by eating a handful of walnuts and some figs, but so far it’s been pretty tough.
Not really, no…
But after they mug you, they frequently do apologize.
I might just add that, left to my desires, I am a classic “meat-and-potatoes” eater (my ideal breakfast is chicken fried steak, eggs, hashbrowns, sausage gravy, toast; my ideal dinner a 16 ounce ribeye, baked potato with butter and bacon), but I’m not stupid. I’m evidently capable of the kind of self torture* that leaves me only slightly overweight, and not (yet anyway – at something like a half-century of age my blood chemistry and pressure are on the high end of not-quite-worrisome) on any prescriptions.
*regular aerobic and resistance exercise, dietary restraint as I am relating**
**not so much restraint for microbrews, although I try to keep it to not too much over 9 servings*** a week.
***one twelve ounce bottle is not a single serving of beer. There are 9 servings in a 12-bottle half-case.
I was vegetarian for about 7 or 8 years. I desperately want to go back, but my wife and my kids quite enjoy meat, so it might have to wait a while.
I forgot to mention my addiction gourmet sodas – as in cane sugar ones like Boylan’s, Johnny Ryan’s, Virgil’s, and any of the several excellent ginger ales. These I am striving mightily to heavily restrict. My blood sugar otherwise looks like the measurement that’s going to burst the blood chemistry bubble at my next check-up.
And popcorn.
dianne @860
Can I pre-order that?
And I’d probably be adding cheese or cream to some of the recipes (not to mention garlic). But it sounds like a good way to reduce some of the negative opinions of vegan food.
Mind, I’m not even close to vegetarian or vegan myself, but as Cannabinaceae said, I sympathize with the idea. My best friend is vegetarian, and she’s introduced me to several delicious (and in no way healthy) vegetarian dishes. But. It’s the psychological thing… I love cheese too much, and my grilled ribs, and fried chicken… *sigh* Psychologically weak, is what I am.
Cannabinaceae@864
Definitely in agreement about the number of servings in a package that small. While the smallest volume of beer I can buy here is the 0.3L, only the weak buy those, because they’re also mostly imports. Local brews do not come in smaller sizes than 0.5L (but the stuff in 2L plastic bottles is better used to water any plants you dislike).
Vegetarians can eat cheese. I do all the time.
OH and in honour of Darwin Day, stolen from a Facebook post on my sister’s wall:
The “Beagle Cocktail” – makes two cocktails:
1 measure Plymouth Gin (preferrably Naval Strength)
1 measure Cachaca
1/2 measure Pisco
1 measure lime juice
1 measure simple syrup made with vanilla sugar
Australian or New Zealand sparkling wine
I have no idea if it’s any good (Tony, bartender needed here?), but it sounds like something worth a try. Once.
Katherine
Vegetarians can, vegans can’t. A fine line. Or a deeeeep riiiiiift, depending… ;)
Assuming that it was not made with animal rennet.
Dianne
I don’t think it makes you a wimp at all. I can definitely see being unnerved by such a thing. *hugsasdesired*
Cannabinaceae
Sympathizer is a great word for it. I personally find myself not really liking meat too much, much less cooking it. My mom attributes my squeamishness to the fact that she didn’t like cooking it while I was growing up, so I didn’t get much exposure to it. I’ll put ground beef into pasta sauce or taco beans for protein and flavor, but rare is the meal that I center around a piece of meat. S is the opposite, he starts with the meat or poultry or fish and builds a meal from there. Thankfully, I love fruit and sweet potatoes. Other veggies are a struggle for me, so I empathize on that point. I usually keep a bag of oranges at all times for snacks.
Matt Penfold
*drool* It would almost be criminal to give up cheese with such goodness available. Reminds me that I’m only an hour from Wisconsin and the cheeseries* there.
*Don’t care if that’s not the right word, it’s fun to say.
Dianne
I love hummus and falafel. Your cookbook sounds awesome : ) I have the advantage of knowing a lot of good vegetarian meals (spanikopita, anybody?) because my stepdad is a vegetarian and a chef.
I do loves me some cheese. I wish I could find a reliable and affordable outlet for double gloucester not in the guise of so-called “huntsman” (a sandwich of stilton* between two layers of double gloucester).
*a little stilton is OK, but “huntsman” usually has too much for my taste.
Cannabinaceae, I have time for a grill or a roaster or whatever. I had an old tailgating grill that I just left behind when moved here. The luxury of starting the planning now is to have a trouble-free Thanksgiving. This is the first time my parents are meeting my wife’s parents, and that’s going to be stressful enough without having to worry over-much about the meal itself. I would like to have a grill in any case, for the summer. We get so much sunshine in New Mexico, it is grilling time all the time. And obviously I share your dietary urges.
rq, LOVE THE HOUSE!
Katherine A kitty named “Snip”? Hah! Glad to hear he’s doing OK though.
Tony, you had an interesting night! It is hard to tell how creepy it was, since I wasn’t there. There’s something a little off about it, but HOW MUCH? We’ll need a pie chart, in the spirit of Real Skepticism. Oh, and I emailed you some curry chicken salad. :)
@iJoe:
My first kitty is named Little Snip, and my second kitty is named Toc – which means “The Other Cat” XD
rq (@850):
That sounds really yummy. I can’t find good cheddar here either. I’ve almost forgotten what it tastes like… No, wait, I haven’t. I can taste it in my mind and I WANT IT!
(@869): I’d like to try that. I just need the gin! (and almost everything else)
*
I am also a guilty meat-eater. One day I will make the switch, or so I keep telling myself. But as many of you said, the cheese (and also the cream) would make it incredibly hard for me to be a vegan. Although, there is a restaurant in the south of Sweden that does completely vegan Chinese food and Mongolian BBQ… it is fantastic and they serve by far the best (and therefore most suspicious) this-isn’t-really-meat I’ve ever eaten.
*
dianne:
I will second Portia in saying that you are not a wimp at all for feeling the way you are.
iJoe:
I know you’ve decided which route you’re heading regarding Thanksgiving so I’m not trying to convince you or anything here, just saying: I’ve done a deep-fried turkey many a Thanksgiving with various family members. Not that it is never unsafe (it obviously is unsafe sometimes, especially if done inside), but in around 15 or so attempts, we’ve never had any issues and we’ve always come away with a very moist and delicious turkey. The down side being, of course, that one must stand outside for an hour in November (which was not a fun prospect where I was (Northeastern US)). Or take it in shifts.
I know it won’t be for a while, but it sounds like you’ve got the planning covered! I will enjoy my next Thanksgiving vicariously through you and the others celebrating. I tried celebrating it my first year outside the US. That was when I realized how weird a holiday it is, because no one understood what the hell was going on.
It’s unlikely that I will ever go vegetarian, but I will probably lower my consumption of meat when I start living on my own. I love vegetables, so finding enough variety to keep my taste buds satisfied isn’t a problem. But I do like meat too, and it can be very practical for a quick hearty meal.
Katherine, my cats all have people names… but for some completely unknown reason, the first pet that my wife and I got together, Randall, has picked up the nickname “Boobie.” Also “Boobs” and “The Boobinator” and “Boobie-licious” but “Boobie” came first.
I can read while tablet weaving…but I can’t read while knitting.
‘Course, I can’t knit when I’m not reading, but that’s completely beside the point.
:)
–
I associate pineapple on pizza with tornados, thanks to sitting down with my first-ever piece of Hawaiian pizza, looking out the window in front of me, and seeing one (tornado, not pizza—don’t be silly!) dropping out of the rotating clouds, right then. Touch-down was about 2 1/2 miles west of the pizza place…which we were no longer in. We bolted, pizza uneaten.
–
Sure, Tony! Let ‘er rip!
*reads story*
Yup. That is rather bizarre. I guess delivery and body language would determine whether it would be intended to be funny bizarre, or creepy bizarre.
–
“Kind Horses”?
Waitaminute. This would be like calling the Sidhe folk “The Fair Folk” in order to avoid enraging their hair-trigger tempers.
Or perhaps the connection between the Sidhe and the Horses is somewhat…closer….
–
Tigger: Sorry to hear that you’ve come down with The Plague. Fluids.
I do like a nicely surreal dream. Features of yours would work well in a D&D setting.
:)
–
Roses.
*sigh*
–
Katherine Lorraine: Glad to hear that Snip (however much a pain) is going to be alright. You have my heart-felt sympathies for having to pill the cat. Never a good time!
–
rq: One of our cats can tell when we’re going for the flea drops, nevermind that we frequently take non-flea-droppy things out of the same cabinet. Reach in there With Intent, and she streaks for the back bedroom, perchance to hide under the headboard.
–
I used to have a cat named Chairman Meow, who tended to live up to his name, since he could be a nasty little thing whenever you “displeased” him. The cat we have now has the relatively normal name Sophie because my daughter named her. I was shooting for Meow Curie, but…
I know I shouldn’t complain, because truly my life is pretty good, but in addition to all the stuff that happened to me and my family last month, this month my car broke down, our washing machine crapped out, and now I have a sinus infection. 2013, why do you dislike me so?
Random:
The coffee cart today had specials for Mardi Gras. I was intrigued by one, the King Cake Latte, so I asked what it was.
Apparently, a crapton of vanilla and cinnamon. After concluding that that would either (1) be dreadful, or (2) delicious, I decided to buy one.
Conclusion: HOT DAMN THIS THING IS YUMMY.
Me three, chigau. And I’ve been wondering how JAL is doing, too.
–
Hey, gang—if you wanted a sorta inverse-elevation map of the world, how would you go about doing one? As painlessly as possible, I mean.
–
:) :) :)
I recognise that last incantation….
–
*hugs* for dianne and small one. Sounds scary. In fact, I believe that I would just freak the fuck out.
:(
*crawls under blanket*
–
“I had a doughnut today” just doesn’t measure up somehow.
I have not heard anything from either JAL or katenrala. And this worries me! :( :(
The local catlick church (which is always good for an eyerolly sign message) said on its sign “Free Ash Giveaway on Feb 13”
Without fail, every Ash Wednesday, the first catlick I see, I think they’ve got a real mess on their face.
:( indeed.
Good evening
Random events of my life:
1) Was thoroughly chastized by a 3yo when I picked up the kids. I was arguing with #1 about the fact that no, she can’t draw another picture that no it has to wait and that no, it’s not up for discussion, he came along and told me “hey, what are you doing here, stop grumbling!”
2) My dad in law is in hospital and needs surgery. Minor thing but not nice
3)Read a very interesting article about the supposed “generic masculinum” in German
Food: I’m really cutting back on meat. So, today is vegetarian, yesterday was vegetarian, tomorrow there’ll be a bit of fish. And I’m trying to make sure that those things come from humane farming sources. But I hate tofu and that whole soy stuff. Tastes like cardboard to me (and no, I don’t need the 20th recipe for “this way tofu really tastes nice”).
Damn, I should have made pancakes just for being weird today.
And come summer I will make Falafel
Emails out to JAL & katenrala. If I hear anything I’ll pass it on, OK?
Parrowing,
In the plus column for a deep-fried Turkey is that my back yard is mostly cement/gravel/paving stones/big rocks. There’s a much smaller chance of any fire getting completely out of control or doing real damage compared to other places I’ve lived.
dianne
re: unexpected item drop
You’re not overreacting. It is unnerving. Even more so that police actually confirmed the method. Hope you (and little one) feel more comfortable soon.
Improbable Joe
Ok!
cicely
The cat won’t even come near if I take the treats down same time, right before or right after. Somethingsomethingmumblepsychiccatssomethingmumblesomething.
You say Horse is actually Sidhe? That would explain a lot, too.
Giliell
**hugs** for the dad situation. Hope he recovers quick!
+++
The only reason I like remembering it’s Ash Wednesday is because I like to make a giant meal of various crepes and pancakes the Tuesday previous. Which is today. Which I forgot again. Oh well, I blame it on moving!
MMmmmmm, maybe Saturday…
Thirded.
I don’t eat as much meat as a I used to, mostly for financial reasons, though; I can’t afford it, particularly since I try to find range-raised meat, which is typically pricier.
Improbable Joe
By the way, if you manage the deep-fried turkey, it is delicious. Crispy. And juicy. But yes, as Parrowing said, best done outside. It wasn’t pleasant in October (Canadian Thanksgiving), but it’s probably worse in November. That being said, if you have a steady supply of beer, it can make you feel quite brave and hardy. ;)
Also, Improbable Joe, so I don’t forget – good luck this weekend with the in-laws and the family gathering!
Some schmuck (actually the only priest I could tolerate (until now)) went to that damned Prayer Breakfast, and now wants a prayer room in our Parliament, where they would pray before conferencing.
Thanks US, for giving him ideas. Thanks a bunch.
Thanks for contacting JAL and katenrala, Joe.
More than okay! And thanks!
–
Evil Sidhe.
Chaotic Neutral at the absolute best.
And that would be incredibly rare.
Really. The Monster Manual doesn’t even recognise the possibility, it’s so rare.
–
Beatrice
Our Parliament already has a prayer room. They don’t let others use it, as a Hindu man found out in December.
Also, I think they’re about to outlaw abortion in this country. If they’re passing a law to protect life from conception, that pretty much says it all, right? Even if it is under a clause about the protection of sexual and reproductive health… Not good.
rq,
Oh, that’s bad.
The Thanksgiving/family gathering is all one thing, and all in November. And thank goodness! I don’t think I could handle all of that with less than 6-8 months’ warning. :)
Yes, thank you iJoe. And your backyard sounds perfect for deep-frying. Maybe another time when you won’t be under so much stress?
*
Beatrice:
Sorry, Beatrice :-(
*
That’s terrible, rq! Both the prayer room and the law.
On praying in parliament: In college and law school, I participated in a mock government group that used the state legislative chambers to simulate sessions. It was nerdy, nerdy fun. There were a lot of roles to play, I was a Senator that year, some were journalists, some were lobbyists, some were executive officers. S was a photographer for the newspaper (we really printed one each of the four days). He was in the gallery when we were starting session one day, when the invocation was being given. I looked up at him to roll my eyes, while all the others had their heads bowed in prayer. I didn’t expect him to snap a photo at that exact moment, but I love the picture that resulted. He’s a really good photographer and the rich tones of the chamber are beautiful in it. It also makes me feel like an atheist rebel to have a photo of such a “sacred moment” and myself disregarding all the ridiculous pomp and circumstance.
I’m Horde-sourcing some research here.
I’ve recently discovered that at least some of my frequent headaches are probably caused by sulfites. So far, I’ve learned that grapes, raisins, maple fudge, and vinaigrette salad dressings are not my friends. Also possibly cheese. I haz a big sad about the cheese. (And I had the headaches checked out years ago, they’re nothing sinister, just annoying.)
I would really really like to reduce my ibuprofen consumption, so I’m working on cutting down on sulfites. But what I don’t know is what I can get away with. Most of what I’ve found on Google pertains to actual sulfite allergy, which I don’t have, and leans toward OMG TEH EVIL PRESERVATIVES. I would prefer not to make drastic changes in my diet unless I’m certain that it’s necessary.
Does anyone here have experience with sulfite headaches? What can you get away with? Have you found any better methods than trial and error?
That sounds like a really cool photo, Portia! I’m assuming he didn’t send it in to the paper.
*reads Nutmeg’s comment*
*licks pencil tip ostentatiously and prepares to take notes*
Portia, that sounds like an awesome photo!
Improbable Joe, sorry for the mix-up – for some reason, I thought it was this weekend. I don’t even know why.
Nutmeg
How probably is the probably? Does wine give you headaches?
Thanks Parrowing! No, he didn’t use it in the paper, ha.
rq: I’m a non-drinker, so I don’t know about the wine. But I’m pretty certain that sulfites are responsible for at least some of my headaches. I’ve had severe headaches without any other explanation after eating grapes, maple fudge, and vinaigrette salad dressing. And I’ve seen a reduction in the frequency of headaches since I started avoiding obvious sulfites.
Good night, folks!
I have Princess Bride to finish and then drift off to sleep.
Still haven’t gotten used to 8-hour workdays, so I’m tired a lot.
Night Beatrice!
And thanks to rq, as well, about the picture. It’s one of my favorites of myself.
Night Beatrice!
Good night, Beatrice!
Nutmeg – sounds like it’s best not to try, too. :( Also, best you can probably do is read ingredients lists really carefully. :(
Eh, Nutmeg, sorry- I think I came off as the it-may-not-be-sulphites-try-the-wine!!! idiot, should have gone straight to: stay away from dried fruit, unless they have a note saying No sukphites. Dried apricots are especially bad in this way. I don’t know if they’re marked in any way, but they tend to have warnings on them about containing sulphites.
+++
Damcat escaped from the balcony. Now he’ll be out in the snow for days. (But temperatures are ca. 0 degrees Celsius, and I’m hoping he’s smart *ahem* enough to know where the front door is, and wait for morning. I have to put a sick Husband to bed.
Good night!
rq… “out in the snow for days” has me in a little bit of a panic. I had to do a quick head-count around the house, make sure all of my kids are safely indoors. Good night and good luck.
No worries, rq, I didn’t read it that way. Wine is a logical way to test that hypothesis, just not something I’m willing to do.
I usually only use dried fruit for food on canoe trips. I’ll make sure to dehydrate my own instead of buying it. It’s cheaper anyway, I think, and I like playing with the dehydrator. :)
Knew I’d learn something. Sad face though, I love those.
Night rq!
I just got back from the eye doctor. both pupils are dilated and so typing is, um, not as much fun as sitting with my eyes closed. having a celebratory cappuccino because there’s nothing worse than a bit of age-related degradation to report. So… a bug-eyed goon sitting in a darkened room in front of a darkened computer screen sipping cappuccino. should be a funny image.
I could take some encouragement if the Horde can spare some.
Since the most recent adjustment of my meds and reduction of some of the stress in my life, I haven’t had one of those “wake up screaming and sobbing” dreams in a year. Last night caught me completely by surprise, and I feel hesitant to even talk. I feel like I’d just start screaming and be unable to stop. It took me an hour to calm myself back down last night and stop shaking, sobbing and gagging.
Fortunately, I can come home from class and work (and did), and I’m currently planning on drinking my way through the afternoon. If anyone has some encouragement to spare, I’d appreciate it.
My partner just walked up behind me to kiss my head and I nearly had heart failure and started screaming. I fucking hate these kinds of days. It’s like being a time traveler. I ain’t now. I ain’t then either, but some fucking unholy place between.
John:
My response at the time, and even when I initially posted about it here was indeed one of bemusement.
In retrospect, after reading pteryxx’s #825, it is quite a bit more creepy.
Having male privilege means I don’t have to worry that such talk being creepy and/or scary in the way that it would be for a woman (note, that does not make me feel better; seeing my privilege here has altered how I previously viewed that situation; yes, ‘bend you over the bar’ is a huge red flag).
****
Like some of you, I too like to consume meat. I have increased my veggie consumption in recent years (fruit too), but I cannot picture myself becoming a vegetarian.
****
Tigger @831:
She did, but because I didn’t feel threatened (and didn’t recognize the creepiness at that moment), I didn’t view it as harassment. She went on to talk about how sexy I was, and she did mention bending me over the bar *again*. Though I didn’t get creeped out, I was annoyed, so when she took a bathroom break, I used that opportunity to leave.
****
Mellow Monkey @ 861:
For some reason this sounds fun. I’ve never made any kind of cheese.
****
dianne:
Sorry you got creeped out by the potential thief. Hopefully no further incidents will occur.
(dianne, VT cabbage grower has a nice ring to it)
****
Katherine:
Glad to hear that Snip is A-OK.
****
mouthyb:
Aw geez. Massive, gentle HUGS. I’m sorry.
Thank you, Tony.
mouthyb:
It might not mean much, but I am hoping you…. I… goddamnit, I am trying say I hope you feel a little better soon, and I hope tonight is a better.
Sorry for the weak encouragement.
mouthyb: I’m sorry things are so hard right now. Here is a selection of *hugs&puppies&kittens&booze&tea*, please help yourself to whatever you’d like.
***
I just made the most delicious and easy thing. Cheap, frozen and thawed pink salmon fillet; basil pesto; tomato slices; a bunch of olive oil; salt and pepper. Pile it all onto aluminum foil, wrap and close tightly, cook at 425-450F for ~30 minutes. I didn’t wrap it tightly enough so I set the smoke alarm off, but it was worth the fuss.
Mouthyb
*hugs* hopefully it doesn’t recur.
MM #861
I assure you that cow’s milk is a perfectly authentic ingredient of Mozzarella; buffalo mozzarella is and always has been a special type.
Mouthyb: I’m sending you some encouragement over the Internets. About 35 MB. :)
About Ash Wednesday: My wife was explaining the concept to our 7-year-old son. When she was done, he just shook his head slowly and said, “Don’t be signing me up for that!”
glodson: It works. I like the people who comment here, and I find nice sentiments from people whose opinions I respect is comforting. Thank you.
Nutmeg: I am drinking ALL the booze. Thank you.
Dalillama: Me, too. Or if it does, once a year is OK with me, as long as I know it’s coming. Thank you.
Well, then I hope my sentiments are taken soon before I expose my own jackassry. You’re welcome though. It has been awhile since I have woken up in a complete panic, but I haven’t forgotten my own experiences with that.
Not fun.
mouthyb – *gentle hugs and lots of chocolate*
Thank you, UnknownEric. The only reason to go to Ash Wednesday service is if you partied your pants off and you’re still drunk, in the same tattered clothing and smell like sex.
Then it’s HILARIOUS. /from Louisiana
Thank you, Hekuni Cat.
rq
Most cats will do fine in the snow as long as the weather’s not too far below freezing, and they’re generally pretty clever about finding where they live. I shouldn’t worry too much about the furbeast, in your shoes. Sympathies for the stress of a missing beast.
I was very close to a federal offense today. People who sit in airplane seats and spread ass eagle their legs as they sit their taking up more space that their “share” need their momma to give ’em a good smack in the back of the head.
Fucking asshole.
Seriously tempted to draw a “null set” symbol on my forehead for Ash Wednesday. >.>
Dalillama, good to know! I was told I was horribly inauthentic, if I wasn’t starting with raw water buffalo milk. I know a lot of clueless food snobs that piss me right the fuck off, though. The last time I made the mistake of sharing a recipe with one of them, I got crap for using bouillon cubes instead of making my own stock from scratch, and for not adding fresh cilantro when obviously that’s what every Cuban dish needs and it isn’t authentic without a cup or so dumped into your black bean soup.
::facepalm::
Sit there…..
MM
Yeah, PDX is positively infested with clueless food snobs too. Odds are good that cow Mozzarella came first, although records on the subject are not so much spotty as nonexistent. Provably true is that cows and semisoft cheeses date to pre-Roman times in the Italian peninsula, while water buffalo have only been there ~1000 years at most (it’s not at all clear exactly when or by whom they were imported, but they were definitely imported from Asia, while cows are domesticated from European Aurochs.
More hugs to mouthyb. :)
That was me last night, so I certainly empathize. My eyes hurt so much I had to just go to bed for the rest of the evening, b/c there were lots of extra tests I’ve never had before. Now I shall spend the next month and a half until I go back obsessing over whether I have glaucoma, which of course I most likely don’t, but now I’m going to be hypersensitive to every little twinge and bit of blurry vision between now and then. It’s going to be a long month.
I believe that is called phantom schlong syndrome, sometimes embellished to giant or enormous phantom schlong syndrome.
Ha – searching the internet for said syndrome, several of the top references go back to…me. I swear, it wasn’t my idea. I’m pretty sure I got it from here or thereabouts.
Has somebody here sent a LinkedIn request to my email in a name/’nym the initials of which would be S.B.? Since I’ve never done anything LinkedIn-related, I can’t even guess who/what/why I would be getting such a request, unless it’s from someone here, or (my dominant theory) it’s a spamming. Of some sort.
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rq: Best hopes for AWOL-Kitteh’s Exciting Winter Adventure.
For what it’s worth, we had a cat go missing for two solid weeks—during an ice storm. She made it safe back, and then complained about the catering.
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*entirely non-physical hugs* for mouthyb.
That sounds…horrible. I wish I had something useful to suggest, or even something amusing I could say that might cheer you up…but I’m empty. See?
*thumps head; hollow echoing sound resonates throughout the [Lounge], frightening the pigeons into flight*
I got nothing.
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UnKnownEric: *applause* for your offspring. Bright young man you got, there!
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Hekuni Cat!
*pouncehug*
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Cicely, I know who that is. If you email me (nym at the google thing) I can clue you in. :)
(and no, it was not me)
Totally safe *ehugs* for mouthyb.
I’m pretty good at making low-meat meals. 200g of mince for 12 servings of spaghetti sauce, that kind of thing. Tonight’s dinner is a shepherd’s pie from the freezer which I seem to remember is about 60% onion & mushroom, 20% lentils & 20% meat underneath its potato top. Anything that takes minced or cubed meat can be bulked up with legumes.
cicely – *return pouncehug*
hello all.
I declare myself, thunk I, supreme ceremonial monarch of pharyngula. I promise free popcorn to all citizens of this wondrous country.
That being said, PZ will keep his more senior position as supreme Poopyhead.
:p
*pouncehug* to all.
Esteleth: Email sent! Clue me!
:D
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*pouncehugback* to thunk.
Aren’t you going to do something about your overheating hull?
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Esteleth: Email received! Thanks.
Next question: For what is LinkedIn? It looks like…some sort of professional association???? And I’m an amateur of the rankest water.
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thunk, you are the future.
(Don’t let me down!)
Bedtime, and may the squirrels and the raccoons and the damned skunks rest quiet. And odorless.
‘Night, all.
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supreme ceremonial monarch thunk of Pharyngula – *return pouncehug* Do we need to summon the official engineer to do something about your royal overheating hull?
thunk
You can’t have The [Thunderdome].
Why are we almost on page 3?
Thank you, cicely and Alethea.
Hello thunk! Less than a pouncehug, more than a fistbump to you, and to all. My pouncing days are long gone, unfortunately, but I can hobble over and gently shake hands.
Katherine, original gender question:
Uh, I guess? Depending on how the two terms are defined, I might fit within some of them. So whatever floats your boat, I guess. I tend to be a gender empiricist: “yeah, I guess that’s me, sure”. But I keep having the feeling that I’m appropriating something. Probably failbrain there.
Though I also have the feeling that conscious mind wants to be a different gender than unconscious mind. That’s a harder disconnect to reconcile. (no dysphoria, unconscious mind’s perfectly fine with being male, but I *want* to be on the feminine side of GQ)
John Morales:
Children are *always* the future. I find that to be a bit tiring sometimes. However, I utterly fail at doing notable things in the present, so I guess that’s technically correct.
Katherine
I meant to reply to this earlier, but I lost track. I can say that I have personally known several people who identify as both of those categories, so I’m going to go with a yes, with the caveat that I am not at all an expert in such matters, either through direct experience or detailed study; I’m just going by what I’ve been told by trans* people whom I’ve known.
thunk
GQ in this context means Genderqueer, yes? My brain automatically read it as Gentlemen’s Quarterly at first, then failed entirely to make sense of the sentence and tried again.
thunk, heh.
Without elaborating on the obvious fact that you’re no longer a child, you should know that I have no expectations of you that are not implicit in my cynical, curmudgeon judgement of you.
(Be who you are, and I will be vindicated)
John Morales:
True. But I am still legally a minor, and people of my age are often considered to be inadequate decision-makers, and thus subject to moral panics, dismissal of viewpoints as being “young and idealistic”, and restrictions on a number of things, including hat-wearing. (That never made sense, except as part of a moral panic thing.)
But I see what you’re getting at. No harm done, really.
thunk, oh most supreme ceremonial monarch,
Would there be a nice acronym by which to refer to thee? Thy current appellation be quite lengthy.
thunk… I think you need a hat.
Tony: just refer to me as “thunk”. The descriptor is not part of the nym (note the comma).
iJoe
Everyone needs at least one good hat (and, of course, a back-up good hat, and a good summer hat, and a back-up for that one…)
ah, iJoe. But I’m a youngster. Therefore, NO HATS.
they’re scary to the people in power.
Hats on yoof are scary? I seem to have missed that memo. I thought that in Australia hats=sensible avoidance of skin cancer.
Also I seem to have missed the memo when fedoras went from cool to douchey. Wut? My bloke is over 50 and he looks just as fine in a fedora now as he did 5 years ago. He does a good film noir look when he wants to.
Hi ho Horde, just dropping by to share a link for an article on an Afghani woman, military helicopter pilot, Latifa Nabizada:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-02-12/latifa-nabizada-mama-asia-afghanistan/4489756
Indoors, alethea. Then they become “gang symbols”. Or “security risks.” The same applies to hoodies.
At least in my neck of the US of A.
thunk, you just need the RIGHT hat. If you get a floppy hat, no one thinking you’re a thug or anything.
I think it’s a phenomena related to how hipster-bashing is replacing the social role of being a hipster.
Also, holy shit I sweat a lot. I weighed myself before and after exercising for an hour and drinking the better part of a .75 liter bottle of water. 2.9lb difference. That can’t just be weight I’ve lost, converting that much mass to energy would *checks online calculators* vaporize the entire Greater Sacramento Area south of Rocklin. >.>
Physics is scary sometimes.
Also, moral panics are a crime against humanity. A petty crime against humanity, but still.
WMDKitty, I agree, and I own a few hats. *grins* I have a straw fedora, a floppy sun-shading hat, and a tweed trilby. And I want more!
Oh. OK. Um. Yes. Security. Sure. That makes sense.
You can say anything and blame it on “security” in the US, it seems. Seems kind of like “Health & Safety” in the UK. Honestly, they should just say “bogeyman” and be done with it.
Azkyroth: Some of that will be water vapour lost in exhalation, I think, not just sweat.
That seems likely; I was breathing pretty hard. Still kind of alarming, though. O.o
*Groans into the lounge, doing a passable imitation of a zombie.*
Still alive, though! =^_^=
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Mouthyb – sending kittens, puppies and baby sloths. I wish I could send peace of mind, too.
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I had a cheering, musical morning. My daughter Skyped from Ireland to wish her brothers a happy birthday and then my sister Skyped from the USA to do the same. I got to listen to my nephew playing some classical violin, then Number 4 Son played his ocarina; more violin then Son played some music on the organ and keyboard. Sister and I got out our harmonicas and played a duet of ‘Twinkle, twinkle, little star’, then she and nephew played ‘Oh, Suzannah’ together. It was huge fun but I got very tired and lost my voice!
Then total exhaustion hit and I’ve been pretty much useless all afternoon. Flu isn’t supposed to hit in summer! I was going to get my shot next month…
Also, my right eye feels as if a piece of sandpaper is jammed in the socket and it won’t stop watering. Bah. Getting old! :p
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Hats – I have lots and lots of hats. One cannot have too many in this climate, and if one wants to co-ordinate with one’s outfit. ;) I think that if I were a TV character, I’d be Cat from Red Dwarf.
Clubs don’t allow hats indoors*, but they are acceptable everywhere else as far as I can tell.
*They also have signs up that say things like “No Rubber Thongs”; I wonder how they find out?! *Whistles innocently*
Pretty sure we all knew that Henry Rollins rocks – but here’s some specifics.
http://blogs.laweekly.com/westcoastsound/2013/02/rollins_gop_disdain_for_women.php
*goes on a mad dash, tearing up rugs and nearly running on the walls themselves*
*skids to a stop in the middle of the room*
*pretends to be too dignified to have ever done such a thing*
I used to have a Rollins T-shirt that pretty much defines my existence. It said “Won’t Sleep, Won’t Shut Up” and had a ring of coffee cups on the back.
*Opens one eye to watch WMDKitty and wishes flu didn’t prevent such antics.*
*Tells everyone else in the room that they were mistaken, and that WMDKitty would never be anything other than regal.*
*Remembers something. Bows down before thunk.*
Katherine Lorraine, for what it’s worth I’ve noticed the compass of my gender orientation slowly change, and whilst I used to think I was more in the androgynous genderqueer space, I’m now living happily as a woman full-time, so I don’t see gender fluidity and transgender as being somehow incompatible, as they’re describing different ideas about gender identity.
It’s snowing here. Pretty.
I have a somewhat fedora hat. It was a felt hat blank, over-sized and never finished, that I found somewhere. It fit over my fat head, and had a quite wide brim. I put a fedora crease on the crown, a colorful string around it for a band, and usually wear a bandana over my hair to make it fit. It looks very old-farmer-style, and not hipster.
I also have a straw hat of roughly the same over-size, from Ghana, I think, which also requires a bandana underneath.It’s nice for canoeing.
Good morning
Massive hugs for mouthyb
Mozzarella di buffalo is disgusting.
Mozzarella di buffala, OTOH, is delicious.
WMDKitty @964:
The cat and the hat!
This cat likes hats. I tried to count in my head how many I own and my ‘flu brain couldn’t retain the information. More than ten, at any rate.
I’d like to be this cat. =^_^=
Warning: cute kids story
So, this morning #1 came in with a plushie under her shirt exclaiming “I’m pregnant, I think it’s a dinosaur”
So, I thought this was a “teachable moment” and told her that when she’s grown up she can decide if and when and how many babies she wants to have and that she doesn’t have to have any.
“Yes, mum, I think I want to have three babies when I grow up: a cat, a dog and a dinosaur”
“Sweetie, I’m afraid it doesn’t work like that. Humans always have human babies”
…Pause…
“I think I want pets then. A cat, a dog and a picture of a dinosaur.”
Giliell
““I think I want pets then. A cat, a dog and a picture of a dinosaur.”
Your daughter is way. too. awesome. for words.
What a wonderful daughter! =^_^=
Mine didn’t want kids either. Until she got pregnant. :D
Well, she’s five, I think she has a looooong time ahead to figure this whole kids thing out, I just don’t want her to grow up thinking that there’s an automatism.
And I think that spoiling a dog would be much cheaper than spoiling a grandchild *evilgrin*
Can I post a link to your cute kid story to STFU Parents, as an example of the proper way to relate a story about one’s child(ren)?
WMDKtty
Sure, no problem
Totally threadrupt, so I’ll just ask everyone who thinks it appropriate to consider themselves congratulated or commiserated.
Our old dog is now on daily painkillers for arthritis. For a while we got away with concealing them inside lumps of bread, but she started to separate out the pill and discard it. Now it’s a liberal coating of peanut butter or hazelnut chocolate spread – too sticky to remove. Getting the dose right is tricky – too much and she’s prone to “accidents” at night, too little and she gets stiff.
Hello, all.
Threadrupt.
Cold, laryngitis, headache.
Bad dreams last night. I think another shoe is going to drop. Not sure, but the dream feels like there is something at the edge trying to get in to my little mind. This is like some fucking drawn out torture session — it keeps letting me glimpse getting things together and then, BAM! out of left field comes something I didn’t expect.
Or maybe not. Maybe just a few more details to fit in. Not sure.
Tigger_the_Wing #976
Rubber thongs? Those are a thing? They sound very uncomfortable. Certainly not clubbing wear, anyway.
That said, I can think of a few situations where they could be quite fun… I think you may have just expanded my horizons :)
Only one word comes to mind
chafe
Rev:
When was young, we called those rubber sandal things with the strap that goes between the market and the home toes ‘thongs.’ And they were made of rubber.
Another sufferer of the threadrupting plague here.
rq! I have to admit I crtlFed your nym and behold just what I’d hoped for! Love the pics of the new abode. Snow! How I miss snow, even the shovelling of it…. Much better than having a thug of a bush-fire hanging around for weeks and weeks, blowing smoke in everyone’s face to remind them that it’s still here and still dangerous.
I’m sorry I haven’t been supporting or organising my nascent hoardian musical idea. Tired. So tired. I hesitate to speculate about just what mis-sprung part of my brain is responsible for me staying up later and later now that I know there’s a possibility that my fatigue and sleep troubles might have a cure, or at least an effective control. I’ll go back soon and try and figure out who wants to do what and get a little better organised.
Yesterday I awoke to smoke so thick that the mountain next door had disappeared, and the incessant sound of helicopters dragging full loads of water into the air. The fire hasn’t moved any closer but it isn’t getting any smaller either.
I’m sure our danger here is minimal, but I still have bad moments. This morning I was showering and thinking on the encounter I had a few weeks ago with one of the heli-crews. I thanked them for what they do, skilled and dangerous as it is.
I told them of having the really big chopper pass over my by a hundred meters or so during the Black Saturday fires of three years ago. It was an emotional moment feeling that big beautiful bastard of a machine compress my chest with each thump of its rotors at it clawed its way skyward having just sucked some poor farmer’s dam dry. There was yelling, and perhaps fist pumping. I thought they’d be amused.
They were a little put off by that. The big chopper gets all the press while they labour on just as long and hard with little recognition.
I found myself crying in the shower thinking on that exchange. I wish I could go back and say this to them:
I don’t care what it is, a commercial chopper with a bambi bucket, or the biggest dedicated firefighting helicopter ever made. I want the sky full of such machines. I want my daughter’s sky to be full of such machines. Machines piloted and serviced by skilled, dedicated, brave people like yourselves. People who keep safe those I love beyond any hope of explanation in those fleeting words, those inadequate words that are too small to bear the feeling they need to convey. Words like: Thank you. They aren’t enough, but they will have to do.
Annnnnnd I just realised that in this age of interntian connectedness there’s no reason I can’t find those folks and at least write them a better thank you. Huh, and they say the intertubes isn’t good for anything but porn and cat pictures….
Hugs, commiserations and celebrations to all. Hopefully I’ll find the time to catch up soon and make those things a little more meaningful.
OH those thongs…
right
um
I guess that shows where my mind is.
yeah, ‘thong’ had a good run as a synonym for ‘flipflops’, but those days are gone since the whole underpants thing. And before that it was like a leather string or bootlace. And then before that it was one of thothe thingth Bing Crothby uthed to thing. Yep, language evolveth.