This is the lounge. You can discuss anything you want, but you will do it kindly. I need a nap so bad.
Status: Heavily Moderated; Previous thread
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
This is the lounge. You can discuss anything you want, but you will do it kindly. I need a nap so bad.
Status: Heavily Moderated; Previous thread
New Zealand has passed the same sex marriage bill!
One bright note to smile about.
YAY!
+++
Also, fuck rape culture
Today was my first day of teacher-training at school (once a week on Wednesdays).
So the kids should write dialogues in which one is themselves and asking their parents if they can go out at the weekend (in a foreign language) and the other one was the parent who had to be won over.
Two girls wrote the following, more or less:
Mother: No, you can’t go out, it’s too dangerous
Girl: But we’ll stay together all the time and there will be boys with us to protect us!
Yeah, but rape culture is something we invented…
I know the feeling too well. I get the waves of sorrow very frequently when I’m alone. Usually triggered by something – anxiety about failing my exams, or about my career, or about my finances and mountain of student debt and lack of income, or about having upset or hurt people in the past, say – but the sadness takes on a momentum of its own, and I find myself sitting at my computer crying my eyes out and loathing myself, almost trying to will myself out of existence. In the current climate, I feel like I’ll never be able to get a pupillage or work in my field, and this worry is making my mental health worse. I decided some time ago to devote my life to working with refugees and migrants, and it’s only that hope that keeps me going.
So, solidarity. Depression and anxiety suck. But you’re not alone.
*hugs* for everyone who needs and wants them
—
Tony & Walton,
Yeah, I know the feeling too. It sucks.
In my observations, it’s the people who have the most worth who are the most likely to feel as if they have the least.
I made a tort last week. With crispy-chewy corn tortillas, carnitas, black beans, onions, sweet peppers, serrano peppers, jack, cheddar and feta cheese. Really good.
—-
Portia:
Scary.
—-
Tony, Walton and Beatrice:
yeah. Been there. Done that. Still doing that. Hugs to you.
People keep telling me that. Still bouncing off the trampoline of depresssion rather than penetrating my thick skull.
Portia
I hope things are better this morning.
Everyone else, too.
[whatever part of whatever day it is for you, I hope it’s better]
Well, it makes sense, though. One only feels like they’re not contributing enough if they are paying attention to the needs of those around them and want to do something about it. One only feels lonely if they love people. One only worries about debt if they don’t want to be a burden on others. Most of what causes people to feel inadequate results from being closely connected to and caring about the world. The wholly self-satisfied people are the ones I worry about, because they don’t care about anyone but themselves.
Meanwhile in South Carolina
I REALLY hope this pushes Jenny Sandford into an outright endorsement of Colbert Busch. My SC Political incest bingo card will be complete and I’ll win my choice of a full paid trip up the Appalachian trail or a trip to Argentina.
Even better take
And if I don’t ever feel lonely, can I still be one of these people with “worth”? I sympathize fiercely with Tony and anyone else suffering from loneliness, but as an extreme introvert, I’m a little bit hurt by the implications in this. I can care about people while also lacking the desire to interact.
My best friend has suffered similarly to you, Tony. She had a girlfriend briefly in her early twenties and then it’s been abject loneliness ever since. She is a wonderful, loving person who would make a loving partner, but it just hasn’t happened for her. Unfortunately, that’s the way of it sometimes. It has nothing to do with a person’s worth or what they deserve: love isn’t something earned by how wonderful or brilliant or kind or beautiful someone is. It’s just a matter of people finding one another and deciding to be together.
And because there’s so much randomness involved in that–so many different possible connections and possible obstacles–there’s just no telling when or if lasting love is going to happen. It’s part of the basic unfairness of life. The good news is that as long as you’re alive, there is hope of finding someone. You could be ninety years old and find the absolute love of your life and it could be so goddamned fucking wonderful it makes the previous 89 years of solitude vanish from your memory. Or you might meet someone tomorrow. Or maybe you won’t. But the awesomeness that is Tony remains regardless.
I am so sorry you’re feeling worn down and alone. I really do hope that luck changes and the love to end all of love finds you.
Life on Other Worlds was my first foray into David Zondy’s Tales of Future Past. The nostalgia and ridiculous factors alone are well worth the slog through all the sections, though.
But in the end, it’s a fantastic tribute to the unfettered creative powers of people dreaming of a better future.
Yay for Giliell for surviving the semester so far. ;)
And a YAY for New Zealand.
For everyone else,
– seconded.
Anonymous hacked the Westboro Baptist Church facebook page
MM
Well, Carlie didn’t say that only those who feel lonely love other people. ;)
rq
You mean like the first three days?
But I have my “part-time student day off” tomorrow when I’ll take a shovel to the household.
Oh joy. Now people are sending letters with possibly Ricin to the president.
Oh, absolutely! It wasn’t one of those equality things where it’s the same backwards as forwards.
Rev
Your link at #513 is borked.
Giliell
Hey, for me, getting through the first few days of something is the hardest. After that, usually something resembling Routine kicks in, and I know I can do it. ;)
Oh, the shovel to the household. I’m thinking of acquiring a pitchfork for the inside, since it’s being neglected due to the outside being favoured in this lovely weather.
Hi all.
Not sure why I didn’t add this one to my previous. And yes, I know I have written this before. I hate nightmares. I really do.
This post is a follow up to my comment @418 on the previous page of this chapter of the [Lounge] thread, in which the “Excel error heard round the world” was discussed.
Several journalists and economists have responded to the thoroughly unsatisfactory excuses and pale apologies from the economists who made the error. And several Republican politicians and/or right wing mouthpieces have proffered the factoid that no one listened to Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogof anyway. Sorry About That Mass Unemployment as Jonathon Chait put it the New York Magazine.
Excerpt:
Here’s Paul Krugman responding to the Reinhart-Rogoff halfassed apology (in reference to post #520 above):
You may not care much for delving into the details of which economist writes what and when, but this is important. Just ask Greece. Just ask Spain. Just ask people laid off thanks to every Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives believing the crap published by Reinhart-Rogoff.
Morning.
Friend texted me this morning (as demanded) and told me he’s fine.
What’s the protocol now? I know he’s not better in the long term.
Found out last night when he told me which pills I could take that I couldn’t take the ones for bipolar disorder. I don’t know exactly what kind of effect that has in combination with depression.
Portia
Good, as far as last night’s crisis.
Can you convince Friend that he needs to have a serious discussion with whoever is prescribing the bipolar meds?
carlie, that video you linked to of the camino del rey … I could barely even watch it to the end. There were moments when I had to look away. And that was without the soundtrack … The stuff of abject, blinding, muscle-freezing, bowel-dissolving terror, that is.
Oooh! Idea: were-dolphins!
–
Shit-fire, Portia! *hugs* and moral support for you, and I hope your friend makes it through this.
–
*massive hugs* for Tony. I remember that feeling all too well, and it is made of high-density, weapons-grade Suck.
You are not a fucking loser—ask anyone here! You are an awesome, intelligent, empathetic guy, and I don’t doubt for a minute that the right guy for you is out there, and doesn’t know that he’s looking for you; it’s just the geography of the situation that’s the problem. Stoopid geography!
Though I am decisively not a C&W fan
*cue music:
I was looking for love in all the wrong places,
Looking for love in too many faces,
Searching their eyes, looking for traces of what I’m dreaming of….*
Also, your issues aren’t stupid. You are not inconsequential. You matter.
–
*pouncehug* for ImaginesABeach. It is, indeed, a Yippee.
:)
–
Seconding what carlie said:
and
–
Also, however, agreeing with The Mellow Monkey:
–
And maybe look on the Side Effects list for possible things in the area of depression, anxiety, etc. After all, it was a muscle relaxant that apparently sent my Nephew-in-Law off the rails. Right there on the list of side effects it was, and his GP was clueless and useless.
–
Rand Paul is being persecuted:
waambulance is on the way
Rand Paul dug himself a very deep hole when he gave a speech at Howard University that demonstrated his cluelessness. He is still digging.
Link.
Portia
What chigau said. Also, let him know that you’re available for talking to and similar if he should need/want it.
*Hugs* for you, and Tony,Ogvorbis, MM and anyone else who needs/wants them.
Lynna
I honestly have some trouble with the idea of blaming those two incompetent jackasses for all the economic problems caused by dumbass political gamesmanship. The push for austerity as a solution to every economic woe predates their lies by decades, and politicians in many countries have been pushing the same snake oil that whole time.
rq
I have a number of issues with the article. The one the springs up immediately is that the author really didn’t pick very good arguments, and I hate it when people who are supporting the same things I do fuck it up like that. As you note, the article discusses only polygyny, and only the religious forms of it at that. The religious freedom argument is total crap, as it’s already established that your religion doesn’t give you the right to violate other laws, regardless of how reasonable they are or aren’t. A much better argument, and one which wouldn’t erase, say, my relationship, is simply that civil rights are not limited: I have the right to freedom of speech and the press, which applies regardless of how many venues I choose to speak and right in. My home and property are protected from warrantless searches, no matter how many homes and properties I may own. I have the right to vote in every election that happens in my area, no matter how many elections might be called. Why, therefore, do I not have the right to enter into marriage with however many people I choose, and who choose me?
cicely
A number of cultures along the Amazon have legends that the Amazon River Dolphins take on the shape of a very attractive human, who will seduce people and lead them into the river to drown.
One more layer to add to your growing pile of distrust for the Mitt Romney class of overlords:
Suspect arrested in the Boston terrorist attack.
No details. I’m at work, Wife is watching TV at home and just sent me a text.
Dalillama @527
I get that. I should have made it clear in my posts that blaming only those two dunderheads was an over simplification. I agree with you there.
My point was that Republicans in the USA and bankers in the E.U. both referenced the flawed documents from the dunderheads multiple times in justifying questionable budget decisions. They don’t now get to claim that the conclusions of Reinhart-Rogoff meant nothing to them.
I’d also like to point out that many economists debunked the Reinhart-Rogoff conclusions on other grounds, and were ignored. It only takes one set of experts to weigh in on the right-wing side, after that the bogus or flawed info goes viral in right-wing-o-sphere. To claim that Reinhart-Rogoff did little or no damage is another flawed argument.
Read Paul Krugman for more details.
Maddow link.
Republicans are taking another swipe at education, this time they are basing their “resolution” on yet another one of Glenn Beck’s idiotic constructions.
Excerpt from Maddow Blog link:
Way to go, Republicans. Base your party platform on wingnut conspiracy theories.
Texans would rather die than see the state turn blue. At least that’s what some Texas politicians are saying.
At least he didn’t reference Hitler.
This is definitely true, ands I suppose that these guys are in a position similar to that of, say Pat Michaels, a climate change denier with actual credentials: They didn’t create it, but they lent their names, credibility, and work to supporting it, and they damned well should have known better. So, yeah, they have a big chunk of blame coming their way too.
Link.
cicely:
Absolutely. It can be deadly if you leave something out that just might have made a difference!
Portia:
I’m glad he could help. Also, you are a very good friend. *hugs*
Crip Dyke:
Good luck on your exam.
Tony – *lots of hugs and chocolate*
opposablethumbs:
I’ve read about this in several fictional accounts. It really must have been something to own a sheet of paper printed on the printing press an enterprising printer managed to get onto the ice.
ImaginesABeach – *waves*
rq – I hope Middle Child feels better soon.
Walton – *pouncehug*
Dalillama
Thanks for that, and thanks for pointing out the religious aspect. I’d noticed the polygyny, but somehow didn’t realize the author had linked it to religious factors.
Anyway, and correct me if I’m wrong on this, I think that most people’s perception of a polyamorous/polygamous relationship is that it is far more unstable than the usual one-on-one model that is (mostly) accepted. I think that’s the one barrier to enshrining the relationship into marriage (you know, besides the religious one man+many women), that people seem to see one woman+many men, multiple-women and multiple-men, and many men+many women models as inherently unstable – if you have many partners, it seems logical that you’d switch them in and out more often. So, if you’re switching relationships all the time, there’s no point in getting married… unless you want the divorce rate to sky-rocket. (I’m speaking of perception here, what I’ve seen from other acquaintances in poly relationships, the relationships are as stable as any ostensibly monogamous one.)
Also, I heard, long ago, a good argument that we already live in a world of polygamous relationships – except they’re serially polygamous, instead of simultaneously so. But the flaw there is that you don’t have all those divorcees with their second (etc.) husbands and wives choosing to live together or even choosing to interact at all. They just happen to share some household/child-rearing responsibilities.
Anyway. Some of this is just me talking, and I may be wrong on most or all of the above opinions.
Reports on the suspect arrested in Boston:
http://www.salon.com/2013/04/17/reports_suspect_arrested_in_boston_marathon_case/
http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/17/us/boston-blasts/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
Also, fraying away at the DM’s temper while he waits for you to trawl through a disorganised mess of character sheets, does not improve the survival chances for you or your group.
–
Hekuni Cat
Thanks! I hope so too, but I think it’s just a symptom of spring + new house – spending too much time outside too soon with too few clothing (but honestly, it was beautiful weather!).
+++
Dammit, I just read the greatest article I’ve ever read in Latvian about how women aren’t objects (in response to an article by a celebrity in <i<Playboy about ugly girls and how they should fix themselves), but I can’t share it with you because it’s only in Latvian. :( But it was a good one, and encouraging, to even see such an article in the mass media and shared (even a little bit) on Facebook (I passed it on, too).
Here are two examples of what the neighbouring town looks like right now (that’s all water+ice climbing out of the river – but this is flooding in the local tributary river, and it’s mostly occurring because the Daugava itself is not moving yet), and water/ice levels have increased 6.6 metres in Daugavpils (upriver on the Daugava from us). Looks like this year will be an impressive ice-floe year.
Fox News contributor Erik Rush tweeted:
“Everybody do the National Security Ankle Grab! Let’s bring more Saudis in without screening them! C’mon! #bostonmarathon.
More sources for right-wing responses the Boston bombings in the “What was it like …” thread.
rq @540, Holy crap!
Best wishes for Middle Child, rq, and for seeing the ice move. Last week at my mom’s house, we walked down to the lake shore and the sheets of ice were advancing towards on the ground. It was probably nothing compared to what you’re trying to catch, but it was neat.
And I’ll answer your email, I swear. I wanted to let you know that I really appreciated the thoughts and thank you for caring so much about me.
Chigau
Thanks for the tip. I know he has an M.D. who prescribed them, and he saw them not that long ago.
I think he had an appointment with a talk-shrink, too.
cicely
Thanks, and good point. I will get to googling.
Dalillama
I definitely will do that. Thank you.
Hekuni Cat
Thanks for the hugs : )
MM
Big hugs.
Crip Dyke (In case you’re checking in).
Look like you’re wrestling the Property Beast in 30 minutes. Best of luck, I have full confidence.
From the CNN link, above:
Something for conspiracy theorists from both fringes!
–
The mormon viewpoint on “homosexual behavior” repeated … again:
This comes from one of the sheeple, but I think the “epiphany” was spurred by the latest comments from apostle Boyd K. Packer at mormon General Conference.
“Just because the nation may change its laws to “tolerate legalized acts of immorality” does not make those acts any less spiritually damaging…”
“The permissiveness afforded by the weakening of the laws of the land to tolerate legalized acts of immorality, does not reduce the serious spiritual consequences that result from the violation of God’s law of chastity.” “Tolerance is a virtue, but, like all virtues, when exaggerated it transforms itself into a vice. We need to be careful of the ‘tolerance trap’ so that we are not swallowed up in it.”
-Senior apostle Boyd K. Packer – Saturday morning at the LDS Church’s 183rd Annual General Conference. April, 2013.
11:58 here.
I need to leave the house in 90 seconds, I’ll be taking the exam in 1/2 an hour. Thanks for the good wishes.
Once again, I got little sleep but managed to get all the studying tasks I set for myself done.
I don’t know how I’m doing it, but after this exam I only have to do it once more.
Then my head asplodes from decompression when I pop up and find it’s already the weekend.
Okay, Gotta go. See y’all in about, oh, 7 hours (only 6 for the exam).
Good luck, Crip Dyke!!
Good luck, Crip Dyke!
No worries about the email, Portia. I see you’ve been busy with rather more important stuff. ;)
round of *hugs* for everyone else
carlie
Thank you, sincerely. I’m sorry for possibly coming off overly sensitive there. I’m feeling fragile and sort of…watchful for rejection, even when it’s only in my head. ;)
You won’t see this until it’s all said and done, but I’m thinking good thoughts for you, CD. Good luck!
Just got back from shopping/lunch and I see there’s been more information out about the Boston bombing. Sigh. My fear is that if the person who did it is any sort of ethnic minority, racist scapegoating will begin. If the person who did it is a white male, there’ll be “crazy” talk. Somehow, I just feel like more innocent people will get more splash damage. The world never seems to learn.
Miscellaneous cool stuff:
“Coelacanth genome surfaces: Unexpected insights from a fish with a 300-million-year-old fossil record” http://phys.org/news/2013-04-coelacanth-genome-surfaces-unexpected-insights.html
“Compound that could prevent acute blood cancer relapse identified” http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-compound-acute-blood-cancer-relapse.html
— — — — — —
Yay! First Hugo Chavez dies, then Margaret Thatcher dies and now we have another tool to bury cancer! Me is happy.
This should be worth watching tomorrow:
“Environmental Change and Sustainable Well-Being:
Environmental Trailblazers Examine Challenges and Opportunities”
LIVE WEBCAST:
The National Press Club, Washington D.C.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
11:15AM-1:00PM EST
http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/tylerprize/video/2013/2013Webcast.html
Good luck, Crip Dyke!
:)
–
More on the Tyler Prize broadcast/webcast, (see comment #551):
Richard B. Alley, PhD – On the pace of climate change
Evan Pugh Professor of Geosciences, Department of Geosciences, and Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, Pennsylvania State University; Host of PBS’s EARTH: The Operators’ Manual
John P. Holdren, PhD – On a clean energy future
Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Co-Chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology
Thomas E. Lovejoy, PhD – On sustaining biodiversity and ecosystems
University Professor of Environmental Science and Policy at George Mason University; Biodiversity Chair at the Heinz Center for Science, Economics and the Environment
Mario J. Molina, PhD – On healthy air and urban populations
Director of the Mario Molina Center for Energy and Environment; Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California, San Diego and the Center for Atmospheric Sciences at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Telling bald-faced lies, and not telling them well, that’s the NRA.
Slate link.
Good evening
Good luck, CD
Big hugs for Portia
You’re doing whatever you can for your friend, but please remember that it’s his responsibility to move further.
I know, they question “what could I do to make him…” is tempting, but it is also futile
So, Mr.’s got his first case of sexual harassment at work to deal with.
He’s a “person of trust”, a position that’s part of the workers’ representation within a company and it is, in short, a mixture of being the workers’ voice in conflicts with the bosses and being an agony aunt for people’s personal problems and conflicts.
So a woman came to him and complained that there was a male colleague who was apparently taking pis of the women in the cafeteria and at work.
And he didn’t tell her to calm down, and not to make a fuss, and is she sure, but he thanked her for the information, went to the guy and told him to stop that shit or he risks being fired 6 months before his retirement.
I’m so proud of him.
*clenched-tentacle salute*
Now part 1 of a very quick link dump – I have no hope of catching up today (which will be over in an hour). All four are from the usual German news service, and I don’t have time for longer translations, but all four have a link to the paper in question (in English) at the bottom:
Paracetamol cures not only pain, but also the fear of being rejected and the subconscious fear of death. And it puts your liver on Failblog.
Yes, the Hobbit was an island dwarf; its brain wasn’t quite as small as people used to think, and that was the last obstacle to the hypothesis.
Circumcision reduces men’s risks of getting infected with HIV and other viruses. Apparently the cause are the bacteria under the foreskin – different, and fewer, species can survive on a dried-out glans – or rather the immune system’s reaction to them. “If yes, directed modifications of the skin flora by, say, anti- or probiotics could be a real alternative to circumcision, especially in cultures or areas where this surgery is not tolerated.”
If you put maggots of Drosophila or similar in the electron ray of an electron microscope while applying the vacuum, whatever molecules on their cuticle are crosslinked and form a protective layer 50 to 100 nanometers thick, and the maggots have no trouble surviving 30 minutes in high vacuum and developing into healthy flies later. The exciting news is: polysorbate 20, aka E432, reacts the same way when exposed to an electron ray or to plasma, and it’s really cheap. Speculate about applications.
Part 2:
O hai!
U can has coelacanth genome!
kthxbai
(Confirms what everyone already knew: we’re closer to lungfish than to coelacanths.)
As I’m already citing Nature, here’s its trouncing of the lower chamber of the Italian parliament to “redefine stem-cell therapy as tissue transplantation, thereby releasing it from any regulatory oversight. If the second parliamentary chamber endorses this amendment, Italy will be out of step with the rules of the European Union and the US Food and Drug Administration, both of which define stem cells modified outside the body as medicines.” If you don’t already know what a teratoma is, I recommend you don’t look it up.
At least up to the arrival of humans, there was a strange mammal in Madagascar that looked sort of like an aardvark and must have lived about that way. It’s been known for a long time, but its phylogenetic position isn’t obvious from looking at it, and nobody has done a phylogenetic analysis of morphological data because you’d need to include all major groups of placentals or so – a lot of work. Now the authors of this paper have done mass spectrometry on the bones, sequenced the collagen, and done a phylogenetic analysis of molecular data! Plesiorycteropus is the sister-group of the tenrecs*, which likewise live on Madagascar, and does not represent a separate dispersal of mammals to that island.
* Or at least it’s closer to them than the golden moles are.
And finally something very technical: with the settings used in that paper, and if applied to a small dataset, TNT (Tree analysis using New Technology, a program for phylogenetic analysis) is worse than its predecessor NONA (NO NAme), and the older, generally slower PAUP* (Phylogenetic Analysis Using Parsimony and other methods) blows them both out of the water, trounces them, and pulverizes their ashes. And neither the authors nor the reviewers nor the editor so much as noticed. It’s sort of horrifying to read.
…uh, I meant to say Nature trounces the decision, not the chamber.
And the napping mouse is very cute.
And yay for NZ!
Good luck – Go Crip Dyke, Go!!!!!
… actually, you’ve probably finished by now ….
well I hope it went well, then!
FIFThem.
*cheers on Crip Dyke* You can do eeeet!
Parsnip is 6 days old now and eating and peeing like a champ. :3 He is an adorbs angry kitten.
Yay! Pee your little heart out, Parsnip!
Very happy to hear he’s doing well, rowanvt. And are you getting more sleep now?
A little, Mellow Monkey. Enough at least to function and not be a zombie all day.
http://img593.imageshack.us/img593/3428/parsnip6days.jpg
David, that makes so much sense, but it so cool. I wonder if that opens a whole new arena for anti-anxiety or anti-depressive meds, if they can find a version that doesn’t destroy livers.
Cheers for everyone, hugs for all.
Sorry for the confusion earlier – I just meant that IF someone was lonely, the cause was the positive trait of liking people than the negative cause of being some sort of loser. And as we all know, there’s a big difference between lonely and alone (as nicely encapsulated in one of my favorite Pink songs).
Glad to hear it. He looks like he’s plumped up quite a bit, too!
He’s doing just about a full 60 mls a day now, double what he was eating at 2 days old. They grow so quickly. His eyes should open in just a couple days as well and then I get to be inundated with tiny cries of “MEEEEEEEE!” every time I walk past his crate.
Hi,
Apologies for the off-topic post. I’ve searched a bit using the in-site search, and Google’s site search, but haven’t found an answer. I’m sure this has been covered, but I haven’t been following the site as closely recently.
I notice many of you have avatar images now. Is there a trick to getting this to work? I’ve gone into “Edit my profile” at the upper-right of FTB and specified a URL for the “Author profile image URL” setting, but it doesn’t seem to work. I’ve kept within the specified image dimensions, and I’ve tried both JPEG and PNG to no avail. What’s the secret? Do I need to register with Gravatar? I’m reluctant to do this because I don’t necessarily want the same avatar at every site where I post with this email address. Or do I need a WordPress account (I thought I had one just by registering with FTB, but apparently FTB has its own local accounts)? Suggesions are appreciated.
meursalt,
Yes, and unfortunately that’s how it works.
(You can store multiple images and select which is operative, but only one is active at any given time)
Great Parsnip news, rowanvt!
Good night, Horde. I hope that those of us for whom it is sleep time sleep well.
Thanks for the quick response, John Morales. I was afraid that was the case.
Portia
QFT.
I can only speak from my experience. I’m so far from being an expert in these things that I’m not sure I could even recognise true expertise should it walk up and shake my hand. Insert andecdote, sample size of one and big subjective bias warning here.
The events, mental states and choices that led me to decide that death was my best option was a massive, unstable and complicated mess. It was like children’s blocks stacked in elaborate precarious piles, and it was a tiny, insignificant piece that caused the edifice to shift into a deadly configuration. I can’t remember the trigger, it was something small, a failed assignment, a missed appointment leading to disappointing someone, something that would only be a momentary annoyance at another time, in another life.
From the outside you can’t possibly see all these pieces. All you can do is reach out and hold steady the big obvious stuff in the hopes that that will stabilise the whole. The fiddly little bits, especially down the bottom where any change could be profound are best left to professionals.
I’m going to second, third and fourth the suggestion that he be encouraged to discuss his meds with the prescribing person in light of his current difficulties.
Using the filibuster tactic, conservative Senators defeated the bill to expand background checks for those wishing to purchase firearms. Link.
Excerpt:
The BIG button is submit, the little button is preview. Sigh.
Ah well, I only had one thing left to say: Portia, you are a fantastic human being.
Greetings, Horde! The snow is melting almost exponentially here in Finland thanks to the rains.
Sometimes wildlife gets weird:
http://yle.fi/uutiset/chainsaw_thief_-_a_wolverine_with_a_taste_for_biofuel/6563652
I think they should write about biolubricant, not biofuel, though.
That’s terrific, Giliell!
–
Parsnip: The Rise of the Kyoot.
–
To all:
Thank you for the kind words and support.
It means a great deal.
****
Dalillama:
You have email my friend.
rowanvt @534:
OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Last night I had to leave the bar because I was about to break down in tears from sorrow and frustration.
I’m at the same bar and nearly in tears because parsnip is So. Damn. Adorable!
I just want to scoop up the little kitten and shower him with gentle love and affection!
Tony, I’m glad that his pictures are helping you feel better. :3 I had the most gigantic cranky on Monday and he made it all better. He has a truly fantastic and loud purr going on already and I just about melt from the cute every time I feed him.
Didja know that his tail bobs up and down with such speed that it turns into a blur when he starts nursing? I need to take a video of it. XD
Giliell:
It is so wonderful to hear when people do it right. My hat is off to Mr. *That* is how you treat sexual harassment.
Oh for a time when such a response is *typical*.
rowanvt:
Our animal companions are really amazing creatures, aren’t they?
I know what the lack of sleep is like.
I also know the joy of caring for a young animal, and how such joy can overwhelm exhaustion (to a point, admittedly).
Mellow Monkey @511:
This is so true.
It really sunk in back in 2010, when M died.
He died without ever being in love-as far as he indicated to me.
Every time I hear some trite phrase like “there’s someone out there for everyone” or “it all works out in the end” or “stop searching and it will come your way” or “it will happen when you least expect it” or anything along those lines, I cycle back to his passing. My comment is always “You don’t know that. Sometimes, for some people…it does NOT happen.”
The reality is that sometimes it happens for some people and sometimes it doesn’t happen. There is no rhyme or reason. I can accept that. Knowing that doesn’t make it any easier though.
The ones you are running software to keep you from having to deal with.
Those.
But, hell, if it ain’t a problem for you, it ain’t really a problem.
True, I’m still trying the prior step, debugging the website.
So far no luck.
…and since FTB cannot refuse to run ads with given content, your point is valid.
I’m getting the prompt, I’m hoping at this point not to run it.
But hey, thanks for the support just the same, it was awesome.
Anri, I run NoScript and RequestPolicy primarily to speed up my browsing experience* and to limit my bandwidth; before that, I used the hosts file to disable domains.
As for my support, you’re welcome!
—
A couple of further suggestions:
1. You might try the mobile version of this site.
2. Ed Brayton would be a more appropriate person to whom to express your concern.
—
* And to significantly reduce CPU and memory resource requirements in so doing.
Anri — Just install AdBlocker!
(Massively) threadrupt but still here:
*waves at The Lounge*
Whad I miss?
Has the Ricola-Commune-Call been sent yet?
Okay, Lizards– advice time!
USians (at least, but even the BBC is reporting it) may have heard of the explosion in West,TX earlier (a fertilizer plant).
(Pardon any Tpyos*.)
A friend if mine is a member of a local rescue team. She MAY be called to assist in the rescue/recovery (not that far away).
My friend is a (*shudder*) devout Christian. She (so far)- is a reasonable person when I avoid saying : “I’ll pray for you” or some such. (I haven’t used the dreaded “A-word” directly but I think she ‘suspects.’ )
We’ve (tonight) been having an FB chat conversation about her possible involvement in the ‘rescue’.
Any advice should she or others ‘ insist’ that I ‘pray for her’ ? [Just trying to be more diplomatic than my nature actually allows….]
—
*Hail Tpyos!
Big effing boom in Texas, apparently. A fertilizer plant near Waco went up and hundreds of homes/buildings are damaged and a LOT of casualties. No fatalities confirmed, but it sounds like they’re expecting many. Probably a lot of emergency personnel, since there were a bunch on scene fighting the initial fire before it went kablooey. USGS registered it as a 2+ magnitude quake, and that’s just how it affected the ground.
Fuck.
So. While the mobile site is showing right now (damn you, Pharyngula!!), my morning started with three pieces of great news:
1) Giliell‘s Mr (yay for him!);
2) the adorableness that is Parsnip (thanks rowanvt and please video him nursing, but I might not watch it because I’ll just die from the cuteness);
3) bluentx is back!!! :) (Although, admittedly, with some sad news. I’d respond with a ‘Good luck! You’ll be in my thoughts for sure.’, if you don’t want to bring up the prayers/god specifically. Because everyone can think about someone. Dunno if that would work, but it seems pretty low-key.)
Annnnd good morning, going to take the walk down to the river today. But from news sources, the Big One isn’t moving yet, so we’ll probably just see regular old river-ice on the river and not piling up.
The Boston Marathon and white privilege.
And here’s what I feel like some days – I’m that mother on the left, going ‘Ummm… ok.’
bluentx:
You really don’t want my advice.
(But I note it would be no lie if you tell her your next prayer will be for her, so long as you mean it)
rq:
Hi ya!
Major depression/anxiety episode=threadruptedness. Monitoring and intending to discuss with Dr. at next scheduled appointment.
I saw some of the…uh..icyness mentioned upthread but only scanned… Take care of that new house and… piano(!). What a pain to have moved THAT and lose it to…..GLOBAL WARMING! : )
Hope all is well in Latvia!
PS of course, if you really don’t wish to mislead, you could always employ the Agnostic’s Prayer with suitable modification. ;)
Ricin suspect arrested, and sounds like he has serious issues:
Maybe Jesus taught him how about Ricin.
bluentx
I hope things get better, and good luck with the doctor and hope there are positive results! *hugs* if want
And we’re ok, I mentioned that we’re up on a hill – actually the old, geological riverbank, so if the flooding gets to us, it means we’re screwed anyway – but thanks for the wishes! We’ll stay safe in our observations as well.
It’ll probably be another week or so of seasonal flooding in all of Latvia, then it’ll go back to the usual ‘it’s too dry for the crops!’ (or ‘it’s too wet for the crops!’) kind of nature news.
Thanks, John Morales for The Agnostics Prayer. Must study it further for (near?) future use.
Wringing water with Chris Hadfield in space.
rq:
Funny that you’re (sort if) worried about ice melt now and we (April 14) had our first 90 degree+(F) day and currently 2am (4/18) it’s just cool enough to sleep comfortably (in my opinion) without the air conditioner..
I know, I know those Loungers in Arizonia are going, “We went through that weeks ago!” : )
<sigh>
Now, I’m both a cat and a dog person, but I find both frustrating in their own way.
Feeding a cat a tidbit is always speculative, but at least
whenif they do accept it one can enjoy their enjoyment of their nomming; feeding a dog a tidbit is reliable, but they just scoff it down without further ado.(Such is life)
Hello All!
–
Portia
You are a good person. I am so glad you could go to your friend’s house (in person). I bet it meant a lot.
I hope your friend has better days ahead.
—-
rq
Thanks for the kind words way back in the previous page. They mean so much.
I enjoy all the images from Latvia. It is so fun to learn about your home. : )
—-
Tony
I am sorry I missed you last night. I am thinking of you. I wish I lived nearer. I would come and hang out with you if you wanted. I wouldn’t pretend to have any answers, I would just be there.
–
And thank you for your kind words when I wrote of my first atheist conversation in meatspace. Your thoughtfulness means so much. I wish you knew how much.
*gentle hug*
—-
rowanvt
Yay! for Parsnip! : ) Yay! for future sleep!
(Don’t you just love my writing skills? : )
—-
Thinking of Everyone in The Horde.
♥
As I said to my friend on FB–” Let’s hope it wasn’t a matter of profit over people”– (can you say: Coal Mine Disasters?): http://news.yahoo.com/police-report-fertilizer-plant-explosion-near-waco-texas-015859240.html
Morning
Heard the bad news from Texas. More than 60 dead, it seems. :(
My heart goes out to the many victims and their families.
+++
rowanvt
Parsnip is the hell of cuuuuuuuuuuuuute.
And it really looks like he’s doing very well. The difference in the pictures is striking.
+++
rq
Yes, I know that feeling.
Yesterday the little one went to kindergarten with a grey shirt and a light blue jeans. The difference wasn’t noticable when she returned home.
Giliell, that was really nice to read about your Mr.’s handling of the harassment situation. It was brilliant, while at the same time it’s terrible that this should be unusual. As Tony said, here’s to the day a response like his is absolutely the norm!
.
Seconding (tenthing) the sentiment that Portia is amazing. Your friends are lucky to have you, Portia.
.
Wishing you well, bluentx. Hope the appointment turns out to be useful. As for the friend you mentioned, I usually just say something like “I’ll be thinking of you” or “You’ll be in my thoughts all the time” or something along those lines.
.
Amazing footage of the ice, rq! Does it do this every year!? Or is this exceptionally bad?
.
Extra hugs for Tony. You’re very high on the list of Pharyngulites-I’d-love-to-hang-out-with-in-meatspace-if-I-could.
rq
You owe me 15 minutes
How can you post links to such a time-sink without warning.
+++
Yeah, Mr really did well.
I have a feeling he would not have reacted like that 3 years ago or so before we had many conversations about this. I also blame Rebecca Watson
Dawkins drops another pearl of wisdom:
English is my native language. My words mean what I intend. If you read them differently because of “social context” that’s your problem..
Twitter has quite possibly done more to knock down icons than any technology in history.
rq, that picture is amazing. Soooo captionable.
“It’s ok, honey, there are lots of other elephants on the savannah.”
“Stop being so dramatic. You’re old enough to remember to wipe your tusks after you eat.”
“I’m never going to understand calculus. Never, never, never, never.”
“NOBODY UNDERSTANDS ME.”
carlie
I think we can add “linguistics” to the list of things RD knows shit about but feels competent enough to speak about
carlie
That last one just about nails it. :D
Giliell
Fine, I’ll just wait an extra 15 minutes next time I want to post something post-worthy, and I’ll post a warning comment, too! (Viewable material to follow in 15 minutes!) That way you’ll have time to retrieve those 15 minutes before losing them all over again. Mwahahahahaaa!!
opposablethumbs
It’s a mostly annual thing, but the amounts of ice vary from year to year. We just came back from the river (I’ll put up pictures in a bit, once the afternoon 20 minutes of movie-time begin), and I don’t think our section of it is in for anything even remotely as bad. The middle is all thawed out and moving well downstream, so unless there’s a sudden influx or stoppage at one of the hydroelectric dams, or a change in wind direction (blowing in from the sea as opposed to out towards it) it’ll be a quiet year for us. It’s a record-breaker elsewhere, though, definitely exceptional. Oh! And I’ll fish up the photos I have of the last impressive one. At least, of what was left behind.
carlie
re: RD
The ensuing conversation about the bear in that link is amusing.
Yay, I have a sick kid.
Thankfully she was so kind to fall sick on my free day….
Warning: potential time sink.
As my friend put it, for those without a museum nearby.
And here is a (potentially, are some) high school student(s) being amazing.
Today’s walk. Includes a short tour of the route to the river, not all that interesting to most of you.
Giliell
Oh no! Hope she’s better in time for your next non-free day.
Had an odd dream last night.
(No Trigger Warning for this one (well, except for weirdness))
I was in Florida, visiting Wife’s family. As we drove through the sticks (I seem to remember passing a sign for Christmas which would have put us on Route 50), I glanced something large through the trees. A really large bird. With undersized wings. And teeth. And then Mommy showed up. Which means we are being chased down Route 50, heading towards Orlando, being chased by a large feathered tyrannosaurid(?) — narrow and deep head, large teeth, etc. And Boy reaches forward, hits a button on the dashboard that I didn’t even know existed, and my Taurus became a convertible. So now we’re in a convertible, being chased by a tyrannosaurid, and what does Boy do? He starts tossing Krispy Kream donuts at the theropod. And I (in the dream, of course) said, “Wait. We can’t have donuts without whiskey!” so Boy pulls out a bottle of Jack Daniels, opens it, and tosses it into the dinosaur’s mouth. With the box of Krispy Kremes. And the dinosaur took a hard left and disappeared into the woods on the north side.
Weirdness.
Ogvorbis: I’m glad your subconscious has such trust in your and boy’s ability to solve any problem, up to and including being chased by hungry dinosaurs.
Ah, the fertilizer plant explosion. Things blow up in Texas periodically. It’s almost as though having essentially nonexistent safety regulations and little to no enforcement of those that do exist is a bad thing.
rq
I’m refusing to look at your pictures of icy rivers. There’s too great a danger of winter nostalgia…
The house as developed a rudimentary nervous system to go along with it’s nascent digestive tract. But that’s not visible from the outside so I’ll put up this pic from when we had visitors. At least it’s a little different from all the other photos.
Large file warning for thems with data plans and/or slow connections.
I am seeing more pop-up ads here. This is not good.
So yesterday we had a lab exercise involving betta fish and their behaviors. We only get them if we can ensure homes for them all, but this time there was one left over. I figured eh, we used to have a goldfish, we have the tank and stuff, free fish, whatever. So I took it home.
Got the tank all ready, realized the filter was broken, remembered oh yeah, it broke. So I had to go buy a new filter, and while I was there got a plant because every fish needs a plant, and got the cheapest hidey plaything I could find because this betta was a runt and had chosen flight over display with every other male, and seemed generally skittish. And he was pretty pale and wan, so I picked up some color-enhancing food.
Got home, the fish was listless at best, (had to look close to be sure it wasn’t dead), finally dipped a finger in the water and realized it was cold. It had not been cold when I put it in, but the room temp is on the lower side right now because WINTER, and it had apparently cooled down fast. Had never thought about this problem before because goldfish don’t give a shit if it’s cold. So I swapped out some of the water for warmer stuff, and we had a space heater on in the room all night, and this morning I went out and got a mini heater and a thermometer.
Point of the story being that, so far, free fish, even with having had fish before = $35 spent. Argh.
FossilFishy
Visitors to inspire a truly great digestive tract. House looks good so far! What’s the projected date of arrival (readiness?)?
That is one impressive young woman in that link, rq. Good for her – and she sounds like a perfect fit for the college of her choice too (from what little I know). They will be well made up to have her!
PS out of curiosity – that’s a bit of a Briticism, I think, and possibly a South-Eastern Briticism at that – to be “well made up” (or “well chuffed”) about something is to be extremely pleased about it; is this much (or at all) known or used anywhere else?.
Krispy Kremes and Jack Daniels … no wonder they’re extinct! (Hi Ogvorbis, good to see you)
“When I use a word,”
Humpty DumptyRichard Dawkins said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.”Are there any ad blocker scripts for cell phones? I replaced my dead phone, but now I have ads pop up all the time here at FtB.
Ogvorbis:
The pressing question is: were the donuts fresh from the oven?
Tony
AdblockPlus exists for Android phones, although some devices need to be rooted in order to install it properly.
Thanks for the orchids advice whoever gave it to me!!
I stopped watering them (or rather, water them rarely), and now they are growing a new leaf each. No stems yet, but I’ll look for that fertilizer that someone also mentioned.
First, that would be fryer, not oven.
Second, it was a dream.
And, C, a two-day-old Krispy Kreme still tastes better than a fresh Dunkin Donut.
*waves* at bluentx, followed by a *pouncehug*.
–
The tyrannosaurid obviously has bought into Krispy Kreme’s PR campaign.
I feel that they—the Krispy Kremes, not the tyrannosaurids—are considerably over-rated.
I don’t think that whiskey would help.
–
Who’d’ve thought?
–
You beat me to it, chigau.
:)
–
True. They’re only edible while they are still warm.
–
I imagine that two-day-old Krispy Kremes would go particularly well with peas.
I have no intention of actually running this experiment, however. Anyone else who wants to should feel free.
Maybe the whiskey would help.
If you drank enough of it.
First.
–
PZ’s fellow Minnesotan, Michele Bachmann seems to be getting into ever-deeper legal troubles, due no doubt to her lack of core convictions that make sense. Like Newt Gingrich, she seems to think of a political campaign as an opportunity to sell her book, while also siphoning off campaign funds and staff resources to pimp her awful book.
There’s been a helicopter hovering over the building I’m in all morning. Sinister conspiracy theories, anyone?
a two-day-old Krispy Kreme still tastes better than a fresh Dunkin Donut.
That still leaves open the question of why one would want to eat either when there are fresh bagels and cookies available in many parts of the world.
I love Ogvorbis’s use of Krispy Kreme donuts and Jack Daniels to defeat the forces of evil.
Hey! Guess what spam I got today!
I was added to a creationist mailing list! A Hindu creationist mailing list!
===========================
Google Groups: You’ve been added to Transcendental Nectar of Sadhu-Sanga: Under the holy association of Sripad Bhakti Madhava Puri Maharaja, Ph.D.
gurudev servant servant.gurudev@gmail.com has added you to the Transcendental
Nectar of Sadhu-Sanga: Under the holy association of Sripad Bhakti Madhava
Puri Maharaja, Ph.D. group with this message:
Darwin Under Siege: http://scienceandscientist.org/Darwin
Here is the group’s description:
Subscribe:
http://groups.google.com/group/Online_Sadhu_Sanga/boxsubscribe
Submit Manuscript:
http://groups.google.co.in/group/Online_Sadhu_Sanga/web/submit-manuscript
———————– Google Groups Information ———————-
The owner of the group has set your subscription type as “Email”, meaning that
you’ll receive a copy of every message posted to the group as they are posted.
Visit this group on the web by using this URL:
http://groups.google.com/group/Online_Sadhu_Sanga?hl=en-US
===========================
Could be a lot of fun! :-D
Oh, FFS. Remember the embarrassing Fox News reporting about the Saudi National who was supposedly a suspect in the Boston bombing. Well, the purveyors of factoids are hanging in there with non-news concerning Saudis, President Obama and conspiracy theories that are so far out there I don’t even know how to describe them. I’ll just have to go with some text from Salon:
Stephen Colbert on the Boston bombings:
http://www.salon.com/2013/04/17/must_see_morning_clip_colbert_pays_tribute_to_boston_marathoners/
he falsely claiming that “white extremists” never use bombs (forgetting or ignoring the Oklahoma City Bombing and plenty of other attacks)
For example, this one?
I could be wrong on this and I STRONGLY advise against anyone taking any kind of action based on my statements, but…the Boston bombing feels like something a white guy would do.
Of course, I want that to be true. I want this to be a domestic attack by white terrorists. For one thing, that would mean that Obama wouldn’t feel obliged to go bomb some poor innocent country in “retaliation” (as someone on some thread said, “In Afghanistan, they call this sort of thing ‘Monday’.”) But also because the membership of “militia” and “self-defense” groups went down abruptly in 1995 and 1996-in short, after the OK City bombing. Quite a number of people may come to their senses and stop supporting domestic terrorists if they are proven to be behind this.
Caught up since my previous comment. Will have to catch up on Portia’s awesomeness later.
♥ Bookmarked!
*snort* I’ve never begun searching, and guess what has happened? Nobody has come my way! I know extremely few people in meatspace, and I’m sitting here in a corner of the museum building where nobody comes accidentally!
Subthread won.
Seconded. I think religion won’t be the only thing that won’t survive the Internet.
Also, what Giliell said.
I’d love it if the principal actually called the college and explained the whole story – and the college then cut the principal down to size.
Seconded. Also, I’m happy you updated Jurassic Park; there still won’t be feathers in the coming JP4, I hear.
To be fair, tyrannosaurs aren’t Evil. They’re Neutral Hungry.
Historical photos of mormon temple garments and sacred undies on New Zealand website:
http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/31117/mormon-helping-hands
Check this one out quickly. Mormons will likely force its removal soon.
LOL. Quite true. However the tyrannosaurs in Ogvorbis’s dreams are metaphorical, I think.
This is close to what
happened.
A story of mormon fanatic adherence to the rules, posted by an ex-mormon on another forum, and related to post #637:
David!
*pouncehug*
–
I have to laugh that the principal thought that Wellesley would turn her down for being an uppity female.
Wellesley.
I expect Wellesley would be pretty annoyed at being told what to do by some principal in the sticks even without the added benefit that basically what the principal was saying was, “This young woman is perfect for your school!”
Or, y’know, it could be Obama quietly apologizing to Saudi Arabia for the police arresting one of their nationals because he was too close to the scene While Looking Arabic.
Why am I not surprised!
…which is, incidentally, the capital of Tajikistan.
IIRC…
shanbe = shabbat
yekshanbe = 1-[after]-Saturday
dushanbe = 2-
[forgotten]
charshanbe = 4-
panjshanbe = 5-
jom’e = mosque = Friday
Mormon marathoners are blessed by their mormon god, by cell phones, and by VIP passes. Some of them are also mindlessly arrogant and insensitive. God blessed them with survival while he chose to kill a non-mormon eight-year-old boy.
http://www.ldsliving.com/story/72274-lds-boston-marathoners-tell-their-stories
cicely!
*pouncehug*
^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^
*wikipedia*
*chortle*
Oh, awesome!!!
I think it’s simply the scene from Jurassic Park. :-)
WTF, Kansas?
Link.
A spate of these “nullification” bills have been passed by state legislators recently. States are not empowered to nullify Federal laws. They can challenge the constitutionality of federal laws through the federal judiciary system, but they can’t just declare themselves no longer subject to federal law.
I’m at a two-day conference, so I can’t respond to all the support as thoroughly as I’d like to. It means so much to me, and I want you all to know that.
FossilFishy, I really appreciate your recounting of your mental state for me. It helps give me a possible window into his mindset right now. (And I thank you for the compliment to my character. Hopefully soon I’ll believe it).
I asked if he had asked his doctor about depressive episodes being a side effect of his mood stabilizers. He said no, and he sees his doctor next at the end of May. I suggested calling the doctor before then. We’ll see if he does.
The major development today was that Friend’s wife texted me thanking me for doing what I did the other night. She also expressed concern for their privacy, which is understandable since she hardly knows me. I assured her that the only time I would tell anyone anything is if I thought it was necessary to keep everybody safe. She was really nice and thanked me again and again. She said that she “made” Friend give her phone numbers last night. I’m guessing she’s scared by this and wants to be in contact with the other people on Team Keep Friend Alive, which is sensible. I was initially worried that she would think I was at his house for the wrong reasons in the middle of the night. Thankfully that hasn’t arisen. (FSM knows I’m used to the whole ‘they’re of opposite genders, and they’re alone, WINK WINK’
Thanks again everyone. Will try to catch up soon but tomorrow when the conference is over I’m visiting my grandma is Missouri. (Yay!)
I’m so relieved more people are getting involved while I’m out of town, though. At least one other person called me to tell me they are going to check on him every day.
Giliell:
Thanks for the reminder of the limitations of my power over the situation. It’s important for the purpose of not punishing myself, or overstressing about it.
Can I have a new day?
Or if that’s not possible please cookies, a blankie and a shoulder to cry on?
And please, if you want to be sympathetic, don’t use the word “only” as in “so she only puked over herself and the seat and the seatbelt and not the whole car”
Yeah, kid has angina. And puked in teh car a mere 30m away from the frontdoor.
*sinks into armchair*
Totally exhausted
Hugs, Giliell.
I have a spare day right here, it’s all yours.
Hope you both feel better.
Giliell,
Cookies (chocolate), a blankie and a shoulder at your service. Sadly, all virtual, but you can at least sort of use the shoulder.
*hugs* and sympathy, Giliell. Possibly with an extra side-order of something caffeinated.
–
Giliell: I think life would be much better if it came with a limited number of do over days. And years. 2001 could do with a complete reboot, IMHO. Lacking that, I’ll add some chocolate chip cookies and a Kuscheltier to Beatrice’s contribution.
I hope I misunderstood what your little one has. Cardiac angina?
Oh, damn, Giliell! Poor kid and you, both. I will cross all my fingers you both get a decent night’s rest tonight. It’s so exhausting and miserable all round when a child is sick :-(
Gilliell
Big *hugs* for you and the Little One. like Dianne, i also hope that I am misinterpreting the child’s condition.
Dalillama
Thanks for that follow-up on the Wellesley story!
Giliell
I hope the puking stops (or doesn’t repeat), and that Child is better soon!! :( *hugs*
Giliell – please take this armful of air fresheners I have for you, in every scent you find pleasing and not noxious.
I’m hoping we are just lost in translation and that in German angina is colloquial for streptococcal sore throat, like here. That’s the illness that first came to mind, considering I don’t remember reading about Giliell’s little one having heart problems.
oh, and now I see angina is used in that sense in English too
In Europe, angina is what you in the Americas call strep throat. (At least, that’s what I learned when all my choir friends were coming down with anginas!!)
Pissed off. BFF, the one who was afraid of fluoride, is now trying to tell me that women are biologically predisposed to see colours more/better. (Because her husband posted one of those stupid lists of men telling how women to act – you know, talk only during commercials, we don’t know what colour pumpkin is, subtle hints don’t work, if you think you’re fat you probably are, etc. – and I commented that it’s a pretty hateful list, that differences are due to socialization not anything inherently biological.) Blah. Oh well, I guess it’s my day to piss people off. And/or be pissed off. Or something.
Beatrice – I did a double-take on that, too. “Angina” makes me think of Red Sanford staggering around and saying “Elizabeth! I’m comin’ to join you, honey!”
Ah, Refresh button.
*flowers* for Giliell, at any rate… I’ve had one child with strep throat once, and it was bad, but I never, ever, want to live through those two nights of laboured breathing again. Thankfully, there was no puking.
As usual, I’m so late.
Tony, you’re an amazing person. I didn’t find my gf until I was 44 and even then it seemed impossible. She lived in Russia and spoke no English. I lived in San Francisco and spoke little Russian. But here we are, in Russia, four years later. (I found that studying a new language brought new opportunities, but that’s just me.)
I also think too much emphasis is put on finding relationships from society, be it straight or not.
I’m quite a bit worried because I have my УФМС (Russian immigration) check-in next week and these are always stressful. I’m always concerned that they’ll find out I’m gay. I can’t say “Look back at my two previous years of happy students” because I have committed the horrible crime of being born gay (yes, I do think I was born gay).
Last time it was a very young KGB agent (I know they’re not called KGB anymore but it’s the same thing) and I was feeling “on” so it was really nice. But you never know in Russia. I’ve heard things about me in later visits that I never told them so I’m a bit paranoid.
I really want to stay here with my students and with my school and with my love, my gf.
Friends from Israel are arriving soon so we’ll probably drink my fears away. I hope that’s possible.
Sorry for the interruption!
@Portia
Wait, I need that day!!!!
CD – too tired to even waste time on the internet last night.
Thanks everybody
Yes, the strep throat angina thingy, not the cardiac one.
So, antibiotics, ibuprofen and a few days of rest and pampering should do the trick.
I swear they love strep infections
Hiya Krasnaya Koshka! Good to see you.
CD: You have every right to veg out and recuperate. Torts tomorrow?
Thanks for all the encouragement, btw, everyone. I can’t catch up with everything, but I’ve done a bit of a scan, and Gilliel is obviously having no fun w/ a sick kid. Seriously, condolences and encouragement. When I had my partner & 2 daughters down w/ norovirus @ new years, I thought I was going to keel over (fortunately I didn’t catch it, unfortunately that meant I was doing all the cooking, cleaning, and general caretaking, and if you know about norovirus, you know that cleaning & caretaking wasn’t fun).
Wow, I’m whiny.
Okay, torts FTW, then I get to sleep for several days straight.
Krasnaya Koshka, best of luck at your check-in!
Krasnaya Koshka
I hope drinking the nerves away works… And good luck for that appointment! They’re not called KGB anymore, but I’m pretty sure it was just a re-branding for appearance’s sake…
Krasnaya Koshka
Best of luck on your interveiw, hope the booze and friendship help.
Portia, good to see you, too.
I will now try to catch up. (I swear I was caught up after my last lesson and then I cleaned the house and now I’m behind!)
rq, I don’t actually know what they’re called now because everyone in Russia still calls them the KGB.
I tried to purge all gayness from my Facebook. I do think that level of paranoia is warranted. Unfortunately.
Thank you, Beatrice and Dalillama!
Okay, back to reading/catching up.
I read a lot of the state bar association’s listservs, on the high chance I’ll learn something. Sometimes, a particularly prolific conservaturd guy puts out a sarcastic email about politics. This is his latest, posted on Tuesday:
The response makes me happy:
Wait, what?
[scrambling to integrate new information]
Oh, holy heck! I have to go through immigration, too, but here queer marriage is legal & everything. I can’t imagine what you’re going through, koshka! Best of luck.
PS. Is there a queer jewish community with which you’re hooked up? Or is it straight friends coming in?
Go Crip Dyke! You put those torts in their place, you deserve the break that’s coming up.
Krasnaya Koshka
Best of luck. So sorry you have so much stress. I’m sure it would be bad enough if you didn’t have to worry about being discriminated against : (
CD:
You have earned every whine, and you’re not even whiny :)
Crip Dyke, congrats on getting through your exam. I am in awe.
Yes, norovirus. I caught it in Australia and had it every two weeks for two months. Terrible stuff.
Sleep well.
Krasnaya Koshka – Good luck with your upcoming interview. *hugs*
Hi Krasnya Koshka
Best luck for the check
Crip Dyke
Yes, I kind of know what you’re talking about
+++
Ranting a bit about Dawkin’s latest idiocy:
He has become more infallible than the Pope who isn’t so automatically but who apparently has to put on a funny hat and use a certain voice for that.
No, RD is better than that. He never misspeaks. No ambigiuities, never an unclear idea. If “social context” makes you understand him in a way he did not intend then it’s your problem. I guess that from now on he will be perfectly happy with people not letting the “social context” of “scientific conference/writing” interfere with the widely known meaning of the word “theory”.
Thank you, Hekuni Cat! Hugs appreciated.
And thank you, too, Giliell! I love that you’re a parent. You’re so great.
Damn.
I thought that one of my favourite composers was dead. Turns out, he’s just Hadyn.
Warm slippers, warm blanket and hot tea for Giliell.
I am so sorry your little one is sick. I hope you are both able to get some rest.
*gentle pat on shoulder*
–
Also, I forgot to say it was wonderful the way your Husband handled the harassment at his work. Sharing your knowledge with him has provided an excellent tangible result. Good for you, both!
*thumbsup*
Giliell:
Let me add my voice to the applauding chorus for your Mr. And for you, the source of his enlightenment. :)
No time to catch up now, just:
*pile of fluffy hugs for Portia, Giliell and Krasnaya Koshka to wallow in*
*lightbulb moment* So that’s why I had never heard of strep throat before last year or so (that was in an American context).
…If you have time and spoons, I’d love to hear how you felt in love when you could communicate so little. I’m very curious.
Wouldn’t surprise me. After all, I was already heteroromantic when I was 7 or 8, and probably before – my puberty began several years later.
*facepalm* Forgot: if you don’t have time or spoons, Krasnaya Koshka, just stay on/in the hugpile!
Giving him something very significantly in common with someone going by a certain 4 letter name, of whom RD often speaks.
Vote God: Because Grilled Cheezus has nothing to do with social context. Or something like that. I may be very, very loopy just now.
Oggie:
*rimshot*
DDMFM:
Did you scroll down to the list of notable alumnae? It is quite a list.
*snobbishly compares it to the list of HER alma mater* Wellesley is one of the Seven Sisters. It is an excellent school.
Buh?
Angina, as in the ischemic pain of the heart muscle? That is what Europeans call an infection of the throat with Streptococcus?
*baffled*
NEW THREAD.