This is the lounge. You can discuss anything you want, but you will do it kindly. It’s beginning to look vaguely spring-like, even in Minnesota.
Status: Heavily Moderated; Previous thread
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
Well, for those who are interested, Here are some examples of AIG censoring stuff that they don’t like, thus allowing a few lies to continue unabated.
rq‘s flower are prettier ^_^
Ah – I now have proof that my semester has been a worse mess than usual – literally. I just got cited by the Fire Marshal for an “Accumulation of combustible materials” !!! Ha!
Need some comic relief?
Here is critique video of a series of videos (links in the About section) explaining all about the skeletal remains of the “nephaheem” (Now for all I know, that is the correct way to pronounce nephilim, but since he repeatedly uses “pacific” for specific, and points out the hole in the “oobla undagata” of one of the skulls, I hae me doots.)
I think I found this video from a link on someone’s blog, but I can’t remember, so I can’t give credit where due.
Kittens everywhere! Friend’s cat had kittens and I got photos (yay!)
Today, a colleague asked me whether I wanted a kitten, since her cat had hers this weekend and they will keep one at most. I’m afraid to ask what they’ll do if they don’t find owners for the rest.
Kittens are cute and all, but I wish people spayed/neutered them when they’re old enough.
Hi there
Busy day again, but at least I finished rehearsing my presentation
Nerd
Did you also let the young bulls run wild in the backyard for the Redhead’ Cinco de Mayo birthday?
Tony
Sorry you had trouble at work. Let’ face it, some people never get over my kids’ stage of “I want everything now!!!!”
rq
Well, if there’s one that’s a deep red…
+++
How much do these people smoke?
Yes I’d like to open the balcony-door once in a while…
Good job getting the presentation all rehearsed :)
Giliell,
It’s not the same (in frequency first and foremost), but neighbors under us use a gas barbecue (nope, I’m not sure that’s allowed) on their balcony at least two times a week (no, I don’t know how they don’t get bored with eating the same thing all the time).
At least one of those times usually coincides with our doing laundry, and putting it to dry outside.
Also, I don’t know if they don’t wash the barbecue top or what, but it stinks something horrible.
Tony:
That is why, when I’m getting “bad” service at a place, I always watch the staff. It doesn’t take much to tell who’s working and who’s screwing off, if your really looking. Even then, I will usually give them the benefit of the doubt, unless it is egregiously obvious.
I can attest to that, both A and B, and now and then a little C or D or Z but I won’t go into that right now.
For that matter, I’m “lower-class” by any definition, though I figure that may not be the working assumption some people have about me. I don’t present that as a defense, since I don’t think I need one, but maybe that’s still relevant information in some way.
Maybe it’s the way I write, or the choice of topics I’m interested in, or being a “classically” trained composer, or that I’ve defended philosophy and other subjects as not consisting entirely of bullshit. Or whatever. Going through the list of disagreements we’ve had, and even possible sources of disagreement, doesn’t seem to give me any clear answer. I’ve tried to figure out what it is about me that’s made Joe claim that again yesterday, just as he’s done before, and haven’t come up with anything definite. The idea that I’m responsible for it not being “safe” for him here is something I really have a hard time accepting or even understanding. It’s becoming a pattern I don’t especially like. I’m self-conscious enough as it is, so I think it might be best for me if I simply stop bothering with it since no else appears to have an explanation either.
Whatever “slights” happened to me, though, I’m going to try to forget them. I don’t know how else I should approach this given that I know it’s coming from someone in a similar situation, but perhaps at least making that much explicit about me for everyone else here could help to put it into a different perspective for some, so it’s not just a matter of what Joe’s feelings are like, or what’s “fair” to Joe given what we know about him.
Seriously attempting “lounge-niceness,” here, and I’m sorry if somehow this is a total failure in that regard. If it were my choice, there wouldn’t have been any misunderstanding in the first place, and if there were, it would have already been settled. But the more I think about it, simply “dropping it” and expecting a different result doesn’t seem like a viable option to me. So I wrote this comment, and I don’t really want to write another about it.
*shading eyes*
Those flowers are a little bright for Monday-eyes.
*wincing*
Consciousness Razor, I wasn’t aware that Joe partly attributed his not feeling safe to you generally; I assumed he lashed out based on a particular comment in that thread. I must have missed something too.
Hey, cr, there’s a truck o’ hugs just sittin’ here if you are inclined to take any.
(Now that’s a loungey response to a problem, huh?)
I read the other thread that Chas linked to and I think you are handling things well.
TRIGGER WARNING (Not DDMFM, my stuff)
And even if I did not have the vocabulary to state it in so many words, this is a major part of why I am still scared to death that anyone I know in meatspace will find out what I did.
And again. The one time that Wife kneeled on the floor, I very quickly changed what we were doing, and how we were doing it. And that was even befor the memories started to come back.
Disclaimer: the “logic” already fails at step 2.
But, Herr Doktor, you are assuming that, for most people (and this includes me when it comes to this subject), can approach subjects like sex and abuse in a logical manner. As I have shown here again (and again (and again)), I can’t. So I really can’t expect others to do so.
Some of us can manage both. In meatspace, Wife knows that I am depressed when I start lashing out.
/End TRIGGER WARNING
Trying to sell my old junker. Listed on craigslist for $500.
For your amusement, the email convo I’m having;
I’m not usually so snarky to strangers, but I don’t understand his negotiating tactics.
—-
*hugs* for Og.
Where would be a good place to look for a decent (by which I mean if I look in the chat box there won’t be a homophobic comment every 3 lines) game server? I am unaware of anywhere else to ask this; I’m sorry if I’m wasting anyone’s time.
Giliell
There should be deep red… I’ve been promised all possible colours!!!
And Yay for rehearsing presentation… I guess. As long as ‘rehearsing’ does not equal ‘realizing it needs a re-write’!
Portia
I, too, do not understand. That conversation leaves me confused and more than a little suspicious.
I can’t muster a useful contribution to the conversation just now, so I’ll just leave a pile of *hugs* here.
Dalillama, I’ll take one out of your pile, thanks. Hope you’re doing well today.
rq, yeah…just weird.
Longtime lurker here with a question for everyone: I have a 10 year old in Catholic school (he was doing horribly in public school and it was the only private school we could afford). The education he’s getting is generally secular, but does anyone have some book recommendations for non-christian biblical analysis or religious criticism he could read? He came to me the other day and said “I know this stuff is silly, but I’m starting to wonder if it’s true,” so I’d like to shore up his skepticism. His reading level is generally early high school level. Thanks!
zardeenah
Welcome to the Lounge. I don’t have book suggestions, but I am interested in the results and applaud your dedication to your child’s education.
Thanks to rq I have now watched the ” Creation ” DVD about life of Darwin and read the book ” Creation ” by Randal Keynes. Worth watching the film, makes you think, bit melodramatic in places. The film guesses at what might have been said between Charles and Emma. I wonder if Charles might in fact have been more communicative and discussed better with Emma than the film portrays. I suppose sometimes people hold back from saying things for fear it might upset their spouse. In the end comments about the film, Jennifer Connelly who plays Emma, describes her as holding to catholic creeds but the book and wikipedia both say that Charles and Emma were of unitarian background. If that was the case I doubt if Emma would really have been so upset by the idea that the Genesis guess at how life came about might have been wildly mistaken.
Also Charles Darwin had trained in theology so i would have expected him to be familiar with the idea that illness and predation started after ” the fall “. That idea is of course shown to be no more than fantasy. The reality being that plants & animals evolved despite the constant swarming bacteria and viruses which would have fed on them if they had not been fit enough to survive & win.
The Darwin’s daughter Annie died after suffering severe fevers etc in 1851. Darwin is shown as being suspicious of medicine & doctors. At that time medicine was little better than that of witch doctors. It is a bit odd that Darwin didn’t suspect animalcules played a part since he knew of them. Leeuwenhoek had seen animalcules under his microscope in 1676 but it was Robert Koch in 1882 who made the link between Tuberculosis and bacteria, building on Pasteur’s germ theory. Dr Gully blamed Annie’s illness in part on the decision to let her play on the beach – getting a chill. Darwin wondered if she was weaker due to Emma being first cousin to himself. Maybe it was more likely acquired from milk or a human carrier of tuberculosis ? If Darwin had looked at Annie’s blood under his microscope would he have seen anything abnormal? Had microbial cultures been invented by 1851 ? Suppose Pasteur was fiddling with fermentation in 1876 – too late. Would anyone in the world have been able to help Annie ? Was there a plant product like aspirin that could have helped ? Garlic ? Tocosh ?
This Moment of Mormon Madness was presented on another forum by ex-mormon “Smiteme.” Apparently, the Lord is into smiting non-mormon football players so that mormon football players get enough time in the game to pay their tithing.
Hi zardeenah,
For a book a 10 year old could read, ” Reason driven life ” by Robert M. Price would be possible. You could explain any bits too your son that he didn’t understand. It shows how the Christian myths relate to other myths. The Talk-origins website is excellent for giving reasons to think that Noah’s flood and Genesis are just primitive guesses, made up stories. For a start just put dates on the events, they are so recent, going by Bishop Usshers calculations from Bible genealogy that it is ridiculous to think them other then myth.
Also Truth-saves is another good website.
zytigon
I’m glad my suggestion was of interest to you! I may have more thoughts on your analysis tomorrow, but I can agree immediately that yes, the movie was a bit melodramatic in parts, but still enjoyable.
+++
As a Good Night, a message about Love.
Aw, thanks for the warm-fuzzies, rq. Sweet dreams!
When I was born, my parents started sponsoring children in other countries. I grew up with letters and photos of children who my parents were helping simply because they had me. My mom continues to do this. I really want to do the same thing when Sweet Bun is born, but I’m not sure of what organization to use. I would prefer secular/atheist, but I know this could be challenging to find in a lot of countries that really need help. Suggestions? -Dutchgirl
Anyone have experience with Plan USA?
Consciousness Razor: You know, I’m of a mixed bag (as I suspect you are) on what Improbable Joe said. Intellectually, I understand that the repeated refrain that you must go to school to be smart, even though neither of us appear to believe that, can make people unable to go to college feel inferior. I understand that it can also make people feel helpless, and that they will sometimes look for examples of the failures of persons in college (there are, of course, as many as you would expect in the general population) as a way to feel better about their lack of that kind of education. I also understand that the rhetoric around college attendance, especially that concerning job force entry, is panic-worthy if you cannot go to college.
Intellectually, I understand that we live in a culture that does not value its intellectuals, in which we are told to consider the opinion of random persons alongside experts, and that when experts break into their discipline’s language, it is alienating and confusing to non-specialists. I understand that we have little faith in education systems as a nation, and that we are deeply suspicious of the divide between those who are college educated and those who are not.
I even understand that people who have been to high school will not necessarily be aware of the stark differences between a high school and college education, especially once you start graduate school and they start really trying to beat the ego out of you.
Did it bother me? Hell, yes. I, also, am poor. I am officially well below the federal poverty line. I suffer class-based insults at school, and have to suffer through the conversation being dominated by elite persons who have no understanding of the word hungry. I also, I assume like you, had to sacrifice class identity on the altar of academia, so that I am now not fish nor fowl. I have been the only person in class reproaching people for assuming the poor are lazy, or that anyone who takes government assistance is lazy. I’ve even had to be the person explaining to their professor that no, it is not true of all poor people that they don’t escape poverty (Hey, I’m right here, asshole prof!)
And I also end up defending that institution to others–flat out, no lie, self-education is NOT the same as college education. just as the opinion of an expert is NOT of the same weight as a layperson. If nothing else, all the wading through shit you don’t like under tight deadlines is good training for critical thinking and in dealing with your own biases.
And, like you, that comment was painful for me.
This resonates with me.
It’s amazing what ends up being sacrificed before it’s all said and done. :/
I’m constantly torn between two worlds, it feels like. Sense of place might be among the more minor sacrifices, though…
*for me, that is.
Oh sure. There are many, many more things that sting more than a sense of belonging, though for me at least, that worrying ambiguity never quite seems to leave. There’s occasionally having to put up with some bullshit because you really need Prof X to sign off on your application for conference funding or to allow your ass to graduate. There’s the nasty, internecine competition/beauty contest for recognition from the department. There are a godawful number of people trying to relive high school, cliques and all. There’s the goddamn tendency to be taken as less competent, no matter how much certification you have, than the guy sitting next to you.
And, you know, there’s the professors who think of their graduate students as a dating pool and the constant money worries.
*fist bump*
I’m out of postgraduate* school now, but I don’t miss all those elements you mention. There was a time when a well-off friend snidely put a classmate down because he “can’t stop talking” about how his family was on food stamps as a kid. I didn’t like that guy either, and he was self-important and obnoxious, but…I didn’t stick up for him because it would’ve meant revealing that my family was on foodstamps when I was a kid. So many feelings.
There’s some of the same “where do I belong, it’s not with the uber-conservative hicks but it’s not with these country club people either” feelings with working in an affluent profession.
*fist bump* :)
*I’m never sure if law school is professional school or grad school. Must be considered professional school, because I didn’t have to write a dissertation and I got a degree for a particular job, not a particular discipline. I think that’s how it works. I dunno.
You know, after this long in school, I feel for the people trying to make their roots a part of conversation in response to the constant pressure to fit in with affluent students. I find them obnoxious sometimes (there’s this fella in some of my courses…..), but I feel for the fact that they’re wrestling with that pressure. I made an ass out of myself on a regular basis refusing to take it (that pressure) sitting down.
There’s a great deal of pressure to wear business formal/casual ’round my parts. You know, uncomfortable monkey suits that don’t bend well, cost way the fuck more than I’m paid and are hot as hell to wear. They’re great for showing that you forgot and wiped your ass with your chalky hands. Oddly enough, it’s not the suits that get to me, it’s the ridiculously expensive accessories. The $500-$1,000 purses, the knee-high boots that cost $300, the offhand discussions about shopping at department stores and getting oneself that little something (or going to Europe for the summer). I’m convinced there are going to be ways I’m just NOT going to fit in.
(I’m still freaking out about the purses. So. Much. MONEY.)
Plus there’s the whole feminist thing. Even in a relatively progressive department like mine, some of the profs practically want to hold their nose when the subject comes up.
This is why I like the Pharyngula. I feel about as weird as the regulars.
With that particular guy, he was running for student government president and seemed to be trying to use every possible angle for advantage. I know what you mean about understanding where people are coming from. That’s the only way I got through anything dealing with people at all.
Ugh, the expensive/uncomfortable clothes. There was some of that pressure for us, too. I felt like a scrub if I ran into a professor while wearing jeans. But most people did anyway, though business casual was not unusual at all. Men’s bizcas is far more comfy than women’s, I think. Unfair. : / I still can’t really afford to dress like a lawyer all the time, especially because of the cleaning bills. I have developed a strong sense of thrift and find lots of deals to get those boots and suits and whatnot. Purses were never my thing. I long ago resigned myself to not fitting in totally in that regard, and deciding that the people who did fit in but did not care that I didn’t would be eligible to be my friends. The nice thing is that the younger lawyers at big firms don’t seem to expect little ol’ self-employed me to have big cash. I just try to look neat and professional and don’t worry about looking like I’m wearing Gucci or Armani.
Exactly :)
I ran across this and my basic question is…can this really be done or is it mostly BS? If it can be done, why isn’t it part of every major law enforcement organization?
http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/artscience/2013/05/creepy-or-cool-portraits-derived-from-the-dna-in-hair-and-gum-found-in-public-places/
It seems that this is way beyond what is realistic, but then, my knowledge of state of the art genetics is quite lacking.
mostly BS.
approx. skin color, eye color, hair color and curl, something about ethinicity and so a few facial correlates of that…
yeah, that’s about it.
It’s not like it could distinguish among individuals.
And somewhere back in the prev. subthread, Azkyroth asked me wtf my purpose was in linking to Joe’s comment in the other thread, anyway!!!
A: It’s because you were guessing who he was talking about, and I actually knew the answer.
that’s all.
@MouthyB
FTFY
You know, I finally decided to start carrying a purse, and went for the most garish thing you can imagine to make sure I never forgot it. The color is somewhere between magenta and red wine, and the hardware is obnoxiously large and reflective (it was also less than $100.) I could smuggle cats in the thing.
And no problem on the fella you were talking about. He sounds like a real peach of a guy.
At this point, I’m obnoxiously holding on at work to workout causal (yoga pants, tshirts and flannels or sweaters.) I raise eyebrows, but the nice thing about a classroom is that it’s my damn arena: I wear what I want, damn it. I have a reputation for being a little truculent, so no one has challenged me directly, I just get the weaponized eyebrow.
Crip Dyke: Thank you.
You two wouldn’t happen to be going to WIS, would you?
I’m sorry, CON is my dump stat :P
I planted radish seeds today.
rq – I don’t feel like I would do a rose justice, but if an unidentifiable odd weed pops up in one of the flower beds it could be named after me. Or, for one of the roses, you could confuse everyone by naming it after my great-grandmother….
Daisy.
:)
OH MY GOD. It’s everywhere.
Lego promotes sexual harassment, dad calls them on it, they kind of apologize.
story
Sorry, went for a jog. (Gratuitously working exercise into conversation, I’m one of those people now, I guess : p ) I am not planning on attending WiS, though I’d love to. Reason Rally is the only secular/skeptical gathering I’ve ever attended, and boy would it have been fun if I’d been in contact with some of you folks then. I did have my bff to go with, though, so it wasn’t terrible :)
What’s a dump stat?
In D&D and other RPGs with random stat generation, you’re generally allowed to roll up a set of numbers and then assign them to the stat of your choice. The lowest roll is assigned to (dumped on) the attribute that you think is least important to your character, hence ‘dump stat’. For fighters it’s usually Intelligence or Charisma, for Wizards Strength and Constitution, etc.
carlie:
The first review on the amazon listing for that lego set is a version of “dear muslima” with “don’t be so sensitive” tossed in for good measure. It is everywhere. : |
Oh gawds it goes downhill from there. Trigger warning for the reviews on amazon. Yeesh.
Thank you Dalillama.
Just a quick whine…
Dr. tells me to stay off foot for 4 to 6 weeks. Me, who can’t drive and has to walk to buy groceries.
This for a chronic problem that happens several times a year.
Good thing I’m already disabled, otherwise this would be disabling.
I’m so sorry, Jafafa Hots. I hope your foot heals faster than anticipated.
I usually put those in either the “three of a kind” or “chance” columns, or if there’s no other option, “yahtzee” or “large straight.”
Thanks Portia.
Orthopedist two years ago recommended scary surgery (detach achilles tendon, cut off large wedge of heel bone, reattach achilles tendon with metal screws.) I was scheduled for it until I read patients’ testimonies, some saying that they are finally almost recovered and able to walk after THREE YEARS. Ick.
Then when that was finally over, it would be time for the OTHER foot.
(Why can’t they just go in there and pulverize stuff with a laser or sound?)
That’s…kinda the point.
No?
–
Jafafa Hots, you have my sympathies.
*chocolate*?
–
I don’t blame you for not wanting that! Yikes.
Trigger warning for victim blaming
The “bithez lie” storyline on Chicago Fire just got worse. Perpetrator literally looks victim in the eye
and says “You’re crazy.” SIiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh.
And *now* I’m supposed to believe there’s no firefighting foam whatsoever on the engine they’ve got. There’s apparently not enough drama in realistic firefighting scenarios, so they’ve got to strain credulity like this. Siiigh.
White guy just got summarily fired for being a racist, though, so that’s good.
Portia: I feel as if I’ve missed a briefing….
–
cicely:
If nobody else is commenting I seem to have no trouble talking to myself ^_^ Or do you mean about the show particularly?
Chocolate?? :D
Aha! This is TV! I thought it was some Current Event that everyone else was aware of…except me.
–
*chocolate*!!!
:)
–
*Dark chocolate*. With *nuts*.
:) :)
–
Oh, dear, didn’t mean to alarm. But yes, I guess the show is being realistic about everyone rallying around the accused sexual assaulter. (Wow, didn’t expect assaulter to be a word). I can’t remember what network Chicago Fire is on, bc I watch it on hulu. It’s just a firefighter show with problematic themes that I like to vent about in a place where I’ll be understood :)
Oooo….you’ve reminded me I have dark chocolate with espresso in it. Mmmm.
My weakness is hot cocoa… problem is everybody is adding sucralose (Splenda) to it these days, Nestle (which was crap anyway) but now swiss miss too. Artificial sweeteners in the SUGARED variety! WTF?
They hide it in the ingredients with no mention elsewhere (which is why it was inaccurately named sucralose in the first place despite not being a sugar or sugar alcohol – to deliberately deceive people.)
I can’t buy the fancy stuff because you need to use milk to make it.
—
There’s always something to be horrified at on reality shows. All of these “Gold Hunting People” type shows lately for example. Nevermind the fact that they go in and turn a pretty natural valley into a moonscape in hopes of breaking even… then there’s the fact that they scream about “Damned Federal Government” safety and environmental regulations…
My favorite horrible scene in one was when a group of would-be miners from MN (I think) finished their group prayer, thanked the lord for the $100k or so they got from their destroyed valley, and stridently talked about how the USA is “the greatest country ever on the face of the earth” and “only in America can someone turn ‘nothing’ into riches, etc.” as their American flag waved on their hut.
They were in the freaking YUKON.
Jafafa Hots …that’s horrifying.
—
I’m gonna try to read myself to sleep so I will get up early and ride my bike before starting the workday. I can dooooo it.
Hit a household milestone: We’re completely out of brown paper grocery bags. OMFG now what?? Will we actually have to fork out a dime for one next time out??? Brought our whole organizational routine to a whiplashin’ halt. Joe was looking for one to hold the cans overflowing the kitchen recycling bin till tomorrow. We’ve been carefully accumulating these bags since forever, and use them for all sorts of stuff. A brown bag is perfect for moving books, e.g. — handily rectangular when full, and holds just enough that you don’t give yourself a hernia trying to lift one.
(We passed a no-free-one-time-use-bags law here this year, is what.)
We’ve been out of town a lot lately, chickensitting a place outside of outside of outside of Lodi, where the air gets awful from farmdust but is still better than the mulberry pollen on my street, and those damned trees were at it for longer than usual this year. We’re back home for a while now; will be revisiting Chickenland at unpredictable intervals, I hope. We got to plant a garden bed there. It’s HOT that far inland. This means we can grow big tomatoes, hot peppers, eggplant, okra, fenugreek greens, molokhia.
I’ve been reading here more than I’ve let on. I just get tired of emitting words sometimes.
Funny thing: I had a discussion touching on class envy with my shrink today. Marin County. Wull, YEAH.
Hello, Horde
From the annals of “sometimes it sucks to be the one who’s taken the Red Pill” (yeah, thanks for eddimicating me so very well, Hordelings!*)
A FB friend linked to this article
How “Slut Shaming” has been written into school dress codes across the country
They’re worked up because “it’s just about dress codes”. According to this person, the authors are using a “red herring” to talk about dress codes from their “narrow point of view.”
DIVA RAAAAAAAGE!!!
They’re so hung up on “well, schools should be able to have a dress code!!! Dress codes apply to boys too!”. I can’t get through and every time she replies she makes it worse. “Narrow point of view” was the last straw. That and, OK, girls aren’t responsible for the reaction BUT.
Yes, it’s very fucking uncomfortable that rape culture is so very prevalent it’s taken for granted that girls shouldn’t wear short skirts (even if they’re a kindergartner!!!) or tight pants. The authors make the point in each of their paragraphs (it’s three-ish ‘graphs plus 5 examples) that there’s a HUGE NEED to “[teach] those responsible to learn to respect a woman’s body” and end with
by way of pointing out that rape culture is NOT just Stubenville, it’s much more prevalent than that.
I just…I just…how can anyone just go “ridiculous!” “narrow point of view!” “red herring”?!!
I don’t even…It’s just too much Wrong On The Internet.
*Srsly, tho, thanks. I’ve learned a ton(ne) hanging out here. I’ve examined a bunch of my own privilege, though that’s an ongoing endeavo(u)r.
PS: Here is a stack of hugs, just out of the dryer so nice and toasty warm.
Working my way through comments now, so I can be less all about MEEEEEEE!
zardeenah @ 20
I can only recommend getting in touch with the host of The Human Bible at
thehumanbible.net
I’m sure he could suggest something age appropriate. The podcast has a regular feature for listener questions, so your inquiry would not be unusual or unwelcome. (plus, it’s an entertaining podcast, IMO).
Good luck!
{Take a breath}
{Deeeeep breath}
I know I shouldn’t let stuff get to me sometimes, but goddammit, I don’t even know the woman, and Karla Porter has managed to rocket right past Wooly Bumblebee, Justin Vacula, Thunderf00t (on my top 10 list of shartheads) and all their ilk. The Westboro Baptist Church? Really??!!
I hope they screencap my comments at B&W. Yeah, I’m offended as all get out. The thought of the WBC is enough to raise my ire under normal circumstances. This sends it off the charts.
FFS, how can their sense of morality be so damaged?
And if she’s not serious…?
If she was “just joking”…?
That makes it worse.
‘Rupt, sorry.
I put this in the Thunderdome because of the content (sexual violence) and raginess of it, but I thought Lynna might find it interesting. Though knowing her, she’s probably already all over it.
http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2013/04/19/thunderdome-25/comment-page-2/#comment-614930
consciouness razor:
I stumbled into that thread on accident and read the exchange and I also do not understand where Joe is coming from. I did not read any aggression on your part, or dislike. I don’t understand why he would feel you contribute to making him feel unwelcome here.
****
zardeenah:
Not being a parent myself, I don’t have any recommendations, but I hope you’re able to find some help along those lines. That you’re interested in staving off the influence of catholic teachings on your child is a great thing.
Welcome to the Lounge :)
****
thecalmone:
I’m starting to feel like the only person here who can kill a cactus.
All of you who have these glowing great green thumbs…lucky you :)
****
Portia:
Now you can’t even read reviews on Amazon? Geez, are they trying to one up YouTube comments?
****
Jafafa Hots:
Sorry to hear about your foot. Hopefully it heals sooner than later.
Oh, and hot cocoa is *delicious*. One of the few times I can tolerate winter is in New Orleans at Cafe du Monde drinking hot cocoa and munching on beignets.
Oh, Tony! The Lonely Queer Shoop
I’m so sorry. Hugs? Chocolate? Bacon?
My confidence that you are NOT crazy? NOT over reacting?
If I knew WTF was _wrong_ with some people, I’d surely tell you. But, alas, I just don’t know.
Tony, Tony, Tony… by now you should recognise that the Horde is vast in its skills and/or lack thereof.
I didn’t water my cactus for a year. It went all brown and shrivelly. “Hmmm…” thought I, “It’s a cactus, it might come back.” and I watered it. Sure enough it arose from it’s dry and lonely slumber. So I left it for another year. The funeral was nice, very secular if a bit on the quiet side… :)
FossilFishy:
HA HA.
Thanks for the laugh!
I took the opposite tactic.
“Hey it’s a cactus. They’re plants. Plants need water. I’m going to water it daily.”
Repeat.
Repeat.
Repeat.
“Why do I have a dead cactus?”
****
Funny Diva:
Thank you :)
I’m calmer now.
Initially I had a very strong desire to punch someone (one of those impulses that I wouldn’t act on, but dammit, the desire was there) and I’m not violent.
Never punched anyone in my life.
Never been in a physical fight.
Rarely felt the urge to hit anyone (we’re talking a handful of times in 37 years).
I think I have officially burned out on my career for a while. I’ve been working in the veterinary field for 12 years. I’ve never done anything else. I’ve been ‘meh’ about my job for the last 6 months, been ‘blargh’ about going to work for the last 3 months, and today I was ready to throw my scrub top in my manager’s face and leave.
I got a full formal write up at work. Because a doctor saw me playing with Parsnip when she needed help.
Except I was on my fucking lunch break. But when I explained that to my manager, she didn’t care. I still had to sign the write up.
At the end of this month, I’m going to scale back to part time and look for a second, non-medical job to give me something else to do for a while. But I’m so tired, and it has nothing to do with simple sleep deprivation. I’m just tired of the whole hospital dynamic at this point.
God, I’m practically vibrating with rage. In between the WBC thing and the fact that the students I spent 4 months telling that we have a final paper are writing me to demand more time and complain about B grades, I am ready to kick a hole in sun.
Good morning.
I am at a loss for words, so *hugs* for all (and an extra *green thumb* for Tony, should he want to try again ;) ), also *scritches* and other *gestures* available.
Also, I have discovered that lately I am fed up with people in Real Life who will not use their brains. Example: I’m not going to accept what you say, because my granny said [this] is correct, and it’s really not up for discussion (or thought, apparently), because I believe her. (Where this is to be filled in with all manner of old folk wisdom or superstition.)
Reeeeaalllyyy fed up.
*chocolate* for everyone!
I’m sleepy.
I say hah! to everyone who complains about government employees not doing anything, hah!. I have things to do, I have a lot of things to do. And technically I’m not even a government employee and only receive “financial assistance” instead of a paycheck, but I have plenty things to do. *sigh*
I’m doing other people’s work, aren’t I? Yes, I know I am.
And now I’m talking to myself.
I will always be that dumbass (who does a bunch of stuff that aren’t in her job description), there’s no help to that. But I hope I’ll at least be payed for it next year.
extra *chocolate* for everyone ragey/unhappy, and hot cocoa for Jafafa Hots (sorry about your leg, I hope it’ll get better as soon as possible)
mouthyB:
Just wanted to say I feel your rage.
And I love the phrase “I want to kick a hole in the sun”.
****
David M (from last thread):
Speaking as a wee gay boy who tends to the receptive side, that wasn’t how I viewed ‘taking it up the ass’ (I realize this is a different dynamic than what you’re speaking about. I just wanted to offer a different take on the subject). For the longest time, I fell into the trap of thinking that “guy gets fucked” = “being ‘the woman’ ” in the relationship, and accompanying that was embarrasment, shame, and not wanting to admit to enjoying it. So for a looooooooooooong time, I would refer to myself as *versatile* (in much the same way as some gay men refer to themselves as bisexual when they are young and uncertain how they will be accepted; I know quite well that many people are bisexual, but I know many gay men who felt such shame at being gay that they felt they had to keep up some pretense of not being ‘fully gay’). Over time, I just got sick of not being honest about it. I got tired of pretending to be something I wasn’t. I accepted what I enjoy sexually, and whattayaknow? I’m happier for it. Once I learned about feminism, sexism, misogyny, and toxic masculinity, I began to understand why I had those issues.
Beatrice:
I have a happy thought, and a hug right here >.<
****
Ooops, I see I haz a bolding fail above….
It has taken me several hours of popping in and out of here before realizing we have no Lounge animal.
Parsnip where sre you??!!
Hey now, Tony. I updated yesterday with photos. :P
So.
Here’s a really good idea with a bad marketing future. Because something only kids see is always a Good Thing…?
For fans of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, somebody has recomposed the Suite, and I, for one, am interested.
For fans of Steampunk, however, a musical lesson on how to do it wrong, with appearances by… well, you’ll see. Just glue some gears on it!
Portia (and Crip Dyke, in the future), would you accept these clients? (I’m mostly asking about the second option there…)
Modern technology is awesome: a singalong from Space. (I linked to the first video a while back with the same awe and wonder at technology… Now they’re just doing it again, with more people! To promote music in schools. I love it.)
And I’m finally vindicated – turns out, we’ve been doing it right all along!
Chocolate and hugs all round. It’s stunningly beautiful weather here for once, and I’m stuck inside for most of it … and not even able to keep up with you all.
Belated happy birthday to the Redhead. And thank you for the better health news, Ogvorbis – hope your wife is absolutely fine, either by now or very very soon. Also, yay for the absence of triggering, which I hope is continuing.
The latest photos of Parsnip are Even More Irresistible; sorry about the unfair write-up – your break time is your break, ffs.
I can barely grow weeds, but I dream of having a garden where everything (or almost everything) is either as near to black as plants can get (healthy living ones, that is!) or white. So if you have a white rose going spare, rq … I’ll mentally put it in my dream-garden :-)
My respects to you all for basically succeeding in being decent human beings in the face of overwhelming BS in society at large, and certain shitty relatives and employers/co-workers in particular.
With ltos of cute photos. What was the link limit? 4 or 5? I think I went over again.
Dammit.
Eh well.
In the meantime, the Top 8 reasons women choose not to be married (according to Latvian media, that is, with no supporting evidence) are:
1) lack of trust in one’s partner;
2) bad example from parents – she had a terrible childhood where parents were constantly arguing;
3) she’s self-sufficient – because she can do everything herself and a partner is merely… for kicks (ok ok for sex and children and nothing more);
4) she’s an anarchist – she chooses to go against society because she wants to be different;
5) preconceptions about marriage – once she’s married, she will never be able to go to a hair dresser or tanning salon again (obviously, she has no career);
6) she does not wish to sacrifice her career, since marriage will put an end to all promotions;
7) previous bad marriage(s);
8) she is too obsessed with a regular guy’s dress code and has too much face control to let herself relax in a relationship.
Obviously, just not wanting to get married is just not reason enough; having a great partnership without the trappings of marriage (and here I add that in this country, the only ‘real’ marriage is in church, where civil marriage is considered the one done at Town Hall, but living together for 40 years gets you nothing, nothing at all) is meaningless because even though you live with someone for 20 years or more, you don’t trust them enough to marry them. Eh.
It’s that kind of day. Scrounging for the spare change to buy milk and the like.
(No, we’re not that badly off, I just refuse to dig into the emergency-emergency savings until I absolutely have to, and I know I have enough spare change for milk and other things. It’s just annoying. [/first-world problem?])
Ogvorbis
Hey Og!
What do you do if the kid doesn’t ask the next question or can’t understand your explanation? So far, you’ve had really great, simple explanations, but it seems like that can’t always work out that way.
It certainly doesn’t for me… As in, I may have a simple way to say it, but I can’t get it out; or I hadn’t thought of the subject before. That seems reasonable; I’m not flawless after all (although prone to think that way when I open my mouth.)
My HS (in 1990) got rid of its not-very draconian dress code and went for a unisex dress code.
How? Students in the school protested by crossdressing.
And this was a rural (although tourist town) public school with about a hundred HS students. The trigger was that they’d decided to allow girls skirts and hats while denying shorts and hats to boys… And was, of course, lead by my class. I was too chicken to participate, although I supported them. Heck, I’d never even worn a logo t-shirt to school at the time… Even though it’d always been allowed.
Crissa – the same thing happened at my school in the late 80s, but only so far as to request the shorts time. Our school didn’t have air conditioning, so the first few weeks in August were usually modified dress code weeks during which time we could wear shorts* (as long as they were no shorter than the tops of your fingertips as your arms hung down by your sides). One April got particularly warm, and the boys’ sports teams wore miniskirts to school to protest that the admin. wouldn’t institute the shorts code, although the girls could wear skirts. In the early 2000s they instituted a uniform code, which I wish to all heck we’d had when I was in school.
*we used to joke that shorts code was only ever triggered when someone passed out from heatstroke in class. This was a joke, but it did happen routinely enough that we definitely wondered.
Hi folks
Oral presentation went well but I swear I’ll never get anything better than a C in my essayws with that guy…
+++
Dutchgirl
I am actually not too fond of those “sponsor a kid thingies”. They smell too much of white saviour for me, especially with the fotos and handwritten notes and such.
But I understand the basic intention, so Mr. and I regularly supporting the Kasese Humanist School. They also offer possibilities to sponsor one child with the usual things attached.
Another thing you might be interested in is Kiva loans, where you also get updates and stuff (a bit like Kickstarter)
+++
Tony
Wow
When you just mentioned Porter and the WBC here I though that they’d gone for their usual comparisons, claiming that FtB is just like the WBC, but that is beyond slime, even for them.
And speaking of WOW(!):
http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/cleveland_metro/cleveland-man-who-found-missing-woman-amanda-berry-i-thought-that-girl-was-dead
So sad that Amanda’s mother didn’t live to see this day… She died of a heart attack in 2006…
Found out after I married two of ’em that I shouldn’t have trust them. What does that tell ya?*
–
That I’m a really bad judge of character. I know. I know.
trusted even
bluentx
The last words in that interview (about a white girl running into a black man’s arms) speaks volumes about racism in America…
But other than that, it is one fantastic story. I’ve been reading a few versions around the internet.
+++
I swear we could do the grocery run in half an hour if it wasn’t for all those pesky insects and birds and flowers putting themselves in our way for examination. Those bright colours and multiple appendages are just begging to be looked at and questioned.
Some stuff I’ve had sitting around but I want to close the tabs:
Disney characters in college, and their fashion sense (my favourite: Prince Eric the surfer dude – totally appropriate!).
A look at modern social media and connectedness in relation to sexual assault and rape (so TRIGGER WARNING for Rape Culture). This article makes me uneasy, and I think it’s because of the focus on social media rather than on teaching people that any kind of infringement on bodily autonomy is bad (including breaching privacy without consent). Too much We have to learn how to use social media properly (i.e.,what should be made public and what shouldn’t) rather than There are some things that just shouldn’t be done. Anyone else with a view?
Water in the desert. It looks like a good idea to me. Is it?
bluentx
Or else they were just really, really, really smooth. It happens.
And wanting love is hard to fight.
Dutchgirl – not really quite the same thing at all, but have you looked at Kiva? It’s not directly “here’s a specific child that you’ve helped”, but it’s helping families, and if done for teachable moments with kids, discussing economics via microloans is a pretty awesome way to go. There is also an “Atheists, Agnostics, Skeptics, Freethinkers, Secular Humanists and the Non-Religious” Kiva group that Crommunist promotes.
This clip with the Swedish song “Digga Darwin” is alas not viewable from Sweden. I hope you can view it from ‘Merica.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWlDdbgVnHc
Australians in NSW! Unite for vaccination! (In case you haven’t already seen it.)
I don’t know why I can’t just write this paper. I think it’s one of those too many ideas, not sure which are good, and not enough space-kind of things. I have 6 of 7 pages finished. And I just… can’t…
*
I’m so sorry about what happened at your job, rowanvt. I’m holding my thumbs that you will be able to find something else soon.
*
rq, if there end up being any blue looking and especially thorny roses, can you name one of those after me?
Parrowing
Sure! Right now I know of a couple which are especially thorny (yeah, I pruned those, too). I’ll see if they turn out blue or not! :)
Hmm, I know that many people are sceptical of Ally Fogg, but his latest post doesn’t look too bad.
I’m actually a bit curious: He clearly decribes rape-culture, but he drops the word rape from it. Will he get the same amount of backlash, or will he be hailed as “reasonable” and “nuanced” for saying the exact same thing we’ve been saying just without the R-word and while being a white guy?
Giliell
I read the post and I read the article he spoke about, and while generally speaking I agree with the vast majority of what he says, I don’t come to the same conclusion as he does.
That is, I do not see the implication of the second sentence in the article he speaks of. I think the article isn’t pointing out how (for example) British Muslim communities don’t need to look at their own culture; it’s that they are disproportionately examined by people not of their own culture in comparison with white (ethnically dominant) culture in general.
The article was about white culture and how it contributes to rape culture; he’s spinning it into But they do it too, in my interpretation. *shrug*
Sorry if I sound pissy right now, Chrissy, but I had a thoroughly shitty night of nightmares and flashbacks so my patience is a little thin, but what in seven levels of purple pluperfect hell does this refer to?
rq
It didn’t rub me that way, since he talks at lengths about what white culture needs to do and that different culturee need different approaches, so I’m giving the benefit of the doubt here.
Didn’t have time to check out the article he was replying to, though.
Good morning, thread. Just dropping in with a non-sequitor anecdote about that lazy “47%”.
Conversation I had with social worker, with bits redacted or altered:
SW: I think we’ve got to do an intervention with X. S/he’s got to stop working. S/he isn’t qualified for Medicaid while working and the insurance s/he can get privately excludes coverage for pre-existing conditions so is useless. (X has a genetic illness so it’s been preexisting since s/he was conceived.)
Me: I think you’re right. X won’t like this.
SW: S/he has resisted being on public assistance but s/he can’t keep working. It’ll kill him/her.
Did I claim that that was “a” conversation? Actually, it’s a conversation I’ve had several times. Far from seeing a bunch of lazy “welfare queens” in the poorer population, I can’t get people to go on welfare even when they clearly “deserve” it. May the Republicans who called them lazy be reborn with sickle cell anemia, cystic fibrosis, and severe hemophilia. Yeah, I know those conditions occur in separate populations. I don’t care. They need all three.
This concludes your morning rant. US-Americans may now take their antidepressants, Europeans, Canadians, Australians, etc may take their well earned 5 minutes of smug.
Here’s my Janelle Monae fangirl moment of the day: QUEEN.
lyrics
New ammo! Fresh ammo!!!1! The mildly deranged penguin is oiling the trebuchets now. Kitty flying lessons will be available soon…
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The mildly deranged penguin has dibs on Octarine.
Miscell. medical news:
Assembly of a protein degradation machine could lead to treatments in cancer, neurological diseases http://phys.org/news/2013-05-protein-degradation-machine-treatments-cancer.html#ms
And the beat goes on: The reliable heartbeat of hibernators http://phys.org/news/2013-05-reliable-heartbeat-hibernators.html
Boosting ‘cellular garbage disposal’ can *delay the aging process*, research shows http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-boosting-cellular-garbage-disposal-aging.html
Effects of stress on brain cells offer clues to new anti-depressant drugs http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-effects-stress-brain-cells-clues.html
Just made breakfast (toasted flour tortillas with sharp Cheddar and roasted poblano peppers. Waiting on the contractor who will dig up my front yard, and possibly part of the basement, to fix a leaking water pipe. Luckily we have water line insurance to cover this.
Did the universe evolve to make black holes? http://phys.org/news/2013-05-universe-evolve-black-holes.html#ms
Heroin vaccine blocks relapse in preclinical study http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-heroin-vaccine-blocks-relapse-preclinical.html#ms
blf
I’ll make a note: ock-tar-reen.
Mmkay, so if I end up with a rose with tentacles the colour of nectarines that smells of blue cheese, it’ll henceforth be known as the Mildly Deranged Penguin Rose. Prizewinner right there, my telepathy and fortune-telling powers can sense it.
Heh. Hadn’t refreshed. Didn’t see that blf and the MDP were here. The reference to Cheddar was purely accidental. I am not trying to trigger the penguin. Hones.
It has taken me several hours of popping in and out of here before realizing we have no Lounge animal.
Parsnip where are you??!!
rowanvt:
I’m really sorry you’re being burnt out on something you obviously love. I hope you find another job that is a good outlet for your energies. *hugs*
Giliell:
Glad the presentation is over, anyway.
rq:
Oops. Double post.
Ogvorbis:
Big safe hugs.
I have grog-flavored coffee, it that would be welcome.
Your breakfast sounds tasty.
I make an offering to Borkquote to begin the day.
A stunning portrait of the Milky Way, including navigation options (around the portrait, not the Milky Way, I’m sad to say…).
And missionary positions. I always thought it was just the one (I dedicate this to Lynna).
rq:
The positions.
I am dying.
OTG.
Nectarines and blue cheese
hmmmm
http://wiki.lspace.org/mediawiki/index.php/Octarine
Woo-hoo!!!
Line up all the back pain sufferers and hand in your x-rays for eligibility checking.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/may/07/antibiotics-cure-back-pain-patients
Turns out lots of surgery on many crook backs is totally, totally unnecessary. 3-4 months of antibiotics is what’s needed to get at bacteria festering inside damaged discs. Won’t work for all chronic back pain, but it will work wonderfully well for so many that it will, some time or other, have a big impact on government health expenditures in sensible countries and on insurance premiums in the USA.
Tagline: A place for making joke about potato no have (the site’s description made me giggle – potato is not a punchline itself!). And the related
Latvianpotato porn.I’m sorry for being a self-centred uber-patriotic ethnically-focussed poster in this comment, but I just had to share.
I normally sleep on my back. I woke up in the middle of the night sleeping on my stomach, with my cheek on the pillow. My pillow-side ear was in searing pain. After I moved to my back, it slowly went away. Is there an explanation for this? My ear feels fine this morning.
mildlymagnificent:
Wow, that seems like a huge game-changer.
Stupid fuckers.
” Hifazat burns Quran, Hadith in blind rage” http://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2013/05/06/hifazat-burns-quran-hadith-in-blind-rage
Portia
Well, when I opened it up, that was not what I was expecting!!! :D
mildlymagnificent
Is this imminently good news for you? If so, *three cheers!!!* in place of the usual *cheer!*. :)
Portia
You may have just seriously scrunched it, it happens to me sometimes.
If it hurt on the inside, you might want to drink hot teas and eat zinc for the next couple of days. (For some reason the first thing I thought of was migraines but I mean to provide support for the immune system.)
In The Positions
the guy on the bicycle is wearing a helmet…
i’m dying, too
It was on the inside, not the outside. I’d probably have attributed it to simple compression, too, if it was the outside. Guess it sounds to you like I might be coming down with something? Darnit.
chigau:
Yesss, the bike. A work of art.
And their faces, throughout.
You most likely (I am not a doctor, of course, so your results may vary and you must keep in mind that this was produced by a nut in a manufactured facility) have fluid in your sinuses. When you are on your belly or side, the fluid can drain into your Eustachian tube which can create pressure in your middle ear. Rolling onto your back allows the fluid to drain into your sinus cavities and/or your throat. I’ve had a lot of sinus infections and am very familiar with many of the symptoms of full sinuses.
Thanks for the input, Ogvorbis. I won’t hold it against you in you’re right. : | I’ve had sinus infections before, as well. The last serious one I had was when I was 14 and we found out I was allergic to yet another series/family/whatever of antibiotics. The doctor told my mom “Just don’t let her get sick, that’s your best bet.”
So, if it’s an infection. …crap. (Not to mention the expense of whatever antibiotics my body might tolerate).
Portia
Hence teas and zinc. :/ And lots and lots of prayer! Oh wait… I mean, umm… Ok, just tea and zinc and fruits and vitamins. And rest, of course, haha, because you have time for it. (I hope it was just a flare that is now under control by your body’s natural defense mechanisms.)
Tony is a virtual particle?
Thanks rq : ) I have been eating lots of fruits and veggies lately, thankfully. Even got kale to put in my smoothies. So there’s that.
Come to think of it, my ear was ringing a couple days ago for no apparent reason.
Portia
That wasn’t your ear ringing, it was the sinus infection trying to get in politely. ;)
Portia:
It doesn’t even have to be an infection. I only brought that up to show that I do have a history with my sinuses. It may be a non-infective sinusitis caused by allergy or even weather changes. Sorry for my confusing writings.
Hope you feel better, Portia! I’m allergic to a few antibiotic families(?) as well. It was no fun finding that out.
*
Thanks, rq! For the flower naming and the missionary positions link :)
rq
Ha! Sneaksy infections…
Ogvorbis
Ooooh, I gotcha now. No worries. I’d be perfectly happy with allergies. I have been sneezing a lot lately.
Parrowing
Thanks :)
Yeah, certain antibiotics give me hives. It’s always funny to tell a medical professional that I’m allergic, because their first question is “What are the reactions like?” because apparently a lot of people say that the normal side effects are allergic reactions. When I say “hives, loss of appetite, general horribleness” they seem to believe me ^_^
So when you’re not ill you’re specifically horrible?
What sort of horribleness do you specialize in?
</snark>(I just implemented the infrastructure to fix a stoopid problem the senior developer I ranted about a few weeks ago took weeks to not only not fix, but actually made worse. So now I’m procrastinating again, before implementing the actual fix.)
Why, feminazism and misandry, of course! (With some reverse racism tossed in for good measure.)
Of course, the MormLiberturdian has to weigh in on a bunch of women discussing an article about Elizabeth Smart’s condemnation of abstinence-only education. He says:
There’s not enough rage. I can’t. I just can’t.
Ah, Ok. Nothing alarming. No pea-liking, or cheese-hating, or prejudices against small supposedly-flightless feathered dinosaurs smelling vaguely of herring.
Grinding males into mush under the heel of your jackboots is quite understandable.
Ahem…I am a Proud Petitioner for Pea Peace. With cheese.
My jackboots are getting dusty, though, with all the men I’m grinding to dust.
Hey, what’s that, I get home from college and on the way you all wake up?
Portia
Where’s the immanent lesbianism and the straight hating?*
*Recently had a dudbro over at Brute Reason making the assumption that I must be one of those men-hating lesbians because, you know, I didn’t appeciate his dick enough.
I just accidentally hit the amazon wishlist add-on in my toolbar while in the Lounge. Just so you all know, Pharyngula can be purchased, according to amazon, for 500.00USD.
Giliell:
Oh, yes! I forgot! In order to properly hate men, I cannot be sexually attracted to them.
@Portia
See my link to what I wrote in the Thunderdome at #78.
You’re right. There’s not enough rage.
Pee pee? With cheese????!1?
(The mildly deranged penguin, who just finished oiling the trebuchets, took one look at that and frowned. You might want to watch out for some incoming kitties.)
Grinding males into mush works better than into dust — the remains aren’t then blown everywhere. But please dispose of the mush safely (don’t, for instance, flush it down the drain, the water is polluted enough as it is). And anyways, the mush can be recycled. Mix it with some sawdust, glue, spread out flat, wait to dry, and varnish, and you have a wonderful all-purpose flatboard. Which is invariably more intelligent than the original male.
Or, mix with clay instead of sawdust, mould and fire in a kiln for some nice ceramics. Just be careful not to make a golem.
Who’d have though males could be so useful…
mythbri:
Thank you for pointing me back to your excellent tdome post. It makes me want to cry, but I am glad to have more information. I don’t understand how anyone with compassion can stay a member of the LDS church. Of course, I have my own cognitive dissonance going on because one of my very favorite, most admired people is a devoted Mormon (the liberturd’s wife, as it happens). Uuuugh. I wish LDS would go up in a puff of smoke.
Actually, no, that’s the clew to leave for a long week-end…
Bye!
(Tomorrow and the next day (Thursday) are both public holidays here in France. Hence, almost the entire fecking country is probably also taking Friday off. So it is the start of a long week-end…)
*ducks incoming kittens as they land harmlessly in the overgrown flower beds that desperately need weeding*
*daydreams about nommin on peas while making a sturdy deck out of men-mush-particle board*
blf
I know, I had to remind my French partner for the school practical that she reaaaaaaaally has to show up tomorrow…
That antibiotic info re back pain that mildlymagnificent reported is seriously amazing! Coincidentally we were just exclaiming over it not half an hour ago here – mind you, usually the first place I see exciting medical or science news is on Pharyngula of course :-)
Get-well (or don’t-get-ill) wishes to your ear, Portia.
I’m sitting here waiting for a big job to arrive … and of course, after the horrible dry patch I’ve just had, the minute I commit to a job I get offered two more in the intervening hours and have to turn them down. If the big job fails to materialise after all that I will be so pissed off …
There is a bloke a few metres away from my window strolling up and down a vertical tree-trunk wielding a chainsaw in one hand while he shifts bloody great pieces of tree around with the other. I’m on the second floor, about 12 metres up. Very carefully calculating all the angles for all the anchor ropes – for himself and for the excessively large pieces of tree – so that things fall where they should (hopefully). It’s like watching someone do a ten-tonne 3D interlocking puzzle while hanging from a rope 10-14 metres off the ground.
Poster showing Heroes of Science Action Figures.
You get one single guess as to a) how many women are on that poster and b) who that/they are
Say one thing, do another, (especially if that other thing is the same old nasty thing being done before). That’s the Republican Party’s modus operandi these days. It applies especially to support for gays. Remember when Republican National Chairman Reince Priebus talked about a bigger tent and about equal marriage rights for gays? He will “welcome” those who disagree. “The party will adhere to its platform, but it doesn’t mean that we divide and subtract people from our party…. I don’t believe we need to act like Old Testament heretics.”
Well, I don’t know what he means by that last bit, but his Party and the members thereof act like a religious organization purging those who do not follow the party line, those who are not pure.
Not only do they not accept gays, but they kick those who support gay marriage out of the fold.
Maddow Blog link.
Reminds me of the two-faced approach of the mormon church when it comes to the LGBT community.
Dang it, carlie, I guessed none.
I was so wrong! (Oh, Marie Curie, carrying Science for all of us!)
I predicted Marie Curie. She does carry a heavy burden for womankind, doesn’t she? : p
It is becoming ridiculously involved to explain to my friend/colleague why winking at me is not okay. First, he doesn’t believe he does it. Then, he says he will ask other people if he does it. Third, he asks if the behavior reminds me of someone else and that’s why I don’t like it. I might scream.
There aren’t enough biologists in the set either. And much as I love Neil, he’s a popularizer, not really an astronomer these days. Likewise Sagan and Dawkins. Notably few minorities as well. Where’s E.E. Just? And not including Barabara McClintock or Lisa Meinter? Come on people, get a grip! And where are Lovelace and her hardware guy? (Glad to see Turing at least.)
Excuse me, one last complaint: Where’s Darwin? Including Dawkins but not Darwin is just silly.
I would bet Marie Curie would be pissed about how she is the only one trotted out all the time.
Shameless plug – if you get PBS, Peter Sagal’s miniseries on the Constitution starts tonight.
Wow, I totally missed that they missed Darwin.
I think someone should make an additional set of action figures. You know, like Settlers of Catan and then there’s the extra packs as supplements. I forget what they’re called.
*waves*
Hello, everyone!
We’re doing good. Hunkered down, on alert and plans in place. There’s better shelters that I’ve been on the wait list for since the last time he showed up so a spot should show up soon. Thankfully, he hasn’t come back, yet. This week has been rocky with the water heater going out and subsequently having our water off while they fixed it. Little One was sent home on Thursday because of her sinuses were so full and trying to drain. The dentist noticed it. Having dentists come to the school is one of the best things ever honestly. Then she got bit by a dog on Sunday on her face. Deep mark on her cheek, on her eyebrow and three little marks behind her ear. The dog had just gotten attacked by Step-dad’s cat and was bleeding badly on his face. Little One went to give him a hug to make the doggy feel better and because she felt bad. Her hair felt in the dog’s face and he just reacted.
We took her to the emergency care right away. They put cherry (? something) strips on her cheek that will fall off on their own, regular band-aids on the other marks and anti-biotics. She stayed home on Monday and will go back today for school and her check up later. The landlord remains vindictive and was hoping to use the attack in order to get rid of the dog and his owner, which would have left the dog killed and the owner homeless. The dog is a good dog and has never bitten before or anything. Landlord doesn’t really care about Little One or the attack – the dog’s owner and her have been clashing because he’s loudly shouting about how she’s failing at her job. I mean she doesn’t totally suck but there’s a lot more wrong than right but everyone here is just too desperate to keep their homes. I do not like being used as a tool by her to “remove a trouble maker”, as she puts it. Fuck that noise. He’s an alright guy and hasn’t done anything to my knowledge to deserve her viciousness. Little One has learned a valuable lesson and is still friendly with Tiger the Dog. He’s mostly dark orange with these black stripes that is so beautiful and really looks like a Bengal tiger.
Whew! What a week.
I’m good, just mostly trying to keep it together. I’m having a harder time than usual sleeping at night, since that’s when The Ex shows up. Roomie works at night and I’ve always had insomnia anyways so I’m up all night and sleep off/on during the day. I’ve been reading Robin Hobb’s The Liveship Traders series that Pteryxx gave me. It’s so, so fucking amazing. I can’t even being to describe it. I’ve been swooning, jumping for joy, crying, shocked and outraged, squeeing and screeching – all out loud, which Roomie finds so amusing and weird. I just started the third book and it’s so OMFG BEST THING EVER.
I reread my original comment and decided that the comment about popularizers was a nasty one. Popularizing science, aka science eduction to the general public, is important. Certainly Neil’s being a role model for bright minority children who might be discouraged from entering STEM fields without a role model is important and possibly critical to the future of science and, indeed, humanity. But he, Sagan, and Dawkins should be in a separate pack, the action heroes of education. Heh. Bet we could get at least a few more women in that one, if anyone deigned to make it.
rq – expansion packs?
Hm, Science of Catan. You have to combine a test tube and a bunsen burner to make a bench, then have to combine two microscopes, three sets of field plot flags, and an explosion-safe fridge to make a lab…
If someone who was ill with a gram positive bacteria had just so happened to try eating moldy cantaloupe how much chance is there that they would ingest enough penicillium chrysogenum to kill off the bacteria that was making them ill ?
[ The characters in the bible & their dialogues are probably mostly fictional but ]
If Acts 10 had written Peter as having a vision of a table cloth descending with moldy cantaloupe, oranges & bread, and a voice saying; ” there is a substance in the mold on these foods which could
cure people of illnesses ” would anyone be impressed or just write it off as a lucky guess ?
Maybe if Jesus had broken moldy bread and shared it with his disciples and said, ” Take this, research it and derive a penicillin antibiotic from it with which to treat people with severe fever & rashes “. His disciples might have been expected to say, ” Surely you are talking nonsense ” and Jesus replied, ” Oh ye of little faith , there will come a time when people will say i told you so”.
Interesting Youtube channel MITK12Videos, ” Bread mold kills bacteria ”
@172: Well, maybe Jesus did say that and it just got transcribed wrong. I wouldn’t necessarily expect people 2000 years ago to be able to spell penicillin right the first time and what with various translations and addenda it wouldn’t be too surprising if the message got garbled…
Also, I wish I had a camera to contribute to the cuteness fund with pictures of the kittens. They are all so small and all black. They are younger than Parsnip and we’re waiting for their eyes to open shortly. Little One desperately wants to keep one and I will only admit to you guys how much I’d love to keep one too. I’ve been keeping the hardline of “No!” and being all reasonable but they are so cuuuuuuuuuuuuute. But I don’t think Roomie would like another cat. We haven’t even been able to get Tiger The Cat fixed yet.
Water line has been replaced. It is so nice to deal with professionals for a change.
Upthread, Portia mentioned Jon Stewart’s coverage of the NRA convention. Here’s a link to the Stewart episode:
http://www.salon.com/2013/05/07/must_see_morning_clip_fear_mongering_at_the_nra_convention/
And here’s SNL parodying Fox and Friends:
http://www.salon.com/2013/05/05/must_see_morning_clip_snl_parodies_fox_friends_coverage_of_jason_collins_story/
Tony, You Are Not Alone! Been there, killed that.
–
*hugs* for rowanvt.
–
*hugs* for Ogvorbis.
–
I’m going with
1; and
Marie Curie.
*peeking*
Yep. Thought so.
–
JAL!
*pouncehug*
–
Tony:
This was SO not your point, but it’s really easy to kill cacti.
…
.
Dammit.
JAL
I hope your daughter heals fast, and I’m glad you’re otherwise okay (as much as can be). Still holding thumbs for you.
zytigon
That would be the best biblical dialogue ever. So Jesus should be one of the science action figures, too? Or just god?
carlie
That actually sounds like an awesome game. Whoever discovers radium and/or isolates fluorine without dying first is the winner.
Nikki Sixx of Motley Crüe fame has a photography blog
And it’s actually pretty god damn good.
NSFW
I’m starting to feel like the only person here who can kill a cactus.
I can assure you that you are not. I’ve managed to kill a cactus by not watering it enough.
No chicory coffee?
All you office people, I feel for you.
JAL, hope the little one heals quickly and is not mentally or physically scarred by the incident. She made a mistake but her instinct to be kind to a hurt animal or person is a good one.
JAL, it’s good to see you! And yay for the particular pleasures of reading a book you really enjoy.
I’m so sorry about the way you must be on tenterhooks over the Ex. Really hoping you can all get somewhere safe.
And I think you’re being amazing about the dog and its owner and the situation with the landlord. I’m so, so sorry for Little One getting bitten. She wasn’t to know, of course, but as you made it clear the dog was almost certainly frightened/stressed/in pain having just had a run-in with the cat, and a well-meaning hug was just something it couldn’t cope with. It’s very hard for little kids to get it that their loving gesture can be experienced as threatening by a hurt animal. I hope she is all right (and, well, that the other parties involved are OK too). And you!
Good for her, for still being friends with Tiger, I guess that means she gets it that Tiger was just reacting to being hurt and scared. I’m just impressed, because I’ve seen quite a lot of people who basically teach their kids to be afraid of dogs instead of being careful around them. Long-distance get-well hug to Little One, if she would like one.
Hey, JAL
Goodness you have had a week. Glad Little One is still friends with Tiger, and hope her face heals up well.
Sorry your landlord is such an, um, Pearl…
Hugses if you need some.
I know this was a while ago in the life of the thread, but I can relate to this so much, I wanted to pop my head in.
While I don’t work in an affluent profession (public librarian), I live in an upper-middle-class area (I was lucky enough to find a cheap, semi fixer-upper back pre-mid-aughts-housing-bubble) and have similar feelings when I attend neighborhood gatherings. It’s funny, because I have so much more in common with my current neighbors than those I grew up with (I was raised in a very blue-collar neighborhood in Buffalo, where the three religions were Catholicism, beer, and football), but I feel so… inadequate in a way when talking to them. I keep worrying that somehow I’ll “out” myself as someone who listens to old punk rock, loves baseball, and is addicted to Mountain Dew, rather than the jazz, wine, and theater most of them are into. It’s a weird situation to be in, sort of trapped between two worlds and not fitting in either.
Apologies for all the parentheticals… I’m just a parenthetical sort of guy, I suppose.
*covers Ogvorbis in fluffy, air-permeable hugs*
*adds some chocolate specialties*
I still want to meet you in meatspace.
*large amounts of nice warm cocoa for Jafafa Hots*
*happy thoughts for Beatrice, and a pillow made from fluffy hugs*
…Perhaps I’m oddly privileged in that regard: I’ve never had (or witnessed) either.
Seeing bacteria requires a very good microscope indeed.
Had molokhia soup last week. Not bad…
Speaking of “narrow”: school dress codes are very much a US thing. I guess you can find them in private schools over here (for a very wide value of “here”), especially religious ones, but the concept of a dress code in a public school is just laughable. I remember when (in the mid-late 90s) a terminally grumpy, cranky teacher tried to claim that the girls had to cover their navels: nothing happened.
I was offering a hypothesis on where that trap might come from.
It used to be 5, but I recently posted a comment with 6 links and it got through…
…Somehow, they don’t taste good today.
Huh. Just a few days ago I posted here about the discovery of a neutron star twice as heavy as the sun – exactly what the hypothesis of cosmological natural selection says cannot exist. Have they come up with a new version that makes different predictions???
The bicycle position looks… daring. :-S
Subthread won.
You moved in your sleep, and your pillow is too hard for that. :-| I’m surprised you’re surprised.
…uh. Oops.
I can smell the stupid oxide!
He better.
Vitamins, whether contained in fruits or not, have nothing to do with the immune system. Here’s how myths arise these days:
1) Linus Pauling is the only person to have ever received two undivided Nobel prizes (Chemistry and Physics).
2) In his old days, he starts claiming – without evidence – that huge quantities of vitamin C are somehow good for the immune system. We’re talking about eating the white powder with a spoon.
3) Pauling’s authority is such that people believe this nonsense anyway.
4) When your kidneys work, you simply piss excess vitamin C out. One man with a kidney problem has died from following Pauling’s advice – from vitamin C poisoning.
5) Over time, the claim is diluted, and people come to believe that realistic quantities help; it even spreads to vitamins in general.
6) It works, just like homeopathy, by counting the hits and ignoring the misses…
I’ve never heard of zinc in this context. Explain, please.
Gah. They added extra mathematicians just so they wouldn’t need to find any women…
And so, the party makes itself irrelevant. Good riddance.
*epic facepalm*
Lise Meitner.
QFT.
QFT.
FTW!
Depends on whether there is actually any Penicillium chrysogenum on the cantaloupe. It’s just one of eleventy-umpteen species of mold. And some, of course, will kill you.
Oh, that reminds me. That cranky teacher I mentioned above? She taught biology. She always spelled it Penecillin. Fine, it’s stressed on the last syllable in German, but still, it’s possible to hear the difference. *headshake*
Ooh. Fluorine killed, like, the first four people who isolated it.
Pretty ‘rupt, and a combination of resurgent tendinitis and bad ergonomics is keeping me mostly off the computer right now, but
*hugs* and best wishes to Jafafa Hots, Ogvorbis, Beatrice, JAL and child, and anyone else who might want them.
Lise Meitner.
Fracking dyslexia and Americacentricism*…wanders off grumbling…
*Mine, not yours, in case that’s not obvious.
Whoever discovers radium and/or isolates fluorine without dying first is the winner.
Does the game have to run 20+ years after the discovery to see if the first person to isolate radium dies of cancer?
Well, the guy does specify “non-medical scientists of the 20th Century” so there’s your no-CD explanation.
Why Fleming gets the ‘non-medical’ pass I’m not sure.
But yeah, all three of the other biologists shown (Gould, Dawkins, Cousteau) made much larger marks as populizers than as scientists.
Redo from start as Heroes of Physics.
And jeez with all the mathematicians.
ah, I’ve got it.
Simply retitle the poster “Heroes of a Physicist’s Action Figures
David
re: zinc
Late last year there was a website that I had bookmarked with all kinds of natural remedies on it and their actual value for the human organism, but I have changed computers in the meantime and cannot remember what it was called. I’m trying all kinds of keywords but I’m a bit suck at this.
At any rate, zinc was deemed to be better as reinforcement against colds than vitamin C. I’m going to keep looking for that link, because it seemed useful for other things, too.
(And alright, so vitamins may do nothing for the immune system, but eating them in a moderate enough amount certainly can’t have negative effects… right?)
dianne
Yes.
rq & David,
Was it the bubble info?
http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/play/snake-oil-supplements/
Thank you Beatrice!!!
Thank you, rq. I got it bookmarked the last time you linked to it.
Old Spock vs. new Spock (for chigau).
Ha. I only had it bookmarked because someone else linked to it first. But I don’t remember who.
That uranium mining near the Grand Canyon would only be subject to the mining law of 1872. Back then they didn’t even know what radioactivity was. Petition to stop the mining.
Also, I keep being flooded with requests to donate to the campaign of Elizabeth Colbert Busch.
Also, Simpson. :-)
Excesses of the water-soluble ones are simply excreted, so, no, it’s just a waste of money. Excesses of the fat-soluble ones can’t be excreted… but still, to get vitamin A poisoning without taking supplements, you have to eat serious quantities of dog or bear liver.
Interesting.
Read the abstract and the plain-language summary of the pdf, if you think downloading 61 pages is worth it.
#199
:)
That was funny.
Interesting special issue of Nature about GM crops. I bet most of it is behind a paywall, though.
Hey Chas: some bad news from the old neighborhood. It was this old building.
mythbri @78, I meant to thank you earlier for this:
Your addition of personal experience in that comment was excellent.
rq @125:
Hilarious. I love the fact that the two missionaries are wearing the standard mormon missionary attire, and the “Elder Soandso” badges. The “bicycle position” is the best. Glad to see the helmet. I’m all about safety.
Chris, I remember that building.
It’s the impermanence of art, I guess.
rq #199
“Technically, we’re not inside yet.”
bwahahahhhaa
*snort*
thank you
—
anecdote
Back when New Spock was Sylar on Heroes ( and still very evil) I was in a remote mining camp where the medic was the spitting image of Zachary Quinto.
/anecdote
Hurray! Some good news out of Louisiana. The courts have rejected Governor Bobby Jindal’s plan to divert public education funds to private entities. Many of the private entities were religiously based schools, and/or fake schools run by pastors of ill repute educationally speaking.
Quoted text above is from The Times-Picayune.
Coverage on The Maddow Blog.
JAL:
Glad little one is okay. Hope you can rest easier soon. *hugs*
Ha. It was the part of my ear inside my head, not outside. And I have the softest of soft pillows.
Exactly. I try to blend, and I have no idea how well I do.
Feel better. : |
So, let’s see, Republicans have alienated women by restricting access to contraception; by cutting off funding for Planned Parenthood; by stripping funds for breast cancer and cervical cancer screenings in order to fund lower student loan interest rates; by requiring transvaginal ultrasounds for women seeking an abortions; by mandating that physicians lie to their patients about a mythical connection between abortion and breast cancer; by opposing the Violence Against Women Act; and by fighting equal pay laws. Binders full of women have been insulted.
How are they going to fix all this. By advertising the super fantastic GOP on popular “mommy blogs,” like MarthaStewart.com.
Yeah, that’ll work. USA Today link.
God damn it my comp ate my post.
Remember Google Glass? Ha. Don’t buy it for your kids.
Sheesh, don’t buy it for *anyone*. : p
——
Jeez, so sorry I replied to the listserv instead of just the guy who was asking for attorney referrals. Oh wait, you replied to the whole list to tell me not to reply to the whole list. Way to go, asshole!
/rant
Trying this again.
*Is Threadrupt*
Previous Thread–
Doctor Who- I’m not thrilled with Series 7 part 2 myself. And I’d be curious if anyone else here agrees with me on why.
In Asylum of the Daleks and The Snowmen, Oswin/Clara has a distinct personality and I think an active agency in the episodes. That is, decisions she makes directly effect the outcome of that story.
However, in the rest of series 7, Clara has had that agency removed from her. She has been cast in the role of the follower. Her decisions and choices rarely effect the episode when they have any impact at all.
Last weeks episode she was hardly in, and it was the best episode they’ve had in quite some time.
I would be more interested in Madam Vastra and Jenny as their own show at the moment.
/Doctor Who
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Hugs to those who need it.
—
Thanks to those who replied to my request for information. You are being incredibly helpful!
—
Will now attempt to read the new thread.
@Lynna #205
Thanks. Although I don’t think that Elizabeth Smart is doing herself any favors by remaining a member of the church, I am incredibly impressed with the work she’s doing, and I hope that it could lead to real, positive change for women (and men) in the church.
The “No True Mormon Doctrine” defense that I see being parroted by a lot of current members, though, is infuriating.
Hello Horde.
After hanging around here the last five years, I guess it’s time I properly de-lurked and said hi to all you fine folks!
Thought the horror fans amongst you might find the following of interest:
I Spit on Your Grave (1978) Misogyny in Horror Part 1
From the article Lynna linked to @211
Ain’t it tha truth.
Quoted again for Truth!
Why is it that authoritarian groups (the GOP, Christians, teabaggers, libertarians) think that the only reason that people disagree with them is because they don’t understand? The don’t realize that their opponents disagree because they understand.
I suppose that, in their minds, there are only two possibilities:
1) you disagree with them due to a lack of understanding
2) you disagree with them due to obstinate willfulness
at least that is what it seems to me.
Or, C) you have been brainwashed by the liberal commie news.
Well, sure there is that one too. :-)
Hi, markbrown; welcome in!
Hmmm, lurking for five years? Then you know which questions you must answer:
1) Peas?
2) Horses?
and for extra credit,
3) Cheese?
–
Wow, but there are some seriously stupid people partying in Ally Fogg’s comment threads. I keep comparing them to creationists, but it’s not just snark or hyperbole. It’s how their anti-feminist dogma gets in the way of basic logic.
And speaking of cheese, chipotle pepper gouda and red bean flavored brown rice Triscuits are amazing together. I don’t even give a fuck if the latter is some pathetic attempt by Nabisco to pretend their snacks are wholesome.
You forgot the important one:
Guitar: Real or electric?
G’night, all.
Ah, the backlash for Senator Mark Kirk (R, Il) coming out in favor of gay marriage. Never mind the unsubstantiated rumors of Kirk possibly being gay….
Tonght’s dinner: honey mustard and apple chicken with roasted garlic potatoes.
Og
I get that peas are, to put it politely, “fucking vile”, and will eat them under very few circumstances. (But I go bugfuck crazy over, what are they, sugar snap peas. CRUNCHY!)
Horses are meh.
And some of us, regardless of opinions on cheese (yecch!), can’t eat it anyway, making the point moot.
Guitar… Seeing as both produce distinct types of sound, I’d say it depends on what you’re aiming for. An acoustic just isn’t going to work for something like fucking Dio.
Ogvorbis:
There’s a third kind.
I’m such a bad sci-fi nerd. I can’t believe I’m just now getting around to watching Firefly.
I’m watching All In with Chris Hayes. The ability to see rape culture discussed frankly, clearly and in detail, by senators, representatives, specialists and women who are survivors on a news show instead of discussed anonymously or in partial whispers with other women…
My god, the tide is turning!
*pile of hugs and chocolate* – Please take as needed.
Well, it seems I haven’t been gone long enough for John Morales to have mellowed out much.
Beatrice, carlie, Rawnaeris,
Doctor and Clara just aren’t working for me, either And the Doctor’s being too kissy-face/gropy with Clara. She has too little personality. Started strong and went downhill. She’s just there; meh, indeed.
<<sound type="ding, ding, ding"> … we have a winner; that's exactly what's bugging me.
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I guessed Marie Curie. And (head nod to David M.), yeah, if they're going to fluff up the count with mathematicians why not Emmy Noether who seriously made important impact on science: In physics, Noether’s theorem explains the fundamental connection between symmetry and conservation laws
Chas, Simply retitle the poster “Heroes of a Physicist’s Action Figures. Is there any other science? <tongue action=”cheek removal”>
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RE: Annoying things about working in an office: Lift awkwardness. Yeah, sometimes; but often the state of the elevator at my workplace serves as a focal point and prompts conversation. Are all four in the building working today? Well, that’s unusual. Is there a new rattle as we pass the 11th floor? Seems different than yesterday. The door won’t close? Oh, wave your hand through the gap this way to reset the sensor.
Surprisingly, in 30 year working at this site (on-and-off, so probably only integrated 15-20) I’ve only been stuck once. The firemen came and we exited via the ceiling. But, what, perhaps 30 minutes stuck in there, hot & stuffy with the klaxon going full blast was just awful.
—-
Ogvorbis, Why is it that authoritarian groups (the GOP, Christians, teabaggers, libertarians) think that the only reason that people disagree with them is because they don’t understand? They don’t realize that their opponents disagree because they understand.
Perhaps, they disagree with your analysis because they don’t understand? </irony> But yeah, is it Dunning-Kruger?
—-
Followed up w/ (this time, actual) Dr about cough which seems to have come back (after week off following antibiotics + steroids to treat walking pneumonia). She seemed to wave it off as re-irritation due to allergies (though we’re also getting my thyroid checked) and sent me off to get a standard inhaler like those use by asthmatics, to help with the shortness of breath. Of course, 10 min later in the drug store parking lot I cough so hard that is strain my shoulders and puke on the sidewalk … hey, good thing I was so busy today that I didn’t get lunch. But wouldn’t it have been more helpful to do that when I was sitting on the examining table? Body fail.
My Japanese linguistics professor didn’t finish grading our midterms because he spent too much time over the weekend reading manga. (He claims it was for the next section he’ll be presenting in class, though.)
Folks… it would be easier if you didn’t dissect me for days after I have a meltdown. Just saying.
For the record though? Consciousness Razor and the thread where we had an interaction had NOTHING to do with how I was feeling. I actually thought I was approaching being an asshole there, and THAT’S why I walked away from it, not because there was anything especially triggering to me there. I sometimes know THAT something is off and wrong, and often don’t have the language to explain WHY, so I have to give up and walk off. When the issue is about educational privilege, I think everyone here can see how that can be doubly frustrating… I can’t explain why I feel like you’re cutting people like me out, and I can’t specifically BECAUSE people like me are cut out.
But the main point is that Consciousness Razor didn’t have anything to do with anything else that happened the other night, not even indirectly. And no, I’m not going to name names… because even people who were indirectly involved aren’t to blame. I suffer from really severe depression, and a certain amount of physical disability, and while I’m desperate for someone to fix it, it isn’t remotely fair of me to expect anyone to do that. The reality is that my mental illness causes me to demand too much from people, and to lash out at them when they can’t magically make me feel better. That’s why I’m better off not being here… not because of any of you, but because I’m not mentally or emotionally capable of handling things. I go from zero-to-raw nerves in no time flat, and it isn’t healthy for me or even slightly fair to any of you. Not a one of you is my family or my shrink, and to demand that sort of acceptance from anyone isn’t friendship, it is sort of abusive… and I’m sorry I’ve put you folks in that position. It wasn’t ever my plan to make people feel bad for not being able to fix what’s wrong with me.
Actually, I am going to name a couple of names. Janine and Sally Strange, I was especially shitty to the two of you the other night. There was an honest misunderstanding there, and I got paranoid and blew it up into a nasty, terrible thing. I’m really sorry, and I hope the two of you can find it in your hearts to forgive me for it.
1) Peas are great as long as they are fresh and not mushy. They like mushy peas with cod and chips here in the UK. but in my opinion they’re an abomination.
2) I like horses, but would rather they weren’t in my burgers!
3) Cheese is meh… don’t mind mild cheddar, but anything with mold on it is not fit for consumption.
I’m partial to both acoustic and electric. As WMDKitty said, it depends on the music.
Rawnaeris,
Exactly!
I was at first wondering why the latest episode was better than the rest (I complained about them getting boring about a day before watching this one), and then I realized the difference – (almost) no Clara, and a lot of interesting characters.
Even with all the big mystery around her, she’s just not all that interesting. Especially without a personality distinctive from “another bubbly witty companion”.
Vadame Vastra & Jenny rock. Strax too.
Look rq!
PZ liked it, too!
http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2013/05/07/ha-old-guys-rock/comment-page-1
IJoe
Please forgive me if this isn’t eloquent or perhaps helpful. You have health problems, and they sometimes affect your behaviour, but many of us here have similar problems, to a greater or lesser degree. Friends make allowances for that sort of thing. We aren’t your doctor, and we don’t expect to magically make everything better, but there are many of us here who are happy to offer such help/support as we can. I’m not very good at being social, and I can’t cope with the Twitter, I can barely manage email, and here. I’m not sure where I’m going with this now, but I would like to see you here again.
A. Noyd- Nihongo o benkyou shiteru no? Watashi, san-nen kara benkyou shite noni zenbu wasurete shimaimashita. :/
Ye Olde Blacksmith:
<beams>
Thanks! :>
Joe, thank you for explaining where you’re at. I can fully understand why you’d want to be away from places that trigger you like that.
One point though:
Demanding acceptance might be abusive in some cases, but perhaps not in others. But that is entirely moot here, because I am free to choose, for myself alone, to accept you. You in your totality, warts, moods, anxieties and all.
I accept you.
It is possible for people you interact with to be aware of your limitations, to create work-arounds and cues to keep things from running too far off the rails.
Ms. Fishy and I have agreed that she can ask how I’m doing in a very specific and pointed way to assess my current mental state, and perhaps warn me, because sometimes the slide downwards is slow and subtle, that my depression is showing in unhealthy ways.
I have a coded response too. We can have this interaction in public, in the midst of a conversation with third parties and keep them unaware of the true nature of our interaction. On occasion this call and response has led me to reconsider my line of conversation, and even to physically absent myself from the room.
Of course, that sort of thing would be hard to implement as a universal here, too many commenters, but the idea could help. If you can say “I’m out.” in such a way that we who have a history with you understand that you’re not coping well at the moment might be helpful in allowing your continued participation.
Anyway, just a suggestion. My coping strategies cannot be universal of course, and I can fully understand from personal experience that sometimes one simply can’t say anything or do anything like that in the moment.
Be well Joe.
Joe
I’m with FossilFishy here! You’re not demanding acceptance, we’re telling you (well, some of us are!) that we accept you. :) (I do.)
chigau
Ha! I’m slowly forcing my way onto his attention radar. ;)
markbrown
Welcome, but some people here (*ahemcicelycoughcough*) will say you gave bad answers to everything (well, can’t speak for the guitar bit – had you gone the third option and said Air, it would go worse for you). I, for one, accept your like of Horses (but you should work on the cheese, hey?)
Instead of doing it all over, I’m just going to link to my comment 92 (this thread) from yesterday morning, which went to moderation, because – yes – I didn’t count my links. But it’s out now!
Oh, and sushi cats.
rq
So where do I go for the Atheism + peas + horses? :-P
Improbable Joe
As a sufferer from depression myself, all I can offer are acceptance and hugs.
@rowanvt
うん、1995年から勉強しているんです。でも、それは主に漫画を読んで自習しているくらいなので、まだうまく喋れない。
[[ Un, 1995-nen kara benkyou shite iru n desu. Demo, sore wa omo ni manga o yonde jishuu shite iru kurai na no de, mada umaku shaberenai. ]]
ローマ字で日本語…
:'(
markbrown:
Welcome in.
If you’re craving
peacepeas, Cicely is the one you should see (ducks…)I clicked on your link because it sounds intriguing, but I’m not much for watching videos. Has it been transcribed? I’d like to read it.
****
A. Noyd:
I believe someone upthread mentioned that there are multiple Pitters in the comments section of Ally Fogg’s recent post.
****
I echo the sentiments Dalillama and FossilFishy made to IJoe.
Tony,
Indeed.
(There’s amusement to be had!)
markbrown:
Such a place does not exist.
markbrown
Tony beat me to it: no such place. It’s like Heaven. (Or Hell, for that matter…)
But you’ll find varieties here. Portia, for instance, eats pea popsicles. The Mildly Deranged Penguin eats all manner of pungent cheeses (and probably non-pungent, too). Most of us play air guitar, but Improbable Joe does a mean electric.
I think you’ll be fine.
About Cleveland (excerpt):
I bet they spoke of seeing these things with that little delicious shiver of nearly-missed tragedy, instead of the shame of remembering how they turned away and did absolutely nothing. Charles Ramsey really is a hero, for not standing by. I don’t want him turned into a meme; I want him turned into a lesson about how people should pay attention to what goes on around them.
Tony (#251)
I know. It’s just, I don’t think I’ve seen them in action when they’re trying to sound credible about gender issues in a context that’s not about tearing down someone they hate. I assumed their butchering of feminist and social science concepts was more intentional or self-conscious. Silly me.
Er, that was supposed to be social justice, not science. But those too.
In local news: Adelaide sets heat record for May
(It’s nice!)
And a very pleasant 24C over here today.
Who is Ally Fogg? And is there a link so I can have a looksy?
And it’s back from the Appalachian Trail straight into the House of Reps for Mark Sanford:
Comedian rips Mark Sanford: South Carolina has bottomless supply of duplicitous teabags
@rorschach
He’s the new FtB guy. If you want a couple links to some of the particular idiocy I was referring to, see my #225 above. Although, I don’t know of Patrick Brown is a pit stain himself.
Thanks A. Noyd, will check it out!
Also, you have to include the http:// in your links or they get borked.
Or, for that matter, add it when there isn’t one in whatever you’re copying. The comedian vs. Sanford story.
Yes, and don’t I know it! Happens every single time, gah…
As to the comments on Ally’s housewarming post, I sense another battle for an atheist soul by the ‘pitters coming on, like they are doing with Wachs and Nugent. It’s a bit transparent, really.
I actually just really read this sentence:
Must be something wrong with this bottle of wine. Surely.
As a hopeless-and-doomed-to-extinction technosaur, I haz a confused – we have a couple of new bloggers on FtB, right? But nobody new is not showing up on my view of the FtB front page (whereas the last posts of a couple of people who I believe have gone elsewhere are still showing up). Despite refreshing the page, of course.
Is this something to do with cookies? Gremlins? A time warp?
Any suggestions gratefully received.
New bloggers. They’re only showing up on the list in the sidebar.
IJoe. If you can find a signal or set of words that let’s you opt out when you’re on the edge, we’d be really happy to see you here more often. Actually we’d be happy anyway – we can always explain to others/ourselves if you get upset about nothing all out of the blue.
… I mean, nobody new is showing up ….
editing of sentence resulting in unnoticed double negative For The Wince
Oh, Thank you, mildlymagnificent. Ongoing good-health/better-health wishes to you and Mr mildlymagnificent, bt – hoping you have enough spoons to manage.
opposablethumbs, if you’re ever unsure, you can always try a full refresh.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Bypass_your_cache
I can do you one better – I started watching it last year and still haven’t finished yet. It’s good, but not so fantastic that I make time specifically to watch it. I can see how it would have been groundbreaking at the time, but given how many shows have imitated it since, it doesn’t have that “oomph” factor that I’m sure it had on first run.
I agree that the modern Clara has much less personality than the others. And I’m still bitter that she’s yet another cute little young thing with no real storyline other than personal involvement with the Dcotor. We’ve missed almost every episode this season so far on first view, because it just isn’t interesting enough to stick in my mind to remember to watch it. And the anviliciousness of the seasonlong mystery has gotten ridiculous. I liked the Bad Wolf thing because you could almost miss it entirely, then at the end all the flashbacks were all WOW. But mentioning the “big mystery” a dozen times an episode takes the wind out of its sails.
*hugs* to Joe, and second what FossilFishy said.
opposablethumbs – they are in the blogroll lineup on the left side of each blog – you can get to them from there until they get placed on the main page.
Most of them said that they did call the police, but that no police ever showed up. Police claim no record of these reports. I imagine there’s no way to prove it either way at this point – no record could mean no call or could mean the call wasn’t deemed important enough to even write down.
I can’t get a local commercial out of my head. It hasn’t been on the air in almost 30 years. I went to youtube, and of course it was right there.
What I find the most astounding is that my child found this wholly unremarkable. “So?”
I tried explaining that there was a time when every piece of trivia ever wasn’t readily available on a tiny screen on my lap. He didn’t quite get it.
Thank you, John, and thanks carlie!
Yeah, I know. Something I found odd was sort of the opposite – that my Spawn recognised a visual reference to the vinyl LP despite never (at that point) having seen one in rl.
I love being able to find things like that, though!
Aaaaand finally that job of a few days’ worth of work that I was hoping for has materialised. Slightly bigger, and with rather less time to do it in. So I should not be around here for a few days (if I have any willpower at all, that is. (I am not renowned for my willpower …))
My esteem and respects and/or hugs and chocolate (delete as appropriate) to you all.
opposablethumbs
Good luck to you with the job!
+++
I am seriously hating on bureaucracy right now, as well as my ability to procrastinate things to death.
Even more so since I hate making phone calls and this whole procrastination thing is forcing me into making lots and LOTS of phone calls to all those potentially horrendously angry people on the other end (they’re usually not, but that’s beside the point, they COULD be!), and it’s wearing me out.
Back to it.
*nerves*
This version of Fly Me to the Moon has been in my head for a week… cause I’ve been playing Bayonetta, which is a really, really difficult game, with a quite attractive female lead who kicks all kinds of arse.
It was a long hard fight, feelings were hurt and reputations stained, reason eschewed but SC retained its title as the dumbest electorate in the Country.
(and re my 277 – I say quite attractive cause I’m kinda built like Bayonetta – sans bum and bosom – cause I’m tall, skinny, and have long legs XD It’s a self-serving reference of attraction, not anything else)
So – has anyone gotten one of those ‘Power Companies Hate This’ free-energy gizmos that FTB is hawking now?
Usually, those things are scams, I know, but this one has FTB’s blessing, it must be worth it!
Anri @ 280:
Those, I think, are part of their GoogleAds gizmo. They are not vetted/endorsed by FtB. As I understand it, Google crawls this site, then send ads based upon a keyword list. There are also a lot of Conservative ads, Get your Bible Degree ads, and other crackpot notions.
Or, is my snark meter busted?
No you are correct. FtB has little control over what ads are running right now. I think Ed was looking into other revenue avenues that would stop the waves of stupid fucking ads that show up all the time.
Hi folks
Urgh I need a break…
Joe
Lashing out doesn’t make you a bad person, but recognizing it makes you a good one. What the others said, we’re here.
opposablethumbs
Good luck with the job
carlie
we’re old, aren’t we?
Recently the big kids had a sheet in kindergarten where they were supposed to add the missing part, like handles on a watch, wheels on a car . And there was a telephone, with a wheel and one of the big earphones. They must have been mightily confused…
#1 recently discovered my tablet. After the first time she knew already how to start the doodle-program, open new files and take screenshots…
at least that is what i understand
@Katherine Lorraine, I loved Bayonetta. That version of “Fly Me To The Moon” also epic.
I wish Nintendo would put out more reasonable hardware *cough*bigger HDD*cough* on the WiiU so that I would feel validated in getting one when Bayonetta 2 comes out.
@Rawnaeris:
I know what you mean. I also wish they had an option for a better controller – playing games with a tablet is just silly to me…
Good morning.
Happy Monday to all of you.
I don’t remember on this one, but have I ever mentioned that I really hate nightmares?
True. I keep forgetting about the Dobro. Then there is also that weird hybrid — the guitar-tuned banjo.
Morning, Oggie.
*hugs* and *bacon*
@Katherine Lorraine. There is. Linky it’s being plied as the controller for “hardcore” games. Which I would presume is a catagory Bayonetta would fall into.
Aaaand link fail. Here’s the copy&paste version
http://www.gamestop.com/wii-u/accessories/wii-u-pro-controller-white/104812
chgau:
Last night, I made pork tenderloin medallions fried in seasoned olive oil, served with spaghetti carbonara — bacon, a little onion, some sweet pepper, garlic, parsley, cream, and some asiago, fontina, romano and provolone cheese. Sehr gut.
Not to mention hollow-body electrics and acoustic-electrics. Wait a second… I just mentioned them. Too late.
But I draw the line at a virtual instrument which sounds like a guitar, even if it’s sampled from an actual guitar. (You see the line? You shall not pass!) That’s a totally different beast, obviously. That is, unless the controller using the sampler is roughly guitar-shaped; then it’s back to being a guitar again, just a really absurd one.
But that’s still just a kind of banjo. Tuning isn’t an instrument.
Oggie #291
Sounds divine.
Any left-overs for breakfast?
Heist of the day.
They still have that curse word in the name.
I had leftover angel hair and leftover pork. So I poured some jarred sauce over it and that will be my lunch tomorrow.
*drive-by greets and hugs to JAL and Katherine and Joe and FossilFishy and Ye Olde Blacksmith and Giliell and mouthyb and whoever that new delurker was and, and, and…*
Especially Ogvorbis – Oggie, could you send me an email? My nym at the g.
Pteryxx:
Do you mean gmail? Tried that and it kicked it back fast.
Yep, gmail *should* be working… I’m on it right now. (You even spell my nym correctly!)
This will make you cry, and be mad as fuck.
Graphic photo.
Rachel Maddow really wants to rescue the meaning of the word “fact” from “the dark and airless hole” into which it has been stuffed by Politifact.
It’s a Rachel Maddow on-air starfart. Excellent.
Pteryxx:
Sent again, no kick back this time.
Some Teabaggers reportedly want to draft Palin to run for the senate against the incumbent Mark Begich (D) next year. Petition that reads in its entirety:
“To former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin:
We’d really enjoy watching you try to become the next U.S. Senator from Alaska. Run, Sarah, run.”
Petition “urging Congress to pass common sense gun safety reform”.
Haven’t had a gun control debate for too long? Here you go!
And finally, Darren “Tetrapod Zoology” Naish tweets:
“#JurassicPark4 put on hold due to ‘script issues’. THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DON’T PUT FEATHERS ON DEINONYCHOSAURS. #dinosaurs #movies”
Oops.
Seconded.
cr: I think Og is talking about one of these. It has a guitar neck, six strings but resonates like a banjo. I would call it an abomination, but I’m really working hard to be less of an asshole. Anyway, as someone who plays banjo and guitar I don’t really know what to make of it. Maybe it’s a banjo. Maybe it’s a guitar. Maybe it’s its own thing. I won’t quibble.
Rev.
oh. that’s… (crying)
Thanks for posting that. It’s powerful.
I hope every asshole who defended people responsible for the building collapse sees the photo. And those responsible, may they see it in their nightmares too.
@217
mythbri, I hear you. For Elizabeth Smart leaving the mormon church would mean leaving her family, her community, her culture . It’s a hard thing to do. Her husband is also mormon. I too wish she could just chuck the whole lie-laden thing, but on the other hand I’m cutting her some slack. She’s obviously an intelligent young woman who is slowing making her way toward some form of personal integrity.
It is absolutely not surprising that mormons everywhere would jump all over her comments, her true comments which are based in fact. That’s what mormons do. A tiny taste of what will come her way if she leaves the LDS church. They are already trying to discredit her as being a publicity hound, an attention seeker, (any woman who speaks out, any woman who questions the teachings she received in Young Womens lessons is just seeking attention).
As for the “that’s not doctrine” defense. Oh, please. Mormons have been pulling that fast one for decades. A bit of dogma that appears in what they call their “standard works” is exposed to public scrutiny and suddenly it’s not doctrine? sheesh.
Furthermore this is another case of mormons saying one thing and doing another. Up until quite recently the chastity lessons for young women were posted online at lds.org, and were available in multiple publications including the Ensign, church-approved pamphlets, lesson plan manuals for leaders, etc. Now they’ve modified the lesson plans but they have not modified their culture, nor their attitudes toward young women’s “virtue,” nor the way in which Bishops question young women during “worthiness” interviews.
Some ex-mormons have described the “mental mormon burqa” that young mormon women are encouraged to develop. As ex-mormon David Jason posted “…if people googled “Victim Blaming LDS” they would have plenty of links to official church manuals and talks that clearly support victim blaming.
I really get bothered when people say it’s the culture not the doctrine. When in reality the doctrine & leaders are the one promoting this culture.” http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,887984,888223#msg-888223
Elizabeth Smart’s parents obviously love her, but they also encouraged her to talk to her mormon Bishop as part of her healing process. Mormon Bishops are not trained in psychology, psychiatry, or even social services. They are just some guy, usually successful in business, that is “called” to serve as Bishop.
As another ex-mormon posted:
http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,886739,887218#msg-887218
Ogvorbis, reply sent. No rush – I’m going to be half afk for the next while. Thanks!
feh. I need to figure out something for lunch…in stock I currently have, corn tortillas, popcorn, mini pepperoni slices, and chocolate rice crispies.
Anyone got an idea for that mish mash?
Rawnaeris: Eat them? I’d use a spoon for the rice crispies, I guess.
From In the Pipeline, a new Things I Won’t Work With. ‘Cause I know I’m not the only fan.
:)
–
A *hug* for Hekuni Cat, in exchange for the one I took from the pile.
–
*hugs* for iJoe.
Also, much of what others have said. Consensual acceptance. Moral support, even where there’s nothing concrete that I/we can do. Positively valuing your presence here.
Still, do what you need to do.
–
*sadly shaking head* at markbrown.
*bzzzzt*
Wrong answer! Not a reason for automatic remanding to the Neighthermost Hell-Pits, but suspicious, and diagnostic in combination with other symptoms.
*bzzzzt*
Oh, dear.
I can’t go along with that.
Not at all.
And They are everywhere.
Especially in your burgers.
*bzzzzt*
Cheese is glorious. The second most horrible thing about the Evil Gall Bladder—after the pain, that is—is that I am no longer able to Consume Mass Quantities of cheese.
Pain and cheeselessness, all wrapped up in Sad.
:( :( :(
And that mold stuff cuts right off.
So, I’m afraid it’s off to the Horsepond for you. With extra brimstone.
Look, I didn’t want it to be this way….
–
I pride myself on my ballistic deliveries.
–
opposablethumbs: Hurray for the arrival of The Job! Here’s a *hug* to take with you as you apply nose to grindstone.
–
I am getting really, really tired of the sound of Bruno Mars’ voice endlessly singing in my head. It just has this whiny quality to it….
–
*hug* for Giliell.
–
Additional *hug* ration for Ogvorbis. Sorry about the nightmares.
–
I will quibble for you, my friend.
I would put banjos in the “guitar family,” so they’re really more like cousins to a European-style guitar anyway. So I’m definitely quibbling here, no doubt about it. But the European, obviously-a-guitar ones are what I figure nearly everyone means by a “guitar,” and these two facts together could make for confusing terminology. (Now might be the time to ask, “Then why are there still monkeys?”)
As you and probably everyone else reading this already knows, modern banjos are descended from the design of African instruments brought over by slaves. It did not come from Europeans (or others borrowing from them) who were mixing-it-up with the way they made their guitars. In terms of their design, I don’t know of any banjo which doesn’t have a circular drum-like membrane on the resonator, as opposed to the typical shape and all-wood shell on an acoustic guitar. So if it’s not quite a bit like that, then I’d say it’s not much like a banjo.
The “extra” string is a relatively minor change which generally isn’t enough to justify putting it into a different category (even a “cousin” in the same family), just like in analogous cases for all sorts of other instruments, whether they’re extra strings or keys or whatever. For example, you can have a “flute” with or without a low-B, a “bari sax” and low-A, an “alto sax” and high-F#, a “12-string guitar,” a “5-string bass,” trumpets, horns, trombones, tubas, and the list keeps going to include just about every instrument you can name…. The point is that they’re all still considered the same basic instrument, just with an extra little feature (for added range or playability or to “fix” other acoustical properties) that others of the same kind may not have.
So I’ve listened to Black Flag, Medeski Martin and Wood and Al Green in the last hour.
I think there may be some indecision in my brain meat today.
Note to self:
Just after waking is not a good time to read a comment by Oggie about the delicious meal he prepared last night. Mouthwatering is not the word.
I haz a hungry inside me and Snickers cannot satisfy me!
It definitely does. That part is distinctly banjo-ish. Still not quibbling.
An aside: I didn’t realize that there were so many types of banjos (been googling)–but there are a lot. Tons of subtle modifications like cr mentioned.
Another aside: Frankly, I’m not crazy about banjo music. This often surprises people given that I really enjoy playing the banjo. I just like how it feels.
Hmmm, just had a hamburger…wonder what percent was bovine vs equine…
Moments of Mormon Madness lead to death:
Excerpts above are from:
http://www.ksl.com/?sid=25091500&nid=148&title=mother-dies-unexpectedly-after-giving-birth-to-sixth-child&fm=home_page&s_cid=featured-4
Ex-mormons discuss the death of the woman mentioned in comment #315:
http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,887947
@Lynna #305
Exactly. I got into an argument over at Libby Anne’s place in the comments of her post about Elizabeth Smart’s speech, with some Mormon dude who was claiming that none of the toxic purity culture in which Mormon women are raised is based in doctrine. After I cited the Moroni 9:9-10 scripture to him as proof that yes, it fucking IS in the doctrine, and directly so, he proceeded to claim that the lessons about virtue and chastity that are taught to the Young Women of the church are all devised, planned and approved by women. In other words, Not The Men’s Fault, Those Silly Bitches.
I was furious, and I engaged him a little longer until finally I remembered my rule about engaging in arguments about doctrine with believers, because it’s like arguing about the “rules” of Harry Potter with your friends, only less fun and interesting. It’s ridiculous.
I fucking HATE Mormon Doctrine. Flush it all down the toilet.
Improbable Joe: We’re cool. if it matters. I know I said something and I hope I didn’t aggravate the problem.
mythbri @317, Good for you. Quoting Moroni 9:9-10 was a good move. I’m not so sure about not arguing with believers, especially online. Even if the guy you were arguing with didn’t get the point, other readers will. Of course, I understand that you need to stick with what is comfortable for you. I know all too well what taking on too much stress can do to one.
Time for another “Oh, please!” with a facepalm or headdesk added. The mormon patriarchy infantilizes the Relief Society and its leaders. The patriarchy chooses the leaders, approves all of the lesson plans, and even requires that a member of the priesthood be in the building when the RS is having a meeting or holding an activity.
Back in the 1970s, the
patriarchalgeriatric male leaders of the church still chose Relief Society leaders for “Cultural Refinement,” “Homemaking,” etc., and they chose the overall Relief Society President … but, in the more liberal mormon days of the 1960s [laugh], RS leaders were allowed to write up their own lessons. RS leaders played a large role in directing Bishops as to which mormon families needed financial assistance.Correlation and Correlation Committees changed all that. Correlation was supposedly a way for mormon doctrine to be presented more clearly, and to be consistent across the various texts, guidelines, and so forth used to teach mormonism. What correlation really accomplished as a dumbing down and a homogenization of an already questionable load of shit. No more individualism in Relief Society was allowed. Correlation was a project started in 1972. There was even a new geriatric dude appointed as Church Coordinator of Correlation.
From ex-mormon, “cludgie”:
But it’s not just an extra string. It’s a different neck–a guitar neck–and an entirely different set of tuning options. It’s a true hybrid instrument, like a mellophone, or playing a trombone with a saxophone mouthpiece & reed.
I feel shocked by this, but I feel like I shouldn’t be. : |
I’ve heard the bastard get of a guitar and a banjo called a gitjo. And it really is neither.
Portia @321
The “Priesthood presence” concept just sickens me. Never leave a group of women alone without a man to guide them. Of course, the priesthood member doesn’t even have to do anything. His mere presence in the building is enough to ensure control and to prevent evil.
Warning: Dark humor a head.
[feminazi]
Well, then just cut it off and nail it to the wall in the building! Then the man can be elsewhere and do what he wants and the women can do what they want while being protected from evil. Win-win.
[/feminazi]
Stephen Colbert presented an amusing segment on the latest blow-up of the Benghazi attack as hyped by Fox News:
http://www.salon.com/2013/05/08/must_see_morning_clip_fox_news_continues_to_investigate_benghazi/
Coverage in the Daily Kos includes notes on the GOP’s hopes to use Benghazi to force President Obama to resign.
*dark snortle*
–
@Lynna
This is exactly the point that I tried to make. I also tried to point out how patriarchal the structure of the church is, and the response that I got was that apparently priesthood doesn’t confer any authority on the person that holds it – oh no! Priesthood really means service. Priesthood only allows you to perform services, it doesn’t give you any actual authority. (I got the “Silly Bitches” vibe from this comment, too.)
Regarding arguing with doctrine, I just never feel like I’m that successful with it. You said yourself how slippery Mormon doctrine is – if it’s problematic, it’s not REAL doctrine. This guy tried to claim that the women leadership of the church is all silly and obsessed by the writings of St. Jerome and St. Augustine, which accounts for the toxic purity culture that men have nothing to do with, doncha know. And then he turned around and said that President Kimball was responsible for a good deal of that. The Prophet’s “revelations” were somehow responsible (kind of) for toxic purity culture that Mormon women are (more) responsible, but IT’S NOT DOCTRINE, because prophets are only prophets when they’re acting like prophets.
Wut.
How convenient and not at all confusing or stupid.
Prepare to be more thoroughly screwed by financial institutions. (I had to specify “more thoroughly” because most of us have already been thoroughly screwed.)
Mother Jones covers the details. Three bills to weaken (gut) the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform bill have passed the House Financial Services Committee. Six of 61 committee members voted against these latest legislative gifts to the financial industry.
Lynna @316:
Re- ex-mormon responses
‘Greater mission in another realm’?
Isn’t that the same as saying ‘she has more important things to do than be alive’?
Perhaps I don’t understand the significance of the neck. I figured it’s an ergonomic issue, because many people are used to the feel of playing guitar. Or it needs a guitar-sized neck to fit the string. I’ll admit I don’t know. Whatever the case, it doesn’t seem like it could be a functional difference in the instrument’s operation, right? So, I don’t see how that isn’t just a different design of the same basic thing, like any model from any company of any instrument will be (at least slightly) different from others, perhaps to suit a particular kind of customer.
If it were something like a valve trombone (with keys instead of a slide), that substantially changes how the thing works, then it really is a new thing — the whole thing, not just a piece of it which doesn’t really matter in terms of its basic functionality or acoustics. Of course, I had to pick a “valve trombone” which I’d have to argue is a misleading name…. But do you get my point? Compare that to a trombone with an F attachment, which is really just a handy little gadget tacked on to make certain intervals easier to play fluently and in tune. (Lowering the fundamental is also a bonus, I guess.) Besides that, no big changes except to accommodate the gadget into the rest of the design: it’s still in all the essentials just like a trombone without one. So I wouldn’t call that sort of thing a “true hybrid.”
And again, with tuning, it just doesn’t matter the way I see it. The same guitar, any guitar, can be tuned all different ways. That just comes with the territory of having strings, along with not too strict of limitations in terms of tension. And you can also have big guitars or small ones or in-between, with different dimensions and styles of necks, different numbers of strings, etc. Unless there’s some really substantial difference, they’re all still considered plain old non-hybridish guitars. And, like I said, it’s also the same deal with whole families of trombones, saxophones, etc.
Mark Sanford credited his win against Elizabeth Colbert Busch in the race for a South Carolina Senate seat to god, I mean “God.” … and angels.
Slate link.
Whoops, I made a mistake in 331. Mark Sanford ran for Congress, not the Senate.
@Tony
More important things to do than to be alive and, you know, help take care of the kids she’d already had.
This reminds me of a sickening discussion in emergency medicine class last night. The instructor told a story about a paramedic who is apparently still in prison. His crime? Performing a field (that is, side-of-the-road-or-wherever) C-section on a woman who had been shot in the head. I was the only woman present, and the men who spoke their opinion on it universally agreed that this was an injustice. I pointed out that Gabby Giffords was shot in the head, and she is speaking all over the country. They said “But that’s rare.” I couldn’t explain how diminished and degraded I felt at the idea that they would all, to a man, prioritize the life of the fetus over my life were I in that situation. In any other circumstance, that patient would have received resuscitation efforts. But not if you’re pregnant. Then you are written off. (At least the paramedic is in prison for it, but still, their attitude sickened me).
Tony @329
Well, yeah.
Maybe she is proselytizing to dead non-mormons in the Outer Darkness, giving them a chance to accept mormonism after all (based on proxy baptisms done on earth). That’s more important, right?
Maybe she is in the Celestial Kingdom having spirit baby after spirit baby, without having to resort to celestial C-sections. After all, she died the most honorable mormon death for women, she died trying to give birth to more mormon babies, so she earned a place in the CK as a spirit baby factory.
One wonders if her children on earth see her being dead as a good thing.
@Portia
It’s amazing how many rights you lose when you’re pregnant. I am of course aware of Catholic hospitals letting women die, but it never occurred to me that emergency responders would do the same.
How awful.
mythbri,
Yeah, it’s sickening how much the emergency response system (ime) is dominated by toxic masculinity and patriarchy. They can’t see past their own manly-man noses on most issues. (Don’t get me started on the class response to the bariatric section last night).
@Portia
I kind of have an idea of what you mean. I had a friend who was dating a man training to become an EMT, and he told her that the guys he trained with would sometimes cut off an attractive woman’s clothes while they were helping her, even if it weren’t strictly medically necessary.
“God clearly didn’t give a shit about my ex-wife, though…”
I love the mental gymnastics these people go through.
mythbri,
Yes, there’s lots of jokes about that, and they gross me out. There were especially a lot when we did the fake car accident with high schoolers playing patients. These were teenagers, and they were kidding about cutting off their clothes. One said “The minimum is 17, right?” I said as sharply as I could “What if it were 12?” and they stopped the jokes. I’ve never heard of anyone I know actually doing unnecessary undressing, and I’d like to think the guys on my department wouldn’t. But who knows.
There area couple… delightful… individuals at the tail end of this http://freethoughtblogs.com/dispatches/2013/05/08/atheist-literature-apparently-messed-with/#comment-240267 post.
I don’t know, maybe I’m just odd because I don’t think that
“Pregnant at eighteen, marriage at nineteen, mobile home, sixty extra pounds, no college, part time job at Walmart, and four kids who are as small and dumb as she is.”
is an appropriate punishment for pouring water on paper. Plus the amount of shaming/privilege in that one poorly written sentence is rather astounding.
On a happy note wrt to the “fitting in where I feel outclassed” conversation a few of us were having, I’ve bonded with one of the assistants in my new office over second-hand shopping and clearance rack finds. :)
Shit. My grandpa’s wife has terminal bone cancer.
Shit, Portia. I’m so sorry.
*massive hugpile*
–
Thank you, cicely. Your comfort is always so welcome.
After posting, I felt a bit like I had tossed a pebble into a still pond, with how quiet it was in here.
Oh Portia, I am so sorry to hear that.
*more hugs*
Yeah—something like 3 hours with no comments. Glad I happened to be here for you.
–
Me too, cicely.
And thanks, YOB.
*hugs* back to you both. (I guess that’s implied, if they are welcome hugs, because just leaning in without moving my arms would be awkward…I’m overthinking this…I’m tired…and babbling….stopping now)
Portia
*hugs*
Portia, your *hugs* will always be welcomed by me.
:)
–
No you are correct. FtB has little control over what ads are running right now. I think Ed was looking into other revenue avenues that would stop the waves of stupid fucking ads that show up all the time.
True, but I suspect they do have control over the HTML that tosses damn stupid ads onto my screen over their own content.
If the ads sit in the background, I am willing to assume they might not be endorsed by the site. If the site is specifically programmed so that trying to see what’s actually written there gets me the ad instead, I have trouble believing they don’t want them there.
Keyword searches don’t cause pop-ups.
(and now on to some actually important problems):
Portia, I can only haz virtual hugs for you, but here’s one in any case.
Thanks Anri and Dalillama.
Ogvorbis,
And here I was thinking of air guitar when I wrote that. :)
(Nor was I expecting an erudite discussion on oddities)
—
CR,
What, fly-by-wire is good enough for flying fighter jets, but not good enough for playing guitars?
Portia, *hugs*chocolate*hugs*
Portia, I’m so sorry. That absolutely sucks. Hugs all around.
Rawnaeris, Break out the good stuff for Portia–at least 70% Cocoa!
Thanks y’all.
You’ve made me smile.
Even better, you made me remember I have 70% cocoa chocolate on my nightstand. To bed, for chocolate.
Portia – I’m so sorry. *many hugs and lots of chocolate*
Gilial, way back at #98: Thank you so much for the link to Kasese Humanist School. It is going on my short list. While the direct sponsoring of children can be problematic, I think the teaching/learning opportunity for my child is worth it. Seeing pictures and sending drawings, letters of our own was very instructive to me when I was young, and my parents explained things very well to me. As for Kiva, also suggested by Carlie, I have been with them for years, adding $25 to my portfolio every year. I intend to continue that as well.
So sorry, that last is for Giliell.
Let me add a drop of 15 day old grog.
I’m sorry, Portia.
*sending hugs your way*
Oh, Portia!
*bigbighugs*
*hugs* for Portia’s Grands.
and some for Portia
Portia:
My deepest sympathies. Cancer sucks.
Portia,
*hugs* and my sympathy for you and your family
Oh Portia, I’m so sorry. I can only imagine how hard it must be to sit through that sort of thing.
*Warning* Cute kid story ahoy! *Warning*
Last night Ms. Fishy had a meeting and one of our friends with a child the same age as the Small Fry also had a meeting. This happens once in a while and I’m the go-to minder. It’s fun. I take ’em out for pizza then we go to the park and I say “Now run! Run and shriek!” and they do. Oh how they do. Might have something to do with having been reigned in over and over for the last hour so they don’t disturb the other pizza patrons.
The first time I did this both Ms. Fishy and our friend were startled when I said that I’d forgotten the bag of distractions back at the shop. “What did you do with them?” was their puzzled response. I talked to them. They’re both going on six, they’ve got stuff to say. Sure it can be a little scattered, repetitive and occasionally surreal, but there was no problem filling the time when mouths were empty.
Anyway, that’s just blowing my own horn, the cute part came on the ride home. I have a bicycle that has a boot(trunk) and a back seat and that’s how I transport the Small Fry. Now that winter is drawing near it’s dark on the ride home. To distract her from her fear of foxes, a fear that I’ve been completely unable to mitigate, I get her to look at the stars. This has been working a treat.
Last night she was describing her own constellations, “Doggie”, “Triangle”, “Sausage” and so on. Suddenly she says, “I hope I see the Southern Cross!”
“Oh there it is!”
“I love you Southern Cross. I love you Southern Cross!”
“I wish the Southern Cross could come visit our house.”
“Uhm, honey? You know it’s made up of suns right?”
“Yes.” Rather indignantly. “There are…” [counts] “…five.”
“Yup, five. Now, suns are really hot, right? So don’t invite it over, I’d rather not be burned up.”
“Daaaaddy, how do you ask for things!?”
Oh shit.
“Sorry honey, that was rude. Please don’t invite the Southern Cross over.”
“Okay, just for you.”
I really should know by now to refresh and read before posting something I started hours ago and only just got around to finishing.
I’m so sorry to hear about your grandfather Portia.
John
The way I read that it’s not a dig at digital controllers, but at digital controllers that are shaped like guitars. Guitars are inefficient instruments in that they generally require two fingers to produce one note. There’s no such requirement for triggering a digital sound so using a guitar-like interface would be a bit silly.
*hugs* for Portia! :(
Weirdness: Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s a Skywhale
(Oddly enough, they don’t mention its sheer boobiferousness in that article)
Ummm… if it was evolved to fly, I doubt its breasts would be on its wingtips. And so many. That’s some heavy lifting right there. And the article does mention the boobiferousness:
Because whale teats are also out on a limb.
The artist needs a lesson in biology. I understand trying to come up with a novel and provoking design, but. Biology.
rq …dafuq did I just read? Did I miss something, here?
And speaking of “what the fuckery” (and without further words, because dudes, I have none), I give you:
Kazakhstan: 15-year-old boy declared ‘pregnant’ by doctors; family sues hospital
Portia, I’m so very sorry :-((((
May I add some more hugs to the pile. And also more chocolate. I’m so sorry for your grandfather’s wife, and for him – and I hope you’re OK … :-(
Thanks so much for the encouragement, rq, Giliell and cicely. You lot are the best, you know? It might sound silly, but – well, here there are people with so many major awful – and wonderful – things going on, and all I have to deal with is a paltry few days of extra long hours (and I’m glad to have them, after that dry patch!) and, well, it was very thoughtful, and thank you!
Back to it, then.
rq:
Um, quite so. Don’t know how I missed that.
(Or perhaps I didn’t — it’s been updated since I first saw it)
John
It’s not much of a mention, though.
I think it’s actually pretty awesome that a question about guitar preference can go set off a long and odd and varied discussion about what is and is not a guitar, the sense or lack thereof in guitar-shaped MIDI controllers, the origins of the banjo, and so on…
The Thread. It works like your brain. Roughly as disorganized and unpredictable. And keeps going through all time zones.
Also in chimeric oddities, I occasionally stick a sound-hole pickup on an all-acoustic Takamine, pipe that through a lengthy effects chain (usually after recording), and what comes out doesn’t sound much like an acoustic. Nor, I suppose, was it, exactly. In my mind, I think of that guitar’s brother with the built-in piezo pickup as somehow ‘more acoustic’ when I record it through that, because, well, those are meant to sound that way, and a pure magnetic one stuck in the sound hole does work like (and is) a standard passive electric pickup…
Neither of them are such sports of instrumental developmental biology as banjguitars nor do any of them speak MIDI, tho’. As pointed out, I want to trigger a synth, there’s way easier ways. The whole point in my mind of using an actual guitar is to get the specific expressive possibilities a string pulled tight just above a bunch of metal frets happens to offer. Often with fret hand finger squeaks on the spiral of string included.
(And hey, all. Still around, reading here on and off. Just very busy. Kids. House. Work. You know.)
*fluffy chocolate hugs to Portia and family*
—
four AM distraction… can’t… stop… reading.
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/bodyhorrors/2013/04/22/welcome-to-body-horrors/
(parasites! diseases! and the cultural factors that facilitate them! WITH PICTURES! Eeeewwww! ♥)
Bob Carroll has an interesting snippet on his latest SD newsletter: Facebook Threatens to Ban Me.
Threadrupt (so maybe I missed this elsewhere) but still caught up in the Cleveland story—–
Not to take away from Charles Ramsey’s participation (but even he credits a neighbor across the street for being the first to respond to Amanda Barry’s cries for help). Charles was able to converse more easily with media than …WHAT IS THAT OTHER MAN’S NAME!?
Maybe someone fluent in Spanish has better knowledge of the (OTHER) story? :
http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2013/05/07/transcript-video-charles-ramsey-ac360-exclusive-invu/
And –rq, and others also following the story– what are some other (good) sources for coverage?
“Fat Chicks not welcome at Abercrombie and Fitch
Not like bought clothes there anyway.
Not like I…
RBDC: that just tears it. Never again will the words “Ambercrombie and Fitch” be found emblazoned on my Supersoft Cascade Lakes Hoodie with the moose logo tab at left cuff, and hood with contrast lining and drawcord, rugged full-zipper closure, front pockets, interior neck taping, and Vintage Abercrombie Wash, Muscle Fit.
I’m going to miss that Muscle Fit.
@Rev
It’s not often that someone manages to pack that much wrong in such a small space. It sounds like a child bully who never grew out of it. However, I will note that A&F’s current CEO isn’t exactly a pinnacle of attractiveness, so I assume we can expect him to be fired soon?
I hate panick attacks at work cause I feel so stupid and feel helpless and I can’t just go do what I normally do when I have them at home…
383 ck
Hell, he’s probably always been one of the “losers” and had to create a space where he can be “cool”. God, some people just can’t get out of high school.
————
Hyperbole and a half is back! (Why, yes I have checked daily during the last 18 months to see when she’ll post again.)
——————
We’ve finally got the voucher to have Tiger the Cat fixed! Only, we have to pay $14 for the pain meds and $20 for the cone. We’re still calling places but that’s the most common and best offer so far.
384 Katherine Lorraine, Tortue du Désert avec un Coupe-Boulon
I’m sorry. =(
*hugs* if you want them.
Katherine – hugs or extra space coming to you virtually, whichever you need. I hope you can find a little safe space (even if just in your head) for awhile.
Why not just have an enormous size label on each item of clothing, then? Each shirt/pants/skirt can have a huge number painted on the back so everyone knows just how small of a size they wear. That’s in effect what he’s doing.
*runs to read Allie* JAL – I use a feed reader, and it’s good for catching when dormant blogs pop back up. PossumMomma (atheist in a mini van) has started blogging again recently, too.
Yeah, my problem with readers is there are just so many blogs I’ve followed so I easily forget just what I have, what I want and what I’m looking for. I just subscribed to Allie and put it on a toolbar. I click it, it refreshes, and I see recent posts.
Even though I’ve subscribed to many blogs, there is actually few that I want to keep up with daily like Allie.
Pharyngula is just pinned as an app and all the threads are kept open….
——————-
Oh! Also, Roomie got me a new laptop keyboard as a belated b-day present! I FUCKING LOVE it. So many keys were broken or sticky and I could never get it clean. I even installed it myself. I’m proud of that since dealing with hardware makes me so nervous. I worry I’ll fuck it up and break my computer, which I’d never be able to replace.
Not that I have shopped much in the last few years, buuuut A&F is off my list of places to shop at. I think a letter to the CEO is in order…
389 Tony! The Virtual Queer Shoop
But you’ll have to include a hot picture of yourself (or someone else), before he’ll read it.
JAL #385
Thank you!
I went from checking daily, to weekly, to occasionally.
eHugs to you, Katherine.
I’m kinda lucky in that respect as I am a smoker so when I panic I go out for a smoke until the wave passes by me.
Damn, another Bangladeshi garment factory tragedy–
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/05/10/world/asia/fire-at-bangladeshi-factory-kills-8.html?from=homepage
Okay, seriously, the Republicans live in an entirely separate universe, I’m convinced.
Boehner was just on TV talking about how the economy is struggling (as the Dow Jones closed above 15,000 for the first time ever, the S&P hit its own record, and the NASDAQ is doing incredible) and how we have to stop unemployment – as it’s been at its lowest point in five years the last four weeks straight.
Oh and we have to repeal the ACA cause… stuff.
Thanks to Hekuni Cat, Nerd, ednaz, WMDKitty, chigau, Tony, Beatrice, FossilFishy, rq, opposablethumbs, Pteryxx, listing you all out makes it really evident just how lucky I am to have so many e-friends. I really appreciate the moral support from you all. I’m trying to figure out what to do, while staggering under a mountain of guilt for not visiting them more. I found out about her illness when I called my dad yesterday for his birthday. It’s his stepmom who’s ill.
Much sympathy and hugs or whatever would be helpful in virtual form. I’m sorry : (
Smoking is really great for a little break from socializing, for me. I do better with just a couple people, oftentimes, so it takes me out of a big group into a more focused social interaction.
Hi AJ! Good to see you.
JAL,
Yay new keyboard!
re: hyperbole and a half
Me too.
Thanks for reporting the update, JAL.
Hi, AJ!
Katherine
The best I can offer you is some e-space, hope the feeling subsides soon! (Sorry for not being any more useful than that.)
JAL
Yay about the new keyboard! Sweet.
+++
Stormfront moving across today. We went from 28 degrees and sunny to extremely windy and low 20s in the space of… 2 minutes? The main part of the storm should pass us by (by my estimation), but boy is it incredible watching the shift in wind, temperature and pressure and feel it on your skin (we made it inside, but still no rain… much needed).
Supposed to be a full-fledged thunderstorm, but we’ll see about that. Probably downtown in the capital, unlikely here, but you never know – I’m still unfamiliar with the general weather pattern in this specific location.
I want a ‘maybe everything isn’t hopeless bullshit’ t-shirt.
From conversations up-thread I see that Portia needs chocolate and hugs. For the chocolate, may I suggest Fran’s dark chocolate truffles with single malt whiskey in the filling.
The new Hyperbole and a Half is up (the first was a heads-up, the second came about a half-hour after JAL’s post). I think it’s a testament to how beloved Allie and her comic are that there are over 1000 comments in less than 3 hours since posting, on a blog that hasn’t had new content in a year and a half.
Pretty much exactly what JT predicted at his blog after her last post – things did go downhill from there, and now is coming out of it. And it’s fascinating and funny and heartbreaking, just as always.
Lynna, you made my mouth water. Mmmm.
I would buy a poster of the “not today! I’ve got legs, motherfucker!” panel.
In an extended conversation up-thread Elizabeth Smart’s comments relating how mormon culture was a factor in her feeling so worthless after being raped that she did not run away from her kidnapper. (There are a lot of related comments, see 305, 317, 319, 323 and 327 for part of the conversation.)
One of the points that mormon commenters are bringing up repeatedly online is that what Elizabeth Smart said is “not doctrine.” Mythbri rejected this explanation, and now I have more ammunition that the whole chastity and purity teaching is indeed current dogma.
So, yeah, chastity or death, basically — as posted on lds.org as the official YW lesson.
Here’s a Moment of Mormon Madness from British Columbia:
The news coverage does not identify the man as a mormon, but ex-mormons and mormons who live in his area have identified him as a member of the LDS Church. Mormons have no greater claim on “family values” than any other religion.
Jon Stewart on the supposed Benghazi coverup:
http://www.salon.com/2013/05/09/must_see_morning_clip_where_is_the_outrage_over_benghazi/
*Horse apples* for Abercrombie and Fitch.
Nothing promotes a healthy body image for kids better than publicly and officially excluding the not-slim.
–
*hugs* and *fluffy kittehs* for Kitty.
And it goes without saying that you are neither stupid nor helpless. Anxiety lies like a Depression; it’s no wonder that they hang out together.
–
JAL, it’s like you read my mind!
:)
Glad to see that Hyperbole and a Half is back. Like you, I’ve been checking, checking, checking…. Definitely alarming, after the Depression post.
Hurray for the fixing of the cat! Hurray for the new keyboard!
–
Moments of Mormon Madness revisited: Orson Scott Card’s rancid homophobia is being covered, again, in the news media. Salon link.
Excerpts:
“You’re maybe just looking for someone to say “sorry about how dead your fish are” or “wow, those are super dead. I still like you, though.” “
I’ll have to remember these. For later. Also, “Fish are always deadest before the dawn””. That one is nicely bizarre; I must nick it.
–
Small story I thought I’d share here:
A few day ago, I had to have surgery on one of my ears (Tympanoplasty). As part of the hospital paperwork, they asked for my religion. I responded, simply, “atheist”. The lady taking the info never looked away from her screen and said ” yup, it’s in here.” This was at a Baylor Medical Center. Baylor?! I suppose, it’s not much, as progress goes, but it is something and it made me oddly happy.
Let’s get together this weekend and make finger puppets out of them!
The visual.
The last time that happened to me, I said “Jediism.” I may have been inebriated at the time.
Ender’s Game…another fandom to side-eye.
Female ‘Purity’ Is Bullshit
–
Now I know I’m in an alternate universe. France just beat Russia. In hockey. *shakes head*
Another long-distance e-hug for the pile, Katherine. I’m sorry you’ve had to deal with that.
Yay for the keyboard, JAL! (and especially for sorting it out yourself).
Portia, there’s no getting away from the fact that you’re an inspiring and really rather nice person :-) and you’ll just have to deal with the consequences: piles of e-hugs :-)))
(just by the by, Ogvorbis, this goes for you too) (and in fact quite a few folk around these parts) (and while I’m on the subject, there are a fair few inspiring Horders who come across as very sorted and robust and not particularly in need of e-hugs. This may be because many of you are indeed sorted and robust, or don’t care for e-hugs, or in some cases it could be because some people just aren’t comfortable with communicating a need or wish for e-hugs or equivalent in this particular sort of context. I would just like to mention that in either the foremost or the lattermost case you are nevertheless entitled to e-hugs anyway, and very welcome to as many e-hugs as you would like from the pile)
opposablethumbs, you always make me smile. I think you’re great, too.
rq, is there a glitch in the Matrix?
Oh, FFS, the Koch brothers have funded not just right wing foolishness and right wing political campaigns and right wing more-money-for-the-Kochs legislation, but they are now also funding right wing women.
Take Koch brothers money and you too can have a cushy job pretending to be non-political as head of a non-profit front organization for women who like Mark Sanford. Three layers of eww, at least.
HA!
Here’s another way to look at the quick action Congress recently took to circumvent flight delays that occurred when sequestration rules required the FAA to furlough a bunch of air traffic controllers. This article compares funding for victims of domestic violence.
I’m repeating the link in 413, in shorter form, because the essay is so good that I don’t want anyone to miss it: http://jezebel.com/female-purity-is-bullshit-493278191
Elizabeth Warren is wise, smart, and just so damned appealing. I wonder if she can balance out the entire Tea Party Causus?
Maddow Blog link.
Elizabeth Warren is my hero. Now if we could just get traction on making student loans dischargeable in bankruptcy.
What’d I do this time?
Shitty night. Bad dreams and all.
Good day, though. My new boss’s boss is good. She is old line NPS with lots of experience at other parks and actually understands what my job is and how her job relates to my job. Wow.
I’m working my way through the purity essay and I have to pause to tell a story.
During that section on working with bariatric patients, the powerpoint slide said that it’s important to be sensitive because some such patients may be apprehensive of public humiliation. The instructor, a tall, self-described fat person, said that he’s never been walking down the street and had someone holler “Hey lardass!” I couldn’t help blurting out “Because you’re a man.” Luckily, at this point he doesn’t argue with me anymore, he just moves on with his lesson.
cicely (and then Lynna) beat me to posting that purity essay. I liked that one.
A lot.
:)
And yes, Portia, there’s got to be a glitch in the Matrix: nothing else would explain Switzerland’s winning streak this World Championship.
I went to a hockey game once. A whole stadium chanting makes me feel uneasy no matter what they chant, but at least the fans weren’t nasty. They could even accept the other team scoring with some dignity.
Much better than football.
*hugs* for Ogvorbis.
——-
I hate awkwardness so much. I just hate it. Unfortunate for someone so prone to it. : |
*hugs* for everybody, if wanted!
That is always nice and yet seemingly rare.
Heh. Been there. Will probably be there again tomorrow. Possibly more than once. :P
Oh, the world is a glorious place indeed!
Vampire moth
*swoon*
–
cicely
*swoon*, indeed!
(Here it is in action!)
Yup.
I used to be a big fan of OSC, but then I read more of his work and realized that the (original)Ender trilogy was pretty much his magnum opus, and none of his other stuff really compares, even when it isn’t blatant mormon propaganda. His bigotry definitely reinforced my decision not to read him anymore, though.
Beyond that, *hugs* to all who desire them, and I’m going to sink back into the morass of depressed unemployment.
*hugs* and *chocolate* Dalillama. : |
I am gonna stat that sucker up so hard!
*maniacal grin*
–
rq,
Thank you for providing a visual for my nightmares tonight. Credit goes to cicely too, of course.
Dalillama:
*hugs*
*fingers crossed* for good news on the job front
Yeah, I didn’t click for fear of that.
I’m on cracked, looking at 6 creepiest places on Earth (and then 6 different creepiest places on Earth (and then 7 different creepiest…)) Anyway. I’ve actually been to one of them, and it’s not all that creepy. Maybe it would have been creepier if I’d been there alone instead of with my class.
(Sedlec Ossuary (The Church of Bones))
The chandelier made of bones looks really impressive.
Beatrice
Sorry. :/ I like moths.
Also, those ‘creepy’ places are cool! I’m not big on zombies, but artwork from bones is impressive.
Speaking of creepy, bad taste in my mouth from this article. *ew*
(Also, why is Charles Ramsey being called a (natural-born) comedian?? Because of the way he talks? Or… I don’t get it?? This isn’t the first time I’ve seen him labelled as such. Far as I’m concerned, he was just an agitated speaker because of the situation he was in, but it feels like he’s being ridiculed in some subtle way when he’s called a comedian for it.)
Katherine – *hugs and chocolate*
I also took a closer look at the source of that article. Explains a lot.
TRIGGER WARNING SEXUAL VIOLENCE
I’ve gotten this far into the article, rq, and I agree with you. It sort of goes back to the earlier discussion about fetuses being prioritized over women. “Yeah, they were brutalized in unimaginable horror for a decade, but the worst part for
themus, as society, must have been the emotional impact of the miscarriages!”(Disclaimer: Not to say that miscarriage can’t be terrible for the person experiencing it, just to say the assumption is disgusting).
rq,
Do you get this
in the middle of the article?
Ew.
*continues reading*
I’m still reading but:
Yeah, because bitchez lie. And if there’s no behbeh, they were lying. Duh.
I don’t know that I’ve ever personally heard of a rape case being proven with the existence of a baby. #anecdotal evidence. Why? Because OHYEAH procreation has NO bearing on whether the intercourse was consensual! Right!
rq,
If by “bad taste in my mouth” you mean the article made you puke in your mouth a bit, then I agree. It left a bad taste in my mouth too.
Because bootstraps! (And yeah, the victims are better off but…the author would probably advocate cutting social services in the same breath.)
Oh ,the site’s mission statement includes.
Yes. Well.
Yeah,. definitely the puke taste. :P *gargles&spits*
With all of that, I’m glad Amanda Berry loves her daughter and wants to care for her. I just don’t think her situation should be co-opted for the anti-choice movement.
Anyway, on that positive note – good night! :) *hugs* and assorted other *gestures* to the Horde at large
Night rq!
In all my excitement at the discovery of the Vampire Moth, I seem to have missed a thing or two.
*hugs*, including one that I’ll keep for myself, for the perennially awkward.
*hugs* for Ogvorbis.
*hugs* for Dalillama, and I hope the employment situation improves, soon.
–
*toothy grin*
But seriously, it’s a very unassuming-looking moth; a moth you’d never pick out of the line-up as a blood sucker…
…a feature which I have every intention of using to my advantage, Come The Day.
–
While at the same time, babies aren’t conceived by rape, because <gumby>the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.</gumby>
*spits*
–
rq,
I think no one but Amanda Berry should be allowed to say that her daughter is the one good thing to come out of being freaking kidnapped and held as a prisoner and sex slave.
Even without co-opting them for the anti-choice movement, it’s just a phrasing that makes my hair stand on end when uttered by anyone who isn’t the woman in this situation. When she says it, I read it as acceptance and love of her daughter. When someone else says it about her, I read it as implying she is supposed to be grateful for her imprisonment and rape because she got a kid she loves out of it. Maybe I’m too bitter or people really are assholes like that.
Never underestimate the assholery of the the general population. : | I totally agree with your feelings about the statement.
Oh dear. Portia, never ever click on the article 6 Horrifying Animal Kills Science Didn’t Think Were Possible on Cracked.
*shudder*
That blood sucking moth is in there too.
Me, too.
–
“Me, too” obviously refers to the sentiments Beatrice voiced in 452, and with which Portia agreed—not that I, too, am there at the Cracked article among the Horrifying Animals.
Obviously.
:)
–
Obviously, cicely ;)
Beatrice…thanks for the warning. (Though as I’m sure you could predict, there was little chance I’d check that out).
I didn’t mean that doing it is “silly,” just that it’s absurdly complicated for no apparent reason. That’s perfectly acceptable in art, so I wasn’t trying to be derogatory. But diagram this for yourself:
1) You have a guitar and record the sounds it makes.
2) You take the recordings and process them through a sampler. This is not a guitar. It’s just a program, which then needs some kind of hardware to get it to do anything. Those samples could be controlled by whatever you want — a synth keyboard, an EWI, a mouse, a camera, traffic signals, signals from any source of information. It doesn’t matter where the sounds came from originally, because the “instrument” you use can be anything at all.
3) Despite all the mind-boggling possibilities you absurdly decide to feed this information back into a guitar and use that kind of interface anyway.
At some point here, the “instrument” is a guitar, then isn’t, then it is again. It’s hard to make any sense out of what to call the damned thing. In the middle, it’s somehow nothing in particular. But in that weird special case I just described, I’ll call it a guitar, because no one actually cares anyway and even if they did they’re probably too confused (like I am) to argue otherwise.
You be’d (and continue to be) an inspiring and really rather nice person (hey, you go around dealing with appalling things by becoming utterly unlike your abuser and furthermore standing up for those who need it whenever you can, you are going to get e-hugs coming your way (if you want them)). I like you, and being as how I’m behind a computer on the other side of the pond you can’t stop me so there.
Sympathies for how bloody difficult it is getting work, Dalillama. I so much wish things were so much better (if only wishing could make it so :-( ). Hugs and chocolate, the good stuff.
I’m behind again/already.
As if I would even buy any other kind. Piffle, I say, Piffle!
—
It’s raining. Won’t break the semi-permanent drought in North/West Texas, but might fill some of the stock tanks back up a bit. Some are already low enough that ranchers won’t be able to use those fields because there isn’t enough water their cattle.
*sigh* Enough water for their cattle to drink.
That’s what I get for a hyper sensitive touch pad and forgetting to preview.
Thanks for the support, folks. It’s not just the unemployment itself, leaving me with little to do, it’s the financial strain, since UI doesn’t pay even a half of my bills, my folks can only help so much, and I spent what little money I had to spare when I was working trying to pay down the debts I ran up last time I was unemployed, and, being that I live in Capitalist Hell, that means that I have basically zero agency in anything whatsoever, because making decisions costs money, and I haven’t got any.
Beatrice @ 452
THIS.
Times One Million.
Thank You for saying it so well.
In some ways, it’s even more awesome than the Vampire Watermelon!
Just let that concept percolate through your brainmeats!
:) :) :)
–
Ah, vampire watermelon is percolating through my brainmeats now! Thanks alot cicely. I will never EVER look at a watermelon the same way again.
*flourishing cape*
Then my vork here iss don!
–
When you look at the vampire watermelon, the vampire watermelon looks back at you.
–
Okay, I’m not going to search for, much less link to, any actual videos, but I had a pop-up play a video by some rap/hip-hop group “loosescrews” [which if they had any creativity would have been looscrew or something similarly ambiguous, but no] singing something which I only imagine was called “pot of gold”. I was intrigued by its awfulness – in the same way others have been captivated by the song “Friday” by that teenage – and watched long enough to see some late-teens white guy go to the atm & have no money, but that’s okay, because there’s always a pot of gold waiting for him/you. That’s all I could stomach, but the imagery was a fake as it gets, & I couldn’t help wondering if it was “christian hip-hop” from some prosperity gospel types, trying to grab some bling, as god intended.
I know, I know, it’s like the George Carlin routine, “OMG, this smells awful – here, smell it!” But ranting here is a form of exorcism, getting the stuff out of my brain. Though if any others have heard them & want to engage in a mutual project of mocking, I’m not at all sorry to kick it off. This was terrible on a scale where “average” is horrific.
Am totally going to add a vampire watermelon to my board game now. What kind of stats would a vampire watermelon have? Hmm…. gotta get ta thinkn (for a change).
In Serbia, watermelon eats you!
It’s May. In this part of the world that means it’s halfway through autumn.
So. Bushfire. In the Adelaide Hills in the scrub near a place called Cherryville – which is a good indicator of what happens in that region – full of apple and pear and cherry orchards.
And they can’t use the planes because the ground crews can’t get anywhere near it – and our hot spell (it’s 26 at 11 am right now) will continue for another 2 days. Pretty soon it’ll be bushfire season all your round.
I don’t remember how I statted them for my D&D campaign, but I do remember that they could spread to encompass large amounts of ground at a pretty fair clip (growing by night, of course!), and could make whip-lash and entangling attacks (I think something like 6 total attacks per round per 10 radius of ground coverage). Given a bit more time, their roots could penetrate rock surfaces and ‘climb’ them by growing up walls.
I had an awesomely good time with it, I can tell you that!
:) :) :) :) :)
–
I hadn’t seen that, but it’s pretty clear anyway. His comment that something had to be wrong when a white woman rushed into a black man’s arms is the key. He was, fairly lightheartedly, talking truth about his life. Far, far better to dismiss it as an rib-tickling joke than acknowledge the reality.
Bushfire season all _year_ round.
Sigh.
I hope you’re in a safe place mildlymagnificent.
Here in alpine Victoria we’ve had enough rain to put us out of danger for the immediate future. Mind you, it’s been a case of where the hell did autumn go? We went for high 30’s daytime and mid 20’s nighttime to low 20’s and occasional teens daytime and 0 nighttime temps over just a couple of weeks.
Did anyone else notice the white guy in the motorcycle gang colours behind Charles Ramsey in that first interview? It might be my biases speaking, but the way he was looking a Ramsey seemed pretty hostile to me. That, and the way Ramsey reacted to the siren, and the way the interviewer ran away after the white girl joke spoke volumes about the kind of life that the folks in the neighbourhood have.
I’m eating candied ginger, and liking it!? Holy hell, all I have to do is buy some butterscotch and I’ll officially be my grandparents.
@477
Not until you have a bowl of either peppermint candies or ribbon candy that have stuck together so badly they are really just one piece. ;-)
Due to the fact that I do not recall the correct usage much of the time, fucking up the apostrophe is something I am quite talented at.
(Oooooh John Morales, how should that sentence be properly constructed?)
some of y’all complaining about the new Doctor Who season? You’re not alone:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/report/article/the-latest-season-of-doctor-who-has-been-terrible-and-there-is-one-person-t
Ok, given what little I’ve read of the new Pope, he sure isn’t terribly different than the *last* Pope. Reading this article-by an atheist to boot-reeks of accomodationism:
Pteryxx:
If people had any taste, they wouldn’t be watching Dr. Who…
(sooooooooo kidding, but still ducking)
Hah! I fully expect to arrive home tonight and find that such a thing has spontaneously generated itself. /checkmate-something-can’t-come-from-nothing-thiests!
Amazing Youtube video of Dinosaur to bird evolution on djarm67 channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-B2c79tq-Do
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6kViYeDcmA
Birds are descendants of dinosaurs ?
In 100 years scientists could turn an Emu back into an Emu dinosaurus ?
test
Speaking of vampire watermelons, did anyone else read Bunnicula in their younger years? (In a later book, there was a weasel who started a self-help group called WIMPS – Weasels In a More Polite Society.)
Also, Beatrice, your comment @452 is exactly how I feel about the situation.
cicely, you need a longer cape. You move too stealthily in this one, need more tangling!
*superhugs* for Dalillama
And opposablethumbs, shouldn’t you be working…?
mildlymagnificent, I hope the bushfires stay out of your backyard and don’t go anywhere near it, the whole neighbourhood, and, for that matter, stay in one place and burn themselves out. (I know, I know…) Stay safe, I hope the family stays safe, too!
I have rum.
If you otherhemispherians will push this to Page2 by morning, I will share.
[it takes my unit forever to refresh at anything over ~350 comments]
I can haz rum?
I like it especially when it comes inside a chocolate. Or a cake (thinking about that chocolate cake again)
I remember Bunnicula! It was pretty much kiddy-grade horror (with a lot of funny thrown in).
Beatrice
It’s up to me, you, and WMDKitty to post 11 more comments! (now 10) and we get chigau’s rum.
(And anyone else who’s awake…)
For the rum!
Here’s my contribution:
Yeah, sure, create your own happiness. I think we went over these feel-good lists a while ago.
While I understand trying to empower young women and turn them away from dieting (and having skinny as a goal), this long and rambling article, I fear, introduces a whole different way to discriminate, and excludes all those who cannot exercise or simply do not wish to (at that level) – because in the end, all of her ‘strong’ still looks skinny, and if it looks the same, hey… what’s the point?
Very sad news for the rhino community. Very. (This is not sarcasm.)
At least these cats made me laugh.
And anyone up for a game of Disunion?
For the Rum!
And I loved Bunnicula, too, back in the day. And all that poor drained vegetable material.
I snorfled at those cats.
Here, a little bit of funny for fans of both cats and horror movies.
More horror movies for cats — my favorite is “Bathtub II”. One two water’s coming for you…
For those of you who remember ‘Jim’, my latest correspondence:
HIM:
“Tony. It is me again. I am two people. Two days ago I wanted to see you so badly…then I experienced such guilty backlash that I changed my account password for that other email address to a number off of a receipt and I flushed that receipt down the toilet, and then I deleted the account ( I had always been able to reactivate it because I knew the password.) I know it is laughable.I keep saying I am through. And then, I woke up this morning from a dream of you wrapping your arms around me from behind like I asked you to that night in December.
I want you Tony. I do not know what is going to happen to me. I know that I have signed a contract at my job that lasts through May. That contract is with a church organization and, in signing, I have promised to represent them the way that they ask. Even if I did decide to make major changes, I feel that this could not be done until I have fulfilled my commitment to this job. But that is a year away. And Tony, I cannot last for another year without being intimate, without feeling someone else’s lips.
Here is my other problem: I do not want to search the internet for random sex anymore with potential psychopaths and drug addicts and high school dropouts. I am 30. I want to make love to someone.
Tony I want you. Please let me take pleasure in your body and your mind….let me give you pleasure that you know is safe….if you need release and are searching for it please let me give it to you for one night. I do not know if I am even desirable to you, but I am asking you for one night save me from my loneliness.”
MY RESPONSE:
“I understand what you’re saying, and what you’re going through, to a certain degree. You are going through a degree of emotional turmoil that I’ve never experienced. Don’t get me wrong, I experienced uncertainty, confusion, frustration, longing, desire, arousal, and so much more. To some degree, I still do. I cannot deny that. I read what you say and it breaks my heart. It really does.
Why?
For all that I wish I could help you, what you are asking for is something I cannot give.
I remain steadfast in my commitment to be there for you as moral support.
I have not wavered in my desire to listen to you when you need compassion.
I will not ignore you, nor will I shame you.
But I cannot…I will not…be with you sexually.
I’m sorry to say that. I know that this hurts. I know that saying these things doesn’t make the longing in your heart go away. But I want you to experience joy, happiness, support, compassion, companionship and love from someone who is able to give that to you. I cannot give that to you. You and I are at different points in our personal journeys. It is not a question of who is more advanced, enlightened, or better. It is just a difference in where we both are. My longing and your longing, though similar in many ways, are very different. I long to be with a companion who is at peace with themselves. I want to be with someone who doesn’t struggle with being gay. I want to be with someone who has overcome the shackles that hold them back and prevent them from giving themselves to me–A MAN. I want someone who looks at me as their equal…as an individual who has entered their life and enriched it. I want someone that complements me, someone who I share values and morals with. Someone who I look at and think “I’m attracted to their body and mind”. I want someone who can follow me down the long introspective thoughts that I have. I want someone who has reached a point in their personal journey that bears a resemblance to mine. Not identical, mind you. I don’t want someone just like me. I want someone who can challenge me. I want someone who can think for themselves and who I can share my beliefs with. I want…no, I NEED someone who shares values similar to mine. When I cry, I want them to understand why. When I rage I want them to understand why. When I laugh, I want them to understand what I’m laughing at and why. I don’t know where that person is. I don’t know where to find that person. My search-such as it is-continues, with no end in sight. I don’t even know if I will ever meet this person.
Where you are right now…this really pains me to say (more than you can know, and largely because I know this isn’t what you want to hear), is not in a place where we can be what I want. You are in a place of inner turmoil and confusion. You are trying to find a path in life that works for your needs. That path does not sync up with where I am at. Moreover, while I am no psychiatrist, I do not think I am what you need right now. Not romantically at least.
You may ask why I continue conversing with you.
It really is simple: You are a friend in pain. I have experienced much of what you’ve gone through. I seek, in some way, whether small or large, nor or later, to help reduce the pain you’re going through and offer any insight or wisdom I have that will allow you to navigate the tumultuous waters you are experiencing. I’m not so arrogant to think I have any solutions to offer you. I do not feel that I have all, or even many, of the answers you seek. I just hope that I can offer something of assistance to you. Whatever that may be.
My continued interaction with you stems from hope. Hope that you will reach a point where you are happy with yourself. I want you to see that there is nothing wrong with you. I want you to understand that what you feel, and what you want…what you desire and what you long for:
THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH ANY OF THAT. IN FACT, IT IS NATURAL. IT SHOULD NOT BE TREATED AS INCONSEQUENTIAL.
I want nothing more than for you to be happy, and while I know I cannot provide you with that happiness in the way that you want, I hope that I can offer you something that may be even more valuable: Acceptance. Honesty. Compassion.
I hope in time, that you’ll come to realize the value in what I can give you.
I accept you for who you are.
In the same breath, I will be honest with how our beliefs differ, and why.
At the end of the day, compassion compels me to assist you to the best of my ability.
I hope these words offer some peace for you.
As always, there is nothing wrong with you. You are who you are, and this is all you have. Embrace it. Be proud of who you are. Own it. Live it. This is the only life we know of. Do not squander it by denying your nature.
Tony”
This is new territory for me, and trying to find a balance between being honest and trying to be helpful in some way is difficult. I know that much of what I say to him will be painful to hear, but while I do not want to pursue anything further with him romantically, I cannot just turn my back on him. I cannot ignore him.
Fuck.
Religious belief can really screw people up.
I am not happy with my love life.
I have never been.
As I’ve expressed before, I worry that I’m going to drift through life without ever tasting the love of another man…without ever saying “I love you” and meaning the words…without any of a dozen things that I want to experience with a significant other.
But you know what?
Even if I never do, as much as it would pain me, I would not want to give up my view of the world. I don’t want the rose colored glasses of religion. I don’t want the shackles that prevent me from seeing the world more clearly. I am glad that I have broken free. I may not find the joy I want with another man, but I am so thankful that I am not trapped in a world of falsehoods.
Yes, rq, I should be working! But yesterday I juuuust got caught up for the day on my self-calculated schedule-for-meeting-the-deadline by late evening, so naturally I had to have a quick visit to the Lounge before bed. And right now it’s 8 am for me, and I’m about to start work for the day (so naturally I have to peek in the Lounge while I finish my second mug (of MANY) of lemon-and-ginger-“tea”) :-)
That was very thoughtful, thank you.
.
Stay safe, mildlymagnificent. Hope you are OK for spoons.
.
cicely, I’m afraid we may have vampire ivy. In fact, I know we do. Is this your doing, eh?
.
…. there’s rum? At eight in the morning??? …. oh well. OK then. If I get any, I can always save it for later (for when the rum is always gone).
.
Right, off to get started. Best hugs to all who would care for one.
*sits in the corner with the bong and contemplates the meaning of life*
opposablethumbs
Have a very productive day!
Tony
*hugs* I’m afraid that whole situation is way out of my territory, but you have my moral support. And best wishes for Jim.
WMDKitty
The first link was my favourite. :D
Can we have Rum now?