Up earlier than usual by my standards, even though I was looking forward to a mild sleep-in, due to my doctor's appointment.
Today's doctor's appointment is for the lungs, but it looks like I need to make a second with the PT, because sometime between 2 and 3ish, something horrible happened to my neck. I woke up with a sort of spasm, and was unable to go back to sleep. At first I thought it was just me sleeping on something funny, but even going back to my spine-neutral position doesn't help at all. A heating pad doesn't help either, although it allowed me to get little 15 minute swaths of sleep. I couldn't take my codeine, because today's doctor's appointment with the allergist requires me to have had no antihistimines, and apparently there's one bundled in with the codeine. Eventually I crawled to the bathroom and found 500 mgs of acetominiphin and that made no dent at all.
If I had to guess, I'd say slipped disk and pinched nerve. All I know is it fucking hurts. :(
I'm also kinda beside myself, having missed most of last week, and the week before due to holidays and bronchitis. I just don't feel like I can afford to miss more work. I'm already feeling super displaced.
Today's doctor's appointment is for the lungs, but it looks like I need to make a second with the PT, because sometime between 2 and 3ish, something horrible happened to my neck. I woke up with a sort of spasm, and was unable to go back to sleep. At first I thought it was just me sleeping on something funny, but even going back to my spine-neutral position doesn't help at all. A heating pad doesn't help either, although it allowed me to get little 15 minute swaths of sleep. I couldn't take my codeine, because today's doctor's appointment with the allergist requires me to have had no antihistimines, and apparently there's one bundled in with the codeine. Eventually I crawled to the bathroom and found 500 mgs of acetominiphin and that made no dent at all.
If I had to guess, I'd say slipped disk and pinched nerve. All I know is it fucking hurts. :(
I'm also kinda beside myself, having missed most of last week, and the week before due to holidays and bronchitis. I just don't feel like I can afford to miss more work. I'm already feeling super displaced.
Ginmar has an interesting essay that makes me rethink some of my conceptions about military service, while providing the inside-out view that I sometimes miss: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2
...
When I was a wee tyke of 19 going on 20, desperate to get out of Utah and hopefully escape to the magical land of San Francisco, I applied to join the Army Reserves. (I did completely shock my parents when I mentioned I wanted to do this--they were expecting me to tell them I was pregnant or some other bad news when I sat them down, which was ridiculous, because I hadn't even had sex at that point.) I did the whole battery of tests at MEPS, got a 99 on my ASVAB, peed for the first time in front of a perfect stranger, got poked and prodded, had my old broken leg x-rayed and waived, and finally at the end of it all, was rejected. My eyeballs failed me, having a refraction of -9 in my right eye.
So no basic training for me. No learning how to assemble and disassemble an M-16. No computer training that I had hoped for. No Montgomery Bill money for college.
At the time you couldn't get LASIK and still be eligible for the armed services. And I was bummed and somewhat bitter about it at the time. Whenever Army commercials would come on TV, exhorting me to be all I could be, I would make snarky remarks.
I will be honest and say that while I loved the US, I don't think I had any real conception of service, just theoretical fuzziness. Nor did I have any idea of what the Army might demand from me. I hadn't any clear ideas about what I thought about war and the costs thereof. I was your basic 19 year old feeling like they'd reached a dead end in their small town that was too small to contain them.
So I'm older now, and have the knowledge that a scant five months from my six year stint as a Reservist, the towers would fall. I also know how my personality and feelings and beliefs have evolved. I can honestly say that the Army probably wasn't the best choice for me. But then I made plenty of dumbass choices on the path I ended up going down anyway.
Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if my eyes had been healthy enough and I ended up going down that leg in the Trousers of Time.
...
When I was a wee tyke of 19 going on 20, desperate to get out of Utah and hopefully escape to the magical land of San Francisco, I applied to join the Army Reserves. (I did completely shock my parents when I mentioned I wanted to do this--they were expecting me to tell them I was pregnant or some other bad news when I sat them down, which was ridiculous, because I hadn't even had sex at that point.) I did the whole battery of tests at MEPS, got a 99 on my ASVAB, peed for the first time in front of a perfect stranger, got poked and prodded, had my old broken leg x-rayed and waived, and finally at the end of it all, was rejected. My eyeballs failed me, having a refraction of -9 in my right eye.
So no basic training for me. No learning how to assemble and disassemble an M-16. No computer training that I had hoped for. No Montgomery Bill money for college.
At the time you couldn't get LASIK and still be eligible for the armed services. And I was bummed and somewhat bitter about it at the time. Whenever Army commercials would come on TV, exhorting me to be all I could be, I would make snarky remarks.
I will be honest and say that while I loved the US, I don't think I had any real conception of service, just theoretical fuzziness. Nor did I have any idea of what the Army might demand from me. I hadn't any clear ideas about what I thought about war and the costs thereof. I was your basic 19 year old feeling like they'd reached a dead end in their small town that was too small to contain them.
So I'm older now, and have the knowledge that a scant five months from my six year stint as a Reservist, the towers would fall. I also know how my personality and feelings and beliefs have evolved. I can honestly say that the Army probably wasn't the best choice for me. But then I made plenty of dumbass choices on the path I ended up going down anyway.
Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if my eyes had been healthy enough and I ended up going down that leg in the Trousers of Time.
Snagged via Popelizbet
1. Pick 10 of your favorite books or series.
2. Post the first sentence of each book. If one sentence seems too short, post two or three! I have posted as much as I damn well feel like.
3. Let everyone try to guess the titles and authors of your books.
(Addendum, I've put up the names of those who have first guessed this correctly, but if you still wanna play along, I have refrained from putting up the names and titles.)
1 - It was a moonless night, which was good for the Purposes of Solid Jackson. (guessed by Sodzilla)
2 - Alice was eating grapes in the park when Herbert, an extremely well-endowed young man, introduced himself to her.
3 - Looking back on it now, I doubt there was any way I could have imagined what lay ahead. After all, I'm not as well read as Chester, and except for the time I'd run away from home as a puppy and spent a fitful night under the neighbour's Porsche, I really had had very little experience of my own in the outside world. How could I have begun to imagine then what would befall me that fateful week in August? (Grumpymartian and Silestra have the right author but wrong title. ETA: And now Silestra has guessed it.)
4 - The sun sets in the west (just about everybody knows that), but Sunset Towers faced east. Strange! (grumpymartian)
5 - There were crimson roses on the bench; they looked like splashes of blood.
6 - "Too many!" James shouted and slammed the door behind him. (Kadath)
7 - Miles returned to conciousness with his eyes still closed. His brain seemed to smolder with the embers of some fiery dream, formless and fading. He was shaken with a fearful conviction that he had been killed again, til memory and reason began to place this shredded experience. (sodzilla)
8 - A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct. (grumpymartian)
9 - Stavia saw herself as a in a picture, from the outside, a darkly cloaked figure moving along a cobbled street, the stones sheened with a soft early spring rain.
10 - Fire stained the night. The sky above the dying city was an obscene, unnatural crimson, as if the lifeblood of its people were pouring upward from a million wounds. As he fought through the inferno he missed death by inches, not once, but a dozen times. The conquerors were already in the city.
But because that last one was TOTALLY unfair, I will give you the bonus rounds. By the same author as number ten, and a few paragraphs later:
Bonus round one - That's how I would begine if I were writing a thriller instead of a simple narrative of fact. Exactly how he accomplished it will never be known; but it may have been something like that. I only wish my part of the story had started with such panache.
Bonus round two (same author, different book, different series) - I never meant to marry. In my opinion, a woman born in the last half of the nineteenth century of the Christian era suffered from enough disadvantages without willfully embracing another.
1. Pick 10 of your favorite books or series.
2. Post the first sentence of each book. If one sentence seems too short, post two or three! I have posted as much as I damn well feel like.
3. Let everyone try to guess the titles and authors of your books.
(Addendum, I've put up the names of those who have first guessed this correctly, but if you still wanna play along, I have refrained from putting up the names and titles.)
1 - It was a moonless night, which was good for the Purposes of Solid Jackson. (guessed by Sodzilla)
2 - Alice was eating grapes in the park when Herbert, an extremely well-endowed young man, introduced himself to her.
3 - Looking back on it now, I doubt there was any way I could have imagined what lay ahead. After all, I'm not as well read as Chester, and except for the time I'd run away from home as a puppy and spent a fitful night under the neighbour's Porsche, I really had had very little experience of my own in the outside world. How could I have begun to imagine then what would befall me that fateful week in August? (Grumpymartian and Silestra have the right author but wrong title. ETA: And now Silestra has guessed it.)
4 - The sun sets in the west (just about everybody knows that), but Sunset Towers faced east. Strange! (grumpymartian)
5 - There were crimson roses on the bench; they looked like splashes of blood.
6 - "Too many!" James shouted and slammed the door behind him. (Kadath)
7 - Miles returned to conciousness with his eyes still closed. His brain seemed to smolder with the embers of some fiery dream, formless and fading. He was shaken with a fearful conviction that he had been killed again, til memory and reason began to place this shredded experience. (sodzilla)
8 - A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct. (grumpymartian)
9 - Stavia saw herself as a in a picture, from the outside, a darkly cloaked figure moving along a cobbled street, the stones sheened with a soft early spring rain.
10 - Fire stained the night. The sky above the dying city was an obscene, unnatural crimson, as if the lifeblood of its people were pouring upward from a million wounds. As he fought through the inferno he missed death by inches, not once, but a dozen times. The conquerors were already in the city.
But because that last one was TOTALLY unfair, I will give you the bonus rounds. By the same author as number ten, and a few paragraphs later:
Bonus round one - That's how I would begine if I were writing a thriller instead of a simple narrative of fact. Exactly how he accomplished it will never be known; but it may have been something like that. I only wish my part of the story had started with such panache.
Bonus round two (same author, different book, different series) - I never meant to marry. In my opinion, a woman born in the last half of the nineteenth century of the Christian era suffered from enough disadvantages without willfully embracing another.
While she was here, John's mom bought a copy of the local paper, because she likes to read it with her morning coffee, or so I gather. We don't read the paper ourselves, being attached to the world via the Interwebs. In any case, the paper was sitting on our kitchen counter begging me to recycle it. So I swooped it up and took it to the trash area to dump it in the recycling bin.
Except I got kinda distracted between my door and the recycling bin, my eyes caught by one of the articles. So when I reached the garbage area instead of dutifully dumping it into the paper recycling bin, I absentmindedly opened up the chute and dropped the unbagged paper down it.
It's a rule in our building that anything that goes down the chute needs to be bagged, and another rule that anything you can recycle should go in the recycling bins, not the chute. And I had just violated that. Imagine my guilt. Imagine my shame at being potentially confronted with the evidence of my crime.
But I breathed a sigh of relief, because it was just the paper and not an incriminating envelope that would be found at the bottom of a half a tonne of garbage.
However, if a Seattle police officer named Officer Obie shows up tomorrow and carts me off, you'll know what went wrong.
Except I got kinda distracted between my door and the recycling bin, my eyes caught by one of the articles. So when I reached the garbage area instead of dutifully dumping it into the paper recycling bin, I absentmindedly opened up the chute and dropped the unbagged paper down it.
It's a rule in our building that anything that goes down the chute needs to be bagged, and another rule that anything you can recycle should go in the recycling bins, not the chute. And I had just violated that. Imagine my guilt. Imagine my shame at being potentially confronted with the evidence of my crime.
But I breathed a sigh of relief, because it was just the paper and not an incriminating envelope that would be found at the bottom of a half a tonne of garbage.
However, if a Seattle police officer named Officer Obie shows up tomorrow and carts me off, you'll know what went wrong.
Your result for Which fantasy writer are you?...
Ursula K Le Guin (b. 1929)
7 High-Brow, -25 Violent, -1 Experimental and 19 Cynical!
Congratulations! You are High-Brow, Peaceful, Traditional and Cynical! These concepts are defined below.
Ursula Kroeber Le Guin is definitely one of the most celebrated science fiction and fantasy writers of all times. Her most famous fantasy work to date is the Earthsea suite of novels and short stories, in which Le Guin created not only one of the most believable societies in fantasy fiction, but also managed to describe a school for wizards almost three decades before Harry Potter. Although often categorized as written for young adults, these books have entertained and challenged readers of all ages since their publication.
Le Guin is no stranger to literary experiments (see for example Always Coming Home(1985)), but much of her story-telling is quite traditional. In fact, she makes a point of returning to older forms of story-telling, which, at her best, enables her to create something akin to myth. One shouldn't confuse myth with faerytale, though. Nothing is ever simplified in Le Guin's world, as she relentlessly explores ethical problems and the moral choices that her characters must make, as must we all. While being one of those writers who will allow you to escape to imaginary worlds, she is also one who will prompt you to return to your actual life, perhaps a little wiser than you used to be.
You are also a lot like Susan Cooper.
If you want some action, try Michael Moorcock.
If you'd like a challenge, try your exact opposite, C S Lewis.
Your score
This is how to interpret your score: Your attitudes have been measured on four different scales, called 1) High-Brow vs. Low-Brow, 2) Violent vs. Peaceful, 3) Experimental vs. Traditional and 4) Cynical vs. Romantic. Imagine that when you were born, you were in a state of innocence, a tabula rasa who would have scored zero on each scale. Since then, a number of circumstances (including genetical, cultural and environmental factors) have pushed you towards either end of these scales. If you're at 45 or -45 you would be almost entirely cynical, low-brow or whatever. The closer to zero you are, the less extreme your attitude. However, you should always be more of either (eg more romantic than cynical). Please note that even though High-Brow, Violent, Experimental and Cynical have positive numbers (1 through 45) and their opposites negative numbers (-1 through -45), this doesn't mean that either quality is better. All attitudes have their positive and negative sides, as explained below.
High-Brow vs. Low-Brow
You received 7 points, making you more High-Brow than Low-Brow. Being high-browed in this context refers to being more fascinated with the sort of art that critics and scholars tend to favour, rather than the best-selling kind. At their best, high-brows are cultured, able to appreciate the finer nuances of literature and not content with simplifications. At their worst they are, well, snobs.
Violent vs. Peaceful
You received -25 points, making you more Peaceful than Violent. This scale is a measurement of a) if you are tolerant to violence in fiction and b) whether you see violence as a means that can be used to achieve a good end. If you aren't, and you don't, then you are peaceful as defined here. At their best, peaceful people are the ones who encourage dialogue and understanding as a means of solving conflicts. At their worst, they are standing passively by as they or third parties are hurt by less scrupulous individuals.
Experimental vs. Traditional
You received -1 points, making you more Traditional than Experimental. Your position on this scale indicates if you're more likely to seek out the new and unexpected or if you are more comfortable with the familiar, especially in regards to culture. Note that traditional as defined here does not equal conservative, in the political sense. At their best, traditional people don't change winning concepts, favouring storytelling over empty poses. At their worst, they are somewhat narrow-minded.
Cynical vs. Romantic
You received 19 points, making you more Cynical than Romantic. Your position on this scale indicates if you are more likely to be wary, suspicious and skeptical to people around you and the world at large, or if you are more likely to believe in grand schemes, happy endings and the basic goodness of humankind. It is by far the most vaguely defined scale, which is why you'll find the sentence "you are also a lot like x" above. If you feel that your position on this scale is wrong, then you are probably more like author x. At their best, cynical people are able to see through lies and spot crucial flaws in plans and schemes. At their worst, they are overly negative, bringing everybody else down.
Author picture from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ursula
Fellow skeptics and neti pot users and the Venn Diagram where you guys overlap: Does the neti pot really work? Or is it a placebo effect?
Am curious, what with my node being all stuffy and drippy.
Am curious, what with my node being all stuffy and drippy.
I am still up.
I had hoped my codeine-laced cough syrup would knock me out, but it has not.
Still up.
Still coughing.
I just gotta go to work tomorrow.
I had hoped my codeine-laced cough syrup would knock me out, but it has not.
Still up.
Still coughing.
I just gotta go to work tomorrow.
http://tinyurl.com/yjkuhcp
Cluebat: People with severe depression can still go to parties and look like they are having a good time.
As somebody who was meeting with a mental health professional nearly every week for a year's time, I think I can safely say, "Depressed people look just like everyone else." In fact, we may be doing our damnedest to be having a good time because that's five minutes where you don't have to think about whatever hell your body is jerking you through.
Cluebat: People with severe depression can still go to parties and look like they are having a good time.
As somebody who was meeting with a mental health professional nearly every week for a year's time, I think I can safely say, "Depressed people look just like everyone else." In fact, we may be doing our damnedest to be having a good time because that's five minutes where you don't have to think about whatever hell your body is jerking you through.
Yesterday my low-grade cough/sore throat started acting up in conjunction with a small fever. I'd been taking cough syrup to get to sleep for about three nights at that point, and was still sleepy and tired and a bit achy. So I stayed home from work and John had me make a doctor's appointment.
Anyway, today the doc prescribed me a bunch meds as I have a small case of bronchitis. I have been given an inhaler, antibiotics, and codeine in a cough syrup.
Hopefully the antibiotics kick in right away. And hopefully this doesn't kill Thanksgiving for me. I don't think so, since I spent most of yesterday resting or in the tub. But still....
Anyway, today the doc prescribed me a bunch meds as I have a small case of bronchitis. I have been given an inhaler, antibiotics, and codeine in a cough syrup.
Hopefully the antibiotics kick in right away. And hopefully this doesn't kill Thanksgiving for me. I don't think so, since I spent most of yesterday resting or in the tub. But still....
In case people can't tell why I am pissed by the Method ad that is making the rounds, it's not because I didn't get their metaphor.
I posted a link earlier but to sum up, the ad portrays a woman who uses a chemical cleaner only to discover the next morning that the soap bubble scum remains behind. The soap bubbles sexually harrass the woman in her own shower, making comments about her body, and getting visibly excited when she drops the loofah.
Problems with the ad:
- The comparison of soap scum to sexual harrassment. (Disclosure: I have been sexually harrassed to an extreme degree in at least two situations--one from ninth grade and one as an adult at a prior job. And of course, the minor low-grade sexual harrassment I get on a fairly regular basis for being a woman in public.) When I complained to Method, they tried telling me that I just didn't get the ad (yes, I do), that they were standing for a good cause, and trying to capture that in a "fun and captivating way".
- The complete lack of the woman's agency scripted into the ad. She passively gets into the shower DESPITE the presence of the pervy little assholes. She passively submits to the harrassment.
- The fact that the person cleaning is a woman and the bubbles are coded to be male.
Method says they don't think the ad condones sexual harrassment, but a sampling of YouTube comments before they were turned off showed a bunch of guys giggling about the loofah line or the bubble telling the woman to just get in the tub. I've checked out responses to the ad in places where it was linked as something "funny" and seen people commenting on the actress's body, wishing that she'd show a little more skin, or discussing how cute she is, particularly when she looks uncomfortable. Yes, this is a memorable ad, but frankly it's not really doing the job it is supposed to be doing, which is getting people to treat environmental issues seriously and get companies to label their products. Instead, lots of guys are hung up on the voyeurist aspects of this ad and identifying with the horrible little bubbles, while many women like me are squicked because of our experiences. (Also, we're just plain tired of supposed progressive allies throwing us under the bus.)
For many women, this ad will be triggering. It makes me grind my teeth and remember that neither of the people who harrassed me had to confront the consequences of how they made me feel.
I'd like to point out that I support Method's end goal of getting responsible labelling. (Al Franken put forth the bill they are trying to drum up support for.) And up until Method dismissed the concerns of many women who tried to point out the issues in their ad, I LIKED Method. I have two of their soaps in my bathrooms.
But I don't appreciate being treated like a brainless ditz who doesn't get their noble goal.
And I don't appreciate their making sexual harrassment a punchline in an effing joke.
They could have made their point without having the woman get into the shower to be leered at. Or they could have used a different metaphor, like unwanted guests.
Further discussion:
http://shakespearessister.blogspot.c
http://shakespearessister.blogspot.c
http://www.feministing.com/archives/019
http://jezebel.com/5409946/ladies-its-y
I posted a link earlier but to sum up, the ad portrays a woman who uses a chemical cleaner only to discover the next morning that the soap bubble scum remains behind. The soap bubbles sexually harrass the woman in her own shower, making comments about her body, and getting visibly excited when she drops the loofah.
Problems with the ad:
- The comparison of soap scum to sexual harrassment. (Disclosure: I have been sexually harrassed to an extreme degree in at least two situations--one from ninth grade and one as an adult at a prior job. And of course, the minor low-grade sexual harrassment I get on a fairly regular basis for being a woman in public.) When I complained to Method, they tried telling me that I just didn't get the ad (yes, I do), that they were standing for a good cause, and trying to capture that in a "fun and captivating way".
- The complete lack of the woman's agency scripted into the ad. She passively gets into the shower DESPITE the presence of the pervy little assholes. She passively submits to the harrassment.
- The fact that the person cleaning is a woman and the bubbles are coded to be male.
Method says they don't think the ad condones sexual harrassment, but a sampling of YouTube comments before they were turned off showed a bunch of guys giggling about the loofah line or the bubble telling the woman to just get in the tub. I've checked out responses to the ad in places where it was linked as something "funny" and seen people commenting on the actress's body, wishing that she'd show a little more skin, or discussing how cute she is, particularly when she looks uncomfortable. Yes, this is a memorable ad, but frankly it's not really doing the job it is supposed to be doing, which is getting people to treat environmental issues seriously and get companies to label their products. Instead, lots of guys are hung up on the voyeurist aspects of this ad and identifying with the horrible little bubbles, while many women like me are squicked because of our experiences. (Also, we're just plain tired of supposed progressive allies throwing us under the bus.)
For many women, this ad will be triggering. It makes me grind my teeth and remember that neither of the people who harrassed me had to confront the consequences of how they made me feel.
I'd like to point out that I support Method's end goal of getting responsible labelling. (Al Franken put forth the bill they are trying to drum up support for.) And up until Method dismissed the concerns of many women who tried to point out the issues in their ad, I LIKED Method. I have two of their soaps in my bathrooms.
But I don't appreciate being treated like a brainless ditz who doesn't get their noble goal.
And I don't appreciate their making sexual harrassment a punchline in an effing joke.
They could have made their point without having the woman get into the shower to be leered at. Or they could have used a different metaphor, like unwanted guests.
Further discussion:
http://shakespearessister.blogspot.c
http://shakespearessister.blogspot.c
http://www.feministing.com/archives/019
http://jezebel.com/5409946/ladies-its-y
Tonight's menu: New York strip steak with blue cheese sauce and au gratin potatoes (cooked by John) and harvest salad: arugula and baby spinach with dried cherries, pecans, goat cheese, sliced pear, and basalmic maple dressing (assembled by me).
So that Sarah Palin Newsweek cover. Yes. It's inappropriate if your article frames her through the lens of her political ambitions. Yes, it's sexist. (And yes, I'm aware that the prior shoot had been approved by her....for a completely different context. True, she was riding the propaganda pony, and not actually running or working up a sweat for Runner's World, but the context needs to be considered.) This would be as appropriate as running that pic of Barack in his swimming trunks on an article dissecting his stance on health care or world politics.
Anyway, since there are plenty of legitimate reasons to dislike Palin's policies, it seems a shame to frame an article discussing her incompetence by framing it through the lens of how pretty she is or isn't.
Of course, it makes me laugh bitterly to hear folks complaining about Palin's treatment and framing it as a leftist media thing when CNN has an actual panelist wondering why Pelosi and Clinton and Napolitano don't show a little more leg and saying that Palin embraces femininity while implying the others don't.
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/1
Anyway, Newsweek cover = sexist.
Anyway, since there are plenty of legitimate reasons to dislike Palin's policies, it seems a shame to frame an article discussing her incompetence by framing it through the lens of how pretty she is or isn't.
Of course, it makes me laugh bitterly to hear folks complaining about Palin's treatment and framing it as a leftist media thing when CNN has an actual panelist wondering why Pelosi and Clinton and Napolitano don't show a little more leg and saying that Palin embraces femininity while implying the others don't.
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/1
Anyway, Newsweek cover = sexist.
I got up and wrote for about an hour yesterday morning, prompted by a conversation with John about various logistics of Megs' community. Then, we ran The Trial of the Champions about six or so times, killing Paletress about five of those times, and Eadric once. Still I got a new belt, a new ring, and a better trinket, and find myself one neck item away from getting my Superior Achievement.
For lunch, we wandered up to Po Dog and had ourselves some tasty dogs. I had a Seattle dog, which is a hotdog, creme cheese, and scallions on a seared bun. John had the Dub-T dog which involves crushed potato chips. The place is good but a tad spendy. Still, if one is going to go dancing at the Merc, it would certainly be an excellent refueling option mid-evening. (Po Dog is open til 3 on weekends, and midnight all other days.)
We wandered back downtown and grabbed some eggnog and chocolate brandy covered popcorn from KuKuRuZa and some comics from Zanadu. (Hey, Erika, they carry your old comics. I snagged a few.)
And then we skibbled back home because we'd promised EM that we'd run him through Azjol Nerub. Ah, family time.
We decided to take a break from the Red Dwarf and watch a little Black Adder. Since the Barnes and Noble is offering about 30% off on British comedies for the holiday shopping season, we decided to go take advantage of that. So we snagged that, and then had dinner at the Mexican restaurant (whose name eludes me) that is also in Pac Place. There was a bit of a snafu about my beef fajitas. I wanted to be sure that the beef fajitas were steak-cut, not ground beef (as I have had THAT happen once elsewhere, not noticing that beef and steak were two separate options) and the waiter wanted to know if I wanted carne asada instead. Thinking that he just meant they were preparing the meat carne asada style, I said sure, and was surprised when my dinner came out as not-fajitas. Whoops. We got it sorted out, and I felt bad, and the waiter and I tried to out-do each other in apologising for the snafu til poor John started feeling contact embarrassment for both of us. And a few minutes later, they brought me beef fajitas. So it all turned out.
We enjoyed our repast to the point of bursting, went home, watched Black Adder, and then repaired to bed. I brought a book I'd found at Barnes and Noble, which was one of those big fat glossy illustrated books about prehistoric animals. They start at the formation of the earth and waddle through all the previous epochs until we get to the age where humans begin to evolve. (I did not get that far, merely making it through the formation of the solar system and the moon, before I began to nod off. Although the nodding was merely because I was tired, not because I was bored.)
If the universe would see fit to deliver more days like yesterday, I would be fine with that.
.....
A link I have been enjoying: http://www.happiness-project.com/happin
For lunch, we wandered up to Po Dog and had ourselves some tasty dogs. I had a Seattle dog, which is a hotdog, creme cheese, and scallions on a seared bun. John had the Dub-T dog which involves crushed potato chips. The place is good but a tad spendy. Still, if one is going to go dancing at the Merc, it would certainly be an excellent refueling option mid-evening. (Po Dog is open til 3 on weekends, and midnight all other days.)
We wandered back downtown and grabbed some eggnog and chocolate brandy covered popcorn from KuKuRuZa and some comics from Zanadu. (Hey, Erika, they carry your old comics. I snagged a few.)
And then we skibbled back home because we'd promised EM that we'd run him through Azjol Nerub. Ah, family time.
We decided to take a break from the Red Dwarf and watch a little Black Adder. Since the Barnes and Noble is offering about 30% off on British comedies for the holiday shopping season, we decided to go take advantage of that. So we snagged that, and then had dinner at the Mexican restaurant (whose name eludes me) that is also in Pac Place. There was a bit of a snafu about my beef fajitas. I wanted to be sure that the beef fajitas were steak-cut, not ground beef (as I have had THAT happen once elsewhere, not noticing that beef and steak were two separate options) and the waiter wanted to know if I wanted carne asada instead. Thinking that he just meant they were preparing the meat carne asada style, I said sure, and was surprised when my dinner came out as not-fajitas. Whoops. We got it sorted out, and I felt bad, and the waiter and I tried to out-do each other in apologising for the snafu til poor John started feeling contact embarrassment for both of us. And a few minutes later, they brought me beef fajitas. So it all turned out.
We enjoyed our repast to the point of bursting, went home, watched Black Adder, and then repaired to bed. I brought a book I'd found at Barnes and Noble, which was one of those big fat glossy illustrated books about prehistoric animals. They start at the formation of the earth and waddle through all the previous epochs until we get to the age where humans begin to evolve. (I did not get that far, merely making it through the formation of the solar system and the moon, before I began to nod off. Although the nodding was merely because I was tired, not because I was bored.)
If the universe would see fit to deliver more days like yesterday, I would be fine with that.
.....
A link I have been enjoying: http://www.happiness-project.com/happin
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TRAVEL/11/13/ca
Based on my observations, Delta, at least, is policing carry-ons. On my flight out to Utah, I was informed that I had too many carry-on objects and would have to condense or check one. I had my green Tumi bag (ID, keys, iPod, book) and a small black hand-held carry-on (clothes for two days, toiletries) and my pillow. I was very slightly irritated, because you could have fit ALL my small carry-on objects in one person's regular rolling carry-on, and I preferred the days when they'd have you hold your carry-on stuff up to a cube and see if it fit inside. Furthermore, the pillow was going to be on my lap the whole flight anyway and I know they don't collect the airline pillows and blankets before you land, so that shouldn't be a safety issue having the soft object in your lap going up. (Also, the babes in laps provision for under two year olds means LIVE PEOPLE are in people's laps during takeoff.) Anyway, I got around the whole thing by dumping the green bag into the pillow until I got to my seat, and then storing green bag under the seat, black bag up top, and pillow in my lap.
(I resisted my mother's attempts to get me to put my reportedly fragile Xmas present in the pillow on the way back. A) Pillow should be SOFT for me, not present. B) Safety issues. C) You're handing a fragile object to the klutziest person in the world. The mail really would be better.)
Bag fees: I think charging bag fees for more than ONE checked bag is fine. I think every airline should allow their passengers one free checked bag though. And I think charging fees on carry-on (as per some suggestions in the CNN comments) is a terrible idea. Since checked bags are prone to theft, loss, and missed flights, it is understandable that many things should not be checked. Then there's necessary medication for infants, people who are asthmatic or allergic (because the way things are now they don't have pet designated flights*) elderly folks, and so on. IF you are flying with a baby, you have to have diapers, formula, etc. And for people like me who need to manage their brains while flying, there's iPods, books, magazines, videos, etc needed to distract. Then too, because airlines can hold you on the tarmac for hours** at a time, stripping people of what little they can bring on board seems like a bad idea.
*This is a big pet peeve for me. Flights tend to be hotbeds for sending around viruses and they are equally bad about allergens. Being on a cross-country flight with a cat will do BAD things to me. But I totally understand that peeps want their pets to be safe or need a companion animal, so I think we should designate certain flights as pet flights and leave the majority of flights animal-free.
**After a few bad incidents, I believe the TSA and airlines are being required to draft a list of rights for passengers. Stuff like they can only hold you for four hours instead of fourteen. Whee.
Based on my observations, Delta, at least, is policing carry-ons. On my flight out to Utah, I was informed that I had too many carry-on objects and would have to condense or check one. I had my green Tumi bag (ID, keys, iPod, book) and a small black hand-held carry-on (clothes for two days, toiletries) and my pillow. I was very slightly irritated, because you could have fit ALL my small carry-on objects in one person's regular rolling carry-on, and I preferred the days when they'd have you hold your carry-on stuff up to a cube and see if it fit inside. Furthermore, the pillow was going to be on my lap the whole flight anyway and I know they don't collect the airline pillows and blankets before you land, so that shouldn't be a safety issue having the soft object in your lap going up. (Also, the babes in laps provision for under two year olds means LIVE PEOPLE are in people's laps during takeoff.) Anyway, I got around the whole thing by dumping the green bag into the pillow until I got to my seat, and then storing green bag under the seat, black bag up top, and pillow in my lap.
(I resisted my mother's attempts to get me to put my reportedly fragile Xmas present in the pillow on the way back. A) Pillow should be SOFT for me, not present. B) Safety issues. C) You're handing a fragile object to the klutziest person in the world. The mail really would be better.)
Bag fees: I think charging bag fees for more than ONE checked bag is fine. I think every airline should allow their passengers one free checked bag though. And I think charging fees on carry-on (as per some suggestions in the CNN comments) is a terrible idea. Since checked bags are prone to theft, loss, and missed flights, it is understandable that many things should not be checked. Then there's necessary medication for infants, people who are asthmatic or allergic (because the way things are now they don't have pet designated flights*) elderly folks, and so on. IF you are flying with a baby, you have to have diapers, formula, etc. And for people like me who need to manage their brains while flying, there's iPods, books, magazines, videos, etc needed to distract. Then too, because airlines can hold you on the tarmac for hours** at a time, stripping people of what little they can bring on board seems like a bad idea.
*This is a big pet peeve for me. Flights tend to be hotbeds for sending around viruses and they are equally bad about allergens. Being on a cross-country flight with a cat will do BAD things to me. But I totally understand that peeps want their pets to be safe or need a companion animal, so I think we should designate certain flights as pet flights and leave the majority of flights animal-free.
**After a few bad incidents, I believe the TSA and airlines are being required to draft a list of rights for passengers. Stuff like they can only hold you for four hours instead of fourteen. Whee.
John and I attended the They Might Be Giants show at the SoDo Showbox last night. We were a little worried that John wouldn't be well enough to attend, but he was well enough by Tuesday. He had been diagnosed with bronchitis on Friday and given antibiotics. It was semi-fortunate that I had already planned on being out-of-town, so that I could hopefully avoid accidental gifting of the bronchitis.
We thought we should arrive a little late, so as not to tire out John or me (I tend to have feet problems at general admission concerts). So we grabbed a cab around 8.30ish, thinking, by the time we get there, the opening band will be done. Well, actually the SoDo opens doors at 8. The opening band didn't start until about 9ish, I think, and that meant the Giants didn't take the stage until 10. Oi.
Fortunately, the Showbox and the Monqui promoters had decided to post TV screens with text messages randomly appearing. So you could text in and see your message and have other people react to the message. It quickly went from people thanking people for taking them to the concert and wishing happy birthday to people to Internet LOLspeak, Rick-rolling, and regurgitating Giants' lyrics.
Some messages I particularly recall: (roughly paraphrased)
- To whoever checked the green Legend of Zelda hoodie in coatcheck, you rock!
- Thanks to everybody for coming out on a raid night.
- Happy 174th Birthday Grandpa.
- They must be giants are wesome. (John and I have adopted the word "wesome" already.)
- Oh, I hope they play something from Flood. OMG! (This was billed specifically as a Flood show.)
- (somebody's picture of a corgi)
I was fairly unoriginal and texted lyrics from Twisting. John was more original but sadly his texts never showed up, while mine did. Tsk, tsk, Monqui.
The show was pretty excellent all around. The first time I saw TMBG it rawked so hard that they held the Best Concert Evar title until I saw The Living End and the Aquabats at Slim's. (Roughly equivilant in terms of fun.) This time was no exception, and while I might have longed for a chair, that was the only fly in the ointment. They started off with Meet the Elements, but once they were warmed up, they launched into Flood. (Instant karaoke on the part of the crowd. I've never seen a crowd sing along so much. We were singing along too.) They'd play two or three Flood songs and then break and play a mixture of early and new songs. There was an interlude with sock puppets which was fairly amusing. All in all, I felt like I had a nice mixture of Absolute Favs and new stuff.
I didn't see signs about recording devices until we were leaving, so I did get minorly reprimanded by a security guard because I taped thirty seconds of Birdhouse in Your Soul on my phone. I was slightly peeved initially--the phone camera sucks mightily and it's a laugh to think that anything I get off it is going to be any danger to Official Recordings of the show. But he has no way of knowing that, and he was pretty nice about it. Considering I saw somebody led away later in the show, I have no complaints. (The Showbox has a semi-flexible rule. Some shows it is okay to record if the equipment is non-professional. Other shows you can't record at all, and I guess TMBG said it was okay to take pictures but not recordings.)
Anyway, the show was truly truly WESOME. I enjoyed turning around to see John singing and bouncing along.
Songs played: Meet the Elements, Flood, Shooting Stars, New York City, Cowtown, Shoehorn, Fingertips, Mesopotamians, Why Does the Sun Shine, and Why Does the Sun REALLY Shine, among many others. They noted that they had been dispensing out-dated information re: the sun, and so they have a new song to update the info.
Cabbed home and put my aching feet in the tub.
We thought we should arrive a little late, so as not to tire out John or me (I tend to have feet problems at general admission concerts). So we grabbed a cab around 8.30ish, thinking, by the time we get there, the opening band will be done. Well, actually the SoDo opens doors at 8. The opening band didn't start until about 9ish, I think, and that meant the Giants didn't take the stage until 10. Oi.
Fortunately, the Showbox and the Monqui promoters had decided to post TV screens with text messages randomly appearing. So you could text in and see your message and have other people react to the message. It quickly went from people thanking people for taking them to the concert and wishing happy birthday to people to Internet LOLspeak, Rick-rolling, and regurgitating Giants' lyrics.
Some messages I particularly recall: (roughly paraphrased)
- To whoever checked the green Legend of Zelda hoodie in coatcheck, you rock!
- Thanks to everybody for coming out on a raid night.
- Happy 174th Birthday Grandpa.
- They must be giants are wesome. (John and I have adopted the word "wesome" already.)
- Oh, I hope they play something from Flood. OMG! (This was billed specifically as a Flood show.)
- (somebody's picture of a corgi)
I was fairly unoriginal and texted lyrics from Twisting. John was more original but sadly his texts never showed up, while mine did. Tsk, tsk, Monqui.
The show was pretty excellent all around. The first time I saw TMBG it rawked so hard that they held the Best Concert Evar title until I saw The Living End and the Aquabats at Slim's. (Roughly equivilant in terms of fun.) This time was no exception, and while I might have longed for a chair, that was the only fly in the ointment. They started off with Meet the Elements, but once they were warmed up, they launched into Flood. (Instant karaoke on the part of the crowd. I've never seen a crowd sing along so much. We were singing along too.) They'd play two or three Flood songs and then break and play a mixture of early and new songs. There was an interlude with sock puppets which was fairly amusing. All in all, I felt like I had a nice mixture of Absolute Favs and new stuff.
I didn't see signs about recording devices until we were leaving, so I did get minorly reprimanded by a security guard because I taped thirty seconds of Birdhouse in Your Soul on my phone. I was slightly peeved initially--the phone camera sucks mightily and it's a laugh to think that anything I get off it is going to be any danger to Official Recordings of the show. But he has no way of knowing that, and he was pretty nice about it. Considering I saw somebody led away later in the show, I have no complaints. (The Showbox has a semi-flexible rule. Some shows it is okay to record if the equipment is non-professional. Other shows you can't record at all, and I guess TMBG said it was okay to take pictures but not recordings.)
Anyway, the show was truly truly WESOME. I enjoyed turning around to see John singing and bouncing along.
Songs played: Meet the Elements, Flood, Shooting Stars, New York City, Cowtown, Shoehorn, Fingertips, Mesopotamians, Why Does the Sun Shine, and Why Does the Sun REALLY Shine, among many others. They noted that they had been dispensing out-dated information re: the sun, and so they have a new song to update the info.
Cabbed home and put my aching feet in the tub.
Sunday morning, Paul wanted to go to sacrament meeting, so he basically turned over the keys to his car, and after I had dropped him off at church, I went exploring a little on my own.( Read more... )
In Flanders Fields by ~pixelfish on deviantART
Thank a veteran. Think about those who have gone before.
(I made this back in 2007, but still think it's appropriate to share today.)
Note: This got super long, so I am cutting it in two.
Actually, I had no adventures in Utah. Alas. More is the pity. I hung out with my family, which could qualify as an adventure for some people, and get you a merit badge in Cat-Herding.
Start at the beginning. A month or so back, I dispensed to my mother that I was unwilling to make a seasonal trek to the homestate. I had my reasons, multiple and many. Firstly, seasonal treks to homestates are expensive. I can not stay with most of my family, and am normally bound to get a hotel room and/or a rental car OR as with this trip, be at the mercy of other people's schedules and vehicles. Secondly, seasonal trips usually mean the winter season, which covers the NICE things about Utah, like the scenery, with snow and ice and render it largely unenjoyable. (I can skate, but I do not ski, snowboard, or snowshoe. And I purely hate driving on ice.) Thirdly, seasonal trips tend to eat up my vacation time, and instead of vacation which is supposed to relax and refresh, one ends up trotting round to Xmas party after Xmas party and squishing in visits to everybody. This is the curse of the hometown visit. It is not that I do not wish to hang with my loved ones, but not under such fervid conditions, while everybody is loud and noisy and non-drunk on holiday cheer. Fourthly, I either have to drive (with ice and snow and canyons galore) or fly (not a fan).
So....I said, no holiday visit from me. Let's plan a trip to Arches in the spring and socialise that way!
But my grandmother fell ill and had to be hospitalised. And reports issuing from my mother were grave. They'd got hospice care in for her and Grandpa. Various medical details were dispensed. Adjustments were made to medications. Metamucil stock dropped by 50%. The upshot of this is: my grandma is not doing so well. Her mind is slipping, she is no longer vigourous nor capable of taking care of herself as well as once she was, and her body has begun the long, slow process of shutting down. And well, she's old. She COULD live for years and years yet, like my maternal grandparents did, with a twilight lasting nearly a decade. She could also be carried off next month. In fact, when I broke down and bought the plane tickets, I was worried that she might not survive til I could visit.
So I bought tickets for this last weekend, and trepidatiously made my way onto a plane, fortified with my iPod full of corgi pictures and soothing music. ( Read more... )
Actually, I had no adventures in Utah. Alas. More is the pity. I hung out with my family, which could qualify as an adventure for some people, and get you a merit badge in Cat-Herding.
Start at the beginning. A month or so back, I dispensed to my mother that I was unwilling to make a seasonal trek to the homestate. I had my reasons, multiple and many. Firstly, seasonal treks to homestates are expensive. I can not stay with most of my family, and am normally bound to get a hotel room and/or a rental car OR as with this trip, be at the mercy of other people's schedules and vehicles. Secondly, seasonal trips usually mean the winter season, which covers the NICE things about Utah, like the scenery, with snow and ice and render it largely unenjoyable. (I can skate, but I do not ski, snowboard, or snowshoe. And I purely hate driving on ice.) Thirdly, seasonal trips tend to eat up my vacation time, and instead of vacation which is supposed to relax and refresh, one ends up trotting round to Xmas party after Xmas party and squishing in visits to everybody. This is the curse of the hometown visit. It is not that I do not wish to hang with my loved ones, but not under such fervid conditions, while everybody is loud and noisy and non-drunk on holiday cheer. Fourthly, I either have to drive (with ice and snow and canyons galore) or fly (not a fan).
So....I said, no holiday visit from me. Let's plan a trip to Arches in the spring and socialise that way!
But my grandmother fell ill and had to be hospitalised. And reports issuing from my mother were grave. They'd got hospice care in for her and Grandpa. Various medical details were dispensed. Adjustments were made to medications. Metamucil stock dropped by 50%. The upshot of this is: my grandma is not doing so well. Her mind is slipping, she is no longer vigourous nor capable of taking care of herself as well as once she was, and her body has begun the long, slow process of shutting down. And well, she's old. She COULD live for years and years yet, like my maternal grandparents did, with a twilight lasting nearly a decade. She could also be carried off next month. In fact, when I broke down and bought the plane tickets, I was worried that she might not survive til I could visit.
So I bought tickets for this last weekend, and trepidatiously made my way onto a plane, fortified with my iPod full of corgi pictures and soothing music. ( Read more... )
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/05/opini
"I will never forget standing outside the chemo treatment room knowing that the medication needed to save my life was only a few feet away, but that because I had private insurance it wasn't available to me," Linda wrote. "I read a comment from someone saying that they didn't want a faceless government bureaucrat deciding if they would or would not get treatment. Well, a faceless bureaucrat from my private insurance made the decision that I wouldn't get treatment and that I wasn't worth saving."
"I will never forget standing outside the chemo treatment room knowing that the medication needed to save my life was only a few feet away, but that because I had private insurance it wasn't available to me," Linda wrote. "I read a comment from someone saying that they didn't want a faceless government bureaucrat deciding if they would or would not get treatment. Well, a faceless bureaucrat from my private insurance made the decision that I wouldn't get treatment and that I wasn't worth saving."
Am I on crack? If you want to make an online payment using a credit card, you want to make sure that your vendor is using secured protocols, right? Like the page url should be https:// and not http:// ? And generally they should have a valid security certificate, right?
Please tell me if I am on crack.
'cuz I went to go pay my new utility bill, and lo, the page was an http:// and not https:// ...and it was some kind of Western Union dealie, and the whole thing made me itchy. So I opted to go the old-fashioned route and pay with a cheque in the mail.
But let me know, so I can know if I'm on crack, and perhaps what I should suggest to them re: online payments.
Please tell me if I am on crack.
'cuz I went to go pay my new utility bill, and lo, the page was an http:// and not https:// ...and it was some kind of Western Union dealie, and the whole thing made me itchy. So I opted to go the old-fashioned route and pay with a cheque in the mail.
But let me know, so I can know if I'm on crack, and perhaps what I should suggest to them re: online payments.
Profile
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
pixelfish- PixelFish
- LisMitchellDotNet