Here’s a nice pleasant video of Mr Rogers singing. It will cheer you up, unless you hate autotuning, in which case it will fill you with rage — which is OK, too, since we aim to cover the gamut of emotion here.
(Episode CCCXXXVII: No sense of humor at all.)
carlie:
My first vacation ever, with my first SLR (digital or otherwise) ever, I went to a Mayan ruin that was an active dig site. I took 1500 pictures in about 9 hours – yes, about 3 a minute.
I think I kept 100.
My excuse, though is I had the camera “stuck” in manual mode (manual ISO, aperture, and speed) and didn’t realize it, so I’d take a picture, look at the histograms, make a couple changes, take another, etc. I’d end up with 4 or 5 of the same thing at the start, though by the end of the day I was damned good at it and only needing 1 or 2.
My favorite part about digital photography is being able to review the pictures immediately to make sure you got something approximating what you wanted. With old film cameras, you just had to hope.
No, seriously, there’s nothing worse than being able to use ALL THE CARDS and then yelling at the screen “of course it’s a valid word, don’t you have a Duden???!!!!”
I tried that playing scrabble once. My non-German speaking relatives, with whom I was playing, were not impressed.
Another Moment of Mormon Madness in a long list of MMMs related to the LGBT community: mormons have acknowledged that shunning gays is bad. They still think gays should never have sex, but hey, they are thinking that in a loving way.
They have produced a booklet that will solve that pesky gay suicide problem in mormon communities: “Supportive Families, Healthy Children: Helping Latter-day Saint Families With Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Children”
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/54308683-78/gay-lgbt-family-child.html.csp?page=1
Wrote out a great, long, rambling story about my childbirth experience, then decided it was time I changed my ‘nym. So I very carefully copied my story to the clipboard. Did the ‘nym change, then copied something else – forgetting that I had that story I needed to paste.
::le sigh::
Partially threadrupt.
<blockquoteFirst time I went into labour, we were down the pub. (well, when I say “went into labour” I actually mean “started having contractions” – there were hours to go yet).
I woke up around dawn knowing this would be the day, woke my husband up and told him we had to go grocery shopping because I was going to have a baby today. We did go grocery shopping. One of the most vivid memories I have of my labor is picking a gallon jug of vinegar of the shelf, having a contraction start, and having to set the jug down again until the contraction passed.
I admit, I tend to be defensive of homebirth because my homebirth was wonderful and it was safe. I gave birth the first time in the hospital, and I was outright lied to about the risks and benefits of interventions I received. There was no one there trained in any way to manage pain but drugs, so when my first epidural failed, I suffered. For an hour. Because it took that long for the anesthesiologist to stroll round. When the second epidural aspirated into my vein (IANAD but that was what I was told), the nurse on duty refused to believe that something was wrong; she was off work in 5 minutes and couldn’t be bothered. It was scary and horrible and the baby was the only thing good about it. I later found out from some nursing students that the hospital I gave birth at is nicknamed “the valley of death”.
At my homebirth I had two competent professional midwives whose only job was to watch me, not a ward of other patients. No one around me was a stranger. Everyone around me utterly respected my choices and my body. When I had a minor complication, it was dealt with before it became a major complication (the next step, had the treatment not worked, would have been hospital transport, but it was never needed). Yet people are constantly telling me, either how “brave” I am, or that I foolishly courted death for myself and my daughter. I find this completely ridiculous.
I know no one will give me a medal for giving “natural” birth. Most people who run marathons or climb mountains don’t get medals either, and yet they still do it, and no one disparages them by implying that they do it for the superiority complex.
I am angry, though, that the choices of birthing women are so limited. Why should it be either or? Either I can have (mostly) effective pain relief for my birth or I can give birth in a place where I feel safe and respected. Either I can have an epidural or I can move around to let my labor take advantage of gravity. Well, that kind of sucks, doesn’t it? If men gave birth, I can flat guarantee there would be an effective pain relief system that allows mobility by now, and birth would be conducted in places where the utmost respect, dignity and attention are afforded to the birthing patient every time.
(Shorter rewrite)
My first childbirth started out as “Natural” and ended up an emergency C-section. I had bought into the “real women don’t need intervention” trope, but was at least clear-headed enough to see when that approach wasn’t going to work.
The second time, when child #2 turned out to be children numbers 2 and 3, there wasn’t any question about whether or not to have a ‘section. It was simply a matter of “when”.
For a long time after the first ‘section, I felt guilty because I hadn’t given birth “properly”. This is, of course, nonsense. In hindsight, I’m actually thankful for those two ‘sections. Not only did I end up with happy, healthy children, I also ended up not having any complications/side-effects normally associated with vaginal births.
Kristinc:
It shouldn’t. At all.
Some hospitals in the US have excellent birthing centers– the one I plan to give birth in does– but they are so few and far between that it barely matters. Like I said before, I know that I’m extremely lucky to have access to excellent care.
I’ll admit that I’m squishy about homebirth, but having two midwifes attending sounds pretty ideal (I’m assuming that they were certified nurse midwives, yeah?). I originally brought it up because I saw a blog post about an unattended birth. *shudder!*
birgerjohansson,
Citation, please.
Aero bars! I’d forgotten they existed. Will have to get the folks to bring some over next time they visit. Good thing that’s next week!
Wel, tonight we’re staying at my parents’ house. Actually in our caravan in front of it. It’s kind of strange being here but not being at home here anymore :(
Anyway, I just took a shoower and when I left it I was greeted by the cat that is not ours. She must have entered through the basement door and made her way up to the first floor…
kristinc
I can understand why you didn’t want to go through that again. And women shouldn’t have to fucking compromise between being treated as human adults and being safe (no, you won’t convince me that homebirth is “safe”. It can be of a more or less safe kind, depending on your personal situation and the midwives you have, but it’s only halfway saf for a small number of women).
Some hospitals in the US have excellent birthing centers– the one I plan to give birth in does– but they are so few and far between that it barely matters.
Are they? In NYC, the public hospital has a birthing center including suites with jacuzzis. Yes, I know, the whole of the US is not NYC, but about 5% of the US population lives peri-NYC, so I hardly think it an insignificant part of the country. Also, my sister gave birth in a birthing center in a smallish town in Iowa, so they exist elsewhere too. How common they are outside those two anecdotes, though, I couldn’t say. But they do exist.
Having a baby at home is taking a risk. It’s a low risk if you’re healthy, without complications or history of complications in pregnancy, have a sensible midwife or two who know what to do in emergencies and when to take events to the hospital, etc, but it’s still a risk. I think that it is the right of every pregnant woman to decide whether or not to take that risk (and any other risk from having a c-section to changing the cat’s litter box to drinking a gallon of vodka every night while having unprotected sex with someone in the throws of rubella) as long as she knows what she’s getting into.
It’s not right for midwives to tell women that home birth is perfectly safe, emergencies only happen in hospitals, and only the weak need epidurals. Or for hospitals to claim that epidurals are risk free and no one ever had a problem from them or whatever else they want to claim. Every woman should have accurate information on the risks and benefits of various options about where and how to give birth and choose herself which risks she wants to take in the pursuit of what benefits. It’s no one else’s business.
Fascinating Fresh Air podcast discussing Bryan Fischer, The Evangelical Radio Host’s Campaign to Control the Republican Party.
http://www.npr.org/2012/06/14/155006347/radios-bryan-fischer-tries-pushing-romney-right
Excerpts [emphasis mine]:
The NYC birthing center is only available to people with more or less guaranteed uncomplicated pregnancies, and is always full. That’s where we didn’t get to have my second child, for both reasons. Thing One, however, was born in a birthing center near Seattle, and we had a pretty good experience there. Except for the non-progressing labor after tons of pitocin followed by the unplanned c-section. Oh, and the crappy nurses on the night shift. Shit happens.
But I do agree with Dianne (emphasis mine):
Or that being 10 days “overdue” with absolutely no sign of fetal distress is something to worry about. Or that castor oil totally works to start labor. Or that Cytotec is teh awsum. Or that breaking your water is a great idea, guaranteed to speed up labor, no drawbacks. Or that narcotic pain relievers don’t cross the placental barrier. Or that the buzzing noise you hear and the fact that the epidural stopped working are completely your imagination and nothing can be done about it.
But I’m not bitter.
I’m aware that there’s a vocal completely-nuts end of the homebirth movement. I steered clear of them, and picked midwives whose approach to risk and complications I was comfortable with. My doula was kinda woo, but that was why she was my doula and not my primary caregiver, duh.
I did hear one childbirth instructor say that women have been having vaginal births for thousands of years, and if *that* many women really *needed* c-sections, we would have died out as a species. As a footling breech delivered by c-section myself, that pissed me off.
The NYC birthing center is only available to people with more or less guaranteed uncomplicated pregnancies, and is always full.
The one in Bellevue? I suppose it would be. I started out giving birth in the one at Roosevelt, but my midwife took one look at me and declared me no longer low risk. Something to do with the screaming pain at 1 cm dilation not being right…and then there was that temperature of 102…
Despite my experience (which wasn’t anyone’s fault except maybe the fetus’), I’d recommend them. Everyone was generally nice and the anesthesiologist came within 15 minutes of the epidural request. I wish they were a little less solicitous in the recovery period though…I really didn’t want to be woken at 6 am by someone asking me if I wanted ice.
Or that being 10 days “overdue” with absolutely no sign of fetal distress is something to worry about.
I disagree slightly. Being 10 days overdue is something to worry about. It’s just not something to panic about. Concern and close monitoring and being ready for sudden action if things change are good. Dramatic induction with lots of machines that go ping…probably overkill.
Castor oil doesn’t work at all. There’ve been studies. It just induces diarrhea.
First peas, then kettle corn. What’s next, frozen custard with rainbow sprinkles?
Final multi-post on this subject, I promise.
I really liked my childbirth class instructor. She was of the “whatever works” school of thought on pain control during labor. Examples she gave of successful pain control included epidurals, short acting IV narcotics, walking, sitting in water, birthing ball, lamaze breathing, bradley technique, swearing loudly, yelling “Yeee-HAAAH!” with every contraction, and singing “99 bottles of beer on the wall” throughout labor. I thought I was going to use the “swear loudly” technique, since that’s what I did when I accidentally ripped my fingernail off, but it turned out that labor was quite a bit more painful than that, so I went for the epidural.
I like peas (fresh, fresh steamed, frozen steamed, NOT CANNED!). I like kettle korn in small doses. I do not like custard (though Wife and Boy say I make a very good custard). How do you feel about bladder sausage, scrapple, blood pudding, and tripe?
I don’t even think I was 10 days overdue, dianne. I was 10 days “overdue” by their calculations, and right smack on time by mine. *eyeroll* But I couldn’t possibly know what I was talking about when I told them I knew exactly when I got knocked up, doncha know.
I had at least a couple nst’s after my due date, so yeah, keeping an eye on things, but even they said that by all measures it was a healthy baby just cooking a bit longer.
I like custard over apple crisp. Mmmm.
Caveat: Whining again, steer clear if you’ve had enough!
Today was plenty good: mom and I went to a sweet spa, had sauna and a massage (teh awsum) and ate dinner at an all-organic restaurant.
When we got home, my Official Serious Approbation Of Being A Doc Nao(tm) had arrived, complete with a printing of the hippocratic oath (half of which is LOLNO).
That was supposed to be awesome, but the ex sent it to me after it arrived at
ourmy flat, had his handwriting on the envelope and I instantly went gloooooooooooooooooooooooom.There was another letter as well, from the department of Important Academic Paperwork, who want me to resubmit the stuff I sent them earlier this month, because ZOMG rong form!!
Fuck this shit. :( Stable I iz not.
I may take one of the rescue blur pills the psychiatrist gave me.
I was “overcooked” by 14 days; the 10-day mark was when they said, “Okay, if you don’t pop over the weekend, we’re inducing next week on Tuesday.” And so they induced on Tuesday and I was born a couple hours later.
kristinc,
sadly enough, about 25% of docs are plain assholes and another 50% are socially clumsy to a degree inacceptable in a profession that handles patients. I would know, as all the duncecakes I went to uni with are totes docs now.
I’d pray I’m not one of those, but for lack of a god to direct my prayers to I try to learn about how you avoid being an asshole to patients.
Tripe? Ewwww
It’s so slimy and gummy and I could swear it wriggled the last time I ate it. Ewww.
for lack of a god to direct my prayers to I try to learn about how you avoid being an asshole to patients.
Start by not overworking yourself half to death. When I was working 100 hours a week, I was pretty much an asshole to everyone. At 120+ hours, I was still an asshole, but such a zombie that no one noticed. Hour restrictions are good. Don’t buy any crap about how we all survived it back in the “good old days”.
keencat – go ahead and take the pill, that’s what they’re for.
Then draw little grumpy faces all over the ex’s handwriting on your envelope. And then burn the envelope.
And then say “HOLY FUCK I’M A DOCTOR NOW” and call your sister and make her bring you ice cream and cake.
Blaspheeeeemeeeeerrr!!! Only chocolate sprinkles!
keenacat:
You have my sympathy.
You should come to Wilkes-Barre. The doctors who helped Girl into personhood were wonderful. As were all of the people, from housekeeping to phlebotamists to doctors to nurses, who were there when I had my non-heart-attack.
Carlie:
The best doctors I have had contact with are ones who listen to the question being asked, who rephrase the question to be sure they understand, and then actually answer, using the technical terms and providing lay-person equivalents. If a doctor can do that, the non-asshole part appears to go along for the ride.
carlie,
Thank god, it’s not just me.
I’ve grown on crossword puzzles, but I cannot for the life of me Scrabble.
Or rhyme. Once I’ve found one word that rhymes, my mind sticks to it.
The New York Times calls it like it is.
Unfortunately, Romney’s lies are taking hold. He has plenty of mouthpieces on the right to repeat the lies. And in our nation at least half the population prefers lies, and/or they can’t tell the difference between a lie and the truth.
Opinion and spin and not the same as lying. Romney lies.
I think blur pill is working. Inner turmoil calmed down considerably.
dianne:
Yes.
First off, living close to NYC doesn’t mean a whole hell of a lot. Look at it this way, if you live in one of the suburbs, you’re not getting into the City in a short amount of time period. Those women might as well be in Buffalo.
Also, many hospitals are closing down their OB/GYN departments, which means if you go into labor you get treated in the ER alongside the victims of car wrecks and what-not. Fun! (This is, of course assuming that the hospital even has an ER, which are also being closed down for being too expensive.)
On the previous page of this thread, I mentioned a group of hospitals in a rural county not to far from here. About five years ago, they closed down all birthing centers and OB/GYN services. All but one closed down their ERs as well, instead opting for the “urgent care” model which is great if 1) you don’t have an OMG! emergency and 2) you don’t need service after 8 pm or before 8 am. They also don’t have to treat you the same way an ER does, so if there’s no doc who is capable of delivering a baby, whomp whomp.
A few years ago, the three hospitals in my hometown consolidated*. One had an ER, but no place to give birth, one had an ER and a decent birthing center and the other was a women’s hospital with a WHOA excellent birthing center (but no ER). Here’s the kicker, when they consolidated the decent hospital lost both it’s ER and all of it’s OB/GYN stuff and the board of the new company wanted to completely close down the women’s hospital. Which would mean we would have no place to give birth in our county and would have to travel to the next city over to get decent care. (Thankfully, the public outcry was so great that the woman’s hospital stayed open.)
I can’t believe that this “tightening your belt” bullshit that for-profit hospitals are engaging in only effects New York State.
Obviously. But I wouldn’t assume that everyone has access to decent care when they’re in labor.
*At the advice of New York State because of course.
What Bro Og said. And I bet that with your ability to express yourself, to empathise with others, and to understand your own psychology (going purely on your posts here, obviously) there is every likelihood that you will absolutely ROCK as a doctor. If you work the way your posts suggest you are capable of, you will be great. One of the doctors people are so damn happy to have as their doctor. Someone capable of making a huge fucking positive difference to people’s lives.
Keep hanging on and working through, and think how much good you are going to do. We’ll be here cheering.
Um, having posted the above I realise that I didn’t actually say I was addressing keenacat right now. But you all knew that, right?
PZ
The KILL IT WITH FIRE on the sidebar still links to tzt11 instead of tzt12.
Oh oh! The kicker is that the folks in charge when I had such a horrible birth experiences were a MIDWIFE GROUP. They handled all low risk births at the hospital.
Ooooooh the rage. Matt Dillahunty posted that comic on his Facebook wall, and it quickly turned into a total fucking ERV-esque mess. I think a few others from Pharyngula were there, but I think we’ve all be driven off, so now it’s probably just the dudebroz high-fiving each other about how they trounced them feminazis and their white knights.
This is why I shouldn’t internet.
Thanks for trying, RahXephon. Can’t win every time (and Facebook generally is a pit, very permissive of rape comments there.)
Got a load of laundry done, packed one suitcase, spiffed up the apartment and cleaned out the fridge, arranged for someone to pick up my mail, paid ahead on the utilities, did a happy dance when I read my financial aid award letter (yay, I can come back next term!), made plans to meet with my advisor to discuss grad school and a possible opportunity to work with him on a research project when I come back in August, picked up my train tickets, and remembered to put a bit of $$ on the prepaid debit card that I’ll use for a locker during my 6 hours in Chicago.
Whew!
—
Ogvorbis: It’s been awhile (3-4 years), but if memory serves, chocolatiers wanted the FDA or USDA to redefine chocolate so they could substitute some cheaper alternative(s). (Until then I didn’t know that there are very precise standards for what can be called “chocolate” or “chocolate-flavored.”) Whether this worked and is the reason GH has gown downhill or if they’re just cutting quality in another way to save money, I don’t know.
Mootz!! My late aunt used to send me boxes of chocolate walnut fudge and Mint Meltaways every year on my birthday.
*adds to list of things to buy/do while back home*
—
Lynna: I just… *sigh*
—
kristinc: I’m sorry you had such an awful 1st birth experience and glad your home birth was such a good experience. You are so right that it should not be an either/or proposition! I would love to see something like tiered units, where you can start out with the least medical environment but have various levels of intervention as needed/desired all the way up to OR suite.
I think one thing your story highlights is the need to be informed, not just about risks/benefits of home birth, but about the hospital you’ve chosen, the staff, etc. Usually you never hear how awful a hospital or staff is until AFTERWARD when everyone says, “Oh, I can’t believe you went to X….” I was lucky that I had a nurse friend who warned me away from the hospital closest to me because their L&D staff was absolutely awful. (Nurses not seen for long periods, doctors literally only showing up when baby was presenting, one doc who called patients names and screamed at them during labor, etc.). One of them would be responsible for my c/s and I didn’t want to find out first-hand that they were just as terrible in the OR.
I think it’s important that moms and birth partners (anyone in a hospital, really) should have a third person who can be their advocate.You are going to be too tired, too much in pain, or just too exhausted to fight. Find whatever friend or family member can be a real asshole on your behalf.
—
dianne @ 511:
There are many, many rural areas of the country where women don’t even have a hospital within an hour of their home, much less a birthing center. In addition, (sorry, another anecdote) in my rural home town region, the two birthing centers that do exist are 30-40 minutes away for most people living there, highly granola crunchy woo-ish, and shame women who seek or have needed medical interventions.
One of their laboring moms (and a sort-of acquaintance of mine) had to call 911 on her own because the midwife and birthing center staff refused to do so, called her a quitter and weak, told her she didn’t deserve to be a mother, and even (briefly) tried to bar the paramedics from entering the building. It turned out her BP was dangerously high and she was in danger of stroking out at any moment. The Dept of Health investigated, ordered a token fine and a slap on the wrist to the midwife. When the woman in question went public, they tried to sue her for defamation. (And lost.)
and @ 516: Exactly right. Yes, docs should check you, make sure baby is still cooking and not over-baking, and let things progress on their own as long as all signs point to baby and mom being fine. The oldest of my two younger brothers was 22 days late, the younger was 19 days late.
—
Therrin: Peas are good, unless in a can. Kettle corn is good. Frozen custard is…meh.
—
keenacat: Congrats on the Official Serious Approbation Of Being A Doc Nao(tm)!
I wish I had some helpful advice. I went into such a spiral after my ex walked out that…I’m almost afraid to remember how bad in case it sends me back there. I offer *hugs* and *colorful fishies* and *chocolate*
hm, and I’m totally threadrupt. Hello ossum new peeps, congratz kristinc! and conveniently, looks like I missed a lot of icky pregnancy/birth stories. So it’s all good! /imho
oh, I am so tired of Harassment Denial Wars.
RahXephon:
And when refusing to understand that they are the reason I won’t attend any events, even ones I’d really really want to otherwise.
Last year, I was sooo excited about moving to Moorhead and being able to attend the Project 42 convention in Fargo. Ordered my ticket, got all happy/bubbly and was looking forward to hearing PZ, Shermer, and all the others. But most especially, I could not wait to connect with other atheists. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one in my rural corner of PA, but let me tell you, it felt like it. Especially when I was constantly singled out for scoldings, proselytizing, prayers for my soul, etc.
And then the day came. I arrived at the Radisson and suddenly realized that I was alone. In an unfamiliar place. Where I knew no one in the entire city. And I remembered being groped in an elevator in Philly; being followed around Busch Gardens on my senior trip; being harassed at hamfests where I was working as a vendor; the constant barrage of micro-aggression I face every day because I have the temerity to exist while female. (And nowadays to exist while being a middle-aged female.)
So I turned around and went back to my friends’ place. I absolutely don’t blame the Red River Freethinkers or anyone who was there — I didn’t even enter the building.
The problem was that I have been the victim of harassment so many times, in so many forms, that I could not put myself in a situation where it could happen again. Sure, it might have been one guy thinking he was “flirting harmlessly” but it would have
Ugh, it was just so annoying. At one point, I said something like “and I bet soon someone’s going to say that women accuse men of rape because they had consensual sex and then regretted it later”, and within like three comments someone said exactly that, and guess what he called it? BUYER’S REMORSE. Fuck me.
I also tried to explain to someone else how street harassment (aka “catcalling”) and rape are related through the influence of rape culture and he just wasn’t getting it, and proceeded to be condescending to me, repeating things like “we both seem to be speaking English but…” and other such ‘witty’ phrases.
I swear to NOTGOD those fucking assholes claiming net response to them is violence. I swear in real life if someone pulled that shit when pissing on others like that, claiming criticism was violence, I would be sorely tempted to slap them just to show the contrast. I HATE EVERYONE
Fuck.
I am getting way the hell to emotionally invested on the ‘Here’s the Situation’ thread. Not good. And I know I am doing it and am still jumping further in.
BCPA Lady: *offers anklehugs*
Whoops, rape victim-blaming wars in the Situation thread. Must be off.
Much love to y’all.
Oggie, get out if you need to. Just shut the computer down and don’t come back to it until tomorrow. There are enough hands on deck and you don’t need to get hurt.
(that goes for anyone in the same situation too)
*Dynamic entry*
RahXephon:
And refusing to understand that they are the reason I and so many others won’t attend any events, even ones we’d really really like to.
Last year, I was sooo excited about moving to Moorhead and being able to attend Project 42 in Fargo. Ordered my ticket, got all happy/bubbly counting down the days. PZ! Shermer! More importantly, I could not wait to connect with other atheists. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one in my rural corner of PA, but let me tell you, it felt like it.
And then the day came. I arrived at the Radisson and that’s when it hit me: I was alone. Not just attending by myself but alone. I was new in town. I knew a whole three people in the entire metro area — and they were camping somewhere on the Canadian border.
I remembered being groped in an elevator in Philly; being followed around Busch Gardens on my senior trip; being harassed at hamfests where I was working as a vendor; followed into a ladies restroom by a guy who seemed to think “Sorry, I’m married” was an invitation; the constant barrage of micro- and macro-aggressions I face and have faced every. fucking. day. because I have the temerity to exist in public while female. (And nowadays, for existing while being a middle-aged female.) To walk into a room full of strangers knowing I was utterly alone was too much.
I am not an extrovert, I am not a very confident person, although I’m light-years from the timid mouse I was. My marriage left me with permanent worry about how others perceive me, whether or not they’re interested in what I’m saying or even listening to me, whether or not they’re laughing at me behind my back, etc. (I am getting better; the old me would not have moved 1300 miles from everything and everyone she knew. I’m getting involved with organizations and causes I support and finding myself accepted and welcomed, which makes me more willing to go out into unfamiliar waters.)
I turned around and went back to my cousin’s and hung out with their dog. I absolutely don’t blame the Red River Freethinkers or anyone who was there. (I will be trying again this year.) The problem was that I didn’t know who was safe and who wasn’t, and the only way to find out was…to risk being harassed, risk being cursed and insulted if I’m too blunt or if I’m not blunt enough, and risk utter viciousness if I am harassed and I speak up. I see what happens when the well-known women in atheism speak out — and it serves as a clear warning: DON’T LET THIS BE YOU.
This is why, as keeps being repeated by the well-known and the unknown, that we need strong, well-publicized, well-enforced harassment policies.
Correction: It was not the Radisson, but the Ramada. (That’ll teach me to make reservations while trying to write!)
Oggie:
*hugs*
Carlie’s right: if it’s too much, don’t hurt yourself by staying in the fight.
Oh yes indeedy, I’m right there with you on that temptation.
As someone who’s been slapped down pretty hard for stupidity on the net, *and* been attacked from behind for no other reason than “He’s bigger than me.” and “Because I can.” I can categorically state that these things are not equivalent.
One left me embarrassed but ultimately a better person. The other left me wondering if my throat was going to swell enough from that punch to block my airway, but ultimately made me realise that I couldn’t tell anyone what had happened.
You see, I didn’t fight back, I didn’t “Kick his ass.” or do any of the other manly-man things the few people I told about it said they would have done. Never mind that all I had to do to get him to stop hitting me was to stand up straight and face him. And you know the worst fucking part of that whole incident? It’s that I’ve just this second realised that it makes me much lest likely to actually resist that temptation you mentioned Ing.
So yeah, one made me a better person, the other a worse one. Fuck.
Sorry, folks. I’m taking the advice and bailing out. A nice stiff scotch and bed.
I’m actually hoping that I get sent to a wildfire. I think I can use the chance to destress.
Sorry. I really thought I could be of use over there.
Those apologists aren’t going to shut the fuck up and listen. Their minds are closed, just like godbots and creationists.
Oggie,
Trust me, you were. Maybe not to those fuckers, but you saw the lurkers share their stories after you, right? What you said was important and powerful and incredibly brave.
Good night, Oggs.
Ogvorbis, for all you know a half dozen lurkers are reassured because of you. Take care.
Aaaargh.
Goodnight.
Trying again.
Furious.
Scared.
Og, I’m so sorry. *hugs* I know how this shit can reduce a person to a shaking furious mess.
Oggie
I’m pouring the last of my rum into the usb for you.
Lose consciousness!
(You could share with eriktrips and Jafafa Hots .)
PZ Y U NO let us reply with generated image files?
(more of the harassment wars)
An eyewitness came forward on Greta’s thread and the first question’s been asked.
https://proxy.freethought.online/greta/2012/06/15/holy-fucking-shit/#comment-76774
Pteryxx:
OMFG. I hate that JAQing off asshole. “Process of law” my ass, who the fuck do they think they are? Seriously, like you said, how are they suppose to know what DJ was told?
My head hurts and my desk is broken. I need a drink.
Drinking cheap but god damn good bourbon.
Old Grand-Dad bonded
Sorry. I’ll be worn out soon and I hoped some other folks could help keep watch on the witness’s contrail.
I love Scrabble.
Quiddler is not fit to lick Scrabble’s metaphorical boots.
–
*Acknowledgement of dynamic entry*
–
*hugs* and *purring kittehs* for Ogvorbis.
–
Thank you Ogvorbis, Erik, Jafa, mouthyb, Gen, Illuminata, Nepenthe, Cipher, ladyh42, anna, and Caerie* for sharing your stories. It makes a difference, it really does. It puts a human face (even on the internet) to an abstract discussion, and it makes it possible to draw a clear line between those who are capable of compassion and those who are not.
A minor benefit that, considering the pain that is inherent in the events that you all went through. Know this though, some of us have heard your pain and while we can do nothing to alleviate it, we can keep it with us and use it as a spur to keep trying to make our world a better place even in the face of such obstinate, willful idiocy as displayed by horace, mills, oneplus and all their ilk.
*I’m sorry if I missed anyone, but I can’t go through again because now I’m crying.
Shit, wrong fucking thread.
Who wants to dance to Rihanna and Britney Spears with me?
I don’t dance. But I will gladly drink and cheer you on.
I’ve been periodically laughing uncontrollably and dancing to Nicki Minaj, Ke$ha, Rihanna, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Katy Perry for a while now. And honestly, most of the time, I don’t like any of their music except Rihanna’s and that’s just because of associations… This is what happens when I write papers.
Whitening strips on teeth are uncomfortable.
/First-World Problems
Maybe if you take the strips off of your teeth to whiten them?
:)
–
P.S. J_A_L, I didn’t even have to click on that link to know what it was.
I LOVE YOU.
I dance sometimes.
I Love You Too Cipher!
The Dance of Joy is done best after celebrating and drinking. XD
Just_A_Lurker,
*offers Just_A_Lurker an AMF and get on the dance floor aka my room.*
Cipher,
YOU’RE NOT DONE WITH PAPERS YET?
Josh
What if I kept them in place. . . with my tongue? #tooraunchy #goestoofar #totallykidding
I’ve promised myself that I’ll post it to my FB when I finish my paper…
Gyeong:
More like,
#rightnow, #toomuchisneverenough, #getoverhere
*pokes her fingers together*
People were WRONG on the INTERNET
Shorter me: You tryin’ to mix up my powdered cheese packet? LOL.
I’m celebrating my un-sobriety and just did The Dance of Joy on the way to my kitchen because it made me so happy.
It is so terribly sad and terribly funny that the Dance of Joy is harder than it looks for me. I fail at the Dance of Joy. I can’t do it like Gundar (sp?).
Josh,
*Pulls Josh by his tie and gets all sorts of close*
Cipher,
EXCUSES!
Plus, I thought it’s already the end of Finals Week.
Ogvorbis,
Hey. :|
You don’t need to do even more, there’s plenty enough there to show how things are.
And thank you, and those like you and especially the delurkers there.
It’s you and those like you and they who have made it so clear it’s not an abstract thing to be discussed, but a thing that seriously affects lives.
Cipher
XD
That made me laugh. Awesome mental image with it.
Josh,
I made Mac n Cheese earlier. I will always think of you when doing so. It’s going to be so hard to explain why I’m laughing at my MacnCheese.
Also, I’m terribly disappointed there’s no puns on the Mac’in part of Mac n Cheese.
I really need to change or add to my nym but I can’t think of anything. I’ve wanted to change/add for awhile now but no trolls have given me names and I’m terrible uncreative. =(
How I feel on tumblr sometimes.
Hopefully I didn’t make Josh uncomfortable.
OMG. Slammimg ur index finger in the door of a 1966 Plymouth does not feel good. At. all. Ow my god.
Make me uncomfortable? Please, Pikachu. Now come on overr her and help me with my boo boo. LOL.
For rillz. . .this shit herts. .
JAL: Sarcasm, Snark and Bitterness ? would that make a decent surnym?
*fixes Josh’s boo boo. How I fixed it will be left to people’s imagination*
YAY! Thank you.
I totally blame the cheap vodka for not thinking of that sooner. >.<
Gyeong Hwa
FanFics incoming!
@JAL
Okay, a Pharyngula fan fiction? Now THAT I have got to read. ^_^
Isn’t it ongoing, Ibyea? I mean, what with the ghey secks queue that is under occupation by Louis’ wild groop secks orgy, we don’t lack much for colorful descriptions.
Though, is Louis taking a break? I thought I read that. Is he?
Good morning
Hell that was a loud rain tonight.
*sending hugs into the oggiverse*
keenacat
Congratulations!
As for what I value in a good doctor: Listening and not talking medical. Looking at me and not statistics. Which is one of the things I value so much in my Ob/Gyn. I was normal weight before #1, put on 35kg and didn’t lose a pount of it. So when I became pregnant with the little one I was already overweight, seriously overweight. He looked at my bloodpressure, my urine (no sugar), took one blood-sugar reading which was totes OK, told me not to put on 35 kg again and then took care of actual problems and not statistical likelyhoods.
+++
Urgh, I think I won’t enter the “situation” thread
Josh! It’s you!
I was wondering who got my brain using my friend in undergrad’s “for rill” and “rill dumb” again!
Jebus feckin’ Criss! Is there a Pharyngula award for people as obtuse as the apologists on the ‘situation’ thread? I hope they don’t get dungeoned. I would love to be able to point to that thread and say to future thickies “Don’t do THIS!”
*giggles*
Out the door of a minibus doing 100kph up the highway in central Australia.
Were you ever able to wash it all off afterwards?
McCthulhu
You haven’t seen the idiot over at Greta’s who claims that there’s no evidence that Upskirt guy took upskirt pics
For Ogvorbis, yesterday’s Quidler solution:
J – E – T (18 points)
Q – I – N (22 points)
CL – A – M – O – R – E – R (51 points, including 20 points 8 letter bonus)
Z – E – D (21 points)
For a total of 112 points.
Today’s Quiddler looks ridiculously hard. There are 68 points in there, while the top scorer for today has 113: that’s a 6 letter word and a 10 letter word.
I’m picturing Josh with the Darkhearts.
Anyone care to make a podcast wrt TAM/Grothe/EG etc in response to this dimwit conference those clowns had the other day ? Mail me, looking for 4 or 5 participants, we can stream it live or record then publish, sure PZ would help.
I have missed Walton’s giggles!
Ain’t that the truth. But they do work decently if you can put up with it. And your poor finger! I hope it’s feeling better this morning. Gyeong Hwa, I’ve missed having you around. :)
Og, you said a lot of really important stuff, and a lot of people were reading and getting it. It’s only the one or two loudmouths that didn’t.
Congratulations and confetti, Dr keenacat!!
Hugs and bacon Obvorbis :(
Katherine Lorraine:
There was such a thing, a couple of times in prehistory, IIRC. Every few years we have a smallish one for a few weeks. When I am god-king-emperor of the universe, we will have a permanent one again.
Alriiighhtt!! :D Sign me up for a copy.
-+-
the fuck???
THE FUCK???
Ok, donning snorkel and diving suit, gonna go check out the “Here’s the shituation” thread. If I’m not back in an hour, release the hounds.
Actually, wait a second, I like the idea, how about we do a weekly podcast or teledebate with Pharyngula regulars, on any given topic ? Would anyone be interested in that ?
Ahhh, kids
They were ordered not to go downstairs because gran is taking a nap. While I was doing the dishes I noticed that the noise was moving further away and when I caught them they were downstairs with all their “musical instruments”.
My “I told you not to go downstairs because gran is asleep” was countered with
“but look, she isn’t anymore!”
Giliell:
Hey, this sounds like my docs!
They’re very happy with my overall health, despite the fact that before I became pregnant, I was 190 lbs (I’m 5’10”). They’re basing my healthiness on my blood pressure, urine and blood samples, how DarkFetus is progressing, and how I feel in general, but not my “starting” weight.
They are slightly concerned with my gallbladder, but that’s due to my own medical history of gallstones and not ‘cos I’m fat. Right now, I’m just supposed to monitor how I feel and if I get any pains, they’ll help me adjust my diet (no fat, yay) so I can avoid surgery.
(I’ve gained 7 pounds so far and am on track to gain 20-25 overall, which pleased Dr Bonnie to no end. She’s also happy with the dietary changes I’ve made– namely, bulking up on fruit/veg and avoiding most foods with added sugar.)
SQB:
How about it, Josh? Want to be my doula?
Rorschach:
I would listen to the shit out of that.
Doc Bunsen:
It’s the danger of having a privately run healthcare system. Even the not-for-profit hospitals are closing the doors of some of their essential services to save money. There’s nothing compelling them to keep their ERs open and since ERs are hella expensive to run, it’s not surprising that they end up on the chopping block.
(I THINK I JUST FOUND A NEW ARGUMENT AGAINST LIBERTARIANISM! THE FREE MARKET™ FAILS, ASSHOLES!)
:C
Me too, A.R, me too.
Oh.
My.
Nonexistent.
Gods.
I’ve been searching my whole flat over the last weeks for a folder with my university documents (when I started college things were done with paper certificates).
I’ve been tumbling down into panic attacks over this again. I started hiding and dodging again, because just now when I was on the track to get things back together again I found myself at a point again where I didn’t know what to do and staring at the situation like the proverbial rodent.
I had chosen tonight to tell Mr. and that has made my stomach curl whenever I thought about it and made me lose sleep last night.
Just 5 min ago while chatting to my sister my eyes fell on a yellow folder with all that stuff in it.
Duno how it ended up here, but I have it again.
:D
:P
Quick drive-by to +1 everyone beating down on “mystical childbirth”. That stuff’s bullshit.
Hah! I know this to be false because I was born stoned on pethidine. ;-)
Apparently, it took a full 24 hours to wear off.
I like the idea of a Pharyngula podcast.
*Panic* The Redhead comes home today. Cleaning crew arriving this morning check. Need to make coffee for rolls and chocolate. Bed check, wheelchairs and commode delivered this morning check. Supply of appropriate unmentionables, check. *Ack*, No bedpan. *Panic*
Rorschach
Please do :)
There is a reason that babies come out not breathing, you know.
Me too ! The more I think about it. We have too many great commenters here, so it would have to be a changing cast every week, but in principle, this sounds like something worth pursuing. We wouldn’t have to have 15 blog posts about one silly MRA podcast, we just get Brownian, SGBM, SallyStrange and a couple others together, and give neutral observers a different perspective. Repeat each week with a different cast. How would we best do that ? PZ, maybe involve DPR or AronRa ?
Nerd,
*hugs*
You. are. AWESOME.
All the best to the Redhead and lots of patience to both of you for settling in.
If I could, I’d bake you something sweet and crunchy.
Giliell, I’m glad you have it back. That said, that’s been pretty much my day. I’m trying to deal with a bit of fallout from it now. I completely flipped out with panic because I became completely convinced that I couldn’t get to a source I needed for my paper … that I already had, on my desk, and had read for class. In my panic, I mentioned to my professor that I couldn’t get to the source. That I had read. For her class. And now my professor thinks I’m an imbecile who didn’t do the reading and saved a basic source til the day before turning in my paper.
I have no idea how to send that email. “Uh, yeah, sorry, I temporarily both completely blanked that reading from my memory and became completely convinced that it was why I needed to get to the library.”
“I have no idea why except that I haven’t been sleeping pretty much at all. So, enjoy my sleep-deprivation-induced paper!”
Nerd:
Oh man, sorry about the panic, but it is so fucking good to hear that the Redhead is heading home! YaY!
Hugs to the both of you!
Some of the Freethoughtbloggers are planning to get together over google+ this weekend, and put the discussion on youtube. It turns out to be easy in google hangouts to tell it to record and store it on youtube.
You could easily set up something like that — you just have to get on google+.
[Today’s puzzle completed 56 Secs ]
Go me!!
(It wasn’t that hard today.)
I left Google+ and Facebook. So, others may do that, but it won’t be me.
Another vote for the podcast. I spend most of my working hours listening to podcasts. It makes up for the lack of science and skepticaly minded people in this neck of the woods.
If I may make a suggestion? If you intend this podcast to be a resource for skeptical types it really helps to have someone transcribe it so arguments can be found by keyword search.. Which is an enormous amount of work of course, so at the very least it will need a detailed summery of the topics discussed. I can’t remember the number of times that I’ve been trying to provide a cite for something and failing because it was something I heard on a podcast that was poorly indexed.
And speaking of this neck of the woods: hey lexie how’d the cardiovascular studying go? Great, great, glad to hear. So, did you figure out the nine letter word?
Well, there was the opera. And the novel in comment form.
On a cold morning in West Virginia, as we headed out for some kayaking, we were climbing a long steep hill. In my VW Microbus. One of the passengers said he needed to pee. I said I was not stopping on the hill. He opened the sliding door, peed, and his bodily fluids when right into the auxiliary air intake. And into the heater boxes. And we stopped. And evacuated the van.
Therrin @17
Why not.
Peas are the product of Hel.
Kettle Corn is a subsidiary of Hades, Inc.
Frozen custard sounds like something Ymir would do a happy dance for.
Custard. Texture issue. Meh.
~
Ogvorbis:
Funny story.
My roommate used my car tonight while I was at work. While waiting on her to come pick me up at the wee early hour of 5 am, I was catching up on TET/TZT. On picking me up, I told her about some of the stuff I was reading. She loved the fact that everyone in TZT were doing the Star Wars/Star Trek stuff. On TET, she was curious what ‘tripe’ was. When I informed her, well just image the worst “ewww” face you can. Then she informed *me* of several of the ingredients found in your typical American Hot Dog (hint, tripe is often one of them). Cue my revulsion especially when I remembered that I had eaten nearly a pack of hot dogs just last week.
`
keenacat @22:
Sorry to hear that. Hope you’re able to ignore the gloom and enjoy the awesomeness of the letter you received.
It sounds like I could have made use of this pill a few days ago when I broke down at work in what was described to me as possibly a panic or anxiety attack. I’ve never experienced anything like it. The weight of everything that’s happened in the last 2.5 years (M dying, my first dog escaping the yard and getting hit by a car on Halloween the same year, being fired from my job in ’11, and being stressed about stressing about money issues [I have two roommates, but they’re incredibly strapped for cash, and I completely understand their situation, but it doesn’t change the reality of feeling like I’m the one paying for the vast majority of the joint bills, in addition to my own…my credit gets shot more and more each day])…it all just came crashing down. Do you know how hard it is to be a bartender when you can’t stop crying? I literally had to walk away from the bar at least 10 times in 2 hours to wipe and dry my face. Ugh. That wasn’t pleasant. I’m better now, but wow. What I felt was so foreign to me. I mean, I’ve cried before. I’ve bawled before. But this was something so uncontrollable.
Oh, and I fully intend to try and seek help. WIthout health insurance, and given the financial stress I’m under, it doesn’t seem attainable at the present… ::sigh::
`
Gyeong Hwa:
Mommy may I?
Huh, huh?
Can I please, pretty please?
(mom nods with approval)
Yessss. Dancing is so much fun!
~
rorschach:
Your idea for a weekly podcast sounds great.
Yeah, but I have no f’ing idea how to do or implement this, so SGBM, Josh or anyone else, can we do a brain-melt over this ?
Rorschach: you could just have a google+ account for this one purpose.
So if people want to try the google+ hangout thing, email me with your google+ identity, I’ll put you in a circle, and we can try to work out a time.
One major catch with this: there goes your anonymity if you participate. Although I don’t think the YouTube video needs to include real names, so your actual ID would only be revealed to a small group.
FossilFishy: Path study is not going great, I’m starting to get really worried about my exams (not just path) because my study during swot vac has not been good. But thanks for telling me to get back to it last night, I did actually manage to get in another good hour or two on cardiovascular pathology. Also I know where you’re coming from about listening to podcasts to block out the lack of rational thinking. I spend so much time listening to youtube videos or podcasts from atheists to try and remind me that others exist (none of my friends are skeptics/atheists and except my brother my family is religious).
Tony: I’m so sorry for you, about everything you’ve been talking about particularly the story of M and the death of your dog (I’m sorry if sympathy from a complete stranger is weird)
I am semi-threadrupt, due to a combination of Getting Things Done yesterday and spending whatever FTB time I had on the misogyny-related threads.
A friend of mine in the UK sent me this photo taken at Boots, which is a big chain of chemists (drugstores). Gosh, what a great gift idea. “THINKING OF YOU, DAD!!”
I think we have missed out on this so far, a podcast with Pharyngula’s finest. I guess I can register on G+ again if needed, but on the podcast I’d rather have Sastra, KG, Brownian, Josh, and SG or any of the clever people there, to discuss whatever…Let’s do this shall we, I will register an account tomorrow and mail PZ, and we take it from there.
How charming. I think it should also be mentioned that Boots also aggressively markets homeophatic “medicine” and should be aggressively avoided on several grounds…
Hedonism
Gnumann, I don’t know about the UK, but it’s becoming difficult to find a major drugstore in the US that doesn’t have a woo section. Though I don’t know how many of them market it aggressively.
Oh, and I wrote up a little rant about this silly podcast with the MRAs that Zvan was talking about.
I don’t know anything about it, so I don’t know if it’s asking a lot technically for the media, but an audio podcast of this hangout thing would be awesome. I’d even pay a little for it. I can’t do things like listen/participate simultaneously (and I’m not on g+), but I’d listen later.
Sorry, Young Man, You’re Not the Most Important Demographic in Tech. Comments full of NERD RAEG, ev-psy, and misogynist “jokes.” Fortunately there are other commenters fighting back.
Neither would I as I’m not in the UK – I just know that boots have a particularly bad history with these things.
The woo is creeping into pharmacies here to – but most stores are reluctant towards it thankfully.
Cipher
*HUgs*
Dunno how well your professor knows you, but, well, maybe just tell her what actually happened, that you were overslept, and had a panic attack and completely blurred out?
I mean, professors usually know that students can have hard times
++++
podcast: Sounds like a great idea. But I’d suggest not to aim for weekly from the start. All the good podcasts I know have some serious work behind them, that’s what makes them really good.
Daisy:
I’ve seen this story a bunch of times already and I just gotta say “duh”. About 10 years ago, I was working in commissioned retail sales*, selling cameras. What we were taught was that if a man and a woman walk in looking to buy, you sell to the woman, because she is most likely the one to have done the research on specs/reviews, she has done the price comparisons, she will be using the camera as much (if not more) as her partner and, oh yeah, she’s probably the one handling the household budget as well.
I don’t know where everyone else has been in the past decade. Living under a rock?
*Let me tell you how much that sucked.
Republican Senator from Utah, Mike Lee, says what mormons really think, how they truly believe in mormon exceptionalism on top of American exceptionalism.
http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/washington-secrets/2012/06/mitt-ally-mormons-have-extra-dose-patriotism/722021#.T9ee4VJtGFk.twitter
Excerpt below:
“I think he’s going to be a very aggressive president,” said Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee. And for good reason, he added during a meeting with Washington Examiner reporters and editors. “He recognizes that we live in difficult times. The circumstances are pretty dire and that swift action is needed,” said Lee, who predicted more White House-Congress interaction.
When quizzed if Romney’s religion or ties to conservative Utah will make him a different kind of president, Lee, also a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said that Mormons like Romney have an optimistic view of the United States.
“Mormons sort of have an extra chromosome when it comes to American exceptionalism,” he said. “Mormons do have an added dose of a belief in American exceptionalism,” he said.
“We believe that this is a choice land that it’s a great place to be. We believe that the founding of America was something that was brought about with a degree of divine intervention and certainly inspiration,” said Lee, who added that all presidents arrive in the Oval Office with a heightened belief in the nation.
lexie. I hope the studying goes better for you. I’m afraid I’ve no useful advice for you in that regard. My own experience in upper education (music) was not exactly a rousing success.
On a tastier note, I can vouch for those claiming Reese’s peanut butter cups are yummy. I’m a Canadian ex-pat and in my bachelor days I practically lived on them. If you happen across an antipodal source of them I would dearly love to hear about it. I live in a tiny rural town in Alpine Victoria and there’s no hope of them ever showing up here the way the might in a bigger urban centre.
Interesting tidbit about Neil Munro, the guy who interrupted President Obama’s recent address in the Rose Garden by shouting things like, “Why do you favor foreigners over Americans”: Munro, who demonstrated the judgement of a drunken teenager, was following a pattern he established as a so-called science writer. No working intellect then. None now.
http://www.salon.com/2012/06/15/angry_daily_caller_person_shouts_at_president/
Audley
I own a retail bike store. And in that business at least once a month I have to physically put myself between a woman buying a bike for herself and the guy who’s come with her shopping. If I don’t do it I end up having to answer questions of that guy rather than asking the questions I need to in order to get her on the proper bike. It can be a little difficult to do subtly but my reward is the look on the woman’s face when they realise what I’ve done. And believe you me, they *always* notice what I did. :). Okay, that’s a little lie, my reward is also selling more bikes to women in December than I did to men.
FossilFishy
Well, when we went looking for our new car the retailer we bought it at won some points immediately when they asked me if they could help me and if I had any questions. On the other hand the telephone-shop where the guy told my former flatmate and me that we needed the expensive high-speed internet (back in those days) when we told him that speed didn’t matter much ’cause we had two very old computers didn’t make the deal.
Well it was a terrible idea (for me) to read any of the “Here’s the situation” thread, and then an even more terrible one to comment after being filled with so much RAGE/SICK I couldn’t help myself. And then I read jenny-whatever’s response to it…
I ended up shaking for hours and took one of my “emergency only” sleeping tablets just to fall asleep. Which ended up being no help because of the nightmares. Now I get to do “All of the things!” while only slightly less RAGE/SICK and feeling like I’ve come off a three-day bender. Awesome.
I have no idea how anyone managed to slog through that morass and continue countering the BS. Thank you to those of you who did though. I can’t stomach reading more of it, but I’m glad to know that there are those strong enough to keep going when I just can’t face any of it.
BCPA Lady: *offers anklehugs*
It doesn’t have much to do with being strong or not, that I can tell. I for one can keep talking because the Situation thread doesn’t hit *my* personal map of triggers, that’s all. There are topics that I can’t tolerate for long, but the rest of you generally have them handled; and thank you all so much, for that.
BCPA_Lady
*hugs offered*
If it stresses you out too much, stop. You’re not letting anybody down by not re-traumatizing yourself. The world won’t be a better place if you’re crying.
Heavens after the last round of assholes we had I noticed that I was growing anxious around Mr. who is definetly one of the most sensible and caring men to exist.
As for the person who said they’d like Orac to join FtB. No thanx, we don’t need another Dude here.
Hey! I’m a dude!
PZ
Yes, you’re a dude, but thankfully not a Dude.
Hey y’all,
Cold or allergies, I don’t know, but I’m a congested exhausted mess today, so don’t expect the Usual Level of Quality:) Also my finger looks like it’s all dolled up with purple nail polish. But it’s not.
Audley—you know I’d do anything you guys needed around the birth of the baby. When are you due again? If you need me to come stay for a few days lemme know.
Rorschach–interesting idea on the podcast. I’ll let my brain slowly digest it (that’s the only kind of digesting it’s doing today).
Anyone know of a way to contact Patricia?
I may have the funds, but I doubt I have the time and attention span, myself.
Thanks Pterryx. I have no idea why, but *anklehugs* prompts a mental image of a small teddy bear strapped to my ankle. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.
Yes, strong was the wrong choice. “Able to write coherently and eloquently” would have been better.
—
Also thanks Giliell. Normally, I can handle these sorts of threads with more equanimity, but it’s been a busier than normal month with less sleep than usual. Combined with good and bad stress about going home in a few days, I just wasn’t in the right mental frame for either the powerful stories that were shared or the mindless victim-blaming in the face of them. I just didn’t recognize that soon enough.
I am feeling better, in all senses of the word. Made some comfort food, drank a pot of tea, talked to each of my kids, and did some stats problems in long-hand until I felt more settled.
I don’t know why I ignored the thread on “Jerry’s Map” until now. I’ve just watched the video, and I found it moving and inspiring, but I have no idea why!
4 hours of sleep. Heart palpitations pretty much constant. Tummy hurts. And I still won’t have time to finish my paper (let alone pack!) by the time my grandparents get here to pick me up.
Cipher: any way to take a quick rest, even for 10 or 15 minutes, and desaturate? Something can probably be rearranged. where was that hug cannon…
—
Unrelated awesome news:
https://proxy.freethought.online/blaghag/2012/06/female-michigan-legislators-to-perform-vagina-monologues-at-their-capitol-building
So…
… I just bought pink Lego.
Somebody shoot me now.
Use it to build a piglet.
Sorry, Sili. I should have specified that I bought the Lego Friends crapola.
If they were just all pink bricks of different shapes, that could be hella fun. :)
Indeed. Not to mention that it’s one of the companies controlled by Sir Philip “No Taxes” Green, but technically owned by his wife, who is a resident of Monaco and thus does not pay British taxes. (I can’t help thinking that this tax-avoidance scheme is going to backfire on him horrifically if they ever get divorced…)
I’ve often ended up shopping at Boots nonetheless, though, because there’s a lack of alternatives; Boots and Superdrug seem to be the only high street pharmacists in most parts of Britain (much like CVS and Walgreen’s in the US). Luckily there’s a Cox & Robinson’s near where I currently live.
Speaking of woo, I recently received an advertisement through the letterbox for a new “chiropractic and acupuncture clinic”. Apparently, in addition to the familiar forms of woo, they also offer “craniosacral therapy”, which, they claim, “can be effective for a variety of problems such as pregnancy and childhood disorders”. Some cursory research reveals that “craniosacral therapy” involves the therapist placing his or her hands on various parts of the patient’s body in order to “tune into the craniosacral rhythm.” Unsurprisingly, this appears to be supported by no scientific evidence whatsoever; equally unsurprisingly, this doesn’t seem to stop people making money out of it.
YES. I heartily endorse this proposal.
(Pigs are our friends.)
Sili: pardon if this is a stupid question, but why not just mention to Patricia on that thread that you want get in touch with her?
Because I don’t know if she has notifications activated (I don’t).
And the comments are moderated, so I wouldn’t know when it would be public.
And finally, this place is more lively, and she’s more likely to see things here, I think.
(Also, laziness.)
Sili, if you want I’ll post a comment to Patricia there; I have (almost) no shame. <_<
No need.
She’s just shown up elsewhere.
But thanks.
You rang?
Sili – OK, I finally caught on… thanks!!! for the offer! I’m getting a choice of birthday gifts this year & Richards course is on the list. *Thanks*
Happy Birthday! then.
Feel free to send my a mail at siliconopolitan who lives at gmail, if you want and extra present.
[announcement]
*ahem*
THE REDHEAD IS NOW HOME
[/announcement]
Josh, OSKD:
~ recalls ~
*raises eyebrow*
;-)
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Walton, that’s TopClothes™. UK Uncut had a go at both, though.
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Nerd, yay for the both of you.
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Erm … dinner. TTFN …
NEW THREAD!