This is the lounge. You can discuss anything you want, but you will do it kindly.
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Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
This is the lounge. You can discuss anything you want, but you will do it kindly.
Status: Heavily Moderated; Previous thread
Thanks so much for the cheering-up, Loungers. You’ve helped a lot already.
Plans are a foot.
Her Ex-cellency is coming over tomorrow afternoon, both to help me get to the bank to arrange rent-paying, and to hold my hand while we dig through the papers (with luck, alongside a helping virtual hand from Portia’s un-damp eyes).
Now…lying-down time. The RQ/CC Selfie of Infamy has moved closer to posting; it is now on my laptop, instead of just on my phone. From there, it becomes easier to post.
After LDT, when my meds have kicked in for the afternoon shift, Craig and I are going to a combined BBQ/game night at his bother-in-law’s (I kid, Chad’s an alright bloke). If I have time between LDT and leaving, then RQ/CC SoI will find itself posted then. If I do not, then it will not, and it will instead probably happen int’ morning.
Tony!
As I understand it, the main rule is “say whatever keeps them filling the pews (and collection plates).”
CaitieCat
Ha!
Shoops go to a nice bar where they can run the place, and have interesting customers all the time, and drunkenness never makes people obnoxious or violent.
Sheep Go To Heaven, Goats Go To Hell, Shoops Go Out For A Drink With Friends.
Best Afterlife Ever.
I’m just going to leave this here:
http://static02.mediaite.com/themarysue/uploads/gallery/batman-superman/dawn-of-happiness.jpg
CaitieCat:
Seconded! I could enjoy your version!
Dalillama, I hope you and L can get some enjoyment out of the gathering and that it is not too over-pressuring.
Good news:
I think this is a good thing. It is in society’s best interests to make sure children are fed. Not having to worry about having the money for lunch will ease the burden for poor families.
HI there
Well, France is officially off my list of favourite countries now. I could have forgiven those 25% of votes for fascists, but losing against Germany really is the final straw.
Caitie
Obviously you’re on a different continent, but what was really helpful with gran’s applications were advocacy groups for disabled people. Because they know exactly how to formulate applications and stuff and where to go.
*hugs*
Glad the Ex-cellence is coming over
Amen.
And a back of the envelope calculation is that the program doesn’t even cost me 1 cent of my tax monies. About a ten-thousandth of a cent. I think we can afford it.
Apropos of nothing, I tried to friend request PZ on Facebook and was told I couldn’t, bc he reached the maximum number of friends allowable. I didn’t know that was possible.
Nerd:
Heck, if we cut back on defense spending, we could probably give free meals to every kid in the US from pre-school through high school.
When you’re desperately looking for a weather forecast that doesn’t spell doom for a birthday party at the zoo…
Sadly, no luck.
Also, when did goodie bags for the uests happen? I remember when I was a kid being invited actually was pretty cool anyway…
Oh fuuuuuck goody bags. When the kids were little it took almost as much time to plan and buy the goody bag stuff as it did to plan the whole rest of the party. it’s like a little bag of portable judgment for parental ranking purposes.
How about more good news:
(cross posted from my Facebook page)
Correction: her name is Emily Partridge.
Apologies.
Just sent this email to CN:
Dammit. Found a typo. Grrr. I wish every preview were a function everywhere.
Alexandra (née Audley)
My parents used to buy one of those plastic and cotton- disposable tablecloths that they spread over the backseat with cut outs for the seatbelt, and that way, no matter how messy I got the backseat, they could throw it all away.
So. Scott Clifton is going to be speaking at Skepticon.
His YouTube channel is great- one exchange I really appreciated was when he read some book, and bought into some conspiracy theory. He was called out on this by another YouTuber- and responded, not defensively, but to admit he screwed up. He seems firm in his beliefs but not so firm that he won’t rethink them as necessary. One of the better YouTube atheists.
I do wonder, though, how many people are going to see the name, be unaware of his YouTube work, and wonder why the hell Skepticon invited a soap opera actor to speak.
Hey, folks! I am back from my road trip. I had a great time and saw lots of cool things, and I feel recharged and more able to take on life.
I’m still trying to cut back on my internet time, so I think I will make Pharyngula a weekend check-in kind of place. But I did want to let you all know that I’m alive and well. I thought fondly of many of you as I drove through your general areas.
Nutmeg:
Glad you had a good time.
Can’t wait to hear any details that may be forthcoming.
****
Gorogh:
Hoping your presentation went well.
****
Alexandra:
Hope your trip with the little one goes smoothly.
Great anti-transphobia plea here.
I’m at gaming, got the timing of LDT wrong, had to go before I was ready, so no time on the laptop. I’m going to try and post the picture when I get home. :)
Now…Rock Band!
Ah, finally figured out why the wider wheelchair seemed so cheap. I received the bare-bones chair, sling seat and sling back, with foot rests, (and I ordered the extended footrests, extra charge). This left the chair seat pad and chair back pad missing. I did order a gel seat cushion when I ordered the wheelchair, so today I ordered just a foam cushion so there are two different types of seats, which is important when you moving around pressure points. I did order the 20″ back support, but was unable to get the desired model, with improved lumbar support. It appears it is only available in 16″ and 18″ widths. *shakes Redhead’s hemiwalker at Drive Medical*
I’m kinda pissed off right now. I’ve checked several times with my apartment complex to make sure we could use the pool balcony to view the fireworks.
Ask the front desk just now if there’s any extra protocols for bringing friends to find out the pool deck is closing an hour early tonight.
We have one of the best views of the Metro cityscape.
And they are closing the best possible viewing location.
Why the fuck aren’t they having a viewing *party*?
/rant
Went to the barbecue. Pretty much everyone I knew had been and gone by the time we got there. Spent about an hour being uncomfortable in a crowd of strangers and went home. Very depressed now.
Dalillama:
I’m sorry to hear that my friend.
Rawnaeris, Lulu Cthulhu
Great idea! Especially since I’ll be using the Mr’s car– he’s much more particular about the interior than I am about my car. ^_^
Alexandra (née Audley), we car-tripped all the time when I was little. Some of my earliest memories are going to car shows.
After that we drove from Dallas to Indianapolis for the Brickyard 400 every year.
They would cover the backseat, give me crayons, etc. and craft sets when I was real little, ten books, video games and Barbies as I got older. Also prevents any food and drink stains.
So…my across-the-street neighbor is setting off professional-quality fireworks from his lawn.
I’ve set my fire extinguisher by the door.
I think one of our dogs is scared of the fireworks. It’s pretty hot during the summer here, so I’ve kept them inside most of the day, taking them out to the side yard to poop or pee. I just tried to take them outside, and my roomies dog, Sham went right outside. My dog, Krystal, didn’t even come near the sliding glass door. She normally runs right out there. Poor girl. I wasn’t about to force her to either.
Supreme Court Upholds Little Caesars Right to Feed Christian Employees to Lions
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awakeinmo:
A drama llama?
A drama llama ding-dong?
*wide-eyed innocent look*
–
CaitieCat, might there not be a legal advocacy program for disability challenges? Something like a public defender? I’m sure that there are lawyers specializing in disability law, but that’d likely be expensive, and if you could afford them, you wouldn’t be in such urgent need of their services. Catch-22.
It’s worth checking into, at whatever the equivalent to the Department of Human Services, is.
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blf:
No; that would bruise and contuse my knees, which are already Made of Suck and FAIL.
Unfortunately, the Hoverchair10000 Project is still in limbo, pending the securing of a source of funding, or I could just vaporize the offending doors/walls/ceilings with the dual-mounted, Acme-brand Disintegrator Rays.
–
Dalillama, *hugs* and sympathies.
*insert Color Commentary re the American Medical System*
(Later)
Extra *hugs* for post-party depression.
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Alexandra, I strongly recommend taking along a whole roll of trash bags. And a roll of paper towels.
‘Cause Surprise Projectile Vomiting is no joke.
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Nutmeg!
*pouncehug*
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http://sploid.gizmodo.com/fascinating-graphic-shows-who-owns-all-the-major-brands-1599537576
Alexandra – do not give DarkToddler all the toys at once. Get a few new ones if you can, cheapo ones from the dollar store (that are childproof for the age). Give her one new toy at regular intervals – not when she starts to get fussy, that makes it a reward for fussing, but often enough that there’s not a lot of time for crabby inbetween. Plan to stop altogether every 2 hours for a stretch, even if it’s not entirely needed – it breaks up the trip and halts the crabby for awhile (unless she’s asleep, then drive like the wind). It can be done -we took regular 6 hour road trips right after the kids were born, and by the time they were 2 and 3 it was 16 hour trips.
Northeast weather sucks. Last weekend into this week it was SO HOT we couldn’t do anything, couldn’t move, it was 95 outside and 87 in the house. Then a storm came through just in time to sink the temps down to 59 tonight (with wind!) while we were outside for hours waiting for fireworks. SO COLD.
I have had to escort the dogs out into the yard, what with all the fireworks going off, and talk to them. I call it being the “poop coach.”
So our solo concert went well.
My trip is complete.
rq, glad to hear that your concert went well.
:)
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Menyambal:
I even tried that too, though not to the extent of being poop coach. I took Krystal outside into the main yard to play with her, and see if she’d poop or pee. She usually is excited to go outside, and I know she hasn’t done either in at least 8 hours. Unfortunately my roommate came home and the minute he opened the door, she darted inside. I didn’t want to force her back out. I’ll try again in a few hours, when (hopefully) the fireworks will have died down.
Worse comes to worse, they poop or pee in their cage, and I’ll clean it up. It’s not like I’ve never done that before. I check on them often enough that if it happens, I should discover it fairly quickly (they’ve rarely done that in their cage ((it’s two extra large crates; i took the side off of one and connected them together so it’s a decent size)) though, even when they’ve been inside all day–such as when we’ve had extremely bad weather)
****
Are there benefits to taking fish oil, and what should you take it for?
http://www.abc.net.au/health/thepulse/stories/2014/07/03/4038465.htm
(excerpt)
I, too, have read that the initial fish-oil study was flawed. Was it here on Pharygula? Or elsewhere on FTB. Maybe Bad Astronomer?
I would look it up, but one of the cats did a righteous hairball on a pillow. The deaf dog pooped in his carrier—the dog who can’t even hear the dang fireworks. And the child of the house is agitating for a hamster.
Even if they can’t hear fireworks, I’m betting that the lower frequencies can be felt at such volumes.
*waves madly*
Good morning!
*hugs* to distribute as wanted/needed
Trip went well. I have just enough time to wash everything, finish up some things at work and then I’m off again. I think this is the only one of my “what I wanted to do when I grow up” plans that actually happened – I’m traveling a lot. Although, I was imagining months in big European capitals like Paris and London… so that part is quite a bit off.
Oh well. It’s all good.
At least I’m not bored and settled into a life of groundhog days. That would be horrible.
Extra *hugs* for Dalillama and kudos to rq for not even trying to lose any of the choir members at Niagara falls, as well as for the successful concert.
-whining ahead-whining ahead-whining ahead-
The kids claim they don’t want me to cancel the birthday party, but they don’t behave like.
Hugs to Dalillama. I’m really sorry it went down all wrong, I hate that. Commiserations and sympathies; I’m in precisely no social arenas 99% of the time and scoring zeros in every social arena in the remaining 1% except for the ones where I’m into negative numbers and I have bunches of privilege (white, cis, neurotypical afaik, “educated”) so it’s only my own stupid fault.
Huge congratulations to rq! That’s fantastic! Pics? Recordings?
Beatrice, are you going to be stopping in London …..? Who knows, maybe we could ::gulps nervously:: meet in town somewhere for a Nice Cup of Tea?!? (I’m scared even to say that because I’m scared to even think of trying to make plans but I know if I don’t say it I’ll regret it). I managed to meet rq and the world didn’t come to an end so I know it isn’t contrary to the laws of physics.
opposablethumbs,
I’m sorry for the misunderstanding, when I said that bit about spending months in big capitals like London was off, I meant waaay off. Like, I’m going east of Croatia instead of west. :)
But if I manage to go west, and in London’s general direction, we’re on.
Ah, I see – slightly different! Never mind, who knows what the future will bring :-)
Happy travels!
Big birthday party -60 minutes and we’re kind of ready.
The first Lego Friends set made its way into our home. While the figures are actually quite nice and you have to build as much as with the original Legos, everybodyi>, including the fucking bear hunting for salmon wears a pink or purple ribbon and bow.
Well yes, Giliell, but if they didn’t put bows on them, how could you tell they’re lady bears? If they don’t enhance the dimorphism, then the men-bears wouldn’t know who to do the sex to. Then they might end up doing Teh Ghey Secks to each other, and who, other than Rush Limbaugh, wants that?
Caitie
You’re right. Stupid me. That’s probably how the dinosaurs died out.
But I guess, since the fish doesn’t wear a bow this is the great misandrist conspiracy to kill and eat all males
I suppose we should be grateful that an oh-so-helpfully-tagged female bear is even hunting. Or is she supposed to just sit and look at it and wait for a male bear to come along and catch the fish?
What genius felt a godsdamn bear needed a hair-bow, ffs.
I think I posted this before, but it deserves to be posted again, after, the 500-comments mark. Beautiful.
Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2014: the shortlist – in pictures http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/jul/02/-sp-astronomy-photographer-of-the-year-2014-shortlist-in-pictures
Bad news.
Peru now has a ‘licence to kill’ environmental protesters http://www.theguardian.com/environment/andes-to-the-amazon/2014/jun/29/peru-licence-to-kill-environmental-protestors
.
Greenpeace India fears charity crackdown under Narendra Modi http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2014/jul/02/greenpeace-india-narendra-modi-intelligence-report-charities-ngo
I have decided that the Fourth of July period in the US (usually a week of idiocy) should be renamed “National PTSD Awareness Week.” I’m (sort of) lucky — my panic attacks are not set off by loud noises (the Cub Scouts, however, should arrive in about 35 minutes, so . . . (then again, I many not set myself off and I may be able to deal with them professionally — not sure yet)). So, hugs to Inaji and all the others hereabouts who are set off by loud noises. Be safe.
Ogvorbis:
Good luck today :)
****
You may need a lot of tissues available after seeing this pic: http://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/gay_dads_welcome_their_newborn_son
Best wishes, Oggie.
Tony!
Aw…poor pup. Hope she’s feeling more confident today.
cicely
I love you.
rq
Congrats!
Og
Kind thoughts and hugs for you.
awakeinmo:
Thanks. She’s fine now. When I woke up today, my roomie had taken them both outside. When I went to check on them, she was her normal self. I presume she did her business at some point already.
****
I have another job interview on Monday. Hope this one goes well.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/07/04/wall-street-journal-fires-20-40-journalists-in-re-evaluation-of-newsroom/
When they hire the next crop of journalists, I wonder where they’ll fall on the political spectrum…
Best of luck for your interview, Tony!
Well, not ‘luck’ but you catch my drift.
Tony! I hope the next interview person/people who see(s) you is/are lucky enough to realise they would be fools not to leap at the chance. All fingers crossed for you.
I’ve posted before about the Moments of Mormon Madness that have led to a Justice Department investigation of attempts to control the daily newspaper market in Salt Lake City, Utah. Steve Benson posted an update and a very good summary.
http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,1313694
Read a few issues of the Deseret News, if you can stand it, to see what sort of pro-mormon pablum and white-washed “news” they print. As Steve Benson said,
This is incredibly disheartening:
(excerpt)
chigau, opposablethumbs:
Many thanks to you both :D
Ogvorbis @550, I don’t have PTSD related to war experiences, but even I see/feel the war connection.
In my neighborhood, local authorities do not enforce fireworks bans. Being awakened at 1 AM and a 2 AM by powerful explosions that sound like they’re in one’s backyard is common. And this goes on for days, not just on the 4th of July.
Lynna:
I’m sorry. I was not trying to imply that PTSD and reaction to loud noises had to be combat related. I knew a man who almost died in a kayaking accident (we’ve fallen out of touch). For the ten years I knew him, any loud, sudden noise would put him into a severe panic attack — his one clear memory from the accident was the sound of his helmet breaking as his head wedged between two rocks. So, no, I didn’t mean to imply that the noise related stress reactions were necessarily combat related PTSD reactions.
Fireworks give my neighbor’s dog a week-long, hide-in-the-bathtub syndrome.
Long post ahead. Was curious if anyone had thoughts on this. Cross Posted from B&W.
Silentbob:
I appreciate the compliment.
I get where you’re coming from re: rude words. But all words have meaning. For them to have impact they must mean something. Some words have multiple layers of meaning. Look at the difference between shit and nigger. Both are insults. Both are considered rude words. But nigger is worse. Why? It’s a word used to dehumanize black people. It’s specific to that group of people (even when it’s used by white people to one another, the history of the word, and the predominate way it is utilized is to dehumanize black people). The word derives it’s additional layer of evil bc it’s a bigoted slur that targets a group of oppressed people. Shit does not. Also, shit isn’t specific to any group of people. It’s a word that can be directed toward anyone and lacks the association with an oppressed group (unlike nigger; I’ll abbreviate the word as N* from here on).
When people use N* as an insult, the word has a meaning. People might quibble over the specific meaning, but the core of the word expresses prejudice and contempt for a group of people based on their actual or perceived race. I’ve been called a nigger in my life twice. The first time occurred when I was a teenager. I remember riding my bicycle to the comic book store and passing through a neighborhood and a young girl was playing in the yard with her parents. She looked up at me, then said to her mother “mommy, it’s a N*”. I remember being taken aback. I didn’t stop, nor did I say anything, but it still stung. And that was before I had any true understanding of the word. I just thought it was bad word white people used to denigrate black people (which was bad enough). I knew little of the history behind it.
That leads to another layer of insult for the word. The history of oppression of black people in the US is long, storied, and still continues to this day. Not in the same ways, true. Black people aren’t-by and large-lynched or mobbed. However, institutionally, socially, politically, economically…racism is still intact. It can be traced back to the days of slavery (and before that really). That history creates a backdrop for the use of a bigoted slur like N*. The word is made worse by being used in a society where black people are still struggling to achieve equality. Were this a more egalitarian society, the use of the word might still sting, but it wouldn’t be backed by a culture that’s permeated with racism. Oddly enough, some people think racism is over and thus, using the word really isn’t that bad (I saw this firsthand on the second occasion someone called me a nigger). But racism still exists, so using that word still stings deeply.
It stings because it’s demeaning. It’s dehumanizing. It’s a word that-at it’s core-is about reminding black people of “their place”.
A word like cunt (C*) is similar in many ways to N*. It’s a word used to denigrate and demean women. It has a long history of usage as a slur. It gains added power bc its used in a society where sexism and misogyny are rampant. It, like N*, means something. At the core, it means a contemptible person. It’s an expression of disgust. . When someone says “You’re a C*”, they’re expressing disgust or contempt with another person, but due to the origins of the word, it still has a strong association with women’s sexuality. It’s saying “you’re a contemptible, disgusting person bc you are, or you are like a woman”.
The same is not true of dick. Historically men have not been subjected to oppression, marginalization, or discrimination (individually, yes, but on a large scale? No). As a result, when the word is used as an insult, it lacks the socio-cultural power that backs N* and C*. They take extra power from social context. There is no social context to grant added power to dick.
So while N*, C*, and D* are all insults and bigoted slurs, D* lacks the social backing of the other two, and as a result it is nowhere near the same type of slur. It simply lacks the weight of oppression to provide a backbone.
I find it odd that you find room to disagree with that, yet in your next post, you say this:
You seem to recognize a difference between insults and gendered (bigoted) slurs. You mention the splash damage caused by using bigoted slurs. I would think you can see how they differ from non-bigoted slurs.
Related to all that, I like that you brought up the word fuck. I comment at Pharyngula a lot, and I use the word with great frequency. In recent months Jason over at Lousy Canuk had a discussion of the word stupid. As I read it, I started thinking about what the word meant. What is it that one is trying to convey when calling someone stupid? That’s neither here nor there at the moment, bc that’s not what I really want to discuss, but it provided a springboard for me to start thinking about other words and insults. Which led to thinking about fuck.
I realized that the word means so many things that I feel it’s lost a lot of impact. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still used as an insult, and people take offense. There are people who are so attached to antiquated and overrated notions of civility, that the mere presence of a word like fuck causes them to lose any ability to parse meaning from sentences. They turn into blithering, foolish, tone trolls. Then there are the religious people who take issue with the word bc profane words…swear words…curse words…they’re an affront to god. It’s not dignified to use such language. God doesn’t like that. To which I flip the bird, bc I’m an atheist and I don’t give a fuck what an imaginary being thinks.
That last sentence there? My use of the word fuck has to mean something, no? In the context of that sentence, I’d say it is meant to grant added weight to my statement. I felt it wasn’t enough to simply say I don’t care. I wanted to apply greater emphasis, thus I used fuck. I’m not an English major, and I suck at breaking down sentences and tenses and all that, but the word almost means “I don’t care”, but more strongly stated.
That’s one usage. I’m sure you’ve seen it.
There are, of course, many more:
Fuck you.
Fuck off.
What the fuck?
Shut the fuck up.
Even assuming that the sexual meaning of the word doesn’t apply (and I’m not so sure that’s the case, but I won’t argue that here), the word still has to mean *something* in those sentences, no? Whatever the meaning is, however, differs in each case. Fuck you is some sort of insult, often conveying anger, extreme disappointment or disgust, or contempt. Fuck off is often used in a manner similar to go away or leave me alone but it’s more intense, more forceful. What the fuck often indicates shock or surprise. But the actual word in the sentence must have some meaning for the sentence to make any sense. What is that meaning? Likewise, shut the fuck up means something. You can tell the fuck is meant to modify something in the sentence. But the actual word fuck appears to mean something different than the way the word is used in the other examples. *
I think this can be confusing when trying to parse the exact meaning of this particular word. Not confusing in that people don’t understand the overall message being conveyed. After all, when someone tells me to Shut the fuck up, I know what message they’re sending me. But to dig deeper, into what fuck means in that sentence, one finds that it’s not entirely clear. And it’s made worse by the fact that fuck means many different things. It’s become the swiss army knife of insults.
*I won’t even touch on insults like ‘fuckface’ or one I _think_ I coined- ‘fucknugget’. Or ‘fucker’. Or ‘You fucking fucker’.
BTW, I appreciate your willingness to talk about this in depth. I’ve encountered some people that tell me I’m thinking too deeply, and while they may have a point, I find nothing wrong with giving this topic considered thought. I’m not harming anyone, just trying to come to a better understanding.
https://proxy.freethought.online/butterfliesandwheels/2014/07/ricky-gervais-still-bravely-expressing-hatred-of-female-genitalia/comment-page-1/#comment-2402109
I left the above comment over at B&W. If anyone has time, I’d love some feedback.
What are you going to rename the 50-odd — some very odd — weeks of the orbit? They are also idiotic is USAlientstan.
I suggest, for simplicity and so it can be remembered by the USAlienstan users, renaming all the weeks to be the same: “Week of the Stoooopid am I”.
Tonight I found a cauliflower hidden in the refrigerator that was starting to be a bit lively, albeit it wasn’t yet trying to kick open the door, plus some cheese which had, amazingly, survived for at least a whole day.
Dinner solved! Cauliflower-and-cheese soup. No onions, so use a ton of garlic, some vin, some fermented goats milk, butter, olive oil, pepper, cauliflower, cheese, tomatoes, and paprika. Very loosely followed Jamie Oliver’s recipe, but omitted the liquidation step as I don’t have the equipment, and besides, don’t mind “chunky” soup.
BUUURRRRRRPPPPHH!1!!!!1!
blf:
No. The week in which July 4th resides is, every year, the week in which almost every street sounds like a combat area. I was trying to express sympathy with those who suffer from PTSD and are set off by loud noises. Sorry I was unclear.
A friend of mine just directed me to this article, which is pretty stunning. What happens when, instead of comparing US student scores to those in other countries, you compare how teachers are treated and their working conditions?
article
Giliell:
I emailed you. (I know you’re busy with birthday party, just let me know what you can when you can)
Back from a short shopping trip with Her Ex-Cellency*, who always remembers my cheer-up stuff (a bit of pubgrub and nostalgic sweets from the local Anglo-Scots import store – a nice steak-and-mushroom pie and some Jacobs’ Club bars, today – or some Jelly Tots and/or weak tea, pretty much any time ever). Got the rent paid, after the Great Form Fiasco of 07/14, thankfully my lovely superintendent Doris is an understanding woman with a strong empathic sense. And she likes me.
Monday, HEC will come over, and we’ll make some phone calls to arrange legal aid for the appeals process (I’m not sure who suggested that above, and I’m out of Can-Do for now, so it’ll have to be post-LDT, but thank you, nameless benefactor, good suggestion!). She’s also printing off the appeals form for me, and will file a personal letter in support, as someone who’s known me intimately for 20 years and watched my disability grow steadily more disabling. She’s an MSW with 20 years’ experience as a social worker and therapist (though she hasn’t practiced in seven years, having moved on to tech writing after burnout), so that will probably help. It’s not allowed in the initial application. Between Portia and HEC, we’ve got a plan sorted out.
Gaming was fun last night; played a game of Battlestar Galactica, which the humans lost (ran out of fuel due to Cylon sabotage). We sorta lost for a metagame reason: I’ve played the game a few times before, and twice been a wildly successful hidden Cylon, subtly sabotaging things until the humans lose. I thus have a reputation as being someone to watch while playing the game, as I am good at that part. So last night, at a crucial moment, they sent me to the Brig (I was Starbuck) instead of into my Viper, and we lost two civilian ships to a second group of Raiders. Both ships were fuel carriers. Lee Adama had gone for one group, but the NPCs after the second group had failed utterly.
And the worst part was, I wasn’t Cylon. The guy who was (playing Chief Tyrol) managed to screw things pretty badly for the BSG, costing us Pegasus before we’d even jumped twice, and they still didn’t believe me that it was him and not me.
But, since that kind of paranoid interaction is part of the spice of what is otherwise a cooperative game, even though we lost, it was fun to play. :)
All of which has meant my pulse is back down to 55 (it was 90+ on Thursday night), and I’m not getting the rushing/pounding noise in my ears that was symptomatic of the bad blood pressure thing I had in March. I was on Thursday and Friday, but a good night of gaming with friends has helped a lot, and so has making A Plan to keep working on the ODSP.
We’ll also be starting to try and organize my existing ability to bring in income, and see what we can do to regularize/enhance it. Things like teaching languages at community centres, developing an accent-modification course for the same milieu, finishing paintings, designing t-shirts, writing, editing, translating, all the things I do, I need to organize myself into how to get them rolling as regular sources. Do a new t-shirt once or twice a week, sort of thing, and a new painting, whatever.
Hopefully. :)
* My ex, bio-mom to my stepchildren, with whom I spent 11 years before she broke up with me 8 years ago. We were able to maintain cordiality through the break-up, for the most part, and have since regained our close friendship. She helps me a lot, I help her when I can – a few spare meds a month can help with her serious chronic migraine problem somewhat – and so I am pleased to dub her thus in the Lounge, where ‘nyms are norms.
More creationism in the class room, courtesy of Ken Ham and Answers in Genesis:
I’m glad there’s pushback on this. Fucking Ken Ham and his lies. Again and again and again.
Menyambal:
If you acquire a house-hamster, I would strongly advise against sinking money into the cute, plastic habitrails tubing, unless you avoid having any of the tubes end with a likewise-plastic cap. Their teeth can gnaw right through those things, without the hamster even having to breathe hard, and then you have a possible demonstration of the food chain as applied to cats and rodents. Un-fun. Expensive.
–
*waving back at Beatrice*
Good prevening!
–
Giliell, that bowed bear just looks ludicrous.
–
*hugs* for Ogvorbis, too late though they be.
–
Tony!, I never un-crossed my tentacles.
:)
Best of good fortune—and good hiring sense in your potential employer—for Monday’s interview.
–
Cicely:
Trust me, we know from surprise projectile vomming. I was thinking of dressing the Darkling in one of my old t-shirts, so if we had an unpleasant episode, we could just toss the shirt ASAP.
Carlie:
Excellent! I picked up a couple of coloring books just today and haven’t given them to Darkling yet. I’ll keep them hidden and pick up a couple of new toys this week.
Thankfully, most of my trip is on the Mass Pike, so there will be plenty of places to pull over to stop.
Visited my mother for the 4th. Her cat is a total stoner. She regularly goes out and rolls her face all over the pot of catnip on the back porch. Last night, my mother thought she needed a break from this and set the plant out of reach. So stoner cat woke me up at 5am this morning by yowling right in my ear.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Portia (#437)
If there are any TNR programs in the area, they might have a cat trap they could lend your cousin to get the cat back.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Giliell (#512)
That’s been a thing for ages. I mean, they gave them out at birthdays when I was a little kid 30-some years ago. We called them “party favors.” If you had a theme party, you got party favors to match.
One of the Redhead’s friends wants to start up another Mah Jongg group. They don’t know how to play, so the Redhead will get back into teaching mode. Meanwhile, the chronically tired Nerd has to clean up the house a bit for the teaching session here. Since the Redhead’s parents are coming in a couple of weeks for an extended visit, just a preliminary cleaning (guest bed? I don’t see it due to the debris). At least a chunk of the house plants are outdoors and soaked with the watering wand tonight, and might catch a grumble storm tomorrow.
In which misogyny makes people so clueless they end up being accidentally helpful: Dipshits on 4chan try to “prank” the Tumblr staff by sending them free tampons.
A. Noyd
“Hey. HEY! I know you can get the good shit, man, now hook me up!”
A real oopsy this week. Cleaning my office at work, and moved the Merck Index (about a 3.5″ hardcover reference book) and Aldrich Catalog (same size, but softcover) to do some rearranging. Unfortunately, I had moved them to a piece of paper on top of my trifocals. Frame squashed, lenses fine. Able to get by due to the fact I bought trifocal safety glasses when I bought the others. Finely able to get over to Gurnee Mills (on the other side of Great America from me, took the long road) today, and replaced the frames. Got back just in time, as the Redhead needed the commode.
Maybe PZ will blog about this:
http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/10-states-where-guns-are-most-likely-and-least-likely-kill-people?paging=off¤t_page=1
just to drive the gundamentalists out of their gourd. How long has it been since he tried to increase his page hits?
Don’t have time to hang out, though I’d like to. Mom and I are having a movie night. But I wanted to update that the kitty came back to Cousin’s house. They haven’t physically lured him inside yet, fireworks spook kitties too, it seems. But he came back for food. Good call, Dalillama. :) Thanks for the idea, A. Noyd, too. Hopefully it won’t be necessary.
*hugs* all around, as desired.
~whirls back away~
Portia:
Funny you said that. I’m sitting here reading a few comics. With Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. The idea of you whirling away reminds me of how Diana Price would whirl in circles and transform into Wonder Woman back on the old tv show. Then that circles back around to your dual occupations-firefighter and lawyer. I’m imagining you whirling around and transforming from your day to day lawyer attire-where you’re battling injustice-to your firefighter uniform-where you help put out fires.
You’re
kindacool.For lovers of squids everywhere: http://www.freakingnews.com/pictures/9000/Squid-lizard–9222.jpg
Good morning
I survive dthe party and so did all the guests.
I had a few things prepared to calm them down when they got a bit over-excited (I didn’t fancy explaining to some parent that their kid fell head first out of the upper bunk bed).
And now for being stupid: One of the kids is muslim (not the refugee girl, who didn’t come). I remembered this when I made the cake. No gelatin or such. And then I packed the goodie bags and packed gummibears. head->desk
She asked if they were with gelatin and since I didn’t have the packing aymore I said yes, but I was sure I had I had some without. Guess what shape they were…
Yes, piggies. While this was good enough for the kid, she also ate them all before going home. I’m not sure if that was just binging on sweets…
Also, apparently at 7 years the word “penis” is in and on itself hilarious. Then they started to endow their femalish shaped colouring figures (that Topmodel bullshit, you remember) with penises.
“Look! The woman has a penis!!!!” To which my reaction was “Yes, that happens. There are actually women who have a penis.”
Portia
I’ll get back to you this morning
opposablethumbs
Don’t worry, there are no male characters in the girl sets. Children’s toys are as neatly segregated as an islamistic conference on gender equality.
Menyambal
Is the kid aware that hamsters are usually awake at night?
Alexandra
As a long term investment (if you do such trips more often) I suggest a portable DVD player with car screens. You can call me names for not being crunchy enough, but this thing makes our holiday trips much more comfortable.
Also, my mother decided that her shame over her most recent episode was more important than calling her granddaughter for her birthday. So much for her deep love for that child…
Giliell:
Glad the party went relatively smoothly.
“crunchy enough”? I don’t understand what you mean here.
Sorry to hear that your mother didn’t even call. Did your daughter notice?
Tony
Ah, you don’t know the trope of the holier than thou crunchy granola mum whose children only have all organic, all natural, “chemical free” things and whose mothers are religiously devoted to their offspring and who will tell you that you’re guilty of child abuse if you’re not.
Don’t know if the kid noticed with all the fun and attention she got. I won’t ask, because if she didn’T notice, I’d bring it to her attention….
Amazonia-world!
Srsly, though, sheesh ::rolleyes::
Sorry your mum didn’t call her,and I hope she never noticed. Pity the recent-arrival little girl couldn’t make it. Sounds like the party was a success, though!
Argh for accidentally trashing your glasses, Nerd – is that covered by insurance?
Fingers crossed for your appeal plans, CaitieCat.
No, couldn’t see at the time, and therefore is an “act of sky faerie”.
Had he been able to see at the time (that is, wearing the things), it still wouldn’t count, since he then obviously failed to take preventive action. And besides, sacking yerself on the head with a big book (or a desktop) is not covered.
Probably, but I have a high deductible.
No texac tly .. .. .
Besides, how can it possibly be a party if there are survivors?
(I suppose this may explain the mildly deranged penguin’s continuing absence, she found a really good party…)
You prefer the cat to widdle in yer ear ?
Just for the record, the glasses incident happened at work, where I had my home trifocals (used to drive to work), my work safety trifocals, and my work safety bifocals (medium and close lenses) which I use in the office and lab. It was my home trifocals that got trashed. But I was able to drive around safely thanks to the work safety trifocals.
Another reason insurance won’t cover any portion of the loss. The glasses are for use at home. Nerd wasn’t. Which means when he isn’t at home or work, he isn’t covered at all, he doesn’t have any “driving” or “shopping” or “eating in a restaurant” or “defending the cheeseboard” eyeglasses…
Dalillama:
*hugs* It’s so hard to force oneself to go to those things. I hope you’re feeling a little less crappy by now, but I’m really sorry it got you so down. *hugs* and kudos for getting up the gumption to go.
–
Beatrice:
You sound very happy. :D Enjoy the travels.
–
Giliell:
Glad you survived the party – sounds like it was without major problems, and you handled the minor ones with aplomb. Glad the kid was a good sport about the pig-shaped candy:) Sorry your mom was not a good sport, as usual. *hugs*
–
Ogvorbis:
I second the motion.
–
A. Noyd:
Well, did you help the cat out? It was counting on you! ^_^
–
Tony:
That’s the coolest compliment I’ve heard in a really long time. Even moreso because Wonder Woman is kind of my favorite. I have WW jammies, and a WW workout bag. A friend got me two LEGO figures at the Chicago LEGO store: a firefighter and a WW :D
Thanks for making my morning:) (That transition does sometimes happen with shocking speed, ha, if I have to change out of a suit into clothes that will go under fire gear).
–
Giliell (again) got your email, thanks for sending that. Hopefully I can sort it out with customer service.
Missing Crudely Wrott – hope he’s doing ok.
I think I might have hypercalcemia from the vitamin D supplements my doctor put me on a couple of weeks ago. Took until last night to realize that might be why I suddenly have a constant headache and have been falling asleep several times a day. I’m currently in that “I’ll treat it at home myself until the office opens tomorrow because I hate calling after hours” mode. Blargh. Off to drink more gatorade and tomato juice.
Portia (#594)
Then she should have woken me up with bacon and a bowl of fresh picked thimbleberries! She was so rude I ignored her and went back to sleep for a few hours.
A. Noyd:
Fair’s fair.
Seconding carlie about Crudely Wrott.
Also, has anyone heard from Crip Dyke’s ?
oops. Please ignore the ‘s at the end of her nym.
Little evil crawly things warning:
Something that isn’t a mosquito bit me (my arm actually hurts a bit). Since I haven’t been out today, it means the bite has come from inside the house.
O.O
Do I understand correctly that Nerd trashed his glasses while cleaning up or straightening up his work area?If so, let this be a lesson to us all. Cleaning up is dangerous.
In other news, /a> has a roundup of gun accidents that is impressive, deadly, and depressing.
Fuck.
I had a bill coming due for $50, which I had just enough to cover, but when I went to check my account, a debit for $49.70 was taken out for *something* and I don’t know what. I’m going to contest it with the bank, but that doesn’t get the money back immediately. I did not need this shit.
Damn. Big fail in closing link tag. Should have been: Daily Kos link.
Tony, you has empathy from me. My bank just charged me $40 for some kind of funds transfer that I did not initiate (that I did not initiate knowingly at least).
Cleaning up the front room for Redhead’s Mah Jongg lesson tomorrow. Got the table and chairs out, table cloth in the washer, debris cleaned up, and showed it the vacuum. I’m trying to get through tomorrow. The Redhead is thinking about getting ready for her parents visit and thereafter. Augh.
[‘rupt] with *minion umbrellas*
Oooooh maaaan… So yesterday was supposed to be the happy end of big concerting, and with that in mind, we all headed back to our rooms after the group choir concert with thoughts of parties and going out that evening.
Until our conductor discovered that someone booked him for the wrong dates and all his stuff had been bagged and removed from the room and left in storage. Chaos and frustration ensued. I feel guilty for that, even though I wasn’t the one taking care of his rooms, but I was promised it would be taken care of, and was fairly confident of that, since the head guy organizing the festival was taking care of it. And I know the guy, he’s a close family friend, and I’m just so disappointed. Especially since he tried making stupid jokes about it, once he actually started picking up his phone and realizing there was an issue to resolve.
And here I thought all drama would be over. (Things got settled enough for them (conductor + concert pianist wife) to stay the night in the soloist room, but nobody’s particularly happy or satisfied today.)
Anyway, I went out last night and danced on some tables to relieve frustration. It worked rather well, especially since, at the very close of my night, I ran into the lead singer of a very popular Latvian band, and being in a rather uninhibited state, I took the chance and shook his hand and told him he did a good job, and told him about our conductor, since he also works part-time as a clarinetist for the professional brass band, whose artistic director happens to be my choir’s conductor. Instant friendship, haha! :P Then my brother took me back to my hotel room. :)
Also, despite all our friendly conversations, I have a feeling the Chorister Who Offered is having a difficult time with all the feelings. :( Oh well, as of tomorrow we won’t be living in such close quarters and things will get better.
This awesome trip is coming to a close. Too much emotions all over, for me. In a good way. Just unaccustomed and really intense, and I’ll be sad and relieved when it’s all over.
*hugs* for the HugTruck!
[/’rupt]
Gilliel:
I’m pretty much the anti-crunchy mom. I limit Darkling’s tv time in regular circumstances (she watches a little bit because, hell, I like tv), but I’m cool with her watching more in this kind of circumstance. I was actually trying to think of a cheap/easy way to attach my tablet to the back of the seat in front of her and let her watch movies.
Fucking christian bigots:
Governor Rick Perry clings to conspiracy theories, and has trouble with dependent clauses:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/perry-obama-border-ulterior-motive
That’s right, the anti-abortion forces are winning.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/abortion-doctors-fear-successor-shortage-b99304541z1-265919091.html
I need someone to identify this. (Image NSFL.)
I’ll be in fetal position, trying to forget I ever saw that…
WMDKitty:
Dear god!
What in the ever loving FUCK was that?!!!!
(I know, you don’t know…I just needed to get that out there)
OMG, that was retch-worthy.
Goosebumps up and down my body!
Tony
I knooooow! I’m never. sleeping. again.
And the worst part? It looks like it has eyes!
Never. Sleeping. Again.
*weeps*
WMDKitty:
I asked around on Facebook. A few friends found images of seed pods that look quite similar to your image.
There’s also this, from Snopes. The image was claimed to be a breast rash similar to your image. It was rated false on Snopes. It’s pretty damned creepy too even if it is false.
I think a few people (portia? carlie?) watch Orange Is the New Black. Here are some Disney characters playing the role of cast members of the show.
WMDKitty (#611)
It’s a lotus flower pod photoshopped to look like an abcess. Here’s a Google translation of some info in Italian about how it’s a hoax.
WMDKitty:
Here’s something to take your mind off that creepy image (I know it’s not real ((thanks A. Noyd)), but it is still creepy as fuck). This short video made me laugh out loud.
It’s about a cat.
Oh, apropos of nothing much but thinking of Darkling and kids in general and films – we totally limited TV when they were little, and because kids often like to eat while watching – and sometimes it’s desirable to increase fruit and veg intake – we would always give them a big (sometimes huge) lot of fruit and carrots all chopped into bitesize pieces for snacking while watching films or documentaries and stuff, and they have been devoted fruit and carrot devourers ever since.
rq, what a pain to have to deal with shenanigans just at the end! But congrats on the tour – and on the table dancing too :-)
FYI – on Tuesday, IHOP is doing an anniversary special and selling pancake short stacks for fifty-six cents. Not the best place in the world to eat, but if you need a cheap meal this week and are near one, you could do worse.
(a short stack is 3 pancakes)
Tony!
Adorable. *falls over dead*
All ready for the Mah Jongg lesson except for vacuuming the sun room where the Redhead hangs out. Since the doors can be closed, I don’t have a problem. My ginger haired life’s partner has other ideas….
Tony:
*hugs*
–
I hate accounting. I keep the books for the firefighter fundraisng/community engagement group, and I haaaate it. We all take a turn. I am not good at this. It’s not even that complicated.
–
I have a new prospective friend whom I met at court, she’s a young attorney at a local firm. We became facebook friends, and I see that her husband is a Lutheran pastor. My first thought is “I wonder if I can evangelize to her about the joys of unbelief.” ;) Though I guess I have no reason to know if she herself is religious.
–
I’m proud of myself for doing better at building new friendships and sustaining old ones, though. I realized that that part of my life had gone by the wayside during my looooong relationship. And to the end of giving and receiving fulfilling friendship, I’m making an effort and getting myself out there more. I invited another newer friend to see a play next week. Go me.
Portia:
Thank you my friend.
****
Florida could be next: http://www.keysnet.com/2014/07/04/497617/all-eyes-on-keys-same-sex-marriage.html
Another one for my private store of special surprises for player characters!
Thanks, Tony!.
–
Giliell:
Especially when they’ve gnawed their way out of the habitrails and to what they think is freedom?
Luckily, I would always be awakened by the sound of their little nails ticking away on the floor as they scuttled along the baseboards…and look to the foot of the bed to see a most alert Junior Carnivore wearing a look of keen and focused interest.
“Well, hello, little ambulatory cat treat!”
(Later)
Son’s young-boy-hood pre-dated the wide availability of portable DVD players with car screens, but was luckily just in time for the first-gen Game Boys (which we still have, and which still even works!, which got him quietly and happily through many an eight-hour trip across Oklahoma. I will always harbor a soft spot for Nintendo on that account.
–
carlie
Me, too…and me, too.
Does anybody know?
–
Tony!:
Another good question.
And what of JAL?
Improbable Joe?
(Later)
Can you check your account on-line? The time some asshole in Saudi Arabia amused hirself with our bank account, that’s where we caught it, first.
–
Beatrice:
Quick! Get out!!!
There’s a chainsaw-wielding insect (or possibly an arachnid) in your house!
–
Lynna:
Indeed! My shoulders are indignantly telling me that I should not have risked scrubbing down the kitchen cabinets (or at least, such of them as could be scrubbed from a sitting position).
Even now, I can feel them plotting vengeance.
–
*hugs* and sympathy for Nerd.
I wonder if simply showing the cleaner and rags to the remaining cabinetry would be efficacious….
Otherwise, The Husband will have to do it, which makes me feel bad, ’cause he has to do so much already.
:(
–
*hugs* for rq. I’m sorry that you are experiencing unnecessary drama.
–
WMDKitty, I’m holding hard to the hope that that is either photoshoppery, or make-up and latex appliances.
(Slightly Later)
*whew!* Photoshoppery. Hurray!
Thank Glob for Snopes!
–
cicely:
I could swear I saw JAL post in one of PZ’s threads in the last week or two.
And I think I’ve seen Improbable Joe over at B&W recently as well.
cicely:
I think the last I saw of IJ was here.
JAL last showed up (I think) on the previous page of this Lounge iteration.
Tony!:
Thanks.
I think I missed most of the previously Loungeration.
–
Hello! I’m here.
Also tired, and no closer to solving my problems.
Whatever.
Oh, and Typhoon Neoguri is looking very dangerous for the Ryukyus.
Good morning
cicely
Hehe, I still got mine. Though I was already a bit older then. Our holiday trips were even before Walkmen were a thing for common people, so there were always fights about casettes.
+++
hugs for Tony
+++
Joe is quite active on twitter
+++
rq
What a mess.
HOw’s everything else going? Did you reschedule your flights?
+++
TW transphobia
Last night I watched a documentary about the NY Pride.
They talked a lot about Stonewall, and for the first 2/3 they completely erased trans* people. When they then mentioned them i wished they’d kept being quiet. The sentence was, I kid you not, ” the riot was started by the most marginalized group, t-slur, gay men in women’s dresses”. My chin still hurts from hitting the table. I tweeted at the tv channel, but they haven’t replied yet.
Ha ha, Danish design rocks. http://satwcomic.com/scandinavian-design
Hi everyone.
*hugs* and *confetti* in equal measure to all.
My daughter has not been well over the weekend (running nose, temperature and conjunctivitis) and this morning she was still not quite right so she’s gone to my mother-in-laws. I made her breakfast and sorted a few things out, so ended up later for work than I’d like. Not that anyone particularly noticed!
….and it’s my birthday! Things could be better. I may manage a drink later.
bassmike:
Happy birthday to you my friend. I hope your day goes swimmingly and I hope your daughter feels better soon.
Happy birthday, bassmike – hope the day improves! And I hope daughter’s health improves too, poor mite (and poor parents dealing with it). Here’s to the chance of a drink later.
Happy Birthday and chocolate and confetti, bassmike!
hope the little one feels better soon. *hugs*
Happy Birthday, bassmike!
thunk
I hope things improve for you.
…
bassmike
Happy Birthday.
Happy birthday, bassmike!! Here’s a song for you – not one of our newest, but one of the better ones we have online. :) Hope your daughter gets well soon, and that the rest of your day improves. :) *hugs* and I hope you manage that drink later!
(Also, I’ll soon be back to ‘normal’ timezones… ;) )
Giliell
Everything else is going well. Because it’s all done.
Today I’m being carted off to my Big Brother’s up in Sudbury (yay!!!), and no tickets need rescheduling (well, it just can’t be done, but we talked to my mum and it shouldn’t be too bad since the two older ones are quite sensible most of the time, and if they don’t have too much external stimuli, they should keep well in hand).
I’m part-relieved, part-sad. It was a grand adventure. :)
Happy Birthday, bassmike
+++
Just my luck:
For school today I made #1 a special cake, one with the number 7 backed in in rainbow colours. They didn’t cut it into slices but into smaller pieces so they could better share… That was like 2 extra hours of work…
Yay rq
*hugs* thunk
+++
Alos, my tablet died. Every time I’ve saved enough money to replace the still functioning yet getting old camera, some device that I can’t do without dies…
*shambles into the lounge, mechanically flipping through a pile of correspondence he must have found on his office desk*
Ahoy hoy everyone! First of all, Happy Birthday bassmike. May all thy wishes come true (please be careful though).
In other news, back from a wondrous and terrible trip to Washington I am. Thanks for the good wishes, my presentation went well. Even more so, it was pretty awesome, owing mostly to a very benevolent and interested audience.
Had a few seriously strange experiences up there:
Dinner on Thursday with a real bro who pretty much started out by relating his “funny” experiences in Europe when he and his buddy wanted to go to a strip club but accidentally ended up in a brothel… plus some prostitute stories about Amsterdam… etc. (I was restrained by the fact of being a guest-who-could-not-afford-to-leave, so I could steer the conversation only slowly away from that).
Lunch on Friday (and fireworks on the National Mall, for that matter) with what turned out to be a catholic parish – they were nice and all, but damn I had to tiptoe my way around certain topics and had to swallow some comments. At least they were not (outwardly) judgemental of my professed atheism.
Hanging out on Saturday night while having to fend of notions that the Israelis should “just level the whole Gaza strip” and similar awkward opinions…
Breakfast on Sunday including an awkwardly superstitious mother who related her story of how some catholic rite cured her daughter from some strange disease after a year of failed treatment by physicians.
Seems that whenever I enter a new surrounding here in the US, something weird is bound to happen.
In any case, please excuse my rambling – I’m naturally threadrupt (if still annoyed by Holly Hobby Lobby), so I’ll try to catch up!
Thanks everyone for your birthday wishes. rq the song was very good as I’ve learned to expect from your choir. Giliell the cake looks great!
Sadly, I’m not feeling in a particularly celebratory mood at the moment. Maybe I will later. Please feel free to celebrate on my behalf. Have a hang-over on me.
Gorogh I’m pleased the presentation went well. It’s a shame that you had to experience so much other crap on your trip.
rq re your choir tour: I find that the come-down from such trips is proportional to how good the trip was. It sounds like everyone had a good time despite the odd issue here and there.
For now and for what it’s worth, …
… Tony, your Lovecraft-copyright posts miraculously reappeared, or were (less miraculously) regurgitated. More importantly, good luck for your job interview today!
… rq, congratulations on your successful trip.
… Alexandra and/or carlie, DarkToddler is an awesome expression. I still won’t like to have children around, but giving them funny names makes the thought less disconcerting.
Off to lunch, see you later.
bassmike, I offer hugs if wanted, and something a friend decided in regards to birthdays: Your birthday isn’t over until the next one, so you have a whole year to feel celebratory. Or not. Whatever you decide.
Gorogh, you may be unaware of the origins of the name which has a royal and ancient history. Alexandra (née Audley) was formerly Darkheart by nym. There has thus been, at the appropriate time in each case, a certain DarkFoetus (or DarkFetus, as some people will persist in spelling it ;-) ), subsequently DarkBaby and now DarkToddler.
There is also a truly stunning blanket of DarkDuckies made for her by the amazing Inaji, which is awesome to behold; their number includes a ZombieDucky, a VampireDucky, a PirateDucky and other duckies whose names for the moment escape me.
Perhaps someone will be kind enough to link the pic.
Thy wish is my command
http://needleprovocateur.wordpress.com/tag/darkfetus/
:-D!
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/07/07/1311462/-Cartoon-Corporations-are-religious-nbsp-people
Good cartoon.
Daily Kos link.
Okay, let’s repeat this once again: contraceptives work to lower the number of teen pregnancies. Abstinence Only sex education does not
More data, this time from Colorado.
So, Gitmo detainees are not people, but corporations are. Lawyers for Gitmo detainees are now using the Hobby Lobby decision to fight for more religious rights for their clients.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/guantanamo-detainees-hobby-lobby
Where will it end! opposablethumbs, thanks for the excursion on blog history… and wow, Inaji, that is one inspiring piece of work you did there. That must be one happy Darkling.
If James Lincoln Collier refers to others calling President Obama, “the [N-word] in the White House,” should you use that quote in a newspaper headline?
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/west-view-news-headline-james-lincoln-collier-headline-n-word
Video at the link.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/truckers-troll-environmentalists-rolling-coal
Happy birthday, bassmike!
*cake&ice cream&hugs*
I hope your daughter’s health, and life in general, improves soon.
Immediately would be good.
–
Gorogh, I’m glad that your presentation went well.
:)
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Ah, the awesomeness of the DarkDuckies, revisited!
I think I like the VampireDucky best.
ATM.
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Fox News is, once again, on the case when it comes to fighting the evil scourge of feminism.
Think Progress link.
Well cicely that’s probably because CthulhuDucky is still work in progress. Me, I’m more into ZombieDucky right now, but will gladly acknowledge any octopoid usurpation.
Lynna, thanks for the links, as usual. I wasn’t ragey enough, now I am.
You prefer bacon and berries shoved in yer ear ?!
With or without hairballs ?
Making the Flash work. A short clip discussing some of the technical aspects of the upcoming CW show.
Federal judge tells SCOTUS to ‘shut the fuck up’:
I’d add that it doesn’t look misogynistic and religiously motivated.
The Hobby Lobby decision *was* misogynistic and religiously motivated.
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I also find it odd (as a layperson with no understanding of law) that SCOTUS took up this case, but has thus far not ruled on marriage equality. Of the two, one-the bans on same sex marriage-have been ruled by judges across the country as unconstitutional.
somewhat ‘rupt. Still in a finacial hole with utilities coming due this week and no money to pay them. I didn’t work on the 4th, so my check this week will be smaller, and L’s business has been deeply slow still. Feh.
bassmike
Happy bday.
Tony!
Best wishes for the interview.
portia
*hugs*
A Noyd#575
Some years back our former roommates had a cat who loved him some catnip. At one point he shoved his nose into a small dish full of weed and snuffled and licked a bit before rearing back his head with an expression of horrified betrayal on his face that said “This is not catnip!! What have you done?”
The raping children cult in action, Inquiry opens into Calabrian church’s ‘homage’ to ‘Ndrangheta mafia boss: “Clergy and mayor defy pope’s attack on mafia by reportedly diverting church parade past mobster under house arrest”.
Another attempt to blow smoke in peoples eyes, Pope Francis lambasts Catholic bishops who helped cover up child abuse:
re Lynna’s #650 on the teen birthrate in Colorado: I clicked through to the original source article. Here’s the headline the Denver Post used.
Colorado claims contraceptive program caused big drop in teen birth rates
They claaaaim contraceptives cause teen birth rates (and abortion rates) to drop.
Complete with fair-and-balanced-both-sides-reporting:
The five-year program provided low-income teens with IUDs and implants, forms of contraception that are expensive up front but essentially mistake-proof, sabotage-proof, and often concealable once placed. It was funded entirely by a private, anonymous donor.
My hat’s off to this anonymous donor for improving so many lives across an entire state at a single stroke. Now that’s the way to use private wealth for good.
Nothing odd about it at all. The case involved Big Money Intere$t$, so it was important they got their way, and those pesky lower courts weren’t giving in.
The other example does not have a direct connection to any BM$$ and hence is not important.
So, #1 got “Frozen” on DVD for her birthday and we watched it today. Now, the setup, 2 sisters close enough in age to play together as kiddies is not that unfamiliar a scenario here, minus magic and kingdom, so #1 was very, very upset when Elsa fucked everything up, sent her sister away and seriously hurt her. “but they are sisters, they need to get back together again!!!”
Maybe I can appeal to her better nature in the future by reminding her not to go all Elsa on her sister…
In general I liked the film, especially Anna, of course, who is kick-ass, gets shit done and who grows from a silly girl swayed by the first guy to talk to her to a sensible young woman who takes charge of her own love life. But as usually, even a movie with two female leads manages to seriously lack in female support characters. Really, would it have been so hard to make the reindeer a female? the shopkeeper? One of the bazillion officials? The troll society looked much more appealing…
Giliell, my niece (~4 years) has acute princess-mania, it’s really disheartening sometimes. But then she loved Merida and Frozen, which indicates there is some hope for that to change.
Aware of the fact that this question is rhethorical in nature: It’s ridiculously easy, especially if your story takes place in a fantasy setting – i.e. you don’t try to emulate the really existing status quo. As a personal aside, for my role-playing campaigns* I simply role a dice for most random characters, and for the important ones I just try to consciously balance it out. One could extend that to gender and sexuality, of course…
*With modern rulebooks like D&D’s or Pathfinder’s doing an IMHO great job in conveying an equality ideal, up to the point of alternating between the male (“generic”) and female grammatical genus, but also switching sexes between characters. I don’t know all too many RPG systems though, I’m sure there are counterexamples.
Dalillama:
Thanks, friend.
Tony:
Hope today goes well. *hugs*
Cait:
I missed your good news before. So glad Her Ex-cellency is taking good care of you. *hugs*
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I have a work-out date tonight (again) with a Person In Whom I Have An Interest. I’m not sure it will go anywhere, but I think I’m getting good signals from him. We shall see.
Good luck Portia (or whatever it takes… maybe just absence of bad luck…)!
Best wishes for your date, Portia!
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Happy birthday, bassmike!
Today at McDonald’s:
Man buying happy meal for little kid. Asks about the toys.
Server: “Oh, a girl? But we only have dragons.”
o.O
Only!? He wasn’t happy about the dragons for his girl either.
People are dumb.
Portia
Weeee!!
Have fun! (with extra shoulder bumps, nudge nudge wink winks and go get him! :D)
I went down to the restaurant around 2:00. They were still on a wait, which is not the time to apply for a job (even though 2-4 is usually the best time). I asked for an app, and was told that policy is to fill it out off premises (which I can understand). As I didn’t have an official meeting (my friend told her bosses about me), I opted to fill out the app and I’ll return it tomorrow, that way management has my information on hand and know something about me.
Thankfully a friend of mine loaned me $500 so that I don’t have to stress about money for a few weeks, aside from cab fare. Even there, thankfully the regular drivers I call have cut me a few deals (heck my guy today told me he’d swing by my house tomorrow and drop off my app so I don’t have to spend money for a round trip; he’s also told me that he’ll set me up on a discounted payment plan when I get a job so I can pay him something weekly until I get money in my pocket–he’s a nice guy).
Portia:
Good luck.
Any body have a good solution for moron, juvenile bosses? Mine is getting to the limit.
I suggest Aqua Regia. :3
Hm it’s nice you have some decent folk around, Tony, this place’s social security sucks big time.
My best wishes for the interview still apply of course! I don’t really get the fill-it-out-outside-the-premises part though – is it so customers don’t feel unduly exposed to the backend of the business?
*scratches head*
As to moron, juvenile bosses, could you elaborate, original Sandi?
Dallas News link.
Texas attorney General Greg Abbott wants to be the next governor of Texas. So far he’s looking like a total fool … so maybe his dreams will come true.
I like the Dallas News story for the way it highlights people trying to follow Abbott’s advice to find out where dangerous chemicals are stored.
Gorogh:
Yeah, it puzzled me too. If I had to guess, they don’t want to take seats away from potential customers. Of course it was 2pm, and some of the sections were closed so it’s not like there were no tables one could sit down at. Oh well.
A super typhoon is headed for Japan. Already damaged nuclear plants may suffer more damage. The NASA images from space are mondo scary.
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/07/supertyphoon-neoguri-japan-nuclear-plants-fukushima
Al-Jazeera is on point about the discussion surrounding spree killers in the US:
(excerpt)
blf (#658)
I’m not sure it’s even possible to shove a thimbleberry in your ear. They’re very fragile.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Dalillama (#661)
Well, of course he looked betrayed. Cats need serious help if they’re going to smoke weed. Their thumbs don’t work for rolling joints or flicking lighters.
I can’t imagine how much cat food I’d go through if my cats smoked weed.
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Dutch court tells Amsterdam to rethink ‘Black Pete’:
NEW THREAD.