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
?
chigau @1
Cute froggy is cute.
Morgan #2
What do you see here ??
chigau @ 3, I don’t know about Morgan, but I see something in sore need of cleanup. [Hands chigau a pooper scooper]
Who let the Creeper into the Lounge?
I’ve started trying to teach myself guitar again. At the moment, it’s more like getting my fingers back in shape so I can try to move my learning along some. My dad was a music teacher in the public schools and he also taught guitar at a music school/store in addtion to playing guitar himself since he was 14 or so (he actually started on the ukelele, which apparently has the same top 4 strings). Unfortunately, he lives an hour away, and driving that far for a lesson once a week is not something I want to do. Plus, since I know music already (started playing trombone when I was in 6th grade/12 yrs old, had a music theory class in high school, plus listening to dad my whole life), I think he tends to skip around in his teaching with me. I plan on seeing how far I can get with some intro books and maybe videos online.
PZ needs some ocelots
The Redhead will finally be getting her brautwurst tonight. After work, I got it boiled in beer/onions, the seared on the grill, and grill put away before any rain hit. Now to serve it with a pickle, German potato salad, corn on the cob, and maybe Boston style baked beans. My sides will be different.
I thought PZ had most emojis turned off.
I don’t think everyone can see them.
???????????
chigau 8
I can see them. Or most of them. In 8, there are a couple of yellow, well, brain bowls with the old Kool-Aid face on them interspersed with color squares in darkening shades of brown. Not sure if hte squares are supposed to be something different.
Nerd 7
Got enough for guests? ‘Cause that sounds dee-lish.
Ooooh. chigau 8 again
In the email version, I can now see what your emojis are supposed to be. 6 little girls in pigtails of various skin colors. (I know — brain bowls? I must need new glasses. It’s the gloss on the yellow hair.)
chigau @3
A smiling little pile of shit!
Are you close to Chiwaukee (my name for the strip of cities from Chicago to Milwaukee)? The Redhead loves visitors.
I’m sad because I keep arriving late to threads. Everybody’s said all the reasonable discussion points you can have on any given topic and the trolls have been dispatched.
#firstworldproblems
ajb47
Your email version is what I typed.
6 identical except for skin colour girls.
Morgan
Happy Poo it is!
Oh,dear LC @13 ! What have I [intermittent lurker/ commenter] missed !?
Reviewing as (not so smart) phone permits…..
*WAVING TO ALL*
*Wave back to bluentx.*
Okay, so sometimes NOT having Ad blocker app IS amusing : “BEN CARSON FOR PRESIDENT 2016″…….. HAHAHAHAHA……!!!!!!!
: ) to chigau9
Apparently, (not so smart phone) and finger not on same wavelength. Have no idea what last digit in # 18 means.
SHOULD MEAN : “Hi, ya chigau!”
Nerd of Redhead @12
Just outside Philadelphia. But I do have friends that live in Chicago, so visits are not out of the question. Just… visits tonight, or relatively soon.
Update on Kid: tough couple of days. His dad wouldn’t respond to phone calls all day yesterday, and he didn’t have some of his prescription meds. But his dad called back today and we negotiated to get some of his things today and some Friday, went and got the most important things without incident (including the bearded dragon that he was really worried about). Spent four hours at the county social services office to find out that he doesn’t have the right ID for processing for any type of assistance, but did find out that even though he’s 18 his parents are still responsible for his care/child support until he’s 21. He has his phone back now, so he can call his relatives (the ones a few hours away) to see how soon they can take him in, and hopefully we’ll have an answer before we go back for the return appointment next week. He was also able to contact his sister. She didn’t want to take his cat in its current state (long story), but I found an animal refuge that will pay for the cat to be spayed and brought up to date on shots, and she will probably take the cat once that happens. There are a few doctors’ appointments and things in the meantime, but we’re starting to get a handle on where he has to be and when. It’s going to be tricky maneuvering those around the things we have to do and when, but we’ll figure something out. I’m exhausted and strung out and now very behind at work, but I think if I get a good night’s sleep tonight I’ll be ok. I’m kind of enjoying watching my cat freak out over this lizard.
carlie, you are a very good person. The kid is lucky to have you in his life. I wish all of you the best.
carlie, you are a very good person. I’m so glad Kid knew he could call on you when he really needed help.
chigau @3:
That looks like a dung monster.
carlie @21:
That kid is very lucky to have you and your family in his life. You are an awesome person!
carlie @21
It is a really good thing you are doing.
carlie, I wish there were more people like you.
I think the pixels in PZs image is….JEEEZUS! But why is he wearing two heads?
Carlie
You’re doing wonderful work. I’m glad the parents are at least responsible until 21. It’s 25 in Germany, because how could you expect an 18 yo to fend for themselves?
+++
re: Greece
You know, I totally agree that German politics were a leading factor in the current crisis, starting with the creation of the Euro and the inclusion of countries like Greece. But they were hardly alone. By now it looks like every other country and institution was against everything from the start and really, it’s all Germany’s fault. Last I looked the IMF wasn’t a German institution and Lagarde and Merkel are different people.
Was discussing with a religious friend of mine and this article popped up: http://www.academia.edu/3291330/Rethinking_Disagreement_Philosophical_Incommensurability_and_Meta-Philosophy
Could anyone with a stronger understanding of philosophy give me an idea of whether this thing has merit or it’s just navel-gazing wankery?
In other news I’ll soon be visiting friends in Athens.
I’m curious to see what will be of Greece and of EU, and am worried for the living conditions there.
The impression I have so far is that of a big divide and conquer: rather than being private banks vs the public interest, this has been reframed as EU/Germany vs Greece.
The way I’m understanding it, private banks took the risk to loan to a corrupt government and now want the EU citizens to cover their asses. Of course, the Greek citizens should have kept a better check of what their govt was doing, but it’s not like the rest of the Europeans (and I speak as Italian) have done or are doing a much better job.
LOL, Republicans
RNC Chairman Reince Priebus had a talk with Trump about his comments about Mexican immigrants. You know you’re a party of hate when your message to Trump is that he needs to watch his tone and not the appalling content of his remarks.
Priebus also openly talks about the Hispanic community as merely a tool for the Republicans’ political strategy:
And RNC spokesman Sean Spicer describes their conversation as “a respectful discussion across a wide range of issues including illegal immigration”.
Yup, two rich white dudes having a respectful discussion about the nuances of how to mistreat humans from Mexico. They’re such respectful people.
*sssssssssssss* aaahhhh CREEPER!
——————————————————
carli you are a good person. I hope the best for Kid and everyone.
——————————————————
Do any of you Minecrafters play on Sitosis? It seems like it has kinda wound down to only a few players.
——————————————————
saad
I think most politicians sees every community as merely tools to be exploited.
Heya
I got to get my machine running some more, so here’s one of the results
+++
F.O.
Basically it’s the housing bubble banking crisis all over again, only this time with entire countries. They lended and lended and lended, knowing that Greece could never pay back, and their governments borrowed and borrowed and borrowed, knowing that when the shit hit the fan they wouldn’t be responsible anymore. And hey, why not use this crisis to demolish social standards and repropriate public property all over Europe while blaming it on the Greek population?
Giliell, that t-shirt is lovely. I’d wear it, and I don’t like orange either.
Refilling the hugs bowl with a special addition for JAL and carlie. I hope that everything works out.
I have a question. This wikipedia entry on the social role and people called Heyoka by the Lakota people speaks very strongly to me.
I see a lot of consistency between this and how my instincts and emotions tend to play out with respect to Tourette’s Syndrome and how I often fit in socially. Since I’ve read about cultural appropriation more than once around here being sensitive about this is a fundamental concern. I’m doing my own searching but I thought I would see if anyone here had any tips or links.
For now I’m resisting the urge to use the label on myself directly and my end goals would be to use comparisons to tease out more fundamental human phenomena and find good names for that. I’ll be damned if it’s not fascinating and gripping mythology though.
@YOB
I was really into minecraft at Sitosis for a while but I had to admit that I could not handle the distraction. I wish I was still there but it’s not something I can do right now. Maybe I should have mentioned that I was leaving and why on the forums…
@Brony
No worries. Was just wondering. BTW, what’s your minecraft handle, if you don’t mind me asking?
I have been very sporadic lately due to IRL. As with most things I do, I do in Binges (just look at my commenting history here) Right now, any free time is spent Minecrafting or lurking FTB. Next week, it might be the blacksmith shop and YouTube. Although now that I think about it, Kiddo goes to her first weeklong sleep away camp on Monday. So next week shall be “No Pants Week”.
OMG, this is brilliant! Why didn’t I think of this?
One pot spaghetti recipe
Holy shit, carlie, you are an awesome awesome person. I’m so glad you are able to help this kid (and shit, poor kid! There’s no way someone that age should be expected to just fend for themselves totally out of the blue). You’re wonderful, and I bet the closest people to you are wonderful too.
Hi Everyone,
Carlie, you sound amazing and that young person is so lucky to have you. Well I finally got to see the new therapist and I am a little baffled because they gave me some gender /authenticity stuff to practice and also brought up something else much more strongly, so I left with more questions. They want me to research gifted/IQ sites? So I came home and looked at the site they suggested ( sengifted.org) and I looked around but frankly I don’t see the correlation. I was told I was mentally retarded as a child so I laughed out loud when she suggested I was gifted. I asked if she meant I was too cerebral and she seemed irritated, but that is what another doc told me about me so I asked. Also what is threadrupt?
Caroline #39
Shorthand for saying people have been too busy to keep with a fast paced thread like this one. Or behind on their reading.
Just begging for a science-fiction-y backstory: Ancient ‘mummy’ unearthed from ‘lost medieval civilisation’ near Arctic, claim scientists. With ties to Persia, they say.
Thank you Nerd of Redhead, I am very much so as of late.
YOB
I don’t know if the blacksmith shop and “No Pants Week” are a good mix…
Caroline
I hope the therapist at least left you with a good impression? Or the impression of someone with whom you can work? I’m wishing you all the best going forward!
rq
No. They are most assuredly not a good mix. Sadly, I’ll have to choose one or the other.
Although, I suppose, if one did, it would look something like this…
Helsinki Naked Blacksmiths Statue
Thank you rq, I feel I probably won’t be able to afford much with this person as they don’t accept insurance and it’s 120.00 a pop and I was hoping for a support system or something else. I sense spirituality coming along and also I don’t know how I feel about someone telling me they believe applying makeup is a biological. They also practice hypnosis so IDK. Why is psychology so linked to spirituality?
I actually get more out of reading Brute Reason and Captain Awkward and am trying to figure out how to present myself socially. I know I over talk and can get convoluted when I am nervous and I forgot to take my Benedryl, so I feel like I put myself out there and did it poorly. We didn’t make a date to continue , they said I could call if I thought I might like to come back again and that is how we left it.
Anne
Thanks.
I like it quite well myself, only I’d have to make a second one to fit the other arm ;)
Caroline
That’s not unusual. Many gifted children fail in regular schools because they’re so bored, they don’t do shit except disrupting the lessons. My cousin had some severe issues with her youngster when he was 7 or 8, until a child psychologist found out that:
A) he’s fuck intelligent
B) he’s so fuck intelligent that he trained himself to be right-handed even though he is left-handed because he saw everybody else using their right hand.
Afterwards everybody could deal with the issues appropriately and life became much better.
I’m sorry the therapist doesn’t accept insurance :(
Caroline
Because the common perception is that mind=soul, basically. The mysterious, immaterial thing that makes you you and all that type of thing.
Thanks , but I know you all would do the exact same thing. I can’t imagine anyone not. I did get a little off my shoulders today – a couple of my friends have said they’ll contribute money towards anything he needs, which is good because this stuff is going to add up quickly soon, but that’s all covered now. Our biggest problem now is getting him photo id, which he needs for, well, everything, but most especially so he can visit his mom before we take him out of town to live with his relatives. But it’s a catch-22; even with being able to pay the expedited fees to get one quickly, he needs a birth certificate to get a state photo ID, which he doesn’t have, and to get a birth certificate he needs… a state photo id. I have to call tomorrow to find out what to do, because the only alternate forms of ID they mention online are utility bills, which an 18 year old doesn’t have. And a sheriff’s photo ID is supposed to be easier and faster, but it also requires a birth certificate, which why do those even exist, then? Maybe social services can help out with that when we go next week.
I know I’m little Miss Privilege just now realizing exactly how utterly ridiculous the system is, but jeez. I can’t even fathom trying to navigate it from phoneless/internetless/transportationless/Englishless situations like so many people in it do. Child 1 and Kid were standing right there when I was on the computer hitting dead ends for IDs and I said “shit” out loud. They at least got a kick out of that, and now Child 1 has blackmail material on me. ;)
Louie Gohmert goes farther than Donald Trump:
Maybe Tom Clancy should be a Republican candidate for president. Oh, wait, he died in 2013. Does that disqualify him?
Source for quoted text.
George Camble, bless your heart.
Also manages to include the elderly.
Geliell, I appreciate the response , I spent time reading through the site I mentioned and it was the first time I ever read anything that close to home for me. I think it ties into my gender identity shift because they are asking me to do lot’s of authentic stuff in small doses and be prepared to FEEL, maybe even immensely. They really helped open up a new way of understanding myself and I am starting to see the connection to ‘coming out’ and needing to deal with hyper sensitivity. Bright is a very accurate description for my brain and I would love to dial it down but I think that is where the CBT comes in. IDK. Also I clicked on your name and went to your thoughts and enjoyed reading there for a bit. I will be going back. To Dalillama, Schmott Guy, I know, I just get weary and think maybe I should have put Atheist instead of Secular Humanist on my intake form and I get easily sidetracked with stuff like wondering if there is evidence for what she is telling me.
Ah, the Redhead, due to a visitor, didn’t have her normal significant lunch. So, she [who must be obeyed, so says a coffee cup] wants her dinner early (normally 8-8:30 CT). Since it is all planned overs, an easy job. Which is good, as this has been a busy week.
A long time ago, when I was born, the Government of Alberta issued me a birth-certificate.
As far as I know, this was automatic. You got one whether you wanted it or not.
Actually there were two:
one was about 5inches by 7 inches, which your parents stored somewhere safe.
the other was a wallet-sized one which your parents gave you when you got a wallet.
When you reached majority, you took your birth-certificate to the liquor store and got picture ID.
This was SOP for everyone in my cohort.
—
The liquor store thing was because the Government of Alberta was the only entity that could sell liquor. and you needed picture ID to buy liquor.
There were no pictures on drivers licenses.
THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!
*happy dance*
Not only does that relieve so, so much stress, I’ve got another job interview Monday afternoon. :D
Fat people problem: chaffing through the inner seams of your trousers much faster than through the rest. Thank you grandma for stirring an interest in sewing in me.
+++
carlie
Yo may downplay the level of human kindness you’re currently displaying, but remember you’Re doing better by the kid than his actual father. I’m glad that other people are at least chipping in some money.
Hmmm, birth certificates are standard here, too. It’s actually unpossible not to have one if you were born in a hospital or with the help of a midwife*.
*Actual professional, not the US version
Saad
That recipe sound totally like I’ll try it tonight.
Caroline
Thanks.
And I’m glad if I can help.
When I was born in Canada (which, admittedly, was some time after chigau), I was also issued two birth certificates: the long-form sheet that was pretty much a copy of the form my dad filled out from the hospital, and a type-written wallet-sized piece that contained the essential information.
I don’t know if they issue the condensed version anymore, but I do have my long-form hid away.
(The condensed version, though, had all the power of the long-form in getting me photo ID (not at the liquor store, alas) and a SIN number and a Health Card (though this could not be used as a valid photo ID due to being a medical document) and other things like that.)
Here in Latvia, everyone gets a birth certificate upon registration of their child – before that, you just get a medical document (the equivalent of the “statement of a live birth”), which you can use to get a birth certificate but nothing else. Valid photo ID here, for the longest time, has been only passport or driver’s license, and a lot of official places won’t accept a driver’s license (the notary, for example). So recently they implemented the eID, which is supposed to replace the passport but be a card-sized picture ID valid in all of Europe – but because it is new, a lot of places won’t accept it, so yes, you still need to walk around with your passport…
Which, in my mind, is incredibly weird and unsafe.
Going for tea, but good mornings to all.
Good morning rq . If I remember correctly: in the UK you have to pick get a Birth Certificate within a certain time period after the birth of the child. When the child is born you get something equivalent to the “statement of a live birth” that you describe. You then take this to the Registrar and get the Birth Certificate. I guess it gives you time to sort out a name for the child.
I wish we had a wallet-sized version here. It would solve so many problems. The Kid does have a birth certificate, but it’s buried somewhere in an unreachable storage facility. Even if we could get to it there would be no way to find it other than to open every single thing in it and sort through it all -it’s a needle in a haystack. I can’t really fault them – I had to get my own kids’ birth certificates re-issued a few years ago when I lost track of where I had put them. It’s perfectly easy to get another when you’re the parent and have your own ID, it’s when you don’t have that option that it gets difficult.
I’m really excited right now, though. I finally thought to check the town clerk web site instead of going through the state department, and they not only allow ID to be in the form of two government-issued letters, but allow the birth certificate to then be sent to a third party if you also send in a notarized authorization. That was the biggest problem with the state, was that if you use gov. letters for ID, the cert. will only be sent to the address on the letter, which is Kid’s dad’s address. Thankfully he gave Kid most of his mail when we got his stuff, and there were exactly two letters that fit the requirements. The only thing I’m working against now is time – I’m desperately trying to get Kid to see his mom by the end of next week, and the sheriff’s office only grants IDs on Mondays and Tuesdays, so I have to get the documents together and in overnight mail to the town clerk today, and they’d have to be able to process it Monday, send it back overnight for Tuesday, and delivery is by 3pm and the sheriff’s office closes at 3:30. (ack!) I’m so mad at myself – if I had figured this all out even a day sooner, it would have been no problem.
bassmike
In Latvia you have up to 3 months to register the child free-of-charge, and after that I think there’s a minimal fee for processing and such.
And yes, sometimes it takes a while to settle on a name!
carlie
At least you have it figured out, that’s a lot! I’m going to make some sacrifices to the USAMail gods this weekend on your behalf. Especially those responsible for overnight delivery. :)
Carlie
Yay for “loophole”
+++
In Germany you have to register your child within 3 days of birth. There’s a strict hirarchy of who has to register. If the parents don’t do so/are unable, the doctor or midwife has to register the child. The hospital issues a “yep, child has been born” slip and then you normally fill in the name, sign both and the other parent takes it to the registry.
We have a nice little folder with our marriage certificate and our kids’ birth certificates.
You also have to get an ID once you’re 16 and yu have to register your address every time you move. The advantage of that system is that you are automatically registered to vote and have the necessary ID to prove that you’Re you.
“automatically registered to vote”
…as in Sweden.
— — — —
Commencing infodump:
-“Stephen Colbert prepares to rule the world after NY Stock Exchange meltdown” http://www.rawstory.com/2015/07/stephen-colbert-prepares-to-rule-the-world-after-ny-stock-exchange-meltdown/
Merkel: “Germany has never done anything wrong” http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/international/merkel-germany-has-never-done-anything-wrong-2015070899954 In a time of economic crisis it falls to that exemplar of nations, Germany, to explain how to be completely faultless to others.
Foxes regret voting Tory http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/environment/foxes-regret-voting-tory-20150709100002
Foxes who voted Conservative were not expecting the government to start killing them again.
Plans to relax the hunting ban are a blow to Tory foxes, whose voting choice put them at odds with many woodland creatures.
Fox Wayne Hayes said: “I don’t ask for state handouts, even if it means working till 3am to provide for my family by ripping open bin bags or killing shitloads of chickens and only eating bits of them.
“I’m a big believer in Conservative values like self-reliance, which is why I sneak into your house and eat your cat’s biscuits, or your cat.”
Vixen Donna Sheridan said: “I blame that moronic Wes Anderson film that makes us look like a leftist, anti-authority species.
“Every week I religiously steal a copy of Mail on Sunday from the newsagent, and it’s bloody heavy with the You magazine and everything. Hurts your jaws.”
So is Bree Newsome going to be issued a formal apology by South Carolina (and compensated for her arrest and time in captivity) and be hailed as a civil rights hero?
Saad
hHAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAhahahahaaahahaaa…
Oh, that was a serious question?
(She gets ‘civil rights hero’ automatically, though – that’s one they can’t give or take away.)
rq, #65
Haha, I was being sarcastic. :)
I’m going to brag. 50 Really cool products which are Made in Latvia. However, for some of those things, Latvians weren’t the only people developing them, and they weren’t necessarily developed in Latvia (that induction heating rod, for one).
Notes:
The photo in #3 is of preserves – sheep’s testicles in cream sauce. Haven’t tried it.
At #5, ‘vakariņas ar cīruli’ means ‘dinner with the lark’.
At #8, ‘Kūsiņš’ (spelled ‘Kusins’ there) is the masculinized jargon term for a woman’s genitals (combined vulva and vagina).
The significance of ‘Vaira’ at #10 is that she was the first (and so far only) woman president; her husband is Imants.
#12 shows traditional Latvian shoes or ‘pastalas’, apparently as worn by our ancestors – either those, or ‘vīzes’, a kind of shoe made from birch bark, I believe.
The ‘snow’ (cheese) balls at #21 are usually made with goat’s milk – tasty!
Sauerkraut juice (#23) is a surefire hangover cure; goes well with old potatoes (one half of this sentence is a lie).
The name ‘Malduguns’ at #43 means ‘will-o’-the-wisp’, so I guess watch out when drinking this?
Rundāle at #45 may make excellent pesto (the green on is especially nice) but the firm makes the most terrible bruschetta EVER. NEVER BUY IT.
I’m not sure how a glass bike (#50) can be road safe.
Anyway, those were things that I thought needed some explanation when I was going through the list.
My ADHD support group is an interesting group of people and very often fun. We meet at a synagogue and many of them are members of that congregation. Somehow I often use the time to complain about the atheist/skeptic community and they use the time to complain about the religious community. It’s quite cathartic and amazing how often we end up complaining about the same things.
@Caroline 46
One reason is necessity. Lots of people are religious and so ethically psychologists should be able to speak in their language well enough to treat them. That word is connected to a bunch of objects and emotions that are meaningful to them even if they might not do much as far as connecting to objective reality is concerned.
Psychology is all about how the history they actually have are connected to their meaningful language, perception and memory. I confused my psychologist for a while when I would use lots of technical jargon when talking about myself. He said “use your meaningful language!” I said “I am!” It worked out eventually.
@YOB 36
I do the binge thing too outside of commenting which I try to keep at a steady trickle. “Sensation seeking” is what they call it. I’m getting into smart phone games though. Dragon Mania Legends and Boom Beach are pretty fun. The first is like pokemon with dragons and the second I’m not quite sure how to describe.
“No pants week” is fun. I would have that all of the time (no kids) but my spouse might think I was getting even more sloppy.
I was Mudge80 I had the underwater sanctum and gold farm.
I’m still unemployed and between dealing with that and a bunch of other serious stuff it just became way too much distraction. I would like to go back at some point. I was going to scale up the gold farm and almost finished an underwater track from my underwater village to Innsmouth.
Wow, this is infuriating
How is this allowed to go on this long? I can’t stand that “we have rights as Christians too” bullshit line. That’s a county clerk telling people that while going against Kentucky and the SCOTUS ruling. Unbelievable.
I am going to scream if I see one more article lauding Gov. Nikki Haley for her “leadership in this time of crisis”. As I said on FB:
I’m fucking sick and tired of the overblown hype regarding Gov. Haley. It’s not like she’s long been a champion of African-Americans. It’s not like she’s long campaigned to remove that damn flag. It’s not like she holds progressive views regarding the equality of all citizens *and* follows through on those beliefs with progressive policies. She caved to public pressure in the wake of Dylann Roof’s act of racial terrorism. Sure, I’ll grant that she probably changed her mind on the flag-but that’s part of the problem. She didn’t think it was a big deal because she didn’t care to listen to all the people who were saying for years that that flag-which represents slavery, white supremacy, and racism-should come down. I do genuinely believe she feels sorrow and anger over the horrific events that took the lives of 9 people at the Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. But if she were this great person the media was painting her to be, she wouldn’t have needed the deaths of 9 people to reach the conclusion that that hateful flag should not be flying over the state capitol.
Tony
Hear, hear!!!
Okey-dokey. We’re close. The woman at the town clerk was very sympathetic, and told me what to fax her, and she checked, and we had to do some other paperwork, and I just mailed everything in an overnight envelope. Hopefully we’ll have it on Tuesday.
The details are worthy of a Lifetime special, including last-minute phone calls and mad dashes to find the notary before she got off of work, but it happened because a lot of people were very nice. If this luck holds, it will get done in time. Phew!
Three kittens, one bucket. For all your Friday-night SQUEE needs.
Pumping up the rightwing for rebellion:
Buchanan’s explanation for the Civil War:
Link
And this is from a different rightwing pastor/Republican/doofus, Aubrey Shines:
Ted Cruz tried to cheat his way onto the New York Times bestseller list. He was caught, and called out for cheating. Conservatives are furious.
Link
Well, that’s interesting. If I had enough money, I too could buy my way onto the NYT Bestseller List.
Also, Omar Sharif. :(
If kittens weren’t enough for you here’s some raccoons.
Parent teaching baby to climb a tree. I think there are some cross-species barriers crossed in that video.
And something a little more morbid, People In Toronto Created A Memorial To A Dead Raccoon After The City Forgot To Pick It Up. I would like to correct the article on one point, though – it is clearly a Crayola marker left to sign the card, not a Sharpie. Duh.
Summer.
rq @77, mama raccoon throwing baby raccoon at the tree trunk reminds me of some human parents throwing their children into a swimming pool. Looks a little stressful.
I liked the kittens in the bucket. Lot of grooming going on there.
Today I was nearly beaked in the face by an irate dinosaur of the Black Crowned Night Heron variety that was brought into my work after being hit by car. This was after a truly impressive threat display involved said 4″ long beak gaping widely, the blood red eyes glowing menacingly, neck arched and wings mantled with every body feather standing on end.
It was an awe inspiring sight. Even more so when the pointy end was about 2 inches from my glasses.
I have been bouncing with excitement ever since. I got attacked by a dinosaur!
No mercy:
Religion Dispatches link
Rights for LGBT persons in the USA have been improving, but the situation in some other countries is depressingly bad
Bad influences from the USA continue to play a part in the anti-gay attitudes of other countries. Here’s an example from Kenya:
Here’s the story about christians setting up a “sin-free” version of Facebook in Brazil.
Kid Rock weighs in on the controversy over the Confederate flag:
Rowan
Please allow me to transmit your honorary “DInosaur Survivor” certificate (and gold-plated medal!) via USB. :D
Lynna
I like the part where it looks like she climbs onto the tree to show how it’s done; meanwhile, baby raccoon is struggling to maintain balance and does some somersaults.
rq, yes, mama raccoon did a nice demo for the baby. I’m still feeling like baby raccoons may have it rougher than I thought.
In other news, after some court battles, and appeals, the former governor of Virginia is going to jail. Bob McDonnell is guilty of arrogance and corruption, but unfortunately we can’t put politicians in jail for overweening arrogance.
Link
Hi y’all! Wanted to share some news. I went back to school and I wanted to remember and thank you for the support you lent me a couple years ago. That helped. So thanks :)
A post that made my day:Some kids are WAY smarter than their parents
Apparently the daughter of anti-vax parents got herself fully vaccinated with the aid of socialized medicine. Yay Canada!
Legend of Korra fans, rejoice!
Lynna
This is something that they’ve had a problem with for some time; a lot of Limbaugh’s and Coulter’s books used to make the bestseller list because conservative organizations would buy them in bulk as door prizes for their get-togethers and such. For a while, they would put an asterisk next to titles that got on the list that way, but I guess they just changed the standard entirely to exclude that bullshit.
Scott Walker announced his candidacy at 5pm on Twitter.
Snorfle!
*Adds another to the Hades Frozen Over list.*
Ellen Pao has stepped down as CEO of Reddit.
Fun thought.
Dawkins is the skeptic/atheist version of Donald Trump.
The American Psychological Association finally apologizes for and condemns their support of torture during the Bush administration.
This has been a major rollercoaster of a day. No sleep, waiting for the Other Shoe of Damocles to land on my head. Which it did this afternoon; Aged Mum added something to her shopping list that she knew damn well I don’t have time to track down between now and Sunday morning. I had to tell her no. I almost started crying. Gah.
On the other hand, I fought the embroidery instructional video and I won – it was a technique new to me, and I couldn’t find written instructions or diagrams anywhere. After I watched the video (which frankly was lacking specifics) while frantically making notes, I played it again on the PC and made useful screenshots at intervals. Then I cropped them, printed them, and wrote notes (yes, with circles and arrows) on them. Am I a Luddite for the 21st century or what?
Here, have some hugs. I’ll just grab a few from the pile and go back to my detached needlewoven bands.
Speaking of scamming the NYT bestseller list, Glenn Beck used to require that anyone who hired him for a speaking engagement would buy huge quantities of his latest book. Pallets of Glenn Beck books are mouldering in the basements and backrooms of all kinds of rightwing organization.
Doofuses, all of them. Rightwing authors … sheesh. Ted Cruz might be running for president in part to sell books. Newt Gingrich did that.
Response to chigau, re #61 of “Three Stupid Questions”, and anyone else who cares:
You asked “How’s things?” Things are more or less ok. My ARMD (macular degeneration) is responding to treatment: OD is back to nearly 20/20; OS still has its blind spot (stable size, about 6 inch diameter at 6 feet distance), some distortion (from lumpy retina) and color issues (LED red is back to pink instead of white). The treatment is intra-ocular injections (q 6 weeks) of some funny protein with antiVEGF (Vascular Epithelial Growth Factor) properties.
The big issue, though, is the nasty allergies to all the vegetative sex life being acted out in my eyes, nose, ears, and sinuses, and the interaction of antihistamines and blood pressure. The consequence is that I can’t brain very well for any appreciable time–like long enough to compose and submit a coherent reply. This week’s daily thunderstorms seem to have cleared up most of the allergens in my environment–but the TSs are leaving, now (heading your way, it seems: BC, IIRC), and the environment may return to aggressive. TMI, right? That’s what happens when you ask an Aspie “How’s things” ?.
I’ve lurked Pharyngula for nearly ten years, well before crackergate, without posting much. I generally get to a discussion after (a) it’s over or (b) anything I would say has been said already.
Since I’m here, now, I’ll do the questionnaire:
Peas: green peas are often good, especially as soup; blackeyed peas are an abomination; other peas are case-by-case.
Cheese: some cheeses are good, some are revolting, and some are in between. Pasteurised Process American Cheese Food Product (and the like), however, are never to be conflated with actual Cheese.
Horses: I live across the street from the county Fairground, Event Center, Rodeo Arena, and Horse Barn. This is a rodeo weekend. Bah. County Fair is in about two weeks. Bah. Horse shows, demolition derbies, and moar rodeos are frequent. Bah. I’ve invited the wielder of the flamethrower to visit, to no avail.
Miracle Whip: it is conceivable that MW might be suitable as an ingredient of something, but for the life of me I can’t imagine what.
By the way, blf has posted a quicky on ETEV, complaining about barely functional ISP connectivity causing lack of presence at FtB.
Anne
I hope Next Day is much better? :(
And well done with the embroidery video – the note-taking etc. sounds like something I would do, unless there’s some major slo-mo, I’m pretty bad at picking things up from a video.
Anne: 1; embroidery: 0.
Allo, se habla espanol, and thank you for your response to the questionnaire. It has been stamped, filed, archived and shelved. Somewhere. Near the others.
Vilém Saptar
Well done and good luck with the schooling!
rq, check my ‘nym again. It’s not español, it’s a different language, a mainframe programming language from about 45 years ago. I adopted the ‘nym as a flag to anyone else who may have survived from that time: haven’t found one yet.
Not to worry, though. You’re not the first one to have seen it wrong.
se habla espol
Wow, sorry for misspelling! That’s what you get for typing before coffee. And I even thought copy-pasting would be better. :P
I’ll do better in the future. ;)
(And yeah, obviously I am not an espol survivor. :D)
Heh, thanks for pointing it out, se habla espol. I’ve been reading your nym wrong all this time.
rq, Beatrice, an amateur cynic looking for a happy thought, and anyone else:
‘Tis no problem; I kinda asked for it, anyway.
Since the 1960’s ‘puters didn’t support lower case, I could have written it
ESPOL. I didn’t because it’s kind of a tease. Should I maybe rethink some of this?se habla espol,
If you don’t mind correcting people every now and then, I think it’s a fun tease.
And you don’t have to copy paste my whole nym , I’m just Beatrice :)
se habla espol
Nah, the tease is good! It’s your ‘nym, it’s up to others to type it right. I include myself in that ‘others’. You should only rethink things if you start minding correcting people who read carelessly. Or, you know, if you want to. :)
(I mean, obviously I went the easy way with my ‘nym…)
Vilém Saptar, that’s really great news – well done you, and wishing you the best with your studies! Respects and greetings both to you and to se habla espol (I did notice that the word was not español and thought it must be a deliberate mistake/joke/reference but had no idea what to. Nice, that it’s the name of a language :-) )
Best wishes to the Horde.
I’m very very fond of my Spawn (I know, I do such a good job of hiding it) and oh how hard I wish sometimes I had stuck to my guns as I originally intended and not had any. When something hurts them and I can’t do anything about it :-\
Today I learned the hard way that you shouldn’t go on 12km bike rides when it’s 32ºC (90ºF) with 70% humidity. Especially if you’re riding around somewhere there’s no shade. I’m lucky I didn’t put myself in the hospital.
David Marjanović,
I sent you an email about the day you mentioned you’ll be in Zagreb, but I didn’t get a reply. I’m not sure I got the right address.
Notable sign at the rally against drilling the Adriatic sea for oil:
“On the Adriatic, you can only drill foreign women”
*HULK smash*
Beatrice
Whelp, remind me to never visit the Adriatic, if that’s the attitude of the local (menfolk) people.
opposablethumbs
*hugs*
Definitely the hardest part of parenting, the bits where you feel helpless. :(
A. Noyd
Something tells me that someone else would have been putting you in the hospital. ;) Glad you’re okay. Hope the scenery was worth it (if you noticed it at all, that is).
Beatrice @107, I’ll just add a HellGoddess SMITE to your *HULK smash*. Yech.
rq @97, thanks. So far so good today, although I came home to an email from my favorite cousin that her brother is in the hospital, and has not woken up since his cranial surgery. It’s been two days, so that’s very worrying.
Well shit, rq, I’m not by the sea, but I kinda hoped you’ll eventually find your way to Zagreb on your way to the (Adriatic) seaside.
Thank you very much for the hugs, rq, they are particularly welcome just now. Please may I send a large ::hugsback::
Signs like that are a danger to the teeth, Beatrice – whether grinding, gritting or gnashing, it ain’t good for ’em. Dog, what an attitude. hulksmash is right.
Beatrice
I can still go to Zagreb. :) Maybe there’s another sea we can go to…?
Thanks, opposablethumbs. :) That comes at a very good time.
By the way, we are starting to plan a tentative family trip to London in the autumn, due to the appearance of family-sized accommodations convenient for our use (courtesy of my cousin), but as always it all depends on (unexpected) finances, as the time approaches. But I will provide advance warning, if you like!
(Realistically, I could probably try for Zagreb in the winter, finances permitting. *hint*Beatrice*hint* For a weekend alone.)
That would be wonderful, rq! :-)))))) If it does work out, I would love to come and find you for a coffee or something at some point :-)
rq,
We’re trying to advertise one of the city’s artificial lakes as our sea, but I consider it a filthy pond and wouldn’t recommend it for bathing (but I’m a bit fastidious about bathing places so take it with a grain of salt ).
I guess we could cross the border into Italy, but they’re still on the Adriatic and I doubt they are any less sexist.
Oh well, we’ll just have to walk around the city, eat and chill. :)
Beatrice
Sounds absolutely terrible. ;) I’m in!
opposablethumbs
I will add you to the budding itinerary. :)
Bad news from another religious organization:
Washington Post link
O.O
I didn’t even see comment #113 when I replied. That would be so great. I’ll even have accommodation to offer then.
Good news from Muslim organizations in the USA:
Huffington Post link
Launch Good link
Jews fighting about who is Jewish and who is not Jewish.
Sounds like the usual fundamentalist hogwash trying to push out more moderate members of a religion. Same old, same old stuff.
Some good news from more reasonable christians in the USA:
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/600-us-churches-call-end-the-war-drugs
A Republican politician, Representative Steve King of Iowa, says stupid stuff:
Umm. Well, I’m not sure what to say. That’s the first time I’ve seen the use of “Caucasian Christians” as a way to differentiate christians of color from white christians … and with an all-caps presentation. What kind of fuckery is this?
http://www.c-span.org/video/?c4543558/rep-steve-king-confederate-flag
Good news from Denmark!
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jul/10/denmark-wind-windfarm-power-exceed-electricity-demand
Lynna
I accidentally read that as ‘Steve, King of Iowa’, and it took me a beat to realize that doesn’t sound quite right. Commas, they matter.
Also, do you mind posting that specific article up on the White People thread?
Beatrice
Very tentative right now. But I’m determined to plan a ‘me’ weekend in the winter, I’m pretty sure I’ll be all colleagued and familied out by December (due to starting regular work hours in September and all – the bonus of which is free weekends).
Followup to comment 123.
Denmark is a super windy country. They can depend on wind power in ways that others can’t, but I’m finding the outlook for cleaner power (renewable resources) to be quite encouraging lately. Chris Hayes covered the current “solar boom” in the USA last night. It’s a really good segment. Hayes covered some of the history as well as the current market.
http://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/the-solar-boom-482385987705
alternate link: http://www.hulu.com/watch/817442
Hayes is broadcasting from California as part of his focus on water shortages and drought — there’s a tie-in with how much less water it takes to produce solar energy. (Fracking continues in California while the process includes a huge waste of water.)
Ronald Reagan shows up as a bad guy.
Hi all, Thank you Brony for responding to me,your posts are always very interesting to me, my process always feels like it gets in the way of me:)
I now see it different enough that I was able to learn something technical this morning, and I am allowing all the deep feelings of embarrassment to flourish inside instead of trying to choke it all back down. I read enough yesterday to know how to work with my brain better today and as usual I can’t seem to show my work but I am feeling restful inside, even while typing this. On another note, my therapist wanted me to do something authentic and when they said it didn’t have to be clothes I knew immediately what I would choose. I made an appointment to cut my long locks off on Monday and I have my choices narrowed down to 9 styles so far. I have had really short hair before and so I am looking forward to it. After that I may go hang out in the men’s section of the local Goodwill Store for a bit and feel my feelings. I also seem to be feeling a sense of direction, which is rather unusual but also reassuring.
To all the folks who speak of birds, I love them too and have a house surrounded by bird feeders so I always enjoy all the chatter here about your backyard friends. Also,the pictures:) I have a huge open space behind my house so I get to see a lot of Birds of Prey as well as Hummingbirds, Finches, Crows and Jays and a lot I haven’t been able to identify yet.
rq, I posted comment 122 here:
https://proxy.freethought.online/pharyngula/2015/05/20/look-at-all-the-white-people/comment-page-2/#comment-959241
rq,
If nothing else, I imagine a flight to Zagreb would be quite expensive so I understand the “tentative” bit. But if something like that happens, I’ll be thrilled.
“Children eligible for Medicaid for more of their childhood are less likely to drop out of high school and likelier to earn a college bachelor’s degree.”
Yeah, that’s right. Rather than requiring children to clean bathrooms, etc., as some Republican politicians have suggested, we need to continue to supply them with good health care.
http://www.cbpp.org/medicaid-at-50
A bunch of doofuses in Texas, including a lot of ex-military guys, members of militia groups, etc. are planning to foil Obama’s planned military takeover of Texas. No, President Obama is not planning to take over Texas, and the Jade Helm conspiracy group will only be monitoring routine military exercises.
That won’t stop the Counter Jade Helm group from holding press conferences, displaying guns, and quoting verses from the Bible. 2nd Timothy 3:13, “deceiving and being deceived.” And so forth.
http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/texas/article/Texans-organize-Operation-Counter-Jade-Helm-to-6378017.php
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/counter-jade-helm-citizen-surveillance
https://www.facebook.com/events/936947686336611/989267594437953/
The hyperbole goes around in circles fifty times, and still doesn’t make sense. Somebody is proud of a heritage that includes supporting slavery with war, and later bigotry with lynchings and other forms of intimidation? Somebody needs to do a severe reality check. And it was governments removing the flags to more appropriate venues, not private citizens. Those private citizens displaying the flag of the army of Northern Virginia should be called bigots for display of an item symbolizing hatred, slavery, and second class citizenship to those with a higher level of melatonin than they have. What is your real problem?
Thanks, Lynna!
Beatrice
Last time I was looking (spring), Zagreb was quite expensive, but sometimes we get lucky and there’s cheap flights to a (relatively) nearby city. I’m assuming buses are cheap in Croatia, kind of like here…? Not sure about trains?
A followup to comment 30: forgot to add that “former law enforcement officers” are also part of the volunteer group of doofuses that intend to prevent President Obama’s takeover of Texas.
Nerd @131: Right. I tried to make some sense of that hyperbole myself and couldn’t do it. Apparently, self-contradiction and circular logic are not a problem for Steve King — not the King of Iowa, as rq noted, though he would like to be, I’m sure.
Donald Trump dug his stupid hole even deeper today. He was speaking in Arizona and he got the facts about the 9/11 hijackers completely wrong.
So much for trying to blame 9/11 on illegal immigration.
“I was complacent. I was satisfied. I was content,” [David Letterman] said Friday night. “And then a couple of days ago Donald Trump said he was running for president. I have made the biggest mistake of my life.”
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/watch-letterman-top-10-donald-trump
Scroll down for video.
rq,
buses and trains: relatively cheap, yes.
You have to be careful with buses. Various private contractors play games with prices, and if you go to the seaside sometimes with schedules as well. One of the biggest Bosnian-Croatian bus line owners is the story of legends.
His drivers are overworked, underpayed and in the summer months you can never be sure if the bus will stop at the random smaller tourist town or not…. which was very fun last summer when I was staying in Mostar (Bosnia) and visited a friend in Croatia for a day during the weekend.
At the bus station on my way back.
Me: “Which platform does the 18:00 for Mostar stop at?”
Lady at the counter: “I don’t know. He might just open the door briefly on the road and not even enter the station.”
Me: O.o
“Do you at least know if they’ll arrive on time?'”
Lady at the counter: “I really don’t know if he’ll even show up. In case he doesn’t, the next one is going at 23:00”
Me. o.O
[tries to avoid being run over by dozens of buses while jumping in front of them to see whether one of them is “the one”]
rq
But international lines are usually OK….
Better sex education, better understanding of consent … a lot of good people are working on this. I like the #BetterSexTalk campaign.
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2015/07/11/3679348/sex-education-consent-college/
Oh FFS! The New York Times asked a bunch of white women what they thought of Serena Williams’s body. As if the way her body looks was important. The focus on her looks is wrong. What about her accomplishments? Why has this stupid obsession with her body gone on for years?
http://thinkprogress.org/sports/2015/07/11/3679461/serena-body-shaming/
Lynna #135, Looks like David Letterman could have a nice sideline until the election. As he says, it gets him out of the house.
More bullshit, and more mistreatment of immigrants, in private prisons in the USA:
Yes. Morally bankrupt. So let’s stop outsourcing prison management to private companies.
http://thinkprogress.org/immigration/2015/07/11/3679183/aurora-detention-center/
Follow the money:
Beatrice
Wow, I guess if you’re lucky you can hop on / off that bus as it drives by? I’m going to brush up on my tactical roll skills from moving vehicles. I’m sure I can convince Husband to help me out with the training.
rq,
Well, it did actually stop for a minute or two and I didn’t even have to jump in front of it to make ti stop.
Lynna
I found a lot of the comments transphobic, too. Especially those about how they [some of the athletes] look ‘like women’ and ‘want to be women’. Nothing wrong with looking like women (who come in all kinds of shapes, sizes, and bodies), but that statement about ‘wanting to be women’ really grates somehow, as if a tennis-appropriate physique is somehow unwomanly, therefore anyone with a tennis-appropriate physique (appropriate for holding all major women’s tennis titles at the same time) somehow doesn’t want to be a woman. Which is somehow bad.
I got tangled up with myself there, but I hope you get my point. :P
Beatrice
:D
rq @144, the cultural pressure to “look like a woman,” or to “be a woman” really bothered me too. And some of the transphobic, borderline racist, and fucking stupid remarks came from people who should know better.
Serena Williams had a good reply. “I realized that you really have to learn to accept who you are and love who you are. I’m really happy with my body type, and I’m really proud of it,” she told the New York Times.
President Obama calls for ending taxpayer funded sports stadiums:
From Lynna’s 139
Well, if that’s the attitude you’re going to take, maybe professional athletics is not for you. Maybe if you were focused on training instead of looking skinny, Serena Williams wouldn’t be kicking your ass so hard all the time. Just saying.
From 141
Of course not. Then it wouldn’t be profit, would it?
This jobless thing is really starting to piss me the fuck off. Now my phone has been cut off bc I haven’t been able to make a payment and of course without a phone, I can’t even contact prospective employers.
rq can I borrow the sledgehammer?
Tony
Of course!!!
Guess what kind of animals were found in the caldera of an active underwater volcano….
Here’s an awesome book review of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke.
Tony
:D I saw that labelled ‘the Sharkcano’ on twitter. Maybe a third installment in the Sharknado series is due? Or perhaps a spin-off series?
More stuff of legends (stuff that could birth legends over time), this time about Kazakhstan’s ‘sleepy hollow’.
Hm, First World Problems:
In September, I’m supposed to have a university class reunion. I said I’m okay with any date since I don’t have fixed plans.
Except that a friend who’s also invited to the reunion is getting married in September. I thought I was supposed to be invited, but the last time we met, about a week ago, she bragged about finishing the invitations. I didn’t get mine.
So now I don’t know whether I’m invited, I can’t inform the organizer which date doesn’t suit me (I FORGOT; I’m sorry, I forgot the exact date and I feel bad asking now… I was hoping it would come up in conversation or I’d just look it up on the invitation I didn’t get) and I also feel bad about asking whether I’m going to be invited to the wedding or not (because I’m me).
I was confused enough people remembered me for the reunion. (while they, for example, forgot the mentioned friend so I added her to the list)
Anyway.. potentially very awkward.
Oh, and there’s also high school reunion in September or October. Date still unknown. That’s the one I wouldn’t mind skipping.
I expect interesting calendar conflicts in the fall.
Beatrice
They’re probably all happening the exact same weekend, at approximately the same times, and at three extremely different locations (therefore making any attempts to show up at all three occasions practically impossible).
Sucks about the invitation, though – could it be lost in the mail, or was she hand-delivering them to everyone?
rq,
Haha, probably. The wedding is in another town, sleepover included. But the suggested venues for both reunions somewhat overlap. Fun times :)
Hand delivering so I was like… Great, you finished! [*not out loud* Gimme, gimme…. :( ]
She is … very particular so I wouldn’t even be terribly insulted if she decided not to invite us* for reasons. I would like to know where I stand just for planing though.
* us is me and another friend, the three of us staying relatively close after graduation
Beatrice
Ah… I don’t suppose there’s another mutual friend with whom you could confirm the date, at least?
rq,
The one I mention is about as scatterbrained as I am, but I sent her an email with the question anyway so we’ll see.
Talking about friends:
another shout out to The Mellow Monkey. Getting far into really worried territory over here.
Seconding.
and Daz
Hello everyone!
I’ve been semi-deliberately threadrupt–partially because I was in the UK, travelling, and partially because I felt like I needed a different point of view for a month.
Of course, that didn’t work, because I got the worst attack of hypochondria I’ve had since 2008 or something. The doctor said everything is perfectly fine, but of course that doesn’t stop failbrain from thinking that I’m dying.
But the trip was fun… if expensive. Lucky my family can afford that (and that I have free tuition).
Music-listening while at work (it would be unusual if I wasn’t).
Need to put together a play-list of songs about men not listening to women. Seems as if they’re a lot, and no few of them are meant to provoke sympathy… for the man who got left. “I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you, baby, but I honestly didn’t think you’d leave me! And then you did! I haz many sadz! Those women, so devious in expressing themselves clearly.”
Going back to Kid’s dad’s today to get everything else he should have. Worried about this one – the last time was easy because it didn’t matter so much since we were coming back, but now Kid wants to make sure he has everything, and if anything is missing he wants to call the cops (which, no), and ugh. He still hasn’t gotten a firm commitment from the relatives who had previously said he could stay with them, and we have to get him there before we leave for our trip to see family, which this year has non-negotiable timing. argh argh argh argh argh.
carlie
*hugs*
And good luck with the collection of items. Here’s to hoping that Kid’s relatives provide a firm and positive response soon! Like, by the end of today.
carlie,
Good luck!
—
Well. The other friend didn’t know about the wedding.
Apparently I overestimated how much they stayed in contact.
I can tell you, foot in mouth is a pretty inconvenient condition. And it tastes awful.
Football fans scare the shit out of me.
There’s enough police to arrest a minor country and the sound of the approaching crowd makes me want to hide under the bed. I can’t see them yet, there’s just the police cordon visible from the window right now but HOLLY SHIT.
Fuck that kind of obsession. I don’t get it. I don’t want to get it and I want it as far away from me as possible.
Hm, the banner at the front says “Lopovi odlazite” (Thieves, go away) which is a reference to two brothers who practically owned our football finally being arrested for various crimes.
So I do understand a little bit of the satisfaction, I guess.
I don’t understand sports fans.
I understand enjoying sports and getting excited about your favourite team or athlete doing well and winning, but not to the point of causing riots in the streets and marching in crowds against the opposing teams and starting fights and the like…
Also, is ‘lopovi’ thieves?
rq;
yes, lopovi =thieves
singular: lopov
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/07/12/1401443/-Congressman-John-Lewis-or-when-a-real-hero-goes-to-Comic-Con
The link says it all. There are some great photos of John Lewis at the link. Lewis did a version of cosplay: he wore a trench coat and backpack like he wore when he helped to lead the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 1965.
John Lewis is a totally cool and intelligent, (not to mention brave), Congressman. He gives me hope. So much better than the likes of Steve King.
Malala Yousafzai turned 18!
I’m so happy she survived being shot. Hopefully she’ll have a long, long life ahead of her.
Tony @173, I’ll definitely join you in happiness over the continuing existence of Malala Yousafzai. Her life is still in danger. So far, so good.
Long may she live!
Cross-posted from the Mended Drum because fuck it. It’s my birthday and I’ve been unable to get out of bed this morning. Because I suck.
To start with, I am in the US, so halfway across the country in my particular situation means about 2,000 miles. It means at least 3 days on the road (after a week of packing), and it means leaving the West. I like it out here, and my aspirations very much involve the landscapes and critters out here. So that’s part of what the ??? represents.
The rest of it is the fact that I’m living in my younger brother’s house and working in a soul-sucking office job. I got my masters degree in wildlife biology two years ago, and I feel like I have fuck-all to show for it. Two-plus years of job searching have been almost entirely fruitless and the pickings seem to only be getting slimmer.
The job that has been floated my way lately is working with an ecological restoration company, but sort of being an office drone there too, working on making estimates and quotes for the people who are actually making the plans. So it’s not really in my field, and it’s not geographically where I want to be. If I were coming back to the town I went to grad school in, that would be one thing, but it’s a far-flung suburb of another city.
So I seem to be stuck between anxiety and despair. I strongly resent the idea of having to take a job I don’t really want in a place I don’t really want to go, but I feel like a moron for considering passing it up. I feel crappy with the prospect of staying or going. And I turn 35 today, so I have a harder time rationalizing “settling” on something I don’t really want even if it would be supposedly temporary than I would have ten years ago. And I don’t really know if it would lead to something I do really want. I’m not really sure what I want anymore.
Anyway, that’s what I was reluctant to expand upon. Basically a load of first world midlife crisis bullshit from a mewling little coward. I guess it’s better to get that out there.
Ye Olde Blacksmith:
If you’re around, I saw something that made me think of you-
http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2015/07/kujira-knives-mimic-the-form-of-five-different-whales/
Rey Fox
Do you accept *hugs* or would you prefer to borrow the sledgehammer (once Tony returns it)?
Unfortunately I don’t have any useful advice, I can only express the hope that maybe something will turn up that will help you decide either way.
I’m pretty sure you don’t suck, too. I seem to recall enjoying your comments here and around.
Hello Pluto. Say “cheese”.
Rey Fox,
You don’t suck. I obviously don’t know you well, so you won’t believe me anyway, but you don’t suck. And since the birthday doesn’t feel particularly happy right now, I’m going to wish you a good year ahead.
We can save the happy birthdays for a while until you can accept that you don’t suck just because your brain sometimes fucks you over.
I can’t tell you what to do, I can only tell you that not knowing what you want to do does not make you a coward and it doesn’t make your problems insignificant just because there exist people with more basic existential problems.
I don’t really think most people >know what they are doing anyway. I mean, do they really?
We’re kind of predisposed from the beginning to live a certain kind of life, shaped by the family we were born to, society that we were raised in…. you go to school ,you supposedly figure out what you want to do for the rest of your life while still not being legally allowed to drink alcohol (in your part of the world, in mine I was allowed to drink alcohol for a whole year before I had to make that decision… woo hoo) and then you’re supposed to be set on the path. A very narrow path that doesn’t allow for making a wrong turn and having to go back a bit because that makes us losers or weaklings.
Fuck that.
That’s just the kind of shit people made up to make themselves feel better about their own failures.
It’s difficult not knowing what you want. I’m well acquainted with the feeling. I’ll soon be celebrating my 29th birthday, so I’m a bit younger than you but I know I’m supposed to know what I want….. and I have no idea. Even when I was making the above mentioned big decision about what I wanted to do in life I had no freaking idea. I liked math so I went to study math. And now I don’t actually do math. I feel bad about not feeling bad about it.
So anyway, I kinda lost my track here.
I still can’t really give you advice, only babble at you, but what I really want right now (see, wanting something right now kinda works when long term wanting things is elusive ) is to explain how much I don’t think you suck because your life is the way it is, leaving at a really shitty crossroads where both directions suck. The availability of choices you have suck, you don’t.
But really, maybe a HAPPY BIRTHDAY is what you need. I don’t know. I do wish you a happy birthday and all the luck in finding and doing what you want.
Happy Birthday to Rey Fox. Even if this birthday sucks, we wish to inject a little happiness anyway.
Some artists’ takes on Schrodinger’s Cat: See
http://mentalfloss.com/article/65952/art-schrodingers-cat
Making music with conductive paint:
http://gizmodo.com/heres-what-a-record-painted-with-conductive-ink-sounds-1716884363
Well, that’s a lesson to be learned: “Marie Curie’s Research Papers Are Still Radioactive 100+ Years Later”
http://www.openculture.com/2015/07/marie-curies-research-papers-are-still-radioactive-100-years-later.html
Rey Fox, I’d just like to second what rq and Beatrice said – on admittedly limited acquaintance I have formed the very definite impression that you don’t suck, and the dilemma you are dealing with is one that I think most people would find difficult. Easy for me to say, obviously, but which would you regret more: moving and deciding after a while that it was a mistake, or not moving and then maybe always wondering if you’d missed a chance to try and inch a little closer to doing something you’d find more rewarding. Would a year or so in this job improve your chances of getting something similar but in a nicer place?
Wish I could be wiser and more helpful. (Beatrice and rq are both wise and helpful, though!). And I’m sorry this is comes at a bad time. Believe me, I know from birthdays having the potential to be hard times (not so much on my own account, but on the account of someone close to me) and I wish you well – with long-distance intercontinental virtual hugs if you would care for ’em.
Stuff in space, oh my, what a mess. Housekeeping!
http://www.popsci.com/now-you-can-see-all-space-junk-floating-around-earth-real-time
Hmm. This could be a partial explanation of some of violence perpetrated by police officers.
Link
I hope this is good news. It sounds like good news, even if it turns out to be of the better-than-nothing category of agreements.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/diplomats-iran-announcement-planned-monday/ar-AAcSLYO?ocid=u146dhp
Some strangeness in connection with Native American culture being reenacted, celebrated, in Europe:
The photos are intriguing. Looks kind of like cosplay.
Link
Rey Fox:
I second (or third) everything Beatrice said @179. I hope you have a happy birthday too.
A plea for all our cismale readers:
If you use a shared laundry facility and discover some wet clothes in the washer that you want to use, you may remove them and leave them in a convenient basket or on a counter.
But.
Please don’t automatically throw them in the dryer and set it to “high.”
Also, when you’re confronted by the owner of the now-ruined lacy gauzy thing that absolutely is not dryer-safe, the appropriate response is not to (1) expect thanks for your “courtesy” of drying her clothes for her, (2) get confused and defensive when told off and then (3) demand an explanation as to why women wear “such things.”
I liked that dress. :( :(
Okay, so there was a “Right to Life Convention” held in New Orleans. Lowlifes of all kinds came out of the woodwork to make nonsensical arguments for restricting women’s reproductive rights. I’ll post an excerpt of the coverage, with some highlights, uh, lowlights.
http://thinkprogress.org/election/2015/07/12/3679515/right-to-life-arguments/
Esteleth:
Jesus Fucking Christ. What an asshole.
Hi.
I’m cicely.
1) Horses continue to Abominate.
2) Peas continue in their inedibility.
3) Let cheeses into your heart and soul—but, yknow, metaphorically, and by way of your stomach.
4) Miracle Whip™ continues to zip, tangily.
I’ve missed you all.
*hugs&confettis&boozes&chocolate&Horsebanes*
–
There appears to be some pushback by private companies on Texas’ open carry law. DUH. What rational company want armed assholes on their premises?????
Esteleth – ARGH. What a jerk. :(
Cicely! *hugs*
Rey Fox – I know you from a long time around here, and I’ve always valued what you have to say. And Happy Birthday to you. I’m a bad person for any advice right now, because I’m in the middle of doing exactly that, but from the vantage point of forcing someone to move several hours away for a tiny bit of opportunity that might not be that fantastic in the long run. :( In this case, he doesn’t really have any other choice. But It sounds like you do, and that makes it a lot tougher. Sometimes having two bad things to choose from is harder than not really having the choice, and depression doesn’t make it any easier.
Depression is terrible. It will sap your strength and muddle your brain and warp your sense of everything that’s going on. Don’t listen to it.
It does sound like there are better and worse things about each place – have you tried listing them? I know that sounds simplistic, but it can help clear your head, and can be done a little bit at a time over a couple of days. It sounds to me like the new job is an interesting deal – can you move back with your brother if it doesn’t go well? It’s all up to the balance, and don’t buy into “job is more important than anything else” – if you have a support network there that you don’t want to lose, that’s a real and valid consideration. The job isn’t everything. I hope you’re able to figure it out.
FAA dumps Donald Trump, calls for non-controversial navigation codes:
The Redhead can’t complain that the blackberries on her ice cream were stale. Less than five minutes from picking to rinsing to serving…
Knee-pads!
Where are my knee-pads?
Heya
Spent the weekend doing kid-school-social-stuff.
Uff
Rey Fox
I’m leaving this pile of hugs here for you. It has a ribbon and a tag with your name. Suit yourself if you’d ike some.
beatrice
Just remember that men are perfectly rational while women get all emotional over minor stuff like having their humanity questioned.
cicely!
Yay!
esteleth
I’d send the jerk the bill
cicely! yayHugsyay!!!! How are you, are you well? It’s good to see you again!
chigau, have you looked under wherever you keep the phone? Or under the coats, behind the boots, near the back door? (you were distracted by a phonecall when about to put them away, you shed coat/boots on top of them when tired, you used them for gardening …)
esteleth, argh. Gilell’s idea of giving him the bill isn’t a bad one. What an arrogant tosser – a person could make the initial mistake with good intentions, I suppose, but once you see you’ve ruined a garment the least you can do is apologise. Wanker.
Yeah, funny how football/sports testeria is never considered to suggest how commonplace irrational emotional behaviour is in football fans … How being a football fan – and spending a fortune on it – is somehow nothing like being fannish in ways more typically associated with women (and particularly young women/teenagers).
opposablethumbs
Yep, a woman with a walk-in wardrobe/shoe closet is vain/shallow/spends too much money, but a guy with a 2m screen and a subscription to his favourite football team is just a cool guy. To be clear: If you have the extra cash, it’s really not my business how you spend it. Do things you like and enjoy. Buy yourself make-up, shoes, clothing, DIY stuff, sports stuff, an all-inclusive holiday. Really, who am I to pass judgement on these matters. But I thank you very much to do the same.
chigau
Probably where you last left them.
Esteleth
Idiot. (Not you, him.) It’s called (a) never taking initiative with someone else’s property without their express permission and (b) if you do, taking utmost precaution, and that means checking all labels. I bet he was secretly all ‘she’s going to be so happy I helped, she’ll probably wear this for me!’ Or maybe not, but I’d be pissed off.
I don’t know if sending him the bill will make him even angrier and potentially a stupid idiot who will harass you, only you can evaluate that, but it’s certainly something I’d consider.
+++
This will be long, please feel free to skip. It’s about a local issue.
[rant]
I’m so mad. In general, but there’s a certain rage-y disappointment with many actual friends. And definite ire pointed at celebrities / officials.
See, every five years, there’s a huge national song&dance festival held in the country, for adults (and everyone). However, a similar and almost-as-large event occurs every five years (but not the same five years) for schoolchildren – basically, anyone still in high school and under. It’s a lot of rehearsals, various concerts, singing and dancing, in early July (usually hot weather), all outdoors. Which is fine.
People take precautions, etc.
This year was a schoolchildren festival, and while at first the biggest worries were about the sun and about the heat, the weather turned more friendly (besides all the rain), but the rehearsal schedule didn’t change. So, the dance concert and rehearsals occur near the beginning of the festival, and everything went well. The singing concert, the big one, is the very last event, and for adults, the rehearsals are usually several days in a row, a full day long, and gruelling – standing in place for hours is quite taxing (there’s little opportunity to sit down).
This year, during the dress rehearsal, upwards of 500 children fainted, 17 were hospitalized, with 9 needing at least an overnight stay. They stopped the dress rehearsal, even though people had bought tickets for it. Eye-witness accounts describe many more children, who didn’t actually receive medical attention, who were warmed and allowed to rest by spectators and friends. These are children from the ages of 4 or 5 included, but it wasn’t just the youngest fainting all over the place.
So the organizers decided to cancel the big parade the next morning, though later changed that to voluntary participation, and estimates have about 98% of participants participating voluntarily. Which is great! And they held the concert last night, I think slightly shortened (originally it was planned for about 4 hours – remember this is children – the adult version exceeds six hours of singing), and it was beautiful. It really was. There’s a lot of people that put in a lot of effort and time, the participants as much as the organizers.
BUT.
People are complaining about the fainting children. And this divides into two camps: 1) who are asking questions about how they were fed, the rehearsal schedule (getting up at 6? rehearsal starts at 7.30? go to bed at 22.00? concert until 23.00? for children?), the sleep schedule, availability of water and breaks during rehearsal (mostly applied to the singers, since they weren’t allowed to take any water with them to their spots), etc.; 2) who are angry that the parade got cancelled but then reinstated, who blame the kids, the “it was as bad or worse in my day but no one complained”, and the ones who are forcefully, very directedly ‘proud of all those who could handle the pressure and the stress’.
Funnily enough, Camp 2 seems to be mostly people without kids, or without participating kids (too young). There seem to be a lot of adult tears over the fact that not enough care was taken to meet the needs of children (photos of ‘meals’ make them seem entirely inadequate for active children, stories about long line-ups for inadequate showers, etc., never mind that these are children under additional psychological stress – thousands come from rural regions, are housed in schools, and not care for by their parents – for some, this is a first time away from home, plus there’s the patriotic pressure from everyone to participate and make a good show of it).
And I’m angry at the friends of mine who insist that their festival was ruined (remember, these are people who do not have kids but go to watch), that they know children whose experienced was ruined by the cancellation of the parade (because the parade is the culmination of the festival??? umm….), and that kids these days just can’t handle physical stress. And that the Minister for Culture should resign, though she’s the one who made a series of tough decisions in the face of 500+ fainting children, who were doing so in front of an audience of adults.
It’s just that I don’t know what to say to them, because I know all their arguments, and the biggest one I can use against them is ‘you don’t have children, but please think of the children’. Because it’s all about them, when it should be about why 500 children were fainting in the first place. But that’s not important, what’s important is continuing patriotic traditions (incl. child torture! it’s always been that way!) and to uphold historical ethnic cultural elements that are more important than proper planning and a less rigorous schedule.
These are children, for fucks’ sakes, they’re supposed to go and have fun, not watch in horror as their stage-mates are being carried off by medics on stretchers.
Anyway, rant over. I just felt like I couldn’t say all this on FB. I don’t want to deal with the stupid idiots over there. Because I just “wouldn’t understand the tradition”, having (a) grown up in Canada and (b) not having participated in the youth festival ever (for obvious reasons). I just wouldn’t understand, but I do, and it pisses me off that people can ignore the well-being of the children so easily. Assholes.
[/rant]
rq
Who’s going to prison for this? Because somebody should. What were people thinking? I mean, we had #1 school fair this Saturday and it was hot, hot, hot and yep, a couple of kids managed to get a heat stroke, and some more sunburns, which in this case makes me wonder where their parents were. If such an event is organized and children are not supervised by heir parents, somebody has a duty of care.
Also to group 2 people: fuck you and the horse you rode in on. Those kids don’t exist for your personal entertainment. If you’re childfree and not professionally involved with children your opinionis about as valid as Ken Ham’s on Biology.
Giliell
My guess? No one’s going to prison – after all participation is voluntary and everything was worked out in professional committee, with the assistance of official institutions that supposedly know all about children’s nutritional needs. Which means it’s just a freak incident and nobody can be blamed for that. Maybe the parents of these children, since they couldn’t adequately evaluate their children’s physical preparedness for this event. Christ.
Oh, and they were fainting from exhaustion, and from hypothermia. In the summer. Because it’s been wet, sunless and rainy, and nobody is dressed appropriately, esp. if they aren’t being fed properly (I don’t care what the officials say). And they all have little rainsheets and ponchos to wear, but (a) those leak like crazy (esp. down the back) and (b) they do not keep any heat in.
rq that event sounds ridiculously taxing for children. I know that is this country there are strict regulations on what children are expected to do in those circumstances. I think there would be a court case if anything similar to what you describe was done here.
I’d love my daughter to be involved in the arts as she gets older – and if she wants to – but not at the expense of her health or finding the whole thing traumatic.
rq, that’s awful. Those are children, human being children, not automatons in a Disney ride. Some people…
rq
“Tradition” Blech! :P
If a few had those issues out of so many participants, maybe it could be chalked up to those individuals having exacerbating conditions (fighting off an illness, dehydrated/malnourished prior to arriving, etc.) But 500!!!! Something is very wrong!
Gotta question for the comic book nerds…(I’m looking at you Tony :) )
I haven’t been “into” comics since 1992 or so, so I’m way out of the loop. I’m looking for two or three titles to get back into that my 11yo daughter would also enjoy.
Right now, I’m thinking Ms.Marvel, Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, and Thor.
(FYI: I’ve always been more of a fan of Marvel than DC)
Thoughts?
For fans of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Carter, here are some videos of the casts having a lot of fun at SDCC this past weekend.
Oh, I like this! Please, Bernie Sanders, do go after the providers of cable and broadband services. I’ve recently looked into three different services and they all look like they are designed to rip off their customers. I know that a monopoly situation exists in some areas (only one service available) but even where more services are available the charges are outrageous. The contracts are outrageous.
More:
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/07/senators-asks-fcc-to-investigate-cable-and-broadband-prices/
It’s like creationism and global warming crankery had a baby dedicated to brain science.
Tourette’s Syndrome and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): an addiction, not a disease
I find it rather amusing. Three is a lot of information they completely omit as they hype an “the experts don’t know anything!” message per normal. I might tear this apart as a project in the future.
@ Caroline 126
Life is continually improving one’s processes and associations :)
I’m glad to hear that your therapy is going well. Feeling the emotion without judgment is an important step. What is called CBT/DBT (Cognitive/Dialectical Behavioral Therapy) is an amazing process. If all goes well one gains skill at experiencing their feelings, one learns how their feelings are associated with their past and present and then they develop tools to manipulate how their feelings are associated with their reality. It boils down to fleshing out the emotional “Heads Up Display” and then selectively writing or overwriting new associations and habits. There is even a version for Tourette’s that works like “tic replacement” (we always tic but we can chose how to, it’s actually useful.)
The beginning of the process bears a lot of similarity to what is called “mindfulness meditation” with the mysticism stripped out.
@Tony 151
I hate that social catch-22. I hope that your luck with the internet holds or you solve the phone problem.
@Beatrice 155
Is just asking your friend about it out of the question?
@167
I see a lot of similarity in sports, religion and politics. The fans are often just as bad as the most passionate and uncontrolled religious and political types. There is a certain kind of attraction to authority that yields similar behaviors. I’m hoping a single set of explanations yields solutions because academia is probably hurting from sports obsession as much as other parts of society are hurting from excesses in similar areas. I’m happy I never caught the bug.
@carlie 164
Good luck getting the stuff!
@ Rey Fox 175
Happy belated birthday!
That sounds like a difficult situation to balance.
Does the geographic issue include the fact that you want to stay where you are because your family is there? I can understand preferring a particular climate. When I left Arizona I thought I would miss the desert a whole lot, and I did, but I ended up enjoying the new environment a lot. If you don’t like what you are doing now and the new job looks similar that is worth thinking about.
I don’t think you suck. Doing something you hate and being in a place you might hate does have an impact so it’s worth thinking about. Maybe the things you do for fun now can give you some ideas about what you want?
@rq 200
I’m astounded that 500 fainting children was not enough for your friends and others without kids. That they are more concerned about their ability to see that part of the festival than the health of the children and figuring out who screwed up is disturbing to say the least.
Donald Trump’s ego flourishes in a fact-free bubble. We’re used to him ignoring studies that show immigrants are not invading the USA (flowing in like water), and studies that show immigration numbers are actually down. Trump, who described himself on Saturday as “like, a really smart person,” says of such studies, “I don’t believe it.”
Now Trump is up against math of the simplest kind, counting people.
Trump made the complaint, in part, because a few protestors made it into the Convention Center.
More to the point, the main security officer’s clicker showed that 4,229 people were in the Center.
No news organizations estimated the crowd according to Trump’s Ego-Math. They all estimated about 4,200 people. The Phoenix Fire Department backed up the @4000 number and said there was no way they would have allowed 10,000 or more people into the Center.
Trump keeps pushing the fact-free envelope.
Governor Scott Walker signed the state budget, a budget that is an assault on education and on lower-income people in Wisconsin. For one thing, he took an axe to tenure for college professors.
A brief summary:
Walker also made it easier for the payday loan industry to rip off customers. They’re already a predatory element of society. Walker gave them more teeth and claws.
He cut drug treatment programs. More here:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/scott-walker-wisconsin-budget-tenure-professors
YOB:
Well it sounds like you already have three books that are critically acclaimed, two of which could be fairly well described as all-ages-Ms. Marvel and Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. If I had to guess, Thor would be classified as PG-13 (using movie ratings obviously). I’m not sure what criteria you’re looking for in selecting titles for your daughter, but I have some suggestions you might find interesting (and I’m assuming you’re looking for books that prominently feature-or are headlined by-female characters; apologies if this is not the case). Before I get into those however, I’d like to point out that Marvel is in the midst of a big crossover event called Secret Wars. The reason I point this out is that the event has basically co-opted the Marvel Universe. Between May and September, all Marvel titles will have been cancelled. Most will have been replaced-temporarily with titles set in the Secret Wars landscape. *Following* Secret Wars though, Marvel is relaunching their entire line with all-new #1s, so that’s going to be a great jumping on point. The titles I’m recommending are all set to debut in October:
Blade, the vampire hunter:
The Scarlet Witch is getting her own series by James Robinson and Kevin Wada.
A-Force, Marvel’s all-female Avengers team.
Spider-Gwen is set in an alternate reality where a radioactive spider bit Gwen Stacy instead of Peter Parker. This book is one of Marvel’s best-selling, critically acclaimed titles. It literally came out of nowhere and the push for a series was entirely fan driven. She debuted in a one-shot last year that was part of a huge Spider-Man story. *Before* she debuted, fan reaction was so intense that Marvel greenlit a series for her before the one-shot even appeared. When the ongoing debuted in February, the sales were ginormous. I loved seeing a title headlined by a female character with sales well over 150,000 (comics that sell over 100K are considered huge sales successes). Kinda let’s you give the middle finger to the whiny misogynists who don’t think a comic headlined by girls or women can be successful. The art on the book is stunning. The characters’ costume is perfect for cosplaying (I imagine many people at San Diego Comic-Con were decked out as Spider-Gwen over the weekend). Incidentally, Spider-Gwen is just the name of the book. Inside, she’s called Spiderwoman.
And of course there’s Captain Marvel which will be written by Tara Butters and Michele Fazekas, the showrunners for Agent Carter.
Oh, and Ms. Marvel will be part of the line-up for the new Avengers title in the fall. So will the current, female Thor, and the half-black/half-Hispanic Spider-Man, Miles Morales.
I’m much more interested in Marvel than I am DC, though I have some suggestions for them as well. DC is making some serious efforts at diversifying their output as well, so I have to give them props for that even if I don’t like the overall direction the company has gone in.
*headbonks* and *hugs* to anyone that needs’em.
————————————–
Thought I would share this amusing* anecdote I had with my daughter.
So, we’re out shopping for clothes for her first sleep away camp this last Saturday. Couple of Big Box stores and a few specific clothing stores. At EVERY one of them, she ran into the same problem and became increasingly frustrated.
Problem: No geek girl gear. She has to go over to the boys section to find anything remotely related to Geek stuff (Dr. Who, Minecraft, etc).
I know there is a ton of stuff on-line but the problem is that she is hard to fit. She really has to try it on first because oftentimes, while the clothes size is her’s, the cut and fit doesn’t really work on her frame.
She now wants me to learn how to silk screen at home so she can have her own custom designed nerd wear. And also jewelry and stuff. I told her, if she designs it, She and I will both learn how to make it happen (or I’ll teach her how for the stuff I already know about).
Still, it is frustrating for both of us that Target, Wal-Mart, etc will carry a TON of geek stuff for the boys and literally NONE for the girls.
*not, in fact, amusing at all
Oh, my. Well, if you can stand to read it, if you can stand to take in the full scope of the conspiracy theories around the Jade Helm military exercises in the U.S., here’s a handy summary:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/jade-helm-15-begins-wednesday
A few of my favorites:
– the “Jade Helm 15” exercise coincides with a Druidic cremation ceremony performed by a secret society
– EMP attacks will be used to silence christians
– the whole exercise is designed to help Russia give many southern or southwestern states back to Mexico
Tony
Thanks for the info. That is great stuff. I’m a little confused by this
but I’ll figure it out.
For now, I think I’m heading off to my local (not really all that local, hence the subscriptions) comic shop and see what is in the offing today.
anybody feeling like a quick, cheap and comparatively healthy recipe?
Bread muffins
Yields 12
Attention, if this is your dinner, those will only serve about 2 people!
-Spinach, about a pound, lightly cooked with things to season
-6 slices of toast. Wonderful for using last week’s toast. Toasted and diced
-a chunk of cheese. Best some Feta-like cheese, diced
-a bit of cream or milk
-3 eggs
-salt, pepper, garlic, whatever
Mix everything in a bowl, put some baking paper into your muffin tray (I alsways cut small squares, about 6X6″), fill mixture in, bake at about 200° for 15-20 minutes
Ah, a chance to enjoy some more Trump-induced schadenfreude.
Not quite as rich as he says he is? Not quite as smart as he claims to be? Well, Trump has no ethical qualms when it comes to taking advantage of bankruptcy laws that favor the rich.
Robert Reich has written that bankruptcy laws reward Donald Trump and screw the rest of us.
Representative Steve King, Republican doofus from Iowa, is still not done encouraging you to discriminate against the LGBT community:
This is a followup to comment 211, and to Tony’s comments up-thread about Scott Walker. Walker wants you to know that his campaign for President of the USA is part of God’s plan:
Link
More Republican doofuses publicly stating that their primary mission in office is to spread christianity:
Link
rq,
500 children?!
I would expect 50 to be newsworthy, let alone 500. People should be threatening to boycott the festival, not complain about having their fun ruined by children getting hypothermia.
Brony,
Yes, I already decided to just ask her .I didn’t want to be rude, but I don’t think she’ll mind.
This is a followup to comments 75, 88 and 95. Let’s look at another aspect of the rightwing machine that guarantees a spot on the NYT’s bestseller list for dubious, piece-of-shit books by conservative politicians (written by ghost writers).
Link
Sarah Palin pulled the “bestseller” scam through her PAC:
Ted Cruz didn’t stick to the usual scam guidelines for right-wingers, so he got caught and was struck from the bestseller list. Cruz paid Result Source to hire thousands of people to purchase individual copies of “A Time for Truth.” Maybe he couldn’t find enough bulk buyers?
I don’t like airports.
“Be Normal At Dinner:” On Geniuses, Lovers, and The Asks We Make of Both
YOB @215:
Apologies for the confusion. Let me try to clarify.
Writer Jonathan Hickman has been telling a long-form story over the past several years involving the destruction of the multiverse. Secret Wars is the culmination of that story and kicked off with the destruction of the main Marvel Universe (as well as the Ultimate Universe). In the wake of that destruction, a godlike being (whose identity I won’t spoil) creates Battleworld, a mosaic world made up of portions of various realities that were destroyed (including the main Marvel reality) and is the only world that currently exists in the Marvel Universe.
Because Secret Wars is a line-wide event, and the PTB wanted to stress how important the series is, most ongoing Marvel titles were cancelled in May. They were replaced-temporarily-with titles that focus on the characters inhabiting the various locales on Battleworld.
Most of the realities incorporated into Battleworld have been given their own domains that are kept separated from one another. These domains reflect some aspect of the Marvel Universe or its various alternate realities (some of the domains include one that revisits Marvel’s Civil War, but with a different outcome, one where HYDRA rules, an Age of Apocalypse domain, an Old West version of the MU, the Marvel Zombies world, the all-female Avengers team, a domain with the comic book version of the 90s X-Men cartoon, a book about the various Ghost Riders, a book set during the 1700s, and much, much more). While the main Secret Wars series focuses on the story Hickman has been building, the domains have received spin-off titles to focus on stories of the characters within. These spin-off books take the place of the series that were cancelled in May.
Some Marvel titles, such as Ant-Man, Silver Surfer, Ms. Marvel, Loki, and Magneto have continued and detail the last days of the Marvel Universe just prior to Secret Wars. These books will end before the entire Marvel universe is relaunched in October. Once relaunched, all the titles will receive new #1’s. Thus far, 45 titles have been announced as launching in Oct., with more on the way later.
Incidentally, the relaunch is not a reboot. Marvel is keeping their history (unlike DC, which reboots its universe occasionally), they’re just trying to revitalize the line.
This gives a good overview of the Battleworld.
Look at the Boy Scouts! They’re poised to finally enter the 20th century by ending their ban on gay adult scout leaders.
regarding rq’s comment about 500 children fainting at a public event (and at the rehearsals, I think): That number of incidents reflects very bad planning, and a criminal disregard for the welfare of children.
I was camping recently with family members. We were at a high elevation where the weather was cooler. Busy adults, with their setting-up activities, larger bodies, thicker fat layers etc. were all warm, or even too warm. Meanwhile 2 to 4 year old children were shivering. Different needs, people. Care must be taken.
Tony @225 (the following sentiment is directed at Marvel, not you)
Oh FFS, that is even more complicated and confusing. ? I see that keeping everything sorted out hasn’t gotten any easier since the 80s/90s. I guess imma have to go hardcore again and get a crap load of back issues and go from there. Honored First Wife™ is gonna loooooove that.
————-
@226 Yay! It’s a step in the right direction. Long over due and many more to go, but still.
YOB @228:
I can see how that would be confusing.
The main thing to remember is that come October, there will be a fresh start for every Marvel title.
I also forgot to mention that all the October shipping titles will be jumping ahead 8 months from the end of Secret Wars. It’s really a great jumping on point, bc from what I can tell, the titles aren’t going to be bogged down in anything related to Secret Wars. And the creators are working hard to ensure that all the new #1’s are accessible to readers. Of course you might not want to wait until October.
and we have a BINGO!
:)
YOB:
You have email.
Someone please tell me The Globe and Mail is a satire site. Please!
Anti-vaccine course brings U of T one step closer to offering a masters of pseudoscience
I like Yellowknife.
Finally talked with Kid’s aunt’s partner; we’re going to take him down on Saturday. However, instead of feeling relieved about this, I feel awful. He won’t be near his mom, or his sister, or his friends, or the social services that he is at least somewhat familiar with navigating, or his familiar haunts. I wish there was some way for us to keep him, but he’s getting more and more sick being in our basement (little bit of moisture problems) and living on an air mattress between the washing machine and the water heater isn’t much of a life, and wouldn’t be made better by moving said mattress to the living room or computer spot. I’m worried because the family who will be taking him has some health problems of their own right now and also not much room; I can only hope that he’ll be able to help out and be a godsend instead of an extra burden. Over this week I’ve seen that he needs so much parenting. He may be 18, but he has very few life skills. He really needs to be cared for. My biggest fear is that, although he has more relatives there (3 aunt/uncle sets and a grandma), he’ll get shuffled around between them and possibly end up out of luck there too, and then he’s really up a creek. I’m envisioning him calling us sometime around mid-October to come get him, and then I don’t know what we’ll be able to figure out for him. I know right now this is preferable to him staying here and relying on social services, especially since that would mean a shelter for awhile and then what, a 1 room place by himself? Then who takes care of him? I just feel so overwhelmingly sad for his whole situation, and I wish I could make it all better, and I can’t. :(
carlie:
You have such an amazing heart. I know you wish you could do more, but from my perspective, you’ve already done quite a bit. Think about how much harder his life would be if you and your family hadn’t been there to help him. None of this is to say he’ll have it easy. From the sounds of things, he’s still going to have some struggles. But you and your family have helped him have *fewer* struggles. That, by no means, is a small thing.
Carlie what you’ve done for this young man may well make a huge difference in his life: you have shown him that there are people who will care fro him and help when they can. I know you’re concerned for him, but I’m guessing that in reality you have little choice, but to do what you’re doing. I’m sure he knows that if he needs help again he can turn to you.
Saturday will be the last concert of the orchestral year. It’s an ‘East meets West’ thing so quite a variety of music. Then we have the summer break. Sadly, soon after that we’ll lose one of our most talented percussionists as she’s having a baby. As she lives a distance away now, she won’t be able to come back once the baby is born. I’m very pleased for her and her husband (who’s also in the orchestra), but there will be a huge hole in the percussion section that will be very difficult to fill. On the plus side we’ve been able to pass on some of our baby stuff to them which has saved them some money.
Bassmike
As you don`t mention losing the husbans, he will manage to come back despite the distance and the baby?
I like* when someone tries to address the ridiculous disparity between the rich and the poor and gets accused of “class warfare”. It’s like when the Ferguson and Baltimore protestors were accused of disturbing the peace.
* Actually, it boils my blood.
Saad – everything’s ok as long as you smile as the boot stomps on your head, you see. Then we’re all getting along.
I was wondering the same as Beatrice! But maybe it’s just that his departure doesn’t leave such a big hard-to-fill hole in his section, whichever it is, as hers does in percussion?
The two elder children are now arguing about ancient crocodiles and whether they’re actually crocodiles or just crocodile ancestors. It’s a really heated discussion.
bassmike
Does the orchestra have a child-care room at all? Might be something to consider, if having children seems to eliminate members (important ones!) from the orchestra.
I was able to keep singing by taking my children as babies to rehearsal with me, but a choir does not reach nearly the same volume as an orchestra, plus you need both hands for most instruments.
carlie
*hugs*
Kid is so lucky that you are around and available to help, and while he may not fully appreciate your efforts now, I’m sure that, in several years, he will.
Also, I hope everything works out. Is the paperwork going to be in the right place by the deadline?
The husband (a trumpet player) will be staying on a month or so longer. The percussionist is due to give birth in October, so by September, playing certain percussion items will become problematic. All being well she’ll play a concert we have in September and then step down. Her husband will stay on for a little while longer, as the lead trumpet is missing for a concert in October so my friend will cover. After that, neither of them will be available. They will both be missed, but being a part-time member of the percussion section, that’s where it will affect me more.
I hope that explains things a bit more. Sorry of the omission.
rq that’s quite an advanced philosophical discussion your kids are having! They sound like born scientists!
rq for a while the orchestra had someone who was a qualifies child minder to look after kids during rehearsal. This was purely on an informal basis due to legal requirements for child care in the UK. I haven’t seen her for quite a while, so I’m guessing she’s not doing it anymore. Some people bring their older kids (anything for maybe 6 upwards) and they sit and draw or play on a tablet in the same room as us during rehearsal. I think it’s okay to do that once in a while, but I couldn’t do it every week.
The friends in question live about an hour’s drive away, so realistically, while the child is very young it’s just not practical to travel the distance every week. They don’t really have access to child care near to them (my friend’s family are about 100 miles away and her husband’s family are in Germany!), so their options are limited. Maybe in a few years time it could be possible. But that’s their choice. They may have found a musical outlet closer to home by then.
rq – I hope so. I tracked it this morning and I’ll have to send flowers or something to the town clerk because, by god, they got it in the mail in time there yesterday. I have to call the post office after we get done with social services this morning to see if it would make things go faster for me to be at the post office to pick it up in person, or if that would muck everything up and I need to sit tight. It’s guaranteed delivery by 3pm, the sheriff’s office does IDs until 3:30, and it’s an 11 minute drive there. I’ll call them too to let them know we’re coming right at the end of time, so they hopefully don’t try to close shop early or anything. Ack!
Sorry, bassmike for.being so jumpy
It my fault really Beatrice . I tried to keep the post short, but I should have included a little more detail!
carlie, you are brilliant. And I wish more people were like you. Seriously, totally brilliant.
Eh, also didn’t mean to sound like jumping on you bassmike! I see now what you meant.
I’m kind of glad mine aren’t tiny any more :-) Of course, they now encounter a whole different gamut of Problemy Things And Suchlike :-s
Carlie, one aspect of your care for this essentially parentless boy is that, at 18, he is not ready to be on his own. In fact, few kids are at that age. I wish our society recognized this fact.
Scott Walker, the doofus who formally announced his candidacy for president yesterday, that doofus said this: “The left claims that they’re for American workers and they’ve just got just really lame ideas — things like the minimum wage.”
He said that in an interview on Fox News after the big speech.
In the “thank goodness” category, we have news of an historic nuclear agreement having been reached between the P5 +1 countries and Iran.
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/iran-nuclear-deal-tehran-us-agree-historic-pact
https://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/foreign-policy/iran-deal
Between 1979 and 2013, conversation between the U.S. and Iran was almost nil. Diplomacy, nil. Former president Bush called Iran part of the “axis of evil.” Now we’ve got an agreement. Hopefully the Republicans in the U.S. House and Senate will not waste too much time trying to derail the deal.
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/iran-nuclear-talks/iran-nuclear-deal-what-happens-next-n391641
The link summarizes the content.
I’m disgusted with Israel’s opposition, which is full of hyperbole.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/07/14/1402154/-Oklahoma-Republican-Party-compares-food-stamps-to-feeding-wild-animals
Yes, Oklahoma Republicans posted an ill-informed, cruel comparison of food stamp recipients to wild animals. Since most SNAP households are made up, in part, of children, elderly, and/or disabled people, I don’t see how the wild animal comparison makes sense.
Actual statistics:
44.8% children
20.3% disabled, nonelderly
17.4% elderly
Part of the text from the Oklahoma Republicans reads:
More on the ridiculous response from Netanyahu to the nuclear deal with Iran:
http://thinkprogress.org/world/2015/07/14/3680249/iran-deal-explained-netanyahus-cartoon-bomb/
OH MY FUCKING GOOOOOOOODDDDDDDD
I have the birth certificate in my hand. This is what transpired:
We left the house at 8:01 this morning to go to social services. I am acutely aware of the exact time, as I had wanted to leave quite a bit before that. I was literally standing by the front door most of the time between 7:40 and 8:01. Got back at 10:45, checked the tracking online for the birth certificate, and it says that they attempted to deliver it at 7:45am, left a notice, and that I should call the post office. NONONONONONONONONOOOOOOOOO…
I called the post office, and was told that the carrier would still have it on the truck, but he wasn’t coming back to the office until 4pm and I couldn’t get it until then. I am ashamed that I lost it a bit at that point. I don’t think I was rude, but “OH NO WE HAVE TO HAVE IT BEFORE 3” blurted out in a rather loud and desperate tone of voice. I asked if there was any way I could find the carrier and get it directly from them, and then they came back and said that it was at the post office right then after all. I flew down there to get it, apologized profusely, and found out, get this:
The carrier hadn’t ever taken it out for the delivery, because he had seen that we were having our mail held. He had put it in the “hold for pickup” bin because I had filled out the hold mail form yesterday when we took Kid to also do a change of address form for him to stop mail being sent to his dad’s house. The post office person accidentally gave us a hold mail form first, but since we’ll be out of town in a few weeks, I figured why not, I’ll go ahead and fill out the form now. The carrier had seen the form that our mail was being held for pickup, but hadn’t noticed the date hadn’t started yet, so had left it at the office. HOLY SHIT YOU GUYS. I think I’m having a heart attack. I know I was sobbing all the way back home.
Relating it to other threads currently ongoing – THIS is one of the reasons so many people are religious. If this had happened when I was a Christian? I would have seen the hand of God in it the whole way through, rather than the hands of a lot of really compassionate people who went out of their way to help out combined with several really close calls and fortuitous events. Fucking hell. We even have time to wait until after lunch and then will be right there when they open for the afternoon ID session, and got his hair cut this morning so he looks good for the photo. Seriously, just to list the fortuitous events:
1. He and his dad had gotten into a huge fight a week before this happened, and he had applied for SNAP benefits on his own then in anticipation of any possible problem. This generated the single, only piece of mail he has that he can use as the second piece of proof of identification he needs in order to get the photo ID (they require a piece of mail with your address on it, dated within the last 30 days), as they sent him a confirmation of his application.
2. His dad actually gave him that piece of mail when we went to get his stuff.
3. I figured out how to get the birth certificate at literally the last possible day that we could get it done by the deadline.
4. The person I know who is a notary was at work on Friday and able to do the release form to get it sent to our address.
5. We got there to see her just in time to get everything done.
6. The town clerk called back just in time to get the notary back on the phone and get back to her before she left for the day.
7. The clerk got it processed and back in the mail the same day, even though that office serves a county of half a million people.
8. We happened to go to the post office to change his address the day before the overnight mail came, rather than a few days before or after.
9. The postal clerk happened to give us the wrong form, and handed over the hold mail form.
10. I decided to go ahead and fill out the form since it was in my hand, instead of doing it online later like I usually do.
11. I filled it out for hold until pickup instead of deliver all at end of date.
12. The carrier saw the form and the hold for pickup, but not the date.
13. I checked the tracking online instead of just waiting all day.
14. I saw it just in time to go down there and get it before they closed for lunch, which would have pushed us much closer to the close of the ID time later.
I would have called every single one of those things a miracle back in my old days. Now, however, I’m just a relieved mess, and have a long list of people to send thank-you cards and candy bars to. :)
Here are a few Republican responses to the nuclear deal with Iran:
Senator Tom Cotton: “This proposed deal is a terrible, dangerous mistake that’s going to pave the path for Iran to get a nuclear weapon while also giving them tens of billions of dollars of sanctions relief, even lifting the arms embargo at a time when they’re destabilizing the entire middle east. The American people will repudiate this deal and I believe Congress will kill the deal.”
House Speaker John Boehner: President Obama and the administration “abandoned” previously stated goals to keep sanctions in place until Iran “met concrete standards.” He said the current version of the deal fails to “stop Iran’s drive for a nuclear bomb” and is therefore “unacceptable.”
Senator Lindsey Graham: “If the initial reports regarding the details of this deal hold true, there’s no way as president of the United States I would honor this deal. It’s incredibly dangerous for our national security, and it’s akin to declaring war on Sunni Arabs and Israel by the P5+1 because it ensures their primary antagonist Iran will become a nuclear power and allows them to rearm conventionally.”
carli
Yay!!! That is, indeed, a fortuitous chain of events. However, I feel that the miracle that made it all happen is…. You.
——————
Lynna, OM
So this deal is a terrible bad thing that won’t work (just like the last n+ years of policy) but are any of them saying why/how? Or is it all just RW bloviating?
… Oops. Answered my own question.
carlie, HUGS, and you are an outstanding human being. Whatever happens later, you’ve given the kid a good start, and let him know that there are people who care what happens to him.
YOB, yes, the “stunning mistake” (that seems to be the favorite phrase) that Republicans are really hating is that President Obama got something done that they couldn’t do.
The Bush administration did the hang-tough approach with North Korea. North Korea is now a nuclear state with a few deliverable nuclear weapons. Yeah, it would be nice if Iran gave us everything we ever wanted, but that’s not going to happen. The hang-tough approach only works up to a point. After that, one has to actually negotiate.
I say we give the deal a chance. There are lots of safeguards in place. We can see if it works. This is preferable to bombing Iran.
If we did what some Republicans want, and we went to war with Iran, I think that would guarantee Iran’s rapid development into a nuclear state, with Russia and China likely on their side.
The whole “be more manly” advice from Republicans is off-putting on its own, let alone the fact that it does not get results.
Summary of the deal:
http://thinkprogress.org/world/2015/07/14/3680194/7-key-provisions-historic-deal-iran/
Main points, as posted by Think Progress:
Full text of deal: http://www.scribd.com/doc/271540447/Iran-nuclear-deal-text
I will add that the process of proposing an inspection and getting it approved is a face-saving mechanism for Iran, one also approved by the U.N. Iran will have to comply. There will be a permanent 24/7 inspection office housed in Iran. Our experts negotiated well. I think they know what they’re doing when it comes to inspections.
The Bush administration also tried the hang-tough approach with Iran. So Iran went from about 150 centrifuges to more than 19,000. The Republican approach doesn’t work, it exacerbates the problem.
Meanwhile, from Fox News we have Lou Dobbs saying that we have “surrendered” and have lost “control over our destiny.” Hyperbolic much?
Oh, forgot to mention that every rightwing pundit and his/her cousin is throwing around the word “treason” to describe Obama’s deal with Iran. Other favorites: “unmitigated evil,” “capitulation to a terrorist regime,” “a deal built on capitulation,” “appeasement,” and “Obama has innocent blood on his hands.”
If I wait five minutes, there will be more bloviating and fulminating from the rightwing. I don’t think we have enough fainting couches.
Carlie, I dub thee “Master of Logistics,” or maybe you put out fires really well. You could work with Ogvorbis.
More unhelpful blather from the right wing. Jeb Bush said,
Other Republican presidential candidates are assuring us that, if they are elected, they will not honor the deal with Iran. Well, isn’t that helpful.
carlie, YAY!
First world problems:
Water from the AC dripping on your head while you try to pass between the parked cars and the building, thus unavoidable.
carlie,
Smart kid. Did he do the application for insurance and cash assistance as well? They are often all on the same application but you’ve got to select whether to do them or not. Insurance would be good regardless but cash would depend on the state. AZ’s down to a pittance for only families with children.
So I’m probably too late to help (sorry) and there might be some information past this thread I missed but…
Living from couch to couch does qualify him as homeless so he can use those resources. Shelters are a…trial of their of own and it’s good he’s got family to go to but there should be more than that available. Hopefully, a few. In my area, there’s one specifically for young adult 18-21, for instance. I don’t know what area you’re in for specifics but I was able to find case workers, bus cards, clothes, toiletries, laundry help, classes on taking care of yourself, GED help (paid the $50 for me to get it even), and information about options. Not a lot but enough for me to live in AZ and having some support for him will make it easier.
Of course, he wouldn’t be the first kid bouncing between family to land in the shelters and if he’s given time to get into a good one, a stable place to stay and work towards his goals (job, school, community college, whatever) might be better for him than changing locations. That’s a drain and really ends up fucking with you. (If he does end up going between family.)
Finding a good one usually means going down there to check it out and filling out the paperwork to get on the waiting list. Other than their facilities and help, if you’re out of the homeless kid loop, deciding if its a good one is a gut instinct type thing. If there’s a “this sounds sketchy” or “this worker doesn’t feel right”, I’d listen to it. I’ve had good experiences in shelters but there’s been some workers in some places that should not be there. (Like a middle aged man sleeping with a 17 year old staying in the shelter he works at)
If he does end up in one, it might seem like nothing, but it’d really help (IME) to have friends outside the system so he doesn’t get bogged down in the system and drama.
That’s the baseline and he might already know this given your “services he’s used to” but I don’t know exactly what that meant.
This part is more personal and I’m hesitant to say it but it might help. Or might be stepping on toes, if so I’m sorry. It’s based on my impression from your comments and my experience with well meaning people as a homeless teen.
As sad as it is being on your own young and as understandable as it is to want to take care of him, he needs to be taught how to stand on his own rather than mothered. Because even with family, he won’t be able to be a “regular” 18 year old. So knowing how and when to do basic household stuff for himself would be good. (In my experience, it’s cooking that’s hardest to learn on your own, if he doesn’t know it already).
Having a job and one room apt of his own is often the dream of homeless kids, even if you find it sad. In fact with the reality of homeless kids, if he ends up not staying or stable with family, treating the best case scenario better (even in your head cuz people pick up on it) would be a good idea. From there or with family, community college or getting on track for a university, is entirely possible.
Case workers in this area rely on being calm, confident, and realistic. It can get better and it will with work and knowledge and not giving up. And luck, though that’s rarely stated and really comes down to things most people don’t think of like a support system and timing. Shelters have busier seasons like winter and summer for instance. It’s very easy to get depressed dealing with it and having friends and an older confidant is great. But being already frustrated at the situation, seemingly helpless, grateful but can’t do anything about it and then feeling guilty for turning your friend’s helpful mother into a ball of nerves is a lot to handle. (Okay that last bit may just be projection on my part but I remember being in this sort of situation and it’s hard to keep that completely out.)
I’m very glad he’s got friends and you to help him. You’ve done a good thing and one of the first things case workers get you is i.d, which is indeed a trial. Good job. I hope I’m not being a downer or anything. I wish I could be more specific, having someone that’s been through it guide you helps. (hey, if anyone’s stuck in this sort of situation in Phoenix…)
Aaaand as before I could finish my last comment, my mother’s husband stopped by. Mom was attacked and is in surgery for a bleeding spleen. They won’t give him information or let him in since she was a victim of violence, until she wakes up and gives him the clear.
So he’s staying here for a couple hours as I try to make calls (no luck, no information for me either) and help him since he was suppose to be in court this morning.
And now I’ve got to go to Walmart for the money order (thanks again, everyone. you really saved our asses) to stop them from filling the court papers tomorrow morning. I’ll try and check in later (sorry carlie, to dump all that and run) but I’ll probably be drained and can’t guarantee anything.
JAL, *HUGS*
Augh, been trying to the Redhead’s hospital bed fixed, so we can get the head of the bed to raise and lower properly so she doesn’t have to lay flat. When they were here today, they ended up removing the connection to even be able to manually raise and lower the head of the bed. She has breathing problems if she is flat for too long.
Good evening
carlie
You’Re the most wonderful person. I hope the kid gets a fresh start.
About your list of wonderful coincidences as “proof of god”: The logical error starts of course with some supposedly benevolent god allowing the kid to be kickerd out of home, depending on the goodwill of folks who are basically strangers.
ASking the Horde
1. Has anybody read Toni Morrison’S latest novel? Is it good?
2. Name a really good book by Alice Walker apart from The Color Purple
3. Name two important works by Maya Angelou.
4. Guess my exam topic.
moar literature
NK Jemisin. That woman is pure genius.
I read the Killing Moon books with great delight and now I’ve turned to the Inheritance Trilogy.
I mean, she can take “it was a dark and stormy night” and turn it into “It is an ugly, stormcloud-choked night”
Mild TW for sexual abuse, though. Not graphic.
Squeee! UPS just delivered my copy of Go Set a Watchman! I’m going to save it for a day or two, though, as I’m in the middle of something else, and I want to give Go Set a Watchman my full attention when I do start reading.
Nerd, good luck with the Redhead’s bed. Sounds crucial that it be fixed.
In other news, this is pretty far out there, even for religious rightwing doofuses:
Link
Lynna, #272
The more I hear from the religious right, the more awesome the devil sounds. They might as well just start calling him an SJW.
More eyebrow-raising goofiness from the rightwing. Alex Jones is buddies with both Rand Paul and Ron Paul. Jones attracts a monthly unique audience of about four million. He has important stuff to say, or so he thinks, for example:
Link
Uh, what? the UN is a space cult? And what about those juice boxes?
Whoopi Golberg *finally* admits that Bill Cosby is probably a rapist.
Though she hedges her bets a bit, she’s finally ditching the “innocent til proven guilty” malarkey.
Saad @273, isn’t that the truth though! The Devil, Satan, The Adversary, the Dark Angel, the fallen angel … he’s really got it going on.
Milton thought so too, though I don’t think he ever admitted it. Satan is by far the most interesting character in Paradise Lost.
This is a followup to comment 253, about Oklahoma Republicans comparing people on food stamps to wild animals who should not be fed.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/state-gop-equates-food-stamp-recipients-wild-animals
Oh, that non-apology stinks!
Okay, Texas does it again. Officials in that state are so good at committing outrageous acts that we hardly go a day without some lacking-empathy, anti-human, anti-decency and breaking-the-law kind of nonsense.
Link
Scott Walker says dumb stuff about the Boy Scouts:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/scott-walker-ban-gay-scout-leaders
This is good news, contraception and the Affordable Care Act categories:
Link
JAL – thank you so much for that info, it really helps. I’m going to copy-paste it into a document to keep for reference in case we need to do more in the future. He did apply for temp assistance, but today the caseworker had him withdraw it so when he gets to his new location (in a different county), they won’t see that he has a pending request here and hold it up further, and he can apply there. He also applied to get taken off of his dad’s food stamp allotment so that he can get his own. He’s got medical issues right now that keep him unable to work, so those will need to get cleared up soon too. I didn’t mean to say that living by himself would be sad, just that it might be lonely, and I worry about his ability to really care for himself right now. He’s smart, but he’s got so much to deal with and is not great at juggling things like appointments and paperwork. But you’re right, he needs to learn. I’ve known him since he was 12, so the mothering instinct is very strong with this one. There are a couple of places here for transitional services for kids 18-21 that help teach them those skills, like you mentioned, but he knows some people who were in them and I guess they aren’t very good here. I’m hoping that his family where he’s going either get him through getting his GED and employment, or help him navigate through getting into a transitional home there where he’d still have family nearby to lean on and leave his lizard with (if he could; one of the transitional places here doesn’t allow contact with anyone outside for the first 3 months, which seems shady in and of itself).
Thanks too for reminding me about my attitude – I’m trying to keep it in check and stay calm around him, and should probably try a little harder. That’s one of the reasons I’m so grateful to everyone here – this is where I’m venting all the worry, and thank you to everyone here for letting me do it. I’m sorry I’m tying up so much of the thread; just being able to write it out is keeping me holding on through all this. Everybody who has commented back to me or not told me to stop whining or clogging the works, thank you for being so patient. I would be twice the nerve bundle without you all.
So we got the IDs. But one kind of depressing thing – we were sitting waiting for the next part of the process, so happy that we had managed to get the one ID and get the documents for the second approved, when he ran into someone he had gone to school with a few years ago. The other kid was getting insurance for his car, which he bought from money he made working, which he did because he had just graduated high school and was going off to college. So the contrast with what we were doing was kind of… stark. “Oh yes, we’re just celebrating that we’ve managed to legally verify his existence”.
I feel a thousand percent better that the IDs are dealt with. Next comes: a) seeing if we can borrow a car big enough to transport all of his stuff, b) getting him to condense his stuff down regardless, because nobody will want to take him and a whole roomful of stuff, c) getting him to see his mom.
carlie, seconding YOB – the “miracle” in all this is you being the person you are (not miracle, obvs, but you know what I mean). So glad you got the cert.
Crossing every damn digit and extremity I have for your mum, JAL. Shit, I hope she’s OK.
The Redhead finally got some folks at the bed rental place to understand the situation, and allegedly a temporary new bed of the same model will installed tomorrow while they work out the problems with the old one back in the shop. Then they will swap beds again.
Skimming the lounge…
Lynna @ 272&274,
Pastor Manning is pretty far out. He has also claimed that Starbucks puts gay men’s semen into their lattes to make them taste better.
So, Alex Jones also believes in the “homo gas” conspiracy in addition to all the other conspiracies. Another version of that conspiracy theory is (according to some old Finnish language “letters”) is that the Vatican/Roman Catholic Church is spreading toxins which induce homosexuality with considerable side effects.
JAL,
Hope your mom will be OK and hope you’ll get the job.
carlie,
You are a good person!
Hmmm….The obvious question is how would he know they would taste better…..
Thanks to everyone for their advice and well wishes. I think I’ve pretty much decided that I’m not going to pursue that job. I know my own mind well enough from past experiences that packing up and moving all that way for that job and ending up alone (my nearest friends from grad school an hour and a half away, at least) would cause me massive anxiety. I didn’t care much for the company president that I spoke to on the phone either.
And now I seem to have taken ill. Physical issues and mental issues going hand in glove lately. So again, I just want to make my appreciation known.
Rey Fox, hugs offered. The pillow fort is over in this corner, if you need to hide from the world for a bit.
Mom Update:
Really no update. Hospital still won’t give information until the police give the go ahead, the officer that took the initial report is off for three days and the detective handling the case didn’t call me back before he left at 5 pm.
I had to make her Husband leave, he really can’t stay here. Letting him for the day was bad enough and the manager was out on property and she’s got the workers everywhere.
I feel like a terrible person like it’s my fault for not taking them in and awful for not letting him stay and not being able to let mom stay here if she needs to after the hospital.
Her husband was a wreck and the streets are dangerous. Am I going to be responsible for another person getting hurt? Not to mention, we faxed the court about why he missed the appearence but they automatically put out a warrent on him.
I just fucking can’t.
*sigh*
carlie
I’m glad it helped. I wish I could do more.
Excellent, glad ya’ll got through to a caseworker to fix that. It’s notoriously hard to get through where I am.
His father should’ve put in a change report as well for his case (change of household members) but I’m guessing he won’t or wouldn’t, cuz it’ll make what he gets go down or disappear. The fucker. Even after the son put in his, he might still get in trouble for not doing the change report. And they do not play when you don’t follow the rules.
Oh, damn :(
Luckily, insurance is much shorter and quicker to apply for and recieve (way less hoops than food stamps and cash) but he might need help deciding on a provider unless he wants to stick with the one he was on under his father (if they had state insurance as a family).
Oh, I’m sorry. I misinterpreted that “then what’s he suppose to do..” sentence wrong then. If you’ve got spare appointment books (or if he’s got electronics for applications for it), setting him up with a date book, notebook, file folder/holder and such would probably help. There’s also tips that I know flew over my head until I had to start doing things myself, like taking notes during a call with the name of who you speak with, writing everything down right away (I have a tendency to get overloaded and forget…) and keeping paperwork, all of it, and organized.
Yeah, I’d listen to the grapvine advice in that case. It’s possible to do well in less than good place but it’ll be harder and it’s not a pressing need with the move coming up soon.
Off the top of my head, there’s a couple reasons to get the kids out of their social circles (gangs, criminal activity, addictions) but a blanket ban seems wierd. Possibly overly strict but without more info I’d be wary as well. It’s also good to get DV victims away from their abusers, but I blabbed that fact to the assface ex and it was no longer an option then.
Is it possibly Job Corps? I remember looking into them as a teen and meeting several girls who’d been through there (and graduated) but I can’t verify the blanket ban on outside contact from their website.
Every campus could be different and my memory of course could be wrong, but if it’s them and he gets his medical stuff straightened out, I wouldn’t rule them out without more information. Of course, you could already have it and all. The girls I’ve met with benefitted from it and I helped them with their financial aid for community college. Seems to work out well, but it’s not like I’ve kept up with them or am still in the homeless kid loop.
But since he’s moving with family, hopefully this never has to be an option to explore.
You said the family had medical problems too and worried about him being a burden. Is it possible to look up programs near the family for help with information about getting the G.E.D? He’s going to have to start doing things like that on his own, but maybe you could sit with him while looking online and calling to guide him through.
That way it’s not like “here’s the kid, go fix it for him” to the family and coming in with a plan and information might make the transition smoother. (Again, you could already be doing this but I dunno so just going gerenally here)
I recieved help through Tumbleweed for instance, and they were fantastic. Too bad it’s just in Phoenix and don’t have branches elsewhere :/
I know it’s hard to keep it in check and kids are very perceptive and I know this is the place to vent, so that’s mainly why I was so worried bring that aspect up. I still struggle with it around Little One. :/
Damn, that sucks. :( Poor kid. I’ve had that experience and it can be depressing as fuck.
I wish you and him the best. You really are doing a great thing and handling it well.
Condensing stuff is haaard.
What I’ve found that works (though you might already know, may not be applicable):
On big backpack for main stuff (laptop, gadgets, paperwork etc.)
Switch out bedding for a sleeping bag and tie it up to the backpack camping style,
duffle bags for clothes are awesome so is army bags with all the pockets,
Some container for the special things, I’ve got a Run Box of things like important books and keepsakes to grab so I don’t loose the most important personal stuff,
Books unfortunately are not moving friendly at the best of times and at the worst, it’s one of the first things to go (hence the Run Box of mine)
But unfortunately the hardest part, I have no advice for. Prioritizing based on your current situation, facing that reality and letting go of stuff is so hard. For me, it felt like being broken and defeated. There’s so much weight placed on owning things in society and when you’ve lost so much already…not to mention the memories attached to things.
But it will get better. He’ll be able to get his own things and make is own life. I’ve lost a lot, including my grandmother’s ashes, all the family photos (before Little One, her’s are in the Run Box), awards like my Letterman for Academics, and I do feel the loss when people (especially Little One) ask about things, but it’s okay. I’ve got the memories still and made it through and have more special things to keep. It’ll be hard but it’ll get better. There is a life after a sinkhole opens up beneath you and the climb up isn’t hopeless.
Sorry, tangent. Memories getting to me. Now I’m sounding like those stupid inspirational sayings that I hated so much when going through it. (And still do when it comes from people outside the Horde, it just comes off so condescending and clueless >.<)
If you have the space and can hold onto some second tier things (first tier being Have To Take, and the second being Want to but It's A Lot of Stuff (IME)), it might help him feel anchored since you've already mentioned being willing to take him back if things with the family don't work out.
JAL, hugs offered, and I hope your mom will recover fully and quickly.
Rey Fox,
Get well soon.
JAL,
Good luck
Good morning
Can I tell you the sweetest thing?
Today #1 had her monthly class breakfast and since I have some time, I went to help.
Now, on Sunday we had the class end of term party. One of the other mums told me that her son had remarked that Mr and I probably never got into a fight with each other the way we acted with each other and worked together.
NOt only is it amazing that an 8-9yo would watch his schoolmate’s parents, it’s also so sweet that he thinks such nice things of us. He’s mot comletely wrong, mind you, we hardly ever fight.
That’s really very perceptive Giliell . I can’t imagine too many 8-9yo being observant enough to notice that.
Alright now, how do people deal with chronic pain? I’m completely unable to focus, the drugs, they do nothing, and I have no idea how people live with this for long periods of time. It’s driving me a bit batty.
I know it seems impossible at this point, but like most other human flaws, you just get used to it. I’m on 60mg of oxycodone per day, and even with that, my activity level is restricted. You just get used to having fewer spoons for things (Google ‘spoon theory’ for more on spoons). You adapt your schedule, your daily goals, whatever else you need. Like any other chronic condition, the only alternative is dying. Some people do choose that.
Wish I had something inspiring to say, but really that’s about it: call it behavioural plasticity, maybe, but it’s simply ‘adapt or die’, simple as that.
I sincerely hope yours fades soon. I wouldn’t wish this on Donald Trump, let alone a human I care about.
I have chronic pain, but have not advanced to oxycodone … yet.
Tylenol will ruin your liver.
Advil will increase your chances of having a heart attack or a stroke.
Aspirin will cause your stomach lining to bleed.
I rotate the pain killers so that my heart (or brain) will hopefully die at the same time that my liver and stomach give out.
Joking, but it is black humor.
Most of the time, I try to use painkillers when they are most important: just before sleep, and about an hour before essential activity that increases the pain. Most of the time I just put up with it. As CaitieCat said, you get used to it, sort of. I think one’s brain becomes more adept at ignoring (or damping) the pain and focusing on other things. I try to fit a personal pleasure into every day, even if it is just 15 minutes on a bench looking at the river. Attitude is everything.
When I have a good day (a little less pain), I enjoy the heck out of it.
Your pain will likely lessen over time. In the meantime, give yourself as much slack as possible.
This sounds like good news to us, but I’m sure rightwing nut jobs will howl:
The Hill link
Our Internet connectivity issues have been fixed.
Allegedly.
*eyebrow raised; expression otherwise redolent of Extreme Skepticism*
We shall see.
–
Since I’m so far behind—and not convinced that the demon spiders that spin their sticky butt-exudations all over the Intarwebz will not eat my comment-y stuff (AGAIN!
*singing*
You can Send it any time you like
But it may never lee-ee-eeave!
*cue wicked guitar solo*)
—I’m just gonna start singing along at my last post.
–
Nerd:
But they are…in their nostalgia-fueled fantasies.
All they want is to compel everyone else to join them there.
(later)
Is it possible for blackberries to go stale?
I’ve never known them to last long enough to find out.
–
carlie!
*hugback*
–
Giliell!
*hug*
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opposablethumbs!
*alsohugsback*
It feels like ages since I’ve been able to hang out here!
I’ve been doin’ okay—just much bedeviled by the demon Interweb spiders, snowed under by the Neverending (but now finished (and there is much rejoicing!)) Project, and doing Major Quality Time with Grandson.
How’s by you?
–
rq!
*hugs*
I am aghast at the situation you describe at 200. It seems like self-evident idiocy, and sounds like it would easily come under the heading of ‘hazing’, as well as (obviously) criminal negligence.
(later)
This made me smile.
:)
–
Bernie Sanders rocks.
–
Happy extra-belated birthday to Rey Fox.
Also, you do not suck.
I’ve met you in meat-space.
I’d’ve noticed.
–
YOB, I feel your daughter’s pain. There is much frustration and heartache at the intersection of Lack-of-Geek-Garb-for-Girls Street, and Inconsistent-Sizing Avenue.
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*hugs* for JAL.
I hope your mom recovers quickly.
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289
*fingers crossed; hit ‘Post Comment’*
Ha! We have Comment!!!
*breaking open a bottle of Cautious Optimism*
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Our Squidly Overlord:
Oh, no!
I’m so sorry.
When the meds do nothing, wallowing in freakish misery is sorta my go-to.
I don’t know that it qualifies as dealing with it, so much as accepting that it is a fact; and I have the considerable advantages that I have few responsibilities wrt other people these days, and that as such things go, manymanymany people have to deal with much worse
I hope that your situation improves, and quickly.
–
One more note about chronic pain and painkillers. Painkillers do not kill pain, not in my experience anyway. They sometimes take the edge off. They sometimes fail.
cicelyyyyyyyyy!
I’m rather uncomfortable with my children participating in the Great Quintennial Torture Event until they’re past elementary school and can conceivably be assumed to make semi-coherent decisions regarding themselves and the amounts of stress (and, yes, great moments of positive emotion) they’re willing to handle.
In the meantime, I can only hope that the organizers will tone things down for the next go-round.
Incidentally, choir camp is coming up in August. I have decided to give the Choir one last social chance (for myself; nobody has done anything in particular) and go, but if there will be any discussion of the poor fainting children that (a) doesn’t express sympathy or (b) puts them down for being ‘weak’, I will be forced to conclude that I am, after all, associating with the Wrong Crowd.
Enough about me.
JAL *bighugs* and best wishes for your mum’s swift recovery. :( Hope all else manages to go as smoothly as possible, esp. re: employment!
carlie
*hugs*
I mean, if I had better words to say or advice, I would use them, but just know that I’m holding thumbs and also rooting for everything to turn out well. Now, and in the long run. ♥ to you.
PZ
Best wishes, too. May recovery go apace, sans complications or the appearance of tentacles.
+++
In other news, the crocodile discussion devolved into back-and-forth shouts of “You’re stupid!”. I mean, besides using slightly more complicated language and scientific journals, that’s how science works, right?
I’m also thinking of entering a short story competition. I’ll probably chicken out.
Again.
That’s right people, House Republicans want to make it possible to continue to sell Confederate flags in National Park gift shops, and they want it to be fine to display them in federal cemeteries. And if that issue isn’t settled, they might even shut down the government.
In the meantime, they are not going to fund the government, and they are still planning to take August off.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/can-confederate-flags-cause-government-shutdown
It’s good to see you and your comment make it through the ether, cicely :-))) I salute your Cautious Optimism and hope it goes down well with the internet gremlins.
I have my usual Totally Unpredictable freelance thing going on it’s usual rollercoaster way (too much all at the same time one day, so I have to turn things down while gnashing my teeth in frustration, and too little or none at all the next … eh, the usual) and as usual am sort of lurching from one dilemma to the next (shall we pay this bill? Or that one?) but I also hugely appreciate my enormous good fortune in reliably having a roof and a table with something to put on it plus the tories haven’t managed to completely destroy the NHS yet. Currently glad that DaughterSpawn has had her first day at work!!!!!! Today! (Mon + Tues were induction days, and she’s got permission to be absent Thurs and Fri for her degree graduation ceremony and stuff so the real regular schedule starts next week). She says the people seem nice, and it’s where she wanted to live, so she’s pretty happy; it’s low level, but supposedly with reasonably structured prospects to inch your way up the levels. SonSpawn on the other hand is currently breaking my heart, poor bastard, because a whole bunch of his coursemates are going on holiday together next week and he’s just found out for sure that there’s no room for him (they’re staying at the house of one student, and the no-room is probably quite literally true; doesn’t make it hurt any less, of course, to know that he’s a left-out one yet again). If he went anyway he’d be on his own, possibly quite some distance away from where the group is staying, and having to chase after the group all the time in a strange place where he doesn’t know his way around at all plus find his way back on his own while all the others go off together each night. So he’s currently resigning himself to not going. But it hurts, because this is essentially SOP for him with the whole social awkwardness and communication disorder/aspie/spectrum thing, a big occasion like this just rubs it in.
And that is the State of Things cheese moy.
Heartily wishing relief from pain to all those suffering it, from acute to chronic and from longstanding to new, including our dear Squidly Overlord.
More Confederate flag news, and more news about President Obama’s ConnectHome program (see 296).
Link
I think I’m watching Sharknado. Is Tara Reid in that movie? There are sharks in the air.
Oh, there’s also Steve from Beverly Hills.
Poor guy, I don’t remember seeing him anywhere after BH
After saying that American workers should work longer hours, presidential hopeful Jeb Bush added fuel to the controversy by coming out against reasonable overtime pay.
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/07/15/3680852/jeb-bush-overtime/
And here’s Jeb Bush’s take on this proposal by the Obama administration:
Threatening a lot of jobs seems to be the rightwing answer to every program that helps workers earning an hourly wage.
3 Deceptive Edits In The Video Claiming Planned Parenthood Is “Selling Aborted Baby Parts”
Link
opposablethumbs: *high fives* for DaughterSpawn, and so much sympathy for SonSpawn. Also sympathy for the bill-to-bill lurching; I know that dance but too well.
–
*sigh*
Oklahoma….
So, so glad we left it.
–
Lynna @304
Funny, if the confederate flag is merely a symbol of southern heritage and culture, why is it being used in a show of protest against a black president? [/rhetorical]
A reality show that actually contains a healthy dose of reality: “In new Utah-set reality show, former Kingston women reveal the oppressive, abusive side of polygamy”
Why is this even a question?
http://www.sltrib.com/home/2733545-155/judge-to-consider-if-utah-must
rq @310, you are obviously afflicted with two liberal diseases, reason and logic.
http://www.salon.com/2015/07/15/confederate_lives_matter_flag_wavers_to_greet_president_obama_in_oklahoma/
“Confederate Lives Matter.” Oh, please. [headdesk]
http://kfor.com/2015/07/15/this-is-our-heritage-confederate-flag-supporters-protest-ahead-of-obamas-oklahoma-arrival/
Illinois rightwing Republican senator, Mark Kirk, claims to be a moderate. Uh, no.
Kirk’s latest pronouncement includes the outrageous claim that President Obama wants to give nukes to Iran. Link.
Lynna
IS THERE NO CURE???
Donald Trump used the financial disclosure statement required of presidential candidates to announce in all-caps that his net worth is TEN BILLION DOLLARS.
Trump’s PR flacks also stated that the Federal Election Commission forms were not designed for someone of Trump’s “massive wealth.”
We have to wait 30 days to review the forms. The FEC has 30 days to review them before making them public.
Sure there is, rq. Religion. Cures reason and logic in a significant percentage of cases.
–
Researchers discover seaweed that tastes like bacon http://phys.org/news/2015-07-seaweed-bacon.html
So, we might get a vegetarian bacon substitute? Nice, but I doubt the rabbis and imams will be reasonable about it.
Tuesday, Pluto and Iran. Two long shots succeed.
Pretty ‘rupt. Had horrible food poisoning last couple of days, been working a lot before that.
JAL
*hugs* and best wishes for Mother.
Rey Fox
Get well soon.
PZ
*hugs* and sympathies.
rupt
internet intermittent
hugs
…
I almost kicked a gyrfalcon.
Must have been a youn’un, cause he waited til I was less than 3 metres away before flying away.
Considering he always voted with the rethugs when he was in the house, no surprise there. I didn’t vote for him for senator because of that mistake on his part….
*noisemakers, confetti, champagne corks popping*
At long last the infamous ankle brace that had been holding up rehab for the Redhead arrived…at our BACK door *facepalm*
Bring on the therapists!!!!
Jade Helm paranoia still going strong
The Americans are coming! The Americans are coming!
Hah, I like how they mention his mustache for some reason.
Forgot to mention that part of the hospital bed was exchanged today, so the Redhead now has control of her head and feet elevation. *Kermit arms waving*
PZ
You adjust your expectations and your concept of “normal”. You take ALL the drugs you’re allowed.
And eventually, you learn how to run on “autopilot” and put up a front of “functionality” while you’re just holding your shit together.
No prizes for guessing which of those points I’m at…
PZ, when I had the shingles, I found naproxen would take the edge off for 4-5 hours. One of the OTC pain killers probably works better for you than the others, be is aspirin, aminoacetophen, ibuprofin, ketoprofin, or naproxen (which works the best for me with the fewest side effects). Wrote a series of historical development reports during those weeks. My brain was slowed down sufficiently I did the best first pass typing I ever did.
Two words ya’ll:
Superhero soccer.
(short video)
Kirk’s DW-NOMINATE score for the 113th Senate is 0.324 (higher is more conservative), which historically speaking, would make him a middle-of-the-road Republican. With the rightward shift of the GOP in the last thirty years, he is more of an outlier, but not for improvement on his part.
Actual moderate republicans (by American standards), like Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, or Scott Brown, had scores of 0.043, 0.032, and 0.090 respectively (112th Congress).
Oi vey.
In the last two weeks, I’ve had two FB friends tell me that I’m too frequently angry. The first came from a friend who didn’t like that I criticized the ceremony surrounding the removal of the Con flag from the South Carolina state house. I felt there was way too much pomp and circumstance surrounding its removal and too much respect paid to the thing. But I also acknowledged that it was a good thing that it was coming down. His comments seemed to indicate that all he noticed was my criticism of the ceremony, even *after* I pointed out that that wasn’t my only response. He told me that I’m too angry.
Then tonight, another friend made some transphobic comments about Caitlyn Jenner on his FB page and I-very politely-called him out on it. Shortly thereafter, as I was scrolling through my FB feed, I saw news of the speech she gave after accepting the Ashe Courage Award. She made a comment about respecting trans people, so I wrote the following post:
I hit send and then realized that my friend would probably see it and think I was calling him out (even though I didn’t name or tag him, nor did I say anything about the conversation we’d had). He messaged me to say that he was sorry, but at the same time, he said I made him look like an ass. I should have told him he did that himself, but I opted to be a bit kinder, since I genuinely like him. He also made a point of mentioning that I’m too angry. At which point I told him that A: I’m not angry all the time and B: when I am angry, it’s justified. I also told him I don’t like it when people tell me I’m too angry, because they’re dismissing the validity of my emotions. I should have added a C: what they perceive as anger is not always anger.
Now I feel the need to blog about my anger and my reasons for *being* angry. Too tired right now for that, so probably tomorrow…but geez!
Saad@323
So, there was this gigantic military exercise and this proud American hero would have stopped them with a handgun?
People, James Bond is a fictional character…
+++
Oh dear, I didn’t know we had an equivalent of sovereign citizens, though not that whacky. They call themselves “Reichsbürger”, claim that the Federal Republic doesn’t legally exist and that they’re therefore not bound by its laws. One of them recently ran into trouble with the law he doesn’t accept because he repeatedly didn’t pay his car taxes. So two police officers showed up at his door. Now he doesn’t accept their authority either. So what does a good Reichbürger do when he thinks that his rights have been violated because two policer officers show up? He writes a complaint to another legal insitution whose authority he doesn’t accept, accusing the police officers of “assumption of authority” and of “perverting the course of justice”, which kind of cancel each other out cause you can only do the latter if you’re a legal authority.
BUT, and here’s the fun, the district attorneys wrote back. They told him that he has to pay his taxes, that his complaint is dismissed, but he can take his complaint to the next level or to the king of Prussia.
Sometimes even civil servants have retained a sense of humor.
Did they really tell him he had to go to Pennsylvania?
I’m wondering what passport they’d use to go there…
Giliell
A Prussian one.
Tony
What I find interesting about your facebook friend is that somehow xe doesn’t seem to see all the happy, uplifting and funny posts that you put up. I’ve seen several over the past few days. Why is xe focussing on your (entirely justified) anger?
+++
I’m so pleased with my roses this year. The four replacements are about to burst into bloom (incl. the one that should be either the same strain as the Amazing Carlie Rose, or in a colour very similar to it), and all the other original shrubs look happy. And the blooms this year are massive. So pleased.
Now, if you haven’t eaten recently, here’S a video of our dear chancellor Angela Merkel being a horrible asshole devoid of actual empathy
The video is from a public discussion “Living better in Germany”. Merkel is confronted by a Palestine girl, who is threatened with deportation. She explains “I want to go to college, I really want to. This is called “Living better in Germany, that’s what I want, too, why can’t I have it, too.”
Merkel then explains that sometimes you gotta be hard in politics and after all, Germany can’t simply accept all refugees (but apparently the Lebanon, via which the girl’s family fled can…)
The girl breaks into tears and Merkel tries to comfort her by telling her that “she did well”. Even the moderator is taken aback by this lack of empathy and tells her that it’s not the question of a public appearance that makes her cry.
Merkel snaps “Yes, but I want to caress her anyway!” and goes on to caress the girl who is obviously not happy about it.
So if you see me tweet #merkelstreichelt, you know what it is about.
Giliell, #334
Damn. That is just plain evil. And openly while on camera no less.
Very cool Coca-Cola commercial making the rounds.
Watch 6 strangers sit in the dark when the lights come on they are flabbergasted
birgerjohansson:
Mmmmm…baconweed!
–
Dalillama:
*wince*
Been there, done that, barfed on the tee shirt.
I hope you’re feeling better.
–
chigau:
Been there, too, and recently—if, indeed, I am not still in it.
I still approach every post or change of page with fear and trembling—and no small amount of loathing.
*hugs*
–
Nerd:
*singing, dancing, general rejoicing. With Chocolate*
(shortly thereafter)
*additional joy and frivolity*
–
*head-bonks&catnip* for WMDKitty.
–
Giliell:
Nonono! Wrong genre! We’re shooting a Western this week.
Think more John Wayne. Or, maybe, the gene-spliced offspring of John Wayne and Dirty Harry.
I *snortled*.
–
The conversation up-thread about curing rq’s reason and logic with religion made me laugh. Personally, I think her case is incurable. She’s just going to have to live with it.
In other news, Republican legislators are still coming up with new ways to be anti-gay:
If a guy thinks the NRCC is too nice to gays, I do wonder what level of anti-gay activity would be acceptable to him.
Politico link
Sort of good news, and sort of bad news: the main TV reality showing featuring the Duggars has been taken off the air; but a new show featuring some of the kids may go on.
As I mentioned on Facebook (in one of my many angry, angry posts)- I am putting up an ad for a minion. There will be no money involved, but if you’ll acquire this seaweed that tastes like bacon, along with sticky rice, roe, asparagus, and shrimp, then prepare all of that into a nice Crunchy Shrimp roll, you’ll have my week-long gratitude. In addition, you’ll be allowed to bask in my glory and there might, *might* be a cookie for you.
Gutting the public education system is a priority for most Republican state legislators. They may talk about “improving” the educational system, but the actions they take invariably reduce funding, quality, and oversight. Take Kansas, for example (emphasis mine):
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/07/15/1402599/-NOW-what-s-the-matter-with-Kansas
Thank you cicely! Manymany hugs.
A second clerk in Texas has quit, preferring to leave her job rather than issue marriage licenses to gay couples. Her loss.
Link
This is a followup to comment 312:
Fox 13 Now link
This is a followup to comment 311:
Salt Lake Tribune link
Military facilities in Tennessee attacked; few details available:
Well, after a dozen or so things for the kiddies, I made myself a new shirt as well
Giliell:
That shirt looks great.
I think that tiger would make a great tattoo!
Giliell, that shirt is gorgeous. I love tigers, so it’s extra lovely.
Apartment news:
I found a great one today and made arrangements to sign the contract tomorrow. BUT half an hour after that, I found an ad for the mostest beautifulest apartment ever!
And now I’m thinking how much of an asshole move it would be to arrange a seeing of the other one tomorrow before the meeting and then, if I like it, calling the woman to cancel the deal.
beatrice
Not assholish at all. Just make sure you get at least ONE contract.
Tony and Anne
Thanks! I like them as well, all the big felines
Giliell,
Hehe , it would be just great if I lost both deals in the end. Nah, I arranged to see this one in the morning before work so that I can make the decision in time.
I agree with others, that shirt is beautiful.
Giliell, that’s a really nice shirt!
–
This is an update to Tony’s comment 346.
Four marines are dead.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/tennessee-mass-shooting-leaves-four-marines-dead
That’s Nate Silver talking.
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/07/stats-guru-nate-silver-for-black-americans-us-is-about-as-dangerous-as-rwanda/
This is an update about the Chattanooga shootings.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/muhammad-abdulazeez-chattanooga-suspect
The furor over the video purporting to proved that Planned Parenthood sells aborted baby parts for profit is increasing. Right-wingers and anti-abortion activists are promoting the video. Many mainstream media outlets are pointing out that both the source of the video and the purported facts are dubious.
Media Matters link
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/lawmakers-planned-parenthood-video
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/07/16/1402859/-Rep-Tim-Murphy-on-Planned-Parenthood-video-discrepancies-This-interview-didn-t-happen
Gilliell, check out the well-illustrated book “Big Cats And Their Fossil Relatives”.
Here’s some good news from Alaska:
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2015/07/16/3681554/alaska-medicaid-expansion/
Death by Design? Spatial models show that natural selection favors genetically-limited lifespan as a lineal benefit http://phys.org/news/2015-07-death-spatial-natural-favors-genetically-limited.html
Fuck natural selection.
— — — — — — — — — — —
An icy early Mars http://phys.org/news/2015-07-red-planet-icy-watery-billions.html
Lounging bird lovers, here’s a treat for you-
Artist uses digital recordings of bird sounds to create beautifully rendered visuals:
It’s a short video. The last bird-visual is my favorite.
New Reddit CEO announces changes
I don’t have a coffee mug large enough to hold the forthcoming tears.
Saad @362,
Call me cynical, but it looks to me like the people in charge of Reddit are going to keep the “potentially offensive content”, just hide it behind log-ins so it’s harder to find. I don’t call that any real improvement. I suspect that their definitions of things like harassment and bullying will be loose enough to allow anything they like through, as well. Like I said, call me cynical.
You’re probably right. I don’t think that’s too cynical. It’s not like the user base is changing. Reddit still will be catering to them.
Re Lynna’s post @355.
Even more context for Silver’s numbers (2.5/100,000 murder rate for whites and 19.4/100,000 for blacks):
Some stats:
A list of countries by intentional homicide rate
From the stats you can see that there is huge variation of homicide rates in the world and U.S. whites have it fairly safe but not as safe as people of Western Central Europe or Japan, South Korea and China (which have murder rates <= 1) .S. blacks on the other hand have it very unsafe, though there are some countries where homicide rates are twice or more as high (e.g. Venezuela 54, Honduras with 90 and Lesotho with 38).
In Europe Russia seems to have the highest homicide rate, 9.2/100,000, so Russians are twice as safe as U.S. blacks but still quite unsafe.
Dave Futrelle isn’t impressed with Reddit’s new rules.
This is going to be a strange post/rant. It deals with something I’m slightly embarrassed of, and is probably going to get me mocked by other people, but at the same time I don’t give a shit. I’m annoyed and I wanna talk about it.
So basically I’m … vaguely irritated with ophelia’s post on her blog about otherkin.
Not about the fact that it’s pretty absurd. Don’t get me wrong. It really is. It’s the sheer dismissiveness though. As if it can’t possibly be a real thing for anyone. I have never ‘felt human’ for various degrees of ‘feel’ and ‘human’. I used to have phantom limb sensations strong enough that they were a hindrance and I spent years learning to ‘kill’ this manifestation of my mind so that I would stop having such issues, but I still strongly feel the face, the feet, and wings. Sometimes I’d like to not, honestly, because it makes me feel like I’m crazy, with all the bad connotations of that word. But at the same time, that’s ‘me’, ya know? You ask me to draw a self portrait and my first thought is going to be that creature, not the face I see in the mirror each morning. This is not something I can stop feeling, and I have tried and tried and tried.
I used to enjoy the online community; I was part of it for 13 years as I slowly wound my way from being practicing pagan, to vaguely theistic, to atheist-in-denial and finally atheist. I was skeptical of any physical claims, especially the “I’m growing wings!” or “I’m a reincarnated deity and can smite you!” types.
This is why I have not not just two death curses, but an entire army of ‘astral dragons’ sicced on me. I think the army got lost. It’s been something like… 6 or 7 years now? Still waiting.
I was skeptical of everything even while in it, and I made a lot of good friends. But slowly the ‘fluffbunnies’ began to outnumber and began to declare that I shouldn’t be part of the forums, that I shouldn’t call myself otherkin if I thought it was a psychological quirk, that I was intolerant for questioning people. So I left, with a lot of eye-rolling. I think most of the forums have imploded since. I’m sad though, because those forums included a *lot* of trans individuals. After all, if you believe someone can be a dragon, what’s odd about being a different gender, right? It was an interesting time.
But yeah, to say that I don’t feel the way I actually do it aggravating. I’ve had 27 years of consciously feeling this way. It’s probably just taking an Archetype and deeply internalizing it or something. Who knows. All I know is that despite being an atheist, I still am otherkin. That’s not changing. Nearly all my dreams have me as non-human. I doubt I’m ever going to not feel this way. But it’s irritating to be told that how I feel is a fake feeling.
Rowan @367:
A friend on FB posted something about Otherkin and how people treat them ( in response to this Vice article) . My response:
I’ll add that I don’t like the idea of shaming anyone who is Otherkin either. I’m all in for shaming people who believe things (or act in ways) that contribute to harming others, but not something that is harmless.
@Rowan vet-tech 367
I’m furry and had some otherkin friends where I used to live (moving to the brony community was easy). Some of them felt the same as you and described experiencing phantom limbs and bodies. I never had any sensations like that myself, but my own feelings for humans are complicated. I like people, it just so happens that humans are the only people I know. If there were non-human people I really would not have a particular loyalty to our species. We seem to suck on average.
I did not like Ophelia’s post either, but I’m torn on how to word it. I’ll figure something out tomorrow. On one hand the elements that are religious and worth giving some criticism to are fine as long as it’s analogous to what we do with religion. But on the other hand I actually have a respect for what religion is in a naturalistic sense and it’s deeply tied up with experiences that matter even if the stories we create with them do not reflect reality.
Heck, there is a whole cognitive stage associated with the development of symbolic thought.
On one hand when these tendencies get out of control whole communities apparently lose grasp of reality. But properly harnessed and understood symbolism is one of the things we are special at as a species.
What we are inside is a heck of a lot more complicated than most people are willing to be open about which is a pity. Even most social justice communities have no idea how deep that rabbit hole goes (language sensitivity is a lot more complex than just gendered words, it may take us a while as a group). When I think of what I know about a wide swath of different kinds of humans I have little problem picturing little sliders and settings on what it is to be human.
Things on the inside that don’t reflect physical reality? Tremendously diverse in ways that are very often not harmful and probably just a part of what we are. Not just my social emotional hallucinations in symbolic thought and or inner self-representation being different from what is on the outside.
A comprehensive review of auditory verbal hallucinations: lifetime prevalence, correlates and mechanisms in healthy and clinical individuals.
So apparently most people with audio hallucinations function just fine with them. They might even make reality more interesting. So why the heck not just accept that some people somehow have their internal sense of self attached to something else and be fine with it? Heck, I’m an atheist with the religion OCD.
I’ve met people who managed to shape their hallucinations into a kind of “secretary” for purposes of mentally organizing things. (I met all sorts of really interesting people like this during my time in the brony community). This stuff is too important to just give in to knee-jerk mockery and simplistic thinking. Biology is amazing and it would be more amazing if we worked a little harder at figuring out what all the bits that are different between us are shaped like so we can take them into account.
Rowan… I just wanted to say thanks for that post… and your comments on Ophelia’s post. I fear there was a time when I felt like Ophelia does, and when I read her comments I saw the problem yet still felt that old… prejudice?… within myself. But as a couple friends told me on Facebook… it isn’t my business how you identify. It doesn’t affect me, and never will.
I will say this… you say it’s absurd. Though I want to agree, I think perhaps it’s not. I think perhaps “absurd” is the wrong word. I’m sussing it out for myself.
But anyways… thank you. I certainly won’t ridicule you for it.
Rowan, I had never heard of otherkins before reading your post, but the concept and the reality of the feelings makes a lot of sense to me. The human brain is an astonishing thing and can create the perceived reality of nearly anything. I immediately thought about the people who feel so alienated from one of their limbs that they have had an arm or leg amputated. I need to research the facts of this. I read it a long time ago. It remains that perception “can be” reality. Brain science has a long way to go.
Be well.
Maybe absurd is the wrong word. But a part of me feels that way, probably out of old fear and self-loathing/shame. Before I knew that there were other people who felt this way, back when I was in highschool, I was not-quite-suicidal over it. Everything was in conflict. I was terrified I was insane, because obviously I wasn’t a dragon, all I had to do was look in a mirror, but I had these limbs and perceptions that were so real and strong that they made everything confusing. Imagine your arm passing through a solid wall. You still feel your arm, it still feels solid, the wall totally is, and feels, solid too. This conflict of sensations/real world was agitating and distracting. I didn’t want it. And yet at the same time it was totally ‘me’, and that version of me was beautiful, and correct, and how I should be, but when I looked in the mirror I saw this weird flat-faced upright hominid that looked nothing like how I was supposed to look like and the fact that I would *never* look like how i was supposed to look was heart breaking. But I held out hope (at that time) that maybe I could reincarnate as this thing again, and be as I was supposed to.
And to this day it’s embarrassing to admit that I feel this way, because I know that I sound crazy to most other people (though, really, is it any stranger to identify as a dragon than it is for someone to believe that a magic jewish zombie wants people to love him otherwise he’ll set them on fire?). So it’s weird, and embarrassing and not something I can talk about with people really. The one time I brought it up to my mom, again as a teen, she was afraid I had MPD. -_-
Fans of Kamala Khan (aka Ms. Marvel) rejoice-the first 5 issues of her book are getting a graphic audio adaptation. She’s the first Marvel hero to receive this treatment.
I am also more than happy to answer any honest questions. They won’t offend me in any way unless a- I’m told I’m crazy (which I know won’t happen here) or b- I’m told that I can’t possibly feel this way in which case, thou might kindly fuck off sideways into the sea.
More social justice-y comic book goodness- Gail Simone has created a genderfluid character for her DC Comics title ‘Secret 6’.
Simone is one of the most prominent advocates of social justice in comics and she’s a damn good writer as well.
beatrice
Good luck with the apartments
Rowan
I will admit that I don’t understand “hardcore otherkin”. I remember dreams of wings or of limbs that do things my arms and legs cannot, but to me it doesn’t make sense to claim “I’m not human” when the concepts of “being” and “human” and the ability to express that thought are among the most human of all traits.
BUT, and this is a very big BUT: As long as people don’t simply jump out of windows because they think they’re really a bald headed eagle or demand that they cannot be blamed for tearing out the jugular of a baby ’cause they’re really a lion, it’s none of my fucking business. If it makes sense to you, it makes sense to you. End of story. If my dismissal causes you harm, I should simply STFU. Batteling pseudoscience and harmful ideas within the community is the job of the community. Me pointing and laughing won’t do any fucking good, right?
Also, #1 must have the stomach of a scavenger that hounds the hot regions of the earth. Last week they forgot their drinking bottle at their ballet class. Yesterday I reminded them to bring the damn bottle. When they came home, # 1 was happily drinking last week’s fruit tea. I was expecting lots of puking and misery, but she’s perfectly fine…
I really am more cat than human, on some levels.
Ophelia’s post bothered me for much the same reasons others have expressed. Yeah, we all know that it’s kinda silly, but don’t tell us what we feel. Just… don’t. I don’t know if that’s a form of gaslighting, but it feels an awful lot like gaslighting. It’s like… “Oh, you’re not really upset, [blah blah blah part where I tune out because RAGE]”.
It’s hurtful.
I (and others) may well be “delusional”, but if it’s not causing undue hardship, it shouldn’t be a problem, right?
Giliell
I’m gagging just thinking about this. How on earth is she not sicker than a hung-over frat-boy?
Well, that was intense: thunder loud enough to be heard inside the shopping mall. I mean, I know sound insulation on those things is zilch, but still. I am le impressed, Nature!
Rowan, hugs offered. I have nothing useful to add except that your feelings are your feelings, and nobody else’s business.
Ophelia, on the other hand… I used to admire her work and enjoy reading her posts, but she’s really gotten nasty.
Anne, looks like I got all optimistic for nothing.
*puts away coffee mug for another day*
Saad, observe my complete lack of surprise. On the other hand, somebody somewhere is bound to see any change on Reddit as an attack on their Freeze Peach, so keep that mug handy for now.
I was rather taken aback by Ophelia’s response. The assholery is strong in that one… but hey, I’m either insane or making it up so being an asshole is a-o-kay, right? *snorts*
I’m gonna go to work and snuggle kittens. I have the better life.
Wow, that last sentence typed out totally wrong. “And I’ll have a better life for it.” Good gods, fingers. I’ll blame the nasty cleaning chemicals that I got covered in and nearly getting heat exhaustion at a theme park yesterday.
Though snuggling kittens might not be a good idea with the sunburns….
Rowan, please give those kittens an extra petting for me.
Rowan:
*hugs* and—if appropriate—*scale-burnishings*.
Since you have those feelings, clearly you are capable of having those feelings.
Anyone who thinks differently is confused about what “can” means.
Perhaps they are misinterpreting it as a “may” situation, and think they can (*snortle*) deny you permission to feel those feelings. This is obvious self-delusion on their parts.
All they can deny you is their approval—which doesn’t sound to be worth having.
–
Might I kindly suggest any further commentary about Ophelia or her blog move to the Mended Drum? I don’t think anyone has crossed into unkind territory, but I can see things moving that way.
Rowan
All I has is these *hugs* if you are please to accept them I am pleased to give them. ♥
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/the-inside-story-of-the-crony-court-that-deep-sixed-the-scott-walker-probe
The horrible, terrible, no good story of how the governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker, participated in a whole bunch of criminal activities — and a Republican-stacked state supreme court threw the case out. Good timing for Scott Walker, who recently announced that he is a candidate for president.
Confederate flag news from Utah:
The story is accompanied by photos of smiling racist guys draping confederate flags over their shoulders.
http://www.sltrib.com/news/2737147-155/rolly-reining-in-the-rednecks-at
Anne, Shrieking Feminist Cat Lady @ 381 –
Oh no, I’ve always been nasty.
@Ophelia Benson
To be honest one of the reasons I choose interact on your blog is because you are a woman who expresses things in an authoritarian manner. That is a neutral thing that society tries to suppress, but it does have consequences (which I am not suggesting that you are unaware of). When people are “rubbed the wrong way” regardless of who is right or wrong there will be complaining.
rq and opposablethumbs,
Thank you! I am in a good spot in my life right now.
Tony
Consider my mind changed. Not about being your minion (still waiting for confirmation on that cookie, you evasive person you). :/ (Sorry, at work, no access to FB.)
Rowan *hugs*
More later.
Going out to buy some watermelon now, because it’s too hot to live=time for watermelon,
Oh and by the way, guess who has keys to a nice apartment?! Hehe.
Beatrice @396:
Congratulations on the new apartment.
Beatrice, congratulations on your new domicile!
Beatrice
Yay for the apartment!!! Hope it works as advertised. When do you actually move in?? Exciting!
Saw this posted by Dr X in a comment over at Ed’s:
40,000 people have signed petition to remove South Carolina slave memorial because offends white people
Is it just me or is the Confederate flag reaction have strong parallels to the MRA/Gamergate narrative?
It’s about Southern heritage = It’s about ethics in video game journalism
White people are offended too = What about the menz
Or is this just the standard format of the pushback to any social justice initiative?
Great news, Beatrice! When do you move? Remembering things you’ve said before about your dad being, um, difficult sometimes – well, this is doubly triply extra yay-worthy!
Rowan,
As the old bad joke says, the things I don’t know fill libraries. It’s not my job to judge who you are, it’s not your job to excuse yourself to me (or anyone) because we don’t understand some things that define you. It’s nice of you that you offered to answer questions.
Take care, I hope kittens did their magic.
Younger Daughter just registered and paid for her first semester at Cal State. She’s taking biology, geology, and math, to fill in some requirements. My baby is going to be a college junior, or somewhere along that line. Eeep.
Saad @400
Wow. Shame and humiliation, okay (though not enough to take it down), but offense? OFFENSE???
Mind putting that up on that other thread that occasionally speaks to white people’s hurt feelings (and how to get over them)? In other words, here?
rq, #404
I remembered this time and did it right after I posted it here :)
Eid festivities cancelled at mosque where Chattanooga murderer Muhammad Abdulazeez prayed
Saad
Yay! :D And thanks.
Anne
Congratulations to Younger Daughter! May her college experience be full of new knowledge, new friends, and new experiences, and may she succeed in her chosen field, and in all the other required courses she has to take, too! :) *hugs* *champagne&confetti*
I’ve already payed the first rent, got the keys so I could even move in tomorrow. But the heat is horrible and I haven’t anticipated to get this over with this quick, or packed anything so the current plan is to go clean the place up* after work during the week and then move next weekend.
* it’s nice and clean, but I want to clean everything by myself
opposablethumbs,
Yes, I expect I’ll get along much better with dad once we don’t see each other every day.
Mum wasn’t happy about my decision, but she likes that the place I got isn’t too far (close to work and about half an hour tram ride from home) and she likes what she’s seen in the photos.
Hmm, I would say whoever signed the lease. ;)
Conga Rats. Enjoy.
Oh, good. The Huffington Post has done something right.
This is going to be a weird weekend. There’s a minor influx of siblings, due to a mutual-friend wedding occurring in-country – however, due to not being as familiar with mutual-friend, I have not been invited, so I will probably not be seeing my siblings at all (a Latvian wedding pretty much is at least two days, and they’re arriving rather late this evening/night).
Funnily enough, I don’t feel bad about this. I think because it’s a short trip, and I know the reason for it, and it’s not like anyone’s avoiding me on purpose. It feels kind of weird not feeling bad about being omitted in the visit, but I’ll take it.
(I THINK I’m picking up the BrotherSibling, because their arrival coincides nicely for when I plan on stopping work tonight.)
(Also, these are the two siblings who are now almost on the continent, and thus it’s not like they’re making a huge, once-in-two-years trip from North America, but a more run-of-the-mill several-times-a-year weekend journey. I think this is a contributing factor.)
Little girl primping before jumping in a puddle.
https://instagram.com/p/5NwjCkrWZg/?taken-by=olgazappa
Fun and funny.
Not sure if anyone has mentioned this yet, but our federal government has gotten something else right.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/chrisgeidner/sexual-orientation-discrimination-is-barred-by-existing-law#.xgXKKz0nGb
Good news.
The next time I see someone claim that Democrats and Republicans are no different or that the left and the right are equally as bad as one another is going to get an expletive laden response from me the likes of which few have ever experienced-
Gun wielding pastor encourages followers to use guns to fight back against same-sex marriage:
The Second Amendment needs to be abolished. People like this should not have the right to own guns. Firearms should be a privilege (if anything).
Pluto is so pretty. I can’t wait to see what other images and science comes out of this trip. And there’s still that comet. And wow space!
Feeling a thousand percent better. Kid is all ready to go tomorrow except for actually packing and figuring out how much can go and what can’t (and what to do with it). Many Things have been purchased, a lot of them on the sage advice of JAL, enough that he will be as self-sufficient as it’s possible to be in someone else’s house for awhile, and to help him plan and organize and keep track of things himself, and the money my friends gave me just covered everything including gas tomorrow. Most importantly, the Aunt he’s staying with called this evening to finalize everything, and Kid is at his sister’s visiting, so I got to have a Very Frank Talk about Let Me Tell You All The Things. Nothing terrible, just to make sure they don’t get any surprises about how much he has or how long he’s staying or anything. And she is AMAZING and I can’t wait to meet her. It’s really calmed me down too, so I’ll be able to be in a better mood tonight while we’re packing.
Kid has had a really rough couple of days. He got to see his mom twice, which was fantastic, but that emotion on top of realizing he’s leaving and doesn’t have time to see his friends and won’t be seeing his sister and stepfather and mom again for a long time… he’s developed a few OCD behaviors the last couple of years and they were on high super gear today. I just want to snuggle him and tell him it will all be ok. :( One thing JAL said has been really helpful, though – I was trying to figure out how to help make his life as much as “normal” as possible, but JAL reminded me that he lost “normal” a long time ago, and he needs to move forward from that and learn the skills he needs to have now. So thank you again. : )
A few months old but relevant as this is the first eid since:
New York public schools to start recognizing two major Muslim holidays (Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha) as school holidays
There are reader comments after the article. You have been warned.
Saad @418:
Comments. Oh dear godz, comments. Not at your link. It’s just that your post reminded me of so many comment threads I’ve skimmed on Facebook today. Articles about Caitlyn Jenner receiving the Ashe Award. Yeah, you can imagine how those threads went. I’ve repeated myself at least 5 times today in various threads , and I have not been in the slightest bit civil to people.
oh hi everyone. Summer continues to be nominally boring. Well, except for the Pluto system.
It wouldn’t be as much if I actually got out more. It’s almost like I’ve developed learned helplessness–even though it’s trivial to find a hobby or go out for a walk in the park, I don’t. And this lack of activity just recently fueled my hypochondria.
rowanvt:
You really can’t control your inner feelings, and as so many others have said, no harm, no foul. Having phantom limbs of mythical creatures would throw anyone for a loop–and you’ve managed to channel that into really good veterinarian work.
While I do have some mildly furry tendencies myself, there’s nothing that would remotely compare to this.
We continue to have crazy fires. Hubby made it home okay, but it took three and a half hours. People are being both nuts and nice. We live in fucking interesting times. Be well, everyone. As well as you can be.
Morning
morgan
Take care
Anne
Yay for daughter
beatrice
When’s the housewarming party?
A great thing I found out for moving books: cheap cotton totes. You can easily carry one in each hand, which makes for nice balanced walking while they’re not too heavy. Most people pack a complete box full with books so nobody can lift it.
carlie
Yay on Aunt being a great person. I so hope that this is working out fine.
Also, since I’m having a creative streak right now: http://giliell.blogspot.de/2015/07/vermutzt-und-zugenaht.html
Just tell me to stuff it if you’re getting annoyed, ‘kay?
Giliell,
Are you melting too? We’re close to melting here.
re: moving things
I already asked dad- he’s willing to drive my things there next Sunday. If it’s too hot for him to drive, a neighbor offered to be a reserve. When I gave her the news about moving she also had news about starting to work on Monday (I have to brag for her, sorry) so there was a lot of squeeing in that conversation.
I don’t have any boxes, I was actually thinking of using cotton totes, I have two rucksacks, a traveling bag and big plastic bags for the rest if needed. None of us is big on heavy lifting, so it will be easier to move things from apartment to car to apartment in smaller batches. I hope one drive will be enough.
For anything I forget, it will be just me and public transportation.
Giliell,
Your creativity is wonderful. Is the dragon also yours?
Morgan
Stay safe! You and Husband both!!
thunk
Remember, summer is fleeting! The heaps of snow, ice and freezing rain are just around the corner. ;)
+++
Walked into a bookstore before the bills have been paid. Left Harper Lee’s new book on the shelf – had enough sense to understand that I can’t afford a 20-euro book on top of my already-decent haul. Ah well, it will be there for a while.
Also, does anyone (else) ever have occasionally recurring dreams where they know they’re repeating dreams while dreaming, and they can change the endings around, and alter the environment in order to happify the ending somewhat?
I find it a very weird experience.
beatrice
Thanks. Creative people gotta create. It’s not bragging, it’s just that I get very unhappy and tense if I don’t get to make things in a while. And since I didn’t have much time the last months, I have a lot to catch up to.
I take the flat is with furniture? If you need boxes but don’t want to spend money I recommend shops like Lidl, at least here they give away their empty boxes for free.
Also, buying the newest Ben Aaronovitch novel is not actually conducive to getting any actual work done.
Morgan @421, let me guess. 15 freeway, right? That looked horrific, all those cars trapped and burning. I’m glad your Husband made it home safely.
Giliell, I’ll have to reread your blog post when I’m awake enough to Google-translate the page, but I love the pictures. Anytime you do something creative, I’d love to see it.
Speaking of creative, I’m actually making progress on my embroidery class UFO, and may have it finished by the end of the weekend. Maybe.
Giliell,
I don’ think t I actually have the right idea about how much stuff I’m going to have to move, but I think I can ask in at least one nearby store to give me their boxes one morning and they’ll happily do it.
re: dreams
It happens sometimes, but not in a long time.
rq, 426 (dreams):
Those are pretty common in my mind. The ur-example involves a very tall multi-story shopping mall. Sadly, I haven’t had any actual lucid dreams in a long time (and even those barely qualified).
I think I already told the story about what I think was a lucid dream that I used to dream often when I was younger.
It was really I nightmare. I would be running through the apartment, being chased by somethings. I would see my parents, my grandparents and yell for help, tug at them but they wouldn’t notice.
My pursuers would be getting closer, I would know they were there but I would never see them.
So I would run and since this is dream-land the run through the apartment would feel like forever. I knew that I had to get to the balcony and jump, and that I would immediately wake up.
Only once, I ran to the balcony and jumped, but when I opened my eyes I was laying on the ground under the building, unharmed but surrounded by the creatures that were chasing me.
That was the last time I had that dream.
It is raining!!! That is the good news. With rain comes lightening strikes, that is the bad news. And the lights are flickering so I’m pretty sure we are going to lose power soon. And just got a huge thunderclap overhead so I am signing off for now.
Take care Morgan. Since it sounds like this happens a lot in your parts, you have some batteries or a generator?
Beatrice @430
Congratulations. Moving sucks, but having your own place is nice. My advice on the logistics of moving is: avoid plastic bags for anything other than maybe textiles especially if you have people helping you move. In my experience cardboard boxes are fine but avoid weak and fragile ones (especially if they’re large); here the best ones from the shops have usually been those fairly shallow ones made out of thick corrugated cardboard used for frozen foods or vacuum packed sausages/cold cuts. I hope I didn’t get into mansplaining territory, but discovering the hard way that weak containers can cause losses in moving stuff is not really fun.
It is raining here. This summer has been one of the rainiest ever and hot weather has been nearly non-existent. I’m fine with the temperatures but not with the rain.
Be safe, Morgan. I left on my morning out yard sale/breakfast out/grocery run around 7:15, heard thunder, and came back to bring the cats in. If it was that loud down here in north OC, it must’ve been right on top of you in the mountains.
This is a a followup to Tony’s post up-thread about christian pastors including assault weapons in their rants about fighting back against marriage equality. Fox News is backing those pastors up, of course.
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/07/watch-fox-host-deliver-unhinged-anti-lgbt-sermon-chick-fil-a-is-the-official-chicken-of-jesus/ Video at the link.
Another failure when it comes to separation of church and state:
https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/weak-defense-miss-school-district-punished-for-coercive-prayer-violations
Beatrice
Funny, I used to have an incredibly similar dream, except I was being chased by Frankenstein, my family wouldn’t listen, but I’d usually be able to hide behind the door and he’d get them instead of me.
Last night I was the wife of a gangster in the middle of a gang war and in the middle of the night, after a party, the enemy gangsters were coming to kill us all, but while they were searching downstairs, I got the kids out of their bedrooms and into our bedroom and closed and locked the doors – I even conjured up a safety door this time that I could slide shut and bolt, since the ordinary bedroom doors were made of glass. And then I went to sleep with the kids.
I have not been watching any gangster movies lately, or reading any gangster books.
The mind is a funny place.
Morgan
Once again, stay safe, I hope power stays on, and may there be no disasters anywhere – neither in your immediate area, or anywhere else. Yay rain!
+++
It has been a rainy summer here, too. Of course, it wasn’t raining this morning when I went in to work, so I did not bring a raincoat, and now I have to trek back to the train station (and inquire at the bookstore about the bookmark I bought but that wasn’t placed inside my bag!) without a raincoat in the rain. Promising warmer and sunnier weather next week, so maybe the kids and I can finally go to the beach. Or at least make an attempt.
My worst nightmare involves my children. I have two, and they are now adults. But in my dreams, they are both still babies. In the nightmare, I am a careless mother who puts one or both babies down somewhere. I forget where I left the baby (babies), and then I have to invent elaborate ruses to keep other people from knowing how careless I was. Meantime, I am freaking out because the babies are LOST.
I prefer rq’s dream of competently rescuing children, after which one enjoys a good night’s rest.
In other news, Donald Trump finally said something so stupid that all of the the other Republican candidates are distancing themselves from him.
Link
Some responses to Trump’s comments about military personnel who are captured during combat (see comment 440).
Gov. Bobby Jindal: After Donald Trump spends six years in a POW camp, he can weigh in on John McCain’s service.
Lindsey Graham: If there was ever any doubt that @readDonaldTrump should not be our commander in chief, this stupid statement should end all doubt.
More on Trump’s latest stupid comments, with a corrected partial transcript of the actual blather spewed by Trump:
Trump refuses to apologize, and also says he didn’t say what he said:
Link
Lynna, a lot of my nightmares include the Daughters as small children, and both the Aged Parents to boot, so I get whacked with being a Bad Mother and a Bad Daughter at the same time. What I’d really like to know is, why am I still having nightmares about failing my late father?
Anyway, hugs offered and I hope the bad dreams stop coming soon.
Anne @444, my plan is to hijack rq’s dream. Yes, there is a threat of harm, but the harm is avoided. And I do love a dream that includes dreaming about sleeping soundly.
The “Bad Mother” and “Bad Daughter” dreams probably reflect the unrealistic expectations foisted on many women. Occasionally, I can semi-direct a dream and escape the awfulness by floating down an unnaturally blue river in Finland. (Never been to Finland, but I recommend this escape route from bad dreams.)
I don’t know how many people keep up with the ‘Look at all the white people thread’, but I just linked to this-
http://politicalblindspot.com/the-real-lone-ranger-was-an-african-american-lawman-who-lived-with-native-american-indians/
MOrgan
Take care!
+++
re: dreams
The worst ones? Those where I adream I’m waking up. I mean, I no longer pee the bed ’cause I dream I’m on the loo, but fuck, dreams where you dream you’re waking up because somebody opens the door when there’s nobody around who should be able to open the door and then think you’re awake and somebody is breaking in…
Those are really, really frightening. I have them seldomly and only when I’m under lots of stress, but fuck.
+++
beatrice
In my experience, 90% of the move gets done quickly and the rest about never. When I moved in with a friend we bough a glass plate to fix behind the oven so we wouldn’t constantly get the wall dirty. When I moved out we still had a plastic sheet fixed with tape….
Oh, forgot to anser that one: yes, the dragon is mine, too. And the t-shirt! ;)
+++
Anne
Looking forward to your embroidery!
I’m currently getting the kids interested in sewing. I promised them a dolphin. The little one is quite eager and did her first steps on the sewing machine sitting on my lap. #1 is lacking the patience…
+++
Heaven is courgette and mushroom bread, accompanied with prosciutto.
Sigh, it appears I am now expected to produce the “omelet of the week” come Saturday morning. Make a 4-egg omelet, serve one portion, and then reheat three portions during the week (or scarf one for my breakfast). Guess I have to start mixing up the ingredients a little. Today’s omelet was mushroom, red onion, green pepper, potato, bacon, salami, and cheddar cheese. Got some hot picante salsa at the store today, for a little bite if desired.
Makes for a fast breakfast during the week. Put contents of baggie onto a small plate, and nuke for 40 seconds.
And a glass of wine. This kind of delight needs a glass of red wine.
Re: dreams-
My ‘average’ dream would probably be a nightmare for most folks, but I’ve gotten used to them over the years so that they don’t disturb me anymore. I specialize in recurring-theme dreams, such as my post-apocalypse ones. You’d think that sounds like an exciting series of dreams, right? Nope. Mostly just involved foraging from stores/making shelters…. and one dream that was nothing but me weeding a field of cabbage. Yup. So dangerous and exciting. :P
There are also the dragon-dreams, of course, which are probably half to 2/3rds and those often involve *flying*, which is naturally amazing and wonderful.
But I also frequently get killed in my dreams. And then I get so annoyed at being dead or allowing myself to get killed that I resurrect myself and keep going. And I feel everything in my dreams, so I’ve ‘felt’ getting shot, or blown up by a bomb, or having my throat slit. The only dreams I don’t resurrect in are the ones where I’m killed in earthquakes or by falling.
The earliest dream I remember (starting age 4 or so) was where I would be playing a game of tag around the living room table with my family and I was ‘it’. Every time I’d tag one of my family members they’d collapse into a pile of bones. Once I tagged all 3, the skeletons would re-animate and kill me. :/ I had that dream at least 3 times a week until I was about 11 years old. Sometimes it was every night. Or multiple times a night. Glad that one’s stopped.
Beatrice
Giliell is spot-on with the moving. Even if you manage to get all of your stuff moved (HA!), there’s always that fraction that never gets unpacked, merely shifted from box to box and eventually the back of the closet.
Lynna
I’ve had the left-my-baby-somewhere dream, too. Though the couple of times I had it, I took it out (in dream) on Husband, and usually woke up inexplicably mad at him (though that residual feeling usually passes once I’m actually awake).
I dunno, I usually have the recurring dreams under stress, but more and more I find I can change the horrible ending into something not so horrible. It’s kind of strange, being able to will the universe to conform to my needs. I’m always disappointed upon waking, though.
Also, question: do any of you smell things in dreams? Once somewhere long ago I read that you can’t smell things in dreams – or taste them – but I have done both. Most recently, smelling smoke in a dream that actually woke me up and made me do a midnight tour of the house, just to be sure that nothing was really burning. Disconcerting, that one was.
Mmmm, Beatrice, sounds delicious.
I’m making some broccoli in a jarred cream-and-cheese sauce with caraway seeds that I discovered from a local manufacturer recently. I plan on raiding the downstairs wine shelf, too, since all the stuff bought for immediate drinking has not been replaced.
re: dreams
Well, last
nightsleep cycle, as I went to bed at 8 am and got up at 2 pm featured my least favorite: I’m at work, all the alarms are going off, and Favorite Patient is coding and I cannot do anything about it.Highly unpleasant dream, all told.
Also, I have decided that I’m done with “cooking” for the rest of the summer.
No matter what I make, one of the kids complains on principle, sometimes even the kid who asked for that meal. Except, except when I make something vaguely bread-based where they can simply pick and mix. Yesterday we had chicken fajita, tortillas, and mixed veggies like bell peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes…
#1 ate three tortillas, the little one two. The never take prisoners when it comes to tomatoes or cucumbers or sweetcorn. Tonight was similar with a meaty pastry.
Mr: that pastry looks delicious!
Me: it’s from our organic butcher.
Mr: that pastry looks too small!
Both kids ate well, lots of veggies were devoured, no complaints whatsoever. So why should I work more?
Esteleth, while none that severe I will sometimes have dreams about the ‘Alarming of the Fluid Pump’ and attempting to find the bloody thing to make the noise stop.
Rowan, about a week ago I was awakened (I was napping in the middle of the day, not on my typical cycle) and was so groggy that I picked up my phone and answered it, “[Employer], this is [name], how can I help you?”
It was Sister, and she laughed very hard.
OH, btw, normal noghtmares don’t frighten me much. Somehpw part of my brain is aware of the “dream” status. I remember one where I tried to bring on the Zombie Apocalypse but my plans were foiled by the flu vaccine. Then the angry mob cornered me on a bridge and I told them “Idiots, I’m a witch!” and just flew off. It’s just the “normal reality, 10° off that frighten me.
esteleth
Did you collapse into bed right after work? I did that a few times when I still worked shifts, but then I noticed that I would never get away from the assembly line if I did that. After that I would always watch an hour of TV, no matter what. Better get stuck with the Frasier crew than 10.000 wieners.
Rowan
Whoa. I’ve had dreams of dying – falling from tall objects (or into deep ones), shot, being stabbed in the back (that one was… surprisingly vivid). I don’t really get them anymore.
I do get weird story dreams, not so much post-apocalyptic as just… very science fiction. And boring ones, too. I once spent an entire dream (yes! an entire dream!) walking along a pebbled beach beneath an ominous sky. Everything was very calm, and I just walked. Nothing happened. Not as dull as weeding cabbages, I bet.
I know I occasionally have really great science fiction dreams, but I usually forget the almost immediately after waking.
A more common and slightly less disturbing dream is this:
A person (not a random person, a person who actually exists and is a more-or-less accurate depiction of them) is in a horrible accident of some sort in my area due to Contrived Coincidence and thus lands in my hospital and in need of my care. I proceed to heroically Save The Day.
Then Rational Brain (still active when I’m dreaming) intrudes, noting pesky facts like, “with those injuries, they would be in need of ____, which means they’d go to ____, not where you are.” Dreaming Brain then proceeds to “fix” the scenario but it quickly devolves due to Need for Drama. Lather rinse repeat until I wake up.
My dreams often mix elements of my present job and location, with my old academic job and location, and one of the Tomb Raider scenarios. Very surreal.
Nerd
That sounds very… awkward.
Yeah, find my way out of the underground cavern in order to be able to teach general chemistry on time, and in the process complete a process justification report on product Z. Cue Twilight Zone theme music.
The only good thing about changing the Redhead in the middle of the night, is that it keeps me awake long enough it disrupts that dream, unlike a quick trip to the bathroom.
Based on the grumbles from Mother Nature, I surmise we will have a nice T-storm. Doppler radar shows some red. Batten the hatches here at Casa la Pelirroja.
Dino feathers!
And here’s some before and after pictures, mostly featuring the Daugava river valley before and after the building of hydroelectric dams (I am absolutely blown away by what the river valley used to be, it’s beautiful now but not nearly as dramatic). Plus a few other things (it’s only 8 pictures, click on the one at the link to scroll through the others).
Also, some neat red teeth, esp. considering the location of the find.
Over-sized red incisors in Transylvania. Where has that come into play???? ;)
Was Stoker psychic? Did he predict the discovery of a red-toothed (due to iron, no less!) beast living in that area? Did he receive visions of a red-toothed nightmare prowling the night?
We will never know.
It’s raining, and there’re some rumbling noises that I don’t think are due to any of the neighbours’ cars. In southern California. In July.
Shadow had to be escorted to her safe space in the linen cupboard, as even under the Younger Daughter’s bed wasn’t safe enough. Patches is cautious but interested; she’ll probably want to go out as soon as the rain slows enough.
Stay safe, everybody.
Dreams… ah dreams…
In my first 6 years of life, my family lived with Mom’s parents. I had very frequent dreams where I would fly downstairs (from my room) into the kitchen where my mom, my dad, and Mom’s parents would all be talking, and I would have a bowl of cheerios with milk.
Years later I discovered three fascinating things:
1. When we lived at Mom’s parents’ house, I would often come downstairs in the middle of the night for a bowl of cheerios (so I wasn’t just dreaming that part; it was actually happening).
2. Mom and all her brothers and sisters also had dreams about flying around that house when they were kids.
3. My brother would have those flying dreams when we visited in later years (when we moved out into our own place, he was only 2, so still too young to remember stuff), though he never had cheerios… he would fly around the house and then fly back up to his room to go back to bed.
That makes me wonder… what is it about that house? (I provided a link to the Zillow listing above so y’all could see just what we were flying around; Mom’s parents are getting ready to sell it… I’m going to miss that house so much and it kills me that I don’t have anywhere near enough to afford it.)
As for nightmares… the only nightmares I have that I can remember all involve sleep paralysis. I get that a lot. But it doesn’t usually come with the feeling of something being in the room with me. Most commonly, I desperately need to get out of bed because I am extremely late for something immensely important (I never know what). When I do finally break out of the paralysis and get up, it’s of course the middle of the night, so I haven’t missed anything.
I used to think it was stress-related, because I first noticed this sleep paralysis would happen the night before a very big day… from finals to a performance. But now even that’s not true. Like… I had it last night, and today has been a very lazy day for me; I have nowhere to go until late this evening, so I didn’t even set an alarm and I’ve yet to get out of my PJs. So it doesn’t even correlate with the stress of “I have a big day ahead of me” anymore.
But I need to figure out why I get sleep paralysis so often and do something about it, because it’s not fun.
I rarely remember my dreams and (other than those flying dreams when I was a kid) I have never really had any lucid dreams. I have also always woken up right before falling, even if I just trip over my own feet, or dying. I would very much like to know what would happen if I actually fell or died in a dream, but as of yet it hasn’t happened.
One thing I do notice about the dreams I remember… I am always myself in them, and always the absolute worst of how I see myself. Which is perhaps not a very good thing, but like I said, I’ve never really had any control over my dreams, so…
From what rq said, if I hijack her version of the I-left-the-babies-somewhere-and-can’t-find-them dream, I will wake up angry at rq’s husband.
Maybe I will stick with rq’s “rescue the children efficiently” dream.
Speaking of babies, the Republicans in the U.S. House and Senate have introduced a bill that would allow companies to fire single, pregnant women. Once again, it’s back to the 1950s for those Republican guys.
NPR additional link
Since our last power outage last month, the Redhead has had me replacing alternative light sources. Just replaced an old “lantern” flashlight with an LED version (very bright and focused). The LED version says 45 hours on a 6-volt zinc-carbon dry cell lantern battery, versus 3 hours for the old incandescent bulb. Pop in an alkaline version of the 6-volt lantern battery good for ten years (dry cells die in about a year without use), and I won’t have to worry about it again, due to the low usage in the interim.
A summary of budget cuts that Republicans want to make is pasted in below. This issue will become increasingly relevant because, with the August recess stopping work, the September 30 deadline for budget approval is coming up all too soon. Looks like we may be in government-shut-down territory soon. Republicans want to give the military more money, and screw everyone else.
http://time.com/3959060/government-shutdown-congress/
Murkans, you scare me.
Thank’s to Trump’s disrespect for John McCain’s time as a prisoner of war, more Republicans are jumping on the dump-on-Trump wagon. (See comments 441, 442, and 443 for previous discussion of the same issue.)
Mitt Romney: The difference between @SenJohnMcCain and @realDonaldTrump: Trump shot himself down. […]
Trump: Why would anybody listen to @MittRomney? He lost an election that should have easily been won against Obama. By the way, so did John McCain!
Lynna
Stick with hijacking the saferoom dream. :D
rq @476, will do. I don’t see what’s in it for me if I am mad at your husband. :-)
rq @474, OMG, that is such a bad, bad idea. Sheesh.
In other news, Russian soccer fans are racist: Link.
I don’t dream, or at any rate not that I have any memory or awareness of. Never have done, except maybe once or twice. I’m always interested in people’s reactions to dreams who do.
Another heat wave hit, just in time for a busy weekend at work. The food poisoning turned out to be a horrible stomach flu, which is why I’ve hardly been on this week; I was in bed, mostly.
rq @465
Beautiful scenery before the dams were built. On the other hand now there’s some 2 GW hydropower which is maybe better than having to produce the power with coal or oil shale.
The waterfalls of Pērse looked beatiful. Estonians and Finns might have giggled about the name of the river Pērse (at least written version of the name), though. Have you got any idea about the etymology of the name Pērse. In Finnish and Estonian the word “perse” (with short wovels) means “arse”.
Stay safe everybody, both in the heat and in the rain and thunder. Wish there was a nice way to export our wishy-washy, uneventful rains from here in Finland to the drought-stricken places… (My West African colleagues at a previous job said sometimes that the rains here are weak and mild compared with the tropical rains they had back home.)
rq, Murkans scare me and I are one.
Ice Swimmer
No idea about the etymology, though it’s not the original name of the river (which was supposedly Kokna). It also enters the Daugava in a region that was heavily populated by the Livs, whose language is more related to Estonian and Finnish than Latvian (and Lithuanian). Perhaps it was a silly joke on their part, or a mistake in translation. But yes, apparently the river sign is a popular place for Estonian tourists to take photos. :D (For anglo-speaking tourists, the town signs of ‘Ogre’ and ‘Ape’ have a certain appeal, as does the town sign of ‘Malta’.)
You can still see similar waterfalls in Abava and a much wider one in Venta (in the town Kuldīga). Maybe not impressive size-wise, but certainly beautiful! And good for marine fossils.
Beatrice:
*champagne cork popping*
Huzzah!
–
Anne:
Congrats to Younger Daughter!
–
Hi, thunk!
Are you still in OK?
–
Giliell:
Reminds me of when I first left home for college; I’d packed all my books (which was the greater part of my Worldly Possessions) into a box that was about 3′ long by 1 1/2′ wide by about 1′ deep. I had no experience of packing, y’see, and had never had occasion to move more than an arm-load of books at a time.
My father and my brother got to lug that sucker up 2 flights of stairs….
(later)
Those are nice, cheerful-looking hats!
–
rq:
Well…I can try to happify the endings. It doesn’t usually work.
And nothing can be done about the damned Giant Flaming Superspeed Tornado Swarms.
–
Ugh, the round-robin argument with the Redhead.
RH “You should know every mm of every adjustment needed to make me comfortable”
NoR “Four out of five times you are OK. The fifth time you have to be specific as to what is wrong, and how to fix it”.
RH *some presuppositional statement that I should be infallible in positioning her*
NoR *it’s all adjustments, and you need to tell me how to adjust you based on your feelings, not my eyeballs*
Circular ad nauseum. Sigh, problems like this is why I am chronically fatigued.
I’m baaaaaaack! The power came back on after about two hours. No problem. Although we don’t have a generator, we have enough lanterns, candles, batteries, and battery operated things to survive for quite some time. The power up here has always been unreliable. For winter we have a big fireplace and lots of stored firewood. I can even cook in this fireplace with a cast iron dutch oven.
It has been raining on and off all day and may continue until Monday. The wetter the better. No lightening strikes so far. The rain is helping extinguish the fires, but it isn’t heavy enough to thoroughly put them out. The foliage and earth are so, so very dry. The amazing thing is that when disaster strikes, the people on the mountain really pull together, regardless of differences. It is astonishing. Even the assholes help out other folks. Maybe there is hope for the species.
Holà todos!
It’s amazing how being without any connection is altering lotsuv things. It’s been barely four weeks and it feels like eternity. I almost forgot my account pissweird, and now, now what I was willing to write anyway?
Painlessly aimless.
Drifty scores.
Arco iris overdrown in flexible waters.
Oh yees, next time I announce a prefered option for the great jump, shut me up or sign me dung for this scaterpillar almost skilled me. Geese! Grease us!
I’m somewhat envious of people who can remember their dreams (or nightmares). Aside from a few times throughout my life, I’ve never been able to.
I do vaguely recall having a dream years ago. It involved me, a crashed airplane, a jungle and Michael Myers (from the Halloween movies).
Well, now time passed and now it seems
Everybody’s having them dreams
Some time ago a crazy dream came to me
I dreamt I was walkin’ into World War Three
I went to the doctor the very next day
To see what kinda words he could say
He said it was a bad dream
I wouldn’t worry ’bout it none, though
They were my own dreams and they’re only in my head
…
Well, the doctor interrupted me just about then
Sayin’, “Hey I’ve been havin’ the same old dreams
But mine was a little different you see
I dreamt that the only person left after the war was me
I didn’t see you around”
Everybody sees themselves
Walkin’ around with no one else
Half of the people can be part right all of the time
Some of the people can be all right part of the time
But all of the people can’t be all right all of the time
I think Abraham Lincoln said that
“I’ll let you be in my dreams if I can be in yours”
I said that
Tony! @486
Happenstancially, I’ve been travelling planes yesterday (or today, I don’t remember), and I haven’t slept long in the last 36 hours but during a short five minutes break of sleep, I have been dreaming about airplane crash in the jungle (while actually flying Belèm to Cayenne, that is, just above the jungle).
Comment #487 was meant to be general, but is surprisingly strikingly amazingly specific too… :)
Whoever has the sledgehammer, may I borrow it when you’re done? This thread is making me wanna smash stuff.
Oh hai!
Walked on the beach today. Tried some new food (and a novel popcorn-making method). Had a civil discussion with my father, without it turning into a shouting match. So, things are doing pretty well, I suppose.
Cicely, 483:
No, I’m in my usual, more Northern, stomping grounds. It’s not as hot, for one (but still pretty hot).
Lynna, 477:
I am very unsurprised.
Things are progressing here at Casa la Pelirroja. The T-storms have passed over, and moved off the Doppler radar into central Indiana/Ohio.
The Redhead is eating the last of the brautwurst, with beer boiled onions, german potato salad, Boston style baked beans, and cole slaw.
The temperature outside was supposed to hit 90 F, but the wind changed and came off the lake, so we only hit 80 F. Makes it easier to sleep for both of us.
I’m already dressed ready for bed, and waiting for the final change before snore land.
Nobel Prize winning scientist says President Obama is dead wrong about climate change.
As a physicist, he’s clearly qualified to speak about climate science. ::eyeroll::
Ooooh, I bet this has the LDS all kinds of ticked off-
Inside the world of Mormon porn.
I’m not going to take all my books, just my favourites.
HAHAHHA
ha
I have most of the Pratchett books. They are all my favourites. Enough said.
Last chapter: Kid has been safely delivered to Aunt. Trip went fine, although we started 2 hours later than we wanted to and I hadn’t anticipated how much tolls would cost (about $50 more than I thought). Aunt is fantastic, her partner is also great, and their place is both bigger and much nicer than ours, so I felt confident he was going to a better place than we could do for him even if we were able to. Even better, it is a multi-level townhouse and he’s staying in the lowest level, so there will be two whole floors between him and everyone else at night so his coughing won’t disturb anybody’s sleep. We went over everything he needed to do with Aunt, and she seems to be a great combination of caring and no-nonsense (I am bad at the no nonsense part),. And they’re going to contact all the other relatives down there to set a network up. It killed me watching him say goodbye to his sister and stepfather, but I think this really is his best opportunity to succeed.
And now you don’t have to read about me freaking out any more. :) All that’s left is cleaning the house and getting caught up on all the work I slacked off on the last couple of weeks, and making sure Child 1 and Child 2 understand how much I appreciate everything they’ve done. I’m especially impressed with Child 2 and how he was able to keep calm the whole time his routines were disrupted and everything.
I just invented the stupidest pun and I can’t stop giggling to myself about it. Like, can’t stop. It’s not a happy feeling anymore.
Thank goodness I’m not in public.
rq,
no sharing? :(
It’s in Latvian, but it might work.
“What is the most delicious month of the year?”
“YUM-vāris!” (From janvāris, for January.)
Still giggling every time I think about it.
hehe, never underestimate the power of a bad pun.