Happy New Year

My family is all German all the way back. Every year on New year's day for as far back as I can remember we'd all get together for Specken Dicken, a German rye pancake traditionally eaten at New Year.

A couple notes:
This is my great grandmonther's recipie, and it's sized to feed a large gathering of hungry farmers. You may want to cut it in half. That should give enough batter to screw up the first few, and still make enough to completely stuff 2-3 hungry people.
It's nearly impossible to find rye graham flour. Regular rye flour works fine.
The anise may be a little offputting to some people. I grew up eating this, and it's one of my favorite foods. For others it can be a bit more of an acquired taste. You can reduce the anise a little bit. This year, in deference to RedSonja, I've cut it by a third. This is tradition though, don't fuck with it too much.
Make the batter the night before and let it sit in the fridge. It just tastes better when it's been allowed to sit for awhile (the anise flavor spreads through the batter some). Just thin it back out with water.

3 cups sugar
5 well beaten eggs
2 cups dark corn syrup
1 Tablespoon anise seed
1 teaspon baking soda mixed in a small amount of hot water
1 Tablespoon salt
6 cups rye graham flour
6 cups white flour
bacon, hamburger, or sausage browned and broken up into small pieces (personally I like bacon or cut up cocktail wienies).

Mix all ingredients except the meat together with enough water to make a thin batter. When you're ready to cook, set a small pile of meat on a hot griddle or skillet and pour the batter over it and cook like a pancake. Serve with or without syrup.

Updated with further notes: Now that I've cooked some up again, I've thought of a few more things to mention.
Half of the above recipie is still alot. I think you could cut it in half again, and still have enought to make 10-12.
These are a bit more temperamental than pancakes. Make sure you thin the batter out enough so that it spreads out some. Pour them small, and flip as soon as bubbles start to break the surface. A little burning around the meat is fine. It doesn't impact the flavor at all.

Busy busy busy

It's been so damn long since I blogged, I think I forgot how. Plus, you know how it is when you haven't done something for a while, it's hard to start? Yeah, that too.

We have been way busy here. I finished my class, and am now not only a hot, horny coed, I'm a hot, horny coed with a 4.0. Yay me! Family came and went several times in the past few months, with the last visit being my family over Thanksgiving. That's been nice, but it does jack up one's stress level, especially in a new house. I want so badly for people to like it, but at the same time I know it needs a bunch of work.

We've also painted. The guest bedroom, now a lovely lilac, was easy. The dining room, with it's 14 foot ceilings and stairwell, was a bit more difficult. However, it is now a warm and cheery "lemon whip", which is really basically a pastel yellow. And I STILL have paint in my hair.

Critters are all well, and we're having a doggy visitor next weekend. I'm hoping it will wear Emma out to have someone to play with...

And various and sundry things to catch up with, but that may take some time. In the meantime, happy holidays to all of you, and hope that whatever you celebrate, it brings you joy and happiness!!!

Funniest thing I have ever seen.

So, crazy busy around here lately, what with the working on the house and working at the paying job, and in RedSonja's case also working for free at the aquarium and going to school. I just thought I'd stick my head back in and point both our readers (Hi Jack and Kona) at the funniest damn thing I have seen in a very long time. No boobs or anything, but probably not safe for work.

Babies!!!!!!

So my guppies decided to pop out their babies while we were moving. In an effort to create a race of super-guppies, we are giving them very little survival support. At the moment, there are 6 - 1 is older than the others, I think. That, or it's already evolved into another category of fish.

I tried taking pictures, but unfortunately my camera isn't fast enough, and they're just blurry. But they're cute, as fishes go. We'll see how they do.

Friday critter blogging

Daxter contemplates the new orange walls. Yes, they ARE orange.















Addie makes sure that Charlie has washed behind her ears.

















Addie stragerizes on Morrowind with me.

At least I have my health

Back from a long bout of stomach flu and in-law visits, finally. I couldn't bring myself to blog, what with the whole spending 45 minutes of every hour in or on the way to the bathroom. I didn't really think anyone would be interested in that, nor did I feel like reliving it.

More posts to come, including crittery goodness and Shedd updates. And maybe even a pic of the amateur home improvement project that has eaten up our week.... We'll see how brave I'm feeling.

Injury update

Yes, this used to be the tailbone update, but I keep injuring myself in new and creative ways....

Tailbone much improved, except for when I sit at the computer too long.

New injury: I was helping to take xrays on a dog the other day, and he struggled. A lot. In the struggle he cracked me in the nose with either a leg or his head, I'm not sure which. And I literally mean "cracked" - I heard it! I managed to not get a black eye, but it's a little swollen, and it hurts there when I chew.

I'm like an accident just waiting to happen.....

How to Vote: My Dilemma

Obviously midterm elections are nearing with an alarming rapidity. Since we just moved, KarateMonkey and I keep saying we will vote early, rather than try to get to a polling place that's now rather inconvenient to home, but I'm not at all sure that we actually will. So likely I will be voting on Tuesday, with everyone else.

In our illustrious state of Illinois, we are voting for governor. We also have to vote for Congresscritter, with the incumbent being Melissa Bean. I suspect there will be a school bond issue, and lord knows what else.

My dilemma is this - who to vote for? Or rather, how to vote? Do I vote as the idealist I enjoy being, or as the pragmatist I often feel that I should be? For example: Melissa Bean. Not the most liberal of Democrats. I was irritated when she voted for the bankruptcy bill, but enraged when she didn't vote against the torture bill! How can I vote for her now???? But her opponent, and sadly I don't even know who it is, has been running ads complaining that she didn't try to keep "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. Which makes me want to vote for her, or at least not for her opponent. (There have been many other ads blasting her for positions I support, but that's the one that always pushes my buttons....)

So part of me says, maybe just skip that one. But then, how important is a Democratic majority in the House? Should I hold my nose and vote for someone who is okay with torture, in the hopes that we'll knock the Republicans out of power?

Governor is much the same issue for me. I don't like Topinka, the Republican challenger, but frankly I think Blagojevitch is a corrupt doofus. But in this race there's a Green candidate, who is actually talking about things like universal health care, less tax cuts for the wealthy, and guest worker programs. I want to vote for that, to believe in it. But I also know that there is no way in hell that the Green guy will win. And if I DO vote for him, does that make me the equivalent of the people I railed against so much in 2000, who voted for Nader and made the election close enough for Bush to steal? Argh!!!!!


Anybody else having this issue?

We're ba-ack....

Finally finished moving. Well, not really. There's some stuff yet in the apartment, and it needs cleaned, but the major stuff is done. Which is why I have a few minutes to pound out a long overdue blog entry....

Firstly, I love our house. It has its flaws, and there's more than a few of them -- for instance, washing your hands after flushing the toilet is difficult because the water pressure is virtually nonexistent -- but I love it anyway. It's ours, and it's big, and the critters have settled in quite nicely.

Secondly, I hate moving. KarateMonkey and I almost had a fight while moving, which tells you how stressed out we were. (Usually he's too laid back to fight, and it's no fun when you're the only one getting pissed off...)

Thirdly, we have nice neighbors. One of whom has a lovely Irish accent, so hopefully he comes over to chat a lot. I bet he also has good taste in beer.

That is all.

Odds and Ends

Well, crap. I got home late from the Shedd tonite, and am so tired I just want to sleep. But a few notes before that....

It's Veterinary Technician Appreciation Week. So if you go to the vet, hug a tech. Or bring them food. They LOVE that.

Kona, I will do the picture meme, I promise. But not till Friday, when I have time to do it justice. KarateMonkey probably can't figure out how to post pics, so I doubt he'll fill in for me...

I WAS going to post an awesome macaroni and cheese recipe, but Minstrel Boy beat me to it. Jerk.

Ass update: still hurts. Improvised donut at work didn't help. New solution is to avoid sitting down.

That is all. Carry on.

Jail for Judges

So, I'm driving into work this moring and I hear this.

South Dakotans will vote next month on a proposed state constitutional amendment
that would strip judges, jurors, and other state officials, of their immunity
from lawsuits for their official actions.

What the hell is wrong with South Dakota? Here's the way this works. If you have a problem with a judicial decision in South Dakota, once all appeals are done you can request a special grand jury made up of 13 citizens determined by lottery. They'll review the case "All allegations in the complaint shall be liberally construed in favor of the complainant" and determine whether the judge(s) in the case can be sued or even go ahead and indict them. The proponents argue that it's needed to prevent judicial corruption, and ensure that judges follow the law. Opponents point out that you can convince 7 out of 13 random citizens of pretty crazy shit. I can only begin to imagine what lengths crazy people will with too much money will take this. Judges aren't the only ones in trouble under the law. Anybody protected by judicial immunity can be sued for acts done in an official capacity. School board member, county commissioners, jurors, prosecutors, defense attorneies could all get in on the action too. Bill Stegmeier, the guy behind the move is apparently a 9/11 conspiracy nut and an income tax resister. So we know he already has some interesting ideas about how this is going to be applied. And the scary part is that accoring to one early poll the amendment was narrowly winning.

Further links:
No on E
JAIL4Judges

Updated with a couple more links:
http://no-e-sd.blogspot.com/
If this law passes the Slave Freedom/ Mark of The Beast Class Action Law Suit will no longer be held up by evil child molesting judges.

Depression both sucks and blows

[God I love that sucks and blows thing.... Somebody mentioned it in a Shakespeare's Sister thread, and it's just stuck with me.]

I've mentioned it before, but it's recently relevant -- I have depression. Not the "have the blues sometimes when my boyfriend won't call me back" type, but the "haven't gotten out of bed for 3 days except to pee and don't really want to see another human being again" type. Fortunately it's medication controlled, mostly.

Unfortunately, sometimes I have break through blues. Days when just getting out of my pajamas is an accomplishment. Days that, if it weren't for the people (and animals) who love me, I don't think I would bother. KarateMonkey and I call them "sad days".

Lately there have been several sad days in a row. It makes it hard to blog, because the little voice in my head, with no basis in rationality, says "Who the fuck would want to read what you would write anyway?" And while I know it's the depression talking, I still listen. It's hard not to.

So posting has been light. I'm feeling better. Lots of hugs here at home, and that helps. So, my point is twofold:

1) If someone you love is depressive, hug them lots. It means the world to them, even if they can't say it.

2) If I post that it's a sad day, please think happy thoughts for me. Sometimes I think I hear them.

Halloween

I gotta admit, I enjoy halloween. I was never hugely into the candy or anything, but I like coming up with fun costumes, or at least ideas. Last year I thought about going as Hurricane Katrina, and gluing a bunch of farm animals and trees and stuff to an outfit, but decided that was in bad taste. So at the last minute I was looking for costumes, and boy did that suck.

See, the problem is that most commercial halloween costumes are slutty. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy flirting and showing off my bod, and my favorite costume as a single girl was a kissing booth. But going to a party hosted by a coworker, outdoors in October, I don't feel like having my ass hang out. For example:


The infamous Dirty Martini. Please note that the model is NOT plus size, though it is a plus size costume. So I have no way of knowing what it will actually look like on me. Yeah, I've got the cleavage to pull it off, but the skirt is a bit much -- or not. Urgh.


This is pretty much what I went through trying to find a costume this year. I finally found one that has some cleavage, but actually goes full length, so my ass won't freeze. It also drapes nicely, to hopefully hide what I want hidden.



I tried to get KarateMonkey to go as Plug and Socket with me, but he refused. He says he goes as a "responsible adult" every Halloween, and that's as good as it's going to get.

KarateMonkey's pretty damn good chilli

It's a nice lazy afternoon here. The air has that nice crisp feel to it, and I woke up in the mood for chilli. So after a couple hours spent smelling that wonderful smell. I'm pleasantly full and feeling proud of myself, and I decided I could manage a worse introduction to this nifty blog that RedSonja has seen fit to give me the key to. Without further ado I present KarateMonkey's pretty damn good chilli.

1lb. stew meat
1 onion
1 bell pepper (I use red) chopped
1 Jalepeno or serrano pepper seeded and chopped
2 14.5 oz cans
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes with green chills ( I usually use two 10z cans since that the easiest size to find)
2 14.5 oz cans dark red kidney beans
1 14.5 oz can black beans
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
2 Tablespoons Chilli powder (I use the medium hot stuff from Penzey's)
1 teaspoon cumin

Get a big damn pot and spray the inside with some nonstick spray. Heat it up and brown the
meat add the chopped onion, peppers, and garlic. Let them cook for a few minutes and throw
everything else in and simmer covered over low heat a couple hours.

This will give 5-6 good sized bowls of a thick very filling medium hot chilli with a nice rich flavor. On those occasions when I’m not cooking for a demanding blogmistress who believes that the proper spice level for chilli is somewhere below tear inducing then I’ll use a bit more chilli pepper, and couple unseeded chile peppers.

Friday critter blogging

Since I have the cutest animals in the world, I can't limit it to just the cats....



Emma and Charlie snuggle on the couch.




Charlie and Addie pose for kitty porn.



Daxter sprawls.

Boob tube goodness, nostalgia edition

This week: She-Ra, Princess of Power. Apparently this series was introduced by an actual movie, which is what NetFlix sent this week. Wow. Awesomely nostalgically bad.

I think my favorite part was when She-Ra jumps out of a window, flies through the air, swings on a pole, and crashes through the roof of a stable (!) to land on her untacked horse's back. Who just stands there while he magically transforms into a winged unicorn.She also had the power to emote to animals. Sorta like AquaMan, but useful. I didn't remember that.

Shedd report

This week's task as volunteer-extraordinaire was otter department. Specifically sea otters. Damn they're cute!! I also learned that baby otters can be very loud when they want something. Which is often. You wouldn't think that little 18 pound body could make that much noise....

I also got to feed penguins again. Yay penguins!!! And didn't fall on my ass. Yay not falling!!!

Trash TV and Feminism

One of my guilty pleasures is trash TV. Mostly Maury lie detectors and paternity tests, but occasionally Cheaters as well. I know, I know. Just encouraging the exploitation of these poor people, but the schaudefreude is just irresistable. Today, though, was really depressing. Why?

Today's Maury was lie detector tests. You know, I think my man (it was all men today) is cheating on me, and I want the lie detector to prove/disprove it.

1) The first couple was married, but even his mother was accusing him of cheating. Apparently at one point he claimed some girl his wife caught him with was a cousin, which his mom immediately contradicted. I'm not sure WHY she needed a lie detector test at this point, but there it was.

2) Couple number two was a blind woman and her fiance. She had been on the show several months earlier because she suspected him of cheating, stealing from her, AND stealing from her daughter. All those things were confirmed by the lie detector. So he proposed and she accepted. (That was a bit of a disconnect for me....) Now she thought he was cheating again. His trip to WalMart turned into a 4 hour excursion, with 2 flat tires, etc.... Lie detector today said he was cheating, too. The best part of this one was when she beat him with the dozen roses he brought for her, and returned the ring. The worst part was when they showed her backstage taking it back.

3) Couple number three was a woman who worked nights while her boyfriend stayed home with their infant daughter. One night she came home early, and found baby asleep in her car seat in the hall. Bf wouldn't let her in the bedroom for a while, and when he did, his pants were up but unzipped. She looked around and found a woman hiding in her garage!!!!! Yet she still needed a lie detector test to prove that yes, he too was cheating. This guy tried to propose before the results were read. He too was beaten with the flowers he brought her.

4) Last couple: on the show in the past, girlfriend had suspected boyfriend of cheating. One night he came home super late and she noticed a "stain" around his dick. (She kept calling him "ring-around-the-[bleep] Reggie!) He claimed he had been eating a powdered donut and then went to the bathroom. Lie detector said no at that time. Same thing was happening again, only this time he claimed it was either parmesan cheese or baby powder. Needless to say, he was lying again.

This whole thing just depressed me to no end, I think because almost all these women were "repeat offenders". The ones who weren't had what I would take to be sufficient proof to dump these jackasses without needing to go on national TV. So why the uncertainty? Why did these women accept excuses like the parmesan cheese thing??? If there's a woman hiding in your garage, something is going on!!!

All I can come up with is that they don't think they can make it on their own, and so they want to believe. I understand wanting to believe. But good grief.... Just goes to show that feminism hasn't accomplished all we could wish, I guess.

Tailbone Update

Day 9 - ass still hurts. Am considering strapping donut to ass to sit on, despite inevitable mockery of coworkers.

Marine Letter From Home

Time recently published excerpts from a Marine's letter to the folks at home. He asked to remain anonymous, but the full letter is available here. Go read it -- I'll wait.


Okay. I just have to say that this guy is smart, observant, and proud as hell of his troops. I'm so glad to know that there are men and women like him in Iraq. Seems like all we hear about is the assholes torturing prisoners for fun and profit, so this is a nice change.

But I find my softie self wanting to just fly over there and hug all of them, 120 degree heat or not. The frustration and depression and stress evident in the letter just breaks my heart. What the hell are we doing over there????? Just one more thing Bush has to answer for.


UPDATE: Doonesbury has started a military weblog called The Sandbox. It's not intended to be political, just a venting spot for military life on both sides. For us non-military folks, it's an interesting look at life in the armed forces. Check it out.

Today I am extra grateful for....

1) My most excellent friend and coworker. Without him, today would have sucked beyond human comprehension. Between cheerful snarky banter, excellent technical skills, and a genuine desire to work hard and help his coworkers, he kept this morning from being craptacular.

2) The total stranger who sent us a lovely down comforter. Actually probably not a stranger, but we haven't figured out just who our benefactor is. And I LOVE down comforters.....

3) Big rainstorms I can play in. Not that there is one right now, I just am always grateful for those.


Despite all these things, my tailbone STILL hurts. A lot. Dammit.

Emergency Contraception, Unavailability of

So several weeks ago, Biting Beaver posted her story about trying to get emergency contraception. I was appalled. Apparently her ob-gyn told her to go to an ER, which, when she called, all told her she would have to meet the doctor's "criteria" to get a prescription. Eventually she ended up getting some from Planned Parenthood, but outside the 72 hour window recommended by the manufacturer.

The update: the EC failed. She is now going to get an abortion.

This story simply highlights what so many of us already know -- the pro-life crowd isn't pro-life, they're antisex. If they were so interested in preventing the number of abortions that occure, they would be promoting birth control and family planning, not discouraging it. But no, instead it's all about punishing women for having sex. Even monogamous sex. Even protected monogamous sex. That's not good enough. Sex for procreation only, or face the consequences!!!

I have some genetic diseases in my family. Rather serious ones, in fact. Diseases serious enough that I would not bear a child if I thought it would, or even could, have them. My husband and I choose to have sex. We're married, so it should be okay, right? Once a condom broke. I spent frantic hours trying to find a clinic that would script out EC for me. A few months later, it happened again. This time, my doctor gave me a hard time about it. "Well, we don't like to do this very often....." My FEMALE doctor!!! So I found myself on the phone at work explaining why I wasn't on the pill at that time, and why it was so imperative to me to not conceive.

This whole story breaks my heart. That there are people who would rather she bear a child that she cannot care for, rather than take a pill to expel a cluster of cells. And that to those people, life begins at conception, and ends at birth. That once she has that child, it's her own damn problem.

Bunch of fucking hypocrites.

Why you should always go to class

So I missed class last week due to illness. Imagine my surprise when I show up this morning and find out that -- we have an exam!!! It was like one of those nightmares where you didn't know there was a test and you never went to class. Well, I had gone to class, but had missed much of the lecture on one chapter in particular.

I will not be missing any more classes.

Big sister

I just watched my little sister's marching band compete via webcast. Not as good as the live version, but it was pretty awesome nonetheless. I am constantly amazed at the discipline and skill these kids put into the band. There's 200ish of them, and they are dedicated, hard workers to the very last one of them.

Sadly, they didn't win. I, of course, think they were robbed, but I may be biased. But suffice it to say, I am one proud big sister.

Penguins

As Shedd volunteer-extraordinare, I am currently being trained to clean the penguin exhibit. (This is the site of my major ass bruising from earlier this week.) While at first I wasn't too excited about penguins, I have to say, my perspective has changed.

[begin brief lecture mode]

Penguins are flightless seabirds. While many people assume they live in arctic climes, they mostly just prefer chilly. Their feather have evolved into a waterproof layer of insulation they need to maintain their body temperature while swimming. Wings provide steering and propulsion underwater. They eat fish. Predators include seals, sea lions, whales, and sharks.

[/lecture]

Penguins are way cooler than I ever expected! They swim incredibly fast, and are amazingly agile. Frequently when they come out of the water they just shoot straight up, landing upright on the rocks feet above the water line. Water just beads up on their feathers, it's incredible! Right now the birds at the Shedd are molting, and it's quite pathetic. They look very ragged, and don't much feel like eating. But soon they will be feeling more like themselves, or so I am told.

I have two favorites so far. Number 18 is a little rockhopper penguin who was mostly hand-reared. Her parents were first timers, and didn't feed her quite enough, and she had a heart condition when she was hatched. All the human contact has made her very social, and she likes trying to climb into laps, or convincing a human to lift her down from her high ledge, rather than jumping. Number 10 is a gentoo who very much enjoys visiting with the trainers when they clean the exhibit windows. If a trainer lifts her into the air, she will sit in their hands, then dive off into the water.

They all are interested when people enter the exhibit. I've been nibbled on repeatedly, as they see just how interesting I am. I'm supposed to ignore it, though, so I'm not interesting at all. Ah well.

Next week: otters! Yay!!

Five Things Feminism Has Done for Me

Picked up this meme from several places, including Shakespeare's Sister, JackGoff, Amanda, and Feministe.

It took me a while to get to this, both because I've been feeling so hideous, and because I wanted to ponder it. I'm a little shamed to admit that I've not thought about it particularly long and hard before this, or at least not specifically. So it's already been a great topic!!

1) It's given me a world where I didn't grow up ashamed of my sex. I was fortunate enough to be born into a time and family where it never once crossed my mind that being a girl was worse than being a boy. I never questioned that I could be whatever I wanted, and if I decided when I was 7 that I was never getting married, well, that was okay too. (I did change my mind on that.) My dad encouraged me to join the Math Club, and I played soccer at a very competetive level for several years. My teachers encouraged me to be an engineer, astronaut, or whatever my heart desired. I cannot ever remember a time that I was denied or discouraged from something because I was a girl.

And all this is because so many women fought so long and hard before me to make it so. I can never thank them enough.

2) It's made me more observant and critical of my own inherent prejudices. While some of this is part of getting older and maturing, I also credit my exposure to feminism. I once never understood how someone could choose to stay home and have kids rather than work. "What a boring, stupid choice!" I thought. And while I continue to think it probably wouldn't be for me, feminism and feminist blogs have forced me to read accounts and stories of women (and men) who have made just that choice, and happily. And I realize that I can be a narrow-minded, pig-headed wench sometimes. But feminism encourages us ALL to expand our world view.

3) It's given me choices. As I touched on a little earlier, I have had the choice to do what I want, which wasn't possible even 30 years ago. I can choose my profession, to marry or not, to work outside the home or not, to have kids or not, or to have sex or not. I can vote. I can, as Shakes says, "Let my freak flag fly." I can play video games, train animals, look forward to calculus class, and enjoy bad movies with impunity. I won't be shunned, or prosecuted, or raped, because I refuse to conform to old, patriarchal ideals of feminine behavior. And I am grateful beyond words.

4) It's made it okay to have and enjoy sex. While I also credit my parents for avoiding the whole "body is bad, don't touch!" message, that would never have been an option before feminism. But I grew into an adult who didn't feel badly that some things felt good, some things felt REALLY good, and dammit, I enjoyed them!! And if it weren't for feminism, my parents couldn't have given me and hubby the advice to "live together before you get married."

5) It's given me hope for the future. I watch my sister growing up, and know that she, too, can be whatever she damn well wants. I know my (potential) daughters will be confident, assertive, and eclectic individuals, and society will not (generally) punish them for it. My (future) sons will understand how to respect women and their past struggles, and how to encourage the women around them to do what they want, too. I see a future where misogyny will be the exception, rather than the rule. And I feel hope.

Boob tube goodness, nostalgia edition

So I queued up He-Man on Netflix. I have so many fond memories of that show!! I had all sorts of figures, as well as a vehicle or two and the castle. And the animals, of course.

So we pop in the disc last night, and are almost immediately laughing helplessly at the show. How could I have forgotten that EVERY SINGLE LINE of He-Man's dialogue was echoed???? And that "fabulous" secrets were revealed? That one had me laughing every single time he said it for like three episodes.

And the morals!!! Ohmigod. I STILL can't stop laughing. Which sucks because it makes me cough.

So we won't be buying this series, but I'm glad I queued it up. I'll probably grab the best of disc at some point.

Next disc: She-Ra!!

It's the little things

The other night, I was laying in bed waiting for my NyQuil to kick in. Hubby was snuggled up next to me, not quite snoring. My most wonderful dog in the world was sleeping on her bed next to ours, snoring rather enthusiastically.

It's moments like that that make me realize that I'm the luckiest gal in the world. Pure bliss.

Tidbits

Little things first...

For all of you waiting with bated breath, my backside feels better. Not great, but better. I'm not squeaking in pain every time I stand up. Yay!!

In other health related news, my cough has gotten worse, in that now I sound like a sea lion mating call. Whee. And the stuff I take to loosen the crap in my chest tastes like ass.

Veronica Mars is still the shizzle!!!!!

That is all.

Ouch.....

I figured I'd better explain my absence from the blogosphere today, in case somebody cares.

While performing my duties as volunteer extraordinaire at the Shedd today, I slipped and fell in the penguin exhibit. On my ass. Hard. In front of tons of visitors.

It now hurts to sit, walk, and cough. As well as tons of other things I'm sure I will discover in the next day or so. So blogging will be light until my tailbone hurts less. MUCH less.

Boob tube goodness

So I'm a bit of a TV junkie. Embarassing to admit, but there it is. And a new season of mind-numbing goodness has begun!!!

(Possible spoilers ahead for Heroes, Lost, and Veronica Mars)

Firstly, Lost. Actually, we don't watch Lost anymore. Why? They made all my favorite characters unlikable AND unbelievable last season. They could stay on the damn island for the rest of their lives for all I care!

But larger than that was the feeling I got that they were just winging it as far as the plot goes. I know, I know, supposedly they have the whole thing mapped out, but it's just too --- something. Too many coincidences, too much about the numbers - it's like they were trying to make crack for people who like to feel like "insiders", who know all the interconnectednesses of the characters and the incidents and all that crap.


Which leads me to Heroes. Second episode was last night, and I enjoyed it. I LOVED the pilot. But I'm concerned the same thing may happen. We are finding levels of connection (screen saver of comic book cover is same comic child is reading is same comic written about the future) that make me worry.

And they are choosing to make the story feel good, rather than good. Right after the episode ended, I turned to hubby and said "I'm so glad the other brother can fly, too! I would have been so sad if he couldn't. It would have been a better story, but I would have been sad." I think that will sum it up.

That said, I still have high hopes. Can't wait to see where they go with the cheerleader, and the stripper with her kid.


And finally, Veronica Mars. If you haven't seen this show, run, don't walk, to pick it up!!!! It's smart and funny and sweet and has an edge that I've never seen in a show about high school. It's brought me to tears, both laughing and crying. And it actually has something to say about class warfare and inequality, things I would not have been able to conceptualize easily on my own.

And it starts again tonight!!!! [happy dance] Season three. Veronica goes to college, but not before we find out the deal with her dad standing her up at the gate for the plane. I can't wait!!!

Blogging is hard!!!

(Christ, I sound like Barbie...)

Some days, I just don't know what to say. I mean, I could babble about TV (Veronica Mars starts tonight, YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!) or work or my lingering cold/pneumonia/whatever, but I'm not sure that would really be worth much of anything. It would certainly bore people....

Wait. It's my blog. I can do whatever I damn well please. And maybe if I keep writing, I'll actually get halfway good at it.
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This stream of consciousness brought to you by the letters L and W, and the number 3.

Peri-pregnancy depression

Feministing has an interesting post about depression during pregnancy. Apparently, not everybody glows when they're knocked up!! Some women even feel (gasp!) sad!!!

This struck a chord with me because of my last ob-gyn appointment. Hubby and I are thinking about having children someday. Maybe. If the stars align correctly. I also happen to be living with depression. ( I prefer "living with" to "suffering from" -- seems more empowering or some such shit....) So I asked the nurse practicioner about my antidepressant and pregnancy.

She proceeds to tell me that the only medication the doctor will "let" (her word!) women use is Prozac, and then what he recommends is that they go off their meds as long as possible, until they just can't handle it any more. Then they go back on, and repeat the process until the parasite is expelled.

I was speechless. I nearly started a bit of a scene, about how antidepressants can be less effective if you go off and on of them, about how Prozac gives me brutal headaches, and about how no doctor is going to tell me that I just have to "live with it" because he's an ass who is lucky enough to be happy every day of his life! But I didn't.

Yet.

Squicky

Okay, so the whole Rep. Mark Foley thing is disgusting on so many levels. This has been blogged about, but I just thought it bore repeating:


The GOP leadership knew!!!!!!! They knew and they did not do a goddamn thing to stop this bastard!! There are not enough exclamation points in the world to express how angry I am about this!!!!!

Bad enough that they trample the Constitution, rape the Geneva Conventions, give civil liberties a big "fuck you!" -- but now this. They put at risk of harassment and abuse children, children whose parents are their constituents, and who trusted them. Not only that, but they put a man SOLICITING MINORS FOR SEXUAL CONVERSATION in charge of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children!! What, did they think he had some sort of special knowledge of how this scum would approach kids??????

[deep breath]


Okay. A little better now. But I sincerely hope that whoever helped sweep all this under the rug goes down, and hard, for covering up Foley's little "peccadilloes". Fucks.

Movies

So I just finished watching Swimming Pool, and was quite disappointed -- bummed, even. After the previews.... Well. Let me start at the beginning.

I love thrillers, movies that twist and turn. Things that creep me out, supernatural or not. So imagine my delight to see this awesome trailer about a writer who goes to her publisher's house in France to take a sabbatical, and meets his rather kooky daughter... Much psychosis is implied, and there's eerie music all over the place. Yay!!

So, I queue it up on Netflix. (Thank god for Netflix, because hubby would NEVER have watched this!) I finally was in the mood for a good scare tonight, so I snuggled up on the couch, stoned on cold medicine and cuddled with a cat.

SPOILER!!!!!






Sadly, there is nothing creepy about Swimming Pool. It's probably not a bad movie, though not my cup of tea. Hubby liked it because there is ample boobage. There was some unsightly European underwear at the breakfast table. And there was much character development, which was good. But NO scary!!!!!! Except maybe the underwear.

I have nothing against non-scary movies. And like I said, I'm pretty sure it's good. It probably even won some awards or something. But then, dammit, don't make a trailer like Hitchcock!!!

My immune system gives up

Sorry for the paucity of posts, all one of you loyal readers out there.... Wednesday was hectic, Thursday was depressing, and yesterday I was sick. Still am, really. But I'll try and do some catch up this weekend.

Meantime, hit some links on the side, there. You know you want to.

Diebold machines and the hackers who love them

An older story, but one that bears repeating, espeically as election day approaches.

Princeton's Center for Information Technology Policy recently published a study of the Diebold voting machines. Their findings: they can be hacked fairly easily, with no way to distinguish between compromised and secure machines. One affected machine can spread the hack to other machines. And to address some of these issues would require not just new software, but new hardware.

This is depressing beyond belief. What the hell kind of a democracy can't get the fucking voting right??? And we're supposed to be spreading democracy?!

So, talk to your local board of elections. Find out what voting method you'll be using. And if it's Diebold, make sure the officials know just how crappy they are. Make a stink. Write the paper. Contact the local news. If there's enough stink, there may be time to make a change.

Buh-bye, George!

Not Bush, sadly. Allen. The Revealer suggests that he's done because, in order to run for Prez, he'd have to be the Xtian Right candidate. And they don't want the baggage.

To be honest, this doesn't shock me. After the whole "macaca" thing, when the noose in the office became more common knowledge, it seemed impossible to me that he had a prayer of running, let alone winning.

But then, I am an idealist.

Out of the Darkness

In August, I participated in the Out of the Darkness Overnight, a 20 mile walk from dusk until dawn. It was to raise money for suicide awareness, prevention, and research. We had to raise $1000 just to participate, plus train for that kind of exertion.

It was worth every minute.

We started out at Soldier Field, in the parking lot. There were Mardi-Gras beads, with each different colored string representing the loss of a different person. Some people had handfuls of strings - thank god I only had 3.

(When I was in high school, two of my classmates committed suicide within days of each other. A co-worker's boyfried killed himself years later, using medications he got from his job as a veterinarian. None of these were devastating to me, but they were upsetting. Particularly in high school, though my then-religion helped me through that.)

There was music, and speakers, and over a thousand walkers. We all had water, and flashlights, and snacks, and the feeling of being part of something way bigger than ourselves. It was indescribable.

We began walking just after night fell. Along the lake front, past the Pier, through the city, nearly to Evanston (you could see the lights from the midpoint). There were breaks, with people to bandage blisters and rub Ben-Gay where you couldn't reach. Friends and family showed up at intervals, clapping and cheering for total strangers at 3 am. "Lunch" was on the shores of the lake, with the sound of the waves crashing for a soundtrack.

By some fluke of timing, I reached the last 2 miles just as the sky began to lighten. This stretch was where we were given the opportunity to light luminaria, in memory of those who were lost. There were clusters of luminaria for one person, for all people, for self. I found myself weeping steadily as I walked through a mile and a half of emotion, before I made my own contribution.

As I passed into the final part of the walk, the sun was coming up over the lake. I paused outside the Shedd Aquarium to watch and fix the moment in my memory. I will remember those emotions forever.

Finishing the walk was incredible. I don't think I have ever hurt that much in my life, but even then I suspected I would want to walk again. Sadly, next year's event is in New York, so it's unlikely. But we'll see.

I have lived with depression for years now, and am fortunate enough that suicide has never seemed an option to me. But to walk for those less lucky, less advantaged, more afflicted, was my privilege.

Please, if you feel that sort of pain, get help. There are thousands of people who will listen and hear and understand your story - I walked with them.

Donuts

Or, how the GOP screwed Medicare recipients. Right about now, the elderly are beginning to realize that Medicare only covers so much before they have to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket.

What's really sad, is that this isn't a surprise, any more than the levees in New Orleans were. But the MSM didn't cover it, and the Republicans didn't care, and who the hell was going to read through that much legislative gobbledygook on their own???

When I was a kid, I was taught to trust those in authority. Police officers, teachers, pastors, Girl Scout leaders, the whole nine yards. If I were less cynical, less skeptical, less privileged (in that I can afford to spend the leisure time to be informed), I would be stunned too. I find this depressing beyond words.

I fucking hate these people.

Morning traffic

God, I hate living in an industrial park sometimes. Semi traffic picks up at like 6 AM, and those mothers are LOUD. I can't wait to move.

Politics - an overview

Being an opinionated wench, politics has always been fascinating to me. I love to share my ideas, as well as hearing those belonging to others. However, I'm too much of an idealist to be a good politician. I tend to think that things should be "right" or even "fair". You can see the problem.

So, needless to say, the Bush Administration is not my favorite group of people. This is a vast understatement. It would be more accurate to say that if they were all abducted by aliens to be confined to a zoo and pointed at and mocked for the rest of their natural lives, I would cheer. Sadly, it is more likely that they will retire rich and continue to influence policy in the nation for many years to come.

I am no longer content to sit and ponder and say "Gee whiz, they suck" anymore. Now, I am enraged. They have hijacked our nation, they have trampled the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, they have lied to the rest of the world as well as Americans, and it is unacceptable. No more. Enough.

I will write my congressmen. I will blog. I will rage. I will protest. I will support Keith Olbermann and his voice in the wilderness. I will educated everyone I can about their rights, and the dangers to them. And I will not back down. No more.

That's it. Red's pissed. I recommend they duck and cover.

Definition of Insanity

So the veterinary hospital where I work is changing to a new patient records software next month. I recently found out that our "training" will consist of two normally scheduled days, while we see patients.

This will include not only brand new software, but brand new hardware, plus additional workstations we don't have at the moment. What are the chances all the networking will work, let alone that we'll be able to figure out what the hell is going on????

The sad thing is that this is how they did the LAST software transition, which went very poorly. Nothing like doing the same damn thing over and over again, hoping for different results....

Baby steps

So it begins.

I'm a blog addict. I've been getting my fix vicariously for a while, but am realizing that rather than dumping everything I have to say on someone else's blog, I should just start my own damn one. I suspect they will appreciate this....

So. Expect many posts on politics. Many on my personal life as well. My hubby may make an appearance from time to time, perhaps more frequently. I will blog about my work, my dog and cats, my theories on life, and how much the latest M. Night Shymalan movie sucked. (I'm fairly certain that will remain constant, no matter how many movies he makes.)

Hopefully, I will amuse, entertain, or even just make you think. If not, at least hit the links at the side. They're my favs.