Diary of a Man-Sized Woman

Getting on my soapbox: The Swine Flu Vaccine and why there’s no way in hell I’ll get it.

2009-08-31T15:28:00.001-04:00

The Swine Flu vaccine is experimental. No ifs, ands, or butts. There’s no way in hell I’m going to get it.

Here are some facts:

1)One of the main adjuvants in this new vaccine is something called Squalene. Adjuvants cause your immune system to overreact to the introduction of the organism you’re being vaccinated against. Gulf War veterans with Gulf War Syndrome received anthrax vaccines that contained Squalene. MF59 (the Novartis squalene adjuvant) was an unapproved ingredient in experimental anthrax vaccines and has since been linked to the devastating autoimmune diseases suffered by countless Gulf War vets. However, the FDA discovered the presence of Squalene in certain lots of AVIP product. A test was developed to detect anti-Squalene antibodies in GWS patients, and a clear link was established between the contaminated product and all the GWS sufferers who had been injected with the vaccine containing Squalene.

More on Squalene here: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/08/04/Squalene-The-Swine-Flu-Vaccines-Dirty-Little-Secret-Exposed.aspx
You can “register” with a fake email address.

2)The government has already guaranteed legal immunity to the pharmaceutical companies producing theses vaccines. So if you do have a reaction, and suffer, or die, you and your family have no legal recourse against the makers of this vaccine.

3)In 1976, the US tried a similar swine flu vaccine with abbreviated trials like this one. My dentist got this vaccine in 1976. He also got GBS because of it.

Results:
•More people died from the vaccination than from swine flu.
•500 cases of a brain disorder called Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) were detected.
•The vaccine may have increased the risk of contracting GBS by eight times.
•The vaccine was withdrawn after just ten weeks when the link with GBS became clear.
•The US Government was forced to pay out millions of dollars to those affected.

4)Concerns have already been raised that the new vaccine has not been sufficiently tested and that the effects, especially on children, are unknown.

5)Neurologists are refusing to get the vaccine because of the risk of GBS.

So far, swine flu isn't much more threatening than regular seasonal flu. During the few months of this new flu's existence, hospitalizations and deaths from it seem to be lower than the average seen for seasonal flu, and the virus hasn't dramatically mutated. That's what health officials have observed in the Southern Hemisphere where flu season is now winding down.

About 36,000 people in the U.S. die annually from seasonal influenza, and more than 200,000 are hospitalized, according to the CDC. As of August 30, 2009, concerning swine flu—WORLDWIDE—2,180 have died.

Think twice about getting this vaccine as soon as it’s ready. I’ll consider getting it when I’m sure it’s safe, but until then, hell no.

Go back to 1984 where you belong...

2009-07-04T11:43:00.005-04:00

Patterns were on sale this weekend, and I came across these gems:

Max Headroom full-body shot

These are in the "sleepwear" section? WHA-WHA?

Even though this steaming pile of crap will make a mint....

2009-06-24T15:30:00.001-04:00

With a 20% enjoyment rating on rottentomatoes.com, I thought I'd share some of the amusing reviews Transformers 2 has garnered so far:

Fan Reviews:

Bad storytelling is bad storytelling, no matter how many explosions, robots and hot chicks you have on screen.

One fan compared it to one of the all-time bombs, the George Lucas-produced "Howard the Duck." Another fan called it "the worst movie I've ever seen." Another praised Bay "for his excessive use of the 360 spinning crane cam" and the frequent slow motion shots of Megan Fox fleeing with jiggling boobs.

Revenge of the Fallen almost feels like it's signaling an end-game for blockbuster movies: all sensation, no content, catastrophic expense.

If you ever wondered what a movie would look like geared toward the underdeveloped brain of a gestating zygote...then Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is the insipid illustration you've been waiting for.

Bay seems to think that just showing us a bunch of brightly clashing metallic limbs (accompanied by lots of noise) is enough to make us faint in our seats with excitement.

This re-run of the previous thrills and spills displays a disappointing lack of ambition.

Critics:
Eric Childress, eFilmCritic.com: "The single worst film to be released thus far in the summer of 2009."

Peter Bradshaw, The (UK) Guardian: "Like watching paint dry while getting hit over the head with a frying pan."

Manohla Dargis, The New York Times: "Cretinous."

Steven Whitty, The Newark (New Jersey) Star-Ledger: "Can you thwart a migraine for two-and-a-half hours?"

Washington Post: What's wrong here is that there's so much swirling, relentless action, indistinct robot characterizations and over-caffeinated techies loose on the special-effects machines that the movie, in mere seconds, achieves incoherence.

Village Voice: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a bewildering, noisy, sloppy, cynical piece of work, a movie that sneers at the audience for 147 minutes and expects us to lap it up as entertainment -- and be grateful.

Journal & Courier: The movie is formulaic and routine, which suits (Michael) Bay's directorial style. Creativity is anathema to this by-the-numbers cinematic traffic cop.

The origin of the man-sized woman

2009-06-23T14:57:00.002-04:00

I once met David Carradine. After nearly fainting from the smell of vodka on his breath at 10:30am, I posed with him for a commemorative photo. As my husband snapped a couple of pics, Mr. Carradine turns to me and, eyeing me like a hungry wolf looks at a steak, says to my husband, "You got yourself a man-sized woman. I always wanted me one of them."

I then ran away.

Today's Twitter contest: #fakenascarharlequinromancenovels

2009-06-23T10:15:00.001-04:00

CONFESSIONS OF A PIT BOSS: OIL CHANGE SECRETS #fakenascarharlequinromancenovels

Extreme push made her impossible drive, she was so loose. #fakenascarharlequinromancenovels

Severe push turned the steering shaft to rubber, and then snapped it clean off. #fakenascarharlequinromancenovels

Older Rear Mounts: Facing Front #fakenascarharlequinromancenovels

He oversteered her into the wall. Gripping his shifter, he covered the pavement with burnt rubber. #fakenascarharlequinromancenovels

Aero push reduced the thrust of his aerodynamic downforce. #fakenascarharlequinromancenovels

"Really tight" means "Try something; you can't make it worse." #fakenascarharlequinromancenovels

The higher the speed, the more critical it is to have some push. #fakenascarharlequinromancenovels

"Her undercarriage was so loose I could barely stay mounted." #fakenascarharlequinromancenovels

Autotronic Chassisphyxiation #fakenascarharlequinromancenovels

#fakenascarharlequinromancenovels PIT ROW PASSION

#fakenascarharlequinromancenovels RENDEZVOUS IN THE WINNERS CIRCLE

#fakenascarharlequinromancenovels Something just bounced off my undercarriage

THAT'S NOT MILK! #fakenascarharlequinromancenovels -possibly too subtle...

PIRATE DRIVER, VIRGIN CHASSIS #fakenascarharlequinromancenovels

FORBIDDEN PIT STOP #fakenascarharlequinromancenovels

IT CONSTANTLY CURVES TO THE LEFT #fakenascarharlequinromancenovels

A LESSON IN WEIGHT JACKING #fakenascarharlequinromancenovels

POLE POSITION PASSION #fakenascarharlequinromancenovels

Who knows what is good and what is bad?

2009-06-18T08:44:00.002-04:00

When an old farmer’s stallion wins a prize at a country show, his neighbor calls round to congratulate him, but the old farmer says, “Who knows what is good and what is bad?” The next day some thieves come and steal his valuable animal. His neighbor comes to commiserate with him, but the old man replies, “Who knows what is good and what is bad?” A few days later the spirited stallion escapes from the thieves and joins a herd of wild mares, leading them back to the farm. The neighbor calls to share the farmer’s joy, but the farmer says, “Who knows what is good and what is bad?” The following day, while trying to break in one of the wild mares, the farmer’s son is thrown and fractures his leg. The neighbor calls to share the farmer’s sorrow, but the old man’s attitude remains the same as before. The following week the army passes by, forcibly conscripting soldiers for a war, but they do not take the farmer’s son because he cannot walk. The neighbor thinks to himself, “Who knows what is good and what is bad?” and realizes that the old farmer must be a Taoist sage.

For example, a good friend of mine's husband lost his job because of a lying nutjob woman. She claimed sexual harassment because he rejected her advances. Long story short, the company fired him, even though he had witnesses to what really happened. He got hired on for more money at a better company, and the company he got fired from last year just went under last week. He'd have been out of a job with no prospects.

It was hard to understand why something so bad could have happened to him, but now, all I can say is, "God works in mysterious ways." Ways that we often can't understand without time and perspective.

I rarely blog from my my soap box...

2009-05-28T13:48:00.001-04:00

But this issue is something I feel strongly about.

Lt. Col Victor Fehrenbach is from right here in Dayton, and he's a decorated officer. He's being discharged from the military because he's gay. According to the article below, he was outed by an acquaintance against his wishes.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/gay-local-air-force-officer-plans-to-fight-discharge-from-service-136024.html

It is OUTRAGEOUS to me that a person who has served for 18 years with a distinguished career is now being discharged solely for the fact that he's gay.

I want you to do a few things.

First, join this Facebook Group and leave him words of support:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lt-Col-Victor-Fehrenbach/177540825023?ref=nf

Two, sign this petition:
http://www.sldn.org/page/s/fehrenbach

Three, tell President Obama to keep his promise:
http://www.sldn.org/page/speakout/obamaaction

Four, tell Congress the time to repeal is NOW:
http://www.sldn.org/page/speakout/congressaction

Thanks!

Some people play fantasy football with fantasy drafting…

2009-05-26T11:52:00.001-04:00

Geeks pick perfect actors for fantasy casting in fantasy movies. Just had a discussion with Et_Tu_Babe about casting choices for the Song of Ice & Fire HBO pilot. My choice for Catelyn Stark: Joan Allen circa 1994. Peter Dinklage as Tyrion was just a given. He's an amazing actor, but he's the ONLY amazing actor who fits the bill. Not a lot of competition there.

Some of my other choices:
Jamie - Simon Baker
Tywin - Charles Dance
Cersei - Polly Walker or Melinda Clark, not sure how she'd look as a blonde though
The Hound - Ray Stevenson (or he could play The Mountain, but I'd rather he have a bigger role.)
The Mountain - Marek Vasut
Petyr - Eddie Marsan

Ned - Kevin McKidd, though you'd have to darken him up a bit
Sansa - Claire Foy (or she could play Margaery easily)
Oberyn Martell - James Purefoy

You'll have to IMDB some of my choices, unless you watch a lot of British films/TV. The younger roles can be played by nobodies with ease.

And to the guy who suggested Corbin Bernsen as Tywin, are you smoking crack? And Tricia Helfer as Cersei? PUH-LEEEEZ. She doesn't have the acting chops for it. She would ruin it with her huffy, pensive acting.

Who are YOUR choices?

Consider a turtle as a pet...

2009-03-22T19:28:00.002-04:00

http://champagnehercules.blogspot.com/2009/03/you-should-reconsider-turtle-as-pet.html

What? I'm lovemaking!

2009-01-26T21:50:00.000-05:00

If you love the absolutely brilliant Matt Berry and Richard Ayoade as much as I do, the following is a must watch...

AD/BC: A Rock Opera

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Weekend in review...

2009-01-25T10:15:00.001-05:00

I was doing trailer checks on Underworld 3 yesterday, and I thought, "I'll just sit and watch 45 minutes of this till the next showing I have to check." Yeah, I ended up watching the whole movie and having to come back an hour later to finish the job. heh

I really enjoyed it. U1 was okay. U2 sucked. U3 is everything I wanted either of those films to be. Totally worth matinee price, even though I didn't pay it...

Also saw Taken this weekend. Who doesn't love Liam Neeson? Suckers, that's who. He KICKS ASS in that movie.
Spoilers:
There is more throat-chopping, wife-shooting, electrocuting, ass-beating goodness in this movie than you can shake an electrified baton at.

And we watched Transporter 3. Blah. I love the first one. Still. I can watch and enjoy it. The second one, not so much. We laughed ourselves to tears when he did the 360 revolution to scrape the bomb off the underside of his car. The third one is just painful.

Oh, and I saw an AWESOME trailer:

http://www.apple.com/trailers/focus_features/9/

Random tangents

2009-01-21T21:07:00.000-05:00

I spent the last week printing my guts out. Seriously. Over 4100 cardstock copies that had to be printed on one side and then sent through again to print on the other. I wanted to scream. It only took me six days.

Now I get to play catch up with my million other projects it took me away from. It's difficult to get anything done when you can only concentrate in bursts of seven minutes. Then you have to jump out of your chair, run to the printer, and fill the stack bypass with another stack of 50 sheets for it to slooooooooooooooooooooooowly spit out.

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I'm itching to go roller skating. My ankle is finally to the point where I don't think it would be a problem. I was also planning to join Leah for martial arts goodness this January, but my wrist is still giving me problems. I don't think I could do any push-ups or blocks right now, so what's the point of starting? My doc says it'll likely hurt for a couple more months. Yay. So maybe this spring I'll give it a try. In the meantime, I'll work on getting back into shape a bit. I haven't been able to do anything since the accident in early November.

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I've recently read a number of opinions of people who bitch about other people who blog. Mainly, they don't want to read our boring shit, so we shouldn't write it. My response:

Dear stuck-up cockfaces,

Nobody cares what you think. You believe you are so much better than everyone else for NOT jumping on the blog train, but many of us use it as a means to keep up with our friends and family. If you don't like it, turn off your intertubes and go die in a fire. No one is putting a gun to your head and forcing you to read this blog, or any other blog, you arrogant ass-eating jerk. I don't want you here. Go away.

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As further proof of my randomness:
Angel Dances

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And on another note. I've been thinking a lot about the past, which I hate. Nostalgia is generally unpleasant and a waste of time, as far as I'm concerned. But one of my coworkers found out her husband has advanced, aggressive, fast-growing lung cancer. Without chemo, they give him two months, tops. On the upside, this type of cancer responds well to chemo, so he could be successfully treated. I guess we'll see. I feel for her.

It's made me think of the time HWCBN's mom told him she had tumors in her urinary tract. He was a wreck. I had no comprehension of what he was going through, and at one point he YELLED at me, "I'm about to lose my last parent, and you just don't GET IT." No, I didn't get it. How could I possibly get it?

But what HE didn't get is that she didn't have tumors at all. She told me some time later that she really had an ectopic pregnancy by her then-boyfriend. Why that crazy bitch thought telling HWCBN that she had cancer, AGAIN, was going to be less stressful to him than saying, "Ooops, I thought I was menopausal and couldn't get pregnant but was wrong," is beyond me. She put him through absolute hell, and she had no idea how deeply he suffered worrying about it…for months. And in turn, I suffered for it.

She made me swear not to tell him, and I never did…along with various other things of that nature she made me swear to never tell him. I have a load of secrets that would blow his mind, including that his crazy aunt that he hated is really his grandma. Awesome.

Why am I sharing these charming examples of excellent parenting now? Well, I'm tired of carrying it around. I feel burdened by it, even 10 years later, and I'm sick of it. I'm sick of that period of my life having any control over my life now. So here I am, vomiting it out for the rest of you. Enjoy!

Watchmen: Fox and WB settle, finally

2009-01-16T16:04:00.001-05:00

Warners, Fox settle over 'Watchmen'
Under the agreement, Fox will not be co-distributor

By Matthew Belloni and Borys Kit

Jan 15, 2009, 08:25 PM ET

"Watchmen" Geeks can rejoice.

Warner Bros. and Fox have resolved their dispute over "Watchmen," with the studios scheduled to present a settlement to Judge Gary Feess this morning and request that the case be dismissed.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but the deal is said to involve a sizable cash payment to Fox and a percentage of the film's boxoffice grosses; Fox will not be a co-distributor on the film, nor will it co-own the "Watchmen" property, but it will share in revenue derived from it. The studios released a joint statement last night.

"Warner Bros. acknowledges that Fox acted in good faith in bringing its claims, which were asserted prior to the start of principal photography," the statement read. "Fox acknowledges that Warner Bros. acted in good faith defending against those claims."

Fox sued Warners in February, claiming copyright infringement based on agreements the studio had with producer Larry Gordon. Feess ruled Dec. 24 that Gordon did not secure proper rights to "Watchmen" from Fox before shopping the project and setting it up at Warners.

Feess' decision prompted settlement talks to heat up because Warners faced the prospect of an injunction stopping its March 6 release of the $130 million comic book adaptation.

Gordon is not a party to the case, but Warners is said to be after the producer and his attorneys to reimburse the studio for costs of the settlement. During the litigation, Gordon's then-attorney admitted that he negotiated the producer's 1994 separation from Fox without knowing about a 1991 agreement on which Fox based its lawsuit.

The showdown between studios became particularly nasty during recent weeks, with Gordon and the film's other producer, Lloyd Levin, lashing out at Fox for making a claim on the film.

But with the dispute settled, the statement took a positive tone: "Warner Bros. and Fox, like all 'Watchmen' fans, look forward with great anticipation to this film's March 6 release in theaters."

Exciting Iron Man 2 news...

2009-01-15T21:05:00.001-05:00

Rockwell Talks Iron Man 2
Choke actor on bringing down the Hammer on Tony Stark.
by Jim Vejvoda

January 15, 2009 - Actor Sam Rockwell (Choke, Charlie's Angels) has opened up about playing the villainous Justin Hammer in Iron Man 2.

Rockwell described his character to MTV as "a rival" of Tony Stark's (played once again by Robert Downey Jr.). "He takes over all the weapons stuff after Tony's left." You will recall that Stark forsaked weapons manufacturing after returning from captivity in Afghanistan, a redemptive act that sparked the wrath of his shady partner Obadiah Stane, a.k.a. Iron Monger.

Rockwell added, "I don't know if (Hammer) takes over Stark Industries. ... I'm not really sure yet. He's a money dude. That's about all I can say."

The actor also confirmed that director Jon Favreau had once discussed the possibility of him playing Stark before Downey was cast. His girlfriend, Leslie Bibb, appeared in Iron Man as the reporter that Stark beds after an interview.

Rockwell said that he expects to begin filming his scenes by mid-April, and that he's excited to act opposite Mickey Rourke, who will play the sequel's other villain.

Watchmen Settlement Looms....

2009-01-12T22:14:00.000-05:00

Watchmen Settlement Looms

Studios say talks have been productive

by Jim Vejvoda

January9, 2009 - Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox are reportedly making progress on talks to settle their legal feud over the rights to Watchmen.

According to both Associated Press and Variety, lawyers for the warring studios have asked U.S. District Judge Gary Allen Feess to delay a hearing that was to be held today so that they can continue settlement talks through the weekend. The judge agreed to delay the hearing until Monday, and also informed the studios that the case remains scheduled to go to trial January 20.

Today's hearing was to have yielded Judge Feess' ruling on whether he'd grant Fox's request to block Warners' March 6th release date for Watchmen.

Meanwhile, Fox has fired back at Watchmen producer Lloyd Levin, who issued an open letter yesterday slamming the studio's lawsuit. In a statement picked up by Deadline Hollywood Daily, Fox responded, "We appreciate Mr. Levin's passion for this project, but he has neglected basic facts and legal rulings. First, Fox notified Warner Bros of our rights in this project months before production on the film began -- they chose to ignore our rights on this occasion and several times after that and proceeded at their own risk; 2) only after having our rights in the film deliberately ignored by Warner Bros. did we take the action of filing litigation in order to have those rights recognized; and 3) on Judge Feess' Christmas Eve order, he specifically ruled that WB had been timely notified and that Fox, in fact, had the rights we asserted. There is no question of who is right and who is wrong. That has been decided through the litigation that we had hoped to avoid, and we refer interested parties to the court's ruling to confirm these statements."

Levin's producing partner on Watchmen, Lawrence Gordon, has been cited by Judge Feess as the instigator of all the film's legal troubles after Feess said that Gordon, who isn't a defendant in the case, failed to adequately answer questions about the film rights' chain of ownership during depositions. Now Gordon has sent a letter to the judge, details of which can be found at The Hollywood Reporter.

Well, that didn't take long...

2009-01-12T14:00:00.001-05:00

Obama's rhetoric meets reality

(CNN) -- In style and substance, Barack Obama is looking like he could be a different president than the candidate voters got to know during the campaign.

Barack Obama has taken on a more somber tone as he prepares to take office.

His message of changing the country has been replaced by one of repairing the country as he inherits crises that demand immediate action.

"I want to be realistic here," Obama said in an interview that aired Sunday on ABC's "This Week." "Not everything that we talked about during the campaign are we going to be able to do on the pace that we had hoped."

During the campaign, Obama stressed fixing the economy as one of his top priorities, but his recent language has taken on an urgent tone.

Obama painted a dire picture of the economy last week, warning that if Congress does not take "dramatic action" on his economic aid package as soon as possible, the nation would face devastating long-term consequences.

"For every day we wait or point fingers or drag our feet, more Americans will lose their jobs. More families will lose their savings. More dreams will be deferred and denied. And our nation will sink deeper into a crisis that, at some point, we may not be able to reverse," he said.

It's a far cry from what voters heard from Obama the Democratic candidate, who inspired roaring crowds of thousands by telling them, "This is our moment. This is our time."

But with the economy in a recession and people afraid for their financial future, Obama's soaring campaign rhetoric has given way to grim reality.

And as if the economic crisis weren't enough, Obama has an international crisis awaiting him as well. The president-elect said Sunday that the suffering on both sides of Gaza's borders has led him to ramp up his commitment to working for a peace deal in the Middle East.

These urgent items on Obama's agenda are forcing his team to reconsider some campaign pledges.

Just as soon as he went from presidential hopeful to president-elect, Obama warned the nation of tough times ahead and lowered expectations that he would be the one to solve it all. VideoWatch more on the expectations for Obama »

"We know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime -- two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century," he said on the night of his election victory.

"The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there," he said.

He told voters that change couldn't happen without them, "without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice." He reiterated that same message this weekend, explaining what it's going to take to reform the government.

"Everybody is going to have to give. Everybody is going to have to have some skin in the game," Obama told ABC.

Some of the pledges Obama might have to rethink include his proposal to give some homeowners a 10 percent tax credit, an idea that has little support in Congress.

During the campaign, Obama also told voters, "I don't believe in running up debt for the next generation."

But just last week, he acknowledged that the cost of the economic recovery plan he is pushing would be "considerable" and would "certainly add to the budget deficit in the short term."

Obama has not put a price tag on his stimulus package, but observers have estimated it would cost in the neighborhood of $800 billion.

Obama also has proposed repealing the Bush tax cuts on the wealthy, but now it's more likely that the president-elect will delay any tax increases on the wealthy until 2011, when the tax cuts expire.

Some of the maneuvering is aimed at attracting Republican support for the incoming president's recovery plan, but that could set up an early battle in the now heavily Democratic Congress.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, for example, is adamant about seeing those tax cuts repealed.

Obama says everyone will have to sacrifice, and that includes Congress, too.

Some political observers say the economic crisis that Obama is inheriting is raising the stakes to get a move on his recovery plan -- even if Congress isn't 100 percent behind it.

"This strengthens Barack Obama's hand with the Congress and with the public. It's so urgent, that it's going to be very, very hard, I think, for people who don't like parts of this package to vote against it," said David Gergen, CNN's senior political analyst.

And while the public is well aware of the economic battle ahead, Republican strategist and CNN contributor Ed Rollins said Obama has little time to wait.

"You've got to have results," Rollins said, "He doesn't have four years to get it done. He has two years. If there's not improvements dramatically in two years, you have a midterm election, and certainly by the second part of this first term, this economy better be moving."

Super cool...

2009-01-09T08:50:00.001-05:00

Robotic suit helps paralyzed walk again

Complete with a video

A new Doctor? Say it ain't so! --sob sob--

2009-01-08T16:42:00.002-05:00

Meet the new Doctor

Send me a Tweet!

2009-01-07T13:08:00.001-05:00

I joined Twitter today because it sounds like stupid mindless fun.

Tweet me at amazon284!

Time Warner at it again...

2008-12-31T17:08:00.000-05:00

Cable tussle threatens viewers' favorites

By Lynette Rice
Entertainment Weekly

(Entertainment Weekly) -- Can you live without "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The Hills"?

Some of you may have to, if Viacom can't reach a deal by midnight Wednesday that would keep Comedy Central, MTV, and its 18 other networks on Time Warner Cable systems, according to a report in The New York Times.

The conglomerate was expected to take out full-page ads in major newspapers today explaining how fans would suffer if Time Warner refuses to ante up in the new year.

Viacom is home to kiddie powerhouse Nick (aka, the birthplace of "Dora the Explorer," "Drake and Josh," and "Zoey 101") as well as nets like Comedy Central, VH-1, and Spike TV. Time Warner cable systems reportedly reach up to 13 million subscribers.

Viacom believes the fees it receives for the nets are way too low, given how they attract a healthy percentage of eyeballs for Time Warner. The cable operator, in the meantime, is arguing that Viacom's profits are down because of the soft ad market and are desperate to increase revenue elsewhere. Stay tuned.
CNN and Entertainment Weekly are units of Time Warner, as is Time Warner Cable.

Truly hands-free telephone...

2008-12-31T13:18:00.001-05:00

As of today, we no longer have a landline. We got cable internet installed yesterday because our DSL was on the fritz for two whole days, and I'd finally had enough.

From now on, you can reach Kev and I on our cell phones. If you need that number, email my amazon284(at)yahoo(dot)com address and ask for it.

We figure if we don't like it, we can always get Vonage or something like that. I'll be working hard to develop a habit of carrying my phone everywhere, so you can get a hold of me reliably.

We figure we'll be saving about $50 a month on something we rarely even use.

Watchmen

2008-12-26T20:19:00.001-05:00

Judge In 'Watchmen' Case Rules For Fox; Fans Brace For Fallout

Dec 26, 2008, 01:12 PM | by Jeff Jensen

You know how Santa Claus gives lumps of coal on Christmas Eve to those who've been very, very naughty? Well, so do judges. In a twist befitting the comic book in question, the judge presiding over the legal battle for distribution rights to Watchmen found in favor of Fox. The bottom line: Warner Bros. had absolutely no right to roll film on Zack Snyder's adaptation of the Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons superhero classic. As fans wait to see if the ruling will prevent the film from being released as scheduled on March 3, Fox and Warner Bros. are waiting to see if the court will determine how much Fox should get for being so wronged -- unless the studios decide to settle the matter themselves.

The ruling comes as a surprise to Hollywood observers, mostly because no one expected the judge would issue this ruling at all. The conventional wisdom was that Warner Bros. and Fox would settle privately, and the rightness and wrongness of the situation would never be officially called. Moreover, on Dec. 16, the judge set a Jan. 20 trial date for the dispute, saying he had no intention of fulfilling the request of both parties to issue a summary judgment. Why? Because, he said, the darn thing was just too complicated!

But on Christmas Eve, Judge Gary Allen Feess reversed course and issued a ruling that was clear and decisive. Why did he change his mind? Because Fox and Warner Bros. asked him to. In the wake of Feess' Dec. 16 edict, both studios pressed him to reconsider and issue a summary judgment, saying that settling this thing between them was all but impossible because they needed his guidance on interpreting an old contract between Fox and Watchmen producer Larry Gordon. That paper appears to indicate the following: Fox has always had the right to distribute a Watchmen movie; anytime Gordon put together a new version of a Watchmen movie (which is to say, develop a new script or snag a new director for the film), he had to offer Fox the chance to produce and distribute it; if Fox passed on the project, Gordon had the right to purchase Fox's interest in Watchmen and take the project elsewhere.

In his ruling, Feess concludes that Gordon never properly presented Fox with the option to produce and distribute the version of Watchmen developed by director Zack Snyder. He also makes it clear that neither Gordon nor Warner Bros. had bought out Fox's interest before Warner Bros. went into production. Indeed, Feess' ruling includes a rather sarcastic footnote blasting Gordon for his conduct in resolving this dispute. In section 3, Feess remarks that during Gordon's deposition, the producer claimed he couldn't properly recollect his contract with Fox. Feess seems so dismissive of Gordon's allegedly faulty memory, he makes the following side ruling: Should Gordon suddenly remember some salient bit of information that could now help Warner Bros.' cause, he should go back to conveniently forgetting about it. "[T]he court will not, during the remainder of this case, receive any evidence from Gordon that attempts to contradict any aspect of this Court's ruling on the copyright issues under discussion."

Feess' plainspoken declaration that Fox has always been in the right on this matter should represent vindication for the studio. Since Fox filed its lawsuit earlier this year, Watchmen fans and entertainment bloggers (including myself) have questioned why Fox waited until Snyder wrapped production before laying claim to the movie. Our questioning, of course, rested on two assumptions: 1. There was no way Gordon and Warner Bros. could have been so dim as to shoot a movie they had no right to make; and 2. If Fox was so possessive of Watchmen, how come it didn't try harder to stop Warner Bros. from wasting millions and millions of dollars on a movie it had no right to make? But as EW subsequently reported, Fox's lawyers did contact Warner Bros. prior to Watchmen's production with the goal of resolving the matter and allowing Warner Bros. to roll film with a clear conscience -- albeit one purchased, no doubt, at great expense.

Nonetheless, fanboy vitriol toward Fox for daring to meddle with a movie they have long wanted to see continues to this very day. Just check out aint-it-cool-news' report on Fox's victory; the site's message boards are currently chockablock with choice, colorful words aimed at Fox and its top exec, Tom Rothman, who has become an unpopular figure because of Fox's spotty track record with genre material under his leadership. Yes, many of them have been huge hits (X-Men; X-Men 3; I, Robot; Fantastic Four), but many of them haven't (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Daredevil, Elektra, The Day The Earth Stood Still), and with few exceptions (most notably, X-Men 2), none of them have made the hardcore sci-fi/comic book fans very happy due to the studio's penchant for short running times, stingy budgets, and adaptation choices designed to make the material more mainstream-friendly. For them, Fox's desire to lay claim to Watchmen gives them an excuse to vent. Some fans have even been calling for a boycott of Fox's Wolverine next summer if the lawsuit should effectively delay Watchmen's release indefinitely.

But does any of this really have anything to do with Watchmen? Absolutely not. With Feess' decision, Fox's lawsuit -- and its victory -- should be seen as an important move that really benefits all of Hollywood, as it affirms copyright laws that protect all studios. Fox deserves a break on Watchmen; according to Feess, their beef with Warner Bros. has always been legit.

How much will being right ultimately be worth to Fox? Perhaps a lot; perhaps nothing at all. Warner Bros. has been asking Feess to make one more crucial ruling in this case. The judge articulates the studio's request like this: "[T]o summarily adjudicate the issue of a contractual cap on the amount of compensatory damages to which Fox is entitled." Now, I am no lawyer, but here's how I might rephrase Warner Bros.' position: "Let's pretend for a moment that Fox is right in this matter. Judge, could you help us decide a fair price for Fox's rights? Because we can't." Perhaps all along, Warner Bros. has been gambling/banking that the judge will "adjudicate" a relatively affordable price for Fox's rights, or at least put a price tag on it that's much lower than the one Fox has been putting on it. As Feess has said that a longer version of his Christmas Eve ruling is forthcoming, perhaps the question of value will be determined at that time.

In the meantime, there are anxieties, questions, and theories: Will Warner Bros. appeal? If it does, Watchmen's release could be held up by months. If Warner Bros. doesn't appeal, what will Fox get in return? A cash payout per Gordon's original contract? A cash payout plus penalties? A share of Watchmen's total revenues? Might Warner Bros. settle the lawsuit by selling or ceding the film to Fox? If Fox got control of Watchmen, would they release Snyder's film in its current 2 hour 30 minute form, or would they order him to (gulp) trim it or (double gulp) make changes?

To be continued…
Source: http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2008/12/judge-in-watchm.html?cnn=yes

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Xmas traditions from around the world...

2008-12-24T08:09:00.002-05:00

Krampus

Catalonia Fecal Festival

Happy Christmas Eve

2008-12-24T06:46:00.001-05:00

2 days and counting...

2008-12-23T14:40:00.001-05:00

We start the final phase of refinishing the bathroom on Friday. We'll be putting in a new tub, surround, shower doors, and faucet/handles. And once that's done, I'll be able to finish painting the bathroom. I'm excited. I'll be able to take a bath for the first time in 10 years without being grossed out at the very concept. I don't take one that often, but every once in a while, it's a treat to soak in a scalding hot tub and just chill.

I colored my hair the other night, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I mixed a dark auburn with a medium brown, and it's almost the color I wanted. I think I'll go with a dark brown next time, to make it a bit darker red.

Christmas is about to climb on top of us like a lusty teenage boy, and I'm ready for it be over with this year. I don't know why, but I'm just not feeling it. I haven't even watched my staple Xmas movies: White Christmas, Muppet Xmas Carol, and Scrooged. I wouldn't be averse to watching them if they happen to be on TV, but I can't be bothered to fire up the DVD player to watch them. But I AM gung ho for my 12 day vacation that starts after I work 2 hours tomorrow. I look forward to playing WoW, watching movies, and not giving a fig about my job for a 12 whole days.

My only agenda for tomorrow is sleeping in, hauling my ass into work for 2 hours, and then going home to prepare my Mediterranean spinach strata for Xmas day at my mom's. I've got a handful of presents to wrap, and I put Kev in charge of getting Brian and Jason's gifts this year because I've had enough to do.

God damn these electric sex pants!

2008-12-19T08:17:00.002-05:00

Have you saved a word today?

By David Murray
dmurrayil@earthlink.net
A writer's campaign to keep our language rich

All it takes for good words to pass from the language is for enough good writers to stand around and do nothing.

Who said that? I did, a couple of years ago, when I smacked my elbow on a desk and exclaimed,"Ow, that smarts!"

The young editor sitting there gave me a blank look. "Smarts?" she asked.

"Yes, smarts—you know, hurts!" I replied, unable to conceal my annoyance at having to clarify and define my howl of pain.

She'd never heard that term. Rubbing my elbow, I stormed around the office like a madman, asking various people about smarts. I discovered, to my astonishment, that no one under 26 had ever heard the term used to describe sharp pain.

Of course, smarts isn't the first word to disappear from our collective vocabulary. Nobody calls anybody butterfingers anymore, and no one says untoward, either.

I like hanging around old guys, and whenever I do, I hear words that passed out of everyday American usage years ago. A friend of mine, when he hits a bad golf shot, calls himself a nitwit. I laugh every time.

My dad describes a pretty girl as a tomato, and when he's happy, he says, "I'm in the catbird seat."

Another friend, when he's got some money, says, "I'm in the chips."

But the king of old words is a 54-year-old guy I know. This baby-boomer-going-on-octogenarian never uses a modern term when an old one will do. He never says food when he can say chow. As in, "You ever had Polish chow?" He never says bar when he can say barroom, and he never says barroom when he can say saloon. He never calls a meeting. He always proposes a powwow. (He'd like to use the ancient palaver, but this stuff has its limits; people have to know what you're talking about. Or do they?)

"Don't queer the deal," he'll warn about a potential business scheme that could be easily derailed by too many people talking about it. "Keep it on the QT," he'll add.

If he's in trouble, he won't say so. He'll say he's in Dutch, a phrase whose etymology he's explained a hundred times and I still can't remember. If he's not in Dutch, he's in the soup.

He's a one-man defender of many old terms and expressions, and he's constantly explaining them. Making hay, for instance: "Why do you make hay while the sun shines?" he'll ask rhetorically. "Because hay isn't hay until you cut it. And you can't cut it while it's wet, or it'll rot. So you have to make hay while the sun shines."

There are good old euphemisms for sex from the days when we heated our houses with fireplaces and coal-burning furnaces. In those days, one man might say to another: "I need to have my ashes hauled."

My friend says he likes these words because they reference our historical
roots. Which is exactly why they're losing currency. It's said that language is a living thing and to try to engineer linguistic change or insist on its stability is a foolish endeavor. Perhaps. But we're writers, and one of the great benefits of the job is that we have more widespread influence on the language than anyone else.

I propose a movement: Pick your favorite old word or expression, and jam it into
your writing and your conversations wherever it will fit, or even where it won't.

"That dog won't hunt," you say?

Now you're getting the idea.

An excerpt from a great (though occasional) blog...

2008-12-14T22:55:00.001-05:00

An excerpt from a great (though occasional) blog...

But right now, as I type and tear, I realize THESE moments, THESE raw fucking sad moments, are what builds true grit. It makes you stand straight in auditions when a producer won’t look your way or when some ‘somebody’ makes you feel like a no ‘nobody.’ When someone passes on your script or someone else doesn't like your eye color, you can shrug it off and walk out head high. This grief, this REAL shit, is like a trump card that you throw down in the chaos of everyday life and say ‘Ha ha. See life? I know the secret. And none of this shit matters.’ Because what really matters, at least today, late at night, tucked away in the Southern most part of The United States, with her expired face cream on, a Harry Potter notebook and a crumbled yoga schedule from the local place on my bedside, and some beat up flip flops tossed about---for ME---is human relationships. Building and cherishing the ones I do have and not chasing the ones I don’t.

Amen.

Because I'm feeling festive...

2008-12-12T09:00:00.002-05:00

heh

2008-12-11T22:28:00.003-05:00

Stole this from Capricious Beast...

Zoom in to read the hilarious fine print.

Belly up...

2008-12-05T08:39:00.002-05:00

So apparently, RoadRunner Records told Dresden Dolls' Amanda Palmer her belly was FAR too fat for her to be in a music video.

Above: Amanda Palmer and said horrifically F-A-T belly.

Why are women expected to have washboard abs? It's not normal. I'm sorry it's not. I had a 4-pack when I was 22, and it took HOURS AND HOURS AND HOURS of cardio and working out to get them and maintain them. And that was just a 4-pack.

Look at historical paintings and photographs of nude women. WE ARE NOT MEANT TO LOOK LIKE MUSCULAR MEN. We have curves, and not all of them are meant to be concave.

In revolt, Dresden Dolls fans have created Rebellyon, a site dedicated to bellies of all shapes and sizes. I look forward to posting my own pudgy belly on the site. It infuriates me that women are held to damn near unattainable standards and then chastised and made to feel worthless and ugly when we can't reach those unattainable standards.

I spent my entire youth thinking I had an E-N-O-R-M-O-U-S pot belly. Seriously. I was 6 ft tall, weighed a buck-o-five, and I thought my stomach was repulsive. Christ. I wish I had that stomach now. I'd be wearing half-shirts to work every day, office clothing policies be damned!

So join me at the Rebellyon and post your tummy pics!

Nerd Culture Holiday

2008-12-01T08:17:00.001-05:00

So did anyone actually SEE the Macy's T-day parade get Rick-rolled?

http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnbackup/2008/11/just-in-case-yo.html

Priceless.

Bitte Gott, ließ mich sterben

2008-11-25T09:55:00.001-05:00

My day yesterday was just sh-t.

On the way to work, I had a catastrophic wiper blade failure, and it was flopping all over the place. I wasn't somewhere I could pull over and fix it either. And thank goodness it was pouring rain at the time. So I got to work and put it back on, hoping it was just a fluke.

So after having numerous things of varying intensity go wrong at work all day, I did what most two year olds do to cope with frustration and sobbed in the bathroom for 15 minutes. The only thing I hate more than crying is crying in public, especially at work. I HATE IT. And that, in turn, made me even more upset.

On the way back from the dr.'s office to work, the wiper blade freaked out again. I realized that it's probably just broken and dealt with it till I got back to the office. IT Guy came out and put it on again, and I just needed it to hang on until I could get to AutoZone after work.

I left and got some winterized blades for my car. The guy behind the counter called me "sir," and I just felt that was par for the course of the day. I was able to get the broken one off and replaced, no problem. The other one wouldn't come off, though. So I had to go back in and ask one of the guys to help me replace the one. The guy raises an eyebrow and says with a smirk to me, "Usually when someone can't do something, they ask for help." I replied, "Well, I usually CAN replace a wiper blade, but as you can see, my left hand doesn't really work." /sigh

I went home, put on pajamas, crawled under my electric blanket, and refused to do anything for the rest of the day.

Today has only been mildly better. I'm looking forward to 5pm Wednesday. Ugh.

Must...watch...

2008-11-24T15:56:00.000-05:00

"If you live in that part of the Venn Diagram where Star Trek and Monty Python overlap, (as I do) I suspect you will be glad you watched this." - Wil Wheaton

Dunder borealis in the snofran, thank you.

2008-11-23T13:51:00.002-05:00

Yar, it's been a crazy weekend.

I did a boatload of trailer checks on Friday. I had no idea Twilight was going to be an all-out frenzy for high school girls. Every showing Friday night was sold out, and they were already selling out Saturday showings. And I suppose it's unfair to say it's for high school girls because there were plenty of adult women, many in their 40s even, who were freaking the f--- out over this movie. I guess I'll have to try out the first novel and see if I can stand all the teen angst.

Yesterday, Amanda and I met my m-i-l for Chantilly's annual holiday open house and desert tasting. I reserved my usual chocolate log, and tried out some other tasty things. I then went home and made 4 loaves of pumpkin bread. At 3pm, Leah calls and asks me if I'm coming to her jewelry party. I'm like, "Yeah, it's tonight right?" And she's all, "Um, it started 45 mins ago." /sigh Worst. Friend. Ever. And to make matters worse, only her mom showed up. argh. I felt even worse about mixing up the time with Tanya's last week. I ended up staying in last night because I'm still not super-fond of driving after dark if I don't have to.

I dragged Kev to Flower Factory this morning, so I could get a Christmas tree. I donated my old one through Dayton Freecycle. It went to a family who couldn't afford a tree this year, so that made me happy. They came and picked it up off the porch yesterday. I picked out one last week, and Kev pointed out that it's awfully fat for the space we have. So he helped me find a slightly narrower one, and it was on sale for $85! Woohoo! Now I just have to drag out my Xmas decorations and get started.

Tonight, Amanda and I are meeting my mom for the Magical Night of Giving at Fairfield Commons. I'm not really planning to buy anything, and if I do, it'll be for Xmas. I just want to go and enjoy the festivities and do a dry run for DAT shopping this Friday. I'm giddy with the thought of hardcore shopping.

Is your cat trying to kill you?

2008-11-21T13:56:00.001-05:00

Adventures in car buying

2008-11-17T14:54:00.000-05:00

Ryan and I first went to look at a dark gray 2006 xB that was listed for $11.6k. We took it for a test drive, and it shimmied like paint mixer at 65mph. We pulled it over on the way home to inspect it better. There were scratches all over it, holes and cigarette burns in the seats, and it was FILTHY. It looked like someone smeared mud all over the interior, let it dry, and then ran a vacuum over it. But strangely, as Ryan pointed out, the carpeting was pristine, which means they likely had to replace it because it was so damaged, and we speculated that it had been through about 2 feet deep (or more) muddy water by looking down past the engine under the hood.

When we got it back to the dealership, Shake (yes, that was really his name) tried to get us to put a price on it. I said, "$9000 out the door," and he was all but running to get the paperwork for me to sign. "BUT," I said, "I'm going to go look at the other cars I planned to today before I make a decision." Seeing his eagerness to dump a $12k car for $9k cash made the hair on my neck stand up and my gut flip-flop. I knew 100% right then I wasn't buying a car he was so eager to dump for so cheap. I'd like to add that Shake looked, acted, talked like, and even had the same mannerisms as Vince Vaughn. It was bizarre. And the whole time he was talking to me, I kept singing the Shake-zula verse of AquaTeen Hungerforce theme song over and over in my head.

So we headed to the next dealership. Unfortunately, I fell in love about 3 feet away from the car. You see, the key to getting a good price is to be able to walk away and not give a hoot if you get the car or not. So I was instantly selling myself short, and I knew it. I could probably have gotten another $500 knocked off the car, in addition to the $1200 I got knocked off anyway, but it was worth it.

It's beautiful dark blue, and it had some extras that xB's don't originally come with. It has the upgraded 6-disc CD changer, which I did NOT tell the salesman about. If he's not informed on his own vehicles, that's not my problem. It also has a remote starter, cruise control, dark tinted windows all around rather than just the back (again, I didn't tell the salesman about that), and it was pristine condition. It also still has about 11k miles left on the original warranty, which is nice.

I got a great deal on it, considering the same car is going for $14k-16k up here, and I'd never have gotten them down to the price I paid...

status quo

2008-11-14T20:59:00.001-05:00

Sorry, have had some personal things going on that I can't talk about in a public forum. Will update again soon with something not newsworthy.

My ballot is cast...

2008-11-04T12:13:00.002-05:00

And no, I won't discuss it. Instead, here are some Onion headlines Amanda sent to me today that made me snort.

Headlines I read this morning:

Bush: “Can I stop being president now?”

McCain refusing to tell voters what’s in the box unless elected.

Struggling lower-class still unsure how best to f*ck selves with vote.

Blog by Cindy McCain: A vote for my husband is a vote for me not to break your f*cking neck

Voting machines elect one of their own as president.

Obama undertakes presidential internship to ease fears about his lack of experience.

Obama warns he may cease to exist unless America believes in him.

Sarah Palin gets punk'd

2008-11-03T10:38:00.001-05:00

Sarah Palin gets punk'd.

Halloweeny...for sure.

2008-11-01T13:05:00.001-04:00

Went out for Halloween last night, and damn, was it disappointing. It was great to see Amy, Leah, and Mike, but the rest of it was the pits. The Monster Hop hadn't even had the first band play at 11:15, and hardly anyone was in costume. I ducked out around that time and went to the next party.

Therapy Café wasn't any better. Mike had warned me it was a lousy venue for dancing, but I was fine with just hanging out and listening to some great music from DJ Kris and catching up with the crowd since the Foundry closed. But only a handful of people from that scene showed up, and again, hardly anyone was in costume.

The sound was terrible, but it was the acoustics of the place that sucked and not DJ Kris. On the upside, you could have a conversation without having to shout. By the time they held the costume contest at 1am, there were about 10 people left in the audience. And when you have a contest based on audience applause, the same 10 people whoop for everyone, making it indiscernible as to who actually "won." I didn't bother entering. I didn't see the point.**

And it was so dark in the club, you couldn't even see what anyone else was wearing. Kind of lame for a costume party, no? I managed to dump 1.5 martinis all over Leah's ass and legs. Good times.

I decided to go into work for a few hours today to make up for taking off yesterday. I was so tired and had so much work left to do on my costume that I decided to take off. It's ridiculous I didn't get the day off anyway. But that's another blog...

**Audience-based judging is nothing more than a popularity contest and completely worthless as a judging technique for costumes. I don't waste my time.

Just in time for Halloween....

2008-10-31T10:02:00.002-04:00

hee hee

Good people, bad shit

2008-10-31T09:05:00.000-04:00

Mom called me yesterday and said that Pam Shouse, who used to live across the road (notice I said, "road" and not "street"...that's the difference between farm kids and city kids) from Angi was in an accident yesterday. Apparently, she drives a school bus for MEHS, and a dump truck blew through a stop sign and smashed into the bus. I guess some kids were still on the bus and were hurt, also. Pam ran my 4-H club growing up, and her and her hub were some of the nicest people you could know.

It happened on the road I grew up on, and let me tell you, I saw so many people run stop signs across that road that I felt like I was running the gauntlet every time I drove it. The worst was when the corn was up, and every intersection was blind. The rest of the year, you could at least see if there was a car that looked like it wasn't going to stop and do something about it.

Mom said she was in critical condition. This comes on the tail of one of our high school teachers burning up in a fire. Sara's b-i-l was one of the first responders on the scene and apparently found his body. Mr. Gumerlock was a riot. His teaching methods were outdated, but he was a nice old man. I just remember him telling the boys to "never tell your girl she's amorphous, instead, tell her she's voluptuous."

Vaseline saved my life

2008-10-30T17:22:00.000-04:00

I'm home. And exhausted.

I love Chicago, and I had a blast hanging with Sara most nights, but damn am I happy to be home. I woke up at 3am, and after laying in bed for an hour, I decide to just get up and go fly standby for the 7:30am flight. I then promptly crashed for 4 hours when I got home. I feel slightly more human now, and I'm trying to get myself in the mood for handing out candy tonight. I think I might break out my electric blanket to cover myself on the porch.

It was freezing when I left the airport. And I thought Chicago was cold this week. Ugh. But I guess the next week is supposed to be sunny and near 70, which will be a nice last hurrah before the holiday season kicks in.

Traveling is over until next spring, thankfully. And I'm looking forward to the holidays now that this trip is over. Tonight is beggar's night, and tomorrow, me, Amy, and Tanya are going out.

I'm still kind of fried, so I'm going to log off and go lay on the couch, waiting for my pizza to be delivered.

chi-town

2008-10-24T23:15:00.001-04:00

I'm headed to Chicago tomorrow, and I don't get back till Thursday. I likely won't have time to lurk around in the Hilton's business center, so I'll see you all when I get back. Peace out!

Holyweener

2008-10-24T07:53:00.000-04:00

Holyweener
Current mood: amused

I've been a fan of landoverbaptist.com for years now. They never fail to make me laugh out loud. Their anti-Halloween "Holyweener" campaign right now is cracking me up.

http://www.landoverbaptist.org/subjectarchive/halloween.html

My favorites:

Will Jesus Sling Little Children Into Hell For Celebrating Halloween?
"You bet He will!"

Turn Halloween Into a Fun Filled Night of Wiccan Hunting!

Holy Ghost Halloween Costumes

Find Out How Movies Like "Scooby Doo" Are Turning Kids On to the Occult

Organize a Book Burning

And for those of you who take life WAY too seriously, this site is a satire. It's a joke. It's poking fun at the semi-retarded fundie point of view.

Enjoy!

Organic Food Offers Little More Than Peace of Mind

2008-10-22T12:33:00.000-04:00

Jami Nelson always tried to eat healthy and take good care of her body, so she was stunned to learn she had breast cancer at the age of 25.

Her cancer now in remission, the 26-year-old nurse is much more careful about what she eats. Nelson said she chooses only organic milk and meat despite their higher cost because of the way they are produced, without antibiotics and added hormones.

Organics give her peace of mind, and Nelson is willing to pay more to get it. But some experts say that's all she'll get — that there's nothing healthier or better about organic food.

Alex Avery, director of research and education for the Hudson Institute‘s Center for Global Food Issues and author of “The Truth About Organics,” said there are several misconceptions about organic food that make people believe it is healthier and better for the environment.

‘’It’s a total con,” said Avery, a plant scientist by training. "There is not a shred of science" to back up claims that organic is safer or more nutritious, he said.

To display the “USDA Organic” seal, a product must be produced and processed according to USDA standards, and at least 95 percent of its ingredients must be organically produced. That means growers can’t use most conventional chemical pesticides, petroleum-based fertilizers or sewage sludge-based fertilizers. Animals must be fed organic feed, cannot be given antibiotics or growth hormones and must have access to the outdoors. Genetic engineering and ionizing radiation also are prohibited.

But standards for labeling organically-produced agricultural products don't address food safety or nutrition, just how the food is grown.

Organic food is more likely to carry pathogenic bacteria, such as salmonella and E. coli, because of the type of fertilizer that organic farmers use, Avery said. He also said that some of the natural pesticides used in organic farming are quite toxic.

For example, organic farmers are allowed to treat fungal diseases with copper solutions and remain within guidelines. Copper, which is toxic, is the 18th most used pesticide in the U.S. and stays in the soil forever, unlike modern biodegradable pesticides.

Avery singles out organic milk in particular as being no better, saying labs have not found “one detectable difference whatsoever.” Despite this, he said, his wife is the only woman in her circle of mothers with young children who serves her kids conventional milk.

Avery said that not only isn't organic always healthier for consumers, its perception of being friendlier for the environment isn’t always true, too. Although many organic crops require less energy in terms of fertilizer in production, conventional farms can produce more food and use less energy.

But Holly Givens, spokeswoman for the Organic Trade Association, which represents the $17 billion organic industry in North America and has 1,700 member businesses, said that there are real benefits to choosing organic options.

“Many consumers see a link between agricultural practices and the health of the earth, and how those systems are interconnected with human health,” Givens said. For example, organic practices she said help protect water supplies and counter the effects of global warming by keeping carbon in the soil. Healthwise, she said, consumers avoid pesticide residue and toxic chemicals.

“They see organic products as a solution, not as part of the problem,” Givens said. “Organic fits in with the desire to lead a more healthful life.”

The jury is still out on whether organic is safer or more nutritious.

Chris Kilham, a self-described medicine hunter who travels the world in search of traditional, plant-based medicines, said smaller studies show certified organic food to be more nutritious and contain more Vitamin C, Vitamin A and other antioxidants.

“We know with absolute certainty that organic foods are more nutritious,” Kilham said. “Nobody can find any studies that show less nutrition.”

For nutritionists, such as the Mayo Clinic’s Jennifer Nelson, the decision for people to eat organic is a personal one.

Nelson said organic isn’t better or worse. “It means it’s just as good.”

She warns consumers that produce isn't safer if its organic or conventional when it comes to foodborne illnesses: Organic foods, despite some misconceptions, still must be cleaned properly and cooked appropriately. Nor is it necessarily healthier if the food is cooked or processed in an unhealthy way (think organic potato chips).

Givens concedes that certified organic labeling does not necessarily mean the food is safer, but she does believe that the healthy soil associated with organic food leads to healthier plants and healthier livestock.

As for safety, Givens said there have been no studies comparing the prevalence of foodborne illnesses in organic versus conventionally grown food.

But the numbers show that despite these unknowns, the popularity of organic food has been on the rise. According to Packaged Facts, an industry research firm, estimates of 2008 sales of natural and organic food and beverages will continue at a double-digit growth rate to reach $32.9 billion, despite a faltering economy.

“A lot of people will give up almost anything before they give their kids food they don’t feel comfortable with,” said Mark Kastel, co-director of the Cornucopia Institute, an organic industry watchdog group. “Organic food is a bargain when you look at the total impact on environment and health.”

Despite his concerns, even Avery concedes that organic food is here to stay. He’s cut back to part-time at the institute.

“There's no money in being on the common sense side against a very popular bandwagon,” he said.

Droll house projects...

2008-10-21T18:25:00.000-04:00

Not much going on that's terribly exciting. I'm working on getting my Halloween costume done before I leave Saturday. I'll be in Chicago Saturday-Thursday next week. I'm not terribly excited about going other than I'll get to spend some time with Sara & Joe. That'll be fun.

I spent several hours doing yard work on Sunday, and I've come to the conclusion that I'd rather just chop down all the damn trees around my house and erect a circus tent over the house for shade instead. It would result in far less raking and leaf blowing and would be quite decorative. Also, leaf blowers work much better if your grass is short. So I mowed the lawn in the back one last time for the year, I hope.

I cleaned out the garage last night, so I can start parking my car in there again. Tonight's supposed to be the first hard frost of the season, and I hate scraping windows. That and a friend is helping me pick up my new bathtub on Friday, and I need somewhere to put it and still have room to park my car until we actually finish the bathroom this December.

I hauled all the leaves I bagged Sunday and the yard debris from the flippin' hurricane over to the Kettering yard debris center. There's another pile I blew/raked to the curb for pick-up. Most people just put them in the street at the curb, but there wouldn't be anywhere to park in front of the house if I put them ALL up there. Hopefully, they'll pick up this week on schedule.

I figured I'd go ahead and mow the front law despite there not being a whole lot of growing going on with this dry spell. But as I concluded it's easier to get crap off the lawn when the grass is short, I figured I'd mow the front one last time, too.

My trees have barely even begun to drop their leaves, and I dread it when they really let go. Last year, I just mulched the bitches, and my neighbors all thought I was insane. But I really didn't care. But last year, I also didn't know we had three rounds of leaf pick-up by the city, or I'd have made more of an effort.

Well, rather than drone on further about the droll house projects I'm working on, I'll sign off.

2008-10-17T10:58:00.000-04:00

I swear to god, CNN has made it an art to take the most unflattering pictures of Bush talking and post them on the front page for the main article.

I couldn't help myself today:

Caption your own here and share!

Best news I've heard all day...

2008-10-15T07:53:00.000-04:00

Madonna and Ritchie to divorce.

Maybe now, he'll make a decent movie again.

Soon, you may have no reason at all to even have cable...

2008-10-14T07:54:00.000-04:00

Channel blackouts may not be over
Time Warner balking at paying broadcasters more to retransmit signal.

By Jim DeBrosse

Staff Writer

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

DAYTON — More station blackouts may be looming for cable subscribers here and across the country, industry experts warn.

The recent loss of LIN TV stations, including Dayton's WDTN-TV Channel 2, from Time Warner Cable's lineup is only the latest skirmish between cable operators and television stations that want money for allowing cable operators to retransmit their programming.

In coming months, Time Warner will enter negotiations with Univision, Fox, Discovery and parts of NBC, according to Pali Research analyst Rich Greenfield. And as advertising revenue slumps, TV stations are looking to bump up their consent fees.

Cable companies insist they shouldn't have to pay to retransmit channels their subscribers can get free with an antenna. They say federal regulations that grant regional monopolies to TV networks give broadcasters an unfair advantage in negotiations.

Broadcasters argue they provide programming that cable companies simply resell to their subscribers. "To me, it's no different than Target selling sweaters. No wholesaler is going to give them sweaters for free," Barry Faber, vice president of Sinclair Broadcast Group, said Monday, Oct. 13. Sinclair owns Dayton's Fox 45.

Networks have had the right to negotiate retransmission fees since Congress overturned a law protecting the cable industry in 1992. LIN TV is seeking 3 cents per month per cable subscriber from Time Warner. The Big Ten Network, which concluded a contract with Time Warner Aug. 25, asked for $1.10 per month per subscriber.

-----------------

I love my DirecTV.

Borrowers with good credit, down payments still can get loans

2008-10-13T15:52:00.000-04:00

Borrowers with good credit, down payments still can get loans

By Tim Tresslar

Staff Writer

Sunday, October 12, 2008

When it comes to home mortgages, what was old is now new again.

Old as in the old-fashioned notion of a down payment. Even with credit tightening and the global banking system roiling, local lenders say they have money to loan. But borrowers will have to pony up more of their own money than they would have during the housing bubble's heyday.

"The days of 100 percent loans, where there was no down payment required, are by and large over," said Doug Fecher, president and chief executive of Wright-Patt Credit Union.

In the case of Wright-Patt, other credit unions and community banks, this doesn't mark a change, Fecher said. At Wright-Patt, borrowers always needed a down payment of between 3 and 5 percent as well as enough cash or other assets socked away to cover a couple of months' payment should the borrower lose their job or hit other financial problems, he said.

Chuck Edmonson, a spokesman for Fifth Third Bank of Western Ohio, said down payment requirements and interest rates differ among banks and borrowers. But consumers with good credit continue to get loans, he said.

"The key is to make as much of a down payment as you can," Edmonson said. "The more of a down payment you can make, the better the chances will be of you getting a favorable interest rate."

Is this the start of another Great Depression?

2008-10-12T12:12:00.002-04:00

By Barry Eichengreen
Special to CNN

Editor's Note: Barry Eichengreen is George C. Pardee and Helen N. Pardee Professor of Economics and Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of "Golden Fetters: the Gold Standard and the Great Depression, 1919-1939."

BERKELEY, California (CNN) -- Every time the economy and stock market turn down, financial historians get predictable calls from reporters.

Could this be the start of another Great Depression? Could "it" possibly happen again? My stock answer has always been no.

The Great Depression resulted from a series of economic and financial shocks -- the end of a housing bubble in 1926 and the end of a high-tech bubble in 1929 -- but also from truly breathtaking neglect and incompetence on the part of policymakers.

It couldn't happen again precisely because policymakers know this history. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is a student of the Great Depression. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson remembers the mistakes of Andrew Mellon, Herbert Hoover's treasury secretary.

We can be confident, I always answered, that there will not be another Great Depression because policymakers have read financial histories like mine. At least that was my line until recently. Now I have stopped taking reporters' calls.

The first thing that made the Great Depression great, of course, was the Fed's failure to act. It basically stood by as the banking system and the economy collapsed around it. This time, in contrast, the Fed can hardly be criticized for inaction. Not only has it cut rates, but it has rolled out one new unprecedented initiative after another.

Unfortunately, it has reacted more than acted. First, it provided funds to the commercial banks. Then, it targeted broker-dealers. Now, it is desperately propping up the commercial paper market. All the while however, the problem has been infecting new parts of the financial system.

One thing that restrained the Fed in the 1930s was the fear that rate cuts might cause capital to flee to other countries and the dollar to crash. The danger was that the same liquidity that the Fed poured in through the top of the bucket might just leak back out through these holes in the bottom.

There was a solution: coordinated rate cuts here and in Europe. Unfortunately, central bankers couldn't agree on what was needed. The result was further instability.

That central banks have learned this lesson of history and now see the need for coordinated action is at least one ground for hope. The problem is that they have already used their bullets.

U.S. Treasury bill rates have essentially fallen to zero, and the Fed's policy interest rates are only slightly above that level. Central banks are out of ammunition. This is no longer a problem they can solve by themselves.

What is needed now is Treasury action to address what has morphed into a global banking crisis. Between 1930 and 1933, not just the U.S. but also Europe and Latin America experienced rolling banking crises.

When Austria took desperate measures to prop up its banking system, its banking crisis only shifted to Germany. When Germany did the same, the crisis spread to the United States.

This was beggar-thy-neighbor policy at its worst. We have seen some disturbing evidence of the same in recent weeks, as when Ireland unilaterally guaranteed all bank deposits and thereby sucked funds out of the British banking system.

G7 leaders, when they meet in Washington at the end of this week, need to explain exactly how they will address this aspect of the problem. They need to commit money to recapitalizing their banking systems -- now, and not next week.

The U.K., which has just announced a $50 billion plan for bank recapitalization, has shown how this can be done in a matter of days. But a coordinated initiative will require the U.S. to put up a considerably larger sum.

My recommendation would be to abandon the idea of reverse auctions for toxic assets and instead use the $700 billion of the recently passed rescue plan for bank recapitalization. Although the Great Depression started in 1929, it took until 1933 for American leaders to grasp this nettle and recapitalize the banks. We can't afford to wait for years this time around.

A final thing that made the Great Depression such a catastrophe was that some of the worst shocks occurred right before the 1932 presidential election. There then followed an extended interregnum between the election and inauguration of the new president when no one was in charge.

The outgoing president, Hoover, asked his successor designate, Franklin Roosevelt, to cooperate with him on joint statements and policies, but FDR refused to do so. Meanwhile, the banking crisis deepened. Corporations failed.

The economy was allowed to spiral downward. It was this disaster that led us to amend the constitution to shorten the time between presidential election and inauguration from 4 to 2½ months.

The implication is clear. The two presidential candidates should be assembling their financial SWAT teams now. Paulson should promise that they will be invited into his office on November 5. This problem cannot wait until Inauguration Day.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writer.

20 things to expect from the new post-apocalyptic economy

2008-10-12T12:12:00.001-04:00

What will U.S. regulatory and financial climate will look like in a few months from now? It may look remarkably like the climate of five or 10 years ago.

By Jerome Idaszak, Associate Editor, The Kiplinger Letter
Renuka Rayasam, Associate Editor, The Kiplinger Letter

September 26, 2008
RELATED FORECASTS

When the smoke clears on the current financial and legislative turmoil -- the economic landscape will look considerably different than it did just a few months ago. Here's what we see ahead:

A much less leveraged economy. Cash will be king. In practical terms, that means: Little financing of speculative building and higher pre-leasing hurdles for commercial real estate. More money up front on merger and acquisition deals. Bigger mortgage down payments. Lower limits on credit cards. And higher capital reserves for banks.

And less risk-taking in other ways as well. Borrowers will need squeaky-clean track records. Financial deals at publicly traded firms will be more transparent. Buyers will demand a much clearer understanding of exactly what they're getting.

More modest rewards -- the natural consequence of less risk taking. Fewer stocks racking up double-digit gains. Slower appreciation of property values. Smaller returns on endowments for universities and nonprofits. For consumers: Fewer second homes, boats, new cars and so on. More households will live within their means.

A feast for bottom fishers. Investors with cash, the patience to wait out a gradual recovery and a heart stout enough to withstand periodic wild swings, will be in the catbird seat. They're positioned to make a bundle, snapping up undervalued assets -- businesses, real estate, securities, etc. Even out-of-work talent will go cheap to employers savvy enough to nab it.

Fewer financial firms, as big universal banks swallow up midsize regionals.

More government oversight of financial markets. Better communication and coordination among regulatory agencies. Increased disclosure requirements. A tighter rein on short-selling. Closer supervision of credit rating agencies. And more.

But a revival of private financial firms -- investment banking partnerships and boutique merger and acquisition houses, for example. Their allure: minimizing regulatory burdens and filling a need for investors willing and able to take larger risks for larger returns.

Simpler forms of securitizing debt -- plain vanilla ways to spread risk. Secondary markets for mortgages and other assets won't vanish. But the instruments bought and sold will be less exotic.

Greater scrutiny of executive compensation, whether mandated by Congress or not. Shareholders are sure to take on the issue more aggressively in the near term.
Higher taxes and/or a bigger federal deficit as Uncle Sam shoulders the load of Wall Street's toxic debt. Although eventually the government may make money on the deal, in the short term, the Treasury -- and therefore, the taxpayers -- will pony up billions.

Higher long-term interest rates. Treasury yields must rise to lure capital -- foreign or domestic -- driving up mortgage and corporate bond rates. Short-term rates will slide, though, as the Federal Reserve tries to keep the economy afloat and put banks back on solid ground.

In reality, the change isn't to a new environment. It's a return to traditional norms of the past, before cheap money inflated asset values, undermined lending standards and encouraged excess risk. It's bitter medicine, but it's necessary.

VP Debate

2008-10-12T12:11:00.002-04:00

VP Debate
Current mood: argumentative

Anyone watch last night? I already made a comment on Bill's blog, but I'll reprint it here....

Kevin and I were discussing making a drinking game based on her saying "maverick" and Biden saying "fundamental."

After her disastrous interview with Katie Couric last week, I really didn't know what to expect from her. She sputtered and yammered and hem-hawed through the interview, and it came off terrible. I also expected Biden to be a bit more vicious.

I think she held her own, but Biden has decades of experience on her in this arena, and he definitely came off much more polished. I liked that he smiled a lot, and it even looked genuine. I couldn't help but yell "BOO-YAH!" when he made the bridge to no where comment. The look on her face was priceless.

I'd also like to point out that Biden tearing up when talking about his dead wife and kid was the money shot. But as the usual double standard, had Palin teared up over the same thing, she'd have been made out to be a weak, weepy woman who can't control her emotions. But it worked for Biden, I think.

I admit it. It pissed me off when Hillary cried while campaigning. It seemed forced and only came after the media said her image was "too hard." So what? That means you have to run to the first camera you can find and weep? BAH. You didn't see Iron Maggie weeping over stupid crap.

TWC is the rofflemow

2008-10-12T12:11:00.001-04:00

I'm laughing over the outraged Time Warner Cable customers. I have long said that TWC is the devil. In case you don't know, our ONLY local cable provider dumped NBC over contract negotiations.

I love DirecTV, and while I can't just run a splitter for free to every room in my house, I have few problems with it. The only problem I've ever had was getting them to come out to the house when we moved. But once it's set up, it's pretty much trouble free. I don't think the package deal is that much better with TWC than it is to have AT&T phone/DSL and DirecTV, and now that AT&T has TV service, they might be competitive.

What's funny is that TWC is refusing to negotiate a like 1/4 penny uppage in price to "protect" their customers. But all they're really doing is driving people away completely. The DDN forums are full of people jumping the TWC ship and going to DirecTV and Dish.

You don't mess with a redneck's Sunday Night Football or a nerd's Heroes.

NYC more in depth...

2008-10-12T12:10:00.000-04:00

As I drove to work in the dark this morning, my first holiday fever hit me. I'm ready for fall and the crispness of winter. I suppose I'm one of the rare few who actually enjoys the changing seasons. Summer all year round would make me appreciate it less, I think.

All the anger and disdain of yesterday was slept off. My day spiraled into shit somewhere around 1pm when the files that made me work 12 hour days last Mon/Tues didn't work after all. But what really pissed me off is that our expo people tried to blow smoke up my ass about a process. I'm not an idiot. I do this for a living. And if it takes their people 10 hours to lay something out that they're copying exactly, they either have the worst graphic designers on the planet, or they're being robbed blind for hourly pay.

I love NYC. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about it. I mean, I love Chicago, and New Orleans, and utterly adore Toronto, but NYC is it's own animal.

Wednesday, I had the fastest cabbie of all cabbies EVER. The normal charge for a ride from Laguardia to Times Square is $45. I paid like $32. He was passing every cab on the street and cutting down back streets. I tipped him well. I checked into my hotel and immediately jumped on the subway and then walked to the Metropolitan Museum.

I waffled for weeks on which museum I wanted to go look at on Wednesday afternoon since it was my only day off alone. I considered the Gugenheim, and I really wish I had walked down and at least touched it and taken a picture of it before going back to my hotel. I worship Frank LW. He looked at the world in a way no one else could and had such a complicated understanding of it.

The Met was awesome. I'm a huge museum nerd, and I love nothing more than spending an entire day in a new museum. I have tons of pics, but I need to download them off my phone. That thing has a great camera. I was slightly disappointed by the Greek/Roman section. I dunno. Maybe I expected more than tan pottery. The sculptures were fascinating, but…I dunno.

The Egyptian section was amazing, and I really enjoyed the arms and armor. They had some sweet crossbows on display. I loves me some crossbows. I also took some pics of interesting patterns that I'm thinking about incorporating into the house somehow.

I loved it. I saw everything I wanted to see, and then most of everything else. I wasn't as interested in the paintings, so I save those for the last 45 minutes and kind of hustled through looking at the Rembrandts and Degas. I was disappointed that the Medieval art section was closed for renovations, though. I had wanted to see that; although, medieval art pretty much consists of Christian paintings and junk. Been there, done that.

That night, we ate in Little Italy and got a table full of desserts afterwards. I'd just like to say that coconut gelato is the food of the gods. nom nom nom. Thursday night, we ate at Jekyll & Hide, which wouldn't have been bad had it not been 80 degrees in there. As soon as I walked in, I got hit with the barf bat. I spent the whole time in there feeling like I was going to hurl, and it ends up Phenergen takes about 1.5 hours to actually kick in. Urgh. And when I feel ill, I have the attention span of a gnat. So I spent the whole evening feeling spacey and out of it. Around 8:30-ish I finally stopped feeling sick, but I was in the hotel room laying in bed.

Friday, Angi collected me after work and we ate in Jersey City at a place called Taqueria. Holy god. How good could tacos be, I asked myself. Though, oddly, I ended up fantasizing about eating them all day Friday leading up to it. Heh And I wasn't disappointed. I was unconvinced that taco without cheese could be delicious. And I was oh-so-wrong. They were PHENOMENAL. I could have eaten breakfast, lunch, and dinner there every day for the next month.

Saturday, we shopped our asses off. We meandered all over southern Manhattan. She refused to show me exactly how much ground we had covered until we got back to the apartment, for fear my ankle might explode at the very thought of it. But we covered a LOT of ground.

I got some kick-ass t-shirts, a cool punky jacket, and some delicious NY pizza. I love how the crust is so crispy and delicious. Mmmm I was also ecstatic that I got to go to the Giant Robot store. I happened to remember that there was one in NYC while we were out shopping, and Angi called the fiance to find out where it was. I got a t-shirt and a calendar, and I contemplated getting some other stuff but held off. I can always order from their website later. But I was thrilled just to get to go to one finally.

I'm kicking myself I didn't buy that damn hat at Century 21, which is an enormous multi-storied version of TJ Maxx but with higher-end discounted stuff. And there was something else I was wishing I had bought, but I've forgotten now. Which I suppose is good and probably means I really didn't need it anyway.

We had dinner at some pancake house that was featured on Dives, Drive-ins, and Diners--or whatever it's called. I got a burger that wasn't very good. But I learned the valuable lesson that if a restaurant is named for a certain food, you should probably just order that food if you want to be impressed. Next time…

I had a great time. And I'm grateful to Angi for taking me around. I've decided I'm old and need to eat dinner at 4:30, as I was in bed and asleep almost every night by 10:30. Oh well. :)

...but really, he was just talking to his backpack.

2008-10-12T12:09:00.000-04:00

Good lord. Spent last week in Manhattan.

I've discovered I loathe Times Square, but I love the rest of Manhattan. My seminar was fantastic, and Angi and I had a great time. Thanks for the horse brutality, girlie. I got some t-shirts, an awesome jacket, and tons of delicious food. I can't wait to go back next November for her wedding. :)

I made my connecting flight by a god damn minute yesterday. I had to RUN between the 2 furthest points of the Atlanta airport just to make it. I decided I wasn't going to go around people; they could just get the hell out of the way of the giant running with a 20-lbs backpack and a rolling carry-on suitcase. And wisely, they did.

I'm tired. I spent today drinking from an open bar and riding around in a golf cart delivering beer to hoity-toity doctors playing golf. Rough life, I know. heh

Kev is demanding to go to the grocery, so I must log off and drag ass through Kroger.

Can Batman save Watchmen?

2008-10-12T12:08:00.000-04:00

September 23, 2008 - The legal battle between Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox over the right to produce and distribute the film adaptation of the graphic novel Watchmen continues to rage on, complete with threats of a postponement of the film's March 6, 2009 release date -- a move that would put a serious crimp in Warners' '09 plans. But a new report claims there could be a possible means to settle the dispute and it involves none other than the Caped Crusader.

Batman-on-Film points out an article at the Comic Book Resources column Lying in the Gutters, which claims that Fox isn't necessarily just looking for a mere payoff from Warners in order to let the latter release Watchmen. "Sources tell me that Fox want the 1960s Batman TV series. Currently Fox own the TV footage, but Warner Bros own the characters and trademarks, via their ownership of DC Comics. [EDITOR'S NOTE: That's not exactly true; please see the paragraphs below.] The rights to a DVD release have been held up for a long time now, and this case looks like it may be the instrument to release them," CBR claims.

The article adds that "Fox will get a wodge of cash as well - many millions of dollars it seems. But it seems they also want the rights to release the Adam West-starring Batman on DVD, something long denied fans of the series. And Warners will get the Watchmen film, to release as planned."

But, as TV Shows on DVD makes painstakingly clear today, there are a lot more parties that Fox would need to haggle with than just Warners if the Batman series were to come out on DVD.
Although TV Shows on DVD does not say that CBR is wrong in claiming that Fox is trying to use their Watchmen film lawsuit as a means to settle their long-standing Batman on DVD issue, they do point out that there is a huge array of parties that new contractual arrangements would have to be negotiated with before Batman could be released on DVD. These parties include: on-camera talent (both the main cast or their estates, as well as guest stars, cameos, and their respective estates), behind-the-camera personnel (e.g. writers, directors), music, Greenway Prods.The Dozier Estate, costume makers, and the makers of the Batmobile and other props on the show.

The original deals that were struck in the 1960s apparently only covered televised airings. As the site points out, we're talking about several years' worth of legal work that would need to be settled let alone how pricey the whole endeavor will become. And then there's DC Comics to contend with, which owns the rights to the Batman character not Warner Bros. (who are behind the Bat-films) or Fox (who has the '60s TV series).

Holy headache, Batman! Now there's a legal morass and history of tangled rights lengthy and complicated enough to make this Watchmen movie mess look simple.

totally insane

2008-10-12T12:07:00.000-04:00

So as punishment for having a free 5-day weekend last week, I was crushed beneath a mountain of work that I had to have completed by today. I worked till after 6:30pm last night and still had to come home and fold cards and stuff and label envelopes. Then I had to go in at 7:30am and stayed until almost 6pm again tonight, working through lunch both days. I told my boss that if I forgot something, I'm really sorry, but I can't do anything about it till I'm back in the office next week.

The yoga retreat was great except for the persistent feeling of feeling like I was going to hurl from sun up to sundown.I had a blood test yesterday, and no I'm not pregnant. But apparently, going off THE PILL after 14 years can cause severe withdrawal symptoms that are EXACTLY like pregnancy. It's ridiculous. My doctor gave me Phenergen so I can get through my trip to NYC this week, and she gave me something to get me regulated again. But I'm not taking that one till I get back from NYC. Who wants to go through THAT while traveling?

Apparently, a few minutes after I left the retreat Sunday morning, Lorie's bf showed up to tell her her dad passed away. I had just gotten home when she called me. My heart breaks for her. We had been talking about his health all weekend, and well, I guess when it's your time, it's your time. Send her some positive thoughts, vibes, prayers, whatever. I talked to her for about an hour tonight. She seems to be doing pretty good, but that first week is a whirlwind.

Tomorrow, I go to NYC. I'm hoping to get to go to the Met Museum for a few hours, provided my flight is on time. *crosses fingers* Thursday & Friday I have a business writing/editing class from 9am-5pm, and I'll probably have dinner with Angikins those nights. And then I'll be staying with Angi Friday-Sunday, returning home from Newark Sunday afternoon. I'm excited. This is the first time in a long time I haven't been freaking out about flying. I actually feel pretty good about the whole thing. Hurrah for yoga making me sane again.

NYC is so big. I don't even know where to begin as far as what to do in my spare time. I'm relying on Angi to take me to some interesting places for fun, frivolity, and most of all shopping.

I can't see this lady, it's shady

2008-10-12T12:06:00.002-04:00

I can’t see this lady; it is shady.
Current mood: artistic

I have had this constant, persistant nausea for the last week. And no, I'm not pregnant, and yes, I am certain about that.

I did find out that it's probably because I went off the pill. I've been on it for 14 years; I expected my body to be totally jacked up, but this is super annoying. I constantly feel like I'm about to hurl, but I don't feel sick. It's very odd.

I'm back at work today, but trust me when I say I'm am sooooooooooooooooo grateful about having a 5-day weekend. We were lucky enough to have power, so it's been a nice break. I work 1.5 days this week and 2 days next week. Woohoo! I'll be in NYC with Angi next week. Well, outside of my work seminar. But I'm actually looking forward to that, too.

I've got my yoga retreat this weekend. I don't know how much I'll be able to do as far as poses every day, but I think I'll do all right. I rolled my ankle outwards Monday while cleaning up the yard, and it's hurt since then. I've avoided doing anything strenuous in the meantime. Hopefully, it'll be okay this weekend.

Holy f-ing hurricane, Batman!

2008-10-12T12:06:00.001-04:00

We had 80mph straight line winds yesterday. Our house is undamaged, and our trees are more or less intact. But we had 300,000 people without power in the Miami Valley last night, and it's now been reduced to 200,000. Business are being told it could be 3 days before the lights come back on. Kev and I were told to stay home by our employers, as neither has any power.

We were without power for 11 hours yesterday, but we were the lucky ones. Our power kicked on at 2:30am, and Amanda, who is just down the street, is still without power. Go go City of Kettering! The DP&L trucks were circling our neighborhood for hours last night, trying to find the transformers that blew. We heard three small explosion in about 3 hours yesterday, so we knew why were without power. And exacerbating that is the fact that DP&L sent a large chunk of their service vehicles and manpower to Texas to help residents there regain power after Ike. They never dreamed we'd get blasted by Gustav all the way up here.

The devastation here is unbelievable. We were really lucky, though. We've got one 10-foot-long, six-inch-wide branch that broke off the top of one tree and landed in another. It's not precariously balanced over a power line (possibly cable) that leads into our house, not to mention that if it comes crashing down, it could do some serious damage to our house. I put in a service request, but they said it will be the end of the week before they even start attending to them.

The amount of trees that were just blown over and uprooted is amazing. I took some pictures around the neighborhood, but my cell service sucks, so I'll try to upload them later this week. Every single street you look down has trees across it. I've never seen anything like it. It's like tornado-lite.

I spent a total of maybe two hours over the course of the day getting my yard cleaned up. Kettering will begin debris removal this week, and I had to get everything hauled and raked to the curb. I've barely touched the backyard, but I'm going to try to get my hands on a leaf-blower to take care of that. I've got all the big branches cleaned up and cut down to manageable sizes, and I cleaned the gutter that was buried in leaves.

Mike and Leah stopped by last yesterday; Leah and I were supposed to go to the movies. But the stoplights were out all the way there, and everything up by the Dayton mall lost power. So we hit the highway to come home. People are either too stupid and too selfish to obey the traffic laws when stoplights are out. They're supposed to be treated as a 4-way stop, people. DUH. You don't blow through major intersections at 40-mph without even looking, as one enormous moving truck did at the 741 - Dixie Drive intersection. He almost obliterated a pick-up truck who was taking his turn. Leah and I were freaking out.

Because my cell was dead and the power was out to prevent me from charging it, I didn't get the message from my boss that work was cancelled. I should have guessed, but I drove all the way there only to find a "Closed" sign on the front door, and a 60-foot-tall tree laying across our parking lot. If this storm had happened today, about 15 of my coworkers would have flattened cars.

Awesome.

I'm moving out of this hospedaje; I'm afraid you'll cut me, boy

2008-10-12T12:04:00.002-04:00

Okay, so I seriously just had a doctor, who is attending a training session here, walk into a window from the outside, thinking it was an open doorway or something. Why she would think an office building would have a huge opening with no door in the middle of a wall, I don't know.

She hit it so hard that she left a face-print on the glass, smudged her lipstick on it, and her glasses were half-knocked off.

Yes folks, these are the ER doctors saving our lives.

Stuff

2008-10-12T12:04:00.001-04:00

Kev and I have been watching season 1 of Dexter, which has turned out to be fantastic. I was unsure if I could accept Michael C. Hall in such a different roll. He was phenomenal in Six Feet Under. But he pulled off Dexter brilliantly.

Last night I watched Waitress. It could easily have been 25 minutes shorter and been a better movie. I got to the point where I just started fast-forwarding through Jeremy Sisto's abusive-husband scenes. I didn't need to be beaten over the head with what a crazy mo-fo he was. I got the picture pretty early on.

Scientists begin hunt for "God particle"

2008-10-12T12:03:00.000-04:00

---I bow down to our new inter-dimensional warlords that will come through the rift in time and space that this thing is going to open.---

CERN, Switzerland (CNN) -- Scientists Wednesday applauded as one of the most ambitious experiments ever conceived got successfully underway, with protons being fired around a 27-kilometer (17-mile) tunnel deep beneath the border of France and Switzerland in an attempt to unlock the secrets of the universe.

Scientists applaud during the switch on operation of the Large Hadron Collider.

The Large Hadron Collider -- a $9 billion particle accelerator designed to simulate conditions of the Big Bang that created the physical Universe -- was switched on at 0732 GMT to cheers and applause from experts gathered to witness the event.

While observers were left nonplussed by the anticlimactic flashing dots on a TV screen that signalled the machine's successful test run, among teams of scientists involved around the world there were jubilant celebrations and popping champagne corks.

In the coming months, the collider is expected to begin smashing particles into each other by sending two beams of protons around the tunnel in opposite directions.

Skeptics, who claim that the experiment could lead to the creation of a black hole capable of swallowing the planet, failed in a legal bid to halt the project at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research.

Others have branded it a colossal waste of cash, draining resources from its multinational collaborators that could have been spent on scientific research with more tangible benefits to mankind.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy hailed the project as a major achievement for Europe.

"The repercussions of this scientific investment without precedent in the history of humanity will be essential not only for the intimate knowledge of our universe, but also for the direct applications in fields as varied as intensive calculation or even medicine," he said.

The collider will operate at higher energies and intensities in the next year, potentially generating enough data to make a discovery by 2009, experts say.

They say the experiment has the potential to confirm theories that physicists have been working on for decades including the possible existence of extra dimensions. They also hope to find a theoretical particle called the Higgs boson -- sometimes referred to as the "God particle," which has never been detected, but would help explain why matter has mass.

The collider will recreate the conditions of less than a millionth of a second after the Big Bang, when there was a hot "soup" of tiny particles called quarks and gluons, to look at how the universe evolved, said John Harris, U.S. coordinator for ALICE, a huge detector specialized to analyze that question.

Since this is exploratory science, the collider may uncover surprises that contradict prevailing theories, but which are just as interesting, said Joseph Lykken, theoretical physicist at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.

"When Columbus sails west, he thought he was going to find something. He didn't find what he thought he was going to find, but he did find something interesting," said Lykken, who works on the Compact Muon Solenoid, one of six experiments inside the collider complex.

Why should the layperson care about this particular exploration? Years ago, when electrons were first identified, no one knew what they were good for, but they have since transformed our entire economy, said Howard Gordon, deputy research program manager for the collider's ATLAS experiment.

"The transformative effect of this research will be to understand the world we live in much better," said Gordon, at Brookhaven National Laboratory. "It's important for just who we are, what we are."

Fears have emerged that the collider could produce black holes that could suck up anything around them -- including the whole Earth. Such fears prompted legal actions in the U.S. and Europe to halt the operation of the Large Hadron Collider, alleging safety concerns regarding black holes and other phenomena that could theoretically emerge.

Although physicists acknowledge that the collider could, in theory, create small black holes, they say they do not pose any risk. A study released Friday by CERN scientists explains that any black hole created would be tiny, and would not have enough energy to stick around very long before dissolving. Five collider collaborators who did not pen the report independently told CNN there would be no danger from potential black holes.

John Huth, who works on the collider's ATLAS experiment, called such fears "baloney" in a recent interview, and noted that in normal physics, even if the black hole were stable, it could just pass through the Earth without being detected or without interacting at all.

"The gravitational force is so weak that you'd have to wait many, many, many, many, many lifetimes of the universe before one of these things could [get] big enough to even get close to being a problem," said Huth, professor of physics at Harvard University.

Because I think it's funny, that's why...

2008-10-12T12:01:00.001-04:00

The photo below captures a disturbing trend that is beginning to affect wildlife in the US

Animals that were formerly self-sufficient are now showing signs of belonging to the Democratic Party... as they have apparently learned to just sit and wait for the government to step in and provide for their care and sustenance.

stripes on her eyes when she walk slow

2008-10-12T11:58:00.002-04:00

Friday, we watched Doomsday again. I still thought it was stupid fun. Saturday, I cleaned the house, and then I had my jewelry party in the evening.

Sunday, I went to the pool, and it was P-E-R-F-E-C-T. Hot, sunny, and the pool was crisply cool and refreshing. And the best part…there was hardly anyone there. It was absolutely amazing. Sunday night, we had a few people over for a cookout, nothing major. But it was nice time. We again wrapped three kinds of meat in, as Leah calls it, "candy" meat. Yum.

Monday, I decided if I woke up early enough I'd go to yoga. And I woke up at 7:30am. Ugh. It was pretty challenging for my ankle but good. A TON of people showed up. I was surprised. I really think yoga is going to be good for re-strengthening my ankle. It's amazing how weak my foot still is. But I'll get there, and this is a no-impact way to work on it. I feel fine today, so I didn't overdo it.

One thing I have to say about yoga is that it tends to attract people of the whackjob persuasion. I suppose you could call them "free-spirited" or "child-like," but I guess I'm not in the "compassionate" mindset for yoga this morning.

Anyway, this chick was wearing some hand-painted T-shirt and start dancing around all crazy when Laurel mentioned it. Never mind there was hardly enough room between our mats to walk, much less dance around like a maniac. And then towards the end, we were doing our closing mantras, and the chick came up to the front, right under Laurel's feet and just started sobbing about how beautiful it all was. All I could think was, "You've GOT to be kidding me," and I had to restrain myself from rolling my eyes so far back into my head that it would have killed me.

I got home and mom said she'd go out to the Heritage Festival with me, so I picked her up, and we headed out. It was a gajillion degrees. At first there was at least a breeze, but by the time we got off the canal tour, it had died, and we were beginning to. We headed out around 4:30, having sufficiently gorged ourselves on delicious food. I downed 2 large bottles of water and wanted more. It was awful.

After showering the layer of stickiness off, I watched Infamous. It's about Truman Capote falling in love with a convicted killer. It was pretty good. I enjoyed it. Daniel Craig was a scary, intense mofo.

August 2008 Archive

2008-10-12T11:58:00.001-04:00

August 25, 2008
Unfettered in De moss during a Duell. KUNTZ! I’m Rich!It starts out I'm walking up a huge spiral staircase in a hotel/performing arts center, and each floor has people milling about. Then Jason Demoss is with me, and we're looking for the floor that's supposed to have a sprawling continental lunch. We find it on the fourth floor, but it's really just a bunch of pretentiously cut, overcooked Digiorno pizzas.

Duell is there with his wife, but he's got this mountain man beard, and his hair is all mussed up, like he was caught in a windstorm. Suddenly, me, Jason, Nate, Duell, and Alan Fetters are all in a car headed to Alan's house.

We're greeted by Alan's parents, who both have stark white Einstein-esque hair and big black Harry Potter glasses. Alan is setting up an X-files boardgame, which looks suspiciously like Monopoly.

Next thing I know, Jason is shouting at me to come check something out. He's found an ice cavern--where in this suburban house, I don't know. But we all go into the ice cavern, which is amazingly beautiful and so cold the ice is blue and green (or so the explanation is in the dream). Everyone leaves but me because I'm picking up beautiful rocks.

When I'm done, I realize I've melted into the snow on the ground up to my armpits, and I can't get out. I yell for help for a while, and Alan comes rushing in dressed in what I imagine Jon Snow from George RR Martin's Ice & Fire novels would look like, down to the black leather gloves. He grabs my hands and whips me out of the hole in the snow as if I were weightless, scolding me for not coming with them when they left.

Next thing I know, we're all in a diner, sitting at the counter, but Rich has joined us. He's wearing some sort of Dracula-esque amulet around his neck and wildly gesticulating with his arms while we all laugh hysterically.

Then I woke up.
posted by Karabou at 7:38 PM EST

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August 27, 2008
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of chum
Kev and I went to see Pineapple Express last night. It didn't blow me away, but it was pretty funny. It's worth a rent at least.

Chick flicks on HBO so far this month...

The Pianist
I felt sick the whole time I watched this. Of course, everything having to do with the Holocaust makes me feel sick. It's about a Polish Jew (an amazing pianist), who survives WWII in Poland. It was really good, though. I'm not a big Adrian Brody fan, but he pulled off the character really well. I rate it three tissues.

The White Countess
Another Ralph Fiennes period pic, this one is set in 1930s Shanghai. It's good, glad I caught it on HBO. I rate it one tissue.

Age of Innocence
I've caught bits and pieces of this movie a dozen times over the years. It's not one of Day-Lewis' best performances, but it's an interesting period piece if you like them. I rate it one tissue.

The Painted Veil
I'd been resisting watching this one for a good month or so. I don't like Edward Norton much, and Tivo's synopsis was thoroughly unappealing. I finally decided to just Tivo it, so if I didn't like it, I could fast forward and at least see the ending and be done with it. Hehe Surprisingly, it was really good. The evolution of the characters is really fantastic. I give it three tissues.
posted by Karabou at 7:38 PM EST

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August 25, 2008
On jihad, rappin' Narnia, and Laser Cats
Iran so far away.
Lazy Sunday
Laser Cats 2
posted by Karabou at 7:38 PM EST

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August 24, 2008
Superman Reboot
Warner Bros. is apparently rebooting the Superman franchise, as The Hulk did. Surprise.
posted by Karabou at 11:41 PM EST

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August 22, 2008
we’re apin’ rapin’ tapin’ catharsis I hate when people bring perfectly baked plain brownies to a carry-in…or even within a hundred feet of me. Brownies are my weakness, my nemesis. I only bake them at home maybe once a year, if that, because of it.

I've eaten three brownies since I got back from PT at 1:30, and…OH MY GOD THERE ARE PINK CUPCAKES. Okay, now I have to eat a cupcake for a cure for breast cancer…or something like that. /sigh

Anyway, it's been a crazy couple of weeks. Last week, I was trying to crush my work week into three days since we were leaving for Gencon Thursday morning. I felt like I couldn't catch my breath to save my life, and when I got back on Tuesday, it resumed its breakneck pace. It did settle down by yesterday, thankfully.

Gencon was fun, more so than last year because our friends resumed attending with us this year. All seven of us won an $80 AT-43 starter set, and two of us (myself included) won an additional set. I picked the $75 Confrontation starter set, and our friend picked another AT-43 set. Woohoo!

You could definitely tell we're in a depressed economy, or so it seemed. The WotC booth seemed significantly smaller this year, and they didn't do the game-demo-roll-a-d20-for-a-prize thing this year. I was disappointed. Wizkids didn't seem to have any significant release at the show, unlike previous years when the rolled out HeroClix, MonsterClix, and HaloClix.

Upperdeck (sp?) had limited demos going of the new WoW minis game, and it looked really unimpressive. I thought it was going to be a skirmish game, but it's basically the card game with a miniature on a little chess-like map. This is just my opinion, but I feel like companies blow their wad when they don't have the game for sale when they debut it.

Fewer companies were giving away freebies for demos. Many companies will offer a "con exclusive" mini if you demo a game. Privateer Press was doing so, and we picked up some Monsterpocalypse. We also picked up Infernal Contraption, which is really fun.

It was still as much fun as ever. In my opinion, the whole point of going is to demo new games, buy some of them, and then go back to the hotel to play them together, which I didn't get to do because I was exhausted every night with some foot pain. The swag is just a bonus.

I went to the pool Wednesday night, and it was glorious. Kids are back in school, so there might have been 50 people there, total. And during the adult swim, maybe 7 in the pool. It was so awesome, I decided to go again Thursday night, but this time, I took Amy and Zoey.

Zoey was cracking me up. She hates getting her head wet, and it took much cajoling to get her to go under the mushroom waterfall. And when she finally agreed, she plugged her ears, squinched her eyes shut, and announced to her mom, "Okay, take me under!" It was a riot. She's small enough that I can swush her around in the water, which she seemed to thoroughly enjoy. We're going to try to go to Splash Moraine on Sunday, weather permitting. I hope it's nice. :)

Tomorrow, I'm dragging myself to a family reunion, and then I have to make Jambalaya for the guys. Tonight, I'm seeing Death Race with my cousin. I'm hoping it's big fun.posted by Karabou at 10:32 PM EST

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August 21, 2008
Top Ten Signs Barack Obama is Overconfident
David Letterman apparently did a list of "Top Ten Signs Barack Obama is Overconfident" ... now there is some brouhaha over this list and whether or not it will be re-aired, blah blah blah. So in case you've yet to see it, here's the list:
10. Proposed a bill to change Oklahoma to "Oklabama"
9. Offered Bush 20 bucks for the "Mission Accomplished" banner
8. Asked guy at Staples, "Which chair will work best in an oval-shaped office?"
7. The affair with Barbara Walters
6. Having head measured for Mount Rushmore
5. Guy sits around eating soup all day
4. He's voting for Nader
3. Offered McCain a job in gift shop at Obama presidential library
2. Announced his running mate will be Andy Dick
1. Been cruising for chicks with John Edwards
posted by Karabou at 11:41 PM EST

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August 19, 2008
Is McCain just another "W"?
Editor's Note: Jack Cafferty is the author of the best-seller "It's Getting Ugly Out There: The Frauds, Bunglers, Liars, and Losers Who Are Hurting America." He provides commentary on CNN's "The Situation Room" daily from 4 p.m.-7 p.m. You can also visit Jack's Cafferty File blog.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Russia invades Georgia and President Bush goes on vacation. Our president has spent one-third of his entire two terms in office either at Camp David, Maryland, or at Crawford, Texas, on vacation.

His time away from the Oval Office included the month leading up to 9/11, when there were signs Osama bin Laden was planning to attack America, and the time Hurricane Katrina destroyed the city of New Orleans.

Sen. John McCain takes weekends off and limits his campaign events to one a day. He made an exception for the religious forum on Saturday at Saddleback Church in Southern California.

I think he made a big mistake. When he was invited last spring to attend a discussion of the role of faith in his life with Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, at Messiah College in Pennsylvania, McCain didn't bother to show up. Now I know why.

It occurs to me that John McCain is as intellectually shallow as our current president. When asked what his Christian faith means to him, his answer was a one-liner. "It means I'm saved and forgiven." Great scholars have wrestled with the meaning of faith for centuries. McCain then retold a story we've all heard a hundred times about a guard in Vietnam drawing a cross in the sand.

Asked about his greatest moral failure, he cited his first marriage, which ended in divorce. While saying it was his greatest moral failing, he offered nothing in the way of explanation. Why not?

Throughout the evening, McCain chose to recite portions of his stump speech as answers to the questions he was being asked. Why? He has lived 71 years. Surely he has some thoughts on what it all means that go beyond canned answers culled from the same speech he delivers every day.

He was asked "if evil exists." His response was to repeat for the umpteenth time that Osama bin Laden is a bad man and he will pursue him to "the gates of hell." That was it.

He was asked to define rich. After trying to dodge the question -- his wife is worth a reported $100 million -- he finally said he thought an income of $5 million was rich.

One after another, McCain's answers were shallow, simplistic, and trite. He showed the same intellectual curiosity that George Bush has -- virtually none.

Where are John McCain's writings exploring the vexing moral issues of our time? Where are his position papers setting forth his careful consideration of foreign policy, the welfare state, education, America's moral responsibility in the world, etc., etc., etc.?

John McCain graduated 894th in a class of 899 at the Naval Academy at Annapolis. His father and grandfather were four star admirals in the Navy. Some have suggested that might have played a role in McCain being admitted. His academic record was awful. And it shows over and over again whenever McCain is called upon to think on his feet.

He no longer allows reporters unfettered access to him aboard the "Straight Talk Express" for a reason. He simply makes too many mistakes. Unless he's reciting talking points or reading from notes or a TelePrompTer, John McCain is lost. He can drop bon mots at a bowling alley or diner -- short glib responses that get a chuckle, but beyond that McCain gets in over his head very quickly.

I am sick and tired of the president of the United States embarrassing me. The world we live in is too complex to entrust it to someone else whose idea of intellectual curiosity and grasp of foreign policy issues is to tell us he can look into Vladimir Putin's eyes and see into his soul.

George Bush's record as a student, military man, businessman and leader of the free world is one of constant failure. And the part that troubles me most is he seems content with himself.

He will leave office with the country $10 trillion in debt, fighting two wars, our international reputation in shambles, our government cloaked in secrecy and suspicion that his entire presidency has been a litany of broken laws and promises, our citizens' faith in our own country ripped to shreds. Yet Bush goes bumbling along, grinning and spewing moronic one-liners, as though nobody understands what a colossal failure he has been.

I fear to the depth of my being that John McCain is just like him.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writer.
posted by Karabou at 9:56 PM EST

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August 13, 2008
A singularity
It's the only time I have ever wished the rule of three was true and would complete itself.

The loss of Hayes and Mac was a shame. Much too young. Jackson, on the other hand, we can only hope.
posted by Karabou at 6:52 PM EST

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August 10, 2008
Hold on to your f-ing hat...
I very nearly fell out of my chair watching this. Please, for the love of all that is holy, watch it. **LINK FIXED**
posted by Karabou at 11:31 PM EST

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August 6, 2008
Last Blood
I stumbled upon this and ended up really enjoying it. You can read the whole first trade paperback online here:
http://www.lastblood.net/
posted by Karabou at 9:24 PM EST

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August 3, 2008
Giving credit when credit is due...
I have to give my husband a little pat on the back. He wrote a chapter of WFRP's Thousand Thrones, which was released a few months ago.

Two opinions:
...[Y]ou eventually get to Villa Hahn which is a dungeon in the vein of Castle Wittgenstein...and it's brilliant. I really liked this bit. It's well designed and really puts the gothic horror back in WFRP. Lucius Hahn's fate immediately made me think 'I really have to do this to one of my PC's sometime'. This Nurgle lair uses WFRP mechanics properly. What the PC's do can have nasty results and the diseases are used to potential, unlike some earlier WFRP2 products where Wound damage was the result of just about anything you come into contact with. The final showdown description is a bit confused as the results are very open. Nonetheless this is a great section.

and

Chapter 5: This is just plain good. Not much more to be said about it, except that I don't really like Nurglists as enemies, but that is entirely personal. It could be used as an independent adventure with little work.

His chapter was partially re-written in the development process, but the core ideas were his and were largely left intact, and I'm proud as hell that people really liked his section. Others have mentioned plans to use his chapter for stand-alone adventures, as well.

For whatever reason, GW refused to allow dungeon crawls to be written for other books in WFRP 2.0. Not everyone is capable of insanely involved roleplay, and my own group refused to play the game after running just two pre-made adventures. It was disappointing, as I felt the game had a lot to offer, but they lost their taste for it after becoming frustrated at the difficulty of puzzle solving that was required.

And just so you know, Hahn is my mother's maiden name. HAH!

posted by Karabou at 2:49 PM EST

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August 1, 2008
The Dark Knight Yearns
I Kev and I saw the Dark Knight on Tuesday. The asshole couple behind us who decided to have a full-on conversation for the first hour and a half of the movie no matter how many times we asked them to STFU likely had some bearing on my experience.

But largely, I felt the movie didn't live up to the hype. That's not to say I didn't think it was good. But the incessant harping of the media going on about how Heath Ledger deserves a posthumous Oscar for his performance was nothing but the studios finding a way to get people who wouldn't ordinarily see the movie to pay for a ticket to go found out what all this mumbo-jumbo was about. For example: CNN, owned by Time Warner, publishes second straight top headline about "The Dark Knight," a film made by Warner Brothers, owned by Time Warner, and based on Batman, published by DC Comics, also owned by Time Warner.

I went in expecting Heath Ledger to give the performance of all performances EVER GIVEN, and I was greatly disappointed. He was good, sure. But I didn't lose myself in the character. I still saw him as Heath Ledger and not just The Joker. A truly great performance makes you forget the actor. I just didn't have that experience, and I definitely didn't find that character "terrifying."

I did, however, like the direction he took The Joker. He was a maniacal, brilliant, remorseless anarchist. It's a shame we won't get to see the character again any time soon. Nolan has said he won't recast The Joker so long as he's still directing the films.

And I was surprised by Two-Face being a main character. I could tell Harvey had become Two-Face in the trailer, but I figured he would be introduced and then be a main character in the next installment. It was a pleasant twist. But Aaron Eckhart was GREAT as Two-Face. I liked that he wasn't some giggly dipshit, like Tommy Lee Jones' version, but was instead a man who had been pushed over the edge and had truly lost all reason and rationality.

My other beef is that the movie felt long. When I start looking at my watch, it's lost me. The movie seemed to end more than once, and that's never a good sign, either. It would just dust itself off, yell "Ta-dah!", and keep going.

My only complaint about Batman Begins was that all of the action scenes were so dark you couldn't see what was going on. And they used that ridiculous flying CGI dirt that they used in Gladiator to mask the fight scenes. Dark Knight fixed that. It was a wise move. When people go to see superhero movies, they want to see superhero fights. I didn't go see Ironman to watch him wax intellectual and fight in the dark. I went to watch him fly around, blow shit up, and have at least one knock-down drag-out kick ass fight.

And dear god, I'm so glad they killed off the Rachel character. I don't know what's wrong with Maggie Gyllenhaal's face, but it was far more terrifying than The Joker's. She's got this pug nose, and her cheeks sag like socks full of marbles, just hanging off her face. I have to admit, I was caught off guard when she died. I thought for sure Batman was going to save her, and the police would save Harvey Dent, though he'd likely become Two-Face in the process. That was when the movie got good for me.

In summary, I liked it. I would probably have liked it better had I not been subjected to all the hype beforehand. I might even have been able to be absorbed more fully into The Joker as a character, rather than an Oscar vehicle. I'll probably watch it again at home when it comes out on DVD in the peace and quiet of my living room.

It's rumored that the next villains will be The Riddler, played by Johnny Depp, and The Penguin, played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman. And seeing as it's pulled in $440 million as of today, I'm certain there will be a few more Batman movies in the future.

posted by Karabou at 10:28 PM EST

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July 2008 Archive

2008-10-12T11:57:00.004-04:00

July 31, 2008
I see hot people.
I watched Rory O'Shea Was Here tonight. I've been gleefully catching James McAvoy's earlier movies on HBO. He's quite possibly the only actor who could make a quadriplegic hot.

And I swear he had some sort of weird prosthetic nose thing going on in Starter for 10 because in Rory (which precedes Starter) his nose is much less humped and hooked. Very weird. At first I thought maybe he just had a nose job, but then I saw Starter was after Rory. Weird.

posted by Karabou at 11:15 PM EST

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July 25, 2008
Pardon me, Hand Banana
I am EXPLODING with excitement.

My boss just approved me to go to NYC for a writing/editing seminar Sept 25-26! Woohoo!

I just booked the trip, and here's the hilarious part: I'll be staying at the Edison Hotel on Times Square. lol It'll be like our high school drama trip all over again.

I'm also super excited because I'll get to see Angi and spend the weekend with her. Now, to figure out what I want to do while I'm there! I think the Guggenheim is a MUST. And I'm considering Spamalot. Hmmmmm...

posted by Karabou at 7:40 PM EST

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July 24, 2008
My vote is going to... Okay, so after a conversation Tanya and I just had, I had an epiphany.

Jesse Ventura must be our next president.

There's the bad-ass Ventura for the hard-line conservatives:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e152/amazon284/jesse-ventura2-2.jpg

And the softer side for the liberals:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e152/amazon284/jesse-ventura1-1.jpg
It all makes perfect sense now.

posted by Karabou at 7:40 PM EST

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July 22, 2008
Pardon me, Hand Banana
Friday, I was so sore after PT that I just decided to go home and do nothing. Yoga was a bit too much for me last week, me thinks. If I go this week, I'll have to do less of the poses and just be content with the rest of the class.

Saturday, I cleaned the house like a maniac, frequently resting in between chores. I took a delicious hour-long nap in the afternoon, and then I picked up Amanda and made the trek north to help my mom with her waffle booth's late shift. It was insane. We had people 10 deep at one point, with numerous people ordering the waffles by the dozen. Here's a pic of what a sugar waffle looks like http://www.karabou.net/Pics/Waffle.jpg

A big thank you to Amanda for helping me out, keeping the money running smoothly, and managing what was, basically, utter chaos. She didn't try one of the waffles until she got home, and she said that was probably a good thing because they were insanely delicious. I suspect next year, she'll be getting more than a bag of six. Heh

Sunday, I was so whipped, I just laid around and didn't do much. I did manage to run to the grocery, but that was pretty much it. I altered some of my shirts that have been needing it, and one of Kev's. I need to get some backing for the curtains I'm planning to make for my bedroom, but that would require me having the time to run to the fabric store, which likely won't be until this weekend. Que sera, sera….

We had Mike and Leah over for dinner last night, which is always nice. We're trying to make it a monthly thing. I hate losing touch with friends, and I'm trying to make more of an effort all around.

Tonight is dinner at Buckhorn Tavern with the family for all our birthdays. On some level, I'm so thankful we didn't have a dinner for every single person this year. I've been so over-scheduled and busy that I don't know how I'd have done it. Ugh.

posted by Karabou at 7:03 PM EST

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July 15, 2008
This is a diary of hate...
I watched The End of the Affair with Ralph Fiennes and Julianne Moore the other night. I really enjoyed it. Lust, love, jealousy, misunderstandings, loss…it's packed with it. Events previously viewed through Ralph's eyes become visible through Julianne's with surprisingly little redundancy. I highly recommend it if you enjoy dramas like Atonement. It was moving and unique. I rate it 3 tissues.

Kev and I watched A&E's Andromeda Strain Sunday evening--all four hours of it. The first 3.5 hours were really good, riveting even. But the last 30 minutes were just dumb and turned into a Sci-Fi Original. I was also confused that they bleeped out all the swear words. I thought this was made for TV? Maybe I'm mistaken.

Last night, I watch Evening. I'm mildly in love with voyeuristic glimpses into lives and affairs based in the 1930s-40s. So this movie was great. Basically, a dying elderly woman is remembering bits of her life, specifically her first love. I rate it 4 tissues.

posted by Karabou at 9:09 PM EST

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July 14, 2008
Radio blah blah
Friday, I went with Tanya and her boys to see Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3D. It was big fun. It was worth it in 3D, but I wouldn't have wanted to see it otherwise. I felt like a big kid during parts of it. 3D has certainly come a long way.

Saturday, I hit the gym in the morning and went to the grocery, so I could make filled noodles for gaming that night. They were a hit. Our German friend said, "I feel like I'm home." Tee hee

Sunday, I kept trying to get stuff done and it just wasn't happening. Kev's dad was there, and they changed the hoses on the hot water heater. I did eventually get the front porch power-sprayed down. It looks so clean. I need to get the railings and porch re-painted at some point, yet.

I started sanding my trunk, but I got the top done and felt like I wasn't accomplishing anything, so I abandoned it to wash the porch instead. I'll have to keep chiseling away at it. I can't get my room cleaned and organize until I have it in there for storage.

Kev and his dad did manage to get my blinds hung, thank god. I'm part vampire when it comes to sleeping. I can have zero light in my room when I sleep. As soon as the sun starts to rise at 5:30am, I start waking up and getting angry, trying to throw blankets over my head to go back to sleep. The blinds are woooonderful. Now I just need to get to the fabric store to get some new material and backing for new curtains.

In the afternoon, Tanya and I went over to Spam's for a cookout. It was nice to see you girl. I can't wait till you're off in August. We need to spend some time together.

This morning, we did a three-hour photo shoot at work. It was gorgeous outside, but standing for three hours was rough on me. I did a lot better than I thought, but I've still got some work to do in PT. I'm getting there, by cracky.

posted by Karabou at 9:09 PM EST

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July 12, 2008
Radio blah blah
Why is it that the people who call in to talk radio shows are either far right wing nuts or far left wing nuts?

I listened to some whack job caller claim Jesse Jackson choked her at a Black Panther rally in some tiny, unknown town in Iowa or Idaho--I don't remember which--in the 1960s. I suppose it's possible, but the more the radio host questioned her, the more her story fell apart and confused even her. She even started contradicting what she said 5 minutes earlier. The radio host was like, "Ooookay, let's screen those calls a little better."

And then there are all the young 20-somethings that call in to support Obama, but they can't name one thing he's done or stuck to when asked on air. Not one. And they get pissed and yell at the radio host in a tantrum, telling the radio host he doesn't know what he's talking about. Classy.

If you can't manage intelligent, rational discussion, avoid putting yourself in a position where you're actually expected to defend your views, not just state them without substance.

And that's pretty much par for the course on any radio show I listen to. I like it when they get the occasional person with half a brain from either side to give intelligent discourse, but that hardly ever happens.

posted by Karabou at 9:09 PM EST

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July 11, 2008
"M" is for old man
McCain, McCain, McCain.

How do I feel about you? You're super old and kinda crotchety, but I giggle when you say things like "nation of whiners." You've grown up in a different generation, and I'm concerned you have no ability to relate to mine.

But really, I'm unconvinced your "straight talk" is anything more than an excuse to use rude dismissive phrases to verbally abuse people and issues. I'm all for cutting straight to the point and telling it like it is, but your total lack of eloquence won't do us any good in foreign affairs. It bothers me the rest of the world thinks we're a bunch of rude, self-absorbed douche bags, and I don't think you'll do anything to dispel that notion.

I respect that you've seen war and that you were a POW. But what are you going to do about THIS war? I don't WANT to be there for 100 years! Is the surge REALLY working the way so many people say it is? What's your plan, other than "stay until it's fixed." What are you going to do to "fix" it? How are you going to enable and empower the Iraqi government to take this operation over?

By the way, your stance on net neutrality bothers me. I want my intarweb to stay just as it is. Free markets are peachy and all, but I don't think we need "to move to a different model for thinking about the FCC." Why do we need the morality squad sticking their nose into the internet? If I want to watch donkey porn, then dammit, I should be allowed to watch it.

No Child Left Behind? It doesn't work. It's ridiculously bad. As someone who knows multiple school teachers and hears how horrendously broken the system is, you better be ready to overhaul Bushtard's pathetic attempt to hold teachers accountable for students' grades. Teachers no longer have time to teach anything but what's in the test booklet. But take my sister's class for example. She teaches in the poorest district in the city, and her kids are so low she can barely get them to learn, much less pass. How is it her fault the majority of her students have ADD, ADHD, and other severe behavioral disorders related to drugs and alcohol. The parents are totally UN-involved, if even present in the kids' lives. The schools don't get enough funding to handle special needs students, and we're facing a shortage of teachers. What are you going to do to make it better?

I hear that voting for you is basically voting for four more years of Bush policies. And quite frankly, that scares the living hell out of me. I fear you're nothing more than a panderer, pandering to the extreme right of the United States, an ideological group that has run this country into the ground with its extremist and irrational views. I have always avoided voting for the GOP because of their long-standing association with the religious reich. Who are they to dictate how this country should be run? Or how I should live my life?

And your views about abortion? You used to be semi-liberal in that area, but once you sniffed the possibility of the GOP nomination, you switched to, "I'd nominate supreme court justices who would overturn Roe vs. Wade." It makes me sick to my stomach.

So you, too, have flip-flopped my good sir. You have even been known to send out contradictory messages about your support for the President's retard antics so that you appear to be simultaneously for and against his atrocities. So which is it? Are you for or against them? Take your balls out of your hot wife's purse and make a decision; then, call me and let me know what is because I'm tired of trying to figure it out.

Hmmm…free market solutions to global warming? I'm excited you admit you think it's real, but I'm just not seeing how that solution is supposed to work. I do believe it's a problem. But getting off oil is the biggest thing we need to do combat that issue. So what are you going to do about it?

If you get to sit in that oval office chair, is the first thing you yell going to be, "Bring in those drilling contracts! I want oil flowing out of every orifice this country has!" Because I really don't want that. Have lunch with T. Boone Pickens and discuss something new, something revolutionary for our country. I'm unconvinced you're any different than Bush, who lives in the pockets of big oil.

Convince me differently, Mr. McCain, if you want a prayer of a chance of getting my vote.

posted by Karabou at 9:36 PM EST

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July 10, 2008
Get ready for your "O" face
Obama, I don't like the idea of paying massive taxes to put Socialized Health Care into effect. If you have some genius plan of funding it without strapping the middle class, you let me know about it, k?

Also, I know people are rah-rah-rallying around you, chanting "Obama for Change!" But really, what have you done? What the hell does "Community Organizer" even mean? And what relevance does it have to being the leader of the world's largest free nation?

Dude, you change your mind every other day about major issues you've already stated opposite opinions on in the past. What gives? I know your job is hard, and Sweet Baby Jesus knows I DON'T WANT IT. But really, sometimes, you gotta stick to your guns. If you voted on something that became unpopular, suck it up, rub some dirt on it, and just tell people why you voted that way. Don't flip-flop every time a CNN reader opinion poll is published.

I agree that consistency is the mind-killer, and changing your opinions isn't necessarily a bad thing. If never considering and contemplating opposing opinions were the ideal, we'd still have slavery, women would still be barefoot and pregnant and have no rights, and gays would still be getting shock therapy to treat their "mental illness." Ideas evolve and opinions NEED to change, but not every other day. Really.

I like that you're opposed to big oil. But what are you going to do about it? Where are you plans? I don't want every square inch of America's last vestiges of beauty ass-raped for oil. There HAVE to be alternatives. Call up oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens, and have lunch for chrisakes. Give us more than just hope that we won't HAVE to be dependent on oil until it runs out.

Man, I also have some issues with you pulling out of Iraq as soon as you get into power. Yes, I agree we never should have went there in the first place. But the fact is, we're there. We haven't just dipped our toes into the pool, we've grabbed it by the hips on the beach and had our way with it till it's bled in front of a crowd of on-looking countries. We've reluctantly made our bed, now we have to lie in it.
Although, if Iraq's government feels it's ready for us to leave, then by all means, let's talk about leaving. But as long as they need us, we need to act like responsible adults and finish what we started, not take our missile launchers and go home, leaving a power vacuum for extremists to fill. I truly believe the only thing that kept Al-Qaida out of Iraq was Saddam. He was so bat-shit crazy that even terrorists were freaked out by his shit. He may have been the pinnacle of evil in our generation, but he served a purpose in the bigger picture. Don't get me wrong; I'm glad he choked to death, kicking his little feet in the throes of death. He deserved far worse.

I want my coworkers and friends and even strangers to make it home safely from Iraq, but everyone I know that's been there truly believes they're making a difference. I know there are many that don't, and I respect their feelings, but they've been through things more traumatic than most of us can ever imagine. Who wouldn't feel that way in that position?

And Obama, you voted for wire-tapping yesterday. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I really don't think the government is interested in hearing me talk on the phone about how I really want to buy a pair of Born sandals, so I don't feel particularly threatened in a personal way by this bill. I can see its merits, but I'm certainly not blind to its potential for abuse. So what do you do? Freedom does come with a price. What are we willing to pay for it?

The Obama-ites like Wil Wheaton are devastated by your choice in supporting this bill. But frankly, I'm astounded by such naïve idealism in a 30-something man. Who, but the young and somewhat stupid, REALLY believes you are going to stick to your campaign promises? Sure, they can hope. But what politician hasn't worked to further his own career over fulfilling the hopes and dreams of his/her constituents once he's in such a position? "People won't re-elect him!" you say. Bush was re-elected for a 2nd term. And that's all I have to say about that.

Furthermore, I firmly believe that while you're touting yourself as a moderate, once your ass cheeks touch the oval office chair, you'll be a leftist socialist until you leave office kicking and screaming. I'm not a socialist. I want a smaller government sticking less of their fingers into my paychecks and my life. I don't want wealth redistribution. I didn't bust my ass to put myself through school for a four-year degree to pay for some lazy fucker that doesn't want to work. "Boo-hoo! I don't know what I want to do with my life. So rather than work, I'll just sit at home and collect government benefits and pout about how poor me can't make a decision!" I've known people like this. They sicken me.

And sweetie, while I know you're not a closet Muslim, lots of simple folk who believe in ridiculous conspiracy theories do. And there are plenty of crazy nutwads in the world who would try to assassinate a world leader, but there are even MORE crazy RACIST nutwads who would try to assassinate a world leader. So you better pick a hell of a running mate and drive around in the Pope Mobile, because there are stupid, crazy asshats out there who don't have anything better to do than live and preach hatred against people any other color than pasty.

So Obama, you haven't impressed me. I may have voted for you in the primary, but that was only because I didn't want the Psycho Ex-Girlfriend of the Democratic Party in power. Because, even though I have my doubts about you, she scares the living shit out of me. And the Clintons, while clever, are criminals. They've gotten away with a whole lotta shizzat. There was a time when I could have been described as a twenty-something Clintonista, but now, I can see through their bag of tricks. On some level I amusedly respect their ability to deflect allegations and convictions like a pork chop on teflon coating, but deep down, I have serious reservations about them being in the White House again. Bill's approval of Gen. Barry McCaffrey as drug czar being one of them.

So in closing, you haven't got my vote Obama. Not yet. Maybe not at all. You haven't convinced me you're capable of the most important job in our nation. And while the 17-year-old anarchist in me thinks it would HI-larious to elect someone totally clueless, I know that really wouldn't be in the American public's best interests.

posted by Karabou at 11:42 PM EST

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July 8, 2008
I call Ocular BS
What an exciting day. This morning, I had what I think was an ocular migraine. All of a sudden, it was like I had stared at the sun with my left eye. There was this spot where I just couldn't see anything. My first thought was, "Oh christ, I developed diabetes in the last 10 minutes, and I'm now going blind." lol

I started to wonder if it was an ocular migraine, as my friend Lorie got them when we were roomies, and my boss has gotten them before. I tried to Google it, but I couldn't read anything on the screen. lol I went into my boss's office, starting to panic, and she said it sounded like one and just to close my eyes and try to relax and calm down.

It got worse and worse, to the point where I had to cover my eyes tightly and just put my forehead on my desk. It evolved from some missing pixels into a blazing, swirling ring of horror-diamonds all around the edge of my vision in my left eye, even when I closed my eyes.

And then as quickly as it came on, it faded away. Then I developed a dull, awful headache that, strangely, went away every time I got up and walked around the office. As soon as I sat back down, it came back. It felt like my brain had been replaced with a solid lead version of my brain, and it lasted for a good 2 hours. I'm sure it was mild by the standards of people who have REAL migraines, but I don't get headaches. So the slightest hint of one leaves me in misery.

This wasn't fun. I hope it doesn't become a regular occurrence. I can't figure out why I'd suddenly start having them. No new meds, I'm less stressed than I usually am, I've been able to relieve stress and get some moderate exercise with PT, and I've actually been sleeping through the night for the last 2 weeks (unheard of).

WTF. I'm going to the doctor in the morning just to be on the safe side, but from what everyone has told me, this is par for the course for one of these.

posted by Karabou at 10:21 PM EST

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July 7, 2008
they said you were the freaky kid
It was a nice weekend. Friday, Brian brought his grill over and we grilled chicken breasts, pork chops, beer brats, and cheddarwursts…ALL WRAPPED IN GLORIOUS BACON. Yum. Then we had a Freaks & Geeks marathon. It was very low-key and not terribly exciting. I left to go see Hancock at like 5:30pm, which is the subject of the previous blog post.

Saturday, I walked around the mall with Kev for an hour to get him some shoes and clothes, and then we stopped at Lowes to pick up a new toilet seat. When I got home, I had to lay down and sleep for an hour.

I'm not sure how it works, but I worked out hard Sunday for an hour at the gym and felt good, not tired at all. So how is it that I saunter around a mall for an hour, and I'm so dead exhausted I have to go back to bed for an hour. But if I go to the gym and work out 10x harder than that, I feel fine? It's frustrating. I swear.

Yesterday, I lazed around and did very little after going to the gym. I did finish off the last of Freaks & Geeks, which depresses me. That show was so incredible. I can't understand how it didn't make it. I guess I'll just have to savor my 18 amazing episodes.

This week is over-scheduled again. UGH. I hate feeling like I don't have a minute to myself. PT three nights this week, Thursday/Friday I have doctor appts, and Wednesday night is my mom's jewelry party.

I am, however, looking forward to seeing Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3D Friday night with Tanya and her boys. 3D has come a long way, baby. I saw the trailer for it when I did trailer checks on Hannah Montana in 3D, and it looked so awesome I squealed with glee. I can't wait. If nothing else, I'll get to see Brendan Fraser in 3D, and that will be enough. Yum.

posted by Karabou at 10:01 PM EST

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July 4, 2008
Clancy Brown and the Hancock LeBouef
Wednesday, Tanya and I spent all glorious afternoon at the pool. It was amazing outside. Afterwards, Kev and I had dinner with his parents. On the way home, My right foot started to itch, horribly. I had to take my shoe and sock off, and when I put some moisturizer on it, it started burning so bad I about lost my mind.

Evidently, I somehow failed to put adequate SPF on the tops of my feet and my knees. They were utterly roasted. I haven't been burned this bad in ten years. In desperation, I started googling sunburn remedies and came across dozens of people swearing by cider vinegar. I usually keep a gallon of it on hand, as I use it to wash out the cats' water bowl and run it through the washing machine to clean out any build-up from time to time.

First I bought some Solarcaine and used that while I was at work, but as soon as I got home, I doused my legs and feet with vinegar in the bathtub. It was a miracle. It instantly took the sting out, reduced the heat coming off, and reduced the redness. I rinsed, dried off, sprayed down with Solarcaine again, and I was good as new...well, close to it. When the Solarcaine dried, I started rubbing in Vitamin A & E cream, which helps tone down the itch. I'm repeating the routine twice a day, and so far, it's been amazing.

I'd never heard of vinegar for a sunburn before, but WOW does it work. I was afraid it would burn or something, being acidic, but it actually soothed it. Apparently, it's an old trick lifeguards used to use before the days of SPF. They'd come home and soak in a tub of vinegar. It's unbelievable how well it works.

I have to walk around smelling somewhat like a pickle, but it's worth it. I'm not going anywhere important this weekend anyway.
I was working on making this strawberry/Cool Whip dessert I saw on TV when I realized I forgot to buy Oreos. We had just went to the grocery, and I didn't feel like driving all the way back. So I chanced it at the Circle K down the street. What convenience store doesn't carry Oreos? Although I probably spent twice as much on them as I would have a single full package, it was convenient. The clerk looked like a brunette Clancy Brown, early 40s, right down to the little gap between his front teeth. He kept asking me if I was making dirt cake and telling me how much he loves Allrecipes.com. It was kind of weird.

I saw some trailers today:

Day the Earth Stood Still: It's amazing, but Keanu Reeves has managed to make it look boring. Okay, so maybe it's not amazing. I can only hope he's supposed to be the robot.

Eagle Eye: Shia-Lebouef-driven movie that doesn't look terribly promising.

Quantum of Solace: I'm super excited about it. It's going to rock!

And finally, I saw Hancock. No spoilers. But I really have no idea why this movie got panned by the critics. I enjoyed it, and had I paid for an evening ticket, I wouldn't have been disappointed. Check it out for yourselves; don't let the critics make up your mind about it

posted by Karabou at 10:43 PM EST

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July 3, 2008
Pickled Sunburn
Wednesday, Tanya and I spent all glorious afternoon at the pool. It was amazing outside. Afterwards, Kev and I had dinner with his parents. On the way home, My right foot started to itch, horribly. I had to take my shoe and sock off, and when I put some moisturizer on it, it started burning so bad I about lost my mind.

Evidently, I somehow failed to put adequate SPF on the tops of my feet and my knees. They were utterly roasted. I haven't been burned this bad in ten years. In desperation, I started googling sunburn remedies and came across dozens of people swearing by cider vinegar. I usually keep a gallon of it on hand, as I use it to wash out the cats' water bowl and run it through the washing machine to clean out any build-up from time to time.

First I bought some Solarcaine and used that while I was at work, but as soon as I got home, I doused my legs and feet with vinegar in the bathtub. It was a miracle. It instantly took the sting out, reduced the heat coming off, and reduced the redness. I rinsed, dried off, sprayed down with Solarcaine again, and I was good as new...well, close to it. When the Solarcaine dried, I started rubbing in Vitamin A & E cream, which helps tone down the itch. I'm repeating the routine twice a day, and so far, it's been amazing.

I'd never heard of vinegar for a sunburn before, but WOW does it work. I was afraid it would burn or something, being acidic, but it actually soothed it. Apparently, it's an old trick lifeguards used to use before the days of SPF. They'd come home and soak in a tub of vinegar. It's unbelievable how well it works.

I have to walk around smelling somewhat like a pickle, but it's worth it. I'm not going anywhere this weekend anyway.

posted by Karabou at 11:53 PM EST

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July 1, 2008
If you break my heart one more time, it’ll be the last heart you ever break I find it sad and shocking the trouble some of my old friends have gotten into since high school. One of them OD'd on heroin. Another fled to the west coast after being charged with drug possession for pot. "Boris" is in a Texas prison after getting caught dealing crack cocaine…and I believe it was his third strike. The list goes on, if I really felt like going into it.

But one of them really, truly breaks my heart to see how he ended up. We were really good friends, totally platonic. It was one of those rare opposite sex friendships that was truly just friendship. I stayed at his house frequently, usually with other friends. I hung out there several nights every week; I remember watching Beavis and Butthead and Ren & Stimpy for the first time at his house.

I went to one of his family reunions and stayed the night. We slept in the back of a pick-up truck on an old mattress, just joking around and laughing all night. It was an odd relationship between us. The likes of which I will likely not experience again, and it breaks my heart to see what a piece of crap he grew into. He wasn't like that when were teens, not in the least. He was a good guy. He cared. And then it just seemed to suddenly fall apart. I don't claim to understand it, but I know it was at least partially fueled by his burgeoning alcohol and drug use. His home life wasn't awesome, but I knew kids worse off who didn't commit the types of acts he has in adulthood.

I know "bad" kids that have turned their lives around and are now pretty successful. And conversely, I know "good" kids that turned out to be pretty awful. Guess the old cliché is true: Never judge a book by its cover.

posted by Karabou at 7:28 PM EST

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June 2008 Archive

2008-10-12T11:57:00.003-04:00

June 30, 2008
I guess I must be dumb cuz u had a pocket full of horses
Friday, we headed to Columbus to have dinner with some friends in town for Origins. It's always nice to catch up with them. We'll get to see them again in 6 weeks at Gencon. But Gencon is always so much busier that there's just no time for dinner and hanging out with them. They're busy folks.

I couldn't go to Origins Saturday because I'm just not up to that much walking yet. Disappointing. Instead, I cleaned the house and then did trailer checks, staying to watch Wanted. It was okay. It reminded me of the over-the-top action of Hudson Hawk, so while it was on the silly/fantasy side of action, I still really enjoyed it. I'd like to see James McAvoy in a "real" action movie, one that's a bit more serious. I think he could pull it off. Especially if he runs around shirtless beat to hell throughout it. Yum.

Sunday, I went to the grocery and then came home and planted almost all of the rest of my flowers. I have six plants left that I just didn't have it in me to finish…and a bush I didn't know what to do with. Maybe I'll try to stick him around the other side of the house or something. Then I put my pavers back along my back retaining wall. Some asshole kids keep taking them off, throwing them around my yard, and stacking them up to climb into the tree in the back yard.

By the time I finished, I was utterly exhausted. I still need to spray all the crap growing out of my retaining wall with Round-Up. I think there are two more mulberry bushes back there, which I have to put the kibosh on asap.

I got my insurance statement from my first few sessions of PT, and it's saying my co-pay is $35/session. The PT place told me it was only $20/session. So I'll be cutting back on the amount of sessions per week if that's the case. I can't afford $105/week. It's asinine.

I've actually slept the last three nights quite well, for the first time since my surgery in April. It's nice. I know it won't last forever, but I'm trying to enjoy it while it does. I think exhausting myself has been helping a lot. I'm going to the gym after work since I've been cleared to use an elliptical and an exercise bike on low, slow settings. And I've been cleared to use some leg weight machines on low weights.

I want to try to get my stamina built back up before Gencon. Four days of walking around for 6-8 hours will kill me if I don't. I'm planning to take a GameBoy or a book or something, so if I need to rest, I can entertain myself. I suppose this means I need to be exercising every day. And while I won't be burning many calories at such light exercise, I'm hoping it will get me to Gencon and back without me feeling like I've been hit by a truck.

posted by Karabou at 9:21 PM EST

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June 25, 2008
Electric World Life
F**k. Seriously.
We had my grandma's birthday today, and it was nice to see my cousins. It's been far too long. What wasn't awesome was that it took me an hour and forty-five minutes to get there. 75N was shut down. 70W was shut down. 675 where it turns into 571 was shut down. So I ended up backtracking through Medway and following a line of cars that I hoped knew where they were going.
I almost started banging my head on the steering wheel when I saw a cop directing traffic in the middle of nowhere because everyone was trying to get around the only three highways in the area. Then it started raining torrentially, AGAIN, while the sun was shining, which in turn made the road steam like crazy. I almost turned around and went home twice, I was so pissed. But I got there, and survived, and made it home in 45 minutes. /sigh
I've been getting estimates on having my trees trimmed. And no, that's not a euphemism. I have one for $1000, one for $500, and one for $550. I think I'm going to go with the cheaper version and not have the canopies completely trimmed and re-shaped. I'm more concerned about the branches laying on our roof that could cause enough damage to make us need a new roof, which would be a hell of a lot more than $1000. That, and our tree in the back is drooping down on the neighbor's garage, and kids keep stacking my decorative pavers to climb up into it. I'm not fond of having a precious snowflake fall out of it and getting sued by the idiot's parents. I suppose I should put up "GTF off my lawn" signs to cover my ass.
My sister gave me more flowers. I have to make time this weekend to finish up the side bed. I was sad when one of my Asian Lilies cracked in half, but she reassured me that if I keep watering the root, it will come back next year.
PT hurt like hell today. I had one of the guys for the first time. The exercises are fine, but the soft-tissue work (still not a euphemism) is living hell. He was like, "Oh, are you tender there?" JABJABJABJABJABJABJAB RUBRUBRUBRUBRUB "That hurts? You should be working it harder at home." JABJABJABJABJABJAB RUBRUBRUBRUBRUB And then he laughed when I started trying to crawl over the back of the chair in pain, trying to escape. God it sucks.
And then when I changed into my work clothes, I had something all over my shirt. On my boobs. Excellent. Because I REALLY need to draw more attention there. So I hid at my desk as best I could all day. On the upside, Kev was able to finally coordinate getting dad's planes to the IT guys he works with who acted like giddy school girls when they found out about them. They're huge into model planes, especially ones that really fly, so I hope they enjoy the shit out of them.
I'm tired and amazingly cranky. I think I just want to go to bed.
posted by Karabou at 9:57 PM EST

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June 24, 2008
Indy 4 Spoilers Ahead
I saw Indiana Jones tonight. The more I think about it, the more I dislike it. At first, I thought, "It wasn't bad," and shrugged. But really, aliens? Aliens, Mr. Lucas? What were you thinking? Shia LeWhatshisname wasn't bad. I was surprised he didn't annoy the hell out of me. I even feel that if they gave him a spin-off, I'd give it a chance. But I won't hold my breath for quality after Transformers.
I didn't feel that there was nearly as much high adventure as the other three. And while I didn't think they needed to jump a lava pit in a mining car, I felt like I only got a taste with the motorcycle chase. I'm bored with 80s punch-outs. Watching two old men punch each other in the face might be hilarious if you're watching Bum Fights, but it wasn't in this movie. Harrison is looking old, for sure, which makes me FEEL old. I feel like it was yesterday I saw Indy 3 in the theater.
I also knew there was going to be an Ark joke in the warehouse, as soon as I saw all the boxes. I dunno. I went in with low expectations and wasn't proved wrong.

posted by Karabou at 10:53 PM EST

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June 22, 2008
Little boy blue and the man in the moon
Dear god, what a whirlwind weekend...at least for my current stamina level.

Friday night, I took Tanya out for her birthday. We hit Abuelos and then saw Love Guru. Not awesome, but certainly better than crap like Epic Movie and other such tripe. I don't look for Mike Meyers to be making much after this one.

Saturday, my m-i-l came down, and we hauled the old toilet and bathroom sink/vanity to ReStore, the Habitat for Humanity charity similar to Goodwill (but for household items). Some guy bought them before we could even get them unloaded off the van. That made me happy, since I knew someone was going to use them. And Kev's mom took the light fixture and medicine cabinet. I just wanted it to be of use to someone. Mission accomplished, and I have a tax write-off.

Then we went to Lowes, so I could get some sealing paint for the leaky wall in the basement. That's a project for sometime this week. I also picked up some little tomato stakes to get my Asian Lilies upright, rather than laying flat on the ground. But I snapped one of them right off when I put it upright. /sniff My sister says it will grow back if I leave the bulb and just keep watering it. And I got some liquid sander and spraypaint, so I can work on the chairs when I get around to it.

I was overly ambitious and thought I was going to make it to Flower Factory and JoAnn Fabrics, but I was utterly whipped by the time we got done at Lowes. I grudgingly admitted that I couldn't go on, and we gave up for the day. I was so exhausted that I was on the verge of nodding off for the rest of the day. And my arms were actually aching just from dragging the sink and toilet out of the garage to scrub them down. ACHING.

God this is going to be a slow recovery. I thought I was doing pretty good, and I suppose I am. But the last 6 months have taken more of a toll on me than I expected. My physical therapist warned it would be 6 months before I was 100%. She said I could expect to feel a little better every day, but I won't be firing on all cylinders for quite a while.

Today, I did trailer checks, and Kev was leaving for the airport for his back-patting, group-hug trip to Jersey. Then I went to Mom's for my cousin Mike's sort of wedding reception. He was hands-down the happiest I've seen him in nearly a decade. BLAMMO! He was hit by the MAC truck of love out of the blue. I'm so happy for him.

I stopped at Tanya's for a bit, and when I got home, Kev was here. ...

Apparently, Jersey was under siege by some nasty storms, and his flight was cancelled. Now he has to get up at 4:30am to catch a 6:45am flight, go straight to the company meeting (he'll be late for it), then go out to dinner, and THEN he can go check into his hotel. Christ, that's going to be grueling. I don't think I could do it. And did I mention everyone else refuses to drive once they get there? Awesome.

His shitty trip just got 1000x shittier. ugh.

posted by Karabou at 9:44 PM EST

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June 18, 2008
ANWR and off-shore oil drilling: Yet another Bush fallacy
The gist: In 10 years, doing both might shave off 8 cents a gallon. Maybe.
On Wednesday morning President George W. Bush urged Congress to overturn a 26-year ban on offshore oil drilling in the U.S., and open a part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) for petroleum exploration. Flanked by the secretaries of Energy and the Interior, Bush also proposed streamlining the construction process for new oil refineries, and explained that these moves would "take pressure off gas prices over time by expanding the amount of American-made oil and gasoline." Coming a day after Republican presumptive presidential nominee John McCain made a similar appeal to enhance domestic oil exploration, Bush was sending an unsubtle election year message to the American public: I care about the economic toll of $4 a gallon gas, and Democrats in Congress, who have opposed such an expansion, don't.
But there's a flaw in that logic: even if tomorrow we opened up every square mile of the outer Continental Shelf to offshore rigs, even if we drilled the entire state of Alaska and pulled new refineries out of thin air, the impact on gas prices would be minimal and delayed at best. A 2004 study by the government's Energy Information Administration (EIA) found that drilling in ANWR would trim the price of gas by 3.5 cents a gallon by 2027. (If oil prices continue to skyrocket, the savings would be greater, but not by much.) Opening up offshore areas to oil exploration — currently all coastal areas save a section of the Gulf of Mexico are off-limits, thanks to a Congressional ban enacted in 1982 and supplemented by an executive order from the first President Bush — might cut the price of gas by 3 to 4 cents a gallon at most, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. And the relief at the pump, such as it is, wouldn't be immediate — it would take several years, at least, for the oil to begin to flow, which is time enough for increased demand from China, India and the rest of the world to outpace those relatively meager savings. "Right now the price of oil is set on the global market," says Kevin Lindemer, executive managing director of the energy markets group for the research firm Global Insight. President Bush's move "would not have an impact."The reason is simple: the U.S. has an estimated 3% of global petroleum reserves, but consumes 24% of the world's oil. Offshore territories and public lands like ANWR that don't allow drilling may contain up to 75 billion barrels of oil, according to the EIA. That may sound like a lot, but it's not enough to make a significant difference in a world where global oil demand is expected to rise 30% by 2030, to nearly 120 million barrels a day. At best, greatly expanding domestic drilling might eventually lower the proportion of oil the U.S. imports — currently about 60% of its total supply — but petroleum is a global commodity, and the world market would soak up any additional American production. "This is a drop in the bucket," says Gernot Wagner, an economist with the Environmental Defense Fund.Still, with Americans hurting at the pump, it may be difficult for environmentalists and other opponents of increased domestic drilling to resist the push for more oil, whatever the cost. As recently as his 2000 Presidential run, McCain had been against offshore drilling, but he changed that position Tuesday, arguing that individual states should decide for themselves. (He remains against drilling ANWR, however, pointing out that "we called it a 'refuge' for a reason.'") The Republican Governor of Florida, Charlie Crist — considered a possible vice-presidential candidate — also flip-flopped, backing McCain's position. Though Democratic Senator Barack Obama and most of his party are against the proposed expansion, McCain and his supporters may have the public on their side: a recent Gallup poll found that 57% of Americans believe we should open up new territories to drilling. "It could help in the long term," says Bruce Bullock, director of the Maguire Energy Institute at Southern Methodist University. Still, he acknowledges that even expanded drilling is unlikely to bring prices down much.Though offshore drilling conjures up fears of catastrophic spills, the petroleum industry rightly argues that safety measures have improved considerably in recent years. A 2003 report by the National Research Council found that only 1% of the oil that entered U.S. waters came from petroleum operations, like the offshore drilling platforms that run in the Gulf of Mexico — which also weathered Hurricane Katrina without massive spills. If it can be done in an environmentally friendly fashion — and with oil companies themselves footing the bill — opening up some new territory to drilling might be worth it. The reality is that our economy will run on petroleum for the foreseeable future, and that while investing in alternatives is the only way to secure truly low-cost energy over the long-term, we'll still need oil for decades more. But any attempt to increase supply must be coupled with even heavier investment in energy efficiency and other methods to decrease oil demand — an approach that, to his credit, McCain has said will be a key part of his energy policy (although in the Senate he has skipped or voted against every fuel efficiency bill since 1990, according to the League of Conservation Voters). In any case, Bush's plan is unlikely to be realized — the Democratic-controlled Congress remains against it, and Bush can't open up the new territory on his own.Even as Democrats and Republicans squabble over a relatively small amount of petroleum, we're missing out on the opportunity to truly break our addiction to crude. This week the Senate again failed to renew the tax credit for renewable energies like solar and wind; the credit, which expires at the end of the year, is key to the healthy growth of low-carbon alternatives. Without it, "the industry will simply stop," says Santiago Seage, CEO of the Spanish company Abengoa Solar. With energy demand skyrocketing, we'll need more oil, and alternatives like solar, and demand-side measures like toughened auto fuel efficiency standards, or tax incentives for Americans to purchase less wasteful cars. We'll have to include action on global warming, like the recently defeated Warner-Lieberman carbon cap and trade bill. A study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that under the bill, U.S. petroleum consumption would drop by nearly half by 2030 — savings far in excess of the amount of oil we could ever pull from Alaska or the coasts. "We can't drill our way out of this and we can't conserve our way out either," says Bullock. "We need both." Fair enough. But the sad truth is that neither drilling nor conservation will have an immediate effect on rising gas prices, even if they do have an immediate impact on the presidential race.Source: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1815884,00.html?cnn=yes
posted by Karabou at 6:58 PM EST

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June 15, 2008
Salieri and His Visigoth Entendre
The only downside to living next to an alley is all the trash people throw in our yard. I try to keep it cleaned up, even the neighbor's property on the other side of the alley. I don't want to feel like I'm living in Squalor Holler again. This weekend, we found an unopened bottle of beer in our yard, along with a pot pipe. Yay.

I feel so productive this weekend. While I didn't get to go to the Yellow Springs Street Fair Saturday, I DID do a little more shopping, buying 3 more shirts 60% off, another skirt, and 3 slips. I can't wait till I'm out of the brace and can wear sandals. Tennies and dresses don't mix, unless you're power-walking to work in NYC.

Saturday, I also cleaned the bathroom, did all the laundry, and cleaned up the kitchen some. I still need to vacuum the living room, but I wanted to take a break. And I had Amanda's stepson came down and mow the lawn for me. Our lawnboys have cut and run with the pre-paid $10 from the last time they mowed for us. Young kids don't understand the concept of long-term earnings. They could easily have earned a cool $100 off just us by the end of the summer, if not more because they were mowing more than just our lawn. But they chose to take the $10 pre-payment and not come back.

They DID show up Tuesday with some suspicious story about how both their mowers were broken, and they couldn't mow our lawns anymore...at least until they were fixed...which could be next Sunday. Neither could look me in the eye while they talked, and my gut feeling is that they had earned all the money they had needed to buy whatever it was they wanted, so they weren't coming back. Kids. heh

But if I can get by mowing every other week, I can have Rew mow the lawn for the same price. And I should be able to mow it in a month or so, myself. Progress.

I was amazed at how much better I was able to walk on Saturday compared to Friday; a mere 24 hours made a huge difference. Although, I'm not walking so much better today compared to yesterday, but it's all progress. I'm doing my exercises faithfully, and I already have three times the mobility I had at PT on Friday. I'm just glad I feel like this is already working. The only thing I hate is having to massage my scar for 15 minutes. It feels gross because of the numbness around it. And it's uncomfortable. Bleh.
I did see some trailers for movies I'm looking forward to.

Tropic Thunder: Only because Robert Downey Jr. plays an Australian actor who undergoes a medical procedure to play the black lead in the movie. He's so awesome.

The Spirit: I've never read any of The Spirit storyline, but the trailer was very Sin City-ish, and I think it could be interesting.

Hancock: Has the potential to be f-ing awesome. Hope it lives up to the expectations it's setting.

Mummy Part 164: The latest in the Mummy franchise, it doesn't look bad. I'm glad there's finally ANOTHER mummy to pursue.

Hellboy 2: Duh, awesome.

X-files: So after the fact that I honestly don't even know what to think.

Miracle at St. Anna: I'm intrigued. I might check this one out.

Wanted: OMG James McCavoy, yum.

Traitor: It looks like the kind of film that picks up halfway through the running time and then really gets good.

Babylon AD: Vin finally got some work again...in a futuristic, sci-fi movie. Go figure. I just pray he doesn't kiss anyone. yargh.

Mirrors: A Kiefer Sutherland Sci-Fi Original movie in the making.

Bangkok Dangerous: Only Nicholas Cage could make a movie like this look boring.

Defiance: Based on a true story of 4 Jewish brothers who joined the Russian Resistance and built a village in the forest. I remember seeing something on the History Channel on this a while back. Could be good.

The Happening: SPOILERS!!!!!
I saw The Happening today with my cousin. It was pretty much what I expected. There wasn't much of a story, and M. Night pulled his usual semi-wooden performance out of his actors. Mark Wahlberg is an awesome actor, and Zooey Deschanel isn't bad, either. But neither of them had any emotional depth, and Marky Mark was downright laughable in some scenes. I was, however, shocked that M. Night didn't insert himself in some masturbatory role in this film like he has in all the others. He seems to have overcome his case of Kevin-Smith Syndrome.

And the first thing I thought to myself was, "If the power of love saves them, I'm going to choke." I guess I better get something lodged in my throat, stat. My cousin and I were discussing the movie over lunch, as we usually do. Basically, the trees, grass, and bushes have turned on us and are emitting a deadly neurotoxin because we've become toxic to the world. It only seems to affect large groups of people, and then it seems to affect people who are aggressive, angry, or bickering. And if one person is freaking out, the whole group is killed indiscriminately.

Marky and Zooey survive because they run out into the deadly neurotoxin full of love. /gag And yes, there is sort of a twist ending. I suppose not so much a twist, but you know he had to do SOMETHING to try to make the ending quirky, even if it wasn't that Zooey and Marky were really aliens sent to repopulate the earth.

Rent it.

posted by Karabou at 7:59 PM EST

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June 13, 2008
Hazzard's Cooter. tee hee
I had my physical therapy evaluation today. They had a cancellation, and rather than wait until next week, I went ahead and took it.

It wasn't as bad as I feared. It did hurt, but it's already better a day after getting out of the boot. The tenderness will subside with PT, which, by the way, I was informed did NOT stand for Pain and Torture. I remain unconvinced.

I'm supposed to rub lotion into the scar for as long as I can stand every night in order to flatten it out and loosen the skin. Looser skin will help my flexibility and recovery. She rubbed it for about 20 minutes, and towards the end it was really irritating. I also have to wear SPF 50 on the scar. If it burns, and it will burn super easy, it will turn dark brown and stay that way. She said stuff like Mederma isn't really useful at this point; any lotion will do. But I'm also to start some ankle exercises, and I start hydrotherapy next week. I'll be working in the pool for at least two weeks, three times a week.

I'm both looking forward to it and dreading it. I know it's going to help immensely--she said after two weeks, I should notice improvement each week. I can start using an exercise bike with low resistance at a slow speed, as I can tolerate, and she told me to get back in the gym and start doing upper body as I can.

I'm excited to be this far this fast. I've got a ways to go, but I'm already feeling stronger. I may be walking like a 90-year-old lady today, but I know it's just going to get better.

posted by Karabou at 8:26 PM EST

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June 12, 2008
Holy Batmans, Batman!
I'm out of the boot, into the brace, and I can get into a pool!

posted by Karabou at 4:41 PM EST

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June 8, 2008
*whew*
Hell of a weekend...

Got pushed around in a wheelchair, so I could do a little summer shopping while the huge Penney's sale was on. Hurrah for wheelchair rentals. It was a little embarrassing, truth be told, as I don't like to think of myself as so incapacitated. But I was shocked, SHOCKED, at how people stared at me. I mean, when I see a person in a wheelchair, I don't stare; it's not like they have three heads. I think it's rude.

I just couldn't believe it. It didn't offend me, maybe because I know I'll be walking in another week or two without help, but I couldn't believe that people in this day and age are THAT insensitive. I mean, they wouldn't just double-take at me; they would S-T-A-R-E, open mouth, slack jaw stare. It was just insane. I did get one wry comment that made me giggle. Some old lady was standing at the cash register in front of me, and she looked me right in the eye and said, "I love your mismatched shoes. And I'll bet you love them a whole lot less than I do." lol

But I got 3 dresses, 3 skirts, some Capri pants and shorts, and some shirts. I made sure everything would fit over the boot, so I didn't have to take it off. I'm thrilled. I had no summer clothes left, save for 2 skirts and some t-shirts.

Today, mom showed up with my sister and grandma around 3:30pm, and we pulled up all the crap we planted last week. /grumble But my sister should be a landscaper. She really has an eye for it, and she was seriously excited about having blank canvas to work with. She went to Home Depot and bought me Hostas and brought a bunch of her plants from her own garden to share with me. It looks gorgeous.

After 2 hours of pulling myself across the yard on my ass, I was done. I just got too hot, and my foot felt like it was on fire. My arms were aching, and I had bug bite welts all over my arms and exposed legs. I had to get inside and take a cool shower, but I did manage to finish planting all the Impatiens this time. We still need another flat or so to finish the side flowerbed, but the front is gorgeous.

Next stop, the flowerbed on the back of the house and fill dirt and shade grass for the trees. I may not get it all accomplished this year, but next year, I will for sure.
posted by Karabou at 9:50 PM EST

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May 2008 Archive

2008-10-12T11:57:00.001-04:00

May 29, 2008
I'm in the boot! I AM IN THE BOOT!
Woohoo! No more cast 4 me!!!111one

I'm ecstatic. He told me I could drive when I felt ready. So I might try it this weekend and see how it feels. I still have to use crutches for the next 2 weeks (at least), but I'm on the road to recovery. I can put my foot down, but I have to ease into putting weight on it. Easy does it! Nice and slow.

So I still have to take it easy, but being able to put my foot down means I'm much steadier and (hopefully) won't be falling anymore. Kev kept telling me not to get my hopes up (and rightfully so), especially when I told him I was taking the boot with me just in case that slim chance of a miracle might happen and he'd let me wear it instead of a cast. Thank god I DID bring it!

Yay!

And in celebration, here's a juicy clip:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/21218/gorgeous-tiny-chicken-machine-show-gtcms-video-juicy
posted by Karabou at 5:32 PM EST

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May 24, 2008
Watch me. Drink me.
It made the bitterness of the last 5 weeks melt away, even if for just a few fleeting moments.
posted by Karabou at 6:40 PM EST

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May 23, 2008
Huhuhuhuh...you said "ass"....huhuhuhuh
So I've been sucked into watching reruns of Beavis and Butthead on MTV here and there. And you know what? It still works. It still makes me laugh and highly amuses the 16-year-old lurking inside my brain.

What I'm not thrilled about is Mike Judge's announcement that he is finally going to proceed with a live-action Beavis and Butthead movie. Who is on his dream list to play them you ask? Sean William Scott and Jon Heder, of course.
posted by Karabou at 5:04 PM EST

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May 22, 2008
I'm at the mall on a diet pill
Well, it started out being a great day. I slept 9.5 hours last night and actually woke up feeling well rested and had enough energy to shower this morning. (I've been showering in the evening before bed because I prefer to have Kevin home and awake should I fall in the bathroom and cripple myself.)

Then I fell on the sidewalk steps while going out to the car. I put my foot down and had enough time to think, "THAT'S not going to do it," threw my crutches out to the side, and just crumpled and rolled. You get hurt when you try to stop yourself from falling. If you can just let yourself go (crumple and roll), you're probably not going to get hurt nearly as bad. Those years of learning to fall correctly in karate have finally paid off. heh

Then my Bagel B.E.L.T. didn't have any egg on it. Whatever fucking retard made my sandwich didn't know that E. stands for EGG. Idiots. I had to have a coworker run the retard sandwich across the street to get it fixed since Kev had already driven away, and I can't do anything about it.

Christ, two more weeks. Just when I was thinking to myself this morning, "Maybe I have it in me to go out to lunch today," I f-ing fall. Now I'm terrified all over again to do anything or go anywhere. I hate this. I really, really fucking hate this.
posted by Karabou at 8:47 PM EST

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May 21, 2008
Zzzzzzzzz
The Name of the Rose: Not a bad detective flick. Reminds me of Cadfael. It got kind of long towards the end.

Déjà vu: More like Deja P.U. Didn't make a lick of sense. They need to just stop with time travel movies.

Never Cry Werewolf: One of the better Sci-Fi Original movies. It was actually entertaining enough to keep me from fast-forwarding through it.

Brian is going to stop and get another new wireless modem for my PC tonight, as the first one died when my PC was set back up the week after my party. I haven't had an internet connection, except for briefly last Friday night. /sigh I have NOTHING to do at home except watch TV. Even the DVD player is acting up.

I went to BD's last night to use my free birthday dinner coupon before it expired. (You get a free meal on your birthday if you sign up for their email list and $5 off a meal for signing up.) That was an ordeal. My elbows hurt so bad by the time I got home, I had to take a Percocet. No one ever tells you that being on crutches makes EVERYTHING else hurt. My foot is fine. I don't need narcotic pain killers for IT. I need them for the rest of my body hurting like hell. My "good" foot cramps up so bad in the evenings it's indescribable. Every muscle, tendon, ligament, and--I swear to god--bone curls up and won't uncurl without 30 minutes of a super-hot heating pad and constant massaging.

Saturday morning, I was laying in bed at 6am just miserable and aching. My shoulders and elbows hurt. My upper and lower arms and hands ached, my back ached, my "good" ankle ached, my thighs ached. It was just ridiculous. I would have taken a Percocet then, but it would have required going to the kitchen sink to get one. So I just laid there in misery for 2 hours. After that, I didn't want to take one because they make me so sleepy.
posted by Karabou at 9:44 PM EST

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May 20, 2008
Who needs a title anyway?
Okay, why am I supposed to feel sorry for someone who CHOOSES to live in her car, rather than go somewhere more affordable?

If I had to choose between homelessness and moving somewhere more affordable, I'd move. …I suppose because I have half a brain.posted by Karabou at 10:22 PM EST

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May 18, 2008
Who needs a title anyway?
Rough weekend. I've hit that point where I'm SICK. TO. DEATH. of these crutches, of not being able to do anything, and not being able to go anywhere. When my computer was hooked back up on Friday--after being dismantled and moved for my party--the wireless modem didn't work. So I can't get online to do anything. So my options for entertainment at home are A) Watch TV B) Watch TV or C) Watch TV. I'm so sick of watching TV I could puke. I've watched at least 30 movies in the past three weeks, and I'm SICK of watching movies.

I crawled upstairs on my hands and knees yesterday morning to play WoW, which I was able to do for about an hour before my foot started hurting from not being propped up.

If I'm ever paralyzed, I want assisted suicide. If I have to live my life at the mercy of other people, I'd rather be dead.

Tanya stopped by Saturday with her boys for a bit. And Amanda ran a few errands for me, vacuumed the living room, and chatted for a while. The company was nice. Sunday, I was so bored and miserable I wanted to stab myself in the eye. And I have another three weeks to go.

I know that no matter how angry, irritated, and unhappy I am I'm still going to be in the cast another 3 weeks. Part of me feels like I should just get over it and make the best of it, and the other part of me wants to choke the first part of me to death with a tube sock. So far, the evil part is winning.
posted by Karabou at 11:01 PM EST

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May 16, 2008
Faster, faster, thrill, thrill!
I've got the halfway-there itch. I just keep thinking, "Three more weeks, and you get to walk again." Argh. There are so many things I need to do around the house.

My coworker took me to Victoria Secret yesterday, so I could get my free panty. Despite her dropping me off and picking me up at the absolute closest door, my elbows feel someone hit them with a sledgehammer. 10 times. I could barely make it to my room on crutches last night, and they still hurt this morning. /sigh I guess I'll just not go anywhere for another three weeks.

I'm getting stir crazy. I'm not a sedentary person, and all this "doing nothing" is making me bat-shit crazy. I crave sugar constantly, I'm guessing as comfort food because I'm unhappy.

Good news is we got the drain in the basement fixed. $185 later, a 120-foot snake brought back a giant clump of roots. Guess I'll be getting some root killer into the pipes…when I can go buy some. The bad news is, there IS a leak in the basement wall. It's minor, and it's right over the drain (thank GOD). So we'll have to patch that and seal it when it stops raining. I'm just thankful Kev is the one who saw it leaking. I swear to god he never believes me unless I can rub his nose in it.

I need to check the gutters because I think they're gunked up with leaves, even though we have those super fancy covers over them. I wanted to plant flowers and put down fill dirt and shade grass under the trees, put in some bushes. Those things will probably have to wait till next year now. Blah.

And on a side note, I watched Mansfield Park for the first time. How did this movie escape me for over a decade? I loved it.posted by Karabou at 10:11 PM EST

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May 13, 2008
I’m your daytime waitress at the taco tiki hut Got my stitches out today and was told I had to go the full 6 weeks in the cast. I nearly cried. Heh

I got hot pink today, and I'm getting aqua next time. Springy colors! My next cast change is in two weeks. He said most doctors would just say, "See you in 3.5 weeks!" But he likes to check the wound and make sure all is healing the way it's supposed to, and people like to see their leg. He said people get frustrated when they have to spend 6 weeks in a dirty, stinky, itchy cast. I totally agree. It's been mildly amusing being able to get a different color cast every week.

So whatever. Here I am. This Friday will be the half-way point.

My birthday party went off without a hitch. I guess the way to get god to NOT hate my parties is to just not give a shit whether it turns out or not. I had about 20 people turn up, and I think everyone had a pleasant time.
posted by Karabou at 8:28 PM EST

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May 6, 2008
Post-op #2 down
They took the tape off my wound and gave me another cast, purple this time. I should have done pink last week when I was home, and then I could do blue next time. But I'll probably just go to blue again next time, unless I feel feisty and decide neon pink is the way to spend my last 2 weeks in the cast.

He said I should be feeling some tingling, itching, burning, or SOMETHING that would signal that my body is "making new tendon." But honestly, I'm not sure that I have felt anything. And I don't know what that means, as far as my recovery goes. It does worry me somewhat. But I've got a while to go, and maybe I'm just not feeling my body "make new tendon." Hrrmmm.

I get my stitches out next Tuesday, get my final cast, and re-evaluate in two weeks to see if I'm ready to get off crutches. Let me tell you kids, it's not going to be fun walking on this for the first couple of weeks. And physical therapy will probably make me want to cut it off. Argh.

I saw Ironman Sunday, and it was quite possibly the best superhero movie I've seen to date. Maybe that's because I've had a crush on Robert Downey Jr. since I was like 11. And he just keeps getting hotter.

Yesterday, I woke up with my foot so swollen I could barely stand it. I couldn't figure out why, all of a sudden, it was swelling like the Hindenburg. My m-i-l asked me if I had eaten anything salty Sunday night, and I had, indeed, consumed super salty Cassano's pepperoni pizza that night. Problem solved. No more salty fare until I'm out of the cast. At least I figured it out and can make sure it doesn't happen again.
posted by Karabou at 3:45 PM EST

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May 3, 2008
Meat Palace of my dreams
Went to the meat palace for my birthday lunch today. Yum. I actually made it through all 10 kinds of meats, though I skipped the lamb but had seconds on one of the beef courses. Numnumnum. The "starch of the day" was awesome. And the little cheesy bread balls are so good.
Oh yeah, a few more movies...
Apocalypto: I was really enjoying it up until the 30 minute forest chase, and then it turned into some kind of Rambo revenge sequence.
Bright Young Things: James McAvoy, David Tennant, AND Dan Akroyd? How could I go wrong? It was okay.
Blood Rayne 2: Deliverance: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Babel: I watched most of it in 1x fast forward, since it was mostly subtitled. I don't feel like I missed anything, I saved myself over an hour of time, and I still guessed a bunch of stuff early on that was supposed to be all Ah-ha!
posted by Karabou at 3:45 PM EST

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May 2, 2008
Super Helico!
Blah, my stitches hurt. 10 or so more days to go. /whine
I've watched so many movies this week, I can't even remember them all. That and the painkillers have made me rather hazy the whole time.
The Return: So boring you'll wish SMG would die to make it interesting. I mean, it was really, REALLY boring. NOTHING happens.
The Messengers: Surprisingly not a horror movie, at least not the kind you think it is by the commercials. Still awful, but about 30 steps up from The Return.
One Crazy Summer: Highly overrated. Demi Moore wears giant, ugly fat-chick clothes the entire movie. John Cusack displays his skinny legs and little talent.
Last King of Scotland: Had this been a true story, it would have been way cooler. But I suppose it wasn't bad. And I got my James McAvoy fix. yum.
The Pursuit of Happyness: Not awesome. I wasn't all that interested in the characters; I just wanted to see him triumph and watch the credits roll.
I watched at least six other movies, but I swear I can't remember what they were. Awesome.
posted by Karabou at 2:18 PM EST

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April 30, 2008
Choo choo chooey
The furnace problem wasn't the furnace at all. It was the thermostat. Some months ago, I had knocked it off the wall somehow, probably with wild flailing. The guy said he was amazed it worked at ALL after that--the wires were just hanging by a thread, and one had come out, thus killing the signal to the furnace. He re-wired it, and he was super nice. If you're in the Kettering/Centerville area, I highly recommend A-ABEL. They're pretty good around here. But avoid them in Fairborn...not so good at that office.

So that was about $140 to fix, and the chimney was only about $69. So it was as bad as it could have been, I suppose--just not money I wanted to shell out right now. But oh well. we'll get this all squared away eventually. I believe my deductible for my surgery is already paid because of the boot and brace and cortisone shots I've had so far this year. My deductible is only $300, and I know that's been met. So here's to hoping I don't owe too much on it. Kev still has a couple of $100 ER visits due yet. Blah.

My stitches are starting to hurt like a biatch, but I think it's normal; I had stitches in my neck a decade ago, and I think as the wound healed, it hurt MORE because the stitches were irritating the healthy skin.
posted by Karabou at 9:46 AM EST

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April 29, 2008
Blah and double blah
Now the furnace isn't working. AGAIN. Someone is coming out around noon, non-emergency, to fix that. I've got the chimney guy coming to repair my chimney cap today at 3pm, and to hopefully NOT find raccoons living in it. My brakes went out and had to be repaired, and now I'm going to have a ton of medical bills. Grrrrrrr...
posted by Karabou at 8:34 PM EST

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April 28, 2008
One down...
Had my first post-op today. I got a shiny new royal blue cast, which I adore (oddly), and he said my stitches couldn't look better. I'll have a cast change every week until the stitches come out, which could be closer to three weeks. The nurse said he tends to be very conservative on stitches, and I suppose I can see why on bendy parts like the ankle.
My stitches don't hurt terribly; it's more of an uncomfortable creepy feeling. The skin on both sides of the wound is tingling, like when your skin crawls. It's very odd. And it hurts like hell when I smack my foot on something. GAWD. And of course, that's something I do at least twice a day. At least.
I've only taken one pain pill since I got up, and that was to combat the possibility of intense pain at my appointment, but there wasn't much. Thank god. I'll keep taking them at bedtime, since I tend to move around a bit more in my sleep than when I'm propped up on my butt in the recliner.
I'm probably just going to stay home and take it easy this week. My family and friends have been yelling at me to just rest, and I suppose I should. I'm just not a "rest" kind of person. I sit in the chair with a cat draped over my legs and think about all the housecleaning I could be doing, the laundry, the bathroom, the vacuuming, the straightening... /sigh
posted by Karabou at 6:05 PM EST

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April 2008 Archive

2008-10-12T11:56:00.002-04:00

April 30, 2008
Choo choo chooey
The furnace problem wasn't the furnace at all. It was the thermostat. Some months ago, I had knocked it off the wall somehow, probably with wild flailing. The guy said he was amazed it worked at ALL after that--the wires were just hanging by a thread, and one had come out, thus killing the signal to the furnace. He re-wired it, and he was super nice. If you're in the Kettering/Centerville area, I highly recommend A-ABEL. They're pretty good around here. But avoid them in Fairborn...not so good at that office.

So that was about $140 to fix, and the chimney was only about $69. So it was as bad as it could have been, I suppose--just not money I wanted to shell out right now. But oh well. we'll get this all squared away eventually. I believe my deductible for my surgery is already paid because of the boot and brace and cortisone shots I've had so far this year. My deductible is only $300, and I know that's been met. So here's to hoping I don't owe too much on it. Kev still has a couple of $100 ER visits due yet. Blah.

My stitches are starting to hurt like a biatch, but I think it's normal; I had stitches in my neck a decade ago, and I think as the wound healed, it hurt MORE because the stitches were irritating the healthy skin.
posted by Karabou at 9:46 AM EST

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April 29, 2008
Blah and double blah
Now the furnace isn't working. AGAIN. Someone is coming out around noon, non-emergency, to fix that. I've got the chimney guy coming to repair my chimney cap today at 3pm, and to hopefully NOT find raccoons living in it. My brakes went out and had to be repaired, and now I'm going to have a ton of medical bills. Grrrrrrr...
posted by Karabou at 8:34 PM EST

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April 28, 2008
One down...
Had my first post-op today. I got a shiny new royal blue cast, which I adore (oddly), and he said my stitches couldn't look better. I'll have a cast change every week until the stitches come out, which could be closer to three weeks. The nurse said he tends to be very conservative on stitches, and I suppose I can see why on bendy parts like the ankle.
My stitches don't hurt terribly; it's more of an uncomfortable creepy feeling. The skin on both sides of the wound is tingling, like when your skin crawls. It's very odd. And it hurts like hell when I smack my foot on something. GAWD. And of course, that's something I do at least twice a day. At least.
I've only taken one pain pill since I got up, and that was to combat the possibility of intense pain at my appointment, but there wasn't much. Thank god. I'll keep taking them at bedtime, since I tend to move around a bit more in my sleep than when I'm propped up on my butt in the recliner.
I'm probably just going to stay home and take it easy this week. My family and friends have been yelling at me to just rest, and I suppose I should. I'm just not a "rest" kind of person. I sit in the chair with a cat draped over my legs and think about all the housecleaning I could be doing, the laundry, the bathroom, the vacuuming, the straightening... /sigh
posted by Karabou at 6:05 PM EST

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April 27, 2008
Bedunka dunk, junk in da trunk...
I'm back in the land of the living, if not just a little groggier for wear. They gave me Percocet, which kills the pain but makes me drowsy. It's hard to watch a movie when you're constantly nodding off. I feel somewhat narcoleptic.

Another weird side effect is the vivid, lucid images that hit me when I shut my eyes. As soon as I start to doze off, I get at least one or two, and they are completely random. The last one was seeing my mom drop two buckets in front of me, and I could feel and hear them hit the floor, and it jarred me awake. Too bad my mom hasn't been here since yesterday...

It's almost as good as the terrifyingly lucid, vivid dreams I got on Voltaren. But the things I see are totally random, rather than nightmarish. Hopefully, I'll only need them a few more days. I'm sticking to 1 pill every 5 hours, and it seems to be cutting the pain to an acceptable level. The last thing I want to do is sleep for the next week and nothing else. And I'm not fond of being off my tits 24 hours a day all doped up. It makes me feel useless.

Kev set up my PC on the kitchen table, so I can do more than just watch Tivo and be bored. I can at least work on my editing, blog, and play some WoW to change it up.

I have my first post-op appt. tomorrow, and I'm interested to see what he'll do, other than look at me, tell me I'm still alive, and to check back in next week. I don't get my stitches out until two weeks after surgery. They'll be so itchy next week. ugh.

Friday wasn't terrible. I was really irritable when I got there. It was a ghost town, unlike Kettering Hospital was at 6am when Kev had his sinuses done. I was in that mode where I just wanted shit to get going and be done with it.

The male nurse blew my first vein, and I came as close to fainting as I ever have. It wasn't that it hurt so much, but I was so scared of IV sedation because I didn't know if it was going to be as good as general anesthesia (which it was, btw. I highly recommend it). And when he muttered, "Ugh, I blew it." I started shaking so hard I couldn't control it, nearly started sobbing hysterically, and then the world started to get really dark. The next thing I knew, I had 4 nurses on me (Kev said it's his dream to be able to say that. heh.), one patting my shoulder, one holding my hand, one wiping my face down with an ice cold cloth, and the fourth trying to stop the bleeding in my blown vein. They practically threw the bed down flat to keep me from passing out.

I think I scared the shit out of the guy who blew my vein...that and made him feel really bad about it because of my near-fainting. It was just the fear, anxiety, and stress of it exploding in that one moment of, "Oh christ. He's got to do it AGAIN."

The last thing I remember was helping them get me onto the OR table, and the SECOND my head hit the pillow, I don't remember anything else. They ninja'd that shit on me. lol But it was great. Just as good as general. If you have the choice, go IV sedation.

And then I freaked out the nursing staff when I came to as they were moving me from the OR table to the gurney to take me to recovery. I woke up, started talking, and was completely lucid and awake before they even got me back to my recovery space. heh I tried to warn them that I come out of it really fast. The nurse was just looking at me completely confused. I said, "I'm the fastest you have EVER seen someone come out of anesthesia, aren't I?" To which she replied, "Uh, YEAH."

Before I even got put into my recovery area, I was asking for food, drink, thanking my doctor, and asking to see my husband...all in about 5 seconds. Kev said when the nurse came out to get him, she asked if he could make me stop talking. LOL He said he's been trying for 10 years and hasn't been successful yet. I think she was overwhelmed with me asking her detailed questions about what was done, etc. when I'd been awake about 5 minutes.

But my ankle wasn't as bad as it could have been. There was no debris, so the tendon hadn't started shredding yet. The longus and brevus tendons lay on top of each other behind the ankle bone, and the top one hammered the bottom one flat as a ribbon (they're supposed to be cord shaped). So he had to fold the bottom one in half to make it durable and cord-shaped again. So that should do it. I'm on crutches for the next 5-6 weeks and absolutely CANNOT put any weight on my foot whatsoever during that time.

My family is pushing me to stay home the full week I requested off, and I'm probably going to relent. While I think I could probably go back on Thursday, part of me feels like I should just rest and not push myself (like I always do) and end up screwing this all up. Kev said his biggest fear is that in a fit of stubbornness (me? *shock*) I'll end up hurting myself all over again if I don't just let it sit. And he's right. *sigh*

The pain really isn't too bad, but if I so much as brush my toes against something, it twist my ankle a half a millimeter and makes me cry out. argh. That and the skin around my stitches keeps twitching, which sucks ASS, let me tell you.

So I'll be sitting around all week, somewhat bored, but definitely hopeful that all this is going to be worth it. The doctor seemed to think that my prognosis was excellent, especially since there was no shredding. That would have been the worst case scenario. So my tendons will be left to rest, reseat themselves where they should be, and heal.

Hurrah!
posted by Karabou at 6:25 PM EST

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April 24, 2008
Bring out the gimp...
I'm trying to savor every second of my soon-to-be temporarily limited freedom. I keep thinking about how hard even the smallest tasks are going to be, bathing, getting a drink, making myself breakfast, will I even be able to drive to work once the splint is off and the stitches are out? Getting up in the night to pee is going to become a chore.

I can put NO weight on my right foot for as long as I'm on crutches, which could be 6-8 weeks. It sucks. I hope to god it's worth it.

I'm an extremely independent person, and the prospect of having to rely on others to do so much for me makes me want to scream. Oh well, better to get it over with now and, hopefully, still retain some summer to enjoy.

I've got a Tivo jam-packed with enough movies to last me for a week, and I'm hoping I'm not so doped up on painkillers that I can't think. I don't find that fun…at all.

And then the hospital billing department called to tell me that their facility is out of network to my insurance, and before I could tell them to cancel the surgery, they assured me I would be charged the in-network rate as a courtesy to my doctor's patients. I would have cancelled it, otherwise. There's no way I'm paying out-of-network fees when my doctor is in-network.

She gave me her name and direct number in case there are any discrepancies, so hopefully they'll have their shit together enough to get it right the first time. But I'm not holding my breath.

I should be home by noon tomorrow, and I likely won't be posting any updates until I can manage to get up and down the stairs, which could be a few days. So wish me luck. :)posted by Karabou at 4:22 PM EST

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April 23, 2008
When it rains, it pours...
I heard this god awful squealing coming from the front end of my car as I was driving this morning. I was afraid it was my brakes, rotors specifically, and it was. I have to have new rotors put on the front and new brakes all the way around. I heard the noise once before on my first Taurus, and it was $$$ to fix it, so I was pretty sure I was screwed.

I'm just p*ssed that it never made a squeak or a grind until it was too late. It had "new" brakes on it when I bought the car in, what, 2002? I suppose I should have had them looked at periodically.

So on top of all the medical bills I'm about to pay, I now also have to shell out $500 for my car. /sigh
posted by Karabou at 6:43 PM EST

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April 21, 2008
When life gives you lemons, say, "F*ck the lemons!" and bail.
PI feel like my head is spinning, I have so much to do before Friday, both at work and at home. Argh.

I went to see Forgetting Sarah Marshall on Saturday. It was great. I really liked Superbad, and I think this was funnier than that. And it's got full frontal male nudity. Three times. Score one for the ladies. Woot!

I highly recommend it. Check it out. I'm just glad actually funny movies are finally being made again. Will Ferrell is a one-trick pony, and while his films might get a couple of guffaws out of me, they're not really funny. It doesn't take Hollywood star power to make a great comedy. I think they're FINALLY understanding that.

Judd Apatow's crew seems to be getting it right. I just hope they don't go the way of Ferrell and just make a bunch of crap to make money. So far, it's all been pretty good. The upcoming Pineapple Express looks like it could be fantastic. It's got one of those trailers that actually makes me feel something. And I'm looking forward to Get Smart.

In other news, I'm playing phone tag with a surly NP, trying to get my pre-op physical scheduled. I'm really sorry her workday doesn't start until 12:30, but I need this shit sorted NOW. I have too much going on this week to piss around and not know when I'm available.
posted by Karabou at 12:42 PM EST

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April 19, 2008
Nauru
Prologue.

Act One.

First I wept.
Then I shook with rage.
http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=253
posted by Karabou at 9:51 PM EST

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April 16, 2008
It's oooon.
I'm all set up. Surgery next Friday (25th) at the old St. E's medical building. I'm so ready.

And because I need to make sure I have the newsletter done, I don't have to go to the spring conference.
posted by Karabou at 10:01 PM ESTTop

April 15, 2008
Bring it on! Oh, it's already been broughten!
It's surgery time. It'll either be next week or the week after, according to the nurse this morning. I was kind of annoyed I couldn't schedule it myself, but oh well. I'll know an exact date by Friday.

Recovery isn't too terrible. I'll be on crutches for 2-8 weeks, depending on what he has to do. Then back to the boot for 3 weeks or so, then the brace, and PT. But he won't be able to project my recovery schedule till he gets in there.

Thankfully, we're skipping the MRI. He said it's a 50/50 crapshoot on accuracy on what the radiologist thinks is wrong because the two tendons involved are on top of each other, and they're really thin and hard to see. I'd rather not pay my deductible on the MRI, quite honestly. If it would actually be useful, I'd be all for it.

It'll be local anesthesia with IV sedation, which I'm guessing is twilight sleep, like they do for colonoscopies and the like. And they'll tie my leg down to the table. Sounds a little freaky, but I'll get through it. I was nervous about general anesthesia because of my bradycardia, but unless I'm twitching like crazy, he said he won't have to put me under.

I'm so ready. I want this to work. I can't get my foot wet if I have a cast on, and he said he won't do waterproof casts on feet because the water won't drain out of the bend, which makes your skin turn to mush. (ugh.) I might have to buy a shower chair, because I'm not sitting in our disgusting tub to bathe, and it doesn't look like I'll have a new tub put in before the surgery, unfortunately. Oh well, we'll make it work.

Even if I don't have a cast, he said I won't be able to put any weight on the foot for several weeks. So I could bathe, but I wouldn't be able to stand, unless I did it on one foot, which is not going to happen in a shower. Heh

I'll only be off work for about a week (maybe less), depending on my pain level. He said it might only be a few days. Maybe I'll get lucky and have the surgery on a Thu or Fri, and I'll have the weekend to recuperate. I don't want to use up my vacation days. Blah! Posted by Karabou at 10:36 PM EST

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April 14, 2008Up next: more ambitious unicyclists!
Not much happening lately.

I go to my podiatrist tomorrow to, hopefully, schedule surgery and get my ankle fixed. It's been 3 months; let's get the show on the road. I'm tired of not being able to even go for a walk outside. I feel like a fat, lazy blob that's just getting blobbier as this drags on.

I was looking at recovery, and I've seen extremes of "I was off work for six weeks" to "I was off work for two weeks" while recovering. There's no way in hell I can take 6 weeks of work. And as Kev pointed out, it's really dependent on your work ethic. I could handle two weeks, but it would be a nightmare coming back. I'd likely end up working from home while still having to take vacation days because administration here refuses to let anyone work from home.

But anyway, I'm ready. I want to be recovered in time to be able to walk at Gencon. And I'm not really keen on losing all my summer fun because this just keeps dragging out. From what I've read, it's usually two weeks in a surgery splint, 3 weeks in a cast, 3 weeks in the boot, and then 3 weeks in the brace while doing PT. And PT usually lasts 6-8 weeks. I just want to get it going, and I'm hoping I can get a waterproof cast, so I don't have to sit in our disgusting old tub with my leg propped up. I think I'd rather do a sponge bath than do that. Heh.
Posted by Karabou at 10:17 PM EST
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zomg roxors
Blah.

I’m drowning in catch-up work. I’ve got 2 weeks of newsletter layout, 2 video tours to film, our company’s spring conference on the 24th, and I might be having surgery this month.

The trip was good. It was tiring, though. I was dragging all day yesterday. Then I woke up at 4:30am from one of my trademark bizarro nightmares, only to fall asleep and have another one. Both had zombie themes.

Dream 1:
It’s always night for some reason, and I’m in the city. There are ape men (a la Planet of the Apes) that will kidnap you and assault you in the streets. And they hang out in dark alleys (mostly around McDonalds’ dumpsters) making obnoxious, ominous chimp noises. And on top of that, there are zombies roaming around, mostly headless, that will grapple you and try to squirt blood out of their neckhole into your mouth to turn YOU into a zombie. At one point, one had me pinned against a fence and kept spraying me with blood, and I kept moving my head to dodge it. I don’t remember how I got away, but I was pissed my brother wasn’t saving me.

Then I’m in this house with 2 guys, and the one’s family lives there. Well, his zombie-fied, Dead Alive mother who has tentacles and lives in a blood-filled cave beneath the house with her 20 blood-covered clones. And her husband is armless and jammed in a wall up to his chest and so decomposed you can barely see his face. And her other son is in a zombie Frankenstein-like state, occasionally pulling his dad out of the wall and carrying him around.

We’re trying to get out of the house, and I’m yelling at the guy that lives there to stop holding us up because they’re trying to break down the door. Finally, I just jump out the window and run away.

Dream 2:
I’m at some party, and we’re all laying on this big bed. I get up to go do something, and the host gets electrocuted because a taser is hooked up to it. So he becomes a zombie, and he keeps trying to serve us blood-covered strawberry shortcake blondies.Posted by Karabou at 8:52 PM EST
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April 3, 2008Chop it off, doc.
The conference has been somewhat disappointing. I had hoped that being the Photoshop WORLD conference meant they would have some classes that were more advanced…something that would be mind-shattering to a mostly self-taught user like me. But honestly, it hasn’t. I’ve been largely unimpressed, as most of my classes didn’t have more than a nugget or two I could take away. And I don’t feel that the stress of flying and the expense of coming here (even though it’s not my money) has been worth it.
It was also a slap in the face to find out today, after my class let out at 12:45, that there was no shuttle service back to the hotel until 5pm. My next class didn’t start until 4:45, and I couldn’t walk back to the hotel—it’s about a mile away. I can only assume this was the conference planners’ nefarious scheme to get people to go to the tech expo, which, by the way, was extremely pointless and boring to someone like me. So I staggered over to the Denny’s across the street for lunch (the only other choice was McD’s or Red Lobster) and was annoyed to hell and back by some waiter who thought he was being cute by constantly hitting on me because I was one of those sad f*cks dining alone in a restaurant while reading a book. All I wanted to do was read my book, eat my sandwich, and be left alone, but nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. Every 30 seconds he sauntered by and demanded I "give him that beautiful smile."
Newsflash to men:
Telling a woman to smile repeatedly just pisses her off. I don’t know about the rest of the world, but I don’t walk around all day with a dumbass grin on my face, nor do I want to. Don’t harass me when I’m obviously already uncomfortable. Several times, my mouth was full of food, and he actually waited for me to swallow my bite, all the while saying, "Come on! Smile, beautiful!" I guess I’m supposed to feel flattered that some middle-aged, overly tan waiter at a Denny’s was hitting on me. But all I really felt was uncomfortable, awkward, and annoyed. Sometimes, women just want to be left the hell alone. And with me, that’s pretty much always the case.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not sitting here thinking, "Woe is me! I’m apparently so beautiful that men can’t stop hitting on me!" I don’t think I’m particularly amazing or gorgeous, but definitely not unattractive. But it makes me feel weird when I’m approached by f*ckwits who think they’re being smooth. This isn’t getting my point across. Okay, I really don’t think I’m all that, so when I get hit on, I think, "What’s wrong with that guy?" I also don’t think I’m ugly, but I’m also not full of myself. I’m not one of those people who think everyone is hitting on them or wants them. I just seem to attract the really bizarre, overt mashers who give me a story to tell. It would be a far better trip if, in my free time, I could actually go somewhere other than my room. I went to the pool for 30 minutes yesterday and seriously felt like I was going to explode in a ball of flames. I’m not adjusted to the beautiful 85-degree, sunny weather, and it really just makes me kind of sluggish and exhausted. But I’m afraid to take off my brace to get in the pool because walking without it after the cortisone shot has been extremely painful. So here I sit, in my room with a view overlooking the pool, imagining I’m out there enjoying myself. Yeah, poor me. I’ll shut up about the beautiful weather. Heh
All the windows in every building I’ve been in have this weird tint to them that makes the sky constantly look overcast and gloomy. And when you step outside, you’re all, "Holy crap! It’s beautiful out here!" And it’s not the kind of shady tint we have in Ohio , where it just darkens everything. It’s like you can still see the brightness, it’s just…weird. I can’t explain it.
I was just thinking to myself how I’ve been pretty much pain free all day, and then I got a stab of pain that made me burst into tears momentarily. As soon as I get back, I’m getting surgery set up. I’m so tired of this.And Kev is the sickest I’ve ever seen him, and he’s home alone. Tuesday, he went to one of the docs in our office on the recommendation of the one I saw Monday. She gave him an inhaler based on what he said the other doc told ME. This is the same doc that misdiagnosed my ankle. Neither of us will ever, ever see her again. She’s just sleepwalking through her job as a physician. Wednesday, he was coughing up blood, and his mom took him to the emergency room. He said the docs treated him like he was wasting their time, but, still, no one has told him what to expect with pleurisy. And today he’s been vomiting all day. His mom tried to get him an appointment with her doctor, but they said that unless he was switching permanently, they wouldn’t see him. They didn’t want to undermine what his regular doctor told him. So how is he supposed to get a second opinion? He’s decided he’s just going to wait and see how he feels tomorrow. I talked to his mom like 3 times today, and she said she’ll make sure she checks in on him tomorrow, whether he likes it or not. I’m hoping he just caught a 24-hour bug on top of what he already had. I can’t even pretend I’m not seriously distraught that he’s so sick, and I’m not there. It’s maddening. I feel totally helpless and sad that he’s so miserable, and I’m not there to take care of him. I can’t wait to see my brother and the rest of the family. In some good news... Kev got a double promotion at work and a PHAT raise. Hurrah! Posted by Karabou at 7:32 PM EST
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April 1, 2008One foot is better than none
The space bar sucks on this laptop, so forgive my spacing issues...

Got in safe and sound.

I broke down and went to the podiatrist this morning before I left on my trip. He gave me my last cortisone injection, which as I predicted, resulted in another wicked cortisone flare up. Only this time, I couldn’t put my foot up and ice it until I’d walked like 400 miles across 3 airports and did much un-desired standing around.

I’ve been icing and elevating my foot since I got to the hotel, and it seriously feels like someone tried to twist it off. Then I banged it on a chair. Yeah, good stuff. Hopefully in a day or so it’ll be better. I don’t THINK I have to do that much walking. I’ll just take it easy outside my classes. Weehoo. And if it gets really bad, I can just go back to the hotel and prop it up.

Anyway, if I have another pain flare up, it’s surgery time. I’m not holding my breath for a miracle cure at this point. I kind of wish he’d have just cut it open 2 months ago and fixed it.Posted by Karabou at 9:45 PM EST
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March 31, 2008If I plan it, it will go wrong. Field of Dreams my ass.
So I leave for Florida tomorrow in what was supposed to have been a really great trip.

Except I have an ear infection, so flying could be downright painful. And I get to take antibiotics the entire time.

And my foot, after a week of pain-free bliss, has decided to go ape-shit since Saturday night. I’m talking the kind of pain that makes you cry out. Great. I was already planning to pack The Boot, just in case, but I’m guessing I’ll end up wearing it for most of the time. Great.

And I don’t really see a point in calling my podiatrist today. What’s he going to tell me to do? Put on the boot? I’m not canceling the trip, so I guess I’ll just have to call when I get back. It’s going on 12 weeks. I’m ready to cut the SOB open and fix it. This is getting ridiculous.

Kev is sick as hell. I took him to the ED at 1:30am Sunday morning. Apparently, he’s got pleurisy. And now his cough is getting worse, and he’s had a fever since we were in the ED. I’m trying to get him in tomorrow morning.

So everything is great. Really.Posted by Karabou at 8:26 PM EST
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March 26, 2008Farewell, Godspeed.
So today’s the day. It was hitting me hard on Monday, being sick and tired and generally miserable, but it’s since passed. There are days now that I don’t think of him. But the days I do think of him are still more frequent.I’ve been careful not to build this day up, and I honestly put it out of my mind until 3am Monday morning.The one thing no one ever tells you about losing someone truly close is how much you will miss them when you do think about them, when something reminds you of them--a photo, a phrase, a memory, a smell, a sound.
I’ve lost friends, acquaintances, cousins, and grandparents, and nothing, NOTHING, prepared me for losing him. Nothing.There's a sad sort of clanging
From the clock in the hall
And the bells in the steeple too,
And up in the nurs'ry an absurd little bird
Is popping out to say "coocoo."

Regretfully they tell us,
But firmly they compel us
To say goodbye to you.

So long, farewell, Auf wiedersehen, good night,
I hate to go and leave this pretty sight.
So long, farewell, Auf wiedersehen, adieu,
Adieu, adieu, to yieu and yieu and yieu.

So long, farewell, Au'voir, auf wiedersehen,
I'd like to stay and taste my first champagne
So long, farewell, Auf wiedersehen, goodbye,
I leave and heave a sigh and say goodbye,
Good bye

I'm glad to go,
I cannot tell a lie.
I flit, I float,
I fleetly flee, I fly.

The sun has gone to bed and so must I
So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye,
Goodbye,
Goodbye,
Goodbye.

And then I wrote this post, and found this picture, and sobbed inconsolably.

Posted by Karabou at 8:26 PM EST
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March 2008 Archive

2008-10-12T11:56:00.001-04:00

March 26, 2008Farewell, Godspeed.
So today’s the day. It was hitting me hard on Monday, being sick and tired and generally miserable, but it’s since passed. There are days now that I don’t think of him. But the days I do think of him are still more frequent.I’ve been careful not to build this day up, and I honestly put it out of my mind until 3am Monday morning.The one thing no one ever tells you about losing someone truly close is how much you will miss them when you do think about them, when something reminds you of them--a photo, a phrase, a memory, a smell, a sound.
I’ve lost friends, acquaintances, cousins, and grandparents, and nothing, NOTHING, prepared me for losing him. Nothing.There's a sad sort of clanging
From the clock in the hall
And the bells in the steeple too,
And up in the nurs'ry an absurd little bird
Is popping out to say "coocoo."

Regretfully they tell us,
But firmly they compel us
To say goodbye to you.

So long, farewell, Auf wiedersehen, good night,
I hate to go and leave this pretty sight.
So long, farewell, Auf wiedersehen, adieu,
Adieu, adieu, to yieu and yieu and yieu.

So long, farewell, Au'voir, auf wiedersehen,
I'd like to stay and taste my first champagne
So long, farewell, Auf wiedersehen, goodbye,
I leave and heave a sigh and say goodbye,
Good bye

I'm glad to go,
I cannot tell a lie.
I flit, I float,
I fleetly flee, I fly.

The sun has gone to bed and so must I
So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye,
Goodbye,
Goodbye,
Goodbye.

And then I wrote this post, and found this picture, and sobbed inconsolably.

Posted by Karabou at 8:26 PM EST

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March 24, 2008
...

Miss you every day.
Posted by Karabou at 10:13 AM EST
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March 18, 2008Doomsday spoilers ahead
Tanya and I went to see Doomsday tonight. While I enjoyed it, I still had some problems with it. Here are my thoughts…1) Thirty-year-old gas will not run in a car. Neither will 30-year-old vehicles work, much less haul ass.2) Forty-five years from now, GPS devices will not be as big as a relay race baton. They’re not that big NOW.3) If a speeding van hits a body in the road, it will not explode into flames and fly end over end. This was almost as good as the cougar scream for the sound effect of a car crash in Terminator 3. If you don’t believe me, watch it.4) Love at first sight is dumb.
5) I’m so tired of the black guy always dying. I honestly thought he was going to live, but no, the white man lived. Surprise! Not.6) I was expecting the Road Warrior/Escape from New York mash-up. I was not expecting a Braveheart ménage trois.
7) The timeline jumped all over the place. I THINK it was 45 years in the future, but sometimes they’d say 30 years and sometimes it was 25, and then some random years were thrown out there as well.8) Foam grenades may stop you from dying in a falling elevator, but you do not just walk out with no evidence of foam anywhere. Someone’s gonna have to cut you out of that shit.9) If there are 80 brazillion cows walking around outside the city, why would you resort to cannibalism? Go eat a f-ing cow.
10) What it lacked in story, it made up in senseless gore: bunnies exploding, cows getting run over by tanks, gratuitous projectile vomiting, splurting blood…you name it. 11) It was better than Bloodrayne.
12) WTF happened to David O’Hara’s face?13) Rhona Mitra’s hair was kickass. 14) I hope to Christ that was a prosthetic nose on Malcolm McDowell.
15) Chopsticks in the hair never go out of style.
16) Expect a sequel.

Posted by Karabou at 10:43 PM EST
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March 17, 2008Tie a yellow ribbon around the amputee
What a weekend.

Friday, I wasn’t feeling great and decided to just go home after work, rather than go do trailer checks. I ended up running a few errands, and when I got home Kev and Brian wanted to go get some dinner. I told Kev to pick, so we went to this Chinese buffet down off of Dorothy somewhere. I think my mind has blocked out anything to do with where it is because it was so awful.

How do you screw up lo mein? Seriously. I admit Chinese buffets aren’t exactly the height of cuisine, but this one was the pits--downright disgusting. The only thing I could choke down were some sauteed mushrooms and General Tso’s chicken. And even those were lacking. The crab rangoon was okay. And when you walked into the place, it had that awful, fishy smell, and there was more moisture in the air than the steambaths at the gym. The whole thing just felt unsanitary. Yuck, yuck, and double yuck.

Yesterday, I fell down the bottom of the basement stairs. I was carrying a laundry basket full of clothes and thought I was further down the steps than I was. So that last step and a half about killed me. I came down hard on my good foot, screaming all the way down. lol Kev came running, yelling, "Are you okay?" I really didn’t know if I was--my foot was hurting like hell. Then I started laughing once I realized nothing was broken. My foot hurts to walk on, but it’s okay otherwise. I just wrenched it.

And then, a few minutes later, I was going upstairs to the PC room with stuff in my hands and almost went over backwards on the top step. I decided I’d had enough of stairs and just stayed up there for a few hours. I’m beginning to think I should have one of those motorized chairs for the staircases.

I watched The Man Who Cried, which should be titled The Man Who Sucked. It’s one of those movies where nothing happens. The synopsis sounded interesting, but it really wasn’t accurate.

I also watched Restoration. I had watched it when it first came out on VHS because I was in love with Robert Downey Jr. since Weird Science. It was sucky, but you got to see him semi-naked a few times. Rowr. I can’t wait to see him as Iron Man. He really can be an incredible actor. It’s shame he has so many demons.

And I watched Last Holiday, which was as sappy and predictable as I expected. But I loves me some Queen Latifah. I got all three movies off of Showtime’s freeview weekend last week. They didn’t have much on, which was disappointing. But that’s Showtime for you. The only thing remotely worth watching on that channel is The Tudors, which I’ll have to rent sometime. Angi has turned me onto hot Tudor-on-peasant action, and there’s no going back.

Posted by Karabou at 9:31 PM EST Top

March 14, 2008Hussein's Iraq and al Qaeda not linked, Pentagon says
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. military's first and only study looking into ties between Saddam Hussein's Iraq and al Qaeda showed no connection between the two, according to a military report released by the Pentagon.
A U.S. soldier in front of a bus hit by a roadside bomb near Nasiriyah, southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, on Tuesday.
The report released by the Joint Forces Command five years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq said it found no "smoking gun" after reviewing about 600,000 Iraqi documents captured in the invasion and looking at interviews of key Iraqi leadership held by the United States, Pentagon officials said.
The assessment of the al Qaeda connection and the insistence that Hussein had weapons of mass destruction were two primary elements in the Bush administration's arguments in favor of going to war with Iraq.
The Pentagon's report also contradicts then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who said in September 2002 that the CIA provided "bulletproof" evidence demonstrating "that there are, in fact, al Qaeda in Iraq."
Although other groups, like the September 11 commission, have concluded that there was no link between Hussein and al Qaeda, the Pentagon was able to analyze much more information.
The documents cited in the report do reveal that Hussein supported a number of terrorists and terrorist activities inside and outside Iraq.
"The Iraqi regime was involved in regional and international terrorist operations prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom. The predominant targets of Iraqi state terror operations were Iraqi citizens, both inside and outside of Iraq," according to the report. Read excerpts from report (pdf)
Most of the terrorism was aimed at keeping Hussein and his Baath party in power, according to Pentagon officials.
"State sponsorship of terrorism became such a routine tool of state power that Iraq developed elaborate bureaucratic processes to monitor progress and accountability in the recruiting, training and resourcing of terrorists," according to the report.
The report cited such examples as training for car bombs and suicide bombings in 1999 and 2000, both of which U.S. and Iraqi forces have struggled to contain since the rise of the insurgency in summer 2003.

Posted by Karabou at 8:22 PM EST
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March 13, 2008Yes, androids dream of electric sheep. I’m sure of it.I’m at a dinner party, a very hoity-toity fancy one, apparently being thrown by Z-Rob’s mom. (lol) Everyone is in tuxedos and fancy dress, and then I notice that 20-year-old version of Javier Bardem is there. Shirtless. And he is H-O-T. Yeow.

For some reason, we all get in the car to go to a surgeon’s office, and I’m scratching Javier’s back in the car while he drives. I don’t even know how that’s possible, but he was enjoying it. (Mental note: If I ever meet Javier Bardem in real life, I should try to scratch his back. He’ll love it.)

When we get there, he turns into Kathy Griffin, who is making terrible jokes at the doctor trying to examine her, while four of us look on. I don’t even like Kathy Griffin, so I don’t know where that came from.

Then Patrick Swayze sits down next to me, and I say, "How are you doing Patrick? I’m so sorry to hear about your sickness." He says, "I’m doing just fine." And then he’s suddenly being green-screened before my eyes, and he’s got a man’s ass between his hands, which makes him look like he’s doing super gay innuendos, even though he’s just trying to explain how his treatment is going. I’m laughing so hard I can’t speak, and he just keeps looking at me like why are you fucking laughing at me? I’m talking about cancer!

But the green-screening is apparently like someone is doing Candid Camera on him. He doesn’t know it’s there, but everyone else can see it. And it just gets funnier and funnier. I’m positive I was laughing out loud in my sleep. I woke up during it.

Posted by Karabou at 8:22 PM EST Top

March 12, 2008Things you see while driving...
On the way home tonight, I was driving next to a guy riding a Harley with the biggest, fattest beagle I’ve ever seen strapped to his back in giant duffle-bag-like pet carrier. The dog was sitting in it with his head and front paws out, like a papoose. And it was wearing goggles. Fantastic.

Posted by Karabou at 8:22 PM EST Top

March 11, 2008The deep and meaningful Pooh quiz
IT was going to be one of Rabbit's busy days. As soon as he woke up he felt important, as if everything depended upon him. It was just the day for Organizing Something, or for Writing a Notice Signed Rabbit, or for Seeing What Everybody Else Thought About It. It was a perfect morning for hurrying round to Pooh, and saying, "Very well, then, I'll tell Piglet," and then going to Piglet, and saying, "Pooh thinks--but perhaps I'd better see Owl first." It was a Captainish sort of day, when everybody said, "Yes, Rabbit " and "No, Rabbit," and waited until he had told them.

You scored as Rabbit!
ABOUT RABBIT: Rabbit is generally considered Clever by his many friends and relations. He is actually a much better reader and writer than Owl, but he doesn't consider it worth mentioning. Instead, Rabbit's real talent lies in Organizing Plans. He organizes rescue parties, makes schemes to reduce Tigger's bounciness, and goes on missions to find out what Christopher Robin does when he's not at the Hundred Acre Woods. Sometimes, however, his Plans do not always go as Planned.
WHAT THIS SAYS ABOUT YOU: You are smart, practical and you plan ahead. People sometimes think that you don't stress or worry, but this is not the case. You are the kind of person who worries in a practical way. You think a) What are my anxieties about and b) what can be done about them? No useless fretting for you. You don't see the point in sitting around and waiting for things to work out, when you could actually work them out today and save yourself a lot of time and worry. Your friends tend to rely on you, because they know that they can trust you help them work things out.
You sometimes tend to be impatient with people who are less practical in their ways. You don't have much patience for idiots who moan about things but never actually DO anything about them. You have high expectations of everyone, including yourself. When you don't succeed at something, or when something goes wrong despite your best efforts to prevent it, you can get quite hard on yourself. You need to cut yourself some slack and accept that everyone has their faults, even you, and THAT IS OKAY. Let yourself be faulty, every now and then, for the sake of your own sanity.
My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
You scored higher than 92% on Ego
You scored higher than 96% on Anxiety
You scored higher than 72% on Agency

Posted by Karabou at 7:41 PM EST Top

March 10, 2008I want to wash my hands, my face, and hair with snow.
What a waste of a weekend.

We ended up with like 10 inches of snow, I think. We didn't leave the house all weekend. They finally plowed our street yesterday, and the piles of snow are 3 feet high. Everyone I know was sent home at noon. But not us. Oh no, we shan't affect "productivity." I left at noon and just took a half day vacation. I wasn't risking my life for this company. They wouldn't give a shit about me if I died; they'd just replace me and keep going. So why should I risk mine for them? It just drives home the fact that my company doesn't view it's employees as people. We are numbers. Machines. Do the work, be "productive," and keep the money rolling in. That's all they care about. Not us. Sickens me.

Kev and I did manage to finish Flight of the Conchords Season 1, and we watched Eastern Promises. Which, by the way, was very good. Viggo's naked bathhouse karate fight was highly amusing.

Last night, we watched Idiocracy, a Mike Judge film. It was amusing, although not as funny as Office Space. And last week, I watched Little Children. I went into it with the mindset of, "if this doesn't grab me in the first 15 minutes, I'm turning it off." And, shockingly, it did. I was riveted. Kate Winslet is just fantastic. I just kept waiting for her to say, "Get round here cause I'm fudding myself stupid and I'm bloody loving it."

Posted by Karabou at 11:01 PM EST
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BZZZZ! BZZZZZZZ!
This spike of warm weather has me so energized it's ridiculous. I'm ready to do back flips down the cubicle aisle, except that I forgot my belt, and my pants would likely fall off. Which is something else that excites me beyond words. Stop working out, and the weight falls off. Granted, it's probably all muscle, but whatever. I've got to be in a swimsuit the first week of April, so I'll take what I can get.

Amy and I saw The Other Boleyn Girl. If I hadn't read the book, I might have enjoyed it more. I tried really hard to separate myself from the book, but it was just too hard. I loved the book, and the movie left out things that were so important, not to mention compressing time to the point where the whole thing seems to have happened over the course of a week. Like Amy said, I'm disappointed we didn't get to see Henry get old, fat, and impotent. It's kind of crucial to Anne's downfall, but whatever.

I'm making slow progress getting out of the boot. My goal is to be in the ankle brace by the time I go to FL. I could live with that.

If you haven't watched Flight of the Conchords, you're missing out on life. Watch it. Wut? Wut?

And now I'm going to go do some one-armed push-ups to celebrate spring.

Posted by Karabou at 10:16 PM EST

February 27, 2008
That's why they call me Mr. Fahrenheit...
We had our first adventure into home ownership when I got home last night. I walked into the house to a brisk 58F. I couldn't get the furnace to kick on yesterday morning, but I thought maybe the thermostat was just in sleep mode or something.

I called Kev's dad, and he said it might be the pilot light, so I called a friend of ours to come over and check it out. Unfortunately, he discovered the furnace has electric ignition and, therefore, has no pilot light. So it looked like the ignition was out. The furnace room was filled with gas, so we cracked a window to air it out, and by that time, Kev was home.

We discussed suffering it out until today to try to avoid the emergency fee, but it was 16F last night, with high winds, it's damp outside from all the snow, and the temp in the house was dropping rapidly. I was wearing 2 layers on the bottom, 3 on the top, and was nestled into a huge blanket with a huge electric space heater pointed right at me, blasting me with delicious inferno. And my hands and nose were still ice.

We were concerned about the pipes freezing, even if we trickled water through the faucets until we got someone out. It was going to be so cold that I just didn't want to take the chance of our pipes bursting and having to deal with the house flooding on top of the furnace not working.

Posted by Karabou at 9:24 PM EST
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February 2008 Archive

2008-10-12T11:55:00.003-04:00

February 27, 2008
That's why they call me Mr. Fahrenheit...
We had our first adventure into home ownership when I got home last night. I walked into the house to a brisk 58F. I couldn't get the furnace to kick on yesterday morning, but I thought maybe the thermostat was just in sleep mode or something.

I called Kev's dad, and he said it might be the pilot light, so I called a friend of ours to come over and check it out. Unfortunately, he discovered the furnace has electric ignition and, therefore, has no pilot light. So it looked like the ignition was out. The furnace room was filled with gas, so we cracked a window to air it out, and by that time, Kev was home.

We discussed suffering it out until today to try to avoid the emergency fee, but it was 16F last night, with high winds, it's damp outside from all the snow, and the temp in the house was dropping rapidly. I was wearing 2 layers on the bottom, 3 on the top, and was nestled into a huge blanket with a huge electric space heater pointed right at me, blasting me with delicious inferno. And my hands and nose were still ice.

We were concerned about the pipes freezing, even if we trickled water through the faucets until we got someone out. It was going to be so cold that I just didn't want to take the chance of our pipes bursting and having to deal with the house flooding on top of the furnace not working.

Posted by Karabou at 9:27 PM EST
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February 25, 2008
Porkchop Express
Oh the drama.
Friday, the stabbing pain came back, after I slept without my ankle wraps on for the first time since this started. I called the Dr., and he told me to keep the boot on until the pain stopped for a full 24 hours, then try again but more slowly.
I was just sitting at home with it off. I wasn't doing jumping jacks or even walking much. But oh well. I've had weird pain for the last few days, so I decided to just go in and talk to him today. He said as long as the pain I'm feeling is NOT the stabbing pain, to keep going...but slowly. And he wants me to start transitioning with an ankle brace to eliminate side-to-side movement. Oh, and I now have "cast disease," where my foot and ankle have swollen up from being immobilized for so long. /sigh
Have to admit, the brace feels really good. The support is comforting, like an ankle cocoon. mmmm
Saturday night, we watched Shoot 'Em Up. If you like purposely ludicrous action movies where hot Clive Owen kills people with carrots, this one's for you. It's a good rent. Watch it.

Posted by Karabou at 5:39 PM EST
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February 20, 2008
Las Palabras de Amor
Taking the boot off sucks. My calf muscles cramp in a non-stop charley-horse. And if one more person tells me to eat a fucking banana, they're going to have one shoved up their ass. It's not cramping because I'm low in Potassium; it's cramping because it hasn't been used for a month.

The tendons have all shrunk, and they burn and hurt. I can't tell if the pain is returning because of all the other pain I have right now. I'm trying to be cautiously optimistic. Que sera, sera. Only time will tell at this point.

My 89-year-old grandparents get around better than I do without the boot. I wear tennis shoes for some extra traction and support. But I can barely walk.

Someone cleared our sidewalk yesterday while we were at work. I was giddy. I think it might have been a guy that lives a couple houses down. Maybe he saw me wearing the boot and took pity on me. Heh

We took our friend that partially re-did our bathroom out for dinner last night to Mama DiSalvo's. Yum. I got the Eggplant Rollotini Al Forno. It was sooooooooooo good.

Posted by Karabou at 9:32 PM EST
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February 19, 2008
Woot woot!I get to start taking the boot off!

He's reserving the last cortisone shot in case the pain returns. Then it will be our the last-ditch effort to avoid surgery. But over the next two weeks, he wants me to transition to not wearing the boot. GRADUALLY.

So over the next few days, I'll be taking it off in the mornings at work and then wearing it the rest of the day. Over the next three days, I'll leave it off till evening. Then I'll try going without it all together. He said he wants me totally out of it before next Tuesday the 4th to give it a test run.

The only way we're going to know if this has actually worked is to test it out. He said that I'm lucky because peroneal tendons don't always have such an easy fix. But I may not be out of the woods yet; I'm trying not to get my hopes up. It's just wait and see for now.

Obviously, still no exercise for the legs. But it's a start. And I'm hopeful.
And for you Nickelhack lovers...
http://www.thewebshite.net/nickelback.htm
Posted by Karabou at 10:59 PM EST
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February 18, 2008
You want crazy?
I'll give you crazy.

Read this:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/0205083spears1.html

No matter how tired or fed up you are with all the media coverage of Britney, you will be shocked, SHOCKED, when you read the court affidavit filed by her mother.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why I don't like Hillary...
AP Top News at 12:19 p.m. EST
Feb 3, 2008
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton said Sunday she might be willing to garnish the wages of workers who refuse to buy health insurance to achieve coverage for all Americans. The New York senator has criticized presidential rival Barack Obama for pushing a health plan that would not require universal coverage. Clinton has not always specified the enforcement measures she would embrace, but when pressed on ABC's "This Week," she said: "I think there are a number of mechanisms" that are possible, including "going after people's wages, automatic enrollment." Posted by Karabou at 10:14 PM EST
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February 17, 2008
Things
I colored my hair a deep reddish burgundy Saturday with Amy's help. At first I was distraught at the color, but then I realized it was just the garish bathroom lighting making it look little-old-lady-red. Every where else, it looked great.

Saw Jumper today. What a pile of crap. It had some neat concepts, but overall, it was just nonsensical. Typical for a February release. Rent it if you really HAVE to see it.

I'm still full of meat from Friday and feeling like I have an entire cow in my gut. I need salad, stat.

I had to take Amanda to the ER last tonight. She fell and caught herself on the stove...right on a hot burner. Her hand was blistered from the top of her palm all the way to her fingertips. So we went and sat in the ungodly busy waiting room until they put her on a bed in the hallway. They were full to capacity and then some. They gave her some vicodin, which worked a miracle for her pain level, bandaged her up, and gave her a tetanus shot. She's going to be in some serious pain for a few days.

Posted by Karabou at 11:41 PM EST
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February 15, 2008
ZOMG
We decided to have a laid back day and just do a late lunch and relax.

We went to Cena by the Dayton Mall. OMG. OHMYGOD OHMYGOD OHMYGOD OHMYGOD OHMYGOD OHMYGOD OHMYGOD OHMYGOD OHMYGOD OHMYGOD OHMYGOD OHMYGOD

It was the single best, most exciting dining experience of my entire life. We're not foodies. We don't dig on off beat fare or trumped up dishes. 10 kinds of meat coming by your table. We made it through 7. And we had some of the "feast bar," which had tabouli, and pesto tomato couscous, chinchilla chicken (or whatever it was really called), 3 kinds of soup, traditional salad, and tons more.

I was conservative and just took a small bit of numerous things off the feast bar to taste. I wanted to save room for the meat. Plus we had garlic mashed potatoes, cheese buns, and some amazing dipping sauces.

Lunch price was $20/person for unlimited feast bar and meat parade. I think dinner is like $30. OMG it was so good. /drool

Posted by Karabou at 3:58 PM EST
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February 14, 2008Update
Kev and I are taking tomorrow off for our anniversary. I think we're going to grab some lunch and see a movie. :)

And I got my WoW toons restored. Well, all except my lvl 1 bank mule, which is annoying, but I suppose I'll live. I can't believe how fast they did it after hearing horror stories from other people about how it took weeks. I had them all back Tuesday night. It took 3 hours of sorting. ugh.

Posted by Karabou at 12:01 PM EST

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February 10, 2008The world is full of people who deserve to die a slow, horrific death of incurable stomach cancer.
Tried to log into my WoW account this morning only to find that it had been hacked and my password changed. The bastard took all my items, sold them for gold, mailed the gold off to some other toon, deleted all but one of my characters, and transferred my lock to another server. And he destroyed a lot of my stuff just for good measure: soulbound bags, quest items, and things he couldn't sell.
I got my password changed and got into my account, so I'm guessing it's safe now. I ran two virus checks with Norton and AVG, and I ran Spybot. All of them came up totally clean. The only thing I can think of is that he snagged my password from the WoW forums, since you have to use your account info to log in. Something funny happened when I logged in there yesterday, and I think it might be how it happened.
I hate people. I really do. The world needs a good cleansing.

Posted by Karabou at 3:19 PM EST

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February 5, 2008Hyperphonic blonde all-girl rock band
/sigh

Two more weeks in the boot. And to top it off, he tells me to limit my movement and rest it. But he still won't recommend I get crutches.

I'm not supposed to walk around on it, but I'm not supposed to use crutches? Screw that. My boss is bringing a pair in for me to borrow tomorrow. I'm sick of not being able to go anywhere or do anything because I can't walk. I don't have to use them all the time, but it'd be nice to be able to use them if I want to go out to lunch on a Saturday or when I do trailer checks at the theater.

Bunch of crap.

He gave me another cortisone injection this morning in a different spot, the spot I'd have thought he'd have given it to me in the first place. But I suppose I'm not the doctor. We can't do another one there for 2 weeks, and the next one will be the last one he can do.

If there's no relief after this, it'll be surgery. Quite frankly, I'd rather he just cut it open and take care of it now. I'm going to be in FL the first week of April, and I'd like to be recovered by then, at least to the point where I can walk. /grumble.
We went to LaRosa's for lunch today. I'm tired of sitting at my desk, and we haven't been there in quite a while. I know they almost always screw something up and they take forever, but I had a hankering for a calzone. Today was no different, however.

They burned my calzone to a crisp. She offered to let me pick at it while they made a new one, and they didn't charge me for it. The middle was edible, but the ends were briquettes. And then they screwed up the replacement one. lol The manager put onions on it instead of spinach, so they had to make me a third one. So in addition to the free lunch, I also got a $5 gift card for my next visit. Heh

Wooty!
--------------------------

My ankle has been FIRED UP since that injection this morning. It got so bad I called the doctor's office back and asked if this was normal. My foot had swelled to the point that the boot was getting really tight on my foot, which was kind of scary, and it was hurting like hell. They told me to ice and elevate it immediately; I was having a "cortisone flare up" whatever the hell THAT is. So I had to leave work at 3:45, race home, and prop it up.
If I don't have significant relief after this shot, I'm going to ASK for the surgery. This is stupid. I feel like I can't live my life. I can't do the things I enjoy. Going to the mall to buy 1 thing is a huge chore and leaves me exhausted and in pain for hours.
I don't want to live like this. I'd rather just have the damn thing sliced open, fixed, sewed up, and let me get on with the physical rehab. I have lost so much muscle from my calf in just two weeks that I cried when I saw it tonight. It's disgusting. I've got this stick leg now. And I have two more weeks of the boot to look forward to. What's it going to be like then?
On the upside, my stomach seems to be better after just two days of those pills. It still hurt to eat, but the pain subsided quickly, and I've felt fine all night. So maybe it is just acid reflux. If so, I'll definitely be trying the orange extract pills my friend Lorie and my sister use to control theirs. Might as well try a non-drug solution and see if it works.

Posted by Karabou at 10:08 PM EST
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February 4, 2008So long, and thanks for all the fish.
A three-hour midnight ER visit and 6 hours later, I either have a hiatal hernia, acid reflux, or my gall bladder decided to riot.

Everyone who told me my 30s were going to be the best years of my life is getting a punch in the nads.

I'm falling the fuck apart. What's it going to be like in my 40s? I don't even want to think about it.

I did watch Juno last night, and it was great. Jason Bateman is so hot. I feel like I'm 12 all over again..

Posted by Karabou at 10:15 PM EST
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January 2008 Archive

2008-10-12T11:55:00.001-04:00

January 30, 2008
I think we're gonna need a bigger boot...
Another week in the boot. /sigh

He gave me a cortisone shot in the ankle, even wriggling the needle down into the joint. We'll re-evaluate again in a week.

And he didn't want to give me crutches. He said he didn't feel they'd really help, since the ankle is already immobilized. But I'm tempted to just go out and buy some. I'm doing trailer checks this Friday night come hell or high water. I guess I'll just have to drink some caffeine to have the energy to do it.

And it's funny seeing Molly Walker as the receptionist. We were good friends Freshman/Sophomore year of high school, and then we drifted apart. I have no idea why. I assume maybe we just didn't have any classes together anymore. I was somewhat of a butterfly in high school. I'd be friends with someone for a while and then just drift away. Or in one case, be shut out because her friends didn't think I was popular enough, and I was "dragging her down." But whatever. It's just odd that looking back, I have no clue as to why we stopped hanging out.

Huh.

Posted by Karabou at 10:15 PM EST
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January 29, 2008
If you're tired of Weird Al, you're tired of life.
We watched No Country for Old Men again this weekend. That movie is probably the best I saw in 2007. I still want to see There Will be Blood. I have a feeling that one might be pretty good, too. And Juno is still on my list.

It was awesome to see James Marsters back on the small screen and full of attitude on the season premier of Torchwood this weekend. Good stuff. I hope he becomes a recurring character.

I'm trying not to walk much, as the more I walk, the more pain I have, even in Das Boot. I go back Wednesday, and I'm ready to just get this over with. I'm already tired of it. If I have to continue wearing it, I think I'm going to ask for crutches. I swear I could get around easier on crutches than walking in this thing, at least if I go out somewhere. Around work, not so much. But I really want to do trailer checks, and I couldn't this weekend because it was too daunting to think of having to walk all over the theater in this Frankenstein shoe. I was so exhausted from running into Circuit City that I nearly fell over and went to sleep when I got home Friday.

If I need surgery, I just want to get it over with, so I can be recovered, at least mostly, by April for my trip to FL.

Posted by Karabou at 10:26 PM EST
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January 22, 2008
I got the boot.
Well now.

I went to the podiatrist this morning, which has further fueled my distrust of a family doc's recommendations for a cure to what ails you. At least when dealing with something beyond an antibiotic prescription.

The podiatrist said my perennial tendons are grinding themselves to pieces on my ankle bone. In the 1 week between making the appointment with him and actually seeing him, I went from having lost a little mobility in my ankle to not being able to move my ankle AT ALL. I can wiggle my toes, and that's it. I'm glad I came to the realization that I couldn't move it at all while I was in the podiatrist's office because I nearly cried with panic, until I realized I'm about to see one of the top foot specialists in the area.

He knew instantly what was wrong, took a bazillion x-rays that we'll go over in my follow-up appointment next Wednesday, and stuck me in a fracture boot. I'm allowed to take it off to shower and to sleep (up to me as to how uncomfortable it is to sleep in), but I could be in this thing for 2-3 weeks. If it doesn't work, I have to have surgery. Yay. But I guess I'd rather have surgery now than in summer when it would disrupt my swimming and running.

No exercise from the waist down indefinitely, so I can at least still lift weights. It's better than nothing.

What pisses me off is that had I listened to my FP, I'd be going straight to surgery, since she recommended I do 2-4 weeks of ankle-strengthening exercises. The podiatrist still isn't sure we caught it early enough, and had I waited another month, I'd be 100% screwed.

I'm telling you from painful personal experience, if something is wrong, go see a specialist immediately. If you're having knee pain, and your FP tells you to try some exercises, go find a specialist. Had I went out on my own and NOT listened to the MD that told me I just had to live with my ribs being popped out, I could have had them put back in by a DO or a chiro, and I wouldn't have gone through 2 years of hell and STILL live in constant moderate pain.
I will never forgive him for that.

I've only had this boot on for about an hour, and I'm already exhausted. My foot barely fits on the accelerator in my car, so I might have to drive Kev's car while I'm wearing it, since his is a bit bigger. But no one told me I couldn't drive, so either that or I'll just drive left-footed. Which I've done before when I broke my toes on my right foot years ago. Wasn't hard in the least.
Posted by Karabou at 10:18 PM EST
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January 21, 2008
Cloverfield: Major Spoilers Ahead
I saw it. I've seen worse. I've seen better. But I have to agree with 99% of Wil's discussion of the movie, which contains spoilers.
I didn't participate in any of the viral marketing for this movie. In fact, based on the teaser trailer, I wasn't interested in seeing it at all. But when I read that it was a monster movie that would do for Americans and 9/11 what Gojira did for Japanese and the bombings of Hiroshmia and Nagasaki, my interest was piqued. I thought that this movie had the potential to be more than just another monster movie, and I took the extraordinary (for me) step of seeing it in the afternoon on opening day.
I was more powerfully affected by this film than I expected going in. There were moments that truly terrified me, moments that made me very uncomfortable, and it stayed with me long after the theater emptied out. That's the hallmark of a good film, in my humble opinion.
The criticism I've read seems to come from people who were pissed that it wasn't nicely tied up at the end, expected something very different based on the ARG, or were so put off by the photography, it prevented them from fully immersing themselves in the film.
I was very satisfied by the plot -- including the ending, which would have pissed me off if it had been any different -- and I found the characters to be entirely believable people I could encounter in my own life. The monster and its screeching parasite crawling things scared the absolute living mother fucking shit out of me, and the only thing creature-related that disappointed me was the close-up look at the end. Nothing those filmmakers can model is going to be as scary as what my imagination pieces together from the quick glimpses we got, and I wish they'd just left it with what we'd seen up to that point.
I loved the non-traditional filmmaking, absence of soundtrack, and verite feel of the whole thing, and though the camera work made me dizzy and seasick, I don't think it would have worked any other way. By not ever getting a chance to step away from these people (other than the quick flashes to The Best Day, Ever, which were heartbreaking for me) we're just as terrified and confused and uncertain as they are. I felt like the filmmakers ruthlessly combined limited third person narrative with second person narrative. If they'd added the Dr. Ian Malcom scene to the film, it would have pissed me off, because it would have felt like a cheat. I understand that a lot of people who didn't like the film point to that lack of exposition as a cause of their dissatisfaction, but I couldn't disagree more.
When Rob's brother died on the bridge, it was fast and brutal and unexpected. They didn't have time to stop and grieve, because they had to run for their lives. That felt authentic to me. When Marlena started bleeding from her eyes and apparently blew up from being bitten, and none of them -- and none of us -- found out exactly what was going on, it felt authentic to me. If thee filmmakers had handled either of those events differently, it would have felt like a cheat, and it would have pissed me off.
In fact, the only real cheat I felt they pulled off was when they eventually rescued Beth. I don't know much about engineering, but I'm pretty sure that building wouldn't have been able to lean to one side like that without collapsing. It was also pretty convenient that those guys were able to walk all the way from Spring to 59th and then up 60 flights of stairs after a night of drinking at a party, but by that point in the movie, I was willing to suspend my disbelief because it hadn't asked me to do it until then.
Having said all that, here's the bottom line for me: this movie isn't about a monster. It's not about Slusho. It's not about clever explaination and government conspiracies and happy endings where everything is eventually going to be okay. It's about these people who are living through the worst nightmare imaginable. It's about a guy who wants to be with the girl he loves, and what he goes through to make that happen. It's about not knowing what the fuck is happening, and being completely powerless to do anything about it, except try (and hope) to survive. Those elements worked for me, and made it a very scary, unsettling, but ultimately enjoyable experience that's stayed with me 24 hours after I left the theater.
About the elephant in the room: It was impossible for me to watch this movie without thinking about 9/11, and that made it more powerful for me than it would have been otherwise. When the heroes ducked into that store while the dust plume from the collapsing building blew up the street, I got as close to a 9/11 flashback as I think I'm capable of having, and it created an emotional reference point for the rest of the movie. I'm one of those people who has been screeched at by the Bushies since 9/12, so I'm [i]very[/i] sensitive about anything involving or referencing 9/11, and I don't take it as lightly as the authoritarians who exploit it in an effort to keep us afraid and consolidate power. Though I live in Los Angeles, that day was an exhausting, terrifying, and traumatic event for me. I'm one degree of several people who died that day, so it's a pretty personal thing for me, too. Cloverfield put me back in touch with some emotional memories that I haven't accessed in six and a half years, and while I know there are a lot of cynics who will scoff at that, there it is.
I hope they don't do any sequels. I hope they'll continue with the ARG and maybe show a few glimpses of what was happening for other people in NYC on that night, but I don't want to see this become a franchise.
I am, however, excited to see how other filmmakers respond to this movie, because I think it's flipped the monster genre on its head, and redefined what a scary movie can be.
-Wil

And after doing some reading this morning, I have to agree with this guy:

I am so sick of people trying to 'figure out' something for a sequel. Why can't we just have a movie for its own sake. Let Transformers and Saw have all the sequels. I don't care where the monster came from. Do we seriously need to be treated like 5 year olds? The ending was perfect, people died, it's what they went through, etc, etc. Not everything needs to end with a fucking 'The End?'. I'm sure during clean up, the video was found.

The movie wasn't all shoes and asphault. When you shoot a home movie, is it perfectly edited? This is a bit of a different approach to making a film to entertain. Like Blair Witch but better. There was a stomach turning scene, though, when they are running from the bridge as it collapses. Alot of shaking. Other than that I was good.

I liked the film A LOT. You get caught up in the event and you don't have time to ask why. The end. Period.

Go see it with an open mind, be entertained, and let it be.

Other interesting tidbits
Posted by Karabou at 9:46 PM EST
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January 17, 2008
Dreamin' of looser joints
I've been having serious ankle issues lately. For about the last year, I've had weird, intense burning and occasional stabbing pain in the outside of one ankle, just below the knobby bone. But only after busting my ass on the elliptical, so since I've switched cardio routines, it hasn't bothered me much. You work out, things hurt; that's just the way it is. But it was never this much.
But Saturday, it woke me up from a dead sleep; I thought it was part of one of my bizarro dreams, but no, it was real. Then it started to burn and get stabby intermittently more and more often, until I decided to just see a doctor. My DO wasn't in the office, so I went to the one of the MDs, and she recommended I do ankle exercises.
*cough*
Yeah, not seeing how moving it MORE is going to stop this unbearable, flashing, searing pain. So instead of messing around and listening to a mere MD, like I did with my ribs, I called a highly recommended podiatrist, and we're going to get to the root of this right here, right now. I'm not going to end up crippled for 2 years again. Not if I can help it.
So I'm taking it easy, and as time drags on, I'm losing more and more flexibility in that ankle, and the pain sucks the breath right out of me when it hits. It choked me mid-sentence this morning, and I just sat there, mouth open, eyes wide until it passed. I think the person I was with thought I was having a seizure or something. heh
Anyway, I see the podiatrist Tuesday. I know there's a ligament that runs right through the area that's bothered, so hopefully it's something fixable.
I watched Dreamgirls tonight while I labeled and stamped a bunch of crap for work. It was mediocre at best. That was one of the most over-hyped movies I think I've ever seen. Beyonce was a stick, and sure that American Idol chick could sing, but the it couldn't make its mind up whether it wanted to be a musical or be a movie with music in it. Very strange. Not very attention-holding. Totally worth skipping.
Posted by Karabou at 9:57 PM EST
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January 16, 2008
Stuff
It's been quiet on the western front.

I'm super busy at work, I've got a family birthday dinner tonight, and my spare time is spent nerdtastically playing WoW as I await my next editing piece, which should be soon…very soon.

I haven't been able to sleep for the last 2 weeks, except on weekends, and I'm sick of it. Why can't there be a cut and dry reason for my insomnia? Why can't I take a magic supplement and be cured of it?

The bookshelves are built, and I need to motivate myself to do something about filling them.

I haven't bothered to ask about whether or not our tub/shower is in because I'm not ready to spend the $$$ for all the other items we'll need for the job. So whatever. I've lived this long with that gross tub, I'll live a little longer. But I do fantasize about taking a long, hot, steaming bath when the time comes. Mmmmmm.Posted by Karabou at 11:02 PM EST
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January 11, 2008
Atonement
It was really good. Heart-wrenchingly depressing, but good. I really liked it.
Posted by Karabou at 11:26 PM EST
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January 10, 2008
You are not a special, unique snowflake.
My boss and I attended a Greater Dayton Ad Assoc. seminar today that was centered on working with creatives. It was mostly spot on, and the two guys giving it were pretty funny. All around enjoyable.

My issue is a "that guy" that attends all these types of events in Dayton. He's veeeeeerrrrry self important. He has a remark for eeeeeeeeverything, and I don't mean a quiet one. He yells them, like a heckler. He asks inane questions about totally irrevelant topics and "what ifs" that waste the speakers' time. He wears quirky glasses and gives other people who wear quirky glasses a bad name.

In short, he's awful. Every time I see him, I want to slap him in the face immediately and thank him ahead of time for ruining yet another educational opportunity. As soon as my boss and I see him, we slump and groan, and share sideways glances at his obnoxiousness throughout.

At one event, the speaker finally told him to shut up and quit asking off-topic questions. "That guy" was livid. I wanted to applaud.

I just don't understand why people think this type of behavior is acceptable. Hell, I'm bothered by people who think I want to hear their "witty" comments during movies. Which, by the way, I don't. I don't want to hear the people next to me at a seminar making quippy comments quietly.

News flash:

You're not smart. You're not funny. Shut. The. F--k. Up.

Nobody cares what you have to say. Nobody cares what you think. And most definitely, nobody wants to hear your fat mouth flapping while they're trying to pay attention to something that they've paid good money for.

Let the people around you observe in peace.This has been a public service announcement of the STFU Police.
Posted by Karabou at 11:23 PM EST
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January 7, 2008
You can't buy love on Ebay.
Hah. My mom has a date, and she is totally freaking. LOL

Kev and I were giving her hell because her reply to the guy when he asked her out was, "Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained." lmao Kev told her she may as well have replied with, "Well, I've got nothing better to do." LOL I told her that wasn't exactly an ego-stroking reply.

I keep telling her to just try to have fun and that if she isn't looking for something serious, then she needs to be up front with him about it. But I told her that she never knows--he could be super nice, and she may end up really liking him. She needs to keep an open mind. I wish there was a matchmaker around here like Patti Novak on Confessions of a Matchmaker. That chick is good.

She's panicking because she's never really dated. She met her first husband in high school, got married when she turned 18, and that was that. When he died of cancer, she was single a few years, went on a short string of awful one-time blind dates, and then she met my dad and got married a month later. And no, it wasn't because of me. I wasn't born for a full year after they got married. :P

I kind of understand how she feels. I've never really dated much. Snogging a guy in a parking lot isn't "dating," though I'm certain my mom has never snogged anyone, ever, much less in a parking lot. Heh I think I've only seriously dated 2 people in my life, a third was multiple dates but wasn't really something I was interested in pursuing. It was just a fun distraction. I've been on a few one-time stinkers, myself, and while they were "dates," I wouldn't consider them "dating." My definition of "dating" is exclusivity with some level of emotional interest in them. That could be after 3 dates or after 10, whatever.

But getting back on the horse after HWCBN was daunting. He had instilled in me that no one would ever want me if he weren't in the picture. I wasn't sexy. I wasn't all that attractive. I had no worth as a person. He told me every day that he could, and I quote, "find another one just like you tomorrow." Finding out that all of that was manipulative bullshit and that men did actually think I was attractive was a revelation. I'm no Cindy Crawford, but I'm certainly no Hatchet-face, either.

Anyway, I hope she has fun. The funny part is, I've been behind her all the way about getting back into the dating pool. But now that she has a date, I'm all narrow-eyed and HMMMMMMMMM. I dunno how it makes me feel. Kind of weird that she might be bringing some man to holiday functions someday. But, as long as he's nice, and not a freaky perv, I suppose I'll be fine with him. Life is always changing, and on we go.
Posted by Karabou at 10:09 PM EST
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January 6, 2008
A kiss may not be the truth, but it is what we wish were true.
Crazy weekend.

Friday night, we had dinner with my brother and the family. It's always good to see them. :) I'm going to a conference in April in Orlando, and I'm planning to stay a few days and see them.
Saturday I had to make an appearance at work, and after that, I ran to Target before I had to do trailer checks. At Target, I gleefully found a cupboard for the bathroom wall, and I stumbled upon a perfect bookcase for my bedroom. Tall, dark wood, and on sale $20 off. Woot! Getting a 75" inch bookcase into my car was amusing. The bagboy didn't think it could be done, but I've had things that size jammed into my Corolla before; you just have to know how to angle it. When it slid right in, he was astounded. When Kev saw it he asked how the hell I managed to make it fit. lol

We got the cupboard hung Saturday, and it's nice to have some storage space in there now that we have a pedestal sink. I'm not keen on having a curtain around my sink. I think I'm just going to put a toilet paper holder under there and call it a day.

Our tub/shower should be in tomorrow. I'll have to call our friend to see. And Kev and his dad built one set of bookshelves Saturday. Apparently, Poplar, while beautiful, is a bitch to work with. It's an extremely hard wood, and Kev actually broke off screws in it in his early attempt. His dad had to use 3 sizes of drill bits to make starter holes because the wood was so damn hard. Crazy. But the finished product is gorgeous, and I can't wait to stain it this spring. They'll be building the 2nd one this Saturday. But the shelf in my room will be for my breakables and such. I'm thrilled I found exactly what I wanted so cheap.

Today, I got up early and went to the Roman exhibit at the Dayton Art Institute. I've been meaning to see it since November, and it popped in my mind at work yesterday. Thankfully, I saw that today was the last day of the exhibition. So I decided to get there when it opened, and apparently, so did half of the Dayton area. It was packed. Yeesh. But it was totally worth it. Some of the intaglio and filagree work was breathtaking. The mosaics were downright mesmerizing and made me want to try to make a mosaic this spring for a wall decoration in my room. It would have been awesome to be able to touch one of the pieces. I have a thing for wanting to touch ancient things, to run my hands over them and inhale the history.

After that, I hit the grocery and then went to Amanda's for a bit. She seems to have recovered from her nasty concussion she got last Wednesday from falling on the icy steps in front of her house. Ugh. I hate falling.

All this activity must have sucked the life out of me because I started falling asleep at my PC and had to crawl downstairs where I passed out on the couch for over an hour. I could have slept the rest of the night, I think, but I made myself get up and move. I'm already going to have trouble getting sleep with that long of a nap. I think it was a sugar crash. Tomorrow, I get back on the exercise wagon. And I've got to start cooking again. All these holiday leftovers and candies have not been kind. I took a huge portion of the junk food to work last Thursday, and the office devoured it all by Friday afternoon. Thank god.
Posted by Karabou at 10:44 PM EST
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January 3, 2008
Trial by Fire
After calling in sick to work one more day yesterday, I finally made it in today. But not until my car imploded, straddling the alley behind our house, effectively blocking all traffic that would normally use the alley--and blocking Kevin in.

So we had to wait for AAA to come tow it, which is never fast. After waiting around for about an hour, some really old man shows up in a giant flat bed tow truck. Did I mention that I had to request that type of tow truck because my car now rolls backwards when put into Park?

/sigh

Anyway, this guy irks me right off the bat because he refuses to believe the car won't drive. If it would drive, I wouldn't have called a god damn tow truck, now would I? I know I'm JUST a woman, but I do believe I can tell when a car won't fucking drive. Seriously. Even Kev wouldn't believe that the car ROLLED backwards and didn't SLIDE backwards. The only reason it stopped is because of the hill behind it. I swear I'm not a total retard. I do, indeed, know the difference between rolling and sliding. When I applied the brakes, the car would stop. That wouldn't happen if it was sliding.

And today has been jumping back into work head first. I have a million things to do. I keep telling myself that I don't have to have them all done RIGHT NOW, but just having them looming out there makes me feel a fret.

I watched Flags of Our Fathers while laying about in my dwindling sick haze. I enjoyed it. WWII tears me up like nothing else. I also watched Pale Rider. I used to hate Clint Eastwood, but in recent years I've come to really like him. I do think he needs to stick to movies that are fitted to his age, unlike Blood Work, which I believe Amanda has titled as one of the of worst movies ever made. Heh

But I've come to love his spaghetti westerns, though I'm not much interested in Dirty Harry. They have their place in cinema history, and that's good enough. And I believe he is a decent director. Kudos to the old man.

Update: My left axle of my car broke. /sigh It's $250 to fix it, and I told them to go ahead and throw some new tires on the front. My tires are so sad and bald that I need to at least get something decent on the front end. Yar.

In happier news, I read The Other Boleyn Girl and loved it. I don't read much outside of Fantasy and Eastern Religions, so my foray into smutty historical fiction has been a good one. I just started The Boleyn Inheritance, and so far, I'm enjoying it. TOBG is slated to be released in theaters in February, which both makes me happy and a little worried. I'm happy with who's starring in it and happy a movie was made, but I'm concerned about the February release date. As Kev explains: Big blockbuster films that will make tons of money are released at peak seasons, summer and xmas. Theses are traditionally the times of the year when people want to go out and see movies, so studios plan on releasing movies at these times. Movies that are judged to not be good competition against these blockbusters are "held back" until Feb when the competition isn't as fierce. So if even the studio doesn't have the faith to release it against rival films...
Posted by Karabou at 10:58 PM EST
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January 1, 2008
Happy New Year, or something like that
I feel like I'm supposed to be retrospective and nostalgic, possibly even review the last year of my life.
I just don't feel like it. Everything is in a perpetual state of change, and trying to keep it from changing is folly. Another day, another year, on we go.
I've been sick for days; today is the first day I've not felt completely miserable...well...once I crawled out of bed around 11am.
Tomorrow it's back to the grind, and I don't feel any more rested for the time off I had. It was fully scheduled and then fully derailed, and life just keeps going.
My brother is in town for his grandmother's funeral. I'm sorry for his loss, but I'm also happy to see him. Double-edged sword, double-edged coin. And on we go.
Posted by Karabou at 10:58 PM EST
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December 2007 Archive

2008-10-12T11:54:00.004-04:00

December 30, 2007
Angel: Hope this helps
http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk/showthread.php?t=40188
Our guitar matches the above, here's a long view.
The pic is high res, so give it a few minutes to download.
---------------------
And in other news, we've been trying to return the Rock Band bass pedal that broke after 4 uses. They've sat on the god damn thing for 2 weeks, and it wasn't until Kev sent an email Friday night asking where the hell it was that the tracking number finally showed activity. We've been watching the tracking number they gave us since the day we ordered it, and it didn't even ship until 4:30am Saturday morning. Now we've received a message that we haven't returned our pedal yet (in the package provided with the new one), and they're going to charge us the $145 charge for not returning it. We'll definitely be disputing that charge if this isn't rectified.
UPS then did a Saturday delivery, which we weren't prepared for and were sleeping when they arrived; they apparently knocked on the door and then didn't leave a message that they'd even been here. We checked the tracking number again, and it said, "Will try to deliver again Monday." Great. I have 50 f-ing million things I need to do tomorrow, and now I have to keep my ear to the door for UPS. All day. Bullshit.
Rock Band may be fun as hell, but the equipment is shitty, shoddy, and could probably be made better by 4-year-old Chinese prostitutes.
Die in a fire, Harmonix and EA.

Posted by Karabou at 10:32 PM EST
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December 28, 2007
I hate Discover.
I finally got my Discover card cancelled today. I transferred my balance from their shitty 18% interest rate over to a nice 7.9% one.

I used to have a 9.99% rate with Discover, and then, arbitrarily, they jacked it to 18%. I had no late payments. My credit score is over 750. And yet, I received a letter from them stating that "due to my credit rating" they were jacking my rate. At the time, I had a lot of credit card debt, but I had no late payments at all. None. Zero. Zip. Nada. And I was paying them off.

After paying down a huge chunk of it, I was able to get a great card through my credit union. And I cancelled that devil albatross Discover card.

And when I called to cancel it, not only did I have to fight the rep tooth and nail to GET it cancelled, he was pissed when I told him that I've asked twice in the past year to lower my rate and was refused, so I got a card through someone else that didn't suck ass. His response was, "Have a nice day." And he hung up on me. lol Discover has been the most nightmarish credit card company I have EVER dealt with. They refuse to lower your rate, even if you have no late payments and good credit rating.

Never, EVER, get a Discover card if you can help it.

Posted by Karabou at 11:10 AM EST
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December 26, 2007
Busy
While on my Xmas break, I've gotten a ton done already. Friday, I finished my Xmas shopping and watched P.S. I Love You, which I adored. Saturday, I saw Sweeney Todd, which was excellent. Over the weekend, I accrued 27k honor from the AV bonus honor weekend and bought my Gladiator helm and chest piece. Monday, I did 4 loads of laundry, went to the grocery early in the AM to avoid the madness, did the dishes, taped off and painted the bathroom walls, and tried to just generally straighten.
Unfortunately, the paint I picked out somehow became this god awful pale pink. Holding the swatch up to it, it is NOT the color it's supposed to be. I picked out new paint today and re-painted the walls, AGAIN, with a pale yellowish beige, which will just have to do for a while because I'm not painting it again anytime soon.
We started the bathroom remodeling today, and our friend is laying the tile as I write this, and he'll be putting the toilet back in. Tomorrow, we put the new sink in, but until then, we live with using the kitchen sink for our toiletry needs. Good enough.
Kev caught a cold just in time for Xmas, so he was feeling sick at his parents' on Xmas eve, and he was too sick to go to my family's on Xmas day. He HAD to go to work today, even though he felt miserable, because his monkeys are on vacation this week, and his job HAS to be done.
I also took down all my Xmas decorations today. I want to try to get some of my new decor up over the next few days, and I need to get my hutch assembled and in place, so I can end my kitchen being in constant, total disarray. Busy busy busy.
Posted by Karabou at 8:43 PM EST Top

December 20, 2007
French & Saunders: Harry Potter Spoof
Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Posted by Karabou at 11:16 PM EST Top

December 19, 2007
Christmas cards: A public service announcement
Be careful about sending anything in a Christmas card. I'm not posting some email forward; I'm talking from personal experience.
I've received two Christmas cards this year that were a cute style with layers to it. Evidently, someone in the post office believed there to be money or a gift certificate inside of them because both were sitting in my mailbox, obviously having been opened. Feeling them through the envelope, one would think there WAS something in it. Thankfully, there wasn't.

At work, we also went with a layered design, and I've had one returned that was TORN open. I mean, someone stuck their finger under the flap and opened the envelope. This was no accident.

So if you want to send someone a Christmas card with a present inside, spend a couple extra dollars and send it in a cardboard envelope. Otherwise, they're not gonna get it.

Posted by Karabou at 10:44 PM EST
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December 18, 2007
Heh
I am Murloc.

Posted by Karabou at 11:23 PM EST
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December 17, 2007
Quasi-progress
I both feel like I got a lot accomplished this weekend and like I got nothing accomplished this weekend.

I PVPd my ass off in WoW. They now offer Gladiator season 1 gear in the regular BGs, so I'm determined to gear my shaman up with it. One axe down, one to buy today, and then it's back to insane PVPing for the rest of my gear. I earned about 10k in honor, 22 eots tokens, and probably 10 AV tokens. In between my mad alliance killing, I put two coats of primer on the entire bathroom, including the ceiling, painted the ceiling, and did some laundry.

The kitchen cart is together (thanks to Kev Friday night), but I still have the hutch to assemble, shit tons of gifts to wrap, packages to deliver, a bathroom to semi-remodel, bathroom walls to paint, and tons of stuff to get put away in my new kitchen storage.

Blah.

Posted by Karabou at 11:12 PM EST
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December 16, 2007
Bob sends his thanks from Iraq
My wife is my wife so you'll understand that receiving care packages from her is a different sort of special but I have to say that yours was something else. There are many well-wishers but no one has even come close to a care package like that. Thanks Kara and curse you for making me miss you guys that much more!
I have an odd request. The dice you sent brought the dorks out of the woodwork and now I have 4-5 people (Including half the chaplains) who want to play dungeons and dragons. We have internet access but fairly strict filters (Alas your site as well).
I seem to remember Wizards of the Coast had the D&D rules as a starter kit on the website. Any chance you could send me the PDF by E-mail? I don't think anyone here is looking for depth, just a chance to rekindle a nerdy youth. If I had known this from the start I would have put them through their paces.
Thank you again for a very bright spot in a sometimes taxing deployment- Bob

Posted by Karabou at 1:47 PM EST
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December 15, 2007
White Death
It's really coming down, and I'm thanking sweet baby Ganesha that I had enough sense to cram my car into the garage last night. I opened the shades this morning, so I could enjoy the full splendor of the snow falling. Kev has been gleefully strumming away to Rock Band for the last 30 minutes or so, and I was in the bathroom taping up all the woodwork to prepare for laying down the primer later. I hear him yelling, and apparently, a van did a donut right smack into the spot where my car is parked every day. He looked up, out the window, and thought a van was about to drive through the front of the house, but instead, it just spun away down the street.

Dear god.
Posted by Karabou at 12:10 PM EST
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December 14, 2007
Digital processing reveals the final whisper in Lost in Translation
http://cgi.fark.com/cgi/fark/youtube.pl?IDLink=3265604

Posted by Karabou at 8:22 PM EST
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December 11, 2007
When a party stops being a party
Kev's office party was last night.

They waited until 2pm the day of the party to inform employees through an email that the event was semi-formal. It was not listed on the invitation. So anyone who worked 2nd shift or took the day off had no idea it was semi formal. So mixed in with the business suits were people who were barely dressed business casual. That was some good planning.

Not only that, but at 8:30pm, they hadn't even really started the party games. This was a work night. People had small children at this thing, most of whom are usually in bed by 8 or 9pm.

One game involved everyone smashing in together around a little table trying to guess whose desk was whose from close-up pictures. Just about everyone was voicing their guesses as they filled out their form, but Kevin was singled out by the office secretary who had the mic for "cheating" because he was doing the same thing most other people were doing. She had announced we were being judged by tables, so we assumed it was a "table" effort.

I was beyond pissed. I wanted to put my shoe through that bitch's head. I decided I'd had enough, and we just got up and left, along with Tyler from Braniac's wife and kid.

I guess after that, the games got even worse, and anyone who tried to leave was guilt tripped over the microphone as they exited. Wow, that's some party.

My opinion is, if you're going to make people dress semi-formal, skip the dumbass party games. Party games are for informal gatherings. If you're going to force me into a cocktail dress, I'm not going to be happy if you make me pander to your lame-ass idea of holiday fun. Serve dinner, give everyone a gift, and let them go home and put their kids to bed.

Posted by Karabou at 11:28 PM EST
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December 10, 2007
Friends don't give friends the gift of popcorn.
Seriously.

Instead, friends tell friends about awesome places like Steve & Barry's. I love it. Go there. Now. Everything is under $20. And it's not crap.

On another note, another magazine rep sent me a gift--a pachira tree. I have no idea how I'm going to keep it alive. I supposed I've kept my Charlie Brown Xmas tree and my peace lily alive for 2 years, so maybe this will survive, too.

Kev's office Xmas party is tonight. They just sent out a message to employees today that it's semi-formal. Wow, that's kind of down to the wire for that sort of requirement. I was planning to just go business casual, but now I have to re-think my my entire outfit and do something with my hair. /sigh I'll also have to wrangle Kev into suit & tie and then figure out what on earth I'm going to do. Now I need to straighten my hair. blah.

My only dilemma is shoes. /sigh

Posted by Karabou at 9:47 PM EST
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December 9, 2007
Rock it with your cat out
Recent movies:
Becoming Jane
I'm not keen on biographical films that don't stay true to history. I don't feel that things need to be "buffed" to make it more interesting. It was meh. I'm not a fan of Anne Hathaway, either. At least she didn't play her usual bumbling retard role in this movie. I was beginning to think she was a one pratfall pony.

The Host
A Korean monster flick that had parts that totally rocked. The opening sequence was one of the best monster rampages I've ever seen. It's just a shame that it couldn't have taken up more of the movie. After that, it degenerates into baffling Asian culture weirdness, like most Asian movies do for Westerners. I'm positive there was some religious or cultural significance to a lot of the things that I was lost on, and I usually try to just fill in the blanks and enjoy what I get. I do better with Chinese films, as I know a lot about Chinese culture and religion.

Die Hard with a Vengeance
*yawn*
Okay, so there were some good action sequences; I'll admit it. But I dunno. As I get older, far-fetched stories of techno-ludicrosity just annoy me. I spent most of the movie shadowed by thoughts of "Christ, this is stupid." McLane seemed more tired and grouchy than badass, but he had a few good moments. I find I tend to enjoy the more personally physical action films, such as Bourne 1&2. I like to see people beat the shit out of each other and actually be able to tell what's going on, unlike Batman Returns, where all you see is CGI dirt and blurs because both guys are wearing black, it's dark, and there's wolves out.

We played Rock Band again all evening last night. God that is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much fun. I tried my hand at singing, which was akin to tuning a violin in a room full of screeching cats, but I did okay. Brian is the best at it by far, 100%-ing several of the songs we have to play over and over. I think it's going to be a Rock Band NY Eve.

Posted by Karabou at 8:35 PM EST
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December 8, 2007
Rock Band of your soul
Rock Band is the greatest game ever made. End of story.

If you haven't played it, your life is not complete, and if you die before you do, your soul will haunt the earth for eternity.

Play it. Love it. Live it.

Signed,
The Greatest Fake Bass Player EVAR

Posted by Karabou at 12:01 AM EST
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December 7, 2007
Jedi Chocobo Tactics
Wednesday, through a haze of exhaustion, I watched Out of Africa for the first time. It was utterly amazing. I loved it. I already like Meryl Streep, but she was incredible in that movie. And Robert Redford…I don't think he's aged--he's just gotten craggier. He seems to play a lot of that character type.

If you like chick flicks in the least, totally check it out.

I also watched Super Skinny Me: The Race to Size Zero on BBC. Quite possibly the most disturbing documentary I've ever watched. Two female journalists, UK size 12, decide to try to get down to a UK size 0 over the course of six weeks.

They try various celebrity-touted diets, including Liz Hurley's Watercress Soup Diet, Beyonce's Master Cleanse Diet (which she famously used to lose 20 lbs in 14 days), the Lemonade Diet, the Raw Food Diet, the Protein Shake Diet, colonics, steam bath workouts, and then it degenerates.

They both workout like mad to keep their metabolisms from stopping. A personal trainer tells one of them that the super models he trains subsist one 1 diet Pepsi a day and a pack of cigarettes. The other journalist asks her trainer how close to zero body fat he can get her before she's in danger of dying.

That journalist begins to like being skinny a little too much and begins to use laxatives, becomes wildly obsessed with her progress, and ultimately spirals into bulimia. They pull the plug on her study, and she remarks to the camera, "I knew I shouldn't have told him about the laxatives. I could have made it," completely oblivious of what is actually happening to her.

The other journalist hates that her body has become a skeleton in clothing. But she makes it into a size 00 jean and looks like an Xray. Then she immediately shoves 2 giant pieces of cake into her mouth and moans in ecstasy.

I love life too much to deny myself an iced sugar cookie once in a while.

Posted by Karabou at 10:59 PM EST Top

December 7, 2007
Nippley man I met, he ate my motor boat.
I feel worse today than I did yesterday, but that's probably because I came into work today, and I'm struggling through it. First thing I had to do was print 450 page of crap that required me to frequently get up and babysit the printer. I almost passed out at one point and just sat with my head under my desk like I was looking for something for about 5 minutes.
I'm pissed because our Lady's Holiday Luncheon was today, and I was too sick to go. If I'm not taking delicious, expensive food for free, I'm sick. But out of pity, my boss offered to take me out next week for a nice lunch to make up for it. And I'm annoyed I couldn't enjoy the cake in the breakroom that everyone was freaking out over because the thought of it nauseated me, AND I missed Hump Day Breakfast yesterday. !!!! And they just sent out another announcement for cake! WTF!
I'm so tired that standing for any length of time makes me want to puke. I tried to get some salt for the sidewalk at Walmart, and they were out. How does a place like Walmart not stock enough salt? Now I have to go out and find some after work and then drive home in shitty traffic. I'm thoroughly unimpressed with Kettering's snow removal. I want a snow blower. Heh
And I'm distressed because our sidewalk is the only one on our street that isn't cleared. I know in Fairborn, you had 24 hours to get it done, or the city could fine you. I can't find anything like that in Kettering 's bylaws, but I'm sure if the neighbors complain, something will be done about it. And if someone slips on it, I think they can sue us. So despite feeling worse than yesterday, I now have to FIND salt and then go put tons of it down outside and pray we don't get the snow and ice predicted for tonight.
And after today, I'm anxious to get the bathroom done, so we can finish clearing out all the other temporarily stored crap in the garage. I want to park in the carport and not have to worry about 4 inches of snow all over my car anymore. Ice back there will be a bitch though, as there's a steep slant in the pavement down to the carport. I'm amazed Kevin hasn't brained himself yet.
On the upside, I got a $70 Tiffany's crystal bowl as a gift from one of my magazine reps. They sent it to my boss, even though they only deal with me, and she knows I go through hell with these people at last once a month about their inability to keep anything straight. So she gave it to me. It's a cute little candy dish, and it did make me feel less crappy.
Okay, enough whining. Back to pretending to work.
And just for your enjoyment:
A Crazy Indian Video
A Crazy Indian Video2
Posted by Karabou at 10:15 PM EST
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December 6, 2007
Obama and the Giant Peach
The e-mail — one of several hoaxes that have been circulating since the Illinois senator announced his candidacy — claims that Obama is a Muslim whose campaign is part of a plot to destroy the United States. Obama is not, and never has been, a Muslim.I swear to you, if you sent an email to 100 total strangers that said "African Americans have blood made of peanut gravy," at least 50 of them would believe you. Because, you know, if it's an email FW:, it HAS to be true.

Posted by Karabou at 12:02 AM EST
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December 5, 2007
Sickpocalypse 07
So I just survived what was seriously the worst stomach flu I've ever had. Early Monday morning, I had weird stomach cramps, but that's nothing out of the ordinary from time to time. By 8:30am, I had the worst diarrhea of my entire life. You know that scene in Van Wilder where the jerk gets slipped Colon Blow and ends up power-shitting in a trash can? Yeah, I was that guy, but worse.

I kept thinking I wasn't sick. I had no fever. I had no nausea. I didn't feel "sick." Around 11am I started shivering, I was so cold. 11:30 I decide to go home from work. I just couldn't get warm but still no fever. ??? The assplosion stopped around 3pm, and then the 102 degree fever kicked in. Around 7pm I start barfing my guts out. Mind you, I still had no nausea. It was more of a mechanical thing of my body ringing my brain's doorbell and saying, "Um, yeah, you need a toilet. Now."

I was so tired I couldn't even watch TV. I went to bed with absolutely nothing left in my body. Around 5am, I woke up starving. I finally decided to try a fruit smoothie and made some feeble attempt at it. I got down 4 sips and gagged, ate a 1/2 a Jello cup, and promptly tried to barf again. I managed to keep it down by assuming some weird position on the bathroom floor that consisted of kneeling and putting my face against the tile. I dunno how or why, but it worked. After about 20 minutes of that, I crawled on my hands and knees back to bed and literally collapsed face-down on top of my covers and immediately fell asleep.

Yesterday, I crawled out of bed around noon, still starving. But the kicker was, my body wasn't having any of this "eating" thing. I made some chicken and rice, got 4 sips of broth down and was just done. DONE, I say. I ate another half a Jello cup and passed out on the couch for several hours. I made another attempt at eating around 6pm, got 4 spoons of chicken noodle down and was again over it. Going to the bathroom was a chore. I crawled on my hands and knees from the couch to the bathroom, laying down on the floor halfway to my destination.

I tried to watch some TV, but I seriously didn't have the energy. I would force my eyes open for a few seconds to see what atrocity HGTV was throwing at me, and I almost threw up when I saw a lime-green kitchen wall. No more TV after that. I degenerated into utter misery by the time Kev came home. I couldn't even hold my head up to watch the Simpsons and went to bed around 7:30pm.

And through it all was this terrible lower back pain. I felt like someone had a hold of my kidneys and trying to yank them out of me. Last night, it moved from my lower back into my head, neck, and shoulders. I woke up at 2am and wanted a cereal bar RIGHT NOW. Good sign. So I went and got one and laid on my bed in the dark, eating it like some sad, nocturnal squirrel.

I'm in dire need of a shower, but I at least feel human again. The part I hate most about being sick is that it somehow warps time itself, making you feel like you are NEVER going to feel better again. I'm still really tired and weak, but at least I feel like I can eat today. Blah.

Posted by Karabou at 9:32 AM EST
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December 3, 2007
Derek Smart's Wheelchair Fiesta
Friday, we watched the 2nd season of BBC's IT Crowd. I'm hoping their talks for a 3rd season don't fall through. BBC shows are often short-lived.

Saturday, we watched King of Kong, which just further proved my theory that cheaters always win, and that competitions are rarely honest. The world is full of weasels. It was a fantastic documentary. If you ever loved classic video games, check it out.

Then we watched Wake Up Ron Burgundy, a re-cut of Anchorman that used deleted scenes and other footage from the cutting room floor. It's a completely different plot and just as amusing.

Yesterday, I got sucked into Confetti, a Brit movie about 3 couples competing to win a house from a wedding magazine by putting on the most original wedding. Seeing as Britain only has like 8 actors, they were all in it.

I also restarted my WoW account Friday night to get in touch with a few people in the guild. It was nice talking to them over the weekend. There are so many changes to the game since I last played about 4 months ago that it's like a whole new (improved) game. I was having a blast in AV, though my Enh Sham is kind of mediocre, and my lock is only 63, so she can't actually HIT anything in the sea of 70s, though she can rack up the kills with her AOE and random dotting. When I get closer to 70, I'll start doing AV defense with her. She can single-handedly hold onto the AV base with AE fear. I won't deny locks are over-powered, but god they're fun.

Pandaman put it best, "Deathcoil should also take gold from the opposing player to pay for the numerous concubines we have to keep in our giant floating citadels powered by the tears of bitter players."

Honor seems much easier to get. I got about 8k in maybe 5 hours over 2 days. Previously, that'd take me at least a week. I'm trying not to go crazy with it. I still have things to do around the house. But man, nothing is more satisfying than ganking someone 7 levels higher.
Did I mention that Confetti was chock full of frontal male nudity? I love the British.

Posted by Karabou at 9:26 PM EST
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November 2007 Archive

2008-10-12T11:54:00.003-04:00

November 30, 2007
A Christmas Story
Religion is Evil by Josh Becker

Posted by Karabou at 10:22 PM EST Top

November 29, 2007
Battle Jazz Shootout
I stopped at GameCrazy at Crosspoint and picked up 5 PS2 games for $50. A friend of a friend works there, and I told her they were for my mom's Xmas charity,so she gave me the MVP Card price, which saved me about $10. Good stuff.

She also started an account for me to watch for a used copy of Pikmin 2. And I told Kev that he's not getting Guitar Hero III until next year. I got 17 games in some good deals (5 of them were free), so he'll have plenty to keep him busy. He can always go play Rock Band at Brian's. heh

Posted by Karabou at 11:35 PM EST
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November 28, 2007
Amish Jetpack Hop-a-bout
Been kind of a slow week. Worked on wrapping presents last night and watched Muppet Christmas Carol in the process. I made a dent in it, but I still have several things that need wrapped. And I have a ton of gift certificates to pick up yet.

I'm ordering my kitchen hutch today. Woot! I should have my kitchen cart soon. And Kev is going to build some bookcases. I just need to buy the wood for it.

I still need to do something about the leaves in my yard. Maybe I'll just brave the cold and mulch them with mower this weekend before it rains on Sunday.

Our friend is ordering our tub and shower kit today, and he's planning to install it maybe starting on the 20th. My goal is to have the bathroom totally done before NY Eve. Woot! Exciting!

Posted by Karabou at 8:32 PM ES
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November 26, 2007
Cyber Monday, how do I love thee?
I just got my kitchen cart $25 off and free shipping. Woot! I found a baker's rack for the kitchen, too, but it has no special deal. It's just the cheapest, nicest one I've found. So I'll wait for my Target gift card from work to order that. And last, but certainly not least, I'll be ordering my bookshelf tonight. Woot!

I need to measure upstairs and see what height will fit. And I'll still need another smaller one for my room. Yar.

Posted by Karabou at 10:06 PM EST
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November 23, 2007
Another Black Friday, and I'm spent
So, I am totally, completely, utterly, wickedly exhausted. I woke up at 1am and couldn’t go back to sleep, and I had to be up by 5am to meet Amanda for Black Friday madness. I got tons of stuff and spent an obscene amount of money, but I got a lot crap done. And I got my payment for Freeport : Pirate's Guide to Freeport (which kicks ass) just in time for the willy nilly shopping extravaganza. Ooo-rah. Couldn’t have come at a better time.Somewhere around 1:30pm and one White Russian, I seriously thought I was going to fall asleep in my lunch. I came home and crashed for a little over an hour and then hit the floor running to clean the house in anticipation of an out of town friend who was supposed to visit. But he was a no call/no show. I assume family stuff got in the way. Around 9pm, I gave up, put on my pajamas, got ready for bed, and decided to do some quick blogging.
And now, it’s time to pass out.

Posted by Karabou at 9:54 PM EST Top

November 21, 2007
The Enchanted Mist
Tonight, I went and saw Enchanted because I had to do a BV assignment on it and had nothing else to do until I was supposed to meet Kev and my cousin for The Mist. Enchanted was okay for a kids' movie. It was so purposely, painfully over the top that it ended up being moderately amusing. The chipmunk was killing me. Take your little girls to go see it.
The Mist KICKED BABY JEBUS' ASS. Go see it. Holy break-dancing Jehovah. It wasn't necessarily scary, but it was really intense. And if you're not a bug-lover, it'll have your skin crawling. And the ending. Oh. My. God. THE ENDING!!! Best ending of a movie in YEARS. You won't be disappointed.

Posted by Karabou at 11:54 PM EST
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November 20, 2007
Dr. Bob and the Incredibly Limp Sand Jawas
As some of you may or may not know, our friend Dr. Bob was deployed to Iraq a few weeks ago, and he won’t be coming home until February…which means he’s stuck there over the holidays. We plan to send him a care package for Xmas. The deadline for giving me items to include is Friday, November 29. I have to mail the package no later than December 4 to (hopefully) guarantee its arrival before Xmas. I got in touch with Bob’s dad to get his mailing address.Contraband items:
obscene articles (pictures, paintings, cards, films, videotapes, etc.)
any matter depicting nude or semi-nude persons, pornographic or sexual items, or non-authorized political materials
bulk quantities of religious materials contrary to the Islamic faith. Items for the personal use of the recipient are permissible
pork or pork by-products
I would like to send some gaming materials, as I know a lot of military personnel are avid gamers. If you’re willing to donate some extras you having lying around, old dice, card games, or anything else, contact me. Anything is appreciated. Also, if you're willing to chip in a few dollars for shipping, I would appreciate it. I have a feeling this isn't going to be a tiny package, and I will be shipping it Flat Rate Priority Mail. You can make Paypal donations to amazon284 (at) ameritech (dot) net--even a couple of dollars will help a lot.Please contact me at amazon 284 (at) yahoo (dot) com for information on what donations I’ve already got. I would post it here, but I don’t know if Bob checks my blog, and I’d like the contents to be a pleasant surprise. For those of you with access to MySpace, I will list the contents there, as I know he doesn’t have access to it.

Posted by Karabou at 5:54 PM EST Top

November 19, 2007
My Little Pony: A Very Minty Christmas
Whew. What a weekend.

Saturday morning was the Dessert Open House at Chantilly Cream, where you get to taste all of the chef's holiday desserts. I ordered the Chocolate Mousse Cake (as usual) for Amanda's Xmas party. She ordered the Caramel Pecan Cake (which was to-die-for). After that, the m-i-l and I did a little shopping, in which I picked up a dresser for Kev for about $130 less than I thought I was going to have spend, and we grabbed some lunch.

I was hoping to go to Diwali, the Indian Festival of Lights, put on by the India Club of Greater Dayton, but I was just too tired. I've had this weird intestinal thing since Wednesday where I feel perfectly fine, suddenly get deathly ill, and then feel perfectly fine again. Sunday was the first day I didn't get hit with it at some point. Saturday night, I was able to put the dresser together, despite there being no directions in the box and no knobs for the drawers. /sigh

Sunday, I had trouble getting motivated. But I got the Xmas tree up and decorated and put out the rest of my decorations. I still need some garland for the windows. Yes, I know it's a little early. I usually do it the Saturday after T-day, but I had 4 boxes of crap adding to the box-insanity that's already my room, and I want to just put up the deco and relegate the boxes to the garage.

Then Amy came over to go to Magical Night of Giving at Fairfield. It was big fun. Free chocolate at Godiva, nice discounts at stores that don't usually have sales, and mom brought my cousin Chelsea to finish up her Xmas shopping and ended up getting her stuff at about 60% off. Insane.

I was devastated to find out that Banana Republic is gone. Best clearance rack EVER. EVER! /sob I guess I'll have to go to Jeffersonville for it from now on. Damn it. I ended up getting a dress shirt on clearance for $14.99, buy 2 pairs of socks, get one free (and a pair on clearance for $2.99), and I bought 2 tanks and got 1 free. Wooty.

Amy and I went out for Indian food afterwards. /yum I was so tired when I got home that I collapsed in the recliner for an hour, nearly falling asleep every 5 minutes and then just decided to crawl into bed.

Gamestop had a special "buy 2 used games, get 1 free." So I had Kev drive down and pick out 6 games. Amy bought three, and I bought three, getting one $12.99 game free and one $34.99 game free. They're doing it again on Black Friday.

It was nights like last night that I really miss Angi. You'd be a blast at MNoG with me and Amy, you Philly-living hoozatch! :)

Posted by Karabou at 9:44 PM EST
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November 16, 2007
Where are the savory snacks?
Saw Darjeeling Limited last night. I looooooooved it. It's no Royal Tenenbaums, but I still really enjoyed it. Maybe it had something to do with being highly over-emotional at the moment and the fact that it was set in India. I dunno. If you like Wes Anderson movies, you should definitely go see it; I think you'll really enjoy it.

I'm wearing one of my Gap outlet shirts today. When I saw it on the rack, I turned my nose up. But I've learned over the years that just because it looks like crap on a hanger doesn't mean it will look like crap on. It's like some sort of Fashion Miracle. And my instinct was right; it's super cute on. I don't think I'd like it in any other color than black, though. It's kind of peasant-y but stretchy.

Posted by Karabou at 10:22 PM EST
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November 15, 2007
en sueños
Super weird dream last night. Too many covers on the bed, I think.

We're in the street in front of our house (but it's not really our house), and we see three silhouetted figures in the moonlight running down the street at us, military style. We run for the house and start trying to lock the doors and windows, but the break in anyway.

They've got guns on us, and they tell us they're going to force us to tear down our house. They use a term that I can't remember now, but it was some term similar to "ramshackle" I'd never use in a million years--no clue where it came from. But Kev and I look at each other and say, "But we just moved in. We haven't had a chance to fix it up."

Then the home invaders tell us they don't care. They're attacking a swathe of houses to tear them down. "We're 15 right now, and when we turn 16 or 17, we're going to major in telecommunications. And we need to tear down these strategic targets in order to build our telecommunications towers and build our empire!"

So we start puttering around the house, doing little things to appease them. At one point, I grab to knives out of the one guy's bag, and he shows me how to make it double serrated…whatever that means. I decide that I'm going to escape first chance I get.

They leave me alone in the kitchen, and I slip out the back door into what's supposed to be our backyard. There are high concrete block walls covered in moss all around, but the gate is open. I hear voices coming from down the alley, and I run out in my socks to what looks like a family picnic. I beg them to call 911, and they keep trying, but 911 operators keep telling them they're busy and that they'll call back when they're available.

I tell them what's happening, and they hide me in a group of them, while two of the bad guys are looking for me. I crawl behind a piano as they walk around. Then, this really tall, skinny black FBI agent in what looks like a pilot's uniform tells me to put my head and neck between his feet and hang onto his legs with my hands. He drags me out from my hiding place and asks me if the guy in the doorway is looking for me. I tell him he's the ringleader.

I continue to hide for a while; then, the ringleader starts looking around for me. He pulls me out of a closet and puts his right arm around my neck and starts to pull a gun with his left, but I grab his arm and start wrestling for control of the gun. He ends up shooting himself in the face.

I hear sirens in the distance, and I run for the back door of the house. As I stand in the alley looking in, I see snipers blow the head off the other main guy. A third one throws himself to the ground and surrenders.

Then I woke up. Posted by Karabou at 10:22 PM EST
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November 13, 2007
Complete lead-paint-GHB-death-toy government recall list for your XMas shopping pleasure
I know folks are gearing up for Xmas shopping. Below is the government website with the complete lead-paint-GHB-death-toy recall list.

www.cpsc.gov

Your kids want Amish toys for Xmas.

Posted by Karabou at 10:16 PM EST
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November 12, 2007
A slow ascent from hell
Just watched The Ground Truth. It's a documentary by Iraq and Vietnam vets about the total lack of care men and women of the armed forces receive when they come home.

Somehow, it maintains a non-political stance on the subject.

Watch it.
Posted by Karabou at 8:44 PM EST
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November 10, 2007
Mmmm...
Tonight was Keith and Heather's yearly wine tasting event. Magnifique!

I brought my usual 47-pound Cock Wine. Delicious. If you like a dry red with little bite, try it. You'll love it. And I brought my new recipe for Mediterranean Spinach Strata. It turned out FANTASTIC! Everyone raved about it. I was so excited. It was nice bringing a "grown-up" dish that everyone loved. lol

I hung out with Mike and Leah for most of the evening; it was nice catching up with them without having to shout over music. I think this was the best wine tasting, yet. It was a really great time.

I feel like I accomplished a super human amount of crap today. I rolled out of bed at 8:30am and immediately started cooking. I had to prep the Strata and refrigerate it for 8 hours before baking. It took me a good hour. Then I cleaned the kitchen, made some breakfast, and cleaned some more. I got my oil changed, mowed the lawn, did the first layer of stain on my nightstand, vacuumed, did laundry, watched John Tucker Must Die (hides head in shame), and still had time for the party tonight.

Tomorrow, I might try putting on that layer of primer in the bathroom. It won't take me long, but I keep procrastinating on it. Some part of my mind is convinced it's monumental labor, even though I know it will take me like 20 minutes. Oh well, we'll see. :)
Posted by Karabou at 10:38 PM EST
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November 2, 2007
I laughed so hard I snorted...
Fisherman nets shark 200 km from sea
Tue Oct 30, 5:20 AM ET

NASSIRIYA, Iraq (Reuters) - A two-metre shark has been caught in a river in southern Iraq more than 200 km (160 miles) from the sea.

Karim Hasan Thamir said he was fishing with his sons last week when they spotted a large fish thrashing about in his net. "I recognised the fish as a shark because I have seen one on a television programme," he told Reuters.

The shark was pulled from the mouth of an irrigation canal that joins the Euphrates River. The Euphrates joins the Tigris River further east to form the Shatt al-Arab waterway which flows south past Basra into the Gulf.

Dr. Mohamed Ajah, assistant dean of the college of science at Thi Qar University in Nassiriya, said barriers in river estuaries usually prevented sharks swimming upstream.

"In this case, I think this animal was there for a long time but no one had managed to see it," he said.

Locals blamed the U.S. military for the shark's presence.

Tahseen Ali, a teacher, said there was a "75 percent chance" Americans had put the shark in the water.

"This is very frightening for us. Our children always swim in the river and I believe that there are more sharks. I believe that America is behind this matter," said fisherman Hatim Karim.
Posted by Karabou at 5:26 PM EST
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November 1, 2007
This is the reason I want to have kids...

Trick or Treat was amusing last night. We probably went through 4 or 5 bags of candy. Lots of cute costumes including a 4-yr-old who came up with her "devil bride" costume on her own. Lol I love seeing little girls dressed as superheroes, too--we had a Batgirl and Supergirl. It was chilly but not too bad. I think kids were warm enough walking around that they didn't need their coats. I hate when you can't see their costumes for all the bundling up.

My favorite of the night was the guy walking around with his wife and grandkid that wasn't in costume but looked like an old drunk Italian, right down to the glass of wine he was walking around with. Hello, open container. Heh

It took a while for me to get warmed up last night. Kev stood on the porch with me, sans jacket--I don't know how he could stand it. I was bundled up and had a wooly blanket wrapped around my lower half.

We talked about how we'd like to decorate next year, and now that we know the approximate amount of kids, we'd like to go to Sams Club and get boxes of full-size candy bars. We want to be "that house" in the neighborhood. We should have more money next year, since we won't still be buying things for the house…I hope.

My coworkers were complaining about parents who take their infants out in costume to T&T, but I really don't have a problem with it. I figure they're excited about having a kid, and they're eager to be involved in all the things that having kids means you'll be involved in…even if the kid really has no idea what's going on, and the candy is really for the parents. I don't even care if teenagers T&T, so long as they're in costume. If you're going to beg for candy, at least attempt to dress up. And "I'm dressed as a lazy teenager" isn't a costume.

But surprisingly, we didn't have an teenagers at all. The first set of girls were probably 12 or 13, and were all dressed like prostitutes or Britney Spears…not that there's any difference. Two boys shouted across the street at the worst of them, "What are you dressed as?" The girl replied, "I dunno. I just threw something on." Then the girl asked back, and he replied, "I'm dressed as Kurt Cobain. You wouldn't know who that is." lol I gave him extra candy.

One thing that surprised me, though, was the amount of kids that said "Trick or Treat." I don't think I ever said it. I thought it was silly. The times, they are a-changin'. hehPosted by Karabou at 8:42 PM EST
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October 2007 Archive

2008-10-12T11:54:00.001-04:00

October 28, 2007
Weekend News Report
What a weekend.
Friday, Amanda and I did Foundry for Halloween. I'm pleased that two men won the costume contest and that the judging wasn't entirely based on audience applause. I don't bother entering such contests because I'm not popular enough or hot enough to win. Why bother? But I enjoyed my Little Dead Riding Hood costume. I do it for fun, after all. I'm glad to report that dancing in heels is like riding a bike. You don't forget how. I haven't danced in anything with a heel for at least 5 years. After a couple of songs, I was fine.
Gay Spock hit on me for a while. I usually try not to be overtly rude, but it took turning my back to him before he finally took the hint and went away. Although, that didn't stop him from poking me and running away about 10 times during the night. What, are we in 5th grade? Shoo! Shoo Gay Spock!
Saturday, I slept in and then laid on the couch like a lazy, lazy potato. I tried to nap but just laid there. But I got plenty of sleep and rest in before going out again Saturday with Amy. This time, we were BOTH Red Riding Hoods by some sort of psychic accident, except she was "before" and I was "after." I was enjoying myself, talking to Amy and Laura Purtle. Then, I spotted the bane of my bar existence. He will remain unnamed. I don't like trashing people, just in case it comes back to bite me in the ass.
But Captain Unknown was a BF of He Who Cannot Be Named. Capt. U has always been SUPER nice to me, and he told me a lot of the really shitty things HWCBN said about me to his friends in that circle. Unsurprisingly, all of them were lies. It's what he did best, after all. Capt. U also said that it wouldn't have mattered what I did when I was still with HWCBN because he was never happy with anything I did, and his friends pointed that out to him to no avail. Toxic. And not in a Britney Spears kind of way.
Anyway, enough grousing about HWCBN. As I was saying, Capt. U is a really nice guy and quite physically attractive. But for some reason, he annoys the living hell out of me. Every time I see him, I'm accosted with "I wish I'd have snapped you up when HWCBN dumped you" at least 10 times an hour. Right. Because I have no say in who I date? I wouldn't have WANTED to date him. He's just not my type.
And usually, I have to put up with an endless stream of racist and sex jokes. *yawn* I had a feeling he was going to be there, and I was able to avoid him for most of the night. But Amy and Laura wanted to go outside for some air (it was an inferno inside), and I had spotted Gay Spock at the bar. (argh.) Laura didn't want me to sit alone, since that's every-man's queue to close in for the kill, so I finally decided I'd join them.
As soon as we're outside, I'm blocking the wind from a shivering Laura, and some drunk freakbot begins to accost her. He pretends to kiss her and acts like a raving lunatic. He puts his gay-ass pirate hat on my head, and I inform him that ramming hats on a woman's head is a sure-fire way to piss her off. I didn't do my hair that night to have a f-ing hat rammed on it. That, and he looked like the type of renny that could possibly have lice. Ugh.
So after about 5 minutes of putting up with this, Amy joins us. She had gone back inside for something I think, and when she walked up, crazy man gets crazier. I finally say to Laura over her shoulder, "I think I'll take my chances inside." And I walk away. I've had my freak quota for the month, thank you. Laura apparently doesn't know my tendency to run like a rat from a sinking ship from situations that annoy the hell out of me. I'd rather just not deal with it.
And lo and behold, as I'm walking back across the bar, Capt. U is RIGHT in my way, and I HAVE to acknowledge him. /sigh He bit me on the shoulder twice (what the HELL) and did his usually "I wish you were mine" spiel. I smiled and laughed uncomfortably because I just don't have it in me to be mean to him. He was one of the few people from my former life that was ever kind to me, and I don't take that lightly. So I endured the annoying crap for about 10 minutes and then told him my feet hurt, and I needed to sit down.
He leaves me alone for a while but then decides he has to come over and sit down next to me, forcing me to shove Amy down the row of seats to accommodate him. Then he gets up, comes back again, and gets up again, meanwhile biting my shoulder again a couple of times (seriously, WHAT THE HELL). I'm especially annoyed because LXP is playing, and I'm trying to enjoy the music. He's one of those guys that has to make devil horns with his hand and exclaim how much he loves "alcohol, cigarettes and rock n roll." Quote, unquote. And I'm especially not interested in how his alcohol tolerance has become so high that he needs pot to get remotely buzzed. Grow up. This isn't the 80s. You're not impressing me.
I dunno. I've somehow progressed past all this bar bullshit, and it has zero appeal to me. I can't really drink anymore, not that I ever particularly enjoyed feeling sleepy all evening, but really, what's the point. I just don't get it. I never have. My view of being in a constant state of drunkenness is that you're so unhappy with yourself that you feel the need to be impaired just to exist and not kill yourself. I'm not in that place. Never have been. Likely never will be. So I just can't relate to the appeal of being in a constant drunken stupor. The occasional drunken shenanigans, I get. But not ALL the time.
The last time he got up, I told Amy that I HAD to sneak out. I just couldn't take it anymore. So we ran out the door and into the night. I watched some late night TV and went to bed.
I at least got to enjoy Lollipop Factory, who's in the vein of the 70s metal revival. My beef with live local bands is that they crank up the guitars so loud that you can't hear a single lyric. You can't even hear the voices. At all. What's the point? Why not just make instrumental music if you're not going to bother playing every aspect of your songs to the public? But LF is one of the VERY few that had that under control. I was really pleased with them. Laura said they used to have 7 members and did some insane harmonizing, which I'd kill to hear. But even with the 3 remaining members, they were awesome. Michael Pingue looked like the hot, dirty Italian lovechild of John C Riley. Oddly sexy. Maybe because he was wearing a mini skirt. Hmmm...
Today, I repaired the couple pairs of pants I bought at GAP Outlet, so I can wear them this week. Fixed a shirt, sewed on some missing buttons, did laundry, cleaned a bit, took the trash out, changed the kitty litter, and shuffled the TV stand around. We're trying to figure out how to balance it in the wall space. I have some ideas. I was planning to go to Amanda's and take a couple of loads out of her basement, but her hubs cancelled his play date with my hubs because they had family visiting. So I figured I'd just wait so as not to be in the way.
I didn't get to the grocery today, which means I'll have to find time tomorrow. But I want to go to the gym tomorrow, too. Hmmmmm… Posted by Karabou at 8:14 PM EST
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October 25, 2007
Aaaand...I'm done.
I'm gearing up for the weekend. I'm going to be bushed by Sunday. Friday, Amanda and I--and possibly Sam--are going to Foundry for the Halloween party, and Saturday, Amy and I are going to the Monster Hop at Canal Street. It's a good thing I don't drink, or I'd be broke... and vomiting till I died. I intend to lay around like a beached whale and try to force myself to sleep all day Saturday. I fully plan for my weekend to be super lazy. Although, I do have to do some trailer checks this weekend, so I'll have to leave the couch long enough for that, I suppose.
And through some funny twist, Amy and I are both going as Little Red Riding Hood. Well, almost. I've been working on my Little DEAD Riding Hood costume in anticipation of the Zombie Ball at Foundry, and I figure I'll just do double duty with it for the Monster Hop. I have a wolf's head to carry in a basket, a bloody knife, and a somewhat slutty-but-dangerous outfit. I think the damn wolf's head cost me more than my entire costume did.
Do you KNOW how hard it is to find a wolf's head? I had to settle for the cheapest mask I could find, and it wasn't nearly cheap enough. But it will do. I just hope I can dance in my Mary Janes I picked up. I used to dance in shoes like them--I just haven't for a loooooong time.
Posted by Karabou at 9:34 PM EST
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October 24, 2007
And now my charms are all o’erthrown, and what strength I have’s mine own.Saturday, Amanda I went to GAP Outlet in KY, and I made out like a bandit. I got a fleece jacket, sweatshirt, 16 short sleeve shirts I can wear to work, 3 long sleeve shirts, and 4 pairs of pants (all GAP except for a couple), and I spent $150. Most of it will be for Xmas, so mom will reimburse me. Heh That's the best haul I've made there in quite a while.

Sunday, I saw 30 Days of Night. I really liked it, except that it just sort of ended. But I enjoy a good vampire movie, so thumbs up. It didn't hurt that Danny Huston, character actor extraordinaire, was the lead vampire. I love that guy. He was great in Constant Gardner and Children of Men. I'd love to see him get some lead roles.

I worked on my Halloween costume last night, and it's coming along nicely. I have a few things to figure out, but I picked up some fairly inexpensive Mary Janes, and despite taking me an hour in the mall to find, I finally scored some thigh-high white stockings. You would not believe how hard to find ANY white pantyhose are, whether they're knee-highs or support hose. Freddie's had some awesome ones, but not in giant size, so I left, even though they were pressuring the hell out of me to buy them. Why would I buy something not in my size? I finally found them at Hot Topic. I don't know why I didn't just look there first. /sigh

I just have to shorten the skirt, put a lace-up front on the fake bodice, and then shred the ends of the sleeves and skirt and put some claw marks in it. I need to ask Amy if I can come over and put some of her giant dog's dirty paw prints on the shirt. I'm Little Dead Riding Hood who kicked the wolf's ass. I still need to grab a cheapo basket or borrow one and cut the head off a stuffed wolf or something. And pick up a bloody fake knife and some fake blood.

And I came across this article about David Chase discussing the Sopranos series ender this morning and was amused.
Posted by Karabou at 10:36 PM EST
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October 18, 2007
Mmmmmm
Tired all the time? No sex drive? No energy? Don't know how to eat healthy? THINK you're eating healthy but really just fooling yourself? Watch You Are What You Eat on BBC America. It will change your life. Kev and I have overhauled our diets and are finding it easy to stick with. I'm even eating (and enjoying) fish. *gasp* I've also had loads of energy the last two days. I've also been trying foods I never would have thought of--and loving them.

Fresh homemade fruit smoothies once a day = me sleeping through the night for two whole nights in a row. Unbelievable. Major magnesium, zinc, and B6 deficiency, apparently. Tonight was a raspberry, blackberry, pineapple, banana, and peach smoothie. It was the best one I've made so far. Don't be afraid to go wild with it.

Tonight was my turn to make dinner, and I made the best tootin' jambalaya I've ever had. It blew the pants right off that boxed crap I used to think was awesome.

Ingredients
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cups finely chopped yellow onion (I omitted)
3/4 cup chopped green bell pepper (I use yellow for a milder taste)
1/2 cup finely diced ham (I substituted 3/4 of a lite turkey sausage)
1/2 cup chopped celery
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper (to taste--a little goes a looong way)
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups uncooked long-grain brown rice
1 pound baked, diced chicken breasts

Preparation
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, bell pepper, ham (turkey sausage), and celery; sauté 5 minutes or until onion is tender. Add garlic; sauté 2 minutes.
Stir in parsley and next 4 ingredients (parsley through tomatoes plus chicken). Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes. Add broth and rice; cover and simmer 30 minutes or until rice is tender. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
You could also use a rotisserie chicken to save time.
Posted by Karabou at 10:30 PM EST
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October 16, 2007
When the day is done...
Friday night I saw Elizabeth: The Golden Age. It was good. I'm a sucker for Queen Elizabeth I. She was such a badass.

Saturday, I popped out to the Street Fair in YS. I had my Cajun, my crepe, and my lemon shake-up, and all was right with the world.

Kev and I watched Sleuth on Sunday night. It was odd. Being older than I am, it was fairly predictable, though. I'm sure people were fooled by Michael Caine's disguise at the time, but all that make-up and bad wiggery just seems silly now.

Kev also made salmon Sunday night. And it was delicious. Part of me wanted to hate it and run screaming, but I swore I'd try it if he made it. And I ended up loving it. I was a little iffy on eating the leftovers the next night. The oils come out in it after it sits, and it definitely had an odd flavor the next day. But I ate it. He's going to make Tilapia tomorrow night. I've read it has very little flavor, so that might bode well for me. I can't stand that fishy taste.

Last night, we watched Accepted. It was okay. We chuckled periodically. It was worth Tivo-ing off HBO.

Amanda and I are planning to go to the GAP Outlet in Hebron, KY on Saturday. They usually have good deals, so long as you don't go between November and February. They're totally picked over during then from holiday shopping and people spending their gift money/cards; don't waste your gas driving down there then.

I picked up some fabric for the two remaining pieces of my Halloween costume. I had a change of plans and have compiled pieces for under $20. Woot.
Posted by Karabou at 9:34 PM EST
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October 13, 2007
Look maw, I gots mah fancy T-shirt on. Let’s go to the thee-ate-er!So Sam and I went to see Loreena McKennitt tonight, and it was incredible. The first half of the show was just perfect. She's one of the few artists who sounds as incredible live as she does on CD. I was impressed at the technical difficulty of some of the songs she chose for her and her ensemble to play live; some of them I never would have guessed as being pulled off so well.

But, as with every rose, there were thorns. Like I said, the first half of the show was phenomenal. The second half was marred by some drunk sugar daddy with his too-young thang that he couldn't keep his hands off of; they decided to sit next to us, and his incessant rubbing of her arm sounded like sandpaper rubbing against sandpaper mounted on a cheese grater. I'm guessing they were sitting up above us and decided to sneak down into the Loge where we were after the intermission and take the two empty seats to my left because when they sat down he said, "THIS is where I wanted to be," as his too-young thang clanked the ice in her bag-in-a-box-of-wine pink Chablis.

And with uncanny accuracy, fancy-t-shirt wearing old hack (he broke out his dress T-shirt for the night) talked as loud as a human can possibly talk without actually yelling during every song. During the first song, I looked at his too-young thang and said, "Come on. Please." He was seated on the other side of her, so he didn't hear me. She looked at me knowingly and kind of nodded. But the talking continued. Apparently, the baleful glares of EVERYONE in front of him didn't sink in. Finally, I exploded, turning to him and saying a bit more fervently than I probably should have, "JUST SHUT UP! I PAID A LOT OF MONEY FOR THESE SEATS, SO PLEASE JUST SHUT THE HELL UP!"

Needless to say, King of the Drunk Dipshits was affronted that I would shush him for acting like a Drunk Dipshit. He continued talking but a bit more quietly, and I was determined not to let him ruin this possibly once-in-a-lifetime chance to see Loreena live. So I ignored him. During the last song, Drunk Dipshit gets up (mind you we're in a theater for a sit-down classical concert) makes everyone on the other side of him scrunch to let him by, throws away his cup in a trash can, and then comes back and makes everyone scrunch again...while Loreena is still performing. Put the god damn cup between your feet and wait 5 minutes for the show to end. Unbelievable.

When Loreena did the fake "I'm leaving the stage, so you applaud, and I come back for an encore," the people on the other side of Sam jumped up and left. They apparently don't know about the faux stage-leaving at concerts. So Sam and I moved down to the end of the row to get away from him. He jumps over his too-young thang and slams down in my previous seat, slapping his arms around like a 5-year-old who just found out he wasn't getting that fire truck for Xmas.

After the encore song, we jump up to leave because we wanted to get to the stage door without all the hassle of people trying to exit. But I'm vigorously tapped on the shoulder. I know who it is...

"You know, I just wanna tell you ya made this show a total downer fer me yellin' at me like that. Ya rilly runed this show fer me. <> And I think you were a bitch."

I blinked, looked him in the eye as I towered over him from a step above and said, "Oh really? Well I thought you were a total f-ing DICK for talking during the entire second half of the concert and ruining it for ME. It was rude. How'dya like that?" And then I turned on my heel and walked off, leaving him sputtering. His breath was making me drunk from a foot away. /gag

The evil, insane part of me that likes to dress up in grandma's clothes and look out the window while holding a butcher knife was chock full of glee that I ruined his night. I was marinating in it. There are times when I'm ecstatic when I know someone deserving has had their enjoyment totally, utterly destroyed, and that was one of them. I hope he got a DUI on the way home, too. Or maybe died in a fiery car wreck.

You can dress white trash up, but you can't take the trash out. The world is full of assholes, and it's just downhill from here.

After the show, we waited out back to meet Loreena. Some barely legal hyperactive college band nerd latched onto us in line and began talking in sounds that were much like that of a turkey gobbling. I really have no idea what she was saying, as I was already at my threshold for stupid people that day and was doing an excellent job of pretending she didn't exist. In my mind, I kept hearing, "And one time, at band camp..."
Loreena's a bit older than I thought but still exquisite and incredibly nice. We were disappointed we couldn't get a picture with her, but with the amount of people waiting, we'd have been there half the night if she had to stop and pose constantly. She hugged me and Sam, joked a little bit, and then signed our programs. It was huge fun getting to meet her. I'm not disappointed.
Posted by Karabou at 1:53 AM EST
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October 9, 2007
Tre pensieri casuali per voi
I made some absolutely awesome hummus tonight. Yum. Even Kev was enamored.
What the hell happened to Jenna Jameson? She looks like a starving alien, and that's saying something.
I'm seriously so excited, I'm about to cry. Sam and I are going to go see Loreena McKennitt this Saturday. It's a pagan dream come true. I have loved her music for over 10 years, and this is her first US tour in 7 years.

I'm freaking out.
Posted by Karabou at 10:30 PM EST
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October 8, 2007
It's not too late. To whip it. Whip it good.
This weekend was good. Went dancing with Amanda Friday night and had a good time. Just had to avoid the crazy woman that's a neighbor of one of Leah's friends. She was something.

Saturday, I decided to take Amy out for lunch and get her out of the house. We did some shopping for an end table, with which I had no luck. Everything was between $150-200 and nothing like what I wanted. I got online last night and found the exact nightstand I want for a bit less. I knew I would; I just wanted instant gratification. Oh well. I'll order it when I order my carpet.

Saturday evening, we rented DOA. It was like Mortal Kombat with boobs and hootch aplenty. Bizarre. We tried Potbelly Sandwich Works for dinner, and while it was tasty, I was disappointed in the price for the size of the sandwich. I'm all for smaller portions, but the prices should correspond. Smaller portion should = smaller price.

When I left for the grocery on Sunday morning, I noted that it was annoyingly hot. When I came out of the grocery, I nearly melted on the way back to the car. It was stupidly hot yesterday, and today it's going to be 90 again today. Where the hell is fall? As Amy put it, what's going to happen is it will be 90 today and then snow Friday because that's how it works in Ohio. /sigh

I also bought some fabric Saturday, fur to be exact, to work on my Halloween costume. But it's just not turning out the way I want it. I think I'm going to go look at costumes in a bag. All I have to do is get one that's a little too big, and I can take it in to customize it and make it fit. I dunno. I was seriously thinking of just getting a brown 3-piece pinstripe suit at Goodwill, some white Chuck Taylors, and just going as a crossdressing Doctor. I dunno. I'm not feeling terribly imaginitive this year.

I watched Music & Lyrics yesterday, which happened to be pretty damn funny. When he's not sleepwalking through a role, Hugh can be good. It's just not often. Last night, we watched Blood Diamond. When I realized Leo's accents wasn't supposed to be British, I was less annoyed. It was a good movie, but honestly, it wasn't anything I didn't already know.

If you haven't heard about conflict diamonds, the civil war in S. Africa because of them, and child soldiers, you must have been living under a rock for at least the past 5 years. It's been all over the news in every possible media format. It's why I really don't like diamonds. They're so overrated, the prices are artificially inflated by a man-made scarcity maintained by the De Beers diamond cartel, and quite honestly, they just don't do much for me. Even people on welfare have diamond rings. So what's so amazing about them?
Baby got mango
Two funny things.

This.

And how often do you truly have a brand new flavor experience in your adult life? I ate a mango for the first time ever, and all I could say through a mouthful of juicy fruit to Kev was, "Where has this been all my life?" Yeah yeah, I've had mango flavored drinks and whatnot. But that's like saying strawberry lip gloss tastes like real strawberries. Not even close. I have a new love.
Posted by Karabou at 10:41 PM EST Top

October 4, 2007
Cheesecake, baby.
I ate at Cheesecake Factory for lunch yesterday, as we got free cheesecake for doing a huge project at work. And as always, I got sick after eating there. I reheated the remainder of my sandwich today just to take a look at it, and it was dripping with grease. Bingo. I just can't handle that anymore. The grilled eggplant sandwich is delicious, but before it was grilled, it was apparently soaked in grease or oil. Blech. I've eaten there 5 times, and all 5 times, I've been sick afterwards. I think I'm done with their entrees.

Kev and I went for a walk last night and saw this magnificent house at the other end of our street. It's huge and only $112,000. Although, it was built in 1920, which can be bad. But it was so cool I had to get online and look at pics of it on dabr.com.

I'm still slammed trying to get things done before the tradeshow, and I still have the monumental task of the newsletter ahead of me next week. On top of that, I have the marketing weasel at my sister company wanting a million things done. Right. I'll get right on that. He's such a freak. I swear to god, the entire hour we were in the meeting, all he did was whine about how fat he was. And I thought women were bad.

I tried some Valerian last night to see if it helped me sleep. I think it would have, if it hadn't made my heart freak out. It pounded and fluttered all night, but I do feel rather relaxed today. I slept in a bit and came in to work an hour late. And since my leftover sandwich was the yuck, I ate some leftover broccoli, a piece of whole wheat bread, and a half a piece of cheesecake for lunch. I half expected Gillian to leap out from the desk next to me and beat me with her purse for making such a poor choice.

I've been a little nostalgic about college lately. I really loved it. And having just graduated with my BA a few years ago, it's still pretty fresh in my memory. I'd love to go back and get my Masters eventually, but I want to get a good 10 years of experience before I do. It's a kiss of death if you don't have enough experience to back it up. But I kind of miss the attainable goals and the structured learning.

Posted by Karabou at 10:06 PM EST Top

October 2, 2007
Magic carpet ride to hell
I am so disgusted and uninspired at this moment that I feel like laying down in front of a slow-moving train.

I'm trying to make some simple, animated banner ads, and I feel like my brain is made of cotton. I know it's because I doubled my anxiety meds; that's the one side effect I hate (mainly because it destroys my ability to do my job). But I've been sleeping without Ambien, and I'd like to enjoy that for a while. I suppose I could cut back just a little, but I have to get to the gym regularly, and I cannot miss yoga.

Friday I was jonesing to go dancing, but I decided to get some sleep instead and go out with my m-i-l on Saturday for lunch and shopping. We ate at Flavors Eatery in Centerville; it was interesting. Not the best but not the worst. I'd try it again. We checked out that furniture consignment shop at Crosspoint; wow, was that a bunch of crap. I suppose you might find the occasional gem there, but you're going to have to go there regularly to catch it. No thanks.

Saturday evening, Amanda and I went to my employer's Taste of Premier dinner. The food was good, except for the cheesecake-like pie that tasted EXACTLY like the old pink penicillin goop I had to take every time I got bronchitis or strep. EXACTLY. /gag This year, we had Filipino dancers, Czech dancers, and belly dancers. They were all pretty decent.

Sunday, I ran some errands, mowed the lawn, and finally got to play some Halo 3 with Kev. Monday was my employer's golf outing at New Albany Country Club on the other side of Columbus. It was pretty boring this year, as we didn't play beer wench. The club has refreshment carts that, in theory, deliver drinks to the people on the golf course. But of course, lazy teenagers don't like to do real work, and they just sort of drove past all the teams without stopping.

Has anyone been watching You Are What You Eat on BBC? That woman is brutal; it's great. I highly recommend it; although, you may have to catch it with your DVR, as I think it's on at a strange time.

Today, my mortgage auto-payments are STILL not sorted out. It was supposed to automatically debit on Friday, and it still hasn't…and today is Tuesday. No one in their customer service department seems competent enough to sort the problem out, and I now have to wait 72 hours to see if it's fixed…again. Don't EVER bank through Wells Fargo. As soon as we can refinance the house somewhere else, we are. It's been an unending, hellish nightmare.

And my carpet…don't even get me started on my damn living room carpet. I've been told it's shipping at least 3 times, only to find out it's been placed on back order…again. If I can't get it in the next 24 hours, I'm getting a refund and ordering the more expensive rug. I am so sick of this.

I'm swamped at work. I don't have time to deal with all this. And it's just not getting better.Posted by Karabou at 9:57 PM EST
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