Anyway, so I'm not terribly able to keep up anything like a posting schedule, as I'm generally in a hazy stupor. So I'm doing a lot of reading, which has caused me to accumulate a large number of links. So there's going to be a rather impressive link round-up at the end of this post.
Let's see, a whole fat lot of nothing has been happening this week. I did update my OkCupid account yesterday, but that doesn't mean anything, as I'm not terribly sure I'm interested in using it. I mostly updated it because I had nothing else to do, and it kept me briefly entertained. Honestly, after that last guy from there, I'm not entirely sure I trust OkCupid - there seem to be a disproportionately large quantity of assholes on the site. In any case, that's what I spent a good bit of yesterday doing.
It finally rained yesterday, bringing tolerable temperatures to the area, which is very nice. I went and stood outside in the rain for awhile, and after it rained, Girl Child went outside to mess around and we found some snails, so I took a whole bunch of pictures of her holding them so S would finally have some more recent photos of her. I also got some photos that are of just the snails and her hands, and got permission from S to post one, so here's a picture of a tiny snail on Girl Child's hand:
 |
| Woo for snails! I am so glad she didn't try to make me touch it. |
There's going to be a detailed photo of the snail itself on the Photo Gallery page, if there's any interest to see extreme snail-y detail.
Anyway. Nothing exciting is happening. I washed my hair last night before going to bed and woke up with a giant tangled frizzy fluffball. I don't know how this happens. Hermione keeps trying to possess me, but all she manages to get to stick is her damn hair. Well, she can keep her hair! Take it back! Oh my god. I've tried using the boar bristle brush to distribute the sebum to the ends of my hair in the hope that that would be helpful, but all that did was make it stand on end more. I look like I've been electrocuted!
So, in other news, I received a call from E the other day. I hope she doesn't mind me posting about this, but I don't think anyone she knows reads this blog, especially since her mother has me hidden from her news feed on Facebook because of my prodigious use of the word "fuck". But I digress.
E was crying when she called me. I already knew about this at the time that I posted about going to Topeka, but hadn't mentioned it yet, but since it's now a thing... Anyway, E had her doctor do the genetic test for breast cancer. I don't know if he did both BRCA1 and BRCA2, but she is at risk - most of her mother's female relatives have had it by the time they were 50, including her mother, so I can see why she'd want to know, but at the same time, it's rather worrisome, because it makes me wonder if her insurance company will cover treatment if she develops it at some point in the next 50 years, since American insurance companies will do that to you.
Anyway, I don't really know what I'm supposed to do. I feel for her, but am I supposed to go on acting like everything will be fine? That's been my approach so far, and I think it's helping her. Maybe. I know I don't intend to treat her like she's going to die, since her chances range from 56% to 87% of her contracting it by the time she's 70. Maybe she won't get it until she's 67 or something. I know I'm not going to treat her like a time bomb, or in any other way that is different from how I have treated her for the past 15 years. Even if she does develop cancer when she's 35, she's still the person she was before, not a disease.
Well, that was depressing.
In other things for me to worry about with E, she and her husband have agreed to divorce. He's also stopped saying that he wants to take her to court, because most of the belongings they have were acquired by E before the marriage, and all that would happen would be that he would have a lot less stuff than before. I think this is a fairly sensible course of action, and a lot better than the previously childish behavior he was displaying when E first made it apparent that she wanted a divorce. However, this does not absolve his previous behavior, and I am not even slightly impressed by him. I hope, if she ever gets married again, that she marries an actual adult next time, and not a man-child. At least that's good news, sort of. I mean, getting divorced sucks, but at least she's not sentencing herself to a lifetime of misery instead of facing and dealing with the issue.
I tried to call her this morning, but she didn't answer the phone, either because she was busy or because she didn't recognize the number, since I called from the house phone and not my cell phone. She called while I was writing this post and we talked for a very long time about lots of different things. It was nice, we haven't done that in a long time.
I've been amusing myself by pressing on my sinuses in my cheeks, because it makes my nose feel like it's being strangled. It's kind of a cool sensation, actually. I imagine that's weird.
I've allowed myself to fall behind on the laundry, mostly due to the lethargy that comes with allergies and sleep deprivation. This sucks, but hopefully I'll feel a little better in a few days and will be able to keep up with it again. Please.
I think I'm going to take a walk today, since it's so nice out. That'll be different.
I recently took photos of the giant spider that lives right outside the living room window eating a cicada. It's actually pretty cool, and if I wasn't terrified of the spider, I'd go outside in the early mornings and get pictures of it from that angle, but I'm simply not able to do that. That layer of glass between us is the only thing that allows me to photograph it at all. It is a pretty interesting thing to observe, though. Also, S says that it's just an orb weaver, which is a pretty common spider. According to her. Because I have no idea. I know what black widows look like, and I can sometimes identify brown recluse spiders, and jumping spiders because they're easy, but the rest are "OMG KILL IT" and tarantulas. Except for those spiders that eat birds in Australia. Those make me want to move to a space station permanently. Anyway, spider picture.
 |
| "Nom nom nom!" says the spider. "Aaaarghblbaaahsghghff!" says the cicada. |
Anyway, I have links. I have about 20, actually, due to the fact that I don't stop reading things like Fark just because I haven't written a blog post. Also, my head feels like a water balloon from the incredible amount of sinus pressure I'm developing at an exponential rate.
Links Round-Up
I'm starting with the saddest stuff first today, so there'll be less sad at the end.
There are a lot of articles about 9/11 lately, since the 10th anniversary is coming up, and one of them was about the photographer who took the famous "Falling Man" picture, and how everything surrounding the photo and that day have affected him, and it also talks about how powerful the image is. That's one of the more heartbreaking photos I've seen from September 11th. The explosions, the people running in the streets, none of that is as gut-wrenching as looking at that photograph.
In addition to the article about the Falling Man photograph, I also found an article about surviving twins from the attacks - 46 people who were twins died, and their surviving siblings have been trying to figure out how to go on with their lives after suddenly becoming an "I" instead of a "we".
Apparently a whole lot of people would rather feel safe than have their rights. That's really scary. I will never trade my rights for more security. That's how things like the Patriot Act happen.
Why, why would someone have to go to jail for overdue library books? I can't imagine what the motivation is and I'm horrified that this happened. What's next? The death penalty if you lose a few over the course of your patronage at the library? This is why our libraries are disappearing.
This guy is seriously fucked up. Also, this makes me never want to own a computer with a webcam again. I wonder if the government has the ability to do that. That's a seriously scary thought.
There's a 10 year old child who lives in a small town and has identified as female since toddlerhood, despite being biologically male. Her parents, when they talk about their children, say they have two daughters, and she is allowed to dress how she pleases and decorate her bedroom in a feminine way, as well. The only dissenter is her grandfather. I think she's very lucky, and I wish her all the best in her future.
Some bigoted asshole thinks it might be psychologically damaging for children to witness diversity being welcomed on national television, and advises against allowing any children to watch Chaz Bono (Cher's son) on Dancing With The Stars. Also, how is seeing a transgendered person on television going to affect the sexual/personal identity of any children or adolescents watching the show? I think it's great that it's not being treated as a thing by the show, as it's just one of many identities a person can have. Of course this article is from Fox News.
I think it's pretty cool that advertisers are starting to be more diverse when showing commercials for their products. K-Y has a commercial following their current trend of couples talking, but showing a lesbian couple this time. It's not any different at all from any of their commercials featuring heterosexual couples, and I think that's wonderful. Maybe things will be okay and acceptance is in store for the LGBT community. Also, the slideshow of commercials on this article are worth watching, particularly the John Hancock Financial Services commercial, which made me cry.
I found a very old article about Lane Bryant while researching the origins of the company a few days ago, talking about the controversy surrounding a lingerie ad that was supposed to be aired during prime-time slots, alongside very similar Victoria's Secret ads. But of course, the networks had a problem with the Lane Bryant ad, what with the very healthy, voluptuous, sexy woman in the commercial, while the walking clothes hangers in the Victoria's Secret spots received no criticism at all. Obviously we're having a problem here figuring out what is sexy. Personally, I do not think a woman who has protruding hip bones, ribs, shoulders, and everything else is a sexy person. Anorexia is not hot. My personal, ultimate goal for the weight loss I'd like to achieve is to look like that Lane Bryant model. Because shit. She is HOT. Oh my god.
I'm voting for Obama this election, and this is why. At least he's not trying to take away more of my rights. This terrifies the hell out of me. I'm not sure what candidates the other parties have, but because everyone is so complacent in this country, there will never be any real change to the world because no one cares enough to make it happen or elect someone that might be able to fix this mess. I really do think we need a complete overhaul of our government system, this is ridiculous. I want to only elect people who pay attention to the needs and wants of the people they're supposed to be representing, or maybe we should just get rid of Congress altogether so that way the general public can vote on every law that goes through and whether it should be a law or not. I don't know. I'm not really educated enough to figure out what the solution to this would be, but I don't think it has anything to do with keeping the same corrupt, self-serving rich assholes in office. In any case, I want to keep my reproductive rights, so none of the people that are Republican candidates for president are getting my vote. I just find it hilarious that this is what Republican has come to mean, because they used to be the polar opposite of this.
Also, speaking of reproductive rights, a judge in Texas blocked parts of a new abortion law that was ready to take effect on September 1. The law would have forced every woman who wanted an abortion to view a sonogram of her fetus/embryo and listen to its heartbeat, without exception for a woman who was the victim of rape or incest. If she was, and did not wish to view a sonogram (duh), she would have to certify in writing exactly why she didn't want to do that. I would imagine that anyone who was having an abortion would probably not want to view a sonogram. Apparently it's more important to protect the rights of a cluster of cells than the woman incubating them these days, and honestly, I don't see how that cluster of cells is more important that my wants. Once it becomes a viable living baby, we'll talk. Also, the Justice Department is starting to crack down on abortion protesters harassing women who are entering the clinics. I love how abortion protesters don't even think for a second that a woman might go into a Planned Parenthood to get a pap smear, or renew her birth control prescription, or to get free condoms, or any of the other things that happen at Planned Parenthood that have nothing to do with an abortion. For fuck's sake, people, get a grip and stop this insanity. It is no one's business but the individual's if they want an abortion. Back the hell off.
Some assholes decided to teach a female smoker a "lesson". Did you know that cigarettes actually release less harmful chemicals and gases into the air than, say, cars? And the truck in the video obviously had some illegal modifications done to it. I hope that woman called the cops or something, because she definitely did not deserve that. This is why I am against anti-smoking laws. Who cares if they are smoking? I think it's fine if people are smoking outside of public gathering places. I'm still working on quitting, so I can speak from the perspective of a smoker. I have never been comfortable smoking in bars and restaurants that allow it, preferring to go outside. I'm always mindful of blowing the smoke away from others as much as possible. I try to be as fucking considerate as possible, but these guys? If they did that shit to me, I'd hunt them down and blow an entire pack's worth of smoke directly into their eyeballs. And then kick them in their balls. Fuck you, anonymous truck-driving assholes.
I really like wildlife photography. It's not something that I sit around and talk about at length or anything, because that's just not very interesting, but sometimes there are photographs that just grab you and scream to be talked about. These photos of lions are some of that kind of photograph. The facial expressions are just incredible. Lions are beautiful.
Also, desert sunset photos. Because this particular jet trail looks like a tornado, and these are beautiful photographs.
I really like the concept of store pets. It's just something that's always appealed to me, and here is a case of a cat that is 19 years old and has lived in a hardware store for 15 years. That is so awesome.
This is what happens when you get bored and have a colicky baby. Pretty cute, actually.
I think if more companies did this, the world would be more awesome. This is seriously awesome.
There was a tree in Brooklyn called "The Vagina Tree" because it, well, looked like a vagina. Hurricane Irene decided this would never do and knocked it down. Poor Vagina Tree.
Of course someone would be offended by the most awesome cutting board in the history of everything ever, but I'm not, because it's pretty freaking terrific. S thinks so, too. Also, I discovered that ThinkGeek already has them in their inventory yesterday morning, so I am now biding my time until I can afford to completely furnish my kitchen with ThinkGeek merchandise.
And now I'm finally done with this post, which took about four hours, due to having a very long phone call when I was halfway done.
No comments:
Post a Comment