Yes, that is a dog.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Sunday, January 28, 2007
They'll Do It Every Time
I can't believe this, I identify with one of the cartoons in today's strip.
I discovered this bizarre comic through the Comics Curmudgeon, which led me to Crap Every Time. The person who does Crap Every Time doesn't do the Sunday strips because her paper doesn't carry the comic (neither does mine), and the one online is hard to read. And she wants the weekends off.
But I couldn't resist. I had to look. It is so hard to read. Here's today's strip.
The one that I can relate to is the one split in two at the far end of the strip. For those who can't see it, he's looking for his glasses, and then he has to look for his spare pair to find his regular ones! I think he's looking for reading glasses, though I don't know why his wife - who probably has 20/20 vision, doesn't help him.
This happens to me a lot, always after sleeping. Not every time, but enough to drive me batty. One day this week, I fell asleep on the couch with my glasses on and could not find them after waking up. I tore apart the couch, looking under the cushions, and when I shook out the blankets, there they were. Still not doing the contacts thing, though! Poking yourself in the eye just to see? Not for me.
The rest of the cartoons in today's strip and every other day's, naturally, sucks.
The reason I look at this train wreck called a comic? The way the artist/writer writes dialogue.
I discovered this bizarre comic through the Comics Curmudgeon, which led me to Crap Every Time. The person who does Crap Every Time doesn't do the Sunday strips because her paper doesn't carry the comic (neither does mine), and the one online is hard to read. And she wants the weekends off.
But I couldn't resist. I had to look. It is so hard to read. Here's today's strip.
The one that I can relate to is the one split in two at the far end of the strip. For those who can't see it, he's looking for his glasses, and then he has to look for his spare pair to find his regular ones! I think he's looking for reading glasses, though I don't know why his wife - who probably has 20/20 vision, doesn't help him.
This happens to me a lot, always after sleeping. Not every time, but enough to drive me batty. One day this week, I fell asleep on the couch with my glasses on and could not find them after waking up. I tore apart the couch, looking under the cushions, and when I shook out the blankets, there they were. Still not doing the contacts thing, though! Poking yourself in the eye just to see? Not for me.
The rest of the cartoons in today's strip and every other day's, naturally, sucks.
The reason I look at this train wreck called a comic? The way the artist/writer writes dialogue.
Bush is not stupid.
He's had so much exposure to information, I mean, he went to Yale. I know he may have slept through his classes, but he still had to pick something up. Osmosis, maybe?
Anyway, his asinine health plan, meant to stop 'overuse' of employer-based health insurance and offer incentives for the uninsured to become insured through private insurance.
Because most of the uninsured in America just chose to be uninsured. They could have gotten a plan through work, but no, way, insurance is for suckers!
Yeah.
Right.
Most of the uninsured are that way for two reasons - money and health.
Money? Can't afford private insurance, make too much for Tenncare/Medicare.
Health? Private insurance companies are like credit card companies in the way they like their customers. Credit card companies don't want people who'll pay off the balance each month, there's no insane interest rate they can charge! They can't make scads of money off those people.
Insurance companies don't want sick people. Or people with 'pre-existing conditions' - athlete's foot, in one extreme example. Why? Sick people will pay their premiums (if they don't miss too much work), but those premiums don't cover 2 lithotripsies in one month, there's no way. Sick people bleed those insurance companies dry, the selfish bastards.
There are flaws in the universal health systems in other countries, but, to someone with some pre-existing conditions, they're perfect - nobody's denied care.
The one time I talked about this with a Republican (my dad), he told me nobody would become a doctor because they wouldn't make as much money, and look at Communist Russia! Of course, he's insured through the government - retired military. He's also a government employee - a cop.
There are also people that object to paying for other's care, but not their own - like their taxes would go to help this person, and they never get sick, so they wasted their money!
I can kinda see it, but it strikes me as selfish. A civilized country would have affordable healthcare for all its citizens, but your money is your money, dammit! I want to keep every dollar I make.
I've never worked, obviously, so I'm full of shit. But I think people would be happier about paying taxes if they knew they would go to the right place - not no-bid contracts with companies that bankrolled your politician's campaign. The janitorial work at Shelby Count Schools was outsourced, and the head guy is the brother or cousin (or both, Tennessee here) of the superintendent. And they do worse work than the old county employees.
Bah.
Anyways, Bush is not stupid. He plays stupid.
And what does he know of the cost of healthcare? Just that Medicare/Medicaid is bleeding us dry! Private insurance for everyone who is healthy!!
PS - Thanks to Mark at A Freeway in Hell for the mention.
Anyway, his asinine health plan, meant to stop 'overuse' of employer-based health insurance and offer incentives for the uninsured to become insured through private insurance.
Because most of the uninsured in America just chose to be uninsured. They could have gotten a plan through work, but no, way, insurance is for suckers!
Yeah.
Right.
Most of the uninsured are that way for two reasons - money and health.
Money? Can't afford private insurance, make too much for Tenncare/Medicare.
Health? Private insurance companies are like credit card companies in the way they like their customers. Credit card companies don't want people who'll pay off the balance each month, there's no insane interest rate they can charge! They can't make scads of money off those people.
Insurance companies don't want sick people. Or people with 'pre-existing conditions' - athlete's foot, in one extreme example. Why? Sick people will pay their premiums (if they don't miss too much work), but those premiums don't cover 2 lithotripsies in one month, there's no way. Sick people bleed those insurance companies dry, the selfish bastards.
There are flaws in the universal health systems in other countries, but, to someone with some pre-existing conditions, they're perfect - nobody's denied care.
The one time I talked about this with a Republican (my dad), he told me nobody would become a doctor because they wouldn't make as much money, and look at Communist Russia! Of course, he's insured through the government - retired military. He's also a government employee - a cop.
There are also people that object to paying for other's care, but not their own - like their taxes would go to help this person, and they never get sick, so they wasted their money!
I can kinda see it, but it strikes me as selfish. A civilized country would have affordable healthcare for all its citizens, but your money is your money, dammit! I want to keep every dollar I make.
I've never worked, obviously, so I'm full of shit. But I think people would be happier about paying taxes if they knew they would go to the right place - not no-bid contracts with companies that bankrolled your politician's campaign. The janitorial work at Shelby Count Schools was outsourced, and the head guy is the brother or cousin (or both, Tennessee here) of the superintendent. And they do worse work than the old county employees.
Bah.
Anyways, Bush is not stupid. He plays stupid.
And what does he know of the cost of healthcare? Just that Medicare/Medicaid is bleeding us dry! Private insurance for everyone who is healthy!!
PS - Thanks to Mark at A Freeway in Hell for the mention.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Dixie and her Frisbee
This frisbee is now dead, I believe.She treats them better than Jasmine did, Jaz would sit down and start chewing her toys up.
Dixie just loves to play, and that involves tug-of-war and the occaisonal celebratory chewing of the frisbee, but that never lasts because some human tries to take it and off we go again.
She has a couple frisbees outside right now, one is on the back porch roof, which is totally not my fault, despite the fact that I can't throw the frisbee for squat, I also can't throw it that high.
But hey, Dixie can catch my throws, they often roll to a stop in front of her feet. She has caught them in the air a couple times, but anything she does with the frisbee gets a lot of clapping and "Yay Dixie!"s.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Some fun with insurance - I'm an idiot
I am on many, many medications.
The current problem that is being treated is abdominal muscle damage and atrophy, due to the laprascopy in February and the kidney fuckups in July and August. (Right kidney - swollen to twice its size. 1st urologist promises to remove stone, but doesn't. He puts a stent in improperly, and it causes 48 hours of hellish pain before falling out. Then I go to the hospital for 5 days. 2nd urologists do a lithotripsy, break it up, put a stent in. I'm still in pain. On my 18th birthday, even! They take the stent out, I'm in pain, no you're not. Go to the ER, there's still a stone there, overnight in the Med, second lithotripsy, 3rd stent, all done. In the space of 3 weeks.)
So there's a bit of lasting damage and pain in the abdomen, huh?
We've addressed nerve damage, and that lifted a terrible band off my stomach. Now we're working on physical therapy and my problem is I don't want to build up to 30 reps, I want to jump right in. But I'm behaving, because I know if I overdo it, blah de blah blah.
Anyhoo, I have a prescription for lortab and valium. I'm also, naturally, on birth control for the endometriosis and ovarian cysts.
Well, go to the pharmacy Tuesday night, Lortab's 3 bucks, my normal copay for generics. Wednesday morning, Valium's 3 bucks. The birth control should be 9, because it's a 3 month supply.
Not this time, it's 66 bucks. My copay on brand name medication is 22 bucks, so that makes sense. Except there is a generic version of this birth control, I got it in November.
But no, in January, Tricare (the insurance of the military) decided that birth control was a luxury. I called the base pharmacy, that poor guy knew nothing. He said call Tricare and find out what's going on - I'm not on birth control so I can have sex, I'm on it so we can control the pain. Er, one source of it.
But I like that.
Tricare wants me doped - valium and lortab aren't luxuries? - and pregnant.
How ridiculous is that? How familiar is that? Think of the Victorians. Think of the 50s - women's health had a delightful misogynist bent to it, don't you think? I thought we were past that.
(And yes, my copays are that low. Bwahahaha. You can get it by serving in the military 20 years then retiring, or by being a kid of someone who did so.)
Whoops. Just got off the phone with insurance - great way to build stress. Seasonale is the only one affected, normal birth control that gives you one period a month remains the same.
And it's not a luxury, there was some misunderstanding/mistranslation on the part of the pharmacy. What happened is, every month, the pharmacy board meets and decides on the classification of prescriptions - I got my numbers garbled. $3 for generics, $9 for brand names, and $22 for generics and brand name drugs that 'cost more to make'.
I've only had to pay $22 dollars for Cymbalta, so I assumed it was the copay on super expensive brandnames.
Of course, I can get my birth control for free if I use the base pharmacy. (Not that I have time, it takes 2 weeks to get a prescription, because they're filled in Florida.)
Not. They don't fill Seasonale or its generic. They just do the monthly BC.
You could still read something into that - we need to have a period every month, who do we think we are, having one every 3 months, blah blah blah.
So, it's not technically a luxury, but they decide to raise the price so doctors will stop prescribing it as much.
And don't get me started on the base pharmacy! We used it once in the past few years, what a mistake. You can't order your refill until this many days after you picked it up, however, it takes two weeks for it to get there, so you could go without.
Which may explain why they give out 3 month supplies of monthly birth control.
Or not.
My brain is fried.
The current problem that is being treated is abdominal muscle damage and atrophy, due to the laprascopy in February and the kidney fuckups in July and August. (Right kidney - swollen to twice its size. 1st urologist promises to remove stone, but doesn't. He puts a stent in improperly, and it causes 48 hours of hellish pain before falling out. Then I go to the hospital for 5 days. 2nd urologists do a lithotripsy, break it up, put a stent in. I'm still in pain. On my 18th birthday, even! They take the stent out, I'm in pain, no you're not. Go to the ER, there's still a stone there, overnight in the Med, second lithotripsy, 3rd stent, all done. In the space of 3 weeks.)
So there's a bit of lasting damage and pain in the abdomen, huh?
We've addressed nerve damage, and that lifted a terrible band off my stomach. Now we're working on physical therapy and my problem is I don't want to build up to 30 reps, I want to jump right in. But I'm behaving, because I know if I overdo it, blah de blah blah.
Anyhoo, I have a prescription for lortab and valium. I'm also, naturally, on birth control for the endometriosis and ovarian cysts.
Well, go to the pharmacy Tuesday night, Lortab's 3 bucks, my normal copay for generics. Wednesday morning, Valium's 3 bucks. The birth control should be 9, because it's a 3 month supply.
Not this time, it's 66 bucks. My copay on brand name medication is 22 bucks, so that makes sense. Except there is a generic version of this birth control, I got it in November.
But no, in January, Tricare (the insurance of the military) decided that birth control was a luxury. I called the base pharmacy, that poor guy knew nothing. He said call Tricare and find out what's going on - I'm not on birth control so I can have sex, I'm on it so we can control the pain. Er, one source of it.
But I like that.
Tricare wants me doped - valium and lortab aren't luxuries? - and pregnant.
How ridiculous is that? How familiar is that? Think of the Victorians. Think of the 50s - women's health had a delightful misogynist bent to it, don't you think? I thought we were past that.
(And yes, my copays are that low. Bwahahaha. You can get it by serving in the military 20 years then retiring, or by being a kid of someone who did so.)
Whoops. Just got off the phone with insurance - great way to build stress. Seasonale is the only one affected, normal birth control that gives you one period a month remains the same.
And it's not a luxury, there was some misunderstanding/mistranslation on the part of the pharmacy. What happened is, every month, the pharmacy board meets and decides on the classification of prescriptions - I got my numbers garbled. $3 for generics, $9 for brand names, and $22 for generics and brand name drugs that 'cost more to make'.
I've only had to pay $22 dollars for Cymbalta, so I assumed it was the copay on super expensive brandnames.
Of course, I can get my birth control for free if I use the base pharmacy. (Not that I have time, it takes 2 weeks to get a prescription, because they're filled in Florida.)
Not. They don't fill Seasonale or its generic. They just do the monthly BC.
You could still read something into that - we need to have a period every month, who do we think we are, having one every 3 months, blah blah blah.
So, it's not technically a luxury, but they decide to raise the price so doctors will stop prescribing it as much.
And don't get me started on the base pharmacy! We used it once in the past few years, what a mistake. You can't order your refill until this many days after you picked it up, however, it takes two weeks for it to get there, so you could go without.
Which may explain why they give out 3 month supplies of monthly birth control.
Or not.
My brain is fried.
Mikey and his Bone
A treat, a treat, his purloined squeak toy for a treat!I love how he's holding it!
I gave him Wickett's squeaky fish, and he started methodically pulling it apart, so I shook the bone box and gave all three babies a treat. They are rotten.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Wickett and his Throne
That is one content little dog.
His throne consists of two pillows, one blanket, and an entire section of the couch.
Notice the back legs sticking up?
Monday, January 22, 2007
Mikey and his Pills
That is an old prescription bottle filled with Rolaids.
My mom sometimes needs Rolaids at night, and by keeping some in an old bottle, the big container can stay out here with the rest of us.
Well, Mikey is a crazy, possessive idiot.
He did not like it when I went in Mom's room to say good night, or do nothing important, and Mikey decided to growl at me and chase me our of the room.
Well, Mom shook the bottle, he got distracted, and she threw it down.
Oh no! He knew I'd try to take the bottle, it's his!
So I was able to come and go from the room while he growled through his bottle. He doesn't want it, but he doesn't want me to have it.
I cannot believe this.
MR. LEHRER: Let me ask you a bottom-line question, Mr. President. If it is as important as you've just said - and you've said it many times - as all of this is, particularly the struggle in Iraq, if it's that important to all of us and to the future of our country, if not the world, why have you not, as president of the United States, asked more Americans and more American interests to sacrifice something? The people who are now sacrificing are, you know, the volunteer military - the Army and the U.S. Marines and their families. They're the only people who are actually sacrificing anything at this point.PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, you know, I think a lot of people are in this fight. I mean, they sacrifice peace of mind when they see the terrible images of violence on TV every night. I mean, we've got a fantastic economy here in the United States, but yet, when you think about the psychology of the country, it is somewhat down because of this war.
The PBS interview from last week.
The terrible images of violence on TV every night? That's our sacrifice?
Wha?
Does that make sense to anyone but him?
I saw this on the Daily Show, actually, I'm not about to watch him speak without the promise of a weird or funny statement.
State of the Union tomorrow?
Hello, Dirty Jobs is on at the same time. Yeah, what's your choice?
I'll read about it in the paper, but I'm not watching it, I can't.
I don't have to, I'm in a shitty mood because of shitty health, I have the right to watch what I want, bwahahaha.
Blog for Choice Day
Got my blog for choice e-mail just now.
The question is, "Why are you pro-choice?"
The obvious, simple answer is, no matter how I feel about abortion, I don't have the right to dictate what another person does with her body.
That's what it comes down to, doesn't it?
I'm currently having gynecological issues, not related to pregnancy - ovarian cysts, endometriosis, and the new Birth Control, 12 weeks on the hormone, one off. I'm on week 11, and in considerable pain and dealing with some scary breakthrough issues.
Right now, if I were to get pregnant, I would have an abortion.
I'm in no physical condition to go through pregnancy - it's hell on a healthy woman, with my history, no, just no.
I'm just going to free associate on abortion and pro-choice as my pain medication and valium kick in. (Another reason why I should have a baby, all these chemicals, what fun!)
I like the "Safe, rare, and legal" ideology about abortion. Safety and legality go hand-in-hand, if it's legal, it's got codes and regulations to follow.
The rare, on the other hand, is hard to come by.
Yes, total abstinence is the only way to 100% protect against pregnancy and STDs.
But birth control and protection do a good job. However, they often allow single people to have sex without nasty physical consequences, so they're sinful.
My sister turned 16 today, and I ran some of the abstinence-only education by her. She recently got back into church (Methodist) and she thinks it's all bull. Telling kids don't have sex, but if you do, use a condom or will turn all teenagers into sex-crazed fiends, even more so than we are now.
Absitinence-only is pushed by the anti-choice crowd, which doesn't make sense. You think if they wanted less abortions, they'd want less pregnancies, but they just want less sex, especially for women.
You know how you hear about this pharmacist refusing to give out emergency contraceptives for women, you never hear about them saying, "Wait, young man, you're not married, why do you need condoms. I'm not selling this to you."
Same with Viagra. If it went over the counter (it won't, the side effects are too dangerous for unregulated use), there'd be no issue about its sale.
I've been on birth control, on and off, for about a year. Since then, I've had sex with 500 men, haven't gone to school, what else am I supposed to do with my time?
Ha, no, I was put on the BC for the hormones - if we can regulate those, maybe we can keep the crippling pain of the cysts under control, or at least know when they'll hit.
The big thing about today for me is not Roe vs. Wade's anniversary, but my sister's 16th birthday. My little sister. Who won't have sex til she's at least 50 and Mom and Dad are both dead.
Speaking of my Dad and sex, oh em effing gee, on my 18th birthday, he told mom that he wanted to talk to Becky about something important, but she had to leave the table before he'd say what. (Smokey Bones, great barbecue.) So she left.
The issue?
Chastity. It was hard to keep a straight face, because he's on his 4th wife, and chastity was never a goal for him. It was so funny, and so sad, because that's his version of the talk? Some chastity brochures and stickers from a Catholic bookstore? (And, "Black boys don't want to be your friends, they only want to have sex with you.") The brochures were a trip, if people didn't take them seriously.
I like what I saw on Grounded for Life yesterday - the kids signed a chastity pledge at school (Catholic school) and Lily's dad scares her boyfriend with tales of hell, so he won't even touch her anymore, so Lilly decides it's time for marriage, then the nun comes over and says, stop, you horny idiots. That pledge is a joke, you should aspire to chastity and abstinence, you won't go to hell if you have sex before getting married.
Back to abortion - the big issue is you're killing something/it's a clump of cells. I think the date most doctors use is fine, and probably the best indicator we can use of when life begins.
A woman should not have to go through pregnancy and childbirth if she does not want to, if she can't for financial reasons, adoption is an option, yes, but there are so many children waiting still.
My mom knew one person (a roommate back when she was in the Navy) who used abortion as birth control. No, really. That is disturbing on every single level imaginable, but it is her right. Well, was, this was 20 years ago.
Another thing from the anti-choice crowd (often conservative republicans) - once the baby comes out of the womb, it still needs care, so does the Mom. What's the saying? Life begins at conception, it doesn't end at birth. Help the mother raise this baby... good schools, good food, good pay, good childcare, good healthcare for mom and babe... but that costs money, and it's her fault for having the kid in the first place, blah blah blah.
Okay, what I want to get to.
Today is my sister's birthday.
I don't know what her views on abortion are - you don't hear of many methodist clinic bombers, so I think she may be rational about it.
Last week, I asked my mom, did the thought of an abortion ever cross your mind when you learned you were pregnant with either of us?
Her answer was no, because she never knew anything about it, it never entered her mind, and besides, Frankie wouldn't want her to have an abortion of his kid - Every sperm is sacred.
I told her that I think I would have considered it with Becky. This will kill her, because she can't see that it's not about her, it's about the situation.
If I had been in my mother's shoes, I would have aborted the second pregnancy as soon as possible and divorced his cheating, lying ass. Why? Well, Frankie had a vasectomy after Kaitlyn was born, for one thing. The other thing, before she became pregnant with Becky, she tried to get birth control (probably to reregulate her hormones - her family is mess when it comes to hormones) through DEERS after leaving the military. As Frankie's dependent wife.
Well, he already had one. "She never signed the papers!"
We were in Italy.
He shred all her papers and told her to go to a friend's house and then get back to the states, otherwise he'd get in trouble. So she sat in Rome, without her passport, this stupid American. They pointed machine guns at her! Luckily, her family came through.
I wouldn't have gone back, but if I did, that could have been the final straw - I wouldn't want any more ties to the man, I'd want out.
But there were so many mitigating factors... Mom grew up in New Mexico. Born in Roswell, then they moved to Edgewood, which still has more peacocks than people. (It's getting a Wal-Mart soon, they'll probably end up buying her mom's property.)
Her dad died when she was 12.
Her mom remarried fast, she had 6 kids to take care of, a job as a nurse, and no insurance, no money.
So maybe my mom never got the chance to learn that you can live by yourself, you don't need a husband. She married my dad (the first time, but not the legal time) 2 weeks after she turned 22.
She never got a chance to talk with her mom like I talk with her today. Her only option after high school was stay in Edgewood or join the military like her older brothers. Or get married, like her older sister. My mom did both!
Thinking of my mom's life and the choices she never got to truly make, makes me even more pro-choice. But more importantly, it shows me the importance of open, frank dialogue between parents and children. It shows me the importance of comprehensive sexual education. It shows me the importance of education, period. It shows me the importance of choice, of freedom.
I will be limited by my health in what I can do. (Hello, insurance prices?) But I won't be tied down to a marriage before I'm ready.
I won't force my body through pregnancy before I'm ready, emotionally and physically.
And I want to inform my sister, who's going to read this and react strongly, I know, pro-choice does not mean I want to abort everybody's pregnancy. It does not mean I know what's best for you or for anybody but myself. It just means that women, people, should have a choice, an honest, free choice.
Happy Birthday, again, Becky. I am glad Mom chose to have you, even when you drive me up the wall.
Happy Anniversary Roe vs. Wade. I hope you are never overturned, the claim that you are about state's rights is identical to the argument that Civil War was about state's rights. If Roe vs. Wade were overturned, I can see whole regions following South Dakota's abhorent example. Yes, you are free to go to one of the states where abortion is legal, hope you can afford the time off work and travel!
Dixie and her Becky
Happy Birthday, Becky!
Becky is 16 today.
Technically, she won't be 16 until 11 pm, but since she was born in Naples, Italy - factor in the time zones, carry the y, add the 4 leap years - here in Memphis, the blonde one will be 16 around 3 pm.
Not that it matters, she wanted to be up now and on myspace, making sure everyone knew it was her birthday and was showering her with accolades. They all have school tomorrow, (because the cold, wet weather of this weekend went NOWHERE but up to almost 50 degrees. If it has to be cold and wet, can't we have some snow or ice to play with? Mud just doesn't cut it anymore.) but they'll be up to wish her a happy birthday.
Becky will celebrate her birthday by going to school. She wants to go to school on her birthday! My sister is officially the crazy one. She's been praying and hoping and doing a no-snow dance so she can go to school and get presents from her friends.
Becky's friend Ariel came over Saturday, and she agrees with Mom and me. We want snow on our birthdays! Yes, our birthdays are technically during the summer, but we could totally go to Antarctica next August for my Nice Nineteen! Anyone?
We all went out Saturday, Mom, Becky, Ariel, and me, since Becky wanted me. Beck and Ariel bowled for a couple hours, Mom and I went to the antique store where I got the MADs, and then we went to Goodwill because we all love it, then on to Bahama Breeze.
I found the perfect present for Becky at Goodwill - it was a bit pricey, but she adores it, so it was worth it. It's a miniature British-style phone booth that lights up! It also says "Pretty'N'Punk" across the door and an adjacent side, and when I got home, I looked it up and discovered it's a Bratz toy! Oh, ew! Still an awesome thing. It can hold her cell, I don't know, it's so cool looking. It was $3.99, a bit much, like I said, but still cheaper than the new thing. Though what a Bratz toy would be doing at Goodwill I'll never know... (Found a great book on Atheism there and a gift for another person, $3.99 and $4.99, respectively. Goodwill's getting a bit ritzy for my tastes...)
Bahama Breeze was a bomb. (We had a 'B' theme going for a while - Becky and Ariel were two teenage twits having a terrific time.) The lord gave Becky a Monday birthday this year, we could have gone to an expensive restaurant that night, so we wouldn't have to wait an hour and a half! 45 minutes before a table, and 45 minutes at the table.
And then the food wasn't so hot, either. Expensive, for one thing. My meal and my mom's were the only ones of any decent size. Mom got a plain hamburger and I got the great Cuban sandwich. Ariel got Jamaican chicken and Becky got a chicken sandwich. (Yes, CHICKEN. At BAHAMA Breeze. Becky swears that fish places have the best chicken - Captain D's, Joe's Crab Shack.)
Anyway, Becky's sandwich was small, and Ariel got the small size chicken dinner, because it was so pricey, it must be huge! we all assumed. It wasn't.
Luckily for them, my hunger is in an ebb mode, meaning I'm just not hungry often and when I am, I can barely finish a sandwich before being full - most of the time. So I let them have the second half of my delicious sandwich.
Don't do Bahama Breeze on the weekend - or at all, really. But if you do - Lemon Breeze and Cuban Sandwich. Expensive, but good.
Beck's also going out with her dad (he's my dad too, but I like saying that for some twisted reason) and his mom Friday for dinner.
All in all, her birthday week is going to be fun.
I'm going to try my hand at making her something tomorrow while she's at school and I'm not, which I totally don't rub in too much. Except when I wake up at 6 only to stagger to the couch and laugh myself back into sleep.
Since I've neglected the Dog of the Day, I'm combining the two.
Here's Dixie and Becky, mugging for the camera. Dig the tongue - Dixie's, not Becky's!
Happy Birthday, Becky, I love ya.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Mad #474
February 2007 - came in the mail today, and I just finished reading it.
The cover is aone of Britney Spear's recent crotch shots, with Alfred 'covering' the spot, just like the caption says.
The issue is great.
The only articles I skipped are the ones I always skip - the parody of the inspiring animal story and the 'do-it-yourself' apology. I rarely have the patience for the latter, what can I say.
The funniest art of the issue - Tom Cheney's 'Practical Uses for the Diet Coke/Menthos Formula'.
The political article - 'War Cliches: Completing the Sentences' written by Jeff Kruss and perfectly illustrated by Mort Drucker - is amazing, as usual. My favorite is the one "We grieve for the families of those who lost their lives in the war... ...though we aren't above smearing them if they start to protest too loudy."
And Jaffee's fold-in is so funny! The question is "Who's been manipulating pages in despicable ways for far too long?"
The answer is bound to put a grin on your face.
I also bought a Mad at an antique store today, issue #249, September 1984 - The Gremlins cover. Could have sworn they were dedicating an issue to Wickett, but no.
The cover is aone of Britney Spear's recent crotch shots, with Alfred 'covering' the spot, just like the caption says.
The issue is great.
The only articles I skipped are the ones I always skip - the parody of the inspiring animal story and the 'do-it-yourself' apology. I rarely have the patience for the latter, what can I say.
The funniest art of the issue - Tom Cheney's 'Practical Uses for the Diet Coke/Menthos Formula'.
The political article - 'War Cliches: Completing the Sentences' written by Jeff Kruss and perfectly illustrated by Mort Drucker - is amazing, as usual. My favorite is the one "We grieve for the families of those who lost their lives in the war... ...though we aren't above smearing them if they start to protest too loudy."
And Jaffee's fold-in is so funny! The question is "Who's been manipulating pages in despicable ways for far too long?"
The answer is bound to put a grin on your face.
I also bought a Mad at an antique store today, issue #249, September 1984 - The Gremlins cover. Could have sworn they were dedicating an issue to Wickett, but no.
Mallard Fillmore
Mallard Fillmore is a rightwing duck who has a comic strip.
It runs on the Commercial Appeal's 'Viewpoint' page, along with Doonesbury and (before he stopped) the Boondocks. I saw Boondocks get moved, people were angry about political messages in the comics.
Never mind we have one page for comics in this paper, Monday through Saturday, with Peanuts, Frank and Ernest, Crankshaft, and Born Loser on the front page of the Classified Ads section.
Sunday, we get a bit more. We get Doonesbury and we used to get the Boondocks on Sunday. Cool.
However, thanks to this blog - Duck and Cover - I have learned that the powers that be in the liberal Memphis press have been denying us a poorly drawn right-wing screed every single day it's printed! What an outrage!
I didn't even know there were Sunday strips, I thought it was M-S comic, I thought it was an editorial cartoon, I didn't know it runs in the comic section of some papers. Eew.
Also, the duck's an idiot. Last year, he got into a big flap over America: The Book because there was a parody strip that was funnier than the real thing. In the third panel, he said, "Oops, I forgot to tell a joke!"
Yesterday and today's strips revolve around the African e-mail scam. The first was disgusting - either he's an idiot and believes the e-mail is real and wants to help people, or he's an utter shitbird, mocking people crippled by poverty and people who try to help. Classy.
Today's was just WEIRD. I always thought the money came from somebody alive who was trying to get out of the country, not Americans who died in plane crashes.
Er?
Anyways - Duck and Cover - great funny blog. Check it out!
It runs on the Commercial Appeal's 'Viewpoint' page, along with Doonesbury and (before he stopped) the Boondocks. I saw Boondocks get moved, people were angry about political messages in the comics.
Never mind we have one page for comics in this paper, Monday through Saturday, with Peanuts, Frank and Ernest, Crankshaft, and Born Loser on the front page of the Classified Ads section.
Sunday, we get a bit more. We get Doonesbury and we used to get the Boondocks on Sunday. Cool.
However, thanks to this blog - Duck and Cover - I have learned that the powers that be in the liberal Memphis press have been denying us a poorly drawn right-wing screed every single day it's printed! What an outrage!
I didn't even know there were Sunday strips, I thought it was M-S comic, I thought it was an editorial cartoon, I didn't know it runs in the comic section of some papers. Eew.
Also, the duck's an idiot. Last year, he got into a big flap over America: The Book because there was a parody strip that was funnier than the real thing. In the third panel, he said, "Oops, I forgot to tell a joke!"
Yesterday and today's strips revolve around the African e-mail scam. The first was disgusting - either he's an idiot and believes the e-mail is real and wants to help people, or he's an utter shitbird, mocking people crippled by poverty and people who try to help. Classy.
Today's was just WEIRD. I always thought the money came from somebody alive who was trying to get out of the country, not Americans who died in plane crashes.
Er?
Anyways - Duck and Cover - great funny blog. Check it out!
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Nature Girl by Carl Hiaasen
I love Carl Hiaasen's work. I read about Skinny Dip in some magazine in a waiting room back in 2004, and it sounded interesting. Off we went to the library, but no Dip. However, they had older books. I checked out Lucky You and fell in love.
I love the gruesome humor, the characters, the settings, Skink.
Even Double Whammy, which is about fishing, for god's sake, is still great -religious hypocrisy, SKINK - with both eyes.
I got Nature Girl for Christmas, using an Amazon gift certificate. Thanks, Grandma Lucy!
When I saw the new Hiaasen was out, I ran to the local library.
Nothing.
Still nothing, which has to do with budgetary issues, caused by the splitting of the Memphis Branch Library system, which combined all the libraries in the county. The suburbs left because they wanted to save money, and now all the libraries are having money issues - even the Memphis ones, because they're funded a different way now. Whatever.
So I ordered it, along with some other silly books - I love silly books.
It has everything a Hiaasen book needs - the Everglades, a stupid asshole, sex, weird injuries, and someone teaching the asshole a lesson, or trying.
However, the teacher is normally Skink, and I think his last appearance was in Skinny Dip. He's the best politician - so honest he bugs out and runs away.
This time, the teacher is single mom Honey Santana, and she's got mental issues - she wants to protect her son from any kind of asshole. So she hatches a plot to teach a telemarketer a lesson. The story surrounding him is hilarious - the deli shot is a trip.
However, the Honey Santana and kid part is very similar to Flush and Hoot, his children's books. And to Striptease, except her ex isn't a dangerous asshole.
Nobody dies in a gruesome way, however, a guy loses his fingers to some crabs and the doctors mix up the labels, and his fingers are put on in the wrong spots - pinky where the thumb should be, etc.
The island part of the plot reminded me of Lucky You.
The part of the book that killed it for me was the Sammy Tigertail character. He's a half-blood Seminole, and he wants to be a hermit, and a co-ed tags along.
I just never got him, I think he could have been replaced by Skink.
According to the FAQ, he is related to a character from his first humorous book, Tourist Season.
I didn't know, and I don't care. He still didn't fit.
The book has the right elements, but it didn't do it for me. I'm not sure if I'll keep the book, actually.
I think it could have benefited by cutting out Sammy Tigertail - then it would be a book about revenge on a telemarketer.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Martin Luther King Day
This holiday is a pain for students, I mean, we just got back into the swing of school again, and another day off to sleep in and watch Dirty Jobs?
Kidding, kidding. I'm still surprised that it's not a holiday in Nebraska, or at least where my cousins went to school.
My mom and I visited the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis.
It was amazing and incredibly moving.
One of the images that stayed with me was the sheer hate in the faces of the young white students in Little Rock. It was so disturbing.
I want to go back, and I will. We went on Monday afternoon (it's free) along with, it seemed, every single summer day camp group of kids, who didn't seem to care.
The museum is split into two parts - the hotel and the boarding house where James Earl Ray stayed. The conspiracy theories about why he was there, the money, that intrigued me - not surprising, considering my love of the X-files.
There was a woman protesting outside the hotel. She believes that the money for the museum would be better used in charity projects. I talked to her and treated her with respect - we were at a museum about protest, it was appropriate. She's been out there for a long time, and, dammit, I forgot the website she had.
Kidding, kidding. I'm still surprised that it's not a holiday in Nebraska, or at least where my cousins went to school.
My mom and I visited the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis.
It was amazing and incredibly moving.
One of the images that stayed with me was the sheer hate in the faces of the young white students in Little Rock. It was so disturbing.
I want to go back, and I will. We went on Monday afternoon (it's free) along with, it seemed, every single summer day camp group of kids, who didn't seem to care.
The museum is split into two parts - the hotel and the boarding house where James Earl Ray stayed. The conspiracy theories about why he was there, the money, that intrigued me - not surprising, considering my love of the X-files.
There was a woman protesting outside the hotel. She believes that the money for the museum would be better used in charity projects. I talked to her and treated her with respect - we were at a museum about protest, it was appropriate. She's been out there for a long time, and, dammit, I forgot the website she had.
Mikey and his Moose
This is Mikey.
That is Mikey's moose.
If you try to take that moose, you will be bitten like you've never been bitten and have to go to the ER because of the massive blood loss.
Or so he thinks.
Most of the time it's a pinch, a bruise, a scratch, or, usually, totally aborted because while he is chasing you, about to kill you, you could grab his moose and we can't have that.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Wickett and his Trampoline
Now, we do not jump on the trampoline while he is up there. Or while Mikey is up there.In fact, nothing brings the jumping to a halt quicker than a furry little face popping up.
When the weather is nice, we will eat up there. Since we are quite lazy, we often use a chair to get up there quickly. Well, when we eat, we have to flip the chair over, so the beggars remain far below us.
If my mother gets on the trampoline, Mikey is sure to follow. It takes him a while to work up the nerve to jump across those springs, but once he does, he shakes like a leaf and makes a beeline for his mommy. "Why aren't we on solid ground?"
Breastfeeding and working
This great post at Feministe is months old, but I can't sleep, and my pain medication makes me think I have great things to say on every topic.
Even this one, when I've never been a parent or even worked!
I'm so full of shit.
But I am a kid, and my mom had to deal with the issues in the post - breastfeeding - childcare, really - vs. her job.
My sister and I were both brestfed. I was a premie, but very healthy until puberty. Becky was right on time, but very sick - of course, Italy was so polluted most of the babies were sick. We're both smart, and school is a cakewalk, but that may have more to do with our military upbringing - there's nothing to do in Iceland but read and play in the snow. (Seriously, though, Becky said her apex class was all navy brats at one point. Interesting, no?)
Onto the subject at hand - women in corportate America get 'lactation rooms' if they choose to pump their breastmilk, complete with all the high tech gizmos and whozits, maybe a breastpump made to look like a baby next? While the women who aren't up there get the restroom, if they're lucky.
Something is fucked up with the way we treat life in America. It doesn't end at conception, that embryo turns into a human being, remember? And they're not self-sufficient. I know, lazy bums!
Child care's expensive, schools are dumbed down by testing standards, and maternity leave's a joke for most women.
Take my mother.
She joined the military at my age, in 1980. She had nothing else to do, her brothers had joined, her dad had joined, why not? She had fun, once she got past bootcamp. She went into the medical field, a corpsman, she's so cool, she drove an ambulance. (May explain my fear of driving - my instructor's too qualified - especially on Memphis streets.) She married my dad in 1984, they went to Japan, and then came back to the US a few years later.
My mom says there were two incidences that made her leave the military after 8 years, instead of staying in to get retirement benefits. She left when she was pregnant with me.
1 - A man's attempted suicide. She realized that this was somebody's child, just like the one inside her, and she couldn't do it anymore.
2 - The redtape bullshit a single mother had to go through to leave work to pick up her sick child at the base's daycare.
No! My mom was going to be there for her daughter.
My dad could support the family, so it was okay financially.
Of course, her leaving had negative consquences. After we left the US for Italy, my mom tried to join DEERS as my dad's wife, but woopsie, he's already got one! He shredded her papers and told her to leave the country as soon as possible, so he wouldn't get into trouble. That was no picnic.
Not sure how that ties into the current topic, but I could fill at least 1% of the internet's many tubes with tales of my lovely padre. (He's a Republican, by the way, and told me he'd rather vote for Dixie than a democrat. I agree, Dixie's a much better politician than any of the quacks in office, but he's still a pain.)
Even this one, when I've never been a parent or even worked!
I'm so full of shit.
But I am a kid, and my mom had to deal with the issues in the post - breastfeeding - childcare, really - vs. her job.
My sister and I were both brestfed. I was a premie, but very healthy until puberty. Becky was right on time, but very sick - of course, Italy was so polluted most of the babies were sick. We're both smart, and school is a cakewalk, but that may have more to do with our military upbringing - there's nothing to do in Iceland but read and play in the snow. (Seriously, though, Becky said her apex class was all navy brats at one point. Interesting, no?)
Onto the subject at hand - women in corportate America get 'lactation rooms' if they choose to pump their breastmilk, complete with all the high tech gizmos and whozits, maybe a breastpump made to look like a baby next? While the women who aren't up there get the restroom, if they're lucky.
Something is fucked up with the way we treat life in America. It doesn't end at conception, that embryo turns into a human being, remember? And they're not self-sufficient. I know, lazy bums!
Child care's expensive, schools are dumbed down by testing standards, and maternity leave's a joke for most women.
Take my mother.
She joined the military at my age, in 1980. She had nothing else to do, her brothers had joined, her dad had joined, why not? She had fun, once she got past bootcamp. She went into the medical field, a corpsman, she's so cool, she drove an ambulance. (May explain my fear of driving - my instructor's too qualified - especially on Memphis streets.) She married my dad in 1984, they went to Japan, and then came back to the US a few years later.
My mom says there were two incidences that made her leave the military after 8 years, instead of staying in to get retirement benefits. She left when she was pregnant with me.
1 - A man's attempted suicide. She realized that this was somebody's child, just like the one inside her, and she couldn't do it anymore.
2 - The redtape bullshit a single mother had to go through to leave work to pick up her sick child at the base's daycare.
No! My mom was going to be there for her daughter.
My dad could support the family, so it was okay financially.
Of course, her leaving had negative consquences. After we left the US for Italy, my mom tried to join DEERS as my dad's wife, but woopsie, he's already got one! He shredded her papers and told her to leave the country as soon as possible, so he wouldn't get into trouble. That was no picnic.
Not sure how that ties into the current topic, but I could fill at least 1% of the internet's many tubes with tales of my lovely padre. (He's a Republican, by the way, and told me he'd rather vote for Dixie than a democrat. I agree, Dixie's a much better politician than any of the quacks in office, but he's still a pain.)
Friday, January 12, 2007
Pentagon abandons active-duty time limit.
Oh holy hell.
This is awful.
Before, soldiers could only serve 24 months in either the Afghan or Iraq war - cumulatively.
That's been lifted.
Now, they can serve 2 years, come home, then go back and serve 2 more!
Holy shit.
The ramifications of this are mind boggling.
God.
I don't like where this is heading, it makes me so nervous and so angry that it fucking came to this. Oh, it was done in response to Bush's 'surge' plan, which will be a cakewalk and the 20,000+ new soldiers will be greeted with flowers and skittles.
What the hell are we doing?
The article also says that "Extra pay will be provided for Guard and Reserve troops who are required to mobilize more than once in six years; active-duty troops who get less than two years between overseas deployments also will get extra pay". Oh, good. Except it sounds like a new development, and people from my uncle's National Guard unit are preparing to go over this year. And they just went three years ago.
My Uncle joined the military in '87, somewhere in the last 20 years, he switched to the Army National Guard, which meant nothing until the invasion of Iraq. Oh, while Uncle Danny also went to the first Gulf War.
This is not good, this is not good.
We're going to need more troops - more young people volunteering. I'm still reeling over the news of my friend enlisting after graduation. While considering my health and our family finances, I briefly entertained the idea. My mom (served for 8 years in the Navy as a corpsman) quickly vetoed that. My dad's older brother has promised me physical harm if I join. Most of my family has been in the military.
Only the more delusional ones believe their children should join.
And that's before you factor in this war, which will lead to conscription of some kind - who is going to volunteer for this catastrofuck(thank you, Daily Show)?
The military is a pain in the ass, when it comes to daily life. My mom left the military when she was pregnant with me, because she saw how hard it was for working mothers to take care of their kids - even more so with all the red tape of the navy.
She joined out of desperation, she had nothing else to do.
And don't get me started on the insurance! Oh so low copays (12 bucks a doctor visit, uniform prescription prices at all pharmacies - free on the base, but the hours suck - , but not many doctors take it off the bases. I lost a great doctor after the war in Iraq started, and we know why. They don't pay their bills.
Anyways, we are so screwed.
No money for college could ever get me to join now.
I'm worried my cousin (Uncle Danny's son) may join, but if he does, he'll be declared physically unfit on the grounds of being a whiney weenie that I pushed in the lake. Please.
Sorry for rambling.
This is awful.
Before, soldiers could only serve 24 months in either the Afghan or Iraq war - cumulatively.
That's been lifted.
Now, they can serve 2 years, come home, then go back and serve 2 more!
Holy shit.
The ramifications of this are mind boggling.
God.
I don't like where this is heading, it makes me so nervous and so angry that it fucking came to this. Oh, it was done in response to Bush's 'surge' plan, which will be a cakewalk and the 20,000+ new soldiers will be greeted with flowers and skittles.
What the hell are we doing?
The article also says that "Extra pay will be provided for Guard and Reserve troops who are required to mobilize more than once in six years; active-duty troops who get less than two years between overseas deployments also will get extra pay". Oh, good. Except it sounds like a new development, and people from my uncle's National Guard unit are preparing to go over this year. And they just went three years ago.
My Uncle joined the military in '87, somewhere in the last 20 years, he switched to the Army National Guard, which meant nothing until the invasion of Iraq. Oh, while Uncle Danny also went to the first Gulf War.
This is not good, this is not good.
We're going to need more troops - more young people volunteering. I'm still reeling over the news of my friend enlisting after graduation. While considering my health and our family finances, I briefly entertained the idea. My mom (served for 8 years in the Navy as a corpsman) quickly vetoed that. My dad's older brother has promised me physical harm if I join. Most of my family has been in the military.
Only the more delusional ones believe their children should join.
And that's before you factor in this war, which will lead to conscription of some kind - who is going to volunteer for this catastrofuck(thank you, Daily Show)?
The military is a pain in the ass, when it comes to daily life. My mom left the military when she was pregnant with me, because she saw how hard it was for working mothers to take care of their kids - even more so with all the red tape of the navy.
She joined out of desperation, she had nothing else to do.
And don't get me started on the insurance! Oh so low copays (12 bucks a doctor visit, uniform prescription prices at all pharmacies - free on the base, but the hours suck - , but not many doctors take it off the bases. I lost a great doctor after the war in Iraq started, and we know why. They don't pay their bills.
Anyways, we are so screwed.
No money for college could ever get me to join now.
I'm worried my cousin (Uncle Danny's son) may join, but if he does, he'll be declared physically unfit on the grounds of being a whiney weenie that I pushed in the lake. Please.
Sorry for rambling.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Dixie and her Tongue
What a happy girl!Sorry I haven't posted a dog picture for a couple days, the Daily Show came back on and I started volunteering at the crisis center again, and I've been in exquisite pain in the evenings, my normal posting time.
Thanks to Violet at Reclusive Leftist for the extra traffic!
Love her blog, wish I had the brains or inclination to write like that. I have the habit of dropping the heated debate halfway through for puppy pictures and simpsons quotes.
So now I'm twisting a puppy picture to politics.
In the local rag, there was yet another letter to the editor saying that those who criticize Bush are traitors, giving aid to our enemies. I had no idea that the little girl who stole my name that I saw Tuesday and gave a lolly to is a terrorist! Thanks for telling me.
I fail to see how words and ideas give comfort to the enemy - especially one as scattered as this. What I say, what anyone says, is meaningless to them. "Oh, so-and-so has this blog about monkeys and musical instruments, she doesn't like Bush, now I will blow up this restaurant. Thanks Kaitlyn!"
The Daily Show's on, gotta go.
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