Still haven't had time to watch all of Obama's speech at one sitting, but I've seen a highlight reel now. I am impressed by the size and brassy nature of his testicles. Candidates aren't supposed to be honest. What the hell was he thinking?
... by various people lately that I need to blog more. It's hard for me to imagine why this should be important to anyone, but I'll try. Of course, "blogging more" is relative; given how little I've been blogging, this post really should get me a pass for at least three weeks.
Emma and I drove down to St. Peter yesterday to see Klund and his son Koleman starring in the St. Peter Area Children's Theatre production of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". When I say "starring", I mean it; Klund played Willie Wonka and Koleman played Charlie. It kind of surprised me that the Oompah Loompahs didn't consist of the rest of the Lund brood, since there are certainly enough of them to do the job. Clearly somebody thought two Lunds in the cast were sufficient, especially given that Klund himself had a dual role.
The play was a lot of fun. Scooter and Poo-Tee-Wheet and their daughter also came down, as did Tall Brad and Not-Yet-Showing Mary. We spent the night, played lots of Wii, had breakfast this morning and hit the road back to town.
I have no pictures, owing to a horrible lack of foresight in assuming the camera batteries were charged. But I'll cross-link when any of the above-cited blogs decide to post some. In the meantime, if you know Klund, picture him in bright-yellow slacks and a purple coat and top hat. (And that was just at breakfast; wait until you see his costume!)
So, yeah, haven't been blogging for various reasons. The best excuse I have is "pneumonia!", which actually should be a good enough excuse for you, so shut up.
Except for a lingering hacky, rattling cough and the feeling that I never quite get enough sleep, I'm over it now. At least I think I am; I have a follow-up chest X-ray scheduled for Wednesday, at which time I suppose I'll know more.
Kristi and I watched "Sicko" last week. Good timing. Just like the bad timing that brought this whole thing on right when The Company changed its sick-day policy from "basically unlimited" to "six per year". Fortunately I have understanding management. There was also our switch this year from $20 copays to $40 copays, but that was our own damned fault. Anyway, "Sicko" was thought-provoking, but most of the thoughts were along the lines of, "This could have been so much better a movie if somebody other than Michael Moore had made it." Sad, but true.
Of course, other video was watched during my convalescence. Lots of "Heroes." "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington." "Pride and Prejudice" (okay, it was on PBS, but we missed the last night because of the Oscars so we broke out the DVDs to wrap it up).
And now I'm feeling better, and Kristi is sick. Hopefully not pneumonia sick, but her fever is as high as mine ever was and she feels like crap (it's true, I felt her). So Emma helps by breaking out the "Harry Potter" collection and subjecting Kristi to the entire series, in order. Could be lots worse; could be that damned "Hannah Montana" DVD over and over and over. I wonder when Emma will be ready for "Firefly"?
While I was standing around the clinic a week ago waiting for my antibiotics prescription to get filled, I popped across the hall to say "hello" and "thank you, a million times thank you!" to my former physical therapist, Allison Trombley. She is truly a miracle worker.
Knowing that one of my New Year's resolutions had been to start playing my dad's guitar, Kristi had it restrung and bought me some instructional books. And five picks! One for each finger, apparently -- or one to use when Emma and Smudge have appropriated the other four.
Even though you didn't meme me, I know you wanted to and just forgot. Damn you for both.
A) Four jobs I have had in my life: 1. Engraver 2. Dishwasher 3. Lawyer 4. Lead Software Engineer
B) Four movies I would watch over and over 1. "Lord of the Rings" trilogy 2. Spirited Away 3. Blade Runner 4. Brazil
C) Four places I have lived: 1. Los Angeles, CA 2. Fresno, CA 3. San Francisco, CA 4. Saint Paul, MN
Four TV Shows that I watch: 1. Heroes 2. Masterpiece Theatre Um ... we don't have cable and TV is mostly crap, so that's largely it -- unless you count DVDs we own/rent/borrow, in which case you can add Buffy, Farscape, Firefly, etc.
E) Four places I have been: 1. Rome 2. London 3. Madrid 4. Paris
F) People who email me (somewhat frequently): (I exclude work-related emails from this list, because then my top four correspondents would probably be automated systems, or my management.) 1. Scooter 2. Ming 3. Kevin (though he's slacking lately) (of course, so am I) 4. Tall Brad (ditto)
G) Four of my favorite foods: 1. A Chipotle burrito 2. Nikki's Pasta 3. Any good vegetarian Indian/Nepalese buffet 4. Pumpkin pie
H) Four places I would rather be right now: 1. Having breakfast at Michael's in Taos 2. Having lunch at Taco Temple in Morro Bay 3. Bicycling someplace warm and sunny 4. See answers to question E
I) Things I am looking forward to this year: 1. Finishing some projects around the house, like the media cabinets upstairs 2. Teaching myself some guitar, maybe 3. Losing 10 pounds 4. The end of winter
Even though Scooter didn't tag me, I'm tagging Kevin. And Ali.
"It's not true that life is one damn thing after another; it's one damn thing over and over." -- Edna St. Vincent Millay
I never really even got over Rambis, and now Izzy has joined her. I thought this would be easier somehow. Far from it.
Getting in a little rug time, early last year.
Enjoying a spring day with Smudge.
A week or so before the end.
A few weeks ago -- her sunny window, with heated pillow and steps to help her up and down.
"Sick Day": my all-time favorite picture of Izzy, and probably my all-time favorite picture of Emma as well. Try to find a sweeter cat than this one. I dare you.
Emma isn't impressed by the Marx Brothers. And I was so sure she was my daughter.
Perhaps starting her with "A Night at the Opera" was a mistake. Too MGM-ish. I might get one more chance at this; do I go with "Animal Crackers" or "Duck Soup"?
We had one. A solidly white Christmas, like I can't remember having had since we moved here. Some years there has been snow on the ground, but old, dirty, salty, dog-pee-stained snow. But this year was a storybook Christmas -- it looked almost like a fake stage production, with big fat flakes falling straight down outside the family room window as Emma and I sat at the table, beating up on Kristi at the "Sorry!" board. (Kristi is far too nice a person to succeed at "Sorry!")
We spent the day opening presents, playing with presents, reading presents, watching presents on TV, cooking and eating (not the presents, doofus), and generally having a fine time.
Between my birthday and the holidays, I always make out like a bandit compared to Kristi, which never seems fair. Even so, let the gloating begin! Though I'm sure I'll forget something, here's the list: several CDs, including Springsteen's latest; pretty much every Marx Brothers movie ever made, in two box sets; the latest "Harry Potter" movie (more a family gift, really); "To Kill a Mockingbird" on DVD, which we watched Christmas Eve; "Heroes" season one and "Rockford Files" season one on DVD; several computer books, because yes, I am a nerd; a laptop stand and cheap keyboard, so that my laptop can impersonate a desktop computer (I highly recommend this, as the ergonomic difference is enormous); a Caribou Coffee gift card; a Dilbert desk calendar; lots and lots of Red Vines; and a Sansa Clip 2-gig MP3 player, which is making Emma (who bought herself an iPod Shuffle earlier this year) drool uncontrollably.
Shoveling is much more pleasant with an MP3 player; even though I wasn't feeling great, I was laughing my way through Weird Al's version of "Bohemian Rhapsody" when I realized I'd done the next-door neighbors' sidewalk as well. (Which is good, since they're on vacation.)
He thinks he's funny. And you know, he kind of is; the photoshopping is pathetic, but he's improving; it used to be gawdawful. In the meantime, his post inspired me to force Kristi to watch a couple of Buffy episodes last night, which means she can blame him for it, which means that the chocolate chip cookies she promised to make him might come out a bit ... funny.
Just so you know whose fault it is, Scooter.
I'm in fact going to Sunnyvale, not Sunnydale, Monday afternoon and returning Wednesday evening. I'll be too busy with work (and too transportation-impaired) to visit with Ali, I expect, but here's her notice anyway.
Let me tell you a story. I blogged a bit about my cat Rambis in her last days in October of 2005, and after she died. I don't know if I ever discussed her sleeping habits. Unlike any cat I've ever had, she would curl up next to my chest as I slept. I was her person, and she was my cat, and there was never any doubt of either.
By contrast, Isabella Katarina Tillerini is (and has always been) Kristi's cat. At night, Izzy has always slept on Kristi's pillow (or one of them; Kristi took to using two to allow a little extra room for Izzy). When I say "always", I mean "always". Every night. Even when Kristi and I separated for a few months in 2000, Izzy slept on that pillow -- never on mine.
Then, Rambis died. For several weeks, nothing changed. Then one night I came to bed to find Izzy curled up on my pillow. The next night, same thing. Most nights for a period of a couple of months, she stayed with me. Then she switched back to Kristi's pillow, and has (mostly) stayed there since.
I suppose you could explain this by saying that, with Rambis gone, Izzy was just trying out a new spot (even though that spot was available all along, even when Ram was alive). I'm sure you could come up with two or three other plausible explanations for why she would do what she did. But I know why she did it. She was comforting me. Because that's the kind of creature she is.
It's our turn to comfort Izzy now, as best we can. She's 16, suffering from arthritis and kidney failure. We give her Lactated Ringer's subcutaneously, almost every night, just to keep her hydrated. She has her own room (the computer room, where I'm sitting now -- the room where Rambis spent her last days). We've built makeshift steps for her to climb up and down to her favorite window spot, and put a heating pad there for her aching hips. She's got her own litterbox in here that Smudge can't get to, set on an oil drip pan so that if she misses the box (as she does too often, her hips not allowing her to crouch low), no damage is done. But for all that, she still sleeps at night on Kristi's pillow. And, very occasionally, on mine.
oOo
I've been reading a book called "Dominion," by Matthew Scully. It's a powerful indictment of how humans abuse animals. The chapter I've just finished is an attack on the scientific rationalizations that are often used to support the abuse. There are, apparently, plenty of scientists who will happily claim that animals don't feel "real" pain, that they aren't capable of true rational thought. Reading their words made me want to try out on them some of the things they say don't cause animals to suffer. You know, just to see if scientists feel "real" pain.
"Dominion" can be a little bit off-putting (for me) when it focuses on religion; I am not a religious person, and I don't see where religion has, historically, often proven to be a great starting point for ethical conduct. But I give Scully credit for not shying away from the hypocrisy of those who claim to be godly while behaving abominably toward animals. In fact, I give Scully credit generally for being his own man; he's a bizarre combination of committed vegetarian, sincere opponent of animal abuse, and card-carrying conservative Republican. How can one hold the beliefs he does and still work for the likes of Bush and Cheney, as he did? I don't know. It's a mystery. But I like his book, and I suspect I'd like him, even if we'd never agree on either religion or politics.
We watched "Amazing Grace" over the holiday weekend. Even Emma paid attention through (most of) it. It was an inspirational story, and well acted, if somewhat cloyingly written. (I mean, the stuff about losing his singing voice and then finding it again? Come on.)
That film got me thinking about something I'd heard on Air America the previous week. Thom Hartmann was expounding on one of his heroes, Thomas Jefferson, and his ambiguous record on the issue of abolition of slavery. Hartmann's point was that the record was nowhere near as ambiguous as Jefferson's critics would maintain. However, none of that is what caught my attention; I'd heard most of it before. What captured my imagination was Hartmann's statement, at the end of his defense of Jefferson, that instead of ending slavery in this country, we've merely outsourced it -- and the free trade agreements of the last decade or so have made the situation worse.
There have been examples aplenty of U.S.-based corporations getting rich off of third-world sweatshop labor. This came to mind again this morning when I saw this New York Times story, linked via Josh Marshall's Talking Points Memo; I'd never thought about government entities doing the same thing.
Except for our Canadian friends. (Did you wish me a happy Thanksgiving when you had yours? No? Then don't complain.)
We've had snow falling gently all morning (all night, really). Big, fat flakes. Not sticking too much, but still very pretty, especially for my mom, who is visiting from California.
Later we'll be having our traditional meat-free feast, accompanied by "Alice's Restaurant." Call us hippies if you like.
Which reminds me: does every Jimmy John's have a "No Hippies Allowed" sign inside, or just the South Saint Paul franchise? That combined with the sign dissin' the French ("Bread so French it has to be liberated") and the U.S./God sign whose language I can't recall offhand, and I felt pretty much out of place and completely uninclined to try it a second time. Just sayin'.
