Checking out the local weather out of Providence, RI, and the guy says July was the hottest ever.  Not surprised.  It has majorly sucked, with only a rare no a/c needed day.  This was about a week ago.

Here’s the etc.  It’s just cute and very funny:

Mumford & Sons is on Live From The Artist’s Den RIGHT NOW.  They and AWOL Nation are my current favorite groups.  Great ending to a good day.  Saw the rheumatologist.  All is going well, will be on Prednisone for another very long time, but no pain is a really, really, really good thing.  A beautiful day, too, with low humidity FINALLY.  This has been a summer that will not go on my list of best ones ever.  I’ve had the a/c on day after day after day.  I like open windows, so not loving sticky.  Oh, he mentioned again that I most like do NOT have fibromyalgia, because I would still have pain even with Prednisone.  So nobody actually has a clue what I’ve been ill with for the past sixteen years.  All those meds I’ve tried that didn’t do anything, or only helped for a few weeks and then never worked again.  What were they doing?

Well done, General Mills.

Lots of good things on the internet today, people, but I like this one the best:

I am spending a lot of time on-line, because it is just to unbelievably soupy to do much else. This has got to be the worst summer ever. I had the windows open for a couple of hours a couple of days ago, but it just made it like a sauna in here, so the a/c has been on for well over a week. I am going to have the electric bill of the century. I hope things are better where you are, unless you are one of the crazy people who likes this stuff. Sticky, enervating, miserable-making. Not my thing.

Update: Then there’s this:

Animated Van Goghs

Both are from Gizmodo.com

Perhaps Pippa Middleton felt she needed to get out from under her married-up sister’s shadow or maybe she’s always had an urge to create, but whatever the impulse, Middleton cranked out a book full of cooking and entertaining tips entitled “Celebrate: A Year of Festivities for Family and Friends.”

There’s nothing inherently wrong with this. Plenty of people on various tiers of celebrity have written and published books, capitalizing on their fame. The problem was that Middleton’s book was aimed at a very niche audience for which her title would be their first book on entertaining and, quite possibly, their first book ever.

Middleton’s well-meaning but entirely vapid Celebrate offered the following “tips” to would-be celebrators.

For Hallowe’en, how about pumpkin soup served in a hollowed-out pumpkin?

To stop cakes going stale, she advises storing them in something called “an airtight tin”, while hot drinks for picnics should be poured from flasks into “mugs or paper cups”.

Elsewhere, she explains the rules of a game of conkers and the correct way to toast marshmallows over a fire, a process that involves using “a long-handled fork” and “flames”.

Could it be more basic? Why not try roasting a turkey for Christmas or lighting small candles on a cake to celebrate a birthday? Hey, here’s another crazeee idea — what about making pancakes for Pancake Day?

As the reviewer notes, it’s the perfect book for someone who’s misplaced their recipe for ice. This glossy set of sub-common-sense instructions was soon being parodied by @Pippatips on Twitter. As can clearly be seen by the profile, it’s a parody account.

This account was soon dispensing pearls of wisdom on par with Middleton’s book to over 50,000 followers.

if you’re shopping on a budget, try purchasing things that cost less to buy

commuting can be a useful way of travelling between home and work, and even back home again

make it easier for your friends to enjoy TV shows they haven’t watched yet by telling them what happens

enhance the effectiveness of appliances such as dishwashers by actually turning them on

if someone suggests place mats or coasters as a present for someone smile politely and keep looking for something nice.

From Here:Pippa

So I’m watching Curiosity Quest on PBS and they are doing a show about recycling polystyrene lunch trays. What? What happened to hard reusable lunch trays? How is disposable better? How much money does it save to use all the resources to make the trays, toss or recycle, repeat? Is it the usual short-term convenience and long-term environmental disaster? Does anyone care? Why didn’t he ask about reusable last forever lunch trays? What is wrong with this picture? I think my mind has bit the dust. Again, I despair. Yes. Yes I do.

Looking for a picture for this, came up with this page instead:

lunch trays

About multiracial commercial

I sent an email to General Mills in favor of the ad, and they even responded, thanking me. Not why I sent it, I’m sure all the ‘anti-everything humanity should stand for idiots’ emailed, so I wanted to be one voice in favor of being inclusive.

This is a link.  Click on it:

Apple Commercial

I’ve always kind of had the same thought about cameras. People are so focused on getting the picture that they are missing the actual experience they are photographing or taping. I used to see this on vacation all the time. I’d be feeling the mist from the wave breaking, smelling the pine forest, whatever, and people around me were focusing on focusing their camera. Missing life. It’s kind of sad, but at the same time, if it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t see snaps or film of things I would not even have known existed, or places I’ll never get to. It’s a puzzlement.

A quote (I asked permission) from a comment on another blog, slightly paraphrased:

“When people don’t have to vote, guess who votes? The ones with an extreme view. So instead of getting people elected who will contribute to the nation, you get those with extreme platforms who will suck in the voters with their extreme views…” ozdobe

This is true in all levels of government. Even school board meetings have people with agendas who go push them in at the expense of the children. Been to at least one of those, voting for reason, but not enough reasonable voters bothered to show up. It matters who you vote for, people. I cannot say this enough. You have to vote, and know who you’re voting for, or we wind up where we are right now. Right-wing fanatics, religious zealots, seemingly uneducated idiots who do not have the ability to think or reason. We get what we deserve, and if we don’t turn out for what’s right, well……

Read your history of the extreme right, and see how it works. Start small, in school boards and small town government, and work your way up until you are running most of the country. Or, spend your time thinking about what Justin Beiber did or didn’t do. Sheesh!

BTW, picture has nothing to do with post, obviously, but it’s just hot and sticky and I am sick of it.  🙂