“It’s not called being ‘whipped’. It’s called respecting your girlfriend.” Drake

“The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.” From a poster and I can’t read the attribution.

“Don’t worry about what people think. They don’t do it very often.” Anon

And cute things I bought yesterday. You can see my solar-powered hula girl (birthday present from my homemaker) in the background of one. Yes, she is as crazy as I am:

I need to figure out why I can’t reply to individual comments individually, if you know what I mean. But not right now. Right now, I need coffee. Badly.

is funny. You have to pay attention. Just reading a recommendation for corn tortillas. The product name is ‘…Handmade Style Soft Corn Tortillas, Yellow’. Note they are not ‘handmade’. They are ‘handmade STYLE’. Excuse me? What does that even mean? I get ‘country style’ because that has some actual meaning. It implies food made with fat and gravy and all the things you wish you could eat every day but don’t because you don’t want to keel over dead before you reach 30. But ‘handmade style’? ‘This is a lot like if we used our actual hands to make it, but instead we used machinery. Machinery hands. Yeah, that’s what we used.’ ‘Machinery style’ would be more accurate. Or better yet, ‘made by machinery, like everything else you eat in today’s USA.’ ‘With ingredients that have been sent to China for processing and then shipped back.’ This still bothers the hell out of me. Send the chicken to China and let them make the breaded patties and nugget-shaped bits and whatever else you can do with chicken, and then ship it all back here. Fresh. Oh, yeah. There is no real, fresh, actual food style food left anymore. If you can’t grow it yourself and are not friendly with someone who does, or rich enough to buy it and have it shipped to you (canceling out the ‘fresh’, btw) what can you do?
Yeah, I just like this gif.

On the other subject that rules my life, I am somewhat better today. Less pain again. I do not understand this illness. If I can have A good day, why can’t I have ALL good days. Why are the good ones so few and far between, but when they happen, I am almost like a real person? What makes the difference? Not a clue. That’s my new middle name: Not-A-Clue. Frustrating.

Have been dealing with pain and feeling crap in general for a bit now, so haven’t really felt much like saying anything except “Ow” lately. Or swearing. A lot. Had my birthday. Spent it alone as usual. All in all, it’s been a crap week, but I’m still ticking. Just so you know. I just like the gif, no other reason for posting it.

A gorgeous Blog

Vampire Weekend

Nine Inch Nails

Vampire Weekend is new to me. I like them a lot.

I have had a bad/good week. After a great weekend last weekend, the week was pretty full of pain and exhaustion, then I rallied and have had three good days in a row. Well, two good days and tonight. What’s that about. I haven’t had that many good days/nights in a row in forever. I am happily Getting Things Done. Preparing for FIOS coming between 8 and noon tomorrow. 8AM. In the morning. This is the middle of _my_ night, but they don’t seem to have afternoon appointments. Ever.

Hoping to like it better than Comcast. I am not a fan of Comcast. If they are allowed to buy Time-Warner, there will be no end to the crap they will foist upon us, and the money they will extort from us to watch…well, let’s face it, if you watch regular tv, you are paying them to let you watch commercials. I love you Hulu and Amazon. Yes. Yes I do. But if you want good internet, it’s not much cheaper to get Double Play than it is Triple Play, so may as go for the gold. This is true of Comcast and FIOS. I can cancel within 30 days without paying the WTF and exorbitant early-termination fee. How do they get away with this stuff? Oh, I know. Big corps own our government. It works for them, not people like me. Anyway….

(in several ways) not to post:

The University of Virginia swim team

I don’t want to despair. I don’t want to have to be aware that in 1997, working in the group home, I made 7.50 an hour, minimum wage. I could not have survived if that was my only source of funding, and I only had myself to provide for. What’s the minimum wage today? Is it commensurate with the price of food, or rent, or fuel, or medical care? It wasn’t then, so I don’t think it is now, either. This so-called by the people who are in power ‘Christian nation’ is about as unChristian as it is possible to be. Anyway, here’s a good article about Bill Maher commenting on things we all should care about:

Bill Maher on the Disappearing Middle Class

Somewhere (in the comments?) I read someone’s thought that if you can’t feed two children on your income, you should not have had two children. Back when the Taliban was destroying statues and wreaking havoc on their own people, as well as everyone else, I was in a Yahoo group where a proud member postulated that ‘people in those countries should stop having children so that he could buy cheap fuel for his SUV without having to feel guilty’. Because, yes, it is all about us here in America. It is all about those of us who have what we need, and could not muster an iota of empathy, sympathy, or good-will, or charity for those not as fortunate. Wait. what was it that that Christ fellow, who started all of this Christian stuff, said? Wasn’t it something like this:

Matthew 25:34-36 Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.”

Yeah, like that’s going to happen in today’s United States of America. Just a teensy bit fed up today, readers. Just a teensy bit.

I thought this up today. Yay, me.

“Words. Gotta love ’em, or be illiterate” – Me

Should have stuck this on yesterday’s post:

Wow. I had so much energy when I got up. Major departure from my normal life. I had a lot of energy before I went to bed last night, too. I have done a lot of small pottering things, changing power strips, involving pulling the couch out from the wall a bit, something I normally could not do, organizing around my desk, things I’ve already forgotten I did. LOL don’t know what has changed, but I am not complaining. I did up my Vit D dose yesterday, and also upped my magnesium dose and actually took it, which usually I forget. Can’t have worked that fast, though, can it?

I was going to post this yesterday, then I couldn’t find it. I did now. Duh! My god, this woman defies description. I don’t even have words for the mind-boggling things she is saying. Oh, the stupidity. This is what religion can do to you, people. I always used to have my own little prayer, “Please God, don’t let me get religion.” Prayer answered so far. Being an atheist makes it pretty unlikely that I would ‘get’ religion anyway, but still… You know, I get that not every religious person is represented by this woman, or is dumb or ignorant, so please don’t be offended. It’s just her type of religion is so…what’s a good word here, cause I can’t think of one. Bizarre? UnChristian? Moronic? Here is Anderson Cooper and the dumbest woman on the planet. Seriously.

Or it was this morning, anyway. Figured out the second mac issue. It was me. Enough about that.

I am having a good day. Sorting papers, making lists, Getting Things Done. Not moving things, because moving hurts, but sitting and doing works fine for now. I feel like I am accomplishing something.

So, I was reading Daily Kos, and came across this “We’re Not No 1!” article. Interesting statistics. For example:

“the United States excels in access to advanced education but ranks 70th in health, 69th in ecosystem sustainability, 39th in basic education, 34th in access to water and sanitation and 31st in personal safety. Even in access to cellphones and the Internet, the United States ranks a disappointing 23rd, partly because one American in five lacks Internet access.”

And especially this:

“Many who back proposed Republican cuts in Medicaid, food stamps and public services believe that such trims would boost America’s competitiveness. Looking at this report, it seems that the opposite is true.”

Let’s starve people and deny them health care and a place to live and everything else needed to survive, and that will make them more competitive? No, it will make them homeless and then probably dead. I cannot fathom the thought-processes behind the Republican agenda. I just can’t.

Also, there was a story somewhere about one of the southern states. A girl wants to make the dinosaur a state symbol, but the state government wants to first find a way to credit God while doing it. IDEK, people. Seriously.

Also, have you heard the expression, “Just can’t win”? Well, I can’t. Turned off mac. Turned on mac. Can’t log in. It hates every password, even when I changed it on the pc. Inside there is a lot of screaming going on. Outside, I am just waiting for Elementary to start.

I like words. They are so…everywhere. And good. Came across this on The New Republic. The video on it is a bit long, but very clever, and it’s Stephen Fry. Who doesn’t love Stephen Fry? It’s all about Grammar Nazis (I need a punctuation nazi, myself), of which I am one on occasion. I recently read something on-line, where the hero had been knocked out, and then slowly regained conscientiousness. Also, I hate, hate, hate when someone uses span instead of spun. I don’t know why, but it makes me crazy. Anyway, here’s the thing:

Grammar Nazis

BTW, I am typing this on my now-working Mac. Yay! It is hard on my eyes, as everything seems so small, and I can’t figure out how to make things bigger. Not text, but everything else. Oh, well. As Gilda Radner said, “There’s always something”.

So I just stole this off tumblr:

do you usually sleep with your closet door open or closed?
closed

do you take the shampoos and conditioner bottles from hotels?
Only been in a hotel once, didn’t take anything.
where is your next vacation?

who do you think reads these?
I do not have a clue.

do you have a calendar in your room?
In the kitchen, living room, bedroom. I still never know what day it is.

what’s your plan for the day?
I don’t make plans.

are you reading any books right now?
I am immersed in the world of Torchwood fan fiction for the decade, or even longer.

do you ever count your steps when you walk?
sometimes

do you ever dance even if there’s no music playing?
I suck at dancing. So no.

do you chew your pens and pencils?
not since grade school

what is your “song of the week”?
Zombie Jamboree by Rockapella. It makes me happy. Hey, one time it was the ‘give me back that filet of fish’ song from some commercial. That was awful. LOL

is it okay for guys to wear pink?
Guys can wear whatever color they want. Just like I can. Duh!

do you still watch cartoons?
no

what do you drink with dinner?
whatever is handy, but a good dark beer or a lovely red wine are my prefs.

what do you dip chicken nuggets in?
I don’t do chicken nuggets

what is your favourite food/cuisine?
Only one? Steak. Tiramisu. I love good Chinese or Indian food.

when was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper?
years ago.

can you change the oil on a car?
Don’t have a car

what is your usual bedtime?
4 am or so

are you lazy?
probably

afraid of heights?
no

occupations you wanted to be when you were a kid?
test pilot. I wanted to be like Chuck Yeager

hot tea or cold tea:
hot

tea or coffee?
both

favourite kind of cookie?
Anything with frosting. Maybe I just like frosting.

can you swim well?
No. Can’t swim badly, either. Can’t swim. Period.

can you hold your breath w/o manually holding your nose?
Well, yeah. Who can’t?

who do you want to see right now?
I’m good right now. Don’t want to see anybody in particular.

You have to love science. Why Zebras Have Stripes

On another front, went to the genius bar yesterday. The whole trip to Providence Place Mall was quite an adventure. Pain pills did not work well, breathing was horrible (It’s the glue from the renovation, I know it. You can still smell it in the hallways.) I had used both inhalers, too. After being away from home for a couple of hours, it was fine, just confirming my theory that while pretty hallways are nice, killing off the tenants to get them is not your best idea.

So, Genius Bar. Very nice, lots of people, short wait. It’s set up like a bar, with bars and bar stools. No booze though. That would really make it fun, and then I wouldn’t be a bit ‘excuse me?’ at the genius who helped me. He felt the need to explain DOS and Windows and the evolution to something so marvy (Apple), and how every hard drive has the potential to fail even when it’s as young as two weeks. I’m sorry. I’ve had Microsoft products for ten years, had two laptops that went through all sorts of jostling and moving and being lugged around, and never had a hard drive die. This one died from an update, which involved pushing a couple of keys. Duh! Anyway, they had to wipe it and install a new hard drive. Took an hour. Yeah. Pretty cool.

My friend Tess and I went to P.F.Chang’s for lunch while we waited. I’ve had their frozen dinner things before which were very nice, but now I don’t know if the chicken has been to China and back, so won’t buy it again til I do. Anyway, kind of expensive for what we got, but it was very good. I had sweet and sour pork, which did NOT come with that hideous pink, sweet, sticky gunk you get with take out. Great waiter, too. In Colorado, we had Cantonese Chinese restaurants, so I have had decent sweet and sour pork and chicken. I’ve even made it myself. Come to New England, and they eat pink corn syrup chicken, with no sour involved. ICK. I am rambling. Yes. Yes I am. So back to Apple, pick up laptop, walk the five miles back to the elevator, get off, can’t find car. Go to another level. No car. Go to the correct level. Car. Idiots. Both of us. Then we get totally imprisoned by the stupid parking garage which has exit signs leading to concrete walls. Finally had to ask another driver how to get the hell out of here. Whew. God, we laughed so hard.

So today, fired up the mac, with its new hard drive and Mountain Lion. Try the voice-over it says. Oh, I can tell it stuff? No. It tells YOU stuff, up until the point that you can’t get to the next page you need. Turn it off. Google. Easy fix, which I haven’t tried yet, because now that I’m on the machine that works, well….. So we’ll see. All in all, it was a really fun day. I am not one of those panic-y ‘omg the car has been stolen’ ‘omg we are never getting out of this garage’ ‘omg, I can hardly breathe and am going to die in the Providence Place Mall’ kind of people. Thank goodness. Neither is my friend when she’s with me. When she’s not, I think it’s a whole ‘nother story. LOL

Another thing. We tried out the massage chairs they have placed around the mall. Three minutes for a dollar. Now THAT was interesting. We joked that they shipped the order from the Happy Ending Massage Parlor to the mall by mistake. It was an experience.

So black hole has receded again, I need to get outside, people. Seriously. I need to move out of this death trap, which also, my across the hall neighbor told me, is no longer a safe building as she’s been broken into several times. Loud woman neighbor mentioned being broken into a while back, but I disregarded it, because she wasn’t actually sober when she told me. So not good news. I’ve always felt safe here, but….

Anyway, that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it. Much better to feel much better. Also, I found a video of one of my favorite things I had on videotape and is almost worn out. Zombie Jamboree by rockapella. It’s a clip from a Spike Lee special from the 80’s I think. You can’t be depressed when you have music like that. The music starts about 2:08. Gosh, it feels good to feel good again.