Sunday, November 30, 2008

Thoughts on a Mumbai Terror, Half a World Away

"Musee des Beaux Arts"
 
About suffering they were never wrong,
The Old Masters; how well, they understood
Its human position; how it takes place
While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along;
How, when the aged are reverently, passionately waiting
For the miraculous birth, there always must be
Children who did not specially want it to happen, skating
On a pond at the edge of the wood:
They never forgot
That even the dreadful martyrdom must run its course
Anyhow in a corner, some untidy spot
Where the dogs go on with their doggy life and the torturer's horse
Scratches its innocent behind on a tree.
In Breughel's Icarus, for instance: how everything turns away
Quite leisurely from the disaster; the ploughman may
Have heard the splash, the forsaken cry,
But for him it was not an important failure; the sun shone
As it had to on the white legs disappearing into the green
Water; and the expensive delicate ship that must have seen
Something amazing, a boy falling out of the sky,
had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on.
 
 
W.H. Auden
 
 
(Written on regarding the Brueghel painting, The Fall of Icarus )
 

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Epic Thanksgiving WIN!

Best Rickroll Ever (No, I Swear!)

I truly am thankful.

We have a turkey on the table, potatoes ready to be mashed, and a pumpkin pie my daughter made.

I know the world is messed up. I know I am messed up. But somehow I still try to make it through every day, and so far I have succeeded every time, though I will acknowledge a couple of really close calls this year.

So yeah, I am thankful.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Oh God, BLINDING RAGE

I really, really, really hate the phrase "Turkey Day." It's just so...cutesy. Cutesy and pointless and dumb.
 

Monday, November 24, 2008

So I guess we collectively noticed that Citigroup is 'too big to fail.' (Monday Morning DOOM! Blogging)

The govenrment gave Citigroup like a Gazillion dollars in Fun Money last night to keep them going for the next week or so, or maybe even until Christmas if we're reallllly lucky.
 
Here's a fun phrase I learned last night: "Sovereign Insolvency". It sounds so polite and civilized, doesn't it. It's not. Look it up, I can't linky so good at work.
 
It's a bad thing, and it's on the horizon unless Hopey and Company get this ship turned around right quick.
 
And how is *your* Monday?
 

Now the Homebuilders have a hand out, too.

Sweet Barbecued Jesus:

Friday, November 21, 2008

The Power of Prayer.

From LOLFed.com


My adventures in medication...Otherwise known as the Dope-a-max experiment...

Not to reference The Rash Which Shall Never Again be Named, but because of the past week's adventures I've been taken off my beloved Lamictal...because one of the rare side effects of this otherwise sterling medicine is a rash that can KILL YOU. No, really. So, even though I really don't think the rash was a medication thing, nope nuh-uh bye bye Lamictal.
 
The next up is Topamax, another anticonvulsant which is also a mood stabilizer. Widely known as Dope-a-Max and Stupe-a-Max, this one is known for two common side effects (besides the desired mood stabilization): Making you stupid and making you lose a LOT of weight. The reason they didn't go after it as a weight loss drug is that the side effects can be really pretty bad apparently. Which is ok if the alternative is suicidal depression, but just to lose a few pounds is supposedly not worth it. According to the medical profession...though I know more than a few folks who would argue that being fat is also really depressing, but I think I'm digressing here.
 
I'm hoping for the second, but I'm definitely getting the first. I keep misjudging spatial dimensions, running into doorframes (ow!) forgetting names of my nearest and dearest, and generally being a total spaz.
 
Also, I was warned that stuff would start tasting weird. The first few days were fine, but I got a Pumpkin Latte from 7-11 today (neither pumpkin nor latte, discuss!). It tastes ok at first, but then the aftertaste is ike it has had old pennies soaking in it. Metallic and gross. Then again, my 7-11 is like the ghetto palace of 7-11s, so who knows what really has been sitting in there, really.
 

Jobs. Or more precisely, lack thereof.

I had lunch with my friend Chuck yesterday.
 
He was laid off from where I work over the summer. (Very long story short: He was really good at his job, but he got caught in a larger political crossfire. The End.) He's smart, charming, and has good references.
 
He can't find a job. Anywhere.
 
No one is hiring for temp or part time or holiday or anything. 7-11 is not hiring. Freaking McDonalds is not hiring.
 
Hampton Roads in supposedly one of the still-strongish employment areas, and No. One. Is. Hiring.
 
 

Deflation: now the WaPo is saying it, so it must be true.

 

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Saturday, November 15, 2008

I only have one thing on my mind.

And trust me, you don't want to hear about it.

"IT" being the horrible, itchy, puffy, full-body allergic rash that has ruined the last three days of my life.

But really, talking about it would just turn my blog into a full-blown parody of clueless, self involved oversharing. Because no one really wants to read about another's horrifying allergic reactions. Not even my husband or my sister or any of my numerous imaginary internet friends.

In fact, here's a good question to keep in mind whenever one feels like sharing something personal with the whole wide world. Just ask yourself, "Does what I am about to say involve the words itchy, rashy, or ointment?"

If the answer is yes, then STOP. The universe really really does not need to know.

And by the way, I owe my husband a debt of gratitude for keeping me from posting pictures of my malady, because that seemed like a really cool idea on Thursday night when I was high as a kite on generic Benadryl.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

The last time we ever see Joe Biden aive.



"So, Joe - may I call you Joe? I was just telling the missus how much I was looking forward to having you for dinner."

"Thanks, Dick. We've been looking forward to sharing a meal with you."

CUE OMINOUS MUSIC

"Joe, I don't think you understand my meaning."

"Why, Dick, whatever do you meaAIIIIIIEEEEIAGH"

"nom nom nom...ah, succulent senator flesh..."

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Treasury Secretary: "You know that thing we promised to do with your money? Well, now we've decided to do something else instead."

 
 

oops, jacked that link up!

didn't realize that Blooger (typo, but I'm keeping it) preserved hyperlinks in email posts. Oh, well, can't fix until I get home, I don't want to sign in to Blogger at work. (Hi Andrew!)
 

Ha Ha.

I hate Best Buy. I hope they disappear into a black hole. Their parking lots suck, the overhead fluorescents give me panic attacks, and I HATE the smell of plastic shrink wrap that permeates everything in the place.
Best Buy is a cancer on the American soul. The sooner they go under, the better as far as I am concerned.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Well, i feel at least somewat vindicated.

Parent teacher meetings today. apparently my kids are bright and full of opprtunity. and well-behaved in school. yay me.

dont blog on ambien my friends

Monday, November 10, 2008

PUPPIES

OMG it's seriously like mainlining an eightball of furry adorableness. Go. Now.

PUPPYCAM

I'm not saying I'm some kind of economic genius or anything. HOWEVER.

I've been saying this for the past 2 weeks:

Deflation

I love how the experts keep referring to the "small chance" and the "remote possibility" of a deflationary spiral.

To recap the blindingly obvious (to anyone who hasn't been living in a cave for the past...um, ever): Everyone Is Broke. Credit is Maxed. The consumer, the driving engine of the US economic beast, is out of freaking gas. Prices are dropping to compete for that ever-smaller slice of market share for everything. (PERFECT example: The 1.99 Hardee's Mini Thickburger ad. This sandwich is smaller and cheaper, and touted as a replacement for, the old, $5.49 big Thickburger.) TA DA...Deflation!!! and downward and downward it goes.

To quote Futurama's fabulous Amy Wong: "Well, shpluh."

Mark my words this day: deflation is *here*, kids. In short order the pundits falling all over themselves to proclaim how NO one saw this coming.

To paraphrase the brilliant screenwriter William Goldman: "The first rule is, no one knows anything."

Sunday, November 9, 2008

I've always loved Sunday evenings.

For as long as I can remember, Sunday evenings have always been my favorite part of the week. When I was a kid, we were always busy on the weekends around the house - my parents, for all their shortcomings, were always industrious about keeping things around the house kept up, chores done, yard tidy and all that - but Sundays before dinner was time for The Muppet Show, goofing around, getting hungry for the big dinner we always had on Sundays.

Wow, I make it sound so Norman Rockwell idyllic, which is not the case. But those times are undeniably always been among my best memories.

Tonight, I am relaxing in my clean house (we did a LOT of cleaning and organizing this weekend!), drinking a glass of wine, while the kids play on the computer and the dog naps curled up against me. Things are good.

I only wish we still had The Muppet Show...but The Simpsons will do!

Friday, November 7, 2008

Multimedia message

Multimedia message

Nom Nom Nom

Last night Paige made FANTASTIC peanut butter cookies.
 

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Finally, some rest.

I slept better last night than I have in years.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

LOL no preznitzee 4 u.

Tomorrow the work resumes. But tonight:

Yes We Can.

This is what hope feels like.

It is amazing.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Leaving the TARDIS behind...

Ooh, I am so bummed. The brilliant and adorable David Tennant is leaving Doctor Who after the 2009 specials:

Entertainment Weekly article

Confession time: the Ninth Doctor was my alltime favorite and I wish Chris Eccleston would have stuck around a bit longer. But Ten is near and dear to my heart, and I will miss him terribly.