Strange Musings

blogs update

2005-11-01T00:38:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to point out that I've changed main blogs. Go to zandperl for my main blog. To access some of the posts you will need to have me friend you, so get an LJ account and then friend me or leave a comment on a public post and I'll add you as well.

My secondary blog is Modern Science, and it's commentary and summaries of events, discoveries, and controversies in science. Discussion is encouraged.

More on New Orleans Hospital Murders

2005-10-17T08:35:00.000-04:00

I've finally seen the alleged New Orleans hospital "mercy killings" in a news source other than CNN, though not one I've ever heard of. It's also got much less info than the CNN article I quoted previously.

State of Emergency?

2005-10-17T00:04:00.000-04:00

Apparently Massachusetts was under a state of emergency until this afternoon. Who woulda thunk it?

Random

2005-10-14T20:30:00.000-04:00

Today while commenting on Gran's On Bran, Google's "human verification" system threw me an interesting random set of letters.

ifucmu

I fuck mu.

"mu" as in the Greek letter that indicates the metric prefix micro (10^-6) or the coefficient of friction.

*hee* I am entertained. :)

Mormons in Ar-Kansas?

2005-10-14T17:11:00.000-04:00

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (AP) -- Michelle Duggar just delivered her 16th child, and she's already thinking about doing it again.

Johannah Faith Duggar was born at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday and weighed 7 pounds, 6.5 ounces.

The baby's father, Jim Bob Duggar, a former state representative, said Wednesday that mother and child were doing well. Johannah's birth was especially exciting because it was the first time in eight years the family has had a girl, he said.

Jim Bob Duggar, 40, said he and Michelle, 39, want more children.

"We both just love children and we consider each a blessing from the Lord. I have asked Michelle if she wants more and she said yes, if the Lord wants to give us some she will accept them," he said in a telephone interview.

(CNN)

LJ

2005-10-14T16:51:00.000-04:00

I'm starting to use my LiveJournal account a bit more for posting "classified" material ever since I found out that a search on my full name could lead to this page. Check it out and friends me to keep tabs, though if I don't know you I may not friends you back and let you see all the secret stuff.

Killing Birds

2005-10-14T07:09:00.000-04:00

The large number of birds that has to be killed in Europe and Asia to prevent the spread of the avian flu saddens me. In Thailand I think they tried vaccinating the birds, but not everywhere has the money and/or desire to do so. It probably also isn't a failsafe way of preventing the spread. If you want to be sad about dead birdies too, scroll through the pictures in this CNN article.

Charity Evals

2005-10-14T00:46:00.000-04:00

I just found a link to CharityNavigator.org, an independent non-profit group that rates US charities (equivalencies exist in other countries as well).

Mercy Corps spends 92% of its revenue on its programs, spends only 3c to raise another dollar of donations, and has an overall score of 64 (whatever that means...).

The American Red Cross spends 91.1% of its revenue on programs, but requires 18c to raise a dollar, and has an overall score of 60.

As a religious organization, the Salvation Army is exempt from filing the forms that would allow Charity Navigator to analyze them, so they've no data.

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) spends a measly 65.7% on programs and takes a whole quarter to raise a dollar. Its score is 52.

Noah's Wish, which I'm considering as a potential future alternative to HSUS is apparently too new to have enough data to analyze, so perhaps I'll hold off on them.

Meanwhile, I've been pondering making a monthly donation to Mercy Corps. If I did $10/month that'd be $120/yr. Some religions suggest their members donate 10% of their yearly income to charity. I'm aiming for 1%, or around $300 so $10/mo isn't unreasonable, and I'm under the impression that a regular donation helps more than event-targetted donations.

Super Secret Spy Service

2005-10-13T18:36:00.000-04:00

The National Clandestine Service (NCS) will oversee all human espionage operations - meaning spying by people rather than by technical means.
...
The chief of the new service will supervise the CIA's espionage operations and co-ordinate all overseas spying, including those of the FBI and the Pentagon.

The director of the new agency, whose identity will remain secret and is simply known as "Jose", will report directly to the head of the CIA, Porter Goss.

"This is another positive step in building an intelligence community that is more unified, co-ordinated and effective," National Intelligence Director John Negroponte said.

Setting up the NCS was one of more than 70 recommendations made by a commission on weapons of mass destruction in March, which was highly critical of the US' intelligence capabilities.

As part of reforms following the 11 September 2001 attacks, the CIA lost overall control of US intelligence to the newly created National Director of Intelligence.

(BBC)

Too secret to be on American media apparently. But see how much we lag behind British intelligence agencies? They've got it on their news!

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

2005-10-13T17:55:00.000-04:00

Your Linguistic Profile:

50% General American English

30% Yankee

15% Dixie

5% Upper Midwestern

0% Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

They left out a few choices though - not that I say these, but I hear them all the time here in Massachusetts.

5. You call sweetened, carbonated beverages:
Tonic

6. You drink from:
A bubbler

14. You work out in...
Trainers

And a few other interesting points...

1. The level of a building that is underground is called the:
In Europe, the ground floor is 0, and if you go up one flight of stairs it's the 1st floor. For the geeks, it's just like the difference between Fortran and C. ;) Belowground are increasingly negative numbers.

15. "Y'all"...
Some people around Pittsburgh, PA, say "Y'ins".

20. Mary / marry / merry...
Dawn / Don - I say those VERY differently. (I'm from NYC originally.)

CNN: New Orleans hospital may have performed "mercy killings"

2005-10-13T08:39:00.000-04:00

Holy fuck.

[Dr. Bryant] King said, the second-floor triage area where he was working was cleared of everyone except patients, a second hospital administrator and two doctors, including the physician who had first raised the question of mercy killing.

King said the administrator asked those who remained if they wanted to join in prayer -- something he said had not occurred at the hospital since Katrina ripped through the city.

One of the physicians then produced a handful of syringes, King said.

"I don't know what's in the syringes. ... The only thing I heard the physician say was, 'I'm going to give you something to make you feel better,' " King said.

"I don't know what the physician was going to give them, but we hadn't been given medications like that, to make people feel better, or any sort of palliative care," he said. "We hadn't been doing that up to this point."

King said he decided he would have no part of what he believed was about to happen. He grabbed his bag to leave. He said one of the doctors hugged him.

King said he doesn't know what happened next. He boarded a boat and left the hospital.
...
The coroner said the attorney general's office has requested autopsies but, because of the condition of the bodies, it may be difficult to determine why so many patients died at Memorial.

Tenet Healthcare, the company that owns Memorial, told CNN that most of the 45 patients who died were critically ill.

Tenet said about 11 patients had died the weekend before the hurricane and were placed in the morgue.

Twenty-four of the dead had been patients of an acute care facility known as LifeCare that rented space inside Memorial.

But King said he finds it hard to understand how that many patients could have died at the hospital, even under such grim conditions.

"There was only one patient that died overnight," he said. "The previous day, there were only two. From Thursday to Friday, for there to be 10 times that many, just doesn't make sense to me."

(CNN)

The other individuals involved have said "no comment," but if Dr. King is right, it's scary. I am not against euthanasia in general, and I understand their reasoning - these people were in pain, dying, with no care available and no clue of when there would be - but I am against it in this specific case: I feel (I don't have evidence) these patients could've made it out, so if their deaths were purposeful, it's absolutely horrible. Worse, as Dr. King tells the story the patients were NEVER given a choice! It's murder, not a mercy killing. The whole point to assisted suicide is that it's SUICIDE with a little help.

Fashionista!

2005-10-12T19:22:00.000-04:00

C/o sarrichelle.

Fashionista
45% Tastefulness, 60% Originality, 47% Deliberateness, 38% Sexiness

[Tasteful Original Deliberate Prissy]

One is certain: you have great taste and plenty of ideas. You have clearly defined beliefs about what's good and what's bad in fashion but they are far from banal. Stylish and imaginative, you prefer to inspire admiration than to shock and you mostly succeed. Even if sometimes you'd like to have more courage to put on something absolutely outrageous you do great job in creating a unique look that others look up to. There is a possibility that you work in the fashion industry. If you don't, perhaps you should.

The opposite style from yours is Bar Cruiser [Flamboyant Conventional Random Sexy].

All the categories: Fashion Enemy Bar Cruiser Kid Next Door Sex Bomb Hippie Kid Fashion Rebel Fashion Artist Catwalk God(ess) Librarian Sporty Hottie Office Master Uptown Girl/ Boy Brainy Student Movie Star Fashionista Glamorous Soul

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 4% on Tastefulness
You scored higher than 89% on Originality
You scored higher than 33% on Deliberateness
You scored higher than 23% on Sexiness

Link: The Fashion Style Test written by mari-e on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Morse code beats SMS

2005-10-11T22:39:00.000-04:00

OK, so it's an old article (April 2005), but it's news to me. A 93-year old man beat a 13-yr old girl by sending a teeny-bopper message verbatim via Morse code while she txtd it w/ abbrvs. Link above.

Enlistment rates

2005-10-11T22:30:00.000-04:00

Army enlistment rates have begun rising again, however not enough to make much of a difference.

Michael O'Hanlon, defense specialist at the Brookings Institution, said Monday that if conditions get worse the future of the all-volunteer force could be in jeopardy.

"Unless the situation in Iraq improves, or unless we drastically enlarge the pool of possible recruits in some way -- for example, lowering academic standards for them, or even considering an extreme option like allowing foreigners to gain U.S. citizenship by serving -- one would have to expect continued tough slogging for the Army," O'Hanlon said.

CNN

Many other countries already impose a version of this. Mandatory civil service or army duty is required in many countries before your 25th birthday. Those who refuse face a fine and jail time. Heinlein's novel Starship Troopers (not the movie) suggested that in order to become a full citizen with voting rights, one must serve in the army, including seeing combat.

What would these various potential situations do to the US as we know it? Many people do wish to become US citizens, so O'Hanlon's suggestion would probably allow the army size to grow, while allowing many more people to become citizens. It would also allow a wonderful way in for terrorists. Today men already have to register for the SS (Selective Service?) which means they would have to serve in a draft, but women (sexistly) do not register.

Would mandatory army service disenfranchize the poor? Or would it perhaps empower them, as I get the impression that they are more likely to join the army? It would definitely have the effect of raising the effective legal voting age, since you can't serve until age 18 and then if say, 2 years service were required to vote you'd then be aged 20 by the time you could vote. It would also prevent the "Rock the Vote" efforts that the Republicans successfully employed to turn out the vote for Bush in 2004 (as I recall, do correct me if I'm wrong).

I believe (perhaps incorrectly) that Democrats are more likely to be pacifists, so mandatory army service for voting would lead to a more strongly Republican controlled government. Additionally, women would likely be under-represented with such a scheme, as would any cultures that emphasis pacifism or scholasticism. They would have to work hard to come up with other alternatives to combat duty, for example National Guard (which today can still involve combat duty) or domestic civil service (maybe at a 2:1::combat:civil ratio? though as I wrote it you can interpret it either way).

Any thoughts?

Orientation terms?

2005-10-11T17:38:00.000-04:00

More than 1,000 Croatian gays and lesbians have had their names published in several of the country's newspapers in a bid for greater tolerance.

One thousand two hundred names appeared in the advert under a banner reading: "I don't want to hide any more."

The people named on the list identified themselves as either gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual, queer or heterosexuals who support the campaign.

(BBC)

Can anyone clarify for me what "queer" means? I thought it was a derrogatory term meaning "homosexual," (i.e., either gay or lesbian) but from the context it seems to mean something else.

Rain

2005-10-11T10:19:00.000-04:00

I knew we got a shitload of rain, but I didn't think this much!

Driving back from tiurin's Saturday evening I had to go 50-55 on the highway because I couldn't see the lane markers - the Pike is being repaved and there are just short dashes instead of the usual long white ones, and no reflectors. Going to see Jethereal Sunday afternoon I saw some of the cliffs off the Pike had had boulders knocked off, but I figured from the wind. Driving back Monday evening was hellish, as the Pike was bumper-to-bumper the whole way.

blame the victim

2005-10-05T00:09:00.000-04:00

Crossposted from a comment at Rosefox's LJ. Read the article first.

Holy fucking fuck fuck.

Picture this scenario: a teenage girl in the Mid-West gets raped. The rapist doesn't use a condom b/c (1) he learned in school that they're ineffective, and (2) they're required to have warnings on the labels that reinforce this. She is not on birth control because her pharmacist wouldn't fill the prescription. She is not allowed to get the morning-after pill without a prescription from her doctor, and her earliest appointment to see her doctor is long after the 72-hour window of effectiveness. She tries to go to a Planned Parenthood for information about abortion, and is stoned and cursed at on her way in, at which point she finds out that she'd have to get parental permission. By the time she does so, it's in the third trimester, and "partial birth" abortion is illegal. Then on top of all that she has the baby, is FUCKING FINED for it, and has to drop out of school to take care of the child.

"So, we do want to have laws that protect the children." Explain that one to me again, would you?

Seduction Style Quiz

2005-10-04T23:55:00.000-04:00

Man, I gotta stop doing these time-wasting quizzes and do something useful! Like sleeping.

Your Seduction Style: Sweet Talker

Your seduction technique can be summed up with "charm"
You know that if you have the chance to talk to someone...
Well, you won't be talking for long! ;-)

You're great at telling potential lovers what they want to hear.
Partially, because you're a great reflective listener and good at complementing.
The other part of your formula? Focusing your conversation completely on the other person.

Your "sweet talking" ways have taken you far in romance - and in life.
You can finess your way through any difficult situation, with a smile on your face.
Speeding tickets, job interviews... bring it on! You truly live a *charmed life*

What Kind of Seducer Are You?

Gender Role Quiz

2005-10-04T23:50:00.000-04:00

Found via Jo Harris, I find my results not at all surprising.

You Are 50% Boyish and 50% Girlish

You are pretty evenly split down the middle - a total eunuch.
Okay, kidding about the eunuch part. But you do get along with both sexes.
You reject traditional gender roles. However, you don't actively fight them.
You're just you. You don't try to be what people expect you to be.

How Boyish or Girlish Are You?

Who'd win in a fight, the US Army, or Avian Flu?

2005-10-04T21:19:00.000-04:00

On the one hand, it's nice to see the government (read: Bush) taking a proactive stance on an inevitable disaster. On the other hand, he wants to personally and directly control the US Army within the borders of the country to stop a disease. Anybody else think that's fucked up and really really scary?

Lake Effect Snow!

2005-10-04T17:32:00.000-04:00

Now announcing the launch of the Lake Effect Snow blog, lakeeffectsnow. We're an MIT Mystery Hunt semi-competitive team, and new members are welcome - especially if we know you ftf. For more info, check out the links here and there.

Would you have been a Nazi?

2005-10-04T14:25:00.000-04:00

I just took a (semi) thought provoking quiz, about whether you would've been a Nazi had you lived in Germany when Hitler came to power. My result is that I would've expatriated. I am inclinded to agree: I have joked that if Bush manages to Constitutionalize discrimination in the form of a Straight Marriage Only Amendment that I'd look into moving to Canada. The primary thing preventing me is Peeper.

The Expatriate

Achtung! You are 30% brainwashworthy, 31% antitolerant, and 23% blindly patriotic

Congratulations! You are not susceptible to brainwashing, your values and cares extend beyond the borders of your own country, and your Blind Patriotism does not reach unhealthy levels. If you had been German in the 30s, you would've left the country.

One bad scenario -- as I hypothetically project you back in time -- is that you just wouldn't have cared one way or the other about Nazism. Maybe politics don't interest you enough. But the fact that you took this test means they probably do. I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt.

Did you know that many of the smartest Germans departed prior to the beginning of World War II, because they knew some evil shit was brewing? Brain Drain. Many of them were scientists. It is very possible you could have been one of them.

Conclusion: born and raised in Germany in the early 1930's, you would not have been a Nazi.

The Would You Have Been A Nazi? Test

- it rules -

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 33% on brainwashworthy
You scored higher than 50% on antitolerant
You scored higher than 22% on patriotic

Link: The Would You Have Been a Nazi Test written by jason_bateman on Ok Cupid

Quiz of the Day!

2005-10-04T14:03:00.000-04:00

You know you're a geek if you take a quiz that measures intelligence and you have to restrain yourself from noting down the errors. Thanks to marquiswildbill for the entertaining link, though my results make me sad. :( :-P

Much More Scientific

You have:
70% SCIENTIFIC INTUITION and
40% EMOTIONAL INTUITION

The graph on the right represents your place in Intuition 2-Space. As you can see, you scored slightly below average on emotional intuition and above average on scientific intuition.Keep in mind that very few people score high on both! In effect, you can compare your two intuition scores with each other to learn what kind of intuition you're best at. Your scientific intuition is stronger than your emotional intuition.

Your Emotional Intuition score is a measure of how well you understand people, especially their unspoken needs and sympathies. A high score score usually indicates social grace and persuasiveness. A low score usually means you're good at Quake.

Your Scientific Intuition score tells you how in tune you are with the world around you; how well you understand your physical and intellectual environment. People with high scores here are apt to succeed in business and, of course, the sciences.

Try my other test!
The 3 Variable Funny Test
It rules.

My test tracked 2 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 57% on Scientific
You scored higher than 4% on Interpersonal

Link: The 2-Variable Intuition Test written by jason_bateman on Ok Cupid

Self-Serving

2005-10-04T11:30:00.000-04:00

In science we're often reminding people to be critical of the funding source of a bit of research. For example, take a look at this article and the accompanying videos about the dangers of non-stick cookware and birds.

Done yet?

Ok now, to summarize and elaborate, all of the following are harmful to birds: overheated non-stick (Teflon®) pans, heated butter, hot wax (candles), aerosol and non-aerosol sprays, cigarette and other smoke, other pets, ceiling fans, boiling water, hot pans... How many of those have I already subjected Peeper to? I keep her wings clipped so she doesn't ever fly high enough to hit a ceiling fan. She's run through two pans while they were still on the stove. She did that entirely voluntarily. I'm still trying to eliminate the airborne stuff from the house - environmentalism too. I'm not going to give up the Teflon, but I know that if I overheat something the VERY first thing to do is get her out of the kitchen.

I totally freaked out when this happened once. I yanked the pot off the stove, ran into the bedroom w/ her, threw open all the bedroom windows (in the middle of winter), locked her in her cage and closed the bedroom door, and then opened all the other windows in the house and turned on all the fans. She was fine, didn't notice anything other than my panic as far as I could tell. So maybe I didn't need to worry, but better safe than sorry. Bird rescue organizations will not adopt birds out to households with non-stick pans.

Hi Dad!

2005-10-03T20:16:00.000-04:00

He found this blog. I have no fucking clue how, but he found it. After reading a few pages of posts, he apparently figured out that it was slightly personal (but not entirely private as it IS out there on the web) and stopped reading and told me that he found it thru a simple Google search on my first and last names. I know that "Star Stories" still shows up under those as I only recently removed my name from on it, so it'll take a while to flush out of the Google cache, but Dad implied that he didn't go thru that page, but found this one directly. I'm really baffled as to how... But anyways, I do trust when he said he's taking it off his favorites and won't read it in the future - there's nothing here I really *hide* from them, just stuff I'm not comfortable talking about with them. Unlike how I really DO want to hide stuff on here from my job. Speaking of which, Dad's point of telling me was that he realized I probably didn't want this info out there for anyone to find. Which he was entirely correct about, so if anyone does a similar search and comes up with however in the world he got here, PLEASE let me know!

Quotes from the conversation with Dad:

"Wow, your HS is really bad. Kinda like how I used to have painful sores from cystic acne all over my face when I was a teenager. This one time my boss had to take me to the hospital for it and I was so embarassed. I really feel for you hon." See, this is why I don't like talking about it with them, then I have to sit and compare horror stories. I am not my disease, why can't we talk about something interesting instead?

"I swear I'll never visit your blog again." Huh, he knows what a blog is!

"You're a really good writer." Um, thanks, I think...

"I didn't realize you were so liberal. You're a commie!" (The last was in jest.) More of a socialist actually, though only a very slight bit. And I get the liberalism from you - you taught me to listen to what people have to say and that everyone's opinion counts. "I'm not really all that liberal. Not for New York." Heh.

"Really, I mean it, I won't read it again." Ok, I believe you, you can drop it now.

"I can tell it really upsets you that I found it." No shit, Sherlock. It's a matter of a breach of privacy, and I worry who else could find it, and most of all I'm pissed at myself for not hiding it better (not that I'm yet certain it's my own fault he found it). This's worse than when my research advisor's collaborator found my proto-blog, because then the worst was mushy stuff about T$ on the one hand, and my Muslim German physicist stalker on the other. Yeah, he was as wierd as he sounds; I should tell the story someday - when Dad's not reading! :-P

And from Mom (she didn't actually see the site I believe, but Dad told her about the content of the entries he read):

"Dad says you have this blog thing. What is it?" It's like a journal that my friends can read. "Do they?" Um, yeah. But it's stuff I talk about with friends, I don't really talk about this stuff with coworkers or, well, you.

"I want you to know you can talk with us about anything." And when I want to talk about these things with you, I do.

"Why don't you tell us about these things more?" Because then we end up having conversations like these.

Meme-time

2005-10-03T10:05:00.000-04:00

From meredithanne42

Firsts
First job: For a regular pay? TAing Astro 107 as a sophmore.
First screen name: eightrack
First piercing/tattoo: ears, age 2?, though I rarely remember to wear earrings
First credit card: Citibank Mastercard. Limit's now over $10k.
First true love: What's the difference between "love" and "true love"?
First enemy: The bitch who fucking hit me on the head with a My Little Pony lunchbox just because I was trying to strangle her. In second grade.
First big trip: We went on many trips throughout my childhood, so I'll say my favorite: Emerald Isle, NC.
First concert: Metallica, Albany, NY, circa 2001.
First musician you remember hearing in your house: Only musicians I've ever had in my house were me and my friends.

Lasts
Last big car ride: I think it counts if I drive across the state two to three times a month.
Last library book checked out: Probably Protostars and Planets IV
Last movie seen: Serenity, this weekend in Boston
Last food consumed: Reeses sticks
Last phone call: Received - parents. Outgoing - my voice mail. *checks* Huh, I'm wrong. T$ on both.
Last CD played: I had a tape of the BBC's original Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy on a few weeks ago.
Last annoyance: see rant
Last soda drank: Sierra Mist
Last ice cream eaten: vanilla creme, in the smoothie that started my recently conquered fruit-fly infestation.
Last time scolded: rather not say
Last website visited: BlogExplosion

I
I AM: a teacher
I WANT: 9 hours of sleep a night
I HAVE: a cockatiel
I WISH: to buy a house
I HATE: right now? my skin. usually not much.
I FEAR: that others think I don't/can't live up to my own high standards. I know that I'm not there yet, and I know it's going to take a while before I am, but I don't know that others know that I'm trying.
I HEAR: Peeper crunching pellets and half of them scattering all over the room for me to clean up later.
I WONDER: why. I wonder why, I wonder why I wonder. I wonder why I wonder why I wonder why I wonder.
I REGRET: every time I've felt like I needed someone else's approval
I LOVE: watching students learn to think
I ACHE: for massages more often
I ALWAYS: am online
I AM NOT: quiet, and I never will be.
I DANCE: at CTY
I SING: in stairwells
I CRY: when in too much pain
I AM NOT ALWAYS: clean
I WRITE: to my senators
I WIN: Yay! I win too!
I CONFUSE: my students when I try to explain that falsifiability is not the same as falsification.
I NEED: dough
I SHOULD: work more efficiently, and clean the house

Yes or No
YOU KEEP A DIARY: I used to. someday perhaps I'll merge it into my blog.
YOU LIKE TO COOK: when not stressed
YOU HAVE A SECRET YOU HAVE NOT SHARED WITH ANYONE: I don't think so
HAVE A CRUSH: does my bf count?
WANT TO GET MARRIED: probably. I like the romance, and the legal stability for my, my beloved's, and our potential children's futures.
GET MOTION SICKNESS: in large vehicles suspended in fluids with extremely low frequency (long wavelength) vibrations.
THINK YOURE A HEALTH FREAK: my health's freaky.
GET ALONG WITH YOUR PARENTS: they think so
LIKE THUNDERSTORMS: as long as I'm indoors and warm
CURRENT HAIR COLOR: artificially blacker than it should be
EYE COLOR: dark brown
BIRTHPLACE: Manhasset, NY (Long Island)

Favorites
NUMBER: e
COLOR: in what circumstance?
DAY: Saturday
MONTH: Halloween
SONG(S): ?
SEASON: any
DRINK: currently, hot apple cider

Preferences
CUDDLE OR MAKE OUT: naked cuddling! (but only when T$ initiates)
CHOCOLATE MILK, OR HOT CHOCOLATE: yes
MILK, DARK OR WHITE CHOCOLATE: dark
VANILLA OR CHOCOLATE: ice cream or sex?

In The Last 24 Hrs, Have You...
CRIED? nearly
HELPED SOMEONE? don't think so
BOUGHT SOMETHING? movie tickets
GOTTEN SICK? depends
GONE TO THE MOVIES? Serenity
GONE OUT FOR DINNER? yeap
SAID 'I love you'? yeap
WRITTEN A REAL LETTER: Friday, but I can't find the address yet.
TALKED TO AN EX? nope
MISSED AN EX? nope
WRITTEN IN A JOURNAL? blogs
HAD A SERIOUS TALK? yeah, but more ridiculuous ones
MISSED SOMEONE? he's hopefully in a plane to Ireland right now. Reminds me I should check the flight status... Yay, arrived!

Would You Ever:
1. Eat a bug? I'm sure I already have, multiple times.
2. Bungee jump? maybe
3. Kill someone? in self-defense, probably not. defending a loved one, yes.
4. Parachute from a plane? I'd rather hang glide
5. Walk on hot coals? Once someone figures out whether it's due to sweat being evaporated or the slow conduction of heat that you don't get your feet burned off.
6. Go out with someone for their looks? no. brains and money, all the way!
7. Be a vegetarian? Meatatarian, baby!
8. Wear plaid with stripes? Whyever not?
9. IM a stranger? Only if they IM me first, and then only until I confirm that I don't know them.
10. Sing Karaoke? I wish I got to do it more often.
11. Get drunk off your bum? I'm a very cheap drunk" I don't need any alcohol whatsoever to get all the buzz, and more than one drink kills it for me.
12. Run a red light? From a stand-still, no, unless it's a right on red when not allowed and I didn't see the sign. Keep going thru a yellow that turns red, of course, it's better than going through the windshield or skidding across the intersection in the rain.
13. Star in a porn video? What do I get out of it?
14. Dye your hair blue? Been there, done that, fades nasty. Purple and red are my faves.
15. Be on Survivor? I heard they were trying to recruit an astronomer family for "Trading Spouses" or something...
16. Wear makeup in public? Occasionally
17. Not wear makeup in public? Most of the time.
18. Cheat on a test? I'm the one they cheated off of!
19. Make someone cry? Not if I can help it.
20. Date someone more than 10 years older than you? You mean other than Jethereal? ;)

Republican presidential candidate I could vote for

2005-10-02T22:31:00.000-04:00

There's not many. In fact Guiliani probably comprises the whole set. I would certainly register Republican to vote for him in the primary over Romney.

Color Quiz

2005-10-02T17:33:00.000-04:00

zandperl took the free ColorQuiz.com personality test!

"Seeks success, stimulation, and a life full of exp..."

Click here to read the rest of the results.

Thanks to sammka for another useless survey. ;)

Eugenics, and the Slippery Slope

2005-10-02T16:01:00.000-04:00

An HS discussion board I'm on recently got sidetracked into a discussion of eugenics. I provided the medium to get it started - I told my story of how I wasn't allowed to give blood b/c I was on antibiotics. A poster replied that since HS is "in the blood," it's not only wrong for us to risk spreading it by donating blood, but that we also shouldn't have children and subject them to the disease.

Just to clarify, HS isn't contagious, and though there may a hereditary component, it isn't yet medically confirmed. Certainly not the way things like diabetes have been confirmed to run in families. Obesity is another potential one, though I think it's socially "inherrited" as much as genetically.

There was a lot of rage at his comments, and it later turned out he'd been abused as a child, but it's an interesting thing to think about, where one draws the line, and it relates to the abortion issue and selective breeding.

Speaking of controvertial issues, there's a really good Wikipedia article on the logical argument of the slippery slope. The common version of this that we've been hearing a lot about in the media is gay marriage. According to the evangelicals, allowing gay marriage starts us down a slippery slope that will eventually lead to beastiality, pedophilia, and polygamy. I must say I see no connection whatsoever between beastiality and pedophilia, but there are potential connectiosn to polygamy. Dan Savage recently quoted in a column that homosexual marriage is being allowed to promote gender equality, while polygamy does the opposite:

"Traditional polygamy grows from exactly the opposite [of gender equality]," says Graff. "One man owns many wombs and grows lots of household labor. That is precisely the opposite of gender equality and of individual-based capitalism. It violates all our contemporary notions of fairness and democracy. Polygamy would mean heading backward into marriage's feudal history; same-sex marriage moves us forward into its equal and democratic future."

Which is a surprising viewpoint to me - while this may be what traditional polygamy was about, I am all for an enlightened polygamy (ala Heinlein). Is there a word that means legal marriage between three or more people of indeterminate gender? Polygamy refers to one husband, multiple wives, so that's not what I'm looking for. It also has such historical loading to it. Polyandry is the other way 'round: one wive and multiple husbands. Polyamory is closer in intent to what I want, with consentual multiple sexual/romantic partners and genders not specified, but the "amory" in the word implies love without the legal committments.

Update:
rosefox points out that polygamy is the gender-neutral term, while polygyny means a man with many wives. It's unclear whether polygamy means multiple of both genders (ex: 2 women, 2 men), or an either-or term for polygyny/polyandry. Historically, polygamy is *usually* of the form polygyny. I'm also under the impression that it's historically multiple people married to ONE central person, rather than to each other in a group, though the wives in a polygynous relationship often have some relationship to each other as well.

Aftermath

2005-10-02T14:11:00.000-04:00

Well, it didn't go too horribly. I was able to forget for maybe an hour at a time that I had this painful sore on my chest, and for longer that I didn't have a bra on. I wore a maroon sweater with matching scarf, so that the scarf tails covered my chest. I was also (conveniently) perpetually cold yesterday, so I kept my jacket on much of the time. One of T$'s friends asked me why I had my jacket on in the resturaunt, and I was able to answer honestly that I was cold ("It's a tit bit nipply out!"), though seeing as it was Jason T, I was tempted to reply "because I didn't want people to know that I'm not wearing a bra." It's the sorta bizzare self-defeating thing he'd say for a laugh.

The pain wasn't too bad since I kept popping a couple advils every few hours. Except for that point when a few of us were joking around on the train and T$ elbowed me in my chest. He meant it like mock-fighting which we do occasionally and some of those times irritates me anyway, and this would've been one of those times it irritated me. I cried out when he hit me, and turned away to blink off tears from the combined irritation at mock-fighting, pain like someone stapled my chest, emotional pain at his inadvertant betrayal (could you really expect anyone other than me to remember at any given moment where all my sores are?), and also catching my breath b/c his elbow included not only the cyst but my solar plexus. Man that sucked.

I popped another two advils before bed since it was still hurting, and then realized I'd already taken a couple just two hours before. Oops. I figured that's probably not so much that I should be having my stomach pumped, plus it was STILL hurting, I needed more not less painkillers, so I let T$ sleep and soon slept too. I slept in really late this morning though, perhaps b/c of the overdose, though it could also be that I'm catching whatever cold my students all have.

T$'s going to be in Ireland for just over a week. I'm going to miss him; I'm jealous; and I'm hurt at his flat out statement that I couldn't handle the rigors of hiking. He (like many guys) is better at being honest than tactful. And then he's not all that encouraging when I want to get him to do exercise-like things with me to get me in better shape. "It'd be a hassle to bring my bike to Worcester." (maybe true, but worth it) "But there's no where to hike near Worcester." (not true) "You don't need to carry that much water for a short game of frisbee." (I do know how much I need, and even if I were wrong better to over estimate than under) I may look healthy (I'm a skinny 125 lbs maximum), but I don't live a healthy lifestyle and if you look at my parents it's clear that I won't stay this way forever. I know that now (or sooner) is the time to turn around and start doing things right, but I have a hard time motivating myself to exercise, or eat (right or not), so I look to the man who loves me for encouragement. "I'm worn out from work this week, we'll hike another time." "Walking to the grocery store isn't nice because it's along a busy road."

Bleh. I'm going to go sleep or play video games or shower or something. I know T$'s going to read this sometime. Oh well, too bad. I needed to get various crap off my chest. No horrible HS reference intended there.

Coming Out

2005-10-01T14:06:00.000-04:00

I've been starting to "come out" to people about my disease HS (hidradenitis suppurativa). I've heard the term "hidden disease" or "hidden disability," and for some people it really is. It's not at the level for disability, but it is a burden at times, and I think the primary thing that makes me uncomfortable about telling people about it is that they won't take it seriously.

"What's the big deal? It's just pimples. Quit being a wimp." That's what I'm worried they're thinking, though they won't say it, and I wouldn't tell anyone who would. I even worry that my close friends and boyfriend think that.

It's not just pimples. I've been on antibiotics for three weeks now to try and prevent an outbreak. I was rejected from donating blood because of that. Thursday, at the end of a hard day, I discovered that one of my "normal" cysts was becoming inflamed. It's located in the middle of my chest, right at the level of my bra strap. Friday morning instead of taking my "maintenance" antibiotics, I took the "super killer" antibiotics. I'm almost out of those. I sufferred through Friday. Imagine if you tried to stick a thumb tack in your skin. As you first touch the skin, and then gently start to push it in, there comes a point, probably before you ever break the skin, where you just can't bring yourself to push it in any further. This cyst feels a little worse than that. The dermatologist's office was closed by the time I managed to call.

Today it's worse: I can't wear a bra, and I'm hanging out with my boyfriend's friends tonight. Man, I hope none of them read this; I should switch to LJ where I can friends-lock posts. No, the whole point is that I'm trying get over my insecurity about it and come out about it so my friends understand me more, and more people become aware of it, and eventually drug companies will be motivated to research treatments. It's an "orphan disease," meaning there's no good research on it because of the low incidence rate. Putting labels on HS makes me think it'll go away.

If you do read this, you're allowed to say something like "I hope your skin's feeling better" but no braless comments or I'll probably break down crying. Only Jethereal's allowed to make a crack like that.

Secret Surveillance Screw-ups

2005-10-01T10:10:00.000-04:00

The FBI is allowed to wiretap your phone without you ever knowing, provided they get permission from a secret court. They can follow your library and grocery records, and they can read all your emails and count your fileshared mp3's. But to protect the innocent majority of us, there's that secret court looking out for you - even though there's no "defense" representing you either appointed by you (since you don't know) or appointed by the court. It's just a panel of secret judges who decided based solely upon the FBI's "prosecution." Oh, and they're allowed to and sometimes do fuck up and monitor random other people. But we don't know how often that happens -- it's a secret.

keyword

2005-09-30T23:50:00.000-04:00

Teh best comment EV4R.

Comments:
"I just came across your blog about **keyword** and wanted to drop you a note telling you how impressed I was with the information you have posted here. I also have a web site & blog about board bulletin now otc otcbb sand sndtf symbol technology ticker trading under so I know what I'm talking about when I say your site is top-notch! Keep up the great work, you are providing a great resource on the Internet here!"

This comment was left on one of my posts, and cracked me up. It's obviously someone who downloaded comment spamming software and didn't know half the fuck what he was doing! Comment is deleted, link isn't put in this reposting, and I'm turning on human-verification.

Post-Apocalyptic Resume

2005-09-30T19:55:00.000-04:00

After a conversation with Jethereal, here's a new meme! Leave a comment with your answers.

What skills do you have that would be useful in a post-apocalyptic (i.e. lawless, no electricity) world?

Practical astronomy - time of day / night, seasons, orienteering

Crafts - assorted, including but not limited to: sewing, crochetting, macrame, knot-tying, pottery...

Musical entertainment - singing and guitar

Teaching - though I'm not sure what use astrophysics would have, I'm newly qualified to teach elementary arithmatic

Counselling / Advice - no training, but I've got a sympathetic ear, and I'm good at solving everyone else's problems

Bow hunting - I'm rusty on the archery and I've never hunted, but I would if I had to

Gardening - I used to have a green thumb

Leadership - someone's gotta do it! If it's not you, it'll be me. I'd rather it were you (for many values of "you")

*&#$@

2005-09-30T18:37:00.000-04:00

It's fuckers like this who left thousands to die in New Orleans.

[Former Education Secretary William] Bennett, who held prominent posts in the administrations of former presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush, told a caller to his syndicated radio talk show Wednesday: "If you wanted to reduce crime, you could -- if that were your sole purpose -- you could abort every black baby in this country and your crime rate would go down.

"That would be an impossibly ridiculous and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down," he said.

(CNN)

I tell ya, NOLA-ers should've eaten their babies rather than looting.

I'm sure the Conservatives are arguing their heads off, turning themselves blue in the face saying "oh, but he meant it was a BAD thing." But then explain why he thought of it in the first place, why he made the assumption that BLACKS CAUSE CRIME, and then why the fuck he went and SAID it after thinking it?! Even if you do think that's true, you've got a head on your shoulders and shouldn't even say it to give an example as something bad!

Regarding the logic of the "blacks cause crime" statement, that's like if I said "there's too much dog shit in the neighborhood, I'm going to get rid of all fire hydrants." Sure there's more dog shit in towns with more firehydrants, but it's caused by the fact that both come from a third thing, more people! Sure more blacks are convicted of crimes than whites (unfortunately), but it's caused by social pressures and the workings of the justice system.

It's been proven time and again that societal roles have an unaccountably strong influence on the behavior of people. This isn't saying that those blacks found guilty really aren't guilty of the crimes they commit, it's saying "walk a mile in another's shoes" - if whites or yellows or reds lived the same lives, they would do the same thing. The individual is guilty (though you would be too if you were him), and his situation is guilty, but his RACE isn't.

Sudoku

2005-09-29T18:50:00.000-04:00

This summer at CTY a number of my fellow instructional staff (sammka) were absorbed by this thing known as Sudoku. I'd heard of it before, and I didn't quite get why it was so fascinating, especially since I barely got 6 hours of sleep as it was without adding additional distractions. A few weeks later in London I finally saw one in The Guardian and gave it a stab. It was a hard one, and I only got two rows in the end, but it was really fascinating. For the 8 hour plane ride back, I bought a couple books of it for me and T$ to keep trying. FINALLY just yesterday I found a link to WebSudoku.com, and it's probably going to supplant PBN as my internet time-waster when I've used up all the webcomics.

What is Sudoku? It's a logic puzzle that originally came from Japan (supposedly). The numbers 1-9 are used, but they're really just symbols, you don't do any math with them. You're handed a 9 by 9 grid, broken into nine smaller 3x3 boxes. Some of the numbers are already filled in, and you have to fill in the rest. There are only three rules.

Each number 1 through 9 appears in each row once (and only once).

Ditto each column.

Ditto each 3x3 box.

It's amazing how fiendishly difficult they can get with just those three rules. Now go and try it!

Signs of the apocalypose

2005-09-27T10:08:00.000-04:00

From an email from my Dad,

On L.I. 2-days ago, a car driver purposely rear-ended a bike and drove him into the back of a car, killing the cyclist instantly. After his arrest, they found he had previously been arrested for running down his wife several years ago.
My theory
People see the news: Iraq, Katrina, Rita, inflation, unemployment, 911; and they see theur world is out of control. They use their rage (looting, road rage, violence) as a way of taking personal control (what do they have to loose?).
Sad to say: Anarchy, racism, weather stuff (floods/droughts/hurricanes), economic class, geography (high vs low ground) are the challenges ahead.

Stay inland and surround yourself w. good friends.

The end is near! If my city ever gets evacuated, here's what I'm taking.

Peeper (cage, travel cage, all her food)

Clothing (weather appropriate, utilitarian, maybe one fun set to cheer me up)

Water (multiple Nalgenes full)

Food (non-perishables not requiring cooking, can opener)

Bicycle (helmet, seat, repair kit, pump, bungee cords to strap Peeper travel cage to back)

Backpacks (2 comfy ones)

Laptop (and accessories)

Cellphone (and accessories)

ID (including passport, credit cards)

Drugs (prescription and OTC medicines)

Entertainment (origami, crochet, books)

"Under God"

2005-09-17T00:38:00.000-04:00

As sammka mentioned in a recent post, I feel it is important to engage in civil discourse on controvertial topics. The following letter is going in the mail to my Senators by Monday.

The Honorable ***
Address

September 16, 2005

Senator ***:

I am writing to you today as a *** State resident regarding the U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton ruling in California on the unconstitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance (9/14/05), and the subsequent unanimous Senate non-binding resolution condemning this ruling late Thursday September 15, 2005. I am disappointed by your decision to oppose the ruling, and would like to express why.

As quoted by CNN, the non-biding resolution said that “ ‘one nation under God’ in the pledge reflects the religious faith central to the founding of the nation and that its recitation is ‘a fully constitutional expression of patriotism.’ ” I agree that the Founding Fathers held Christian beliefs of a Creator, as is shown by the Declaration of Independence’s statement “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal,” but disagree about their relevance today. The word of the Founding Fathers is law, but laws should sometimes be changed. Non-white men, and women of all races have been given equal rights and protection under the law that the framers of the Constitution would never have dreamed of. Moreover, the phrase “under God” was added to the Pledge by Congress during the 1950’s, and therefore in no way reflects the original intents of our forefathers. Using their intentions is not a valid argument.

What is valid is the effect that these words have today. As you are a Senator of a state with a diverse population, I am surprised that you did not take our beliefs into consideration. The word “God” refers primarily to the Christian Creator – Judaism uses another word, Islam uses “Allah.” A number of citizens in this state believe in other forms of a Creator, such as a female form (Gaia) or a polytheistic form (for example, as in Hinduism and Paganism). And even others such as myself believe in a purely secular form of Creator, such as the Big Bang and Evolution. As of 2001, 21% of the state population self-identified as non-Christian – while this is a minority, we are still a significant percentage of the state. The choice of the word “God” is not inclusive of our beliefs of a Creator, just as if the Pledge contained “under Allah” or “under Evolution” that would not be inclusive of Christianity.

In conclusion, I feel that in expressing disagreement with the ruling by Judge Karlton you failed to consider that there are precedents of newer laws superceding the intentions of the Founding Fathers, and that the phrase “under God” is not inclusive of a significant number of your constituents. I hope that in the future you will consider points of view that differ from yours and represent the other constituents within the state that has elected you.

Thank you for your time. Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions.

Sincerely,

zandperl
Address

Feel free to modify (or not) this letter and send to your Senator.

See Also:
* Pledge ruling
* Senators' condemnation and appeal
* Senators by Zip Code

Belated Webcomics Telethon

2005-09-16T06:28:00.000-04:00

This's a belated bit of info, but better late than never. Many webcomics authors out there have banded together to host a web-a-thon for Red Cross donations to hurricane relief. On this past Tuesday and Wednesday, every 20 minutes a new free webcomic was uploaded to the telethon site for your viewing pleasure. It's possible they're still going though, as I believe the number of comics they received was amazing. Participants include PVP, Sluggy Freelance, the Blank Label Comics people, a number of Keenspot people, and many various others. Keenspot even ran a box ad for it even though it's not one of their own products.

Go to the Webcomics Telethon page. Click the back button repeatedly until you get sick of it. Then go to the Red Cross link at the top and donate -- you'll be sent to the Red Cross homepage and you'll donate there, so you KNOW that the money isn't going to feed peckish webcomic artists / authors, but starving Katrina refugees. The webcomics telethon people are requesting that you self-report how much money you're going to donate so they can keep track of how effective the drive has been -- $27,000 as of my pageload this morning!

Modern Science

2005-09-12T17:36:00.000-04:00

Well, I've decided to debut another blog... I'm not too sure why I'm doing different blogs on different topics, rather than throwing them all in here. Maybe so if you want to follow certain topics but don't want to be bothered with the others, you don't have to look at them.

This one's called Modern Science, and was triggered by a number of good conversations I've had on spiritual blogs about the purpose of science. The goal of the blog is to have a forum to discuss new scientific discoveries, the pseudoscience that has the world in its grip, controversies in science, and the demarkation of science from other fields (such as religion). I hope to stimulate open, honest, and respectful communication in the comments, and encourage all to post questions or discussion topics.

Come visit!

BRAINS....

2005-09-11T12:06:00.000-04:00

We all already know that zombies say BRAINS....., but (c/o faerieboots),

What does a vegan zombie say?

GRAINS.....

Suggested by Jethereal,

What does a zombie phlebotomist say?

VEINS.....

And my own contribution (w/ help from Jethereal),
What does a zombie cosmologist say?

BRANES....

And if you laughed at that one you're a horrible dork and you'll never get laid.

Ahoy! Thar be Talk Like a Pirate Day!

2005-09-10T19:59:00.000-04:00

September 19th is international Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Bloggers Against Bush

2005-09-10T18:37:00.000-04:00

I have to be honest and say I don't understand the concept of impeachment well enough to (yet) support impeaching Bush, but I'm planning to look it up. If you do think he should be impeached, there's a bunch of bloggers who're calling for it and you can join them.

Fruit Fly Trap Instructions

2005-09-10T12:30:00.000-04:00

Every so often, even for the most conscientious people, you get a fruit fly infestation. For me, I wasn't being conscientious, I had a banana in a smoothie, and made the stupid mistake of putting the peel in my worm compost bin. I think they're breeding.

Here's instructions for a environmentally friendly, humane, pet-safe, cheap, and easy fruit fly trap that you can make to help solve your problem. It also makes for a good science fair project for kids, as they can then experiment on the fruit flies and even watch their life cycle.

Materials:

banana peel

20-oz plastic soda bottle (16-oz works in a pinch) with cap

scissors

package tape

thick needle

thimble

Take the cap off the soda bottle and using the thick needle (whatever you've got in a sewing kit will do) and the thimble to push, poke a hole in the top of the cap. Take a close look at this hole. In the finished trap this will be the only access fruit flies will have to get in and out. As tiny as the hole seems, they really can squeeze in through it, but since you've made a little heaven for them inside, they feel no need to get back out. Believe it or not, you're making them happy.

Screw the cap back on the bottle, and peel off the label if you want a better view of the future fruit fly farm. Use your scissors to cut off the top part of the bottle, where the sides stop tapering out and become straight. When you cut the two halves apart, the top part should be smaller, and look like a funnel (upside down), and the bottom part has straight sides.

Stuff your banana peel in the bottom half of the bottle - this is your bait / fruit fly food. Making sure the cap is back on the top half, flip it upside down and nestle inside the bottom part of the bottle like a funnel in a glass. The sharp edges from where you cut before should line up. Tape these edges together SECURELY. Clear packing tape is best for a good view, duct tape is most secure. DO NOT allow any gaps in the tape, and press the tape firmly against the bottle so there aren't any wrinkles going all the way through. If your trap ends up not working, this is what you screwed up.

Your trap is now done and should look something like the picture that I have yet to post on the right. ;) Place your trap anywhere you've seen fruit flies, though if you've weak stomach I'd suggest away from where you'd see it while eating. In a couple days you'll see your new fruit fly pets crawling around inside the bottle. If you're just trying to solve your problem, you can throw out the trap when your problem is solved (do NOT crush the trash until outside of the house or you'll release them all), or take the bottle outside and release them. Throwing them out won't actually kill them, unless you use an incinerator, and they'll probably be taken to the city dump and live happy lives there.

If you're curious or want the kids to learn something, keep the bottle for longer. In a week or two you'll also see little white grubs wriggling along the sides of the container as they breed. *ick* Dispose as above when school's done, or you get too grossed out.

School Donations

2005-09-10T11:35:00.000-04:00

If you or your company are interested in donating items to schools, the US DOE has set up a page to connect donors w/ needy schools. That link is the page of schools requesting items, click on a school name to find out what they need. Strangely, a large proportion of these appear to be Christian boarding schools, so if I send things it'll keep going to the Astrodome or similar locations, but I figured it was better to list another place to send things than to not.

One family's useless ordeal

2005-09-10T11:09:00.000-04:00

I don't usually post news stories here (News Unfit instead), but this one's worth it, and fits a train of discussion that's been here.

To summarize, wheelchair-bound mother Debbie thought the hurricane wasn't going to be much of anything, and besides if they evacuated they couldn't bring their "three dogs, a cat, a guinea pig, a gerbil, six hamsters and a parakeet." When the levees broke they escaped to the attic for three days, where the grandmother died and Debbie tried to convince her daughters to commit suicide with her using her painkillers. They were finally rescued by Debbie's brother, along with two of the dogs (but not the 11 other animals), but that doesn't matter because they had to abandon the dogs anyway.

A little forethought would've gone a long way. If they'd gotten out sooner, they might've had a chance of bringing the pets with them, more likely if they travelled on their own rather than going to the Astrodome, but as the mother had a disability that might not have been an option. As is, it's been horribly tragic and their whole point for staying was a failure.

Quotes from the article below, or just read the original.

Before Katrina hit the Gulf Coast on Sunday, August 28, Debbie said she hadn't paid much attention to the warnings and didn't want to evacuate without the family's pets. "I never once dreamed ... I just thought it would be a little wind and rain and then it would just blow over."

The family had lived in the three-bedroom house on Arts Street for 13 years. Melissa Harold, the grandmother, moved in several years ago after Debbie's husband died. They lived with three dogs, a cat, a guinea pig, a gerbil, six hamsters and a parakeet.

"My mom told us we weren't leaving because wherever we went, we couldn't bring our animals with us," said Tiffany, who wants to be a veterinarian and mourned leaving behind the pets, including those buried in the back yard.
...
Trapped inside the darkened, stifling hot attic of her flooded home in New Orleans with her two teenage daughters, Debbie Este watched her own mother die as they waited for help she thought would never come.

For three days they waited, sweating and stripped nearly naked because of the 110 degree heat, with no food and running out of water. The rising water reached the attic and threatened the survival of anyone inside the yellow-sided, single-story house.

During half the time they were trapped, the body of Debbie's mom, Melissa Harold, 68, who didn't make it through the ordeal, lay lifeless on the attic floor.
...
Debbie, who is 47 and uses a wheelchair, had carried her painkillers -- 60 Loratab 10s -- into the attic. And she asked the girls to swallow the pills with her to end the suffering.

"She kept on saying, come on and take 'em," said Tiffany, who marked her 16th birthday in the Baton Rouge River Center shelter on Monday. "I just kept telling her we were going to be saved, but really, I didn't know."

Amanda swayed her mother from suicide by talking about her future.

"I said I want to finish school and have a job and have kids and have a husband," Amanda said.

"She was miraculous. I couldn't believe it," Debbie said of her younger daughter. "I was so proud of her. She just screamed like that for hours and hours. Her and Tiffany kept saying we weren't going to die up here."

Tiffany doesn't remember much else, having slept most of the time, even though her mom regularly woke her up, afraid she had died. "After my grandma died, I just went to sleep. She thought I'd died, but I was just sleeping."
...
Soon, the drinking water was gone. By Wednesday, the same water they had to urinate in started filling up the attic. They inched farther and farther back.

Then, Debbie Este heard a voice from outside. Her brother, Aldo Harold, 50, had arrived by boat with some friends. Debbie had last talked to him by phone briefly three days earlier when the water started coming in to his house about a mile away.

"I thought I was dreaming," Debbie said. "I heard my brother hollering 'Debbie!' and I don't think I've screamed so hard in my life, I said 'We're here!'"

Tiffany, awakened by her mother's screams, realized they were going to stay alive. "My uncle just kept saying he was going to get us out."

In about five minutes, using an ax, Aldo chopped through the black shingles and wood of the roof so the three of them and two dogs could be pulled into the boat.
...
Two of their dogs survived the flood, a shitzu named Matt and lab mix named Princess, but they couldn't bring the dogs out of the city and had to leave them behind.

CNN

Who's fault now?

2005-09-09T23:12:00.000-04:00

Interesting post arguing against the points Democrats bring up accusing Bush of failing in his duties re: Katrina/New Orleans. I must say that it's an admirable post and draws from many resources online, a number of which I am familiar with and find reputable. One of the sources he quotes a lot, NewsMax.com, I've never heard of and am skeptical of, but Washinton Post, Red Cross, Hearald Tribune? Those I do believe, and he makes a good case on some points.

(Katrina + Hidradenitis) Victims

2005-09-09T22:08:00.000-04:00

If you or someone you know suffers from hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) and was affected by hurricane Katrina, an online group has started a contact list so you can let friends/family know if you are safe and your whereabouts. If you haven't noticed either of my two posts this year on HS, it's a potentially debilitating skin disease affecting a small portion of the population, and therefore little research is being done on a cure or treatments. You know those stories you hear on CNN about people being physically unable to leave their houses due to things like needing kidney dialysis or oxygen tanks? Well there may just have been one person unable to leave her home because of the grapefruit sized sores on her thighs, chest, and arpits that make any motion blindingly painful. And yet, it's extremely difficult for these individuals to get disability payments.

...

I kept hunting in my archives for an essay I wrote about what it's like to have HS, and then realized I hadn't posted it when I wrote it, but just saved it on my computer, b/c I feared it was too morbid. I'm going to have to read over it again and see if I'm willing to put it up.

12 (LJ) Babes of Xmas

2005-09-09T20:41:00.000-04:00

Apparently someone's set up an annual 12 Babes of Xmas competition. Your nominee must be a livejournal user, and come October there'll be a vote. The full list of nominees contains more than 600 unique individuals. Once you're nominated you can decline the nomination by doing nothing, or enter the contest by sending him a (non-nude) photo (or six) of yourself.

I wonder if the nominees have to actually be genetically female? What about transgenders and hermaphrodites? His FAQ doesn't cover that.

Remicade and Enbrel?

2005-09-08T22:14:00.000-04:00

Does anyone here have experience with the drugs infliximab (Remicade®) or etanercept (Enbrel®)? As you may have seen from previous posts, I have a skin condition called hidradenitis suppurativa, or HS. (If you google it, expect some disturbing photos.) After having a flare-up (thankfully minor) while on a pseudo-honeymoon in London, I decided enough was enough already, and today I discussed treatment options with my dermatologist.

Antibiotics work well for me on a short term basis, however they will likely lose effectiveness as time goes on, or else the HS will resurge when I go off them. I am currently on cephelaxin (Keflex®), and will be for 1-2 months, and we are reserving the big guns (levaquin) for a worse situation.

Isotretinol (Accutane®) is a drug prescribed for severe acne, with proportionately severe side effects. You are guaranteed dry eyes and skin for the course of the medicine. Pregnancy MUST be avoided during the course, and for one month to one year afterwards, as >90% of pregnancies result in stillbirths while the unlucky few are born severely deformed and die quickly. The jury is out on whether accutane causes suicidal depression, with most doctors and legislators saying no, while a number of former patients said yes.

And last but not least, anti-TNF-alpha drugs such as the aforementioned-but-not-discussed infliximab (Remicade®) or etanercept (Enbrel®). Those drugs act to stop T-cells from causing inflammation, and they are approved for use in arthritis and various other diseases I forget about. They are not approved for HS, but there have been a number of promising cases in the literature. You are more susceptable to infection, and it can rarely aggravate/trigger MS, lymph cancer, TB, or heart conditions (he'll check my cardiologist re: my heart murmur before prescribing). None of those seem like too big a deal though; the real kicker is the delivery method. I get two choices, either once-monthly IV infusions at a clinic, or twice-weekly self-administered sub-cutaneous injections (I stick a needle in my thigh). *ick* Oh and did I mention that insurance doesn't usually cover it? That would be a deal-breaker for me.

If you've had any experience w/ Remicade/Enbrel, for any condition but especially HS, I'd appreciate your input! :)

You're not gonna believe this...

2005-09-08T19:38:00.000-04:00

On Page 2, I'm "Candy Man." I've got the headers to prove it too!

The original letter it's referring to is still on The Stranger, but I can't find it on The Onion AV Club. (The Stranger is the "home" paper of Savage Love anyway.)

Dan Savage makes a point that didn't occur to me about bubble-gum cigarettes potentially enticing kids to smoke, but I occasionally got them as a kid and have never NEVER been tempted to try real cigarettes. *shrug*

Cool beans!

Ask an inappropriate question...

2005-09-08T19:22:00.000-04:00

Today I saw a student with the following slogan on a T-shirt:

You, me, whipped cream, and a pair of handcuffs.
Any questions?

If it weren't totally inappropriate I would've replied with, "yeah, did you want to be whipped, or beaten with a paddle while I've got you handcuffed?"

His shirt totally didn't clarify which partner was to wear the cuffs. Or whether his partner had to be female. And if there'd be an audience. Man, there's a lot he left out.

Disaster Mail

2005-09-08T08:36:00.000-04:00

In case you're sending stuff to either the affected areas, or to the Astrodome...

Astrodome has a new zip code, so their mailing address would be something along the lines of

    Any Refugee / Red Cross
    Reliant Astrodome
    8400 Kirby Dr
    Houston, TX 77230

The USPS has a map of affected areas, and a detailed list of zip codes and what they're sending.

Fringe Theory

2005-09-07T18:51:00.000-04:00

Alternative scientists can often provide valuable commentary on the shortcomings of mainstream science. For example, this "paper" starts off with a good criticism of the tendency of many scientists to write elaborate descriptive models before having solid theoretical models. To the humanities major who has somehow stumbled across this blog, an example could be how you know exactly how fast your car is going to go when you push down on the gas pedal (description of what the car does), without knowing a thing about what's going on under the hood (theory of how the car works).

Unfortunately this author then firmly plants his foot in his mouth by saying the astronomical equivalent of "cars are powered by two dozen fairies in a hampster wheel under the hood; see Geddes, Anne (2004)."

Folks, just because someone quotes someone else, doesn't mean any of them know their shit.

Astronomers, go read that paper and tell me at what point your jaw hit the floor. For me it was "Stars are an electrical, not a thermonuclear, phenomenon."

Out of Place

2005-09-07T17:31:00.000-04:00

Today I got home from grocery shopping and started lugging my bags into the house. A man in khakis and a polo T-shirt was walking towards me, and I took a short-cut up my lawn to stay away from the unsavory individual. He was clearly not from the area, he had to be a Jehova's Witness or Insurance Salesman. He called out "Excuse me" in an Irish-ish brogue before I could entirely avoid him, and asked me directions to a place I didn't know. He showed me the Yahoo!Maps sheet he printed out, where he'd clearly taken a wrong turn in his tan-colored luxury vehicle. I directed him back on the right track, 100 meters back up the road.

It was a strange experience because I realized I had automatically moved to avoid a person who did not fit in the neighborhood. Not because he looked unsavory, in fact he looked quote wholesome, but because he was out of place--he was white!

Being Poor

2005-09-07T08:44:00.000-04:00

I knew a woman who was younger than myself and had two children. Her boyfriend, not the kids' father, was getting in fist fights with her (not the children or I'd've called the cops), but she couldn't leave him because they were all living at his father's house. These things make me want to cry. And yet, that's still better than what many refugees from the Gulf Coast have.

Government Obligations?

2005-09-06T00:31:00.000-04:00

The question of whether our government is obligated to provide food and water for those suffering in New Orleans was recently brought up in my blogging blog. One person commented that it is not stated in the Constitution, and anything not permitted should be forbidden.

Liberal atheist though I may be, I agree with the late Pope John Paul II that food and water are basic rights that every living human behing deserves. (I happen to disagree with him on what is "food" and what is "medicine," and what constitutes a "living human being," as the Schiavo case showed, but that's a different argument.)

The Constitution does not state that we should save dying people because it is obvious. Specifically, it was already covered by the Declaration of Independence, and even that statement said that it was obvious:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
(Declaration of Independence)

In other words, "It's obvious to everyone that everyone deserves life, etc., and governments are created with the sole purpose to provide that, and if they don't, we should abolish that government and install another one." Maybe the Declaration of Independence doesn't hold the same legal weight as the Constitution, but whenever we talk about the intent of the founding fathers, I think it's a good place to look, and it very clearly says those people dehydrating in New Orleans deserve water from the government, and if the gov't fails in that we should get rid of it and put another government in place.

And now for something completely different,
Vote Stewart/Springer '08!

Church Wisdom

2005-09-05T19:29:00.000-04:00

On a church sign in Palmer:

If you don't prepare for tomorrow, you may not like the results.

That church has the most awesome messages. I wonder if they really meant that to be a stab at our goverment.

Reactions, Comparison

2005-09-05T18:49:00.000-04:00

I've been mentally comparing my reactions to Sept 11, 2001, and hurricane Katrina. Sept 11 hit me immediately, but it took a while for the Katrina disaster to sink in. Part of this may have been because NYC is my hometown, and part may be because it took a few days for the levees to break and the city of New Orleans to flood. The horror stories about NOLA keep rolling in too. The anarchistic reaction of some of the NOLA populace undermines my hopes for humanity, while the NYC firefighters and cops running back into the WTC did a lot to help it. In the WTC, after the towers went down, there was no chance of finding further survivors. Hospitals in the surrounding tri-state area (NY, NJ, CT) were on alert to receive record high numbers of patients, individuals flocked to blood banks to donate, but neither the hospitals nor blood were ever used. In New Orleans people continue to die as I type, from starvation, dehydration, or pre-existing diseases that they have run out of medicine for. Many police have (understandably, I think) turned in their badges, and two have even committed suicide, shooting themselves with their own guns. On top of the tens of thousands of human fatalities we expect, I'm sure there were hundreds to thousands of pet deaths as well. Human bodies ARE being found, but there is no place to put them. I think this is a worse disaster for the country emotionally because the scale is larger, the location is more romantic, the disaster is spread out over a longer period of time, and there is no one for us to blame but ourselves, or maybe God.

How do your reactions compare? How do you think the two events compare?

Thanks for the many comments on my "Memories" post!

Memories

2005-09-02T20:53:00.000-04:00

I went to the site of the World Trade Center Oct 3, 2001. New York is my hometown, and every year I make a pilgrimage to one of its great sites/sights. Usually I take one of my friends along for the ride, as their fresh eyes make everything seem new to my jaded ones. (We New Yorkers even wear black to weddings.) But this trip I made alone.

The main thing that struck me was the chalky smell in the air. I don't have that great a nose on me, but this couldn't be missed. The ground everywhere was covered in this off-white powder, made of the concrete and plaster and asbestos of the buildings. It got in your hair, your eyes, your nose. Even my skin felt dusty.

The next thing I noticed was a scaffold on another building, left from before, saying "METS SUCK!" That one elicited a bark of laughter from me. Nothing can break New Yorkers' spirit. Kill two thousand of us and we're still going to argue over whose team is worse. "Sox" who?

Then, as I walked around, I started to notice the holes in the sky, where the buildings used to be, or where I could see a building behind that I couldn't see before. I stood in front of this small church for a while, reading the signs that children had sent. Large banners and small, wishing the firemen well, and praying for those who died. Across the street were pictures of missing people. After a while I remembered the church, that it used to be incongruously small in front of the huge sky scrapers behind it. Now it was the remaining buildings that seemed out of place.

The last thing that stayed with me from my visit was the street vendor. Covering his usual newspapers, magazines, and "Rollex" watches were ... Americana. Flags, scarves, pins, hats, T-shirts, posters, snow-globes, you name it. Gray towers on a gray sky, ink faded from the cheap printer, "We will not forget." White background, waving flag, AMERICA, size M-XXL. The man himself had a flag bandana, flag shirt, flag tie, American blue jeans, and a bright blue jacket. He was foreign. At the time I didn't notice his ethnic origins, but now I think he might've been Indian, or perhaps even Middle Eastern. And all I could think was "This stuff, what he is selling, he is selling the American Dream."

This afternoon I was at a Lowe's (who I heard are doing donation matching for hurricane Katrina) buying a bird feeder. Birds are a great comfort to me. I'll put it up this evening sometime. In the checkout line I started to psych myself out. There was a man standing behind me, not too large but strong, carrying a heavy shovel. What was there to stop him from reverting to base needs and swinging that shovel at me and everything! Then he muttered aloud "Man, I picked the wrong line," and I remembered we are normal, we are good people, we are human. But so were the New Orleansers, before.

For the tsunami and this hurricane I donated the same amount to charity. For September 11th I donated twice as much. My parents organized that, one of Dad's coworkers was collecting for a police and fireman's fund, and they were shocked when I told them how much I wanted to give. My reply was that I had more than that, and I in fact felt ashamed I wasn't giving more.

When I got home from visiting the WTC site in 2001, I sneezed and had a drippy nose for hours. It all came out black. And then I realized it wasn't just cement and smoke and asbestos that I was breathing in the whole time, but also PEOPLE.

Any Refugee: Update

2005-09-02T20:03:00.000-04:00

Package postage was $20.13, add that to the $14.80 that I threw in for stamps, and I spent a total of [does arithmatic in head...] $35.93 to send four care packages. If I hadn't wanted to put in stamped envelopes so they could write to relatives if they haven't been able to call them, it would've cost me on average five bucks to mail each package, and the contents were all in my house already and unneeded.

I sent them cheapest class possible, and they should get there in 7-10 days. And before you say "that's so long!" just like I did at first, tell me just when you think those people in the Astrodome will get to go home.

Sunfell's Earth Walk - Charities to donate to, charities to avoid

2005-09-02T19:27:00.000-04:00

Link c/o rosefox, check out this list of charities with and without agendas, hidden or not. I'd mentioned elsewhere that I tend to avoid Salvation Army b/c of their evangelical leanings, so if you're looking somewhere and didn't want to take my word on MercyCorps, read that link.

Sunfell's Earth Walk - Charities to donate to, charities to avoid

Comfort Food

2005-09-02T18:36:00.000-04:00

Receipt from Stop & Shop this evening:

Sushi Appertizer

Microwave Lasagna meal

Swiss Miss hot chocolate

Hershey Reeses Sticks

Frozen raspberries (for the smoothies)

Raisin Bread

Pilsbury frozen chocolate chip cookie dough

Freezepops

Dryer sheets

Yeah, that last one's out of the blue.

And on a related note, I've been on the email list for the Librarian's Index to the Internet for a while. Today they sent out their list of hurricane Katrina-related sites. One of the top hits is an EPA webpage listing emergency ways to disinfect drinking water.

Gas Gouging

2005-09-02T12:55:00.000-04:00

Does the gas cost in your area seem just too high? Check out this AAA page on gas costs throughout the nation. It seems that my city's charging some 30c/gallon more than the rest of the state. If you find a station participating in price gouging, contact both your state's Attorney General, and the DOE. Price gouging is illegal in 23 states.

What to Send Where

2005-09-02T11:26:00.000-04:00

The New Orlean's Craig's List has a post up on what items are needed and where you can send them. It looks like my ideas weren't too far off track. Now I gotta get out and MAIL those packages.

Children's Books for Evacuees

2005-09-02T09:10:00.000-04:00

My #1 favorite webcomic has a message that you can send books (childrens' books especially) to evacuee children at the Astrodome.

HURRICANE EVACUEES
RELIANT ASTRODOME
c/o RED CROSS
2700 Southwest Freeway
Houston, TX 77098

It's a different street address than I got online, I think because as CNN describes there are two parts to the complex, the Astrodome, and the Reliant Arena, so perhaps this address is for the other part. I hope mine'll get there. I haven't sent it yet, but I don't think I'll change the address.

Other places care packages could be sent are Huntsville, San Antonio, and Dallas, TX, since the Astrodome is filling up. I don't think I'm ever going to make another Texas joke again.

CNN Katrina Safelist

2005-09-01T23:27:00.000-04:00

I'm sorry for the flood of posts on Katrina lately. It's how I'm coping.

CNN's hosting a list of names of people who want to notify their friends/family/the world that they're safe.

I Drew This: Nightmare

2005-09-01T23:22:00.000-04:00

Simpson, I agree with you. While I wish I could better see what's going on, it's probably a good thing that I don't have TV right now.

Animals; Something Awful

2005-09-01T22:16:00.000-04:00

I read a little earlier about a boy who had to leave his dog behind. Update I just found a link to one article on it on CNN. A bus had finally come to take him to Texas, but they wouldn't let him bring his dog. He cried so hard he threw up. The National Guard at the scene told the reporter the dog would almost certainly die. I don't know what I would do if I had that option: get on the bus without Peeper or don't. Maybe I'd find a way to sneak her on. If the option were me and my child get on the bus without a pet or not at all, I'm sure I'd do it, and I'm sure either the boy's parents decided that, or the guardsmen did.

If you want to donate to charity for animals, check out The Humane Society's webpage on it.

Man, this's all starting to get to me. Tomorrow I mail the boxes.

If you ever used to read Something Awful (somethingawful.com), you've noticed it's down. That's because their servers were in NOLA (New Orleans, Louisiana). Holed up in the server room is The Interdictor, formerly SA's "crisis manager," and posessing a military background. He's got diesel generators and somehow got the gas, and apparently the internet isn't down. He even took one of the servers over to City Hall to help them get back up, though I'm not sure what good it'll do. There's a police man and a few others there with him, and they're taking shifts 24/7 so they don't get looted, etc. I'm not sure if they have guns. Apparently people have urged him to get out, but he's staying there till the Hell and high water are gone.

Any Refugee

2005-09-01T18:31:00.000-04:00

As per the tradition of sending "Any Soldier" boxes to WW2 (and more recently, Iraq) soldiers, I have put together four "Any Katrina Refugee" boxes/care packages. Each one included a letter as follows:

Any Katrina Refugee
Astrodome
8400 Kirby Dr
Houston, TX 77054

September 1, 2005

Katrina Refugee,

Please find enclosed in this package some goods that may be of use to yourself, friends, family, or fellow refugees. One of the items I have included is materials so that you can send a letter to relatives or friends outside the disaster zone so you can tell them you’re ok. I especially encourage you to share these among others, since if you contact just one or two people you know they can tell everyone else. If you wish to reply in the future sometime, my contact info is below, but you do not need to do so.

The nation and the world is following your story and doing what we can to help. You are in our thoughts and I hope for the best for you.

Sincerely,

zandperl

In each of the four boxes I put 10 pre-stamped envelopes, 10 sheets of paper, 2-3 pens, and some of them got cans of food that I've had in my pantry for years, small stuffed dolls my Mother gave me that I never really wanted, sample sizes or travel containers of shampoo and body wash (inside two ziplock bags each), and CureAd-brand Bandaids (the adhesive is too strong for me and hurts my skin). Two of the four boxes also have maxi-pads (ones I've had sitting around since I perfer tampons these days) and are addressed to "Any Female Katrina Refugee." I've heard pads are also good for injuries and sweat, so even if men get them they may get used.

I heard on the radio that people are bringing donations to the Astrodome but the Red Cross (who're running it) don't have the facilities to distribute it. I'm hoping that since I'm sending these as USPS mailed packages, that the postal worker will just hand it to some random person, and that will be the end of the burden of my package on the system. I find it interesting that I never got much in the way of care packages while I was in college - my mom sent newspaper clippings, but not cookies - and yet I'm sending these boxes. The total cost shouldn't be too bad: the paper goods and items I already had, $37 for a roll of 100 stamps but I only used 40 ($14.80), and each package I expect will be around $4-7, so my total cost will be less than $40.

Oh, and the person I helped on the phone last night, L***, she did get in contact with her two friends, J*** and C***. She hasn't yet reached her parents, who lived on the North side of lake Pontchartrain (sp?). I told her to have patience, as if they're ok contacting her is on the top of their list and may take weeks to do. In the meantime she (and anyone else affected) should keep doing normal things like going to work and eating, spend a lot of time with friends, and find a support group. I even gave her my number in case she just wanted someone else to talk to.

"It's worse than they're showing on TV"

2005-09-01T14:36:00.000-04:00

My friend/co-worker S* sat in my office for a while relaying stories. A*, in her department, had family back in New Orleans. They are all safe, but they tell him that people are shooting at relief helicopters. The Superdome cannot be evacuated due to the ongoing violence (this one is on CNN.com). A whole city closer to the Gulf than NO was hasn't been reported on--why? Because there's no one left. Citizens were evacuated to the high school, and it was washed away along with everyone inside.

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all convictions, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

--W.B. Yeats, "The Second Coming"

A*'s family is pretty ingenious. They had three generators, but no gas, so they went to a gas station, which required electricity to run the pumps, and traded one of the generators for unlimited gas.

I'm going to start putting food in boxes and mailing it to "Astrodome, TX". I will not send it to the Superdome as it's likely to get stolen by looters. If you were thinking about going down to help, don't. September 11^th, 2001, brought out the best in people. August 29, 2005, brought out the worst.

help?

2005-08-31T21:30:00.000-04:00

I stumbled across the New Orleans Craig's List, and found the free section on it. There were many offers to help people contact missing friends and family in the Katrina disaster area. On a whim, I put up my own notice. Within 20 minutes, someone emailed me with the names and numbers of 4 friends and family members she had been unsuccesfully trying to contact for days. Her cellphone was no longer working as it was a New Orleans number, so they had no way to contact her, and I don't think she had a land phone to call them. As soon as my cellphone clock hit 9pm (free minutes), I started calling, and after my second try I actually got one of them. He sounded surprised that a complete stranger was calling him with the info that his friend was trying to get ahold of him. How bizzare the conversation must've sounded from his end. "Hi, is J*** there, I'm calling on behalf of L***, and she wants to know if you're ok, and to give you her office phone number. ... No, I don't know her. ... No, I live in Massachusetts. ... Ok, I'll tell her you're alright and going to try and contact her and her other friend C***." I'm glad to have helped, but it was just so bizzare. Actually, right after L*** had emailed me, I took the notice down b/c it just felt so wierd. I also had this fear that dozens of strangers would be begging for my help, and I'd be powerless to help, or I'd try to call people for hours... Well, over now, and I can feel like I did a little bit to help.

Comparisons

2005-08-31T11:04:00.000-04:00

Am I the only one out there offended by the repeated comparisons of Hurricane Katrina to the Asian Tsunami or Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Yeah, it's a disaster, yeah the city's wiped out, yeah a million people are without homes for the next month or year, yeah a few hundred people died. But WTF?! You had warning, you could've gotten out! You had disaster relief people just begging to help you leave. Heck, you had a mandatory evacuation! Of the 1,200 people so far rescued from rooftops in New Orleans, how many of them genuinely COULDN'T leave before the hurricane? None! They all could've gotten help to leave. I can count maybe 5 deaths that were inevitable: 3 senior citizens from a nursing home who had heart attacks or something when being evacuated, and a few more people who died from tornados in Alabama.

The Asian Tsunami (26 Dec 2004) gave no warning to the undeducated people in its swath of destruction. There was no infrastructure for repair and relief in many of the countries affected. 150,000 people died. The destructions of Hiroshima (6 Aug 1945) and Nagasaki (9 Aug 1945) were man-made, hell, they were American-made. We could've given warning but didn't. There were around 120,000 immediate fatalities, or around 340,000 including later deaths from radiation.

We are so small, but our egos are so huge to think this little event is notable.

Lord of All I Transfer

2005-08-30T14:03:00.000-04:00

I am the Queen of File Transfers (for Small to Moderate Quantities and Sizes of Said Files). To make myself the complete master of all I survey, I would like to solicit the input of other Kings and Queens of their own domains. Specifically, the next realm I wish to master is Transferring 20 Gigs of Files (Including Music, Images, and Documents) from an OSX.4 IBook to a WinXP Desktop, Using Methods Including but not Limited to Firewire, Ethernet, or USB, but Excluding Burning CDs or DVDs. If you are a Minor Lord of that demesne, I will gladly receive your pledge of fealty.

Books on Tape

2005-08-28T22:43:00.000-04:00

I've gotten to listening to books on tape this past year. I rarely reread physical books, and I'm pretty certain I'll never re-listen to these. If anyone would be interested owning or borrowing any of the books-on-tape listed below, shoot me an email (zandperl-at-care2-dot-com) and I'd send it to you in exchange for something, or COD. Also, if you know of a trade-in program that isn't a scam, I'd be interested in that. Summaries are my own. Unless otherwise indicated, all are on tapes played once only and rewound to the beginning. For each of the below, I paid roughly $5 each.

Clarke, Arthur C., and Baxter, Stephen. The Light of Other Days. Abridged. $13 list. A hard hearted business-man exploits his estranged physicist son and the son's journalist romantic interest to create mini-black holes to view any point in space time. (Keep your ears open for the revelation about the Crucifixion.) Science is relatively sound, but the character interactions are slightly lacking. Cliche epilogue.

Stephenson, Neal. The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer. Abridged. $25 list. A nanotech engineer from a neo-Victorian enclave / independent state writes / programs a supercomputer story book / primer for a Lord's daughter, steals a copy for his own daughter, but it falls into the hands of a girl from the ghetto. The multiple storylines are woven together well.

Stephenson, Neal. Snow Crash. Abridged. $25 list. A cyberpunk story in a future where America's hold on the world market is Mafia-run pizza delivery. The main character is a hacker with real-life samurai pizza delivery skills who learns about a designer drug (Snow Crash) that only affects hackers. It's a rare treat to find a book with a strong secondary character of the opposite gender of the protagonist, and yet have no romantic interest between the two. Compares well to the original novel.

I'm also working on The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, original BBC production. Douglas Adams produced the first two "installments" of the series as this radio broadcast BEFORE he wrote the novel trilogy with five books and a short story. (And the movie came after that.) Books 3-5 have since also been radio broadcast, but they are not original. H2G2 will be available for loan only to people I know in person. If you wanted to buy a copy yourself, it's only available through the BBC website, for GBP 16 (~$27) plus shipping.

Smoothie!

2005-08-28T19:57:00.000-04:00

After my last Halloween Party, SPW got a few others to chip in and buy me a blender. Today while at the grocery store I remembered this thanks to having smoothies at StXi's the other day, and I decided to buy some ingredients. Today's recipe:

1 bananana

3/4 cup OJ

2 schoops French Vanillia ice cream

5 ice cubes

Stick all in blender on Low until a smooth consistency. Makes 1 thick and creamy glass.

I think next time I'll increase the OJ and reduce the ice cream. Maybe more ice, but if so, on High. Ooh, and strawberries! Or raspberries! Or rasbperry ginger ale!

Connections

2005-08-28T13:51:00.000-04:00

I should make a flow chart for this and post it here.

My first year as a grad, I had physics classes with Renrut. He had been roommates as an undergrad with JaTo, who was two years our junior. JaTo went to high school with T$ and LupusRufus. I ended up dating T$ (for the last three years) and soon after LupusRufus and JY started going out.

JaTo also had a friend from the good ol' days of BBSs, Brooks. One day Brooks complained to me on IM that no one had played a good prank on him in ages, so I enlisted the help of LittleJennyCat. She pretended to be a friend of his that he'd forgotten about while I fed her lines. This worked so well, that they have been friends since, including one incidence where LittleJennyCat came up to the area to meet w/ a few friends. She stayed with StXi, JY bussed in to visit, and of course she brought LupusRufus with her. (I didn't make it due to snow.) Brooks did a total double-take when he saw LupusRufus, b/c they knew each other thru JaTo.

Summer last year I started doing CTY. There I made friends with TacoTortoise, who it turns out did Math Olympics with LupusRufus. And just today I discovered that Sammka is LJ friends with Rosefox! To make matters more interesting, I'm pretty sure I once asked Brooks if he knew Rosefox, since everyone knows both of them, and he did, from some SciFi convention. I should ask Rosefox if she remembers him.

My head's spinning. I just remembered that I did make a flow chart of much of this at LupusRufus' last birthday party, with his help, on his whiteboard. Too bad I didn't take a photo of it, or if I did I must've lost it w/ the other photos.

American Astronomical Society critiques Bush's ID push

2005-08-28T12:42:00.000-04:00

This is the most coherent statement refuting the teaching of intelligent design in schools that I have ever read. Written by the AAS president, addressed to US President Bush, and released to the public as a press release on August 5, 2005. Be sure to look at it and send the link around.

http://www.aas.org/education/pressreleases/maran_PR.pdf

Internet Frog

2005-08-27T22:38:00.000-04:00

In case you're curious whether your cable internet is really living up to its promise, check out Internet Frog - it tests your conenction speed. Mine seems right at some 2.6 Mbps downloading, 200 kbps uploading. Repeat it a few times to get a good sample. Unless it's just making it all up with some random seed algorithm. ;)

most ridiculous wedding evar!!!!1

2005-08-27T21:36:00.000-04:00

When I get married in a courthouse on Halloween requring the wedding party to dress as Oompa Loompas and Munchkins and I therefore don't get anyone (other than JSue) willing to attend, I'm just going to have to hire some wedding guests.

Stress and Food

2005-08-27T20:56:00.000-04:00

I haven't eaten a meal all day; I must be stressed.

I was explaining my eating habits to Tacotortoise yesterday evening. I normally am a small eater. When I am stressed, I eat less. When I am busy, I eat less. When I cook only for myself, I eat less. When the food's not that good, I eat less. And so on, with the end result that it's easy for me to lose weight, but harder to put it back on.

It's not uncommon for me to stop eating well before I'm full. I'm just bored of moving the fork, or my mouth craves a different taste and loses all interest in the current taste. This is thankfully a far cry from the average American (such as my dad), who continues to eat well past the point where he or she is full. I recall reading somewhere that there's a chemical in the brain that translates the eating process into pleasure; I must be short on that chemical.

It's nothing I'm worried about though, I don't have an unhealthy weight, and I just learned this week that my total cholesterol is a safe 174 - must be due to the low quantity of food, because it's certainly not due to my choice in food! The interesting part is that sometimes, like now, I realize I'm stressed by the fact that I'm not eating. I had a half an omlette for breakfast, five mozzarella sticks for lunch, and now at 9pm realized I should have dinner sometime, so I'm heating some Chef Boyardee because nothing seemed tasty to me and that's easy and I probably won't have leftovers.

The stress is probably because there's 11 days and counting until the resumption of the semester, and I need to finish syllabi, a couple weeks of lesson plans, and a couple months of HW and labs. *gulp*

There goes the microwave buzzer, I better try and force some of this down.

Wikipedia CTY help needed!

2005-08-27T11:55:00.000-04:00

If you've been reading my blog a while, you should already know about Wikipedia. Well, when perusing the CTY pages, I noticed two pages that needed help. Loudonville, NY, the geographical location, did not have an entry at all. I have started a messy scrap page that needs work. And the page on Julian Stanley, CTY founder, has a note on it that it is a copyright violation of the official JHU/CTY obituary. I've started a new temporary page which will eventually replace the copyvio page, but of course it needs lots of work. So, if you love Wikipedia, CTY, Loudonville, or Dr. Stanley, pop in on those pages and contribute! :)

To the Tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It"

2005-08-27T09:12:00.000-04:00

I'm alive awake alert enthusiastic.
I'm alive awake alert enthusiastic.
I'm alive awake alert,
I'm alert awake alive,
I'm alive awake alert enthusiastic!

I woke with this song that I learned from a 6th grade science teacher stuck in my head. too bad it's not true.

London Photos

2005-08-26T22:46:00.000-04:00

You asked for it, and here they are, my London photos, all 204 of the highlights... Files named SV* were taken by T$, while those named IMG* were by me.

For people I know in person, if you like one, I'll gladly give you an 8"x10" framed signed print. For people I correspond with via blogs, let me know if you want a larger (4Mpx) version, from which you can print up to 8"x10" on your own. For complete strangers, I will sell you an 8"x10" version of any image for $50 (it costs me $25 in materials and some 2 hours in labor). For any of the above, let me know the file name of the image (listed underneath the picture). If it's one of T$'s, I'll have to get his permission first for any of the above.

Hope you like them! I do enjoy constructive feedback, so let me know any comments you have on specific images. I must say that this time I don't feel like I've got any really spectacular photos, but more of a travelogue.

President

2005-08-26T13:23:00.000-04:00

The President of my college has been busy. (I hope I haven't already said all this.) First she vetoed the job search I was on--you know, the one she started? Then she announced her resignation in October for a new president position at another school.

So, this makes me mildly worried about my own job. There are two VPs at the school, Academic Affairs and Facilities (?). They apparently don't get along. Usually one of them would be elevated to temp Pres until a new one was found, but b/c of the tension between them, we're going to be getting someone external. Eventually (say 2-5 years) we'll get a new permanent pres., who is likely to lay off many of the current administrators. The VP of AA is the one who created my position, but she is generally disliked within the college and supposedly has quite a temper and isn't nice to people, so she's a shoe-in for firing. I do not have tenure yet, which means I can have my contract "not renewed" at the discretion of the president. Which means if we're short on money and the VPoAA isn't there to advocate for my position...

Yeah, it's a bit worrisome, but there's not much I can do in the meantime, and it is a little ways off. I'll probably chat with my dept coordinator about it in the next couple weeks, see what she thinks. I also hope to get on the search committee for a new pres for two reasons: I want one who'll build us a new science and technology building; and if the pres knows my name and face from the search, s/he'd be less likely to "let me go."

Logical Fallacy

2005-08-26T09:26:00.000-04:00

Wikipedia has a great article on logical fallacies in arguments that often crop up online. Below I wish to mention a few and how I usually see them. It'd be awesome if we could remove most of these from arguments on my blog, though you'll see below I do believe in one in certain circumstances.

Ad hominem refers to personal attacks, or attacks on a person's character. Often used in heated debates between liberals and conservatives, and though I try to be above such things, sometimes it eludes even me. (See Talking Tina debate.)

Appeal to authority - Despite the claims of scientists to the contrary, much of science is based upon the principle that we should start with believing what others tell us. This doesn't mean that we should believe everything we hear, but instead that we should determine who is a reputable authority, and then believe only him or her. For example, I strongly believe in evolution, but I probably will NEVER see the evidence that evolutionary biologists used to come to this conclusion. Therefore, I believe the authority of those biologists who have seen it. On the other had, I also believe in the Big Bang and I HAVE had the opportunity to weigh the data for and against it, so I do not need an appeal to authority. I will accept an appeal to authority IFF (if and only if) the person proposing to do so sufficiently proves that the individual IS authoritative. "He/She is famous" isn't good enough.

Appeal to belief is defined by Wikipedia as assuming something is true because most people believe it. I feel it's also related to the concept of the false premise, in which your arguments are based upon faulty assumptions. Unfortunately, this is what many people do when they quote from the Bible to try and convince me of something. For example, in this post Paul argues that as it says in Romans 1:18-22, "since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse" (evidence of God is staring us all in the face, therefore atheists are so willingly). In order for me to believe that argument, I either have to accept an appeal to belief ("so many others believe the Bible, so should I!"), or a false or unproven premise (Assumption: the Bible is absolute truth, everything within its pages is true; Conclusion: God exists, etc.). Sorry Paulie, you've gotta first prove to me that the Bible actually IS the word of God for me to start accepting quotes from it.

The Gravity of the Debate

2005-08-25T21:43:00.000-04:00

Remember how a while ago I brought up the gravity vs. evolution debate? That is, they're both "theories," and in fact scientists don't actually believe in Newtonian gravity anymore while they all believe in evolution, and yet, gravity is taught in school while evolution is debated. Well, I'm not the only one to compare them. In an I Drew This strip, D.C. Simpson compared them. And more recently and famously, The Onion ran an article on it as well. Go check them out, and let me know when you stop laughing.

Update: (8/29/05)
I didn't see this article before, speculating whether the Onion stole the idea from Simpson. The Onion even replies, in typical Onion fashion, and tells the truth of the whole affair.

No rest for the ... me

2005-08-23T09:09:00.000-04:00

I've not even unpacked from London (not to mention CTY), and my parents call me up on Friday to say they're taking me to the Cape (Cape Cod) this week. We leave in 20 mintues. Well, at least I managed to get 80% of my office junk into the new office before that. I'll try and work on sorting photos while there--I've got the 600 from me and T$ narrowed down to some 237 good ones, but they're not in order, and that's still too many. I'm aiming for some 50-100 for the final online photoalbum.

Gassy

2005-08-22T14:58:00.000-04:00

During the month I was away from Massachusetts, the price for a gallon of gas skyrocketted from something like a dollar eighty to two sixty, prompting me to recalculate the cost of gas to drive to work, vs. taking the bus. Bus is $1.50 ($1.25 fare plus 25c transfer). Drive it work is 5.1 miles according to Yahoo maps, and my car gets an abyssmal 14 mpg (miles per gallon) in the city. For gas to cost the same, it'd have to cost $4.118 for a gallon (5.1mi*$4.118/gal / (14mi/gal) = $1.50). (If it were 18 mpg, I'd hold out for $5.294). At the current price of $2.599/gal, I am paying $0.947 per trip to campus.

It becomes more and more cost efficient to bus to campus. If gas hits five bucks a gallon I am DEFINITELY going to bus a few days a week. There's a monthly pass for $38, which would be economical for me if I bussed around 13 days a month, or 3 days a week.

CTY - You Belong Here

2005-08-21T21:11:00.000-04:00

A sammka post inspires me to blog on CTY. (Strangely, I always mentally pronounce her screen name "sam-SACK-a", with the extra sylLAble.)

It's really amazing that I never discovered CTY sooner. All my high school friends knew of it, and some even went there. Last summer, my first time teaching there, my students pointed out that I was a stereotypical CTYer, in that I was half Asian and half Jewish. A few years ago I developed a love for TMBG; I have long enjoyed 80's music. I like dancing, but when I do so around normal people I have to close my eyes so I don't realize that they're there; CTYers instead make we watch in joy and amazement as they brandish their pants and chant "go eat corn!" Halloween is my favorite holiday, and I see nothing wrong with wearing my underwear on the outside so that the Dean of Res Life tells me that while my clothes may be in horribly poor taste, they are "CTY appropriate." Sudoku is a perfectly normal passtime. I belong there.

And yet, there were so many little issues this summer, my second, regarding how the two halves of the site interacted, and the lack of information that we required to do our jobs appropriately. In one case, a student (not one of mine) could have DIED due to info his instructor and TA didn't have (nut allergy requiring an epipen). Many classes were not allowed to use their own budgets to go on essential educational trips. Spacecadet and I grow increasingly frustrated at how we aren't allowed to stay out and actually DO our "field science." I'm thinking of going back to my alma mater's Astrocamp during the second session of CTY next year. That's only some 4 days long, but the hours are 12 noon to 12 midnight. Much more appropriate. I could still do first session then, if I decided to. Most of the "veterans" come second session only though. And I wonder if I'd have priority over the woman who did first session this year, or if she would, if she choses to return.

<shrug> That's half a year away, I'll worry later, and just revel in the wonderful wackiness of CTY in the meantime.

The Random Question Meme!

2005-08-21T20:38:00.000-04:00

An array of completely random questions about my friends! Designed for LJ users, I thought it was funny enough that I cleaned up the lj tags it spits out for posting here. You need an LJ account to do it, and you can pick how many questions.

What is blue102's fantasy?: To be a mime on the streets of Las Vegas.
What does unofischal spend the most time doing?: Hm, it's a tough call whether he spends more time on his computer analyzing helium forbidden emission lines and writing papers on it in LaTeX, or browsing the web for balloon porn.
Is tacotortoise an innie or an outie?: Bellybutton: innie
Otherwise: still an innie
What is meredithanne42's favorite meal?: Something from the Mongolian grill on Rt 9, followed up by beverages at the Moan and Dove.

This is by heptadecagram. You can find your own completely random questions here.

Do you feel enlightened now?

Bidet

2005-08-17T11:36:00.000-04:00

On our first night in London, Monday 8/15, the Rubens at the Palace (4-stars, across the street from Buckingham Palace and the Royal Mews) told us something'd gone wrong and they were overbooked. We got "upgraded" to the Milestone, a 5-star hotel in/near Kensington and they paid for a cab to take us over there. We were offerred complimentary wine or champagne, but after a 7 hr dehydrating flight I didn't think it wise. The bed was only a double, and the room barely fit it, but the bathroom was bigger than the bedroom and included a bidet. It really entertained me. (Stop thinking inappropriate things!) I forgot to snap a picture of it though. :-P I recall reading a discussion on another blog (maybe Gran's on Bran?) about why Brits think bidets are cool, but I can't really remember how it went...

Photo!

2005-08-17T10:16:00.000-04:00

Here's a single photo from the trip. Contrary to popular belief, the bridge pictured is Tower Bridge, not London Bridge (that one's flat and boring). T$ and I had oodles of fun and walked more than I've walked in years.

I will eventually get around to uploading a bundle of pic's. Hopefully even before I lose them all when I send my laptop back for work again...

Home Again!

2005-08-15T21:48:00.000-04:00

I have survived both CTY and London, various strikes not withstanding. Tomorrow I pick up Peeper from the wonderful Jethereal, and then start on a LONG list of things to do, with posting the 200-some photos I took in London and 100-odd at CTY somewhere kinda low on the list, and updating the blogs lower than that. But I'm alive and jetlagged! :)

Random Acts of Verbiage shoutout

2005-07-15T06:55:00.000-04:00

Just thought I'd post a link to Matt's Random Acts of Verbiage. You wouldn't know he was an astro/phys major from his occasional Christian posts, but you wouldn't know he's Christian from the great discussion on evolution and quantum physics we've been having. :-P (I never said I wasn't biased...)

And just another little reminder (to those couple of readers who don't know me in person) that I'll be on hiatus (perhaps with intermittant posts and rare replies) until mid-August, and then on school schedule starting Labor Day.

God Hates Fags

2005-07-14T21:45:00.000-04:00

Oh man, as if I haven't found enough hatred on the net, I found a link to God Hates Fags. This site even has a WARNING PAGE, for fuck's sake, telling just how horrid the contents are! People like this make me glad to be atheist.

Some choice words:

The Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) of Topeka, Kansas, is an Old School (or, Primitive) Baptist Church. In short, we adhere to the teachings of the Bible, preach against all form of sin (e.g., fornication, adultery, sodomy), and insist that the doctrines of grace be taught publicly to all men. These doctrines of grace were well summed up by John Calvin in his 5 points of Calvinism: Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Perseverance of the Saints. Although these doctrines are almost universally hated today, they were once loved and believed. ...

Please see The Doctrine of Absolute Predestination by Jerom Zanchius. Most of the major Confessions of Faith throughout the history of the New Testament Church have also advanced these ideas. So, even though the Arminian lies that "God loves everyone" and "Jesus died for everyone" are being taught from nearly every pulpit in this generation, this hasn't always been the case. In fact, if you are in a Church that supposedly believes the Bible, and you are hearing these lies, then your church has apostatized.
(FAQs)

This page is a CHURCH website, and they still believe in predestination! omfg...

(Reprinted from <meta content="blog">)

BBC says Quantum is "beyond most human understanding."

2005-07-14T20:42:00.000-04:00

No wonder there's such a strong social stigma against learning science, when even the BBC says the average person is too stupid to understand one of the most profound discoveries in modern science. Quantum is to physics what evolution is to biology. I'm trying to picture what it would be like if the common person couldn't understand the concept of evolution. People DO understand evolution; there wouldn't be such controversy without it.

Evolution is a simple concept really: small changes happen, some are perpetuated, and species change over time. Quantum physics isn't all that much harder: when you look at really tiny things, you can't predict exactly what they'll do, you can only suggest possibilities. (The concept of genetic drift can be thought to even bridge the two.)

Quantum is like saying if you throw a basketball on rough pavement, you know it's going to bounce pretty close to how it would if on the court. But if you throw an eentsy high-bounce ball on the same surface, who knows where it'll go. What's so hard about that?

Cygnet Colors

2005-07-14T11:43:00.000-04:00

When I was a kid I was told that the color (gray or white) of mute swan cygnets (chicks) depended upon their sex. Recently I asked another blogger who'd taken a picture of some cygnets if he knew about this, and he said he didn't think there was any relationship. So I did some Google digging to see what I could find.

A 1968 paper of indeterminate origin states that color is not strictly tied to sex, but that white is a recessive trait linked to female chromosomes, meaning it is more likely that females will be white and males be gray, but it is not always the case. According to this artcile, with swans, males have XX and females have XO (instead of our XY and XX respectively). This is a pretty darned old article though, so I find it doubtful.

However, on the other hand a 2004 New York State Department of Environmental Conservation page says there is no linkage between gender and color, but cites no source, which I'd really like to see.

Wikipedia said they were all gray, which is patently not true, so I fixed it and included the two above links. I'm not really finding anything else good and concrete...

Places and Things

2005-07-14T11:05:00.000-04:00

I've got Places to Go and Things to Do!

Comfort Zone

2005-07-14T10:34:00.000-04:00

I worry about my little Peeper for the next month. She's taken a liking to my new futon, and sits on the left arm rest, contentedly preening herself, as I play on my laptop or eat at the coffee table which is really an old cedar chest my Nga Boo brought from China. I've been working on her comfort level with me moving around the house: like babies, she doesn't understand the concept of object permanence and freaks out when I leave her line of sight. Well, I think she knows I'll be back, but prefers to complain about it. I've been training her to sit somewhere in the living room where she can see the whole living room, kitchen, and foyer, so that she'll hopefully only yell if I go into my bedroom or bathroom. And it seems to be working too, she's been more sedate about it lately. (It's T$'s fault really, my trying this: he gets tired of her yelling everytime we do something, and said I shouldn't jump at her every whim, and he's right.)

But now I'm worried about the move. It really takes her three months to get used to a new place, and we'll be in Lancaster for only three weeks, and then she'll even be without me for a whole 'nother week, but Jethereal will be taking care of her then, so she'll be ok. She likes him a lot too, but he's no me. ;)