* My grandmother died Friday, November 13, 2009, at approximately 6:00 PM Eastern Time. I got the voice mail message from my youngest sister at 7:52 PM Central Time, about two, maybe three minutes before my ride picked me up for the trip to Manitowoc and our State Volleyball Tournament weekend. I forgot to grab a folder of paperwork I was supposed to take with me to Manitowoc, but at least I remembered to shut and lock the door behind me.

* I had to call my uncle on Saturday afternoon to confirm the news, as neither of my aunts had called me like one of them had promised back in August. Funeral details were not confirmed, but my uncle promised he would call me back on Sunday afternoon to let me know what the final booking was. It's Sunday evening, he has not called me, and neither of my aunts is picking up their phones. My uncle said the funeral would be either Wednesday/Thursday or Thursday/Friday.

* My sister called me at 10:23 PM last night to tell me the funeral was scheduled for Wednesday/Thursday. But her information came from Ellen, who is a notorious liar. And my uncle had told me hours earlier that day that the decision wasn't even going to be made until Sunday, as they had to talk to a couple of different people first. So which one is correct?

* I got a text message from Davey that Sean had offered up some of his many airline miles for a plane ticket to Philly should I choose to attend the funeral. Davey doesn't know the airline, and I haven't gotten a text back from Sean, so I can't yet look at flight schedules to see what is even available.

* I have to run my last chapter meeting tomorrow night, as well as elections for the 2010 year. I can cancel our social on Wednesday, or at least ask if anyone else is willing to host it. I can reschedule or cancel my shrink appointment for Friday morning. I can reschedule my massage and chiropractor appointment for Wednesday. But Friday evening I'm supposed to be boarding a bus to Evanston, joining a group that's staying at the Hotel Orrington and attending the Madison vs. Northwestern game on Saturday, and then staying on in Chicago for 3 to 7 days to either work, or work and do something Thanksgiving like with a local friend (while apartment sitting for another friend). If I come back on Tuesday, it's still yet to be decided if I'm going to Thanksgiving at Davey's coworkers house, my friend Amanda's house (mentioned as a option this weekend, but still not set in stone that it's happening), or do something involving light cooking and lots of booze with Jenni. (Though with everything happening, the idea of buying a cheesecake and sitting in bed watching movies and drinking red wine all day in between long naps is the most appealing option).

* Do I decide whether or not to go to the funeral based on how much impact it has on my schedule for this week? I've been saying since August that I already said my final good-byes to her then. But I've always regretted that I wasn't able to go to my grandfather's funeral or my uncle's funeral for various reasons (though the reasons in both cases had to do with Ellen & Joey). Ellen will definitely be at Mommom's funeral....she's actually already in Philly, having arrived Thursday I believe. Joey is at some festival with Buster. As of last night, he had no plans to attend Mommom's funeral, at least as far as Kaitlyn knows. I can tolerate Ellen. My mother's a bitch, and she constantly gets under my skin, but I can crush the woman and I think she has learned over the past few years, since Michael died, and especially since Mommom first got sick in 2004, that it's in her best interest not to fuck with me, especially not in person. But Joey....the man is unhinged. Not only can I not deal with him, do not want to be in the same state as him, but he's mentally unstable, extremely dangerous, has threatened me with harm hundreds of times, believes in some sick way that he actually deserves to kill me, and has access to weapons in both Florida and Pennsylvania. I don't want to willingly expose myself to a dangerous situation. Most people think I just don't want to be around him because of the stress. I don't know that anyone really actually grasps that it is extremely, extremely, extremely dangerous to my health to be around him. He -might- hesitate to do anything to me in front of witnesses, but can I really manage to be around other people 24/7 as a safety measure?

* I want to take this trip next Friday. I can give a rat's ass about football. But it will be fun, and social, and entertaining, and I want to enjoy myself on a weekend instead of working, or worrying about work. And I might miss out on that if I go to the funeral.

* The boys (it's like a collective) think that going will just cause me extra stress. And that I may end up getting physically sick again from the stress combined with travel combined with the fact that I'm still getting over what I had in October.

* The girls (but not the total collective) think it will give me closure and/or comfort. And I should take the time and spend quality time with family. (Again, people who I'm not sure grasp that my family isn't much of a family.)

* Me....I'm still dwelling on the fact that neither of my aunts has called me yet. And that my uncle still hasn't called me back like he said. And I'm getting desperate enough to call Ellen and flat out ask her if Joey is flying up so I can factor that into my decision. She'll lie to me through my sisters (tell them lies knowing that they'll tell me, and that I'll have to spend time and energy sorting out the truth). But she won't lie directly to me. I think she's grown afraid of me. But I still don't want to talk to her. I always feel.....tainted afterwards. My skin crawls, and I have to take a shower immediately after. I feel icky, and dirty, and a little sick to my stomach. Staying in the same house as her for a week plus back in 2004, when we both flew into Philly at the same time when we first got the news of Mommom's brain tumors.....I was throwing up constantly.

* What stage of the grieving process is anger? Because I think I might be there.

Originally published at Vylar Kaftan. You can comment here or there.

A friend pointed me to this set of photos from the war in Afghanistan.

Truly amazing.  Many of these are brilliant, but I think the most striking one shows all the soldiers sleeping in their fighting-holes… but it looks like they’re lying in graves.  The children playing in terrible conditions–prison, refugee camps, wherever they were–also stayed with me for a long time.

For people like me who’ve never seen combat, these pics drove home to me how ugly battle really is and how dangerous the conditions are.  I can’t even imagine myself in battle; I just don’t think I could handle it.  I’m curious what those of you with military experience think of these pictures.

Tags: journal

I know there have been posts about this but I searched the memories and couldn't find anything! My parents are renting a house with an Amana glass/ceramic cooktop and my mom wants to know what the best cleaner for it is. She's obsessive about it - NO streaks! haha. Suggestions? I have seen a few at the store and plenty come up in a google search, but I'm looking for tried and true, I'm tired of hearing her complain every time I come over for dinner :) If anyone recalls the past post(s) about this and can redirect me, please do, and I'll delete. I haven't been able to find them, at least the ones specifically about this kind of cooktop.

Tags: cleaning, kitchen

Does anyone know of a good hair salon in Englewood? My last one was near Hampden and Broadway but they shut down about a year ago and I haven't found a good replacement. I have longish, fine blonde hair that shows mistakes easily (as blonde hair tends to do). So I'm looking for a good place that isn't too expensive so I can try doing new, fun things with my hair. I just can't take another Great Clips butchery, you know?

tl;dr version: Charity photography group needs an on-site printer. Know someone?

Help Portrait is an international movement of photographers, editors, and other volunteers who are getting together on December 12 to provide free professional quality portraits to people who normally can't afford them. The local branch in Denver will be focusing its efforts at the St. Francis Center. We've got volunteers to fill every role needed by this project, except for someone who can do high-quality prints on location.

If we don't have an on-site printer, we'll likely have to print off-site and attempt to deliver the prints the next day. We're working with folks whose lives are in flux, and who may for any number of reasons not be able to come back to get their pictures. Printing there at the site right after we take their picture will ensure that more people can take advantage of our services that day.

Sooooo... Know someone?

http://community.help-portrait.com/group/denverco

Friday, I didn't do much after school. I was totally zonked after being at school until almost 7pm, so came back to Akabane and grabbed a bunch of food from Sunmerry's for dinner, and zonked out at home.

Saturday, I didn't leave the house until the late afternoon, when I went down to Mita and the Minato-ku Labor Hall, where Tokyo Gaijins was having a volleyball session. Unlike Monday which had been mostly women and very much for fun, Saturday's game had mostly men and was really super-competitive. There were a gang of German guys who were really tall and were spiking everyone regardless of the game situation, and they were kind of annoying to me in general. The good part is that we kept counting off into 3 teams and playing 3 games and switching, so at least I never got stuck with the same teammates for too long. I played decently, but there were a LOT of ball hogs and so it was annoying fighting for the ball with them. One funny moment was when Ichiro, this Brazilian-Japanese kid who is by far the best player there, was rotated out for a bit and suddenly his team was scoring a lot of points, and he sat down next to me on the bench and said in Japanese, "Hey, do you think my team is doing well because I'm rotated out?" and I'm like "Hahaha no way you must be joking."

I rode my bike to/from Motohasunuma station because then there would be no transfers to take the subway there, so when I got back to Motohasunuma around 10pm I was STARVING, having eaten only some bread and some dorayaki all day. I went to Origin Bento and their time special was a chicken katsu bento for 390 yen. It was pretty good :)

Sunday...

I woke up this morning and went down to Shin-Yokohama and met up with Simon! We went to watch a double-header of some hockey. He had gotten tickets for himself and his dad for both Saturday and Sunday's games, but his dad has been sick recently and I had asked Simon about the game a few days ago and so I ended up going with him for the Sunday games.

First game was the Oji Eagles (based in Tomakomai) vs. the Tohoku Free Blades. The Free Blades are a new team formed this year and they have a few former Seibu players that I remembered, Ryuichi Kawai and Bin Ishioka, as well as a goalie named Michio Hashimoto who is actually from Hachinohe where the team is based, and then they have a couple imports and a whole ton of rookies fresh out of college. Interesting team though. We were sitting way the hell out in the back reaches of their cheering side, and Simon apparently supports them, at least more than the Eagles. The Eagles, they have Yosuke Kon, who I remembered quite well from the Seibu Rabbits as being a dude always getting in fights. He didn't disappoint today either and started several. The Eagles eventually ended up winning 3-1.

Between games, after taking photos of players warming up for the second game, Simon and I took a walk down the street to a convenience store to get some food and stuff. We passed by the Free Blades bus and a ton of the players were hanging out outside talking to fans and signing things and taking photos and all -- almost like a minor-league baseball game! I saw Kawai and Ishioka and was like "Should we try to get photos with them or something?" but Simon already had put on his Nikko Icebucks jersey and was like "Probably not." Which is silly because he's a Kawai fan and was telling me earlier how Kawai and his brother spent a month or two training in Canada with Ryan Fujita (who happens to be from Taber, Alberta, same as Devin Setoguchi) who retired after Seibu folded. Oh well. If I were more fanatical about hockey I would have probably tried to get a photo or signature or something. Maybe next time :)

Second game was the Nippon Paper Cranes vs. the Nikko Icebucks. The Cranes, I saw them last year when they won the Asia League hockey championships, and their team is largely the same, so I remembered most of their key players. Nikko happened to take the guy I had chosen as my favorite Seibu player last year, Takahito Suzuki, who was also the Japan national team captain. Suzuki kicks ass and I enjoyed watching him play again, though he didn't do much the first period. The second period he became super-aggressive and was just out there pushing to score as much as possible, and between him and Bud Smith and a few others the team managed 4 goals in that period and the Icebucks won 4-2. Which was good because apparently the Icebucks had just lost like 9 games in a row or something.

Also the Icebucks wear orange and white and black and look a lot like the Flyers. It's surreal.

Simon and I rode the train back to Shibuya together and hung out for a bit chatting, and then I came back to Akabane, grabbed some food at Nakau, and went home.

I shot 730 photos during the games but have only looked through the first 200 or so :( Hockey photography is tough. But Shinyokohama is a really small arena, only like 1000 seats or so? 5 rows on each side and none behind the nets. I swear it reminded me of like, a neighborhood iceskating rink in the US. So at least we were pretty close to the action.

Lots of sports this weekend, no baseball. How weird :) Seems I am missing the Jingu taikai, but that's okay.

Hello everyone. I really want to make French macaroons and I was wondering if anyone here has ever made them before? Are they hard to make? Also what recipe did you use? Thanks in advance!

I'm starting to think of the holiday season and was planning on giving my boyfriend (a 1L) a coffee-themed gift.

Does anyone belong to any monthly coffee clubs? The kind of thing where you sign up and they send you a different kind of coffee each month? Or something similar- maybe with fresh fruits and veggies? I've never subscribed to one or known anyone who has. Thoughts, suggestions? Any specific companies that are better than others?

Okay, so we have representation now from the west coast right to the east coast, at a few Canadian stores and a good number of American ones. To say we're thrilled to death (and a little overwhelmed) would be understating it.

Please look at the list below and, if you're near any of these excellent stores, I'd love it if you would take your business to them. Most of them don't have stock QUITE yet (with the exception of Cosmic Monkey Comics in Portland, Oregon, which has received the book now according to the tracking information)...but if you call, I'm certain your local shop would be happy to put aside a copy of the book when they DO receive stock (which should be within the next two weeks, if not sooner).

And if you don't see your favourite bookstore or comic book store on this list, check back here again soon (or Von's site)...orders are still coming in, after all! AND, even more importantly, if you'd like to order the book through your favourite store (supporting both Von AND your local shop), Von has made up an order form that you can print and show your local store.

http://www.vonallan.com/press/road%20to%20god%20knows%20order%20form.pdf

AND if you don't know where your closest shop is, you can either ask me for a recommendation or look here: http://www.comicshoplocator.com/ .

Anyways, I can't emphasize enough how much we appreciate these retailers taking a shot and buying the book...these are some of the best of the best and we're thrilled to death to have the book on their shelves. Please help us sell copies for them; if you're not local to any of these stores but know people who are...well, sending friends/family in would be truly above and beyond. And please let me know if you repost this so that I can properly worship you publicly, too.

And a BIG THANK YOU to Tony Shenton, Sales Rep extraordinaire, for representing Von's book...as I've told a number of folks, he's good people.

Yeah, I'm just a little proud...is it that obvious?

Moggy

-------------------------------

*drum roll...* THE STORES!

CANADA:

Alberta:

Another Dimension, 424 B - 10 ST NW Calgary, Alberta, Phone: 403-283-7078

Nova Scotia:

Strange Adventures, 5262 Sackville Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Phone: 902-425-2140

Ontario:

Perfect Books: 258A Elgin Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Phone: 613-236-6468

Quebec:

Librarie Astro/Astro Books, 1844 Ste. Catherine Street West, Montreal, Quebec, Phone: 514-932-1139

UNITED STATES:

California:

Atlantis Fantasyworld, 1020 Cedar Street, Santa Cruz, California, Phone: 831-426-0158

Flying Colors Comics, 2980 Treat Blvd at Oak Grove Road, Concord, California, Phone: 925-825-5410

Florida:

Coliseum of Comics, 4722 South Orange Blossom Trail, Orlando, Florida, Phone: 407-240-7882

Maine:

Casablanca Comics, 151 Middle Street, Portland, Maine, Phone: 207-780-1676

Massachusetts:

Larry's Comics, 66 Lakeview Avenue, Lowell, Massachusetts, Phone: 978-459-5323

The Outer Limits, 437 Moody Street, Waltham, Massachusetts, Phone: 781-891-0444

New Jersey:

The Record Store, 6299 Route 9 North, Howell, New Jersey, Phone: 732-905-9056

New York:

Cosmic Comics, 10 East 23rd Street, 2nd Floor, New York, New York, Phone: 212-460-5322

Jim Hanley's Universe, 4 West 33rd Street, New York, New York (opposite The Empire State
Building), Phone: (212) 268-7088

Ohio:

Laughing Ogre Comics, 4258 North High Street, Columbus, Ohio, Phone: 614-267-6473

Oregon:

Cosmic Monkey Comics, 5335 NE Sandy Blvd., Portland, Oregon, Phone: 503-517-9050

Texas:

Dragon's Lair Comics & Games, 6111 Burnet Road, Austin, Texas, Phone: 512-454-2399

Current Location: Home
Current Mood: pleased
Current Music: Big Lebowski on DVD

1. I was treated so poorly at my local dealership's service area, I want to write a letter to the head of the company and one to the head of the dealership and let them know just how angry and disappointed I am. I doubt this will elicit any response from either, but should I ask for my money back since A) they did not diagnose my problem correctly (which is what I paid for and why I took it there instead of to my trusted mechanic who is handling it now) and B) they were so unprofessional?

1a. If they don't give me anything in return for my angry letters, can I dispute the charges with my credit card company since I didn't really receive the services I paid for? I am absolutely livid and feel I was unfairly charged but don't know the details of how it works for something intangible like service...

2. I have a travel mug from Starbucks I use 5x a week for my instant breakfast drink. It has a weird twist top mechanism that does not come apart. What is the best way to clean the lid? I have googled and found nothing and it's frustrating (and gross). What I'm doing now is boiling some soapy water in a cup in the microwave and then soaking it to get the milk-gunk out as best I can. Halp?

Okay -- I have the worse budgeting abilities in the world. The only time I was even mildly okay at it was 3 yrs ago, when I used MS Money to track my spending every week. It really helped me because I set it to a 3 yr charting thing, where it showed how my shitting habits NOW would fuck me hard in the long run, and then kept showing me that every week, until I gradually began improving.

I was hoping to get another copy of MS Money but of course they no longer make it.

What software do you use to manage your finances?

(x-posted to blackfolk)

I'm looking for a recipe for coconut cake that only uses coconut milk, not flaked coconut. I want to make a soft white cake that is just scented with coconut. I plan to top with whipped cream with just a hint of orange flower water, and toasted almond slivers. Any recipes would be much appreciated, or if any improvisational bakers have advice about substituting coconut milk in cake recipes, that would be great too!

Current Mood: artistic

I went camping last weekend and me and my Pathfinders got the chance to make peach cobbler in a dutch oven over the fire, and we had an amazing time and it was absolutely delicious. Now I want to get one myself both for indoor and outdoor use, but I have no idea where to start in buying one! Does anyone here have one? Do you have any recommendation on the best brand and style to get?

Thanks :)

noticed that my flickr page was hit 68 times yesterday - who discovered my flickr photos, and looked at all of the pictures? leave a comment if you're reading this too

bought a new car, Mazda3, graphite

bought rose-gold swirly earrings - according to the post office they were processed in Las Vegas post office on Thursday

got a massage - made some phone calls and found my favorite massage person at a little shop in West Little Rock - 1 hour of glorious relaxation followed by a quiet evening on the couch with kitties

saw a really excellent documentary (Warrior Champions) with pearlbeachlady as part of a fundraiser for the Clinton School of Public Service - won two tickets from the Little Rock Film Festival

finished a major goal of my current workload (chapter 3 is out for agency technical review), and have a half-strategy for the seemingly insurmountable pile of work still on the desk

at the point in the semester when I am tired of going to class, even though the subject matter is my favorite (macro!)

filling my new U-Verse dvr with movies on the Sundance channel

reading Stroke of Insight and (pardon the pun) gaining some amazing insight into the way the left and right brains work

emailed two people, regarding becoming a volunteer for the screening committee for the documentary film festival - something I've wanted to do for years - got a response from one of the two, saying my message would be forwarded to the festival and film programming director

starting to think about making a trip to DC next year to visit MOLLY!!! - and will be timing it to match the Lilith Fair concert date, yet to be announced

looking forward to knit nite - even if I'll be grading quizzes

Tags: books, bueller, documentary film, knit, molly, music, shameless consumerism, social, teevee

What are thirteen things going well for you this Friday the 13th? My Thirteen:

1. Happy hour launch party late today
2. Friday night at SIFF's Night in the Caribbean Party tonight
3. The return to Standard Time is still contributing to being bright-eyed and bushy-tailed mornings. I suspect I've got another week or so before I'm back to dragging myself out of bed.
4. Darkroom has been fun in the photo class - no catastrophic development failures, and some very cool prints coming together
5. In particular,I have an excess of riches coming out of the "abstract" assignment - I tried a number of experiments in hopes that at least one would work, and most of them turned out promising
6. Dude! Water on the moon!
7. Company stock price at even more extraordinarily high levels than last time
8. Took Thursday off, which cooperated by being an absolutely GORGEOUS not-grey-and-rainy day to get out of the office
9. Brand new version of "The Prisoner" starts this weekend. Always dangerous to try and remake a cult favorite that could honestly claim to be unique, but it should be interesting to watch 'em try.
10. They don't need to chop my leg off! (I twisted my knee in a fall, but it already feels a lot better. My friends mugged me and made me get it checked out anyway. The doctor says it's one of the minor possible injuries, and should continue getting better by just going easy on it.)
11. An interesting variety of people have complemented several of the t-shirts I've worn lately. I'll admit I do try to cull my t-shirts ruthlessly on the premise that a guy my age really doesn't need a whole closet full of them, but having others comment is surprising.
12. The traditional Fall Uncle Bonsai concert is just over a week away
13. My faves are off to the finals for America's Next Top Model and Project Runway, and still in the running for Top Chef (grumble grumble Next Iron Chef grumble)

Tags: lemming, live music, photodawgs, siff, work

The Big Broadcast's curtain call music was performed by the Byfar Hour house band, Lex Concord and the Minutemen (as expertly played by Emperor Norton's Stationary Marching Band.) They played a real high-energy stompin' kind of number which was perfect to get us all out onstage, take quick bows, Recognize everybody involved in the show, and then dance up the aisles and out of the house. The band would continue the number as exit music, and then wrap for the night. They helped bring the energy right up for everybody and we loved 'em for it.

Our last Saturday show was loose and fun for many different reasons. Last show energy, sleep deprivation, second show of the day so we're all a little punchier, all that. And once we were finished, the Minutemen turned back into the ENSMB, finished the exit music, and then and decided to stay onstage to celebrate and have some more fun.

By jamming to SexyBack.

(I saw them do this at Honk! and it was fantastic; seeing it at BB1938 was even greater.)

That YouTube video marks the exact very very end of the BB1938 production on stage. It is bittersweet for me to watch, but at the same time it's absolutely wonderful. I can't say enough nice things about ENSMB and:

• Their full-on enthusiasm for the show and love for the music of the period
• The way they got right into their Minutemen characters and, in doing so, getting one of the biggest laughs in the show
• Their accessibility, and their healthy sense of fun (they taught Michael Simon, who played Lex Concord, how to conduct and I'm told that at certain times, he really was leading the band)
• The way they can play it hot
• The playful energy they gave to that side of the stage during the Byfar Hour and the nervous moods they created for the WotW numbers -- who knew cobwebby dance standards could create such tension?
• Their copious amounts of Awesome, which they shared liberally with the entire show

They added an amazing dimension to the show and by sounding good, they made us all sound good. See? I mean it. I'd run out of adjectives and reasons before I felt it necessary to wrap things up.

Tomorrow's my 46th birthday. I'm looking back over the last year, in which I learned and did a good bit. Here's some of the things on the list:
( Read more... )

Tags: yearly review
Current Mood: contemplative
Current Music: Akron/Family - Lumen

I posted this a few days ago asking about mysterious itching.

Well, after a doctor's visit, it has been determined that it is scabies. After doing some research it doesn't seem like too bad a thing unless it's not treated, but now we start the treatment and we have to wash everything and spray down surfaces.

So since quite a few of you know the situation might have been in one like that at one point, what products do you recommend besides the medication that help with getting rid of these things? Bug Spray? Special Detergent?

Thanks!

Hello Hipsters!


A while back I bought a shower curtain that I absolutely love. However, I did not realize it's 100% Polyester and that it is Dry Clean Only. The shower curtain has these smudges/stains that I am sure is from conditioner/shampoo/soap residue. Even if it's Dry Clean Only, can I just throw it in the washer and then hang dry? Or do I have to spot treat it.

If need be, I can take a picture of the spots so you can see.

Tags: cleaning

Was going over my electronic bank statement this morning and noticed one of the nicer things they finally did was show you what charges are currently on hold or otherwise pending clearance. Sure, all that's doing is eliminating the paper trail and a leetle detective work on my part, but it sure is nice.

Except I saw that one of the pending charges read

SUBWAY DAVIS SQ. $15.00

And I got a little unnerved. I hadn't eaten at that Subway in ages! And when I do go, I never spend more than $10 anyway, I mean, you go for the $5 sandwich deal. Who the hell spent $15.00 in my name on sandwiches, or is the store pulling some nefarious deed? And when had I not gone and paid cash? The hell, people?

I bet the locals can guess where this is going.

Yeah, it was actually the charge from the MBTA for a 7-day linkpass, purchased at the Davis Square subway station. I'll laugh about this once my blood pressure goes back down.

Wodda wayta starta day.




Finances and me are not very good friends. We are tolerable acquaintances if anything.