The Calm Before The Storm

The last two days in Southern Ontario have been unseasonably warm. You knew it couldn't last. The rain has started to fall and the temperature is plummeting. They are calling for our first real snowfall of the year this weekend, so goodbye grass, hello snowbank.

Thanks to everyone who has been sending encouragement about 'the Cough'. It has been much better in the last few days which I think is due to me getting a bit more rest at night (thanks to the CPAP machine). I'm still not sleeping through the night, but I'm sleeping more comfortably when I am sleeping, and every little bit helps.

Last night when I got home from school, Shell had done a tremendous amount of work in the house which made me feel good (because stuff was getting done) but lousy (because I should have been the one doing it and not her). I don't know where I'd be without her.

I'm still trying to find 'the hook' for my big paper that is due next Friday. I feel like I'm close. I'm going to be spending a lot of time in the library this weekend for this last big push. I'm not sure when my take home final will be due, and I know my one in class final is December 18th, so the next three weeks, as all end of semesters are, will be hell. But next semester is sure to be a fun one, with only one class, and that class is a History of American Science Fiction.

In fact just as I was writing this paragraph, my prof emailed me the reading list so I could get a winter break jump start. Here's what I'm reading for next semester (my wife will be so envious because this is right up her alley- in fact she's re-reading Asimov's "Nightfall" right now..coincidence?)

Reading list:
Lewis Padgett, “Mimsy Were the Borogoves”
Fredric Brown, “Arena”
Judith Merril, “That Only a Mother”
Lester del Rey, “Helen O’Loy”
Isaac Asimov, “Nightfall.”
Clifford Simak, City
Fredric Pohl and C. M. Kornbluth, Space Merchants
A.C. Clarke, Childhood’s End
S. Delany, Einstein Intersection
Frank Herbert, Dune
U. K. Le Guin, Left Hand of Darkness
P.K. Dick, Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch
Le Guin “Word for World is Forest”
James Tiptree “Houston, Houston”
J Russ “When it Changed”
Robert Heinlein, Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, Mote in God’s Eye
William Gibson, Neuromancer
K. S. Robinson, Red Mars
whew...that's a lot of reading no?

Good Ideas and Bad Ideas

I had one hell of a night last night...at least the parts that I remember.

In my Imperial Russian class we broke up into groups to discuss Chekhov. I had chosen "The Cherry Orchard" and unbeknownst to me, so had 'cute girl' who's very existence now noted as 'cute girl' is only to make my wife roll her eyes. I think she thinks I flirt with cute co-eds all day long...when really I'm just too sleepy...oh and in love with her.

Anyway we had a great discussion and clearly our group's presentation (my group was me, 'cute girl', 'talkative nice girl', and 'guy that looks like Sam Roberts') was so much better than the rest that really we should all just be given an A and be done with.

As a side note, one should not read a lot of Chekhov when feeling sad, or under the weather, since most of his work involves sick people and dead people- and often sick then painfully dead people.

After class, I got to go to private lecture at the Provost's lodge with Provost MacMillan, who signed my copy of her book "Nixon in China", and Lyn Hamilton, a mystery writer who was very nice.

I even had a beer! Which probably later added to the haze when I took my meds but anyway it was fun while it lasted...

Then I came home and was spent. I took my meds and sat down at my computer to answer emails...(This is where the bad ideas come in...) I vaguely remember emailing a friend (you know who you are) and then apparently I commented on same friend's blog (which I don't remember and only saw today). That can't be good right?

The problem was that I had given myself plenty of lead time before the stuff would kick in so that I could do all the tasks I do in the evening. However, Ginny Grace woke up from what we only assume was a nightmare and was bawling like she only does on very rare occasion so we went in and got her up and gave her a bottle and settled her down- all of which took about a half hour...

In which time the drugs took hold because after saying goodnight to her, I only remember Shelley telling me to turn off the computer and come to bed...I remember a few minutes of Smallville on the DVD player and then 'kaboosh'...I got nothin'

On the plus side there are no reports that I ran naked through the yard talking to the garage, nor did I leave prank phone messages, stage a military coup, or disassemble and reassemble a car in Dean Wormer's office...none of those things did I do. And I think we can all be grateful for that.

Me and My Shadows

My ladies were safely returned to me this afternoon!! Hurray!!!

They were both a little worse for wear and tear but also glad to be home. Shelley has been so busy with her current project at the studio, and now with helping her brother move that she's hardly taken any time for herself. So when she got home she asked if she could just go out for a drive by herself for a while and enjoy some quiet alone time. "Of course" says I, even though I desperately wanted her to sit on the couch so I could just 'look' at her for a bit.

I guess her drive time was good because she stopped by the grocery store on her way home and got us lovely treats like yummy garlic bread and cheeses.

In the scant hours they were away (which seemed like an eternity to me) Gracie has managed to adapt her wobbly-walk into a full-steam-ahead walk, nearly a run. I gave her a bath this evening when she got up from her nap and she decided that she wanted to play a splashing game. She has these little bath toys...



...they act like squirt guns when you fill them. She knows this and decides to hand me one and as if to say 'let's play squirt'...and so we did. She cackled hysterically...until it was time to wash her hair which put an end to the fun time and led into the unhappy baby time.

I know I sound sappy (and redundant) but I just love my wife and daughter. They just put me over the moon with joy. I'm so glad they're home!

Whine with Cheese

I want this cough to stop. I want a cease and desist letter signed by brain, heart, lungs...whichever has jurisdiction. This is getting frustrating. I really hope we won $17 million dollars tonight in the lottery. You know why? Well because I'd $17 million dollars...well probably less than that, but still, if Ihad somewhat close to $17 million I bet I'd be able to find someone who could fix my cough.

I've been trying to rest today, and for the most part I've rested, in the definition of 'not doing something' equals resting...but I've been coughing which doesn't really allow me to 'rest'. I even tried to take a nap.

Also, I haven't received an email, from anyone, concering anything, the entire day. I mean, what? even the spammers have gotten bored with me and have better things to do??

I'd even kill for one of those 'I have $40 million in diamonds sitting in a vault by I can't get to it for 3 days, however if you wire me $20,000 I can get access to the vault tomorrow and I'll give you 10%' emails. Those are fun. Because they actually believe I have $20,000.

Yesterday I saw a Ferrari AND a Lambourghini (which is probably spelled wrong but I can't even be bothered to google the correct spelling at this point).

I just had a caramel.

I don't know why but I felt like throwing that in there.

Do you think if you had to you could live off Skittles? The original Skittles, not the new-froo-froo flavors...

I wished you guys lived in Canada...then I could send you something with a Canadian stamp- I have these cool Canadian Wine and Cheese stamps...they have pictures of wine and cheese, hence the name.

Yes, I am bored...how could you tell??

A Night At The Opera

I had a blast last night at Dan's show. Both his band and the opening act were quite good. I was able to get backstage so I managed to take photos from just about everywhere. (sadly they had the balcony closed, though)

I took almost 500 snaps. By the time I got home it was after one and when I finally downloaded all the pictures and looked through them it was almost 3am.

I posted about 75 of them on my Flickr. I really enjoyed myself and I wish I could do something like that for a living.

Here's one of my favorite shots taken between sets.



The whole set is HERE.

I slept in a bit this morning, but I'm just so terribly lonely I don't know what to do with myself.
Shelley called about noon and said that it didn't look like they were going to make it home tonight after all, so I'll have yet another night of bachelorhood. At least I have Season 4 of Smallville now to occupy my time.

My Recent Photo Day

On Wednesday I took at on of photos while walking around campus. Here are some of the ones I liked best:
The base of a light stand at Trinity College

The outside of Trinity Chapel

A little visitor who was brave enough to get somewhat close

A hallway at the Faculty of Music, looking at an artwork called "Island: Ear to Stone"

Close-up of the 'Island' rock

Looking up at the rotunda ceiling
There's a lot more at my Flickr site if you care to browse.

Change Is Good

So this is clearly how I spend the first hour of being alone...I put a new template up. This one is kinda cool because the boxes in the menu are collapsing...so you can click one of the headers and explore...what can I say, it doesn't take much to entertain me right now.

One Is The Loneliest Number

The girls just pulled out of the driveway with Shell's parents.
Gracie was pointing out the window at me and crying...oy my heart broke
I'm going to try and keep myself busy (or sleeping) while they're gone.

I have a list of things to do:
Go to Best Buy and get Season 4 of Smallville
Watch a lot of Smallville (you saw that one coming)
Go see Dan's band tonight
Actually enjoy a beer or two
Sleep a lot
Make sure I don't burn the house down while they girls are gone (that was one especially mention by my wife)
Feed the dogs so Shelley doesn't come home to find them feeding on ME
Pick a research topic (this is overdue)
Go to the library and do some research
Do my best to ignore the previous item
Do my best to ignore ignoring the library thing
Miss the wife and daughter a lot (this one is easy)

The Clown is Down

Hey look who made the lens of the Associated Press today and she braved the rain for her second Macy's parade...it's our loveable clown.



We didn't watch the parade this morning...we had lots of errands to run before the girls go away for the weekend.

I hope everyone in the States is having a great day. I talked to my parents (twice) and my brother as well, and my best friend Dave, whose Dad passed away on Thanksgiving two years ago...this day hits him especially hard. He and his wife sent me a belated birthday present. I got it today- he sent me 3 CDs (some of the titles that were stolen out of my car a few years ago in the great CD loss of 2003). So I opened up my mail to find Springsteen's "Darkness on the Edge of Town", The Police's "Ghost in the Machine", and the Stones "Exile on Main Street". It was like I got to celebrate my birthday all over again!

I'm not looking forward to playing bachelor this weekend, but I am looking forward to getting a chance to sleep in Saturday! Friday night I'm heading into town to hear Shell's cousin's band play a gig so it'll be a late night for me.

We managed to have some turkey stew pies tonight for supper so I didn't feel totally left out of my nation's celebration. These are really great with stuffing on top...yum.

I think the triptofan (sp?) from the turkey and my cough meds are starting to kick in because I'm really sleepy now.

Bored Now

Due to circumstances beyond my control, I'm stuck in town until I can catch a train home. So I'm at the library now after class...and I'm bored bored bored.

I Thought You Meant RaSPEWtin

Last night I'm sitting in my Imperial Russia class when another coughing fit hits me. There are many levels and this was Defcon 2 meaning I almost threw up. Everyone looked at me as if I have the plague. I'm so desperately glad that I didn't throw up in front of everyone, but I'm even MORE glad that I didn't because if I had I would have unfortunately spewed all over the 'cute girl' that sits in front of me.

And where do you go from there really?

"Hi, sorry I threw up all over you...can I borrow your notes on Rasputin?"

Just doesn't cut it does it?

I mean you might (MIGHT!) get away with vomiting in someone's car...but you'd better have damn good reason like West Nile Virus, or a night of shooting Jagermeister...but even then you're likely to be held at arms (or at least projectile vomit) length for a good long time- and that's with A FRIEND!!!!

So I grabbed my bag and books and ran out of class, giving my prof the knowing look that I had to leave because I was coughing up a lung. I'd warned her at the beginning of the semester that I've been fighting this virus for a while so it might happen.

I go downstairs and quickly call Shelley, who has the car and is visiting her brother. I tell her to come pick me up because of what happened, and then I go into the bathroom to throw some water on my face so I don't look like Val Kilmer in his last seen in Tombstone.

This is when yet another faux pas occurs...I really hate myself sometimes...anyway...

I'm washing my hands and the paper towels are in one of those round dispensers where you tug on the bottom and the papers come out, one at a time...and not with east mind you. There's a guy standing at the sink next to me washing his hands too. I reach up and tug on the paper towels and what I swear is like a gallon of water comes flying off my hands all over him.

There are severe rules for behavior in the men's bathroom.

Rule number one is: NEVER ACKNOWLEDGE ANOTHER PERSON

This is vital and is why it is rule number one. If you refuse to acknowledge another person is in the bathroom, then you don't have to think about what anyone is doing, or, frankly...handling.

It's just how we are. That's why we don't go in groups like. It's not something we SHARE okay??

So of course he did not acknowledge that I'd just dumped a bucket of water on him.
Neither did I.
Though my ego was in tatters, the rules remained unbroken.

I have no clever end for this story, so much like my heroes in Monty Python, I'll just let you imagine a knight in shining armor whacking me over the head with a chicken

The End

Quick Newsflash

I don't have all the details yet, but the police have recovered our van!!!

It was in a low income housing project in Guelph (which is a town about 45 minutes away). We haven't seen the vehicle yet, but the Constable tells us that the only damage is to the ignition (which we hope the insurance will cover- but we don't know).
All the stuff in the van is gone of course, but that was to be expected I guess.

Yesterday Zilla said the right family vehicle would show itself soon, and I guess she was right!!!
We hope to have it back in our driveway by the weekend, but there's still so much we don't know as yet. I've had about 2 hours of sleep after I finally finished my paper this morning at 7am (gah), so I'm a little bleary, and Shell is hyper-excited in her phone calls, but this, at least, some very welcome news.

More details in the days forthcoming...

Gods Come Cheap Around Here

Well hello there! It's 3:30am and I'm taking a break from this insufferable paper to blog, just to clear my mind.

Also it was time for a refill of caffeine and a change of DVD.
As late as it is (or is it early...it's all relative I guess), I opted for one of my favorites- Hoosiers

Firstly, because I need some Gene Hackman coaching, pushing me to continue on this quest. I think I'm in the midst of a very good paper, but then again those irretrievably lost in the desert are often sure of that oasis, when it is merely mirage...but don't I wax rhapsodic in the wee small hours of the morning.

Chalk it up to reflexes...when one is writing for academia, one does tend to have one's cranium firmly inserted in arse.

Hoosiers holds a very special place in my heart. It was the summer of 1987 and I was living in Colorado Springs. I had gone out to live with an aunt because my father couldn't stand the sight of me any longer and frankly I was a lost soul. I had neither direction nor destination. And so, of course, Colorado beckoned.

Go West, young man!

If you are lost, the Rocky Mountains can either help you, or make you a ghost. For me they offered my first real chance to be something resembling an adult. I got a job in the Springs, which was actually quite far from the mountain town where my aunt lived, and so I lived with several different people for about 4 months while I saw what 'the real world' was about. Or at least that's what I thought. I was a kid of 19 so shoot me.

Anyway, I had very little to do when I wasn't working, because being 19 and in a strange new world I was afraid of 'experiences', never knowing that trying not to experience something is in itself an 'experience'.

Mostly I went to the movies- which actually is a theme with me. When I'm lost and alone I go the movies. Which is why I've seen a lot of movies in my life...I've been lost a LOT!

That summer I saw two movies over and over again (hey we didn't have VCRs back then, let alone DVDs). Hoosiers was one (The Untouchables was the other).

I love film. I enjoy breaking down film, getting deep inside. I like escapist fare like the rest of the world, but a really GREAT film you can gnaw on for weeks, years even. I still find something new each and every time I watch Citizen Kane or The Godfather.

I probably saw Hoosiers a dozen or so times that summer. One day I sat through two shows. It's a beautiful film. If it was possible to smell color, the sepia tones would enthrall you. (I think sepia smells like scotch...but that's just me...I would assume sepia actually smells fishy since that's apparently where it comes from).

You can't watch the film and not be broken by the performance of Dennis Hopper. Seeing him confront his character's demons, knowing that those demons are very real to the man himself...well there's just a power at work that is indescribable.

I think I've lingered long enough here...I should return to my fate.

Familia

I've said it before but it bears repeating...I married into an amazing family.

This morning Shelley gave her cousin Renee and her son little Tyson, and Renee's parents, a tour of the studio. They were meeting in the city for something and wanted to see how the stuff is produced.
They also brought her Tyson's Pack n Play which appprently he doesn't like to use and has only really been in it once. They also showed us a picture of an Eddie Bauer stroller that a friend of theirs is selling. So yes we'll take that. When Shell asked how much the lady wanted for the stroller, Aunt Pat told her, don't worry about it's all taken care of.

Shell was all choked up when she called me. So now we'll have a stroller and pack n play again. The carseat will be covered by the theft insurance.

This extended family of Shell's is amazing. It takes a great deal of the sting out of what we've been through to know just how far and wide our support network is.

In the midst of my whining I should always remember that I'm just a lucky guy!

Lumpy Thoat

Tonight before bedtime, Ginny Grace sat with me in the chair (with the new ottoman) and played for an hour...just laughing and tickling and jabbering. We watched The Simpsons (because it's still over her head and we can) and she just cracked us up. After she went to bed I was looking through my photos on my hard drive, trying to find the renovation pictures to post on Flickr (I got some up btw) and I ran across this picture of her. She's about 6 weeks old I guess...I can't believe her head was ever that small. The fact that she's lying next to her Mr Minor Monkey as a reference size just blew me away. I mean I know she had that head. I was there when it came out (if you'll pardon that phrasing)...it's just...wow...time is a relentless fiend, stealing so many days that you hardly notice. I got a big old lump in my throat.

A Win-Win

Yesterday I was watching the Ohio St/Michigan while game lying in bed.
My wife came in and had basically had enough of the week in general and collapsed next to me, curling up inside my nook. It takes an act of Congress to have my wife watch a sporting event with me, so you can imagine she had just pretty much given up on everything!

It is in this exhausted state that we had (roughly) the following conversation:

Shell: Why does that guy have dots on his helmet?

Me: When a player does something great in a game, the team rewards him with those.

Shell: Those dots look like pot leaves. Why do they have pot leaves on their helmets?

Me: Those aren't pot leaves, those are 'buckeyes'.

Shell: What's a buckeye?

Me: Um...it's a nut of some kind.

Shell: You don't know do you?

Me: Uh..

Shell: (interrupts as if to save my pride) Why does that guy only have dots on the one side of his helmet?

Me: Because they fill up the one side first then they start on the other side

Shell: What happens when they run out of room?

Me: um...get a new helmet? (in mock Tony Soprano voice) "hey Vinne, look at 'dis guy here...he's got no more room for his dots...wutta we gonna do with 'dis guy here?" (in mock other Soprano-type guy voice) "eh..I dunno...maybe we gotta give em a new hat or sometin'"

Shell: You've really lost your mind haven't you?

Me: Yeah but you love it.

And with that she cackled and her mood lifted. She kept cuddling until she couldn't stand the announcers anymore and went downstairs to do some upholstery work in the basement.

But the point is, I think I helped make her feel better and that in turn made me feel really important and proud...

I'm still waiting for my dot though!

Frustrated Incorporated

I'm taking a break from reading Lenin to blog.
Why? Because after a few hours this is what it sounds like in my head:

Blah blah consciousness of the working classes blah blah blah blah spontaneous consciousness blah blah bourgeois intelligentsia blah blah

I don't think that is conducive to an 'A' paper. Frankly the dude was boring...how he ever led a revolution I'll never know. Of course having read a number of Russian authors I think boring is pretty pandemic. Maybe they revolted just to have something to do other than reading Russian literature? Hmmm...that doesn't bode well for the folks in Ottawa if I have to keep reading this anymore tonight.

This morning we took Ginny Grace for her first haircut.
We didn't want to cut her hair but she was really starting to look like she should be in a grunge band. She wouldn't keep barrettes in her hair and it would fall down in that large pointy hair front that looked like she was paying homage to Flock of Seagulls. So the decision was made for bangs. We took her to the place Shell goes (and I occasionally go when I don't want to just buzz my own head with clippers- when you are a bald man like me there aren't really what you would call 'options'). Shell's normal hairdresser, Sandy, has done tons of kids hair so she knew exactly what to do.



Everyone was in good spirits before the cut. We had to wait for Sandy to finish so there was lots of time to read...



We don't go anywhere without 'Where's Maisy'...it's just too important a book. Maisy might someday NOT turn up in the end...you never know.
Finally it was in the chair, sitting on mama's lap was the preferred method and Sandy started to pin up and put back hair here and there and start snipping...



Oh those halcyon days of actually having hair...but I digress...
The finished product met with everyone's approval (despite the raspberry she is giving the camera)...



Then we went for a celebratory walk outside and played 'little monster attacks Dada' which is her current favorite game...



These are the moments I'll cherish on the nights she's running a fever and making like Linda Blair in the Exorcist, the moments I'll cherish when she's telling me I don't know what I'm talking about because I'm old and besides I don't know anything about women (like I'll have never heard that from her mother!?!), the moments I'll cherish when she's out past curfew with that boy who I just don't like the looks of and is making me think of buying a gun...in other words the precious moments.

Well at least I don't have much more hair to turn grey, right?

Kim asks...

Kim is our second contestant...she asks:

- Favorite beer? Favorite Canadian microbrew?

Without a doubt Corona is my favorite beer, with a second choice being Blue (or for you non-Canucks, Labatt's...and of course I can't leave out Guinness for reasons that all the crew at Flickr know...mad props to the ViolinSoldier on that. As for Canadian breweries...Guelph's own Sleeman is probably my favorite...me and Sleeman had an interesting night at Shelley's studio Xmas party in '03...whew...

- How's Gracie's walking going?

Gracie is walking great, going faster now and almost exclusively walking. She hardly crawls anymore. She can go up steps (crawling), but has not figured out how to go down them (she's very afraid of them). I haven't taken her to Shell's studio since she really started walking so I must do that soon- they'll get a kick out of it. And mad props to Alex for his first big boy steps!!!

- What do you take in your coffee? Or your tea, if you don't drink coffee.

I must confess I don't do coffee or tea...I don't do hot chocolate either...no hot liquids ('cept soup). Shell doesn't drink coffee either but it seems every other Canadian does. In fact we've been debating on getting a coffeemaker so we can serve some if guests want any (which if your gang ever visits we'll need on hand, a can of Tim's we'll keep just for you) :P

- if a woodchuck could chuck wood, what kind of a wood would a woodchuck chuck?

Well from my research I think it is clear that the name "woodchuck" is a definite misnomer, as they seem not to chuck much wood at all. According to the research at Penn State University, woodchucks, beavers (or whistle pigs) are strict herbivores who prefer grasses, vegetables, and legumes. Apparently 'woodchuck' comes from the Alqonquinian word 'wuchak' which is what the Alqonquin people called a variety of the larger members of the squirrel family. Puxatawney Phil, is of course the most famous 'woodchuck' and as every schoolkid knows if he sees his shadow on Groundhog Day, Bill Murray gets a residuals check. Less known is that if he retreats back into his hole and black smoke appears, a new Pope has been elected. Still even less known is Chuck Wood, who has a PhD in Planetary Geology and lives Tucson, Arizona...he seems like a decent fellow at least according to Google.


learning is fun.

Zilla asks...

What kind of gum do you chew?
I have a wide variety of favorite gums...Bubblicious, Rainblo, as a Cubs fan I can't resist good ol' Wrigley's...but the best gum for ball-playing is Big League Chew... (at this point dollar signs are dancing in Mr. Pumpkin Shell's head, as he wishes he could be my dentist I'm sure)

What position do you play?
I'm a first-basemen by trade. Though I occasionally play short-stop or third on my father-in-law's team when our other shortstop is gone. I don't know what I'll play on this new team (hopefully first) but since I'm new to them I might get stuck somehwere else. Also this will be the first time I've played on artificial turf...should be weird

At what time of day were your foggy pictures taken?
Those were taken about 1:00pm...it was terribly soupy. I tried to get a shot of a guy walking across the intersection to show the denseness but he disappeared before I could snap. I was standing in the street in front of my house and that stop sign is only 50-75 yards away.

Yay for questions...anyone else? You get your own Post Title!!

A Friday Meme

Fineartist had it...so I'm a sheep... 1. Explain what ended your last relationship.
One day she woke up evil...

2. When was the last time you shaved?

I'm pretty scraggily at the moment...I think I shaved Tuesday?

3. What were you doing this morning at 8 a.m.?

Fighting the dogs for the covers, after Shelley leaves for work the dogs decide the bed is theirs.

4. What were you doing 15 minutes ago?

Feeding Gracie (or attempting to)

5. Are you any good at math?

So say my SATs...I just get a little lost in Calculus

6. Your prom night?

I didn't go...no date. I asked someone, she said no, didn't want to live through THAT again...

7. Do you have any famous ancestors?

We think that one of my ancestors founded an Abbey in St.Amant, France...but that is unconfired because it was 500 years ago...

8. Have you had to take a loan out for school?

Yes..but not a big one.

9. Do you know the words to the song on your Myspace profile?

I don't have a song on my profile..

10. Last thing received in the mail?

A Canadian Tire flyer

11. How many different beverages have you had today?

3- milk, water, pepsi

12. Do you ever leave messages on people's answering machine?

not if I can help it...my voice...ugh who needs that

13. Whom did you lose your CONCERT virginity to?

Johnny Cash

14. Do you draw your name in the sand when you go to the beach?

Nope

15. What was the most painful dental procedure you had?

Fillings...nothing major yet (knock wood)

16. What is out your back door?





those these people are not always there :)

17. Any plans for Friday night?

It IS Friday night...gotta pick up my wife at the train station, then pizza and watch Smallville (oh and work on my paper...blech)

18. Do you like what the ocean does to your hair?

What hair?

19. Have you ever received one of those big tins of 3 different popcorn?

Yes...regular, caramel, and that orange stuff popcorn (whatever that is)

20. Have you ever been to a planetarium?

Several...the last one in Salt Lake City

21. Do you re-use towels after you shower?

Of course...I'm clean after all...I just showered!

22. Some things you are excited about?

Having my wife home.

23. What is your favorite flavor of JELLO?

Cherry (though frankly I haven't had Jello in years- that didn't have vodka in it- let's be honest)

24. Describe your keychain(s).

My University of Utah keychain/lanyard, plus my keys and a Corona bottle opener (just for emergencies)

25. Where do you keep your change?

In my 'Greens Fees' jar in the golf room

26. What kind of winter coat do you own?

a reversable one, with fleece on one side...comfy

27. What was the weather like on your graduation day?

breezy and warm

28. Do you sleep with the door to your room open or closed?

usually open so we can hear the baby

Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics

After my last post I fell in love with the blockquote formatting, so now from time to time I shall interrupt an entry with something in a blockquote...just for fun.

Milton Friedman passed away today at the age of 94. There are few who have had a greater impact on the free world in the last 30 years. He won the Nobel for Economics in the mid-70s for his theories on inflation. Friedman recognized the intrinsic nature of free markets to free societies. Friedman preached that "“progress [can] be achieved only [when] government activity is limited primarily to establishing the framework with which individuals are free to pursue their own objectives.”

Speaking of money (and a lousy segue from an obit I grant you) I read this fascinating piece in The Globe and Mail about a study that concluded "merely the sight of money can change a person's behaviour.The experiments indicate that even quite trivial exposure to money changes peoples' goals and behaviour. Subjects exposed to the idea of money subsequently show more self-reliant but also a more selcentereded approach to problem solving than subjects exposed to neutral concepts". Which is perhaps why most strippers are REALLY stuck-up.

I've decided that in an effort to keep my sanity, I'm going to start referring to my cough as a separate entity- 'the Cough'. I haven't come up with a better name, you are welcome to submit one for consideration.

It was really foggy here today...



See!!! Ick...I was waiting for someone to spot Nessie

There is a glimmer of good news...I was finally contacted by the guy for the winter softball league and I'm in! Kickass. Now I don't have to sit on my non-skating duff all winter long. Plus one of the guys on the team is a guy from my other team I played on this year. The games are in an Air Dome in Oakville and they play at 11:30 at night....oofa. So I had to get special permission from the Mrs. to play at those hours. We play starting in January through the end of March (so that means I won't have much downtime before my other leagues start).

You know I've met at least 5 dentists in my life and not one of them has recommended Dentyne...and I chew gum even

What else??

Anyone have any questions?? I like taking questions from the audience.

I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to you, the blogging public, for the lameness of this post. It was really sad and not worth the effort it took you to read. If I were you, I'd ask for my money back. Or in lieu thereof perhaps a protest of some kind with a catchy song. You could make signs, some of them could be funny, one or two even with naughty words to grasp the attention of whomever you would be protesting to...maybe your cat.
The point is that I'm a sad person with either too many or, some would argue, too few neurons firing at a given time and, also, I'm thirsty. How the thirsty part factors in, I don't know...I'm not a scientist. I do have funny eyebrows though like Einstein.

Stream of Consciousness

Kim challenged her readers the other day to come up with 10 Things You Probably Don't Know About Me...I tried but I just couldn't come up with anything...so instead, I thought I'd just write everything on my mind as it came to me...aren't you lucky?

... I really should be reading and writing for my Imperial Russia paper...but reading Lenin makes my teeth hurt.

Instead I'm sitting in front of my computer, listening to Harry Connick, enjoying the new font and layout of the Internet Explorer that came through in my automatic updates. It's oddly soothing.
Gracie just wandered into the office, started dancing to the music...man I live for that.
My desk is piled with things to do and yet I just can't get the kick-start to tackle any of it.
I really wish I could play piano.
See this is my downtime...after 8pm. Shelley takes over Gracie control, she handles the bedtime rituals, and I disappear into my office to free my mind.

The Lenin papers are mocking me right now...I see them there, stapled, smeared with highlighter...

I'm ignoring you V.I.
So sit there and chew on that.
I just put the shuffle on my iTunes so now I'll have something to talk about...as I'm writing, I'll be giving you play by play...won't that be fun for you? *chirp chirp*
R.E.M.- What If We Give It Away?
Ok, I'll bite, what if we gave WHAT away exactly? Early R.E.M. is so hard to penetrate lyrically.
John Lennon- Give Peace A Chance
Now see this is ironic in so many ways...I'm not really a hippy, and the cynic in me knows that 'give peace a chance' is somewhat utopian (though I wish it wasn't that way and I was hippy-ish once)...also see there's the Lennon/Lenin dynamic. Is/Are my iTunes telling me to write my damn paper??

Are you like me and read 5 books at once? I don't mean simultaneously...that would require lots of eyeballs, more than I care to have in my head. I mean I've got a book in every room that I'm in the process of reading.
After leaving a comment on Zilla's blog to someone I'm re-reading Marc Bloch's The Historian's Craft...

we have a song change...Nat King Cole- Walkin' My Baby Back Home...I love Nat King Cole...I got that from my dad. When we lived in Germany, we had no television and my Dad was an Audiophile like nobody's business. He had stacks and stacks of records- they got ruined years ago otherwise there would be one hell of a collection. Anyway he would record everything to Reel-to-Reel and there are pictures of me sitting on the couch with those big old style headphones on listening to all kinds of stuff. I got my love of Nat, Sinatra, Elvis and music in general from Dad. song change...Radiohead- The Bends...I think I have Gracie started on the road to loving music too.

Back to my books...I've also got the book about Village Life in Russia open somewhere, Henry the Fifth on my desk, and James Baker's book on Diplomacy from 1989-1991 littered with post-it-notes...I really need stop the madness no?

song change...hmm another Radiohead song-Just...I guess my random shuffle is breaking mathematical laws of randomness

song change...Blues In The Night by Alvino Rey and his Orchestra off the Ultra-Lounge CD, Space Capades...it sounds like stripper music...damn the wife is downstairs...curses...

Hmmmm, I guess I should wrap this session up but I sort of feel weirdly like a disc jockey and it is kind of fun.

song change...uh-oh now I'm dating myself..this is a lyrical shout out to my beautiful friend Elise...The Cure-A Letter To Elise..Elise is going to set the world on fire, intellectually that is. She's utterly brilliant. (and she's read Marc Bloch because we had that class together).

I was actually a disc jockey for a two hour shift at one of the largest rock stations on the East Coast. I got it as a Christmas wish. It helped that I knew the Assistant Program Director who also ran the drive time, so I got to sit in on Xmas Eve and I had fun. I froze once and there was 10 seconds of dead air. My brother told me I sucked, that I don't have a radio voice. Still it was fun.

song change...Elvis- Suspicious Minds

So Kim, does this count toward the 10 Things?
There's got to be at least a few things in this ramble that you didn't know about me, right? Assuming any of you are still here at this point, which really, says more about YOU than ME...how sad for you...I mean I HAVE to be here, but you...you could be I don't know...washing your dog.

Ok...last song change before I go (probably)...Ethel Merman singing I Get A Kick Out Of You...which conjures the vision of Ethel Merman snorting cocaine...but yes I have Ethel Merman on my iTunes...so sue me.

The song does have one of the great words of all time in it- ennui. Doesn't that just sum up perfectly this whole damn blog entry?!?

*wink*
thanks for playing along...just for hanging in this long you get a big Dating Game kiss...muwah.

Just Because

First, thanks to everyone who sent wonderful words of encouragement on site here and privately...they were all most welcome and helped tremendously. Today is a new day and we're just trying to get on with things. We have no word yet from police or insurance. Please keep up with your fingers crossed, rabbits feet rubbed, and whatever other charms, karmic vibrations, and or prayers you've been sending.

My cough has re-emerged with a vigor this evening, likely from lack of sleep and stress...it had been getting slightly better. But I was just hammered with a bout of violent cough and a headache to boot. As I was taking the numerous prescribed remedies that I am a slave to now, I just had a overwhelming fatalistic flash- "am I doomed to feel this crappy until I die?"

Normally that might make me lie in a corner in the fetal position and hum the "Golden Grahams Cereal" song...but the very thought of that triggered my brain to one of my favorite Simpson's moments- when Homer goes through the 5 stages of death anxiety in about 20 seconds. If you need a laugh, I recommend you click the window...I'm rolling on the floor (coughing still, but rolling)...



Can there be anything as wondrous as that piece of animation??

Anyway, as I drove to school tonight, peering closely at every silver mini-van as if I would have the sort of luck to come upon the fiend still enjoying the heist, visions of Dirty Harry-ian retributions dancing in my head, growing ever more cynical of mankind and the fate of the world...I suddenly rememebered the unbelievable embrace of everyone and their messages. It put some hope back into my system (also it didn't hurt that the lecture tonight was on 'village life of Russian peasants in the late Tsarist period'...whew...talk about the suck!)

So what I'm clumsily saying (again) is 'thanks'

Letter To A Thief

Dear Scumbag, I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for stealing our brand new van from the train station today.
Thanks for making my wife cry uncontrollably over a payphone to me because she was stranded and had her brand new vehicle swiped after only 3 weeks.

Thanks also for taking my baby daughter's stroller and pack n play (not to mention carseat) that was in the van as well. All were gifts from our families and we really appreciate you taking them off our hands like this.

Thanks for the hours of tearful phone calls to police, insurance and family tonight.

Thanks for forcing my wife to spend all that time on the phone instead of the rare hours she has with our daughter.

Thanks for making my baby daughter cry when she saw her mommy cry...that's an extra special treat.
Thanks for ruining our plans for the US Thanksgiving weekend, not to mention spoiling our Xmas probably.
Thanks in advance for the rise in insurance, the cost of having to get a new vehicle probably, and just for making a wonderful start to our week.
I hope you've enjoyed this day, and whatever you've done with our van. I hope it gave you some kind of pleasure and rush to take someone else's hard earned property. I hope you realize that your stupid selfish act has put us out financially...but more than that...I hope you realize the pain you caused the two most precious people in the world to me and I hope, for your sake, I never find out who you are.

Rot in Hell, Ron S.

Remembrance

Today is the day we remember veterans- those who came home and those who fell. For me I was lucky because my father was one of the ones who came home. He wasn't able to see me until I was sixth months old. For the most of my mom's pregnancy and my birth he was navigating a LARC with a refrigerated compartment up the Mekong. His job was to bring feul, ammunition, and blood to Marine units and then, sadly, bring bodies of the fallen back.

He doesn't talk often of it, but over the years little pieces here and there I was able to collect and have an idea of what a typical journey was like.

They would leave the ship they were attached to, loaded with their supplies and head into the delta. They had one large mounted gun, and he and the 2 or 3 other men in his crew had side arms. Clearly they were not an offensive crew, in fact they basically were obliged to avoid return fire if possible. When they drew fire, he simply took the LARC on land until once again they drew fire and then back to the river they'd go. If that doesn't give an insight into the insanity of the situation what can?

I visited the Wall once and while I was overwhelmed with the emotion of the sheer volume of names and lives that were lost, I couldn't help but for a moment feel a little pride for my father because some of those names and men might have been unaccounted for if not for my father bringing them back home from the battlefields. Wars are often defined by ordinary men doing extraordinary things in what amounts to no more than a madhouse.

To sacrifice oneself so that others may live is the highest calling.

Lincoln wrote: "...all that a man hath will he give for his life; and while all contribute of substance, the soldier puts his life at stake, and often yields it up in his country's cause. The highest merit, then, is due the soldier."

So to the men and women in service today, to those who went before them, to those who never returned, and to my father: Thank you for our freedom and God bless you all.

Virginia Grace with Poppy Remembrance Day 2005

And So It Begins

I knew the days were numbered of having this sweet, virtually gets into nothing bad, baby. I just didn't know it would be today that she would have me scratching my head.

I came out in the living room today and found her feeding crayons to Dixie.
Apparently Willow was grumpy this morning that I hadn't let her out when I got up, but that was because Gracie needed her bottle. So while I took feeding and changing of the baby as my first priority, Willow decided to retaliate by crewing up some of Gracie new crayons- these are the big oversize ones so there's plenty to chew there.
Since Willow had chewed them into huge chunks, I suppose Gracie decided they sort of looked like the doggie cookies we give Dixie and Willow. And there they sat while I coughed my way in to the bathroom, splashed water on my face, and then did one of those double takes in the mirror- did I just see what I think I saw??
Race back into the living and sure enough, Dixie laying there dutifuly at Gracie's feet, knocking back the chunkc of green and purple crayon.
I'm not sure whether she was doing it because they were tasty, or she was just being polite not wanting to refuse something the baby was giving her, but I quickly put an end to this waxy feast and called Shell at work:
"Do you know what your daughter's been doing this morning???"
She was laughing hysterically.
Sure, she won't have to hunt down the extra rainblow colored poops in the backyard.
On the one hand I guess it's rather sweet that Gracie thought enough to share 'a treat' with the puppies, and that the puppies put aside their sense of taste to woof down the crayons...
but you can take politeness (not to mention crayons) a bit too far.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

So many topics, so little time...

Since there are many new people to my blog (and let me say I love having you here...yes you) and also since the site has changed a bit, I've decided to add some links including a "Special Posts" category. These are recommended reading (or re-reading) posts from the archives that have achieved some special recognition by people- at least they got huge responses in their day.

There's the story of Gracie's birth, which a couple of people at Shelley's studio thought I should publish one day (and if I ever write 'the book' it will be included). There's also a post about dealing with a hungry pregnant wife which I think is mandatory reading for all husbands or partners of pregnant women...plus it involves the phrase 'recipe porn' that I hope to someday get credited for (even if it's only on Wikipedia). Anyway I'm sure I'll add others when I have some more time.

I actually got a moderate amount of sleep last night, however I had to get up and venture into the city this morning for an appointment (finally) with the sleep specialist. I'm now the proud (ok not really, more like miserable) owner of a CPAP machine that is supposed to help me sleep better AND end my snoring which will help my wife sleep better too. I hate it because it makes me feel inadequate and broken. My wife is encouraging, mostly because I think she thinks it makes me look like Han Solo when the Falcon is in the asteroid/monsters belly and he's got that mask on...she still has her Han crush after all these years.

So tonight I'm about to embark on a fully medicated and machine induced sleep session. I'm hoping that I'll get some rest and that this flu that I have will go away. Of course there's also the chance that a power surge will somehow transfer my living essence into the machine forever trapping it inside and my body will continue on, inhabited with microprocessors leading my physical body/machine brain to attempt to take over the world, harnessing all technology and destroying human life forever. "I'm Sorry Dave, I Can't Do That"

Hopefully nothing like that will happen.

But just in case, maybe you'd better be prepared for the Ron9000 anyway...better safe than sorry.

[Oh and I got my Australia paper back today and what do you know I got an 'A']

[[take THAT Han Solo]]

Let The Nation Heal

(and myself while we're at it...)
It feels good to be an American again today. I should say it feels better. The people spoke yesterday and what they said was clear- the time for 'stay the course' is over.
There must be change. Change doesn't mean surrender (no matter what the President, Karl Rove, and Bill Frist would have you believe).
Change means looking at things afresh, and not JUST the way in Iraq.

This change means that there is once again a chance to have a balanced government that employs the sort of checks and balances against power that The Founders intended all along.
This change means accountability. 'Personal responsibility' shouldn't just be a motto thrown at poor people- it should apply to the wealthiest among us, and it should definitely apply to defense businesses reaping huge profits on the backs on men and women in uniform.
This change should mean a return to sound fiscal policy that embraces 'incentive'-based tax cuts rather than a blank check to anyone who owns shares in oil companies.
This change should mean that the health of the economy isn't simply based on how fast the GNP is growing or how high the DOW reaches, but it should mean that real Americans who are working hard and playing by the rules don't have to work more for less. It should mean that when the economy grows it grows for everyone, not just those who are moving wealth around on paper.
This change should also mean that we stop calling anyone who disagrees with the Bush Administration on foreign policy 'un-American'. Patriotism isn't how tightly one can wrap themselves in a flag, but how much they truly believe in the ideas embodied in the Constitution. You can love America and not agree with the way it is run at times.
Ultimately let this change mean that the people in Washington learn this government is 'of the people, for the people, and by the people' and may they long remember that no matter how much money they waste to demonize people, no matter how many times they try to hide corruption from us, no matter many times they think they are smarter than we are...that WE hold the power to change the government by peaceful means in the articulation of our vote.
May we once again, as we did in the days after September 11, 2001, find within ourselves the power to come together and embrace as family- knowing that there is infinitely more that binds us than there can ever be to divide us.
Let us all raise our voices and be glad that we are Americans, and let us cling to that glorious phrase our forefathers thought summed up the American ideal- "E PLURIBUS UNUM" From Many, One

A Silent Coup

Have you ever had one of those moments where suddenly you just want to kick your own ass??
Tonight I happened to be working on tweaking my resume for a job that I want to apply for...essentially I need to dumb down my resume somewhat otherwise I get the 'overqualified' stamp. All I want is a little part-time job somewhere that'll net me $100-$200 a week just to help the household and still allow me to NOT have to put Gracie into daycare and work around my class schedule- maybe 2 nights a week or something.
Anyway, I applied last week for a job on campus in the American Studies department as an administrative assistant. It would be cool because I could likely work right before or after my two classes on the days I have school and then I wouldn't be burning additional gas to get there...and it's a perfect gig for me considering I worked at a university in an administrative capacity in Utah. The problem was that I was lazy in reworking my resume and a cover letter and waited till nearly the last minute to email it in AND, the biggest bonehead move of all, I did not proof it. [by the way I should interject that I don't proof these blog entries either so they are probably FULL of errors..but that's the cross YOU have to bear gentle reader...life's too short to make this stuff Mailer, Hemingway, or Shakespeare]
So of course when I fired up the computer tonight I notice right away the GLARING typos- one in the letter, one in the resume- which frankly should disqualify me from breathing let alone a clerical job.
I grew angry. Not HULK angry, not even Angry Monkey angry...just the "I-should-really-just-go-with-the-self-frontal-lobotomy-and-end-it-now" kind of angry.
What was worse is that, hey, I'm supposed to be an academic right? If I would be meticulous about a paper on the historiographical implications of Davis' 'The Return of Martin Guerre', one would think I could handle a stinkin' two page resume.
But nooooooooooooooooo...nooo nooo nooooooo.
So I do what I always do when I get really mad at myself for being a preening schmo and dunderhead: I read the postscript in the paperback version of 'Silent Coup'.
Now right now you are scratching your collective heads wondering what the hell I'm talking about and asking whether or not I've taken too much cough medicine.
'Silent Coup' is a book written in the late 80s/early 90s by two investigative authors who claimed they had discovered several facts about the Watergate story, including the fact that the 'Deep Throat' source of Woodward and Bernstein was in actually, Al Haig. While there were several other points to their book, namely that the Watergate break-in was the brainchild of John Dean in an effort to cover-up the fact that his wife had once been a high-priced call girl, and that Haig, abetted by Woodward, used the Washington Post to build pressure and force Richard Nixon from power (thus the 'Coup' of Silent Coup).
The book IS interesting in some details it uncovers- namely going in depth about the Moorer-Radford Affair, the secret spying the Pentagon was orchestrating on the NSC and the White House. The Moorer-Radford Affair and the Pentagon Papers leak were the two primary reasons the Nixon administration created 'The Plumbers', the White House team of investigators attempting to fix the leaks in the government. It was out of the Plumbers operation that Howard Hunt and G Gordon Liddy were tasked eventually to broaden their operation into surveilling anti-war protestors, newspaper columnists like Jack Anderson, and ultimately the Democratic Party and their national headquarters in the Watergate apartments. In connecting these dots, their book is a great read.
However what the book becomes on the whole, is an indictment of Dean, Haig, and Woodward. The writers save much of their invective for Woodward. Their thesis then hinges upon the Woodward-Deep Throat connection. For their scenario to be true, they have to prove Haig is Deep Throat and, making the Woodward-Haig connection they seek to undermine 'the accepted' story of Watergate, calling much of what Woodward wrote 'myth'.
Thus the assault on Deep Throat that takes up the second half of their book, where they 'prove' that Deep Throat, if he is to exist as Woodward claimed, had to be Al Haig by 'process of elimination'.
In the paperback edition they include a chapter about the media firestorm after the hardcover release and continue to smear Woodward for continuing to hide behind his Deep Thoat mythology.
Of course now we know that indeed everything Woodward said about Deep Throat was true since the source, former Assistant FBI Director Mark Felt has admitted to being Deep Throat and Woodward and Bernstein were released from their confidentiality agreement with Felt.
So...whenever I feel like a schmuck, I grab my beaten copy of said paperback and gleefully read the hubris-laden pages of 'Silent Coup' and know that no matter how much I screwed something up at least it isn't available in most libraries for any casual reader to find.
Sometimes being a nobody is rather rewarding.

Chinkity-Chink

That is supposedly the sound slot machines make, at least in my wife's mind. Since we met in Vegas, and, as she is oft fond of reminding me, I fell in love with her while we were playing slots (she claims it was this one particular moment when I looked at her and she looked at me and apparently she could see I was hooked by the lightning bolt that hit me)...where was I??? Oh yes. So anyway, for my big birthday celebratanzia she took me to Brantford Casino for an evening of wicked and evil games of chance. But let's step in the way-back machine to Friday, when my birthday actually took place... She got home early from work and made us a huge plate of nachos which were the best damn nachos I've ever had. Then she and Gracie gave me presents and cards. I got a cool set of poker card beer glasses for my bar, some nice cologne, and Season 2 DVDs of Smallville (kickass!) I also got a dancing tiger card from Gracie which she signed herself (with some help from Mommy, but still in her own hand). Then after Gracie went to bed we watched the Season 1 cliffhanger ep of Smallville and the first ep of Season 2 from my shiny new gift. And, truth be told....we made with the smoochies (double kickass!!) She let me sleep as long as I wanted Saturday morning and then around 2, we loaded up the van and took Gracie to Grammy and Gramps' house (where I got a waaaaaaaay too generous cash gift from my mother and father-in-law...waaaaaaaay too generous) and off we went on a real life, out of the house, no baby, wife dolled up, me semi-groomed, date!!! We got to the casino and was given a nice stack of money to lose before the almighty sin machines. First I played a little BlackJack, walked away with about $40 after 9 hands...not too shabby. Then we did some slots, where I turned $20 into $99. Then for what I really came for, some PaiGow (it's my favorite table game)...where I was up another $30 or so. We broke for dinner and I was up close to $150. My wife on the other hand? Not so much. After dinner some more slots and some PaiGow (the damn Let It Ride tables were full...I wanted to play...grrr). My after dinner session was not as profitable but I had an absolute blast and I've got enough money to get Season 3 of Smallville (triple kickass!!!) We drove to get Gracie and the report was that she was a dream for her grandparents and didn't fuss once. We loaded her into the van and drove on home, were ambushed by the dogs, and finally settled in for a good sleep. (except me, your still sick and sleepless, coughing hero who likely won't sleep until the second half of the Falcon game..argh). But tomorrow I get cake...so it isn't all 'woe is me'. Also when I got Gracie out of her carseat tonight she briefly woke up and looked at me and whispered 'Dada...Dada' so of course I'm all gulpity gulp. I do want to say thanks to everyone who sent birthday and get well wishes. Also a note to Sarah: thanks so much for those remedies...I'm actually sending Shell out tomorrow to hunt down one or two of them...I'll keep you up to date on how they work out! Pardon my 6am ramblings...but I wanted to get this out before I hit the NyQuil again.

Sick and Tired of Sick and Tired

I'm really just over this whole cough thing. Since no one can really tell me what the problem is they cannot tell me a solution either. So I just suffer. I don't sleep well because I wake up coughing. Then when the cough gets so hard I...(well there's really no polite way to say it)...hurl. This morning I reached a near breaking point because there I was slumped over in the bathroom, coughing and hurling, and Ginny Grace is crying in the doorway because she can't understand why her Daddy is making such awful sounds and tearing up... Once I'd mostly pulled myself together I had to call Shelley at work and just hear a soothing voice for a few minutes. Now it's after three and Gracie is finally down for a nap I have a few quiet moments to relax- but I can't even nap because my chest aches from coughing and my head aches from lack of sleep. If someone could just sneak up behind me and hit me with a brick or something so I'd be unconscious for a while I'd almost be grateful- except for the blugeoning part. I just don't want to be this miserable for my birthday Friday OR whatever it is that Shell has planned for us on Saturday. She says we can postpone it until I'm better if I don't feel well, but I really just want to have a nice weekend- and of course I get cake! I've got to run some errands this afternoon and maybe I'll stop by Dairy Queen and get some plain ice cream for my throat. Apologies for the whine factor.