I Gave Up Eternal Damnation for This?

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Thursday, February 26, 2009

I've Joined Twitter
Current mood:

tired
Category: Blogging

I'm so sad (as in pathetic)...

But at least I got the boy's room done finally; carpet went down yesterday. Dark Forest Green. Now the entire room looks like the outside, which he will now never venture out into unless I dangle his DS in front of him.

jdk

23:15

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Saturday, February 21, 2009

My Wife Had the Birthday, But I Got The Treat!
Current mood:

discontent
Category: Blogging

The Mrs. had a birthday on Wed., and it went pretty darn well, as things go. I'm always afraid some minor disaster is going to ruin everything.

Her sister got her tix to 'Wicked' (which was pretty good...), and I got her a watch on the actual day and a pink netbook the day after, but the REAL gift (for both of us) was the dinner we had at Virgil's.

Folks I am usually not one for an entire meal of BBQ, which may surprise some out there considering my appetites. But I could have eaten the ribs this place brought me all night long! We split a platter of ribs of various cooking techniques and flavors (asian, Memphis, baby back, House Special, etc.) after our appetizers. She enjoyed her Hush Puppies, but I practically DIED scarfing down the 'Trainwreck Fries'. I will not spill the beans here; JUST BUY THEM!!!

So, the meal was out-friggin'-standing. I scared a 10 year-old next to us with my moaning and slurping (the food, freaks). About the only drawback was the mac and cheese, which had much less cheese than the fries oddly enough. And less flavorful than the handtowels. But fortunate the aftertaste of Virgil's barbeque sauce was right there to bring me back from oblivion. If you eat anyplace else in mid or downtown, you're cheating yourself (like at Spanky's, for example).

So like I said, the musical was nice. We had great seats which allowed me to stretch my legs, so that was a bonus. Bubba got a couple of games out of the deal the next day and didn't mind staying with his cousins overnight so all was well with that day.

Now for the not so fun part: Crazy Lady managed to regain lucidity this week, which is good. I actually got her to agree to sign durable power of attorney over to me and get it notarized, which is good too: plans need to be made and I can't tolerate the VAs red tape anymore. This allows me to do what I need to do without needing permission from the government, who woouldn't give it because my mother wasn't conscious to give it.

The bad news is: she needs a tube put in her stomach. Not really for food (but I'm afraid the nursing staff will get lazy and try using it for that instead of taking the time to feed her, which can still reasonably be done), but for hydration due to her diabetes incephelitis which dehydrates her faster than she can put it back, especially with her tardic dyskenisia. But having been an EMT and knowing a pretty good deal about elderly treatment I know that a tube usually means you're starting a timer for the patient's mortality - whether you intend to or not. Most folks over 69 die within a year of the procedure. I'm a bit uneasy about that. But who wants to let thier mother slowly die of thirst either?

Finally, I coughed up blood this morning. I have a doctor appointment Sat. morning, so I'll bring it up then. I'm less worried about cancer than that I may have gotten one of the many infections my mother has had in the past month. Tests will tell...

Going to CT tomorrow morning after the Drs. appointment for an overnight with friends. Always good for good food and good company and a few Sam Adams. Not to mention playing with thier kitties.

jdk

Currently listening:
Joe's Garage: Acts I, II & III
By Frank Zappa
Release date: 1995-05-02

00:58

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Sunday, February 15, 2009

Happy President Valentine's Day Weekend!
Current mood:

amused
Category: Blogging

My wife makes a better Egg McMuffin than McDonald's, but her annoying sense of humility took my compliment and almost made me feel bad for saying it.

Instead of letting something as tragic as that happen to someone as egotistical as I, I instead turned it back on her once again. When she begged off with "I wasn't even paying attention! I was on the phone!", I retorted with "Then the lesson is: 'If you don't put too much thought into it, it will come out alright.'".

She hates when I do that. But it was a damn good breakfast sandwich.

Seeing Crazy Lady today. Don't know what sort of shape she'll be in. Hospital called Friday to get permission to run a new line in her neck, so I'm guessing she's not lucid. Sad, twisted thing is I'm not going to spend money I may need on cards and/or gifts for V-Day if she isn't going to be aware of them. I know, my presence is supposed to be the thing that matters, but you and I both know wimmens is all about the candy and flowers when they're aware of them. So it's a bad thing, except economically.

Tomorrow we're headed to Chinatown; what Chinatown has to do with President's Day I'll leave to the scholars (although Lincoln & the Railroad might be a good connection - ouch, bad pun), but I'm in the mood for some window shopping and Wo Hop's dim sum so if I get those 2 things I'll be fine. Bubba ought to go nuts: all the Chinsese resturaunts, but which one to get his rice from?

Really need to do our (yes, Bubba's and mine) homework tomorrow afternoon. I have a exam in Spanish on Wednesday.

See you on the flipsies.

jdk

Currently playing:
Mario Kart Wii with Wii Wheel
Release date: 2008-04-27

12:11

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Monday, February 09, 2009

This is Why I Hate Mondays...
Current mood:

obsequious

You ever finally figure out the perfect birthday present for you wife, then find out that while it's reasonably priced and... perfect, finding one before the approaching date is nigh-impossible?

Yeah, that's me all over...

In other news, crazy Lady has so many new and serious conditions that I've finally become numb to the whole situation; yes, she's deathly ill, but if I have to stand through another long-winded explanation on what the new condition is (rather than something more pertinent, like: how did she manage to suffer all these in such a short time?) I'm going to start barking loudly into their faces.

Meanwhile, Bubba's learning the ins and outs of trading in video games for new ones, and the resultant price differential. He's learning it slowly, but learning it. One of his classmates has a birthday in a few days, the the girl next door, then somebody else I can't remember right now because my mind was never meant to retain this sort of information for any serious length of time.

Grad school's going well so far (please God, don't let me jinx this). Nothing earth-shattering in that department, so that's a good thing.

Financially, some expected regular fundage has dried up for the forseeable, so things are going to be a bit tighter (hence the video game trade-in stuff). Again, nothing major; just need to tweak some expenditures.

One step forward, one step back and three steps in several, non-linerar directions.

jdk

Currently playing:
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
Release date: 2007-11-06

21:23

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Sunday, February 01, 2009

Weekend Update
Current mood:

apathetic
Category: Life

First week of new semester and the world hasn't collapsed in on itself. Yet. Bubba keeps yammering on about missing his cousins and previous vacation spots and pretty much anything else he can get out of his mouth in opposition to going to school in the morning. But all I have to say is the girl next door's waiting for him and he's out of here like a bolt.

Have to buy some things this week: new office chair, some replacement socks/jeans/shirts (I don't shop for "me" very often, except for gadgets). Thinking about a breakfast nook for the dining room, as we never use it for later meals. We are the T.V. Tray Bunch, tru. Sad, but tru. Must finish up Bubba's room; lighting needs to be installed and cover paint for window frame - Rustoleum's good for protection but the colors suck... the father of one of Bubba's classmates is a subcontractor who can build cabinets, counters and such so if the price is right I'll ask him to re-do the kitchen. Should do it before getting a new oven installed anyway.

Comic book convention coming up this weekend here; should I treat my inner geek? Hmmm...

jdk

Currently reading:
Edmund Spenser's Poetry (Norton Critical Editions)
By Edmund Spenser

16:33

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Thursday, January 29, 2009

The Version Disney WON'T Be Making Anytime Soon...
Current mood:

pugnacious
Category: Romance and Relationships

From the India Telegraph:

....

..Two minor girls married off to frogs..

17 Jan 2009, 2301 hrs IST, TNN

PUDUCHERRY:
In a bizarre ritual, two minor girls, both seven, from the remote Pallipudupet
village in Tamil Nadu's Villupuram district were married off to frogs on Friday
night. The ceremony, an annual feature during the Pongal (harvest) festival, is
conducted "to prevent the outbreak of mysterious diseases in the
village''.

The girls, Vigneswari and Masiakanni, dressed up in
traditional bridal finery -- gilded sarees and gold jewellery -- married the
frog 'princes' in separate, elaborate ceremonies at two different temples in the
presence of hundreds of villagers.

Amidst chanting of vedic hymns, the temple priests garlanded the brides and tied the magalsutras on behalf of the frogs pronouncing the two as wives of the amphibians before the sacred fire at the auspicious hour.

The villagers threw themselves into the
ceremonies with gusto. While residents living in the western part of the village
acted as relatives of the brides and those from the eastern part play-acted as
relatives of the grooms. The ceremonies had all the usual elements of a
traditional marriage including a sumptuous feast.

However, unlike the fairy tale ..Frog Prince', where the ugly toad turns into a handsome prince when the princess kisses it, the Villupuram village belles bid their amphibian grooms goodbye and lead a normal life thereafter. As for the terrified frogs, they are thrown back into the temple ponds after the ceremony.

Earlier the 'relatives' of the brides came in a procession to the
grooms' houses in the eastern part of the village to fix the marriage and later
went to the temple pond to catch the frogs. The frog princes were tied to long
sticks decorated with garlands for the marriage ceremonies.

An elderly woman of the village said the ritual was practised traditionally for
several generations to ward off evil spirits and diseases from the village.

Villupuram district collector R Palaniswamy told TOI that he had
deputed a team led by the district social welfare officer to visit the village
and submit a detailed report. "The district administration proposes to evolve
comprehensive schemes to motivate and enlighten the villagers against such evil
and ignorant practises," he said. But all these years the strange practice has
been going on unchecked.

Sadly, no one asked the frogs if this was alright with them: don't they believe in consensual marriage there, or is that only for bipedal mammals with opposible thumbs?

jdk

Currently watching:
Phineas and Ferb, Vol. 2: The Daze of Summer
Release date: 2009-02-10

16:16

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Monday, January 26, 2009

No Introduction Needed
Current mood:

sleepy

I love stuff like this, and will post it occasionally as it comes out:

Nigerian police detain goat over armed robbery

Fri Jan 23, 10:55 am ET

LAGOS (Reuters) –
Police in Nigeria are holding a goat on suspicion of attempted armed robbery.

Vigilantes took the black and white beast to the police saying it was an armed robber who had used black magic to transform himself into a goat to escape arrest after trying to steal a Mazda 323.

"The group of vigilante men came to report that while they were on
patrol they saw some hoodlums attempting to rob a car. They pursued
them. However one of them escaped while the other turned into a goat,"
Kwara state police spokesman Tunde Mohammed told Reuters by telephone.

"We cannot confirm the story, but the goat is in our custody. We cannot
base our information on something mystical. It is something that has to
be proved scientifically, that a human being turned into a goat," he
said.

Belief in witchcraft is widespread in parts of Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation. Residents came to the police station to see the goat, photographed in one national newspaper on its knees next to a pile of straw.

I'm pretty sure I know one of the guys who witnessed the transformation; he was a patient at St. Vincent's several years ago...

jdk

Currently reading:
Elizabeth I: Collected Works
By Elizabeth I

14:58

1 Comments

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Sunday, January 25, 2009

Well, Shit
Current mood:

argumentative
Category: Life

Spent Friday making funeral arraignments for mom (sounds morbid I know, but as I'm the only one handling all this cut me some slack); local viewing and memorial service, followed by internment at a military cemetery on Long Island, with honors. Flowers, limos, prayer cards, etc... all the little details you don't want to have to dwell on for longer than necessary considering the subject matter.

So of course now that that's taken care of and I can begin to focus on the coming week and what's coming... Bubba gets the flu. Kee-rist. I can't win.

The Mrs. will have to stay home with him if necessary. Or me. I dunno yet. My mind is awash with options good and ill.

sigh

jdk

14:20

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