This picture was taken on the camera embedded in my laptop.
Guess that’s what I get for trying to surf the internet while lying down.
(Also notice that even here I failed to get a good picture of her. It’s like Kat has soaked up all the feline photogenic aura in the house.
Kat loves the laundry basket.
Kat has been hanging out with me in the basement.
He’s also been looming over me, standing on me, and getting in my face.
And yes, the bookshelves stretch along the entire wall up to the ceiling. There are similar shelves behind the camera.
Sorry. Nothing Halloweeny here.
Move along.
Yup, I’ve finally reached the hundred book point for the year–the only good thing about being home sick.
I’ve read an average of ten books a month this year, with the 18 books in October offsetting September’s pitiful showing of only 4 books. Still behind my reading as compared to 2005 and 2006, but there’s been a lot going on since the summer of 2006, and I haven’t always had the time I’d like to read.
So the good news is I don’t have African Sleeping sickness or dengue fever.
The bad news is I likely have mono.
Again.
For the fourth time.
They’ll call me later today with the test results.
So I’m home in the basement, alternating Tylenol and ibuprofin, and waiting for Michael to bring me soup and tea.
The decision will be made later today as to whether Grandmom will go stay with my parents or not.
Looks like there’s more reading and napping in my immediate future. And lots of liquids with which to wash down all the NSAIDs.
Great. According to the internet I have either Trypanosomiasis or Dengue fever.
I think I’ll stick with Gina’s diagnosis: Republican Intolerance Syndrome.
My joints and my back ache.
My skin hurts.
I’m running a fever and shivering uncontrollably.
As I was running out the hot water heater, I was trying to eliminate possibilities.
“Hmm… No buboes, so it’s not the plague. No sore throat, so it’s not strep throat. I haven’t been bitten by any wild animals, so it shouldn’t be rabies. Plus, I’m not foaming at the mouth. I got my tetanus shot last year, so it’s not lock-jaw.
It could be meningitis. Maybe that’s why my head hurts so much.
And it can’t be the goddamned flu, because I GOT my fucking flu shot. Again. And I had the flu over the summer. So it must be something else. Something horrific I’m sure.
But instead of searching the internet to find out what it is, I’m going to bed.
It’s time for another game of word association.
To get around the restrictions, type the old word, an equal sign, and then your word.
Marshmallow
Well, I bought it myself, but that doesn’t make it any less awesome.
I bought the Alex Ross Obama t-shirt!
I also bought one for my mom, and was tempted to send one to Eric, but I didn’t know his t-shirt size.
I’m sitting here putting off going to work.
Let’s hope things are a lot calmer than they were yesterday.
What I don’t understand is why NPR is still going on about the Obama rally.
I hate Mondays.
That was my head exploding.
I hate Mondays.
ADDENDUM the First:
I’m eating a pumpkin shaped cookie with orange frosting.
That’ll make everything better, right?
I went to a party!
Temperatures are in the 50s, it’s raining, and there’s no football game.
I hope to spend the day napping and reading.
Wish me luck!
If you looked at yesterday’s pictures of the game traffic, you noticed that we have several yard signs for the election. (More than appear in the picture, actually.)
When I went to the Democratic Headquarters, I wanted an Obama sign, a Jay Rockefeller sign, and a Charlene Marshall sign. When I got there my friend Gwen was working, and she talked me into several other signs, since they were out of Obama signs, and told me she’d let me know when they got more Obama signs.
Last week we got our Obama sign, and added it to the yard.
Last night someone stole not just our Obama sign, but all the Obama signs in the neighborhood. (There were four Obama signs and one McCain sign on our drive home.) They didn’t touch the other signs, just stole our Obama sign.
We’ll try and get another sign today–assuming they still have some.
People suck.
ADDENDUM the First:
Gina For The Win!
“Yes, removing a few yard signs will totally help John McCain and Caribou Barbie win.”
Even though we use compact florescents, he still treats the light like a sun lap.
Large eyes, long whiskers, cute pink nose.
He’s even got the head tilt down. Cute! Cute! Cute!
As I’ve mentioned before, my house is really close to the stadium. This means I can enjoy not only the drunks, but also the fireworks during night games.
I’ve been trying for years to figure out how to take good pictures of fireworks. My problem this time is I wasn’t sure we were having fireworks at halftime, so I had to run out in my clogs without my tripod or even a jacket.
So between holding the camera over my head and shivering, the shots weren’t too still.
Ah well, I’ll get it eventually.
Yes, it’s time for WVU’s Thursday night home game (as you may have noticed from the previous post.)
It’s 4:45 and traffic going to the stadium has been backed up since I got home around 4:00.
Fun for all!
ADDENDUM the First:
Good Grief.
ADDENDUM the Second:
GROAN.
ADDENDUM the Third:
sigh
ADDENDUM the Fourth:
I’ve resorted to whiskey and chocolate.
ADDENDUM the Fifth:
Yay! Fireworks! They looked awesome from my driveway!
ADDENDUM the Sixth:
93 yard drive! Touchdown! We pull ahead! 20-17!
ADDENDUM the Seventh:
Whew!
ADDENDUM the Eighth:
TOUCHDOWN! Ten point lead! 27-17!
ADDENDUM the Ninth:
TOUCHDOWN for NOEL DEVINE!
33-17!
Over 200 yards for Devine.
ADDENDUM the Tenth:
INTERCEPTION on the LAST PLAY OF THE GAME!
33-17!
GAME OVER!
There are maybe six students in the lab.
The parking lot is maybe a quarter full. Probably less.
Everyone is wandering around going, “Is it time to go yet? Is it time to go yet?”
Y’know. I realize they’re big money, but night games are a disaster educationally. Because we’re so close to the stadium, our parking lots have to be emptied by five, or they’ll start towing. Mind you, we have to pay for parking, so this is a tad bit more than annoying. So a lot of professors simply canceled classes today, so they wouldn’t have to deal with the parking fiasco.
And tomorrow… you think classes will be full tomorrow morning?
Of course that’s not going to stop me from walking home and turning on my radio to enjoy the game.
LET’S GO MOUNTAINEERS!
Like everyone else, I get the occasional e-mail missives that I suspect are sent simply to tweak me.
Here is the latest. (with the ridiculous fonts and colors and sizes removed for your sanity.)
REFUSE NEW COINS
This simple action will make a strong statement.
Please help do this.. Refuse to accept these when they are handed to you..
U.S.Government to Release New Dollar Coins
You guessed it
‘IN GOD WE TRUST’ IS GONE!!!
If ever there was a reason to boycott something, THIS IS IT!!!!DO NOT ACCEPT THE NEW DOLLAR COINS AS CHANGE
Together we can force them out of circulation.
My response is simple: Redde Caesari quae sunt Caesaris et quae sunt Dei, Deo.
I’ve been trying to add some varied aerobic activity into my workout. I can’t run or do elliptical machines because of my knees, and to be honest I don’t like a lack of forward momentum. So I’ve been looking for activities to add to my walking, and decided to add jump roping.
The first jump rope I got was too short. Way too short. It kept getting caught in my hair on the upswing (my hair is chin length, but too short to pull back). I could get about ten jumps in before the thing would tangle in my hair and go off course.
So I found a longer jump rope.
I tried this a couple times, however, for some unknown reason, the rope (actually thin, smooth plastic/rubber tube[think a whip]) kept twisting at the top (or bottom if you prefer) of the arc, and would after 15 to 20 jumps twist around itself twice–enough that it would go entirely off course.
Michael actually witnessed this, and saw the rope coiling as I jumped.
Yesterday I decided I’d do 25 jumps, untwist the rope, do 25 more jumps, and so on and so forth.
At about sixteen jumps I had a fair amount of momentum, at which point the rope comes down SMACK on my arm.
I’ve still got a six to eight-inch mark on my forearm where the damned thing hit me.
So no more jump rope. I’m thinking of jumping over the painted lines on the floor, except with my luck, I’ll probably trip over ‘em.
I was over at Stonekettle Station tormenting Jim, when I noticed a typo Jim made, ran with it, and ended up with the following. Now I’m trying to decided how curious I am about what happens.
Michael: You look broken.
Michelle: I am broken.
Michael: I don’t have a receipt. Are you recyclable?
Michelle: No, but I am compostable.
Michael: Hmmm…
Michelle: HEY!
If you don’t read John Scalzi’s blog, you may have missed this news story.
No matter how hard I try, I’ll never be a good person, at least in comparison to the likes of Leroy C. McLaughlin. But for all I’ll never achieve that level of goodness, he still inspires me to try.
Powered by WordPress
Random Reading
