alameida, hooray! I'm glad to hear about the good stuff and hope the still-not-good will improve. Lee would watch an Asian Pickers show all day every day and if you were on it I'd gladly watch with her.
Yay being alive! Worry about the weight when you've got the pain licked.
Anyway, I missed you all terribly, what's up? Any thrilling developments in the world of snark?
Ogged came back for a bit, but then died of something.
"I even watched myself from the last time we were on TV, on another dude's "Picker's"-like show"
Blah, blah, obligatory request for link that would have been uncouth had you posted it unsolicited.
Also, you've probably already seen this but I just discovered it via Maria Bamford via her appearance on The JV Club podcast (which is totes awesome): crazymeds.com
I don't think our appearance is online, although the guy's show in general is. I'll look now. I haven't seen the crazymeds thing, I'll check it out!
it's this guy's show but no one seems to have put up the singapore episode, unfortunately. I'll see if our staff can do it.
I'm now weeping pus from my sunburn, which probably isn't that bad so far as medical conditions go, but it hurts and makes me feel stupid for not using sun screen or going inside.
Vintage Hunter: One man competes with an army of women for a bargain on a slightly faded original Diane von Furstenburg wrap dress. This summer ... THREADS. WILL. BREAK. "Time to dress up!"
Glad the V works. One worried.
It's good that something(s?) is helping. Missed you.
I second the recommendation for crazymeds. I think it's a .us address.
Yay about not being dead. I was going to e-mail you to make sure.
oh ow moby I'm so sorry, that sounds awful! I almost never burn, and when I do I look tan with red underneath, but I am a GIANT BABY about it, and mope, and demand icepacks, and complain about "sand in the bed" and so forth. my husband burns in the fashion you describe, but never so bad as that since I've known him. one always sees german and swedish people on phuket looking like that and still out in the sun the second day, which thought causes one to shudder with pyretic sympathy, and the sight of which, accompanied by braids unsuited for use by white people, is impossible to look at: one will turn away, defeated by the evil sunburn that, together with the vaguely tribal tattoo, has precipitated into a blotchy red and white and black tragedy on some german girl's plump upper arm. the flip-pater would not approve, let me just take a flyer on this one.
It's not that bad. Plus, we got to take the boy to the beach for the first time. (He had sun screen on.)
Narnian ambassador to US retires, and Alameida posts. Strange...very strange. Great to hear from you.
Hello, alameida. While you were gone, we here in the Spleen of Western Civilization have just finished hosting The so-called Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth, whose gradual transformation from a tasteless, oversized country fair into an utterly soulless and shameless exercise in money-grubbing some people apparently did not see coming. The highlight came when we killed the fuck out of a few horses, prompting the usual round of defensiveness from rodeo enthusiasts and protests from both of Alberta's animal-rights activists.
(The relevance of all this to yours truly was mostly in that I got to reconfirm my impression from the last time I ventured to the bars during Stampedemas -- which was some years ago -- that one is likely to encounter extra-promiscuous people owing to a rather pathetic, drink-sodden variant of the Mardi Gras Effect.)
Oh, someone I know has a book out, which is perhaps of wider appeal than the last friend's book that I plugged here.
Bad news on my end: mom got diagnosed with mild dementia, Alzheimer's type. I'm coping, but it's still shitty.
moby: I'm glad about the little one going to the beach; it helps us remember that the ocean is huge and fucking terrifying. castock--you encounter drunk slutty people and think of me? I'm incensed that...oh, no, wait, totally appropriate actually.
bostoniangirl: that is really horrible about your mom, I'm so sorry. are you alone as a caregiver for her to fall back on? what a huge responsibility, and so difficult from everything I've heard. I'll be wishing you well.
Just to be clear, that "oops" there is in no way a concession that I am at fault at all.
20: That's sad, BG. While you're coping, don't forget to take care of yourself too. (Sorry for the delay, I understand it's caused by something Neb screwed up.)
Welcome back Alameida.
Even if you did break the blog, it's worth it to hear good news about your headaches.
BG, that's hard news. I hope that you can get help in this. I know your family isn't very reliable, but I do hope you can find other resources.
Al, welcome back. I look forward to your imminent stardom.
Moby Hick, I recall you were asking about distraction/activities for kids near I-77 and Stanley gave you the nice link to New River State Park. Coming back from the beach, I once faced a total mutiny by my kids along about there, so first I marched them around Pilot Knob a bit (actually off I-74 not 77, but depending where you are you might go by there), fed them at some crappy restaurant in Hillsville Va. and when they were still too rambunctious, had them run themselves into the ground doing relay races at this superior rest area on I-77 north near the West Virginia border (Rocky Gap North).
We stopped at Statesville, NC. There is a lake there, but we didn't get to it (threat of rain all day).
Not that New River Gorge didn't seem great. I decided I wanted to be father south before stopping.
(This belongs in an older thread but I kind of shotgunned Season 3 of Weeds today.)
TV programs today are far more potent than those 20 years ago.
Alameida! I've been wondering where you were. Please don't even think about weight, just get better: your audience needs you. You should obviously be starring in your own "American Pickers/Arbiters of Vintage-Cool Taste" TV series.
it helps us remember that the ocean is huge and fucking terrifying
This. Recently returned from a week in P.E.I.: the "Gentle Island," they call it, all rolling hills and verdant fields (and the best potatoes in North America, no contest), and beautiful sandy beaches. But the jellyfish (ew!) and the scary riptides are a reminder of vast oceans of terror (and just unsettling weirdness, when it comes to the jellyfish).
Alameida! Yay, being alive.
On which note I just caught up on Sherlock and arrrggh I want to know what clue I'm missing but I don't really want anyone to give it away because I feel like it should be figure-out-able.
The novocaine and the being alive may be related!
Can I just get my regular ladyparts back now or do I have to write an article in Salon about it also?
I think "Female orgasms--not really necessary for marital happiness, after all!" sounds more like a Slate pitch, to be honest. Or possibly The Atlantic.
Good to see you back!
I think "Female orgasms--not really necessary for marital happiness, after all!" sounds more like a Slate pitch, to be honest. Or possibly The Atlantic.
You could probably sell the same basic article to several different magazines. Just change the title and tweak the first and last paragraphs.
I'd been worried! So good to see you and the awesome writing again.
"Female orgasms--not really necessary for marital happiness, after all!"
Untrue. But I can see how it would be a comforting idea to people who would want it to be true. So you could probably sell the idea. Lots of buyers out there.
MC-I've always wanted to go to PEI, but I've had two big questions:
(1.) Is it much more crowded now that there's a bridge to the mainland?; and
(2.) How do you keep the red sand from getting all over everything? Does it stain?
22, 34 and 36: Thanks all. I've written a few comments here about my aunt (who is really the only one who is in a position to be helpful) and how frustrating she's been. Essentially, she said that she thought that it would be better to have the people on the East Coast do all the worrying and handle all the financial questions but that she intended to try to be a supportive presence. I e-mailed her to say that under the circumstances, I was sad and disappointed with her response and felt abandoned. She asked me if we could talk on the phone. I agreed, and she told me that she was very angry with me, because "I don't feel that you're appreciating what I have to offer enough." I felt like I lost it at that point. But when I recounted the whole story to my shrink, he said that he thought I didn't say anything terribly wrong.
My boyfriend has been very supportive and helpful about trying to make arrangements, but it's a real strain on him, and I feel awful about burdening him with it.
48: The problem with the "reality-based" is that they fail to understand the degree to which we create our reality. It surprises me that some people even now can't recognize that Rove (or whoever it was) got the better of Suskind in their little debate.
James B. Shearer is not permitted to comment on Alameida's posts at any time, nor is there any conceivable way he could regain the privilege, as he knows perfectly well. I have left this to preserve the thread's integrity but am honestly shocked he would pretend to think I would ever tolerate his doing so. I would have said I could not think less of him but I have been taken off-guard by his extraordinary rudeness and lack of basic decency and tact. I hope he will at least have the good grace to censor himself from now on. If ever empathy failed in any of god's creatures, it failed in this thing.
"However of course female orgasms aren't essential to marital happiness. Which is not to say they aren't helpful."--James B. Shearer
it made me happy to see alameida post. it made me sad that I couldnt post.
BG: sorry to hear about your mom.
However of course female orgasms aren't essential to marital happiness.
Who would have thought Shearer would be the only one in the thread to remind us of the possibility of same-sex marriage?
Though I am intrigued by his suggestion that they help even marriage for gay men. I'm not sure how to put this into practice. Play "What'd I Say" on constant repeat in the background?
Hooray for living and less extreme pain! Here's to hopes of still further lessening of pain, increase of pleasure and international cable show stardom (provided it remains a formulaic but charming buying stuff based reality show, rather than an exposé on the tumultuous past of jet-setting antiques dealers)!
(Also should someone narniaize 9?)
Though I am intrigued by his suggestion that they help even marriage for gay men. I'm not sure how to put this into practice. Play "What'd I Say" on constant repeat in the background?
According to my stereotypes a lot of lasting gay relationships were formed while dancing to this song.
We can create our own reality but only up to a point. As the ultimate failure of the Bush adminstration showed.
This is just what I'm talking about, of course. What failure?
60: Well, their party did subsequently get booted from the White House by a charismatic but untested young black politician whose middle name was "Hussein" and whose last name rhymed with "Osama." Not to take anything away from brother Barry or anything, but that almost certainly would not have happened without the total ludicrousness of the Bush years. (That they subsequently left the GOP in shambles, divided largely between the insane far right and the paste-eatingly stupid further-right, is a consequence of those years too.)
22: castock--you encounter drunk slutty people and think of me?
Well, although "yours truly" in 20 meant "me," it is completely possible that I did think of you! I confess I do not recollect the evening with optimum clarity.
61: And Barry went on to ratify most of the egregious excesses of the Bush administration, and came up with a few of his own.
Sure, the Republicans aren't done with their work, but GWB moved the ball considerably. He was a very successful two-term president. The fact that he didn't win at absolutely everything doesn't change that fact.
52: I've been trying to figure out what you mean by that comment, Moby, and I'm stumped. Is this an analogy? Please explain.
64: It was a bad joke based on "supportive".
63: And Barry went on to ratify most of the egregious excesses of the Bush administration
While I'm not a fan of Barry's accommodations to the military-industrial complex, that's a drastic oversimplification, and a fair appraisal would also have to say that he's tacked directly away from a great many Bush-era stupidities. There is a real sense in which Barry is a kind of Emperor Claudius of American decline, putting a gentler face on what would have been simply unacceptable to an earlier era. Nevertheless his administration has not really been a gain for Republican causes and he is not just a Republican under another brand name.
63: Arguably, both that ratification and the fact that they are still a viable political force had less to do with them creating their own reality than the Democratic party buying in.
66 doesn't contradict my point, and 67 overlooks the process by which the Democratic Party bought in.
Were there weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? Did Saddam have functional, supportive ties to Osama? The Reality-Based said no, and for almost all practical and functional purposes, the Reality-Based were wrong. The fact that there was no mustard gas or nukes or whatever is a technicality. And yes, this is partly because the Democrats bought in.
Untrue. But I can see how it would be a comforting idea to people who would want it to be true. So you could probably sell the idea.
Yes, hence the joke about Slate, which wasn't really all that funny. Oh well.
68: Were there weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? Did Saddam have functional, supportive ties to Osama? The Reality-Based said no, and for almost all practical and functional purposes, the Reality-Based were wrong.
Huh? Are you using "wrong" in some exotic and clever sense here, or do you actually believe they were literally wrong about this? Because all available facts indicate the "Reality-Based" were completely correct on both counts.
(The Democrats, incidentally, "bought in" to the notion that the US had to stay to "stabilize" Iraq. This might be represented as "buying in" or might -- probably more accurately -- be represented as a convenient rationale for covering a withdrawal, but it didn't represent a "buy in" to the concept of Saddam's WMD or al-Qaida ties.)
70: I think PF means Bush got his way, reality be damned.
72: And then it turned into a disaster that blew up in his face and helped sink his party, which his successor counted withdrawing from as a major (and popular) achievement. I don't see what the point is supposed to be.
Glad you're back among the living, Al, and not as a zombie!
James B. Shearer is not permitted to comment on Alameida's posts at any time, nor is there any conceivable way he could regain the privilege, as he knows perfectly well.
I can't possibly have been away long enough for you to imagine you can comment on my posts, shearer.
BG, I am sorry to hear of your mother's diagnosis. That is just awful, and horribly stressful.
Re: P.E.I.:
No, the sand does not stain. Impossible to keep sand from getting all over everything if you go to the beach, of course, but you can brush/shake/wash it all off. The tourist shops now offer t-shirts and hats and tank tops that have apparently been dyed with the hallowed red dirt of the Island, but I'm not sure how that works, and colour me sceptical. I think the lovely red soil basically does not stain.
Crowded? It was not at all crowded two weeks ago, but admittedly that was only the beginning of the tourist season. It must be more crowded now than when I was a kid (pre-Confederation Bridge, and we had to take the ferry...), but P.E.I. is still (and will remain) pretty far east of the mainland. I could drive (from Mount Liberal Utopia, New Jersey) to southern in Maine in a day; but to P.E.I. would take two solid days of driving. It's pretty darn far east! (from most points North American, that is: it's way, way far west of Japan, by way of comparison, but Japanese tourists making the pilgrimage to Green Gables in Cavendish [aka "Avonlea," for Anne readers] were very much in evidence two weeks ago. The signage is now in English, French, and Japanese; the contribution of Japan to P.E.I.'s economy (all due to Anne of Green Gables) is both fascinating and highly significant).
I have some P.E.I. photos at my fb page, if you're interested.