Bastet

A Patriots v Cowboys Super Bowl would force me to root for the meteorite I'd hope would hit the stadium. Under normal circumstances, I'd root for the NFC team. But never the Cowboys. Switching to tonight's game -- I grew up going to see the Raiders in the L.A. Coliseum. Fast forward, and for a variety of reasons the Giants became my first and foremost team, but I've always continued to root for the Raiders on the AFC side. I love Jack Del Rio, but I've liked many a Raiders coach who oversaw a craptastic team. I love Derek Carr, but, again - been there, done that. To see things finally coming together, such that it's been about 15 years since we had this kind of record -- it does my heart good.

She's talked about it quite a few times; it's what leads to the increased "we need X,Y,Z" posts during hiatus. I'll try to do a search and post some links tomorrow; otherwise, it will be after Thanksgiving (I leave Wednesday morning, and it's busy here!). I love that you're "adopting" animals this year as the beneficiaries of your generosity. Four boxes of blankets is great! VRC is my charity through Amazon Smile, but I have several ethical objections to Amazon so I only order from them when it's the only convenient choice, so it doesn't add up to much. I give VRC a monthly donation, again not all that much because I have so many organizations I want to support on a monthly basis, and then I try to kick in with extra during the hiatus months when they're in extra need. They're doing so much, so well, with so little, I want to help however I can.

I join my parents camping every year for Thanksgiving - in their motorhome, so not exactly roughing it, lest you think I'm more robust than I am - and this year, as most years, they're at a lake in southern California (yes, we have them, they're just pitifully low by now). The campground is a state park, and Thanksgiving weekend generally attracts a fairly diverse group of people in the decades we've been doing this. Of minority groups, Latinos are most common. I'm packing my clothes tonight, and since I'll be camping it's all jeans, lounge pants, and t-shirts/tank tops with a sweatshirt for the evenings. I've decided all my t-shirts/tanks will have progressive political messages, focusing on those with statements against sexism and racism. It will be my way of saying, as I wander the campground, lake trail, and surrounding hiking trails, that I'm an ally if some hate-spewing fool starts shooting off his mouth. It's always been a generally harmonious time in the park, with a few exceptions, but this is not anything resembling a normal year, even in this blue state (and lake's surrounding area is a little more purple), so I'm ready.

I'm so glad this show is back on the air, not just for my enjoyment, but for VRC since their donations all but disappear when the show isn't airing; out of sight, out of mind. The first episode didn't even get into some of what Tia went through with that injury and its initial complications. (My friend who uses Facebook kept me updated on Tia's posts.) Lucky and Jethro took good care of her, though. Rupert is the Uncle Jethro of the city - only not insane, heh. Nice to see him work his magic on Phantom. And it was so cute to see Phantom settle down at the vet's office. I'd rather sit on an ice floe for an hour than spend five minutes in that house with six kids, but Tara is perfect for it; that seems like an ideal fit. I felt a little bad for that one little boy, though, that he can't have Seville as his own dog (which, maybe if there were about half as many kids in that family, he could), because they adored each other. But he's just happy to have a dog; they all are, and seem like they'll be good owners. In the second episode, Vlad is adorable! And nicely fashionable in his coat for Manhattan. I like that the owners didn't want to wait on the test results or see a picture of his Frankenstein scar, and even when they found out it was a mast cell, they just wanted to make sure this wasn't going to be a monthly, expensive occurrence -- he's already their dog, they just don't physically have him yet (as further evidenced by her saying, "I'm so happy you're home"). They're going to have to be vigilant looking for other tumors, but hopefully all goes well. I'm sorry about Maya, RedheadZombie. Fuck that guy who dumped the dog. I worked on myself years ago to avoid snap judgments against those who surrender their pet to a shelter; there are still far too many who do it because the animal has simply become inconvenient to them, but there are also those whose lives have taken a bad turn, they've unsuccessfully tried to get friends/family to take the pet, and they're out of options. You throw your dog over a neighbor's fence because he peed on your damn X-Box (and elsewhere, so, gee, maybe there's an infection you should deal with -- and maybe you should put your X-Box down occasionally and take the dog out) so you don't want him anymore? And just stand there like the total asshole you are and shrug your shoulders as if it's a completely normal thing to do? You'd better thank your lucky stars you dealt with Lizzie rather than with me. It's different - as a viewer, and I'm sure as a rescuer - to see only the results of a bad owner, and to also stand there hearing directly from an unrepentant bad owner. So, given the strength of my reaction, I'm not surprised by Lizzie's. I'm happy to see Earl again! I felt for him feeling a little strange and embarrassed his first day back at work, and wanting to make sure people heard his story, not rumors. Addiction is such a terrible disease, and so hard to live with. I wish him the best.

Today I saw the one where she spills the beans about Mark getting drunk and punching the jukebox at the Lobo and Dan covering for him; I love the way she pounds on her thigh as she says, "Oh, man - this is why Dan is always ticked off at me." And, of course, the way she delivers, "Isn't it great, Roseanne?" when Becky asks for birth control is one of the greatest moments on television.

Now I'm wondering what I'm not carrying around in my pajama pants that I should be. I generally never put anything more than a slim case with license, credit card, and a little bit of cash in any pockets, because otherwise it feels - and looks - bulky to me. And that was mostly back when I went out dancing and didn't want to carry a purse, because there was no place safe to leave it. Now, I rarely go anywhere where it would be annoying to have a purse with me. I am very picky about the style/placement of side or front pockets on pants, because it's so easy to ruin the shape and look of the pants with pockets. At least on my body.

When I did my final whittling down of childhood books (in my early twenties, probably) to donate most of what remained and just keep a few favorites, I kept that one because I remembered that I liked it, but couldn't remember anything about it. I still have it; you may have inspired me to finally re-read it and see if I still like it.

Or a dictionary.

I will be the world's biggest Utes fan for one weekend, hoping Colorado goes down. As the season got underway, I would never have believed USC would be playing this kind of football this year. I'm going to miss Bedlam being a Thanksgiving weekend game. (Although, my parents and I go camping in their motorhome for Thanksgiving, and one year USC/Notre Dame and OU/OSU were on at the same time -- my dad got the big TV for the Bedlam game, and I was stuck back in the bedroom with the small TV for the USC game.)

There's a forum for Frontline.

For those who enjoy the black-and-white era of film, you should come check out the long-running TCM (Turner Classic Movies) thread, now in the Movies section (it was in Networks). It includes discussion of the films shown on TCM (not all of which are B&W), of course, and the little interstitials and commentaries the network airs, but also of other films of this era viewers wish TCM could/would air.

This is in the Movies section, but there's a Music section where you can start such a thread. (And one for TV stars exists in the TV section.)

I find fiction more suited than non-fiction to comfort reading, so because my reading list is almost exclusively non-fiction, there isn't a lot I re-read as comfort books. But every once in a while I pull out my childhood favorite, Harriet the Spy (Louise Fitzhugh). Sometimes also Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret (Judy Blume) and The Girl With the Silver Eyes (Willo Davis Roberts), my runners-up on the childhood favorites list. I pick up Foxfire (Joyce Carol Oates) from time to time, as that's a novel where I tend to develop at least one new train of thought with each read. On the non-fiction side, I do frequently re-read Katha Pollitt. And I semi-frequently revisit passages of Myrna Loy's memoir Being and Becoming. And What's the Matter With Kansas (Thomas Frank), Backlash (Susan Faludi), and Nickel and Dimed (Barbarah Ehrenreich) only become more frustratingly relevant as time goes on, so I go back to those sometimes.

ABay, from my very limited knowledge in this area, her symptoms - assuming the UTI is indeed a separate issue causing the wayward pee problems; they did urinalysis to confirm? - are consistent with a spinal cord lesion. They'd also be consistent - especially if the bladder control problems were not caused by an infection - a nerve injury, which could have happened if the noise you heard when she jumped off the chair was her landing in just the wrong way. Is she any better with liquid medication than pills? Because prednisolone comes in liquid at a mg/mL dose that is what cats are often prescribed (plus pills can be compounded into liquid if you have a nearby pharmacy that offers that service - as a bonus, they can make it taste like tuna or chicken, where the regular liquid pred is orange flavored). I hope things improve soon! It is, indeed, very stressful when they're sick or hurt, and we've all had "after this one, that's it - no more pets" reactions to that. And for some it sticks as a permanent decision. You'll just have to see how you feel in the future, and if you don't ever adopt another pet, that's obviously fine (I hate when people shit on that decision; we all know our own minds and hearts and pet ownership is a lot emotionally - good and bad - to sign up for). But for the here and now, I just want to put out there in public writing that it's simply untrue that you are "not very good at taking care of them." You love them, you get them help when they need it, you do a cost/benefit (to them, not to you) analysis before deciding on treatments for them and factor their individual stress tolerances into that equation, and you do things that are hard for you because it's the best thing for them. You're doing great, and they're fortunate to have you.

Obviously the greater issue here is the idea that one ever becomes "too old" to wear jeans, but right now I'm fixated on how random a cut-off point 53 is. Not 50, not 55, but 53.

In addition to his frightening (and willfully ignorant) policy proposals, Flynn's volatile temperament and utterly chaotic management style is pretty much the exact opposite of what would make for a good National Security Advisor.

We do a turkey breast, too -- Sprouts has natural turkeys, and we always have them de-bone and roll (with skin on) a breast so we wind up with about four pounds (which is still more than the three of us need, but, hey, leftovers). We brine it, and then baste with butter while cooking it on a charcoal grill (we go camping in my parents' motor home for Thanksgiving) and it comes out wonderfully moist. I also pick up some legs and wings while I'm at Sprouts so I can make gravy (even though I find it unnecessary). The dressing is cornbread based, as it's my dad's family recipe and he's from Oklahoma. I know it has celery, onion, egg, and chicken gizzards from grinding those ingredients, but I don't know what else as my mom does the rest. My mom's family recipe is bread-based, and she makes that one for Christmas. I don't eat either one, so I don't care which one gets made when. I do, however, get a strange hankering for wheat brown-and-serve rolls. I'm not much of a bread person, but for some reason I must have those at Thanksgiving. Add the ubiquitous mixed-greens salad and whatever roasted or steamed vegetable we're in the mood for and that's Thanksgiving dinner; it's not all that much more than a regular meal, because our Thanksgiving feast comes in the form of the snacks we graze on all day while watching football.

Heh; that was my reaction, too, when I read that he was unaware they had to hire a staff: What, they thought the slaves came with the plantation? The Washington Post ran an article about that general idea with respect to Bannon.

"Harassed" and "rude." Um, where? The cast thanked him for coming, asked the audience members who were booing (upon hearing Pence's name) to stop (and they did), and made a request that was simple, eloquent, and very deliberately respectful in both word and tone.

Since they'd likely be calling out my last name if they used my name instead of Riley's at the vet, I'm glad they use the pets' names in the waiting room. But they don't just call out her name, like she's going to hop out of her carrier and follow the tech, they say something like, "I have a room ready for Riley." And since I am her mom (and her owner, and her guardian - and her servant), I am fine with someone using any of those to refer to me in relation to her. I usually refer to myself as her mom or her owner, depending on the circumstance, but I don't care which one anyone else picks. Going back to restaurant website peeves for a moment, mine is restaurants that do not update their online menu when they change their menu. Last night my friend got all excited for baked ziti, but when we called in our order, we found out that's no longer on the menu -- which changed several months ago, but the website still has the old one.

I only ever worked retail during summers, so I never experienced the Christmas shopping crowd and can't answer. But if I'd had to listen to Christmas music all day long for weeks (or more), I'd have probably gone crazy.

In that episode, Dorothy says something about it having been two years (when she calls Stan to tell him about the wedding).

I love the Sainsbury's ad last year with Mog:

I got together today with a friend I haven't seen in two years. We were both working from home, both wrapped up for the day, and there's a nice little place with pub grub and 3:00 happy hour halfway between us, so we met up. Two years since we last got together, and we spent five minutes on "how's work/how's the family" and the remaining three hours on the election and its implications for our futures (and the futures of her Filipino/black children). It's somewhat communal seating in this place, and by the end we'd been joined by a few other patrons who'd overheard us and wanted to join in the conversation. It was a nice little impromptu salon.

Boy, I don't; no one needs any explanation beyond "I'm on vacation." Only my assistant has my cell phone number, anyway, so she'd need to forward someone to me and she knows not to do that (and knows not to call me herself unless it's a true emergency - which has never happened). But with email and voice mail, I just make clear in my out-of-office reply and voice mail greeting that I am not checking messages until I'm back (which shouldn't need to be clarified, but that's the world in which we live) so if it's time-sensitive contact someone else.