Small Talk: The Library

[KittenPokerCheater]

It's late and I've had a long day (but not a bad one) and I'm just popping in to tell you all you're all awesomesauce.  Yes, awesomesauce.  

[trudi-tru]

It looks like Bienvenue Chez les Ch'tis (Welcome to the Sticks) has not been released on U.S. DVD

Too bad, cause it's the funniest.

 

makes me want to say adorbs!!

Yes, we'll shall rename him Alf The Adorbs One

 

Right back at ya, KPC!

Edited August 20, 2015 by trudi-tru

[Chyna]

Gilmore Girls season 5 observations:

I can see why GG fans were so wrecked by Edward Hermann's death--he's so charming, even when his character isn't.

Kelly Bishop and Lauren Graham are both awesome at playing their characters as kind of annoying and yet likeable at the same time.

I know they needed to let Jared Padalecki go for Supernatural but I wish

they'd done it without making him act like such a whiny brat

.

Sebastian Bach is delightful.

Todd Lowe's acting skills improved a *lot* between GG and True Blood. Wow, he is not good.

[KittenPokerCheater]

Our very own YME wrote an essay in a book about Gilmore Girls.  It was about Emily and I don't remember what the title of the book was, but it was a great essay- all about how Emily was a bit of a product of her time/upbringing , and that she might have been a CEO of a company.

 

Any fun plans for the weekend?  I've been reviewing shows for the fringe, which has been a mixed bag this year.  
 

[romantic idiot]

My weekend is over. Workday begins tomorrow. We work Sundays to Thurs, which took some getting used to. 

 

I have been looking for places to rent and am thoroughly confused. The places I like are too expensive and not as well located as others that are cheaper but aren't as nice. And for me location and connectivity are usually the most important things but the expensive places are so so pretty *wails* Ignore me. I just need to gird my loins and decide now. 

 

in other news. I just discovered Sense8. It's awesome, have any of you seen it? It started out a little slowly but I stuck with it and by the end of the last episode I was hooked. And the storytelling is quite dense, so there's a lot of rematch potential as well. Highly recommend. 

[Erratic]

Pretty is always hard to walk away from :(

How is the job?everything you wished for? Are you meeting people?

[Endeavour]

I'm sure you'll hit upon the right place for you, romantic idiot. I think you'll see it and know.

I haven't watched Sense8 but it's another one on my list.

I'm waiting for the pic to come through, but I'm sure your little one is adorable, Erratic.

I've been quieter than usual but for good reason. We have closed! That kept me crazy busy. Thank you for all the good closing vibes. I consider us fortunate to have had it work out so quickly (even with the snafu we ran into early on). I'm looking forward to things settling down a bit.

Have you seen the latest Mr. Robot, KPC? Pretty wild. I'm liking the show more as it goes on but realize now that I should have watched this one more closely in the beginning.

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

[trudi-tru]

Congratulations Endeavour!

[AnnieF]

Yay, Endeavour! That is such a huge relief, isn't it? I think it took me about six months after we closed on our old house before I didn't have thoughts every morning, like "Do I need to go check the mail over there?" and "Can I get some more crap out of the garage today? Heh. Hooray for real estate relief. It is damn stressful.

[Erratic]

Sooooo happy for your closing, Endeavour!

[Earl Is Dead]

Yay! So glad the big headache is over for you now Endeavour!  Flip side: Good luck on the house hunting, romantic idiot. 

 

I see kids going back to school this week already.  It always seems strange to see this happening before Labor Day but it seems to be the norm now.  I guess I'm just old.

Edited August 24, 2015 by Earl Is Dead

[AnnieF]

This is the start of the third week of school for my kids. Seems weird to me too, but what are you gonna do? People seem to like having more, and longer, breaks during the school year, so this "Balanced Calendar," as ours is called, will probably continue.

[KittenPokerCheater]

Woot on the closing endeavour.  Also, check your mail here- I SPELL TERRIBLY.  My brain and hands don't always get along.

 

Have you seen the latest Mr. Robot, KPC? Pretty wild. I'm liking the show more as it goes on but realize now that I should have watched this one more closely in the beginning.

 

Me too.  It's mind-bending.  And I am going to have to rematch it as well.

 

romantic_idiot I am so glad you are apartment hunting, and I hope you find one that suits your needs soon.  Yay that you are staying- what adventures you are having.  

I feel like starting school before Labor Day is a crime.  August is for chilling out in the heat.   I hope the "balanced" schedule is successful for everyone, because school - especially high school- can be stressful for everyone.

 

[Chyna]

We don't start until next week--we usually start somewhere in the 20s of August, but this year not until the 31st. The Chicago public schools don't start until after Labor Day, but that means they stay until nearly the end of June.

[Endeavour]

Thanks everyone.

Yay, Endeavour! That is such a huge relief, isn't it? I think it took me about six months after we closed on our old house before I didn't have thoughts every morning, like "Do I need to go check the mail over there?" and "Can I get some more crap out of the garage today? Heh. Hooray for real estate relief. It is damn stressful.

It is a huge relief and it feels incredibly weird right now.

Wow, third week of school. That just seems wrong.

[trudi-tru]

Schools here start about halfway through September. Climate is a big influence. You put kids in a classroom in August in Sicily and they come out cooked.

[Earl Is Dead]

The teacher in me totally agrees that the balanced schedule makes a lot more sense in terms of learning and retaining information, but the rest of me wants all kids to have the summers of my childhood.  Or maybe I just want them again.

[romantic idiot]

We had summers off - usually all of May which is the hottest month (talking about Bengal, dunno about rest of India). Then we'd have a month off during Sep/Oct/Nov depending upon when the Pujaa / Diwali were and a 3 weeks off at the end of the year. 

 

Except for my brother's school, which weirdly would start back up immediately after Pujas and not give the whole month from Puja to Diwali. (they were a good institution, you see). 

 

And our school year started in April. All of this talk about August seems like crazy talk to me. 

[KittenPokerCheater]

Learning about school years all over the place is fascinating.  My school years usually started in September and ended in late May.   I understand, as an adult, that 3 months of freedom don't necessarily help with the retaining information, but the idea of a six week summer break breaks my heart. 

 

My sister gives homework to her son for the summer and has been doing it for the last few years.  She buys homeschool type work books of the information he learned during the school year to reenforce it during the summer.  He kicks and screams about it, but it takes about an hour in the morning and I think it's been good for him.  I  kind of wish I had something like that- it would have helped immensely with my Math, but hindsight is 20/20.

 

I'm on hold for some work wednesday and thursday but I have no confirmation.  But they don't want me to take work either.  It's frustrating not submitting for work when I don't know is I will actually be working anyway.  Ah, the life of an artist.

 

LnB, you still lurking?  Barphe?  cko it is always great to about your life.  Any other lurkers am I missing?

[Boliver]

 

I  kind of wish I had something like that- it would have helped immensely with my Math, but hindsight is 20/20.

Or, 1.

[KittenPokerCheater]

Oh snap!

Edited August 25, 2015 by KittenPokerCheater

[Loandbehold]

 

 

I  kind of wish I had something like that- it would have helped immensely with my Math, but hindsight is 20/20.

Or, 1.

 

 

Boliver FTW!

 

Yep, still lurking. You can see my "thumbs up" on many of the MMers posts. I got notice today that the Paley Center will be doing an Orphan Black panel in NYC. I might try to get to that one. Anyone in the area interested, let me know.

 

Much vibing and celebrating house closings and other good things.

[Endeavour]

I have now seen the pic, Erratic, and adorable just doesn't begin to cover it. What a cutie.

[Chyna]

My sister gives homework to her son for the summer and has been doing it for the last few years.

 

 

I always tell myself that I'm going to do this and it never actually happens.

[trudi-tru]

I bet the girls prefer it that way.

[KittenPokerCheater]

Today has been another one of those fucking why the fuck do people shoot other people day.  We're having too many of them.  

In light of all this, I wanted to let you know how thankful I am for you all.  

 

Fuck ms, fuck cancer, fuck senseless violence. Fuck people who post their murders on social media.

Viva Alfs, Chynette, TinyC, Fsters, all the other MMkids and happiness.

[trudi-tru]

Today has been another one of those fucking why the fuck do people shoot other people day.  We're having too many of them.

Reading the comments (I know: never read the comments!) on articles about gun control is really disheartening.

I just can't understand what is this supposedly terrible threat against which people feel the need to arm themselves.

"We need guns to protect ourselves" is the mantra. Yeah, but against what?

What society do you think you live in if you believe you can't be safe without a weapon?

 

So did you get any work after all, KPC?

Edited August 28, 2015 by trudi-tru

[KittenPokerCheater]

pokes the thread

 

I did get a couple of days work this last week- yay but nothing lined up for this week.  I'm taking a short class for a) networking purposes (I suck at networking) and b) just to brush my skills a little.

 

re guns:  okay okay it's in the second amendment, but I think that owning those automatic, pull the trigger and spray bullets everywhere, must be outlawed.  The whole gun makes me sad and angry.  and I don't understand why more isn't being done.  For those that live in other states, what is the thought? 

Edited August 30, 2015 by KittenPokerCheater

[Erratic]

Screw the 2nd Amendment. It was amended once, why the fuck not again?

Is history more important than present lives???

Seriously, I believe that many Americans put way too much weight on a 250 year old document that was relevant to a post Revolution country, and ignore the needs of the current society.

[Hostile16]

Gun zealots twist the Declaration the same way Christian fundamentalists do the Bible. The Declaration basically says the British can't come into your house and take your hunting rifle because you might need it in times of war ... say, against the British. The framers had no concept of revolvers or assault rifles or machine guns.

But it's the nation's most powerful lobby group, the National Rifle Association, that prevents sensible gun reform and logical legislation. *Frontline* did an excellent show exposing the amount it donates to politicians of every party and how it ratchets up following major shootings to prevent passage of legislation such as The Brady Bill. Someone once said the only way to stop the NRA was for all of us to join it, vote ourselves into its leadership, and change its policies from inside.

Following the Charleston shooting, Jon Stewart gave a great monologue: youtube.com/watch?v=mjzrvRKv6Ks

Edited August 30, 2015 by Hostile16

[Darkpool]

All the Second Amendment actually does is keep Congress from disarming state and local militias. That's it. Recent creative judicial activism by the Supreme Court's right wing notwithstanding, it was never intended to prevent effective gun control in this country or to prevent cities or states from protecting their own citizens from gun violence -- hence the specification of a "well regulated militia" in the Second Amendment.

 

We don't need to amend the constitution. We need politicians with enough spine to stand up to the gun lobby, and judges who will respect both the letter and the intent of the constitution.

[buffyjunkie]

Dropped the baby off at college today. Seriously, if I ever wake up in one of those age switching movies I am so not changing back. Life is good when you're young. Too bad we're mostly too immature to fully appreciate it at the time. KPC, not to fret. When i'm 21 again and marry a sugar-daddy, I'll be sure to have him finance an excellent indie to make you famous. Erratic, how's the baby stuff going? Romantic idiot, how goeth the acclimation process?

P.S. At college drop-off, I advised the daughter to avoid the Parkers of the world. She replied, "but Parker's cool." And therein lies the problem with confusing Leverage with BtVS.

[Harvester]

The gun lobby has so much cash, so that is a huge part of the problem.

I have been quiet, but that is mostly due to not having big news to report. I am just working away, and of course reading and vibing here.

[Darkpool]

The problem with the BtVS Parkers of the world is they can be hard to spot until after the damage is done.

 

(That goes for the Leverage Parkers too, I suppose, but they're only a problem for about 1% of the population.)

[trudi-tru]

I advised the daughter to avoid the Parkers of the world. She replied, "but Parker's cool." And therein lies the problem with confusing Leverage with BtVS.

Ha!

[Chyna]

Leverage Parker is cool if she's on your side. 

 

Both kids off to school today! Whew.

[KittenPokerCheater]

Wow, all the MM-offspring going off to school.  I hope that once the empty-nest feeling passes, that you can enjoy some quiet.

 

I foolishly agreed to work this week.  outside.  I am nuts.  I love working but honestly, I am nuts.

[AnnieF]

So, hot flashes. WTFOMGLOLBBQFU! I mean really, this seems like an issue that should have been solved in beta. Good job, HumanDesignTeam™! Except not. :/

Anyone else going from 98.6 to surface-of-the-sun in two seconds flat?

[Boliver]

Something for me to look forward to. Yay!

[buffyjunkie]

Holy effing christos, welcome to my world AnnieF. Been going on for a year. Feels like half a dozen guys with flamethrowers melting you from the inside out. It's like the worst influenza fever you ever had. You know the kind when someone touches your skin and they rapidly pull back their hand fearing the burn. And you get to experience it every damn day, multiple times a day. Yay.

[AnnieF]

Yes! It is so horrible! And the call is coming from inside the house!! The hell?!? I mean, I knew this was a thing, but my mom seems to have either seriously downplayed her hot flash experience or hers were much more minor than mine. Because mine are like my core temp suddenly hits MAX and sweat gushes all over my face, under my arms, yuck. And it is so freakin' hard to cool down in the goddamn summertime. Winter was great; it's 35° or 40° outside, perfect. I have never missed working in a place with a walk-in refrigerator as much as I do now.

[trudi-tru]

Good job, HumanDesignTeam™!

Write a complaint. Don't let them get away with it.

[Erratic]

Damn, AnnieF, I have deepest sympathy for you, and I fear the drought now more than ever for myself!

So, we had one of our Foster classes last night. It was about connecting with the birth family, keeping it safe and respectful etc. One of the Foster mums mentioned that she stalks all of her kids parents on Facebook, and I was like, shit! Why have I not done this yet?

Two hours later I found my kid's mother (under a fake name), his oldest sister, and oldest brother (really got his shit together. So great), a picture and the name of his youngest sibling (you can see the resemblance), and his dad. There are a few pictures of mom at the hospital holding him, (but more of her and the dad having fun riding the train to the hospital), and that was weird as hell. It is one thing knowing that he comes from 'other people', but another thing altogether to see the 'others' and have a social media dip into their lives. I am not sure how I feel about it.

We still have no contact with anyone from the birth family even though we are open to it. The dad was incarcerated for a while and therefore sober, and he had indicated that maybe he wanted to be a dad when he came out, but he hasn't requested visits yet either, and based on Facebook, he seems to be back with mom, so we probably won't hear from him.

Just sharing this to air out my head. Thanks :)

Stay cool all you lovely ladies going through that nasty biological misogyny!

Edited September 2, 2015 by Erratic

[Chyna]

Hey, if anyone wants to read any old recaps from TWoP, here's a tip: If you can't access any pages after page 1 (some browsers get a redirect loop), try deleting the last slash--the one that follows the page numbers. I just learned this on the TWoP FB fan page and it made me so happy that I can go back and read the Gilmore Girls recaps!

[buffyjunkie]

Yeah that is a peculiar position to be in Erratic.

Cool Chyna! Sometimes I think about going back for a stroll down memory lane but I feel kind of bogged down in the now. And what free time might come down the line I feel should be devoted to our (husband & my)future, you know? Don't laugh but I'm seriously considering learning how to play the harmonica. I've always wanted to play an instrument and what is more portable than a harmonica!

Edited September 2, 2015 by buffyjunkie

[Chyna]

Don't laugh but I'm seriously considering learning how to play the harmonica.

 

 

Do it!!

[trudi-tru]

I second the "Do it".

 

Erratic, it must be a strange experience you're having right now. I didn't know the parents could ask to visit. Once the adoption goes through, could they still have contact with you and the kid?

[KittenPokerCheater]

Vibes to any and all that have the "that nasty biological misogyny!"  That is so unfair.

 

Buffyjunkie, learn to play the harmonica!  You can serenade your husband with a soulful tune, so it's a win/win.

 

Now I'm going to spend a day or so the coming weekend re-reading old twop recaps.  Thank you Chyna! Gilmore Girls and of school Buffy, here I come.

 

I know that there are sometimes open adoptions in the US, but I don't know about other countries.  For some reason, it never occurred to me that the parents (i.e. you erratic) would know the names of the biological parents.  It makes perfect sense of course.  I am sure it's weird but good to know more about them, but the information is probably  and I very much hope that any road to adoption is a swift and easy one.  You are a fabulous Mom.

[Earl Is Dead]

Thanks for the tip, Chyna!  I've had that happen in the past and just given up.  I just assumed they were gone for good with no tech support to fix the glitch. 

[Erratic]

Just to clarify, we are doing Foster to Adopt, so at this point the child has been taken away from the parents, but they still have parental rights of a sort. The government is in the process of making him a legal ward of the state, at which point the afootion process would start.

I most cases, he would still be having visitation with his birth parents under supervision, but they are unavailable right now. We are quite lucky in that regard as we know most people in our situation have to deal with all the anger and jealousy etc from the birth parents.