Not sure what my plans are tonight. Somehow or another I pulled a muscle in my back and have been gimping around all day. Might just sit on an ice pack.
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This post is in: Open Threads
Not sure what my plans are tonight. Somehow or another I pulled a muscle in my back and have been gimping around all day. Might just sit on an ice pack.
Comments are closed.
Mike Kay
The Arkansas flood is Blanche Lincoln’s Katrina!
Maude
ouch
Mark S.
Preview of Beck’s new novel.
kindness
But I thought you said it was your back that hurt?
I’ve been over at Failblog too much…..
General Egali Tarian Stuck
I never make plans, they always get in the way of what I end up doing. And I have a Biology degree, and am quite sure you can not sit on your back. You can sit on someone elses back, or on your own ass, but not on your own back. That said, some peoples may have their parts in the different places.
middlewest
Guys, stop what you are doing and read this preview of Glen Beck’s novel. I’m pretty sure I’m going to be quoting “don’t tease the panther” for the rest of my natural life.
PurpleGirl
Ah, I understand how you feel. I must have twisted my right knee the other day because it’s hurting today. Not a constant pain, but just now and then for a moment, and every so often it wants to buckle.
Plans for tonight and the weekend include loading software on the tower computer I got working a week ago (or so). It’s now connected to the internet. Then there’s always some freelance typing I picked up.
anonymous
John,
Long time lurker here. What you describe with your back pain and wanting to sit on ice sounds like it could be kidney stones. I have been through this and the best way to describe it is pain in the side of the lower back that does not go away when you sit or adjust positions. Mine started when I thought I strained a muscle as well.
MTmofo
I apologize in advance if this cover of Newsweek ruins anyone’s weekend.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/right-now/2010/06/saint_sarah_at_newsweek.html
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@anonymous: If it was kidney stones, he’d be at the hospital taking hostages demanding a shot.
jeffreyw
Got time for a sammich?
jl
This is not meant as a criticism, just an observation. Sometimes I feel kind of, I dunno, old when I read some of Cole’s posts.
I think I am a few years older than Cole, and that makes sense. So, to be more precise, sometimes I feel much older after reading some of Cole’s posts than just before.
I have been singing old Stones songs to myself today, and after reading this post, one of them started not coming out right.
She’s so beautiful, she’s so beautiful
She’s so beautiful, and I’m so old.
She’s so beautiful, she’s so beautiful
She’s so beautiful, and I’m so OLD.
I’m the grizzled mug, I’m the sagging tire
I’m the couching potato
She’s so beautiful, she’s so beautiful
She’s so beautiful, and I’m so OLD.
I’m going to run look in a mirror and check that I am not THAT old, but I feel like I am right now.
I do hope Cole’s plans for the evening develop, but signs do not look promising. Let’s hope for a more cheerful update later.
Mike Kay
June, July, and August shape up to be a long boring political summer.
No one to primary, no pending issue in committee, even the defeat-Kagan-and-replace-her-with-Angela-Davis movement has petered out.
Doesn’t look like McCain will lose. So the circus is out until late September. :(
Origuy
I get muscle cramps in my back for no apparent reason. Sometimes it’s in response to something I did hours earlier. Sometimes it’s just low potassium levels. Have a banana or two to get some potassium.
jeffreyw
Yay! We’re pregnant!
MikeJ
@middlewest:
Your comment made me think of LL Cool J of course (that video is from the album Walking with a Panther)
And of course that song gets us back to our host and his physical problems:
I’m the type of guy to make her say, “Why you’re illin, Bee?”
You’re the type of guy to say, “My lower back is killin me”
…Catch my drift?
John Cole
@anonymous: This pain goes away when I sit a certain way or lie down. That is how I know it is muscles.
eco2geek
So the other day when Cole said he was PO’d that no one gave him the proper amount of adulation for his “It’s all about the Binyamins” blog title, I replied that I was PO’d that I’d have to spend time researching his song reference – but it could actually be done with only a little Net ‘n’ Yahoo. Get it? Net ‘n’ Yahoo? As in Binyamin…
Crickets. Sigh. My feelings are still hurt.
Here in the Pacific Northwest, it’s been raining like hell. This weekend the sun’s finally coming out and they say it’ll be in the 80s. Time to wash the hoopdy and mow the lawn.
WereBear
@jeffreyw: I’m so happy for you and the wife. I’m supposing this is one child who will not have to beg for a puppy or kitty?
I know at least one commenter here lost a pet in the 2007 Melamine Scandal. The FDA has released a video about the amazing detective work involved.
Get better, John. May it be fleeting and non-repeatable.
Elisabeth
@jeffreyw:
Twins! Congrats!
We’ve got a nursery full of peppers.
(I think I got made a pun.)
jeffreyw
@WereBear:
I predict the child will be begging for a coat of flour with some pepper sprinkles before very long. I am an obliging parent.
bkny
ugh, horrifying reports about flash floods thru an arkansas campground with dozens missing.
El Cid
Chuck Schumer, on how Israel’s right to punish the Gazans via economic strangulation, partly because “they don’t believe in the Torah” or David.
I’m so glad we have these two political parties to disagree with each other so much about foreign policy.
Elisabeth
@El Cid:
Oy.
How’s that notion been working for Cuba? Iran?
slag
@John Cole: Sounds like it’s past time to work out those core muscles more. Have you been doing your sit ups? Planks? Push ups?
ellaesther
@Mark S.: Honestly, hand to God, I just went: “Beck wrote a novel?” (in this internal monologue, “Beck” = Beck Hansen, singer-songwriter extraordinaire).
tavella
I’m sure you will be shocked and surprised to discover that the Sunderlands were positioning themselves for a reality show.
SiubhanDuinne
@Mark S.:
@middlewest:
Hee hee! I was heading over here myself for the sole purpose of linking to the Media Matters review. They really had fun writing the synopsis. Most of the comments are pretty funny too.
Beck is so wonderfully, deliciously mockable. I can’t wait to hear Keith and Rachel and some of the others go to town on this “book” (scare quotes deliberate).
If we’re very very good and eat all our vegetables and wash behind the ears, maybe we’ll be rewarded by Bible Spice “writing” a “review” of Glenn’s “book” on her twitterface page.
“Don’t tease the panther.” Hee hee hee hee hee!!
Cat Lady
Listened to a rerun of a Terry Gross interview on NPR this pm with Burt Bacharach and Hal David re Promises Promises re-opening on Broadway which led me to revisit Dionne Warwick, then to Aretha! which then led me to this. American popular music FTW!
jeffreyw
@Elisabeth:
We have a few pepper plants but they are lagging. We do have a pretty bell pepper.
Keith G
@El Cid: How dare you criticize Schumer’s right to quash criticism of Israel?
You are insensitive and probably a racist. You sir, must retire.
ellaesther
@El Cid: The craziest thing about that quote is not actually the Torah/David bullshit, but the notion that “moderation and cooperation” ever got the Palestinians anything.
I personally thought it had gotten us both something when I was dancing in the streets of Tel Aviv after Oslo was signed, but honestly? That’s not quite what happened. Abbas (Mr. “moderation and cooperation,” at least as far as Israel and the West are concerned) begged — positively begged — Sharon for negotiations before the 2005 Israeli retreat from Gaza, so that he would have something to show for a decade of negotiations, and Sharon refused. So Hamas claimed it as a victory, and won the election six months later. And Israel was left without security arrangements! Whoot!
Israel has a life-long history of rejecting Palestinian moderates as too extreme, until they are on the wane and someone more extreme is on the rise, and then suddenly: Oh! We actually can stomach you, former rejects!
It hasn’t worked out all that well.
cat48
The President does care about Arkansas!
Allan
Sorry about your back, John.
It sounds as touchy and injury-prone as, well, your site.
I hope they both get better soon, because it’s hard to laugh at the jokes when your back hurts, or when you have to scroll waaaaay to the right in order to arrive at the punch line.
ellaesther
@John Cole: Good luck, man. Muscles are, not infrequently, real bitches.
ellaesther
@General Egali Tarian Stuck: This cracked me up, possibly more than it should have.
AhabTRuler
@El Cid: Nice that Chuckie admits that the blockade is collective punishment.
slag
@Cat Lady: Love that song. When we were doing some backpacking through Alaska, we ended up getting stuck overnight in some tiny town in the Yukon. Sitting in the bar of our craphole hotel, we were exhausted, grimy, and starving from a lack of decent vegetarian food, but as soon as I heard the opening of that song, I just sang to myself, “everything is alright”. Love that song.
CaseyL
Never mind ice packs, John: use bags of frozen veggies, ideally peas. No, really: they conform to the shape of your body better. I have some ancient bags of frozen peas I keep purely for icing achey breaky body parts.
Here’s news that, if true, is absolutely huge:
Rerouting the Mississippi=”http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/6/11/874953/-Source:-HUGE-Federal-Gulf-Public-Works-Project-Coming”
One of the commentors there said this project has been talked about for years and never gets anywhere near reality, so one should remain skeptical. But if it’s true, and the Obama Administration is seriously considering this project, it would be on the scale of the TVA. The theory (hope?) is that rerouting the river will clean out and revive the marshlands. Or something like that…
Cat Lady
@slag:
Which one?
Elie
Hey, has anyone seen valdivia around these parts lately? Just asking. Hadnt seen any comments from her in a while..
slag
@Cat Lady: Sorry. this
AhabTRuler
For consideration. Recommended, even.
And one more.
El Cid
@ellaesther: Here’s a parallel. Very different, but it’s the same example of this sort of faked anguish at having felt betrayed by the other party.
Reagan’s death squad buddies in power in Guatemala and El Salvador would be receiving the usual criticism from the America- and freedom-haters that they were slaughtering civilians and the like. Let’s call one Tyrant X.
And the Elliot Abrams and other forces of darkness and media worshipers and cowards would go out and scream how these were all baseless charges — and that Tyrant X is the first one to ever work this hard on improving human rights, etc.
Then Tyrant X would leave office, sometimes in disgrace, and Tyrant Y would take over.
Then all of a sudden the United States and the not-state-run-but-it-might-well-have-been media would echo that Tyrant Y is now really going to work hard to correct the awful human rights violations of Tyrant X, because that guy just refused to do the wonderful things we had suggested.
Carrie
Three words.
Cayenne pepper massage.
MikeJ
@Elie: Google says 3 and 4 days ago.
El Cid
@AhabTRuler: No he didn’t. If you say that this is what he said, he would explain that you heard him completely wrong, this is a total misinterpretation of his comments, and an example of how the anti-Israel forces spin everything.
Mnemosyne
@tavella:
Linky broken.
LikeableInMyOwnWay
Courtesy of WashingtonMonthly, I think I have found the most admirable and best sense of humor on earth, in the person of Roger Simon.
scav
@ellaesther: Sounds rather like Lucy and the football. Only currently she’s upset that Charlie Brown has a clue and doesn’t trust herand won’t play her games using her rules. All Stick, no Carrots, let alone Snack Foods. Torahball!
Keith G
Crispian St. Peters passed away at 71. Besides having one of the best names in pop music, he is known for this standout hit in 1966.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_JsBU8o-ok
kommrade reproductive vigor
Were mops involved?
Elisabeth
@jeffreyw:
That’s a pretty pepper you’ll be picking posthaste.
Ours are supposed to turn red at some point but I don’t think they’re shaping up to be that well shaped.
tavella
Foo. Okay, trying again:
Adventures in Sunderland (Reality TV Show)
Cat Lady
@slag:
RIP Dusty Springfield.
@Carrie:
Hmmmmmmm.
AhabTRuler
@El Cid: Yes, but at least my JMIL will acknowledge it for the bullshit that it is.
hal
Does anybody think it would be possible to introduce a constitutional amendment to ban food commercials featuring audible chewing and crunching?
Call it the KFC/Kit Kat Amendment, since they seem to feature one commercial after another of people crunching away.
Those damn commercials drive me crazy, and force me to change the channel, or I will have munch munch munch to the tune of the kit kat bar jingle stuck in my head all day.
Mouse Tolliver
On Countdown, apparently Alvin Green got more votes than were officially cast. Somebody better go to jail over this.
pika
Hey, John: YOGA. Won’t help this twinge, but will strengthen your back to help keep this from happening again. Utterly amazing. But, there I am, typing like a DFH again. Or, you could just have Tunch meatloaf on the affected area–I had a cat do that once, and I swear she performed a chiropractic adjustment (I can only guess as I have never visited a chiropractor).
bkny
@CaseyL:
that’s a really exciting idea — and depressing at the same time. obviously the good it would do — cleaning up and reclaiming the wetlands, the jobs, the obliteration of teabaggers because a massive gubmint project like this i think would be wildly popular
depressing because guess what corporations would move in and suck up most of those billions — halliburton, bechtel, kbr…
Cat Lady
@Mouse Tolliver:
I said in an earlier thread about this that the votes for him were the real story. How did he “win”?
Calouste
For all the world cup followers out here, this here is a very convenient calendar in a rather non-calendar way (despite a few snags in the Spanish to English conversion)
Mouse Tolliver
@Cat Lady: I’m thinking he “won” the primary in the same way Carrie White “won” prom queen.
More votes than were officially cast in 25 precincts. That’s an awful lot of fat fingers if this was a clerical error.
Cat Lady
@Mouse Tolliver:
But why bother? No Dem is going to beat DeMint. Nothing about this makes any sense politically. WTF? Is there a huge live or dead boy scandal coming out about DeMint?
AhabTRuler
@pika: Seconded. Yoga has really helped my back issues. Still a work in progress, but a definite improvement.
Mouse Tolliver
@Cat Lady: The guy that was just on Countdown said DeMint’s poll numbers weren’t that great. He could win, but he was going to have to work for it.
WereBear
@AhabTRuler: I would add that yoga is great for flexibility, which helps your back. If you can use the right muscles in the right order, you’ve solved a lot of potential problems.
Now, strengthening your core: that would be Pilates, in my experience. I did a 20 minute session and would up walking bent over for three days. Talk about targeting!
QuaintIrene
This is my favorite line from the review-
“The Overton Window is chock-full of characters that don’t really do anything, but perhaps the person whose presence is least felt is the editor.”
Does Beck fancy himself as the new Dan Brown?
Cat Lady
@Mouse Tolliver:
I don’t know – really? Something’s missing. It’s whackaloon revanchist “you lie” Joe Wilson’s South Carolina, and the establishment Dem didn’t stand a snowball’s chance against DeMint. I know conventional wisdom can be blind to the on the ground reality, but to think that DeMint needed to ratfuck the Dems to that extent? I’m not buying it. Something weird happened, obviously, but it’s about something else. Clyburn will figure it out.
SIA
@MTmofo: I know what the cover is and therefore, think I’ll pass. :)
@bkny: The summer of the apocalypse.
In light of the ongoing shit-storm, here’s a bit of humor (Ron Beasley, found this at your site – very funny. Posted last night in the menu thread but it was late)
http://www.newshoggers.com/blog/2010/06/nodrama-obama-kicking-ass.html
djork
@Cat Lady:
Love me some Bacharach. The Dionne Warwick stuff is amazing. Walk on By is my favorite.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO073fekFfA
I am alone for awhile my GF has ladies night. I’m drinking and trying to learn Shostakovich melodies on the guitar.
So far, I’ve butchered:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDW4VJGKLAQ
And:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYhZVqODYsI
I am almost buzzed enough to attempt the song I call “Triplets from Hell.” I’d hate to be a woodwind player on this song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ocflexpo40U
I lurve me some Shostakovich.
Djork + 2.5ish
demo woman
@QuaintIrene: Many decades ago, my mother found a romance magazine in my room. I might have been 14 at the time. She had me read a few paragraphs out loud. I never picked up another copy. Jon Stewart could read a few paragraphs out loud or better yet Hal Holbrook could read it aloud on Jon Stewart.
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN)
I just got back from visiting Eddie. They biopsied the lesions on his face, and we’ll get the results back sometime next week. The doctor said that he came out of the oxygen cage a few hours after I left last night.
I left him there because he hasn’t started eating yet. She said he only had a couple of bites last night, and nothing this morning since the biopsy involves anesthesia. He didn’t eat anything during my visit, but he’s still not entirely recovered, and the visiting area was pretty noisy, which disturbs him. He hid under the chairs the whole time, and I reached under to pet him.
I’m going to leave him there until he starts eating. Hopefully, that means I’ll bring him home tomorrow. It’s much easier to give him his medications there, and if he won’t eat there, I’m pretty sure he won’t eat here. So, it’s a waiting game now. Other than not eating, he seemed fine tonight, except his cheek. He’s got a couple of stitches in there, and it looks like it itches, because he was rubbing it against the underside of the chairs a lot. I hauled him out (quite a struggle) and put him back in the box when I noticed he was bleeding from the wound a little.
Sigh.
mcd410x
If you haven’t checked out Nate Silver’s World Cup group stage predictions, they’re worth taking a look.
Elie
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN):
Hugs to you, hugs…
He feels your love I am sure
MikeJ
@mcd410x: Engerland is going to be too depressed to beat Algeria after we go all Gulf of Mexico on their asses.
abscam
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): If he goes too long without eating you can get some medicine from the vet to perk up his appetite. I used it after one of my cats had serious dental issues and refused to eat due to the pain prior to treatment. Best of luck.
Elie
Life sure is interesting.
Have been hanging over at The Oil Drum to pick up some learnin and read the buzz from the technical wonks surrounding the oil business.
Many are amazingly smart, also patient and good explainers but mixed in these very bright people are some of the strangest contrasts! From one minute they are spouting psi and pipe diameters and the actions of liquids and gases under pressure and the next minute Obama is from Mars and he is trying to take over the world (I exagerrate, but only a little).. For balance, there are also more than a few leftist paranoids talking about BP conspiracies along with the government to have the well run on and on — because? Well because SHUT UP thats why!
Its quite smooth sometimes.. One commenter will hold forth on some technical issue in one paragraph and then slide into a comment about the Chinese working with the Obama administation to bankrupt BP…
Its wild.
Mostly I just read for facts and try to pick around the political commentary, which is generally not particularly well informed or sophisticated (unless you lean towards government take over by aliens and such) — my goal is just understanding the best way possible about the technical issues around the GOM blow out. Still, if folks like that have so much of the crazy, what do we expect of the less intelligent?
Elie
..And
YAY BLACKHAWKS! Also.
Svensker
@El Cid:
Yeah, isn’t that sweet. And the calls for Schumer to resign, like those that forced out Helen Thomas, are simply DEAFENING. So deafening I can’t hear them, in fact.
Cat Lady
@djork:
Beautiful! All of it. What did we do before YouTube?
Svensker
@Cat Lady:
Oh, no! It can’t be true! I wanted to be her, so bad. I hate getting old.
SIA
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): That poor baby has been through the ringer. I’m sending special healing thoughts to Eddie. Hope you can bring him home soon.
djork
@Cat Lady:
Tell me about it. Finding music used to be only for the dedicated. Pretty much the only options for adventurous music lovers were:
1. College radio
2. Public Radio
3. Record store nerds
Now any idiot can find pretty much any piece of music within minutes. I think it’s a good thing, though. Music is meant to be shared. I only hope college radio, public radio and music nerds don’t suffer.
Djork +3.37ish
South of I-10
@CaseyL: It is an interesting idea. I clicked through to the NYT article discussing diverting more water to the Mississippi. I guess my concern would be what happens to the Atchafalaya and the Atchafalaya Basin, which is dependent on the water from the Atchafalaya. Anyway, if you ever want an interesting read on the Mississippi, the Corps of Engineers and why things are the way they are, pick up Rising Tide by John Barry.
SIA
@eco2geek:
You win.
Darkrose
Tell the truth: you tried to pick Tunch up, didn’t you?
Darkrose
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): Sending good thoughts and hugs and stuff.
SIA
@pika: @AhabTRuler: Thirded. I did yoga for years and then slacked off for about 10 years. Big mistake. I’m limping back into it, sometimes feeling like crying when I think of the postures I was once able to do with ease that I can’t even approach now. That being said, after just a month or so of a few nights a week, I’m standing and walking differently, and the body feels so much more unified. Well worth it.
Corner Stone
@tavella: Reality Show?
That’s unpossible! Surely the lives of children are not worth fame and fortune.
Corner Stone
@Carrie:
This…intrigues me. I’m intrigued.
SiubhanDuinne
@Svensker #82: OK, am I crazy? I truly thought Dusty Springfield had died about 10-15 years ago. Wonder who(m) I am thinking of.
/trots off to do some Googling
CynDee
@jeffreyw: Okay, Jeffrey, this is your Best. One. YET.
Nellcote
Saint Sarah of Newsweak
OMG! That’s just so sad.
EXPERT DEATHAVOIDER.
My Lemon tree is very pretty, want to see it?
Tattoosydney
Sexual Congress – Which of the members of US Congress is the sexiest? This is your chance to rate such beauties as Henry Waxman and John Boehner, and help Martin Heinrich edge out Aaron Schock for the title of sexiest of all. Safe for work.
Mark S.
@Tattoosydney:
Jeez, on one of them I had to pick between Waxman and Spector. That may be the only beauty contest Waxman ever wins.
Yutsano
@Tattoosydney: Heh. One of my Senators is in the top ten and the other is in the bottom ten.
El Cid
A helpful and quick lesson on vegan cooking.
Mark S.
@Nellcote:
Weigel says “I can picture Newsbusters bloggers banging their heads against a wall, unable to find bits to disagree with.” Oh, I could see them whining about this:
But on the whole it’s quite a tongue job.
asiangrrlMN
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): Poor poor Eddie. Sending more vibes his way–and yours.
@SIA: OK. I gotta be the negative voice here. I hate yoga. I have ended up in tears every time I’ve tried it because the pain is so bad. I much prefer tai chi which is both good for flexibility and self-defense.
@Tattoosydney: Easy. Al Franken ‘coz brains humor are sexy. Actually, it’s Anthony Weiner, thanks for playing. How you? OK, I’m trying the sexy thing, but I guess I disagree with the world, although the way they use stats is suspicious.
SiubhanDuinne
@asiangrrlMN: haven’t checked out the site yet, but totally with you on Franken, for the reasons you state. I’d put Sherrod Brown in that category, too.
AnnaN
“Somehow or another I pulled a muscle in my butt…”
Fixed.
Tattoosydney
@asiangrrlMN:
I would not disagree with either of those. I do find Aaron Schock distressingly pretty.
Yes. the percentages are being compared oddly. I feel sorry for poor
Eleanor Holmes Norton, who is actually quite a striking looking woman.
SIA
@SiubhanDuinne: Are we talking sexy congress critters? Sen Brown is very attractive. Hubba hubba.
@asiangrrlMN: If it’s painful then definitely it’s not right for you. What I like about yoga is you can practice at whatever level your body is at. Mr Screaming took Aikido for years, and now he’s taking Tai chi, which he’s really enjoying. He’s not that comfortable with yoga, but the Tai Chi is helping him staying flexible and loose. I love watching someone practice Tai Chi. It’s really beautiful. It’s all just what works for each person I suppose.
asiangrrlMN
@SiubhanDuinne: Oh yes. He is yummy, too. Love his voice. Apparently, I am in the minority when it comes to pulchritude (surprise, surprise).
@Tattoosydney: I voted for her a few times. That Schock guy is TOTALLY your type. I couldn’t make myself vote for Bachmann no matter what because to me, her soul is so ugly, her outsides are grotesque. I have a thing for Debbie Wasserman Schultz, though, and Tammy Baldwin.
asiangrrlMN
FYWPWAVRPF
Repost, part I:
@SiubhanDuinne: Oh yes. He is yummy, too. Love his voice. Apparently, I am in the minority when it comes to pulchritude (surprise, surprise).
@SIA: Yes. Apparently the few yoga classes I had (one was a free demonstration) were of the stretch until it hurts variety. Not my favorite cup of tea.
demimondian
@SIA: FDDD and I did Tai Chi together for a while. It’s really quite a remarkable discipline — and, as you say, quite lovely to watch.
asiangrrlMN
FYWAVRPFWP
Repost, part deux.
Tattoosydney @#104: I voted for her a few times. That Schock guy is TOTALLY your type. I couldn’t make myself vote for Bachmann no matter what because to me, her soul is so ugly, her outsides are grotesque. I have a thing for Debbie Wasserman Schultz, though, and Tammy Baldwin.
P.S. I LOVE tai chi! That is all.
demimondian
Mead update — last winter, I mentioned that I was thinking about making a mead or so. In December, the eldest of the demi-offspring and I actually made a true mead and a cyser. The true mead is still not completely cleared — they take a long time — but the cyser has finished.
It’s really quite lovely, sweet and flowery…but, at 20% EtOH by volume, it’s not the kind of thing one drinks much of.
AhabTRuler
@Tattoosydney: These were fer you.
I’ll also give you this.
And I always love to pronounce congress as one pronounces the Indian political party, Con-Gress.
@asiangrrlMN: Fixed.
asiangrrlMN
@demimondian: Or in my case, any at all. Damn. That’s some potent brew.
@AhabTRuler: You’ll also give him a blank page? How very generous! Your second link no work. You fix.
Oh, and, Cole. Sorry about your back. Have Tunchie walk on it for you. That should fix you right up.
Steeplejack
Night shift checking in.
It’s not a full moon, is it? Because I had a run of crazy-ass customers tonight. One guy was wanting “restitution” because the wi-fi was not running to his liking. “Dude. It’s a free service.” (It appeared to be working fine for the 5-8 people sitting all around him.) But he demanded to “escalate,” so the last I saw he was yelling at some (other) hapless drone on the 800 number. Good times.
Steep +0
AhabTRuler
@Steeplejack: “Dude, I paid you nothing, and I want you to make me whole!”
demimondian
@asiangrrlMN: Yeah, it’s butt-kicking. I drink even a couple of ounces and my eyes start swelling shut.
As a home-brewer, the best part is saying “sweet” and “20% EtOH by volume” to describe the same drink. It’s almost impossible to achieve that combination with anything except either a mead or a fortified wine or malt liquor.
asiangrrlMN
@Steeplejack: I think you need to get started on your plus number right now! Any more champers?
@demimondian: I would actually like to taste that. Hmmmm….
SIA
@asiangrrlMN:
Ok, let me see. F**k you word press with a ? rusty pitchfork? The ‘V’ is for ‘very’?
Re the yoga – a good teacher would never let a student push past their level of flexibility. I’ve had quite a few, and they always went to the other extreme of cautioning the students not to do anything that was painful. I regret that that was your intro to it.
@demimondian: And Tai Chi and yoga can be practiced well into old age. My aunt and mother are both still going strong and they’re in their 70’s. My running days were over by the time I reached 30. I saw a yoga program that was really wonderful on PBS once called “Yoga for the Rest of Us”. Going to see if I can hunt up a video.
ETA Well that was easy! Peggy Cappy, who says you don’t have to be thin, young, or a contortionist to practice yoga.
http://www.amazon.com/Yoga-Rest-Us-Peggy-Cappy/dp/B0001IXT90
demimondian
@asiangrrlMN: Regrettably, I can’t legally ship across state lines, federal law being what it is. Otherwise, I’d send you a bottle.
eco2geek
@SIA: > smooch <
That was nice of you.
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN:
Dear FSM I am getting to know you too well. I didn’t even need a translation of that acronym.
@Tattoosydney: Schock is nice to look at but falls under the category of good for a shag but not for breakfast. Poor child doesn’t have a brain in his head. In fact, I’m hard pressed to come up with a single piece of legislation he’s been responsible for. But he’s in a safe district, and he’s mostly inoffensive beyond the occasional Republican lockstep ideas thing.
Steeplejack
@AhabTRuler:
God, those were just the highlights. He was throwing around a lot of nonsensical techno lingo that he obviously didn’t understand, and when I asked him if the wi-fi connection was working for him now he said, “Well, yes, but probably only because I raised Cain about it.”
I couldn’t resist: “Well, I’m not sure it responds directly to the level of Cain being raised, but I’m glad it’s working for you now.” Got a muffled snort out of someone at the next table on that one. Yeah! [Jon Stewart elbow-fist motion] And immediate street cred with a rookie new hire who was in awe at how I was playing this guy, defusing him and shunting him off to his no doubt extremely satisfying conversation on the 800 number.
Steep +1
Steeplejack
@asiangrrlMN:
No champagne tonight, although I did have some earlier in the week. Right now it’s humble but respectable Sam Adams Irish Red. Wish my grocery store would start carrying Sam Adams Black Lager again. Don’t know if they’re just not carrying it or if it’s out of the rotation completely right now. Sort of like Disney and their classic movies. Limited release, etc. Whatever. Anyway, good to be back home and settled in for the evening at Balloon Juice. What have I missed?
Corner Stone
@Steeplejack:
Hmmm, where to begin.
SIA
@Steeplejack: Your comment and the discussion about Tai Chi etc made me think of this great book I used to read when I was much more tangled up in the corporate mine field.
Aikido for Everyday Life
(Hope the link thing works, especially since you’re the one who ‘splained it to me.)
Yutsano
@SIA: Linkage was successful. :)
BC
@PurpleGirl: I had the same type of problem, thought it was my knee, but I had a small tear in the hamstring. Painful as hell. You might have the same thing (my pain was to the back of the knee, not the knee itself), put cold on it (cold cures all) and don’t overdo. Riding stationary bicycle or doing air bicycle moves with the leg will strengthen the muscle and help it heal. Ibuprofen or Advil work as well. Took me a weak of babying the knee and now it doesn’t hurt near as much.
Steeplejack
@Corner Stone:
So true, and true every day here at Balloon Juice. (Glad I missed the parenting marathon.) It was more of a rhetorical gambit than an actual question.
Sheila
Read Doctor Sarno.
Steeplejack
@SIA:
I used to practice aikido (I really miss it), and I think it does have a lot of applicability to “real life.”
It’s especially useful for me, because I can be a bit of a rageaholic (in the John Cole mode, although maybe not so flaming) when I think someone is being a dick, and so it is invaluable in dealing with the asshole customers I encounter on a daily basis.
Corner Stone
@Steeplejack: I disagree. Clearly I was correct.
Corner Stone
@Steeplejack:
Honestly. I may love you for this.
Steeplejack
@Corner Stone:
Damn your eyes, sir, you are wrong.
(Er, what are we arguing about again?)
Steeplejack
Where did everyone go? Was it something I said?
Right, then, I’ll just get caught up on the back threads.
SIA
@Steeplejack: Are you out on the west coast or just a late nighter? :) Was just watching parts of “Real Time”. They had Rachel Maddow on, along with Meacham (yawn) and Bill Frist (gag). It was fun watching Frist dance around trying to defend the filibuster in the Senate with all this crap about protecting the minority. Thank FSM there are a few pure liberal voices out there like Rachel to call them on their BS. I think that’s why she’s so popular – an unapologetic, smart, well-researched leftie.
Sweet dreams all.
Steeplejack
@SIA:
Late-nighter on the East Coast. I often work until 11:00 p.m. (or later) and don’t get home until 11:30 or 12:00. And I can’t go right to bed because my brain is still arc’ing and sparking from work. So I end up doing the night-owl thing.
asiangrrlMN
@SIA: And don’t forget hot. The yoga instructor who was demonstrating at a party I attended physically pushed me further into the stretches. I was not impressed. P.S. You got the acronym exactly right!
@demimondian: It’s actually probably a good thing as I have an extremely low tolerance for alky-hol.
@Yutsano: That’s what happens in a good fake-marriage like ours! Next thing you know, we’ll begin to look alike as well.
Steepman, oh, you missed the usual angst and emo punks going at each other (and that was just the front pagers). Other than that, nothing at all. I hope you’re plus many more by now!
asiangrrlMN
@Steeplejack: There you are! Are you a forced late-nighter (because of the job), or do you prefer it?
Yutsano
@SIA: Rachel was awesome, Bill Frist was a total slimeball, and the most interesting thing about Meacham was watching his hands dance. And Oliver stone more or less rambled, although I do find the concept of his new documentary intriguing. Not a bad way to wrap up a season IMHO.
@asiangrrlMN: I haz no tattoos. Maybe someday, but right now not so much. I do have black hair though.
asiangrrlMN
@Yutsano: Woah, wait. You have black hair? That seriously disturbs my mental image of you….
Steeplejack
@asiangrrlMN:
Plus a few. Seems kind of quiet around here tonight. Which is okay. I’m getting caught up on the threads from today and possibly considering an early (for me) bedtime.
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: I’m half-Jewish you know. My mom’s blond hair genes didn’t make it into any of her sons. I also realize you two don’t know exactly what I look like. I shall have to rectify that situation.
MBSS
@Yutsano:
for some reason i pictured you as asian.
asiangrrlMN
@Steeplejack: Me, too. I’m pretty bushed.
@Yutsano: Huh. I have a picture of you as a sturdy sandy blond guy.
@MBSS: He’s honorary Asian!
Yutsano
@MBSS: It seems to be a common misunderstanding, I’m guessing relating to my nom de Internet, which looks vaguely Japanese-ish. Plus I speak Japanese. My actual ethnic background is French-Canadian/Jewish/Native American/German/Slovenian. In other words, typical all-American mutt. :)
@asiangrrlMN: So you’re picturing me as a smaller version of John Cole? I’m flattered. It’s incorrect, but I am flattered.
Steeplejack
@asiangrrlMN:
At the Big Box Bookstore you have to fill out an “availability form,” i.e., when you can work (or are willing to work). My current one is that I will not work on Sunday and I will not work on Monday. Other than that, I’m at their service. I learned from bitter experience that (a) I really can’t stand to work both weekend days (customers are far worse–messier, crazier, etc.–than during the week) and (b) I need my two off days a week to be contiguous.
So basically they use me Tuesday-Saturday as human spackle to fill in gaps in the schedule. I’ve been there a while and I know how to do everything. I tend to close a lot, because many people don’t want the late shift, and I work a lot in the Music department (CDs, DVDs, audiobooks) because it is somewhat gnarlier and not a lot of booksellers know the ropes there.
I am somewhat of a night owl by temperament, but it’s not a big deal either way to me. The thing that kills me, I find, is inconsistency–where I can’t get on a “regular” schedule, even for just a week. When I have a week’s schedule (as I have a lot recently) where I close (3:00-11:00), then have a midshift (10:00-7:00), then open (8:30-4:30), open and close again–or some inconsistent variation of that–my circadian rhythms go out the window and I am truly fucked. Everything decomposes into small periods of “I’m sleeping for a while,” “I’m awake for a while,” “Oh, I have to go to work,” etc. Plus, “Oh, yeah, I have to deal with my [all too few] software clients somewhere in there too.”
This week (and next week) my schedule has actually improved because I got all closing shifts. I can get into some semblance of a routine. Go to work at 3:00 or 4:00 p.m., get home a little before midnight, do the night-owl thing (go to bed 2:00-4:00 a.m.), get up around 7:00-8:00 a.m. (I cannot “sleep in”), putter around the man-cave over the long morning, do some software work or writing, maybe have a bit of a catnap before going back to work the next afternoon.
But I realize that even that is so far from real “normal” for most people that it’s laughable. As I have said before, it’s all about the health insurance–the only tangible benefit that keeps me at that job for the time being.
Lately I have been thinking about taking Wednesday off my availability to give me another inviolable chunk of “me time” (along with Monday) to do software work, meet with clients or potential clients, etc. And it would give me another buffer zone in the crazy schedule.
Apologize if this answer was tl;dr.
MBSS
i’ve never seen a picture of cole.
i picture him as a chubby, tall, light brown haired, brown eyed, type of guy with fairly conventional waspy features and wearing jeans with tennis shoes and a flannel shirt.
did i just describe al gore on vacation?
@Yutsano:
maybe it’s the handle. i’m an all american mutt, as well, but my muttiness is regional. i’m a california mutt.
i’ve seen you, asiangrrl, because i’ve browsed your blob.
MBSS
@Steeplejack:
what do you do late at night? browse the interwebs? sports replays? late night snacks?
asiangrrlMN
@Yutsano: Hm. Actually, kinda (I’ve seen a pic of him). Huh.
@Steeplejack: Not too long at all. I think it would be really difficult to have a staggered schedule like that. I am, as you probably can tell, a late-night person, and since most of my work is freelance editing, I can set my own schedule. I like that.
@MBSS: You’re actually pretty close. I would call his hair sandy blond, and he has…a full face. And, you’ve browsed my blob? Heh. That’s funny (but thanks).
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: You’re gonna re-name it. There’s no point in resisting, you’re gonna take that particular brain worm and run with it. I wholeheartedly approve of this activity.
asiangrrlMN
@Yutsano: Browse my blob? Hah! I am tempted….
Steeplejack
@MBSS:
The Intertubes are a great thing for night owls. But so, too, is cable TV. It’s hard to explain to the yoots today how you could be hanging out in the ’70s and everything shut down around midnight or 1:00 a.m.–and there wasn’t even that much to shut down in the first place. I can remember when it was teh awesome that SCTV or The Kids in the Hall came on after Saturday Night Live. ZOMG! And that was just on Saturday night. Weeknights–forget about it. But I digress.
Typically, when I get home from work around midnight, I catch up on Balloon Juice (and a few other sites), snack/nosh/graze (e.g., hummus and crackers, olives, Dove dark chocolate, maybe a small sandwich), maybe catch the tail end of a baseball game on TV (or the sports recap on ESPN). Sometimes I’ll watch a movie, either live or from the DVR, or listen to (suitably late-night) music. The main thing is that my brain is still (hyper)active from work and I can’t just go right to bed. I have to cycle down for a while. I can’t read (other than on-line stuff), but occasionally I will write, either e-mail or Deep Thoughts.
Sports replays typically don’t work for me, because I have an unerring ability to run into spoilers, e.g., if I’m recording a game to watch when I get home, invariably some customer will pop up with something like: “Holy shit, that Pittsburgh game was awesome. I can’t believe they scored with three seconds to go. I had to get out of the house and come get a DVD to calm down.” Thanks, asshole.
Radio plug: WCLK in Atlanta is awesome for late-night jazz. I listened to that station religiously when I lived in Atlanta, and I love streaming it over the Web now. Check it on a weeknight at midnight when Abdul comes on. He always starts with Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme” and then does a little rap on the meaning of jazz music. And then he plays great classic jazz until 5:00 a.m.
asiangrrlMN
@Steeplejack: Oh, I feel bad for you that you get your sports enjoyment spoiled like that. I do it to myself, unfortunately, because I’m usually on the webs when I watch my DVR playbacks. Yeah, try avoiding important sports scores on the net. Good luck with that.
@Steeplejack: I’ve seen a very fuzzy pic of him so I have a very general idea of what he looks like. He’s cute. He should have no problems finding a ladyfriend.
Steeplejack
@asiangrrlMN:
So you’re saying you’ve seen Cole live and in person? Or a picture? Hmm. I thought his secret identity was a closely guarded secret.
MBSS
@Steeplejack:
“the kids in the hall” was great sketch comedy. those canadians sure have an overdeveloped funny bone. i’m crushing your head.
hummus and dark chocolate sound really good. i finished off the last of my hummus last night after reading anne laurie’s food post. if the middle east can agree on nothing else, at least they can agree on hummus. delicious.
i know how it is getting off late at night. i used to work as a waiter and i’d usually get off around 11 and be all wound up for hours. i’d usually drink a bit, or sometimes read to wind down (probably a lot healthier for the ol’ liver), but it would definitely take a while before i was able to hit the hay.
speaking of hitting the hay, it’s after 12 here west coast time and i think my carriage has turned back into a pumpkin. better get back to the castle.
Yutsano
@Steeplejack: I think JC’s true appearance is one of those closely guarded state secret things. Or something. Course we gave DougJ unholy hell for hosting the SFO fest and not divulging his appearance. So apparently our hosts don’t feel the need to show photographic evidence of their existence. I still want papillion pics though dammit!
@MBSS: I agree with your assessment regarding the lateness of the hour, if for no other reason than my nap today didn’t quite go as planned. I’ll just have to adjust tomorrow and most likely hit the hay earlier tonight.
asiangrrlMN
@MBSS: Mmmmm, hummus and chocolate. Sleep well!
Steeplejack
@MBSS:
Oh, yeah, I forgot the drinking. LQTM [laughing quietly to myself–one step down from LOL]. Check my “+” numbers from threads in the archives. Ahem.
Steeplejack
Okay, looks like I’m out. Choice is between going to bed or looking for Bend Me Like Beckham on Cinemax. Going to bed is probably better. Mañana . . .
Yutsano
@Steeplejack: Moi aussi. Au revoir mes amis.
asiangrrlMN
@Steeplejack:
@Yutsano:
Night, all.
pk
Only for the very brave. I tried cayenne pepper ointment for back pain once. You are supposed to use it continuously for two weeks to get the best results. I lasted three days. Your fingers burn after applying it, your body feels on fire when you shower, it burns when you pee, hands burn if you wash them with warm water. As I said only for the brave!