Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

đŸŽ¶ Those boots were made for mockin’ đŸŽ”

My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

If ‘weird’ was the finish line, they ran through the tape and kept running.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

Lick the third rail, it tastes like chocolate!

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

GOP baffled that ‘we don’t care if you die’ is not a winning slogan.

Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

The low info voters probably won’t even notice or remember by their next lap around the goldfish bowl.

American History and Black History can not be separated.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

I like political parties that aren’t owned by foreign adversaries.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

I did not have this on my fuck 2025 bingo card.

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Open Thread

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Another day in the hills and hollers with the power out, but they say it might be back on tomorrow. Thank goodness for the breeze from the storm.

*** Update ***

And just like that, the power is back on. I’m racing around charging gadgets and trying to turn off all the lights I accidentally turned on while the power was out.

Reader Interactions

227Comments

  2. 2.

    Villago Delenda Est

    There is no need for this open thread. There is a perfectly serviceable, practically virgin thread just below this that features Leonard Nimoy.

    LEONARD NIMOY!

    Ahem.

  4. 4.

    John Cole

    I’m blogging on a cell phone in a thunderstorm with no power and you want to bust my balls for stepping on an …. Open fucking thread?

  9. 9.

    gogol's wife

    You have to get a generator. It’s a pain, but I’m afraid it’s becoming a necessity in today’s world.

  10. 10.

    piratedan

    in other news, the Breitbarters are hypothesizing the “Nigopolypse” post the Zimmerman trial and urging their stalwart brothers into the street to launch a pre-emptive riot (offered as a “solution” in their comments, I refuse to link it tho), Looks like Ultrasound Bob is in deeper doodoo than we all suspected and Rep Stockman (Gen Rep – Texas) wants to withhold federal funding from schools unless teachers and staff are now armed and dangerous. Everytime I think we’ve reached the depth of Conservative douchebaggery, these fuckers fire up the back hoe and go a bit deeper still.

  11. 11.

    Zapruder F. Mashtots, D.D.S. (Mumphrey, et al.)

    I don’t know if anybody else has been following the Zimmerman trial, but I heard some people on the radio saying that their best guess was that Zimmerman will be found not guilty–and these were people who think he should be convicted. Does anybody know how it’s been going?

    I know the assholes are already going on about how “the blacks” are going to riot if Zimmerman goes free, but I’ll tell you, I’m a pasty white guy, and I feel like I’m going to riot myself if he gets off.

  12. 12.

    max

    @John Cole: I’m blogging on a cell phone in a thunderstorm with no power and you want to bust my balls for stepping on an 
. Open fucking thread?

    That’s what you get for not wearing pants.

    max
    [‘It follows logically.’]

  13. 13.

    Suzanne

    I am home sick today, feeling completely exhausted from the heat. Lordy. Summer just slays me. The good news is that kitty is doing AWESOME. She is eating, drinking, climbing, etc. She is still wobbly on her feet, tho, and so she tries to steady herself by hooking her claws into whatever surface she’s on. My leg may never be the same.

    Still no exam results. AAARRRRGH.

  14. 14.

    gogol's wife

    @Zapruder F. Mashtots, D.D.S. (Mumphrey, et al.):

    I think the prosecution has an impossible task. They have to PROVE that he felt malice. Of course normal people think it’s self-evident that he felt malice, since he shot an unarmed teenager in the heart, but it doesn’t seem to be going that well in the courtroom. I have only caught short passages while stuck in medical waiting rooms (or at my local Japanese sushi bar, for God’s sake), but it’s a kind of cloud of mushy stuff about whether it’s him screaming on the 911 tape or not. It’s very demoralizing. I also get the impression from the way the Times has been covering it that he’s going to be acquitted, unless they can somehow switch it to manslaughter before the verdict.

  18. 18.

    gogol's wife

    @gogol’s wife:

    I don’t understand how to scroll down in the window when you’re trying to edit. I just wanted to say that I know “Japanese sushi bar” is redundant. It started out in my mind as “Japanese restaurant.”

  21. 21.

    Diana

    @Cliff in NH: And Toronto got 5″ of rain in five hours and all of Calgary had to be evacuated and some 5,000 people are missing in India…. but Al Gore is fat and as the WSJ puts it, “opposition to Keystone XL becomes an assertion of virtue, indifferent to such lesser considerations as efficiency” in transporting oil, which of course *must* be pumped and transported and burnt because …well, he doesn’t quite say.

    I don’t have a subscription to the WSJ, but does it anywhere mention that Tesla just got added to the NASDAQ 100 index? I’m guessing that can’t count as news to the Bret Stephens of the world.

  22. 22.

    Violet

    @Suzanne: So glad your kitty is better!

    You guys dealing with thunderstorms and rain can send some of it our way. Drought conditions here.

  23. 23.

    bemused

    @piratedan:

    It seems that the wingnuts are just itching for a riot so if there isn’t any, no matter what the trial outcome is, they wouldn’t mind starting a few themselves. God, I hate these people.

    btw, isn’t there still a manslaughter hanging over Zimmerman if he doesn’t get nailed for 1st degree murder?

  24. 24.

    gogol's wife

    @Suzanne:

    I’m so glad she feels better. I wonder what it was.

    Our FURMINATOR arrived today, and Louis is totally addicted to it. It’s a sensual pleasure beyond compare.

  25. 25.

    Suzanne

    @piratedan: The heat just wears me out. Even on a good day in the summer, just a trip to the grocery store makes me need a nap afterward.

  26. 26.

    Yatsuno

    @Violet: You might get a band or two from Chantal but only if it does a big course correction. Otherwise it looks like it’s gonna smack Betty and Cassidy but good.

  27. 27.

    Trollhattan

    @gogol’s wife:

    Maybe not completely redundant, because sushi at least in my burg is so ubiquitous we have Korean, Chinese and Vietnamese sushi joints in addition to sushi made by actual Japanese. In my experience one of these is not necessarily like the other.

  28. 28.

    eemom

    @gogol’s wife:

    I haven’t followed the trial at all, frankly because I just can’t stand to.

    The thing is this, though: even if an acquittal is “justifiable” under the fucked up law in that fucked up state, there still need to be riots. There even MORE need to be riots, because it is absolutely unbearable that we live in a country where any “law” permits that result.

  29. 29.

    Suzanne

    @gogol’s wife: My husband was painting our living room, and kitty drank some of the water he was soaking the roller in. We rushed her to the vet, and he said she had liver damage from it. The vet said she only had a 20% chance of survival.

  30. 30.

    Yatsuno

    @Suzanne: Methinks the vet lowballed the odds in case the treatment wasn’t successful. Regardless YAY HAPPY KITTEH NEWS!!!

  31. 31.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @piratedan:

    Everytime I think we’ve reached the depth of Conservative douchebaggery, these fuckers fire up the back hoe and go a bit deeper still.

    They’re looking for the fiber optic cable that carries the intertubes on it. Normally, a backhoe can find it without even trying, but under the direction of teabagger/fascist morons, it has to search. A lot.

  32. 32.

    Poopyman

    @gogol’s wife:

    You have to get a generator. It’s a pain, but I’m afraid it’s becoming a necessity in today’s third world America.

    Truthiness enhanced!

  34. 34.

    Cassidy

    This weekend, Invicta FC 6 is happening. They’re the female fighting organization and they’re moving up to PPV. The main event is one Cris “Cyborg” Santos takes on Marloes Coenen for the FW belt. Cyborg won their first match, but was later caught for steroids. She should be clean now and is tested frequently by IFC, but still has a significant amount of muscle mass, Coenen is a Dutch kickboxer and submission wiz and I’m hoping she wins. The card also features Thug Rose Namajunas, Rowdy Bec Hyatt, Joanne Calderwood, Leslie Smith, and Sarah D’Alelio. The whole card looks good, it’s not expensive, and Coenen is stunningly beautiful.

    Good news happened while I was in solitary: in less than two weeks I begin recruit school and will be a full time Firefighter.

  35. 35.

    Poopyman

    @Trollhattan: He’s sitting on top of Marcellus shale, surrounded by thousands of gas wells. All he has to do is hook his well water up to a natural gas-powered generator.

  36. 36.

    Chris

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    There is no need for this open thread. There is a perfectly serviceable, practically virgin thread just below this that features Leonard Nimoy.

    Highly illogical, indeed.

  38. 38.

    Poopyman

    The thunderstorms are rolling across the river from Fredericksburg – prolly hit here in about 10 mins. I’m gonna go out in the back yard & watch ….

  39. 39.

    Violet

    @Yatsuno: Yeah, not likely we’ll see much from Chantal. She kind of went poof earlier today. May regenerate, but who knows. Models are all over the place. /weather geek

  40. 40.

    Neddie Jingo

    *** Update ***

    …I’m racing around charging gadgets and trying to turn off all the lights I accidentally turned on while the power was out.

    Our power went out for a week in the Derecho last summer. When it came back on, we were all out of the house. I came back to find that somebody (the exact guilty party still remains anonymous) had left all the upstairs bathroom taps wide open. The well kicked back in and… Disaster.

    Two weeks later, the ceiling below collapsed, and a miasma of mold-spores settled over the entire lower floor.

    Still haven’t pulled together the scratch to get it fixed. There it looms, reminding us that Life Just Ain’t Fair.

  41. 41.

    Trollhattan

    @Poopyman:

    Heh, the Flares of Freedom, delivered to your tap, daily.

    Does anybody else wish they’d change the name to Marsellus Wallace Formation?

  42. 42.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    A few weeks ago, our power flickered a couple of times but then stayed on.

  43. 43.

    WaterGIrl

    @NotMax: Get back to me on that after you have a huge tree fall on your house because of straight line winds. I can tell you from first hand experience, it seriously changes your perspective.

  45. 45.

    Yatsuno

    @Violet: She didn’t seem like that big a storm, though the Dominican island got socked by her pretty hard. There is a fair amount of ocean for the depression to re-form, so we will see what happens there.

  46. 46.

    Violet

    @Yatsuno: July conditions aren’t usually favorable for tropical development in the Caribbean, but once it gets closer to FL, we’ll see. Alternative model has it crossing FL as a wave and then regenerating in the Gulf. That would be interesting.

  47. 47.

    Zapruder F. Mashtots, D.D.S. (Mumphrey, et al.)

    @gogol’s wife:

    I hope you’re wrong. The one thing I keep praying for is for Zimmerman to take the stand himself. I think he still thinks he’s a hero, and has trouble understanding why everybody doesn’t see that. I think he’s itching to get up and tell the jury all about it, and believes that it’s just so obvious that he was doing important, heroic work, and if he can just tell them, they’ll all see it. He really does seem to have a tough time keeping his mouth shut, and I hope he gives in to his fondest wishes.

  48. 48.

    Trollhattan

    @Neddie Jingo:

    That freaking stinks, figuratively and the real kind.

    On a far smaller scale we had a rare thunderstorm park over the neighborhood in May and drop a couple inches in half an hour. I spent the storm photographing the kid having the time of her life in the rain so completely missed the backed up roof drain, which led to soaking two walls and a ceiling and dripping—just so–on my desk computer, home server, cabling and printer.

    Mind, we have circa two-thousand square feet of ceiling and it only leaked on these two square feet.

    Most of the electronics were shut down so minmal gear lost, but the plaster walls and ceiling are ruined and the stench refuses to go away.

  52. 52.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Zapruder F. Mashtots, D.D.S. (Mumphrey, et al.):

    His attorneys should be disbarred if they allow him on the stand, because that is the one way the Prosecution can save this mess.

    I mean, this is a guy who thinks he’s Jack Nicholson facing Tom Cruise. He wants to admit to it, he wants to tell, and he’ll boast of it, precisely as you outlline.

  54. 54.

    quannlace

    John, just be glad you don’t have Con Ed as your power provider. Those bozo’s have been getting away with murder for years. Crazy-ass bills. Non-existent customer service. During the heat wave this past weekend, they told several neighborhoods in Staten Island to cut their power, including shutting off their air conditioners. Cause Heaven knows, when it’s 98 degrees out, the last thing you need is an air conditioner.

  55. 55.

    Yatsuno

    @Trollhattan: I can’t wait until the wrongful death trial. Trayvon’s parents can get them a nixe chunk of Zimmerman’s. wingnut welfare. That will be delicious.

  56. 56.

    Botsplainer

    @eemom:

    The thing is this, though: even if an acquittal is “justifiable” under the fucked up law in that fucked up state, there still need to be riots. There even MORE need to be riots, because it is absolutely unbearable that we live in a country where any “law” permits that result.

    This time, riots need to occur in tony neighborhoods and at tony stores.

  58. 58.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    John Cole,
    Have you heard the name “Cornbread Mafia”? Anything to it?

  62. 62.

    quannlace

    “Another day in the hills and hollers”
    ^^^^^^^^^^^

    What about the fens and the spinneys?

  65. 65.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @maya:

    Discovery
    Investigation
    Indecision
    Confrontation
    Impatience
    Acceptance

    Elisabeth Kubler-Ross was genius.

  67. 67.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    If you haven’t laughed yet today, you need to read @AngryBlackLady’s stream :)

    I can attest to this, all of the folks planning the “riots”, “my torch is sharpened and my pitchfork is burning, no wait”. “Oh you are a 501(3)(c) then you get an AK47 here you go”. “No wait, there is a looting contingent as well as a rioting contingent, do I have to sign up for both?” “Okay looting shopping list, I need a big screen tv, a fridge and a DVR” ABL added “I need a cuisinart”

  69. 69.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Poopyman:

    It is POURING BUCKETS in Duluth, Georiga. And the sun is shining brightly.

    I can see steam rising from the pavement. Can’t wait to walk outside from the air conditioning and have my big glasses mist up for the next ten minutes.

  74. 74.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @BGinCHI:

    I was putting on my sandals this morning and my big toe caught on the strap. It was like August 6, 1945 in Hiroshima.

  76. 76.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @kc: See if you can come up with a better description when Bill Cosby and Clarence Thomas are in the streets with broken bottles fucking your shit up.

  78. 78.

    gogol's wife

    Fab movie alert: Right now on TCM, The Reckless Moment, dir. Max Ophuls, with Joan Bennett and James Mason.

  80. 80.

    kc

    @Just Some Fuckhead:

    See if you can come up with a better description when Bill Cosby and Clarence Thomas are in the streets with broken bottles fucking your shit up.

    Bill Cosby and Clarence Thomas? That sounds like an apocalypse, all right. A ZOMBIE apocalypse.

  81. 81.

    Tripod

    My power provider is the municipality in which I live. The power seldom goes out, and when it does the crews restore it really fast compared to Com-Ed territory.

    Fucking socialists.

    THANKS Obama.

  83. 83.

    Citizen_X

    @John Cole:

    I’m blogging on a cell phone in a thunderstorm with no power and you want to bust my balls for stepping on an 
. Open fucking thread?

    No injuries? That is remarkable!

  84. 84.

    quannlace

    “My power outage sustained longer than your power outage, nyah nyah nyah.”

    October 2011, our power went out from that freak blizzard. 5 days. Ugh. It was a lot like camping, but at least with camping you can go home.

    So was really nervous when, October 2012 Hurricane Sandy was bearing down on NJ and it seemed like a horrible repeat. Unbelievably, we were one of the few neighborhoods where the power stayed on.

    (And I was shallow enough to be sad that Halloween was canceled for the second year in a row.)

  85. 85.

    Jeremy

    After the revelations that the U.S. is not the only country in the world with an NSA type operation (countries in Europe, Asia, and South America) can some stop the hyperbole that America is police state ? We should have a debate and make some changes but the rhetoric when this first came out was over the top.

  86. 86.

    JPL

    @John Cole: Since you are the blog boss, you can do anything you want. BTW Anne’s open threads always have conditions. So there is that.

  87. 87.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    When Sandy went through here we had a generator to power all the stuff that we needed, my husband, he being the manly man, fired it up, attached all the cooking tools and said “now make me breakfast woman!” (at which point he ran from the room knowing he was going to get slapped about the face). We had hot dogs and beans for dinner, it was really very nice.

  88. 88.

    Tripod

    I think we’ve all gotten that John isn’t a multi-tasker.

    Also this HTC One screen is WAY better for that web fat finger typing and aging eyes than those teeny touch phones while still being pocketable.

  89. 89.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @Jeremy: Gah! Thank you. Why do we have to hate America just because we’re on the left? If spying on their citizens doesn’t violate their Constitutions, why should ours?

  90. 90.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Getting away from the fun and games and frolicking for a minute, I’d like to SHARE something (yes I participated in many a consciousness-raising group in the ’70s).

    Seriously, though, I am feeling pretty chuffed about having overcome a big psychological barrier today, just weeks shy of my 71st birthday, by which time you’d expect a person to have grown up. Here’s the thing, I have always had a huge phobia about needles to the point of neglecting my health because I was so terrified of having blood drawn. But after I was hospitalized in February and went back under the care of a cardiologist, I realized that regular blood tests were going to be part of my future. The first two times in the lab I was pretty childish and panicky, but I am proud to say that today I walked in, bared my arm, clenched my fist, looked away for a minute, and it was Over Just Like That. I don’t claim I enjoyed it or that I will ever look forward to having a needle stuck in my vein, but I handled it like an adult person, and for that I am proud.

    Go ahead, laugh at me and feel superior. You know you want to.

  91. 91.

    burnspbesq

    Ahh, the Ashes. Equivalent to a solid month of Yankees-Red Sox.

    Bowlers firmly in command on day 1: England all out for 215, Australia 75 for 4 at the end of the day.

  92. 92.

    burnspbesq

    @Jeremy:

    After the revelations that the U.S. is not the only country in the world with an NSA type operation (countries in Europe, Asia, and South America) can some stop the hyperbole that America is police state ?

    YGBK.

  94. 94.

    BGinCHI

    @SiubhanDuinne: Ha!

    I always pretend it’s not my arm I’m looking at, which now that I think about it is kind of creepy.

    Good for you, really. Being afraid of that kind of thing certainly wasn’t doing you any good.

  97. 97.

    JPL

    @SiubhanDuinne: That was me as a child but the doctor was actually a real jerk, so I felt vindicated when I was older. The one thing that happened, was my children never panicked at needles and such. I’ve accompanied many moms with toddlers when then needed blood tests or shots, to alleviate their fears. I would have gladly gone with you. Congrats.

  98. 98.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Suzanne: I am so glad kitteh is doing better. That was scary. Hope there are no long-term effects, poor thing.

    I have been dreaming of kittens recently. Maybe it’s time for me to rethink that part of my life.

  99. 99.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @SiubhanDuinne: Back before the Red Cross banned me from giving blood because I had lived in Yurp, I was never able to watch needle go into my arm. Watching the blood come out? No problem.

  100. 100.

    Josie

    @SiubhanDuinne: I refuse to laugh at you. I am just shy of my 70th birthday and deal with a similar fear. Since I have had high cholesterol for years, blood draws are a regular part of my life. I have learned that looking away and mentally leaving the scene works really well. I also ask for a butterfly type needle since it is much smaller and less intrusive. Congratulations on overcoming your hurdle.

  101. 101.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    I wonder how John’s electricity is doing. It’s been a while since we got an update.

  102. 102.

    soonergrunt (mobile)

    Here in San Diego, it’s 74 and partly cloudy and we’re drinking a couple of bottles of a nice California Red. Steaks are grilling, along with vegetables on kebabs, potatoes, and a nice salad to the side.
    SG+4

  106. 106.

    Roger Moore

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    Good for you. Fear of needles is sadly common. I’m a regular blood donor, and my regular donating partner got started at least in part so she could get over a fear of needles. It’s a drastic approach, but it seems to be working for her. She still doesn’t like to watch, but at least she doesn’t get faint at the thought of a needle stick anymore.

  107. 107.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @JPL: Thanks. If the panic comes back, I will call for help! I’ve known only one or two people who claim to genuinely enjoy the sensation of needle penetrating flesh, but most folks can face it with equanimity. If I can get close to that, I’ll consider it a big personal win.

    And I’ve spent enough time in therapy that I’m pretty sure most people have something they’re secretly terrified of. Flying, public speaking, whatever.

  109. 109.

    JPL

    Help me out folks.. In the late 90’s I saw a film about two brothers, one a thug and the other a cop who discover a private plane that has crashed. Every one aboard died but there is a lot of cash which they decide to steal before reporting the crash. It seems like the perfect plan except things go awry and it becomes a very violent film Not exactly the Breaking Bad violent but close. I can’t remember the name of the darn film……………………………….ugh

  110. 110.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Roger Moore: I think I would have to undergo a total personality transplant to become a blood donor. But that anecdote gives me hope. I agree, it’s a pretty common phobia. Not sure about levels of phobic reaction, though (I would describe mine, until today, as “crippling.” Am still not sure what shifted for me this morning, but I’m grateful for whatever it was.)

  115. 115.

    Gravenstone

    @BGinCHI: My first exposure to Card was a couple short stories in Omni Magazine back in the day. I finally got around to the book after hearing raves from several friends, and was unimpressed, so I had little incentive to see the movie. Given how much of a rabid wingnut mouth breathing knuckle dragging fucktard Card has turned out to be over the years, that minimal incentive is now completely non-existent. Frankly, he’s not even worth the effort to boycott. I prefer shunning.

  116. 116.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @JPL:

    I always think of that Sandra Boynton couplet:
    First you shuffle,
    Then you stoop.
    Growing old
    Is pigeon poop.

  117. 117.

    Yatsuno

    @SiubhanDuinne: Still thinking about new kitteh even though I’m a wee bit nervous with the new house and new puppeh. I’ll make that call after the surgery methinks. It’ll be easier to litterbox train then.

    As far as needles: I get regular blood draws, but I have to watch the needle go in. If I don’t, I will jump. I even told a nurse this once and she pooh-poohed me and pushed my fave away. I jumped and bent the needle. After my “I told you so” she let me watch it go in. Shocking I would know these things huh?

  119. 119.

    Tripod

    @BGinCHI:

    Ahhh…. THAT guy. A Romney administration would have been something to see. Preferably seen from low earth orbit, but none-the-less….

  120. 120.

    Roger Moore

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I think I would have to undergo a total personality transplant to become a blood donor.

    Maybe just the right motivation. I work at a hospital and donate at work, so I get to hear a lot about it, and I’ve given enough that I get invited to an annual donor recognition event. It turns out that a lot of the regular non-employee donors started donating because a friend or relative was being treated here and needed blood, and they kept at it even when their patient no longer needs the donations. I hope nobody you care about needs massive amounts of blood, but it’s a pretty strong motivator.

  122. 122.

    CaseyL

    I’ve gotten over my needlephobia enough to deal with routine blood draws (provided the tech hits the vein right away; amazing how many of them don’t), but the first (and last) time I tried to donate blood I started hyperventilating and the blood vessel collapsed and the people running the Donorwagon told me to give up on the idea.

  123. 123.

    Forum Transmitted Disease

    After the revelations that the U.S. is not the only country in the world with an NSA type operation (countries in Europe, Asia, and South America) can some stop the hyperbole that America is police state ?

    @Jeremy: No. Any country running such an abomination is a police state. By definition.

  125. 125.

    Gravenstone

    @JPL:

    That was me as a child but the doctor was actually a real jerk…

    So you met the charming local (drunk) MD I got to deal with growing up? My grandmother took me into his office one day to have a good sized splinter excised from my hand. Dr. Giggles says he’s got just the thing, walks over to one of his cabinets, reaches in and pulls out a fucking 10″ bayonet! It took both my grandmother and the nurse to catch me after I ran screaming out of that examination room.

  126. 126.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Roger Moore: When my dad was in the terminal stages of his illness, I promised him (meaning, I promised myself) that I would donate blood if it would improve anything for him. Nice man, he never put me to the test, but I did mean it.

  127. 127.

    Roger Moore

    @soonergrunt (mobile):
    I’m a big fan (and member) of LA MOCA. It has an amazing collection. The Tar Pits (technically the Page Museum) is definitely worth a visit, too, and can easily be combined with a trip to the adjacent LA Count Museum of Art. The Getty has the reputation for having a great collection, but I think the Norton Simon Museum is better.

  129. 129.

    JPL

    @SiubhanDuinne: You actually want to stare down the test. One of my sons fingers was caught in the hinge part of a door. It was obviously a time for stitches since the blood hit the ceiling and was dripping down the walls. You wrap it up, go to the emergency room and although he was only five, you do not allow the doctor cover his eyes. You demand to go in and explain every step. The poor E.R. doctor almost fainted at my demands. The one mistake I made was putting a price tag on each stitch. Who knew tiny fingers had so many stitches… Most fear is because of the unknown…

  130. 130.

    Roger Moore

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    Our #1 donor started donating while his daughter was being treated here. She didn’t make it, but he’s kept coming every couple of weeks to donate platelets. More than 20 years later, he’s past the 400 donation mark.

  131. 131.

    Yatsuno

    @Roger Moore: I’d throw in a rec for Little Tokyo as well. I had a great time visiting that part of the city plus I got to show off a little Japanese skillz to an elderly couple visiting from the homeland. Plus the thick black line is something every American should see. We may have forgotten the internment camps during WWII, but the Japanese-Americans haven’t.

    Mochi. Also. Too.

  134. 134.

    James E. Powell

    @Gravenstone:

    I finally got around to the book after hearing raves from several friends, and was unimpressed,

    Same here. I came away wondering how or why the book became such a thing. Maybe if you’re a kid when you read it?

  135. 135.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @JPL: Oddly, I have no problems with blood itself. It’s the needle itself that9s the issue for me. I have sliced and diced myself up plenty of times, and have the scars to prove it. One time I sliced the knuckle of my index finger literally down to the bone, drove myself to the ER, and had 14 stitches, which (as I recall) didn’t really faze me.

    I expect Dr. Freud has views on this particular phobia. ‘Nuff said.

  136. 136.

    Poopyman

    @SiubhanDuinne: @Roger Moore: I’m just a 100+ platelet donor here, but I’m not fond of watching it go in either.

    What works for me is a long, slow exhalation after she says “pinch and a sting”. It’s not so much the exhalation itself, it’s that it’s become a constant, and if you do the same little thing each time, it becomes routine, and soon the needle will too. You’ll feel about the same towards the jab, but you’ll have developed your own little ritual to help you through it.

  137. 137.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Roger Moore: Well, in all seriousness and respect, he is a hero. What a gift and tribute to his late daughter, and what he must go through emotionally every time he donates. I can’t even imagine.

  139. 139.

    JPL

    @JohnK: Yup.. JSF.. mentioned that it was probably a Billy Bob Thornton movie and then I googled him. The reason it came up was a friend was talking about Breaking Bad and I mentioned a film I saw that was the same theme in a way.

  140. 140.

    Betty Cracker

    @SiubhanDuinne: I aspire to be you when I grow up. One time when I was living in a dorm (more than 20 years ago), I stood up and stretched, accidentally sticking my hand in a ceiling fan. (I’m fairly tall for a chick.) It broke and sliced up my hand, and I had to get tetanus shot. While I was whimpering behind the curtain as the medical professionals discussed their workload in the ER, I heard the doc say, referring to the whimpering mass of goo, “Where’s her mom?” And the nurse said, “She’s like TWENTY!” All that to say, I understand. Completely. Good for you!

  141. 141.

    Narcissus

    Put tunch on a hamster wheel hooked to a dynamo. That fat boy represents a whole lotta stored energy

  143. 143.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Poopyman: I agree. I think changing the ritual is important. I did notice that always before I would lie awake and fret all night long before a needle procedure, but last night I slept straight through and my dreams were benign (kittens!!) and I do think that may have helped shift things for me.

    I don’t want to overanalyze this, and certainly didn’t intend to hijack John’s powerless thread. Just wanted to brag on myself a little :-) for doing a grown-up Thing.

  146. 146.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @JPL: I’m your go-to guy on anything related to Billy Bob Thornton. If you wanna know how to take a plane down, or steal a million dollars or make a feature movie about it, Martin is your guy.

  147. 147.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Betty Cracker: Yikes! Don’t even get me started on my fear of shots (tetanus, rabies, even flu) — that’s another whole level of grownuppedness to which I can only distantly aspire at this point.

    Sisterhood is powerful. Baby steps. I had blood drawn today, and didn’t faint, and didn’t cry, and didn’t even whimper.

  148. 148.

    Taylor

    @gogol’s wife: Rather than feed the carbon that’s driving more extreme weather, you are better off going solar. The system can charge batteries for overnight discharging.

    If you have neighbors, a generator is incredibly obnoxious in its fumes and noise, let alone the CO2 pollution. Solar will pay for itself over time.

  149. 149.

    JPL

    @SiubhanDuinne: A few years ago I had to go in for several blood tests. Now read no further if you want, but it was the first blood test in the office for a young nurse. They have to begin somewhere.. Long story short, she went through the vein. I had quite an impressive bruise. Since then the doctor does my tests.

  151. 151.

    raven

    @SiubhanDuinne: There ya go. In the Army they gave us these shots with an air gun. It worked fine if you stood still but if you jerked it ripped your damn arm open. I saw plenty of big badass dudes fall out in the shot line. Good that you overcame it.

  152. 152.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    You are just demonstrating his powerlessness.

    He’s from West-by-God-You’d-Better-Smile-When-You-Say-Virginia. He can handle it.

  154. 154.

    Ted & Hellen

    @gogol’s wife:

    Yeah, hate when stupid shit like evidence and trials and due process and testimony gets in the way of my preconceived notions of who did what at the time of an alleged crime to which I was not a witness.

    Truly a bummer.

  158. 158.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @raven: You know, I don’t think I’d mind the air gun.

    I have heard of big tough soldier types keeling over in a dead faint at the sight of a syringe, but never knew whether the stories were exaggerated for effect.

  159. 159.

    PurpleGirl

    @Omnes Omnibus: I’m the same way. Close my eyes tight while they are putting the needle in, no problem watching the blood come out. Various medical workers have gotten a laugh out of that.

  160. 160.

    raven

    @SiubhanDuinne: I also had some nerve tests done, they hit you with a shock and see if they work. I felt wimpy for flinching and the nurse told me she had seen UGA football player faint from it. It’s not the size of the dog in the fight. . .

  161. 161.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @JPL: Always in the past I have had big bruises at the needle site. Just checked my elbow joint and … Nothing. Can barely see where the needle went in, and not a sign of a bruise. No discomfort, either.

    I really think I may have turned a Great Big Corner today.

  162. 162.

    Ted & Hellen

    @eemom:

    Right there with you, except for being a moderately tanned white woman. All hell needs to break loose if that happens.

    Oh eemommy…I’m disappointed in you.

    I thought maybe a lawyer would be in favor of the court system doing its work, and be supportive of the outcome regardless of your prejudices, but that’s just me.

  165. 165.

    Ted & Hellen

    @eemom:

    I haven’t followed the trial at all, frankly because I just can’t stand to.

    OK, so you haven’t followed the trial at all, as you say.

    But you are ready to riot if the verdict doesn’t go your way.

    Based on…?

  168. 168.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Also, are you related to Cole?

    Not that I know of, except that he lives in the South and I live in the South, and well….

    There’s a reason Alabama is known in some circles as “Land of the Six-Toed Sisters.”

  169. 169.

    Ted & Hellen

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    I mean, this is a guy who thinks he’s Jack Nicholson facing Tom Cruise. He wants to admit to it, he wants to tell, and he’ll boast of it, precisely as you outlline.

    Seriously, where the fuck do you come up with this shit? lol

  173. 173.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Roger Moore: I started donating blood for no reason other than it seemed like a good thing to do. Well past 100 whole-blood donations I developed a condition as a result of which my doctor recommended I not donate, and I’ve felt bad about it ever since. I hope I can resume, but I’m not sure yet. It’s one thing that feels good just because you are helping someone you don’t know, and not asking for anything in return.

  175. 175.

    PurpleGirl

    @Yatsuno: What new house and puppeh? (Have I missed a comment…)

    If you are still in Washington state, look into Purrfect Pals, a no-kill cat shelter. Many of their kittens have been fostered and come litter box trained. They have kittens and adult cats too. I follow one of their volunteers who has a kitten cam. Make your favorite breed of cat, a rescue.

  176. 176.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @raven:

    I don’t even have pierced ears! Try finding clip-on earrings these days!!

    No tats, needles(s) to say.

  182. 182.

    JPL

    @SiubhanDuinne: I really did think the er dr was gonna faint when I dictated the explanation for my son… On a finger the numbing agent causes great swelling and I encouraged the son to watch how much the finger would grow. Then on each of the stitches, I mentioned how it was like sewing we did at home.
    The five year old was fine, the dr not so much.

  183. 183.

    eemom

    @Ted & Hellen:

    I haven’t followed the trial, but my understanding is that one particular fact is not in dispute, i.e., that a belligerent, paranoid, gun-wielding adult SHOT AN UNARMED KID.

    That’s what I’m basing it on, Mr. “I Want Gun Control and I Want It Yesterday.”

  189. 189.

    raven

    @JPL: I went to the downtown farmer’s market @ 4:30 with the pups and we got soaked. When to the video store a mile away and it hadn’t rained a drop. It’s insane, the back yard is totally trashed.

  190. 190.

    JPL

    @eemom: A friend has been watching the trial and mentioned self defense. I mentioned that Martin’s case against self defense was stronger. I do find it offensive that the defense can have some type of reenactment during closing. So Zimmerman can tell his side, although it during closing, without ever taking the stand… That is sick.

  191. 191.

    eemom

    @raven:

    It’s POURING again!

    Srsly. What. The. Fuck?? Don’t think we’ve gotten it quite as bad as you, but I can’t take any take anymore of this.

    Fucking monster ants showing up in the bathroom, and fucking Barrier (exterminator) is blaming the rain.

  195. 195.

    Cacti

    @eemom:

    I haven’t followed the trial, but my understanding is that one particular fact is not in dispute, i.e., that a belligerent, paranoid, gun-wielding adult SHOT AN UNARMED KID.

    Timmeh is back to speak up for his favorite negro-slayer?

    I don’t think I’ve ever heard him vocally approve of anyone who wasn’t accused or convicted of a felony.

  196. 196.

    JPL

    @raven: I’m trying to decide if I am going to claim the trees on the fence cuz of course, my rates are going to go up. The insurance company is going to send out someone to check my roof since it was covered with limbs from the same storm. That will be a big deciding factor. My fence in the back is chain link which is grandfathered in but since no longer allowed, it’s hard to get someone out for an estimate. After the deductible, unless the roof is damaged, I could get reimbursed a thousand. It’s a chunk of money but not if I pay more in premiums. Anyway she mentioned the weather we were having and asked if I was just soaked in. My insurance company is working this weekend just in case Chantal reforms. The weather sucks..

  197. 197.

    Villago Delenda Est

    If y’all would recall (most of you do, of course) that at first there wasn’t going to be a trial because, obviously, Trayvon Martin was walking while black in that gated community, and shooting him was fully justifiable no matter what the circumstances. The police had already decided no harm, no foul before the echo of the shots had died.

    THEN we discover all this other information about how Zimmerman ignored the orders of the police and gunned this skittles wielding and hoodie wearing thug down despite being told, specifically NOT to pursue aforementioned skittles wielding and hoodie wearing thug under any circumstances, that sworn officers would deal with the matter and he should go back to his home and stay there.

    But facts like these are of course in the way of the narrative of Special Timmeh and similar racist slime.

  198. 198.

    Diana

    @BGinCHI: @BGinCHI: Everyone here does realize that Terry Pratchett’s “Only YOU Can Save Mankind” is a parody of Ender’s Game, right?

    http://www.amazon.com/Only-Mankind-Johnny-Maxwell-Trilogy/dp/0060541873/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373508559&sr=8-1&keywords=terry+pratchett+only+you+can+save+mankind

    So if you want to boycott OSC, but you also want to know what his book was about, buy the Pratchett book and you’ll …do both. Plus have an infinitely more fun reading experience.

  200. 200.

    Ted & Hellen

    @eemom:

    that a belligerent, paranoid, gun-wielding adult SHOT AN UNARMED KID.

    You don’t think any of the words you used here might be a matter of…opinion? Maybe just a teensy bit?

    Look, I have NEVER said here that Zimmerman is guilty OR innocent. I just mock people, including Cole, who claim to know exactly what went down that night when in actuality they don’t know jack; and of course the usual hysterics jump to the assumption I believe Z is innocent.

    What I DO believe is that I wasn’t there, I don’t know what went down, press reports are horrendously unreliable, so why the hell not wait for a verdict?

    It’s not complicated at all.

  201. 201.

    Ted & Hellen

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    THEN we discover all this other information about how Zimmerman ignored the orders of the police

    “We don’t need you to do that…”

    You’re lying.

    Again.

  202. 202.

    Ted & Hellen

    @Cacti:

    I don’t think I’ve ever heard him vocally approve of anyone who wasn’t accused or convicted of a felony.

    Robin Thicke is dreamy.

  204. 204.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @SIA: Hey, SIA, glad you’re around. JPL and I met up the other day and were saying how much we’d like to get together with you some time soon, and of course bring Raven into the picture :-)

    So what does your summer look like? Now that I’m retired, my sked is a bit more flexible than it used to be.

    Oh, and have a great birthday in case I don’t see you again before Friday!!

  206. 206.

    Fluke bucket

    Who was the black guy on O’Reilly tonight who said that the media was covering up the fact that black people were killing white people all over this country every day? Thomas Sowell? Herman Cain? Clarence Thomas? Whoever it was had my mother-in-law in hysterics. She is insisting that white people must arm hems elves for the coming race war. Damn.

  207. 207.

    Fluke bucket

    Was there a black guy on O’Reilly tonight who said that the media was covering up the fact that black people were killing white people all over this country! it had my mother-in-law in hysterics. She is insisting that white people must arm themselves for the coming race war. Damn. I am hoping it is just her dementia flaring up again.

  208. 208.

    SIA

    @SiubhanDuinne: This summer’s a bust. The major projects I’ve been working on since 2011 are all wrapping up now, one after another. It’s insane. This fall will be much better, if you can, let’s do it then?

    Congrats on your retirement! How’s it going?

    And thanks for the birthday wishes. Yours is August 10th? (guessing) ;)

  209. 209.

    JPL

    @SiubhanDuinne: hmmm.. the same child explained to females in preschool that they had to be nurses. His pediatrician was Dr. Ann. I was called into preschool to see what I was teaching him. When I asked him about Dr. Ann, he said, she’s not a nurse. At that point I decided chauvinism was inherent. He’s actually better now but it took years. How do you have a child seeing female doctors telling females they can’t be doctors is beyond me.

  210. 210.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @SIA:

    3rd actually, but at my age a week one way or the other is negligible.

    Fall should be fine. I’ve got some things looming but nothing that can’t be moved around in a good cause. No big traveling until November.

    I’m glad you’re keeping busy.

  214. 214.

    eemom

    @Ted & Hellen:

    a gun-wielding adult SHOT AN UNARMED KID.

    Any differences of opinion now?

    Amongst people who profess to be passionate advocates of gun control?

  215. 215.

    Redshirt

    So, I kinda like watching needles go in. Am I weird? And no, I’ve never been a junky nor have any plans on becoming one. I think it’s neat!

  216. 216.

    Ted & Hellen

    @eemom:

    Did Zimmerman break some gun control laws I’m unaware of?

    What happened leading up to the firing of the weapon?

    That seems kind of important. And unlike most of the BJ commentariat and its blogmaster, I wasn’t there watching, so I thought I’d wait to see what a jury thinks.

    Crazy, I know.

  218. 218.

    eemom

    @Ted & Hellen:

    and yet you ventured a guess about what might, hypothetically and theoretically, have been going on in the Penn State locker room based on your own experience as a young gay teen without even the remotest clue of the situation of the kid actually involved — which seems kind of important. And I didn’t judge you for it.

    Crazy, I know.

  219. 219.

    Ted & Hellen

    @eemom:

    I ventured a guess, why yes, I did, and yet somehow, I refrained from ever announcing definitively that Sandusky was innocent OR guilty based on my guess, content once again to wait for a verdict. Crazy!

    And I didn’t even call for riots if the verdict didn’t go the way I thought it should. Insane!

    You, however, were unable to restrain yourself.

    It’s cool. I just thought you were a little less tribal than most here.

  222. 222.

    burnspbesq

    @Ted & Hellen:

    You don’t think any of the words you used here might be a matter of
opinion? Maybe just a teensy bit?

    Nope. There’s a difference between opinion and inference, and everything E asserted in her comment is a reasonable inference from evidence in the record.

  223. 223.

    Ted & Hellen

    @burnspbesq:

    And neither opinions or inferences are the same as facts established by evidence in a court of law, am I right?

    Point being the tribal hysteria for Zimmerman’s blood from day one on this blog and elsewhere has zero to do with your concerns regarding what actually took place between Zimmerman and Martin. To you guys Trayvon’s death is just another opening to be exploited in the political/culture wars against the other tribe.

    We don’t need no stinkin’ evidence, facts, testimony, trials, judges, attorneys, or verdicts, goddammit!

  224. 224.

    eemom

    @Ted & Hellen:

    a little less tribal than most here.

    and with that wearied, braindead buzzword, goes the last remnant of respect I clung to. Bye.

Comments are closed.