Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

He really is that stupid.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

Everyone is in a bubble, but some bubbles model reality far better than others!

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

This fight is for everything.

… among the most cringeworthy communications in the history of the alphabet!

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

Republicans can’t even be trusted with their own money.

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

I was promised a recession.

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

In after Baud. Damn.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

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Been a long day. Quick update on Holly- surgery was postponed until tomorrow until her lungs and heart are functioning at full strength. She has been periodically alert and has written several notes to people in the room with her at the hospital in NYC. Her boyfriend is a great guy, and I am sure he has been there holding her hand the entire time and has never left her side.

Went and broke down and bought some bifocals today. Went home and plucked out gray hair and quietly wept into my pillow.

Was feeling spring/summerish so I made some crab cakes, a tomato/onion/cuke salad, some cole slaw, and a fruit salad, and am now just going to sit back and listen to music or watch the Buccos while Shawn plays the bass.

Thank you again for all the positive thoughts for Holly. It really means something to me.

Reader Interactions

62Comments

  2. 2.

    JGabriel

    Continued Best Wishes for Holly, John. The fact that Holly has made it this far is a good sign.

  3. 3.

    scav

    I think also that they’re not rushing the surgery but feel they can wait a bit for better heart and lung is also encouraging. Serious but not panicking.

  5. 5.

    AliceBlue

    Hoping for the best for Holly.

    Don’t be too upset about the bifocals John. They’re not just for old folks–I’ve been wearing them ever since I was 12.

  8. 8.

    Poopyman

    Still sending good vibes Holly’s way. Now stop plucking gray hair or you’ll eventually wind up hairless, except in your nose and ears.

  9. 9.

    Jennifer

    Glad to hear everything is ok with Holly.

    But you can take those gray hairs and shove them, buster! I got my first ones at age 14, by 25 was salt and pepper and decided to start coloring, and last year decided that half a lifetime of that mess was enough. I’m completely white-headed now, well, except for a little of my original dark-brown-almost-black at the base of my skull in the back. So boo-hoo-hoo over the poor mid-40s dude who has few enough grays that he can still PLUCK them.

  10. 10.

    JPL

    I saw your twitter comment earlier and I’m offering only good thoughts. She sounds like she is being taking care of and hopefully tomorrow, she will able to have surgery. Hang in there.
    In honor of Tunch and Steve, there are now studies on why cats resist intelligence tests. .. haha

    short answer.. they really don’t give a f..k…

  11. 11.

    greennotGreen

    I ran into a woman today who currently is as bald as a billiard ball. After my own bout with cancer, I recognized the style. Any hair is good hair, John. Also, getting older is a good thing.

  13. 13.

    Antonius

    Just caught up with the situation, John. Hang in there, hopeful thoughts going Holly’s way!

  16. 16.

    Cassidy

    Started two a days today. You’re only as old as you’re willing to let yourself feel.

  18. 18.

    Lyrebird

    Thanks for the update, sending songs her way! (Incl an Om Nama Shivaya, since she’s a yoga teacher, yes?)

  20. 20.

    J R in WV

    Hoping for the best outcomes for Holly. Hospitals are amazing places. With just a little luck a seriously fatal illness can be thwarted and the patient saved.

    Mrs J R had septic shock from walking pneumonia a couple of years ago. Went into the ER, they asked her birthdate, she said 1913, they took her right in. In just a few minutes an ER Doc asked me if I had any indication she had pneumonia. “No!”

    After 59 days she went home, actually could climb a slow flight of steps up to the front door. Still had a chest tube in, but they wanted her out of the hospital. Since then we’ve made our first two trips to foreign lands, been to the Grand Canyon, and she got to roll a F-350 Powerstroke on I-25!

    The first PT guy told her it was nothing to be ashamed of to require a walker to get around, and to use supplemental oxygen. She ran him off for being negative with a patient who planned on a full recovery.

    So Holly will probably make a complete recovery. If you are still alive and responsive when you get to the ER, you have a great chance.

    Here in SW West Virginia we are seeing the first fireflys of the spring! Tiny beacons of light floating over the forest floor in all the woods around our house. Later on I’m going out to look for the meter shower. It was supposed to be cloudy, we missed the Blood Moon eclipse on account of a solid cloud cover.

    But tonight is clear as a bell, and going to get cold, down to the upper 30s they NOAA people say.

    And I went right to tri-focals John, in order to see the dashboard in the car, and the monitor at work and at play.

    I got the ones with lines, cheaper, and it seemed easy-peasy to get used to them. And what hair? I had a pony tail with the little band of hair around the bottom of my head – cut it all off the other day. Now I’m just another bald dude.

    Take care, bro! I’m sure Holly will be alright within just a few days… She’s young compared to me and the Mrs. We’re both retired in our 60s already.

  22. 22.

    catclub

    @Poopyman: “eventually wind up hairless, except in your nose and ears. ”

    I think the hair migrates from the head to the back. See Malcolm in the Middle Intro.

  23. 23.

    jnfr

    All sorts of good wishes to Holly. I’m glad she’s responsive.

    You and Shawn and the mob have a good evening, John.

  24. 24.

    Comrade Mary

    Oh, the delay must be so stressful for everyone! I only just caught up with Holly’s story, so let me send on my best thoughts and wishes now.

  25. 25.

    Jay

    I’m an early thirtysomething with a mild from-birth brain injury, and the more I hear about major brain-related stuff (from Aneurysms to MS) happening to the fairly young, the more worried I get…

    For those looking for a pick-me-up, try this: it’s me doing standup at an underground club in NYC on April 5 of this year. I’m not a frequent commenter here, but I am a daily reader, and for what it’s worth, John strikes me as an all-round solid dude, plus no one here has ever given me crap.

    Feel free to leave a comment at my Soundcloud page, (the performance is raunchy here ‘n’ there, so for some, headphones might be in order) and the next time I do comedy in NYC, I’d be open to posting in advance about hosting a meetup. Maybe we could gather a few bucks for one of the causes (animals?) here.

    https://soundcloud.com/j-r-stone-1/standup-comedy-set-4-5-2014

  26. 26.

    SuperHrefna

    All my best to Holly! I am so glad she is able to write a little, that is a good sign. Twenty years ago a friend of mine had a burst aneurism that left him unconscious for weeks & he still made a full recovery in the end, though it was a long haul. Hopefully Holly’s experience will be better still and she will be bringing light into the world for a long, long time to come.

  28. 28.

    hells littlest angel

    Went and broke down and bought some bifocals today. Went home and plucked out gray hair and quietly wept into my pillow.

    BFD. Get back to me when you buy a magnifying glass.

  30. 30.

    Citizen_X

    Don’t mean to be a downer, but I don’t believe in the “sending good vibes” thing (it’s different from prayer exactly how?), so I’ll just say good luck to Holly. (I know, I know, same thing.)

    Oh, and thank the gods for modern medicine and the scientific method!

  31. 31.

    Mary G

    I love my no-lines bifocals and being able to see far away, close up and in the middle. Will pray again for Holly and her surgeons and nurses and aides, sounds like she has good care, and I hope, insurance.

  33. 33.

    StringOnAStick

    My best to Holly. As other have noted, her being able to respond today and the docs thinking they have the time to wait a bit are both good signs. Speaking as a long term yogini, that is on her side as well. Her sunny personality is also a great help now and will continue to be as she recovers.

  34. 34.

    aimai

    @hells littlest angel: John Cole and a magnifying glass? Don’t you worry that he’d set everything on fire?

    John–take care of yourself. Do all the self medicating through hugging the pets, or shawn, or brisket,that you need. You will love your bifocals eventually. I love my progressive lenses. And you might as well love our gray hairs. Better gray hairs than no hairs.

  35. 35.

    Mnemosyne

    @JPL:

    I always think of it like Douglas Adams said of dolphins:

    For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much—the wheel, New York, wars and so on—whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man—for precisely the same reasons.

  37. 37.

    satby

    Best wishes continuing for Holly; I’m also in the camp that if the surgeon feels he can wait for a bit stronger of a patient, that’s a promising sign. It’s hard on the friends and family to have to wait, but having time to schedule is a good thing, normally. Hopefully she’ll be all stitched up and on the road to recovery this time tomorrow.

  38. 38.

    Howard Beale IV

    @Mary G: I’m seriously thinking of LASIK-I’m getting tired of cleaning the cruft off my glasses every 4-6 hours; and since I’m already in progressive bifocals I’d rather have glasses be for farsightedness than nearsightedness. Basta!

  39. 39.

    Mnemosyne

    Foodwise, I made probably my all-time favorite pasta dish for dinner: Pasta Amatriciana. I make it the Weight Watchers way with Canadian bacon, but apparently pancetta is more traditional. And if you don’t have fresh tomatoes, fire-roasted canned are the way to go.

  40. 40.

    CaseyL

    Still sending best wishes to Holly – and to you.

    Speaking of decrepitude, I can no longer read without glasses. This is a bummer, because reading has been one of my favorite things my whole life, and now I have to hunt around for glasses before I can settle in with a book.

    I am really good at losing the damn things, too: I buy them by the handful at the dollar store, because in six months they’ll all be gone.

  42. 42.

    Mnemosyne

    @Howard Beale IV:

    I’m starting to consider it myself. I’ve always had extremely bad vision (got my first pair of glasses at the age of 6) and I’m starting to think about how awful it would be to be in a retirement home and unable to fumble with my glasses.

  44. 44.

    Violet

    Sending good thoughts to Holly. Sounds like the delay is a good sign–the fact they can wait has to be good. And being able to write is also good. Keep us updated on her progress. And take care of yourself too. You can’t take care of anyone else if you don’t take care of yourself first.

  45. 45.

    Unabogie

    You can always tell awesome people by how many other awesome people gravitate towards them. You, Cole, are awesome. Therefore Holly is awesome. Therefore, thanks to her wonderful doctors, she’s going to be just fine and they caught this thing in plenty of time, judging how long their waiting to do the surgery.

    A really close friend of mine had a burst aneurysm and suffered a stroke at 40 years old. It has devastated his life. She’s extremely lucky and she’ll probably outlive all of us.

    Go hug some dogs.

  48. 48.

    Omnes Omnibus

    FWIW and I don’t even p[lay a medical doctor on TV, it’s seems like a good sign that the surgery can wait.

    And, Cole, just deal with the fact that you have some gray hair. I am actually happy to have finally gotten enough that they can be seen. There is a point where if you don’t have much noticeable gray, people assume that you are coloring. No guy wants that. Plus, you are a fucking blond. Feel bad for the dark haired people who went gray at 25.

  49. 49.

    Poopyman

    While there’s already a new thread upstairs, I’ll put this PSA here.

    I just found my first tick of the season on me as I was getting into bed. Probably picked it up off a cat. Anyway, there goes my hope that the bitter cold winter here in Southern MD killed them all off.

    So be wary!

  50. 50.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Poopyman: I hate those fuckers. And deer flies. Between the two, they suck a lot of fun out of spending time at my family’s cabin in June and July.. My dad, who rescues bugs and spiders and carries them outside, tries to kill deer flies as cruelly as he can. It is funny what can set off a person.

  51. 51.

    LT

    Had not seen that bad news. Here’s thinking of Holly, glad to hear she’s writing notes, good sign…

  52. 52.

    Jane2

    The best of wishes for Holly and her upcoming surgery….sounds like she’s in the best of medical hands.

    As for plucking grey hairs, that ship sailed at Casa Jane about 20 years ago. At least you won’t (likely) go down the road of highlights and lowlights and all the rest of the every-few-weeks work that it takes to remain a natural brunette.

  53. 53.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Jane2: One aspect of male privilege is that we are allowed to go gradually gray without losing “attractiveness.” We just become distinguished.

  54. 54.

    askew

    Best wishes to Holly. Likes others have said, it sounds like a good sign they are willing to wait until she is stronger for surgery.

  57. 57.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Bob In Portland: I note that you didn’t respond to any of the comments earlier today about the communication crackdowns in Russia. Your “anti-Fascism” seems to be focused at anti-Russian actions in Ukraine. Of course, I could be completely misinterpreting every you have said over the past several months. If so, I do apologize.

  62. 62.

    WaterGirl

    Relieved to hear the good news about holly. She has all the right things on her side, including her youth and especially the bright light inside that makes holly so special. Not to mention all the thoughts and prayers from all of us here.

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