Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Republicans in disarray!

After roe, women are no longer free.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

People are complicated. Love is not.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

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

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Bark louder, little dog.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Prediction: the GOP will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

The revolution will be supervised.

Let there be snark.

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

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Let’s finish the job.

Second rate reporter says what?

You are here: Home / Books / Bits and Bobs Open Thread

Bits and Bobs Open Thread

by | 128 Comments

This post is in: , ,

I figured we could use a fresh thread.

I’m headed to New York right now, sort of. My flight is delayed so I’m writing this from the terminal. So here is some miscellany. First, and relevant to me, something that our own Mr. Anderson retweeted.

Second, I picked up an anthology of classic apocalyptic short fiction from the library (This Way to the End Times, ed. Robert Silverberg). It is a fun/dispiriting read. I thought you would all enjoy this striking description from The New Atlantis by Ursula K. LeGuin (1975).

The six o’clock All-American Broadcasting Company news announcer announced that peace was at hand in Uruguay, the president’s confidential aide having been seen to smile at a passing blonde as he left the 613th day of the secret negotiations in a villa outside Katmandu. The war in Liberia was going well; the enemy said they had shot down seventeen American planes but the Pentagon said we had shot down twenty-two enemy planes, and the capital city — I forget its name, but it hasn’t been inhabitable for seven years anyway — was on the verge of being recaptured by the forces of freedom. The police action in Arizona was also successful. The Neo-Birch insurgents in Phoenix could not hold out much longer against the massed might of the American army and air force, since their underground supply of small tactical nukes from the Weathermen in Los Angeles had been cut off. Then there was an advertisement for Fed-Cred cards, and a commercial for the Supreme Court: “Take your legal troubles to the Nine Wise Men!” Then there was something about why tariffs had gone up, and a report from the stock market, which had just closed at over two thousand, and a commercial for U.S. Government canned water, with a catchy little tune: “Don’t be sorry when you drink/It’s not as healthy as you think/Don’t you think you really ought to/Drink coo-ool, puu-uure U.S.G. water?” — with three sopranos in close harmony on the last line.

[…]

The news also said that they plan to halt the tidal waves in Florida by dropping nuclear bombs where Miami was. Then they will reattach Florida to the mainland with landfill. They are already advertising real estate for housing developments on the landfill.

Third, Samwise. He took a liking to my backpack while I was packing last night. Perhaps he wanted the pin, but, having cat feet, had to settle for being near it.

(Yes, I own an Ikea futon.)

Hope everybody has a good Pacific Daylight Time afternoon!

Reader Interactions

128Comments

  1. 1.

    The Dangerman

    Hmmm, haven’t listened to Pink Floyd’s Animals in a while; to the CD player!

    Public Service Announcement: The lyrics “Hey You Whitehouse” in Pigs? Not our Whitehouse. Carry on.

  5. 5.

    Elizabelle

    M4: As you no doubt know, Jeff “Bone” Smith is writing picture books for kids. From FTF NY Times: Why a Picture Book Now for Young Kids? Let’s Just Say He Could Feel It in His Bones

    I liked the very end of this story. Yea, librarians and publishers who will back their authors’ content! (And yea, you, for having one of his drawings.)

    Smith: I didn’t know it, but from 1996 on it was becoming a staple in libraries, and kids were asking for them. We’d been unable to get reviewed or into the big retailers, because we were self-published and we were comics. Two strikes against us. But we got a call from a distributor saying librarians are demanding these books. Shortly after that we got a call from Scholastic. They wanted to launch a graphic novel imprint for kids with Bone.

    Q: So the librarians are the heroes of this story. And your editors at Scholastic.

    Smith: That’s right. My wife and I showed up to sign the paperwork and the publisher, Jean Feiwel, asked us to come 15 minutes early. I had a bad feeling about that. She sat down and lifted the pile of the nine Bone books, sat them on the table, and there were probably a hundred Post-it notes sticking out. I can see the word “beer” on one — there’s a scene where some characters drink beer at the tavern. Jean said, “The Book Clubs are nervous about a few things, starting with some of the characters drinking beer.” I stopped her right there and I said, “Jean, I’m so excited to do this. But I’m not going to make any changes. The book is finished. It’s already in 20 languages around the world. I didn’t say it was a children’s book. It was teachers and librarians and parents all over the world. They’re O.K. with it. I’m done.”

    So Jean set the stack back on the floor and said, “the Book Fairs are just going to have to catch up.”

  7. 7.

    EBT

    According to USPS package tracking, two more factory sealed boxes of cards that were going to show up Monday, are out for delivery right now. Busted out another background for my game (this fucking wooden ship takes so much time to do each background for). Putting me at 747/812 pieces of background art for my first arc drawn.

  10. 10.

    WesinCLE

    Curious if you or anyone outside of myself has heard of or read the series Chung Kuo by David Wingrove? Synopsis is China takes over the world and builds a planet wide city of levels. The series was great, very in-depth with a lot of character development. Although the last of the series I had to pay an arm and leg for since it only had one run and sucked as a wrap up.

  13. 13.

    J R in WV

    So going to have an interview Monday, then? What kind of place(s) are you gonna visit? NY has such a huge variety of businesses, some of them pretty unique to the city. We’ve signed up to be in Manhattan in mid November as tourists, first visit back to NYC since (I think) 2009 or so.

    I love NY! or at least I did 10 years ago…

  16. 16.

    A Ghost To Most

    Roger Waters apparently opened his KC concert with a sign that read:

    “You’re just another prick
    without a wall.”

  17. 17.

    Tazj

    Samwise is a beautiful cat.
    I don’t know what it is about backpacks but as soon as someone sets one down at my house the cats are on it. Of course, cats are the same way about laundry, luggage and boxes. Someplace new to sit down is good, I suppose.

  18. 18.

    dnfree

    I ordered “Bone” based on the recommendations here and the comparison someone made to Walt Kelly’s “Pogo”. I am through book 3 and enjoying it, so thanks. It so far doesn’t have the political notes of Pogo, but Smiley Bone is absolutely an homage to Albert Alligator, cigar and goofiness and all. Fone Bone has some similarities to Pogo himself, and the Possum mother and children have Pogo relations. Phoney Bone could be compared to several hucksters in Pogo. And as someone said, the wordplay is reminiscent.

  20. 20.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    Posting this here because the thread downstairs is probably dead re: ATMs. We had ATMs in the UK before I left for Hong Kong in 1986, but the thing about them was they talked to other bank ATMs. While I was in Hong Kong I could easily access my Nat West account from any ATM in Hong Kong. When I moved to the US in 1991 not only could I not access my UK bank account but when we went on a road trip, if we left North Carolina, the ATMs in Missouri (for instance) could not access our bank (a NC only bank) so we had to draw out large amounts of cash for the trip. It wasn’t until years later that all of the ATM systems got onto the same page (interlink, plus, etc.,) and again it was years after that when they introduced the Visa debit card so you didn’t need cash at all. I am not forgiving the original author for a potential gaff (or falsehood) but it has to be remembered that back in them days most banks were local, there were’nt any really National banks in the US.

  21. 21.

    EBT

    @Litlebritdifrnt: When I was in Canada in 2010, my lovers were surprised my bank card also let me pay for stuff at stores. I was surprised their banks were open to 9PM 7 days a week, and all digital banking was 24 hours.

  22. 22.

    smintheus

    One or more of our cats invariably will sit on any backpack, suitcase, or coat that it looks like we’re preparing to actually use soon, as in leave the house for more than a few minutes. They’re more or less ok with us walking out to the garden…briefly…but nothing that involves picking up a wallet.

  24. 24.

    Nicole

    @Litlebritdifrnt: Ha! That takes me back to a children’s theater tour I was on back in 1996. Once we got west of the Mississippi, I had a terrible time finding ATMs that could take my ATM card. One, I recall, even “withdrew” the money but didn’t actually give me any, so I had to call my bank (no cell phones then, either) the following Monday to let them know that $500 withdrawal showing on their records didn’t actually happen.

    Now, I go into the coffee shop and they don’t even take cash…

  26. 26.

    Redshift

    @Litlebritdifrnt: Reposting my story from the dead thread, too:

    Remember, also, that at first you could only use your own bank’s ATM, and then there were multiple ATM networks, and you could only use ones where your bank was in that network.

    I can place these developments in time because of a memorable experience in the late eighties. We were visiting my wife’s best friend from college, and got invited along on a birthday with some of her friends who unfortunately turned out to kind of be assholes. We were watching our cash carefully, and they all ordered drinks and then said “we’ll just split the bill evenly, okay?” And it had to be cash.

    Turned out our bank’s ATM network didn’t exist in the region. So we had to figure out how to drive from the Hudson valley to DC without any tolls.

    I can laugh about it now…

  27. 27.

    debbie

    @Elizabelle:

    Are you familiar with Krazy Kat? S/He’s one subversive kitty.

    I think Samwise thinks his grip on your backpack is keeping you from going. Apparently, he was not successful.

  29. 29.

    JPL

    Some of the comments under the catchthebaby feed are humorous. My favorite is I don’t get it, and it has to be explained to the person. The vegans weren’t sure they found it amusing, and I did learn that you should never eat pigs, and you should never give them as gifts.

  31. 31.

    trollhattan

    @smintheus:
    In Portland recently we encountered a guy with an odd backpack–a hard shell like an old suitcase dotted with chrome-edged holes. Getting closer we noticed poofs of fur poked out of the holes, cat fur.

    “Portlandia” was a documentary.

  32. 32.

    Hafabee

    @A Ghost To Most: For proper cadence, that really should be “All in all you’re just another prick with no wall”. I recall seeing a pic of a sign with that during the London protests.

  34. 34.

    Elizabelle

    @debbie: Got to check out Krazy Kat too. Thank you.

    Always heard of that pioneering strip; haven’t spent much time with it. Thanks!

  35. 35.

    RobertDSC-Mac Mini

    My former office cat KC would curl up on top of my backpack on some nights. She would also lay out on my flannel jacket, so much so that I would lay it out flat on top of a table. I used to call it the “mobile cat bed.”

  37. 37.

    dnfree

    @Elizabelle: Depending on your degree of attachment to Pogo (mine is very high, and I also got it from my father), there is a group engaged in a “labor of love” at this point of reissuing all the daily strips, which didn’t all make their way into the books. Each volume has two years. It’s taken much longer than originally anticipated. Here’s a link to the first volume on Amazon and you can find the others from there. Volume 5 is anticipated for this fall. You could probably find used versions in good condition via a site like abebooks.

    https://www.amazon.com/Pogo-Complete-Sunday-Strips-Through/dp/1560978694/

  39. 39.

    chris

    Thanks, M4, for the link to The New Atlantis. Made me remember reading it the first time forty (ish) years ago.

  41. 41.

    dnfree

    Speaking of ATMs…..we went to New Zealand last fall. We bank at a local institution, but when we have traveled abroad in the past our debit cards have worked. Fortunately I checked with the bank before our trip, and they told me their new card servicing company (which I’m sure was cheaper for them) does not include less common foreign destinations. So we had to bring cash for the trip, and convert it as we went. Rather nervewracking because I’m not used to carrying cash. Sometimes I miss traveler’s checks.

  42. 42.

    efgoldman

    @Redshift:

    at first you could only use your own bank’s ATM, and then there were multiple ATM networks, and you could only use ones where your bank was in that network.

    You’re not quite as old as I am. The ways to get ca$h were either have a friendly gas station or liquor store that would cash a personal check, or get to the supermarket before it closed and use their check cashing card at the courtesy counter.
    Every store/chain issued its own card; they also usually took a microfiche picture of you and the check.
    Like the rest of you, I rarely carry any cash now.

  43. 43.

    Yarrow

    Samwise is gorgeous and he’s sure he can keep you from leaving with the Paw of Prohibition.

  44. 44.

    RSA

    There are some classics I recognize in the Silverberg collection. I was in a book club meeting for a discussion of The Handmaid’s Tale, and I recommended Tiptree’s “The Screwfly Solution” to a couple of interested people. I like most Vance, including “Guyal of Sfere”; it’s apocalyptic mainly in being set in the Dying Earth universe.

    Another collection by Silverberg, one of my recent favorites, is Far Horizons, with stories set in some of the most interesting and fun universes in science fiction.

  46. 46.

    dnfree

    @efgoldman: I remember when you had to remember to go to the bank before a trip, because there was nowhere to get cash otherwise. And you had to fuel up your car during the hours when gas stations were open. And you had to plan your route on a physical map…..

    Okay, I’m old.

  49. 49.

    Yutsano

    @efgoldman: Maybe it’s just how I was raised, but I was always told when I was younger to always have at least $20 in my wallet. So much so that Dad would give me cash when I left home for college. Of course now that I make decent money I don’t get that anymore. My point is I have an almost pathological need to have some cash in my wallet. Thanks Dad. I think.

  55. 55.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Wow

    Gerry Cohen @ gercohen
    Shelby County TN (Memphis) Democrats sweep county elections yesterday in a rout, ousting 9 Republicans, including Mayor and Sheriff (county office general elections were on ballot along with partisan primaries)

    I’m a firm believer in healthy pessimism, always fight like you’re way behind, etc, but that’s something. A bit of surprise that Dems were so weak in a large metro area, but the article suggests the local party was a mess for the last few years.

    ETA: if local Dems have their shit together, that might bode well for us to get Bredesen to piss us off for the next six years. “Better than Blackburn!”

  57. 57.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Yutsano: Me, too. I get antsy if I don’t have cash in my wallet. I still have it in my head that credit cards are for purchases of at least $20

    @JPL: Witness tampering

  60. 60.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @Yutsano: Whenever I went out with a new man my Dad would ALWAYS insist that I had enough for a Taxi home in my handbag. I never forgot that and never went out without at least that much ever again.

    For those into those kind of things you might be interested to know that the refurbished Bluebird was launched in Scotland today. Donald Campbell’s daughter was there with her Dad’s mascot Norbert. Here is the story.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-45068703

    DH and I were up at Coniston Water a couple of months ago and they have a very nice memorial to Campbell and a replica of the Bluebird in the window of the Visitor Information Centre. Apparently they still do speed trials on the lake because it is so long and skinny and ideal for that sort of thing.

    http://www.conistonpowerboatrecords.co.uk/

  62. 62.

    debbie

    @Yutsano:

    It used to be you could be charged as a vagrant if the cop found you had no cash. Or at least that’s what my parents told me when they told me to always carry some money with me.

  63. 63.

    The Midnight Lurker

    I would like to pose a question that I know is going to get me stomped on. I totally expected an angry day of QAnon. What I got instead was a crazy day. Would someone please explain to me, in a mature fashion (yeah, yeah, I know I came to the wrong blog), and without posting a single freaking photo/drawing/nothing, what the hell is this obsession with (obsession WITH – I’m not asking for a definition because I can guess the plot from the title) – Bigfoot porn????

  64. 64.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    am I gonna have to become a basketball fan now?

    Sam Stein @ samstein
    Lebron has to invite Melania to his school

    “It is nice to meet you and also I hate hees broke ass too!”

  71. 71.

    delk

    Thanks everyone.
    I got Gav three months before I got sober and for that first year he was a big part of my sobriety.

    Six months into my sobriety my husband went to China for four months and it was just me and the dog. I was devasted when I lost him, but especially because my five year anniversary was approaching.

  73. 73.

    Mnemosyne

    Sitting in the mostly-Asian mall eating hainan chicken. It’s okay. I could have done without the skin since it’s poached.

    After this, more stationery shopping and a Daiso run for stuff I don’t need but can’t resist.

    (It’s the Santa Anita mall, for locals.$

  74. 74.

    Major Major Major Major

    Looks like we’re making up an hour or so of the lateness in the air. We took a southern arc starting in the middle of Nevada to skip weather in Colorado, without which we’d be making even better time.

  77. 77.

    Mnemosyne

    @The Midnight Lurker:

    Fantasy of being bigger and more powerful than everyone else so you can have any woman you want at any time. Not even peni$ size, just overall being the strongest guy ever.

  79. 79.

    The Midnight Lurker

    Thanks Debbie, thanks Major. Un-fucking-believable. Now I have seen it all. Wish I hadn’t. Thanks again… I think.

  80. 80.

    joel hanes

    @Elizabelle:

    Krazy Kat

    Amazing artwork, copied/referenced by many later comic artists; for instance, several explicit tributes in the last years of Calvin and Hobbes. An absurdist sense of humor.

    But for my money it lacks the personal warmth and deep humanity of Pogo: KK has nothing like the multi-level humor of the table talk of the bats at poker, nor the quiet introverted decency of Porky Pine, nor the joyful Christmas strips, nor the eternal environmental wisdom of “We have met the enemy and he is us”, nor the loneliness and grit and energy of Ms. Beaver, nor the flirting of Miss Mamzelle Hepzibah, nor the mean moral cowardice of Deacon Mushrat … and I haven’t even gotten around to the four major characters yet (Pogo, Churchy, Albert, and Howland Owl).

    And only Kelly had the balls to portray Spiro Agnew as a hyena, and to deride the John Birch Society as the “Jack Acid Society” (the jackass society), which they remain to this day, when we know them as The Republican Party.

  81. 81.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    After seeing the Guardian piece on astrophotography yesterday, I was intrigued by the Moon in colour photo. I checked on teh Google to see how it was done…my version of the Moon in Color. That shot also uses a technique called “Super Resolution”, to get a more detailed photo by taking multiple shots and merging them together.

  83. 83.

    joel hanes

    @dnfree:

    Sometimes I miss traveler’s checks.

    Apparently still available from American Express, although good luck getting them cashed.
    Apparently Thomas Cook left the business long ago.

  84. 84.

    joel hanes

    @RSA:

    I recommended Tiptree’s “The Screwfly Solution” to a couple of interested people.

    A favorite, though one of the most bleak things you’ll ever read.

  85. 85.

    CarolPW

    I would like to sincerely thank whoever recommended the Aaronovitch Peter Grant series in M^4’s book thread. It’s quirky enough that it helped keep me from endless mental iterations of what-ifs after the death of my sweet dog Puck early Thursday morning at the emergency vet. Any respite, however brief, was very welcome.

  87. 87.

    Mike in NC

    A wasp got in the house and stung one of our cats earlier. I got the bug. Cat seems OK and even if he wasn’t, no way to get hold of a vet late on a Saturday afternoon.

  89. 89.

    dnfree

    @joel hanes: Thank you for the well-done summary of Pogo’s creatures. The bats are among my favorites–Bewitched, Bothered, and Bemildred. The time they rented out the “church” (actually Albert Alligator lying on his back) is an all-time classic.

  90. 90.

    Elizabelle

    @joel hanes: Thanks to you, and Debbie, for the Pogo and Krazy Kat reccs.

    I think cruising Pogo (most of it, for the first time) will perhaps be reassuring, in these turbulent times. It’s always interesting to see what artists (literally, in this case) have done with horrible real life material.

    Maybe time for Pogo to start appearing again, particularly with regards to getting the John Birchers back into their box/back under their rocks.

  91. 91.

    MomSense

    Samwise’s camouflage game is strong.

    I liked apocalyptic fiction better before we had an insane clown dictator in the White House.

  92. 92.

    RedDirtGirl

    MMMM:
    Welcome to the right coast. Too bad you missed last week’s meet-up. How long are you in town for (she asks, having jumped to the end of the thread without reading any of it!)? Maybe you can make it to this week’s!

  99. 99.

    J R in WV

    @CarolPW:

    So sorry for your loss… the ER is always stressful, no matter who the patient is.

    Take care!

    also, Puck, what a great name for a pupper.!

  100. 100.

    debbie

    @joel hanes:

    I first have to say I like Pogo very much.

    The turn of the twentieth century was a very different time compared to the 1960s. I find a great deal of humanity, albeit a bit skewed at times, in Krazy Kat. Add in the perspective of the creator, George Herriman, who was found long after his death to have passed as white his entire life. All in all, less political than Pogo, but far more sociological.

  102. 102.

    J R in WV

    @RedDirtGirl:

    I hope so. We will be with friends, as left-wing as anyone else here, but not B-Jers yet. Retired ER doc and his very active wife. I’ve known Mike since 1968, so 50 years. We introduced his wife to him when he stopped at our home town in about 1975 or so. More complicated than that.

    We’ve traveled quite a bit with them, visiting in CO, AZ, Williamsburg, Tuscany, Baja California, so far, NYC coming up. We’ll be planning a lot of activity in the Big Apple, clubs, museums, etc. But I’ll bring it up come a few weeks before we plan to arrive.

    ETA: Anyone with suggestions for Blues/Jazz and nightclubs with that kind of music, please let us know.

  103. 103.

    Mary G

    @JPL: Did you see the dress the protester who climbed the Statue of Liberty wore to her court date?

    Patricia Okoumou (@POkoumou) went to her court hearing trolling Melania Trump with a “Be Best” dress. WHAT AN ICON. pic.twitter.com/chHdCR8v4X— Jason Rosenberg (@mynameisjro) August 3, 2018

    I thought the “Be Best” across her bottom was the best touch.

  104. 104.

    NotMax

    I’m headed to New York right now,

    That explains the proto-disturbance felt in the Force.

    ;)

    Rained like nobody’s business until a bit after 1 p.m., followed by weather which is all one could ask of a summer’s day. Mostly puttering around Mom’s place today, doing odds ‘n’ ends jobs (things such as replacing a towel bar, painting a windowsill and stuff there).

  105. 105.

    Nicole

    So glad to be home after a day surrounded by thousands of screaming Minecraft fans. You know what’s not fun? Trying to get your stepmom’s ATM card cancelled because her purse was stolen from her in Philly while you’re in Edison, NJ, surrounded by thousands of screaming Minecraft fans. It’s times like this that I’m so, so grateful I have 3 brothers so I could pass the job of cancelling her credit cards off to one of them.

    Thankfully, we later found out her keys were NOT in her purse, so it’s just the cards and cash lost. Annoying, but manageable. At least she can drive home. Mostly I’m sad for her because her purse was the last gift my dad gave her before he died and I’m sure she’s devastated about losing it.

  106. 106.

    joel hanes

    @Elizabelle:

    I think cruising Pogo (most of it, for the first time) will perhaps be reassuring

    Kelly found his voice as time went on. The first volumes are pretty lightweight stuff .. either skip them and go directly to vol. 3, or persist through all of it, but don’t give up after reading only the early years.

  109. 109.

    joel hanes

    @debbie:

    Yeah, many people have been quick to tell me that KK is eternally greater than Pogo, and who am I to argue? The fault is probably in me : I’ve never been able to grok a thrown brick to the head as an expression of love.

  112. 112.

    CarolPW

    @J R in WV: Named after Midsummer-Nights Dream Puck because as a puppy she did merrily wander the night. People at the farmers market would say hi pup, and she thought they knew her name. I did have to watch out about yelling FUCK! though, and that has been pretty hard the last couple of years.

  113. 113.

    The Midnight Lurker

    Okay, one last question and I’ll crawl back into my hole. Do any of you juicers know the company name of the voting machine vendor who got hacked by the Russians? There was an article in the NYT, but they took it down. Thanks.

  114. 114.

    debbie

    @joel hanes:

    I’ve never been able to grok a thrown brick to the head as an expression of love.

    A brick, a back-handed compliment, a re-gift, an expired gift card … . ;)

  115. 115.

    JPL

    @CarolPW: What a sweet story, fuck and all. Mr. Finch doesn’t like when I say that because he knows I’m not a happy camper, and it doesn’t even rhyme with his name.

  116. 116.

    SFAW

    @efgoldman:

    Speaking of subways, here is a really hideous idea who’s time should never come.

    I have to confess a sense of shame. For a brief moment, I thought about the idea that the trains carrying the white power motherfuckers would get “accidentally” re-routed to an area where they pass through a gate with the words “Arbeit macht frei.” Just so they could feel some of the fear that they try to instill in The Other.

    As much as I hate those motherfuckers, there’s no justification for even considering that. Godfuckingdammit.

  117. 117.

    CarolPW

    @JPL: She was a good and silly dog and went from trying to convince me to feed her early to being dead in 9 hours. She had a good run for her size (14 years, 60 pounds) but I expected to be dealing with a glide path (even if a steep one) with a somewhat softer landing. She is buried in the side yard, and I can see her grave from my kitchen window. Will plant a dogwood (duh) next to it to mark her resting place.

  119. 119.

    The Midnight Lurker

    There was an ‘unnamed’ voting machine vendor listed in the Mueller indictment. Somebody said that the NYT had pieced it together (probably why they took the article down). Anybody got a clue? Kinda important. Thanks.

  120. 120.

    Brachiator

    @joel hanes:

    I’ve never been able to grok a thrown brick to the head as an expression of love.

    Knockabout action depicting love and affection is typical in all kinds of art and literature.

    Krazy Kat kicks it up a notch. In some ways it expresses the ambivalence of black people in America, living in a country which alternately loves and reviles them.

  124. 124.

    Nicole

    @Major Major Major Major: He did have a good time, and I’m glad we went because he was on Cloud 9 after meeting his favorite Youtube gamer. Funny how the things I would never spend 2 hours standing in line for myself I will gladly do for the wee one.

    @Sab: You’re kind. My stepmom and I did NOT get along during my teen years (combination of entirely different cultural backgrounds plus the usual a-holeness of teens) but we’re very close now. No disrespect to the memory of my mom, but my stepmom really was the love of my dad’s life.

  125. 125.

    JAFD

    @J R in WV: Not much for the nightclub scene at my age, but WBGO.org may not be ‘the greatest jazz station in the world’ – but don’t know of one better – has rundowns of who’s playing on air and on their website.

    (Note: there’s about a five-second delay between on-air and over Internet, had both radio and smartphone on, sounded real strange.)

  126. 126.

    Steve in the ATL

    @joel hanes: “I’ve never been able to grok a thrown brick to the head as an expression of love.”

    So you’re probably not a fan of “Andy Capp” either?

  127. 127.

    Elizabelle

    @CarolPW: What a shock. Puck had a good life with you, though, and 14 years is old age for a 60-pounder. It’s senior for any dog.

    Hang out here with us and comment more. It is going to be hard getting through the next days, kind of looking for her and expecting her to show up, even though you know. All the best.

  128. 128.

    CarolPW

    @Elizabelle: Thank you very much for your thoughts. Puck had the best life I could give her – she had 80 sq miles of wind farm land to tear around as I did environmental surveys. Thursday night was the first night that she wasn’t sleeping next to me except when I was in the hospital (and she got to sleep with my sister then). And she got to stay at a lot of up-scale hotels in San Fransisco, Portland, Seattle and Spokane, and a bunch of motels in Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, and Arizona.

    Hek (the Iraq cat) died this spring and I’m not even over grieving for him yet. This has been tough.

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