Since I took so many books of the bookcase in my office while organizing my art supplies and making them more accessible, we had a sudden bookshelf shortage, so yesterday Shannon and I spent what felt like hours, going through every single book on every single shelf of 13 large bookcases … holy mackerel! But we needed to make some room by getting ( Read more... )

The definition of a troll: watching(?) an extremely popular YouTube adaptation of a famous Jane Austen novel & then leaving comments that denigrate feminism. Dude! Jane Austen? You really think Jane Austen fans are going to sit still for anti-feminist rhetoric? Especially Elizabeth Bennet fans? Lizzie was one bad-ass early-19th century chick! If ( Read more... )

Well, first the big news: We've decided not to put Cobweb to sleep tomorrow. Instead, I am going to have a serious, pragmatic discussion with our vet about how to make that difficult and irreversible decision. The situation -- Cobweb's health and behavioral issues -- hasn't changed, but we didn't want to be hasty and regret it later. We want to ( Read more... )

I've been doing a bit of clothes/jewelry shopping lately -- primarily for blouses, skirts, necklaces, and rings -- and I've noticed something that annoys me: someone out there thinks that women want to wear nothing but hearts and flowers ( Read more... )

TV for the day:

The "Pan Am" pilot
Wow. I very nearly got up and walked away before the episode had ended. Here's why:

1. Way boring.
2. Way sexist. Yes, I understand that women in that era were beset by very different expectations than those of today, but "Mad Men" manages to approach those same historical/cultural gender-related issues, but does it ( Read more... )

It turns out that Cobweb has a kidney infection, so the vet gave her an injection of antibiotics, and now we get to experience the adventure that is giving your cat daily subcutaneous fluids at home! We've got one of those big, hospital-style, clear plastic bags of fluid, with a long plastic tube, and a big honkin' needle on the end. (The scariness ( Read more... )

Our contractor, Ting, and his guys (two of them, always the same guys, but they speak very little English, so I usually just say hi to them and don't try to engage them in further conversation -- otherwise it ends in frustration for all of us) got lots of work done on the garage today: the west wall (the only wall they are building) is now present ( Read more... )