A lot has been said about this, and quite well, so I'll confine myself to this one observation. This guy seems to make a habit of missing the point, as is highlighted by the following quote:

"(3) Notifications of Boycott. To the one or two readers who promised never to buy my books because I came to certain conclusions in logic you do not share, allow me to point out that most of my books were written before my conversion to Christianity, and at least one was written before my disillusionment with the Sexual Liberation Movement. So, for those of you who buy books for the sake of ideological purity rather than for entertainment value, I suggest you discover which is which, and plan your purchases accordingly."

Um, guy, the people who are saying that they won't buy your books aren't saying that because of what's in the books, they're saying that because they don't want to give you any money. It's called "voting with your dollars" and is a time-honored capitalist tradition. It's entirely possible that I've bought and enjoyed works by folks as hateful as you, but they had the presence of mind not to vomit their bigotry into a very public sphere, and thus I remain blissfully unaware of their homophobic predilections.

With that sort of reasoning ability, it's no wonder he washed out as a lawyer.
( Read more... )

So, I bought a pair of cranberry capris the other day, and on the first wearing I asked the Destroyer what he thought of them.  He hemmed and hawed for a minute and then said, "They don't look as much like Hulk pants as they might."  Um, thanks?  I was thinking about this because I wore them to work today (casual Fridays), and my friend H. said she liked them. So, pppptthhhhbbbttt!! to Hulk pants, although he really does ... kind of ... y'know .... have a point ... hmmmm - ERICA SMASH!!!

So, I realized how seldom I wear hose when I put some on today, and Jack got down on the ground, rubbed my ankle, and said in a voice of great wonderment, "What are those, mama? Why are your legs black?"

"Those are pantyhose," I said, trying to retrieve my ankle so I could go put on some shoes.

"Go get some that aren't black," he said sternly.  "It would look better if they weren't black."

Sadly for him, I declined to take sartorial advice from someone who has been known to wear his pants backwards.

I know that I spent a lot of time cleaning yesterday instead of paying attention to you, and how boring that is, especially for you. However, you broke your big toe last Sunday, and have apparently decided that a trip to the ER is a dandy way to get a bunch of attention.  I say this because what other notion could have motivated you to stand upright on our canister vacuum while I was using it and try to ride it as though you were a Fremen and it was Shai Hulud?  Right next to the antique bookshelf with the (thinnish) glass front.  Twice.

- Your loving but exasperated mother

Date:	2009-05-07 10:37
Subject:	Penguicon Peculiarity
Security:	Public
Mood:	amused

So, I'll post more about Penguicon later, but I thought you all should know that presterjon and I are apparently no longer married. Yup, found this out at the con. WHY AM I ALWAYS THE LAST TO HEAR ABOUT THESE THINGS?

There's a reason my husband's nom de blog is The Destroyer. Today he snapped the shift knob clean off while driving. I don't think shift knobs are generally supposed to just come apart, but most haven't been at The Destroyer's mercy for several years. Fortunately, everyone was fine, but there went a couple of hours I hadn't planned on spending dealing with car issues. Actually, the gearbox has been sticky for a while. The immortal words of Buffy's Spike, shouted in response to driving Giles' Citroen, "I can't tell if I'm driving this thing or wearing it," pretty much sum up my latest experience driving The Destroyer's car.

Um...yeah. I don't watch The Daily Show as a matter of course, mostly because I really suck at remembering when TV shows are on, but this makes me think I should try harder.

This is not a political or personal comment on Sarah Palin, but rather something that occurred to me that I thought was a little amusing.

Am I the only one that thinks she looks more than a bit like Peggy Hill?

So, I had my thyroid out on Tuesday. Recovery is going ok, although my voice is still all weird from being intubated, and the incision is all swollen up, although just from general trauma and not from infection. I did have a small cancer that was completely enclosed in the thyroid and had no involvement with blood vessels or lymph nodes, so that's as good as news about cancer ever gets. One of my parathyroid glands was apparently inside my thyroid, so I'm having some low calcium symptoms, i.e. tingling in my fingertips and toes. Once the other three come back online from the insult of the surgery I should be fine. As it is, I'm taking large doses of calcium and vitamin D (SOP for thyroid surgery).

Incidentally, the hospital is a very unrestful place. I know why they have to check vitals, etc., but it resulted in a very broken night's sleep Tuesday night. It didn't really help that I have low blood pressure anyway and the nurses kept saying, "I can't really hear very well, hm..." One had to get an ultrasound. I think they would have been more worried if I hadn't been awake and talking to them. Wednesday morning, The Destroyer showed up with Jack in tow. Jack had gotten his own clothes and gotten dressed, something he is perfectly capable of but generally completely unwilling to do, and insisted that he wanted to come see me. It was nice to see him, and I think it was good for him, because he was obviously a bit concerned. He's since decided to be the one that's 'sick' and we've played 'hospital' a bit, which I think is a good method for him to figure out what's been going on.

Even if there are atheists in foxholes, you'd damn well better keep your mouth shut about it.

When Specialist Jeremy Hall held a meeting last July for atheists and freethinkers at Camp Speicher in Iraq, he was excited, he said, to see an officer attending.

But minutes into the talk, the officer, Maj. Freddy J. Welborn, began to berate Specialist Hall and another soldier about atheism, Specialist Hall wrote in a sworn statement. “People like you are not holding up the Constitution and are going against what the founding fathers, who were Christians, wanted for America!” Major Welborn said, according to the statement.

Major Welborn told the soldiers he might bar them from re-enlistment and bring charges against them, according to the statement.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Welcome to The Destroyer! He's actually made a livejournal account under the nome de plume presterjon.

It seems like, whenever someone, such as representative Sally Kern, says things that piss a bunch of people off and gets called on it publicly and vocally, someone trots out the free speech defense.

Washington, D.C. — On Wednesday, April 2, Concerned Women for America (CWA) will join over 50 pastors in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to rally support for State Representative Sally Kern (R-Oklahoma City) and her right to free speech. Recently, Rep. Kern has been under attack from radical homosexual activists and their followers over remarks she made regarding the homosexual agenda. Rep. Kern took a Biblical stand against homosexual activism and has refused to back down from her statements despite receiving death threats.

CWA applauds Rep. Kern for continuing to be steadfast and resolute in this fight against the homosexual agenda and for shedding light on the threat it poses to our nation. Rep. Kern has been quoted as saying that the homosexual agenda is dangerous “because it destroys the basic moral fiber of this nation, which is traditional marriage and the traditional family.” She couldn't be more right.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Sort of a Monty Python meets...dang, I'm out of touch. Anyway, it's hilarious.

Parenting makes you do funny things, and say funny things...

Don't dance with that in your mouth!

Why do I have to tell you not to lick that?!

Don't put your feet on the bread!

Why is your leg mostly green?

Why couldn't you tell me your underpants were itchy before I put your shoes on?

You do not need Magnum XL condoms. Put them back on the rack, please.

Peanuts are not toys.

I don't know why that man's legs don't work. That's a very personal question, and it's rude to ask personal questions of someone you don't know. ... Stop asking that!

I also never expected to be woken up to, "What's in eyeballs?!!!"
I replied, "Vitreous humor...go away..."

So, we had a freezer in the basement. Which had frozen chicken in it. Which was on a circuit that shared a fuse with the a plug in the bathroom upstairs and the microwave. Said fuse was apparently blown sometime in the past two weeks. Which was noticed by no one until today. Frozen and then defrosted chicken rotting for a week smells probably a bit better than anything with its guts still intact, but it's still a week-old corpse. That freezer was the most disgusting thing I have ever encountered. However, after being sick twice, I finally got used to the smell and managed to bleach the hell out of everything, including myself. Then I took a shower, with extra scrubbing. Yeech! I did, however, renew my hopes of becoming a medical examiner. I can adapt.

It's amazing how much different this experience of being unemployed is from my last. That time was the first time I'd gotten fired from anything, ever, and my skill set was much narrower. It was scary. This time it has nothing to do with me, personally, and my former boss is busily fielding calls from companies that are eager to jump into the breach left by the Axium/Diversity collapse and are looking to snatch up former employees. I have a much broader, more portable skill set and a much larger professional network. It's not so scary, and let me tell you, it's a relief to have something sucky happen and be able to really believe that things will be ok. I usually *know* things will be ok in my head, but don't really believe it. Eh, I could be worried that I'm jinxing myself by not being worried, but that way lies madness and I ain't goin' there.

Suddenly, all is explained! I was obviously the victim of Childhood Goat Trauma! (Totally work safe.)

Jack has taken to telling knock-knock jokes, the true purpose of which he doesn't get at all. However, he's stumbled onto an apparently fool-proof method of making the jokes funny, at least to him. Answer 'pants' to "Who's there?" Or maybe, if you're really feeling funny, "Pants in cake!" Why? I have learned not to ask these questions. Other words in conjunction with 'pants' will do, as well. Haunted pants. Owl pants. Satan's pants. The possibilities are endless. Hey, if shouting 'pants' at him will keep him laughing so hard he can barely breath for half an hour, it's minimal effort well spent in my books.

While I'm at it, I might as well put in a plug for a method for making Pad Thai that I found. I haven't investigated the rest of her blog, but Chez Pim has a great Pad Thai method. I say method because it's an explanation rather than a recipe, and of course I made a few modifications, although only to the vegetables. I used green onions, thinly sliced red bell pepper, and, since I don't care for bean sprouts much, baby pea tips for some green. It got rave reviews, and making it in batches was only slightly problematic, and then only because I was only cooking for 3 other people and didn't eat until after they were done. Not a big deal, and the leftovers were totally worth it.

I sometimes come across recipes that work out great, and think I should save them in some organized fashion, but instead I've decided I'll just post them here. :)

I made this tonight, with a few modifications, and it was tasty.

6 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons tarragon vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon
1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
3 cups diced cooked chicken (from one 3-pound purchased cooked chicken)

1/2 cup orzo (rice-shaped pasta; about 3 ounces)
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes (about 10 ounces)
1 6-ounce jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pitted Kalamata olives
1/3 cup dried currants
1 1/2 tablespoons drained capers

Combine oil, vinegar, tarragon, lemon juice, and mustard in small bowl; whisk to blend. Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper. Place chicken in medium bowl. Mix in 1/4 cup dressing.

Cook orzo in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain. Rinse under cold water to cool; drain well. Transfer orzo to large bowl. Stir in remaining dressing and toss to coat. Add chicken mixture, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, olives, currants, and capers. Season salad to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

My modifications:

1) I omitted the dried currants and capers, since I didn't have them.
2) Balsamic vinegar instead of tarragon vinegar.
3) Basil instead of tarragon.
4) I didn't have orzo, so I made the dressing with 4 T of oil and the rest of the measurements as is, thawed out about 4.5 cups of chicken, and seasoned the salad to taste. I used all but about 1/8 cup of the dressing, so that worked out well. I served it with garlic and basil instant couscous.
5) I didn't have a full cup of cherry tomatoes, so I finely chopped a couple of dried tomatoes.
6) I only had canned black olives, so that's what I used.

What I thought of my modifications:

1) I don't know what capers taste like, but I may get some just to make this again and find out, since I really like how this turned out.
2) I have basil in my garden, and no tarragon, so I'll probably stick to this variation. I also really like balsamic vinegar, and it doesn't trigger the reaction I get to other uncooked vinegars, so that's a go.
3) The chicken salad with no starch was a little overwhelming, but the couscous worked great with it. I might get some orzo to see what it's like with that.
4) Reducing the oil worked well. 6 T would have been too much.
5) The cherry tomatoes really added a bit of needed freshness to the salad. I would do over a cup the next time, if possible. I'm not sure the dried tomatoes added much, in the end.
6) Jack and I both like black olives, so I'd give Kalamata olives a try, but the regular old canned black olives worked out fine.