Sunday update

Mom's about the same. They finally moved her to the pulmonary unit 10 minutes after I left Friday night. The new room is quieter, but when she is sitting in the chair (where she's a little more comfortable) I have to borrow a another one from the visitors' lounge--there's only one in the room. I had to get her a little clock, as there's none in her half of the room.

I'll be going over to visit her in a little while--I just have to figure out how to get across the route of the NYC Marathon.

Futile websearches

My blog has been getting a number of visitors from people, probably men, searching for "kick testicles" or something containing that phrase. I got one for "women kick testicles" from Saudi Arabia.

Sorry, guys, you won't find anything about kicking testicles here.

Quick update on mom

Things are progressing slowly. Her heart has stabilized, so they are putting her back on her medicine for high blood pressure. The blood transfusion doesn't seem to have had much effect. They are going to be giving her nutritional supplements--though she did eat a fair amount of her dinner last evening. The portion was so big I might have had trouble finishing it.

At the moment, I don't know where she is exactly. Yesterday afternoon, they told her space in the pulmonary unit had opened up, and she could move down there if she wanted (and they might move her even if she didn't want it). Since her favorite nurse is off this weekend, she decided to transfer.

They said it could be as late as 7:30 that she would actually go. At 7:00 they said they were cleaning her new room. Then nothing. I asked and asked. I wanted to see where she would be, but at 11:00pm we were still waiting. I'm going to get on the phone now and try to find her.

Plat du jour

I found this after leaving the hospital last night. S/he must have quite a commute.

Thursday night/Friday morning report

Things are progressing pretty well with my mom. She is able to sleep better now, as her coughing has mostly stopped, and they switched her noisy roommate to a different room. The new one is much quieter--in fact she seems to sleep most of the time. My mom is much more cheerful.

The doctor said the IV anti-biotics would continue though the weekend, so my mom will definitely be in the hospital that long--not that I think she will be strong enough to leave for a while anyhow. They want her eating reasonably normally and walking before they will discharge her. Now she has no appetite, and only eats a fraction of her meals--though she says she does a good job on the cottage cheese and banana for breakfast. They gave her a unit of blood yesterday to help make up for this.

The biggest concern at this point is her heart. Her blood pressure is somewhat high, though the rate and oxygen levels are pretty good. It is the arhythmia that has been noted that has most of the doctors' attention. They said that fluid retention, as evidenced by the swelling of her feet and ankles, is not a large concern, unless it's in her lungs.

My meeting the NYCLA LGBT Issues Committee last night was postponed, so I didn't have to worry about that. My sister-in-law went back to Massachusetts, as she has to work today, but my sister is trying to arrange things so she can come down.

Wednesday night/Thursday morning update

My mom is recovering slowly. All her medications seem to be working--though her blood pressure was somewhat high yesterday. It did go down a bit by mid-afternoon. Her blood-oxygen level also isn't quite what it should be. We are a little concerned about the swelling in her feet and ankles--she isn't walking yet. My sister-in-law and I will be talking to the doctor about that shortly.

Last night I was able to attend the board meeting of the LGBT Law Assn Foundation, of which I'm treasurer. I've got a meeting of the NY County Lawyers Assn LGBT Issues Committee this evening--I'll see if I'm able to go to that. My sister-in-law has to go back home this afternoon.

Tuesday night/Wednesday morning report

My mother's getting stronger. Yesterday she sat up in a chair for 6 hours (only 2 hours the previous day), and was able to scoot herself up in bed by herself, which she hadn't been able to do by herself before. The new medications seem to be working well.

My sister-in-law got in. She's a much better care-giver than I am--she can anticipate my mom's needs much better, so she's proactive, whereas I'm mainly reactive. With her here I was able to take a little break yesterday evening for a small, late, Halloween observance (a weird "burlesque" show--which on Halloween at least is an excuse for young women to do a strip tease (more strip, less tease, for most of them), and pour fake blood on themselves). It was good to get out--I hadn't presented as a woman in over 2 weeks.

Monday night/Tuesday morning update

Things are progressing with mom. She's getting stronger day by day--strong enough at least to start complaining about things. There are some side effect/complications, but nothing major. A cardiologist has been called in to adjust her medication to regulate her heartbeat.

Meanwhile, my sister-in-law is coming in for a couple days. With her here I'll be able to spend a little less time in the hospital, and I think I'll be able to get out tonight for Halloween a bit.

Sunday evening update

Mom's significantly better. She's stronger, they've given her solid food to eat, and she was sitting up in a chair for a while this afternoon.

She's still very sick, of course, and there are side effects of her treatment that that have to be monitored and managed. But she seems to be going in the right direction--which is a relief for me.

Sunday morning update

My mom's doing OK, but as the doctor explained, her immune system has basically taken over her body fighting the infection, leaving her little energy for anything else. So she feels exhausted. It doesn't help that her new roommate has Alzheimer's, and screams a lot, making it hard for my mom to sleep. They're trying to find some way of rearranging the rooms, but many of the patients there are similar to her roommate. The hospital is full, giving them few options.

Update on my mom

She's got pneumonia, a very bad case, according to the doctors. But it's responding to the antibiotics, so things are looking up. She's been able to eat a bit, and she finally is in a regular room instead of emergency--it only took 23 hours to do that. It's in the "ACE" area--"Acute Care for the Elderly."

They said she'd be in the hospital at least through the weekend. I'm guessing it'll be a bit longer than that.

My mom's in the hospital

My mom has been visiting me here in New York. She came last Thursday, and was supposed to go back home Tuesday. But late Sunday night she started feeling sick, and spent most of Monday in bed, very weak. We cancelled her flight back, rebooking it for Wednesday. But she remained weak, maybe even got a little worse, running a bit of a fever, and we cancelled the Wednesday flight also.

Finally yesterday she was so bad I called my doctor, who advised a trip to the emergency room. The paramedics came, gave her oxygen and I think an injection of something, and she improved immediately. Then we all went to the hospital. It was the first time I ever rode in an ambulance--though they didn't use the siren except at one corner.

Anyhow, in the emergency room they checked her over, and over and over and over. A total of four exams by two residents (or whatever they're calling them these days), the attending physician, and my doctor, who came a bit later. All asked the same questions, and came up with the same diagnosis--some pneumonia in one lung. They eventually did a chest x-ray, though I never heard the results. They admitted her, and gave her anti-biotics.

The only problem is, they don't have any available beds. So she's stuck on a gurney in the aisle in the emergency room. She was sleeping on and off, even amid the noise. Hopefully in the morning they'll find a real place for her.

Altogether I spent about 7 hours at the hospital, mostly in the emergency room, except for a couple times when they shooed all the visitors out to the waiting area. There were all sorts of interesting things going on, in both places. But that will have wait for another post.

Get well fast, mom.

Living with bears XXV

Idaho: Baby Sitter Kills Black Bear
Canada: Bear Visits School’s Playing Field, A dog, a bear and a close call
India: Bear injures 8 in Kulgam
Florida: Carrabelle Woman Shoots Black Bear on Back Porch

52 reasons NOT to re-elect Republicans

For years and years people have complained about Congress. Poll after poll show that a majority think it does a lousy job, BUT these same polls show that most people think their representative and senators are OK (though lately the dissatisfied group is up to a third).

Well, folks, guess what--if you think there's a problem with Congress, your representatives are probably part of the problem, too. And it seems to me that the largest group of these problem politicians are Republicans--the party seems to attract more than its share of influence peddlers, perjurers, and, er, guys with an unhealthy interest in Congressional pages.

But if you are still inclined to return a Republican to Washington, take a look at this list on my friend Betty's blog. See if your representative or senator is on it, and click to see what he or she has been up to. To be sure, not all of them have been accused of crimes--some are just servants of the wealthy, or just plain senile. Read all about it. Then, on election day, send someone else to Washington.

Post Office: We don't care about you

The Associated Press reports that the Post Office has started a program to eliminate stamp vending machines in post offices by 2010. They claim it is too expensive to maintain them, especially as they have gotten older. They also claim some machines get little use.

Well, maybe if they didn't return change in dollar coins people would use them more. Or if they sold useful items, like "additional ounce" stamps--currently 24¢. Instead it's usually books of 20 first class stamps--$7.80 at the current rate. Which means if you don't have exact change, or $8 in bills, you get the hated dollar coins back. If they sold books of 7, people could just put in $3, which I think a lot more people carry around--$5 bills seem to be used a lot less than tens and ones.

The post office is increasing its use of automated postal centers, though, which is a good thing. They take credit cards, as well as cash. It would help to have more of them. The last time I went to the post office, two people were monopolizing the single automated machine, with a huge stack of envelopes they were mailing out, apparently from where they worked. Each envelope had to be done separately, with the zipcode manually keyed in, and the requested services entered (there is no "same as previous" option, apparently). So I had to wait on the line (long, of course) to see a clerk.

The thing in this article that REALLY ANNOYS ME is that the postal service is reducing the number of free-standing blue mailboxes. They have done that a little in my neighborhood already. I used to have one right at my corner, but it's gone now--though there is another only a block away, so it's not a big deal. What is a big deal is that they have reduced the number of pickups from that box to one a day. If I don't get my mail in by 11:00 a.m., it will sit there to the next day. To me, this just tells me they don't care about giving us good service.

Plats du jour

I found these three blocks apart.

10,000 visitors!

Despite the fact that I have not been posting much of substance of late, and my daily visitor count has decreased by close to half, this blog has now received over 10,000 visitors. I thank all my readers, especially those who have stuck with me during my periods of decreased output. I do intend to return to my previous level. My intermediate-sized projects of the last few weeks (e.g. my taxes, a visit by my mom) are now pretty much completed (though my Great Office Clean-Up Project must be renewed). So stay tuned.

Thanks again, all.

Say it ain't so!

I just got an e-mail from the guys in Girl Friday saying Lisa Jackson has split from them. It's also on their Myspace page. This is horrible! I love this group. The last time I heard them they were so together I wondered why they weren't playing a huge arena and not a small club.

This is sad.

Plat du jour

Big Man on Campus?

The Queen

Quick review of The Queen: Run, don't walk, to see this film. It's the story of how newly-elected British Prime Minister Tony Blair convinced Queen Elizabeth to change the response of the royal family to the death of Princess Diana in 1997. It is the best film I've seen this year. I don't know how much of the details is true, but it doesn't really matter--it's certainly based on fact, and is a riveting film.

All of the performances are good to excellent, Helen Mirren will certainly get an Oscar nomination for her title role, and Michael Sheen as Blair should garner one also.

Sad websearches

In the last 2 or 3 days a couple people have reached this blog searching for "girls kick testicles" or something similar. I wonder why no one seems to look for "women kick testicles."

Plat du jour

There are a couple of possible captions for this one:

Really Q'd up.
or maybe
Too Q-ute.

Plat du jour

.

This is a fetish?

I notice that Sheen V's Place lists this blog under "feeding my fetishes." This blog??!!! I've got to wonder what fetish of hers I'm feeding. Could someone have a fetish for vanity plates?

Plat du jour

.

Ney pleads guilty--but doesn't resign

Yesterday Republican Congressman Bob Ney pleaded guilty to conspiracy and making false statements. That makes him the first GOP legislator to admit to being the recipient of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff's influence-buying. I doubt he'll be the last.

But he has not resigned his seat in the House of Representatives just yet, much to the embarrassment of the Republicans. The last thing they need is a walking, talking reminder of the moral bankruptcy of so many in their party. If they aren't taking extravagant "gifts" from lobbyists, they're sending sexually suggestive messages to teenaged Congressional pages--or covering up the sending of the messages.

White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said that Ney's crimes are "not a reflection of the Republican Party." Maybe they're not a reflection of the Republican Party--I'm pretty sure bribe-taking isn't an official plank in their platform. But it is a reflection of the Republicans--the fact is, their party does seem to attract an awful lot of miscreants.

More good times for the Democrats.

A taxing week

It feels good to have finished doing my taxes--three days early, even.

Plat du jour

.

The Holocaust and Rosseau--three days in Washington.

I just got back a couple hours ago from a trip to Washington to see the U.S. National Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Rousseau Exhibition at the National Gallery of Art.
Saturday and today we spent at The Holocaust Memorial. We didn't get to see more than a fraction, just the small but informative exhibit on the fraudulent Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and the beginning of the Permanent Exhibition. It might take twelve hours to fully view the latter, maybe more. In about 4½ hours over the two days we might have gotten through a third of it, it's so huge.

I'm not going to post a full review, even of the part I did see. I will say that it is extremely well done, going into just the right amount of detail in most areas. Here and there I came across some things that were new to me, for instance, how the Nazis defined what a Jew was. This was something they never had to really do until it became a crime for a non-Jew to marry or have sexual relations with a Jew.

There are some interesting artifacts on display. I certainly noticed a pair of early tabulating machines the Nazis used to process the data concerning people's race--early examples of a card punch and a card sorter. The logo of the manufacturer was quite evident: IBM--they were manufactured by its German subsidiary.

The Museum building itself is also remarkable. It's reminiscent of a prison and a factory--a lot of plain brick, metal, rivet-studded doors and baseboards, skylights. It is respectful of the subject matter, but not pretty. There was one other thing I thought was excellent--most of the people visiting the museum were not Jewish. Jews tend to know a lot about the holocaust, but others may not. Today when we arrived there was group of young men in uniform about to leave after their visit. Their speech confirmed what I surmised from their garb--they were German, perhaps cadets at the German version of West Point.

Eventually we'll go back to see the rest of it. It will probably take another two trips.

Sunday we went to the National Gallery to see Henri Rousseau: Jungles in Paris. This exhibition has only one more week to run. The enigmatic artist's work is extensively shown. But was he really as naive as many of his paintings, and his statements, would suggest? Or was this just his strategy to use his limited, self-taught technique to eke out a meager living? I don't think we'll ever really know. I do know that Rousseau's work is fascinating, not beautiful by any stretch, but haunting, emanating an air of mystery unlike any other artist's that I can think of.

Plat du jour

We heard you the first time, Max.

Observation of the day

Tangerines aren't tan.

Weird websearch of the day

Someone in Memphis was looking for connecticut big ass growers, which lists my blog as fifth. I have no idea what the searcher was looking for.

Plat du jour

Looks like Puccini slave girls are doing quite well.

Plat du jour

New York is my city, too.

Lloyd Moss is retiring

This is Lloyd Moss's last week as a WQXR announcer. He started at the station in 1955, and has been the late afternoon "drive time" host since 1989. That is when he returned from an 18 year diversion doing voiceovers and acting.

WQXR general manager Tom Bartunek called Moss "slightly mischievous." That he is. He sometimes can get into a bit of a banter with the news announcers. It can only be for a few seconds at the beginning or the end of a newscast, but somehow he manages.

My favorite part of his mischief, though, is his wordplay. Puns are not beneath him. My favorite example was the day after Mother's Day, when he talked about Yo Yo's Ma, Anne-Sophie's Mutter, Ricardo's Muti, and Debussy's La Mer. I think there was one, maybe even two more that I can't remember.

I'll miss him.

Plat du jour

A jellyfish?

Useless websearch of the day

Someone searched for breaking crossdressing habit and found my blog, way down the list. Of course, this was just a word coincidence, because there is nothing in this blog on the subject. Crossdressing isn't just a "habit." It can be an expression of one's identity, or a sexual fetish--frequently it's a combination of them. Where it's purely a fetish (a percentage I suspect is not that large), I suppose quitting might be possible for a strong-minded person. But for most crossdressers, where there is at least a measure of gender identity motivation, it's almost impossible. You can't suppress who you really are, not permanently.

"Purging," where a CD throws out all of the crossdressing items, is very common, but almost always replacements are obtained, sooner or later. Some CDs do this time after time after futile time, but they always return to crossdressing.

Of course, now there is something here about "breaking crossdressing habit"--basically, forget about it.

Living with...a moose?

Moose Wanders Onto N. Michigan U. Campus
Maybe I should start a series about moose also.

Living with bears XXIV

Canada: Wayward bear rounded up, Bear causes a stir
Connecticut: Black bear spotted on Sugarloaf Drive Monday
Japan: Rampaging bear attacks schoolboy
Pennsylvania: Black bear mauls pit bull
Florida: Altamonte Resident Finds Bear Close To Home

Plat du jour

How big is father?

On W. 23rd Street

Another one for Murphy

Why did I have to come down with a cold the week I have important meetings three different days--Monday, Tuesday and Thursday? I'd like to present as a woman at all of them, for various reasons. But it takes so long for shaving and hair removal, getting to CDI (where I "transform"), doing my make-up and changing my clothes, getting back to CDI afterwards, taking off the make-up and clothes. I really could use the time for some extra sleep.

Now someone should be telling me to stop blogging and go to bed.

Plat du jour

You're nuts!

Living with bears XXIII

Montana: The bear up there
Canada: Bear Sightings and Break And Enters, Bear empties fridge in home
Kentucky: Bear Put Down After Approaching Person At Apartment Complex
Wisconsin: Waupaca, Waushara Co. bear sightings increase
North Carolina: Another Bear Sighting Reported In Greensboro
Arizona: Bear makes for quite an afternoon in Sierra Vista

Plat du jour

Hooray for J!

(and I ♥ NY also)

Another Republican bites the dust

I've posted two or three things about Ohio Republican congressman Bob Ney since last January, when he stepped down from his leadership position because he was being investigated for corruption. Now, after months of proclaiming his innocence, he has agreed to plead guilty. His deal apparently provides for 27 months in prison.

I love to see these former high officials heading off to jail--especially when they're Republicans.

Goodbye Discover, hello American Express

Since 1994 my Discover Card has been my main credit card. It has a cash rebate feature, basically 1% on purchases over a certain amount per year--$6,000, if I remember correctly, with lesser percentages on lower amounts. Since I use it for almost everything I can, my monthly bills (which I always pay in full), are always four figures--occasionally even the upper four figures. They also have a "Get More" program, which gives a 5% rebate for some purchases. And finally, if you use the rebate to purchase gift cards from certain merchants, you can get up to double the amount.

But recently I discovered (ha ha) that the American Express Blue Cash card has a better rebate program: 1.5% above $6,500 in annual purchases. They also have 5% rebates, though no gift card program. Still, at my level of credit card usage, I should do better with the Amex card.

The Discover 5% rebates are limited: only at certain merchants, up to certain amounts, during certain times of the year, and they make you sign up for it each time--the whole thing is too much to keep track of. Amex gives 5% for all supermarket, gas station and drug store purchases, all the time, no limits, no signups, once you pass the $6,500 mark.

Discover's gift card program is not terribly useful. The number of merchants that offer double have dwindled to a handful of places I don't particularly want to shop at (it was great when Borders offered double). Most now just give a 25% bonus, so it's like getting a 1.25% rebate. And it's also just a hassle--you have to order them, and remember to take them to the store. It can be a pocketful, as most only come in $25 denominations.

There are a couple other reasons why I want to switch to Amex. The Discover card still isn't accepted at as many places as American Express. So my rebates will be higher for that reason alone. Finally, I am sick and tired of the huge number of calls I get from the Discover fraud prevention department. I have gotten so many messages from them on my answering machine that I have their number on my speed dial. If they were calling about unusual activity on my card, or about large purchases, I would understand it. In fact, I would welcome it--who wants their account to be used fraudulently? But that's seldom what prompts these calls. Most of them are about small, normal purchases at places I use the card all the time. Apparently the algorithm for generating these calls is largely based on the frequency of use. The more you use the card, the more calls you get. I wonder what the Discover marketing department would have to say about that.

So it's goodbye Discover, hello Blue Cash. Coincidentally, I am switching my brokerage accounts from Morgan Stanley to Merrill Lynch, because my stock broker is switching. Morgan Stanley owns the Discover Card. They're losing me as a customer twice.

Plat du jour

No, thanks, I'll just watch.

9/11--no need to remind me

It's the fifth anniversary of the World Trade Center terrorist attack. The second attack actually. I was in both of them.

In the first one, 1992 I think, I marched down 67 flights of a dark, smokey stairwell from my office in 2 World Trade. Fortunately I had a little flashlight in my briefcase.

On 9/11, though, I had a different job, and I was working across the street from 7 World Trade. I don't need any memorials, let alone bogus docu-dramas, to remind me of what happened. What I saw was too horrible to forget.

Personally, I fared pretty well, though. We were evacuated between the two towers coming down, and I wasn't caught in either dust cloud. Despite having worked in the Trade Center until 1998, I didn't know anyone who was killed there. My old company got just about everyone out safely, and all the rest of the people I knew who worked in the Trade Center also got out. Afterwards I got to work from home for a few weeks (which I liked), and then in a temporary office in midtown for several months more. Eventually my company returned downtown, to the same building. It was always weird going down there, with the towers gone and so many businesses closed.

A recent poll found that a majority of Americans thought 9/11 was more significant to the country than Pearl Harbor--which means a majority of Americans know little of history. As the article pointed out, there was a generation gap here--voters 18-34 were the most ignorant. But I guess it's understandable--people want to think what they are going through is the most important time in history. But heightened security for air travel, and for getting into buildings, is nothing compared to what happened after Pearl Harbor. The "War on Terror," as the Bushites like to call it, will never have more than a tiny percentage of the casualties of World War II--even if you include Bush's War of the Saddam Obsession. We don't even have a draft now, let alone the rationing of meat, gasoline, and I think sugar, that Americans experienced then.

But getting back to today, I'll be avoiding all the memorial TV shows, movies, newspaper and internet articles. I don't need them to remember--as much as I would like to forget.

Plat du jour

An Audi is not a bike.

Living with bears XXII

Arizona: Bear, 2 cubs captured near Tucson airport
Canada: Bold black bear bagged, Bear numbers double in city
Montana: Game wardens trap and release black bear

Another board membership

Next year I will be joining the board of directors of the LGBT Law Association of Greater NY (LeGaL). I'm already on the board of the LeGaL Foundation, its 501(c)3 affiliate. In fact, I'm the treasurer.

I know I'll be on the Association board because I'm one of the 11 people running for the 11 positions on it.

One of the more interesting facets of this election is that the bylaws require there to be a minimum of three men and three women on the board. Both minimums were met this time without counting me. But I wonder how I'd be classified.

Weird websearch of the day

"girls kick testicles
I haven't had one like this for quite a while. This blog is fifth on the list.

Plat du jour

.

Andre Agassi retires (yawn)

The big news from the U.S. Open tennis tournament is that Andre Agassi has played his final match. He retired after losing to a qualifier ranked 100 and something. Agassi's aching sciatica nerve was the real reason for the loss.

A while ago Agassi announced the Open would be his last tournament. When the draw was announced people saw that he could meet Andy Roddick in the fourth round, and were looking forward to the confrontation. But his aching back prevented that, despite a cortisone shot and three anti-inflammatory injections over the last few days.

Frankly, I never liked Agassi, and I won't miss seeing him on the tour. I certainly won't miss his blowing kisses to the stands after every match--a particularly annoying bit of pandering to the crowd as far as I'm concerned. He may have gone from the young "image is everything" rebel to the elder statesman of tennis (or at least of men's tennis), but he always seemed to me to be nothing more than a one-dimensional tennis machine. Well, maybe he expanded to one and half dimensions after he became a father.

Basically, I always thought he was a little dumb, and certainly uneducated. He did manage to get a high school diploma, after years of correspondence courses. Lack of formal education is not unusual on the tennis circuit, especially among the top players, but some manage to compensate for that by being smart--smart enough read and educate themselves a bit. I never noticed any of that with Agassi.

His committment to playing Davis Cup waned over the years--he played all of one Cup match after 2000. This made me like him even less.

In anticipation of his looming retirement, Sports Illustrated ran a long piece on him in July. It basically just confirmed what I already thought. Agassi is an overly-competitive, impulsive, rather self-centered guy. One may say that this is common among top athletes, and maybe it is, but it's not necessary--I can think of plenty who aren't that way.

Andre Agassi is someone I'd probably hate to spend any time with. That's my test of whether I'm going to be a fan of any particular athlete. Agassi gets an F in my grade book in that subject.

Comment moderation

I just noticed a couple of comments that had been awaiting moderation for several days. I'm sorry for the delay in approving them. I'm supposed to get an e-mail when a comment comes in, but apparently that hasn't been working. So I'm going to have to check manually. I'll do it as often as I can.

Murphy strikes again

Our dishwasher stopped working yesterday morning, at the beginning of a three day weekend. The repairer can't come until Tuesday.

Plat du jour

What times five?

Living with bears XXI

Colorado: Woman Orders Bears Out of Her Kitchen
Canada: Bear Sightings In Downtown Area, Bear reports keep coming in here
New York: Bear saunters in to check out Fishkill road
Massachusetts: The bear facts
New Mexico: Mama bear, three cubs crash birthday party in park

Republican still at it--senility sets in?

I have noted before a stupid remark from Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT). He's been continuing in this vein, sayng terrorists "drive taxi cabs in the daytime and kill at night," and making other inappropriate remarks. It sounds like he's getting senile.

(not) Weird websearch of the day

headstand supportive device
The websearch itself isn't weird. What's weird is that this blog is number one on the list.

Plat du jour

This car runs only at night.

Pre-order She's Not the Man I Married

My friend Helen Boyd's new book, She's Not the Man I Married, is available for pre-order on Amazon. I can't wait to read it.

But I'll have to.

Plat du jour

A cute, little, red BMW convertible is a very nice surprise.

Sadder websearch

A few weeks ago I posted an article about a sad websearch that found my blog, transgender mary carillo. I explained that Mary is not transgender, or transsexual, just because she doesn't act girly.

Now someone has reached my blog searching for mary carillo lesbian. Oy.

No, Mary is not lesbian either. She's married to a man. End of that story also.

Scalia at the ACLU???

I see Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, perhaps the most conservative of all the Justices, and certainly the most outspoken, will be at the ACLU conference in the fall. He will be having a "conversation" about civil liberties with ACLU president Nadine Strossen. That should be interesting. He's been a strong opponent of the ACLU's positions in a number of areas, but has also been a strong backer in others.

Another milestone

Lately I haven't been posting as much as before, and my average visitor count is down. Nevertheless, this blog has now passed 9,000 visitors. Thanks to all who have hung in there. I will be posting more, but I've got to get this office cleaned up.

Plat du jour

I don't care who's paying, I don't want one.

Blog changes--I beta wait

Last week I posted about the new features Blogger is adding, and that my blog might be changing appearance soon. The new version is available to me now, but after reading about all of the known issues with the current "beta" version, I think it's better to wait until they get these things fixed.

Cows 'moo' with an accent, farmers believe

That's what the Reuters article says. I'm not the least bit surprised.

For years and years we've had this mug:



















Yes, the mug is so old it says "West Germany." The cow from Poland says "Moöski."

Living with bears XX

Massachusetts: Black bear spotted again in Dunstable
Canada: Bear sightings on the rise, Cadomin bruins bear today and gone tomorrow, Hungry bear captured in Nampa
South Carolina: North Myrtle Beach Information Officer reports bear intrusion, Family dog feared dead after bear attacks home
California: Black bear killed in Chico
Florida: Bear with us: mom, cubs find way to city

Plat du jour

You can't fool me. That is not a Ventura. It's a Camry.

I passed (whoopee)

Last week I ventured down to the 169 Bar in Chinatown to hear Wendy Ip perform. She's back from her stay in England with a new song, and a new boyfriend. I have gotten to know Wendy from her weekly performances at the Stonewall Bistro, before it closed down.

There was a guy hanging around Wendy and her friends, and they introduced me. He said he was just from the neighborhood, and happened in on this night of music. He was showing a picture of his kids, and said his wife was out of town. He was obviously drunk, even before I had arrived.

Eventually it was Wendy's turn to sing. She was as good as ever. Afterwards she hung around a little while, talking to people. The drunk guy started coming on to me. (I guess I should point out that a) this is a straight bar; b) I was presenting as a woman.) He gently took ahold of my arm. I gently pulled away. It didn't discourage him though. He said something about us going back to his place (it was hard to hear over the music). I said, "Sorry, I've got a wife and I'm faithful to her," showing him my wedding and engagement rings.

He looked confused. "You're not a dude, are you?" he asked. I asked him to repeat it, just to make sure I heard him correctly over the band. I never assume I pass as a woman, especially after someone gets a good look at me, and hears me speak. But he repeated his question, "You're not a dude, are you?"

I replied, "I'm a little of both."

He looked at me for a few seconds, and said, "I'd bang you anyway."

I said, "I get enough of that at home," and headed for the exit.

But now I know that I pass as a woman in a well-lit straight bar--at least with a drunk guy.

Whoopee.

Plat du jour

Aurevoi

Blog changes coming

Blogger.com is adding to the features available to us bloggers, most notably the ability to separate our posts into various categories. It's still in beta testing, and I don't know when I'll be able to add it here, but it's coming.

So if you only want to see, say, my "Living with bears" posts, without the distractions of my other, much less important articles, you'll be able to do it.

The other big change apparently is the ability to easily modify the layout of the blog. I've fiddled with my template a little, but it's basically the same as the way the template author wrote it--which means it looks like any number of other blogs. This too will change. I'll try to remember to give an advance warning, but don't be surprised to come here some day and find a very different-looking blog.

Living with bears XIX

Colorado: Roaming bear captured, Curious, hungry bear captured at bowling alley in Englewood
Canada: Another home-invading bear destroyed
New York: A ‘startling' bear encounter on East Hill

Plat du jour

Now here's a car that's safe from attacking aircraft.

Or maybe just from dive-bombing birds.

Weird websearch of the day

humorous retiree monologues for church has this blog fourth!--right below that hateful Concerned Women for America.

The experiment: (slightly) amended results

A couple weeks ago I ran a little experiment to see if I could attract more vistors to my blog, by listing the ten most frequently searched-for terms. The results: zero. My blog was too low in the results lists.

But a couple days ago I did get a hit from someone doing a search using one of the terms: Kurara Chibana searches. Adding the word "searches" got my blog into the top 20.

Happy anniversary--to me!

This blog is one year old today. Starting with my toe-in-the-water test post through this one, I have 594 articles up--with exactly 8700 visitors as of this writing, an average of nearly 24 per day. That's not very large in the blogosphere realm, I know, but somebody must like what I'm writing.

Actually, I know who some of you are. As you can probably tell from all my "Weird Websearch" posts, I check my visitor log thoroughly. I don't get the names of my visitors directly, but I do get the IP addresses, and frequently the location of the ISP. With a little external info, like when you leave a comment, I can connect a visitor log entry with a name.

So I see no reason to stop writing "caprice's glob." Since I've been concentrating on my Office Clean-Up Project, I haven't been posting much of substance lately. But eventually that will end, and I'll get back to my entertainment reviews, etc. Hang in there. If you don't want to check in constantly, you can subscribe via FeedBlitz using the box in the right hand column. They'll send you an e-mail listing all my new headlines. It'll be a day late, but I think for most people that should suffice.

In the meantime, Happy Anniversary to me!

Plat du jour

A soccer referee?

Minor rant

I HATE those little stickers they put on fruit and vegetables!

Book meme

I've been tagged! By the lovely (and talented) Midwestern Transport.

So now I've got to go to work and answer this thing.

1. One book that changed your life?
Miss Vera's Finishing School for Boys Who Want To Be Girls by Veronica Vera. It was the first book I ever read that tried to explain why I want to present as a woman.

2. One book you have read more than once?
I seldom read books more than once. (So why do I keep all of mine?--Hmmm) I think the record is three times: Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.

3. One book you would want on a desert island?
I'll skip the obvious ones about rafts and survival. I think The Complete Works of William Shakespeare might do me well.

4. One book that made you laugh?
The Hot Rock, by Donald E. Westlake. This was the first of his Dortmunder series, the tales of a very good, but very unlucky, burglar. In this book Dortmunder steals a huge diamond--over and over, losing it after each successful heist.

5. One book that made you cry?
I can't think of any book that has ever done that. The closest is Guy de Maupassant's short story, "La Parure" (The Necklace, or The Diamond Necklace).

6. One book you wish had been written?
The Defeat of Bolshevism, by Alexander Karensky (or is it Kerensky?).

7. One book you wish had never been written?
Mein Kampf.

8. One book you are currently reading?
The Salmon of Doubt, by Douglas Adams.

9. One book you have been meaning to read?
Becoming a Visible Man, by Jamison Green, is next on my list. It's a very long list.

10. Now tag five people.
Helen Boyd, her husband Betty, Victoria Marinelli, The Lazy Cartoonist, my sister Deb.

Plat du jour

.

Living with bears XVIII

Canada: 'Unprecedented' number of bear sightings, Tranquilized Bear Succumbs
Nevada: For discriminating bear, night of dinner theater
Colorado: Suburban bear subdued
Alaska: Juneau bear killed by resident had checkered past
Virginia: 'Big' Black Bear Struck By Car On Rt. 9

Plat du jour

.

Republican "offense" is offensive

The Senate's second-ranking Republican, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said:

"The McGovern wing of the Democrat party seems to have forgotten that we've been on offense for the last five years and that's why we haven't been attacked here at home."

As a proud member of the McGovern wing (I worked with George McGovern's son-in-law on our college newspaper, before McGovern ran for president), I must disagree. We haven't forgotten anything.

What McConnell seems to have forgotten is that we have had almost as many Americans killed in Iraq as died from 9/11. We might equal it by election day. And let's not even think about the many thousands more horribly wounded, maimed for life.

We're not on offense, Sen. McConnell. Americans are still on defense. We're being attacked every day. The only thing George Bush the Stupid and his Republican cronies did was to move the playing field to Baghdad. That's where American troops, hunkered down there in the "Green Zone," venture out in an increasingly futile effort to keep the growing Iraqi civil war from spoiling the Republicans' chances in November.

But most of the US forces there are the sons and daughters of the working class, not the children of senators, or even of retired computer programmer/attorneys like me. So the Republicans don't care, because they are the party of the rich--and the narrow-minded social conservatives whom they distract with wedge issues like same-sex marriage. Our sons and daughters are safe in their college dorms. And we're safe (cross your fingers) in our office towers. But that's not being on offense.

Plat du jour

Recipe for divorce?

The end of the line--for me

This is a picture of my grave, or at least where it will be. Actually, it may be the one next to it--I forget the exact layout. My wife and I were visiting the cemetery last week, and I wandered over to where our plots are, and took a picture.

Weird, huh? I really don't care much what happens to my body after I die, but my wife does, so everything has been all bought and paid for. That's where we'll end up. We were mentioning it to a former colleague of hers, who told us she would be in the cemetery right across the road! I said we'd wave.

Plat du jour

Pinot?

Living with bears XVII

Florida: Bear that showed up at Bike Week killed on I-95
California: Bear sightings on the rise
Kentucky: Black bear hit, killed by SUV in Clark

Plat du jour

.

Your tax dollars at work--doing something useful

When I was on vacation in Barcelona, Spain last spring I lost my wallet to pickpockets. So when a fat envelope from the US Department of State Consular Section showed up in the mail today (well, yesterday) I didn't have to have to open it to know what was inside--the non-cash contents of my wallet. There was a form letter from the Barcelona consulate that said they had received my property from the local police, and would forward any more of my property if they acquired any.

Mostly it was cards that I have long-since replaced--ATM, credit, memberships, and my driver's license. But there was also a picture of my wife in her wedding dress, that I was very glad to get back.

I'm guessing the pickpockets just quickly took the cash (not that there was very much) and threw the wallet away, and someone turned it in to the Barcelona police. When nobody claimed it they sent it to the consulate, which sent the contents to Washington (ironically, the Consular Section is on Barcelona Street there), which forwarded it on to me.

Which is all a little amazing.

Living with bears XVI

California: Officials Chase Bear In Azusa Back Into Mountains
Kentucky: Family Spots Bear In Backyard
Nevada: Bear Finds Advertising Truth at Casino

Plat du jour

A new film rating?

Still about 10:1

Associated Press:

At least 524 people have been killed in Lebanon since the fighting began, according to the Health Ministry. Fifty-one Israelis have died, including 33 soldiers and 18 civilians who died in rocket attacks.

Talking back at the headlines

From the Associated Press "Top News:"

• Ailing Castro Gives Power to Brother
Keeping Cuba in the family.

• Israel Approves Wider Ground Offensive
Oy.

• Bush Looks to U.N. for Mideast Solution
Since he can't figure one out.

• Soldiers From 2 Koreas Exchange Fire
Did either side hit anything? Nah.

• Gitmo Guards Often Attacked by Detainees
Gee, I wonder why.

• Paper: Landis Had Synthetic Testosterone
Doesn't look good for Floyd.

• UK, Calif. to Strike Global Warming Deal
Is this constitutional?

• Deputy Hopes Gibson Thinks About DUI
The DUI is the least of his problems right now.

The project, redux

Late last February I started a new project: cleaning up my office. My main strategies were to minimize my weekday social and entertainment events, and to turn off this computer from 9:00am to 9:00pm. I did make some progress, but it came to a complete halt when I started packing for my trip to Spain in late April. I did not go back to the project when I returned. I had to unpack, and there was a lot of mail that came in while I was away, both snail and e-. Then came June, and a ton of Pride events. July was Wimbledon and Le Tour de France. And this last week I couldn't turn off the computer because it was getting backed-up. The result is, as you can see, that my office is almost as messy as it was before I started.

Now that I've run out of excuses, I will be resuming the project. Tomorrow morning the computer gets turned off at 9:00am. Obviously I will be blogging less. While I hope to post something every day, I'm not going to go crazy if I can't.

Living with bears XV

Massachusetts: Bear mingles with shoppers
Canada: Bear lumbers into B.C. day care

Backup to go forward

Like most computer users, I haven't been very good at backing-up my hard drive. Actually, I've been just plain lousy--I think the last time I did it was several months ago. And if my office burns up it wouldn't matter, because the backup disks are here in the same room anyway.

So when I read an AP article (later published here) about online, automatic, fairly cheap backup services it sounded just right for me. The Carbonite service seemed the best, and I decided to give it a try--especially since they give a free, 15-day trial, without even asking for a credit card number. If I decided to continue it would be $50 for a year (they haven't implemented their $5/month subscription yet, but I don't think I would have chosen that even if it were available).

I downloaded their software, and chose a "full" backup--not just documents and such. "Full" doesn't include the operating system, which isn't really necessary. The Carbonite program scanned my hard drive, and found nearly 5 gigabytes to back-up. This would require about three days to backup, according to their estimate formula--three 24-hour days. This is the biggest drawback of online, internet-based backup--even using a broadband connection, upload speeds are pretty slow, and the initial backup can take a very long time (other, more expensive services give you the option of mailing it to them on disks).

It actually took closer to four days. (UPDATE: I got an e-mail from Carbonite, apologizing for the slow upload times. They said the response from the article has been huge. They are adding bandwidth, and things should be back to normal by Thursday.) I tested it out restoring a file--it was easy. Meanwhile, Carbonite was running in the background, periodically scanning for new or modified files to backup, and then automatically uploading them. I decided to go for the one year subscription--and got an extra 2 months bonus.

There is no particular limit to the amount of data they will store for you, and you can even backup more than one computer--it's backing-up my wife's computer right now, at no additional fee. UPDATE: I was misled by their poorly worded FAQ. You can only backup one computer per fee. I'll have to pay another $50/year for my wife's computer--it's still a good deal.

It's all one less thing to worry about. And even if I never have to restore anything, sooner or I'll be replacing my computer. With Carbonite I can download all my files to the new one--I shouldn't have to use PC Replicator or anything like it.