All librarians and museum curators need to be trained in writing these sorts of letters...

When I was working in the comic store, we had an obsessive comic fan who was a shut-in who called us regularly. He was sweet, but we invented 'the bye-bye process' to politely deal with him on the phone.

One of my favourite films :)

The Wicker Man: The disturbing cult British classic that can't be defined

Let me just say the remake was a travesty as well.

Advice

I was on X earlier (I am so sick of the 'formerly known as Twitter' thing--either call it X, or Twitter, or something else, but there's no need to do that, as we all know by now if we're on the Internet). I've really debated just closing my account because in my honest opinion, Elon Musk is at the very least an odious egotist, and I won't get into what his worst epiphets might be. I have accounts on Threads and Blue Sky, but I haven't really established them well yet. But I have a really simple handle (@eilir) and I'd like to keep it on the chance he might stop ruining it and sell the platform.

So what would you do/what have you done?

If this works it would be revolutionary, and humane...

3D-printed chip showing body’s reaction to drugs could end need for animal tests

She added: “This device shows really strong potential to reduce the large number of animals that are used worldwide for testing drugs and other compounds, particularly in the early stages, where only 2% of compounds progress through the discovery pipeline.”

Tavares said there were other benefits beyond simply eliminating the need for using animals in early drug development.

“This non-animal approach could significantly reduce cost of drug discovery, accelerate translation of drugs into the clinic, and improve our understanding of systemic effects of human diseases, by using models that are more representative to human biology than animal models.”

What???

The Netherlands Spied on Jewish Holocaust Survivors, Considering Them a Danger to Democracy

Christmas Eve

Today's been about memories. I don't actually celebrate Christmas, although I put a lot of gusto into it at work, as I know the patients and others like the silly hats, etc. The spirit of Christmas, after all, transcends religions. But as a Pagan, I celebrate Yule, which is the Winter Solstice. But I don't have friends anymore who are Pagan, and I'm not in a position to really celebrate it to the fullest. I do celebrate Hanukkah with my roommate, but it was very low-key (just the candles) this year. This whole holiday season has been difficult. So I'm in the house, the only one awake (even in the afternoon), and, having grown up Southern Baptist, I think of Christmases past with my family. I had a very complex dynamic with my parents, no siblings to affect it, and no close family left in Kentucky (with apologies to my mom's cousins). I grew up very isolated, and Christmas was the one time we were a family. So here I am feeling a little lonely. Lots of emotions have been flooding me, as the holiday season does for so many. There are some good and bad memories. Truth is, it's all fuzzy anyway. But the emotions are there, and they're particularly troublesome today. But it'll pass. The hope of light is there, after, all, and I have good friends. I'm hoping the new year will be a good one.

Kentucky has allowed early voting for a couple of years now...

Kentucky also has one of most watched races in the country, between incumbent Governor Andy Beshear, a Democrat, and current Attorney General David Cameron (who is Republican, and very much in the Trump camp). Beshear is seeking a second term in a Red State, and there's a good chance he will get it. He's very popular across politics, due to his handling of the pandaemic and also natural disasters, including tornadoes and floods. I have no doubt that if former Matt Bevin, a Repbulican [and in my opinion, a dangerous nutjob who should not have been governor ever], had been in office, more Kentuckians would have died of Covid-19. Daniel Cameron would make history, however, by being the first Black governor in the Commonwealth's history.


You can probably determine how I voted from my shirt.

Ah

Woke up to the dulcet tones of my glucose monitor announcing I was having an urgent low (the monitor itself said that; my phone and watch read 39, which is, indeed, pretty freaking low. [Normal's about 80-120 for a diabetic.) Then the sensor went offline, which sometimes happens during the first 24 hours within placement (I am, at least finally doing well with putting it on my arm, and I found an overpatch that actually holds the thing on that I can easily put on myself. Anyway, I ate some Meijer version of Honey Nut Cheerios with banana and rice milk, because that usually makes my blood sugar rise quickly. The sensor came back up and it was 94 within a few minutes. Yay! So glad this woke me up. That's its job, and I'm glad I stuck with it through the learning process (Dexcom sent me no less than nine replacement sensors in the first six months (each lasting 10 days). There were seven that fell off as I couldn't get them on where they stayed. One malfunctioned, probably because I hit a capillary and blood fountained through it (gross), and one I managed to bump into something and tore it right off (ouch). Each time I contacted Dexcom directly, filled out what had happened and they sent another one for free. I'm very grateful for that. There was a learning curve when I started the G6. This was harder. The G7 goes on the arm, not on the abdomen, and I'm fleshier than most of the pictures and diagrams I've seen. But once you get it on, it has more accurate readings, warms up in about 30 minutes rather than 2 hours, and has a 12-hour grace period of readings after the sensor expires before it stops giving readings. I have also learned that if you use both the Dexcom and a smartphone (and by extension a watch, which is connected to the phone), pair the phone first, not the receiver, as it takes almost the entire warmup time to pair to the phone if you don't. Anyway, I would really recommend this, just know it's going to take a while to get the hang of it.

Interesting fact (and an opinion)

In Arabic, 'Hamas' means "zeal", "strength", or "bravery". In Hebrew, it means "violence".

The portion of the Torah for this week that is read in synagogues, from Noach (the Hebrew book named after Noah in the Jewish scriptures) contains the word Hamas.

My friend, who was watching services this morning, pointed it out to me. It's getting a lot of attention on the Internet given the current events in Israel.

I just think this whole thing is a tragedy. What happened with the attacks on Jews in Israel was horrible, and unforgivable. The response, attacking civilians who are already corralled in Gaza and who have nowhere to go, the history of supplanting Palestinians [who, incidentally, are a nationality, not a religious group, as there are both Muslims and Christians who are Palestinian], so there could be a Jewish state (regardless of it being their ancient homeland) has roots going back a century-and-a-half and breeds extreme emotions and violence on both sides. And that is tragic.

My friend's synagogue has members in Israel. They are thankfully safe, and I am so glad for this. His friends from the congregation in general were shocked and expressed extreme grief at the deaths. I also heard a young man asking a lady on the bus with whom he had class how she and her family were. She said they were relieved her brother was safe, as he'd been at the hospital which was bombed, thinking it would be safer like so many. I nearly cried at her words. I can't imagine how either side feels in terms of lack of safety (even here in America there is fear of attacks for both) and the fate of loved ones. I pray for those affected on both sides who are not the instigators themselves, the ones who viciously began this war.

It's just all so sad.

Well, I'm ready for Halloween

It took me a while to figure out my Halloween costume for this year. (I didn't want to do Maleficent or my skeleton costume again since I did them the last couple of years. So I'm going to be a butterfly. It's pretty, doesn't involve makeup, is one-size-fits-all, and it didn't cost much. I just needed a black T-shirt without writing and this. I will not be in high heels. :) It does require a choker around the neck that I don't like, but it's very stretchy and got better even after a couple of minutes. It all folds up nicely. The mask is just embroidered floss, and the bulkiest item is the antennae. The colours are beautiful. I'm very happy with it. Also, there is no wire, just finger loops, so I can both put out my arms and type at my desk with no problem.

This is wonderful

Leading Byzantine Studies journal now open-access

Yes!

New form of public transit presented to Lexington

This brought up a bunch of memories and emotions

Except for the gender, this so describes the relationship I had with my father. I really love Cian's music because it touches my emotions. I hope he finds a great amount of success and continues to inspire and affect people with the power of his music.

Some videos on some of the background behind the Israeli-Palestinian War

The Israeli-Palestinian war is already full of tragedy and death

This could make it something of epic proportions.

UN Chief Appeals for Israel to Avert a Humanitarian Catastrophe

Israel evacuation order: Tens of thousands flee northern Gaza - BBC News

Years ago I heard about an intiative at my alma mater

To try to read scrolls from Herculaneum that had been chard in the eruption of Mt Vesuvius in 79 CE. My professor, Ross Scaife, of the Classics department, is the one who mentioned it. He had been working with people from Computer Science to develop a way to read them using technology. Unfortunately, he died a few years ago, of cancer, I believe, but this would have made him very happy, I think.

Breakthrough in Vesuvius Challenge as AI reads 2,000-year-old burned scroll at UK

Now available...

The Whole Earth Catalog and other related magazines are now available online for free. Yay! It's been digitised by the Internet Archive but this is the index page:

The Whole Earth Index

Welcome to Gilead

I recognise the need to protect the unborn from the drug epidemic, but the sheer callousness of how this woman was treated-but oh, my Gods. This is wrong. Both the child and woman could have most certainly died given the treatment of the mother by the guards. She was denied care over and over and nearly bled to death. It's a miracle either survived. So who's endangering lives?

An Alabama woman was imprisoned for ‘endangering’ her fetus. She gave birth in a jail shower

I hate this

As much as I'm pro-Jewish, I am not a real supporter of Israel itself. I believe it has engaged in the equivalent of apartheid, and recent moves by the right-wing government have sparked a great deal of protest (Israel does not have a Constitution, and the Knesset, their parliament, recently took most of the power away from the Supreme Court of Israel. Thousands have been marching in the streets for months, with little coverage here in America). Neither am I a supporter of Palestine either, and Hamas has a lot to answer for, and a lot of money is funnelled in there from outside sources who do not want Israel to exist. The Arab-Israeli conflict is extremely complex with years of terror and retaliation. It hurts my heart to see death on either side. I wish we could just see peace in the Middle East. But there have been generations of hatred entrenched, and I think it might take a miracle to get the various groups to sit down and talk with one another and see their similarities amid their differences. Most people just want a better life, and one for their children. I don't understand the rest.

Hamas surprise attack out of Gaza stuns Israel and leaves hundreds dead in fighting, retaliation

How sad

A 200- to 300-year-old tree along Hadrian's Wall in Britain, which in and of itself was a landmark, has been cut down, apparently by two vandals, a 16-year-old and 60-year-old.

Despair flows after England's Sycamore Gap tree is cut down. Could it regrow?

2 arrested after ‘world-renowned landmark’ tree is cut down in England

It's almost Banned Books Week!

The quote below is from the American Library Association's main webpage for Banned Books Week, which this year runs from October 1st to October 7th, Celebrate the week by supporting librarians and educators who are under fire, as well as taking a bit of time to read one of the many books that have been challenged or banned over time. This year's honourary chair of the 2023 campaign is LeVar Burton, known not only for his role in 'Star Trek', but in the beloved 'Reading Rainbow' series.

“This is a dangerous time for readers and the public servants who provide access to reading materials. Readers, particularly students, are losing access to critical information, and librarians and teachers are under attack for doing their jobs.”- Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom

Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to read and spotlights current and historical attempts to censor books in libraries and schools. For more than 40 years, the annual event has brought together the entire book community — librarians, teachers, booksellers, publishers, writers, journalists, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular. The books featured during Banned Books Week have all been targeted for removal or restriction in libraries and schools. By focusing on efforts across the country to remove or restrict access to books, Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of censorship.

In a time of intense political polarization, library staff in every state are facing an unprecedented number of attempts to ban books. ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom ALA documented 1,269 demands to censor library books and resources in 2022, the highest number of attempted book bans since ALA began compiling data about censorship in libraries more than 20 years ago. The unparalleled number of reported book challenges in 2022 nearly doubles the 729 book challenges reported in 2021. Of the record 2,571 unique titles targeted for censorship, most were by or about LGBTQIA+ persons and Black, Indigenous, and people of color.

The theme for Banned Books Week 2023 is "Let Freedom Read." When we ban books, we're closing off readers to people, places, and perspectives. But when we stand up for stories, we unleash the power that lies inside every book. We liberate the array of voices that need to be heard and the scenes that need to be seen. Let freedom read!'

For a list of the 13 most challenged books of 2023, follow the link below. There are, from there (at the bottom) links to those of the previous decades beginning with the 1990s.

The 13 Most Challenged Books of 2023

I recently got a sticker from MoveOn, and progressive organisation that is supporting those who stand against book bans and challenges.  It's going on the car in celebration of Banned Books Week.

I should note

that I have actually gotten into the warm water pool at the YMCA three times in the last week, once last Saturday, when they had the 'Adult Individual Fitness' from 8-10 AM (I went at 9 and was the only one there), and twice at 5:30 AM (my supervisor joined the Y and has been going with me). Yay!!!! Go us!

Strange things my friend stumbles upon

'Pig 311' Mysteriously Survived 1946 Atomic Bomb Test in a Pacific Atoll
Poor girl. She lived another four years, and she had amazing fortitude, but what a horrible thing to experience at the whim of the government (not to detract from what the same government did to the Japanese of Hiroshima and Nagasaki).

More bad news on the environmental front

Microplastics Found In Cave System Closed To Humans For 30 Years

Support our local library

I plan on getting one of these when I get paid this coming week. You might like this too. On the back it says 'Justice begins with access'.

Poignant

I heard this song the other day on Amazon Music and was struck by it so much that I went ahead and ordered his album. This song is so beautiful. It's about the loss of his best friend to suicide. Any of us who have loved those who have experienced suicidal thoughts or have had them ourselves, I think, can relate. It's Suicide Prevention month, and this song is a perfect segue into having a discussion with anyone you love with depression. I like how it focuses on the pain of those left behind. Often people don't realise how much their lives mean to others. Please, if you yourself feel this way, reach out to loved ones, to professionals, or dial 988, the mental health hotline. Someone out there would be devastated without you. You belong in the world, and things do get better. We just sometimes have to find the beauty in life, in the world, in others--and in ourselves.

I'm really not feeling the best right now. I'm discouraged and frustrated.

I am feeling absolutely discouraged. I got up at 5:20 a.m. yesterday in an attempt to go to the YMCA for their warm water pool 'Adult Individual Fitness', which runs from 5:30 a.m.-9 a.m. Even though I planned to take a shower there, had everything packed, etc., I realised that if I went, I'd have maybe 1/2 hour in the pool until I'd have to take said shower and go to work. So instead I just showed up at work an hour early and worked on some things on my Kindle.

Today I said, fine, it's open swim from 2-8:45 (they close at 9 p.m.) I'll go after work. I get there and it's actually a kid swim class with about 20 people in 3/4 of the relatively small pool and another 10 in the 1/4 that is left as 'open swim'. I just can't do my exercises with that much churning and little room. I'd have maybe a four-foot square of space to myself, which I guess I could do a few things that didn't require walking, but not really get the full benefit, and I find it very distracting. I went back into the women's locker room, called the Y, and asked him to recommend a time I could work out that would be quieter. There is, of course, the 5:30 in the morning option (although it was a real struggle yesterday and I'm really just not a morning person, and tend to stay up far later than I should just for work because that is my natural circadian rhythm.) He also suggested between 1-3, before the kids get home from school.

Sigh. Yeah. While I'm at work. Of course, it would be, since the majority of workers like me work then.

I am already discouraged by this experiment because I joined in late June, worked out on the Nu-Step for all of 15 minutes and then got severe sciatica right afterwards (I could barely walk, and even sitting was really painful) and of course, spent all of August in the wrap/boot. I finally got out of the boot about a week and a half ago. So I tried.

Today I went, hopeful, and got dressed in my swimsuit (both putting it on backwards and realising that I left the tag on.) :) But it was just too crowded. I sat in the changing room crying after talking to the guy. I've spent over $200 on this membership since June and have been able to work out for exactly 15 minutes. Even today, I could have at least done the Nu-Step, but I didn't talk to my doctor about exercise and thought I'd better check with him before doing it with or without the orthotic on.

I went home, called the Y again, and asked when the last day was that I could cancel my membership and not be charged at the beginning of the month. Apparently, you have to give them 15 days' notice, so I'm locked in until at least October 15th. If I have not managed to meaningfully do anything with the pool, I'm giving up. I came to the YMCA--and this branch of the Y--because it has a warm water pool (the only one in the Bluegrass YMCA system). I applied for financial hardship so it's $45 a month rather than $60, but good God, if I wanted to just work out on some machine I'd spend $10 a month at one of the 24/7 gyms and be done with it. I don't.

So tomorrow I am going to call Cardinal Hill (where I did my outpatient aquatherapy in the first place). They are under new ownership or management it looks like, and while it used to be that you could pay for their pool use per time, they closed at 6 p.m. each weekday. Maybe with the new changes they'd be open later or even on the weekend. It's worth an ask.

Am I being terribly unreasonable? I'm really not trying to sound like those pesky kids are the problem. It's not that. The crowding in general is, especially for someone who's pretty sensitive to noise and other stimuli. A lot of it also my frustration with how my health and disabilities are getting worse because of my health and disabilities. But in all actuality, I think the big problem is that there aren't really services for those with disabilities who are not retired or on full-time disability and who are unavailable 9-5 as they are normal business hours.

I did review the schedule. There is one time a week I may be able to work this out, and it is from 8 a.m.-10 a.m. on Saturdays. I'm going to go. It's once a week, but it's something. I just don't know if it'll be enough to make the fee worth it.

Should I try to stick it out? Or give them till October 15th and just chuck it in?

This weekend

Saturday

1. Make coffee
2. Post office
3. Pick up contacts/get glasses adjusted
4. Eat at the Indian restaurant
5. Go to store (olive oil/salt/Shabbos candles)
6. Water plants
7. Fold last week's laundry/put away
8. Read chapter 8 of the therapy book
9. Pay Internet bill
10. Take items to storage
11. Clean room
12. Watch The Magic Flute movie
13. Talk to J re: résumé
14. Do a jigsaw puzzle

Sunday

1. Litter
2. Bathroom
3. Dishes
4. Recyclables
5. Trash
6. Sweep
7. Mop
8. Dust shelves
9. Do this week's laundry
10. Collars for dogs
11. Get hair cut
12. Game notes

A co-worker who used to live in Hawai'i brought this story to my attention

It's so heart wrenching.

Parents find remains of teen son hugging dead dog in Maui home destroyed by wildfire

Highlighting the city I've called home for 39 years

The 'Horse Capital of the World' Is an Underrated American City With Beautiful Nature Trails, Craft Beer and Bourbon, and a New Luxury Hotel

Mostly showing off our new luxury hotel, the Manchester, but a nice write-up by Travel+Leisure on Lexington itself, as well.

A worthy endeavour

Off The Beaten Path: Archeologists work to preserve artifacts in Kentucky’s forests

How about you?

Do You Read Faster On An E-Reader Or A Physical Book?

I'm not sure faster is necessarily 'better', though. I mainly read on my Kindle Scribe, but I don't always have the comprehension I have from an actual book. I tend to skip over words, I've noticed, although that may be my attention-deficit issues. But it seems it happens more with an e-reader than physical format. On the other hand, I can try techniques such bionic font and others in the hopes of counteracting that very problem, something I can't do with the physical book.

54 years ago today

my parents got married. It was not the best thing to do, in my opinion, for any of us. I lived in a home where everything was very disconnected. We never did anything as a family, except move across the country when the Air Force demanded it. Dad had his radio room, Momma had her ceramics, and I had my reading. We did eat together at about 4:30 or 5 pm when my dad got home, but we weren't really a family. We never took vacations (and as a result, neither do I, really. I just use my PTO for doctor's appointments and an occasional time off at home, going nowhere.) We lived in California and never went to Disneyland or the San Diego Zoo, for example, and I would have loved to.

Before you say, yeah, but you wouldn't be here. Sure I would. At eight years old I did the math and realised it was only eight months between my parents' wedding and my birth, and I wasn't born early. My parents had actually broken up and then she found out she was pregnant. It was 1966. Abortion was illegal. She was barely 19. To their credit, my mom's parents both said she could stay home and they would help take care of the baby, which was pretty enlightened for the time. Despite my withdrawn relationship with my parents, I loved my grandparents very much, and my grandfather in particular was a very good male role model for me. It was my dad's mom who wanted them to get married, and they did. I loved Nana very much (she was the 'fun' grandmother, after all; Ma showed her love in other ways), but she should have butted out.

Within a month, seeing as they'd both dropped out of school (he was in engineering at UK; she was in Good Samaritan's nursing school to become an RN), my dad lost his exception for the draft, and knowing that he would be drafted, he decided to enlist to make sure he could choose the branch to serve in, at least, and he chose the Air Force. Besides, he needed to get a job to support his new family..

That's how my dad wound up doing three tours during the Vietnam War. He was in Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia repairing aeroplanes. I always felt that he blamed us a bit. I know he tried to divorce my mom when I was two, while he was overseas, but she wouldn't do it long distance. My mom was very emotionally needy, and in her entire life [after they finally divorced when I was 15] she had to have a man in her life, and her personality changed with each one (she married a total of four times). She liked what he liked. The only time I really saw my mom's primary personality was between marriages.

I grew up as a hindrance, and I was mostly ignored, except I was expected to console my mother emotionally when she was upset and we were very enmeshed at the same time. I spent years trying to get their love, trying to be the 'good girl', getting great grades, and quietly trying not to do anything to upset them. I never really wanted for basic physical needs, and I was never physically abused, but emotionally I was neglected and I've spent the rest of my life trying to get over that.

As a result, as an adult, I broke off my relationship with my dad after he lied to me. I'd tried to rebuild our relationship after the divorce when I was out of the house, but we wound up estranged. That happened in 1993, after my grandmother died, and lasted until his death in 2018. We never reconciled.

In retrospect, living with my mother did more damage than my dad as I was growing up, because she was there. He was off serving overseas most of the first six years of my life and then left when I was 15. I modelled so much of my behaviour off of her. There was a lot of good, of course, I'm sure. But we were way too close in some ways. But it was always about her. I know she didn't mean it to be, and I've never figured out why she was so insecure. I do know she had social anxiety, and in retrospect, she had a lot of anxiety, and that's where I get it from, I'm sure. I never cut off ties with her, though, even though I should have. But as we got older I pulled away. I spoke with her about every three months and came home for birthdays and Christmas. I especially stayed away once she married my last stepfather. He was an okay guy, and I'm thankful he was there in her last years, as he was able to take care of her where I wasn't, but his sons were all addicts and caused all sorts of grief, to the point as my mom lie dying my grandmother's house where they were living was known as the 'drug house' and the cops were there time and time again. I refused to go there after a visit where my mom casually mentioned that I should be careful about loose needles as my youngest stepbrother had Hepatitis C and tended to leave them around. I'd just stayed in his room, and she hadn't mentioned it then. I never went back, but rather visited her whenever she was in the hospital.

After my parents died (she did in 2017, just shy of 70, and he did in 2018, when he was barely 70) I got a bit of closure but not really.

I'm not writing this to whine. I'm just trying to get a handle on my feelings. Mostly I felt unloved. Now I know people who have certainly had it much worse. But I don't even remember most of my childhood, and I know there was trauma, but I don't necessarily remember what happened. Most of my memories are from school or playing with friends. Frankly, there were a few good things about my childhood in the home I remember, but very few. I thought everyone's memory was like that for so long, but then I found out it wasn't. I think it's very telling that I've blocked out whole swaths of my childhood, but I don't really know why. It bothers me immensely.

Anyway, that's my story. Make of it what you will.

So the culture wars continue...

Texas to Dissociate with American Library Association over Alleged Marxism, Gender Ideology

Agenda

Today's list. I didn't include making coffee for my roommate in the percolator and waking him so he can attend services; I do that every Saturday as he cannot cook on the Sabbath. I've gotten a late start, but none of it is actually time-sensitive except painting the rust spot (daytime) and Kroger (before 10 pm). Even the pharmacy and storage unit are 24/7, although I should do them in daytime. It is going to be a fairly busy day, but there's time to relax, too. At least I already did the game notes. 

REVISION: I found out I needed more items for the rust repair, so I took that off the list. My friend Jon can't talk tonight, so I have more time to read the books that might help him. Oh, and I bought a mint plant the other day to put a few leaves in the soup, so I'm going to pot the plant. So I updated the list.

UPDATE: Well, I got a lot accomplished, but not all of it. I got the blanket and one of two loads of my laundry finished, took some items out to the car that are supposed to be there, but not the ones that go to storage, nor took those to storage. I dusted shelves and did my Duolingo (despite a cat lolling on me)..I will pick up the book tomorrow or Monday, put the storage items in the car tomorrow and take them to the centre on Monday. I need to pot the mint tomorrow. I did spend a lot of time on the books for my friend's job search and started working on a potential résumé for him.  I did take a friend to his event. I'll get the medicine tomorrow, hopefully, as they may put it back if I don't. I hate paying for parking, so I try to get it on the weekends. I did everything else.

Frustrated

Sigh.

1) I just bent down by the table in the living room and when I came back up, I hit my arm on the lip of țhe table, and ripped my sensor off my skin. It wasn't responding and had to be removed. This is the sixth sensor I have had issues with. Four outright fell off on the first day, one stopped working, probably because the blood gushed out when we are are the hit a capillary . (I did not have this problem with the old system. I really wish I could use the sensors on my abdomen. :(

2) I also started a new medication, tramadol, because I had to go off diclofenac after my feet started swelling. It did a lot to help with pain. The tramadol, not so much. I was a tiny bit drowsy/loopy, but not bad. But i've had a lot of issues with my pain today.  Nothing had helped until I stretched out on the bed.

Community rallies to support librarians fired by Houston ISD outside dis...

Better

I was in a very bad place earlier tonight, in a lot of pain, and I railed against the Universe there for a moment in a since-deleted link from Facebook to this page (which still has it). Four hours and some good rest later, I feel better. Still hurting a bit, but back down to a 2 from a 7.  We joke that my bed is my 'cocoon of love' where I retreat when needed. But I have to admit, this time it helped.

Sunday I hurt my foot, and I'm in a Unna boot wrap with a walking boot, and you know what?

I am not a great person to be around right now. Indeed, I'm really not a happy camper. My pain is around 7 out of 10 for various reasons, the NSAIDs and acetaminophen that I can take are doing nothing. I'm trying not to be irritable, but I am. I had a decent day at work, I made it through, tomorrow is Friday, lots of good things, but at this precise moment I just want to kick off the stupid boot, get into shorts (have I mentioned the AC seems to be broken, so we turned it off?), get into bed, squeeze a teddy bear, ice my foot, and let Ed Sheeran music take me away.  At the moment I think Dolly Parton could come into my room and I'd growl at her, and that's an unpardonable sin.

All over a toe, which turned into a foot, which necessitated a boot, which exacerbated pain in my back and knees, which reminded me that I'm out of fibromyalgia medicine, which means I'm in a flareup, when I'm still getting over sciatica, so my body feels like it's burning on the inside and outside and I just am therefore no fun.

And it makes me mad at myself because it's not like I have cancer, or some incurable disease, or I'm in a wartorn country, or have just lost a child, or all the other things that are so much more painful and significant.  This too shall pass. But at this moment, I'm having trouble reminding myself of that or breathing through the pain (I was never good at meditation anyway).  I'm good at low chronic pain. But this is acute and all over, in every joint, in every muscle, and I just want to scream.

Instead I'll get into my bed, also known as the cocoon of love, and ice my foot, and hug my teddy bear, and try to lose myself in music and drift off into the land of dreams. For tomorrow is another day.

This

Sad. Vaccines work. Politics should not be put before science.

Republicans' excess death rate spiked after COVID-19 vaccines arrived, a study says

The other day

I commented to my friend that his dog comes around on my right and sits for her food when I feed her, so I put it down on her left. He said of course, per etiquette you always serve from the left, so he taught the dog to do it.

Is this really the way to go, Houston?

HISD to eliminate librarians and convert libraries into disciplinary centers at NES schools

"I just couldn't imagine that it could happen so quickly. I don't understand why this current administration doesn't see the value of libraries and what they do for literacy and reading," Hall said. "Libraries are much more than just books. It's about helping match the reader to the right book at the right time. By talking to the student, you can find a direction to meet their needs."

Former library spaces at some schools will be converted into rooms where students who misbehave will be relocated to watch lessons virtually, work alone, or in groups with differentiated lessons. Books will remain on shelves and students will still be able to borrow books on a honor code system.

Fascinating

Largest Family Tree Constructed From Ancient DNA Reveals Neolithic Society Was Monogamous

Despicable

This young man died in June 2022 of severe heatstroke, while his supervisor insisted it must be drugs and asked for a drug test when medics arrived. His family, of course, was devastated. A recent bill was passed in Texas and signed by Gov. Greg Abbott that nullifies any ordinances that require companies to allow a water break every four hours. Let that sink in. San Antonio did not have such an ordinance at the time of his death but was considering it when the bill was passed. He died in temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit with at least 75% humidity. His internal body temperature was 109.8 degrees F. He was only 24 and had just started working there. I am so sorry for his family, as well as Joshua Espinoza, his friend who tried to save his life. I'm sure it's been hell. I hope the company and any others who deny such basic requirements are sued till they are bankrupt.

RIP Gabriel Infante

Texas worker accused of being on drugs was actually dying of heatstroke

I am a bit frustrated

I sent the following e-mail to Dexcom regarding my latest problem with their G7 continuous glucose monitor system that I have been trying to use for three months now. I'd already put a service ticket in; this was supplemental.  Let me preface that each time they have sent me a replacement sensor at no cost, and their customer service has been excellent over the years.  Maybe it's my skin. I don't know.  But I hope they can solve my problem.

I just wanted to let you know this seems to have been an actual sensor failure. It was inserted, paired, warmed up, and was stuck well on my skin, but it failed after two readings, about 15 minutes after the warmup was complete.  However, I did notice when I took it off that I'd apparently hit a capillary or something, as there was quite a bit of blood under the sensor.  This has happened one other time (it actually fountained through the little hole, but that one remained working). This is, I believe, the fifth sensor I have had to contact you about.  I'm having difficulty keeping them on even with the over-patches (and larger third-party bandage over-patches on top of that, even).  I use a skin-tac pad prior to inserting and keep the liquid form with me in case the over-patch begins to peel. I am showering less so I don't have issues. I have just joined the YMCA because of the warm water/therapy pool but have been afraid to get in it because these things refuse to stay on my skin. This has all been within my first three-month supply. I have tried four different types of over-patches in addition to just your own.  I initially had trouble with the G6 but nothing like this.  Is there anything else I can do? I have read all the FAQs and watched numerous Dexcom and YouTube videos. I'm really frustrated. I have had exactly one do what it is supposed to do as far as sticking/working.  I like the G7. I like the arm (although I did better on insertion by looking online for pictures of people my size wearing it; the diagrams are a little misleading if you have any flabby skin).  I like the shorter warmup and the grace period, and I believe the readings are more accurate.  But every time I change my sensor it's very frustrating. Most of the ones which have fallen off have done so within a couple of hours.  One made it to the next day and had to have the skin-tac liquid applied.  As I said, only one did well, and that was with a third-party over-patch. I am using my left arm, which is not dominant. The one time I tried the other it fell off immediately. I cannot begin to tell you how much frustration and anxiety this is producing.  I just want it to work. This one really looked like it was going to stay on well and then within a few minutes gave up the ghost. Any help you can give would be appreciated.

Elisabeth Eilir Rowan

 

So sad

If I had finished my history graduate studies (I couldn't due to crippling anxiety for the thesis/dissertation defences), this is what I would have wanted to be when I grew up, a codicologist. I'm so sorry to hear of her death. The mediaevalist world has lost a bright light who brought her enthusiasm for mediaeval manuscripts and increasing access through digital projects to many both in and out of the field.

https://www.medievalists.net/2023/07/johanna-green-passes-away

This is a great video for one of my favourite songs from my favourite Linkin Park album

It's 'Burning in the Skies' from A Thousand Suns. RIP Chester Bennington. It's hard to believe it's been six years since you died.

This is disturbing

Nebraska study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers: Exposure to Particles from Baby Food Containers Kills up to 75% of CUltured Kidney Cells

Experiments have shown that microwaving plastic baby food containers available on the shelves of U.S. stores can release huge numbers of plastic particles — in some cases, more than 2 billion nanoplastics and 4 million microplastics for every square centimeter of container.

Though the health effects of consuming micro- and nanoplastics remain unclear, the Nebraska team further found that three-quarters of cultured embryonic kidney cells had died after two days of being introduced to those same particles. A 2022 report from the World Health Organization recommended limiting exposure to such particles.

A good article

How Jimmy Carter has changed the conversation around hospice

Ever wonder what I'm talking about when I say 'I'm looking forward to the game this weekend'?

(Head's up, it's not football or any other sport). Here's an overview of how to set up a character in Call of Cthulhu and a little bit about the game itself.  I've been playing one continuous campaign for 32 years now (okay, we have a little extra umph in our concept rather than just ordinary people with guns who die or go mad quickly). I've enjoyed that immensely. This game really gave me a good sense of interacting with other people and having fun all at the same time. And this video is well done.

Look what I did on July 4th

This is why I didn't post on July 4th. I was quite busy.  It took me 12 hours to put the stands together, put the plants on them, water the plants, and sweep the room/clean up. I now have things ready to go out to storage, some shelves the plants had been on, four folding ones that had been face-to-face in the windows. I had to move things around later in the week, including a weird placement for the secondary nightstand, in order to get good sun to the plants. We haven't really had a nice sunny day till today to judge the light, but it definitely needed to be done. Oh, and since these were taken, I turned the boom box around to face the majority of the room.  Otherwise, the last pictures represent the current configuration.. Here it is in pictures:

As advertised:

Unassembled:

Put together:

Placed in windows:

Final placement:

So breathtaking and sombre at the same time

People Are Being Brought to Tears by 13-Year-Old’s Rendition of “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables”

The talented youth, named Cormac Thompson, released a video of himself singing the iconic piece to help raise money for a charity called Acting for Others, which provides financial and emotional support to theater workers in need. In the video, we see the British chorister vocalizing into a microphone, his melodic voice gliding into high notes with ease as a gentle piano accompanies the lyrics. Interspersed in the short film are haunting clips of coffins, solitary figures, and scenes of medical staff, all of which allude to the traumas brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tiring day "off"

I'm tired. I had a one-hour telehealth appointment (my doctor was really happy about my joining the Y and only suggested trying to eat meals rather than small amounts throughout the day) this morning and then I went to the second doctor's appointment this afternoon, and while the good news is we don't think it's congestive heart failure causing the swelling, so no echocardiogram or anything like that, the simplest and most likely culprit is my diclofenac--an NSAID that is time-released once-a-day, and which has been really good for my arthritis. So I have to stop taking that out and try to flush it out of my system. I accidentally forgot to take my meds yesterday (I didn't realise till I went to take this morning's and it was actually the Sunday pill reminder that was still full. Sigh. Anyway, there's no good alternative for what else I can take. Arthritis Tylenol (acetaminophen) has too much for my liver and we have to watch the NSAIDs for my kidneys. I finally got some regular-strength acetaminophen to take judiciously, as recommended by my liver provider. Diclofenac has been so good at dealing with my arthritis pain, although I've noticed less efficacy lately. Oh, well, it was good while it lasted.

I also got my insulin and Jardiance from the pharmacy, and I've taken those. My blood sugar went up to 350 last night as I'd run out of it and had forgotten to call it in. Lastly, I picked up a book from the library, a Pulitzer winner by Wesley Lowery calledÁmerican Whitelash: A Changing Nation and the Cost of Progress.

Now I'm pooped. I've got a load in the wash, but otherwise, I'm going to rest while my roommate's on Zoom and then work on the Sunday chores I never got finished (or even started) yesterday. I also need to take some things out of my room to the car in order to go to storage and a fan that has given up the ghost to be disposed of.

I want to be a librarian like this when I grow up

The Unknown Librarian Who Saved Queer History: You probably don’t know the name Paul Fasana. But the librarian was instrumental in preserving hundreds of thousands of artifacts of queer history

A working-class gay man and first-gen college student, Fasana came out in the late 1950s, while getting a master’s of library science at UC-Berkeley (where he later established a scholarship for queer students). After rising through the ranks at the New York Public Library, he moved to Florida in the mid-’90s and began the herculean task of organizing SNMAL’s holdings. Since 1972, SNMAL has been a crucial safeguard of queer history—particularly queer Southern history—but like all independent queer archives, its fragile existence has long depended on volunteers like Fasana, passionate pencil pushers who perform the inglorious yet absolutely necessary day-to-day work.

By the time Fasana came on board, SNMAL’s holdings had grown precipitously, particularly as it rescued vast collections from men dying in the first wave of the AIDS crisis. Out of a jumble spread across three different warehouses, Fasana knit the collections together into one usable archive—an archive that has been powering queer scholarship and community in southern Florida and across the country ever since. Today, in honor of Fasana and his partner, Robert Graham, SNMAL’s collection is known as the Fasana/Graham Archive.

SNMAL is the Stonewall National Museum, Archives, and Library in Florida, not connected to the Stonewall Riots of 1969, but it's 50 years old (founded in 1972). For more on them, see their about page.

This is...beyond terrible

Never mind that it's one apple slice but labelled 'slices': it's a terrible way to pollute the Earth's oceans.

McDonald’s sparks outrage with new ‘The Little Mermaid’ food packaging: ‘Surprised nobody has sued them’

The original post: "One apple slice in this plastic baggie, advertising a movie about the ocean..."

--sjdjenen

These apple slice packs are standard in Happy Meals. McDonald’s sells 4.1 million Happy Meals a day. Imagine 4.1 million of these wrappers in a pile.”

--Outside_the_Walls

I love this poem

 When she was a little girl 

    they told her she was beautiful 

but it had no meaning

  in her world of bicycles

        and pigtails

and adventures in make-believe. 

Later, she hoped she was beautiful 

   as boys started taking notice 

of her friends

  and phones rang for

              Saturday night dates.

She felt beautiful on her wedding day,

     hopeful with her

   new life partner by her side 

but, later, 

    when her children called 

          her beautiful,

she was often exhausted, 

     her hair messily tied back,

no make up,

    wide in the waist

        where it used to be narrow;

she just couldn't take it in.

Over the years, as she tried,

    in fits and starts,

       to look beautiful, 

   she found other things 

to take priority, 

    like bills

         and meals,

  as she and her life partner 

            worked hard

                  to make a family,

    to make ends meet,

        to make children into adults,

            to make a life.

Now, 

    she sat.

 Alone.

Her children grown, 

     her partner flown,

and she couldn't remember 

    the last time

       she was called beautiful. 

But she was.

It was in every line on her face,

   in the strength of her arthritic hands,

 the ampleness that had

      a million hugs imprinted

         on its very skin,

  and in the jiggly thighs and

                 thickened ankles

        that had run her race for her.

She had lived her life with a loving

   and generous heart, 

         had wrapped her arms

      around so many to 

            to give them comfort and peace.

  Her ears had 

             heard both terrible news

      and lovely songs,

and her eyes

      had brimmed with,

  oh, so many tears,

       they were now bright

           even as they dimmed.

She had lived and she was.

   And because she was, 

        she was made beautiful. 

~ Suzanne Reynolds, © 2019

Finally, flying cars! Cue the theme for 'The Jetsons"!

Well you've got to start somewhere... Even at $300,000 a pop.

World's first fully electric flying car approved by FAA; company now accepting preorders

This is a very neat programme

California library uses robots to help kids with autism learn and connect with the world around them

About one in 36 children in the United States is on the autism spectrum, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but the Santa Ana Public Library is one of the first libraries to provide the pricey program for free. The initiative has been spearheaded by head librarian Cheryl Eberly, who said that she launched the program during the pandemic and hopes to fill gaps of services for children of color, who are often not diagnosed with autism until they're older.

"Every time I see a kid on the spectrum or a neurodivergent kid lock in and interact with the robot and get that moment where they are bonded and they understand, it's amazing," Eberly said. "It's like validation that this works."

They are not equipped to live in the wild

The heartbreaking reason why you should never release doves at your wedding: ‘So cruel’

King pigeons, homing pigeons and ring-necked doves have no survival skills out in the wild, according to Palomacy. Thus, they will likely suffer and eventually die.

“The ‘dove release’ business perpetuates the idea that white birds can be ‘set free’ and they will just fly away and live happily ever after. Even under the best of circumstances, trained ‘wedding doves’ are hurt, lost and killed trying to get home,” the group’s website states.

“Never buy and release birds for weddings, funerals, prayers, blessings, as a ‘kind act’ or other ceremonies. White doves and other birds (like King Pigeons) sold to you have no survival skills and will suffer and die, bringing neither joy nor honor to any occasion. Releasing store-bought birds is both cruel and illegal.”

Worth a watch, I think

Eldorado is one of those documentaries that gives texture and context, faces and voices, to a well-chronicled period and set of circumstances. It does so with style, sensitivity, and a respect for the history it examines. Here we experience the decadence that thrived before the fall, at a hideaway for those whose differences would soon mark them for prison, exile, or, in many cases, death (it is estimated that between 5,000 and 15,000 gay people died in the concentration camps for violating Paragraph 175). We can’t change what hate looked like then. But it remains essential to take note and try to stop its encroachment now.

Netflix Exposes the Secret Gay History of Nazi Germany

So sad...grad student shot in Mexico for being in the wrong place at the wrong time

When I first entered college in 1984, my plans were to study social impacts on the environment and was majoring in biology heading towards a specialisation in oecology, as well as sociology as a second major. I never would have dreamed it was dangerous at all. My heart goes out to the family of this graduate student, Gabriel Trujillo. He sought to make the world better by finding a way to bring back the buttonbush to its native environment. Such an innocuous but important endeavour, and he died being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

U.S. Grad Student Brutally Killed on Mexican Field Trip: Gabriel Trujillo’s father says his 31-year-old son was shot seven times.

[PS While I kept the sociology major and paired it with history instead of biology, the change was because during Animal Biology my teacher chloroformed a lab rat in front of me...and dissected it right then. I was sick and dizzy. I love animals. This seemed so cruel. I got out of biology the next semester, although I loved it otherwise. I cannot abide that sort of indifference to animals.]

First workout in awhile

So I joined the YMCA again. This is my first workout since joining (since we had our for for a week). Did 10 minutes on the Nu-Step (reclining elliptical). I made it 10 minutes, but hey, baby steps. Since I'm so out of condition I don't want to do too much too quickly. But I got my heart rate up some and got sweaty, so I guess I did okay. My right knee hurt during it, so I lowered the load a bit, but it feels better now that I'm sitting and hydrating. Trying to decide if I want to do anything with the warm pool today or wait. The weather has closed the aquatic centre outside, so I'm sure the kids are in there.

PS Thanks to my coworker Darren, whom I ran into at the Beaumont Kroger and who guided me to a new lock for the locker room. I'm not familiar with that store as it's across town. Of course, it's got a lot of non-food items so of course I got other stuff, much more than I planned on (I really just came in for the lock and a bottle of water). I have a regular lock but have no idea where the keys are, and I can't remember the combination on one I finally got rid of, which is typical.

Please think first about securing pets--and skipping fireworks

The Lexington Humane Society shared this sad but important story from the Bowling Green/Warren County Humane Society on Facebook. Please put your pets up during the upcoming holiday. And rather than fireworks, celebrate the Fourth of July by donating to a shelter. Fireworks are over in minutes, but go on all night (and other ones too) with pets assailed by large, scary sounds. And like Moose, many get out and run at the sound, sometimes to be found, often not. This family found Moose, but it was too late.

"Hi friends. As some of you know, my name is Moose. It was around this time last year that my mom and dad went to hang out with their friends one Sunday night. They knew how much I loved playing outside, so they let me and my brothers stay outside in the fenced-in yard while they were gone because we were cool big boys like that. We were having the best time running and playing with each other. My mom would probably croak if she knew how many holes we dug. I was definitely going to blame that on my brothers though. As we were outside, we started to hear these loud booms, and loud noises usually didn’t bother me because I’m a cool pup like that. I thought they would stop, but they didn’t. I kept hearing the booms and saw big flashing lights in the sky. That started to really scare me. That was different than the other loud noises I had heard before. I couldn’t seem to get away from them so I jumped over our fence and took off running. I kept running but when I looked up after the booms had stopped, I didn’t know where I was. I tried for 7 days to find my way back home as my mom and dad and so many kind people looked for me. After so many days of trying to find my way back home, I got so tired and I just couldn’t go any longer. I laid down and went to sleep. When I woke up, I had crossed the rainbow bridge. It was the prettiest place I had ever seen. There were so many other dogs there for me to play with. I can still see my mom and dad and all the people that loved me, just from a different angle now. I really wish those booms didn’t scare me. If they hadn’t, I would still be there playing with my new human brother. He would have loved me, because who didn’t? I just wanted to remind you guys that fireworks (I think that’s what Mom called them) are really cool to you guys, but very scary for us. Please keep that in mind and keep your furry, 4-legged babies inside as much as you can for the next few weeks. When the booms are gone, they can go outside and play as much as they want. If you promise to watch over your furry friends down there, I promise to watch over them from up here. Love and miss you guys.

-Moose

“Most of y’all remember my baby Moose. We had him since he was 5 days old. We bottle-fed him and he immediately became a crucial part of my family. He was the best snuggler and best brother to our other pups. He was so loyal and committed to protecting and loving his family hard, including his newborn human brother. We miss Moose terribly and it still seems so unfair. I still blame myself for thinking it was okay to leave him outside because loud noises didn’t bother him. Never in a million years would I have ever have thought we would lose him so soon. We came home one night and he was gone. We found him a week later in a field, and the only way we could identify him was by his collar which had his name tag and his microchip tag on it. I would give anything to go back and redo that night. I will never leave my dogs outside during this time of year ever again. Please trust me, and keep your sweet babies inside during these weeks and use a leash while taking them out to potty, even if they have never needed one before. I don’t want anyone to go through what we went through. We will never be able to thank you all enough for helping us look for our sweet Moose. We love you guys.”

-Maddie, Moose’s Mom

Thank you for reading this small part of Moose and Maddie's story. They're very special to us and when we asked Maddie to share this story, she said that it was hard to write and share, but if it prevented even one other pet and pet parent from going through this, it will be so worth it. Please share this post, keep your animals inside as much as you can these next few weeks, and take them out on a leash. We'll share some additional tips this afternoon to help you keep your pets safe during this time. ❤

Hope

In light of the Supreme Court decision, some hope. I was on both the IDR and PSLF programmes (you have to be on an income-driven plan before or at least while you're in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness programme]. I was on the IDR programmes for most of my adult life, being underemployed as I have always been [as I librarian I was always part-time and had to get 1-2 additional jobs to make ends meet, and my current job, while I love it, only requires a high school education and I have bachelor's and master's degrees, but the master's was in a field difficult to get a job in within my area, something I did not know when I took out the loans, and I had obligations to stay here.] I was able to get my loans forgiven under the expanded PLSF requirements during the pandemic due to my work in non-profits. I would urge you to see if you qualify for either of these plans or the Teacher Forgiveness one. IDR has fewer qualifications but takes decades. PSLF is back to normal in terms of qualifications, but they've taken a lot of steps to 'fix' it as an NPR article a few years ago exposed it as a sham at the time (people were paying for years without their payments being counted, for example, with very few loans forgiven--that has been rectified, and it's part of the reason the programme was temporarily expanded.} Anyway, even with the decision by the Court, there is hope.

3 ways federal student loan borrowers can have their debt forgiven—without the Supreme Court

I sometimes struggle with my faith in humanity

You know, people have been saying this since the 1970s and even before that, that climate change is real, and that human lives are at great risk unless we make changes. Now we have all the climate change deniers who want to keep their heads in the sand as tornadoes, droughts, hurricanes, wildfires, and all sorts of extreme weather hit those in vulnerable areas. It's not an 'act of God' anymore. It's a direct result of humankind's unmitigated destruction of key oecosystems, reliance on fossil fuels, and more. (And that's not counting forever chemicals or plastics). And let me tell you, when people die, and it will be in great numbers, 'thoughts and prayers' will do nothing as the seas rise and the grain belts become deserts. And then, after all our hubris, as poor 'stewards of the Earth', we [as a species] will deserve everything we get. Those who sounded the alarm decades ago to now are trying; others are listening, and one action can lead to great things, but one of the greatest threats to our civilisation isn't aliens, or an asteroid, or even nuclear war (although that's stepping up to the plate). It's denying that our actions have very real effects on the very home we live in, and the flora and fauna and all the other parts of our habitat.) Those effects can be for good or ill, but the very first thing is to recognise the problem and educate ourselves about it...and so many people are rejecting education itself (that's a whole other rant).

Oh, and read it to the end.

Climate Crisis Is on Track to Push One-Third of Humanity Out of Its Most Livable Environment

Sigh

I've felt off today, not depressed or blah even, just kind of blunted and quiet and unmotivated. It was an okay day. I'm taking my meds regularly. I haven't gotten much sleep this weekend and I haven't eaten the best, but other than that things have gone pretty well. A coworker rubbed my shoulders earlier and she said I was really tense, but that's not unusual. My stomach and head hurt a bit and I'm one of those people who carry a lot tension in the body a lot, so that's telling. I don't know what's going on. I'm going to go to bed early and see if tomorrow is any better. I've been pretty happy and relaxed lately, but who knows what's going on with my neurotransmitters. This is why I keep a mood diary and try to stay aware of how I feel. Today I knew things were off but I can't figure how or why. It's frustrating living in my head sometimes.

Still sick, but getting better

I haven't blogged in awhile, partly because I've been pretty much working, coming home, eating dinner, and then going to sleep. I missed two days of work due to my cold, one righ after my last post and one this week. I finally went to the Little Clinic at Kroger Saturday (a friend I work with made me promise). The cold is mostly gone but I'm coughing and having asthma issues. I have bronchitis, and was prescribed albuterol through my nebuliser every 6 hours, with the hopes of doing better with that. She said if I didn't feel better in a couple of weeks I should follow up with my primary care provider and have an x-ray of my lungs to make sure I don't have pneumonia, but that my lungs sounded fine, it was just hard to breathe deeply without coughing. And I'm not coughing anything up; it's a dry cough. My associated sinus infection is doing much better (I've gone from green gunk to mostly clear), but she said she could give me Augmenten if needed. It's got amoxicillin in it, and that concerned me, as I am allergic to penicillin and clindamycin, so I decided to hold off since it seems better. Mainly my nose goes a lot despite Claritin. Here's hoping everything improves. I hate spring colds, as they're always worse for me.

It was a slow day

We'd cancelled the game for other reasons, but it's good that we did. The weather's messed with my fibromyalgia, so everything from neck muscles down to the soles of my feet hurt, and I have what I think is a light cold I seem to have caught from a friend, so I've slept so much today and could sleep all night, too, I'm sure. I did about half of my chores, the ones that were most important, and went and got something from Captain D's (and actually got fried fish; we'll find out if my gall bladder will react badly--it's been almost a year since I was brave enough to eat it, but I was craving it). We watched an episode of 'Sister Boniface's Mysteries (an excellent show, a spinoff of 'Father Brown' but with a character that was not in the GK Chesterton stories.) I've listened to the new album by Ed Sheeran, - (Subtract), which came from came from Amazon yesterday. Because of the cold, I couldn't sing along with the car radio. I did test for Covid, but it's negative. My sore throat started Friday night, and it would be just my luck to finally catch it on the day the WHO said it was no longer a pandemic emergency. But no, it seems to be just a normal cold. That's about it. But some days it's good to have a slow day. And our coming week has high clinic numbers, so it's good to get some rest now.

This hits home

My mom constantly dieted. She was on Atkins back in the 70s at one point and was so skinny she looked anorexic. I remember desserts of sugar-free jello powder whipped into sugar-free Cool Whip. She was worried about my weight and put me on Tab and Fresca (sugar-free sodas) at age 8. I grew up with an unhealthy relationship with food. I can still remember stealing leftovers and hiding my eating, and I thought I was the fattest thing ever. I binged on apples and bread as a teen. I really just needed a growth spurt here and there and looking at old pictures, it's obvious that while bigger than some, I was not really fat, and I was pretty active. I biked across the desert for two miles, for example, just to go swimming in the base pool. I walked or biked everywhere, after all. But I grew up fatphobic and still struggle with that, even though I am fat now, and I have to catch myself judging others and especially myself. We never really came to terms with our shared experience with food, though, and with her death, never will.

My mother judged my body as a girl. Years later, we finally understand each other

A good memoir regarding generational dieting and negative weight stereotypes and the harm it does, check out The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl by Shauna Reid.

Someone hire this man

Video shows man rush to stop runaway stroller with baby right before it rolls into busy street

This does not serve teen patrons or their families, and is largely a waste of time

Why an Indiana library is pulling books from its shelves

I guess the bright thing here is that books deemed against board policy are not being removed from the whole library collection, but merely being relocated to the adult section, where they can still be checked out by teens.  But, the sheer amount of money and staff time involved ($114,000-$300,000 in terms of financial costs, a year and over 8,000 estimated staff hours in terms of time) will detract from the acquisition of new materials and presenting library programmes, and that's a shame.  All because of the current cultural war on libraries.  I was a medical librarian, not a public librarian.  But this is all very disheartening and against the training of most librarians.  I do wonder if fewer of us want to work in libraries, especially in red states.  While censorship comes from both the right and the left, this sort of thing seems to be the latter.  Teens are learning about life and will deal with all sorts of decisions regarding sex, relationships, menstruation, drinking/drug use, reckless behaviours and the like. Why can't we have books to start a discussion on those topics so they can think and be prepared for what happens in real life rather than keeping them in the dark till they're 18 and then letting them loose in the world?

I'm glad he took a stand, and won

 

Ed Sheeran’s court victory reveals the paradox of putting creativity on trial | Alexis Petridis

Beyond merely being an interesting copyright case, the lawsuit alleging infringement by Ed Sheeran's 'Thinking Out Loud' of Marvin Gaye's 'Let's Get It On' threatened artistic creativity and sought to tarnish the singer-songwriter's professional reputation. This was a big case, and Sheeran's taking a stand (and winning) was good for musicians everywhere. Outright theft is one thing. And I'm no expert--I can't even read music, although as a librarian I know a bit about copyright and licensing. Still, even I can figure out you've got eight notes to our music scale and about 338 commonly used guitar chords [possible ones are much greater, but most popular songs use a limited amount of chords, or so a quick Internet search tells me. Like I said, I'm not versed in music.] My point is, when songs are in the same key, there can be some overlap. You know what I do know about music? I listen to it, and a lot of it. I hear similarities all the time, usually fleeting. That doesn't mean the other song was ripped off in any way. This opinion piece outlines the effects of music copyright cases--and their arbitrary nature--has potentially on music creativity. Give it a look.

Lastly, it's true, I've always liked Ed Sheeran.  His latest album will be delivered to my door today. I like his (admittedly public) self-effacing personality.  I love his music.  I have not heard one of his songs I didn't like, and that's something I can say about only a few musical artists, and those could fit on one hand.  I've read that this suit was primarily brought not by the family of the co-writer, but by those who purchased the music catalogue. For them, it is all about money, not creativity. I hope we never get to the point where Money trumps Music.  There are already too many people who sell out, put out music that just sounds the same, use auto-tune to make it sound pleasing, and then stick the singer's name on the writing credits like they really did something for it.  It's interesting that a singer who obviously writes so much of his (and other people's) music, who incorporates different genres into his own catalogue, and who essentially produces 'real' popular music, is the one who got sued (twice now that I know of), given all that other same-sounding music out there.  The author of the Guardian piece is right, it's all very haphazard.

PS I've also read that Sheeran missed his grandmother's funeral in Ireland for this trial.  That's really a shame.

Long live Judy Blume

I agree with this completely.

I will tell you that we were passing around V.C. Andrews books, I devoured "Flowers in the Attic," and that whole series. How was that OK, but reading a book about a girl who is wondering about her body and questioning religion and having certain feelings about her friends — why wasn't that OK? I wish I could go tell my 11-year-old self not to listen to all the people who said, "That book is not OK for you. It's a dirty book. It's a naughty book. Don't read it." Because I think it would have really helped me as a flat-chested, shy, insecure 11-year-old to meet Margaret.--Leah Wolchok

"Judy herself is furious": "Judy Blume Forever" directors on today's book banning and moral panic

Good for her

As the article points out, the law is actually on hold while it's fought in the courts, but the message she sent was fabulous. We have a similar law that was passed here in Kentucky. This is crazy.

Lizzo defies Tennessee drag ban with help from iconic RuPaul’s Drag Race alumni

Poor thing, so glad he's okay

Aww... And the article did try to find out the condition of the human he was with, to no avail. I hope both will be okay, and that Toodles will never again be exposed to opiates, and he'll be adopted into a safer home.

Narcan saved the life of this poodle after suffering apparent drug overdose