urban earth mother

There was an interview by David Bowman in Salon of Ann Coulter last week (I'm a little behind in my reading and still catching up on the liberal US sources I wasn't reading while on vacation), and I just can't believe this woman can spout some of the crap she does. Does she not listen to what she is saying? ["Something About Raymond"] runaway popularity is because it is one of the rare shows on TV right now that is not about gay men. - [ Teru's note for those who haven't looked at a US television schedule EVER, there is only one 30 minute television show which feature gay characters ] ------ And sodomy is gleefully laughed upon now. I keep telling my friends in Hollywood that I have a novel idea for a new TV show -- "How about a show about a heterosexual couple." ------ One of them is the fact that we can only have two tablespoons of water in our toilet bowls because of some idiotic conservation of water. It's wacky enough for liberals...

First day back at work after the vacation and I am Exausted! Not that I've done much in the way of work, mind you. I spent the majority of the morning discussing my trip with various co-workers, and a really in-depth conversation with the woman I share an office with. She is, so far, the only one to ask outright if the Doc and I had sex (she knew about the condoms and hoped I got a chance to use them). I spent a lot of the day missing him. Talking about him with C_ really brought home how far away he is. Even though we'll be able to e-mail, IM, phone, like before Meat Time, I now know what I'm missing by not being in his arms. It's a long, long way away.

I'm back from London. Yes there were internet cafes there, and yes, I could have updated my blog, but even with an hour of time, I wasn't able to get half the things done I wanted to. Later this weekend, possibly even today, I will post the full story of my trip. For now, suffice it to say that I had a good time, and meeting The Doc in meat time was well worth the trip.

I'm flying out today. In two and a half hours I'll be sitting the the airport, fretting. The flight leaves at 7:25, and I'll be taking that sleeping pill around 8:00. Let's just hope it does the trick. The Doc and I have already had our first spat and we haven't even met yet. A few weeks of talking every day left me in need of a little space and I got snippy last night (well, not really snippy, just sullen and passive/agressive). We hashed it out though and now know space and alone time is something we may both need at some point. And I think we'll be able to communicate it better. Boy, a year out of the Scene and I've already lost my communication skills. Bad.

8 pairs of panties, 3 thongs 2 bras 2 garter belts, 2 pairs stockings 1 slip, 1 robe 2 pairs of pants 1 camisole one cardigan three pairs of socks 1 pair china flats ibuprofen, immodium, bismuth, benedryl shampoo, conditioner, soap, toothpaste, deodorant 1 umbrella 2 cameras 12 rolls of film 1 fiction book, 1 guide book, 2 journals makeup 1 towel 1 power converter phone recharger pads (just in case) 18 condoms, 1 small bottle lubricant I will be wearing on the plane: 1 bra 1 pair panties 1 black sleeveless mock turtleneck 1 black skirt 1 blue cardigan 1 pair socks 1 pair sneakers Okay, have forgotten anything? Other than toothbrush and sunscreen? They are going last

Jazz great Benny Carter died last Saturday . Carter began his career in the 1920s, but his career spanned the decades, with releases in every decade through teh 1990s A select discography can be found on bennycarter.com

I tried the pink crap with the blue glue in my hair yesterday to see if I could spike it well. Yup, spiking worked fine. However, after the second wash, the pink still wasn't out. I've washed it five times now and the tips in front are still pink. I fear this may just have to wear off or be cut out.

Book the hotel in London today! £43/night, (VAT and breakfast included in that) with sitting area, toilet, shower and bath ensuit, kitchenette, coffee/tea facilities, etc. Deal and a half! And it's in Kings Cross, wicked close to the train. So, now I need to decide what to pack and do some laundry. We're thinking of camping when we leave London, so I'm going to have to plan for that in some way, whatever way that is.

I'm prepping for my trip already. I went to the vet today and bought a case of cat food (no, not to bring to London), than hauled that in my backpack to Coolidge Corner to go to Grand Opening! for a selection of condoms. Yes, I do plan on needing them on vacation ;) When I got home I asked one of my downstairs neighbors if she and/or her sister would be able to feed the cat while we're away. Wonderfully, she said yes! We need to meet up later so she can meet the cat (he's big, but friendly) and I can give her keys and instructions and such. I leave on Thursday, but Naz will be here until Saturday, so we'll only need someone Saturday night to Friday. I'm so relieved to find someone who can do this. I don't know why I didn't ask them first since they are right downstairs, but I don't know them all that well so it seemed better to try to impose on my friends first. But the sisters are really nice women and I trust them to take good care of Bogar...

I get to the train and decide to take the last car so I can get off at Harvard Square near the entrance by the banks. I need to go to the ATM to check my balance and see if my paycheck has *finally* hit my account. The train comes in and it smells like someone built a fire of old tires and lit it with crayons. Okay. Fine. Disabled train, everybody off. They finally get it out of the station, which is filling with smoke, another train comes and we all cram on. So I get to the square late, right when it starts to rain. I have no umbrella (yes, I knew it would rain, but I thought I would be at work by then). I go the closest bank, pop in my card, enter my PIN, choose Balance Inquiry - Checking. "Transaction Processing. Retaining card for your protection." Huh? Receipt spits out. "Stolen card" WHAT THE F*CK!?! It's not my bank, but I run in and go to the first person I see, in a panic. She takes my ID and does get the card out of the machine and ...

Had my weekly meeting with Boss Lady today and we looked at my position upgrade. She thought she should submit my old job description with it to show how my job has changed. When we finally managed to dig out a copy, she decided that it should be done as a new position since that's what it really looks like. Neat! I might get a new job with no effort on my part (well, aside from actually doing the job)

Boss Lady came in today with a £10 note. She offered it for drinks on her in London. Brings the total cash I have to bring up to £11.60.

I've started keeping track of the weather so I can know what to pack. I certainly won't be sweating like I am in Boston. So far, the highs are around 75° F/24° C and low around 51° F/11° C. Much better than Boston which had bee closer to 93° F/34° C - 65 °F/18° C.

Dancer and actor Buddy Ebsen, probably best known to my generation as Jed Clampett on "The Beverly Hillbillies," died last night at the age of 95. I'm rather sad now that I haven't seen any of his early work, especially as I love musicals. But now I'll make an effort to search one out as I don't want Jed Clampett and Doc Golightly to be my only memories of a dancer.

We found a way to cool down the apartment somewhat. It's set up so that you can never get a cross-breese, but we found that if I keep my bedroom door open and place a fan in the hallway, we can draw some of the cool air from the AC out into the rest of the apartment. Got it down to 83° on Sunday which was cooler than the hallway outside our unit. So the struggles I had with the AC have been worth it in the end, but were apparently not the end of me doing random houshold things in the buff. Last night the cat knocked a glass off the counter in the kitchen. Naz was in her nightshirt talking on the phone (the phone having nothing to do with the nightshirt, but it was 11:00 pm and you've probable guessed where this is going), and I was already in bed reading. So I go out to see what the noise was and we realize kitty was bad (and of course trying to investigae the glass-strewn floor in his bare paws) and we have a clean-up in Aisle 6. Throw the cat in my bedroom and kn...

I avoided the crowds yesterday and did not go down to watch the fireworks. A couple of years ago I did take the train to Kendall and hang out on the bank near the bridge (I've done the bridge too, but that gets TOO crowded), which was nice. But of course I spent hours on the phone and online with a certain someone (who made me sign up for an H2G2 account ), so would have had a hard time getting down there in time. But I did get to see them. Ouside my building there were two trucks parked in the middle of the street. I realized they could see them, so went out and stood in front of a parked car (thereby being in the street but not in the path of traffic) and watched. It was really quite nice (okay, there were those moments when I kept thinking of cities being bombed, but then I focused back on the colors). And then came back for another phone call until the wee hours :) A good night overall. Tonight's planned activites are beer and BJD to celebrate Naz's ta...

Aw, man! This sucks. Edrie just told me that Barry White died

I got three new pics of The Doctor. Wonderful actions shots of Man on Telephone. I keep gazing at the one with the cute sideburns. (sigh) Time 'til arrival in London: 13 days 12 hours, 40 minutes

The Connection last night, which began talking about spam (referred to at one point as “a capitalist blog”), began talking about how people go online in droves to make connections and speak to their people in their own voices. I love how this is starting to come out! It’s certainly not a new thing, by any means (as your intrepid blogger remembers ranting on Compuserve back in the ‘80s), but given the backlash I’ve been hearing lately on how it is not “real” or the “get a life” variety, it’s nice to see others who see it as a community building medium. Thanks to Edrie for calling me last night to tell me about this. You, gentle reader, can hear it yourself online .

Or, how someone could study linguistic theory without owning a dictionary. Okay, now that last really was pissy. But this is my space to vent my spleen so vent I shall. Had day-long arguments with people who would pick apart the least thing I said as being unclear (and I really didn't think they were, but did specify every single word later to avoid it in future), but refused to belived that saying "everything is x " would be in anyway unclear (hyperbole, 1. Rhet. A figure of speech consisting in exaggerated or extravagant statement), and when the exaggeration was pointed out, refused to understand that the clarification offered was a change in verbage (variant of VERBIAGE), and not a change in ideas. There is a lot of personal stuff in the background that is not being acknowledged. Some is it between what is “real” and what is merely online. I feel sure that were these conversations happening face-to-face, they would never behave this way. But there is also ...

Jazz great Herbie Mann dies

I was just damned irritable all day today. Post menstrual syndrome perhaps? Probably not. I’m just cranky, and unmotivated for work (not good since summer is a busy time for us), and wishing I was already on vacation tramping about England and having a first in the flesh meeting with the Doctor. Hmm, bit of stream of consciousness here, but every time I call him that I keep thinking he should be a Time Lord. Anyhow, something good did happen today at work. At the end of a really depressing meeting where we looked at another school’s intranet and saw what we could do if we had money and staff and an administration that was willing to tell departments that they get their stuff online or lose their jobs, I was given a compliment by the head of a project group that we work with, someone who has been with the school for quite a while. I thought that was very nice. However, when I had a meeting with my boss later, she said she mentioned the compliment to her boss and the head of ...

I think I'm going to change the name of this blog to The Parade of Death. Sigh. Robert McCloskey, author of 'Make Way for Ducklings' and 'Blueberries for Sal' died on Monday at his home in Maine. I live in Boston so 'Make Way for Ducklings' has a certain poignance (and there is a small sculpture commemorating it), but I grew up with 'Blueberries for Sal' and it always makes me think of summers and berry picking with my mom. It’s a sweet book. I think everyone should seek out one of his books this week and read it either alone or with a child.

Since I started the parade of death, I may as well continue. Buddy Hackett was found dead in his home yesterday, cause of death is as yet unknown. He was 78.

Feeling the need to blog even thought I've nothing to say. I just couldn't leave it with no entry for the first of the month. Got into another online argument today, this one about feminism and how some people can't tell the difference between a dogma and individuals (okay, so it was more than that but I'm feeling pissy). Also was being mocked (although they claimed otherwise) about flirting with someone much younger than I. Grrr. Yeah, I know, I kvetched about this myself, but at least I did it in my own blog space and not "How come older women can flirt with younger men and not the other way around?" and the oh so tasteful, "its not very hard to give a teenage boy a hard on is it?" Yeah, well let's face it, it doesn't take much to get most men hard. I'm just pissed off about the whole thing. Fuckers. Yeah, I have a sex drive and I'm a woman, that's the real issue. Older men still look at younger women, but now th...