Back to the hospital
Ferret‘s back in the hospital. Yesterday we were on our way to pick them up for the weekend — well, Sarah and Marilyn were on their way, I’m just too swamped — and he spiked a fever of 104.3, with a pain in his side. Kathy called an ambulance and Sarah picked up the kids [...]
Disney blocks Fahrenheit 9/11 distribution
This is kind of a difficult one for me to take sides on. I don’t like Michael Moore, because I feel like he’s an opportunist who’ll stir up trouble wherever he can. On the other hand, I hate Bush more. Moore’s new film, Fahrenheit 9/11, about the censorship that took place after the terrorist attacks, [...]
Tips for concentration
My doctor won’t prescribe me anything for Adult ADD unless I get tested, but he can’t tell me what I need to do to get tested. That’s OK, I don’t really want to take meds for it anyway, I just want to concentrate better. Especially when I’m trying to get started on a book, like [...]
Time travelling
Here’s a sobering thought. Every time you look up at the stars you are, in a sense, looking back in time. After all, if a star is 100,000 light years away, you’re seeing it as it was 100,000 years ago. Now the Planck mission aims to measure “first light” or the oldest radiation in the [...]
Panda phone
I’m a big fan of the outrageous Irish chat show host Graham Norton, and I’ve really missed Doggy Phone, a speaker phone that basically talks for the person on the other end of the line. Now you can buy a Panda Phone for your cell phone! Wish I could get this for my regular phone. [...]
Schizophrenia — more common than you think?
Phillip K. Dick was always terrified that he suffered from schizophrenia, which alters your perception. If you’re not familiar, it’s not the same as Multiple Personality Disorder (or Dissociative Identity Disorder) but rather a medical disorder in which you experience things that aren’t there (such as seeing, hearing, or even feeling things) or believing things [...]
Prayers needed
Diana Jones is a wonderful person and an aquaintance of mine. Her son, Rick, was shot in the chest by an irate driver last night at about 10:30pm. The bullet bounced off his rib, nicked his liver, and lodged near his diaphragm. He’s currently hospitalized in critical condition and could use all the prayers he [...]
Cold Turkey
I guess that being in your 80s gives you the perspective to see what the rest of us would see if we ever slowed down enough to pay attention. And being a famous author gives you some license to say it out loud. Kurt Vonnegut is both, and proves it with Cold Turkey, a piece [...]
Walking the tightrope
It’s okay to find yourself out of balance at times. What’s not okay is watching a year go by without making the kind of significant life changes that will bring you a greater sense of balance. Just came across this thought in an excerpt from Walking the Tightrope: Solutions for Achieving Life Balance Without a [...]
California bans insecure voting machines
California’s Secretary of State has banned the insecure e-voting machines that Diebold tinkered with after certification for the last election. California now requires that voters have the option to vote on paper, and has required a paper trail for the e-voting machines. A giant step forward! Time to lobby the other 49 Secretaries of State, [...]