Good news, friends and family! I escaped the wrath of the tsunami.

It didn't make it to Dayton.

Fortunately for the yeasties...

Well, though it is true that I have an overly active eye for things to beat Bush over the head with, but...he seems quite unconcerned with the 2 or 3 thousand missing Americas... I guess a natural disaster does not have the glamour of a terrorist attack, but I would expect a little more action out of someone who wailed so much about the dead of the 9/11 attacks. I suppose he has not thought of a political advantage to the tsunami situation yet.

$15 million dollars? Oh my, I guess we don't have much left after project "rule the world." This doesn't really help project a "superpowerly" image, though...

In anti-yeasty tsunami news, "Pfizer will contribute approximately $25 million worth of the company’s healthcare products which includes the anti-infective products Zithromax, Zyvox and Diflucan."

Another pretty picture of me...

Sarah v. The Tick

One of the many downsides (constant worry about a squashed cat, having to let him in and out every 30 seconds) of letting Bean go outside is that he has aquired one of the world's most hated creatures as a friend...a tick.

Animal lover that I am (well, I thought there was a small space in my heart for even ticks...), I tried to live with the tick being on Bean for several days... Finally, I couldn't deal anymore and purchased a glorified pair of tweezers in the form of the Tick Lifter.

The directions for use alone made me want to barf.

Directions for use: Push button to open claw. Grab tick firmly at skin surface. DO NOT PULL! Turn entire device slowly several times counterclockwise until ENTIRE tick lets go.

The emphasis is not my own. The directions are really like that!

Since my friend April was coming over to see my new rat that I found WALKING AROUND OUTSIDE (that is another blog entry) I decided to sucker her into helping by acting like ticks are no big deal. Luckily, she was strangely unfamiliar with ticks (???) and she readily agreed to use the Tick Lifter on Bean... It seemed to good to be true and indeed it was. More later...

One would think that the forsaking of TV would leave me time for you, my dearest bloggy... Alas, it has not been so. Last night I longed for the solace of TV as one might pine for a lost love. I went to the closet to drag it out, but it looked so heavy and the chances of getting any reception were so slim that I lost heart and went to bed. I woke up this morning with an unreasonably heavy heart and my mind again turned to TV. I called my friend Dan to see what he was doing. He was watching scantily clad gentlemen (not how he described it but as it appeared in my mind's eye) jump around the sand volleyball court... (The Olympics is a bitter time not to watch TV. ...) So, I went to see a movie. But the movie ended. So now I am back at home without the sweet release provided by the boobtoob. I am going to have a drink.

Oh, lucky me and God bless my policy of not answering the phone... I just got a call from the Bush/Cheney folks. Apparently John Kerry hates health care. Who knew...

I miss the boob tube... As was perhaps mentioned before, as I was casting around for something to blame for the sorry state of my affairs (i.e. my refusal to start on my project proposal which is due July 15), my roving eye fell on the television. I have been watching an totally exorbitant amount in the last few months... So, I unplugged it on Friday. Then, later, I disconnected the cable cord. Not trusting myself, I dragged it into the closet...

Oops, Dan has arrived to go on a walk. This is my second walk today!! Erm, so much energy, erm...so little to fill the time... I took two naps today, too...

The love affair seems to be one sided... 

Yeek. I am scaring myself... 

Phantom with her new haircut... 

Hi Dearest Bloggy,

You look a little different since I last saw you. Ooh, you keep getting better and better and I imagine one fine day I am going to have to pay for you. That is okay. I am not one of those cheap bastards who doesn't appreciate something that is free, if only for awhile... Really, I think that it what is wrong with people in general. We want to shift the burden of our existence onto others... Now, people in my family, i.e., my sister, would probably remark at this point that I don't seem to proud to weasel stuff out of my relatives, i.e. my mother... But, if anyone is responsible for supporting my continued existence I think it should be the one is most directly responsible for it... It fits in well with my new "total blame" theory of parental responsibility (a mere slip of theory compared to the Unabomber's, it turns out, as I read yesterday)... I don't think that man took responsibility for anything in his entire life. Well, rightly so, according to the total blame theory. My mother tried to get mad at me the other day for being my normal obnoxious self... "Look at the hand," (or whatever) I said to that (mentally because she was being so bitchy I didn't want to further inflame her), "and look within to see who created the monster."

Back to my original point. People have such a weird sense of entitlement and very little pride... Okay, too lazy to go on with this but I assure you it is a big problem.

Yeek. Phantom is throwing up. Well, see, not all free stuff is good. Ooh, maybe I can post pictures of Phantom's new haircut... I will see.

Hmm. I thought that I read that my Blogger account was canceled... Testing...

Random thoughts...

Cicadas awaken after 17 years to discover their short lives have been shortened by being trapped under concrete - unintended consequence of urban sprawl...or conspiracy?

Why did Sarah, who can't even abide the icky feeling of the short freefall of the most pitiful roller coast and has had a lifelong fear of dying in a plane wreck, throw herself out of an airplane...adventure seeking...or suicide attempt?

Why does the onslaught of random thoughts stop when one tries to list them...

Ahh, the march of progess... The head of the Selective Service is suggesting that women should register too! And raise the age to 35! Alas, by the time women have to register, I will be too old to protest registration by refusing to register... :(

Erp...

Wow, this was something I didn't know about Anne Frank... Anne Frank had two diaries... "Anne herself began editing and rewriting her diary in March 1944 after hearing an appeal on an underground radio to keep diaries for the histories that would be compiled after the war."

Monday, March 12, 2001
New edition of Anne Frank diary includes missing pages
ARTHUR MAX-- The Associated Press

Ah, the joys of romance... An excerpt from one of the most romantic love letters ever written...

"I didn't think you were very pretty in the beginning and I had trouble making love to you. The more you were good to me, the easier having sex with you became. You became more attractive..."*


*Surprisingly, this was written in a effort to win the beloved back...

Oh happy day! In the course of human events, there comes a time when Sarah is so smitten by something that is free that she feels a desire to thank her benefactor by actually paying for something! I just increased my Yahoo mailbox size from 6 MB to 25 MB for a mere $19.95! Now, a good part of my day will not being spent decided which of yer mail messages to delete! Well, at least for the next few weeks until I reach the edge of my 25 MB. But, I am going to try and be more discerning now...

Warning, the following is a testament to my brilliance... I decided to engage in a little theoretical physics last night. After spending a horribly depressing day in bed yesterday after falling ill due to seeing an exploding woodchuck, I noticed that one topic that did not seem particular depressing to ponder was why two sister particles separated by miles acted just the same. If you hit one and make it spin one way, the other will instantly start spinnning in the opposite direction. Apparently, the information to start spinning apparently travels faster than the speed of light it seemed to Eistein to be spooky and telepathic... Anyway, the process by which this happens is not currently understood so I decided that perhaps my total lack of knowledge about physics might be an advantage in figuring this out. So, I thought about it for several hours (off and on, I went to see "Kill Bill" in between) and decided that maybe they are connected to each other in a way we cannot detect and (this part was admittedly vague) someone how another dimension we can't understand is involved. Well, this morning, further on in the book, the author discussed the "superstring" theory which is similar (as far as I can tell...). Admittedly, this is not a new theory, but still, I had not heard of it so I was impressed with myself, which of course is really not difficult...

Ah, what great problems of the universe will I solve today... So far, I have donated some money to the Kerry campaign, so that is prolly a good start...

Solemn pledge...

I will NEVER again in my life watch CBS...

Bunch of tasteless sickos...

Oh my, it will be the happiest day of my life if the draft is reinstituted!! Though I strongly oppose Selective Service registration (particularly since this obligation of citizenship falls only on young men in complete and total violation of the U.S. Constitution), the silence of those who were previously so gung ho about risking the necks of others will be deafening... I think that the draft age should be raised to 65 so we can get some of those war loving members of Congress involved in their own little par-tay...

In furtherance of the flame war with my sister...

We are all faced with a variety of economic choices, both on the individual level and on the national level. Resources are finite so we cannot have everything that we want. So, we have to make choices... I just think that lots more people could handle their own health insurance needs if they were not brainwashed to think that the only hope for medical insurance is through employment with an employer that supplies health insurance. $70.00 a month is not a lot... I still support taxpayer help to provide health care to the uninsurable (of which there are many), the disabled, downtrodden, etc...

Yes, blog readers, I will accept any free vehicles offered, so send them on!! Since my sister is going to turn this into an attempted attack on my cheapness (not gonna work, I already know I am a cheap bastard), I will just say that in her own life, she does not seem to realize that resources are finite!!!! My cheapness is about to reach new heights! have instituted a new cheapness regime this month, actually. By being extra extra extra cheap for the next few months, I am trying to make my trip to Prague in August (hope hope) pay for itself! I think that most of my savings will come from cutting back on food and booze and maybe entertainment.

Gift idea for Sarah....

I do not think that Democrats are doing themselves any favor by continually hitting Bush on the head with "health care." It may or may not resonate with the American public, but it exacerbates the problem of people refusing to take responsibility for their own health and it makes the Democrats look like the party for helpless fools.

Americans have come to think about health care in very weird terms.... For some reason, health care is associated with health insurance in the popular mind to the extent to the idea of going to the doctor and plunking down some cash seems foreign... And, health insurance seems so intertwined with "employment" that people seem disempowered (or, they are just retarded) about just buying a policy to cover emergency medical situations. In 30 seconds of searching, I discovered that I could purchase a policy from Blue Cross for $77.53 a month. It has a $5000.00 deductible... Or, I can pay $200.00 a month and get a much lower deductible. I know that many poor people can afford $77.00 a month because they have cars. To me, insurance is more important than a car. We do have things called buses. In my list of important things to pay for in life, I list in them in the following order: Booze, rat food, health and car insurance, rent, food for me, food for the cats, the cars, gentlement of the evening and DSL. People need to bounce health insurance up a little higher in their own lists. Maybe lose the cell phones and cable and the excessive food that makes over 50% of Americans overweight. I just do not see how people's spending choices are a federal problem and how it could possibly be Bush's fault or how the Democrats could possibly improve the problem (without further breaking the bank...)

Another great t-shirt idea!

Finally someone cares about Sarah! I got some stuff in the mail last week about pain management from my insurance company. I looked at it briefly, decided that I did not have chronic pain (chronic irritation, certainly...) at this time and threw it away. Then, they kept calling me... Normally, Sarah does not answer the phone directly, but having attained the great age of 35 I have been making efforts (slight) to be more mature. So, I have picked up the phone a couple of times lately before the answering machine picked up. Anyway, it backfired, as usual and I got stuck donating money to the police benevolence fund again... But, also, the insurance company got me and asked if I was interested in registering for their pain management program. I was sort of surprised by this question. My heart warmed with the thought that someone was concerned that I might be in pain!! I broke the news gently... The woman seemed genuinely surprised. Hmm...

I am back 14 years later and this time I will not be silenced by my sister and her snooty Smith friends...* This t-shirt idea is going to make me rich at the upcoming Washington abortion march! It is too subtle for many, I will admit...

*Sister and snooty friends refused to associate with me with me at 1992 march because of the poster I made that bore a similar drawing..

Oops. I forgot to post a link to my pictures...

Blog silence is now broken...

Exciting things have happened to Sarah since we last spoke! I have a new hobby! Calling EgyptAir! Me and the fine folks at EgyptAir play this game called "avoidance/misdirection." So far, for my new hobby, I have done the following (dates omitted for brevity)... (BTW, I am trying to get some documentation that my bags were over 24 hours late when I went to Egypt... In the unlikely event I am able to secure this documentation, I will be the proud owner of 1260 Egyptian pounds! That just sounds more interesting than $200.00...)

1. Called Delta because I was desperately hoping not to have to deal with EgyptAir. Delta gave me the bad news, but did give me a number for EgyptAir.
2. Called EgyptAir. They gave me another number to call about my baggage. Turns out it was for Gulf Air. The person kindly explained that they couldn't help me because...they were not EgyptAir...
3. Called EgyptAir back. Transferred to a person who denied all knowledge of "baggage claims" and transferred me to someone's voice mail. This person never called me back.
4. Repeated step above.
5. Called information to get another number for EgyptAir. Called this number for several days until someone answered the phone. Was transferred to a person who denied all knowledge of baggage. "This is the accounting department."
6. Called number again and got nice gentlemen who seemed skeptical that I would get any help out of EgyptAir in this long life, but did give me the fax number to fax a written request for documentation. If all goes well, this will be faxed to Cairo. HAHAHAHA.
7. Faxed in written request. Expecting no further contact with EgyptAir but have become very grateful that my EgyptAir plane did not wreck in the sea.

It seems hard to believe, but I know an entity stupider than EgyptAir. My sister. I sent her a postcard from Egypt and she accidentally dropped into the tracks at the Atlanta subway station (MARTA). She jumped down into the tracks to get it. IT WAS JUST A POSTCARD! At least someone is interested in what Sarah has to say...

I LOVE THE INTERNET! It enables slackers like me!!! Just bought travel insurance via the Internet at the last minute! I leave on my trip next week! Last time I bought travel insurance through the same company I had to mail in a form!!!! Now they have a web form!

Ooh, the end is near... Pet yer kitties bye bye and get some raw food...

It's a darn good thing no one actually reads my blog or I might be a bit embarrassed!!! Apparently, BOB Kerry, not JOHN Kerry is the Senator accused of his own little My Lai massacre. Appologies to John... Doesn't anyone listen with I talk either!? (Note to self: Review the name of your blog...) I mean, I don't know how many times I have mentioned the supposed "Kerry massacre" without inspiring a contradiction... I have gotten a few rather incongruous responses, but I am used to people saying weird stuff anyway...

But once again, it shows how desperate I have become... My sister says that I am just trying to make up for being "Nader voter" but to that I say... I have a defense!!! I named my dog after Nader when I was a kid. I pronounced it "Nay-dar." She is just jealous of my public spiritedness anyway...

This is day 30 or so of my raw food diet. People on the raw food message board introduce themselves by stating the percentage of raw food in their their diet... I think I might have been 95% raw (maybe more...) for these past 30 days... Below are the times I fell off the raw food wagon...

A lunch of Chinese food
A dinner of Thai food
A jar of hummus (I thought it was raw until I looked up hummus recipes on the Internet...)
A few hummus beans (After I ate the hummus and found out if was cooked, I was so enamored of chick peas that I cooked a few that were part of a failed sprouting experience. I ate a few but then decided to throw them out before I ate more...)
Cashews (Apparently, cashews labled as "raw" are not really raw. They are heated to get them out of the shell... Sarah's innate cheapness will not allow her to procure really raw ones at great expense via the Internet...)
Pistachios (Since I ate some cooked cashews I decided a few roasted pistachios wouldn't hurt...yeek, I can see a slippery slope here... I don't want to throw them out because my rat can always eat them, but she apparently is not eating them fast enough...)

Now I am an official Kerry volunteer! You know things are tough when I support a suspected war criminal and would-be philanderer... I haven't been call upon to do anything yet (the best kind of volunteering!)... I might not ever be if they read my blog! Yeeck. Do I mention my full name anywhere in here... I was inspired to further political action by my previously mentioned foray into politics... I am even going to vote while I am there...in a primary (ashamedly, this is my first time for a primary...) Eek!

Note to self - If I ever exercise total control over a kid, I am naming him/her Lertlarp.

My foray into politics... I am going to be a greeter on voting day (March 3rd)! I am going to stay out a respectful distance (I am going to try and get in the voting booth with them) away from the polls and hand out library referendum propaganda! More library books for me!!! After my harsh service I am going to suggest they increase their collection of raw food propaganda...

This morning I awoke with the need to go hammer reconnoitering around my apartment. (This is when I grab one of the two hammers by my bed and pop up quickly into the living room to surprise whoever is lurking with a hammer attack. Then I round the corner to the kitchen quickly in case the rascal is trying rustling through my raw food before trying to kill me. In more extreme cases I check the closets.) I gave my friends who have a keys to my apartment codes phrases to avoid the hammer attack - "It's me, Sarah, don't hit me with the hammer!" Rather unwieldly, but easy to remember in an emergency... A very very scary dream was the catalyst for my paranoia, I suppose.

I have been up for an one and 1/2, but now I want to go back to sleep... Sniff sniff. The story of my life...

Political ad to make one go "hmm..."

An Air National Guard plane lands in some foreign place and a bunch of soldiers get off... Then, the commanding officer takes roll call and keeps yelling, "Bush, Bush, G.W. Bush... Where are you??"

In the next scene soldiers are shooting children and then running around trying to hide the bodies. A soldier yells "Bush, Bush, where are you??"

I don't listen to country music much (really, I don't listen to much music at all) but I was driving down the road today hoping to get some errands accomplished (things purchased) at Target... Then this song came on the radio that started something like, "I got some rice cooking in the microwave...." Then, the song goes on to extoll the virtues of being alive. This is why, when I listen to it, I love country music. It is has a way with the mundane when it is not crooning about lovin' and losin'....

I forgot to finish the story. I abandoned my good shopping intentions and went to the liquor store and bought some cigars and then I went to a bar and had some booze. Something about that guy being so happy about his rice...

Later, I fell asleep at an ice skating rink.

Hours of anti-Bush fun for you...

So far, I like "Bring It On" best...

NOTE TO SELF: If it becomes necessary to eat through my nose, eat gummy bears.

As part of my ongoing committment to doing something strange/scary/out of character every day of this new year, I got desperate last night as the clock approached midnight and decided to try eating through my nose. Luckily, a friend had some gummy bears. It was working pretty well...the snot seemed to be digesting the gummy bear, but then it started to hurt a bit so I removed it. Some doubted if me eating through my nose was particularly out of character. I personally found the sensation a bit scary...

But, announcing this is not the reason for this post. What could be weirder than this! I am surprised I did not hear about this before... Maybe we should have put the astronauts in the worm container...