Birthday Boy

Because what would Hallowe'en be without a big beautiful bright-eyed birthday boy baby beast? Here's the photo from the ComicMix column:



And here he is for his close-up, with his arms wrapped around my neck:



Happy 15th birthday, Datsa!

Silly Site o' the Day

Happy Hallowe'en! My latest ComicMix column is up, and later today I'll be publishing a larger version of the photo that I had Robin take for the occasion, since today is also the day we celebrate Datsa's birthday and I wanted everyone to see my lovely FIFTEEN-year-old kitty. I've never had a cat this old, neither Gypsy nor Phredd made it past 12. As Amy's in double-digits too we definitely consider ourselves cat-blessed at the moment, particularly considering we almost lost the Dat a few years back.

Not only is he still around, but so's my monthly euphemism, making a timely return this morning right on the schedule my body used to have back when it did this every month. Since few things scare most men more than monthly euphemisms, I keep trying and failing to think of how to incorporate this into the Hallowe'en outfit I'm going to wear this evening for, well, absolutely nobody. No Hallowe'en parties at work, nobody's invited us anywhere, I just put on the troll earrings and the spider web t-shirt and the orange "Get Wicked" socks for me and Robin, I guess. Oh, and the kitties.

Everyone's linking to Hallowe'en Hangman (although I first saw it on Moi's page), so can I do differently? Not today, I can't.

Silly Site o' the Day

Gradually catching up to where I want to be. I placed my Midtown comics order this morning for three weeks' worth; I'm about halfway through the DC comp box which inevitably means we'll get another one any day now; I've just finished tomorrow's ComicMix column; my finances are once more up to date; and my workload is under control again barring any unforeseen property management issues. Now if I could only get through my blog reading. Especially since tomorrow's it's back to the job search -- ooh, scary job search, boys and girls! Here's something to get you in the mood for the day:



The Monster Initial Stickers name generator is via Mark at BoingBoing.

Silly Site o' the Day

Everyone's finally gone and I have ten minutes left to myself before my weekly PT session. All plans to get ahead on things have gone by the wayside again. I feel like I'll never catch up, but I'll give it another valiant attempt this evening, in between updating my checkbook and placing my comics order (three weeks' worth!) and writing my ComicMix column. And somewhere in there I suppose I'll be eating dinner. Speaking of which, PZ Myers says not to believe that octopi are evil, but I'm not so sure. They're tough little buggers to chew...

Silly Site o' the Day

We're off to Ikea in New Haven to get a desk worthy of Robin's new setup:



But mostly to gawk at the Connecticut foliage, which we're crossing our fingers is further along than the NYC-area scenery. It's too gorgeous a day to stay inside, but if you must, why not visit some Unusual Museums of the Internet (via Lindsay)?

Silly Site o' the Day

I was going to do some ComicMix blogging today, but after reading a comics professional -- whose art I really like, no less -- take my last column (wherein I explain more art-vocabulary terms) so out of context in his head that it morphed into some sort of weird man-hating, art-hating diatribe, I decided being away from keyboard was the better part of valor. And I think I made the right decision; I got a lot done today like inventorying some kitchen and larder supplies, replacing a windshield wiper, taking care of a couple local errands in the rain, and spending more time with my favorite artist. And now it's after 10 PM and I feel even less like blogging. So I'm going back into the living room to be with Robin and the cats again and watch Game 3 of the World Series, so there. Here's a Hallowe'en numbers game to amuse you, via Moi at Blogg. I'd be grateful if someone can tell her how it works; I remember having some similar trick explained to me but I didn't retain the explanation.

Friday Cat Blogging (™ Kevin Drum)

Amy, are you ready to come down from the closet shelf yet?



Guess not.

Silly Site o' the Day

By mutual agreement, I didn't get the job for which I interviewed yesterday. There were just too many "red flags" about it. But I really liked the principal interviewing me, and he seemed to really like me, we both knew I could do the job, but we both just sensed it wasn't the right one for me, and so it meant a lot to me when he advised me not to settle. I need to be happy in my new position, and he noted that it was obvious that I'm talented enough to be able to find something more suited to my desires. It was probably one of the best interviews ever.

The negative, of course, is that I'm still looking, which search takes time away from things I want to be doing like ComicMix news editing. The positive is that I was on my feet an awful lot yesterday, both at work in the morning (mostly cleaning out long-unused files which is a lot of lifting and standing and walking) and into Manhattan in the afternoon, and while I still tire easily I mostly didn't need the walking stick at all. This morning I woke up fully able to put weight onto the left leg. I still have stiffness, but the foot pain caused by calf muscle tightness seems to have completely subsided.

Ah, but enough grumbles, you're here looking for a Silly Site, so here you go: the Right-Wing Facebook, via Siva.

Silly Site o' the Day

On the way to work this morning, I noticed angrily that the car behind me on the one-lane road decided to pass on the right (where there's no lane, remember) then squeak in ahead of me and the car in front of me prior to the red light. What's the bloody point of that? Two car lengths and absolutely no time gained? (You did know that even lane-weaving on highways doesn't really "save" any appreciable time, right?) So I started fantasizing about being talented enough to create an online Flash animation about cars weaving through highways and suddenly getting zapped from above, then you pull out and it's like an omniscient kid using Earth as its videogame and zapping all the vehicles driven by weaving a-holes. Alas, I shall never have that kind of talent. But I loved this animation:



Animator vs. Animation by Alan Becker, via Will Shetterly.

Baseball Bitching

Because if you can't do it during the World Series, you have to wait a whole 'nother year.

Rudy "9-11, 9-11, *sqwawk* Polly want a 9-11" Guiliani is getting a lot of flak for something as stupid as the Obama lapel pin/hand over heart/stupid-symbolic-instead-of-actual-patriotism "controversies." Apparently His Dishonor, a Yankee fan to the point of embarrassment, is rooting for the Red Sox in the series, on the theory that he's a fan of the American League and he'd rather see any AL team win, even the Yankees' longest-standing rivals, than have an NL team triumph. The most ridiculous aspect of this that it makes perfect sense to lots of baseball fans. I tend to be more of a National League fan, myself, but I'm also a local baseball fan, and I'm also a good baseball fan, so I have no real emotional investment in a particular team this Series except I'd like to see the Rockies win 'cause I think they're underdogs (which I also root for) and, besides, humidor.

Okay, the other thing frustrating me a bit was the Torre pay cut stuff, as I can't get that upset about someone who's made $6.7 million in 2004 and 2005 and $7.5 mil in 2006 "only" being offered $5 mil plus incentives at contract renewal time. This NY Times article crunches the numbers very interestingly, and I have to wonder if part of the problem might be that Torre's go-between went through a "D.U.I. arrest and subsequent divorce from Jennifer Steinbrenner." Just sayin'.

Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye

My "blogson" Johnny Bacardi is shutting down his blog on his fifth blogiversary. While the organizer in me appreciates the symmetry, the blogmom in me hopes he reconsiders. On the other hand, his LiveJournal will still be, erm, live.

Silly Site o' the Day

Once again the morning got away from me, at least as far as blog activity. My weekly ComicMix column is up, of course, but otherwise it's been fairly steady job stuff, whether for this job (as a coworker is on vaca for the next few weeks) or searching for another one. But I'm feeling good about things. The foliage is finally starting to turn, the rain has been pretty light, I got a good parking lot space so I've left the walking stick in the trunk, our AC unit seems to have kicked in again thanks to our resourceful custodian so I'm no longer schvitzing, and best of all I have another interview set up for tomorrow afternoon. They seem to like my online cred (if you're reading this, potential employer, Hello and thank you for the opportunity!), which is great because I'm proud of my strong computer skills both online and offline. Speaking of which, Robin has got his Cintiq working again so it's finally interfacing with the iMac, and his setup looks beautiful. We're probably getting him a new desk at Ikea this weekend if I can manage the walking (I know I can do the driving, which should be gorgeous), and as soon as I get a new job I'm probably ditching the old PC for good and going strictly Macbook-with-PC-emulator, but we'll have to see what the job requirements are first. I'm keeping all options open at this point! Hope lunch gets here soon; I'm hungry. Too bad I can't eat this:



I'm definitely in a chocolate-craving mood today. The GlassGiant chocolate bar message generator is, as usual, via Gerard.

Silly Site o' the Day

The off-site IT guy is back on-site, preparing to take down and replace the hard drives, so I'm not sure how much time I have (he's starting with the networked drives and moving to the internet system later). Been a weird day; got a "thanks anyway" rejection from the place I really liked where I interviewed week before last, alas, but a promising phone call from someone else. AC service people aren't coming in until Monday, so my office environment is stiflingly uncomfortable. Went out to make deposits at lunchtime on behalf of a coworker who's now on a 3-week vaca, and while I can walk fine with the walking stick I still can't put my whole weight on my left leg for some reason not even the PT folks can figure out. They're recommending another trip to the orthopedist, for which I need a referral from my primary, whom I've been trying to avoid but may now have no choice. In other words, things are still status quo. Haven't even had time for any games, but that doesn't mean I can't pass them on to you. Here's a Sudoku generator, via Gerard.

Silly Site o' the Day

Well, that was no fun. Apparently our server blew out two hard drives, and our off-site IT person came on-site and has rigged up a temporary workaround until he can do a complete replacement tomorrow. Meanwhile, that's over four hours of non-productivity, including not being able to continue my online job search. At least I was able to work on my next ComicMix column. I ought to get an award for my rapidly-waning patience. In fact, I think I'll give myself one.



Okay, I can't even do awards (that was via Gerard) right today. Everyone go over and wish Laura a happy blogiversary, I have to fire up Outlook and see what I've been missing...

Silly Site o' the Day

Well, the left foot is still hurting, but at least I can put weight on it now. Yesterday I decided to experiment a bit with the ice pack, putting it on the calf muscle in the back, which subsequently cramped up very, very painfully for about a minute and a half -- I swear it felt like it was going concave -- before finally loosening and allowing me to walk on two legs again. I blame, among other things, a strategically-placed bug bite which seemed to hit the muscle in exactly the wrong place. I look forward to tomorrow's PT session, I'm getting very tired of enforced inactivity. On the other hand, the leaves have only just started turning, so it's not like I've missed any brilliant foliage so far. Oh yes, I have the autumnal immobility non-foliage blues, and therefore I need a blues name, which, according to the Capital Gold site of blues legends (via Gerard), is "Hound Dog" Flora Williamson.

Silly Site o' the Day

It's not often you know what's coming in a video and you laugh anyway. From Cute Overload:



We have a great sense of identification with this one. Datsa often wakes us by violently pounding against the (hollow) closet door, and both he and Amy delight in marching around the bed, including across the pillows. Heaven help us if the species ever evolves toward opposable thumbs.

Friday Cat Blogging (™ Kevin Drum)

The cats were very glad to see us when we returned from Jay's house, and offered their regal profiles:





Have I mentioned how much not-fun it is driving back from Jersey at 65mph in the dark in the rain? Ick.

Storm Front Blogaround

I blame the rain songs on the radio this morning. I've decided that they, and not the weather, are also primarily responsible for my foot pain.

• Happy 49th birthday to Kevin Drum, originator of Friday Cat Blogging (™ him)! We are now the same age for the next month and a half, until I surpass him on 2 December. Naturally, Kevin celebrates with an FCB post.

• Tony Bourdain takes over Ruhlman's blog again with a post about Ruhlman's haircut, The Next Iron Chef America, and Kitchen Nightmares. He "admire"s that TNICA got rid of the only two female chefs first, which sounded incredibly sexist to me, but explains that this proves beyond doubt that the judging is independent and based on merit alone. Yuh-huh. He likes Gordon Ramsey's new show, which I did too on the one episode we happened to watch because it dealt with a restaurant not too far away from us. Except I found it overly staged (two cameras?) and unevenly paced, focusing far more on Ramsey than on the success story the restaurant supposedly became due to his machinations. I'm told this is about par for the course with Ramsey. Also on the food blogs, Melissa Hall takes a look at boudin, which of course made me think of Steve.

• I see where Mark Evanier agrees with me, or appears to, about journalists pressing politicians to define their terms. I want to hug Richard Wolffe (even though) for asking President Bush the "simple question" to define "torture." Now we need to corner these folks to define other deliberately vague terms like "family values" and "culture of life" and "freedom" and "supporting the troops" and, heck, even "war on terror."

• Speaking of which, what's the diff between the kind of terrorism practiced by the odious Osama bin Laden and that practiced by the odious Michelle Malkin? August Pollak compares and contrasts. And the Rude Pundit reminds us what we might have had if enough American citizens had only been a little more on the ball.

• The slebs are coming out of the woodwork at HuffPo. Richard Belzer applauds our propensity for self-fright during this Hallowe'en season, Mike Farrell's more worried than ever about our plans for Iran, and Paul Simon's disgusted with the way the administration is playing politics with children's health, and is doing something about it.

• Tammy Pierce echoes my sentiments when she asks, "Why is anybody surprised?" at the paucity of decent roles for women in movies. Maybe it's like Cheryl Lynn says, you can't blame a leopard for its spots. Although Val D'Orazio still prefers that we publicly call the T&A superhero subgenre what it is.

• Cory Doctorow apologizes to Ursula LeGuin for going beyond what he considered fair use but what she believes was wholesale swiping. See, if one paragraph constitutes an entire story and you didn't ask permission to reprint the whole thing, that's not fair use. But as Cory has, for a long time, seemed to be one of those fans-turned-pros who repeatedly touts how everything should be freely available and consumers should never need permission from creators for anything, I have my suspicions as to whether this incident has changed his mind.

• Okay, I'm officially creeped out. Dragonspies?, asks Eli. It's like something out of a Bond villain's cache.

Lastly, this has been another edition of What Krugman Says About What Digby Says. I can goes home now?

Silly Site o' the Day

Okay look, I understand why radio stations feel the cutesy need to play rain-related songs on days when rain is in the forecast. But I woke up in darkness about five minutes before the alarm was set to go off, and I left the house drowsy, and the last thing I want during morning friggin' drive time is to hear stuff like Eurythmics' "Here Comes the Rain Again" and especially The Doors' "Riders on the Storm" replete with sound effects. Honestly, I'm grateful I made it to the parking garage without drifting off. J'accuse; you know who you are. No contest today to flip to your competition for their live Grace Slick interview...

I've been working to strengthen my left ankle so it can bear the weight of me walking on the upper part of my foot until the heel pain fades, which sped up my 2-block walk from the parking garage to the office but, as I still need to use the walking stick, I think I resemble Leggy Mountbatten now just a bit too much for my personal taste. Still, I think it was the trousers... Now that I'm well on the mend I'm hoping to step up blog activity today but as always that's circumstance-dependent.

Speaking of things for which I haven't had the time, and of things rock-and-roll'ish, please have fun with this Bob Dylan message generator (via Gerard) which I haven't gotten around to customizing myself. You see, my pump don't work 'cause the vandals took the handles.

Health Updates

Cliff Meth reports that Marie Severin is doing well, and Kevin Hayden reports that Randi Rhodes wasn't mugged after all but, like me, tripped and fell hard (and, unlike me, wasn't able to break her fall with her knees, thus preventing facial injuries). She's back on the air as I type this. She says she left a pub to smoke a cigarette, and the next thing she remembered was waking up face down.

Silly Site o' the Day

Well, that's a little better. The heel isn't throbbing nearly as badly as yesterday, and the knee is improved to the point where I can articulate it pretty fully with only minor soreness. The human body is an amazing, resilient thing. Or at least mine is. Must be that natural padding! Anyway, enough minor grumbles about my aches and pains, today is a very special day. It's my brother Jay's birthday! We'll be seeing him tomorrow night, as Mom's coming up to stay over there prior to snowbirding back to Vegas on Saturday, but I still wanted to give him a shout-out, at least via sis-in-law Kara who, I'm told, does view this blog from time to time.

Custom neon sign maker (you can actually order the signs you create!) via Gerard.

Silly Site o' the Day

Yes, it's been another one of those days. My latest ComicMix column has been posted, and despite the fact that it's directly about comics it surprisingly hasn't gotten any comments yet, but that's okay because Colleen did a whole blog post about it, which I haven't been able to read yet because, well, it's been a crazy day. The knee is improving but I still need the walking stick when traversing the two blocks between where I have to park now and the office lot where I'm now forbidden to park. I was on my feet way too much during the work day, and now I can't put weight on my left foot without feeling intense shooting pain near my heel. And our elevator is down so I'm looking at a 2-block walk plus three flights of stairs tomorrow (two down from our apartment to the ground, one up from the building lobby to the office). I can't do stairs with a walking stick, so I'll probably limp the two blocks with my tea mug and the other stuff I need to take to the office. I need motivation. Okay, I need the parody motivator generator (via Karen).

Get Well Wishes for My Heroes

Heidi MacDonald reports that Marie Severin suffered a stroke last Thursday.

Diane Sweet reports that Randi Rhodes was mugged over the weekend.

Severin is one of my comic industry goddesses, and Rhodes is one of my political goddesses. May they both recover speedily.

Silly Site o' the Day

Religious pareidolia strikes again! I wonder if the John Paul II bonfire will make the Unbelievable list?

Silly Site o' the Day

Naturally, my boss is in the office on a day when I'm having major trouble moving because of my bruised knees. Although the 2-block walk from the parking garage to the office was excruiciating, once I got to my desk I've been managing to keep up with office work despite having to get up repeatedly whenever he calls. I can't wait to avail myself of the ice packs at the physical therapy office. Today's site is via Robin, who was very amused by this article about the Cadbury "drumming gorilla" ad campaign, and particularly liked this remix:



I have to confess, my first thought was "where are the other two members of the Nairobi Trio?", but that's just me I suppose.

Silly Site o' the Day

It's been a heck of a time for me since I last wrote here. I guess I wasn't paying enough attention at Mom's table yesterday and I somehow hooked my foot on the table leg and went sprawling downward, causing multiple contusions on my knees (the left one's the worst, it's all swollen and has at least two big bruises around it) and my right forearm (the witch hazel has brought out every color of the rainbow there). Then today when we got back from the JDRF walk, I wasn't far enough away from my car door and hit myself in the hip with it. Yes, the hip with the bursitis. I'm rather a walking disaster area lately. So I needed something besides prolonged unconsciousness to make me feel better, and via Betsy Devine I saw this brilliant Anita Renfroe routine:



This is exactly the kind of bit that Leah (originator of the Silly Site concept) would have adored (even Renfroe's delivery reminds me a lot of how she talked). And thinking of my late best friend almost always makes me smile.

Silly Site o' the Day

Off to visit Mom for the last time this year before she snowbirds to Vegas for the cold months. I hope we see some decent foliage during the journey through Jersey; most of the trees around NYC and Westchester are still green. I don't expect I'll catch up on blog reading or be ready for ComicMix posting before tomorrow. Have another chibi generator, this one for a Pocket Emo, whatever that is. Just one of the fine interactive Flash games at One More Level, via Gerard.

Friday Cat Blogging (™ Kevin Drum)

The weather's started turning at last, which means the heat's come on in our apartment but we mostly leave the windows open to air things out. On the one hand, this means we can now hear the basement dwellers playing their music late at night in their living room two floors beneath our bedroom (a typical session seems to go from 10:30 PM to 2 AM), a noise that used to be drowned out by the hum of the AC (one reason I sometimes turn on the AC fan even when we don't need it). On the other hand, kitties are getting their winter coats and starting to feel much snugglier.



It's very cute, as always, when Amy snuggles on my blanket. Not as cute when she does the same to my interview suit.

Silly Site o' the Day

I thought yesterday's interview went quite well, despite the horrid damp weather and probably pushing myself too hard in walking what was only 10 or so blocks to get my comics, then only a couple avenues over to visit an employment agency that had asked me to stop in. I'll have to find out from my physical therapist what I'm doing that's causing my back to seize up if I walk more than a block or two out of doors. I'm sure it's something to do with my stride, which must somehow differ from my indoor gait. I need to fix this if I'm going to walk around NYC again, which I dearly miss doing and for which I'd rather not need a walking stick.

Between the intense back pain which found me seeking somewhere to sit every half block, and the rain which came down in torrents during the nearly half-hour I waited for the express bus back home, and the lack of sleep due to the unwise decision to order Indian food later than 8 PM and the subsequent indigestion that resulted, you'd think I'd be in a worse mood today than I was on Wednesday. But navigating the parking garage was easier than I'd thought, it's less than $5 a day to park there and I still have control of the petty cash box which means I can reimburse myself immediately, and I walked the block to the office this morning with umbrella and tea mug in hand and suffered only minor back twinges.

And I got to work and found enough typing awaiting me to keep me relaxed and at my desk all morning, and the manual labor of filing and clearing out one of our offices which I'd prepared to tackle already begun by a coworker, so not nearly as daunting a task as I'd anticipated. And now the sun's come out, and I'm visiting Mom tomorrow and probably cheering on my godson's brother and his swell team in their annual Walk to Cure Diabetes on Sunday. So I'm in great spirits today, and am passing along another nauseatingly cute chibi character generator, this one for Harry Potter characters, via Gerard again.

Silly Site o' the Day

I didn't sleep at all well, but I'm nonetheless psyched for my late morning interview. Hope the rain holds off. Sometimes readers make silly sites a lot easier for me. Tod Wicks nominated his online zine The Ecphorizer, which I vaguely remember from my INSIDE JOKE print zine days, and which has some humor pieces like this one, but I'm not sure the site itself is silly per se, rather than just creative and well-rounded. Silly Site sighting is a rare talent, it's the ability to find that je ne sais quoi and "know it when you see it." Take Budgie, for instance. There's absolutely no mistaking that this is, indeed, a silly site. Nothing happens until you click on one or more of the animated silly-looking horses, and the result is absolutely meaningless but a lot of fun. Just perfect. And, like Budgie, I'm fairly sure I posted this one a couple years ago as well...

Silly Site o' the Day

Want to know how my day is going? My latest ComicMix column went up ages ago (still no comments *snif), and I've had this edit window open for about six hours now, but I've only just gotten to it. Plus, I'm depressed that the only chef for whom I was really rooting on The Next Iron Chef (which we'd DVR'ed and watched last night) was the first one to get bumped off. And I have heartburn from suburban Chinese takeout. And my boss just told me I'm no longer allowed to park in our office's parking lot. I'm so not in the mood for a Silly Site, but here's one that parodies state quarters (via Karen).

Cheering Laura Up

I know clinical depression isn't something you can just wave away with a kind word or two, but I also know that Laura Gjovaag has been an invaluable friend to me for a long time, whether helping with Pen-Elayne template coding or comforting me after Leah's death or supporting me at ComicMix and just about everything in between, and I want to see her smiling again after her run of really rotten vehicular luck. I have often stated my opposition to bloggers asking readers to pay for their hobby, and that my exception to this stance is bloggers who aren't monetarily well off and don't normally ask but find themselves in need of a little temporary assistance with life expenses. Laura falls squarely into that category, plus she's my buddy. Please consider helping her over this little bump in her road. Thanks.

Silly Site o' the Day

Well, the 2007 baseball season is now well and truly over for most New Yorkers, the coming rains look to wash away the last remnants of the hot weather that (like the New York baseball teams) lasted much longer than it should have, between the cooling and the vinegar-filled ramekins our brief gnat infestation will soon be history and I can once more cook and eat and drink undeterred by insects, we've programmed the DVR for the new TV season and will shortly be downloading a lot of last year's stuff to DVD to make room for more... nice to have forward motion, however incremental. Continuing on yesterday's theme, Lis points to another Bible riff, the Bible in Pig Latin (that would be the Oly-hay Ible-bay). She also thinks a manga-illustrated Bible is possibly wrong, but Bible stories have been the basis of lots of comics (heck, I'm writing one myself) so that doesn't bother me too much. About 10% of Japanese are Christian, which is much higher than the percentage of Jews in the US population, so there you go.

It's International Cephalopod Awareness Day

Oh yes, here at the Riggs Residence we're well aware of cephalopods. Tasty, tasty cephalopods:



So there, Dr. Myers.

Silly Site o' the Day

Pretty quiet on this bank holiday. Trying to get into gear, but it's just so... weird. I feel like I shouldn't be here any more, like I should already have moved on, but as long as I'm drawing a salary and I'm allowed to look for other work during business hours it's all good. Meanwhile, you knew it was just a matter of time: via BoingBoing, Teh Holiez Bibul (yes, a LOLCat-speak Bible). I love it! Ruth sez "Nos. Where yu goes, I gos n' where yu stay, me too. Yus peeples mine 'n yus Ceiling Cat mine too kthx. I mean, how could you not?

Post-Season Blogaround

I've missed so much, between trying to rev up my ComicMix participation again and my surprise euphemism and of course the job hunt. There was the International Bloggers' Day for Burma, Shakesville's third blogiversary (yep, they're still at the Shakespeare's Sister site), the 50th anniverary of Sputnik, and probably a lot more stuff I don't even know about. Oh well, at least I haven't missed International Cephalopod Awareness Day. Besides, I'm finally done with blog catch-up and am hoping to get up to speed, and no time like the present:

• Wow, I can't believe that, as I type this, three out of the four Major League Baseball division series are over already, decided by a 3-games-to-none margin. That was quick! It was also somewhat unfair, as Linkmeister points out: "If you don't have or can't afford cable, too bad. If your cable outlet doesn't have [TBS or TNT], too bad. If those channels are not included in your basic cable, too bad. Cough up." I well remember what it was like living in The Land That Cable Forgot. Bad form, MLB. And by the way, TBS? Yes, spiffy graphics, but your camera work sucks and your play-by-play puts me to sleep.

• Wil's enthusiasm is infectious. I often feel that way about my blogging and other writing.

• Via Michael Ruhlman, his buddy Tony Bourdain has been blogging this past season of Top Chef, a show I was almost tempted to watch due to his write-ups. I think I gave an episode about 15 minutes or so, and I just didn't like it. Not a surprise, I don't like most reality shows, they seem to be far more about humiliating people and elimination rounds than about achievement. Based on Ruhlman's preview of The Next Iron Chef, though, I'm hoping for better with that one (which I'm DVR'ing 'cause, you know, the last Yankees game is on). Also because I just like Alton Brown, with whom Ed Levine has a mini-interview here. Will any of the contestants use these cool knives? Probably not as they don't really exist (but should).

• My ComicMix colleague John Ostrander pays tribute to Del Close, Val D'Orazio makes a case for reboots, Lance Mannion makes the case against how David Eick presents female characters, and Bully says, FOOM, I'm gonna live forever! And speaking of foom-- er, fame, probably everyone has read Stephen Fry's amazingly long and insightful essay about it by now, but I'm going to link to it anyway because it's bloody brilliant.

• Did you know that David Malki based this Wondermark strip on a real (and very creepy) story? What makes someone do that? Perhaps a misplaced desire for fame? Tania Head should have read Stephen Fry's essay.

• A couple of great Kate Harding posts again, one on a couple of assumed-fatphobic studies actually recommending sick and pregnant folks should lose weight!, and on some idiot's ditzy response to the marvelous Dawn French, whose strange premonition I hope has no bearing on reality as I want to see her around for a long time. And yeah, Liss does look like her, doesn't she? Speaking of which, read the absolutely fabulous Ms. McEwan on the stupid Obama lapel pin "controversy" (come on, he's actually being criticized for no longer going along with a herd mentality of fake patriotism? what's next, those of us with no yellow ribbons on our car will face fines?), on women as the sum of their empowered body parts, on having a ticket to snide, and on putting the blame for rape squarely where it belongs.

• We just finished watching the massive Ken Burns' documentary The War (I couldn't watch the Holocaust pictures any more now than I could since I was forced to back in yeshiva), and I'm still reeling from its scope. Really amazing and highly recommended. Would that the fascism fought in that "necessary war" were indeed a thing of the past, but alas it's not. And Avedon reminds us we need to keep calling it what it is, not be afraid to point out when it rears its ugly head in modern times (and right now that means the radical reactionaries currently in power).

• Over at the Group News Blog, Sara celebrates men in kilts and Lower Manhattanite reaffirms our freedom to be a-holes, and to be ridiculed for same. Also, you did read Lower Manhattanite's follow-up to his "For What It's Worth" post, yes? Every bit as powerful.

• Speaking of which, sure, John Mellencamp can write a catchy and meaningful tune, but it's no Like A Windshield Cowboy. And talking of humor, I totally agree with Holden that his "Your President Speaks" posts are exceedingly funny; I kinda wish they weren't.

• Lastly, I just adored this post about Bethany and her Bethie Bags. What a hero.

Oop, my DVR is about to record two shows at once, neither of which is baseball. Time to relocate to the bedroom...

Silly Site o' the Day

Wow, glad that euphemism is finally over. Wonder if it'll be another year before I cycle back again. What a weird few days. I'm spending today regaining my strength, watching baseball, reading blogs and, if I'm lucky, doing a long-overdue blogaround and some ComicMix posts. Don't know when I'll ever find time to be in that JibJab movie (via Gerard)!

Silly Site o' the Day

Robin's gone back to bed after Datsa woke us up at 4 AM demanding attention, and he decided to placate kitties until feeding time and let me sleep off the last of my hormonal exhaustion. So this one's for him:



I hope he likes it -- he's both a Peter Sellers fan and a good instructor of different English accents (which I'm learning to distinguish). Via Avram at Making Light.

Friday Cat Blogging (™ Kevin Drum)

"Yeah, it's an iMac, so what?"

Not going to Mom's after all tomorrow, but at least things seem to have, er, ebbed at last. And my old file cabinets are gone, and all my files put into the newer cabinet, and I think I'll go to sleep now and worry about blog catch-up another time.

Silly Site o' the Day

Took a rare sick day today, as this icky-female-stuff situation kept me close to the bathroom (when I haven't been doubled over from cramps) and more or less exhausted. At least I was able to do some basic straightening up -- or, as Robin and I are now calling it, streamlining. Out with the old -- a decade-old laser printer we barely use, my two wobbly filing cabinets that I've had since Steve assembled them back in Bensonhurst -- and in with the rearranging, as I inherit Robin's old 4-drawer filing cabinet which never quite served its intended use as storage, and my desktop acquires a dedicated printer and scanner and the networked stuff all moves to the studio. Photos when it's all done, which we're hoping will be by year's end. We've napped for a few hours this afternoon, and I think I'm finally in good enough shape to take care of a few outside errands before returning home to collapse and get ready to go to Mom's tomorrow. Alas, here's another video she won't be able to see in the Land of Dial-Up, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy it:



This bit of Japanese Mummenschanz is via Christopher at After School Snack.

Silly Site o' the Day

Robin's new iMac arrived yesterday, and it is a thing of beauty, just not at 6:30 AM after I've been in the bathroom way too long doing ablutions I thought long left behind. I'd forgotten how much having my euphemism takes out of me... er, energy-wise. And it doesn't help when a particularly heavy euphemism deprives me of sleep because it requires attending to. Anyway, Robin's puttering about with it ("it" meaning the iMac, not my euphemism) way too early in the day whilst I'm trying to become alert enough to drive to work. I predict it's going to be a heck of a day for both of us. Speaking of which, here's a random fortune generator via Gerard.

Silly Site o' the Day

So the place where I interviewed this morning is fascinating, a real company with a real corporate structure and thousands of employees which is heavenly to someone like me, and I'd love to work there and think I would fit right in and be an asset to the corporation but of course in the end it's not up to me.

Then I went home to change and suddenly discovered that that, surprise surprise, a few weeks way from it being official, turns out I'm not menopausal after all. Even my body seems to be reacting to my current situation by reverting; maybe it has something to do with the giant stress burden lifted from me last week. I'm even beginning to let go of the names and numbers I've had to retain for this job and dusting off that hard drive in my head that I thought was lost, the one with all the details and memories of my life rather than someone else's. And so this week's ComicMix column (you have been visiting ComicMix, haven't you? we're all spiffy and new with FREE COMICS now!) is about one set of those memories, summer camp. I wish I had a tetherball court, but I'd settle for just being back in touch with any of "my girls." At least I've found my brain's internal hard drive again!

And now, some visual acoustics for your enjoyment (via Susie).

We've Got Issue(s)!

ComicMix Phase II is live. While I seem to be the only one who misses the old logo (*snif*), I join all the others in praising the new layout and reader and just about everything else. Hope y'all like it too!

Silly Site o' the Day

Wow, yesterday got away from me again, but in a good way. I'd decided not to start worrying about new employment prospects unless this week passed with no real response other than those spammed emails I've been getting from sales and military recruiters, but I received three phone calls yesterday alone. I think it helped that I redid my résumé section that used to be called "Hobbies," changing it to "Writing and Editing Experience" and "Professional Memberships" and tightening the wording a bit. Thanks to Mom and Robin for their suggestions on that one; it occurred to me at last that, if I've been writing for an audience for almost four decades, I darn well ought to classify that as experience rather than a "mere" hobby; it's not quite the same thing as, say, collecting matrushkas (here's a cute matrushka Silly Site, by the way). Anyway, as a Monster employee once mentioned to me, every time you update your résumé on a job board site an angel gets its wings it goes to the top of the list, so even if you just change one letter it's a good idea to do periodic updating. So far I've set up two interviews (alas, not on the same day) with a third pending. Plus, all the major billing got out despite having to wait for some last-minute info and navigating a number of distractions like my boss being in during the afternoon. 'S what I do best, as I'm eager to prove to whoever hires me!

Then after work I had my physical therapy session (the hip is much improved) then came home and we had dinner and watched Olbermann and the Ugly Betty premiere that we'd DVR'ed from last week (I cried at the whole Santos subplot even though I'd more or less been expecting it, it was just done so well) and I finished writing my ComicMix column (short and sweet this time, I didn't want to detract too much from this week's comic content premieres), and by then it was too late and I was too tired to start a blogaround. Maybe I should have done one during the wee hours, as Robin and I didn't sleep that well at all, with multiple cat distractions of the hairballs-and-so-forth variety. So with any luck today will be a quieter, catching-up kind of day. I'm bound and determined. Well, determined at any rate. No promises, we'll see how it goes...

Silly Site o' the Day

White Rabbits! No bunny sites today, but I loved this one featuring art created from veggies (via Kathy Flake). I get the feeling this may have been around awhile, as I just got a mass-spammed email with it too, but it's cool anyway. Busy busy busy today, as it's Billing Day again (perhaps my last one), but still hoping to do a blogaround this evening after I finish writing my ComicMix column.