Friday
Another week draws to a close.

I spent part of the afternoon waiting on Jess to get her flu shot (details here). She stood in line, I read and watched people in the parking lot. People are funny. After that, we stopped for a bite to eat and came home (details below).

Coffee was a another small affair this week. Perry and Max were there; stopped in to bring me a video card. I believe that there’s another PC in the offing… A new co-worker of and showed up a little later; he seems like a nice enough guy. Transplant from Seattle. I invited him to join us for 2-D Physics and breakfast tomorrow night. We’ll see if he survives the experience with his soul and psyche intact.

NPR and Other News
Morning Edition – The Chili Queens of San Antonio
Morning Edition – Car and Court Troubles
Day to Day – Flamin’ Betty’s Love for Speed

For the independent Hearing Voices radio project, producer Jim Kehoe profiles “Flamin’ Betty” Burkland, a 63-year-old grandmother who loves to race amazingly fast cars at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.

KCPW’s Midday Edition had an excellent segment on “Transracial Adoption” this morning. The guest was Corrie Higley, a certified teacher with the Transracial Adoption Project. Unfortunately, the program is not archived.

Stray Toasters

  • I stumbled across one of the two railroad spikes that I acquired on the Moab trip a few weeks ago; the other should still be in my camping backpack.
  • Is it just me or do Cyclops and Havok have one of the most… oddly-contorted… family trees in all of comicdom?
  • I’ve mentioned before that I like the covers to Ultra. This cover is no exception.
  • : I was mistaken. The correct answer was: “Andrew. Hero Sandwich, Issues 2 – 4,” not “Issue 6” as I had previously stated.
  • Little Ms. Presto just “bathed “my chin. Such a thoughtful kitten.
  • A couple of years ago, Judd Winick took on the subject of gay-bashing in the “Hate Crime/Brothers Keeper” storyline of Green Lantern. Winick has since moved on from that title to Green Arrow; in Issue #43, he reveals Mia Dearden to be HIV positive.

    According to an article by the Associated Press, today’s “Green Arrow” #43 will reveal that Green Arrow’s sidekick Mia is struggling with a personal battle against HIV.

    In the comic coming out today, Mia, who’s been in the care of Green Arrow for two years, discovers that the time she spent prior on the streets as a prostitute resulted in her contracting the disease. Winick told the AP that he sees this storyline as a way to explore socially conscious themes, while giving the Mia character extra motivation to do good in the world.

    Winick may be known to some from his stint on MTV’s roommate reality-show, “The Real World” 1993, on which he appeared with Pedro Zamora, who died the next year after a public battle with AIDS. He authored the book Pedro & Me about his experiences on the show and the life of his friend.

  • Who are your favorite authors voting for?

Quotes of the Day
showed me a link to this auction on eBidet. At the time, the bid was up to $18,400 (USD). I forwarded it to a few other people. The most amusing, and accurate, response came from :

BWAHAHAHA!@! some asshat is going to [pay] 18k to be a name on a disney tombstone.

: sup?
: Amazed at how some people manage to stay upright and not kill themselves doing the everyday things that most of us take for granted.
: Went to Wendy’s to get a bite to eat.
: Ordered: #1 Combo, with cheese, lettuce and tomato only.
: Biggie Size.
: Lemonade/Ice Tea mix to drink.
: I got…
: Burger w/ no cheese…
: And a lemonade.
: …
: (Didn’t catch the problem w/ the burger until we got home)
: So, I told Jess that my drink was wrong.
: She told the young lady at the window.
: …who took it…
: put it on the ledge…
: turned her back to do something…
: And someone ELSE walks up behind her…
: …and hands Jess the cup.
: THE SAME CUP.
: So… Jess told HER: “This drink is wrong.”
: *braincramp*
: She seemed a little… stunned.
: ..wow
: That’s just…
: Jess says: “This is supposed to be Lemonade AND Iced Tea, mixed.
: Wow
: *blink blink*
: *blink blink*
: “Fruit Punch?”
: fruit punch????????
: Jess: “No, Lemonade AND Iced Tea.”
: *blink blink*
: Then she hands it back to the first girl…
: …who, after a few moments, got it right.
: O_o
: All that effort..
: I hope it doesn’t hurt them to breathe

Namaste.