On the left is me, pictured at a NOW demo circa 1974. On the right is my cousin Sam, pictured at last Sunday’s March for Women’s Lives.
Family traditions are a wondrous thing.
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More March pictures to come…
Filed by joy at 9:12 am under life, politics, visuals
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ganked from here.
Life just keeps plugging on. Much stressing continues and is far too boring to comment upon. Woe is woe and all.
Think happy thoughts on Friday morning for us. The Ian and I are going to try to convince the bank they should approve us a sweet home loan at nearly nothing percent and then I’m going to steal as many tulips as possible from my yard. At current quick-count, I have over 50 blooming at this very moment. There are bluebells and daffodils and the pear trees are beyond words. It’s freaking gorgeous and gives me faith and stability just by being out among the flowers. That’s a neat trick and I thank the little old Italian man who planted them so lovingly and left them for me.
The reasoning behind stealing them is thus: the love affair with our landlords is over and they no longer seem to care to maintain this place in the top shape they spoiled us with the first year. The guys who mow the lawn tramp the flowers, and don’t even take the yard waste box that I raked FOR them. So I’m gonna play a little “what have you done for me lately” and make sure at least some of the sanity-bringing lovelies remain in my life.
Also, the kids upstairs. Oi vey. I recognize that they aren’t BAD neighbors, per se, and we all were young once, but oh long-suffering sigh they are driving me mad. It’s time to not live in the student realm. They make me smite-y. I’m already there most of the time, and don’t need the encouragement.
Perhaps I am making up reasons for my theft planning. Maybe it’s part of being 30. I don’t recall ever really apologizing for all the various airline silverware or the “Bennington tuition refunds” as I called them as I put them in my mini-van.
Arrgh, I’m going soft.
Filed by joy at 11:51 pm under life
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Chicago was good to me.
It was good to all of us.
The list, April 9-14:
Day One, exploring Lakeview with Melissa, meeting up with H&R, then Noah
Day Two, African Food, a crack-fest of Japanese Paper and the Zoo, followed by drinking, hair-dying, and the famous Vera.
Day Three, french toast, Shedd Aquarium, Turkish dinner, kicking the RedEye boxes to keep warm, Buffy?s Cheese-Man episode. (Thanks Shaun.)
Day Four, casual Monday, Joy’s Noodles and Rice (see below), internet cafe (less email than I thought) and reading and watching more Buffy whilst eating leftovers. Season Four truly was the best.
Day Five, all day at The Art Institute of Chicago, for the free day of the week, followed by Indian food and meeting some famous players in the Susie-drama. Drinks were had. The Art Institute probably has the stupidest way-finding of any museum I’ve ever been in. That’s saying quite a lot.
Day Six, sent Melissa home, got a coffee and bagel and went down to the Lake, read Life of Pi, then a friendly Chicagoan tells me where the free-net is!
Highlights not limited to:
The impeccable manners of the locals, except for their terrible driving.
Seeing Noah after all these years, still a person I?d like to know better.
The comfort and ease of sitting in Noah’s Perfect Chair, with the KC gang; I miss the ease so much.
The kid at the zoo who outright pointed and laughed at my bunnyhat.
The stereotype-made-real of men who are just like the SNL “da Bears” skit.
“Hammaker Schlammaker” for meaning everything from the head-massaging device (see TL below) to loosing lunch. Every trip needs a catch-phrase.
Not to forget, the RailSale that got me there for $54 roundtrip.
The lowlight:
My skin still hurts from all the dry wind. Chicago is great, but you sure don’t go there for the climate.
Critters of all sorts:
The least evolved creature we met: 
Hector takes a picture: 
Susie IS a picture: 
TurkeyLurkey and Friends:
Last but not at all least, my lunch at Joy’s Noodles and Rice. Yummmmmm. Like I could even resist eating at a namesake, no matter how actually irrelevant to me personally. It one one of several truly delicious meals in Chicago. 
Good times.
Filed by joy at 11:13 pm under travels, visuals
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I am not a member of the Cult of Lovely Thin Eyebrows. This doesn?t stop me from hunting the wandering hair, and occasionally having trouble with doing so, thus I am familiar with the process of pluckings. Last night I dreamt of a a new troublesome growth, rather greenish. I went to pull it with my fingernails, and out comes an asparagus tip. I think the dream caught me so off guard (even for my own subconscious) that I dreamt it again, with minor changes in details, noting to try to remember this for writing about later. It took my entire morning shower to figure out if these were young hyacinth or asparagus, but the later seems correct, and hopefully just as unlikely in waking life.
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I’m currently in Chicago having fun with Melissa and Susie on our Three Amigas Tour. Updates to come, including pictures of food we ate and aquarium fish, which we did not eat.
Filed by joy at 3:52 pm under life
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Below is the filter-twarting content of this morning’s spam-mail. I’m impressed. Maybe they can now grab sentences off the Amazon all-books-searchable thing? The first paragraph was even hidden as white text ABOVE the spammy, then more text below. Sadly, it is marred with an odd typo/cut word, but otherwise seems like something I might read, at least for a few more paragraphs.
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Subject: you favorite
Even yet, I can scarcely grasp the true significance of the fact; and to think that I, a ?Dancing Master,? was nothing less than the ?Devil’s Advance Agent,? in the dance halls, which are his ?gardens,? picking out the purest, most innnt and most beautiful human flowers, and alluring them down the pathway of destruction, and often to Hell.
(actual spammage edited for brevity, regarding bankruptcy in this case)
He made a feeble effort at resistance and then became unconscious, whereupon I bound his arms and legs fast, and placed a nice, comfortable little gag between his jaws, that in case he regained consciousness he should not call for help. The reason she learned to skate so well, was because she was fearless.
(more…)
You don’t need to tell me that I live in a strange reality. I know.
It can’t be right that I can find dremel bit heads, more gauges of wire than I can count, an entire bag of steel wool, a bag of feathers, a container of insulated staples, and yet, cannot find a short length of twine. I just need to entwine this plastic bridal cake-top and be done. Please don’t make me haul all the way to the hardware store for this!
Filed by joy at 4:50 pm under life
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Here’s me, a well documented liberal, quoting Pat Buchanan.
“With the end of the Cold War, an alliance with Israel has ceased to be central to U.S. interests. Indeed, our reputation as armorers and allies of Israel only damages us as Sharon rampages through the West Bank and Gaza walling off Arab land and denying to Palestinians that very right of self-determination we Americans espouse. Sharon is making hypocrites of us, and we are cowards for permitting it.”
Not that I agree with every word of the long article, but it’s refreshing to hear that the traditional conservatives are abandoning neo-rhetoric. They might just be angry enough to not re-elect The Captain of the Stupid Ship. We can hope.
Props to Rob for sending this my way. **Support Our Oops!** indeed.
Filed by joy at 12:59 pm under politics
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Ian got word today. He has been officially accepted to the CMU PhD program, and they didn’t say “April Fools!” after telling him.
Relief, pride, and a whole lot of itching to start planning the next step now ensues…
Filed by joy at 3:00 pm under life
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