So I Went to the Zoo

Red-breasted merganser

It was yesterday, actually. I saw two rabbits, a mouse, red-breasted mergansers, another diving duck I couldn't identify, and a pair of geese with eleven goslings -- according to the lady who followed them from Wells and St. Paul to South Pond, about half a mile or more, and across a couple of busy streets. And lots of turtles basking.

Oh, and the animals in the Zoo collections, of course.

Bleh

Recovering from a mild case of bronchitis, slowly, but steadily. Hence my absence for the past few days.

Not to mention that it was around 90 yesterday and is expected to reach 95 today. With about 90% humidity. Not helping my breathing at all.

Thought about going to the movies (no air conditioning here -- I didn't really need it last year, and never got around to installing it), then thought about what two or three hours in nice cold dry air would do to my lungs.

Looks like another day in the park, sitting in the shade and reading.

However, on the bright side, this:

In today's ruling, the EEOC states that "allegations of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation state a claim of discrimination on the basis of sex. We further conclude that allegations of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation necessarily state a claim of discrimination on the basis of sex."

Who knew?

Happy Thanksgiving

For those of you in the States.

Thanksgiving is one of the two or three days in the year when I just like to take some time and think. I haven't decided yet whether I'm going to do dinner -- I've been known to have Thanksgiving a couple of days later.

At any rate, eat well, enjoy friends and family, and have a happy holiday.

I'm in a mood

The whole damn system looks so rotten that I can't deal with it any more today. I'm going to spend the day translating the German edition of When a Man Loves a Man by Youka Nitta, finishing my reread of No Touching at All by Kou Yoneda, and tonight I'll watch the latest episode of Sekaiichi Hatsukoi, and then maybe a couple more episodes of Utawarerumono (which is turning out to be really very engaging).

And that's my plan.

The Morning After the Morning After

Illinois still doesn't have a governor. The Republicans still control of Congress and the White House. (You can talk about majorities all you want to, but the Republicans have been in control all along.)

I'm going to take a break unless I find an interesting story that has nothing to do with Washington, the election, teabaggers, or politics.

Maybe I'll break Reviews in Brief out of their Sunday slot for a while -- I have a bunch of new stuff.

Recovery

is sometimes worse than being sick. It's more annoying, at any rate.

I'm still dealing with residual congestion and the consequent lack of energy and focus. Bear with me.

I mean, it's not like the news is any different. The Republicans are still against everything and the Democrats still haven't grown spines. What's to say?

I really meant to

do a follow-up to the bullying posts today, but it was a scary day.

Probably tomorrow.

In the meantime, I'm reading a critical/philosophy anthology that is an excellent example of how close contemporary writing in philosophy comes to Newspeak.

The Greeks were right not to trust sophists.

My Bad

I've been too lazy this summer. I have to do some clean-up work here, like updating the yaoi reviews at Epinions (which are going to their own page, when I get around to it) and going back and updating the indexes at a/k/a Hunter. (Although on that one, I'm still debating setting up a site under my own domain. We'll see.)

And there's other work to be done on the sidebar -- new sites I want to link to, etc.

Patience. Summer's coming to an end and I'll go back to being a nerd. Eventually.

Down for the Count

Really bad head cold, and of course the highs are in the 80s and humidity too high to discuss (right now it's 60%). This morning I am able to sit in front of the computer for 15 minutes for the first time since Friday.

I did some surfing. Nothing registers.

Later.

Tidy Time

I have to do some putting away today -- my worktable, desk, and bed all look like the aftermath of a tornado. (Sadly, the bed for the same reason as the table and desk -- it's just one of the places I toss stuff. I wish there were a better reason.)

I may be back later. Or I may not.

At any rate, have a bright, sparkly Fourth.

I'm Back

Or will be soon. My brain seems to have turned off over the weekend and isn't quite back yet, but we're getting there.

Stay tuned.

And your reward:

Weekend Off

I'm thinking about it.  It's been a hell of a week, and the news doesn't get any better -- just more twisted.

DADT is still not repealed, whatever you think the "compromise" says.

BP is still stonewalling on the oil spill, and now it turns out they have in all likelihood been criminally negligent as well.

The Republicans are still intent on filibustering anything that might actually help the country.

The chattering classes are all idiots.

I'm going to sit in the back yard and watch anime all weekend.  And read comics.

As a footnote, can you imagine the reaction if McDonald's ran a commercial like this here?

AWOL Again

I was sick all day Thursday, and dragging my skinny little behind yesterday, so no commentary.  Not that the news is in any way different.

And of course, now I'm really behind on everything.

But, still. . . .

Another Hiatus

Unless I find something I really need to comment on.

See you next week. Until then:

Entropy Is Winning

I may take a day or two off. My brain hurts, and I have more to write.

I think I need a day at the zoo.

In the meantime, think carefully about this.

Wait a minute. . . .

It's been that kind of week. Too busy doing the wrong things, to unfocused to do the right things.

and my damned cantaloupe froze.

I'm taking the rest of the day off. Tomorrow -- maybe.

OK -- I'll be nice. One of my first exposures to Evanescence, and a very nice AMV from Ai no kusabe:

Very Short Hiatus

I had intended to do a Friday Gay Blogging post today, but I'm just too unfocused right now. Maybe tomorrow, along with a Review in Brief of something that you're not expecting.

As a consolation prize, here's a picture:

The News

is just too gruesome. The commentary is even more gruesome. I'm sitting here trying to think of something a little more upbeat to post -- let's see: something nice to look at, a little light-hearted (or a lot), cheery and optimistic.

Aha!



In spite of the bit at the very beginning, this one's relentlessly upbeat. (But pay attention -- those flashbacks are really important.) I've done a Review in Brief of it here, and it's become one of my favorite things to watch when I'm really tired and need just to relax a bit.

If you want to watch the whole thing, it's available at Aarinfantasy (you have to join the forums and have BitTorrent or equivalent software to download anime) and it's on YouTube.

Another Writing Day

Credit Earthlink and some problems I've been having with DSL lately -- instead of getting online, I sat down and started catching up on writing.*

That seems the way to go today. Now I'm going to try to read something without pictures. Wish me luck.


* An extensive commentary on Satoru Ishihara's Kimi Shiruya. It's a means of clearing my head so I can go on to the next one, and it's a book with a lot more to it than you might suspect. That one's for GMR and will be up either on January 25 or two weeks after that.

I may try to get back to that last round of "arguments" against same-sex marriage -- maybe today, more likely tomorrow, as this week's FGB entry, although I was also thinking about that somewhat bizarre post on manga and marking from Alas, A Blog. The more I think about it, the less substance it has.

That's All, Folks!

For today, at least (gotcha!).

I don't even want to look at the news today -- I'm firmly in writing/drawing mode, and that's what I'm going to do.

Tomorrow, when I return to the real world.