I am allergic to life

So for all those interested, the procedure went fine on Friday and I was mostly my normal self by Saturday. Thankfully I was drugged enough Friday evening that I didn't get quite as upset as I could have by the spanking the Oilers delivered to the Sharks. Ah well. Anyway the doctor didn't find an ulcer but did biopsy an odd, irritated area in my lower stomach so that may have been what was causing all the trouble. It may be a while before I get the results, though.

In other news I've discovered a whole new allergy! Apparently I shouldn't go near, nor handle anything in the grain family. Seriously, between the sneezing and the mild breakout of hives it's just not worth it. On the other hand, cooked, processed grains seem to be just fine for me to eat, so that's good. It has inspired me to ask my doctor about getting tested to find out just what I am allergic to and maybe getting shots to stave off the worst of the reactions. This weekend, though, was just hideous allergy-wise, with or without the grain. Something's in the air right now that's got my throat, inner ears, and sinuses going mad. Lucky me.

Aside from that, there's not much to report except that I now have in my possession photographs of the inside of my stomach which I suspect is not something most people can claim.

The spirit of the season

This "woe is me" bleat from noted Paste Eater Jeff Goldstein:

So. I’m holding this fundraiser in order to afford the maintainence of this site while raising enough money for a down payment to move us into a bigger house by year’s end (we live in a rented duplex at the moment)—when what happens? My landlord knocks on the door, tells me he’s lost his job, and that he’s going to have to sell the property. [...]

Still, this leaves us in quite a bind. Which got me to thinking: I wonder if Atrios and the rest of his progressive brethren (including such august champions of righteousness as Michael Berube, who recently shed his tweedy classroom demeanor to call me a “supercilious, ignorant, self-satisfied wanker") will step up and help save this poor young family from ending up on the streets. After all, isn’t that what “progressives” do?

Leads a commentor on Sadly, No! to leave one of the most brilliant responses I've yet read:

The spirit of Fitzmas overtook me, so I sent him some money, along with this message.
-------------------------
Jeff, I'm sorry to hear about your financial troubles. As a progressive, I've decided to help you out by donating $200. As a gesture of good will, I've decided to do it in a way consistent with your Republican beliefs. Taking the reconstruction of Iraq as my model, I did the following:

I hired some heavies to rob your house. They found $190 in the kitty above the fridge, and $10 on your bedside table. I thought it was only fair to use your money to pay them (seeing as you are the beneficiary here), so that leaves $160 for you.

Unfortunately, we broke your gate on the way out, so gave $90 dollars to my friends to fix it for you. They haven't got around to it yet. I hear the company has since been disbanded, so I'm not sure we'll be seeing that again. Oh well, these things happen. At least they painted it a nice colour.

Just before I left your property, I spotted your cat. I know your cat has a bad reputation, but I was in a hurry to leave, so I handed $30 and told it to buy you something nice. I trust your cat gave you a pleasant surprise?

I gave the remaining $40 to Mr Samarah to put in your paypal account. I think you might know him -- he owns a cement factory? Well, I have a bit of bad news on that count. Look, you've got to expect some inefficiencies in a situation like this, and consequently, only one third of the value will be getting to you. Frankly, I think you should be grateful that we liberated you-- I mean, liberated some money for you.

So that's it. There's $13 in your paypal account. I expect you to be grateful and to use it wisely. And if I hear anything bad about your financial situation causing arguments in your household, you'll only have yourselves to blame. After all, I gave you $200.

Regards,
elendil
By the way, sorry about your dog.

Words fail...again

I...wow...you just have to read this from the wingnuts over at World Net Daily to believe it:

Not only will it work, but one can easily estimate how long it would take. If it took the Germans less than four years to rid themselves of 6 million Jews, many of whom spoke German and were fully integrated into German society, it couldn't possibly take more than eight years to deport 12 million illegal aliens, many of whom don't speak English and are not integrated into American society.

Crooks and Liars posted to this article regarding how America should respond to the "brown menace". So did they invoke Godwin's Law upon themselves in this instance, or will we be told in a day or two that the author was "just kidding" (see Coulter, Ann)? And "rid themselves"? Wow...

I am a naughty monkey

It all started innocently enough, I noticed there was a new Natacha Atlas cd out that I did not yet possess, which led me to see that there was a DVD of her music and that of Transglobal Underground including a live performance of her doing "I Put a Spell on You". Yeah, like I could turn that down. Then I noticed a gothic bellydance dvd was out with Tempest on it, I like her a lot, she's a total sweetheart and a helluva costumer, so...yeah.

Then I go poking around and realize that Bear McCreary's 2nd season BSG soundtrack is available for pre-order (released on June 20th). *sigh* And then I see that the Night Watch dvd is available for pre-order on the exact same day. Well what the hell else could I do but order the two together? It was fate, kismet, a clear sign from the heavens, so I did what I had to do.

If anyone else should decide they need the same items, I kindly ask that you place your order by clicking through one of the links here so that a great cause gets a little extra cash.