Okay, it's been too long since I checked in, and now everything has changed on LiveJournal. Serves me right, I guess ( Read more... )

I'd heard about the discrimination from older family members, when I was growing up. I'd heard about the slogans like "Never marry a Finn or a Catholic," and how Finns were not considered "white." I heard about the discrimination my grandfather faced. But I finally found something about it online, about a case in Minnesota, where it was decided ( Read more... )

Good news.My rheumatoid syndrome seems to be responding nicely to the more body-friendly treatment (hydroxychloroquinine, plus fish oil, astraxanthin, vitamin D, and doxycycline from the opthamologist). The one that worries me (I see the opthamologist tomorrow) is that while I think my tears are improving, the sight in my right eye is still blurry ( Read more... )

(reprinted from my wordpress blog account, since they don't set up to send essays to LJ, which is a pity ( Read more... )

I suppose it was one of those things that was destined, and I can now talk about our new identity on reality TV! The British tabloids are already reporting the scandal, and I'm quite flattered, actually. But would I end up as an overaged Page Three Girl ( Read more... )

In an unexpected windfall, I seem to have inherited a tub full of silkworms. They were intended as chicken food/treats, but now I'm perversely hoping to get a few of these to the coccoon stage. We have raided mulberry leaves from a neighbor's yard down the street, and this might be a good time to introduce myself to the new neighbors. "Um, hi, you ( Read more... )

Yes, my warped little mind has made a connection. I hear the comments about the "best politicians money can buy" and whatnot. And suddenly, I had a realization, like that Johnathon Swift must have had about Ireland. I have found the root of our political problems: we are not making good business decisions because we are not paying our politicians ( Read more... )

I read the full book of Ecclesiastes out loud last night, from my grandfather's Bible. It was speaking strongly to my mind state, and dealing with injustice, and Andrew's mind state. It's one of my favorite books of the Bible, anyway, (Job is another) and fit into both the season and where I was at, mentally. Andrew commented that I made it sound ( Read more... )

I found out last week that due to "budget issues" I was being let go, as of this Friday. I found out a little more. It was described as like a pool ball interaction. A project was cancelled, and they needed to find a place for a staff writer who had been on it. Set the pool balls in motion, shuffle resources, and eventually, someone was moved into ( Read more... )

I was talking about the continuum of "utopia" the other day, and how some of us build them, and others live in them and experience the decay of the system, and they are not necessarily the same group of people. The world is not a stable state. We can hold to ideals and try to build to the vision of the dream. "We are the music makers, and we are ( Read more... )