HAhahaha omg lol roflmao

Oh lord! I'm rolling over this post at Blogging Points (which I found via Blogher by the way) - and the comments are just as funny as the post itself.

God people take themselves so seriously!

On the right track.

Blogger is being a turd. It won't let me upload any pictures, no matter how hard I try. Even cussing at my computer isn't helping. I was trying to update the graphic above, because the new number for donations received is $175! The latest donation came in from someone whose name I don't even recognize, I love that - that I've reached beyond my normal circle of friends and family. That's the "awareness" part of this endeavor, just getting the information out there. So thank you Phoebe Kroll for your donation, and for letting me know that I'm on the right track!

In other news, I've been reading at blogher more and more lately. I found one woman named Denise whose entries I always find entertaining, informative, or both. I only discovered Blogher by accident when I saw that they'd linked to Nova's blog right after Nova died, but I've found a lot of entries and articles that I've really enjoyed there. Glad I found it.

Anyway, I'm off to cook, now that Blogger decided to let me upload that new graphic.

The Tavern is Open

It's Tarheel Tavern Time!

below morning's edge

Below Morning's Edge

The cannas have begun to show,
a paradox of petaled sunrise
risen atop stoic stalks

leaves held together, as always,
slipped inside one another like
pages of poetry - twisted,
hidden in the dark crescent
below morning's edge.

For long months of Carolina summer
they stand proud, May through September.
I wonder, come the third Thursday
if the thanks they give is for the fall,
for the chance, at last, to let the sun set.

Are they glad to loose their curled secrets,
to lay them down and sleep?






pffft. This feels completely unfinished, but then, considering the inspiration and subject, maybe it should. I don't know. I've stared it down for weeks, and I'm sick of trying to beat it.

THT this weekend

The Tarheel Tavern will be hosted by Anonymoses this weekend, Deadline is sometime Saturday evening, to be posted on Sunday.

And please DO volunteer to host!

Count and Countess

A Blogger In Distress
The Count and Countess are in trouble, as Count was laid off and the Countess' money is still far in the future. This is the time for the friendly blogosphere to extend a helping hand. Go there and hit the PayPal button if you can.

I saw this post over at Science and Politics, and like I told Bora, whenever I've needed money and said so on here, you guys have always responded. I want to do the same for these folks. So, in the words of the great Bora, go there and click the paypal button if you can - I did.

Breathy phone conversation

There's still a 30k hospital bill hanging over our heads that I'm still trying to get resolved. This morning I pick up the phone, dial the 800 number for the billing department, and hit "talk." When our phone dials, it's outrageously loud so I hold it away from my ear, and when I put it back to my ear, I don't hear ringing, I hear breathing.

At which point, I say to myself, Oh Holy SHIT! I have a prank call, I HAVE A BREATHER! I was all excited, I haven't had anyone call me and breathe hard in ages! So I say, "Hello...?" and some guy says, "Is this Erin?" And I thought, OH.MY.GOD! My breather knows my NAME! Ooh ooh OOH!! He called just to breathe at me and not just some random person. So I'm thinking I'm all special and shit, right?

Not only did this person NOT call to breathe at me, he called for my husband!

Now I have to explain that don't I?
OK.

Scott wants to drive 200 mph and bump people in front of him so they'll go faster. He wants to draft behind a line of other cars and slingshot past them all coming out of turn 3. He also wants to blow things up, tanks and buildings, and the occasional person.

So, Scott plays online games. He's addicted actually, but it's my fault. I won't let him do those things in real life, because I am one of those wives. You know, the type that sucks the joy right out of a man's life... So he resorts to NASCAR online, rFactor and Battlefield II. He puts on his headphones and immerses himself in testosterone-induced fits of speed and/or violence, and he shares those moments with one particular group of guys. I'm calling it 'male bonding' because "boys and their toys" just sounds wrong after that first couple of paragraphs...

So, back to that phone call:
I had picked up the phone and dialed the billing dept of the hospital to check on that $30,000 bill. The moment I hit "send" was the same moment it would have rung, if I hadn't hit send. So, my first phone conversation (we've actually emailed several times before... shhhh!) with one of Scott's speed-fiend friends started out a little awkwardly. What I thought was going to be one of those awesome pervy breathing calls ended up being Scott's buddy and started with me blowing out his eardrums with the beeping noises of an 11 digit 800 number on speed-dial.

He was calling because someone had hacked their NASCAR simracing league (30+ racing) page, and it just had this anime chick singing some weird song and twirling her riding crop. (Pretty funny, considering that if you do a search on "thirty plus" you get a bunch of sites for dating and match making.) Scott had called Rich the other night when it happened, and Rich was calling back.

The whole thing was pretty funny. He says "Is this Erin?" "Yes, it is..." "he asks, "Did you just speed dial someone?" "Yes... I did" And he said something like "Yeah, I heard that." So I apologize for beeping in his ear, and he laughs... I finally say to him, "Um... Should I ask whose ear I just beeped in?" And he says, "Well, you coooould..." and laughs. So I told him if he didn't tell me, I'd just keep talking to him like I knew who it was so it didn't matter much to me. (Threaten a man with a day on the phone with a chatterbox like me, and he'll give in every time!) Then he says, "Hmmm let's see..." (like he was up to something,) "...What is this Modern Review thing?" and immediately I knew who it was, he's the only guy that reads my blog who would call me, whose voice I wouldn't recognize. Eventually I gave the phone to Scott, but it was a hoot talking to him.

So, we plan on going to Troy again in early September. Scott drives about 50 miles over the speed limit when we make that trip. Three of Scott's gaming buddies live up north (yep, Yankees, but I forgive them, I mean, I have nothing against Yankees, really! I married one!) so on the way, we'll be stopping in Harrisburg awhile to meet with Rich and Rob and Steel (whose real name I don't know.) Then, we're going to the Schaghticoke fair, where Scott is hoping to drive Randy's car in the demolition derby, thereby satisfying, even if only in separate stages, his need for speed and violence and the company of his buddies.

Then on the way home, we intend to descend on Barnhenge, because D and L were insane enough to invite us and 5 kids! THAT is something I'm looking forward to in a huge way. HAHAHA! They have no idea what they're in for!

More

Today, Nova would have been 6 months old, he should be here, doing the things that 6 month old babies do. I know, it isn't his 1 year birthday - but it is something that, had he lived, we'd have made note of, marked off on the calendar. He'd have been starting solid food, rolling over, and saying mama/dada (probably dada, my kids always said dada first, even though I have always been the one doing poop patrol and boobie duty, not that Scott could possibly do boobie duty of course!) By now, he'd have been smiling all the time - it breaks my heart to think that he only ever really smiled once in his whole little life.

See, it's the little things we mourn, the things we will never get to see him do, never get to say to him, or teach him.

Instead of celebrating his 6-month milestones, I'm thinking that in 4 days, we will mark the 2 month anniversary of his death. God I miss him, more than I can ever express.

Modern Review V. 1 I. 4

Vol. I, Issue 4 of the Modern Review is now available and can be ordered online via Paypal. Selections from the issue are on their website. Quite honestly, right now I can't afford to buy it, but I'll be ordering next week. I had a one year subscription but it ran out in December.

http://www.modern-review.com/archives/v_i/_summer06.html

Thursday Thirteen?

I'm going to do this Thursday Thirteen thing this week. I won't guarantee it'll be weekly, because I lack self-discipline, but we'll see.

Thirteen Reasons to laugh at myself:

1. I have a habit of critiquing everything I read and hear. This includes the news (The CNN ticker drives me insane) and novels (Yes Erin, I made mental notes of typos and editing misses in even Tom Robbins' books!)
2. I can't spell the words beaurocracy and fliers... Flyers? Whichever.
3. I know those words are misspelled and I'm going crazy trying not to correct them (via spellcheck of course, because I cannot spell them correctly on my own)
4. I laugh at my mother for not being able to spell the word "else" despite the fact that I too have words I can't spell.
5. I rarely enjoy rhyming poetry, but sometimes my mind automatically writes in rhyme, which I promptly critique, edit, revise and do away with.
6. I'm terrified of even the smallest of spiders, in the whole stand on a chair and scream at them sort of way. (There was once one in the car, and I made Scott stop at the side of the road, let me out, and kill the spider before we could go on. The spider was about the size of a pencil lead.)
7. I memorize people's clothing, physical descriptions, license plate numbers and car descriptions because I imagine that everyone is a potential criminal, and I might have to identify them to the police later.
8. I often start things I don't finish (especially laundry haha!)
9. I have an affinity for certain bad words, words most women are highly offended by, one that starts with a c especially. I rarely say it out loud, but it seems to be the word that comes into my mind, where other people would think something like "You piece of shit!" I think, "You c- - - !" because I'm a very bad girl. I am not offended by it, but have used it a few times specifically for it's offensive qualities.
10. I'm overly trusting, and yet, totally distrustful, if that makes any sense at all. I trust people too easily, but mistrust the universe and all those implied promises that we all take for granted (like seeing your child grow up, and sunrise) Actually, I'm a huge oxymoron on a lot of levels.

    man, this 13 thing is harder than it looks!

11. I love liver and onions, but I really have a hard time cooking it - I think it looks like placenta when it's raw. Nasty. I share this oddity with my husband, only he's worse, he won't eat it if he sees it raw, so I have to kick him out of the kitchen.
12. Sometimes, I refuse to capitalize the word god, just to get under the skin of very religious people.
13. I drink coffee, the whole coffee, and nothing but the coffee. So help me god.