JFargo

popfiend @ 02:41 pm: More LJ oopsies...
velveteen_girl was once known as "shannon_elaine" and with her rename she also lost some of you good people.

She'd appreciate it if you'd remedy that if you are so inclined.



Tags: friends, lj

turbotroll @ 11:58 am: Barefoot Running Updates
OW.

And that's from walking. That is all.

Tags: running

turbotroll @ 11:32 am: And so on...

Transcribing away...Why do I feel a burst of irritation everytime I hear "Creamy Milk Chocolate?" Probably because I've heard it 8 billion times already...Still illogical. But there it is.

I'm starting on the path for my next resolution: learn a musical instrument. I've settled on the Ukulele. Funny little guitar with a great sound; an instrument I enjoy listening to and seems easy to learn with only four strings. It doesn't really fit the "wierd" category, except for perhaps that I'm really big and it's really small, so I could probably strum it with one hand. I happen to enjoy the flamenco/island tunes that I've heard played and I think I could be good with one. Plus it's small and portable, so I could take it when I travel. So I'm shopping about; gonna take a break in an hour or so and check out a music store down the road here in Austin, see what they have in stock and get advice from the experts, especially on whether or not my big hands will have problems with one. Maybe I could play a cello like a ukulele. Can't help but notice all of the great Youtube videos on learning to play as well (well, learning to do anything really. I should spend more time on Youtube (no I shouldn't...)). Also, Eric at E-Corps tells me Paul plays one...I bet he'd have a ton of useful advice for me.

Wow, I might actually finish this list by next year!

Tags: resolutions, ukulele

serene_orange @ 11:09 am: Andy Martin, GOP Senate Candidate, Accuses Opponent Mark Kirk Of Homosexuality

Way to keep it classy, dick.

From Huffington Post
If there was any question whether or not the 2010 election season was heating up, it was dispelled on Monday morning when a Republican Senate candidate from Illinois released an ad questioning whether his primary opponent is a homosexual.

Andy Martin, a conservative public interest lawyer, put out a spot on local radio in which he pushes a "solid rumor" that fellow Senatorial aspirant, Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), "is a homosexual."

"I helped expose many of Barack Obama's lies in 2008," the ad goes. "Today, I am fighting for the facts about Mark Kirk. Illinois Republican leader Jack Roeser says there is a 'solid rumor that Kirk is a homosexual.' Roeser suggests that Kirk is part of a Republican Party homosexual club. Lake County Illinois Republican leader Ray True says Kirk has surrounded himself with homosexuals."

"Mark Kirk should tell Republican voters the truth."

The seedy spot seems to take a page out the Karl Rove playbook -- in which allegations of homosexuality are pushed by innuendo and 'simple demands for the truth.' In a statement to a local Illinois station, the Kirk camp vehemently condemned and denied its content.

"The ad is not true and is demeaning to the political process. The people of Illinois deserve better," said Kirk campaign manager Eric Elk in a written statement.

Martin, it should be noted, is quite proficient in the art of political smear. He was profiled by the New York Times during the 2008 campaign as "The Man Behind the Whispers About Obama." His notoriety stems from his insistence that "Obama is a Muslim who has concealed his religion." The story went on to note that Martin had "filed so many lawsuits that a judge barred him from doing so in any federal court without preliminary approval."

Martin usually dismisses charges of hyper-partisanship by noting that he once was an affiliated Democrat. Certainly, the accusations he is currently leveling against Kirk suggest his interests have more to do with publicity and political advancement than any particular ideological agenda.

Accusing an opponent of being a closeted homosexual is the type of crass politics one sees as an election or primary day approaches. There is still well over a month until the primary election -- slated to take place on February 2 -- so expect this stuff to continue flying.

"The issue is not homosexuality, the question is hypocrisy; people are entitled to their privacy, they are not entitled to live public lives in the closet," Martin said in a statement announcing his ad.

---

Sweet fat buddha, does this work? How are we still so backasswards that the suspicious of some one being an ohmygodthegay is a viable way to take down their chances of winning an election.

zoethe @ 11:58 am: I'll just stop being sick and be awesome
2009 is finally creeping out the door, a year that I'm glad to show out. I'm holding my breath, waiting for its last sting - I'll not make Gandalf's mistake and turn my back on the treacherous beast before it's completely out of range. But even while holding a defensive posture against the end of 2009, I find myself contemplating 2010.

I just read that the average lifespan of a US citizen has reached 78. That number resonated with me. You see, I will turn 52 this year. 78 divided by 3 is 26 - half of 52. I am therefore on the threshold of the final third of my life. Now, I could approach this with anxiety about death. But instead I am embracing this as the payoff for the years I've invested in becoming myself. Now it's about payoff. I am stepping into the third act of my life with bravado and glee. Like Auntie Mame said, "Life's a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death."

Ive spent far too much time focusing on the tough things in life. My life is filled with grace and wonder, and I'm goinng to embrace that.

So 2010 is going to be My Year of Living Graciously. To me, gracious living is not about some kind of Martha Stewart perfection. It's about embracing the grace in day-to-day living. It's about appreciating my friends and loved ones. It's about making good decisions for the use of my time. It's about beauty and art and respecting and appreciating the senses. This is less Martha Stewart and more Anthony Bourdain. Less Julie and Julia and more Siddhartha.

I will fail some days. I'll get sick or tired or miserable for one reason or other. That's okay. I will record the failures as well as the successes. At the end of the year, I'm hopeful that I will have some fascinating insights on life.

I have started a WordPress journal specifically for this project, http://livinggraciously.wordpress.com/. I will be putting my entries here as well, but quotations or links of interest will be there.

My only New Year's Resolution? Learn to juggle. The rest of it is simply living better.

serene_orange @ 10:54 am: Back to work!
Back to work and I come out of the shute kicking ass. I have run out of work and begging around for more. W00T for me not forgetting how to do my job over my vacation.

flemco @ 10:27 am: aaaaaaaaaa
( You are about to view content that may only be appropriate for adults. )

popfiend @ 11:07 am: Because LJ is a moody sumb!tch...
"florida_phoenix" changed her LJ name to thepheenixeyri and in the process lost everyone.

She's been adding people back, but because no one knows who she is and it's a holiday week...

You get the picture.

Do the do if you need to do.

Thanks.

Tags: friends, lj

theferrett @ 10:57 am: Journal Upkeeping: What I Don't Write
I had a friend of mine who expressed concern about talking with me, lest her personal issues end up in my journal. That's a reasonable concern, because I do give the illusion that I share everything in this journal. (I don't, but I share more than many people do.)

So let me list the things that I don't talk about in this journal:

I don't write about ongoing issues. I do often discuss the problems Gini and I have had in our relationship - but you'll note that those posts are on fights we had several years ago, and are invariably about problems we've solved.

But if it's an argument we're having now, I don't talk about it. There's no sense dragging people on LJ into a fight that neither of us have finished negotiating, for reasons outlined here (in Rule #4). Any sort of open debate does not get aired in public until it's absolutely closed, and Gini and I have come to the same conclusion about whatever it was that was bothering us. (Which is why I run all those posts by Gini first - she has veto power.)

Likewise, I don't discuss arguments I'm having with my friends. Being polyamorous, I've gone through three breakups in the time since I've had this journal - and none of that's ever made it to the page. I don't name names, I don't discuss specifics, I don't accuse. Breakups are painful enough without having to endure excoriations from strangers in someone's journal.

Until it's dead and trapped in amber, I don't write about it.*

I don't write about ongoing issues. I'm putting this as a separate bulletin point because it doesn't apply to just Gini: it applies to all my friends and their issues.

Now, I can see where it seems that I ignore this rule, because I do write about things my friends are going through. Often, though, those posts are just generic advice I've given to people that's not tied to anything in their lives.

But if I know they're going through a trauma that they wouldn't want debated in public, and the entry is on something where there's no question that it's them, I'll wait until it's something that's no longer bothering them. And then I'll change the details of their information. And, more often than not, turn it into an identical incident that I've gone through. (And if it never really ends, then I don't write about it at all. An entry isn't worth upsetting a friend.)

I've had friends read entries and not realize it was inspired by them three months ago. That's my goal.

Problem is, I have a lot of friends - and considering I often write about universal topics, it's almost guaranteed that my writing on someone's breakup two months back is going to be very similar to someone's breakup today. But there's not much I can do about that; all I can say is that it's not you.

I don't talk about anything that someone's specifically asked me not to talk about. If someone doesn't want to be talked about on my LJ, I won't. It's not that big a deal. If I know they're Internet-shy, I'll generally leave them off as well. This is my catch-all category.

(This is, I should add, not a letter of the law thing; I don't give universal veto power to anyone who says, "It hurts me when you talk about trees." With a large enough audience, almost every post is guaranteed to hit someone's button. But if it's personal and related to them, I'll usually avoid the topic.)

I don't talk about my children. I occasionally tell a funny story about them, or regurgitate some advice I've given, but their lives are their own. The things they go through don't make it here, and shouldn't.

I don't talk about work. Fortunately, I do actually enjoy my job, but on the days that I don't I keep my lips zipped. This is simple common sense.

I don't talk about anything that, to my judgment, would worsen the world. Which is not to say that I don't err in this occasionally, or make judgments that you'd disagree with as to what makes the world better... but in general, I want my LJ to be a positive force. So I try to avoid writing about things that are just complaining, and if I rant I try to have some underlying point. I want to write about topics that inspire people, not drag them down.

And that's it, I think. I reserve the right to add more things as time goes on. And I'll probably restructure my userinfo page to reference this.

* - I might write about my emotional state caused by the breakup, as in "I'm feeling really lonely and sad today and must listen to The Shins a million times," but that's a different thing.

flemco @ 09:48 am: Support the troops!
( You are about to view content that may only be appropriate for adults. )

popfiend @ 10:46 am: Monday Morning Random
Monday, Monday can't trust that day...

- Actually, as Mondays go, this is a pretty good one.  There was no one on the road this morning on the way to work and with minimal traffic I was able to run an errand BEFORE I went to the office and still get her on time and above expectation  (That part after the "and", that's a little in joke for me from my time as a management consultant.  Feel free to ignore it.  Oh, you have already?  Good!).  And I have authorization to work from home the rest of the week as there is no one in the office.  So not a bad start.  I'll take it.

- On the way in to the office, I drive past a billboard for Seaton Hall basketball with the phrase THE TIME IS NOW!  It was only today that I realize how incredibly stoopid (sic) that phrase is.  "The time is now".  Of course the time is "now".  When else would it be?  Last century.  Which wasn't really all that long ago, but I digress.  Geez, that just started me on another tangent.  I was born in the PREVIOUS century.  Yeah, I know that everyone reading this thing was, but WOW!  That sounds so much more monumental than it is.  But again, I digress.  Anyway, "THE TIME IS NOW" is a stupid phrase.  Unless you are referring to Morris Day and The Time, who while cool aren't really relevant anymore so in that case "THE TIME is YESTERDAY" (Oh wee Oh wee Oh) makes perfect sense.  What?!?!  Too much?  /silly rantings

- I have a respectable number of Bucs fans on my f-list as well as a respectable number of Saints fans.  Reading my f-list yesterday was a hoot and a holler after the Bucs-Saints game as there were alternating cries of "WHOO HOO!!!" and "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"  Repeatedly.  Made me to laugh.

- Speaking of football, in honor of my JETS potentially backing into the playoffs I will give the JETS chant, although in an appropriate way.  S-T-E-J!  STEJ!  STEJ!  STEJ!  Yeah, that works.  Also, speaking of my JETS, when the season started I had the Giants in the playoffs and the Jets without a shot.  Now the Giants have no shot and the Jets do.  What the heck happened?

- BTW football fans, how did you feel when the starers got pulled in the 3rd quarter of the JETS game?  Did it make you mad?  Disappointed?  Angry?  I was thrilled of course.  WHOO HOO!!!   However, if you are a fan of a team that might get eliminated because the Colts and now the Bengals might soft pedal this week and next you might have a different take on this.  And was it just me or did it look like Peyton Manning wanted to get back in there ASAP?  He NEVER took off his helmet and he had this very disappointed look on his face.

- I wanted to take this opportunity to give a hearty round of applause to shadowwolf13 for her HOLIDAY LOVE post.  It's one of the most beautiful things I've seen and it's nice to see people saying kind things about one another.  You did a good thing Shadow, you should be proud. 

- Also, in that vein I wanted to thank brandedeclipse for starting a thread for moi and those of you who responded.  You gave me a precious gift and it warmed the cockles of my heart (and I hate it when my cockles are cold  ;D).  I am exceedingly grateful and I count myself lucky.  Thanks.   And yes, I sniffled on occasion.  Stop sitting there and pretending like you're actually shocked. 

- I was going to play Dragon Age: Origins yesterday, but I'm so busy debating what kind of character I want to play that I'm suffering "analysis paralysis".  So I haven't started.   Yes, this makes me made of lamesauce.  Darn you Bioware.  Darn you to heck. You and your rich game worlds with options.

- Backward Compatible gets us geeks.  Really it does.

- And Sheldon explains Pug science once again. 

- I had pancakes for breakfast yesterday.  There is something comforting and homey about the pancake.  The thought of it makes me smile.  Today's breakfast was a blueberry muffin which had poor texture as it was overly flakey.  I like a good balance between cakey and flakey and this failed.  If it falls apart before you can shove it in your pie hole.  It's an unfortunate muffin.

- And now...a moment of shame.  Lisa and I went to see Avatar on Thursday.  In a complete violation of all that is good and decent, we snuck food in.  *hangs head low*  Yes, we are theater criminals, because as we all know movie theaters make their money from concessions and not the movies.  The concession stand is the business, the movies are the draw.  Anyway, part of the package was homemade cookies from my darling wife (whom I love).  However, they were oatmeal raisin walnut cookies.  Lisa's not a fan of the oatmeal raisin cookie, so I assumed they were all for me.  What I didn't know is that she put a couple of other cookies in the bag so that she could get some.  I ate the entire bag and left my love hungry.  And why didn't I notice the other cookies, because I do not bite food...I inhale it.  I threw an entire cookie in my mouth at a time.  And chewing?  That's for losers.  It works a little something like this: 1.) toss entire cookie in mouth.  2.) Chew four times.  3.) Swallow.  4.) Repeat with next cookie.  You know how I say that my favorite deadly since are Sloth, Gluttony and Lust.  Our pal "Gluttony" was topping the list that day.  Asa result, Lisa, who had not had breakfast, sat through the almost 3 hour movie without anything to eat.  I think she ended up with a hunger headache.  All my fault.  Sorry baby.  You may throw popcorn at me.  Keep in mind, I may eat it.

- The other day I realized that I'm using only 46 of a possible 54 icons for my LJ.  You guys have any ideas on how I can fill up that space?  Suggestions are always welcome.

-  For those of you on my f-list seeking LJ testimonials, please use the following: "popfiend  TESTED. popfiend APPROVED!!!"  For those of you who have engaged in in person hugs with me, you may also add "He/She gives good HUG!"  I stole the idea from fragbert .  If you like it...thank me and if you hate it...blame him.  And thus, the way of the world.  :D

I hope you all had a nice weekend and that your Monday is starting swimmingly and let me be among the first to say that I hope your 2010 is the beginning of good, grand and glorious things for you.  Including awesome amounts of alliteration.  What?!?!?

Peace,
- O. (aka popfiend )

Tags: random, the popfiend experience

mariness @ 10:27 am: Things that bother me:
1. Not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR of you separately, and without – you claim – consultation or conspiracy, sent me either squirrels or images of squirrels for my birthday/Xmas holidays.

2. The license agreement for the software for the Sony e-reader contains a warning that it is not meant to operate nuclear facilities, air traffic control, or life support systems. I swear I am not making this up.

3. The User Guide for the Sony e-reader tells people, "Do not poke people using the supplied stylus." Sony does not want us to have any fun.

4. The User Guide for the Sony e-reader does not, however, say, "Do not poke cats using the supplied stylus." Sony hates cats. And dogs.

5. I am finding great joy in being able to scribble all over e-books borrowed from the library. I feel as if I unleashing some great unmet need. Apparently, I have longed to deface library books for years. Who knew?

(Things I did not predict from electronic devices, number 546.)

6. I'm not going to be able to devour this. (Posted everywhere, I know, but still worth sharing for the supreme awesomeness.)

7. The way a cat can switch from extraordinary shyness and hiding from friends and strangers alike to two straight hours of yowling at me (presumably about today's cool temperatures, which are rather less under my control than she thinks.)

8. The extraordinary speed at which holiday cookies can vanish.

morlith @ 09:12 am: I Giggle Every Time I See This Picture. I Can't Help It.
( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

clauderainsrm, posting in therealljidol @ 08:16 am: Green Room - New Years Week - Day 1
So who has to work this week and who is coasting along the last week of 2009???

The *last week of 2009*. . . that just sounds weird doesn't it? Is it just me????

***

The "free topics" are here: http://community.livejournal.com/therealljidol/285146.html for anyone interested in them!

Tags: day 1, green room, new years week, season 6

sacramentalist @ 05:43 am: My alcohol-filled rage over the Wii had a bad side-effect: I just woke up choking on my own bile.

WORST TASTE, EVER!

unkyrich @ 02:10 am: Notes from the mental illness frontline
I want to get this written out before I forget it.

We went to visit people today as part of the hecticness that is Christmas weekend. There was a dinner gathering that went surprisingly well (including seeing people who never before acted like parents actualy doing so.) One couple who was supposed to attend couldn't make it - for really valid reasons. (Pneumonia and a nearly lethal blood sugar level - what a way to discover diabetes.)

We went to visit the woman of that couple after the party - a long time friend of Cil's. Now, I understand that she has pneumonia, and has been spending a lot of time taking care of and visiting her partner. And in fact, this is not a condemnation of her in the least. She has been sick, and she's had a lot of serious stressors over the past two years or so.

See, I also know she has been diagnosed with depression. Like me.

And when you interact with someone who has the same mental illness as you, you get sensitive to when the illness is winning in someone else.

The scent of the house was the first tip off. Not just bad, but actually foul. Stuff piled all over the place. This was more than just a week's worth of stuff - the odor must have been accumulating for at least two weeks.

(Just a side note - unrelated to this whole post - watching a movie with Liev Schriber portraying a transvestite is pretty surreal.)

Anyway, we were there for about 15-20 minutes. I looked around their house, looked at the cats, listened to the woman talk. And it hit me - her depression is winning.

So I told some people. Flat out. "She can't handle this on her own."

And I was promptly ignored.

I've got this problem now. Because it seems it's up to me.

I've never been particularly fond of this woman. And vice versa. She's tried in both the distant and recent past to destroy Cil's and my relationship (which is, fortunately, harder than this woman believes.) Again, I lay the blame of this upon her mental illness - I've been there. You do what makes sense to you, not necessarily the nicest or most grown up thing.

But she needs someone to help her out. To at least tell her it's okay to feel like crap, to maybe give a little bit of herself to the darkness, and to get over it. Those who care about her are sick of dealing with it - as always, she finds excuses not to use her medication. (That I blame on her - becauses it's the treated mind making this decision, which means she's following some bullshit someone told to her about her meds.)

I'm not sure I can do this. She doesn't ever listen to me when she's in the best of moods.

But if her real friends and family aren't willing to, what option is there?

mishamish @ 01:58 am: Alsø alsø wik
Know what else sucks? Icing down bits of your anatomy when you are already cold. :-/

mishamish @ 01:56 am: Eccentricities of Coastal Maine Weather
So, a phenomenon I've never really experienced before moving here is "freezing fog." Fog rolls in from the Bay, condenses to a thin film of water on ever exposed surface (as fog will do), and then almost immediately freezes into a thin sheet of ice, because it's the middle of the freaking winter.

A phenomenon I *HAVE* experienced before, but could have gone without experiencing again is a twisted knee.

Ow.

OwOWow.

Ow.

If anyone needs me, I'll be on the sofa with my foot up, cursing alot.

[PS. I've determined that this generally only happens when I'm CARRYING stuff. I guess when I'm NOT carrying stuff I just fall on my arse and have done with it.]

theglen @ 12:05 am: Senator shows up drunk
Wouldn't have believed this if I hadn't seen it. Guy's slurring his words and rambling. Hasn't hit any of the news channels yet, even FOX. But Baucus is clearly blitzed.

serene_orange @ 11:10 pm: Alma
Thank you torenheksje for posting this brilliant little short.

This is a CGI short by Rodrigo Blaas

Alma from Rodrigo Blaas on Vimeo.