tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54954662024-03-07T13:27:00.787-08:00<a href="http://www.vonnegut.com/"><b>There’s only one rule that I know of, babies: Goddamn it, you’ve got to be kind.</b><br> - <i>Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.</i></a>Carol Elainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06041453807217603422noreply@blogger.comBlogger840125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495466.post-57125995556762959202007-06-07T16:44:00.000-07:002007-06-07T16:47:46.431-07:00

I need it 'cause I'm moving.Oh, not physically - I'll be hanging out in Burbank for a while longer. It's just that my blog needs a change of scene, so I'm moving it over to just an ordinary goddess. It also needed a change of name, more in keeping with the URL. Legal forms were a bitch, but there you go.I've got most of the redecorating done, but there's always the chance things may change, so

Carol Elainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06041453807217603422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495466.post-5306293188145819892007-06-04T16:53:00.001-07:002007-06-04T17:11:05.683-07:00

I can't make it better.It drives me crazy, but there's nothing I can do. No concrete way I can help. No way for me to make it all go away.I hug when in the same room, murmuring positive words, stroking hair and soothing furrowed brow, expressing my love. When on the phone, I still murmur, trying to make my voice convey that, were we in the same room, I would be hugging and stroking and

Carol Elainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06041453807217603422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495466.post-21027456136699325742007-06-01T14:33:00.000-07:002007-06-01T14:36:42.360-07:00

29%Mingle2 - Free Online DatingMuch like Kymm, this whole "caring about other people, especially my loved ones" thing is going to get me seriously zombified.

Carol Elainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06041453807217603422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495466.post-83125421781257139942007-05-30T16:40:00.000-07:002007-05-30T16:43:28.256-07:00

My pirate name, that is: My pirate name is: Mad Prudentilla Read Every pirate is a little bit crazy. You, though, are more than just a little bit. Even through many pirates have a reputation for not being the brightest souls on earth, you defy the sterotypes. You've got taste and education. Arr! Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.part of the fidius.org

Carol Elainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06041453807217603422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495466.post-59945698040588257352007-05-30T09:43:00.000-07:002007-05-30T10:16:16.112-07:00

...at least my iPod and iTunes think so.While riding the bus into work this morning, I was listening to my lovely iPod, as I am wont to do while riding on the bus. And my lovely iPod decided that it really, really wanted me to listen to Music for Elevators, which I bought several years ago whilst in the throes of my deep Anthony Stewart Head crush.(I still think he's impossibly yummy, mind you.

Carol Elainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06041453807217603422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495466.post-17540724432317883342007-05-15T12:13:00.000-07:002007-05-15T14:28:47.326-07:00

So. Jerry Falwell is dead.Huh.Several of my friends are happy that he is no longer breathing the same air as those of us who don't have deep, festering, hate-filled wounds where souls usually reside, but I can't quite bring myself to join in their rejoicing. Death has always made me a little sad, no matter who it is. I can't help it. And, oddly enough, that's the case here.I didn't like

Carol Elainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06041453807217603422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495466.post-29003453295625535312007-05-14T17:20:00.000-07:002008-11-18T22:36:02.243-08:00

...and it's soooo pretty! Came all charged up, ready to run, which was good, since I needed it for meetings on Saturday (which is when I picked it up). At the Coordinating Committee meeting I stroked it lovingly, in full view of everyone, and made MusicianMan sputter a laugh as I mouthed, "My preciousss..." The chair of SoCal Grassroots even made mention of my new acquisition, since I opened

Carol Elainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06041453807217603422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495466.post-42050252086218220382007-05-14T16:39:00.000-07:002007-05-15T08:36:32.103-07:00

So there I am, just minding my own business, checking out the JPL site, when a headline flashes across the screen: Mission Could Seek out Spock's Home Planet:Astronomers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have recently concluded that the upcoming planet-finding mission, SIM PlanetQuest, would be able to detect an Earth-like planet around the star 40 Eridani, a planet familiar to "Star Trek" fans

Carol Elainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06041453807217603422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495466.post-68745069497624950422007-05-09T11:13:00.000-07:002008-11-18T22:36:02.363-08:00

Today is Noodlefest in Missouri and there's no way I can get there to attend it.Anyone going there, worship His Noodly Appendage on my behalf, mm'k?*sigh*UPDATE: I still can't go, but I have found the perfect iBook accessory, as soon as I get my iBook:It can be found at GelaSkins, which has all sorts of cool Apple skins.

Carol Elainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06041453807217603422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495466.post-52209362785692473332007-05-08T14:15:00.000-07:002007-05-08T14:26:40.441-07:00

...Pluto, I mean.Y'all know I have some Pluto issues. I don't know why I'm so attached to that lil' planet, but I am. In December I took HSTeacher and his kids on a tour of JPL, where I discovered in the observation gallery of the mini-mission control room that someone had removed Pluto from the solar system display. I just about lost my mind over it (though calmly - no need for the kids to

Carol Elainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06041453807217603422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495466.post-32841181813780626972007-05-07T18:34:00.001-07:002007-05-15T12:02:34.451-07:00

I hate the celebrity society in which we live. Hate how the deaths in Iraq and Darfur and Afghanistan are less important than the Alec Baldwin tape. I despise it with a white-hot passion.But I feel I have to respond to this whol P*r*s H*lt*n crap happening. I feel I have to respond to her cries of, "I feel that I was treated unfairly and that the sentence is both cruel and unwarranted. I don't

Carol Elainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06041453807217603422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495466.post-53847380231648022592007-05-07T17:25:00.000-07:002008-11-18T22:36:03.066-08:00

I have a nice little digital camera that ModelGirl gave to me a few years ago. I carry it in my purse, because I never know when I'm going to see something that I think is picture worthy. Like this:(Good to know, Person-Who-Lives-In-My-Neighborhood. I'll look you up if I'm ever in need of sadism or masochism.)Or this:(All hail the Three-Eyed Simpsons Fish!)Or even when in San Diego for the

Carol Elainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06041453807217603422noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495466.post-73469185745683993372007-05-07T15:33:00.000-07:002008-11-18T22:36:03.254-08:00

That's when I want it. I've been waiting for it forever, or so it seems. It would have been mine two weeks ago, were it not for accidental holds on bank accounts and PayPal moving slower than slow. Not in time for the California Democratic Convention the last weekend of April, when it would have proven incredibly useful. Not in time for the Communications Committee meeting this past Saturday,

Carol Elainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06041453807217603422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495466.post-4745503372330255572007-04-12T15:09:00.000-07:002007-04-12T15:31:38.389-07:00

Or at least I bear a strong resemblance to one (or several):http://www.myheritage.comHow weird is it that my first match (at 78%) is a guy? I just don't know what to make of it.

Carol Elainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06041453807217603422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495466.post-22070323202155964742007-04-12T10:16:00.000-07:002007-04-12T10:43:09.293-07:00

I came to Kurt Vonnegut's work late. My first sit-down was Slaughterhouse Five, picked up from a Bookcrossing meeting in 2004. Much like my first experience with John Irving that same year, I wondered what had taken me so long to immerse myself in his worlds. I later found that I enjoyed Hocus Pocus better than his seminal work, but I still have so much Vonnegut to read.RIP, Mr. Vonnegut.

Carol Elainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06041453807217603422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495466.post-59506529510918810742007-04-06T14:42:00.000-07:002007-04-06T14:58:47.880-07:00

They must, for what else would they turn up at my poor nickel?Backing up: the candy vending machine in my building seems to only like the brand new coins. You know, the fancy ones with all the changes that make the older coins look like the poor cousin with the Salvation Army clothes. I mean, my 1986 nickel is a good nickel. It's worth as much as those flashy nickels with their offset

Carol Elainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06041453807217603422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495466.post-63648959098742762582007-03-16T08:51:00.000-07:002007-03-16T09:08:37.171-07:00

Sorry I haven't been around much. I'm actually working on a few changes for the blog and these days my computer time is limited to work hours and weekend time at HSTeacher's place. I hope to have the new version of the blog unveiled soon.Until then, some quizzes for your enjoyment: You scored as Spiritual Atheist. Ah! Some of the coolest people in the world are Spiritual Atheists. Most of them

Carol Elainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06041453807217603422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495466.post-74490256116988941272007-03-02T11:24:00.000-08:002007-03-07T09:19:52.305-08:00

Can you name all 50 US states in 10 minutes? I could, but it wasn't easy (it took me 8:05 minutes) and I had to cheat for the spelling of Massachusetts.I used to be so much better at all of this. States, capitals, Canadian provinces, countries - in my childhood I was a geographic force to be reckoned with. Now? I'm lucky if I can remember if a particular street is east or west of me. And if

Carol Elainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06041453807217603422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495466.post-71837323038118415962007-03-01T12:39:00.000-08:002007-03-01T13:00:10.951-08:00

I miss marshmallows.I haven't had one on purpose since I went and did this veggie thing over ten years ago, because marshmallows have gelatin. Since gelatin is derived from animal bones (most likely cow bones), me no can have.And don't tell me about kosher marshmallows either - they've got fish gelatin. So, again, not so good for the vegetarian shiksa.*sigh*Maybe it's just time for a

Carol Elainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06041453807217603422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495466.post-70031095107674420342007-02-27T11:10:00.000-08:002007-02-27T11:12:12.020-08:00

Get Your Monster NameFine! I admit it! I'm not the vegetarian I've been portraying myself to be all these years! Happy now?! But Lawyer Abduction is so much fun...

Carol Elainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06041453807217603422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495466.post-76627896295010520192007-02-20T08:22:00.000-08:002007-02-20T09:01:33.451-08:00

Experts Issue New Heart Disease Guidelines for WomenAmerican Heart Association recommendations now focus on a woman's lifetime riskThe American Heart Association has updated and sharpened its guidelines for preventing heart disease in women.The focus now is on a woman's lifetime risk for heart disease, not just her short-term risk, as was the case in the 2004 guidelines.The 2007 Guidelines for

Carol Elainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06041453807217603422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495466.post-64372692928578055982007-02-16T15:46:00.000-08:002007-02-20T08:57:38.555-08:00

Your results:You are Kaylee Frye (Ship Mechanic)You are good at fixing things. You are usually cheerful. You appreciate being treated with delicacy and specialness.Kaylee Frye (Ship Mechanic) 75%Malcolm Reynolds (Captain) 65%Zoe Washburne (Second-in-command) 60%Dr. Simon Tam (Ship Medic) 60%River (Stowaway) 60%Inara Serra (Companion) 50%Wash (Ship Pilot) 50%Derrial Book (Shepherd) 45%Jayne Cobb (

Carol Elainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06041453807217603422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495466.post-9619313586248364232007-02-16T15:00:00.000-08:002008-11-18T22:36:04.621-08:00

...Tucson, that is.Last weekend HSTeacher and I drove to Tucson for an overnight stay so that we could attend the naming ceremony for BestFriend's new baby girl. It was a long drive, to be sure, and I admit to a bit of trepidation, as road trips are notorious for bringing out the worst in people. Thankfully my fears (and, I found out later, HSTeacher's) were unfounded, as the outing went well.

Carol Elainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06041453807217603422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495466.post-42449500340379832722007-02-08T15:45:00.000-08:002007-02-08T16:28:51.084-08:00

Oh, not in the diplomatic way, or in the building homes for Habitat for Humanity way (though I've done some work with them in the past) or even in a lust in my heart sort of way (though, you know, I have many times since puberty).No, much like the country over which Carter presided when he spoke of a crisis in confidence, I'm feeling malaise.All day I've tired and achy, with a bit of crankiness

Carol Elainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06041453807217603422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495466.post-23497204791454325232007-02-06T09:40:00.000-08:002008-11-18T22:36:04.863-08:00

Methinks someone on JPL's web team needs to do a little proofreading (click on picture to read the fine print):Everyone knows cheese isn't vegan!

Carol Elainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06041453807217603422noreply@blogger.com0