I can't use Twitter. Apparently they've changed the layout, though I keep logging in and getting the old look. I don't know that I like the 'new' look though that may partially be due to my background. Maybe if it wasn't yellow I'd like it more.

Also, I can retweet but can't reply or send original tweets now. So I want to answer everyone. Very annoying.

And yes, I tried in Firefox and Internet Explorer as well as on two different computers so I don't know what's wrong.

Guess I'll play on lj instead. Oooh look...fanfiction.

I know my f-list is all over the place and most probably can't do much more than offer prayers and good vibes but even that is better than nothing.

On December 26, the 22 year old son of a friend of mine went to New York City. The last contact they had with him was a text message on December 30. He was reported missing the following week when his family couldn't reach him again. A subsequent check of the apartment he was staying at turned up his belongings including his phone meaning they have no way of tracking or reaching him and everyone is very worried. It's out of character for him to not contact his family for this long. Friends have been canvasing the area around the apartment and leaving fliers everywhere (police, local buildings, hospitals, cab stands), hoping someone somewhere saw something or remembers something that will lead them to Ian.

His mom is a coach with our Marathon Training Team. He's a Junior at VCU. He's a part of our MTT family. He's a kid. A stupid kid who might have made a bad decision or met the wrong people. A good kid with a good heart who needs to come home.

We need help.

Please pass the word. If you know people around New York City, have them check out the flier and see if they've seen our friend. Please help us bring Ian Burnet home.

http://www.findianburnet.com/

Please spread the word. There's a facebook page (FindIanBurnet) and a twitter account (https://twitter.com/#!/FindIanBurnet)

Twas the day before Christmas and all through my house - panic was brewing and part of it was caused by The Mouse...who won't stop gnawing on the ends of the branches of the FAKE Christmas tree and then hawking up green laced hairballs. This is why I wasn't upset about not having a big tree for a couple of years. Fuzzy idiot. But the kittens are unphased by this new thing and all take turns hiding under it and leaving fuzz on the tree skirt.

I've pratcially hosed the bottom third in Bitter Apple spray and have pepper balls hung all over to keep them out but the nibbles continue.

To those I owe cards to...you'll be seeing those in the New Year.

So Merry Christmas and Happy 5th night of Hanukkah!

Originally posted by write_light at BAD Internet Laws Heading Your Way

From the flist: 



Spread the word, even you're not a US citizen, it is important for everyone!! It easy to do and it can change everything. More info by clicking on the banner.
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Website Blocking

The government can order service providers to block websites for infringing links posted by any users.

Risk of Jail for Ordinary Users

It becomes a felony with a potential 5 year sentence to stream a copyrighted work that would cost more than $2,500 to license, even if you are a totally noncommercial user, e.g. singing a pop song on Facebook.

Chaos for the Internet

Thousands of sites that are legal under the DMCA would face new legal threats. People trying to keep the internet more secure wouldn't be able to rely on the integrity of the DNS system.

Read this analysis from boing-boing.net

Get on the phone and call your representative. Express your disapproval. Tell him or her exactly how you feel, and that you don't support this. Tell your friends to call their representatives, their Congressperson, and complain. Mention that you are a registered voter that takes your civic responsibility seriously and that you will use that vote to express your feelings about this.

http://www.rollcall.com/issues/57_60/Internet-Companies-Boost-Hill-Lobbying-210345-1.html?pos=olobh

“We support the bill’s stated goals — providing additional enforcement tools to combat foreign ‘rogue’ websites that are dedicated to copyright infringement or counterfeiting,” the Internet companies wrote in Tuesday’s letter. “Unfortunately, the bills as drafted would expose law-abiding U.S. Internet and technology companies to new uncertain liabilities, private rights of action and technology mandates that would require monitoring of websites.”  The chamber-led coalition in support of the bill includes Walmart, Eli Lilly & Co. and Netflix.

Google and other opponents of the legislation argue that restricting the Internet in the U.S. sets a bad international precedent and that the language defines infringing too broadly.

So I guess if I want to keep my shirts from being shrunk, I'm going to have to keep doing the laundry myself. Though I've already lost another one to the dryer.

Anyone who says large breasts are wonderful is an idiot. Anything over a double D is ridiculous. Nothing fits right, you can't buy bras just anywhere, buying a sports bra is just about impossible, you have virtually cronic neck and back pain. You research surgical options and the potential problems sound like nothing. Scaring? The things are solid stretch marks, a couple of scars are nothing. Besides, I can count on one hand the number of people who've seen them uncovered in the last three years and a lover isn't one of them. Lack of sensation? I can barely feel anything now. Trouble lactating? Dude, I'm 41. If I haven't gotten pregnant by now then it's probably not going to happen.

So in a moment of weakness, I might have told several people that I was going to do NaNoWriMo this year. And I might have laid out a story summary that was actually a script idea from three years ago. And when I told it out loud, it might have acutally sounded pretty good except that my angst gene has been poking at it. So maybe I just have to write it out and then edit out the really angsty stuff. Maybe. Though the angst could be incredibly cathartic. Also, I started cataloging the characters and I'm going to need a list which means that eventually it's really going to need editing because I've already got eight characters in addition to my main protaganist and her Manchurian best friend.

But I come from a fairly large, really disfunctionally divided family so for me, eight people is nothing. But does anyone really want to read a book with a Hobbit-esque family tree involved?

I do but I'm weird.

Originally posted by old_blueeyes at Mississippi Personhood Amendment

Originally posted by twbasketcase at Mississippi Personhood Amendment

Originally posted by gabrielleabelle at Mississippi Personhood Amendment

Okay, so I don't usually do this, but this is an issue near and dear to me and this is getting very little no attention in the mainstream media.

Mississippi is voting on November 8th on whether to pass Amendment 26, the "Personhood Amendment". This amendment would grant fertilized eggs and fetuses personhood status.

Putting aside the contentious issue of abortion, this would effectively outlaw birth control and criminalize women who have miscarriages. This is not a good thing.

Jackson Women's Health Organization is the only place women can get abortions in the entire state, and they are trying to launch a grassroots movement against this amendment. This doesn't just apply to Mississippi, though, as Personhood USA, the group that introduced this amendment, is trying to introduce identical amendments in all 50 states.

What's more, in Mississippi, this amendment is expected to pass. It even has Mississippi Democrats, including the Attorney General, Jim Hood, backing it.

The reason I'm posting this here is because I made a meager donation to the Jackson Women's Health Organization this morning, and I received a personal email back hours later - on a Sunday - thanking me and noting that I'm one of the first "outside" people to contribute.

So if you sometimes pass on political action because you figure that enough other people will do something to make a difference, make an exception on this one. My RSS reader is near silent on this amendment. I only found out about it through a feminist blog. The mainstream media is not reporting on it.

If there is ever a time to donate or send a letter in protest, this would be it.

What to do?

- Read up on it. Wake Up, Mississippi is the home of the grassroots effort to fight this amendment. Daily Kos also has a thorough story on it.

- If you can afford it, you can donate at the site's link.

- You can contact the Democratic National Committee to see why more of our representatives aren't speaking out against this.

- Like this Facebook page to help spread awareness.

September is almost over. I missed my Great Uncle's memorial service in San Diego last weekend because I couldn't find a flight for less than $340 dollars, I hadn't seen him or any of his family in almost a decade, and honestly - the idea of walking into an airport and facing security freaks me out. I don't mind the flying itself, I actually remember kind of liking it. And I love traveling at weird times. I'm not much of a morning person but I actually DO love that weird cool gray light of dawn, when it's so quiet and fresh and anything is possible. I love watching the light get brighter. I like being on the highway when there's practically no one else around. I really love feeling like I'm participating in some huge, amazing secret.

But.

I can't do security. I have trust and personal space issues as it is, the idea that some poorly-trained, badly-paid and cranky scanner-jockey can decide to make my life embarrassingly difficult just because he's having a bad day or I end up in the wrong place in line? That I'm not good with. It's the randomness of it. To many unknowns. It's embarrassing and stressful and unless I have a couple people with me to watch my back, I'm not doing it. So no cross-country flights to honor my Grandma's last surviving sibling. She's the last survivor of seven kids and I'm sure she never imagined that she'd bury her parents, her husband, her cousins, her sisters-in-law, her friends and ALL of her siblings. And I couldn't jump on a plane to go and honor her brother in her place because I couldn't face the cost and anxiety of doing it alone. What a world we live in.

So Sisterperson works 6 months out of the year with a bunch of runners, doing water stops and support work while they train to run a marathon. And it's great except that today she takes off at 5 whatever and takes my car and I'm supposed to take her car and go let our friend's dog out and get gas and come by the staduim where they run from to say hi to people. And for some reason I'm awake at 5:45, freaking out about I don't even remember what - maybe dream thing or going to check on the dog - I don't know. So I get up, calm down and figure it's not even light out, I'll go back to sleep. Nope. It's now about 6:40 and I can't even pretend that I've gone back to sleep so I get up and get some juice and putter around. Get dressed. Do the dishes. Check twitter, which is still running very slow for me but it appears that the Supernatural Boston Convention has had a rousing day and a half and Jensen's sockpuppet stalkers have lost their minds (again). Put down fresh cat food. 7:30 am. Need to go let out the dog and maybe treat myself to an iced Chai. Find baseball cap, grab fresh bottle of water, put on old sneakers...ready to go. Go to kitchen to grab spare key.

Uh-oh.

The spare key on the fridge is for my car, which is currently 15 miles away with a couple of coolers in it. After twenty minutes I give up and call her back, asking if she knows where the spare key to her car is.

It's in her purse, with her regular keys. *facepalm

So I'm stuck with a car and a key that don't go together and can't go anywhere until the team comes back and everything's cleaned up. Which is probably another two hours.

And she's got to go take care of the dog too. This is why I want to live in the city instead of the county and also why I wish I had a bike. If I had a bike and we lived at least in our childhood neighborhood, I could ride out to the stadium anyway. At least I can say it wasn't my fault I didn't help. She's the one who took both keys with her.

"I'm quite ready for another adventure."

Oh Bilbo.