Went to a lovely party for an Ohio State PhD graduate, met tons of people and realized two things.

1. Not everyone lives in a world where the terms 'strike price' and 'IPO' are relevant to their family fortunes.
2. Sometimes it's kinda fun (or at least interesting) to not introduce yourself, to just start talking, then leave abrubptly during a very short conversation lull.

Last night at the Waffle House there was a nice man wearing a 'Truckin' ain't for sissies' t-shirt. I love Ohio, the land of mullets and Wendy's.

Blogger looks weird on the AOL browser (I'm a glutton for punishment, as if this tiny-ass iMac keyboard isn't enough there isn't enough memory to open a real browser), but then again almost everything looks weird on an AOL browser, which seems to ignore my stylesheets. Blech.

Coming to you live from exciting Columbus Ohio. The flights were without incident, so far my parents have been splendid and the weather superb. It may be but 8:23 pm where I live, but it's 11:23 here and I'm beat.

Just when I thought I'd seen everything -- K9 TOP COAT. It's neoprene for dogs.

Since I'll be out of town for Alice's first anniversary of coming home to my house, I'll take this moment to say what I'd say if I were making a toast to her.

One day, the heavens opened up and God (for this scenario, I'll assume there is one) said 'Liz deserves something really amazing.' From that, came my Alice. 19.5 pounds of sheer beagle joy, little one who has changed my life, forced me to take care of someone else first, licks my feet (I know, it's weird, but she loves it), reminds me of mealtimes and gives me pause at least once a day to say 'damn, she's cute and we're lucky.'

So, my Alice, happy being home for a year on May 27. I'm glad you're here.

I just realized that all is right with the world. brig is still wearing black (with a little grey and white, for accent), my boss suffers from general malaise and once again, I'm headed out of town.

Of course my most recent foray, to Disneyland, wasn't what I'd hoped for. I was so sick that my favorite ride was the train because I could sleep. Waking up in the Haunted Mansion as we passed the head in the jar was seriously disconcerting. I'm in much better shape for the exciting Ohio venture that begins at the butt crack of dawn tomorrow. I think.

I'm trying really hard to imagine Brig at the CamWorld: BlogBowl. Brig? Bowling? Together???

Just thinking about my extended family and wondering why I need to use the word family to describe them, anyway. They're more like strangers that I used to spend holidays with, now I don't see anymore.

More great advice from Amy: remind my mother that in fact, I am a weather veteran. Good point.

Planning A Family Vacation

I'm really not sure why Slim Down Sister is such a funny title, but it's cracking me up just the same.

From Amy: "everyone needs blankets!"

I'm all geared up for my exciting sojurn to lovely Ohio tomorrow. My mom has warned me repeatedly of the hazards of driving alone (I'm taking a day trip to Indiana) but I think I'll be okay, having driven alone several times in the now 11 years since I first obtained my driver's license.

So you want to be an ignorant redneck? eBay item 339822584 MALE BEAGLE PUPPY.

VW Credit just called -- my threat of legal action worked and they're sending my title out via fedex tomorrow. Woohoo! I fought the law and I won!!

I'd like to thank all the little people who made this possible. My dad, for the free legal advice, the woman at the post office who helped me send the nasty letter via certified mail, Nadine, the area admin at work who makes sure that there's paper for the printer.

YES!!!! It's all about the small ($142.34) victories.

Looking at my site design, I realize that it's about 6 months behind (I knew the times were a'changing when brig, queen of dark colors, went to white). And I'm okay with that.

Thank god -- Prince Now Prince Again

I dutifully bought The Marshall Mathers LP this morning. Thumbs up!

The rage over postive blogging continues elsewhere. Anything that makes you think about stuff, even if it spawns completely different innovations than the starting point, is a good thing.

Something I didn't know I needed, but now that I see it, the Cast Iron Nun Bottle Opener is what I need. Thanks Sarah.

I'm feeling better. I was forgiven for sending spam (actually, told that my spam never needs forgiving) and after wading through my mail, discovered that there had been a big discussion about the matter, that's what spawned the 'keep it on topic' email. Phew.

I'm slightly pissed off. Yesterday I wrote to some of the dog-transport mailing lists I'm on about a serious emergency (an entire shelter population is being killed today as part of a 'euthanasia clinic'), hoping that someone would be able to help get some of these dogs out before they were senselessly killed today. The moderators of both the lists I sent it to have sent 'housekeeping' notes reminding the list to stay on topic. Which is fine, I WAS off topic, but I'd say it was pretty goddamn important (albeit futile, we were unable to get the animals out and now there are a lot more dogs, cats, kittens and puppies in animal heaven today) so give me a break. Sigh.

Today's Photoshop lesson: when working with an image at 2x regular size, actual image size is SMALLER than what you're working with. Duh is me.

I jinxed it, said that my Grandma is somehow holding her own, and whaddya know, she lands the hospital again.

When she was in there over Christmas, I knew I was a grownup when I met her physical therapist and realized that not only had I gone to high school with this therapist but she was younger than I was. That time in the hospital with Grandma also made me realize that I hated my job.

Every day we took her from the 7th floor down to the 2nd for therapy. We had to pass the 6th floor- maternity, aka the Happy Floor. In sharp contrast to the other floors, this one is decorated and most people are happy, hence the term Happy Floor.

My Dad's response to me finding his lovely photo:

What a handsome guy; he's Mr. Internet!

Yes, Dad you are Mr. Internet.

A movement within a movement that's not really a movement -- non-negative blogging. This reminds me of the "I'll never start" campaign the school had when I was in 4th grade. I was supposed to pledge that I would never smoke cigarettes. Nothing could hold me to this but my word and what did I know, at age 10, what I'd want to do later? So I didn't do it. And I won't pledge to be non-negative because I can't promise that.

I do know that after you die, you're forced to review your life's actions-- evidently your mettle as a person is determined by how you act towards others, specifically did you act out of love whenever possible. I believe this to be true and do my best to act accordingly. To me, this makes a lot more sense than abstinence (because the Bible said so) or judging people (because the Bible said so) or even following a long list of rules (because the Bible said so). I mean, shit, that same Bible also says to throw a menstruating woman outside of the house while she's bleeding. I don't see a lot of menstrual huts on my way to work so I'm thinking that the Bible or any religious doctorine is an evolving thing.

Now that's a mouthful.

Lookie! It's my dad.

I'm headed to lovely Columbus Ohio this weekend and for some strange reason, I'm actually looking forward to it. The last two visits have been largely awful (save Amy breezing into town for a day of fun and frolic) since my Grandma was newly sick/incapacitated and my mom was worn out with the effort of taking care of her and all the things that keep a person's home sustained while they're not in it. Plus, I thought for sure that Buddy's cancer was moving much faster than it has been, so every visit was tinged with the 'this may be the last time I see you' feeling on more than one front.

Grandma is still not who she once was. You may say, shit, Liz, she's 94, what do you expect, but you don't know this woman. She lived at her house until Thanksgiving, 1999, (with a shitload of help from my mom) played bridge and blackjack every week. Now she's someone else, someone who's whole life has been reduced to one room in a nursing home.

Despite all this, I'm looking forward to visiting. This is the first time I've seen Ben since he officially became a member of my family and I've got an exciting day trip to Marion IN planned to help a very nice woman look for her lost dog.

Life is only as interesting as you make it.

We did almost nothing on Saturday, didn't even leave the house until 7 pm. It was exactly what I needed, I think I've finally licked the cold that I couldn't seem to shake.