Marshmallow Scars

Took this last September – U2360° at Soldier Field, Chicago

One of my favorite pictures from Disneyland a week and a half ago.

Started getting used to my meds (they still mess with me, though), and then I got hit with H1N1. I’m still not at 100% – every little thing makes me tired, and I seem to catch every last stupid bug that everyone brings into work because they want to save their sick days. I burned all of my remaining vacation time to keep them all healthy, and they’re coming in with bronchitis that they’re sure isn’t contagious. Uh huh.

That’s where I am. One of these days I’m expecting a nice surprise, like winning the lottery or something. My luck’s got to turn at some point, right? RIGHT?

I’ve been pretty sick for a while, and I finally browbeat my doctor into doing some tests and finding out that I have PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome). It’s pretty much exactly like it sounds. I’ve got one large cyst and a bunch of tiny pre-cyst formations on my ovaries. My oldest sister had the same thing, but she experienced pain and other issues, so she had a hysterectomy. I haven’t been having pain, so I’m going the medication route.

My meds KILL my stomach because I’m not used to them yet. Even taking them with a meal only slightly lessens the problem. It’s not as bad as when I first started taking them, but it’s still a nuisance. Tomorrow I get to start taking the main pill two times a day rather than once, so I will enjoy another long period of feeling like some evil little digestive-tract-dwelling elf is in there burning out the lining of my stomach with a blow torch. Happy fun times!

That’s where I’ve been. It’s not an excuse, but it’s been very difficult to be positive when I’ve been dealing with copays and deductibles and bitchass doctors with their heads up their asses. All I’ve felt like doing is whining, so I’ve not really been doing anything at all.

The only things that have been keeping me sane is playing Mafia Wars on facebook and rereading a bunch of novels that I had boxed away.

Been dealing with some medical issues. Hate having to pay a fricking huge insurance premium, ridiculous co-pays, then getting bills in the mail because my insurance doesn’t cover everything. AWESOME!

I’m tired of people who claim to be Christians but are whining about a public health care option because – horror of horrors! – their money will be used to provide quality medical care for people less fortunate than they are.¹ I can’t even begin to fathom the kind of cruelty and greed someone has to harbor in their heart in order to think that way; it literally makes me sick to my stomach when I think about it.

I’m not sure what Bible those people have been pretending to read, but the one I grew up studying had this guy named Jesus in it who taught that each person is equally loved by God as one of his children and, as such, deserves *our* love and kind regard, too.

Who are any of us to decide that hey, God was wrong, this person doesn’t deserve equal treatment because I don’t like (how poor he is/the color of her skin/who he kisses at night/the way she talks/etc.) ?

I’ll tell you – we’re nobody.

Here’s a tip from me to you: If you are a Christian, you’re not allowed to pick and choose which of Jesus of Nazareth’s teachings you want to follow; it’s all or nothing. None of this Well, He said to tend his flock and to love everyone and treat them how I want to be treated, but He couldn’t have meant for us to actually use some of our hard-earned money just to help sick people. They’re probably all crack addicts with ten kids anyway and should just get a job and save their own money. bullshit. Aside from the fact that there are plenty of hardworking individuals who would be helped by a public option, that does not matter. Even if every last person who would benefit was the racist stereotype of a welfare queen who is too lazy to work, you as a Christian should still support this anyway because it is ALL OR NOTHING. LOVE THEM ALL. TREAT THEM ALL LIKE YOUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS BECAUSE THEY ARE YOUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS.

Also, Jesus said so:

Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me,
naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’
Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?
When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?
When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’
And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’
Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’
Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’
He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’
And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

- The Gospel of Matthew 25:34-46, New American Bible
    source: The Vatican

¹ Spoiler: We already have a system that does that! It’s just not as large in scale as the proposed public option in the bill currently before Congress.

taken three years ago

The weather has been pleasant, even if it hasn’t been summer-like. We had our local festival last week, and it went well. I don’t think there were record-breaking crowds this year or anything, but I enjoyed having the street closed off and having some peace and quiet at night, with no cars driving by my window and revving their engines at the stop light at all hours. I am an old fuddy duddy, basically.

I took this the night before they set anything up for the carnival, but they still had the roads blocked off:

It was so nice and peaceful and gorgeous. I wanted to grab a folding chair and sit on the sidewalk in front of my door and sleep out there. Not sure the cops would have appreciated that, though. *g*

My exciting news– Well, two things that I find exciting, but one of them is actually exciting and one of them is exciting for boring fuddy duddy type people. I got a Dyson vacuum, and it is awesome! It is, alas, not one of the Dyson Ball vacs that turn on a dime. Those are WAY too expensive. I popped over to Overstock.com and got a lovely refurbished dc14 for 214 bucks! It was ridiculously cheap, and I really needed a vacuum (I’d been trying to clean my apartment with Dad’s mini ShopVac, which really doesn’t work), so I figured I’d spend an extra hundred bucks and get something that shouldn’t break within the year. woo! I can vacuum my many, many stairs!

And now the REAL exciting news. Okay, two parts. Halloween weekend I’m going to Vegas to celebrate my friend Anj’s birthday. It is going to be crazy fun! We’ve been looking forward to it since last spring – her brother and mom and a bunch of her other friends are going to be there, too, and it’s basically going to be just an amazingly awesome weekend.

A couple of weeks ago, I found out that the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame is having two concerts to celebrate the Hall’s 25th anniversary, on October 29th and 30th in New York City. The concert on the 30th will be Aretha Franklin, Eric Clapton, Metallica, and U2. METALLICA AND U2! My two all-time favorite bands, which I could have never dreamed would be playing at the same concert! Plus, Eric Clapton is amazing in concert (as you’d expect). And I’ve always had it in my mind that I want to see Aretha Franklin sing “Respect” as one of those nebulous Life Goals that people make silly lists for. Anyway. Long story not so short, but shorter than it could be: I checked plane tickets, and it’s not really that much more money to add NYC as a leg on my trip to Vegas, and I somehow got lucky enough to score a ticket to the concert during the Amex pre-sale (Prepaid cards FOR THE WIN), and I AM GOING TO SEE METALLICA AND U2! PLAYING ON THE SAME NIGHT! AND POSSIBLY ONE OR MORE MEMBERS PLAYING SOMETHING TOGETHER! AND I THINK I WILL DIE OF AURAL ORGASM! I AM SO EXCITED I CANNOT POSSIBLY STOP USING ALLCAPS TO EXPRESS THE RIDICULOUSNESS OF THE SITUATION.

I mean, seriously. Metallica and U2? WTF?

AAAAAHHHHHH! So. Awesome.

So, that’s my news.

I’m flipping through a bunch of pictures I took when I went to Hawaii a few years back, and I came across this one. It looks like I took it in Black & White, but I didn’t. It’s the Pacific Ocean with clouds over it, from the top of Diamond Head.

I would go back to Hawaii any day, no questions asked. It’s amazing there.

I went and paid way too much for a haircut tonight. The result is pretty good, but damn, I could grocery shop for 2 weeks with that 40 bucks. The chick who did my hair gives good shampoo. We’ll leave it at that. *g*

Tomorrow is a Pig Roast benefit for my cousin’s family. Her husband was just diagnosed with cancer at the beginning of May, and he was unlucky enough to get a really aggressive brand. Of course, neither of them have health insurance through their jobs, and they have three teenagers. Anything that helps pay the bills, man. My brother’s hosting at his place, and they’re there setting stuff up right now.

Tonight I’m going to do some rocking out on my fakey Rock Band drums, then get up early and head out for doing whatever needs to be done. Pray for good weather, a big crowd, and more importantly, pray for Keven if you’re of a mind. He’s a good guy.

re: Rock Band – I downloaded the three Metallica songs from the music store, and the sound mixing on them is CRAP. I still love them, though. Those little flames in the drum difficulty area aren’t kidding. The “easy” version of the songs (Ride the Lightning, Blackened, and And Justice For All) is quite a bit tougher than the medium and hard on a lot of other songs. I think I am in love.

Okay. Off to rock out! Maybe I should eat, so I can have a beer or two. That always makes for Happy FunTiems* with coordination.

*spelled that way on purpose, yes