whats new?

well well well. it’s …been a while, hasn’t it? it’s crazy in these here parts.

• boyfriend lives several states away and we are working on remedying that
• feeling a little down re: above. ok, ALOT down. a little too much comfort eating and couch potato-ing on that tip.
• it’s my birthday this week. ick. i feel like i haven’t come fully back from the whole surgery thing of the year before. what does that mean? i am sooooo fat! well, not soooooo fat, but still about 30# heavier than i was last summer. and i have all the power to fix that, but i am just stressed and tense all the time. actually physically feeling ok, and running some again, but mostly blobulous.
• my poppa is sick. he has cancer. a kind of bad cancer. not sure how this is all going to go. he and my mamie live in indiana. i will be spending some time there this week. and probably as much time as i can over the next few months. its a real real tough one.

aaawwwwwwwwwww SNAP!

Subtitle: It’s All About Me

Something happened this past week that has been bothering me just a wee bit. I am a person that loves podcasts. I cannot be without my ipod for long and especially with the lack of NPR reception in my building and the pathetic quality of my laptop speakers, various podcasts are central to my various activities of daily living. I also cohost and produce a podcast, which many of you reading this know. Having now been on that side of things, as well as a listener, I am especially keen on the fun and hard work that go into podcasting. And that many podcasts out there, like ours, are entirely DIY. Done for fun with varying levels of equipment etc… And I love that aspect of it. Now, not all the shows I listen to are of the “home grown” sort, and that’s fine too. I am a member of my local public radio station (although that is very confusing to me as, bandwidth costs $$ and most podcasts are free whether the content is from a major source or my living room).  Even so, in my mind, people who do podcasts in particular are a special breed – real cool cats.

So there is a show I’ve been listening to for a few months. I really enjoy it and look forward to it twice a week. Perhaps because I love it so, I’ve noticed, in passing, that a bit of the content has been linked to (duh) it’s commercial sponsor/home – although I didn’t really realize the link when I began listening to it. Not that there’s anything wrong with that at all. Just a couple of episodes, while still super enjoyable, as I was listening to them, I just remember thinking that it was a little over obviously a bit of a commercial for the parent company. No big deal. Earlier in the week there was a show with what struck me as quite the funny pun in it and I was sort of itching to write a fan letter. So when the next episode came out, I was trying to make myself pay attention to the podcast email address. Then the next show I heard went off on a semi-conspiratorial tangent that seemed to be getting a little off into the crazies to me. It’s not a subject I know a tremendous amount about, but I do know a little about it as there was a slight – very slight – link to some job experiences of mine. Again, really neither here nor there, I guess I just for some reason got a wild hare and the original love letter I planned to write turned into what I thought was a statement about loving the show and maybe the “product placement” aspect could be spaced out a little more, maybe just not so blatant, oh, and by the way, that last show was kind of irresponsible in that  it seemed to be endorsing a mass government conspiracy and another thing….. Oh, and PS, there was a really funny moment on this one show. And I mailed it.

Now, let me say, in my own defense that:

• I had Trace read my letter and he didn’t think it was psycho mean or anything
• I hat giving any kind of negative or “constructive” feedback to podcasts. I mean, even if these dudes produce this as part of their job, nobody makes me listen and for a lot of podcasters it truly is a labor of love. Who am I too judge?

Let me also say that later THAT NIGHT I received this reply:

Thanks for the comments, Lisa. We do the best we can given the guidelines handed down to us by the people signing our paychecks.
 
Thanks for listening

Hi, My name is Lisa and I suck. Yeah, I feel about this big. I couldn’t somehow explain that I just was a little overwrought because I do enjoy the show so much and I was engaging in spirited debate. And that I really really really like their show. Poo.

But it gets better.

So today a new show comes out. Now, I am sure they prerecord the whole deal way ahead of time. The show begins with a brief introduction and an “offhand” remark about  something about thanking the podcast listeners and something about how people like it and maybe would pay for it, thus appreciating it more,oh whoops, podcasts are free and then the guy who replied to my letter says, and I quote:

Yes, and think about that before you write in and tell us we’re idiots. We’ll give you your money back.

Coinkydink? I think not, but then I am completely paranoid. So, what do you do? If there is a show and something that you disagree with gets you going passionately, do you respond? Is it fair to call anybody on sponsorship issues – just in that its noticeable and maybe it could be spaced out a little bit more (there wasn’t a lot of it for a while, then a few together)? I wish I never sent the damn thing.

 

 

and another thing

Well, I for one had a spendicularly fantastical morning!! I thought I was off today, and worked tomorrow. You can see where this is going.

So, when I got to work at 815 this morning, it was all downhill from there. So, on another note:

• Hillary Clinton giving the smackdown – this was all over the news today. And I say “you GO girl!!”. Good for her! I didn’t think her response was all that bad anyway. Icing on the cake – the talking head FEMALE discussing it with Meredith Viera on the “Today” show this morning, blames Ms. Clinton’s response potentially on jet lag or A BAD HAIR DAY. Yeah, I’d smack down an idiot or two as well…
• Why is Miley Cyrus dancing on, around or anywhere near a freaking stripper pole or any pole of any nature?
• Where did those two female tattoo artists that were on that Kat Von D reality show, LA Ink, go?
• Kate Gosselin is still annoying.

PS – one year ago TODAY, I was in the hospital with a big ol’ neckbrace on!!! OMG – it’s been a whole year!!!!

i just don’t get it

It’s time for bed, just watching the end of the TV show, “Ruby”, on the style channel and i find myself getting annoyed.

Here’s what I don’t get, have never gotten. This most recent episode I have tivo’d has to do in aprt with this woman going to the GYN. The “lady doctor”. The gynie. Whatever.  And all the hesitancy and fear involved. And she is close to my age and hasn’t been for 10 years.

OK. This show in particular has to do with a morbidly obese woman and her struggles in the world and I totally get that my experiences are not hers and that being that overweight is fraught with negative medical establishment associations.

HOWEVER, many women express this same fear and concern and utter dread of the GYN office visit. I have never understood this. EVER. And I took MYSELF to Planned Parenthood at age **hhmmmmhhcfff** when I became sexually active and took care of myself. It’s part of being a woman. Duh. I mean, I can name few people who could say they ENJOY going to get an annual exam but c’mon!!!!!

I just cannot and can never understand how someone can be so freaked out by their own body that they wouldn’t go to get checked up. I mean, can you SEE your own cervix? Even with a mirror and months of dedicated bikram yoga practice, this is difficult. It’s a DOCTOR. It’s not some random person getting a cheap thrill looking up into your vagina. Unless their name is Gwen. But I digress.

odds and ends

• author sandra tsing loh is divorcing and wrote this article about it. interesting article, many truisms (i think, speaking as a never married) but ultimately too bleak.
• city of virginia beach FAIL: i noticed a change at the little park just across the street from where i live. about 2 weeks ago, there was lots of tree cutting and trimming activity. i am one that would normally support fairly vigorous pruning as i walk my dog alot and will have memorized which streets or trails have lots of low hanging tree branches that threaten to gouge out my eyes on my walks with the magpie. however, they did appear to be planning to deforest the landscape, which i had commented to my guy when i noticed it. in any event, sometime last week, i noticed that the benches were different. instead of just a regular, metal bench that was there – and not that old or weathered in appearance – i started noticing benches with a little armrest in the middle. like dividing a bench into two sections of two seats. so how does that relate to the compassion fail? well, those types of benches, specifically recently placed benches, are devised at least in part to render lieing on or sleeping on benches impossible. it harkens back to debates in my hometown (san francisco!!) in the 80’s (maybe they still debate it, despite SF’s reputation as completely socialist).  i just saw on this mornings news that a homeless shelter has been built about 2 blocks in the other direction, so i realized there is definitely a connection there. i find it disappointing. i mean, i have noticed a particular kind of asian appearing man on a 10 speed with really old school radio headphones that did seem to be stationed on one of those benches napping alot since i’ve been here, and i have noticed the wafting scent of pot drifting from individuals sitting for a long while in that area… but i also feel for the folks who don’t have a place to go during the day – and may not feel safe at night sleeping in a new and clean shelter with strangers in a room. i’m conflicted.  i don’t want to encourage loitering or unsafe areas by any means (the landscaping changes do make for more visible areas which i actually now think is an improvement and make it more likely that i might strol around the block there at dusk), but i also think switching out new and perfectly good benches for most likely lieing down inhibition is kind of paranoid.
• in regards to using FAIL above, slate posted a great article about the epic rise of fail
• i am enjoying twitter so much – i’ve so  been on it for a few years -  i do approve my “followers”, after the epic fail of having them as a widget on my blog last year and the ensuing nightmare – and i really do keep in touch on a daily basis with quite a few really cool people i know who live far away. wish i could get my brother and grandparents to tweet!
• i <3 my boyfriend! he is completely wonderful and awesome and smart and cute! i aim to get so we are able to spend any and every moment we want together, but for obvious reasons, i can’t really put all of that out there on the blog.
• maggie is barking at the open window. incessantly.

this one’s for all the zombies

so, i know there are zillions of folks that work nights regularly (the key phrase there would be REGULARLY), but i haven’t for a long long time. in fact, after i finished anesthesia school and got onto a more day time schedule (despite occasional call), i slept better and my frequent migraines all but disappeared.

i worked last night 7p-7a and will work this weekend nights as well. 3 lousy shifts. i get some unknown to me at the present amount of shift differentail and all that and we all have to do our share. but (in the words of our new president) let me be clear – I HATE WORKING NIGHTS.

i hate being up all night. i hate not being able to sleep during the day. i hate having a head ache and scratchy red eyes. i hate eating 3 times the amount i would normally eat in a 3 day period. i hate working – which i might just say here that i can function just fine – when i routinely lose the ability to articulate anything of meaning between the hours of 2am and 5am to another human being without visual aides and a round of charades.  i hate wandering round the house after not being able to get comfortable and not being able to pay much attention to anything. and i hate that it will screw up my very sad sleep schedule for the next month and half.

glass half full, anyone?