rustle

Yep, for our viewing pleasure.

You wish.

uhhhh

I'd rather eat a cockroach. Oh, wait...

We have a significant homeless population year-round. Several of them have dogs, but I've never seen a cat with any of them. To me, it makes no difference. Those with a pet take comfort in the pet, but it takes more resources. I help when I can. Never seen a homeless person with a fat pet, but they appear healthy, and happy to have somebody to hang out with, smelly or not. Dogs are like that.

Twilight neuters the horror and wonder of the creatures of the night, legends of fear and loathing, and turns them into something cute and cuddly. Anne Rice captured the amorality, the loneliness, and tragedy of the creatures. The twilight series changed the legend into something to appeal to most young girls - clothing the white knight in glitter and pallor. Rowling's books did the same with wizardry, yet I still enjoy them. Not sure I can say why.

1. Business is business, and if your firm doesn't make a profit, it cannot stay in business to service people's needs in the future. 2. You agree with the need. 3. Other jobs are being created. More than those you're terminating. It sounds to me as if you are not without feeling for these folks, but you're in finance. That's the occupational hazard. Think of the jobs you're saving, too, by keeping the company profitable, and the benefits to the economy of keeping others employed. Nothing comes without a cost. You may not recognize it in yourself at the moment, but you're a good man with a good heart. If you weren't, you wouldn't have questioned yourself, or checked the numbers.

James, thanks for the historical perspective. Most reasoning people probably assumed a program such as this existed. Few people would say oversight isn't needed. I take issue with Clapper's denial under oath before Congress, but maybe some Q&A should occur behind closed doors, instead, beyond the periodic briefings currently provided. Far too much of the work of Congress is taking an opportunity to be shown conducting the nation's business, instead of simply conducting that business w/o fanfare or photo ops. We're now told that a vast amount of data is collected - far too much to process. What happens to the collected data which is not processed? Is it discarded, or stored for possible future use, like surplus produce from the garden? If it's stored, is it guarded by Cerberus, or stuck on a flash drive and kept in a shoebox? Can it be used to someone's detriment? These seem greater concerns.

No, I can leave any time I like. Uh-huh. Any. Time.

Is this a new appreciation growing? It seems a good thing.

No mystery to me. "Do I buy the Magnums, or be honest, and get the ones that'll fit?"

The more normal we're permitted to be, the more normal we become.

The most frequent issue I encounter is overuse. This doesn't just happen in prose.

A friend turned fifty last year. A couple of friends staked 50 dolls' severed heads in her front yard. Her neighbors were alarmed.

Grandma sounds sharp. Betcha don't have to. She'll see it.

Learn how to properly tie down a load in an open pickup. And do it.

I need to brush up on a couple things.

How much of friendship is shared experience and familiarity? When the river forks, and you go in separate ways, sometimes the forks rejoin, but you've no longer the shared experience. So you have a new shared experience, and discover something changed. We tell ourselves how much we shared, but find it hard to face the change. And when we go our own ways, we promise to get back together again. Sometimes, that just doesn't happen. Sometimes, the bridges don't burn. They collapse from neglect, and we can't make to the other side any more. Then, the best we can muster is cordiality, shrouded in reminiscence or ambivalence. Did you expect to be boys, together, forever?

Wishing you a swift and sure recovery, kid. I hope your therapist is so cute, you enjoy every minute of it.

When my mom was in ger 40s, she had a radical mastectomy, due a malignancy discovered in a biopsy. She didn't have reconstruction, but lived with a gnarly scar for alll those years. Rehab was tough, but she never regretted the procedure. A male friend of mine had to have a mastectomy, too. He's lived for several years, now. As Mike said, though, the decision isn't to be made in a vacuum. It affects your life, and your life determines the better choice.

better with every reading

Dumb luck. Inept opposition. Focus. Skill. Mostly, I succeed when buoyed up by righteous indignation and passion. There is no substitute for being in the right and knowing it. Same question.

I already do, but long-distance relationships, like inter-generational ones, are fraught. Besides, Woobie Bear wouldn't like the competition. Why do you fail?

I have mixed feelings about this. The book is incredible, but movies so rarely measure up to books.

Ry, I can't say I know ADHD, but even the most monumental achievements can be broken down into small components. Sometimes, it's more important to keep coming back to something than it is to keep at it. Don't browbeat yourself. Some things cannot be beaten. But you can train yourself to work with what you have. T'other thing is, Lugh's right about the meds. And other stuff.