Still feeling ill, so I missed bab5 tonight and also Affliction. Apologies to all and sundry for my absence. On the up side, I wasn't feeling up to sitting at the computer for hours on end, so I've played no computer games and have done quite a lot of knitting whilst reclining upon the big red couch of doom. I definitely recommend that beginner knitters start with large needles, btw. So much more satisfying to see relatively rapid progress. Okay, time to return to the couch and my mug of Moroccan Mint tea w/honey...

I've survived the in-laws (and the step-in-laws), and am now at my parents' place again. Not feeling all that energetic. 'Twould be nice to go home to SF, but it'll also be nice to see everyone at the new years party. It's just that the holidays involves so much bouncing around, especially this year with the conference in Vancouver tacked on at the beginning.

We had planned to be cooking and organizing tonight, but that's apparently happening for all of tomorrow instead of in the evening/nighttime today & tomorrow. It's all good, though. Didn't manage to get in touch with a friend in the city (NYC), so were apparently just going to be lazy bums tonight and not go anywhere. I wasn't feeling all that ambitious anyway. just futzing with the computer (yay! new cable modem!) and reading, and perhaps turning the tv on, you never know. I saw some of the footage from the tsunami earlier, when my parents were watching the news. Hadn't before then. Amazing & terrible devastation. :( The scale of it just boggles the mind. On a slightly lighter note, my dad caught the tail end of an interview with some guy who barely made it out of the WTC on 9-11, who miraculously survived the tsunami (I think he was on the beach in Thailand). That guy should keep a blog so that I can keep track of where he is and avoid him! Actually, I think I want to either be far far away or holding his hand. *He'll* survive, but those nearby... Anyway, I'll see lots of you soon, either in Glen Rock on NYE or back in SF.

PS- Consider this a party pre-announcement. Still need to pick a day (yeah, yeah, I'll get to it), but my b-day's on 1/12, so I'll be planning *something*.

Yup, we're at my parents' place in Edgewater, NJ. Today consisted of a lengthy shopping trip, various episodes of getting my parents' new computer set up (including a visit from the cable modem guy to get that hooked up), and doing laundry from appoximately midnight until 2am. Their data is mostly transferred, and the new setup is working well. I'm using it now. Still have the old one going so that we can get stuff off of it as needed.

Yesterday we bused from Boston to NYC, where we were picked up by my dad. Crazy traffic by Grand Central, as expected. Our bus driver was also relatively insane, but we all survived, so that's fine. Got here, had dinner with the 'rents, and then went over to Glen Rock to visit with sbtorpey. She'd gotten her dad to build a fire before he went to bed, so we sat in front of it, tending it as needed and hung out. Got back here about 2:30am and started the computer setup process.

Tomorrow we'll hopefully purchase the last few things for xmas, and then my brother's arriving from SF. We'll go to sushi (darn!). Planning to go back over to Glen Rock, probably, but we'll see. I should go to bed now, even though I'm not tired....

Tonight is our last night in Vancouver. We drive to Whistler tomorrow for the next two nights, before heading to Boston. It'll be nice to get in a bit of skiing, even if I did have to leave my boots at home. Decided that it was more hassle than it was worth to bring them, since we're not going home for 2 more weeks, and dragging ski boots around on various plane & bus rides would suck. Got a bit of shopping done today, but there's much more to be done before xmas. I *did* get some stuff for myself, but I seldom buy things back home and they have different thrift/used/vintage clothing stores here. Had dinner with Bonnie yesterday & today (& the two nights before as well, but you knew that). Good to know people in lots of different cities, I must say...

http://www.choosetheblue.com/

Corporations are as important as politicians in American Politics.

You know what party a politician supports. Do you know which political party a company supports?

ChooseTheBlue tells you what corporations donated to political parties.

If each American who voted for John Kerry spends $100 in 2005 on a Blue company instead of a Red company, we can move $5 Billion away from Republican companies and add $5 Billion to the income of companies who donate to Democrats.

This will be noticed! Choose where you buy ... and make a difference!!!

After a pleasant evening at Sin, we returned to our car to find that the driver's side window had been smashed and various items stolen (nothing major, they got in through the back seat and took the tire chains, *new* jumper cables that we got 6 days ago, some random other "car stuff", the manual of the car (of all things), and most random of all, one of the two bags of books that we've been gradually selling to Know Knew Books in Palo Alto). Not the stereo, or the CDs, or the Fast Track thingie... Whatever. Anyway, do any of you have any idea where to go on a Sunday to get glass replaced? At least it doesn't look like it's planning to rain tonight... (Rob says: "Hrmph, tempting fate!")

Also, does anyone know if there's any point in filing a police report? My recollection is that it's a hassle and they don't give a sh*t and won't do anything about it anyway. Let me know if you know otherwise.

http://peers.org/vamp04.html
So, I haven't ever been to a Peers event. What time do people tend to arrive? We couldn't go to the lesson this afternoon, so we'll be relatively clueless. Doors open at 7, dance begins at 7:30. I think it all ends at midnight. Trying to figure out what to aim for here. Information? Suggestions?

I want to wear my horns (yeah, I'm boring, it'll be the Demonic Bobbysoxer again), but I can't find my spirit gum to attach them with... Anyone got some spirit gum they can bring to the DNA (not too industrial strength, plz)? We're going to head over to the DNA, hopefully arriving around 10:30 (though we live near the castro, so all bets are off on timeliness). I'm going to do one more sweep for my missing spirit gum, now...

EDITED TO ADD: I found it! I found it! Thanks anyway....

My brother sent this to me.

GW Bush as religious nut:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/03/arts/03rich.html?8hpib

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