Thanks for all the well-wishes for my dad, folks. Still no word, which I'd take as a good sign if Mom hadn't waited til after 10am today to tell me about everything because "she didn't want to worry me." Hopefully he's feeling OK by now.

Gandalfe, hope everything works out OK with the kiddo.

Anyone who'd let their child sleep over at Unca Mikey's house, raise yo hand.

I don't think I'd be letting my hypothetical children stay over at any celebrity's house unsupervised, let alone one with MJ's history. But in my mind, sleepovers are only at the homes of relatives and trustworthy parents of the kids' friends.

I'm fat. But I'm pretty. So there.

I've seen pictures. Unless there was an incredibly talented photographer, only half of this statement is true.

I've always been heavy, but things went downhill when I was in my late twenties and got tendonitis in both ankles. It has turned into a semi-chronic thing. I think I blame the injury more than the age. I should have listened when they said not to do aerobics with crappy shoes, even if they did let me slide from side to side on the carpet.

But in my mind, sleepovers are only at the homes of relatives and trustworthy parents of the kids' friends.

Matt is me. Plus, no matter who it is, what I'd want to know is, Why do you, Mr. Celebrity Type, want my kid sleeping at your house? Just shake his hand and offer to take a picture with him, and he'd be over the moon.

The worst thing about the MJ verdict is that MJ isn't going to see this as a close call/better change my ways kind of thing. He is going to see this as a general acceptance of his creeptastic behavior and continue with it, unabated. At least until his nose falls in and he becomes a Howard Hughes Hermit.

Skipped earlier, but dealing ~ma to Gandalfe and family, and to Matt and his family and healing ~ma to his dad, although I hope that the healing ~ma turns out to be not so necessary.

This is rather ironic--a Chicago author whose most famous books are about prominent Chicago fire is now charged with setting one of his one. I have both of these books, too.

I'd really like to go home now, and see how my brain is doing, since I seem to have left it there, alone with the cats, all day.

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At least until his nose falls in and he becomes a Howard Hughes Hermit.

Well, at the rate his nose is going, that won't be long.

Put me in the "verdict of EEEEEEWWWWWW! on the sleepovers" category. I'll defer to the jury as to this particular kid. But at the very least, Jackson obviously doesn't have a clue as to Where The Boundaries Are.

Good luck figuring out the family stuff, askye. It's so hard. My grandmother is going blind, but still drives in the daytime, but she needs to get her license renewed. There's no way she'd pass an eye test, but not being able to drive ever would kill her. Literally, I think. So then my mother found out you can just renew your license online, but she can't decide if she should tell my grandmother or not. Ack.

Add me to the folks who would be more than happy to live in a community with people my age where they arrange my social life and grocery shopping, etc., though.