Gah. I just have to whine a bit.

So tomorrow I have an appointment for a physical (to rule out stuff like a thyroid problem or diabetes), because the optometrist found nothing at all wrong with my eye. Meanwhile, the vision in my left eye has gotten worse. I am unable to read out of that eye alone. But it's the freakiest thing - there are blotches of clear vision mixed amongst areas of blurry, wavy vision. And those various areas stay constant (they shift when I look from place to place).

Another possible explanation is a very delayed reaction to one of my various psych meds. If the physical turns up normal then I'll call my psych Dr. and see if I should switch meds or something.

Tommy, that's quite whine-worthy. Or, alarming.

Yeah. If it's a brain tumor, I'm going to name it 'Brownie.'

Is it just me or does Michael Brown sound extremely whiny?

Perhaps you're creating a rift in our reality, tommy. If so, please stop. If not, you might want to stop anyway.

I just listened in on a con call where they a) didn't know I was present b) spoke less than flatteringly about my teammates. I couldn't ring off, because then the system would announce my name. I think I got away clean.

I have a culture question -- since I've been in the LA area, I've seen a number of mysterious tattoos -- just above the web between the thumb and index finger, in a murky blue that looks like those roller copymaking machines of the early 70s. Homemade looking tats, very small, like three dots or something.

My salacious brain wants to dub them gang signs, but I really have no idea. Do they have a meaning?

Perhaps you're creating a rift in our reality, tommy. If so, please stop. If not, you might want to stop anyway.

Heh. Land Without Shrimp, here I come!

Or maybe all our shrimp would get sucked through the rift....

The kids who self-identified as being in a gang at my highschool used to sometimes have those . That and the teardrop thing. But I have no clue as to the significance.

HEY!

I'm making a seafood salad for dinner tonight. There will be no removing of shrimp from this plane of existance thankyouverymuch.

Did you hear about the Scientology lectures Tom Cruise is giving?

This is not from the Onion.

[link]

Continuing his vigorous advocacy for Scientology's solutions to mental health problems, Tom Cruise will deliver a series of four lectures on topics related to "The Modern Science of Mental Health" beginning next month. Co-sponsored by the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, the lectures will be held at Scientology's Celebrity Centre International in Los Angeles. All lectures will be free to the public. Due to limited seating at the Celebrity Centre, tickets will be available only to Scientology parishioners and selected members of the press, but the lectures will be simulcast on the web, and a live video feed will be available for broadcasters who wish to cover these highly informative presentations.

The first lecture, set for October 15, is titled "How Psychiatry Invented Schizophrenia, and What Scientologists Can Do About It".

The second lecture, tentatively scheduled for October 22, is on "Handling Sexual Dis-Orientation: Out of the Closet and Into the Auditing Room".

The topic of the third lecture, in early November, will be "Diagnosis and Treatment of So-Called Clinical Depression with the Hubbard Mark Super VII Quantum Electropsychometer".

The fourth lecture is "Neuroanatomical Changes Resulting from Chronic Methamphetamine Abuse: Can Narconon's Sauna and Niacin Treatment Program Help?"

Transcripts of each lecture will be made available after the broadcast.

just above the web between the thumb and index finger, in a murky blue that looks like those roller copymaking machines of the early 70s. Homemade looking tats, very small, like three dots or something.

Yup. The meaning differs between ethnic groups, but very popular with gangs.