Thanks for the birthday wishes everyone!

Beej, congrats on the new relationship.

Felicitations and ~ma to those that need and deserve them.

Any suggestions for side dishes to go with shrimp scampi?

rice and broccoli. the better to soak up the garlic butter with. Unless you are making british shrimp scampi, which we call fried shrimp. And then I would suggest a nice salad.

Juliana--I keep meaning to ask--did you have extensive post-concussive syndrome after your fall?

Oh, hell yes. It was part of the reason I felt so betrayed by the whole divorce thing - I am/was still recuperating, and it felt like he couldn't deal. There is still fallout from the injury, even 15 months later. I'm planning to go see a neuropsych for cognitive testing as soon as I get my health insurance back. (I meant to last fall, but I had other things taking my attention.)

I forget - have you been sent to a neuropsych yet? Has it been discussed?

My dad's birthday was Valentine's Day so it remains special to us. I have no plans other than getting kiddy valentines tonight.

Love the CNN page Cheney link. Too much fun!!

Also enjoying the jokes. I am looking forward to the late night comics and Jon. Ah such fun.

My two year old's daycare sent a note home tonight that we need to bring valentines and a snack tomorrow for their valentine's party. To which I says "sheesh" on a variety of levels.

A kid got on the bus this afternoon and said, "Cheney shot a guy! I've been saying it all day, and it's still fun!"

I am/was still recuperating, and it felt like he couldn't deal

Other people are a fuckery, aren't they? Or more accurately, one's interaction with them. Dependence, vulnerability, habit, change...it's so fraught.

There is still fallout from the injury, even 15 months later.

Ah, man, that's awful.

have you been sent to a neuropsych yet?

Nope. Setting the headaches aside for a moment (ahh, that feels nice), I've had some vocab lapses and some difficulty remembering people's names. I worked out coping mechanisms for the one back when I concussed in my 20s, and I just ignore the second. And I can feel them both getting better.

I've actually been surprised by the relative lack of Valentine's Day schmaltz and high pressure marketing in the media. Ah, Olympics, yet another thing to thank you for.

Another cool NASA picture:

The Dasht-e Kevir, or valley of desert, is the largest desert in Iran. It is a primarily uninhabited wasteland, composed of mud and salt marshes covered with crusts of salt that protect the meager moisture from completely evaporating.

A kid got on the bus this afternoon and said, "Cheney shot a guy! I've been saying it all day, and it's still fun!"

Hilarious.

Other people are a fuckery, aren't they?

Word.

Ah, man, that's awful.

Meh. I mean, thanks, but it's mostly coping mechanisms like the ones you described. My brain got scrambled - I had to learn new ways to think. I write so. much. more. down now, though. My short-term is for shit.

For msbelle - my date tomorrow night will be at the Monkey Noodle House. I will report back on the tastiness of the monkey noodles.

Of course, I went to the fauxnews Cheney site and put in GWB's name. It is a lot of fun.