{{Aimee}} That sounds like a dreadful situation.

Aha, so I was not crazy in my Ruthven pronunciation thinking! But I will defer to Jilli's preferences becqaue, you know, her cat, she can pronounce the name however she likes.

::does secret dance of rightness::

gets David's joke

laughs and laughs and laughs

gets carted off by men in white coats

Tzepesh...This inevitably tweaks my music brain into a conversation with Brock Sampson.

Does not get David's joke.

Decides this is what I will call Teppy someday, when I get to have too many drinks with her.

Does not get David's joke.

Let's make oblique VM references in response, so that one day in their memoirs they'll describe us as "inscrutable."

HINT: David's joke is a pun, the obscure cultural references are spurious.

Let's make oblique VM references in response, so that one day in their memoirs they'll describe us as "inscrutable."

Smurfs don't lay eggs! I won't tell you this again! Papa Smurf has a fucking beard! They're mammals!

Apparently this is the reward I get for years of screwing with super-science. In short, I pissed in God's eye - and He blinked.

Dean! Have you been shooting dope into your scrotum? You can tell me! I'm hip!

There is a television behind the El Greco. Sadly, the remote has vanished from the material sphere! So it's stuck on Animal Planet.

Dr. Girlfriend: Oh yeah, that guy is totally straight. I saw a whole thing about him on the VH1.
The Monarch: But he's the guy from Depeche Mode. It's impossible.

Dr. Venture: Oh, you don't know when to stop with all this, do you? You just keep pushing my buttons!
The Monarch: You're my arch-enemy! That's what I do! That's my thing!

That's where I'd read Ruthven! Tzepesh threw me a bit with the spelling until I said it in my head (and let me insert my rant here about some vampire movie I watched once that pronounced his name Vlad Teppis. Like tepid. @@).

And still, none of my co-workers get why I think our contact named Byron Polidari has a cool name.

Good morning all!

gets carted off by men in white coats

Well, a little rest might be nice.

beth, prayers and good thoughts and lots of healing ~ma to B and family. What's the prognosis, does one recover from meningitis paralysis? t /ignorant

{{PC}}, you've already gotten lots of excellent advice. I'll re-iterate what I've found most valuable for myself (my mother is a Pro at the Passive-Aggressive Bullshit). You can only be responsible for you. I think your calm in the face of her storm is your best possible route. If you can't change her (you can't), all you can change is your response to her. And ocasionally (very slowly) they'll change a bit when they don't get the hystrionic response they expect. (I know we didn't talk much at F2F, I have that shy/quiet at first until I loosen up thing, same as you. And shy+shy not equaling to "getting to know you." But you seem like a great guy. Take the Buffistas' word for it. We're smart. We know stuff. Keep that in mind). Best of luck.

Decides this is what I will call Teppy someday, when I get to have too many drinks with her.

"Tep"esh?

Their album was inspired by Led Zepplin. Therefore, it was "zep-ish".

Raq! Tell me more about your new haircut.

Then go take pictures of yourself for an hour.