I'm sorry for your family's loss, omnis.

laga - so sorry about Bob.

omnis, I'm sorry to hear about your aunt.

Universe... yes, you. Seriously? A good week would be lovely.

Happy belated anniversary to Jessica & Fone Bone... and good going back to work vibes too (hormones, follow universe!). We did it, are still doing it. It gets done. It's not perfect, by any means. But doable. ::sends reassurances through the internets::

We spent a bunch of yesterday at the Please Touch Museum in philly. They have a child-sized grocery store, with carts, empty boxes of Raisin Bran, and a checkout line, and its the size of half a basketball court almost. At first, Iris was one of a few kids in there - and was puttering around pondering the price of avocados; then came a rush on aisle 5, and I swear every toddler in a 3 block area must have pounded red bull and grabbed a mini-cart while the parents weren't looking. Suddenly it was the Indy-500 in there. very funny. The museum had a puppet show about the first Vietnamese dragon too. It's a little commercial, but still - they had a Where the Wild Things Are room with vines to swing on. And a city bus for kids to drive. That made the Iris very happy. She made me get off the bus for singing though. And burned off some of the grocery store crazies.

We're taking Tuck to the dog park, then maybe going for a short walk in Wissahickon State Park before it rains. Then, possibly, I go Back To Target to give them more of my money for more of their cabinet-helpers.

Box count stands at 7.

Oh, and some Amtrak ~ma for tomorrow would be awesome, if anyone has some to spare? I'm doing my first Philly-to-Baltimore run (if I can do this without car, I am psyched) and woke to find not only e-ticket nightmare but also yeesh-engine fire in NC. Just say no to engine fires. Bad Amtrak.

omnis, I'm sorry about your aunt.

Amtrak~ma, Sox!

Good morning, rest of world. I have the gronk. I started drinking caffeine again last week, with the classic addict's reasoning of "Surely I can have a little bit!" which led to pounding 20-oz Mountain Dews in the dumpster behind 7-11. (Okay, fine, I exaggerate.) I couldn't sleep last night, and now I'm tired and irritable. Oh, yeah - that's why I quit. And now I need to do the laundry again and clean the bathroom. Why can't the fucking housework just stay done?

Amtrak~ma. Transport is so cool when it works right.

Zenkitty, my sistah. I hear you on both the caffeine and housework issues. I clearly can't live without caffeine, yet sleeping at night is such a good thing. I'm going to try the cut off after lunch method, again. Housework, another level of hell. My current plan involves getting the place to a level of order that will allow me to get a cleaning person again. Right now it would not be possible for a pro to clean since there is not a single surface that isn't covered with debris. Sigh.

I'm working on work stuff today though, no housework. Maybe laundry.

Oh, yes indeed, Laura. No horizontal surface is safe around here; it will be smothered within a couple days. I had the ironing board set up to iron one pair of pants - I hadn't used the thing in like 20 years, no shit - it was up for a week, and yesterday I finally cleared off the stuff that had accumulated on it and put it away again. I'm hopeless.

Why can't the fucking housework just stay done?

I know. Entropy's a bitch. Not, you know a Bitch, although if it was it might explain a few things.

Laura, I'm sorry to hear about Bob. Peace and strength to his family and those who knew and loved him. And a gentle hug for you.

omnis, I'm so sorry to hear about your aunt. Occasionally, timing can be awesomely strange.

Travel-ma to Sox, who I may not have said hi to before. In which case, Hi, Sox!

And not least, Felicitations on the (day after, sorry!) Anniversary of Your Wedding Day, Jess and E! I hope the day itself was full of celebration of promises fulfilled and promises to come. May the coming year bring you joy, health, and a wealth of discovery.

Good morning all.

~ma to all that needs it.

I'm here to mention a salon.com posting by a former Weekly World News writer, lamenting the demise of the publication. [link]

From the article:

I once pitched a story positing that the U.S. government had data confirming that the one commonality linking all mass killers, including the Columbine shooters, was that they never masturbated. Rather than issue this report, which would save lives but promote onanism, the government preferred to let occasional slaughters take place. My editor rejected it on the grounds that it was "too plausible."

Now I want to see the "god kills a kitten" image with "sponsored by the US Government" stamped on the bottom... Hmmm.

{{{Omnis Audis}}} {{{Laura}}}

train~ma for Sox.

The gronk she is mighty. It is past noon, I have been up for about an hour, and I want to go back to bed.

I am sorely tempted to create a sock pupped with the user name "Entropy".

That is all.

Oh, Laura! Bob? He was a cool guy. Much love to y'all.