Yesterday it was 98 degrees here. Today, this morning, it's 41. We're predicted to get a major snow storm in the mountains. Spring time in Utah is weird, but this is getting a bit weirder than usual.

Back to names for a second, my grandfather and his brother came over from Sweden in the early '20s to join their uncle (Gus, who was only a few years older than them and was raised by his brother, my great-grandfather, as their virtual brother). Gus had decided to change the spelling of the family name to "Ostrom" because trying to get the a-umlaut pronunciation from the average American was driving him nuts, so he changed the spelling to approximate the pronunciation. Grandpa and Uncle Phillip, OTOH, decided to keep the spelling of "Astrom" and change the pronunciation to "Ah-strom". Problem is that people still screw it up and pronounce the A as in apple.

Seconding JZ on hospitals. I've started taking in a stack of magazines and any paperbacks I want to get rid of to work once a month. See if your local hospital has a Volunteer Services or similar department who takes donations--that's who puts magazines in the waiting rooms and runs the library cart at our hospital.

Anyone ever tried Raw Natural Beauty mineral foundation?

But your skin is so gorgeous, do you need any Raw Natural Beauty to add to it? :)

aw, thanks! I'm really just trying to find something to keep the shine down in the summer, and I understand that the mineral stuff stays on through sweat and whatnot. Plus, free.

I love the hivemind. I wouldn't have thought to dump magazines at a hospital.

The next Futurama movie will be released on June 24th. The Beast With a Billion Backs.

The cover of Bender's Big Score featured Bender prominently. This one features Leela prominently, so I think it's safe to assume this is a primarily Leela-oriented story.

Seconding Ginger, and adding hospitals

Depending on the type of magazines, you could also donate them directly to the psychiatric inpatient unit. They desperately need magazines with pictures and words for collages, which are a very common treatment exercise...and also gives inpatients something to do when not in groups, etc.

Speaking of hospitals...I'm going to be a total bitch for a minute, and not the good kind.

Boston and National Media, GO HOME. Senator Kennedy is no longer at MGH, so neither should you be. You're hindering care of other patients and making it difficult for hospital staff to do their jobs.

The cover of Bender's Big Score featured Bender prominently. This one features Leela prominently, so I think it's safe to assume this is a primarily Leela-oriented story.

And from that title, I'm guessing Zapp Brannigan.

Gus had decided to change the spelling of the family name to "Ostrom" because trying to get the a-umlaut pronunciation from the average American was driving him nuts, so he changed the spelling to approximate the pronunciation. Grandpa and Uncle Phillip, OTOH, decided to keep the spelling of "Astrom" and change the pronunciation to "Ah-strom". Problem is that people still screw it up and pronounce the A as in apple.

Heh. My friend Alison had a family member who immigrated from Russia and decided to change their much-too-Jewish surname to something more American. Thus they changed their name from Wolfe to Greenberg.