Oh, Drew. I'm keeping you and your family in my thoughts this weekend. This is far, FAR more than you should have to deal with.

And my new neighborhood? NO THAI FOOD!!!!

Lord, woman, where did you move? Iowa?

She said there were some things she and my aunt didn't understand, one was myocardial infarction

A myocardial infarction *is* a "heart attack." ("Heart attack" isn't actually a medical term; it's the layman's term that's more easily understandable.) Did you mean they don't understand what a myocardial infarction *is*, or they don't understand what caused it?

But they also got a call from the Lions Foundation and my cousin was an organ donor and someone had their vision restored/saved (not sure which is the right term) because of that. So some good out of this.

See, you've talked about what a giving, caring person your cousin was, and it's wonderful that he continued that even after he died.

Drew, you're in a tough place right now. It must be brutal to see your mother so unhappy. I'm sorry. I wish you strength.

On a very different note, the Mal & Iris show sounds adorable. I think it'd be fun to get a whole bunch of buffista sprog together, like a family style F2F. It'd be cuteness overload.

She said there were some things she and my aunt didn't understand, one was myocardial infarction

Myocardial infarction is fancy doctor speak for "heart attack".

Heh. X-post with the Tepster.

Too slow, Seanie. You gotta get up pretty early to beat...hey! You're up pretty early! Go back to bed, West Coaster!

Steph, I'm not sure. I was talking to my grandmother which is always interesting over the phone (what iwth her hearing aids)but she said something that sounded like mycoradial infarction so maybe she wasn't sure what that was? But it sounded like there were some other things that they were clear about. But I'll talk to my aunt on Monday or Tuesday.

hey! You're up pretty early! Go back to bed, West Coaster!

I got my full 8. I crashed at about 11 last night. And actually, since I've not been sleeping all that much lately, I kinda woke up at 5, but forced myself back to sleep for another couple of hours.

she said something that sounded like mycoradial infarction so maybe she wasn't sure what that was?

A lot of people aren't familiar with the term if they haven't dealt with it before. Makes sense. And it makes your grandmother lucky, that she hasn't had to deal with it until now. PLUS, it makes her not-a-nerd, which might please her to know! (I would winky emoticon there if I did that.)

ION, we're going to a Cardboard Boat Regatta today (link goes to a PDF): [link] The Boy's brother built his own kayak last year (NOT out of cardboard; a real, fibreglass kayak that was issued a boating license and everything), and one of his nephews decided that they should build a cardboard boat for this regatta. They "race" along a 200-yard course in the Ohio River.

The rules (also a PDF): [link] They aren't allowed to use cardboard that's bonded to vinyl or coated with wax, etc., and they aren't allowed to use glue or other liquid adhesives, but they ARE allowed to use any kind of tape (but can NOT wrap the entire boat in tape or plastic). They can paint the boat, but only with "one-part" paint; no epoxy, urethane, etc.

One of the awards given out is the Titanic award for the most dramatic sinking. I imagine that there are a LOT of sinkings.

The town that does this shindig (and this year is the 16th running of the race) actually has a cardboard boat museum. Hand to god. I love stuff like that.

Okay, seriously? I want to pound the snot out of somebody over this: [link]

The CNN headline for that interview is "Why Scarlett Johansson Kissed Penelope Cruz."

Aside from the fact that this question is never asked of Johansson in the interview (the question that does get asked is "What was it like kissing Penelope Cruz"), the answer to the headline question is: BECAUSE IT WAS IN THE SCRIPT, FUCKTARD!

Scarlett johansson does a good job in that interview.