I'm a little confused as to why this isn't happening.

Most likely (if this is the Upper West Side, especially), the neighbors are twenty-somethings just out of college who went from living in a suburban house to living in a dorm to living in an apartment, and they just haven't thought of it. (The Upper West Side is pretty much where youngish Orthodox Jews go to live for a few years after college, find someone to marry, and then move to New Jersey. There have been a few hysterical reports in the past few years in some of the Jewish newspapers about the "situation" there, where people are staying until they're in their thirties and not getting married, and just living the single life until then, and this is clearly going to destroy everything! The usual culprits are either that "these young people don't want to grow up and be responsible adults" or "everyone's too picky.")

Woot! Congrats, Sparky and DH!

Oh my goodness, what wonderful news! Big BIG yay for Sparky and DH! Woo!

Skipped well ahead to say Congrats to Sparky & DH!!! W00t!

And now back to catching up. Vacations are awesome (especially when Hawaii's involved), but I feel like I'm spending weeks to catch up from being gone one week.

Hope to see you all again later today!

Edited 'cuz +3 was really obnoxiously large.

As long as we're reading Salon letters...

What could POSSIBLY be more fun than the "Obama is not a natural born American" conspiracy folks.

It's the weakest conspiracy EVAH. They give no reason WHY he's spent his entire life pretending to be American. They can't even decide what nationality he supposedly is.

The best part is Camille Paglia is to some degree one of them and now I never have to read another sentence of her's ever again.

Your guide to Upper West Side Jewish stereotypes: [link] (Way too many Yiddish and Hebrew words there to translate them all, but "shidduch" means a sort of set-up date -- generally, a relative or a friend says, "You two might be good together," and you go out to dinner and then either bowling or to ESPN Sports Zone or somewhere like that.)

t edit: I know about five people who fit into their "The Zionist" profile, and several "The Nature Boy," too.

Damn it. DW's mom wants to have dinner with her tonight to discuss putting her cat down. The cat attacks her (sent her to the ER once) and is now stalking her around her house. We found a cat sanctuary that MiL agreed to take the cat, but once there, she couldn't leave her (after we drove her the 4 hours - each way!). When she wanted to get a cat, we told her to go to a shelter, which is what we always do and we have always had good cats. FiL (now deceased) insisted on a Maine Coon or Bengal. They flew (!!!) a Maine Coon kitten down from NoCal - picked her out of a photo w/o ever meeting her. Cat has been a PITA ever since. DW and I are so furious about the whole situation. And now we get to have this fun right at the holidays. Good Lord, I know you lost your husband and I'm sorry for that, but WTF man? We also have quite a lot going on right now and just don't need the extra stress. Argh Argh Argh!!!!

(((vw)))

YAY! to Sparky-sproglet. Although I really love Sail's comment about the new babylord and our open tentacles. Now *that*'s a welcome.

Hil, I hope the drugs help your shoulder, at least until you can have your specialist take a look.

Calli, welcome home! Wow, the queen of Belgium, huh? Small world.

I'm sorry about the tsuris, GC. Can you go with Maine Coon rescue? It sounds like the cat has taken an irrational dislike to your MiL, but perhaps another person would be fine. It makes more sense than a random shelter. Also--she'll put the animal down but she won't release it to a sanctuary? This doesn't sound very rational. Argh, indeed. Vibes for a quick and satisfactory resolution.

Sparky!!! Congratulations to you and your DH. Best wishes for a very easy pregnancy.

Ok. Someone tell me that going and playing with the kids is a good idea. It's just so ick out. I feel like getting myself a bowl of ice cream and plopping in front of the tv for the rest of my life.