Wil Wheaton's latest column, which I think many a Bitch who cooks will like. Don't miss his byline at the bottom. [link]

Beverly, I downloaded and ran a backup of my LJ. It was very straightforward. I can email you the archive program I used. It is ljArchive. It sounds like LJ isn't going anywhere, but having a backup can't hurt. If nothing else it is available to you when you are not on line.

Ouch, shoes are evil. I can't even wear them if they have closed toes. Are you able to give the footsies a cool soak?

That would be great, Laura, thanks!

I am such a superstitious old biddy, I'm doublethinking that *if* I back up my LJ it will somehow insure that LJ goes down. Of course if I *don't* and it goes blooey anyway, I'll hate myself forever for *not* backing it up.

I...am not known for adequate or timely backups of...well much of anything, really. I tend to rely on the kindness of fate, and goodness knows I should know better.

Insent, my dear.

ut in realistic pro-Israeli opinion (because well, I'm kind of fond of living in this country) - right now, this has to go on. Because if it'll stop right now, we're back on where we were 2 weeks ago, just with a lot more dead and wounded and distraction.

I don't get this. If it is the wrong thing, why is "finishing" it better than doing nothing? I mean why is better for Israel to stop and say "we were wrong" then to "finsih" by killing more people and then start talking? Are you afraid Israel would look weak? Because I guarantee you there is not one Palestian who thinks Israel is wimpy or easy to push around. I understand that when your country does a terrible thing there is a wish that it not have been done in vain. Same excuse a lot of people support the U.S. staying in Iraq and continuing to kill Iraqi children. Don't think it is a good idea in either case. I gather that at least a quarter of Palestinians killed so far in Gaza are civilians. So at least 70 civilians dead. Say Israel finished the job,kills 300 Palestinian civilians and stops the missile attacks for six months, at the end of which a new way is found to kill Israelis with a lot more support for doing so in Palestine than before. This is a good result? Better than stopping now? You have lost more Israeli's during the attack than the previous few years. I'm not a 100% sure your country will be able to stop the rocket attacks for six months, but probably if the IDF kills enough Palestinian civilians it will be able to temporarily put a stop to rocket attacks as a side effect. Until the fighters you don't catch dig out the hidden caches you don't find, and find new places to launch them from. Or until some other way is found, with the help of all the Palestinians who were not actively involved in fighting Israel who will now turn to violent means. Does not seem "finishing" gains you or your country much over stopping.

And again you are on the sharp end of this. I'm not. So if disagreeing with you makes you even mildly uncomfortable I'll stop.

This time yesterday, I was sitting in a hot tub with an adorable 23 year old college football player while Dimitry, my pool waiter, handed me an ice cold pina colada.

Today it is grey, rainy, and cold and I am at work. This sucks.

Got it, thanks so much. I'll run it tonight or tomorrow. And bless your name.

I want to be in Vortex's yesterday.

Okay, I have a five-hour very intense written test on Saturday. Should I schedule a massage sometime this week to calm me down beforehand, or next week as a reward for getting it done? I'd do both, but it's stretching finances just to have this one, so that's not an option.

Do you expect to ace this test, or are small advantages important? If the latter, is nervous energy a plus or a minus for you in test taking?