You will absolutely be OK, Allyson -- better than OK!

It will all be good, Allyson. Trust me on this.

Yup. You are fabulous and smart and savvy and there are going to be *more* people that appreciate you for who you are in your future.

You have support and you know how to use it. You have friends and family behind you. You have a ton of resources at your behest. Give yourself time to feel whatever you need to feel, but you are going to get through this.

Allyson, I'm not going to give you the BS about how all things happen for a reason, because that shit is bananas.

But things will be okayish. Can you go back to JPL as a worst-case scenario?

What they said, Allyson.

From upthread:

It's my view most cats are toddlers, some more than most.

Mine is a demanding three-year-old, meowing at the top of her lungs at every opportunity for me to "Entertain me! Feed me!! Pet me!!!!!" when she's not sprawled out on the floor fast asleep.

Ummm... is this the best response to a man who's set himself on fire?

Chinese Police Allegedly Gun Down Tibetan Monk On Fire

A Tibetan monk, Tabey, was gunned down by Chinese police after he set himself on fire today in the Ngaba region of Tibet, reports Phayul. Tabey apparently set himself ablaze to protest the government's restrictions a Tibetan New Year's prayer festival, it reports.

"I was told the monk had gasoline spilled onto his body, and as soon as he reached the main road of the town he set himself on fire. Bystanders said he held high a picture of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and chanted something but couldn't be heard," Tsering said, adding that he might be calling for the return to Tibet of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and independence for Tibet.

According to Tsering, bystanders saw him collapse on the ground after they heard three gunshots. The monk was reportedly taken in a vehicle to a nearby hospital, said Tsering, but it is not known if he is alive or dead at the time of this report going online.

It's my view most cats are toddlers, some more than most.

After a month of totally ignoring the house-plants, mine has decided to try and kill off the poor, struggling Christmas cactus I rescued from Dad's apartment. I had to pull out the spray bottle for the first time this morning.

I wonder if I'll come home to some form of retaliation? Liefur seemed to have forgiven me when I left. Oh well. If he hasn't then that's one less thing to water.

Video of a baby Asiatic lion. (I hope.)

I was wondering what Obama would do.... Obama backs Moon return in NASA budget

NASA will stay on track to return humans to the Moon by 2020, according to an overview of President Obama's 2010 budget request released on Thursday.

Recently, various groups - including Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin and the space advocacy group the Planetary Society - have called for NASA to send astronauts to new destinations, such as asteroids.

But the budget request backs a plan developed under the Bush administration to retire the space shuttle by 2010 and develop a system to return humans to the Moon by 2020.

sumi, I got a snarky video about the Australian koala.