Thanks, all. I really want M and his fiance to have as much good time together as possible. He's a fantastic guy, very supportive of the females in his life and he was a boon when my brother was dying of cancer. The man is very nearly a saint with ill family members. I'm just afraid he's taking on more than he'll be able to handle, so all the positive vibes I can get going for him, I'm gonna start a tidal wave.

Lots of vibage, Sail.

Sail I'm sorry lots of ~ma to your family.

So much ~ma, Sail.

And Fuck Cancer straight up the ass with a rusty chainsaw.

I actually saw a bumper sticker recently that said, "Fuck Cancer," and I was equally humored that this was probably the one "acceptable" use of "Fuck" on a bumper sticker and saddened that so many people experience the "Fuck Cancer" sentiment.

Yesterday was a long, sad, hard day. But somehow it has energized me. I have attacked my kitchen (which has been buried, essentially since I moved in). I'm currently sitting at my kitchen table, and I can see most of the floor. The top of the dishwasher is also clear. Amazing what you can do when you finally put your mind to it.

Of course, part of this process, though, is going through bags and bags of work stuff that I've needed to sort through. So much has gotten thrown out or recycled that it makes me very sad, but what can you do? I can't hold on to it forever...no matter how much I want to. God, I'm gonna miss these crazy kids.

Positive vibes to your cousin and live-long~ma to his finace, Sail.

Congrats, Seska! Welcome, Ivy!

Letting-go~ma, vw. It's difficult.

But I think it's ridiculous for him to go to a doc and pay the co-pay for them to remove two wee sutures, when I can do it in 30 seconds.

Erin, you totally can! I once took 15 stitches out of my boyfriend's scalp with fingernail clippers. It ain't hard.

I know, Zen! He just needs to GET OVER IT and hold still.

At midnight last night, after reading decorating and decluttering sites, I got a wild hair, and went down into our scary basement, and cleaned and organized the laundry section. It's still in an unfinished basement, but that little section is neat and tidy; I even found carpet roll remnants and put them down.

Ah, the joys of being a Virgo!

Coming in late, but Fuck Cancer.

I thought it was worth mentioning. In fact, I had this brief mental flash of you talking about it in your Doggy Lama seminars.

Completely this. A good friend, who used to run a pet store, didn't even know about the classes...so, there will be much edumacation going on, once I'm in the know.

smonster, give that Frankie boy a pat for me! Did you use the canned pumpkin trick with the bones? It's miraculous...seriously.

Children review the Beatles

So I decide the panel is ready for a more subtle musical moment: Eleanor Rigby. This ode to loneliness, from the Beatles’ landmark 1966 album Revolver, showcases Paul McCartney’s gift for empathy, perfectly capturing sadness with such evocative lines as “writing a sermon that no-one will hear”. The children are uncharacteristically quiet.

“It’s about lonely people. It’s about poor people,” says Rowan, looking sad.

“It’s about ragged tramps in newspapers on the street,” says Otto, upping the tragic imagery. “But the Beatles weren’t poor. They were famous. Fame leads to riches. Riches lead to a Nintendo DS.”

“The Beatles need to buy houses and cars, and a helicopter,” reflects Isabella. “But they still want to make the poor people feel a bit better.”

“I think they wrote the song when they went into a graveyard,” concludes Otto.

Heh.