Well, they based Santos on Obama, so. (And Josh Lyman on Rahm Emmanuel.)

Yeah, but even then... That last year or so of WW predated Obama's campaign by a couple of years, and yet the Santos/Vinnick race is weirdly prescient of the Obama/McCain race.

I'm sending out the ma, the hugs, the yays and the pppthbt as needed . A lot to read

but this

I observe and describe my physical environment - I do this a lot when walking. "Broken asphalt, red car, soft breeze, truck noise," etc. Somehow that extra level of awareness gives me just a sliver of distance from the overwhelm.

is exactly what I need to do when the insomnia fairy bonks me on the head between two and three am . thank you , smonster. It was sorta what I tried to do the other night, but it had no coherent plan behind it. It might work better with a plan

Except for that awesome debate. Loved that. Wish it would happen like that IRL.

ION- Would the asshole with clothes in all 3 driers kindly remove them so I can dry my clothes. Please!

Bad news: still waiting for the driers to be emptied.

Great News: Just found out my friend D (who helped me find my apartment) gave birth today. Her 2nd kid, first girl! No name yet. Don't know details, except mom and daughter are both fine. And daddy is melting when baby girl is in his hands.

That doesn't sound safe.

Not for daddy, but daughter lands in a soft puddle of goo.

Laundry 2 minutes from done. Then sleeeeep!

Hello all. The following is an enormous catch-up post. We were in Torquay (the seaside!) for three days. It rained, mostly, so there was no going to the actual beach. But we did a boat ride around the bay, and miles and miles of walking along the coast, and other fun little things. My grandparents lived there for fifteen years, so it was cool to see everything again. Also nice to have a little break before moving starts.

Talking of which, we were meant to complete on our house today (is that a phrase you use in the US too?), although I'm not overwhelmingly hopeful, as the whole process has been fraught and complicated and slow. Please send house~ma for completing very soon! We need to start the moving process or I won't be able to start my PhD at the end of September, and The Girl is going to Israel for the holidays right when we'll be wanting to move in (but that can't be helped).

In happy money news, I just paid off a student loan. I'm so happy I could cry.

Congrats!

I got defriended again on Facebook for having and stating my opinion and not being the right kind of Christian!

Congrats!

Thanks for the Simon's Cat link, Andi. I love that cat.

Shir, good for you for speaking up about your classmates. That situation sounded horrible. I hope you get a positive, useful response. Also, do you want a copy of my CV (resume)? I should have offered when you sent me yours to proofread - sorry for not catching on to what you needed.

Does anyone know anything about lithium orotate?

Yes - a friend of mine takes it for ADD and Asperger's. It's related to the form of lithium carbonate that's taken for bipolar, although the ororate form's not meant to be quite as good for bipolar. Um... that's about all I know, except that my friend finds it helpful. (I hated being on lithium carbonate - the side effects are nasty. But they may be much fewer with the other form. Worth checking, all the same.)

I put all of my winter clothes into under-bed boxes

This is a great idea that I'm going to do, in the new house. My current, rented place is part-furnished, and the bed has no space underneath. Always thought that was a terrible waste.

The thing that gets me about how freaked out the right gets about Obama is that Obama isn't especially liberal. A lot of people on the left are not exactly happy with him.

This is what makes me *boggle* about the right in the US at the moment, too. A lot of us socialist Brits are incredibly disappointed he hasn't gone further with reforms, so I can only imagine what left-wing Americans are thinking.

MY wall is currently playing host to "I get to decide what you do with your hard-earned money, you food-stamp-(ab)using lazy slob, you."

Gaah. That stuff is exploding over here, too. Benefits reforms, starting with stomping all over disabled people, in a way that's causing absolute terror for an awful lot of people, while the media calls us evil scroungers every day. I contribute to a new team blog about it here - but it might not interest non-UKers. Some of the writing has been great so far, though.

Trudy, as Zenkitty said, I'm glad for good news about your aunt, and very sorry to hear about your cousin. ~ma to you and your family.

Seska, thanks - I think I've got enough Buffistas CVs/resumes by now to get a cluestick on how an English resume should look like.

IhomefrontN: I'll have two English Couchsurfers today, until Monday. One of them is an anarchist-vegan youngster who wishes to bring world peace and everything, which I find adorable. What I find less adorable is that he is traveling without a cell phone, and quite sure he'll be able to find my place without calling me first. In one of the hottest days ever recorded in Israel's history. 39 Celsius degrees, 65% humidity. My will to send a search party if he'll get lost on his way is... not quite there.

The other guy sounds cool, though. (Yes, I judge people by their emails).

In other worrying news, I can't seem to stop listening to The Sound of Music soundtrack. I regained appreciation to Maria (the character) from a new perspective, and hate Rolfe even more than before.

Good luck with the house, Seska!