Thanks, tommy. At least it isn't some obvious thing I spaced on!

I shrank the dang things to half size and sent it back. If he doesn't like it, I'm sure he'll tell me...

daytime tv alert for Jesse, Bobby Brown on The View - tragicness.

Oh lord, good thing I will miss that.

Hayden, I clicked and groaned and laughed and cringed for you, and I'll be on at least two other computers today and will click again from both of them in hopes of increasing the chances of it turning into a regular gig.

Yeah, factor of 2 leaves me wondering half the pixels or cut height and width in half.

The exciting news from this weekend is that we're buying a new dishwasher to replace our piece of crap Fridigaire. We looked at getting a cheap one but they seemed so... cheap. We got a mid-range Maytag instead. It's stainless steel inside and out, so pretty. The stainless steel exterior typically costs an extra hundred dollars but Maytag is having a deal right now where it costs the same as white or black.

A better quality dishwasher is worth the money, Gudanov. The better-made ones last longer. (I was surprised to find out that the one I'm having repaired is now 20 years old, and the only thing wrong with it right now is that a valve has the hard water equivalent of hardening of the arteries.)

A friend of mine says "Beware false economies" -- not meaning country-size ones, but going cheap when it looks like it saves you a few bucks. Looking into the long term -- will a couple extra features make a big difference into how well it runs or you enjoy it, will the extra expensive materials hold up better years down the line, will it wear out faster?

(The corollary of "Beware false luxuries" also needs to be considered, or you end up paying extra for knobs that go up to 11 .)

It wasn't so much the extra knobs as just the feel of everything. Spending a bit more got us something that felt far more solid and looked like it would hold more dishes. Plus it just looked much prettier with all that stainless steel.

A nice piece on that Northwestern Human Sexuality course, from someone who took it a few years ago: [link]

I have found 2 jobs this morning to apply for. Both will be very low pay, but they have insurance and are back in the non-profit world which might be good for me. Now to just apply, write a damn cover letter and send it off.

Apply, msbelle! Apply like the wind!!

I had a human sexuality course in my college--had to wait till my senior year to get in, it was that popular--and it was kind of revelatory. Lots of films, no live demonstrations, even after hours. At the first class, the prof passed around 3x5 cards and said to write down questions that would be answered through the year. After 3 years of college and exposure to psych classes and history classes and philosophy and a couple of boyfriends and all that, I'd picked up some interesting information. My question was "I'm female, I've never played doctor, I don't have penis envy, I don't hate my body. What's wrong with me?" He eventually got to my question, read it outloud, and said, "Nothing's wrong, you're perfectly normal, stop worrying."

It's kind of validating at age 20 to be told flat out "You're perfectly normal, stop worrying." I'd gone to the campus shrink the year before with some basic existential angst, and he asked if my grades were OK and I was getting my laundry done and all that. I said yes and he said, "You're OK, but go ahead and come back if any of that changes." It was my introduction to the idea that if you're managing your life fairly well that you shouldn't be afraid you're losing it. It's worked for me.