I don't remember mine aching.

My muscle is KILLING me. I have hugely limited range of motion right now.

Hoping against the infection thingy. Don't make me catch that.

From Harper’s New Monthly Magazine in 1869, in an article on pioneers of ballooning:

“We close this discussion by narrating an incident which occurred in London in 1824, and which belongs rather to the realm of sentiment and romance than to that of science and philosophy.

There was an exhibition of a balloon ascension to be made by an English aeronaut named Harris, at Vauxhall, a celebrated public garden. Harris, to give greater éclat to the spectacle, invited a young woman to whom he was engaged to be married to accompany him.

The departure and ascent were accomplished without any difficulty; but when high in the air the cord communicating with the valve at the top of the balloon.. became disarranged, so that Harris, after opening it..found, to his consternation and horror, that he could not close it again. Of course, as the gas continued to issue from the opening, the balloon descended with greater and greater rapidity every instant.

Harris threw out all his ballast, and every thing else that he could lay hand upon, to arrest the descent. He took off his own and the lady’s outer clothing, and threw it over. All was in vain. He finally concluded that by throwing himself over he might save her…He accordingly kissed her farewell and left into the air. She saw him go down, and immediately fell fainting into the bottom of the car.

When she came to herself she found herself in the midst of a crowd of eager spectators…She soon recovered sufficiently to be taken home, and she sustained no permanent injury from her awful adventure.

It is needless to say what was the fate of her devoted and heroic lover.”

Awww... sad, but sweet.

[link]

Proving that chivalry isn't dead ... although this particular practitioner was.

Timelies all!

Planning to go to the Takoma Park Folk Festival on Sunday. Hopefully the 9/11 references will be few.(We were originally planning to go to the MD Ren Faire, but with the weather we've been having, we figured the site would be a bit muddy) We'll probably be hearing a lot of traditional folk music.

There's a guy here whose last day it is, and he just announced that the last work he did was for me. I'm so completely special. Though, he didn't give me the answer I wanted. I should make him go back to his desk.

Also, frell this status report.

Disappointing results so far in Operation: Dark and Stormy At Home. I got a locally-made ginger beer at the 7-11, which was delicious, but a million dollars. Then I found what is apparently the one ginger beer at my supermarket, which is Goya brand for I think 89 cents a bottle (single serving bottle), and it's got good flavor, but is super flat right away. Why are my tastes always so expensive???

the trainer gave me the most ridiculously patriotic hard hat I've ever seen. There's a screaming eagle on the front with "United States of America" on a banner underneath it, and rippling flags down the sides.

PICTURE PLEASE NOW.

Er, I mean...pardon me, my good woman, dost thou have a photographic rendering of said chapeau, and if so, couldst thou make it available in a tube of the Interwebs?

There's a screaming eagle on the front with "United States of America" on a banner underneath it, and rippling flags down the sides. It's a BADASS hard hat, but I don't know that I can bring myself to wear it. I can't decide whether to subvert it with stickers or give it to someone who will appreciate the "America, fuck yeah!!" nature of it.

This is not a hat you wear when you love America. This is a hat you wear when you have to convince the Patriotism Police that you love America.

One advantage of working in a news archive is that I've been inundated with requests for 9/11 documentaries for the past year, so I'm pretty desensitized to the media overload. I have my own memories of the actual day, but the TV images just make me think about work.

Steph, check fb for a pic.