I'm a little fixated on my age right now because I will be soon be 42 (and yes, I will be announcing loudly and everywhere that I am The Answer, because isn't that in the geek rulebook somewhere?). But other than cool numbers like that, I basically don't think about it either to remember it or not.

This was Old Orchard Shoal Lighthouse, just off Staten Island, in 2008.

This is Old Orchard Shoal Lighthouse now.

Oh my god.

42 (and yes, I will be announcing loudly and everywhere that I am The Answer, because isn't that in the geek rulebook somewhere?)

Yes. Yes it is, and we will be checking up on you. We will also expect you to have an awesome Year of the Answer, because that is the rules.

That is horrific, Consuela.

I already posted this in F2F, but Here, have a meerkat [link]

Damn. The lighthouse pictures are... yeah.

[link] Audio of Atwater's Southern Strategy explanation.

Oh, someone's getting fired for this: [link]

People sometimes blink when I trot out "51" without hesitation or quibbling. But damn, that's *old* to my ears. Things that happened in 1998 were just a couple of years ago! 2003 was yesterday! Millennial babies are supposed to be toddlers, not cognizant human beings with established pesonalities!

Ah, happy birthday, Hil!

I do get my birthday wrong a lot, but 43 has been pretty accurate. Since I've thought I was 43 for at least two years, fair enough.

the Good Stuff tumblr has (at least) 1,061 followers now!

That's so fucking AMAZING.

Steph, have you heard about that new book that just came out, exposing all the sketchy research in the pharmaceutical industry?

I have the writer on my twitter feed, he's Ben Goldacre, and it's called Bad Pharma.

I'm going to have to read that, definitely.

Actually I have wondered on occasion who funds the drug studies that aren't funded by the manufacturer. The FDA?

Mostly universities, I think.

Universities do the research, but it's mostly federal money, no?

You know, I knew that researchers get "grants," but I honestly didn't think about the source of the grants that aren't funded by the drug manufacturer.

I have to do math now to remember my age. At some point it stops being an essential part of your identity, I guess.

Tim always asks me how old he is, because he can't remember. I try not to point out that that's a bad sign. (And then, the other day, he was filling out a form online for an event we're going to and he had to put my name in. So he spells out S-T-E-P-H-A-N... and stops, looks at me, and asks, "...Y?" And all I could do was say, "Really? REALLY?!?")

OMG HOW DID I GET IN THIS ROOM?

Sheer awesomeness.

I don't want or need the drama of pointing out "YOUR FAULT, BITCA", so I'll just be petty and vent it here.

I would be unable to resist saying "It's a shame the children weren't vaccinated. I hope they don't have any young siblings that whooping cough can kill."

And frankly, if the parents are antivax AND vegan AND no sugar AND no gluten, it's unlikely that their kids' dietary rules will follow any logical or commonly accepted definitions of the words "vegan" "gluten-free" or "sugar-free."

I believe you're reduced to raw organic carrots.

Lighthouse! *sob*

You all sound young to me. Perhaps I should go out and whack someone with a cane.