I need a life that *uses* me more, or something.(And, no, I don't mean cut off from benefits selling chicle on the overpass.)

Somewhere Paul Ryan just felt a pang.

I'm working from home today. What with the unusual winter, I've done that more often than usual over the past few months, and my cat's developed a lovely habit of curling up next to my right leg. I just realized why. This puts him right next to where the laptop fan blows the warm air out of my computer. It's like a mini heating vent for him. And here I thought it was pure affection just a fondness for shared body heat.

I know. Hope it's in the crotch. He has a tiny point about that. I do occasionally find being on benefits to be...sapping, sort of, especially as we're speeding through the twentieth year or something and can no longer pretend I'm, you know, looking for that perfect internship.(it was easier when my friends were all in school, and nobody had much of a pot to piss in and so forth...it makes it easier to think it's just a stage.(Sometimes I wonder about my lefty friends who continue to insist that Social Security is dignified, although it's easy to be romantic about shit that's either far in the future or something you may lose.) Where Paul Ryan is wrong is to think that hunger and the fear of homelessness give you any room to think about anything but hunger and the fear of homelessness. Trust me, even on benefits there have been months where all I could think of was being cut off(or possibly growing medical marijuana) that was not good for my art or anything. Also, Paul Ryan's family is, like, three generations of rich, even given the sad tale of his dad's heart attack. What does he know of working his way from modest beginnings?

Fashion post! I bought a new pair of black ankle pants to wear for an upcoming work conference. What type of shoe do I wear? Does a wedge sandal work, or is that too clunky with ankle pants? [link] Should I go the kitten heel route? [link] Since I've worked from home exclusively for years now, I feel like I've forgotten all the fashion rules. Ayayay.

What does he know of working his way from modest beginnings?

Maybe he only had a 3-year-old car to drive when he was in college, and he had to have roommates in his nice condo off campus! Maybe, like Mitt Romney, he had to sell stock to pay tuition!

Maybe he only had a 3-year-old car to drive when he was in college, and he had to have roommates in his nice condo off campus!

He went to the same college I did, and that is, sadly, what's considered underprivileged at Miami. (Well, not the roommates thing; everyone I knew, even the very affluent, had roommates in their fancy condos.) (If there was a term for people like me -- the ones with scholarships and loans and jobs and an old Ford Tempo -- it was probably "white trash". Ah, Miami. Such a mistake on my part. Not an irreparably scarring one, but a mistake nonetheless.)

Does a wedge sandal work, or is that too clunky with ankle pants?

I have zero fashion knowledge, but it seems like a wedge sandal would work.

He went to the same college I did, and that is, sadly, what's considered underprivileged at Miami.

Not to worry, though, he had SS benefits to help out.

But if you do that, you're a bum. Asshole.

I would say wedge, but maybe one showing more foot than the pictured one? So as to not stumpify.

(sorry ahead of time for the asscaps)

OMG!OMG!OMG!!!!!!!

OK. Head about to explode (from good)! Just got off the phone with clinical trial folks. It's been weeks of phone tag. The info on the website that I found wasn't complete. THERE IS A DRUG! The study is a double blind one. They need 50 folks for the study. They currently have 13. Yes, that is how rare this damn disease is. They are hoping to start in the fall, if they get the 50 folks. Will involve flying to Washington DC and testing at NIH. OMG!!! I need to get a genetic test (I've only got the muscle biopsy from when I was an infant). So. Now we need 36 more people with the RYR1 gene mutation.

OK. Gotta try and work with this info buzzing in my head. My hands are shaking! Crazy!!