That must have been one hell of a big dog. Jamaica isn't a small island.

Good news -- my father is way better today! Phew. Longer term still tbd, but he should be home tomorrow.

Good news, Jesse.

That must have been one hell of a big dog. Jamaica isn't a small island.

I await the Godzilla-Beethoven crossover flick.

OMG, you have me in a fit of giggles.

I wonder if this is an actual trope among racists? I know when I installed a network in Gabon, a bunch of white ex-pats told me "Black people are all afraid of dogs." My standard response was to ask if all whites in Gabon owned white pointed hoods, but in retrospect, since very few were Americans, I'm not sure they got the reference. Is the KKK well known outside the USA?

he should be home tomorrow.

Okay, yes! That is wicked excellent (is that sufficiently incorrectly used?).

ita, that sounds like a variation on "Black people hate dogs" stereotype

I'm trying to explain to them that a study on 240 Bostonian (psychology student) "subjects" doesn't extrapolate to mean that humans (her term or the study's) value dogs over the lives of human adults and equivalently to the lives of human young. I'm also trying to explain that if there's any fault here, it's not Jamaica's, or any large unruly dog's, but rather that of whoever thought the study could apply worldwide without caveats.

I'm also trying to remove value judgements from people's language that get the disparity, that it's not a less "developed" way to think, but rather a different way to file *some* animals (I don't know if she's rescuing geckos from burning buildings, I just suspect not). While not losing sight of the knowledge that some cultural privilege makes it easier to value a pet over an adult.

Thanks to this convo, though, I have learnt the term WEIRD, and my life might be eternally (or until the end of it, whichever) enriched for that addition.

She's entrenching herself more deeply in her bias while pretending she's accommodating anything I've said in a really remarkable way. I've lost reason, but not enough to even ask how many of the students were white. Even though I'm curious. For reasons.

That must have been one hell of a big dog. Jamaica isn't a small island.

It's the Usain Bolt of dogs. Oversized and very very fast.

Nurse was xenophobic as all ass today. She asked about the "black b...gentleman" that committed suicide recently, and tried to explain to me how sex change operations drove people to suicide (unrelated, I sincerely hope). And by xenophobic I mean hateful. I think my sister rattled something loose in her, but left before she could tidy up after herself.

I exacted my personal revenge by talking about pathological liars and how to spot them. I don't like to think of it as passive aggressiveness--more passive viciousness.

We do indeed hope to hear from you again.

So far, not dead. But avoiding the machines. The nasty, mean, machines. Well, those machines. I have two well-behaved machines in my lap.

I need furniture. I need a nice stool for the dining table, maybe something Ghanaian or thusly inspired. But chair seat height. I need an outdoor table for the balcony, now that I'm an addict and want to eke more use out of it before SoCal summer ends. In a couple months. And an Adirondack ottoman (Am I really supposed to capitalise the furniture? Both words?).

ita,

thanks for the WEIRD article. I am thinking about using it in my classes this term!

I don't think you capitalize ottoman when you're talking about furniture. I'm not getting the red squiggle for it.

Oh, that nurse is a real prize. Sigh.

I might be giving up on today. I have zero energy and no idea why that should be. Also, I seem to be particularly clumsy, dropping more things than usual, so I think trying to clean the gutters will definitely have to wait. Oh well, having extra time to rest may pay off in future productivity...

thanks for the WEIRD article. I am thinking about using it in my classes this term!

I hadn't realised that studies skewed towards students of the specialties! I thought they at least got more random folk than that, but I realise I'm thinking of all the "do you qualify?" posters I see for medical studies, which you really can't keep staffing out of your classes, because how many conditions and diseases can they really have?

I've also sent it to my sister, in case she can use it in her classes.

I don't think you capitalize ottoman when you're talking about furniture. I'm not getting the red squiggle for it.

I got the squiggle, but that might be because I'm using the UK dictionary. But I don't even know how to spell pouffe. Oh, hey. Maybe that's how. Since no squiggle.

Oh, that nurse is a real prize. Sigh.

I don't know what was up her ass today, but she was hateful. She is one of those people that says "those people" to refer to a race, nationality, or culture, and dives down that slippery slope with abandon, but today she crept me out. Her anti-doctor rhetoric was also sufficiently impassioned and contemptuous that I was glad she saved it until after administering the (doctor-prescribed, natch) medication.