Steph, holy shit, that's just absurdly self-involved and heartless of the open-carry people. And I wouldn't go either, fuck that. I'm not scared of guns, I'm scared of idiot strangers with guns.

Suzi, I'm glad you don't have sleep apnea! Hopefully your doc will be able to shed some light on the napping problem.

I watched some of the filibuster and my favorite part was a discussion of how many of the other bill of rights amendments have safe guards and still comply with the amendment. And that all the Amendments come after Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

Yeah, that's what it comes down to. I like that.

I have had five meetings today, which just seems like a lot. Now I'm done, and could do some actual work in between making sure my job applicant is squared away (meeting with other people not me), but meh. MEH I SAY.

Good god, Teppy. That's awful. If they actually cared or understood, they wouldn't do that.

Got my new laptop! But now have to get it set up and working and all. This may be a while. But it's so shiny and tiny!!

If they actually cared or understood, they wouldn't do that.

Pretty sure that's exactly why they *are* doing it. They don't care, and they want to send a message (that message being "Remember what happened before? There's a lot more of us, and we all have guns.").

I tried to be as supportive as I could, but really wasn't a whole lot.

I bet it was more than you think. Seriously.

Not that you need to care, but I honestly think your 'eye' on the world, through your photos, could help others cope with their own sense lonliness. You always find such beauty in your surroundings.

Very much this.

none of my colleagues showed any interest in including me in their conversations.

And I totally relate to the feeling of 'how is it that everyone seems so much more connected than me?' No matter how much I contribute to my communities, I still stand alone.

I feel like that too. Always have. I'm not good at making those personal connections.

Co-signed. I'm getting more comfortable with the fact that I'm just not good at making those connections with people (especially coworkers) and not getting upset, but sometimes it does hurt and/or make you feel lonely, even (especially?) in a room full of people you know.

I used the wrong term, because in my brain it's hiding them. FB calls it unfollowing. That way you're still technically FB friends, but you never have to see the nonsense they post unless you choose to go back and re-follow them.

I'm pretty sure it used to be called hiding. I specifically remember the verbiage "Hide all post from [person]?"

I'll unfollow people's sources, not the people--unless said person becomes really annoying.

This is where I'm at. People that I want to maintain a connection with, or am related to, I just block the sources of the hateful crap they re-post. Doesn't work for original hateful content, but it at least thins things out. And lets me feel like I'm doing SOMETHING.

I watched some of the filibuster and my favorite part was a discussion of how many of the other bill of rights amendments have safe guards and still comply with the amendment. And that all the Amendments come after Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

Awesomesauce.

(that message being "Remember what happened before? There's a lot more of us, and we all have guns.").

Yeah... and I think it is part of the NRA's long term strategy.

that message being "Remember what happened before? There's a lot more of us, and we all have guns."

The well-meaning but clueless do honestly think that people should take comfort from seeing clearly-armed people who are going to "protect" them. They think their well-meaningness emanates from them like a halo, they don't understand that the mere presence of a gun upsets people. It's like people getting panicky when they see me using a sharp carving knife in the kitchen, really, I've had people gasp and shrink back and say "Oh, gosh, be careful, it's sharp and could hurt you!"

(I am not advocating for people to wander around in public flaunting their phallic pistols, it annoys the hell out of me to see them in restaurants around here. And people have every right to not want to have them around a Pride parade. Perhaps someone with a pet alligator should bring it to a day care center to show how friendly they are.)

I have yet to see someone open-carrying here in Texas, thank god.

In case anyone needs to watch something hilariously stupid:

[link]

Tickets for Hamilton in Chicago go on sale on Tuesday. I'm pondering going.