I adapt pretty quickly to most keyboards, but dislike the undersized ones. Throws off my touch completely. My keyboard sadly does not light up. My old laptop did and it was dandy. Will check out the X-Falcon for sure.

Went out with my sons and DIL for birthday dinner. Eldest had fancy surf & turf and the restaurant brought him a lovely cake without singing! It was quite nice although a bit windy out. Beach place. Full moon over the ocean was super pretty though.

Timelies all!

I went to more non-music program items than music program items. That generally doesn't happen at cons.

I thought his weekend had to be better than last weekend, but I was wrong because I suck. Just want it to end.

I'm sorry you're having such a bad weekend, Gud. Nobody here thinks you suck, though. You're incredibly smart, kind, and dedicated to your family. You are also human and therefore liable to make some mistakes in this life, but that definitely doesn't mean you suck. I hope you can find some way to think more kindly of yourself.

Sorry Gud. Hope it gets better tomorrow.

I went out dancing—I can't two step or swing dance, but with one crutch I could kind of stand in one spot and shake it to the pop music with friends! That felt good.

I'm sorry, Gud. Also, what Kate said. You do not suck. Anyone who says you suck, including you, is wrong. A: You need to surround yourself with people who understand you don't suck and appreciate you as a wonderful human. B: You need counseling.

Yay dancing meara! You probably danced like I do most times!

JetBlue moved SIL to JFK and she is on a plane to Florida. She is here for a week which is awesome, because we love having her here. She also rocks as an aunt because she booked her vacation to be here for our nephew's sentencing hearing to support him and her brother. Pretty nervous about the sentencing. No matter what, it is going to be the realization for the kid and his parents that he is going to be in prison a long time. I hope it provides some closure for the victim's family, whatever the hell closure means. At some point, just knowing how long he will be in prison has to be better than not knowing. I'm not sure what he pleaded guilty to, but we all agreed that going to trial was the worst thing for all sides.

Today, in the Stupidest Thing I Have Seen on Facebook: Someone asking why the Native-American man being harassed in D.C. didn't use his position as an adult to open a dialogue with the kids, remind them that Catholics have a history of caring for vulnerable populations (um), and show them the drum?

Today, in the Stupidest Thing I Have Seen on Facebook: Someone asking why the Native-American man being harassed in D.C. didn't use his position as an adult to open a dialogue with the kids, remind them that Catholics have a history of caring for vulnerable populations (um), and show them the drum?

Someone I know posted on Facebook: "I don't see the ignorant child expressing learned hate, I see the man standing with dignity in front of him." And I thought, that is the rankest privilege to announce that you're ignoring racism. How does it *help* "the man standing with dignity" to ignore the bigotry being hurled his way?

The comment on the Cincinnati Enquirer have now all become, "You're not showing the whole video! You're just the lying liberal media!" (The whole video does give some more context -- the teenagers had been in an argument with some black guys calling them racist, and the Native American man was trying to separate them -- but it doesn't excuse most of what was on the shorter videos.)