Marco: Do we look reasonable to you? Mal: Well. Looks can be deceiving. Jayne: Not as deceiving as a low down dirty... deceiver.

'Out Of Gas'


Natter 77: I miss my friends. I miss my enemies. I miss the people I talked to every day.  

Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, butt kicking, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.


DavidS - Apr 20, 2024 3:53:19 pm PDT #29887 of 30000
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."

Whatever you’re doing, it’s probably better than going out into the Haight today.

That's very true. I'm avoiding it assiduously.


sj - Apr 20, 2024 5:00:52 pm PDT #29888 of 30000
"There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea."

TCG and I had charcuterie for dinner at a restaurant and also cacio e Pepe, after seeing an absolutely heart breaking performance of August Wilson’s Fences.


Laura - Apr 20, 2024 5:24:04 pm PDT #29889 of 30000
Our wings are not tired.

Clicking update on airline status as my nephew and family didn't take a direct flight here. They landed in Detroit at 8:08, but I don't know how that relates to actually getting to the gate and off the plane. Their departing flight is 8:50. So I'll know soon if they will be here tonight or tomorrow. Run!! Run!!


Steph L. - Apr 20, 2024 5:39:38 pm PDT #29890 of 30000
Unusually and exceedingly peculiar and altogether quite impossible to describe

Jesus fucking Christ. Niece's fiance, who's only 26, just found out this week he has follicular lymphoma. What the actual fuck.

Follicular lymphoma is a form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and it's an indolent (slow-growing) cancer. To the point where some patients don't even start any treatment right away, but just have regular tests and plenty of observation, like some men do with prostate cancer. It's often considered a long-term, chronic illness, and about half of the patients with it are still alive at 20 years. But there is no cure, only treatment to manage it.

But Jesus Christ, he's only 26. This is some rough news.


dcp - Apr 20, 2024 5:42:57 pm PDT #29891 of 30000
The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know.

Laura, have you explored either flightarware.com or flightradar24.com? I like to use them to check on flight status and progress for family and friends.

One of the interesting features is "Where is my plane now?" So you can see whether the airplane the flight is scheduled on is on time and en route to the departure airport.


dcp - Apr 20, 2024 5:46:49 pm PDT #29892 of 30000
The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know.

Steph, has he done any genetic testing? Some of the younger guys in my support group discovered they had Lynch syndrome that way, meant their risk for early cancer and multiple types of cancer was greater.


Laura - Apr 20, 2024 5:56:02 pm PDT #29893 of 30000
Our wings are not tired.

They ran as fast as they could and got on the plane. Helps that nephew and great nephew both jog. They'll get in around 11:45 tonight. The airport is only about 15 minutes away. They live in Otter Lake, so I am looking forward to the 14 yo seeing Fort Lauderdale beach after midnight on 4/20 during spring break. It won't be boring.

Gorgeous night too. Have all the windows and sliding doors open. I'll close them in their room because they won't be accustomed to the city noise. I can sleep through sirens, racing cars, and revelers who want to share their favorite music, but it is way quieter in the mountains.

I'll check out the app, dcp!


Steph L. - Apr 20, 2024 5:59:08 pm PDT #29894 of 30000
Unusually and exceedingly peculiar and altogether quite impossible to describe

Steph, has he done any genetic testing? Some of the younger guys in my support group discovered they had Lynch syndrome that way, meant their risk for early cancer and multiple types of cancer was greater.

Not yet, I don't think. He's a physician's assistant, and his fiancee (our niece) graduates from med school next weekend, and his father is a physician, too, so they have a lot of resources at their fingertips. I'll make sure to ask about genetic testing -- thanks for mentioning it!


Shir - Apr 21, 2024 11:04:55 am PDT #29895 of 30000
"And that's why God Almighty gave us fire insurance and the public defender".

It took a lot of thinking on how to prepare for Seder this year, when nothing feels normal and you can't really plan anything. And it's a holiday of freedom, and we are where we are, and there are the hostages. How can one have a Seder like this?

Eventually, two things helped me this year. The first, 'Seder' also means order. And I've been organizing alternative Seders for a while. What's a better year to call for a new order in the universe than this year? The other one was an interpretation of the text of the Haggada. It was a reminder that the text itself refers to a call for freedom when nothing was certain and everything seemed doomed. And Jews read this text for years, at least some of them had their own uncertainties and doominess. So in this year, I can do it too.

I'm not having an ordinary friends' Seder. Some elements will be missing on pourpse. Others added on purpose (lemon on the Seder plate, symbolizes the hostages. Other than the color, "missing an opportunity" and sourness are a wordplay in Hebrew. This holiday in particular is full of wordplays). It'll be outdoors, since so many of us lost their homes this year, and most of us had to stay indoors and take shelter when we were supposed to be elsewhere. 2/3 of my holiday donations are going to Gaza this year. But a Seder - a certain kind of Seder - will take place. Ordnung muss sein.

Have a good Passover, Jewistas. May our Seders bring back the good kind of order into this world.


meara - Apr 21, 2024 11:38:57 am PDT #29896 of 30000

Lovely to read Shir