Bugs & Bravery

Life in this nifty apartment has been good so far. I've only seen a couple of water bugs, and those run under the wall in the bathroom before I can get to them. Plus, they don't creep me out like larger insects which create a sound upon death.

Anyone who knows me knows my rabid fear of spiders and cockroaches. It's hard for me to even type those words, because if I do, it's like an invitation for them to show up. My fear is so bad that I once made my college roommate break a date and come back to our dorm room to kill a roach. I figure I can tell you this because I will never live that down.

A couple of days ago, I, big, strong, brave me, killed a spider all by myself, armed with only a 2-ply Kleenex. I did spend the next 24 hours watching for anything that looked like it had moved in the apartment, but I got better.

This morning, Bug, my cat, (the irony is not lost on me either) was watching under the bed the ways cats do when something's moving. You know what's under the bed, right? Evil. Pure evil. Any Stephen King book or horror movie can tell you that. All I could do is look Bug straight in the eye and say, "I hate you".

Another Reason to Maintain Oral Hygiene

According to a recent article in Oral Diseases journal, the risk of transmitting HIV from oral sex is increased when partners do not practice good dental hygiene.

Original Source

Journal Source

"So I Don't Get Caught"

Today I got to have lunch with my fabulous brother. This is a rare treat, because we live so far away from each other. He has an adorable son, my nephew. He and my sister-in-law have been working to be good parents to my nephew. They've been trying new strategies for discipline and schedules. My nephew is a new kindergartner. (OMG, I'm getting old.)

Anyway, my brother and I were talking about his new strategies versus the way we were raised. We were definitely raised in a "spare the rod" household. Anyway, over tasty Italian, it came down to this:

"What did we learn from the discipline we received from our father?"

"Not to get caught."

Yeah, that's it. Not, "Don't do that again". Not, "I'm sorry." It was, "Don't get caught." We learned nothing positive from that discipline. We just learned to cover our tracks.

Congratulations to my brother and sister-in-law. I think they might be able to get it right.

In The News

Tonight for the first time in a while I watched NBC Nightly News. My thoughts...

Iraq: It seems like a giant CYA lately. Everyone wants to be right. I would love to hear some truth about the situation. I know I won't watch Bush's address tomorrow night, because he will have an agenda to prove he and his policy are right. I won't watch the Democratic response either, for the same reasons. Why can't we know what's really going on over there? I realize there's a difference between an experience and an agenda, but I wonder if those who have the bully pulpit see that difference as well. Until the powers that be have this realization, I'm afraid we're screwed. But not nearly as badly as those who still live in Iraq.

Cars: Apparently there's been a lawsuit between some states and the automobile companies regarding the states' ability to create their own emission guidelines. Why is this a suit? Hasn't this issue already been decided? California requires standards for cars imported and sold into it. So why is there a suit? Suddenly other states figured out that they have some power over big industry as well. I do understand that 50 states with 50 different requirements is a nightmare. So what's the harm in picking the most stringent and going with it?

Black Family Reunion Celebration

I've been watching commercials on my TV for a bit about this event. I have to ask, though, what's going on? I'm afraid of seeming racist or being a bigot. That's not who I am. But still ... why does there need to be a separate event for black families? It makes me sad if we, as a country, still need this event. It makes me think that we all bow down to the lowest denominator in order not to look bad.

Here's the website:

Black Family Reunion Celebration

Goth

When I went to high school in California, I was a card-carrying, black-eyeliner-wearing, Robert-Smith worshipping, super-pretentious goth. I read far too much into lyrics, never knowing that they were mostly about a) hard rock metal sex or b) the fact that the singers were not getting hard rock metal sex.

Gawd, it's embarrassing now. But if I had a picture of me with my purple (dark, dark purple, not punk purple) hair and my Cure t-shirt on, I'd post it for all to laugh.

So I was reading the AV Club part of the Onion, and came across an addition to its Permanent Records Hall of Fame: The Sky's Gone Out by Bauhaus. I was not a Bauhaus fan. I didn't get the genius, and to be honest, outside of Bela Lugosi's Dead and the Bowie cover, I actively avoid listening to the band.

But the interesting part of the article was the comments. I am a major music junkie, and it's been a long time since I've read people's comments who were as knowledgeable, and in most cases more so, as I am about 80s goth music. Man, I miss talking about music the way I did as a teenager. Music evolution was my soap opera addiction.

Anyway, here's the link:

http://www.avclub.com/content/node/65119

Blogger.com

One of my favorite time wasters is looking at other people's blogs. I go to the main page and then use the "Next Blog" button to randomly surf about.

There are 2 problems with this little hobby.

1. I can't limit my searches to blogs that are only in English. I don't think all blogs should be in English, but unfortunately I don't speak any other language and I can only read a smidgen of Spanish anymore.

2. I keep getting caught in either a) porn sites; b) advertising sites; or c) blogs without the "Next Blog" button.

You can see how this could rapidly get annoying.