(posted on NowPublic; still can’t get the cross-post to work)

Eleanor Clift on John and Elizabeth Edwards and The Cancer Card

The greatest gift Tom gave me was when people asked him how he wanted to spend his final years on earth. Did he want to take a round-the-world cruise? Drop everything and play golf in Scotland? He looked at them like they were crazy. He just wanted to live his life as normally as he could—write his newspaper column, enjoy his family, do what he always did. He wasn’t asking me to drop everything. John and Elizabeth Edwards have been running for president for the last six years; that’s their normal. It makes no sense for them to go home and wait for the cancer to worsen. Her gift to him and to herself is to continue their life as they know it and love it.

Source: msnbc.msn.com

Dave

Originally uploaded by radical.librarian.

There’s photographic proof

On rare occasion, I actually learn a new skill. Tonight, in the process of redesigning toastieradio.com yet again (this time building it around WordPress), I’ve learned how to override styles using the “!important” modifier, in addition to some other CSS tricks that I wasn’t previously aware of. I may actually learn how to design a decent web page yet. As usual, I’ll still be several years behind the curve, but I think slightly less so than usual.

A woman running for a local state senate seat has emailed about fifty people her credentials as a Word document. All of the email addresses on her list are in the “To” field.

I will not vote for someone who does not know how to use the internet.

UPDATE – Ironically enough, her credentials indicate that she is a member of the “North Carolina State School Technology Commission”.

This is amusing, not because the hackers caused McCain’s MySpace page to say that he supports gay marriage, but because it shows the ineptitude of a campaign that wants to try to show that its 70-year-old candidate is hip. All of the presidential candidates should have a MySpace page, but they ought to at least spend the resources to create a page that is as professional as possible, one that doesn’t borrow and hotlink images without permission. This is a matter of basic netiquette. To me this is like a candidate mass mailing a list of supporters without bcc’ing them. If you’re going to use the internet as a medium for a campaign, know how to use the internet.

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I took Herman to the vet this morning due to his lips having become grimy and irritated. It turns out this is nothing to be concerned about, just part of overall physiology. The vet said he’ll go through periods where his lips are dry and crusty (the first six months I had him) and periods where they’re more moist, like now. I can clean them if I want, but there’s no need for concern.

The concern is that Herman, who weighed in at 51 pounds back in September when I got him from the shelter and was up to 61 pounds a couple of months ago, now tips the scales at 67 pounds. So we need to work on that. We both need to take longer walks and eat better.

I finally saw “Everyone’s Waiting,” the final episode of Six Feet Under, which aired nearly two years ago. I recently realized that reruns of it air on Bravo, which I get on Dish, and I began DVRing it. I awoke at 4 this morning and didn’t feel like going back to sleep. Everyone’s Waiting was the most recent episode aired. I haven’t seen most of Season Five, but the finale was much praised, so I’ve wanted to see it. It did not disappoint. What a terrific end to a remarkable show

Chin in sepia

Originally uploaded by toastiest.

Others:

Walltown cat with a nose for trouble

Originally uploaded by toastiest.

Herman and I see this cat from time to time on our walks. It was outside of its owners’ home. It’s difficult for me to pass judgment on people who let their cats roam free outside; I used to let my cats out all the time. I just hate to see a cat that’s been injured…or worse.

Virginia is for straight lovers

Originally uploaded by toastiest.

I took this in the parking lot outside of Duke Physical Therapy where I’ve been getting some shoulder work done. The parking lot overlooks Wallace Wade Stadium.

The bumper sticker, if you don’t care to see the enlarged photo, says,
“Marriage = 1 Man + 1 Woman”.

This person obviously wants it known where they stand, so, for Googlable purposes, the driver of Ford Windstar with license plate JMS-7287 from the State of Virginia is a bigoted homophobe.

Wait…if I’m against gay marriage, then you’re calling me a bigot and a homophobe? I don’t have anything against gay people. I like gay people. It’s just that I think that–

Hold on, either you have a problem with gay people or you don’t; it’s that simple. If you like gay people but don’t think they should be allowed to marry, then you have a problem with gay people.

But the Church teaches that–

If your church has a problem with gays, and you follow your church, then, by extension, you have a problem with gay people. You may not think this problem rises to the level of bigotry, but I do.