moominmuppet

OK, probably not getting back to Linketies tonight. That last link got me all distracted thinking about reading to kids, and I've spent the last several hours playing on Amazon assembling a wish list of kids books that I want to buy in the next year or so to share with Kidlet. Mom had a really good suggestion; this has been a reminder of how much I enjoy reading to people, and I should check into reading aloud at hospitals or libraries or nursing homes. It's now on my "to do" list to check into that.

Anyway, I still read a lot of older children's and Young Adult books, but aside from the books of my own childhood, I'm less familiar with what's out there for toddlers. I'm amassing a pretty huge list so far, but I'd love to hear people's particular favorites and recommendations. Kidlet just turned 3, but he's not the only child in my life, and he will, as children tend to do, continue to age. It's fine if it's something that's a bit older reading level (and reading level is less crucial since I'm looking at these primarily as "read-aloud" books, at least to start)

I'm particularly looking for the silly/ridiculous/bizarre, and for more culturally diversity, as well as interesting fairy tales and nursery rhyme collections.

Also, why the hell is the Serendipity series totally out of print?

Oh, good grief. I'm already up to 61 new items in my shopping cart. Moderation is a virtue. Moderation is a virtue. Moderation is a virtue.

Professor Wormbog in Search for the Zipperump-a-Zoo -- anyone else remember this one? I adored it as a kid.

Very quiet morning escorting. I taught NL to play Gobblet, which is a favorite of mine, and a good candidate for outdoor play because the pieces don't blow away (usually). We finished up there, picked up the CSA and headed home for a bit of Doctor Who and a quick nap before the Planned Parenthood rally. The rally went well; mostly college feminist groups, which totally made me all warm and fuzzy and nostalgic. I was talking to NL on the way home about why it's important to me to go to events like that. I don't see rallies and marches as being primarily about interacting with the public and trying to convert people. Most of that actually happens in daily life one-on-one conversations. Rallies and marches are for the base, to make them feel less alone and more motivated to do the daily grunt-work of real activism. So showing up and cheering the kids who are just getting their activism feet wet is totally worthwhile, in my opinion.

Now I'm at work. NL's been given the tour of my cubefarm and is headed back home. I'm really ridiculously exhausted and also on cold meds. Hopefully there won't be too much call for actual thinking today.

Unexpected goodness in my day! Got to have a long IM chat with Katy, and a shorter one with Tori. Lots of catching up. Much yay.

Also, after pulling a real doofus maneuver on the drive home from escorting today, I was reminded of one of my long-standing frustrations with non-verbal communicative signals. Why do we have such a clear symbol for "fuck you" but none for "I'm sorry"? There are times, especially when verbal communication isn't an option, that having an "I'm sorry" signal would seriously help a lot. And now I'm curious just how broad that particular non-verbal lexicon is. It's certainly nothing compared to ASL or other true sign languages, but it does seem more comparable to that than to general non-verbal communication; much of that conveys moods but not clearly translatable phrases. It seems like a very specific subset. Any language geeks in the audience interested in providing insight? I'm also curious as to whether other cultures tend to have mostly the same clear signals, or whether others have other messages they find more important to communicate.

Random brainstorming:
Fuck you: the finger
Thank you: smile/nod of head
I don't know: shrug of shoulders
After you: wave of hand
Come here: beckoning motion
Go away: shooing motion

Also, since the story came up this week, I feel obliged to relate that I (and also my brother James, I determined after checking with Mom and Dad to determine the species of big cat involved) got peed on by a lion when we were little. I was about six, James was about two. We had to go home early from the zoo that day.

Birth control pills recalled due to 'packaging error' (that apparently could cause you to take them in the wrong order)
The recall affects these products: Cyclafem 7/7/7, Cyclafem 1/35, Emoquette, Gildess FE 1.5/30, Gildess FE 1/20, Orsythia, Previfem and Tri-Previfem.

On Saturday, September 24th, the Repeal Hyde Art Project will be displayed at the 2011 Choice USA Membership conference in Washington, D.C.
Send in your entry by September 22 to be part of this grassroots community art project!

Growing set of state abortion restrictions visualized -- This is a brilliant interactive chart!

Story Repair
In this feature, we select a story that appeared in one or more major news outlets and try to show how a different set of inquiries or observations could have produced a more illuminating article. For repair this week: "Falloff in abortion rate and in number of procedures stalls" (Washington Post, Jan. 11). -- I'm finding the Remapping Debate site really awesome in general! What a great idea!

Occupy Wall Street Begins [Today], September 17th
more and in-person descriptions and photos from ontd_p folks
( Read more... )

I have a friend who's in a rough spot (currently battling the unemployment office, and about to lose her place due to the landlord wanting to move in a friend), and she needs some advice/pointers/tips/etc in regards to new possibilities, especially those that can be flexible about credit rating and pets (she has three cats). She's pedestrian/public transit-only, so needs a place that's accessible, and that's reasonably safe to walk home to in the late evenings. These are the areas where she's looking:
oakland north / temescal
oakland rockridge / claremont
berkeley
albany / el cerrito
alameda

She's given me permission to share her name and email with anyone who has suggestions, or you can comment here, or email me directly at sarah.whitman.young at gmail

You're also welcome to pass on a link to this post to whomever might also have ideas. Thanks!

FYI, I just updated my profile to add:

Practical notes: you're welcome to friend me, and a hello note is nice but not necessary. You're also welcome to link to any open post without specific permission, although it's interesting to know if you do. I pull links so fast from so many places that I've given up on tracking individual sources as a matter of course, but if it at all bothers you that I've found a link through you and not credited you, please let me know and I'll keep that in mind for the future. Aside from communities, I especially find a lot of links through rm, shadesong, ajollypyruvate, blackbyrd2, ethan_greer, as well as from my brother jajy1979.

Most of my icons are open for sharing; if they are fandom-based, you can assume you have as much right to them with proper credit as I do, and borrow at will.

btw, those're the folks that popped to mind, and I'm kind of brain-fried right now. If you know I use links you post and would like to be noted there, I'll be happy to add you.

So, I picked up a cheapie webcam from ebay (logitech clone -- Look 312P). Gmail Chat sees it, and I can verify the image is coming through. Saw it once in Debut, but now Debut claims it's not installed. Logitech Quickcam still doesn't see it. I've done all the updates I could find, and I'm getting nowhere. Device manager sees it and says it's working properly. Help?

So, it seems folks can't search me by username on the site. I'm not sure what setting I set that's causing this, and I've been through the privacy section of "Manage Accounts" changing various things without it seeming to make a difference. I tried searching the FAQs, but got nowhere. Help? Anyone?

My Dad's looking to replace the current family plan we've got, and we've got folks in Cleveland, Akron/Kent, Huntville, and Sylacauga (SE AL). Anyone out there have feedback about companies with particularly good or bad coverage in those areas?

I'm particularly thinking about T-Mobile, based on a previous recommendation...


Also, I'm only into my second episode with the Colin Baker Doctor and Peri, and I totally understand why they're both so very unpopular.

So, I'd written a post on my sex filter that brought up a concept that I just can't seem to find a word for. No one else I've talked to seems able to, either. I'm frustrated enough I'm making a new, public post in hopes that someone has a word bouncing around in their head that actually matches this:

(from various conversations, comments, bits of my other post, etc)
It's driving me nuts. We have terms for every obscure fetish under the sun. Why can't I think of a word for the particular fun of "getting away with" being all wound up, and getting oneself wound up intentionally in places where it's not appropriate to display it. It's not the same as exhibitionism, because the fun is largely in the secrecy, I think. Or at least, I'm an exhibitionist, and I like this, and they don't feel the same to me. It's certainly no unusual thing, if anything, I'd say it's an incredibly common part of sex play, so why can't I think of a word for this particular craving/fetish/lust/whatever?

Anyway, can you think of a word for that? Or a reason we don't have one?

But this did occur to me:
re: whether it's part of/related to exhibitionism:
But it does seem related, since it's fundamentally about how other people's presence changes dynamics...

Yay! Marn posted a question about it for me, too

My sister-in-law is looking into the possibility of sterilization, and is looking for people's experiences with it, good or bad, especially anything that isn't covered in the basic fact sheets and info generally available (like PP's info). She's relatively young and childfree, so is especially likely to run into problems finding a provider willing to perform the procedure, so experiences with that particular struggle would be helpful, too.

I'm going to screen comments on this post -- I'll unscreen if you say it's ok, otherwise I'll only share the info with her and my brother.

Thanks!

Frustrated!

I don't understand why "view by tag" is limited to the first one hundred items, without any way that I've found to select a certain time period or whathaveyou. I don't want to have to create additional subcategories that don't feel natural to me.

Also, a way of searching the intersection of two tags would be nice.

Anyone who pays more attention heard anything about where they're planning on going with the tags? Think these issues will likely resolve in the future?