I suppose this would be my ode to the long lost journal.  I always forget LJ exists because I keep getting sucked into the ridiculous world of MySpace.  It doesn't help that it's pretty much the only way I can really keep in contact with ninety-nine percent of the people I know.  Anywho, quick update:  

My son, H., will be three in a couple of weeks.  And I'm carrying a transient in my womb.  That's right, a little hobo jumped off the husband train and settled in my belly.  He apparently finds it quite comfortable and has decided to take up a least for the next seven months.  He was squatting there for two before I discovered him.  Also, I'm not sure why I keep calling it a him.  I'm only ten weeks along.  The hobo looks like a lump right now.  I have to see if my scanner will accept what it was built to do and actually work later so I can scan the ultrasound photos in.

And now for something funny I heard today:

Two conspiracty theorists died, and both of them went to heaven.  They managed to obtain an audience with God so they would answer for him the three questions that had plagued them both (and many others like them) throughout their entire lives.

"Look guys," God said.  "Oswald did it, and he worked alone.  Armstrong and the other astronauts really did walk on the moon.  And 9/11 really was caused by middle-eastern terrorists."

The theorists were quiet for a moment until one finally looked at the other and said:  "Wow, this really DOES go all the way to the top!"

Tags: conspiracy theory, pregnancy, transients
Current Location: work
I am: amused
I hear: M.I.A.

Is your life lacking meaning these days? 

Do you just sit around and stare at the Flavor of Love Marathon on VH1? 

Get off the couch and check out Columbia's latest action-packed sports team, the Destruction Junction Derby Dames! 

Whether you want to be a fan, referee, player, or cheerleader, there is a place for you!




Friends and Fans,
 
The Destruction Junction Derby Dames are continually open for new recruits!  We are actively seeking skaters, refs, organizers, committee members, sponsors, cheerbeaters, derby sweethearts, you name it! 
   
Let us know if you want to be a part of this exciting (and extremely fun) group and we WILL find a home for you!  You can message us here or by email at comorollerdolls@yahoo.com.  If you wish to join the league, watch or attend a practice (as a potential skater) message Suzzy Speculum.
 
If you'd like to take beginner skating classes or just attend some public sessions and get your bearings (no pun intended), contact Empire Roller Rink in Columbia, Missouri.  ALL levels of skater are accepted as beginners.  We'll get you in shape!
 
Love and Bruises,
DJDD Admin.

Tags: roller derby

Meet Knut:



Some people want Knut dead.  Simply because he's being bottle-fed by keepers in the Berlin Zoo.  His mother rejected him after his birth, so naturally his care was immediately assumed by the zoo employees.  One person even went so far to say that such human contact will cause him to lose his ability to become a real bear.  I find this thought ridiculous.  If we've learned anything when it comes to rearing non-domestic animals, despite the fact that you've had them since they were tiny, you can't trust them not to tear your head off when they reach adulthood.  A wild animal is just that -- a wild animal -- regardless of what contact it has had throughout its life.

I hardly see the issue here.  The bear isn't going to lose his ability to be a bear.  A bear is a bear is a bear, no matter what.  A wild animal will always retain that wild instinct. 

How many times do we see people claiming an animal, be it a bear, a big cat or a primate, to be tame only to be nearly ripped to pieces by it?  Look at what happened to Roy.  One of his favorite tigers nearly took his head off in the middle of a live Las Vegas show.  Or that man that was attacked by his own chimpanzees?  Which, I might add, are supposedly the closest to man when it comes to wild animals.

Even with that said, animals that are in captivity don't really know what it's like to be "real", and I use that word in the same sense the people in an uproar about this are using it.  The predators don't kill their food.  It is given to them.  The herbivores, while able to eat the plants in their environments, are still given buckets of garden-grown greens and veggies. 

I'm surprised that it is animal activists that are calling for Knut's execution.  If it were the zoo claiming it a bad idea to keep the animal alive, they would be the first ones to jump on the wagon to call the zoo out for it.  This is really what's setting me off the most.  It seems to me that the folks in such groups as PETA, and other similar organizations, only want something to throw a fit about.  They are never happy with what's going on.

I say let Knut live.  He won't be on a bottle forever.  And while he might always show a little preference towards those who cared for him when he was small, I hardly doubt we'll see him in the petting zoo.

What do you think?

http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,472480,00.html

I am: irritated
I hear: Dogs of Lust by The The

Sleep will come eventually.  I just wish it didn't take a bottle of wine and hours of Warcraft to coax it along.  I really have more important things to work on, I just haven't got the gumption to do them.  I'm a little irritated at the moment because my committee people seem to have gone AWOL.  We have at least fifteen businesses to solicit sponsorship before the end of the month.  That's less than two weeks away.  Sigh.  Yawn. 

Anyone want to help out the derby?  We need money.  And more skaters.  And refs.  And cheerbeaters.  And sweethearts.  And fans.  Support us.

http://www.myspace.com/comorollerdolls or http://djdd.proboards61.com

I am: itchy
I hear: Me, I'm Not by Nine Inch Nails

I'm a mom now.  Wow.  How many chances have I had to contemplate this?  Not many.  I've been far too busy trying not to let all of these new responsibilities drag me down.  It's not all that hard.  Not really.  But it isn't exactly easy.  We've been lucky how smoothly everything has gone for us in the last year.  I'm still trying to decide if the fruits of our labor are a sign that we're doing everything right or if its just one of those lulls of bliss you seem to find right before something dreadful happens.  I'm keeping my head up.  For the first time, I'm not going to let anything knock me back down.



Our trip to Korea was awesome.  I had expected something totally different than what we experienced.  I'm not entirely sure what I thought we'd find when we got there.  It was definitely one of the neatest places I'd ever been.  Aside from the fact there were very, very few people there whom we could actually communicate with, everything was so easy.  The people there were as helpful as they could be.  We found ways to talk to each other without ever really knowing what the other was saying.  Now, granted there were many places where signs and menus had English on them, and some places we found a waiter/waitress or two who spoke enough of our language to take our orders, most of the time we were on our own with the city district names mispronounced on our tongues as our only way to get around.  

Seoul is clean.  Really clean.  And just beautiful.  We went to the Gyeongbokgung palace, which is right next to the downtown area.  It was surreal to be standing within the walls of a place so steeped in history (the palace was originally built in 1395 A.D.) and seeing skyscrapers just on the other side.  Just amazing.    Our tour guides were really great, too.  A couple of young kids, Charlie and Jean.  Those aren't their real names, of course, but it's easier for us Americans.  I personally like their real names better.  We're keeping in touch.  They both are coming to school here in the States soon.  Charlie's been here once already.  He's bringing Jean next time.  He introduced her as his friend.  They were holding hands and sharing coffee before the day was out.  So cute.

The marketplace was awesome.  The street vendors were awesome.  We saw groups of riot police sitting quietly across the street from a peaceful protest.  We saw children on the subway alone (I'm talking elementary age, too) on their way to and from school.  People were taking care of each other.  People were taking care of us.  We got lost in a foreign country for half a day and we didn't care.  We discovered side streets and alleyways and so many things.  

We brought home our son.



He puked on Bud before our plane even left the runway at Narita International in Tokyo.  All of our clothes were in our checked luggage.  Yes.  Bud and Hoon were crusted with vomit for 12 hours.  From Tokyo to Minneapolis.  I felt bad for the people around us.  They were all very understanding.  Besides, Hoon is far too adorable to stay upset with.  One of the flight attendants apparently didn't agree.  She was rude and completely unhelpful.  I complained about her to the airline.  I hope she got fired.

I asked her for a towel or something after the kid upchucked because the burp rags I had in his bag just weren't cutting it.  She brought me a handful of those tiny airplane napkins and asked if the blanket was ruined.  What an idiot.  There's like a gallon of vomit on the floor and she's concerned about a two-dollar blanket?  She was meaner than hell to us after that.  She ignored us every chance she got.  And every time she walked past, she knocked Bud's arm off the armrest.  She even walked right into Hoon a couple of times.  At one point she rammed her drink cart into the seat behind us.  There were daggers in her eyes.  She looked right at Bud and said, "Keep that baby's head in or I'm going to hit it with my cart."   I'm still not sure if that was a warning of a possible accident or if she was really gunning for the kid.  The latter wouldn't surprise me.  She seemed like a very bitter old hag.

The guy sitting on the other side of me was very friendly.  We talked a lot.  He gave Hoon a plastic flute when we were getting off the plane.

What a cool kid, though.  He's been here with us for a month now.  If I didn't know any better, I'd almost believe he'd been with us since he escaped his mother's womb.  He's just so easy to take care of.  He's so smart.  He's so awesome.  He's my dude.  And he's making it easy to be his parents.  He's happy all the time, laughing and smiling.  I've never met a kid so outgoing.  He's just like us; he likes being with people, and making them laugh.  He likes making friends.  He sleeps all through the night and takes naps during the day.  He walks and does pull-ups on the edges of tables.  That kid has some upper body strength like whoa.  He likes feeding himself.  He went off the bottle in like a day.  Now he'll only drink out of a sippy cup though he's rapidly progressing to a lidless cup.  I'm not all that sure I'm ready for that.  For now he can share with me.

Tags: adoption, korea, travel

I forgot about this ridiculous journal until I received notification that I paid for another 3 months of it.  I didn't realize there was automatic billing...  silly me, I guess. 

Zac doesn't have cancer.  He has Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis, commonly (and more easily) referred to as an LCH tumor.  Even though it is not cancer, it will be treated as such.  The oncologist taking care of him is sending him to chemotherapy once a week for the next six weeks and if it gets better at the end of that time, he'll be going once every three weeks.  He will also be taking prednisone.

So, all in all, the doctors say he should be fine, assuming the chemo works to shrink what's left of the tumor.  Here's hoping.

In other news, I need my first $4,000 by November 1st.  Anyone care to make a small donation to the cause?  Every little bit will help.

If you believe in the power of prayer, my family could really use some now. 

My youngest brother, who is twelve years old, went in for surgery to have a tumor removed from his head yesterday.  They could only take out three quarters of it because part of it was on the outside of his skull and the other is still inside.  Apparently it started on the inside and as it grew, it snaked down and came through his eye socket and crept up the front of his skull.  This tumor was very aggressive, as it grew from nothing to a noticeable lump at his brow in less than two months.  We are currently waiting for the biopsy results, which we will be receiving on Friday.  The doctors say not to worry too much yet, but that this looks suspicious.  His skull is very thin on the side the tumor is on, and that the bone actually appears to be wearing thinner.  The surgeon who performed the surgery told my mom and stepdad that he'd never seen such a thing before.

He is home now, they sent him home after he came out of anesthesia.  My mother has taken off work to be with him and she says he seems to be doing okay for now.  We don't think he quite realizes what is going on.

So as I said, if you believe in the power of prayer, I ask that you put my brother, Zac, in your thoughts.  Lets hope for the best.