You Have Something I Want

You have something I want. I'd like you to give it to me. Nay, I'd like you to gift it to me. Can I please have that thing you have that I want? Will you give me a gift? I really want it. Please, please, please? Will you please give me a gift? It's very special and I want it very much. Please? Please? Pleeeeeeease??? Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleeeeeeeeeeeease? Please give me a gift. Please? I really like you; that thing that you have is great and I want it. Please give me a gift. Please? Please? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?

-American Red Cross

I recently missed an appointment to donate blood. It was actually an accident. I received my reminder postcard but my life is pretty SNR right now so the appointment slipped my mind.

I don't mind giving blood. I actually kind of like it so when I feel like giving blood, I'm willing to do it. My blood is O- so the Red Cross really likes me and is disappointed when I don't make my appointments. They're so disappointed that they've called me ten times in seven days. Ten times in seven days. Guess what this makes me want to do. Never give blood ever, ever again. Giving blood is something nice for me to do; I'm donating my time and my blood. Its my blood and I'll do it when I want to do it and when I have time and when I'm not being harassed. So, basically, Red Cross, it may be awhile if you keep up this ridiculous behavior. Now lay off. Sheesh!

You Guys, I am So Tired

You must think I am so lame; that this poor, neglected blog is days away from complete blog fade. Its not, really. I'm just so, so tired. This blog is not the only thing that isn't getting the attention it needs. J is feeling bored and somewhat neglected. My friends (Erika, are you out there?) must think I've been kidnapped or something. I am weeks behind on Slog. Plus, we're trying to find a new apartment which requires the little bit of energy I can scrape together.

This job is kind of kicking my ass. It would perhaps be worth it if I was really digging the job but, well.... There are parts that I enjoy. I'd best leave it at that.

I hope that things will even out a bit as I adjust more. I really hope they even out. For now, please forgive me and accept the few meager posts as they come.




P.S. My trip to see Tovah was terrific; so much fun. It was almost just like old times but in Chicago and on the El this time. We ate so much delicious food (Karyn's Cooked, Chicago Diner, Molly's Cupcakes, Piece, Piccolo Sogno to name a few) and shopped in neat shops and boutiques and snuggled on the couch. This post absolutely does not justify how special my trip was but I feel I've neglected it too long. Tovah and Andrew, please forgive your sleepy friend. Find some pictures from the trip here and at Andrew's blog.

Good News for the Ladies

From Mother Jones blog, Blue Marble:

What? "Spread em and grin" might be hitting the bricks? Yep, according to the Times:

A new DNA test for the virus that causes cervical cancer does so much better than current methods that some gynecologists hope it will eventually replace the Pap smear in wealthy countries and cruder tests in poor ones.

Not only could the new test for human papillomavirus, or HPV, save lives; scientists say that women over 30 could drop annual Pap smears and instead have the DNA test just once every 3, 5 or even 10 years, depending on which expert is asked.

Their optimism is based on an eight-year study of 130,000 women in India financed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and published last week in The New England Journal of Medicine. It is the first to show that a single screening with the DNA test beats all other methods at preventing advanced cancer and death.

'The study is another nail in the coffin for Pap smears, which will soon be of mainly historical interest,' said Dr. Paul D. Blumenthal, a professor of gynecology at Stanford medical school who has tested screening techniques in Africa and Asia and was not involved in the study.

But whether the new test is adopted will depend on many factors, including hesitation by gynecologists to abandon Pap smears, which have been remarkably effective. Cervical cancer was a leading cause of death for American women in the 1950s; it now kills fewer than 4,000 a year.

Downside: The insurance industry will no doubt use those DNA results, if this pans out, to take our premiums for years—then deny us a payout based on our genetic profiles. But still...no more Pap smears? Yippee!

There's the Right Way to Deal with This Situation aaaand There's the WRONG Way....

MSNBC:

ALLENDALE, S.C. - James Hines was a giant — a 6-foot-7, 300-pound preacher and funk musician so big that after he died in 2004, a macabre rumor began circulating in this small town that the undertaker had to cut off his legs to fit him in the coffin.

This week, after years of whispers, Hines' body was exhumed, and the gruesome story appeared to be all too true.

The coroner's office said only that it had found "undesirable evidence," and a criminal investigation has been opened. But Hines' widow said investigators told her that his legs had been cut off between the ankle and calf, and his feet had been placed inside the casket.

Ten-Hour Awake Overnight Shifts Make Lisa a Bad Blogger

I'm completely aware of what a bad job I've been doing lately with this here blog. I haven't told you about my great trip to Chicago to see Tovah and Andrew and meet Krista. I haven't told you much about how this new job and crazy new overnight shift are going. I've not even mentioned what a fun birthday Jesse had.

The crazy overnight shift is what's keeping me from keeping up with you. Boo. I'll try to get back to it some this weekend. In the meantime, enjoy this picture of me eating a donut while I'm in the shower.