it'll be nice when this is over

i unsubscribed from one of the random lefty organization email lists that i never signed up for, but ended up on because i signed one petition or another and this is the message they had on the confirmation screen:

Thanks for participating. Good luck finding ways to make positive change.

am i reading this wrong, or is that kinda assy?

i hear joey buttafuoco's sex tape is pending... (i'm not even joking)

wow. my fiancee's apparently nuts ex-wife just sent me some crazy message on yelp of all places. the most hilarious part is that she posted a "you're cool" compliment and began by saying "Actually, you're not very cool at all."  zing!

bitches be crazy.

for those in other parts of the country who may not have heard, on wednesday morning, a huge boat ran into one of the supports under the bay bridge and tore a hole in its side, dumping 58,000 gallons of fuel into the bay. the fuel is a nasty black sludge that's halfway between gasoline and crude oil. it's a pretty bad spill that's spreading up the coast even though people are trying to contain it. yesterday, i emailed the baykeepers about volunteering to clean off oiled birds and was directed to an informational meeting this morning run by the fish and game department. they took our info and said if we're needed, they'll call us and we'll likely be asked to help at their facility in cordelia (~1hr away). we would be doing stuff like cleaning birds, feeding them, helping to wash oil-soaked towels, etc. i really hope they call. seeing huge pictures of oil-covered ducks in the newspaper every day makes me feel really helpless and angry.

For anyone in these parts who might be interested in volunteering (or anyone who'd like to help by making a donation), the baykeepers sent this message:

Additional volunteer opportunities will likely emerge in the upcoming days and weeks. We will let you know as soon as we have further information from our partners including the Oiled Wildlife Care Network. Consider forwarding this message to your friends and ask them to sign up on our website to show their support. You can also help out by making a donation to sustain Baykeeper's work to hold the responsible parties accountable in cleaning up this spill. Your contributions will help us respond to this crisis.

i just got an email from barbara boxer.

subject: Senator Boxer: Keep up the Pressure Against Meth

evidently, barbara boxer has made meth more illegal. which has been a resounding success:

Since the passage of the Combat Meth Act, the number of meth labs has decreased by about 40 percent nationwide.

i'm not sure how she knows this. no studies are cited. but i'm glad there are 40% less meth labs now than there were last year.

after snarking about this to mike, he informed me that yes, the number of u.s. meth labs has indeed gone down and that this was ascertained by a drop in the number of explosions that needed to be cleaned up. the other effect of the combat meth act, evidently, was that it opened up the meth market to columbians with real labs who make far purer drugs and have added a considerable amount of violence to the trade. so that's suboptimal...

the fucking blue angels are flying overhead today. they are loud. i hope they don't crash.

on an unrelated note, how do you think chipitts is pronounced?

the steelers lost? i'm gonna go ahead and blame brian st. pierre....

anyways, i'm in cabo now, chilling on my balcony stealing some wireless from a neighboring resort (i think). if all goes well, i should have daily picture updates. there's already a photoset on flickr.

*yawn* time for more sleeping.

leaving for mexico in the morning. see yinz in a week.

i received my passport in the mail today. evidently, the state department's website was just fucked up. go me.

new passports look significantly different from the old ones. there are lots of cheesy pictures. and microchips...

i have to go paint my kitchen now.

i'm leaving in a month to go to mexico, which now requires that you have a u.s. passport if you want to be let back into the country. last week, i applied for a passport and paid about double to have it expedited (2-3 weeks) because it takes 2 months to process otherwise. i just checked the status of my application online and it said this:

When you applied, you requested Routine Service. You should receive your passport within 10-12 weeks from the date you applied.

now, i'm aware that if you get proof that you applied for a passport and are traveling before september or something, you don't necessarily need the passport. what i'm pissed about is that i paid an extra $100 for that shit and they fucked it up. they won't speak to you on the phone unless you're leaving in 2 weeks and their "email system" doesn't actually let you send a message (wtf?).

i really have no idea how it could possibly have been unclear that i applied for expedited service since the woman at the post office stamped EXPEDITE in red ink all over the application and return envelope. perhaps the website is simply mistaken. perhaps it really is being rushed. all i know is that if i don't get that passport in 3 weeks, i will be so pissed off that the ensuing phone conversation will probably ensure that i will never be allowed to travel outside the u.s.

in the last 2 days, i've seen both live free or die hard and transformers. both were very entertaining, but transformers was without a doubt the better film. in fact, i am willing to say it is one of the best movies i have ever seen.

first, die hard: if you liked the other movies, you will like this. you must, however, have a very high tolerance for fakey movie computer shit. basically, the action scenes are top notch, but there's a whoooole lot of suspension of disbelief necessary to keep from groaning every 10 minutes or so when the "hackers" do a basically impossible thing by randomly punching a keyboard.

second, transformers: i waited in line for over an hour in front of a talkative weirdo with a tie-dyed shirt and a ponytail last night to see this movie, despite the fact that i had purchased my tickets in advance on fandango. was it worth it? no question. the cg, of course, is in-fucking-credible. the plot and human characters (which are usually what brings these movies down) were totally fine. and i can say without hesitation that it was one of the most exciting movies i've seen. you barely notice that it's 2.5 hours.

as a person who genuinely loves big crazy movie explosions and effects, i recommend both of these movies. but if you've only got time/money for one, transformers is the way to go.

i am supposed to be on a plane to pittsburgh right now. and i would be if i hadn't missed my flight this morning. my bag, however, is still on its way there. so that's something.

several bitchy united employees, two standby flights and one reading comprehension error later, i'm at work eating an enormous chocolate chip cookie. apparently united canceled a flight to denver (my layover) last night, so i was one of 45+ standby hopefuls whose dreams of getting wherever we were going were dashed this morning, including a frail-looking elderly woman in a neck brace. awe.

so now i'm looking at other flights over the next couple weeks. mike and i have some southwest rapid rewards flights, so i might be able to do that and even come out ahead since united refunded my money.

what i've learned today:
1. an hour before the flight leaves is not a reasonable time to leave for the airport that's 30 mi away
2. i should really be flying out of the oakland airport anyway
3. don't ever check luggage (if there's something you can't carry on, think ahead and mail it before you leave)
4. crying may get your money refunded, even when something is your own damn fault
5. put your pillz in your carry on

so, sorry to my brother for missing his graduation party. and to anyone else who wanted to chill. i'll probably make it out in mid-july.

1. YOUR REAL NAME:
Alison

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (first 4 letters of real name plus izzle.)
Alisizzle

3. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (fav color and fav animal)
Black Otter

4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (your middle name and street you live on)
Marie Fleetwood

5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name.)
Bodal

6. YOUR SUPERHERO NAME: (Your 2nd favorite color, and favorite drink)
Blue Water

7. YOUR ARABIC NAME: (2nd letter of your first name, 3rd letter of your last name, 1st letter of your middle name, 2nd letter of your moms maiden name, 3rd letter of you dads middle name, 1st letter of a siblings first name, and last letter of your moms middle name)
Ldmalk

8. YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION NAME:( Parents middle names)
Kelly (fun fact: my mom doesn't have a middle name)

9. YOUR GOTH NAME: (black, and the name of one of your pets)
Black Jack

as it is allergy season, i've been taking benadryl every 4 hours for the past month or so. it does its job and keeps me from being a sniffly, gooey, itchy mess for the most part. but in the last 2 weeks or so, i've had to make a terrible choice: whether to take the benadryl before i go to bed. on the one hand, it keeps me from feeling totally stuffed up and in pain from post-nasal drip. on the other, it gives me these ridiculously vivid dreams/nightmares that make me feel less than well-rested just about every night.

anyone else have this problem? i've yet to find an effective night time allergy alternative. any suggestions?

A huge ball of fire from an exploding gasoline tanker truck caused an overpass in the MacArthur Maze in the East Bay near the Bay Bridge to collapse on top of the highway below early Sunday, "virtually ensuring major traffic problems and confusion for weeks to come.  read more

near the old office...

I love it when people post stupid survey thingies like this in low-traffic communities where no one is likely to know who they are, let alone care about their purposely assy answers to 32 questions about themselves.

that said, i'm kinda bored watching my man play his way-too-long turn on lost planet, so i'm going to fill this out...

1. Can you cook?
i've been getting a lot better at cooking lately. been trying some new recipes and creating some original concoctions that generally get good reviews.

2. What was your dream growing up?
i wanted to be a microbiologist/epidemiologist and travel around the world containing outbreaks of deadly diseases. now i sell porn.

3. What talent do you wish you had?
i really wish i could play an instrument.

4. Favorite place?
i don't think i have one, really.

5. Favorite vegetable?
i like those edamame soy beans you get at japanese restaurants a lot.

6. What was the last book you read?
i've been reading the blind watchmaker by richard dawkins in preparation to read his most recent book, the god delusion

7. What zodiac sign are you?
taurus

8. Any tattoos and/or piercings?
just the one on my arm

9. Worst habit?
being a lazy ass who expects other people to clean up after me

10. Do we know each other outside of lj?
there is no one on my list who i do not know in some capacity outside of livejournal

11. What is your favorite sport?
football

12. Negative or optimistic attitude?
traditionally negative, though i'm trying to be more optimistic

13. What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me?
que?

14. Worst thing to ever happen to you?
i've been pretty lucky so far. no life-threatening illnesses or accidents, no enormous debts i'll never be able to pay, very few unexpected deaths of family/friends.

15. Tell me one weird fact about you:
there are only weird fictions

16. Do you have any pets?
2 dogs

17. Do you know how to do the macerana?
the macarena was released in 1995. might as well ask if i can do the tootsie roll. (no)

18. What time is it where you are now?
6:51pm

19. Do you think clowns are cute or scary?
i'm not a fan

20. If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be?
i'm pretty satisfied with the way i look

21. Would you be my crime partner or my conscience?
depends on the crime

22. What color eyes do you have?
brown

23. Ever been arrested?
only once

24. If you won $10,000 dollars today, what would you do with it?
pay off some credit cards and pay down some loans. pure excitement.

25. What kind of bubble gum do you prefer to chew?
punkers duck brand

26. What's your favorite bar to hang at?
there are no decent bars near my house. i had my last day of work party at the gold dust lounge, which was enjoyable

27. Do you believe in ghosts?
not usually

28. Favorite thing to do in your spare time?
i've been having a lot of fun lately building a desk

29. Do you swear a lot?
probably more than i should

30. Biggest pet peeve?
motherfuckers who can't drive

31. In one word, how would you describe yourself?
indescribable

32. Will you repost this so I can fill it out and do the same for you?
umm. yeah, so if yinz want to do this thing, please feel free. i'm dying to know who believes in ghosts....

cosmo is my boyfriend mike's dog. and my dog nowadays. he has many wonderful qualities, but he also has an unfortunate penchant for eating socks. i guess i always knew that there'd be a time where he couldn't pass one of the socks and unfortunately, now happens to be that time.

he threw up a couple times on sunday and since this morning he's been incredibly lethargic and refused to eat or drink. around 11pm, we decided that it was an emergency and took him to the vet hospital. they did some x-rays and he has a blockage in his lower intestine that will require surgery.

since it costs many thousands of dollars to have an on-call vet come in at 2am and perform this surgery, we have to wait until tomorrow morning to take him to our normal vet. they kept him at the startlingly expensive vet hospital overnight to make sure he's hydrated and nothing gets worse. it was hard to leave him there and it's proving hard to sleep now, but there weren't many other options. please send him good thoughts. he needs them.

cutups sent me this url to donate chlorine-free tampons/pads to women in shelters. you just choose a state and drag the little heart into the house and you've helped women who can't afford to buy that stuff for themselves.