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Thursday, June 14, 2001
Hmmm, according to this "research" by a British movie theatre chain, you can tell what kind of personality you have by where you choose to sit in the theater. According to them, I'm a middle-of-the-road, flexible, peacable character. That sounds about right.Actually, I would say I'm more of the "detached observer" type, but according to them, I should be sitting on the aisle, which I never do (unless the aisle goes down the center.) I always sit dead-center, and towards the front, but not too close.
I've never sat near the back of a movie theater. At least not by choice.
posted by MES 12:25 PM ET | discuss | link
I'm thinking we have another couple of candidates for the McVeigh treatment here.
posted by LT2 11:46 AM ET | discuss | link
Wednesday, June 13, 2001
I just got a call from the vet. They put Jade under anesthesia yesterday, did the endoscopy, and put in the feeding tube. After she woke up, she seemed okay, but a little out of it. Around 2am this morning, she started breathing hard. They did an x-ray to check her lungs, but everything was clear. Shortly after that, she died.
posted by MES 2:05 PM ET | discuss | link
Monday, June 11, 2001
``I didn't like what I was doing to those children,'' Tudor recalled. ``It was a hard, terrible thing. Today, I probably would have challenged it. Back then you did what you were told. It was an assignment. And I did it.''Wow, here's a psychological study that's even more disturbing that Stanley Milgram's obedience experiment. (Well, the experiment itslef isn't as gruesome, but when Milgram's was over, it was over. This one had lasting effects on the subjects.)
posted by MES 4:01 PM ET | discuss | link
I went white water rafting for the first time on Saturday with Andrew, his friend Russ, his girlfriend Karen, and about 21 of her closest friends. (This is a trip she organizes every year.) We were on the Lower Youghiogheny River, which is apparently the most popular rafting spot east of the Mississippi. In fact, when I told my parents I was going rafting, but I had no idea where, they asked if it was the Lower Yough. They went rafting there thirty years ago.The water level was very high, at 5 and a half feet, compared to a more normal 1.5 feet, which gave us a very quick trip, of about an hour and half. And apparently, according to Karen, a much more exciting (and scary) ride than usual. There were several times when I was quite sure I was going to fall out of the raft, but I never did. In fact, nobody in our raft fell out. We saw several people in the other rafts "go swimming," and one raft flipped completely over, dumping everyone. There were several times when I got so much water forced into my nose and mouth that I couldn't breathe for several seconds.
I'll be posting some pictures and vidcaps later, as soon as I get my hands on them.
Here's an interactive map of the rapids. We put in at the bottom, where it says Ohiopyle, and we got out at the second take-out, the one at the top. And here's a good description of the lower Yough.
On the whole, it was a fun experience, and I was glad I did it, but I'm not sure I'd want to do it again. All the parts where I normally would have been having the most fun, if this were, say, a roller coaster, or a white-water amusement park ride, I was either too scared of falling out, or so waterlogged that I was just struggling to breathe. There were several parts where our raft was just surfing the waves, and those were fun. But I think I could have done without the more violent rapids.
posted by MES 2:31 PM ET | discuss | link
Well, I didn't mention it before, but Jade has been doing worse lately. Over the past week she has gotten more lethargic and shown no interest in playing. She's continued not eating, but hasn't really been drinking either. She shows interest in water, though. She will frequently go right up to her water dish, stick her face right down to the level of the water, and then open her mouth a bit, but she doesn't stick her tongue out to drink. A couple of times I've forcibly given her water with a feeding syringe, but she hates that. You'd think I was putting hydrochloric acid in her mouth, by the way she reacts. Also, she's been walking funny. She walks like she's got a limp, but in all four legs. And she's definitely showing signs of jaundice (yellowing of the skin and gums), which is what I've been expecting to see, ever since I suspected that she had hepatic lipidosis (that was May 10).So, I took her in this morning for her long-scheduled endoscopy. And after examining her again, the doctor now thinks she has... say it with me folks... hepatic lipidosis. That's based on the jaundice and the fact that her liver feels a bit enlarged. So, he wants to put a feeding tube in (again, that's what I've been expecting for a month), but he couldn't do it today, because she's dehydrated. So I left her there, and they're going to give her intravenous fluids overnight, and put in the feeding tube sometime tomorrow.
posted by MES 1:33 PM ET | discuss | link
Roger Ebert's Great Movies column this week takes a good look at Pulp Fiction. (And I'd like to point out that I was at the University of Virginia session he refers to, sitting right behind him.)Also, last week Roger wrote a good column on Quote Whores.
posted by MES 1:22 PM ET | discuss | link
