Okay, I know that a Daddy Long-legs is utterly harmless. I know it won’t bite you. But still—when one of those things gets in my apartment, I just want it out.

Brrr. This one had, like, eight-inch legs.

I showed it the door. Twice. It tried to come back in.

Ew.

The endoscopy was done this afternoon. Aside from a discoloration and irritation towards the back end of the stomach/bowel area, the vet didn’t find anything. He’s not quite sure what to make of the irritation.

They did the barrium X-Ray procedure, and again found no blockage. The good news is that Gracie has not vomited at all today, though that may be because she was anesthetized for the endoscopy and barrium coats the stomach very much like Pepto Bismol, the vet said.

I’m going to cross my fingers that perhaps just getting a break in the routine of throwing up every couple of hours, coupled with the barrium, may be all that Gracie needs.

The vet did tell me that she’s getting awfully tired of being handled, and growled at them this afternoon. Didn’t swat or anything—that’s not her way. She just let them know she’s tired of all the poking and prodding. I told him that in the nine-plus years I’ve had her, she has not once raised a claw to me. I am covered with scars from Tig, but absolutely nothing from Gracie.

Here’s hoping I wake up to good news tomorrow.

I really miss my Sweetness.

The latest episode of Heroes: Man, they just keep getting better. Shock after shock, surprise after surprise (though it was pretty easy to see the end of the cheerleader’s little jaunt with the quarterback; they telegraphed it a mile away), and it looks like Sabba Hillel was right: Niki is the brick.

I love this show. I’m totally falling for Hiro, what with the humor and enthusiasm of the character, and so I was utterly surprised to see…
(spoiler warning below the fold; if you came here from anywhere but the main page you’re going to be spoiled)
(more…)

The vet still hadn’t done the endoscopy when I called a little while ago. Gracie is still vomiting every hour or two, but they keep telling me she isn’t depressed or lethargic. Probably annoyed that she can’t stop throwing up, but hey, wouldn’t you be?

I don’t expect a call for several hours. If he sees nothing with the endoscopy, which is likely, he’ll give her barrium and then take X-Rays every 15-30 minutes to follow its progress down her digestive track.

I can’t believe it, but I’m actually hoping they find a blockage that requires action. Because the flip side is that they can’t fix her. And I can’t imagine what I’d do. Actually, I can. If she can’t eat….

Tig, by the way, is still seemingly oblivious to her absence. The brat.

So I’m watching last week’s episode of Lost, and some things fairly leap into my mind, but I don’t want to do the entire episode, which takes, like, an entire hour. So here are some snippets:

[IN THE BOAT]
Sun: Stop! I’ll shoot!
Other chick whose name I didn’t bother to catch: No you won’t, Sun. I know you, Sun. I know your name. I can repeat it a bunch of times. This is because it’s the same word as my language for “Bright yellow light in sky.” Sun, we’re not your enemy. But we will be if you shoot me.
Audience: Dum-dum-DUM! Gee, like we can’t tell foreshadowing when we see it.
Sun: Okay, so let me get this straight. You guys have kidnapped all the children and many of the other Islanders. You’ve taken Jack and Sawyer and Kate prisoner, are making Sawyer and Kate do the chain gang thing, stole Walt, forced Michael to betray his friends, killed various and sundry islanders whenever it suited you, blew up the boat and almost killed Jin, Michael, and Sawyer—and you say you’re not our enemies? Lady, with friends like you… [FIRES GUN]
Other chick: Damn! I only had one drink, I swear it! Man, these producers are tough on DUIs.

Henry A.K.A. Ben: No, really, Boston won the World Series. Check out this videotape I’ve attached to this 50-year-old TV set (and figured out how to make a VCR run with a 50-year-old TV set, am I super-smart or what?)
Jack: Oh, wow, you’re right! It’s not like anyone could fake a videotape or anything. Sure, I’ll believe you now!

[IN THE CONTROL ROOM. HENRY/BEN WATCHING SAWYER AND KATE]
Henry/Ben: Ziiiiip.

And may I say: I love Sawyer.

“You taste like strawberries.”

Yeah, I always go for the bad boys. I’d choose Sawyer over Jack in a heartbeat, but would be plotting to help Sun fall off a cliff the entire time. Because I’d rather have Jin.

Jews in Israel are helping underprivileged Muslims prepare for the end of Ramadan.

The same Jewish group who gave food assistance to underprivileged Jews during Rosh Hashanah and Sukkot is now turning to help an unlikely crowd: underprivileged Muslims who will celebrate the end of the holy month of Ramadan next week with the holiday of Eid Al-Fiter.

On Tuesday, 150 members of the Jewish Reform Movement, in cooperation with the “Kavod Foundation” gathered in Jerusalem to assist with the packing of canned goods and other provisions to be delivered during the holiday to needy Muslims in East Jerusalem.

Yoav Shprank, a member of the organization told Ynet that the Kavod Foundation is working all year to help Jews, Christians, and Muslims during the holidays. As an example, the Reform movement donated 2,000 food boxes to the welfare offices, and they are also planning a substantial food donation in preparation for Christmas.

In addition to East Jerusalem, the food will be distributed to Muslim communities in Jaffa, Haifa, and Shfaram, and will total 250 packages worth NIS 100 (roughly USD 23) each.

Yeah, you also won’t ever see quotes like this on the Jew-hating sites, like Indymedia and its ilk:

The youth movement which participated in the drive is a part of the “Kol Haneshama” community who are active in the German Settlement and Bakaa neighborhoods of Jerusalem. Rabbi Gilad Kariv of the Reform movement explains that “one of the most important values of the movement is equality, and so they work in all sectors of Israeli society. Just as we have food drives before Rosh Hashanah and Passover, it is important for us as Jews to help non-Jewish families in Israel celebrate their holidays with respect.”

Rabbi Kariv also adds that he believes the fact a Muslim family will receive the packages from religious Jewish families in Israel “will contribute to change the atmosphere in Israel.”

But you will always see the mainstream media highlight something that makes it look like Jews hate Muslims—like that setup during the war where they got a bunch of children to write messages to Nasrallah on some missiles, then used that to flog Israel.

This is the true face of Judaism. We are taught that it is our obligation to help those less fortunate than we, and it is only liars who say we don’t include non-Jews in our charitable efforts.

Spread this story far and wide to counter the lies.

The article (some of you will have to believe me, I know) starts with the news about a theft of a new novel written by Victor Pelevin, one of the outstanding contemporary Russian writers.

An electronic copy of the novel, bearing the marks of formatting and other preparations for the print, is being distributed all over the net. Obviously lifted from the publishing house.

So far it is a report on a theft that, while definitely being a dirty deed, could happen anywhere in the world. The author of the article, some Alexandr Amzin, does not even express any outrage about the act of thievery. This, most probably, comes from being a really impartial professional observer and reporter.

And then comes the surprise. Instead of stopping at this point, Mr. Amzin jumps into a learned critical essay on the novel. Which, obviously, he read in the purloined version…

Incroyable!

Cross-posted on SimplyJews