Below are the most recent 25 friends' journal entries.

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Saturday, September 6th, 2008
tfbretz	7:54p	The Happy Clatter of Dice on the Kitchen Table Today we played Champions again.  We had the same crew as last time, and while we got off to a late start and ended a bit early, it was still a good time.  Most of the adventure was a major slugfest, adapted from one of the oldest adventures ever written for the game ("Terror in the Treasures," from Adventurer's Club #3, from the spring of '84).  I spruced it up a bit, threw in some NPC stuff, and let the players loose.  The result is immortalized here. And that was pretty much the whole of my day.  The campaign is six weeks old and we've played three sessions.  That's better than I've managed as a GM, in terms of regularity of play, in ages.  Next time, we should be adding one more player, so if he works out, I'll be at maximum capacity. Current Mood: satisfied Current Music: World Cup Qualifier - USA vs Cuba (Comment on this)
Friday, September 5th, 2008
tfbretz	10:25a	Ugh and also Guh... At 3:45 AM, I woke up with a migraine.  Took my Imitrex and waited.  And waited.  Waited some more. At 5:15, I took the other half pill, figuring this was a tough one and I needed the full 100 mg.  I waited some more. No dice. At 6:30, Jane suggested I take another half pill (you can safely take up to two "full" doses in a 24 hour period).  By this point, it was clear I wasn't going into work this morning. At 8:30, I was still in lots of pain, still had not gotten back to sleep, so I decided to take the other half of the second pill. It's finally kicking in.  The pain is still there, but it's dwindling.  I'm now worried the other effect (intense drowsiness) will kick in.  I'm not up to driving to work yet, but I do need to stay conscious, since my boss is out of town at a conference. On top of everything else, migraine + stomach emptied of all but water and medication = nausea and heartburn.  And the thought of food just makes it worse. I would like a do-over please. Current Mood: sick (Comment on this)
gunnora	8:17a	Ein Reich, Ein Volk Theron pointed out that this picture has a definite "Ein Reich, Ein Volk" vibe. I must agree. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, September 4th, 2008
tfbretz	2:39p	RIP Phil Hill 1927-2008 Still the only US-born Formula One World Champion.  Back when sex was safe and racing was dangerous.  He died last week, but I just found out about it today. “There are more don’ts than dos in the business,” he said. “Isn’t it a fine thing that Von Trips died doing something he loved, without any suffering, without any warning? I think Trips would rather be dead than not race, don’t you?” (Comment on this)
tfbretz	9:46a	Anyone else get an "Ein Reich! Ein Volk!" vibe off this picture? Because I sure as hell do. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
tfbretz	9:38a	Thursday Randoms Last night, I slept much better.  Still woke up a few times during the night, but I don't feel as shorted as I have been the past few days.  This morning, we got not really a blast, more like a puff of cool dry air.  The temperature was in the middle 70s, but the humidity is next to nothing.  For Houstopolis, that passes as a harbinger of Autumn. Today's scheduled workload is fairly light.  Whether or not emergencies will allow that to remain the case is anyone's guess.  If all continues to go well, lunch with Jane is in the offing. Game prep is falling into place in my head.  I just need to get pixels on the screen. Still blazing my way through the Dresden Files series.  Up to Blood Rites now.  rickj, are you still looking to do an actual playtest run?  If so, and if the Tuesday Nighters aren't up for it, we can probably recruit some or all of my Saturday crew. I'd love to see Joe Biden respond to Palin's hatescreed last night with, "Oh please.  Is that the best you can do?" Otep's "Confrontation" is likely my favorite song of the moment. (Warning - loud, hard, and political) Current Mood: chipper (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008
raisya	9:47p	Insanity ( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. ) (2 Comments |Comment on this)
tfbretz	4:07p	One. More. Hour. Very tired today.  Very, very tired.  To the usual day after game tired, add a Monday night where I also slept very poorly.  Last night, between our cats and the bolster Jane needed to elevate her feet, I couldn't get comfortable.  So I'm dragging. I managed to keep myself ultra busy this morning, but the projects ran out and so has my steam. I really should do game prep for Saturday, but I already know what I'm going to run and should be able to put everything together tomorrow and Friday. Current Mood: exhausted (Comment on this)
Monday, September 1st, 2008
tfbretz	9:35p	Hope Jane did something to her foot the other day.  This evening, the pain was to the point where she finally let me take her to the ER.  Not that it helped, they couldn't find anything on the xray. But that's not the point of this post.  While I was waiting, this woman came in with her son.  She was, in every respect, the classic trailer-dwelling redneck mama, down to the heart-shaped rebel flag tattoo.  CNN was on and Obama came up.  Out of nowhere, she said, "Every time that man speaks, he just goes further up my list.  At first, I didn't like him, because, y'know.  But now, I like him more than any of them." Just a little more hope for November. Current Mood: hopeful (4 Comments |Comment on this)
gunnora	8:14p	Aghast at Sarah Palin I posted this originally as a response to Sine, but I'm still so jaw-droppingly astounded that I think I'll put it here as well, with some slight edits. For those who have been camping in Colorado or otherwise missed all the news, Sarah Palin is McCain's VP pick. I'm kind of aghast about Sarah Palin's pregnant daughter, 17 year old Bristol, specifically the fact that the campaign announced that the child was pregnant and getting married (because abortion is worse than fornication!) I recognize that parents can't keep a teenager from having sex once that teenager has decided they are going to do it. But I am APPALLED that the info was announced formally in an apparent effort to quell the rumors floating on the internet that the Down's Syndrome baby (Trig) was not Sarah Palin's but rather Bristol's child. I think the rumor was stupid - Down's is one of those conditions that becomes more likely with the mother's increasing age. But throwing your knocked-up 17 year old unmarried daughter to the press to stop a RUMOR???!!! I guess the Bible thumpers were reading Genesis 19:8. Talk about throwing someone under the bus! I remember being 17, and I can't imagine how excruciating it must be for an unwed pregnant 17 year old to have her pregnancy on every news site in the entire freaking world. I'm also concerned that Palin somehow didn't know about this pregnancy, or thought it could be concealed from the voters. I don't care if you are governor of a state with a population about equal to the city of Little Rock Arkansas, I expect a parent to be paying enough attention to know that her daughter is 5 months pregnant! Oh, and Levi Fox, the father of Bristol's baby, is 26. What kind of mother doesn't notice her seventeen year old daughter is dating a man nine years older? And in this case, someone who had enough brains to be elected to high office would have made damn sure the wedding had been negotiated with the unnamed boyfriend and the engagement announced BEFORE Palin was announced as McCain's VP pick. (8 Comments |Comment on this)
ldeerslayer	4:44p	Save Firefly http://www.savefirefly.org/ (Comment on this)
Sunday, August 31st, 2008
tfbretz	7:20p	A Whole Lot Of Nothing That's been the theme of this weekend.  Ran a few errands.  Read a lot (I'm up to book four of The Dresden Files).  Went swimming this afternoon.  Tomorrow, I need to do a bunch of file consolidation between the two PCs in my study and my two portable hard drives, but I don't know if I'll get around to it. Thus is the excitement of my existence. (Comment on this)
Saturday, August 30th, 2008
ldeerslayer	12:00a	Nifty quote... When Thoreau was on his deathbed, a friend asked him, 'Have you made peace with God?' Thoreau looked up at him and said: 'I wasn't aware that God and I had quarreled.' Author Unknown (Comment on this)
Friday, August 29th, 2008
tfbretz	8:04p	The recovery took quite a bit longer than twenty minutes.  Of course, since I had to pick up C, I improvised.  As it's a notebook PC with a good battery, so I let it finish in the car. I think I might have violated a couple of HP and/or Chrysler warranties when I was running through the Windows setup screens at stoplights, but I swear I never touched a button while the car was moving. Took C-Monster to CiCi's, then Half-Price Books.  For those who have an HPB nearby, they're running an additional 20% off sale this weekend. I now have a michelada and quiet.  This is a good thing. (Comment on this)
tfbretz	4:36p	It took five tries, but the PC Recovery Disks are finally working.  I just hope they manage the last twenty percent in the next twenty minutes.  I don't mind taking the machine home to work on over the weekend, but I don't really want to stay late. Considering this particular machine was ridiculously expensive, my relief is palpable. Tonight, C-Monster and I are Jane-less, so we'll probably go eat someplace bad for us and then hit Half-Price Books or something.  Once I go home and get my wallet. Current Mood: relieved (Comment on this)
tfbretz	11:14a	On The Plus Side, It's Friday, With a Long Weekend Ahead I woke up at 5:30 with a migraine.  Full on, already in bloom.  I had to bumble around for my Imitrex in the dark, which took about 15 minutes and woke up Jane. An hour and a half later, it was still going strong, so I took the other half pill and remained prone. This means the trash didn't get taken out this morning. It also led to me drifting back to sleep.  Fortunately, a cat fight woke me up at 8:20. I manage to leave the house more or less on time and traffic cooperated.  But when I got to the office, I realized I'd forgotten 1) my cellphone, and 2) my wallet. On top of that, the day is just dragging. And to top it all off, I just managed to unplug a PC while it was in the middle of a factory system restore.  I honestly have NO IDEA what effect this is going to have on the process, or if I've just killed it completely. Jane's on her way to pick me up for lunch.  With my luck, we'll get hit by a meteor while we're out. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, August 28th, 2008
gunnora	8:36p	Contraceptive Fudge Contraceptive Fudge Posted Thursday, August 28, 2008 7:34 AM By William Saletan HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt has issued a final version of his proposed regulation to protect medical conscience (PDF). As predicted, he has dropped the sentence that originally defined abortion as "any of the various procedures—including the prescription, dispensing and administration of any drug or the performance of any procedure or any other action—that results in the termination of the life of a human being in utero between conception and natural birth, whether before or after implantation."   Leavitt has also chosen to leave open the possibility that the regulation will be applied that way. In that case, it would protect a provider's right to withhold oral contraception, which theoretically could prevent implantation of an embryo. Pharmacists and Catholic hospitals are already waging legal battles to assert this right.   The proposed regulation is 42 pages long. I'm embarrassed to tell you that I read it last week during my vacation. I was looking for a definition of abortion. I'll save you the trouble: There is none. The regulation draws no distinction between abortion and contraception.   In his blog, Leavitt has twice addressed the contraception question. On Aug. 7, he said his intent was to protect the right of conscience, not to define contraceptives as abortion. This left open the obvious next question: Intent aside, does the right of conscience protected by the regulation include the right to withhold hormonal contraception on the grounds asserted by pharmacist litigants: that it might be abortifacient? Two weeks ago, I invited Leavitt to answer that question. He has ignored it.   He has, however, answered a similar challenge from Mary Jane Gallagher, the president of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association. In an Aug. 11 blog post, Leavitt quoted and rebutted her: "Who's going to provide access to contraceptives services if the administration provides this large loophole to deny services?" [said Gallagher.] CQ reported Ms. Gallagher continued: "Providers are ‘given an oath—now they get to pick and choose what they want to do' if a regulation is issued, she said."   So, according to Ms. Gallagher's ideology, if a person goes to medical school they lose their right of conscience. ... There is something I'd like to point out to Ms Gallagher and the people she represents. It is currently a violation of three separate federal laws to compel medical practitioners to perform a procedure that violates their conscience. Gallagher is explicitly talking about contraception. And Leavitt's response is to invoke conscience rights.   Last week, Leavitt said some practitioners might "press the definition" in the final HHS regulation and argue that hormonal contraception is abortion. They certainly will. Pharmacists for Life International is already on the case. So is the Christian Legal Society. Concerned Women for America says the equation of hormonal contraception with abortion, explicit in the original draft of the regulation, was right all along.   And when these litigants argue that the regulation implicitly covers contraception, they'll have lots of help from Leavitt. They can cite his response to Gallagher. They can also point out that the regulation explicitly lists pharmacies as a category of "affected entities." (See Page 24.) Last time I checked, pharmacies didn't do surgical abortions.   The argument on the other side will be that Leavitt has said he's not targeting birth control. "This regulation is not about contraception," he said in a conference call last week. "It's about abortion and conscience." But Leavitt has said the same thing about abortion itself. "This is not a discussion about the rights of a woman to get an abortion," he wrote in his blog. "This is about the right of a doctor to not participate if he or she chooses for reasons they consider a matter of conscience." Leavitt's point, in other words, is that the regulation doesn't ban anything; it just protects the right not to facilitate it. As he put it in the conference call, "There is nothing in this rule that would in any way change a patient's right to a legal procedure." But in asserting this right of refusal, the rule doesn't distinguish between surgical abortion and theoretically abortifacient drugs.   The rule is open to public comments until Sept. 20. You can submit your comments to consciencecomment@hhs.gov. Here's mine: Mr. Secretary, if this rule doesn't extend the right of refusal to hormonal contraception, say so. (Comment on this)
news [ theljstaff ]	5:34p	All the news that's fit to print Basic Accounts As we noted in our last News post, as of today users will be able to downgrade their account to Basic through the Manage Account page. In addition, visitors who are not logged in to LiveJournal will now be seeing ads on Basic accounts and communities; the experience of logged-in users will not change. Paid Account Sale We are having a paid account sale starting today through September 30, 2008. During that period, you can purchase a 12 month block of paid time and receive a 20% discount – this paid time can be added to any account, or purchased as a gift for your favorite LJ-friend. For full details, see our Paid Account Sale page. Announcing lj_advisory We are pleased to announce the creation of the lj_advisory community, set up so you can find news and information related to the activities of the Advisory Board. We recognize that it has taken us a while to get this community up and running, and that has caused some frustration. From now on, we will post topics which will be discussed by the Advisory Board prior to the date of the meeting and summaries of meetings after they occur. Throughout the year, the Advisory Board may also post requests for opinions on topics which may be discussed at future meetings. This is the official community for communication with the Advisory Board – comments will be read by Advisory Board members who will respond as they feel appropriate. RTE + Opera and Safari = <3 RTE stands for Rich Text Editor, which is the default method of posting entries from the Post an Entry page. Our Rich Text Editor is based on the open-source FCKeditor code. It allows you to make links or LiveJournal user tags, insert photos or videos, and format your entries without needing to know HTML. That is, unless you use Opera or Safari as a browser, in which case you couldn't use the RTE. That will be changing today. We are pleased to announce that the RTE has been upgraded to the latest version of the FCK code, which includes support for Opera and Safari! In addition, many of the bugs in the old version have been fixed. If you've been using RTE, you will most likely need to clear your browser's cache in order to use the new version. <strike> vs. <b> Last year we changed the visual display of deleted and suspended usernames from a line through the username to a bold font. This had the effect of making the name unclickable - which meant that no one could easily determine whether the username had been deleted or suspended. We've reversed this display, returning deleted and suspended usernames to a struck-through and clickable state. Flash Fiction Contest Update The deadline to submit your flash fiction entry to "Quick Tales," LiveJournal's partnership with Caferati in India is fast approaching. Users who wish to find out more about this exciting contest should take a look at our india_writing community. Be quick! Entries must be received by midnight, September 7th, 2008 and the contest is open to all who have a mailing address in India, regardless of where they currently reside or citizenship. Current Mood: quixotic (823 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, August 27th, 2008
tfbretz	7:27p	Dinner Recipe Koushari.  Or Kosharie.  Or Qushari. 1 cup brown lentils 1 cup rice 1 cup pasta 1 medium can chick peas 1 can tomato puree 1 large onion, diced 2 cloves of garlic Boil the lentils, rice and pasta separately.  While they're cooking, brown the diced onion and garlic.  Mix in the tomato puree.  Set aside. Mix the lentils, rice, chick peas, and pasta in a large bowl.  Toss in the tomato mixture.  Serve with chili sauce to taste. Feeds roughly an army. (Comment on this)
tfbretz	7:15p	The Bad:  The AT&T guy didn't show up until a quarter of five. The Good:  When he did show, he fixed things.  Turns out the the box where our phone stuff enters the house had a bad seal and water was getting in there and there was some corrosion.  Also, the subswitch thing out in in our back yard sits too low in the ground and was accumulating water.  Our circuit happened to be on the lowest possible pair, which was getting it even wetter.  He cleaned things out and fixed it all and things sound clear. However, it's fucking annoying that we had to wait a few weeks for this until we got our inline service restored, because none of this was covered under inline service.  It was all AT&T's end of things in the first place, but the last tech they sent out here (on a wet day) clearly couldn't be bothered to do a thorough job, apart from reporting a short that must be somewhere in the house. Still, it's working properly now.  I've had a day off to myself, which is both fine and dandy.  I spent the afternoon pulling together a "Supernatural" playlist, consisting of classic rock tracks that have played on the show.  Even incomplete, it's nearly three hours of music.  I've no idea what to do with it, but it served as a decent puttering around project. Current Mood: okay Current Music: Bad Company, "Bad Company" (4 Comments |Comment on this)
bigbearok	4:01p	Yay! Looks like we have agreement on the new house in Dallas! And in other news, I can now update (4 Comments |Comment on this)
bigbearok	3:40p	Cutie Tattooed pocket straight-boy. (7 Comments |Comment on this)
bigbearok	3:09p	Schools back in session Back at school. Bored already. Please Interwebs, save me. (Comment on this)
tfbretz	12:51p	That Dead Guy Propped Up In The Corner Is Me Yesterday was much better from a work perspective.  No major issues, just long and draggy.  The game went well.  The rogue is definitely a better fit for me, and in the major fight, he put the kill in on all three of the big threats (to be fair, his teammates chewed them up quite a bit). Unfortunately, when I got home, I was keyed up and, worse, knew I had today off (AT&T is supposed to come out today to address our phone/internet problems).  As such, I took none of my usual winding-down procedures, instead staying up to fart around on the web and finish Fool Moon (the second Dresden Files book).  I finally turned in around 3 AM, only then remembering that I'd told Jane I'd get up and take C-Monster to school this morning. I got him there and piled back into bed, but by then, the inevitable onslaught of work email began turning up on my BlackBerry.  And even though I'm off today, I still find myself looking at it.  I managed to sleep fitfully until about 11, then woke up with a headache, took some medicine and ate a little.  I still haven't heard from the phone guy, I need to go to the grocery store and hoped to go grab comics, but I don't dare leave the house until after he gets here. Current Mood: exhausted (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, August 26th, 2008
tfbretz	7:31a	Work really sucked yesterday.  At about 10:30 AM, our phones and network went down.  For no immediately discernible reason.  I'll spare you the diagnosis details and cut to the chase:  a sub-switch that a few computers and phones ran off went back and got stuck in "broadcast" mode.  The resulting "noise" drowned out all the traffic on the network, including our IP phone system. It took about three and a half hours to diagnose and another hour or so after that for me to complete the fix (I had to go buy a new switch).  "Lunch" consisted of two Jack In The Box tacos at 4 PM (I didn't eat more due to the looming proxity of dinner time). On the plus side, I made a really killer veggie tortilla soup for dinner.  It rocked. (Comment on this)

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