sundries

[rm]

It wouldn't be Christmas without a hiccup or two, but we wound up having a lovely night, eating dinner at an outdoor restaurant on a pier, exchanging goodies and running randomly into Kat. Yay.

Tonight we're going to some mass yoga event thing in the park.

I posted some links late last night, so if you're interested in linky goodness check back there as well as below.

Jeez, Bristol is in two weeks. That's kinda bizarre and intense.

Yay, the price on the hotel I wanted went back down. I am booking it now.

Just booked my rail tickets.

Meanwhile, yay, Fabulous Welshcakes is happy to mail me stuff in the UK, which means I just have to figure out which hotel is going to be the least stupid about this and call Cardiff some time next week to arrange. I do not lie when I say that 50% of my drama about Cardiff on this trip has involved food issues (this, and wanting to go to the St. Katherine's Dock Market on July 9).

Patty does this hilarious/awesome thing when I go "I can't think of an idea for this Torchwood fic I need to write" where she says "How about a story where Jack and Ianto..." and the conclusion of the sentence always involves a reference to something she and I have done recently, usually highlighting some personal absurdity from which she has rescued me. And let's remember, she's not even in this fandom.

Okay, okay, I'm really behind on DW, S5, but why did no one tell me to hurry up and fucking watch because of a possible reference to Jack?!!?!?!?!? I need to catch up!

Valiant or stupid? Explaining why it's not okay to call Gwen a whore on Gallifrey Base. I am sick of this dance we do where we love men for their flaws and vilify women for theirs. Gwen's a whore; Jack's just like that. Ianto is romantic, tragic and lonely; Tosh is pathetic and desperate. THIS IS CRAP, PEOPLE. CRAP CRAP CRAP. Apparently, I'm not the only one fighting this sort of bullshit today.

This Sunday is Pride (if you have recently been invited to a picnic by me, you should also be invited to our gathering for this, poke me if you haven't), and we'll be there. Saturday though, we're thinking of going to the beach, which means we'll be too fried when we get back to hit the women's dance this year.

Last night I had to ask "why is the cat green?" I still don't know the answer, but Cricket, having white fur, had a big stripe of green on the bottom of one leg.

I really need to email Duchess today, and yet feel too tired and impaired to do so.

I am way too into the sales on Gilt lately. Sometimes I buy stuff. Sometimes I'm like "shit, that's ugly/appropriative/bizarre."

Kimlee is a real person I know. She's a professional performer, and like many such people, doesn't have health insurance. Recently, her husband, whose insurance had recently ended, took a bad fall, suffered a brain injury and required surgery. You can imagine what this did to their finances. For those in NYC there's going to be a benefit for her, and for those not in NYC, roadnotes, who is also a real person that I know, is collecting donations that she will bring to said event.

Questions you never knew we'd be asking: Are $6,000 robotic baby seals ethical?

Why I hated private school. Also, why I am the way I am: Social climbing on the Great Lawn.

Op-Ed in support of making oral contraceptives OTC medications.

Update on gay teens in Mississippi.

General McChrystal recalled to DC after making remarks in an interview critical of the Obama administration. Dear Obama: one more place to stop playing nice. Fuck consensus.

Comments

[bodlon.livejournal.com]

Yeah, and that's a thing for sure. That said, the pills the author is talking about (progestin-only) are less risky when used as directed than even some other oral contraceptives (inc. Yaz).

The other rub being that if the system worked in a way that women had adequate access to reproductive health care (cost, logistical, social), OTC might not look like the better option. It would come part and parcel with recommended screening, and additional care as well (STI screening, vaccination).

It should be considered basic care.

[rm.livejournal.com]

I think it's also worth remembering that not being afraid of doctors is a privilege. It's not that long ago that reproductive-related experimentation was done, without consent, on poor and minority individuals. More people who need birth control might get it if they weren't required to go to a doctors office and get a bunch of not directly related tests first.

[bodlon.livejournal.com]

That's a really, really good point. And one I often forget.

*makes mental notes to remember this more often*

[malle-babbe.livejournal.com]

That, and *being listened to* by doctors...

[rm.livejournal.com]

I forget anyone has that privilege, considering that when I got sick with what turned out to be celiac disease my doctor wanted to take out my gall bladder to see what would happen instead of actually diagnosing me.

[dr-is-in.livejournal.com]

Or the insurance we had at the time when I was first diagnosed with PCOS who rejected all the doctor wanted to do and wanted me to have a full hysterectomy....that would have fixed nothing. They didn't want to follow the female doctor's recommendations because it "infertility treatments" and none of the male doctors I had seen at the time would support the female doctor.