So my brother fixed my windshield wiper gears with a twist-tie! I guess the chewing gum (actually superglue) I tried to use wouldn’t hold. Of course that now means that it won’t rain for at least twelve months.
All posts by JHayden
Barbra participates in We Are the World 2 (for Haiti)
Thrilled to see my Barbra featured in We are the World 2, but miffed at false rumors that she was the only soloist who sang her part sang her part in a sound room alone. That simply isn’t true and anyone who looks at the video all the way through can see that.
Today I started walking 4 miles a day back and forth to BART
Some of the trip is uphill, so hopefully it won’t be too hard walking home for me. I traveling light with my briefcase, but it does hurt my shoulder after a while. If I do this, I will be walking well over 20 miles a week, which hopefully will net a significant, healthy weight loss. While I don’t officially get to wear tennis shoes at work, I have a pair of dress shoes if I need them to change into, and I can’t imagine walking in anything else.
Despite originally protesting, Alex walked with me to her school and I even caught the early train. I’m hoping this will significantly improve health/blood sugar.
If the timing and discomfort of walking becomes ridiculous, I might buy a bike and a heavy-duty chain, but right now I’m saving money on that and the one dollar a day parking fee. I don’t even know how long we will live at this location, so this is not the time to make such large investments.
Yesterday after I returned from IBR from the long weekend, Alex and I did a ton of grocery shopping and got a lot of healthy food, which of course is more expensive. We went to Safeway and I used my discount card, but before going there, we got some basic canned goods at the dollar store near Mom’s house in southern Hayward. We got to see Nicholas and my brother finally fixed my windshield wipers, which was something that was scary not to have fully functioning on the Nissan when it rained, but of course now it probably won’t rain until next year. It was nice seeing Mom and having lunch there after not seeing her for about a month while she was in Florida.
IBR was awesome this year.
I met a lot of new friends and got to see many old friends. I made a new friend who stared taking insulin just a few weeks before I did, so we had that very new experience in common, which made watching ourselves a bit easier.
Michael Jackson autopsy reveals wig, vitiligo, etc.
Autopsy confirms MJ’s vitiligo. Why did so many people doubt it? I knew about the condition in a friend since high school and have seen countless people with pigment loss.
Genealogy inspires me…. periodically…
As technology improves online, exciting things can happen. I’m currently loving my free trial of Ancestry.com, which has already found at least 3 generations on dad’s side I never knew about. That means that my daughter’s great-great-great-great grandfather Hayden was born in New Jersey, right over the river from her! I’m finding lots of details and have to remember to go to sleep. I think I will have to keep a subscription, but will have to check very frequently. Fortunately some of my relatives in Arizona are unwittingly helping me make some connections.
Watched Jodie Foster’s “Nim’s Island” yesterday
It was pretty predictable, but still kind of cool to watch. I’m a big fan of hers for years before I realized she was gay. The romance was played down. The special effects were pretty high tech. The child actress was the same one from Miss Sunshine.
Sarah Silverman show is back and I’m so loving it!
Just as shocking as ever, with an amazing cast, I’m glad they were renewed and happy to hear that they won an Emmy!
HBO Documentaries on Chinese Earthquake and Family Diversity
Both of them made me cry for different reasons. I was very glad to see poor, rural Chinese citizens distraught over losing their children speak up about the shoddy construction (citing specific examples of there being no mortar between the bricks and small wires for large walls), including cursing at the Party leaders who were trying to stop a demonstration. Some things don’t need translation, but what made this even more painful to watch is the one child policy that China has, which means that the likelihood that many of these parents who lost kids in the schools that crumbled while other buildings remained upright are probably unable to have any other kids either because of forced sterilization or because they are beyond child-bearing years.
I had seen Rosie O’Donnell interviewed about her family diversity documentary, which I thought as pretty well done. Rosie is never shy about showing herself raw, and this is sort of what she looked like when I met her in person. When I was on her show, though, I did not meet her.
TGIF – Getting out of town!
Heading up to Petaluma tonight to hang out with friends and a welcome change of scenery.
I find it very interesting that for the price of parking my (shitty, old) car downtown in the FiDi, I can RENT a car for a day in comfort, so that’s what I’m doing.