raise your hand if you know what's wrong with this

[miss_swamp]

a) Is it wrong of me to be slightly annoyed that I have 18 comments on my sex life/getting pregnant post, and only 3 about the big bridge collapsing in my hometown? I know, there's not much to say but "I'm glad your family is safe," and though that's appreciated it's kinda boring. But it was still freaky, and pretty important to me. Not that getting pregnant isn't also freaky and important.

b) This lesbians-married-to-men club is bigger than I thought. Dammit, I'm not so unique.

c) mrdorbin said we had to try the Crescent for karaoke. Tonight, we did. I didn't sing except our group rendition of "Summer Nights" because. It's just as much of a dive as the Beacon--more; the women's toilet was clogged so I had to use the men's, then cower while men peed in the urinal--and harder to park, too crowded to sit and too loud to talk. I really never want to go anywhere without parking until light rail is done. Does that make me a fuddy-duddy?

d) Looking for Mennonites on LJ (don't ask why), I stumbled on the LJs of two girls I used to babysit as infants who are now in college (one a smartass straight girl about to start at Evergreen *ahem weahawk*). They've both turned into interesting human beings, but man, it makes me feel old. And I don't know if it's creepier to read their LJs without telling them, or to tell them that their old (ancient) babysitter is stalking them.

e) On CNN after the bridge collapse, they kept showing a map of the State of Minneapolis, bordering the State of Wisconsin. Two days later, Anderson Cooper was still saying the same thing. Raise your hand if you know what's wrong about that.

f) When I called my bank to tell them I'm going to China, I couldn't remember if Beijing was northern or southern China. So I guess I need to work on my geography too.

... But I'm not CNN.


Ta-ta for now.

Comments

[devinshire.livejournal.com]

I can't remember commenting on either, but I am sorry to hear about the bridge. Other stuff:

re: c) Maybe you are a fuddy-duddy, but so am I in that respect. I avoid Capitol Hill at all costs. It's just too much work to hang out at a bar.

re: d) I don't know which is creepier, but I sure got a good laugh out of that one!

re: e) Perhaps the CNN "cartographers" were in an altered state when they put that map together.

[mrdorbin.livejournal.com]

It's way easier to comment on happy things than scary things, because accidentally saying the wrong thing on happy things is unlikely to make people cry.

[miss-swamp.livejournal.com]

Fair. I was grumpily attributing it to people not understanding what a big deal it was, probably because they think The Middle is expendable: Eh, some farm road fell down.

[mrdorbin.livejournal.com]

See, I was going to comment, but my thought was 'gosh, I wonder how many other old Eisenhower roads haven't been kept up the way they'd like' and then I figured best not to put that out in the universe, especially with the I-5 repairs coming up this month. But yeah, I figure people don't comment on the serious stuff because it's hard to gauge upset levels through text.

[miss-swamp.livejournal.com]

yeeeah, that's the kind of thought that may not need voicing. I like how we went from Wednesday night "there was nothing wrong with that bridge" to Friday "you knew that bridge was coming down!"

I got a grant for a week-long math trainers' workshop later this month. Yay me! But if I'd thought about the fact that it's in the U District, during the I-5 hell, I might not have gone for it. Maybe I'll just stay in a hotel.

[textualdeviance.livejournal.com]

I think that's kind of where I was.

I actually had been in a game most of the day that this happened, and so I didn't find out until well after the initial news and all its followups had come through. So my first impression of it was all the notes from friends and family saying they were OK, and that it wasn't sabotage, etc.

I'm a practical person (really!) When I hear about something bad, my first questions are, "What can I do about this?" and "How did this happen/how can we prevent it from happening again?" If the root cause has been determined and folks have been helped and therefore I can't really do anything, then I just accept it and move on. Had I known people who had lost a loved one in this, absolutely, I would've been there for them as soon as possible, but at this point, my most practical application was to work on figuring out which public officials to prod to ensure that infrastructure funding gets a boost. So that's what I did.

[blakesrealm.livejournal.com]

That was my thought, and had a run-in with it this very week. A co-worker of my fathers had an issue with her young daughter and a boy, and when I gave her my condolences she broke down into tears. Talk about a 'deer-in-headlights' moment.

I was very happy that your family seems to be safe from the disaster, but I just honestly was a bit unsure what to say as it's still developing, in terms of figuring things out, so I'm just watching like everyone else is to see what caused/really happened and what the outcome will be.

[livingdeadpan.livejournal.com]

"Louisiana is a city that is largely underwater."

- Chertoff

[draggonlaady.livejournal.com]

a. what mrdorbin said cannot be explained better in my puny brain.

b. you ARE unique...just like everyone else.

c. why would that make you a fuddy duddy? parking in seattle is suckage.

d. say hi to them, and see if they can figure out who you are?

e. er. Wisconsin? the same Wisconsin that sits up by the Great Lakes? or is there a newer, more southern Wisconsin I forgot about?

[pixxelpuss.livejournal.com]

I suck at geography. Seriously.

Yes, you are TOTALLY a fuddy duddy, and an old straight married Texan Housewife, too. And will be until you find the time to hang out with me again. But I'm a creepy hermit shut-in who's too lazy to walk anywhere. So we're even.

Finally, the bridge thing. I wrote a whole thing, but it got huge. It's over on my LJ, and I'll make it only readable by you, because I'm not sure if this is the discussion you're looking for. If it isn't feel free to ignore it.

[weahawk.livejournal.com]

So you're telling me about this smartass girl who will be starting at evergreen because??? Cause there is a part of me that thinks you might want to play match-maker on that...wouldn't that be creepy as hell? Someone you used to babysit, you hooking up with an old-fart like me? LOL!

I can't say that I have been leaving lots of comments to anything of late. It was very scary landing in Houston with "late-breaking" news at the airport and seeing things that looked a lot like another terrorist attack at first. That really freaked me out actually. What also scares me is how bad OUR bridges are here.

[deagh.livejournal.com]

a) I *am* glad everyone you know is safe, but I was going to post that and then I thought "But those people that died are friends/family of people...does it make their deaths less real/important? No...." so I didn't say anything...seemed like it was lessening the fact that people died. I don't mean it that way, though. (and I'm rambling, this is why I didn't say anything.)

b) With 6 billion plus on the planet, none of us are, sadly.

c) Maybe, but I'm one too. Ick.

d) Welcome to my world. I'm six or seven years (I forget, because I'm old) older than you are. People I went to high school with are grandparents.

e) *shakes head as she raises hand*

f) It's sorta in the middle, if that makes you feel better.

Enjoy China!