All linkspam, all the time

Re: Yesterday's "Wet Panda": Yes, I'm pretty sure it was a Red Panda. That was kind of the point of posting the link--"Tee hee, 'Wet' Panda."

Pearl Harbor survivors meet for last time.

Remains of St. Paul may have been found.

Playboy editor goes on trial in Jakarta.

Lane "Tweener" Garrison Did "Several Shots" Before Fatal Crash. Fatal to a teenager in his car, not to himself, as you will recall.

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Linkspam a go-go

Disney's "Pirates" sells 5 million DVDs in first day. "Dead Man's Chest also is on track to unseat the previous live-action record-holder for DVD sales, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, which sold about 16 million DVD copies and 2 million home-video units, a Disney spokesman said. DVD sales can account for as much as half of a movie's total revenues. Dead Man's Chest, the follow-up to Black Pearl, has generated more than $1 billion in worldwide box office receipts, making it the top-grossing film of the year." I'm kind of imagining Disney executives backstroking through swimming pools full of money à la Scrooge McDuck right now.

greyduck72: "In the 'do the right thing, no matter how heart-rending' department: Father's tip cracks alleged teen burglary ring."

Tornado hits London; at least six injured, homes damaged. Cornelius Fudge must be due in Blair's fireplace any moment now.

Spears says she went 'a little too far.'

Blunt report calls Iraq situation 'dire'; Bush: victory still possible in Iraq.

Food-safety fears revived as Taco Bell pulls onions.

Woman, 75, douses alleged thief with gas.

Japan's dieter-in-chief fights the munchies.

Manliness is next to godliness. "Stine's daylong revival meeting, which he calls 'GodMen,' is cruder than most. But it's built around the same theory as the other experimental forums: Traditional church worship is emasculating. Hold hands with strangers? Sing love songs to Jesus? No wonder pews across America hold far more women than men, Stine says. Factor in the pressure to be a 'Christian nice guy' — no cussing, no confrontation, in tune with the wife's emotions — and it's amazing men keep the faith at all." YEAH! You know what? We should crush beer cans on our heads for Jesus! Headbutt each other in the name of the Lord! Hold services out at the shooting range! Then we can go blast some Turks and recapture the Holy Land! RAWK.

Back on the Home Front

All right, now that I've cleaned out my linkspam pile, back to shenanigans chez Cleo:

After some discussion with my psychiatrist, we've decided that I've done well enough on 75 mg Lamictal for a month that I'm going to go ahead and go back up to 100 mg. Remember, the last time I did this--except that it was a jump from fifty to a hundred--there was itching and existential despair. This time, I was very, very cautious. Also, we talked about decreasing my Zoloft from 150 to 100 in January, and after I got off the phone I thought better of it--I decided to immediately drop down, so that basically I was exchanging one medication for the other, kind of like Indiana Jones with that golden idol thing. And so far, it's worked: I have noticed absolutely no side effects at all, which is astonishing. I mean, usually there's any kind of medication change, I at least feel a little dizzy or flushed or buzzed for a day or so. This time? Nothing. Outstanding.

Meanwhile, my mother is stroking the hell out over the 556 packages due at the house. Never mind that the UPS guy is here every single day; he's not bringing enough. ("More boxes, mule!" WHP-CHAAA!) I mean, yes, we have two birthdays coming up, plus Christmas, but emailing me every six minutes to see what's arrived isn't going to make them get here any faster, for God's sake.

Most of the stuff coming in has been for my sister, who wanted "a knife and a dog" for Christmas. The latter is actually a point of great controversy, as she wants a husky and my mother most emphatically does not. And since Sister Girl's on the verge of moving out but not quite ("roommate" problems yet to be sorted out), Mom is dead set against getting the dog, because she's convinced it's simply going to be living with us, and since we have two pomeranians already, she'd rather we had something the size of, say, a Norwich terrier, not a puppy that's already bigger than Sam. There have already been several fights on this subject, and what I'm really afraid of is that Sister Girl's just gonna up and get the dog for herself.

As for the knife, it's a ten-inch Global. She's in cooking school, as you'll recall. Maybe this means something to you; all I know is, she chose a Global over a Wüstof (pronunciation: WOOSTOFF. Roll it around for a moment: WOOOOOOOSTOFF), which makes me sad, because "Wüstof" is a fantastic word. ("Oooooh, say it again!" "WOOOOOSTOFF!" "Oooooh!") Actually, we're probably supposed to be saying it "Voostoff," but I kind of don't care. I put the umlaut in--what do you want from me?

Anyway, it arrived yesterday, and she was so excited that she ran past me and opened it, even though it was her big Christmas present (Woostoffs: not cheap), and took it to school to show off. So I was extra-careful to hide the martini glasses she wanted for her twenty-first birthday, which is on the 17th. She also wanted some chocolate from Vosges, particularly the Volcano Island honey truffles, which I got her last year as well. Going to cooking school apparently gives you extremely expensive taste.

Me, I'm waiting for a package I ordered for someone else, and we still have a couple of Amazon things outstanding, I think. Meanwhile, we are at a complete and total loss as to what to get my stepfather for Christmas. He does like books about politics (he's an anti-Bush, anti-O'Reilly Republican) and recent military history, but he needs them in large print; he likes WWII movies, but we've pretty much run out of those; he likes musicals on DVD, particularly stuff like Smokey Joe's Cafe or Phantom of the Opera, but we're running out of those, too. He'd like some live performances on DVD, but again: running out of those. (Anyone know if there's a DVD of Swing?) He's really not very fond of Christmas in general (whereas we backstroke through the ornaments and the decorations and the presents like those Disney executives in their money), and he's just not very into stuff. "I've got everything I need, and there's nothing I want." ARGH. How are we supposed to keep the economy going without the wanton, unnecessary acquisition of goods? I ask you.

Finally, from stardustshine: "I just noticed there is a link at the very bottom of the news story regarding James Kim: http://jamesandkati.com. It includes a link for monetary donations, an e-mail address for thoughts, and a physical address for other donations people would like to make to the family."