The lede of yesterday's Dear Abby column was a letter from a Dad who is hurt when his ex throws birthday parties for their kids and doesn't invite him.

This was the second letter:

DEAR ABBY: I was a soldier serving in Iraq. Last April, I was in a vehicular accident while part of a military convoy and was MEDEVACed to the nearest medical treatment facility.

When you're a trauma patient in the United States, you're put in a cubicle in an emergency room, blocked off from the rest of the patients. That is not the case in the military during a war.

I didn't mind sharing the trauma room with the Marine who had arrived there before me. He had been shot three times in the face. While I was in the room with this brave Marine, the trauma crew fought valiantly to save his life. He flatlined seven times in just the short period after I got there. The nurses, doctors and medics worked tirelessly on him, not giving up. Finally, the doctor told them it was over, and they covered him up. I never knew his name. I lay on my litter while they started to work on my arm, which had been pinned under the truck during my accident and crushed, crying silently for the life that had been lost.

I'm writing this to you, Abby, to let that Marine's parents and friends know how hard the doctors and crew fought to save his life. Besides the medical crew, I'm the only one who knows. He wasn't just a face, or a name on a memorial to them. He was a life, and many people tried hard to keep him alive. If he had been my child, I would want to know. -- ANOTHER SOLIDER, CLARKSVILLE, TENN.

Not much from me here, I wanted to highlight this amazing testament.

If this was my son, I would be profoundly grateful for the thoughtfulness of Another Soldier who took a few moments out of his day to let the world know how hard the medics fought for the life of that Marine. But I would also be profoundly saddened that even Dear Abby chose to print this letter as an afterthought.

In honor of this soldier, this marine, and the medics who worked tirelessly on both of them, why don't you make a donation to Valour-IT and tell our troops that we support them, both well and wounded? Click the button on the left sidebar or go here.

added to Greyhawk's Open Post and OTB's Beltway Traffic Jam

Posted by: caltechgirl at 11:57 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Anybody else think that those "Breasts Not Bombs" chicks would get a LOT more sympathy if they shaved their pits?????

Just sayin'....

Posted by: caltechgirl at 05:10 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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You know who you are.

First, for the little twerp in the Chartreuse metal flake Kia Rio with the tinted windows, I know how manly you are. Your sweet little ride is all I need to see to know you are indeed a stud. You even drive like one, thinking you can merge in front of me and cut me off..... See, your POS little KIA has even less to recommend it in the power department than most. Probably just like you. I know all I need to know about your sense of humor, too. You are the funniest human being on earth for cutting back in front of me and riding your brakes. I hope you were laughing too when you got stuck behind that semi.....

Second, for the busy gentleman in the silver Elantra at Costco. I don't know what is so attractive about me that you felt you needed to cut me off to get into the gas station, and then the ultimate was when you laughed at me because my Costco card is demagnetized and I had to get the Costco guy to come help me get the pump to work because you "weren't going to fall for" me asking you to slide your Costco card so that the INCREDIBLY impatient man behind you could get to the gas faster.... I want you to know I am indebted to you forever for allowing me to flip you off as you drove away in your smugness and your cheapass car.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 05:06 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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How could I forget? This week's Soup themed CotR is available at PajamaPundits for your happy perusal!

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Even though I haven't been doing much Valour-IT blogging in the last few days, our pledge drive isn't over yet, in fact we're going until Veteran's Day (Friday)!

It's not hard to find even a few dollars to donate to this wonderful cause:

-- Skip that latte ($5)
-- Pack a lunch ($5-10)
-- Quit smoking for the day ($5)
-- Don't buy a lottery ticket, give to a sure thing ($1)
-- Make dinner at home ($20)

and I'm sure if you think about it, you can find more things in your life you can sacrifice for just one day to help make a difference in the life of a wounded soldier.....

And if none of that is good enough for you, how about this:

It's almost Thanksgiving, in fact about 6 weeks until Christmas and Chanukah, what would you do if you couldn't write a Holiday card or pick up the phone to leave a holiday message? Would you want someone to help you?

Imagine how wonderful it will be for some wounded soldier to get that chance, use of a Valour-IT laptop to send holiday greetings home, or to their friends, or to their comrades in arms still in harm's way?

Isn't that worth a few $$? $5? $10? More?

Click the button the left sidebar to donate to Team Army, or go here to send a check.

Even though our blogger teams are competeing, it's the wounded soldiers who win. Please help us help them.

Added to today's Beltway Traffic Jam

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I'm getting Farked!

Someone linked my Ric Romero story about the Fark thread on him in another Fark thread....

So welcome, Farkers! and the other 12 people who dropped by today!

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This week's edition of Unconscious Mutterings is up:

1. Deeper and deeper::
   
2. CanÂ’t help .... ::
   
3. DevilÂ’s advocate::
   
4. Superpower::
   
5. Threatening::
   
6. Played::
   
7. War::
   
8. Violate::
   
9. Invest::
   
10. Choke::
    

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Next week while I'm gone, I'm going to have several guestbloggers here for your reading pleasure. Some of them you may know, some of them you may not.... You'll just have to figure it out!

BTW if I asked you to be a GB next week and you haven't definitely said yes or no yet, email me and let me know, thanks!

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Life's catching up with me, I guess. Saturday and Sunday were both spent remedying things that we had been waiting for paychecks to fix, like getting wall anchors to hang the rest of the shelvage and a grill (yay!). And of course there was football.

I haven't done a lot of sportsblogging this season, but damn, Saturday was a great day of college football. AZ kicked the dirty bruins' butts, Miami beat the Chokeys, and of course SC made Stanfurd cry like a little girl.

I was most pleased by the loss of the Chokeys, not only because they were previously undefeated, but also because Va Tech fans are (as a group) the rudest, least accomodating people in the world. And we played them at FedEx field, so I can only imagine how much MORE assholish they are in Blacksburg. Even ucla fans are more congenial and respectful.

Anyway, that's about it from here. Trying to get a handle on work stuff so I can telecommute next week while I'm at home for Dad's operation.

Also, thanks to all the Valour-IT donors! Army's back ahead of them Squiddies, and all the wounded folks are the real winners! More on that later.

Don't forget to vote for your favorite milblogger in Aaron's deck of cards!

Posted by: caltechgirl at 11:58 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Aaron's got another Blogger get.... a deck of blogger cards. He's taking nominations....

Ladies are the queens and hearts, milbloggers get the Clubs. He's right, the competition for Queen of Clubs should be interestng to say the least.

I myself would love a card, since I've been a Large Mammal for 10 months, give or take a few TTLB tweaks..... any low number will do. I don't have any aspirations to a face card....

So what about it Aaron?

Posted by: caltechgirl at 03:36 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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1 Geeze, I'm so low on the list I wonder if I would rate a 2 card?

Posted by: vw bug at November 05, 2005 06:14 PM (2+gaO)

2 I'll vote for you!

Posted by: Ith at November 05, 2005 08:39 PM (/Ph/n)

3 If I was lucky, I might get the instruction card!

Posted by: Contagion at November 07, 2005 06:00 AM (Q5WxB)

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Next Thursday is my birthday, so I'm going to post the recipe for my very favorite birthday cake. I love Red Velvet Cake, especially with Cream Cheese Frosting, but for some reason it's just not chocolatey to me. Which is good, as I am merely a chocolate "tolerator"...

This particular recipe is super moist and rich and fattening and perfect for a birthday party. I love it! Also the frosting recipe is super light, made with cream cheese and whipped cream.

Red Velvet Cake

1 cup butter, softened
3 cups white sugar
6 eggs
1 ounce red food coloring (minimum)
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon white vinegar

Directions

1 Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and flour three round 8 or 9 inch cake pans.
2 In a large bowl, cream 1 cup butter with sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add food coloring to mixture.
3 Mix cocoa with flour and add mixture to large bowl alternately with buttermilk, add vanilla and salt.
4 Mix baking soda with vinegar, and gently stir into mixture. Be careful not to over mix.
5 Divide batter into three prepared 8 or 9 inch round pans. Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 25 minutes. Check for doneness with a clean toothpick inserted in the center of each cake and allow to cool. If you use a different type of pan, timing may be much longer.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese (room temperature is best)
1 cup confectioner's (powdered) sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (make it a heavy teaspoon)
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

Directions

1 In a small bowl beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form; set aside.
2 In a large bowl combine cream cheese, sugar, salt and vanilla. Beat until smooth, then fold in whipped cream.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 02:07 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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Here's comic man Mike Wallster's (of Ipso Facto Comics) contribution to Valour-IT:

That's what it's like for our wounded troops without the use of their hands and arms.

Every little bit you can give to Valour-IT helps! Especially now that those Squiddies got two very large donations and have pulled ahead!

Click on the button to the left to donate to our team, the First Team, Team Army!

(bonus points to anyone except my DH who gets where that phrase comes from)

in deference to those of you who might have other opinions on which group is best, try these links to donate:
To credit the Zoomies go here.
For the Squids, go here.
And if you love the Jarheads, go here.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 09:52 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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This week's Unconscious Mutterings:
You know the drill. Cut and paste your answers in the comments. Mine are in the extended....

1. Unbreakable::
   
2. Have mercy::
   
3. Do it better::
   
4. Settle scores::
   
5. Comments::
   
6. Craziest thing::
   
7. Apple::
   
8. Halloween::
   
9. Manageable::
   
10. Trick::
    

Posted by: caltechgirl at 01:02 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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1 From GMT: 1. Unbreakable:: titanium 2. Have mercy:: on my soul 3. Do it better:: sex 4. Settle scores:: always 5. Comments:: spam 6. Craziest thing:: happy fun ball 7. Apple:: eating 8. Halloween:: bust 9. Manageable:: finances 10. Trick:: or treat

Posted by: caltechgirl at November 03, 2005 10:10 PM (uI/79)

2 1 Unbreakable:: movie 2 Have mercy::never (been a bad week, I'm not actually that mean) 3 Do it better: r else 4 Settle scores::get even 5 Comments::don't get enough 6 Craziest thing::me 7 Apple::fruit 8 Halloween::American 9 Manageable::team 10 Trick::deceive

Posted by: Amanda at November 03, 2005 11:51 PM (Lb4zU)

3 Unbreakable:: teflon Have mercy:: Lord Do it better:: We Settle scores:: Comments:: Trackbacks Craziest thing:: ever Apple:: pie Halloween:: candy Manageable:: hair Trick:: or treat

Posted by: Amanda at November 04, 2005 05:44 AM (ay+rD)

4 oops...I forgot Settle scores:: tie breaker

Posted by: Amanda at November 04, 2005 05:45 AM (ay+rD)

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Star Wars is the greatest post-modern art film ever?

As Star Wars works to make us aware of its own narrative structure, other odd things about the films start to come into focus. Most significantly, we start to notice that the films are an elaborate meditation on the dialectic between chance and order. They all depend upon absurd coincidence to propel the story forward. Just what are the odds, in just one of near-infinite examples, that of all the planets in that galaxy far, far away, the droids should end up back on Tatooine, in the home of the son of the sweet (if annoying) boy who had built C-3PO decades before? Throughout all six films there are scenes of crucial serendipity. Such dependence on unlikely coincidence isn't unique to Star Wars. As literary critics have long pointed out, the arbitrary yoking together of events in the service of storytelling is one of the fundamental characteristics of all narrative. R2-D2 needs to hook up with Luke on Tatooine, just as Prospero's enemies need to wash up on the shores of his island, and Elizabeth Bennet needs to marry Mr. Darcy, for the narrative requirements of those stories to be fulfilled. The audience's willing surrender to narrative coincidence is demanded by the story's need to conclude itself.

Discuss.

(h/t Michael Stickings posting at TMV)

Posted by: caltechgirl at 12:43 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Imagine being thousands of miles from home, battling heat, wind, sand, and an enemy that is too cowardly to face you on the street, preferring to throw RPGs and IEDs at you, or blow themselves up in a car bomb.

Imagine being attacked by one of these cowards. Hearing the explosion, feeling the heat and the wind, and looking down to see blood, feeling the pain.

You're rushed to the field hospital by the medics, and suddenly everything is out of control: needles, pain meds, fluids, bandages, your whole world upside down in a matter of minutes.

Next thing you know, you wake up in a hospital, look down at your hands and see bandages. Maybe you were lucky enough to keep your hands, maybe they're gone. In either case, you can't use them.

Imagine how helpless you would feel. You can't feed yourself, dress yourself, read a book, change the channel on the television. You can't pick up the phone and dial your Mom, even just to tell her you're ok. No really, you are OK.

Imagine days on end like this. What you would give just to be able to be a little independent. To have something you can do for yourself, even just to be able to call up your family on your own.

Now imagine an Angel walks into your room one day, with a laptop and a microphone. This Angel, not a heavenly Angel, but a real Angel, a Soldier's Angel, has a Valour-IT laptop, and it's yours to use. You can get back in touch with the world on your own terms. The voice activated software lets you write letters, surf the web, send email, watch videos, even blog, all without your hands. And you can use it whenever you want, as long as you're still there.

Imagine how this marvelous gift would make you feel.

Supporting Valour-IT means that such a feeling is no longer a dream for many of our wounded soldiers. Just $685 buys a fully outfitted laptop, complete with the voice software, and ready to help a wounded service person reconnect. Any small amount of money will go a long way towards buying these computers and getting them into our military hospitals where they can be put to good use.

Even $5. It's not hard to set aside a few $$ to help out. Think you can skip that venti latte for one day to help out a wounded soldier? There's $5. Take lunch to work instead of the Cafeteria or McDonalds, another $5. Making dinner at home instead of going out gets you $20. Running errands in one trip to save gas gets you another $5 saved.

So dig deep. We're almost a quarter of the way to our goal. Help us help our soldiers.

To donate with a credit card, click the button on the left. To send a check, click here for the address.

Remember all donations to Valour-IT are tax deductible and every donor gets a Soldier's Angels coin. Every donor over $50 who uses my button (email me) gets a minimum 500 word essay on the topic of your choice (within reason) and gratuitous linkage (in lieu of a blog ad, which we don't do here)

GO ARMY!

Bloggers participating in Team Army:

Linked to the 11/4 OTB Traffic Jam

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...know how to take a joke.

Some don't. And don't deserve a link.

I am so mad at someone, even though I should not be taking it personally. Assclown.

(note: if I haven't snarked at you elsewhere, you are not the assclown)

Posted by: caltechgirl at 08:37 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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1 uhhh, I just hope I'm not the assclown... again.

Posted by: Contagion at November 03, 2005 05:40 AM (Q5WxB)

2 Is it bad if I stand in this corner and shout "Fight! Fight!" and giggle too?

Posted by: oddybobo at November 03, 2005 07:28 AM (6Gm0j)

3 if you can find the right corner of the b'sphere (where the assclownery took place), then sure. But the good stuff is probably over.

Posted by: caltechgirl at November 03, 2005 08:58 AM (/vgMZ)

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In the Valour-IT competition, nearing the end of Day 1....

We've raised twice as much as the Zoomies, with almost $2700 $3000!! so far! (5pm PST)

Donate Early, Donate Often!

Clicky Clicky on the button! (on the left sidebar)

Posted by: caltechgirl at 04:57 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I don't remember seeing this on the DVD..... although I've only seen it once so far...

(h/t Zonker-iffic)

Posted by: caltechgirl at 04:14 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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So after this I get my stuff together and leave. Except that I locked my keys in my office.

Or so I thought.

Called security before I checked the doorknob. It was open. Had to call security and cancel. Then I got my keys and relocked the door.

I am an idiot.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 02:28 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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There are two ass-clowns in here trying to set up the fire sprinklers. Everytime I get back to work, they come back in here again. You should have seen them bump into each other trying to get in and out of the door!

This is why I'm blogging instead of reading the grant that I'm trying to read.

But seriously, donate to Valour-IT, ok?

Use the Force button on the left, Luke!

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