"Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast"
-Oscar Wilde		 Brilliant at Breakfast title banner "The liberal soul shall be made fat, and he that watereth, shall be watered also himself."
-- Proverbs 11:25
"...you have a choice: be a fighting liberal or sit quietly. I know what I am, what are you?" -- Steve Gilliard, 1964 - 2007

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"...the best bleacher bum since Pete Axthelm" -- Randy K.

"I came here to chew bubblegum and kick ass. And I'm all out of bubblegum." -- "Rowdy" Roddy Piper (1954-2015), They Live
Sunday, September 15, 2013

Around the blogroll and elsewhere: Maybe I'm back? edition
Posted by Jill | 7:19 AM
I'd like to be able to tell you that I'll be back here on a regular basis. The traffic stats tell me that regular updates are needed, and as bang-up a job as jurassicpork does during my frequent absences, he can't do all the heavy lifting alone. Besides, I think I bring a somewhat lighter touch to the outrage. This is no knock on JP, but rather, a reflection of thousands of years of Jewish history, during which we learned to laugh even at the biggest crises because it's the only way we can get through the day. Even now, my stock answer to "How are you doing?" is "Compared to what?" Yes, there are days when I can hardly get out of bed. There are nights when I beg the Goddess to let me die in my sleep. But on the 95% of days when I'm functioning more or less normally, if I can make someone laugh, it's been a good day. Sometimes little things are all you've got.

So maybe I'm back, at least a bit more often. Or not. But please stay tuned; we're not going away, and since July 2014 will be our tenth blogiversary and so many have called it quits lately (most notably Pam and TBogg) or died (most notably, and sadly, Doghouse Riley), or moved on to Facebook or Twitter, where the demands are for only five minutes of your time to appear to be "engaged in the world around you", I think it's important for us relatively old-timers to keep on chugging away. I've made too many good friends, both in virtual and meat worlds, to let it all go in favor of 140 characters. Call me a Luddite, I don't care.

I do first want to thank some people who have been my absolute rock during these troubled times. What's left of my family have been wonderful. Special mention goes to my amazing sister, who having emerged from a decade of dealing with our impossible mother and a year of absolute hell with her during her final decline, has stood steadfastly by me, arranging visiting nurses when necessary, listening to me as I sit in the car screaming, being on call 24 x 7 when I need her, and all this on top of settling our mother's affairs, including getting rid of an incredible amount of STUFF from the house, remodeling it from the ground up to sell -- and all this while running a business. To my friend and neighbor Maryann, whose containers of meatballs, sausage and peppers, and eggplant parm, as well as her insistence on getting me out of the house for nice dinners have helped keep me sane. To our other neighbor John, who has kindly offered to drive Mr. Brilliant to Big Cancer Center on chemo days so that I can return to the office, because in the middle of a reorganization, you don't want them to forget you work there. My manager, who loads me up with an impossible amount of work but has trusted me enough to put in a full work week, even here and there, so that I haven't had to take family leave. Melina, who is just always THERE and always offers a haven of refuge if I just need to get away for a day or two. Special mention to The Wifely Person, who doesn't know me from a hole in the wall, but has been on this spousal cancer journey and stepped right in, checking in every week without fail to see how I'm doing and just being there and offering friendship when I desperately needed someone who gets it. The wonderful people at the BCAN community, especially Jon N. who also doesn't know me OR Mr. Brilliant, but is fighting his own brave battle with the bladder cancer beast while only in his thirties, but still finds time to also check in weekly. And oddly enough, to Mike Bridavsky, who brought his internet rock star kitteh, Lil BUB, to Ridgewood, New Jersey for a book signing so I got to experience some BUB magic first-hand. I do not know what it is with this strange little cat, but I do have to say that no matter how bad my day is, a photo or video of this magical creature always helps. And since meeting Lil BUB in "person", I really have felt better.

Mr. B. continues to do well. I think he still has a couple of stitches left behind that we will need to take care of, but his scar is hardly visible. He has some supposedly temporary paralysis of one of the muscles that controls his right eyebrow, which gives him a rakish perpetually skeptical look -- sort of a one-sided Colbert. He's having some side effects from the radiation but nothing terrible up to this point. In early November, Dr. Chess Club will work his magic on the left side, which probably won't be as comical because we know now what to expect, but if it is funny, you'll hear about it. Then it's just follow-ups and hope the beast stays away.

Anyway, while my world has been pretty small, the rest of it keeps on turning...

Betty Cracker is pragmatic...but is she right?

The great Charlie Pierce on The Things They Will Not Allow.

Here's the difference between Us and Them: Even though we have been fortunate enough to have top-notch care for Mr. Brilliant's illnesses, not everyone does, and that's an outrage. Obtaining health care for those who do not have access to Big Prestigious Hospitals is becoming more difficult. Alison Kilkenny on how New York City's neighborhood hospitals are disappearing. James Wolcott on Tbogg's departure from Blogtopia(™ Skippy).

Laffy on another Republican talking point biting the dust (not that they'll let FACTS get in the way...)

Bob on the fire in Seaside Park. And at Blue Jersey, musings on GOP Patron Saint of Presidential Hopes Chris Christie's photo-op against a backdrop of what was supposedly stronger than the storm.

And let us not forget Fukushima Diary, which is still keeping the world updated on the nightmare that is still going on in Japan, even though the major media won't touch it.

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3 Comments:
Blogger Ramona Grigg said...
Jill, thank you for checking in and for keeping your wonderful blog going, even as you fight your own battles close to home.
My wishes for peace and a rising good health to you and your husband. I would suggest that you don't overdo but I know it would fall on deaf ears. At least, dear Jill, take some time for yourself. And if you can't take time, eat chocolate. It does wonders for mellowing out.
9/15/13, 9:25 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...
The easiest measure you could take would be to dismiss the ineffectual pseudo radical jerk offs who have infested your site like red fleas from the flayed corpse of an arctic lynx.

9/16/13, 2:27 AM  
Blogger Dave said...
OK... if you're coming back then maybe I will too. Maybe.
9/16/13, 2:55 AM  
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