wilwheaton:

myfriendwilw:

There is nothing better then relaxing after a long day of work watching Star Trek with Wil. 

I love this. I hoped that, when we made the little plushie Wils (Lil’ Wils) that they’d have all sort of adventures, and get all sorts of little costumes.

That hasn’t happened as much as I hoped, but when I see things like this, I am happy, because little Wil is obviously having all kinds of fun.

This is my life. I need this plushie. 

Grandma has not been doing so well lately. To be honest, she is no longer the grandma I grew up with. She slurs her words. She hallucinates bugs and images in the kitchen tile. She often starts or continues conversations that are not occurring. She speaks and gestures in her sleep. She can barely walk, and cannot lift herself out of her chair without assistance, she is too weak. She is quite incontinent. She requires assistance to shower, use the bathroom, eat, and pretty much everything else. 

As one can imagine, she is not handling this well. Grandma has always been something of an attention lover, and now that she cannot be independent, it has become worse. She requires constant attention, and if she doesn’t get it, she becomes upset. She says mean and angry things to my grandfather, who painstakingly cares for her. 

It quite literally breaks my heart in two to watch what is happening. My grandfather cannot sleep through the night because my grandma constantly gets up and wanders the house and injures herself. She cannot sit still for more than 1.5 - 2 minutes before she needs something or gets up. 

Today. Today, I got snowed in. We had a blizzard of massive proportion and I was unable to fly back to be at work tomorrow. I will have to be here for two more days, actually, as they can’t get me out until the afternoon of 12-28, so I’ll be missing the entire work week. This is a blessing in disguise, as it gives me more time to spend with her and my family. See, I’ve been really struggling with the change that has come over her. I saw her not three months ago, and she was not nearly this far gone. My response to this shock was to ignore it and just try to calm the family, especially my mother. I can’t imagine how difficult this must be for her - I can’t imagine essentially losing my mother. She is my rock. This is so very difficult for her, and the politics of family isn’t making it any easier. But tonight, after looking through a box of family photos going back to the mid-1800’s, I realized that this is the only chance I have to hear her history and to hear about her life. 

I’ve gained weight. 

No, this is not going to be a sob story. I do not feel bad for myself, I’m simply stating a fact. How do I know this?

This is where it gets weird, people, so please stop reading if you ever have or ever will have the inclination to judge me.

I can tell because my underwear are just shy of completely covering my ass, thereby inducing a 24/7 wedgie. I’m literally picking my underwear out of my ass all day. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m fabulously happy with my ass. It is one of the (few) areas in which I have been genetically blessed, and I love my ass in all it’s giant glory. The problem is that I do not have any desire to purchase a brand new underwear wardrobe (actual thing). The answer to my problem is losing weight, probably somewhere between one and two pounds.

To accomplish this, I will be attempting to wake up tomorrow morning and go running. 

Now, lets pause here, dear friends. You did not read the previous sentence incorrectly. I did, in fact, say IN THE MORNING. Formatting added to increase visibility and plausibility. Yes, this is still the same Hillary you know (and possibly love). I have not lost my mind or suffered through a dramatic life event. I am still the same girl that is non-functional before 10am (12pm if hungover).

But I’m going to do it. Honestly, there is no reason I can’t. I don’t have to be at work until 9:30am on Mondays, so its ridiculous that this will even be difficult for me. Because IT WILL BE DIFFICULT. I pity any person that I happen to pass while running tomorrow morning for the horrible scowl I know I will wear on my face for the entire duration.

I write this because I can’t sleep, possibly due to the anxiety triggered by the 8 alarms I now have set on my phone. It’s like my brain is attempting to sabotage me. BRAIN, NO. I’M DOING THIS. FUCK YOU (love you). 

Wish me luck, dear friends. This shall be a very interesting event. 

- H

Some things about Ohio:

1. People say “pop”. And “I says to him”. And “warsher (washer)”. The length of time I spend with my family is directly and inversely proportional to the amount of time it takes me to lose my accent when I return.

2. It’s pronounced “oh-HI-uh” no “oh-HI-oh”. 

3. The bugs are significantly smaller here. I regaled my family with tales of grasshoppers 2-3 inches in length and they nearly collectively shit their pants. 

4. They have basements. And they are fantastic, wonderful havens where the air is cooler and you can escape from people. Also wonderful storage areas. 

5. The scenery is gorgeous. Many rolling hills, verdant pastures, tall authoritative trees, and corn fields. Though, sadly, you could see the corn stalks were a little yellow at the top, indicating they are burnt and did not receive enough moisture.

6. It’s possible to sit outside, at the end of August, and enjoy the weather. The breeze is heavenly.

7. The humidity is worse than you could possibly imagine. TRUST ME. I’ve lived in Iowa/Ohio and also Texas and I have to say the humidity is much worse in Ohio/Iowa. A good example: the temperature rarely exceeds 90, but the heat index is consistently above 100 degrees. This is pure torture, let me tell you.

I have so much more to share, but I’m so tired that I just fell asleep at my table. 

Bed time!

-H

obliteratedheart:

In French, you don’t really say “I miss you.” You say “tu me manques,” which is closer to “you are missing from me.”

I love that. “You are missing from me.”

Actually, that is not accurate. There is no “from” in this sentence. A more accurate translation would be “to me, you are missing”. Which is still not accurate because this form of the verb is not a gerund, but its closer than the original mistaken translation. This construction is similar to the “like” construction in romance languages. For example, “piacere” or “gustare” in Italian and Spanish, respectively, are used to indicate that you like something - you would say “this is pleasing to me”. So “I like this book” becomes:

“Me gusta el libro” or “Mi piace il libro”

which technically translates to “This book is pleasing to me”. A similar situation occurs with “missing”. In Italian, the phrase would be “tu me manche” which translates to “You are missing to me” - the important difference being “to” - this has a drastically different meaning that what the incorrect translation above leads one to believe.

P.S. The most technical translation would be “To me, you are missed” or “*To me, you miss” - the second one is not correct in English (we require a helping verb ‘are’, but that helping verb isn’t actually present in the sentence). The asterisk indicates an ungrammatical English sentence.

mothernaturenetwork:

Engineer plans to build real-life version of Starship Enterprise within 20 years
Capt. Kirk explored the universe in the USS Enterprise around the year 2250, but at least one engineer thinks it can be done this century.

(via proofmathisbeautiful)

flasd:

“A book is made from a tree. It is an assemblage of flat, flexible parts (still called “leaves”) imprinted with dark pigmented squiggles. One glance at it and you hear the voice of another person, perhaps someone dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, the author is speaking, clearly and silently, inside your head, directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people, citizens of distant epochs, who never knew one another. Books break the shackles of time, proof that humans can work magic.”

— Carl Sagan ( via: ieve )

Fantastic.

(via murketing)

wheninatx:

BAHA I definitely get this. I lived on the east side for about a month and a half and I had to drive past this light at night all the time.

This. This green and white. I want my room to look like this.

(via fiftyfiveuntilfreedom-deactivat)