On my cigar walk this morning i realized two things. The first was that today is the last day of amnesty month at the library, I best be returning that last book today. I forgot the other thing I realized, but I have a feeling it was important.

I did notice that the trolls are out in reality, I saw a graffito of the URL to goatse along the bike trail up past Arlington Center.

I finally found a place that will fill my new prescription for injectable estradiol: the Stop & Shop Pharmacy in Arlington Heights. They are going to have to order it from their distributer, but that is more than anyone else was able to do. I will be able to pick them up tomorrow. Now I need to set up an appointment with the nurse that will instruct me on giving myself shots.

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My landlord actually gave me a ride to the Stop & Shop Pharmacy. I was surprised by the offer, but I took him up on it. Afterwards, he asked if I wanted to go with him to his favorite thrift store in Arlington, which is located in the basement of the Fox Library and only runs two days a week. I didn't even know it existed, so I decided to go with him. The prices were very nice and the stuff was not terribly picked through. I was able to pick up a couple nice items without spending much money.

DOPA, or the "Deleting Online Predators Act" is one of the more horrifying and dangerous pieces of legislation in a long time. It would force libraries and schools to block access to "commercial Web sites that let users create web pages or profiles or offer communication with other users via forums, chat rooms, e-mail or instant messenging."

Essentially, DOPA would permit nothing that allows the user to publish or broadcast their views or tell stories. This bill does not target online predators, instead it censors those who are most likely to have negative views of the government. This bill would effectively silence large groups of disadvantaged children and adults whose only access to such online forums are schools and libraries.

The internet, especially blogging sites, threaten to break Marx's observation that "freedom of the press belongs to those who own one". The old monopoly on the press is being widdled away as more and more people are able to tell their stories. Those in power, while not acknowledging Marx's observation, have understood it to be true and have understood that it benefits them.

However, both Marx and the power brokers in Washington share the belief that information should be controlled. The only real difference between them was how this control is best administered. The internet offers a new world where information is controlled by no one. Where all are free to talk and tell our stories. We are still far from that world, but it is within our grasp.

The future is closer than we think, and what we do now will dramatically change what that future will be. We need to expand the press to everyone, not limit it to the few.

For breakfast I had one and a half bagels with cream cheese, for lunch I had an egg and cheese bagel, for dinner I had spaghetti in a tomatoe sauce with portabellas and parmesan, and for my healthy snack I had apple sauce. While I did okay with food, I didn't get any exercise in today. Tomorrow I plan on walking to the library, which should fulfill my exercise quota.

I was hypnotized in therapy today. I was wicked twitchy and panicky when I went in. I said I wanted to reset my brain. She asked how I planned on doing that. I told her I didn't know, when actually I do. But she then hypnotized me. I thought it was just going to be a relaxation exercise, but it went deeper. We went to a safe space which happened to be purpleglitter's bedroom. There I saw purpleglitter's bed, but it was draped in purple satin. Then I saw all the stuffed animals. Goldie the Lolly was there as well, which was a bit out of place. Then I went into a circular library with long wooden ladders on wheels to reach the higher shelves. I pulled out a notebook on therapy and started to read it, but i lost the connection and was back in my therapists office. It was really cool. I felt completely relaxed. My therapist says were going to begin each session from now on with a little bit of hypnosis.

Been trying to figure out what species of mouse Marshmallow is. She doesn't look at all like a house mouse, her body is short and round and her eyes and ears are larger. Her tail is also a bit shorter than a house mouse's. She looks more like a wood mouse or a deer mouse, but not enough like them to be either. I have no idea what kind of mouse she is, she may be a rare sort. I've looked her up on the search engines and found nothing. I'm going to go to the library sometime this week and get a book on mice to try to figure out what kind she is.

Sara came over today. We went over to Spy Pond to feed the geese, but the geese were elsewhere. There were however, many ducks. So we stood around and fed the ducks. As soon as we ran out of food, the geese arrived. I felt bad we didn't have anything left to give them, so we walked back to the house_of_clocks. On the way back, I noticed my fliers were gone. Who took them down, I don't know, but I've got better one's to put up now. Sara thought my old fliers were a bit too ravenous, which might make people less likely to read them, so we toned down the rhetoric a bit (at least at the begining of the flier) and produced a new set of fliers that will go up tonight.

FEED THE GEESE As you walk into this park, you can't help but notice the beautiful birds. Pretty ducks, magnificent geese and regal swans make Spy Pond their seasonal home. The so-called "Friends of Spy Pond" take issue with the natural behavior of these birds. One cannot miss the signs posted by the "Friends", instructing visitors not to feed the geese and other birds claiming that this is for the good of the birds. However, their own literature states that every April the "Friends" gather to addle (kill) the eggs of the geese that nest around Spy Pond. They also claim that stopping the geese is for the good of the grass, as though people would rather see lush grass than natural beauty. However, this claim is easily put to rest as well, as the majority of the damage to the grass around Spy Pond is caused by human foot traffic. The fact is that they can't stand nature intruding on their precious park. Now, in the middle of a major town budget crisis, they want the Town of Arlington to erect an eyesore of a fence around the pond, to prevent these birds from "trampling" the grass, forgetting that birds can fly. This absurdity would funnel money away from our schools and libraries to fund their special-interest anti-bird paranoia. The "Friends of Spy Pond" must be stopped. Feed the geese. Write to Town Hall. Spy Pond should be for everyone, including the geese.

I'm going to go down to Spy pond tonight and post the following message on the bulletin boards there:

GEESE ARE GOOD The so-called "Friends of Spy Pond" have an all out war against geese, ignoring the fact that many people enjoy seeing the birds, part of nature, in their waterside park. I'm sure you've all seen the signs put up by the "Friends" not to feed the geese. They feebly try to make the claim this is for the good of the birds, however, every April the "Friends" go out and addle (or kill) the eggs of the geese that nest around Spy Pond. They also claim that stopping the geese is for the good of the grass. People would rather see nice lush grass than beautiful birds. However this claim is easily put to rest as well, as the majority of the damage to the grass around Spy Pond is caused by human foot traffic. The fact of the matter is they simply hate animals. They can't stand nature intruding on their precious park. Now they want the Town of Arlington to erect an eyesore of a fence around the pond to stop these birds from getting on the grass, in the middle of gigantic town budget crisis. This is taking money away from our schools and libraries to fund their special-interest anti-bird paranoia. The "Friends of Spy Pond" must be stopped. Feed the geese. Write town hall. Spy Pond should be for everyone, including the geese.

Just watched A Beautiful Mind. Amazing movie. Very inspirational. Makes me want to get back into math. It made me believe again that anything is possible. I had been thinking about studying math again earlier this month, but I got distracted. I'm going to head to the library this week and begin studying. I used to be so good at math. I really want to get back into it. I'm probably going to put A Beautiful Mind on my movie list.

Good news: I'm out of the hospital.

Bad news: the house_of_clocks was struck by lightening last night. the router is fried. the cable modem is fried. merryperseis's computer is fried. and the good phone is fried. so we won't be online for some time.

More bad news: I've lost my license and my library card and bank card.

posted by purpleglitter