I'm going mad without my happy science juice!

` Ngh! Heeee! Wkaguk! Twitch! Mnh! *other withdrawal sounds*

` I gots something in my e-mail, though, from SpinalCordAlert@info.nature.com! Yes, they feel the need to e-mail me in order to alert me to the presence of my spinal cord! Heehahahaa! No, actually, I've been getting these updates for years. All the articles in them sound just so great and interesting, why...
` Clinical and economic consequences of volume- or time-dependent intermittent catheterization in patients with spinal cord lesions and neuropathic bladder.
` Oh yes, I just love reading about people who have trouble peeing because of damage to their bodily neurons! Which reminds me, as a lameish comic strip by a very talented artist I very recently read goes... (Click 'Next' to see the the very lame answer!)

` Oh, and as my getting sent e-mail early powers foretell; in four days, Cecil Adams's coworker, Euty, will answer a question about a cult in great detail in an 11-Oct-2005 Straight Dope...

Researching the occult is always tricky since you tend to find at least three times as much (oh, let's be dainty, shall we?) bull excrement as you might expect from any one bull. Wiccans claim descent from old world matriarchal religions, while some Masonic writers claiming direct descent from God. The history of Rosicrucianism is interesting but is too often obscured by adherents who claim a much earlier origin than the historical record supports.

` Yay for bull$#!^ cults! *waves arms inanely.* Oh that reminds me! I have yet to finish that one post about the biggest, baddest, scariest cult in the world!
` (Usually, I personally don't say nothin' about 'em unles they're actually really dangerous or something.)
` Also, my suspicions are confirmed about our elevator's slow-acting 'Door Close' button by a 1986 Classic Straight Dope, our friend Unca Cecil found out that:

(1) The button really does work, it's just set on time delay.

Suppose the elevator is set so that the doors close automatically after five seconds. The close-door button can be set to close the doors after two or three seconds. The button may be operating properly when you push it, but because there's still a delay, you don't realize it.

(2) The button is broken. Since a broken close-door button will not render the elevator inoperable and thus does not necessitate an emergency service call, it may remain unrepaired for weeks.

(3) The button has been disconnected, usually because the building owner received too many complaints from passengers who had somebody slam the doors on them.

(4) The button was never wired up in the first place. One repair type alleges that this accounts for the majority of cases. In other words, the whole thing is a total scam. Watergate, Iran-contra, and now this. And they wonder why we've lost faith.

` Plus, as one reader wrote: "...But for special occasions the elevator could be keyed into "operator" or manual mode. The doors would stay open until you pressed and held the "close door" button."
` Yes, the mystery is... hang on, I'm getting a text message on my cell phone. It's from EdgeWalker. He says that the paychecks are late in coming in again, so he might not get his by the time I come and get him. Oh well.

` Anyway... here's something mildly interesting that Dory sent me the other day...

The snake was found with the gator's hindquarters protruding from its midsection. Mazzotti said the alligator may have clawed at the python's stomach as the snake tried to digest it.

In previous incidents, the alligator won or the battle was an apparent draw.

"There had been some hope that alligators can control Burmese pythons," Mazzotti said. "This indicates to me it's going to be an even draw. Sometimes alligators are going to win and sometimes the python will win."

It is unknown how many pythons are competing with the thousands of alligators in the Everglades, but at least 150 have been captured in the past two years, said Joe Wasilewski, a wildlife biologist and crocodile tracker.

Pythons could threaten many smaller species that conservationists are trying to protect, including other reptiles, otters, squirrels, woodstorks and sparrows, Mazzotti said.

` Hm. So, while a reticulated python most plausibly could eat an alligator, I guess it's kind of shocking that a Burmese python might have succeeded - if the alligator hadn't been alive!

` Onto a completely different subject; in the (recently-moved due to spam) Zebra Girl forum... (Click to see the most recent comic! The one at the time of this post is HUGE and it ROCKS!!)

Darklite wrote to me:

I've been meaning to ask this for a while...

why all the apostrophes in front of each line in all of your posts?


Briareos wrote:

Maybe she got a metric ton of 'em cheap (but also near their expiration date) off eBay and now needs to quickly use them all up before they expire?

Just a guess, tho...


Then I wrote:

` Heehe. ^^ They're accent marks or something, I think. I just use 'em because I like having two spaces at the beginning of each paragraph, as that is how I'm used to writing my novels, but this program collapses more than one space in a row, or any spaces before first characters.
` I just do this in habit from writing blogs... though I can probably change that, now that I'm at Blogger.

` Most recently, I've been so strapped for time that I resorted to searching my sketchbook for Brak Show quotes. But no sketches! Keep forgetting to ask Mr. Digital Camera Friend to take pictures of them. Almost did yesterday, though.
` I just put too much of my total good output into my novel, so I don't have anything left over. Before, it was overflowing with good, sciency stuff and whatnot.

` Um... anyway. Oh! The sketchbook!! Yes, when I figure out how to get photos from the camera to my computer - I dont' have the software - I can show you some of my happy fan art ^^.
` When I finish any.


` And there you have it! The bottom of the barrel! Well, ta! Back to writing 'CM'!

` EDIT at 15:01 Wait, not quite... THIS IS!!:

Me: Oo! ^^^ Yee. Hey, I have three eyes!
The Swill Man: and plastic surgery on them is as simple as a tap of the backspace key

` Haahahahhahahahaaaaaa heeeee! ...But I like having three eyes. Like Zebra Girl! Okay, seriously... I'm off to bring EdgeWalker the car so he can drive us both home from work (don't'cha just love learner's permits?) because today's his half-day of work! Whee!