thank you

major thanks to everyone for the moral and financial support. i've been able to get everything straightened out [1], plus knowing i wasn't going to be homeless if i didn't turn over my stock options instantly allowed me to wait until today, when EA shares went up $4.44. so, an extra couple hundred bucks for me after taxes. every little bit helps. (yesterday was EA's quarterly earnings report. i was pretty sure it wouldn't be bad. i also figured chances were good they'd release something the last day of the quarter to make themselves look good and the stock would go up a bit as a result. go me!)

things are still very tight, but i can at least afford my medication and get my interview pants dry-cleaned and stuff. and i think, under the circumstances, i can afford to splurge and have some beer with my ribs tonight. (oh, how i love beef ribs. they're almost always cheap and when you smoke them they're so very fine. i'm starting to like them better than pork ribs. i realize this is heresy, but what can i say? Beef: It's What's For Dinner.)

and the weather is lovely because late October/early November is summer for Pacifica, and the cats are happy because i didn't have to buy them generic cat food, and i'm happy because that means Iceberg isn't puking everywhere, and i'm close enough to being on top of things that i can actually concentrate on the job hunt.

on the down side of things, my whacked-out storylines get closer to reality every day. jeez, if i'd had any idea my paranoid imaginings were true, i'd have actually been complaining to someone instead of just using them as backdrops for cheesy romances.

but all in all, a major improvement over last week.

[1] well, i still need to follow up on something with the IRS, which i'm about to do, but i don't anticipate any problems.

also

the latest ithurtsmybrain pairing list is up. if it doesn't make you laugh like a lunatic, nothing will.

i picked two pairings to write this time around:

• Ellen Ripley (Alien et al)/Anderson Cooper (CNN)
  
• Richard III/George Costanza

but i really, really, really hope someone does #26: Wakko (Animaniacs)/Felix Leiter (James Bond). just not me. i can only take so much.

(note that these are not necessarily romantic pairings; you just have to write at least one scene in which the two characters appear. and thank god for that, because the world is not ready for Jim Ignatowski/Michael Garibaldi slash.)

beware the deer

They're everywhere these days. They run loose in department stores and trendy shops. They create mayhem in hospital waiting rooms. they're in our schools, our supermarkets, and even the corner pub. But these deer aren't the kind you'll see in a Disney animation. These deer are dangerous predators, hell-bent on revenge against humanity, and many say the danger is escalating. For some deer, simply wreaking havoc is not enough.

It began as harassment

A Helena, Montana paperboy says three deer stood in his way and refused to let him deliver his papers. Just days later, a six-point buck cornered him underneath a car, then held him hostage there for half an hour. And this is nothing new -- a spokesman for the Fish, Wildlife, and Parks department said the number of complaints about aggressive deer in Helena has risen steadily over the past two years.

It isn't just Montana. Recently in Indiana, deer caused six crashes on the same toll road in a single night. In California, a rash of attacks by male deer has prompted wildlife officials to warn people to keep their distance. In Orinda, two dogs were attacked and one died following an encounter with deer. And in Bentonville, Arkansas, one deer staged a daring home invasion.

A hunger for human flesh

But two September attacks in California, just days apart, are the most chilling evidence that something has changed, and not for the better.

On September 25th Ron Dudek, 73, was caught by surprise as he was picking tomatoes in his garden. A 6-foot-tall buck charged out of a patch of shrubbery and gored Dudek in the face before running off. Three weeks later, Ron Dudek was dead.

Then, the most horrifying attack of all: On September 29th, in Mendocino County, a a deer pinned a man against his house and bit a chunk out of his wife's arm. Some say it was random violence. Others say these deer have another, darker motivation: a hunger for human flesh.

Deer begin to associate people with food

Are these attacks truly random, or something more sinister? Do these young, aggressive deer want more than just our vegetable gardens? Even the experts seem to agree that this new breed of deer is out for blood.

"Whenever deer begin to associate people with food, problems are guaranteed to occur," says biologist Craig Sowers of the California Department of Fish and Game. Steve Matarano, also of the California Department of Fish and Game, says "What happens is these animals get more comfortable around people and people start to think of them like Bambi and often don't realize they can be dangerous."

In Minnesota, some say the deer see urban sprawl "as an inviting dinner plate." Ominous words, but perhaps now they will become a wake-up call for humanity.