Ouch!

I have a pair of beat-up shoes I wear around the house. I have diabetes and you're not supposed to walk barefoot.

About a week ago, my cats were chasing each other around in the middle of the night and knocked a jar of (sugarless) hard candy off a shelf. It shattered. When I slipped my shoes on that morning a sliver of glass had landed in the right shoe. I didn't notice until it cut my foot while I was in the hall. I cursed, slipped the shoe off and limped to the bathroom. After I flushed, I noticed the trail of blood.
It's always fun mopping when you're half-awake in the morning.
I made the mistake of telling my mom who panicked and insisted that I see a doctor immediately. "I've seen too many people lose limbs because of things like this." I didn't see a doc and you will be as relieved as she to know it's healing nicely.
This morning, when I slipped on my shoes, one of the cats had thrown up in the left shoe during the night.
I think I'm going to inspect my shoes before I put them on.

Breakfast With Scot

We’ve become so accustomed to Big Statements from gay-themed films that when a quieter movie with more subtle themes comes along it gets dismissed as lightweight and something more appropriate for Lifetime TV. And that’s a shame especially in the case of Breakfast With Scott. I thought this movie was thoroughly charming, amusing and very plausible. It does address some important issues, notably the dichotomy between “straight-acting” and effeminate gay men. Eric’s definition of what it means to be gay is challenged by the swishy boy placed in their care. I though Tom Cavanaugh’s halting, hesitant performance was funny and honest. I love the dialog. At one point, Eric describes to Sam what happened when he went to pick Scot up from school. It was not a good time. Eric says, “It was so humiliating.” Same responds, “For him or for you?” Bingo. Many commenters have made a huge issue of the fact that Eric and Sam don’t show each other much affection. Look, not all couples have to hang on each other constantly to show commitment. Yes, the ending is totally predictable, but so what? The journey there is so much fun. I laughed out loud and I loved this movie. Breakfast With Scot is the type of movie that doesn’t club you over the head with its messages, and that’s just fine with me.

This Makes Sense

I am not a teabagger -- far from it. I believe sometimes governments should raise taxes. Also, I don't believe in telling people how to live their lives.

Anyway, the conservative Chicago Tribune has a series of editorials about how the state of Illinois can avoid raising taxes and yet still pay its bills.

Makes sense to me.

A Close Shave

A couple months ago, I needed some AA batteries. I go through them like potato chips so I opted for the big pack. It was on sale and Lookee There! It came with a Gillette Fusion razor. And not just a disposable plastic-handled razor but a nice, solid metal handle with rubbery cushioning. For those of you who still use a safety razor, a Fusion has four blades. So, of course, I was more than pleased to try it.

But one drawback is that the blades are expensive. I have to triple-bladed razors -- one in my shaving kit for travel and one at home -- and for cripesakes you have to take out a second mortgage to buy new blades.

But -- oh man -- what a shave. Smooth as a baby's ass with only one pass.

Now that I've used the damn thing for almost a month, I need a new blade. There's the dilemma: I'd like to continue using the thing but I don't want to buy blades for it. Actually I have fresh blades for my triple-bladed razor.

But using the Fusion got me thinking. Which was exactly the point.

Smart people, them folks at Proctor and Gamble.