laskin.com

I'm Not Here to Make Friends!

2008-07-09T13:51:00.001-04:00

I'm here to win.

Help Save 1-800-SUICIDE

2008-06-30T22:14:00.001-04:00

British Heinz Deli Mayo commerical

2008-06-24T11:14:00.001-04:00

Apparently the English can be as homophobic as Americans. This adorable commercial for Heinz Deli Mayo, featuring a perfectly cast New York Deli guy, is one of the most complained-about of the year, and was pulled from UK television after only a week.
Via AdFreak.

Procrastination is blogging.

2008-06-18T14:53:00.001-04:00

Procrastination is reading your RSS feeds. Procrastination is checking Facebook status. Procrastination is watching YouTube videos...like this one.

Social Network Lonliness

2008-06-12T11:05:00.002-04:00

I wish more of my friends in real life were virtual. I am so lonely on all my social networks. I feel like a loser with hardly anyone to follow on Twitter; no one to share my bookmarks with on del.icio.us. Does anyone on Last.fm or Pandora or Blip really care what I'm listening to?

Nasticity

2008-05-25T12:24:00.001-04:00

xray view 2
Originally uploaded by Deluxx

It's been a long 5 weeks since I broke my leg/ankle.

I feel like everything has been on hiatus. You'd think with all this time at home I would have been able to tap the creative juices, but it didn't work out that way. The first month was a blur of painkillers, television, and aimless Internet surfing. The last week has been spent on the phone with insurance companies and doctors. Only now am I starting to feel restless and capable of doing more. It feels like wasted time but I suppose it is what I needed to heal. Of course, I will be going back to work soon, albeit from my home office. Commuting is still not an option.

For those who want the gross details, they are in the following paragraphs. The injury description is nasty, but the part about how the insurance companies work is even nastier.

What you see here is my actual "after" x-ray, post-surgery. I sustained an impact to my left leg. My left fibula (the thin bone on the outside of the leg) was splintered into 5 or so pieces, which you see here held together with a plate and 7 screws. Below that is a large screw (or pin) that is holding the bones of my ankle in place and aligning them for correct healing. The force of the impact pushed the fibula way from the ankle, "exploding" it and tearing the ligaments and tendons that hold the ankle together.

My insurance company has denied every single claim I submitted. I spend hours on the phone, contesting each item, getting documentation, faxing, confirming, and following up. The doctor who did my surgery wasn't in my insurance plan, so I had to change doctors, slowing up the entire process.

My disability claim was also denied as of May 6, which means my employer will use vacation and personal time to pay me for a week, and then I won't be getting paid at all. I'll have to wait until Friday to get documentation from the new doctor to support my disability claim, which will then be reinstated -- meaning the company will have to reinstate my vacation and personal time and then pay me disability pay instead. Supposedly.

It is no wonder people who sustain injuries in accidents end up homeless or broke. I have more education and financial resources than most, and it's taking me hours and hours of work to get the benefits I am entitled to. What if I didn't have the literacy or intelligence to figure this all out? Suppose I didn't have money in the bank to cover my expenses while we wait for all of my retroactive benefits to be reinstated? This process is eye-opening, and making me an advocate of universal health care.

The almost-funny red tape: I am actually not allowed to return to work next week. I am not to return to work, even from home, until I have a doctor's note stating that I am able. Which I won't have until Friday.

Crafty Fun: Ten Lepers Paper Doll

2008-04-07T15:03:00.003-04:00

I am trying to make up for my lack of posting lately. As part of that effort, I bring you a delightful new feature: Crafty Fun. I like to think that I'm crafty and I'm forever trolling craft sties for inspiration, even though I seldom seem to actually follow through. But there are so many delightfully odd crafts out there, I really feel I must share.

You know from What Would Jesus Buy that I enjoy religious-themed merchandise. But I have stumbled upon a treasure trove for the home-schooled in religious crafting. What could be more fun than spending an afternoon with your child, creating a Ten Lepers Paper Nesting Doll? Once you're done making it, you can play with your new paper doll by reciting this little poem:

Count the lepers - how many can you see?
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 sick men with Jesus did plea,
"Make us well, make us better, Dear Jesus please."
So Jesus healed them and sent them on their way.
But wait - what can you see? Let's count again.
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, just 1 thankful man
Has come back with a 'Thank you' to say.

When makeovers go bad

2008-04-07T14:44:00.002-04:00

For the love of Pete, what has happened to Clay Aiken?

Spring in profile

2008-04-07T14:42:00.002-04:00

Spring in profile
Originally uploaded by Deluxx

Our very first daffodil has bloomed. All over the yard various bulbs and leaves are pushing up, and it's starting to feel like spring in spite of the raw, cold weather. Of course, my allergies told me it was spring two weeks ago.

New products, vintage ads

2008-04-04T12:21:00.003-04:00

Worth1000.com asked contestants to submit advertisements for new products in a vintage style (or vice versa).

Postcards From Yo Momma

2008-04-03T17:50:00.000-04:00

My own mother does not have a telephone answering machine, much less a computer or email, so I have no submissions for Postcards From Yo Momma. I was, however, able to lose hours of my life to this site.

You are powerless against this cuteness

2008-04-03T17:46:00.002-04:00

Baby Flocke takes a swim!

Supply and Demand: Mobile Cremation Urn

2008-04-02T15:05:00.001-04:00

Mobile Cremation Urn

Life Before Death photography exhibit

2008-04-01T14:01:00.002-04:00

Life Before Death at the Wellcome Collection: "This sombre series of portraits taken of people before and after they had died is a challenging and poignant study. The work by German photographer Walter Schels and his partner Beate Lakotta, who recorded interviews with the subjects in their final days, reveals much about dying - and living. Life Before Death is at the Wellcome Collection from April 9-May 18"

Name that DWTS Judge

2008-03-19T11:46:00.001-04:00

Name that DWTS Judge
Originally uploaded by Deluxx

Whoops.

I'm so happy that DWTS is back on. That show is just too freaky. Kristy Yamaguchi? total ringer. Marlee Matlin was great, and her chemistry with Fabian was far better than her chemistry with Bette every week on The L Word.

Tim Minchin - Inflatable You

2008-03-17T15:01:00.001-04:00

I saw Tim Minchin perform Saturday night at the New World Stages in NYC. It's a six-week run so get yourself some tickets and go. YouTube clips don't do him justice. Apparently, he plays to huge audiences in Australia and the UK; we're lucky enough to see him in a small theater here.

Worshipping Paula Deen

2008-03-06T20:12:00.001-05:00

I love Paula Deen
Originally uploaded by Deluxx

The Accidental Hedonist calls Paula Deen a "mad genius," and I couldn't agree more. Ever since I saw her on TV drinking butter, I have been a fan. There is no decadent line she won't cross. No amount of butter or mayonnaise she considers excessive. Krispy Kreme bread pudding is her signature dish. The woman fries green beans.

What you see here is the beautiful moment I was able to capture a couple of weeks ago, when Paula simply couldn't resist licking the wheel that mixed the chocolate in a chocolate fountain. She just goes there.

Check out the Lady's Brunch Burger, which sandwiches a hamburger topped with fried eggs and bacon between two Krispy Kremes. Ladylike indeed.

Pain Points

2008-03-04T18:14:00.001-05:00

Pain Points
Originally uploaded by Deluxx

Can't stop making song charts...

I'b cuute! He thinks I'b cuuuuute!

2008-02-29T15:17:00.001-05:00

Barack Obama Is Your New Bicycle

022008_18081.jpg

2008-02-20T18:49:00.001-05:00

022008_18081.jpg
Originally uploaded by Deluxx

Mugging

Bargain: 1 GB SD card for 15 bucks

2008-02-11T17:12:00.000-05:00

Kodak has Select Accessories on Sale for $15 and there are a couple of real deals to be found. In particular, the Kodak SD 1 GB Card that regularly retails for $49.95. Nice deal. Also some Li-Ion batteries and whatnot, and the Gorillapod, which is a great digital camera tripod.

Quiz: Machine translation or Faulkner?

2008-02-07T13:46:00.000-05:00

Apparently, I know my contemporary art better than I know literature. Machine translation or Faulkner? provides several quotations; some are Nobel Prize winner William Faulkner's prose, the rest are Babelfish translations of German text.

I scored, um, 33%.

Quiz: Donald Judd, or Cheap Furniture?

2008-02-07T13:44:00.000-05:00

Can you tell fine art from Wal-Mart? Donald Judd, or Cheap Furniture? is a quiz that asks you to look at a picture of a piece of furniture and decide whether the item shown is a "priceless" "exquisite" work of art by sculptor Donald Judd, or furniture from Wal-Mart.

I scored 75%, but that was mostly just luck.

Left behind by the laid off

2008-01-27T20:19:00.001-05:00

Left behind by the laid off
Originally uploaded by Deluxx

About 60 people at my company were laid off a couple of weeks ago. The woman who had the awful task of cleaning out some of the offices couldn't bring herself to throw away some of the more personal items, so she put them out in a common area. Desk toys, mugs, CDs, books... I helped myself to these little windup toys; I felt they needed a new home. They now live on my desk.

Unfortunately, it is only a matter of weeks until my desk becomes significantly smaller. My group at work is going to be the guinea pigs -- sorry, pilot group -- for testing out the new "open plan" office space that everyone will enjoy in 2009. Soon I will give up my private office for a 5 x 2 desk in a large open space. The upside is that we will be issued bitchin' new state-of-the-art technology. Since my favorite color is "shiny," this is good news for me. It's my silver lining to a big cloud involving a complete lack of privacy, high levels of ambient noise, and a physical closeness to my coworkers that I am less than thrilled about. But more on that another day.

The point is, I am only foster mother to these windup toys, I think. I doubt I will have room for them on my new desk. I'll have to find a suitable new home. Feel free to submit an application, and be prepared for a home check.

We feel safer here

2008-01-27T19:36:00.001-05:00

We feel safer here
Originally uploaded by Deluxx

The dogs go into their "house" happily every day. They seem to enjoy sharing a single crate and willingly go in it each morning before the contractors come. I think they prefer to supervise from afar.