Weighing in on the healthcare debate

I’ve been trying to stay quiet on the American health care reforms/NHS debate because it’s a subject that makes my blood boil so quickly.
Instead, calapine said it for me: http://calapine.livejournal.com/569192.html
And in the same language that I’m tempting to use
While the NHS is the most visibly attacked system for most British people, the conservative [...]

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Sun, sea and sand

Best Friend in America arrived on Thursday and we had a fabulous visit. I was sad to see her go yesterday Flights between our cities are so insanely expensive that we’re making plans to meet up somewhere in between (maybe Toronto or New York) next year. The cost of flights plus hotel room [...]

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Amazing women of fandom

This isn’t a meme yet, but I suspect that it’s turning into one and I couldn’t resist. This was posted in fandomsecrets over the weekend and triggered a huge discussion of female characters in SF. misscam’s response here was brilliant and I’ve now seen a few people list their amazing, strong female characters so I [...]

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Six month emigraversary thoughts

As of today, it is now six months since I moved to Canada. I can’t believe how fast the time has flown! There have been ups and downs and the winter has not been easy, but overall it’s been wonderful and I’m absolutely certain that I made the right choice to do this. It’s been [...]

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Work meanderings and other babbles

I think that I have figured out why there aren’t really any work tales here. Usually my LJ/blog is filled with tales from the triumphant to the stupid (er, usually more of the stupid than anything else) as well as the usual fannish stuff, medical stuff and knitting.
I think the problem is that I’m not [...]

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Health care and socialised medicine: a dilemma

Today I went for the bloodwork that the new doc insists I need before getting a new prescription for my painkillers. I’ve got no objection to doing it because it probably is sensible to monitor me – if my kidneys do pack up, I suspect that detecting it before symptoms appear is better than after.
I’m [...]

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Escapist fantasy vs ’serious’ TV

Something my father said to me a few days ago has made me think. He’s not too impressed with the new version of Survivors. I’ve got it saved and haven’t had time to watch it yet, but his reaction was that it takes a very grim, pessimistic view of humanity and what people can be [...]

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On the sci-fi/fantasy genre

I will make a confession. I have been an SF fan ever since I can remember. It’s shocking, I know, but it’s a fault that people have learned to overlook in me
I have been thinking lately about my status as an SF fan and the general reaction to that statement. This isn’t about [...]

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On being a geek

When I was a kid, I hated being called a geek. I was small, scrawny and wore horrible NHS specs with thick lenses. It was made fairly obvious to me by other kids that I wasn’t the fashionable or popular type of kid and, sadly, there were very few fellow geeks at my school to [...]

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