promises, promises / Gone / dog / distraction

[oiran]

shaggirl: I will look at your file today.

Gone: I've read some comments on the f-list and I'm surprised by how many seem really upset by this episode. Maybe it's just that I'm preoccupied, or maybe I just don't care any more, but I liked it. I'm not watching the show in terms of Clex, or subtext, or with an eye to writing fic. I'm just watching a TV show which, now that it has borrowed the fabled "acres of golden skin" from fanfic, is even more fun to watch than before. Lois looked really tired in those opening scenes - like, her eyes are dead, and it's kind of creepy to look at - but the Lois-fu was fun, and I like what a cheerful, bumbling ass she is. She clearly has no impulse control at all (see: digging up dead cousins in broad daylight), which is a nice counter to uptight Clark.

Clark is a jerk. But, really, he's always been exactly this kind of jerk, always blaming others for the same faults he excuses in himself. His blase (non)response to killing the FotW (who was kind of cute) bothered me, but it doesn't seem out of line with the entire Kent family's revisionist historical bent. Surely, after all, young Trent deserved to be melted down. Besides, what else would he do with the T1000 boy? Clearly, the Talon had a showing or two of T2 during breaks in the revival of The Lost Boys and Clark saw it. Everything to do with Trent's ability surprised me because it was such a blatant ripoff of the movie - the same shots, even.

John Glover - what a ham! That death-scene-that-wasn't was truly operatic ;) There is some information in happyminion's post about the script for the episode that indicates the Lionel shower sequence and the subsequent Lex and Lionel sequence were edited for a more ambiguous outcome and/or to allow for future changes in plans on the scripting/plotting side. You can see the stabber saying his line once you know what he's supposed to be saying. I'm not sure I think it's a good idea to leave viewers questioning Lex's complicity in the attack - it's interesting enough that there might be some unknown additional party fucking with both Luthors. Because, yeah...where's Helen?

I like this Lana. I wonder if Jason is going to move into her apartment with her, or if he'll go live on the Kent Farm, too. Where is Chloe going to live now? Where's Gabe? I'm feeling the need for the show to get all their ducks in a row, sooner rather than later.

Before the season started, I was rather annoyed with how the little I'd heard seemed to deviate so far from comics canon...but then I remembered that Smallville isn't the comics. In this way the show actually does indirectly address some of the annoyance I've felt over the fanfic canon purists and their whining about how various pieces of fanfic don't adhere closely enough comics canon. We are reminded that Smallville really is an entirely separate piece of media, with Kryptonian tourists and doppelgangers, new colors of Kryptonite, and those marvelous acres of golden skin.

dog: So, he's worse. And all the symptoms are pointing to what is basically dog leprosy - it doesn't show up on standard cultures or testing (testing shows my dog is not sick), causes disgusting ulcerated lesions (my dog has those!), and in some rare (i.e., especially horrific) cases extends onto the body (like my dog has) and causes lameness (again, like my dog is experiencing), and would be completely unaffected by mass quantitites of antibiotics (which my dog is taking). It's a mycobacterial disease, and there are several similar syndromes that aren't technically dog leprosy but look just like it, which are actually probably more likely than "real" dog leprosy in Obadiah's case. There seems to be no firm understanding of how a dog becomes infected, though some conflation of immune disorder with opportunistic infection is the standard assumption for this, as with most mystery diseases.

Or he might have somehow contracted dog tuberculosis, which means that the birds and I are also infected, and I am the only one who can be treated with any success. Really, if I have to lose pets, I'd prefer to lose one instead of all. I have enough nonspecific Bad Mother guilt as it is. (except he has no breathing issues, so I'm not really as concerned about this possibility)

He fell downstairs last night while I was ferrying the birds' dishes downstairs to the dishwasher. I guess he thought I was leaving him all alone up there for the evening. Luckily, nothing seemed to break, but it certainly can't have helped his mobility issues any. He nearly fell down the outside stairs when we went out to pee - I'm going to have to figure out a way to block his exit and pick him up, though it's difficult because he always rushes the door and he weighs 70 lb. Or he did weigh 70 lb. He's probably closer to 60 lb. now. I know he's lost weight because I could lift him (barely) to bring him back up the stairs after the pee break.

He refuses to drink any more beef broth, and I don't really blame him. It's very salty. He did deign to eat cut up bits of beef hot dog and some cheese cubes, but he only ate cheese that was stuck to hot dog bits and ignored what was left when the meat was gone. Ditto the eggs I scrambled up for him, though those went into the refrigerator for a second pass later today.

Mr. Glove comes home Sunday and, depending on how the dog is doing, we'll have to make some decisions.

I am very pragmatic, verging on the fatalistic, when it comes to health/end-of-life issues. I've been in the vicinity of extremely ill people for most of my working life (which is a big part of why I don't work any more - depression + burnout), and I really do think that the extremes to which desperately ill people are willing to go usually don't pay off. Everyone can cite a friend or family member who did persevere and achieve a miracle cure, but that really isn't the norm in my experience. Um...so maybe I'll save the essay for another time but, basically, I won't put the dog through any sort of medical heroics. He's a dog, he doesn't know what's going on, and subjecting him to what would basically be a form of torture in hopes of a cure seems unmitigatedly cruel. With this particular dog, whose levels of fear and neurosis are already ridiculously high, if we are indeed looking at a chronic, incurable condition, I'm not going to try to force him to stick around to the bitter end. After all, there are certain cancer diagnoses that I wouldn't bother to be treated for.

I think I need to obtain a copy of The Sims 2 to mindlessly entertain myself. Maybe I'll go do that right now.

Comments

[allpurposegirl.livejournal.com]

I actually enjoyed Smallville also. I am trying not to put anything into it as far as canon goes and how I want it to be anymore. Right now, it's just a show that I like to watch on tv and even though Clark aggravated me last night,sullivanlane and I are pretending it was because Lois was getting on his last nerve,lol.

Aww, I'm so sorry about your dog,honey.
::hugs::

SIMS 2 is very addicting and The Body Shop rules.

[pepperjackcandy.livejournal.com]

Clark is a jerk. But, really, he's always been exactly this kind of jerk, always blaming others for the same faults he excuses in himself.

Now, I don't think he was self-righteous and judgmental in S1 at all. That's something that came about, oh, sometime around Red, imho.

[twigged.livejournal.com]

I sort of feel the same way as you about SV. I've watched both new episodes while doing other stuff on the laptop and have mostly enjoyed them. I guess I'm just not invested enough anymore to get worked up over the things that annoy me.

Dog leprosy, huh? That should alleviate some of your bad mommy guilt, though, right? It's not bird shit related, is it? Anyway, I'm with you on putting the dog down if that's the case. It isn't fair for pets to suffer so we can enjoy having them with us longer, hard as it is to let them go.

And don't open the file until I email the new one in a couple hours. I've done a little more work on it today at the office.

[devin-chain.livejournal.com]

I'm enjoying Lois quite a bit. In fact, I can forgive the absence of CLex now because Welling has chemistry with this woman. It works. I'm looking forward to much more.

[talitha78.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry to read that your dog is worse. I'm with you on the whole pragmatic/fatalistic thing, though. Last year my cat got this horrifyingly fast-growing tumor on one of his front legs, and we had surgery to remove it. When the tumor returned about two weeks after surgery, the next suggestion was to amputate the leg. I said, "enough already." Each visit to the vet's was excruciating trauma for the cat and was taking such an emotional and physical toll on him. I had him put to sleep. I'm not going to make an animal suffer just so I can feel vindicated that I had done "everything possible."

[pun.livejournal.com]

Dog Leprosy? That sounds bad. I agree with your position on treatment, though. I'm sorry this continues to be so bad.

I enjoyed Smallville. I found it entertaining even if illogical.

[rhiannonhero.livejournal.com]

Very worried about Obie. :( And sad.

Also, saw SV and liked it. People expect too much.

I love you.

[jack-pride.livejournal.com]

My mother always said that we treat out animals more kindly than we treat our humans, letting them go when they need to. ::hugs::