Fetch Me My Insulin, Jeebes, I’ve Overdosed On Doggie Sugar. Yes, Again.
Maybe it’s the time of year, or maybe it was the Quiznos salad I had earlier w/extra dressing, but Dr. Ding is feeling all schmoopy this eve. So may I present to you a pic that was sent to me by a dear friend who I shall introduce properly at a later date.
I know. He’s almost sickeningly cute. But wait, there’s more to come. This long-coated Chihuahua’s name is Heart-kun, and he was born in Japan in May, 2007. Owner Emiko Sakurada has no plans to sell him. Instead, she’s going to make a festive shawl out of him. No…that’s not right…do they wear shawls in Japan? I meant to say kimono. More nauseatingly endearing pics after the jump.
Dissonant Fonts
In case you, dear reader, have been wondering, the fonts have been changing lately here in Ding Nation. I have been using different computers during the last week as well as cutting and pasting from various email fonts, and I suspect that these account for the differences you’re seeing. Well, those and my own startling lack of webbish acumen.
It is not an attempt to hypnotize you in any way.
It does not mean anything in particular.
Sometimes, a font is just a font.
Dear Dr. Ding
Dear Dr. Ding:
I have a question for you. I have death anxiety and I have it in a big, bad way. So my question to you is like what is the line of like normal worry and worry that should be medicated? 
You probably can’t really say by just knowing me online, but part of me thinks that everyone must worry about getting older and dying or being alone etc,
but there are times that I am freaking out over it. And I’m like 35…what’s up with that???
I definitely don’t like thinking about aging nor do I like the thought of
losing my husband to some horrible disease or something but they both tie into the
death fear. My two absolute crippling anxieties are 1) time running out (which
I see differently to aging) and 2) the lights just going out. Just typing
these two things has tears in my eyes. I’ve had a few full blown anxiety
attacks over it, but mostly will just have tear fest or unable to sleep or
butterflies in my stomach/shakes. I have tried believing in religion,
reincarnation (I would love to be able to believe this!), spirits, ghosts,
white light etc. I’ve tried reading about near death experiences. I do
believe in spirituality and believe that soul stuff can linger on, but I don’t
believe that that happens with everyone and worst yet would be the the “sixth
sense” theory….one of my full blown anxiety attacks. I went to see this
movie and the creepy kid and the ghosts didn’t freak me out. What freaked me
out was the husband was dead and he didn’t know it and couldn’t communicate
with his wife and was like all confused and shit. I swear to goodness I could
barely get out of the theatre and sat outside hyperventilating and rocking
back and forth like a lunatic. But mostly I obsess about the lights just
going out and ceasing to exist. Is that like totally narcissistic or what?
Anyway now you got the juicy heart of it. Advice?
Sign me Faithless In Fredonia
Dear Faithless:
Death anxiety is not narcissistic in a pathological sense. Some theorists posit that it’s in fact a fundamental part of being human. Here’s the juicy heart of my response to your question, Faithless: trauma, either around or during birth or in early childhood, prior to your prefrontal cortex fully developing. It may have been something major, it may have been something minor, but it’s probably there if you look for it. The question is, do you want to go looking?
Anxiety is a huge pain in the ass, and ranks just behind depression in terms of prevalence, and long-term untreated anxiety can be associated with early onset of generalized inflammation throughout the body, which, as we all know, is bad mojo. You can take some heart in knowing that primarily it’s smart people who get (more…)
Dear Dr. Ding
[Ed note: Out of concern for the retinas of my readership, I have deleted certain more harrowing visual images from Ms Claiborne's email. Please view with caution.]
Oh Dearest Dr Ding,
I just received this email with some fabulous 1977 retro haute couture.
Please do enjoy this trip down fashion don’t lane…….
Love, Liz Claiborne
Last weekend I put an exhaust fan in the ceiling for my wife’s grandfather. While my wife’s brother and I were fitting the fan in between the joists, we found something under the insulation. What we found was this:
A JC Penney catalog from 1977. It’s not often blog fodder just falls in my lap, but this was two solid inches of it, right there for the taking. I thumbed through it quickly and found my next dining room set, which is apparently made by adding upholstery to old barrels:
Also, I am totally getting this for my bathroom:
There’s plenty more home furnishings where those came from, however I’m not going to bore you with that. Instead, I’m going to bore you with something else. The clothes.
The clothes are fantastic. (more…)
Evil Alien Overlord Alert
This will have to be brief, my loyal Dinguses and Dingarians, for Dr. Ding is a gal on the go today. I will be flying the friendly skies, but….this just in: H-town is about to be overrun by a faceless sect of evil alien overlords. It’s all terribly exciting. As of this writing, none have spewed vomit, but one can only expect that this will be their next tactical maneuver.
I can’t WAIT to get another speeding ticket! It will be like the Clone Wars. Yes. Just like the Clone Wars.
Domestic Goddessery, Dinggy Style
Hey, y’all.
I’m sick of fuckin’ turkey. So here’s my Frito Pie recipe, Dinggy-style. It’s not low-carb, low-fat, healthy, or even all that interesting, but hot damn it’s good for the soul, and if you add a lil’ raw jalapeno or hot pepper sauce it should clear your sinuses completely. And quite possibly your bowels.
MAIN NGREDIENTS:
Big bag of Fritos
1-2 cans of Hormel or Wolf brand chili — these are the standard
Shredded cheddar cheese
OPTIONAL GARNISHES:
Chopped Bermuda onion
Cilantro
Sour cream
Salsa or pico
Hot peppers or raw Jalapenos
Texas Pete hot sauce
Heat up the chili in a pan on the stove, it tastes better that way than nuking it. Gently and perhaps even lovingly open the top of the Frito bag evenly across, and pour the hot chili inside. Shake. Dance briefly in your excitement.
Refocus. Then pour in some cheese to taste, shake firmly to distribute the cheese. Immediately pour the whole mess into individual bowls, top with whatever garnishes you like. I prefer a little sour cream w/finely-chopped Bermuda onion. Extra Frito chips on top tastes so good it’ll make you want to slap ya momma.
[Formal Version: Toss the Fritos into a bowl, pour a little heated chili on top, and then the cheese and other toppings. This is for fancy white-tablecloth dinners and suchlike, due the aesthetic appeal.]