Hi KTKers. I have two things I want to talk about today. Both are small pNuts...perfect for kibitzing around the table...or back deck...or kayak...or roof top...or mountains.
First off...the full moon this month will be a REAL Blue Moon. It is also known by a bunch of other names ----> Sturgeon Moon, Green Corn Moon or Grain Moon. I like Green Corn Moon best. But I call it "the August full moon."
Tomorrow...Tuesday (Wednesday AM in the wee hours) will be a Real Blue Moon.
There is much confusion about what a Blue Moon really is. This confusion was started in the 1940's by a guy at Sky and Telescope magazine who was doing an interview. He was trying to explain it but messed up. There just happened to be two full moons in the month he was trying to explain the definition of a blue moon. The second blue moon that month did happen to be a real blue moon...but NOT because it was the second full moon of that month. The reporter didn't understand and reported that the second full moon in a calendar month is a "blue moon." Because of that unfortunate faux pas, today most people believe a Blue Moon is the second full moon in a calendar month. Nope! I'll explain later below.
Another Blue Moon is a beer made by Coors that actually tastes fairly good. It is Coors' attempt to seem like a cool microbrewery without letting on that it's actually a Coors product. Actually, it was Coors' response to the New Belgian Brewery of Fort Collins, Colorado which makes all microbrewery beers...is owned by their employees...uses all wind generated electricity...and gives money exclusively to Progressive Democrats...and they are bicycle nuts...most their employees ride bikes to work. They have a "contest" where they challenge folks to go a full month without driving their car. Interesting stuff!
Drink a Fat Tire beer or any other New Belgium Brewery Beer instead of a Blue Moon Beer please! Support those who support you and are totally GREEN...saving the planet...all the good stuff without any pretense...without evil. They probably have ponies available too...I dunno.
DO NOT BUY THIS BEER ^^^^^ or you are paying to support the far right wing and the Heritage Foundation (Coors founded) which doesn't like you and fights Progressives!!!
BUY THIS BEER ^^^^^ GREAT BEER from a GREAT Company.
OK. A Real Blue Moon in astronomical terms occurs when there is a fourth full moon in a season. BUT, it isn't the fourth full moon (what?). There are 3 months each season. Most of the time there is one full moon per calendar month and three full moons each season....but occasionally there are four full moons during one season. To make matters stranger yet, a Real Blue Moon is the third full moon that happens when a total of four full moons occur during one season. Got that?
There are far fewer real Blue Moons than what people think a Blue Moon is, namely false Blue Moons. The fourth full moon this year during the summer season (June 21st through September 22nd) will occur on September 18th, three days days before the Autumnal equinox. That full moon will be the Harvest moon.
Here are all the real Blue Moons that will occur between 2009 and 2021:
November 21, 2010
August 21, 2013
May 21, 2016
May 18, 2019
August 22, 2021
And here's how many false Blue Moons will occur during that same time frame:
2009: December 2, December 31
2010: January 1 January 30
2010: March 1, March 30
2012: August 2, August 31
2012: September 1, September 30
2015: July 2, July 31
2018: January 2, January 31
2018: March 2, March 31
2020: October 1, October 31
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The second thing I want to talk about is I had my one-year CT scan with contrast today after my last PET scan last August with radioactive glucose.
What an interesting experience this time. I had two CT scans with contrast (iodine based) before. This time was different. The two times before I only had a warm flushing feeling in my skin and the feeling I'd pissed my pants (that is normal. They tell you you'll feel like you pissed your pants...but you don't...it's due to the fact your kidneys really expel the dye fast so your bladder "blushes" if you will too...resulting in the feeling you pissed yourself).
They use iodine as the contrast dye because iodine has a higher molecular density than your tissues...so the dye shows up white thus outlining the structures in your body. It's the same reason bones look white on X-rays or CT scans...they are more dense than other tissues so they absorb more X-rays than other tissues...same with iodine dye contrast...it soaks up more X-rays, or in my case CT rays (which are a continuous serious of thousands of X-rays taken from 360 degrees giving you a 3D image)
So today as the guy is preparing me for the deed...jabbing a big honking needle in my vein to push the stuff in me...we were jabbering away (always nice and friendly. ALWAYS be very, very engaging and nice with anyone doing anything medical with you...believe me it makes a huge difference). He asked me what I "was in for." I explained. He had never heard of what I'd had...the reason I ended up with tongue cancer. He started talking about HIV. I corrected him saying it was HPV. Then he said, "only women get cancer from that." I told him that no, that isn't true and it's been only very recently they've understood that. I also told him that cervical cancer is caused by it...and that cervical cancer is still the #1 killer of women that develop cancer, even though most folks believe it is breast cancer. He knew that.
Then he asked me how I got it. I told him by performing cunnilingus. He asked me again...I gave him the same answer. This is the part that floored me. This man was clearly in his 50's and very excellent at what he does. He asked me, "what's that?"
WTF?
So I used a more layman's term. His eyes got big...as do all men's eyes when they get it.
I leave the place and as I'm walking to my car I feel really, really altered...that hadn't happened before. Driving home (about 30 minutes drive) I start itching in the skin of my back. By the time I got home, I had some rash stuff breaking out on my neck and chest. But it was short lived.
What do you want to Kibitz about this lovely evening?
Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share part of their evening around a virtual kitchen table with kossacks who are caring and supportive of one another. So bring your stories, jokes, photos, funny pics, music, interesting videos, and so forth. Or just say "Hi" if you've had a long day and are too exhausted to participate more actively. We would also appreciate links—including quotations—to diaries, news stories, and books that you think this community would appreciate.
Please note that pie fights will be unwelcome in this community, just as in most other series at DKos. There's lots of space at the rest of the site for fighting with other Democrats, progressives, and liberals, and we don't want those battles dragged into this community.
Finally, readers may notice that most who are posting diaries and comments in this series already know one another to some degree, but that definitely does not mean that newcomers will be excluded or unwelcome. We're happy to welcome guests to our kitchen table, and hope to make some new friends as well.
KTK posts nightly at 5:00 Pacific, 6:00 Mountain, 7:00 Central, 8:00 Eastern.