It's between my toes. It's been like that for a week. It's not raised, and it doesn't hurt or itch or leak. What could it be? Something benign I hope.

My doctor won't call me back to refer me to a dermatologist. Does anyone know someone who'll do a backalley biopsy?

So, I noticed a weird bruisy spot between my toes. It's asymmetric, has irregular borders, varies in color, and has a roughly 6mm diameter. Which, whoops, are the primary symptoms of melanoma.

Time to make a dermatologist appointment, right? Right.

I call Anthem, which is basically Blue Cross, to ask how I should go about making an appointment. They're closed because it's 5:05pm. I call the next day, and they tell me that I have to call Brown and Toland, which is my medical group, whatever the hell that means.

I call Brown and Toland. They're closed because it's 4:30pm. I call the next day and they tell me that I have to call a dermatologist.

I mention this to James, and he says no -- I have an HMO, so I have to get a referral. Okay.

So I call my doctor's number, which turns out not to be his number at all: a hospital receptionist picks up the phone. I explain things. She says I have to call the hospital's referral line.

I call that number, and get a voicemail saying that I should leave my details, and they'll call me back in one or two days.

Then I died of cancer.

James took me to the Little Mermaid sing-along at the Castro yesterday for my birthday. It was pretty much the best birthday ever.

JPG's new theme is "night." Which should I submit?

Mental Floss posted a video awhile ago about global warming -- made in 1958. The narrative back then was close to the anxiety of today: global warming is catastrophic, and it's all our fault. The film was produced by Frank Capra, which is maybe why the tone, despite being a bit roll-up-your-sleeves, is also a little optimistic: it showed a whimsical animation of tourists in glass-bottomed boats, gazing down at the submerged cities of Florida. Fun!

But that wasn't the only climate change story in the 1950s. Back when Daniel and I toured a bunch of used book stores, I found a Scientific Digest from 1954 with the cover story "Are Winters Warming?" Back then, the future was always dazzling, so if global warming was in our future well then by gum it's going to be the best global warming we can imagine!

The article gushes about how beneficial climate change will be -- not just to industry and commerce, but to plants and animals. For example, warming is a boon to the ice cream industry! Canada's farm industry will be better than ever! And now that Eskimos can raise sheep, they'll stop hunting endangered whales! OMFG.

Also, not only is climate change good, but it absolutely definitely isn't our fault. And according to a scientist at MIT, it'll probably reverse by the 1960s.

Here's the article, bless its heart. I highlighted the fun bits.

Only 54?

Last night I dreamed I was moving into a new apartment, and I passed by my old college. It was orientation week and everyone was moving in. And they were all pissed because I wasn't helping them.

"I don't even go here anymore," I said, "but I guess I can help you anyway. Just let me finish moving into my new apartment."

And they were like, "okay, thanks. But be quick about it, because we have a lot of work for you to do."

So I went and hid in a locked room in a basement with no lights.

Did I ever tell you about all those bookstores? We visited a whole bunch, and it was still just a drop in the bucket. I only took a couple pictures because they were so quiet and I felt funny about photography. Here's a list of some of them:

- http://www.bapd.org/gbotks-1.html
- http://www.sfmysterybooks.com/
- http://www.elsewherebooks.com/
- http://www.dogearedbooks.com/
- http://www.greenapplebooks.com/cgi-bin/mergatroid/index.html
- http://www.fieldsbooks.com/cgi-bin/fields/index.html
- http://www.stoutbooks.com/cgi-bin/stoutbooks.cgi/index.html
- http://www.scrap-sf.org/
- http://www.researchpubs.com/Blog/index.php
- http://www.citylights.com/
- http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-great-overland-book-company-san-francisco
- http://www.eastwindbooks.com/
- http://www.bibliohead.com/
- http://www.borderlands-books.com/
- http://www.sfstation.com/aardvark-books-b1113