I entered a contest on AW a bit back. Here's my entry. I got into the final round. Here's my entry for that.
Too bad writing purple prose isn't the road to riches. :-)
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Friday, September 23, 2005
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Last Giggly Fangirl Post
Terry showed up a bit early. He was in all black with his black broad brimmed fedora. He got a comfy chair and a lovely lady announced that he'd sign until 7:30, give a talk and when done, sign some more. I was first in line.
Yeah, not the greatest picture. The SO took it with my cameraphone. I remember my laptop and forget my digital camera. And since I was first in line I was kind of shy and didn't get beside him for a posed shot - but others after me did. oh well.
While waiting I got to know people in the seats around me. They were all young - late teens and early twenties. Nice kids. One gal had brought a "luggage" she had crafted in ceramics class which Terry graciously signed. It was really well done. Someone brought him a drink with an umbrella in - I wonder what it was. Not being a fanatical fan I'm a bit out of the loop on some of that stuff.
Mr. Pratchett told a funny story about undergoing angioplasty (!) involving him "seeing" a man with sandwiches while he was fully anesthetized. Apparently he kept sitting up and trying to go after them. He spoke about the next Tiffany Aching books and thoughts on the next Discworld books. The LJ Discworld community has a post by another person who was there and he/she has a better memory than I or took notes, so there are a few details there you might want to read if you're a fan.
Terry has a light engaging style of speaking, full of wit and some outright standup comic funny stuff. Some day if I have real $$ and he's still doing conventions I really would like to see him do some panels or a longer talk.
The nicest thing of the evening though, was that he was very open about how he writes. He talked about letting the characters tell the story. Although he has a 'vague' idea about what's going to happen in the end he mostly sets things up and lets the characters create the story. The subconscious mind is always working on the story and sometimes very interesting things he had no idea were going to happen just do. That's the magic.
The SO pokes me about then and gives me a look. He's convinced that I can capture that magic. We even talked about it in the car as we were taking our cat to the emergency vet (there's another story for another time...*sigh*). My response is but I don't have any ideas! I mean if I did I could probably set up characters and get them to tell the story, but what story? I just don't have an idea. I keep dabbling at a story I started back in February - and it kinda has an idea but I just can't get enough of it figured out to know who needs to be doing what. It's hard to explain, but the more I chip away at this maybe the closer I'll get to figuring it out.
It may be that I read so much and read such great stuff that I've just decided that there's no way I can write nearly as well so why bother? Especially at my age - I mean I don't have 25 years to break into print - the way my mind is going to the dogs I'll be lucky to have 10 more.
Anyway, I haven't been to many author talks/signings in my life so this is a signal moment and I'm so glad I could take the time off and really enjoy the whole day.
Yeah, not the greatest picture. The SO took it with my cameraphone. I remember my laptop and forget my digital camera. And since I was first in line I was kind of shy and didn't get beside him for a posed shot - but others after me did. oh well.
While waiting I got to know people in the seats around me. They were all young - late teens and early twenties. Nice kids. One gal had brought a "luggage" she had crafted in ceramics class which Terry graciously signed. It was really well done. Someone brought him a drink with an umbrella in - I wonder what it was. Not being a fanatical fan I'm a bit out of the loop on some of that stuff.
Mr. Pratchett told a funny story about undergoing angioplasty (!) involving him "seeing" a man with sandwiches while he was fully anesthetized. Apparently he kept sitting up and trying to go after them. He spoke about the next Tiffany Aching books and thoughts on the next Discworld books. The LJ Discworld community has a post by another person who was there and he/she has a better memory than I or took notes, so there are a few details there you might want to read if you're a fan.
Terry has a light engaging style of speaking, full of wit and some outright standup comic funny stuff. Some day if I have real $$ and he's still doing conventions I really would like to see him do some panels or a longer talk.
The nicest thing of the evening though, was that he was very open about how he writes. He talked about letting the characters tell the story. Although he has a 'vague' idea about what's going to happen in the end he mostly sets things up and lets the characters create the story. The subconscious mind is always working on the story and sometimes very interesting things he had no idea were going to happen just do. That's the magic.
The SO pokes me about then and gives me a look. He's convinced that I can capture that magic. We even talked about it in the car as we were taking our cat to the emergency vet (there's another story for another time...*sigh*). My response is but I don't have any ideas! I mean if I did I could probably set up characters and get them to tell the story, but what story? I just don't have an idea. I keep dabbling at a story I started back in February - and it kinda has an idea but I just can't get enough of it figured out to know who needs to be doing what. It's hard to explain, but the more I chip away at this maybe the closer I'll get to figuring it out.
It may be that I read so much and read such great stuff that I've just decided that there's no way I can write nearly as well so why bother? Especially at my age - I mean I don't have 25 years to break into print - the way my mind is going to the dogs I'll be lucky to have 10 more.
Anyway, I haven't been to many author talks/signings in my life so this is a signal moment and I'm so glad I could take the time off and really enjoy the whole day.
I'm Here!
I'm sitting at the little upstairs cafe at the bookstore. I was the first person to come in about the signing and they made a little fuss over me. I have a stickie note that says "#1 Customer in Line" 
It was 2:00 when I got here and they will start setting out chairs at 6:30 so I'm settling in 'til then.
Update: Some other Pratchett fans have arrived (it's 4:15) but it's not a lot yet. I only have about an hour's worth of battery left anyway and I don't see an outlet up here in the little bookstore cafe. I need to use the bathroom, too. I hope the SO gets here soon.
I was reading POD-dy Mouth the other day and followed a link to something she had recently read. I forced myself through a number of pages. I swearthat if I ever write something that before I do anything with it I will have objective readers read my work and tell me it doesn't suck. I will ship it around and if it doesn't sell it will go in a drawer. I will *not* do what this person has done and put it out there myself if nobody commercial will buy it. What was this person thinking? And I mean that in all honesty, not snidely, I'd really like to know the thought processes that brought the writer to this.
One of our cats is pretty sick. It caught a cold from being kenneled when we went to Ireland back in July and just didn't get over it. He'd get a bit better then he'd get worse. So the other day we took him to a new vet who is a great improvement over the previous guy and we're hopeful he'll get the treatment he needs.
I like this. I wish I could make a living sitting in a cafe blogging and surfing and posting on AW.
OK, gonna post this and if I write more it'll be in a new post
It was 2:00 when I got here and they will start setting out chairs at 6:30 so I'm settling in 'til then.
Update: Some other Pratchett fans have arrived (it's 4:15) but it's not a lot yet. I only have about an hour's worth of battery left anyway and I don't see an outlet up here in the little bookstore cafe. I need to use the bathroom, too. I hope the SO gets here soon.
I was reading POD-dy Mouth the other day and followed a link to something she had recently read. I forced myself through a number of pages. I swearthat if I ever write something that before I do anything with it I will have objective readers read my work and tell me it doesn't suck. I will ship it around and if it doesn't sell it will go in a drawer. I will *not* do what this person has done and put it out there myself if nobody commercial will buy it. What was this person thinking? And I mean that in all honesty, not snidely, I'd really like to know the thought processes that brought the writer to this.
One of our cats is pretty sick. It caught a cold from being kenneled when we went to Ireland back in July and just didn't get over it. He'd get a bit better then he'd get worse. So the other day we took him to a new vet who is a great improvement over the previous guy and we're hopeful he'll get the treatment he needs.
I like this. I wish I could make a living sitting in a cafe blogging and surfing and posting on AW.
OK, gonna post this and if I write more it'll be in a new post
Giddy Fangirl - Part Deux
OK, in about an hour I'll be ready to head downtown and start my long wait (event starts at 7:30 and I may still be too late to get a decent spot) to see Terry Pratchett at the local bookstore. Wish me luck!
Oh, and check out my new blogroll of AW bloggers - really good stuff on those blogs.
Oh, and check out my new blogroll of AW bloggers - really good stuff on those blogs.
Saturday, September 17, 2005
One Week Later...
Wow. I looked at that last post and realized the date of it was 9/11. I was so wrapped up in my own life that I completely forgot the significance of the day. I acknowledged the anniversaries of the date in years past but there had been lead up stories on the radio or other reminders (such as the one year I was travelling in Asia on business and my travelling colleague didn't want to be flying on 9/11 so we scheduled our flight for 9/12 but due to the International Date Line it turned out we were flying on what was still 9/11 in the US). This year I think the stories and anger about Katrina just pushed it out of my mind.
On 'the' 9/11 I had just dropped my kids off at school. When I took them to school usually the radio was off or tuned to one of the kid's stations. I think it must have been off that morning because once I got out of the school parking lot I remember turning on to NPR and catching the announcer in the middle of saying something about a plane crashing into the World Trade Center. This turned out to be the first plane. I called home and my SO turned on the TV and said I might not want to go into the office right away, so I came home. When I got there we sat transfixed and stunned by the images. I eventually called into work where I was told I could come in or not depending on what I wanted to do. I decided to go in later in the day. There was an emergency call center being set up and I wanted to be there to help, which I did get to do. We had clients and sales people who could have been with those clients, at the Towers. I was one of the people making sure that any temps or contractors we had on assignment anywhere in the world were accounted for. It turned out that the temporary staffing company that runs our company temp staffing program lost people there that day although with other clients. It was heartbreaking nonetheless as that same company had been my former employer and I was still close to many of the people there.
I'm not going to try and compare responses to these two events or even say anything else about my feelings about 9/11, others have done much better. However, I will say that I had mixed feelings when I saw in the news that there are some who feel that New Orleans will start to see returning business and tourism around the New Year. I know that many of those who lost their homes and livelihoods were employed in the tourist and service industry and won't have jobs to come back to until tourism picks up but I have a nagging feeling that those insensitive idiots who likened Katrina to 'urban renewal' will end up as having been prophetic.
I'll be writing about my week in Anaheim over at ohdawno.org sometime soon. One thing I'll note is that as we left the Anaheim Convention Center Marriott we found ourselves surrounded by a large group of Republicans. Turns out Arnold was going to be there too, but we were headed to the airport. I'm not sure if I'm disappointed or relieved. I will say that some Orange County Republican women wear really scary outfits all covered in red white and blue stars and have big hair. I thought I was in Texas.
BTW, anyone who might be interested in getting an email notice when I update either blog, I think I can set that up. I know it's great that I can get them from a couple of blogs I frequent, so if you're like me and want that just let me know in comments or you can email me at ebil(dot)librarian(at)gmail(dot)com.
On 'the' 9/11 I had just dropped my kids off at school. When I took them to school usually the radio was off or tuned to one of the kid's stations. I think it must have been off that morning because once I got out of the school parking lot I remember turning on to NPR and catching the announcer in the middle of saying something about a plane crashing into the World Trade Center. This turned out to be the first plane. I called home and my SO turned on the TV and said I might not want to go into the office right away, so I came home. When I got there we sat transfixed and stunned by the images. I eventually called into work where I was told I could come in or not depending on what I wanted to do. I decided to go in later in the day. There was an emergency call center being set up and I wanted to be there to help, which I did get to do. We had clients and sales people who could have been with those clients, at the Towers. I was one of the people making sure that any temps or contractors we had on assignment anywhere in the world were accounted for. It turned out that the temporary staffing company that runs our company temp staffing program lost people there that day although with other clients. It was heartbreaking nonetheless as that same company had been my former employer and I was still close to many of the people there.
I'm not going to try and compare responses to these two events or even say anything else about my feelings about 9/11, others have done much better. However, I will say that I had mixed feelings when I saw in the news that there are some who feel that New Orleans will start to see returning business and tourism around the New Year. I know that many of those who lost their homes and livelihoods were employed in the tourist and service industry and won't have jobs to come back to until tourism picks up but I have a nagging feeling that those insensitive idiots who likened Katrina to 'urban renewal' will end up as having been prophetic.
I'll be writing about my week in Anaheim over at ohdawno.org sometime soon. One thing I'll note is that as we left the Anaheim Convention Center Marriott we found ourselves surrounded by a large group of Republicans. Turns out Arnold was going to be there too, but we were headed to the airport. I'm not sure if I'm disappointed or relieved. I will say that some Orange County Republican women wear really scary outfits all covered in red white and blue stars and have big hair. I thought I was in Texas.
BTW, anyone who might be interested in getting an email notice when I update either blog, I think I can set that up. I know it's great that I can get them from a couple of blogs I frequent, so if you're like me and want that just let me know in comments or you can email me at ebil(dot)librarian(at)gmail(dot)com.
Sunday, September 11, 2005
Shopping and Sushi
Tomorrow I fly down to SoCal (Anaheim to be exact) for a business conference. Our company's IT managers from around the world will be gathering for our annual get-together. One of the evenings will be a 'black and white' dinner, non-formal but still, I bet people don't just wear white teeshirts and black Levi's. So I went shopping.
I hit the mall as it opened at 11 a.m. and didn't leave until 3 p.m. I spent most of the time in one store (Nordstrom) trying to find an outfit that was dressy but not fancy/formal and in just black and white. I did finally find it and then I decided I should accessorize it as well. Ended up at Michal Negrin for a necklace and earrings and Macy's for the shoes, purse and a wrap (since I'll have to step outside in the evening for a smoke).
I get home around 3:30 and spend some time with the SO and online then it's off to take my son and 6 of his friends (including his girlfriend) to his birthday dinner. The Boy loves sushi so that's what we have. His friends are nice people - two couples one of which are married. I thought at first they seemed too young to be married but I have to remind myself that I was 22 when I got married. Seems like forever ago. Too bad I didn't know then that I was still a child.
Tomorrow will be a busy day, working on finalizing some contracts and getting packed. I'll settle down in the hotel and might end up online but if you don't see a post for a few days it's probably because I'm staying out too late with 'the boys'.
I hit the mall as it opened at 11 a.m. and didn't leave until 3 p.m. I spent most of the time in one store (Nordstrom) trying to find an outfit that was dressy but not fancy/formal and in just black and white. I did finally find it and then I decided I should accessorize it as well. Ended up at Michal Negrin for a necklace and earrings and Macy's for the shoes, purse and a wrap (since I'll have to step outside in the evening for a smoke).
I get home around 3:30 and spend some time with the SO and online then it's off to take my son and 6 of his friends (including his girlfriend) to his birthday dinner. The Boy loves sushi so that's what we have. His friends are nice people - two couples one of which are married. I thought at first they seemed too young to be married but I have to remind myself that I was 22 when I got married. Seems like forever ago. Too bad I didn't know then that I was still a child.
Tomorrow will be a busy day, working on finalizing some contracts and getting packed. I'll settle down in the hotel and might end up online but if you don't see a post for a few days it's probably because I'm staying out too late with 'the boys'.
Saturday, September 10, 2005
Art and Wine Fest '05
The SO and I haven't missed many of these. One year I was out of the country on business and another I didn't feel well that weekend but we've gone to 5 or 6 of them now. Today we dropped my car off for service and drove downtown. We park in a parking structure that's just next to the blocked off festival street. It's amazing that we pass so many cars all looking for curbside parking and always find a spot in this garage.
We walk down the street past all the booths, stopping in some and just glancing into others. I see hand crafted jewelry I think is lovely but know I wouldn't wear -- it all fits a lifestyle look that just isn't mine at this time. We grab a teriyaki chicken kabob at a booth and munch as we stroll.
We hit the end of the street without a purchase and see the booth with the tree frog shirts from last year. In we go. These shirts are made from a great fabric that defies wrinkles and is light as a spider's web. He's come up with a new design this year based on South Pacific tribal tatoos. He's printed the tatoo designs in a subtle goldish taupe on a dark royal blue. It looks wonderful on the SO. The designer has also made some reversable jackets with the frog print on one side and solid black on the other. The first one I see is a short jacket but he shows me one that's longer and on sale. I buy it too. I suggest he comes back next year with a Celtic design.
We find the festival tee shirt for sale and buy a couple of those as well. Down the row of stalls some more and there's the fellow who makes the "Real Flower" jewelry. I have a brooch and had two earrings to match. One of the earrings is lost. I look for a new set but don't see what I want. I may go back tomorrow though - if I can find the earring, and see if he can replace the set. I took a quick look in my jewelry boxes (yeah, I have 2) and didn't see the pin or earring. I may have left it in a box when we moved. Glenn points out the kettle corn stand and I buy a small bag. mmmm.
Down the street a bit farther on there are extravagant hats with lots of feathers. I put on a wide brimmed black one trimmed with long floaty black feathers. I actually liked it a lot. I wish I had the nerve to wear stuff like that. I have an ambition to be one of 'those' old ladies (and that's not a time too far off in the future, either) who wears wild clothes and lots of weird jewelry, wears too much makeup and has 40 cats. Sounds like fun. I will spoil the grandkids rotten. I'm tempted to go buy the dang thing, put it in a hat box and wait for the day when I have the nerve to wear it.
Finally we've done the circuit and so we buy our souvenir wine glass for me and beer glass for the SO. This year's wine glass doesn't have a stem, it's a bulbous little thing and I'm not crazy about it but we must have it for the collection anyway.
Back home I hear from the garage my car will be ready around 6 pm. They need to do the front brakes. Everything else is spiffy.
Tomorrow I go to Nordstrom and spend my birthday gift cert on something black for next week's black and white dinner which, thankfully, isn't going to be a formal as I originally thought. Problem is the organizers haven't made it clear, I happen to know one of them and asked. I wonder if anyone will wear a tux?
I will be down in Anaheim all next week? The IT organization I work in is having a world wide managers meeting there. I wonder how many will play hookey at the Magic Kingdom. We're planning one dinner at the ESPN Zone which doesn't do much for me. I'm hoping I can at least see Downtown Disney while I'm there.
We walk down the street past all the booths, stopping in some and just glancing into others. I see hand crafted jewelry I think is lovely but know I wouldn't wear -- it all fits a lifestyle look that just isn't mine at this time. We grab a teriyaki chicken kabob at a booth and munch as we stroll.
We hit the end of the street without a purchase and see the booth with the tree frog shirts from last year. In we go. These shirts are made from a great fabric that defies wrinkles and is light as a spider's web. He's come up with a new design this year based on South Pacific tribal tatoos. He's printed the tatoo designs in a subtle goldish taupe on a dark royal blue. It looks wonderful on the SO. The designer has also made some reversable jackets with the frog print on one side and solid black on the other. The first one I see is a short jacket but he shows me one that's longer and on sale. I buy it too. I suggest he comes back next year with a Celtic design.
We find the festival tee shirt for sale and buy a couple of those as well. Down the row of stalls some more and there's the fellow who makes the "Real Flower" jewelry. I have a brooch and had two earrings to match. One of the earrings is lost. I look for a new set but don't see what I want. I may go back tomorrow though - if I can find the earring, and see if he can replace the set. I took a quick look in my jewelry boxes (yeah, I have 2) and didn't see the pin or earring. I may have left it in a box when we moved. Glenn points out the kettle corn stand and I buy a small bag. mmmm.
Down the street a bit farther on there are extravagant hats with lots of feathers. I put on a wide brimmed black one trimmed with long floaty black feathers. I actually liked it a lot. I wish I had the nerve to wear stuff like that. I have an ambition to be one of 'those' old ladies (and that's not a time too far off in the future, either) who wears wild clothes and lots of weird jewelry, wears too much makeup and has 40 cats. Sounds like fun. I will spoil the grandkids rotten. I'm tempted to go buy the dang thing, put it in a hat box and wait for the day when I have the nerve to wear it.
Finally we've done the circuit and so we buy our souvenir wine glass for me and beer glass for the SO. This year's wine glass doesn't have a stem, it's a bulbous little thing and I'm not crazy about it but we must have it for the collection anyway.
Back home I hear from the garage my car will be ready around 6 pm. They need to do the front brakes. Everything else is spiffy.
Tomorrow I go to Nordstrom and spend my birthday gift cert on something black for next week's black and white dinner which, thankfully, isn't going to be a formal as I originally thought. Problem is the organizers haven't made it clear, I happen to know one of them and asked. I wonder if anyone will wear a tux?
I will be down in Anaheim all next week? The IT organization I work in is having a world wide managers meeting there. I wonder how many will play hookey at the Magic Kingdom. We're planning one dinner at the ESPN Zone which doesn't do much for me. I'm hoping I can at least see Downtown Disney while I'm there.
Friday, September 09, 2005
Giddy Fan Girl
I think you can tell a lot about someone by the kinds of books they read. So in the interests of full disclosure I will confess to being a huge Terry Pratchett fan. The title of this blog is the motto of the Unseen University. In my online signature block I also pay homage to Pterry (as the fans like to say) with Death's motto (Non Temetis Messor) and one of my favorite quotes Humans need fantasy to be human. To be the place where the falling angel meets the rising ape." (Death says this in The Hogfather.)
There have been times when I was very gloomy but all I needed to do was pick up one of his books and my spirits would be lifted.
Why am I telling you this? Because I'm having a giddy fangirl moment! I just got an email from Harper Collins Author Tracker detailing Terry's signing tour for his latest book. He'll be in the local indie bookstore here on the 20th. I get to see one of my all time favorite authors in person, and hopefully get an autographed copy of his new book.
This weekend is the annual Arts and Wine festival. I'm looking forward to adding 2005 to my wineglass collection. I like wandering around and looking at all the interesting hand crafts, I've picked up some very nice stuff in the past, a large silk wrap with a hand dyed pattern like this:
Also some hand crafted jewelry and leather purses. I look forward to making new finds this year as well. Last year I bought the SO a shirt that was black with tropical frogs printed on it. He wore it a lot which makes me very happy. It's one of my favorite shirts.
Not much else comes to mind to write about tonight. Be well, will chat with you again soon.
There have been times when I was very gloomy but all I needed to do was pick up one of his books and my spirits would be lifted.
Why am I telling you this? Because I'm having a giddy fangirl moment! I just got an email from Harper Collins Author Tracker detailing Terry's signing tour for his latest book. He'll be in the local indie bookstore here on the 20th. I get to see one of my all time favorite authors in person, and hopefully get an autographed copy of his new book.
This weekend is the annual Arts and Wine festival. I'm looking forward to adding 2005 to my wineglass collection. I like wandering around and looking at all the interesting hand crafts, I've picked up some very nice stuff in the past, a large silk wrap with a hand dyed pattern like this:
Also some hand crafted jewelry and leather purses. I look forward to making new finds this year as well. Last year I bought the SO a shirt that was black with tropical frogs printed on it. He wore it a lot which makes me very happy. It's one of my favorite shirts.
Not much else comes to mind to write about tonight. Be well, will chat with you again soon.
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Wherein Dawno Thinks About Getting a Bicycle
Still on a Katrina related posts hiatus. I did hear some very interesting stuff being discussed on the KQED produced "Forum" show this morning... maybe I'll write about it another day.
The SO bought a bike today. It's a really nice 15 speed bike. He is planning to take the commuter train and ride the bike from the station to his job. We were chatting via IM and I said that I guessed I should get a bike too, so we could ride together for recreation. He said he'd love to go bike riding with me. So, I start musing 'aloud' on the IM about what I want in a bike:
Shortly after I post the last message on the IM, the SO tells me my daughter is laughing "at the bell" what's so funny about that? Then she decides she wants me to bring home Taco Bell. The power of suggestion is amazing.
I'm going to really miss her when she moves out in November. I've been blessed with a rare gift - a daughter that I've gotten along with through her pre-teen and teenage years. We have never fought. We've had disagreements but we've been able to have rational discussions. And when all I can say is that I don't really have anything but my own fears and feelings to go on when I have to say no, she accepts that as a 'real' answer and we work things out from there.
Life is good.
The SO bought a bike today. It's a really nice 15 speed bike. He is planning to take the commuter train and ride the bike from the station to his job. We were chatting via IM and I said that I guessed I should get a bike too, so we could ride together for recreation. He said he'd love to go bike riding with me. So, I start musing 'aloud' on the IM about what I want in a bike:
dawno: i want something greenI had a 5 speed Huffy when I was a teenager. I rode it to the pool where I taught swimming in the summer. I have fond memories of that bike. Five gears was plenty, even when the last leg of my trip was straight up a pretty steep hill.
dawno: with as few gears as possible
dawno: gears confuse me
dawno: and a nice padded seat
dawno: maybe sissy bars
dawno: and a bell
Shortly after I post the last message on the IM, the SO tells me my daughter is laughing "at the bell" what's so funny about that? Then she decides she wants me to bring home Taco Bell. The power of suggestion is amazing.
I'm going to really miss her when she moves out in November. I've been blessed with a rare gift - a daughter that I've gotten along with through her pre-teen and teenage years. We have never fought. We've had disagreements but we've been able to have rational discussions. And when all I can say is that I don't really have anything but my own fears and feelings to go on when I have to say no, she accepts that as a 'real' answer and we work things out from there.
Life is good.
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
Alternate History and Stepping Back for a Moment
(UPI Photo/Martin H. Simon seen at the monsters and critics website - provided here for educational purposes)
That picture shows Bush last Sunday (9/4) standing under a /p/h/o/t/o (argh! edit!) portrait of Teddy Roosevelt. Ever since seeing that picture I have been thinking about how things would have turned out if we'd elected a Teddy instead of Georgie. I am seriously thinking about putting this into a story or at the very least jotting down my musings on the subject. I'm a huge alternate history fan. I read Harry Turtledove's books the moment they hit the shelves (well, I usually order them online). I also like S. M. Stirling's works of alternate history. Conquistador, Dies the Fire, and The Peshwar Lancers are three recent books of his I've read and enjoyed.
Since I've spent a lot of mental energy the past few days on political stuff the rest of today's post will be about other things that caught my attention.
#1 - Cane toads in Australia. They produce an hallucenigenic toxin and are an environmental nuisance. The Aussies have been trying to eradicate them for ages. They can even kill alligators and can grow as big as a dinner plate.
The Aussies have discovered that they're attracted to black light. The article linked above spun it Disco style but really, when I think black light I think back to all those weird posters in the 60's and 70's. Cane toads produce their own LSD as well, so they must be hippies. Disco, hmph.
#2 - I liked this personality quiz I saw over at Erudite Redneck's blog as I was reading up from the beginning of the month to try and get a sense of the conversation there when I saw his.
I'm an ENTJ if you're into Meyer's Briggs types. My "ID" (Instinctive Drives) number is 6374 (I'm a high Verifier and Completer) . Having a background in HR means you take a lot of these tests. By the way, I'm linking to these to give some context to how those tests score me, not endorsing the companies or sites). Now I've got another data point to keep track of...what city matches my personality. I just can't see myself in a lot of those cities (except L.A. and San Diego) or countries.
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| Your personality type is SLOAI |
| You are social, moody, moderately organized, moderately accommodating, and intellectual, and may prefer a city which matches those traits. |
| The largest representation of your personality type can be found in the these U.S. cities: Salt Lake City, Oklahoma City, Nashville, Tucson, Phoenix, Memphis, W. Palm Beach, Portland/Salem, Louisville, Cincinnati, San Diego, Los Angeles Area and these international countries/regions Ukraine, South Africa, Greece, Indonesia, Austria, Thailand, Turkey, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Malaysia, Portugal, Japan, Czech Republic, Guam |
City Reviews at CityCulture.org
#3. It's pretty hard to explain it, it's one of those "you had to be there' things...but the phrase "Very Tiny Mule" has a special place in my heart. I even created an AV
So when I saw this article in Yahoo's Strange News I had to read up. You can have your horse whisperers, I wanna be a Mule Charmer.
#4. Is there some OTC medicine for allergy symptoms that won't make me either a zombie or get me as jittery as 20 cups of coffee? I don't mind the zombie stuff at bedtime but during the day my job requires that I posess a modicom of sense and not drool infront of the vendors. Sneezing on them isn't nice either.
OK, that's all for now. Thanks for stopping by.
Monday, September 05, 2005
Esthetics
If you have noticed that your position in the list of links to the right has changed I hope you will also note that now it goes from short to long. It was bugging me that it looked untidy so when I added the new link I re-arranged the others.
What They Knew and When They Knew It
This morning I make my usual stop over at Making Light and I read this. Now, I've been muttering since early last week about the Mayor of N.O. being more culpible than most folk are saying. (I noted on Wednesday that I felt there should be a tradition of Mayors going down with their cities). Apparently in July of this year the New Orleans Times Picayune printed an article which is provided in part here.
The blog to which this comment is attached is called Lenin's Tomb. Now I would have laid odds a couple weeks ago that I would never be getting my news from- heck, even reading - a blog called Lenin's Tomb. And even now I'm uncomforatable relying on it as the single source of truth...so I Google a key phrase and yep, a few more blogs are covering it, this one named Attytood has a chunk of the article as well apparently from Nexis. For $3.00 I looked it up myself. Yep, it's all there. For example:
So the city leaders knew exactly what was going to happen when they heard Katrina was heading their way. Well, at least they knew that the poorest would not be transported to safety. I'll go so far as to give them the benefit of the doubt about the levees, although, deep down, they probably knew the levees weren't going to hold. Kinda puts a different spin on some of the outrage heard in the Mayor's voice when you read this.
And I fully agree when the writer of that post says:
I don't know if it's because folks are unwilling to hit a guy when he's down or some other more, uh, let us say "PC" reasons, but I'm glad to finally see some recognition that the Mayor and other city officials had some accountablility for the lack of appropriate response. I mean, if you knew in advance that it was going to be this bad -- and you had a YEAR to think about it (since the "Pam" event) why didn't you organize the churches and community leaders? Nope, instead they produce a DVD (that wasn't due to be distributed until September) that basically says "you're on your own". I mean, each community could have had folks trained to drive a school bus out of town - instead, this is how those buses ended up. I mean that 18 year old kid did it and he wasn't trained!
The Mayor's a Democrat (although apparently one of recent vintage), I understand that folks would want to be supportive of their own. I'm OK with that. I don't disagree that the federal government deserves to shoulder a huge amount of the blame. FEMA's response was a bizarre bureaucratic nightmare and I won't disagree that the head of FEMA is an idiot, a badly bungled political appointment. The president isn't off the hookwith me either. Ultimately he is accountable for the action/inaction of his government. BUT let's not let anyone off the hook who is culpable if we're going to be pointing fingers (and really, everywhere I look there are digits pointing, mostly at the feds).
My feelings about Hizzonor Nagin appear to have been accurate. What I would give to get my hands on a copy of the soon to be infamous DVD. I hope it was finished and someone can and will upload it on the net where we can all watch.
The blog to which this comment is attached is called Lenin's Tomb. Now I would have laid odds a couple weeks ago that I would never be getting my news from- heck, even reading - a blog called Lenin's Tomb. And even now I'm uncomforatable relying on it as the single source of truth...so I Google a key phrase and yep, a few more blogs are covering it, this one named Attytood has a chunk of the article as well apparently from Nexis. For $3.00 I looked it up myself. Yep, it's all there. For example:
Truehill, Wilkins and others said emergency preparedness officials still plan to deploy some Regional Transit Authority buses, school buses and perhaps even Amtrak trains to move some people before a storm.
An RTA emergency plan dedicates 64 buses and 10 lift vans to move people somewhere; whether that means out of town or to local shelters of last resort would depend on emergency planners' decision at that moment, RTA spokeswoman Rosalind Cook said.
But even the larger buses hold only about 60 people each, a rescue capacity that is dwarfed by the unmet need.
In an interview at the opening of this year's hurricane season, New Orleans Emergency Preparedness Director Joseph Matthews acknowledged that the city is overmatched.
"It's important to emphasize that we just don't have the resources to take everybody out," he said in a interview in late May.
So the city leaders knew exactly what was going to happen when they heard Katrina was heading their way. Well, at least they knew that the poorest would not be transported to safety. I'll go so far as to give them the benefit of the doubt about the levees, although, deep down, they probably knew the levees weren't going to hold. Kinda puts a different spin on some of the outrage heard in the Mayor's voice when you read this.
And I fully agree when the writer of that post says:
"Still I wonder why I had to discover this myself. I did not find it in any of the major news outlets, and never heard a peep about it in the major newspapers."
I don't know if it's because folks are unwilling to hit a guy when he's down or some other more, uh, let us say "PC" reasons, but I'm glad to finally see some recognition that the Mayor and other city officials had some accountablility for the lack of appropriate response. I mean, if you knew in advance that it was going to be this bad -- and you had a YEAR to think about it (since the "Pam" event) why didn't you organize the churches and community leaders? Nope, instead they produce a DVD (that wasn't due to be distributed until September) that basically says "you're on your own". I mean, each community could have had folks trained to drive a school bus out of town - instead, this is how those buses ended up. I mean that 18 year old kid did it and he wasn't trained!
The Mayor's a Democrat (although apparently one of recent vintage), I understand that folks would want to be supportive of their own. I'm OK with that. I don't disagree that the federal government deserves to shoulder a huge amount of the blame. FEMA's response was a bizarre bureaucratic nightmare and I won't disagree that the head of FEMA is an idiot, a badly bungled political appointment. The president isn't off the hookwith me either. Ultimately he is accountable for the action/inaction of his government. BUT let's not let anyone off the hook who is culpable if we're going to be pointing fingers (and really, everywhere I look there are digits pointing, mostly at the feds).
My feelings about Hizzonor Nagin appear to have been accurate. What I would give to get my hands on a copy of the soon to be infamous DVD. I hope it was finished and someone can and will upload it on the net where we can all watch.
Sunday, September 04, 2005
Lordie, I've spent the last couple days reading progressively more liberal blogs. I have found a Democrat that I erroneously thought was a moderate conservative ( sorry ER!) that is saying a lot of things I can get behind. What I haven't found is one conservative blog (so far) that doesn't make me embarassed to be a Republican. I think there have been some commenters that *might* be conservative -- although I'm not too good at figuring that out as ER can attest(see comments).
I do wish, though, that there was less name calling going on in some of the comment threads I've scanned. I know, emotions are high. It's just that anyone who suggests there's enough blame to spread around is being thoroughly castigated for being a Bush sock puppet, and that's the nice stuff they're saying. I have provided links in prior posts that show I'm appalled at the federal foot dragging.
So, if the liberals out there want to coax me back into the fold (I left the party to vote for Reagan -- like many Dems of the day) they're going to have to stop lumping me in with Pat Robertson and calling me nasty names -- yes, I'm taking it personally -- because they're painting with a very, very broad brush out there and I'm feeling a bit offended. Hey folks, I'm not disagreeing with you! You want to see something different happen politically as a result of this tragedy? Don't drive us moderates away.
I do wish, though, that there was less name calling going on in some of the comment threads I've scanned. I know, emotions are high. It's just that anyone who suggests there's enough blame to spread around is being thoroughly castigated for being a Bush sock puppet, and that's the nice stuff they're saying. I have provided links in prior posts that show I'm appalled at the federal foot dragging.
So, if the liberals out there want to coax me back into the fold (I left the party to vote for Reagan -- like many Dems of the day) they're going to have to stop lumping me in with Pat Robertson and calling me nasty names -- yes, I'm taking it personally -- because they're painting with a very, very broad brush out there and I'm feeling a bit offended. Hey folks, I'm not disagreeing with you! You want to see something different happen politically as a result of this tragedy? Don't drive us moderates away.
Let the Bataan Do Her Duty
Two more good posts on the 'looting' issue, original post and follow up post.
Finally, something Newt and I agree on: ""If we can't respond faster than this to an event we saw coming across the Gulf for days, then why do we think we're prepared to respond to a nuclear or biological attack?" asked former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a Republican." (towards the end of this article in SFgate.com)
This makes me ill. I come from a military family and our next generation will probably have someone following suit. When there was flooding in Bangladesh (or was it Pakistan, not sure) just after the Gulf War I my brother who was in the Navy at the time, went there -- and his ship was steaming home with many of the crew serving well after their committments were up. Then they ended up in the Philippenes because of the volcanic disaster there. All in all I think they were 3 months delayed returning.
So I know how our servicemen and women respond to global disasters, even when they're ON THEIR WAY HOME FROM A WAR they stop and help people in need. Why aren't they being allowed to do the same on their own shores?? I won't second guess the commander of the ship, either. There's a chain of command and the people at the top of it are the ones responsible, not her. I point you to James Macdonald's great post at Making Light about the Incident Command System.
Finally, something Newt and I agree on: ""If we can't respond faster than this to an event we saw coming across the Gulf for days, then why do we think we're prepared to respond to a nuclear or biological attack?" asked former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a Republican." (towards the end of this article in SFgate.com)
This makes me ill. I come from a military family and our next generation will probably have someone following suit. When there was flooding in Bangladesh (or was it Pakistan, not sure) just after the Gulf War I my brother who was in the Navy at the time, went there -- and his ship was steaming home with many of the crew serving well after their committments were up. Then they ended up in the Philippenes because of the volcanic disaster there. All in all I think they were 3 months delayed returning.
So I know how our servicemen and women respond to global disasters, even when they're ON THEIR WAY HOME FROM A WAR they stop and help people in need. Why aren't they being allowed to do the same on their own shores?? I won't second guess the commander of the ship, either. There's a chain of command and the people at the top of it are the ones responsible, not her. I point you to James Macdonald's great post at Making Light about the Incident Command System.
Saturday, September 03, 2005
Viewpoints on Post Katrina New Orleans - Is It a Battleground or Not?
I don't know if it will make a bit of difference in the crowded blogiverse but I really hope the following links get a lot of traffic. There's stuff in all of them that people need to know -- especially if they're getting all their news from the TV talking heads.
Mac's post on Heroes
Looka
Tzikeh
L.A. Times -Troops
Robert LeBlanc's Open Letter (making the rounds, this is an early posting to NOLAview weblog)
nihilistic_kid - a must read
Fox news reporting by Geraldo and Smith discussed at "Talk Left"
I don't usually watch this but I think I'll tune in for a bit this year. Good for you Jerry.
Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon to help Katrina Victims: "I know my kids will understand if I hold up the beginning of their show because there are hundreds of thousands of people who know now what suffering is. ... They are running out of time. And we, as generous and loving Americans, must help them." quoting Jerry Lewis.
Edit: was reading Wil Wheaton's blog and he references this effort by Larry Dixon and Mercedes Lackey
Breaking News: Chief Justice Rehnquist has died (not the best link I'm sure, but as I was over at the Beeb, that's where I saw it first)
Mac's post on Heroes
Looka
Tzikeh
L.A. Times -Troops
Robert LeBlanc's Open Letter (making the rounds, this is an early posting to NOLAview weblog)
nihilistic_kid - a must read
Fox news reporting by Geraldo and Smith discussed at "Talk Left"
I don't usually watch this but I think I'll tune in for a bit this year. Good for you Jerry.
Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon to help Katrina Victims: "I know my kids will understand if I hold up the beginning of their show because there are hundreds of thousands of people who know now what suffering is. ... They are running out of time. And we, as generous and loving Americans, must help them." quoting Jerry Lewis.
Edit: was reading Wil Wheaton's blog and he references this effort by Larry Dixon and Mercedes Lackey
Breaking News: Chief Justice Rehnquist has died (not the best link I'm sure, but as I was over at the Beeb, that's where I saw it first)
There but for the Grace of God Go I
I took a hop from a post on Making Light to John Scalzi's Whatever. Here's what came to mind as I was reading.
My dad was an enlisted man in the Air Force. That means he made a salary at or below the official poverty level for most of his A. F. career. My mom didn't work, few military wives who lived on base in those times did. I had two siblings.
Because the Air Force provided a home and subsidized many of the rest of our basic essentials there was always enough for decent clothes and shoes, good food in the pantry and the occasional night out. We (the kids) never knew we were officially 'poor'. I can only shudder at reading the heartwrenching comments at Whatever at how close we were and how incredibly blessed.
When I was ready to go to college I didn't realize that the money from the Basic Educational Opportunity Grant fund that I was eligible for was money set aside so poor people could get a college education; I mean I wasn't stupid, I knew my parents weren't wealthy,I just didn't think of us as poor. I had other scholarships and it didn't cost my parents a dime after my first year -- because I also had on campus jobs for my leisure money. I lived on campus and ate my meals at the commons where it was paid for by that same grant and scholarship money.
I went to a Cal State college but my sister and brother got ROTC scholarships and went to USC. Again, we just didn't know we were poor and I'm glad. We moved into the world confident and secure, we had nothing to prove to anyone. I would describe all of us kids as successful,basic upper middle class, suburban professional types.
It was years after I'd graduated from college and married that my mom once mentioned that my father's W-2 income the year I went to college was less than 10,000. At the time of our chat I believe I was making three times that and married to a lawyer making 5 times that amount. We had bought a home, had two cars and ate out more than we ate at home. We went to theatre and concerts and had money left over. I really didn't realize that my lifestyle was such a leap from the one of my youth. I should have appreciated it more.
My dad was an enlisted man in the Air Force. That means he made a salary at or below the official poverty level for most of his A. F. career. My mom didn't work, few military wives who lived on base in those times did. I had two siblings.
Because the Air Force provided a home and subsidized many of the rest of our basic essentials there was always enough for decent clothes and shoes, good food in the pantry and the occasional night out. We (the kids) never knew we were officially 'poor'. I can only shudder at reading the heartwrenching comments at Whatever at how close we were and how incredibly blessed.
When I was ready to go to college I didn't realize that the money from the Basic Educational Opportunity Grant fund that I was eligible for was money set aside so poor people could get a college education; I mean I wasn't stupid, I knew my parents weren't wealthy,I just didn't think of us as poor. I had other scholarships and it didn't cost my parents a dime after my first year -- because I also had on campus jobs for my leisure money. I lived on campus and ate my meals at the commons where it was paid for by that same grant and scholarship money.
I went to a Cal State college but my sister and brother got ROTC scholarships and went to USC. Again, we just didn't know we were poor and I'm glad. We moved into the world confident and secure, we had nothing to prove to anyone. I would describe all of us kids as successful,basic upper middle class, suburban professional types.
It was years after I'd graduated from college and married that my mom once mentioned that my father's W-2 income the year I went to college was less than 10,000. At the time of our chat I believe I was making three times that and married to a lawyer making 5 times that amount. We had bought a home, had two cars and ate out more than we ate at home. We went to theatre and concerts and had money left over. I really didn't realize that my lifestyle was such a leap from the one of my youth. I should have appreciated it more.
Friday, September 02, 2005
Going to Barnes & Noble U!
Yep, Dawno becomes a virtual co-ed Sept. 6th. I got my books today. I'm taking the B&N Writing Romance with Gotham Writers' Workshop being taught by Leigh Michaels. I'm wondering if there's a virtual sorority I can pledge. And what's the school mascot? These are important things to know!
Oh, I did take the light rail to work today. 40 minutes and one transfer. Next time I know which train to take so I won't have to do the transfer, not that it's any big hassle. With gas at $3.00 a gal. the light rail is a good deal.
I'm not entirely comfortable with not having a car. I feel a bit 'stranded' even though we have a good intercampus shuttle system (we need one, there are 39 buildings along a very long stretch of road.) If I needed to get somewhere in an emergency the company would pay for my cab fare. Still, one gets used to the independence of it.
Have a great Labor Day weekend!
Oh, I did take the light rail to work today. 40 minutes and one transfer. Next time I know which train to take so I won't have to do the transfer, not that it's any big hassle. With gas at $3.00 a gal. the light rail is a good deal.
I'm not entirely comfortable with not having a car. I feel a bit 'stranded' even though we have a good intercampus shuttle system (we need one, there are 39 buildings along a very long stretch of road.) If I needed to get somewhere in an emergency the company would pay for my cab fare. Still, one gets used to the independence of it.
Have a great Labor Day weekend!
The Rats Come Out of the Woodwork
I get a newsletter from "ScamBusters" and the Katrina scams are already out there. The worst ones are the phishing type scams where folks will click a link to 'donate' to what they think is a reputable org but they're really giving info to scammers who will steal their money and maybe their identity. These sites look so real to someone who isn't aware that they should never link to a site from an email and how easily someone can build a phony website.
Pass along this link: The United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has compiled a great list of reputable voluntary organizations that urgently need cash donations to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina in Gulf Coast states.
Amazon is also collecting donations via the Amazon Honor System - over $2 million so far.
Pass along this link: The United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has compiled a great list of reputable voluntary organizations that urgently need cash donations to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina in Gulf Coast states.
Amazon is also collecting donations via the Amazon Honor System - over $2 million so far.
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Reading and Doing Something About Katrina
Random thoughts -- Andrei Codrescu (Exquisite Corpse) Isn't he from New Orleans? I wonder if he had to evacuate or if he was out touring or something. I know that when he reflects on the events of the past days it will be insightful and well worth hearing. Andrei often speaks on NPR so I went to NPR.org to see what they were saying about Katrina. There's a weblog they're hosting if you're interested.
In that weblog was this link about Dennis Hastert's recent comments. Goodness, what an idiot. There are posts about the refugees at the city's convention center and I heard a BBC report on my way home tonight where the reporter said there wasn't a single elected official, aid worker or any kind of civil authority to be found there. I guess there's no tradition of Mayors going down with their flooded cities. There f'ing should be.
I saw tonight that the local low-price gas station was charging $3.05 per gallon for regular. Then I went to BBC.co.uk and saw a post of a picture of a gas sign I would guess is somewhere in the vicinity of the path of refugees from Katrina with regular at $3.29. Also on gas prices from the Beeb (I love the BBC, I'm a rabid Anglophile)
Last thing, Jenna Glatzer of AW is working on how the forum community there can do somthing to contribute to the aid effort. Go read about it and if you write, submit. If you don't volunteer for somthing else.
In that weblog was this link about Dennis Hastert's recent comments. Goodness, what an idiot. There are posts about the refugees at the city's convention center and I heard a BBC report on my way home tonight where the reporter said there wasn't a single elected official, aid worker or any kind of civil authority to be found there. I guess there's no tradition of Mayors going down with their flooded cities. There f'ing should be.
I saw tonight that the local low-price gas station was charging $3.05 per gallon for regular. Then I went to BBC.co.uk and saw a post of a picture of a gas sign I would guess is somewhere in the vicinity of the path of refugees from Katrina with regular at $3.29. Also on gas prices from the Beeb (I love the BBC, I'm a rabid Anglophile)
The US Minerals Management Service estimated that 95% of the Gulf of Mexico's oil output was out of service following the hurricane, as well as more than 80% of natural gas production.I think I'm going to take the light rail to work tomorrow. The less gas I consume the more there is for others. We all need to try and think that way because if I'm the only one who does then it really won't mean much.
Last thing, Jenna Glatzer of AW is working on how the forum community there can do somthing to contribute to the aid effort. Go read about it and if you write, submit. If you don't volunteer for somthing else.
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