Isn't this awesome? It's like the gate agent who tells you why your flight hasn't left yet.
I think it's a wonderful beginning. I also think it's being beseiged so we'll have to forgive a somewhat slow start.
Change.gov
Friday, November 7, 2008
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Election Results! Redux!
I really couldn't stand not responding to that post on Linda Holmes's site, so I did and was promptly schooled (due to my own error) that anyone can make a mistake for one day. Read the comments. I'm one of the last few comments and I made one inarticulate comment (which I tried to withdraw), but it gave opposing counsel one last minute to argue their case.
p.s. I (totally) un-subscribed from her site a day before that exchange! It's not because she doesn't agree with me! Damn it, Jim! I'm a business analyst, not an unsubscriber!
p.p.s. This all makes me wonder -- who writes blogs? How much do you know about your favorite blogger? It's weird!
p.s. I (totally) un-subscribed from her site a day before that exchange! It's not because she doesn't agree with me! Damn it, Jim! I'm a business analyst, not an unsubscriber!
p.p.s. This all makes me wonder -- who writes blogs? How much do you know about your favorite blogger? It's weird!
Election Results & War Tactics
Hee hee, I wrote the following post, but wanted to lighten it up by sharing a really cool war video. Enjoy! Then read my heartfelt sentiments about the election!
OK, so I think that the family votes in ... hmmm ... one ... two ... three ... four different states (and there is a strong potential that the parents voted from a fifth -- or even Mexico -- if they used their absentee ballots), and I'm almost as sure that we voted for at least two different candidates.
Not that it matters much, but I voted for Obama. I'm not a huge fan (Biden was my first choice, he dropped out, Hillary was my next choice), and I don't think the McCain/Obama economic policies are all that different, but I really admire Obama's seeming ability to pull people together. I remember reading about a rally where he mentioned McCain's name and there were boos, but he responded, "Don't boo. Vote." That's the kind of temperament I want in a world leader. I think Obama can pull people together in a way that McCain is probably not capable of -- and mostly because McCain's loyalty to Bush really hurt his credibility with people.
But that's all neither here nor there. I've heard from folks on both sides, I can understand and appreciate the view of those who voted for McCain.
I bring all of this up because I saw just one of the ugliest bits of behavior on the internet that I've seen in a while, from one of the writers on the internet that I most admire. Linda Holmes is a writer (blogger is kind of disrespectful because that lumps her in with the likes of me), and in the past couple of weeks she's posted a few pro-Obama things. My reaction was essentially to ignore it, it's her blog, she can make her own editorial decisions. I thought it seemed like she picked a fight with a guy who said he disagreed with her position on the election, but -- again -- it's her blog, she can fight with people.
Then the day after the election she posted something that struck me as ... odd. I'll link to it, but I think it's fair to paraphrase it as relief and happiness that the election had gone the way it had, but also an indication that she thought we should all take a day to be obnoxious about this. She called a Gloat Day (gloat is her word, not mine). Check it out, maybe I'm wrong.
I read it and thought to myself (initially), it's her blog, she can post what she wants. But as the day went on, it stuck with me. I thought to myself that -- of all the reasons I voted for Obama -- this was the absolute most important one to me: this country needs to unite to solve some very serious problems. I was -- I am -- appalled that an educated thinker whose opinions I generally respect thinks even the smallest service could stem from this kind of petty exercise.
On Barack Obama's list of ways to celebrate this election this way is at the bottom.
You can read Linda's and her readers' Gloat Day here. It's just as petty and ugly as you might imagine. And it all makes me very sad -- because (to spin Mr. Obama's own words) maybe it shows that we can't.
OK, so I think that the family votes in ... hmmm ... one ... two ... three ... four different states (and there is a strong potential that the parents voted from a fifth -- or even Mexico -- if they used their absentee ballots), and I'm almost as sure that we voted for at least two different candidates.
Not that it matters much, but I voted for Obama. I'm not a huge fan (Biden was my first choice, he dropped out, Hillary was my next choice), and I don't think the McCain/Obama economic policies are all that different, but I really admire Obama's seeming ability to pull people together. I remember reading about a rally where he mentioned McCain's name and there were boos, but he responded, "Don't boo. Vote." That's the kind of temperament I want in a world leader. I think Obama can pull people together in a way that McCain is probably not capable of -- and mostly because McCain's loyalty to Bush really hurt his credibility with people.
But that's all neither here nor there. I've heard from folks on both sides, I can understand and appreciate the view of those who voted for McCain.
I bring all of this up because I saw just one of the ugliest bits of behavior on the internet that I've seen in a while, from one of the writers on the internet that I most admire. Linda Holmes is a writer (blogger is kind of disrespectful because that lumps her in with the likes of me), and in the past couple of weeks she's posted a few pro-Obama things. My reaction was essentially to ignore it, it's her blog, she can make her own editorial decisions. I thought it seemed like she picked a fight with a guy who said he disagreed with her position on the election, but -- again -- it's her blog, she can fight with people.
Then the day after the election she posted something that struck me as ... odd. I'll link to it, but I think it's fair to paraphrase it as relief and happiness that the election had gone the way it had, but also an indication that she thought we should all take a day to be obnoxious about this. She called a Gloat Day (gloat is her word, not mine). Check it out, maybe I'm wrong.
I read it and thought to myself (initially), it's her blog, she can post what she wants. But as the day went on, it stuck with me. I thought to myself that -- of all the reasons I voted for Obama -- this was the absolute most important one to me: this country needs to unite to solve some very serious problems. I was -- I am -- appalled that an educated thinker whose opinions I generally respect thinks even the smallest service could stem from this kind of petty exercise.
On Barack Obama's list of ways to celebrate this election this way is at the bottom.
You can read Linda's and her readers' Gloat Day here. It's just as petty and ugly as you might imagine. And it all makes me very sad -- because (to spin Mr. Obama's own words) maybe it shows that we can't.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Halloween
I feel like I have so much to tell and yet not much to say.
bk and I made our first plans for an extended trip (four days!) and we're pretty excited about that. The trip is to to Mahtomedi and I know that Susie will be pretty upset about it (that she doesn't get to meet him first), but she's in Mexico now so it's hard to get her riled.
I managed to avoid Halloween costumes for another year.
And, happily, I arranged for some pumpkin carving (although I can't figure what happened to the pictures I took of the carver!).
Oh, yeah, and I came across two cd's I should have been listening to before...
{Darn, how did I delete those pics from my camera?!?!?!}
bk and I made our first plans for an extended trip (four days!) and we're pretty excited about that. The trip is to to Mahtomedi and I know that Susie will be pretty upset about it (that she doesn't get to meet him first), but she's in Mexico now so it's hard to get her riled.
I managed to avoid Halloween costumes for another year.
And, happily, I arranged for some pumpkin carving (although I can't figure what happened to the pictures I took of the carver!).
Oh, yeah, and I came across two cd's I should have been listening to before...
{Darn, how did I delete those pics from my camera?!?!?!}
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Traffic Widget
Maintenance note:
I just added a traffic feed that I would probably have made private if I was techier and could figure that out. I'm thinking about making the blog itself private (which would make it harder for people that I want to have read it, to find it), but I wanted to get a feel for how much traffic the blog gets in the meantime, anyway.
Please tell me if you think the new widget is too intrusive. It's a new gadget that I can easily take down. Should blend into the woodwork since I think what I'm getting is mostly folks who click "Next Blog" -- plus my adored family members. ;-)
For what it's worth, I think it's kind of weird anyway. It thinks I live in Versailles (go ahead, pronounce that correctly, non-locals).
I just added a traffic feed that I would probably have made private if I was techier and could figure that out. I'm thinking about making the blog itself private (which would make it harder for people that I want to have read it, to find it), but I wanted to get a feel for how much traffic the blog gets in the meantime, anyway.
Please tell me if you think the new widget is too intrusive. It's a new gadget that I can easily take down. Should blend into the woodwork since I think what I'm getting is mostly folks who click "Next Blog" -- plus my adored family members. ;-)
For what it's worth, I think it's kind of weird anyway. It thinks I live in Versailles (go ahead, pronounce that correctly, non-locals).
Allergies
This post probably has a lot more detail about what's wrong with me than you want. I'd move on to that article about NPR if I was you.
Jus' sayin'.
From the time I was small I have always been allergic to something. Initially, it was milk (I drank soy before it was cool!), eggs, and a variety of growing things ... along with stuff they could never pinpoint (I once had an allergy test that looked like a long string of mosquito bites). Then I grew and got over it and the frequency eased to once or twice a year. And then about ten years ago I moved to Kentucky.
Since then I have had two serious bouts with allergies:
While flying from Sky Harbor to Blue Grass yesterday, everyone I looked at gave a glance and decided they wanted absolutely no part of what I had going on. Both eyes were swollen and watering, my nose was rubbed raw, and I had this weird dry cough.
This morning, I woke with one eye sealed shut and mid-size drifts of aloe-infused tissue surrounding my bed. Ech. I feel everything in my head. I know where my brain is and I feel the roots of my teeth. If I breathe like a normal person I feel cool air swirl through the middle of my skull with every breath, and my eyes are crying to get out -- so I breathe through my mouth. I'm not stuffed so much as empty and I am constantly 40-60% about to sneeze.
I seriously mean this: I don't know who they are, but god bless the folks who invented Puffs Plus and Benadryl.
I can't wait for tomorrow. I know it will be better then.
Jus' sayin'.
From the time I was small I have always been allergic to something. Initially, it was milk (I drank soy before it was cool!), eggs, and a variety of growing things ... along with stuff they could never pinpoint (I once had an allergy test that looked like a long string of mosquito bites). Then I grew and got over it and the frequency eased to once or twice a year. And then about ten years ago I moved to Kentucky.
Since then I have had two serious bouts with allergies:
- February, 2002, while returning from a trip to Arizona
- October, 2008, while returning from a trip to Arizona
While flying from Sky Harbor to Blue Grass yesterday, everyone I looked at gave a glance and decided they wanted absolutely no part of what I had going on. Both eyes were swollen and watering, my nose was rubbed raw, and I had this weird dry cough.
This morning, I woke with one eye sealed shut and mid-size drifts of aloe-infused tissue surrounding my bed. Ech. I feel everything in my head. I know where my brain is and I feel the roots of my teeth. If I breathe like a normal person I feel cool air swirl through the middle of my skull with every breath, and my eyes are crying to get out -- so I breathe through my mouth. I'm not stuffed so much as empty and I am constantly 40-60% about to sneeze.
I seriously mean this: I don't know who they are, but god bless the folks who invented Puffs Plus and Benadryl.
I can't wait for tomorrow. I know it will be better then.
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