- Escapism in Minutiae of Daily Life. Now I just need the computer to play it.
- Either this guy just writes well or he really is a cool guy. Why I'm Giving Away $1 Billion. Kudos to you Peter Peterson.
- Intriguing idea: Other Shows That Could Use A Giant 'Wipeout'-Style Catapult. You know, I might watch some of these if they made hurling people into the air a regular practice...
- Wow, thanks DC weather. Great for my birthday but on the day I'm roaming about after work in nice pants and shoes, we get a severe thunderstorm warning. April was the showers month, this is June. And we're not supposed to have sympathetic weather up here for Florida's hurricane season. And if it's going to rain, how about lowering the temperature on the day it rains, not just briefly the day after?
- One of those constants: Tom Hanks is a nice guy. Cool too. The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien: Tue, June 2, 2009.
- I want my marriage (when I have one) to be like this when I'm their age...though without the Alzheimer's. Still, if it's like this after 60 years...that's a life well lived. 60 Years of Marriage: Laughter is Love.
- Nancy Drew! She's awesome and can do anything. And then go to luncheon. Why Do Lawyers Love Nancy Drew? It's No Mystery.
- I find myself rewatching Fantastic Four now that I've seen the Horatio Hornblower: New Adventures movies (and Netflix, get on the ball and let me get the original 6 disc collection, I see it mocking me in Borders, why can't you be a friend like you have been all these months and move it from saved into my queue?). I just not sure which Ioan Gruffudd is better...but I think I have to go with the one with the accent. You win, Horatio. Sorry, Reed. You're awesome and smart and all but I have to stick with the Napoleonic war era naval genius version. I'm sure you understand.
- Speaking of movies, I totally lucked out and got the Thin Man collection for my birthday. The banter is mine, all mine! And I now have the William Powell and Myrna Loy collection, five other delightful movies with the pair of them. I wonder why they don't get touted as a great screen couple like Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy...they were in quite a few together, had great chemistry, and great dialogue. Well, at least I can appreciate them.
Showing posts with label the little things. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the little things. Show all posts
05 June 2009
26 May 2009
Musings, Part Y
- Hall of Presidents! One of my favorite parts of Magic Kingdom. I was wondering if they'd updated it yet. Animatronic Obama Going to Disney World With High-Tech Style.
- I'm glad I'm Catholic: From Polygamous Royalty to FLDS Lost Boy. Very glad.
- Hooray for the Smithsonian (of which I'm now a member)! Belle of the Mall.
- A beard contest? Apparently there is one. Imagine the work that has to go into some of these. Alaska Hosts the Battle of the Beards.
- I still love Sesame Street. Not just because it reminds me of my childhood but because it's still clever and funny after all these years. I'm thrilled they have a YouTube channel so I can find all my favorite bits. And Big Bird is still better than Elmo even if the little red guy has pushed him out. My loyalty is with Bird. Happy 40th! How Sesame Street Changed the World.
- And another childhood touchstone: American Girl's Journey to the Lower East Side. And the company's as old as I soon will be. My doll was Samantha, still is, I suppose. She's in a box now though. But still awesome.
- Yay! And now the battle begins. And everything I remember (I hope) from the two Supreme Court classes I took in college will come back during the confirmation process. Should be fun to watch. Obama Chooses Sotomayor for Supreme Court.
- I've started a new needlepoint project and it's brought to mind an interesting occurrance. Colors and names of colors don't always match up. This kit has an orangish background that claims to be tan. It's not. It's orangish. Tan is sorta skin colored. This I suppose could be called fake spray on tan. Or, orangish.
- Wow. Way to completely freak me out Newsweek article. I thought the author had actually lost her mind. Thank goodness for comments. Lithwick: Put Palin on the Supreme Court. By the way, that would be the absolute worst idea in the world, secondary only to electing her to some national office or a place of real influence. Gah. Shivers down my spine.
- I'm glad I'm Catholic: From Polygamous Royalty to FLDS Lost Boy. Very glad.
- Hooray for the Smithsonian (of which I'm now a member)! Belle of the Mall.
- A beard contest? Apparently there is one. Imagine the work that has to go into some of these. Alaska Hosts the Battle of the Beards.
- I still love Sesame Street. Not just because it reminds me of my childhood but because it's still clever and funny after all these years. I'm thrilled they have a YouTube channel so I can find all my favorite bits. And Big Bird is still better than Elmo even if the little red guy has pushed him out. My loyalty is with Bird. Happy 40th! How Sesame Street Changed the World.
- And another childhood touchstone: American Girl's Journey to the Lower East Side. And the company's as old as I soon will be. My doll was Samantha, still is, I suppose. She's in a box now though. But still awesome.
- Yay! And now the battle begins. And everything I remember (I hope) from the two Supreme Court classes I took in college will come back during the confirmation process. Should be fun to watch. Obama Chooses Sotomayor for Supreme Court.
- I've started a new needlepoint project and it's brought to mind an interesting occurrance. Colors and names of colors don't always match up. This kit has an orangish background that claims to be tan. It's not. It's orangish. Tan is sorta skin colored. This I suppose could be called fake spray on tan. Or, orangish.
- Wow. Way to completely freak me out Newsweek article. I thought the author had actually lost her mind. Thank goodness for comments. Lithwick: Put Palin on the Supreme Court. By the way, that would be the absolute worst idea in the world, secondary only to electing her to some national office or a place of real influence. Gah. Shivers down my spine.
28 March 2009
Musings, Part C
- It takes all kinds: The Oddest Book Titles Have Their Aficionados, Too. What I want to know is if the How to Avoid Huge Ships is available for my Kindle. I’d even take the Waterproofing Your Child or People Who Don’t Know They’re Dead: How They Attach Themselves to Unsuspecting Bystanders and What to Do About It. For the latter, hasn’t that been covered in countless horror/thriller flicks, notably The Sixth Sense?
- I love musicals. I’m impressed by them, when written well I find myself humming the tunes and getting the soundtracks. Sometimes things are really better when random/not so random musical numbers are added in. However, why make one out of Little Women? I guess it could work but why would you do it? There’s nothing wrong with leaving Little Women to the book and the movie versions. I haven’t yet seen the earlier version(s) but I really enjoyed the Winona Ryder one in the 90s. Christian Bale was in it, with longer hair and a happier disposition to his character, Gabriel Byrne, a much younger Claire Danes and Kirsten Dunst before both got big. And Susan Sarandon as Marmie? Excellent.
- Democracy has color. Perhaps one of the best illustrations I've found recently of this is the blog And the Pursuit of Happiness with it’s entry on Alexis de Tocqueville Mixing history, a description of a Vermont town’s town hall and a student council meeting in the Bronx it gets at a pretty good description of the character of democracy, it is personal, it is colorful, it is vibrant, and yes, it can be used for everything from lunch to nuclear power plants. And the illustrations remind me of books I read as a kid. Like the Hundred Dresses or that one book about the bridge in NYC as a necklace because the girl could fly or something. Something like that. She has done children’s books…just not the ones I remember.
- People are lovely: Kansas Church Says It Will Protest at Whitman High in MoCo Seriously? Doesn’t this church have something else to do? The only thing the name of a school can lead it is maybe a leg up professionally if you go to a nationally recognized one. Otherwise, a school is a school. And Walt Whitman? One of the country’s best poets ever. You people need to grow up.
- Finally, something unites my love of movies with my love of Legos: Lego Movie Stills/. The Blues Brothers dance in the church one has to be my favorite. The find is all thanks to Pop Vox, Newsweek’s entertainment blog. Who knew blogs were so useful in finding weird, random stuff? Yes, that would be apparently everybody.
- It’s Cherry Blossom season (well, few weeks) here in DC. The Tidal Basin turns into the picturesque area you always see in pictures, not that it isn’t pretty otherwise it’s just that the flowering trees add so much to the picture that it’s like a whole other area during the season. For allergy sufferers like myself it depends on the day, sometimes, whether you shake your fist at the trees or welcome them with open arms. We’ll see how it goes on my end. At any rate, cheers Japan.
- I love musicals. I’m impressed by them, when written well I find myself humming the tunes and getting the soundtracks. Sometimes things are really better when random/not so random musical numbers are added in. However, why make one out of Little Women? I guess it could work but why would you do it? There’s nothing wrong with leaving Little Women to the book and the movie versions. I haven’t yet seen the earlier version(s) but I really enjoyed the Winona Ryder one in the 90s. Christian Bale was in it, with longer hair and a happier disposition to his character, Gabriel Byrne, a much younger Claire Danes and Kirsten Dunst before both got big. And Susan Sarandon as Marmie? Excellent.
- Democracy has color. Perhaps one of the best illustrations I've found recently of this is the blog And the Pursuit of Happiness with it’s entry on Alexis de Tocqueville Mixing history, a description of a Vermont town’s town hall and a student council meeting in the Bronx it gets at a pretty good description of the character of democracy, it is personal, it is colorful, it is vibrant, and yes, it can be used for everything from lunch to nuclear power plants. And the illustrations remind me of books I read as a kid. Like the Hundred Dresses or that one book about the bridge in NYC as a necklace because the girl could fly or something. Something like that. She has done children’s books…just not the ones I remember.
- People are lovely: Kansas Church Says It Will Protest at Whitman High in MoCo Seriously? Doesn’t this church have something else to do? The only thing the name of a school can lead it is maybe a leg up professionally if you go to a nationally recognized one. Otherwise, a school is a school. And Walt Whitman? One of the country’s best poets ever. You people need to grow up.
- Finally, something unites my love of movies with my love of Legos: Lego Movie Stills/. The Blues Brothers dance in the church one has to be my favorite. The find is all thanks to Pop Vox, Newsweek’s entertainment blog. Who knew blogs were so useful in finding weird, random stuff? Yes, that would be apparently everybody.
- It’s Cherry Blossom season (well, few weeks) here in DC. The Tidal Basin turns into the picturesque area you always see in pictures, not that it isn’t pretty otherwise it’s just that the flowering trees add so much to the picture that it’s like a whole other area during the season. For allergy sufferers like myself it depends on the day, sometimes, whether you shake your fist at the trees or welcome them with open arms. We’ll see how it goes on my end. At any rate, cheers Japan.
26 March 2009
Musings, Part A
- Ever notice how on TV when there’s a company that deals with new/wacky/cutting edge/sorta out there science it’s always ____ Dynamic? On Eureka its Global Dynamic, shortened to GD. On Fringe its Massive Dynamic. And now on Better Off Ted its Veridian Dynamic. Is the Dynamic supposed to indicate the company’s cool and forward thinking? And since on Fringe the company’s kinda mysterious and murky, does the blank fill in of Massive indicate its imposing or something?
- I’ve come to think that if you belong or identify with a group you should be embarrassed by at least one thing the group does or advocates. No group or community is perfect and there are things that should just be slightly offensive to the sensibilities. Mine? This: Vatican Official Criticizes US Bishops on Abortion In case you were wondering, I’m on the pro-choice side of the debate. I want control over myself and my life and while I completely agree abortion is being used as a kind of birth control by many, there’s a certain quality of life argument that can be made for both the mother and the child and women deserve the right to not be forced back to back alley practices of old. Safe, legal, and rare. And if you’re going for the “it’s a life” argument, go the Catholic route and do life in everything. You can’t be pro-life in one area without being pro-life in all, like many Republican Catholics are, at least those who support the death penalty. I can more easily live with being a bad Catholic in regards to the pro-choice/pro-life debate than being a bad liberal, strange as that might sound. I’m against the death penalty though so this whole bit just now might be the pot calling the kettle black. Whatever. I accept my own dichotomies and force anyone, besides myself, to follow them. I am large, I contain multitudes as the poet wrote.
- Along the same lines, the condom thing is equally annoying. When the time comes, I intend on using birth control. I’m not sure I care that it goes against the Bible. As that one speech in The West Wing points out, we do a lot of things these days that are forbidden in the Bible. Everyone decries the presence of condoms in schools or birth control being used it seems at any age but if proper Christian fundamentals were really being followed, protection wouldn’t be an issue as no one would be having sex before being married. The whole abstinence thing, remember that bit? The same thing is happening around the world. I still remember a discussion in my Religion, Politics and Civil Rights class (amusing enough held over the dinner hours and all topics you shouldn’t discuss over dinner in polite company, as the maxim goes) {Professor Peach, rest in peace and I’m hoping you’re having a fun time in whatever afterlife you wound up in…do Buddhists ascribe to an afterlife? Probably should have paid more attention during that lecture…} about strict non-use of birth control or protection in the Philippines because they were Catholic and yet there was this huge problem of families living on maybe two yards square worth of space with about eight people. And plenty of unwed mothers with several children. What happened to the first rule of abstinence? The world is doing just fine on being peopled (it isn’t a must as Benedict once said) and we’re multiplying just fine. Perhaps now we can turn more fully to quality of life not quantity? I’m not advocating for restrictions on births like the Chinese have (or had?) just planning, I guess. Which is why I think groups like this are insane: Quiverfull Movement .
- I’m reading a lot more news since I got a job. It’s a slow week and my supervisor is out on leave so I’m basically in a holding pattern until someone needs help with something. Washington Post.com, NY Times.com, NPR.org, Newsweek.com you are my friends. I just wish I could justify staying up for the Daily Show. Ah well, Hulu.com you’re a lifesaver in that respect. And the show’s website which is one of the best network-cally run ones around. Comedy Central, in my opinion, has no equal when it comes to ease of access to video clips or full videos. Then again, I’ve only used it for the Daily Show and the Colbert Report, other shows could be different. Still, the player is one of the best. I’m looking at you, ABC, because your player still has a tendency to hate me which is why I have to watch your stuff live. *shakes fist* That and because it’s hard to find your stuff elsewhere, unlike Fox and NBC. And CBS? If you haven’t put The Mentalist back up on your site, do so immediately.
- Pearls Before Swine, I love you. I love your sometimes dark humor, I love the adorableness of Pig, the cynicism of Rat, the unfailing failure of Larry, your little Viking people that read Cosmo, your animation of inanimate objects, the homicidal tendencies of the sea anemone, the guard duck who really just wants a little war, Mr. Snuffles, the summer romance of Larry’s son and the girl zebra next door, your fairly regular breaking of the “fourth wall” as it is on TV by characters going to berate the cartoonist, the list goes on. I love you even more now that I’ve found your cartoonist has a blog: the Official Pearls Before Swine Blog . Added to that joy is the news that you have plush toys. I see a Pig in my future. Maybe even a Rat.
- During the election I was sick of hearing about it. I was sick of hearing about it back in January 2003 when I was in London and they were already talking about it. Now, I’m sick of hearing about the economy. I know, I know I should be more concerned as a now responsible adult but really, I’m just not.
- A really annoying song to get stuck in your head is “Camptown Races”, especially when it’s only the first verse.
- It’s probably pretty nerdy to be thrilled to be wandering around the building of a Federal department. The Department of Agriculture is huge though. Seven wings in the larger building (South), six floors and a basement in each, at least 3 elevators per wing too. And there’s a sub-basement that’s a promenade. It has two gift shops, a post office, a credit union, a gym, a smoothie place, and a pretty nice cafeteria in it. And it’s an older building too so there’s wooden doors and signs for stuff. It’s like being part of history, in a very political science nerd kind of way. But right now? I really don’t care. The cafeteria has vanilla coke, ergo I am set. Oh, and men still wear bow ties. I had a sighting today.
- I’m reading the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, aka ARRA, aka the Recovery Act. There are more zero’s in this thing than I’ve seen in a long time. It’s also 407 pages long, granted it’s a Congressional bill so it’s all centered with quite wide margins but still, long. Also, there’s a space in the word government between the n and the m on one page in the 40s. Not sure they meant for that to happen.
- It really sucks when both of your pendant watches’ batteries die in the same week. Even more so when your favorite/normal one dies while you’re in transit on your first day of work. At least I have a nice wristwatch, even if I hate wearing them. I’m too used to my necklace watch. And I don’t really have time to go hunt down a watch shop to get the batteries replaced. And the one wasn’t supposed to be able to die, you were just supposed to wind it. Grr.
- It’s really annoying when you’ve pretty much thought that caffeine didn’t really effect you all that much and it’s partially confirmed when after downing a bottle of Coke you still fight to keep your eyes open. Not fair. And I’m not about to take up coffee. Force of will it is then. Just in case, I’ll keep up with the chocolate and Coke. Who knows? It may have been an off day.
- Not all chicken salad is created equal. The best is with chunks of chicken instead of looking like whiter tuna salad. Booeymongers, I salute you.
- Why is that when I have no page limits I tend towards verbose? Case in point, this entry.
- I’ve come to think that if you belong or identify with a group you should be embarrassed by at least one thing the group does or advocates. No group or community is perfect and there are things that should just be slightly offensive to the sensibilities. Mine? This: Vatican Official Criticizes US Bishops on Abortion In case you were wondering, I’m on the pro-choice side of the debate. I want control over myself and my life and while I completely agree abortion is being used as a kind of birth control by many, there’s a certain quality of life argument that can be made for both the mother and the child and women deserve the right to not be forced back to back alley practices of old. Safe, legal, and rare. And if you’re going for the “it’s a life” argument, go the Catholic route and do life in everything. You can’t be pro-life in one area without being pro-life in all, like many Republican Catholics are, at least those who support the death penalty. I can more easily live with being a bad Catholic in regards to the pro-choice/pro-life debate than being a bad liberal, strange as that might sound. I’m against the death penalty though so this whole bit just now might be the pot calling the kettle black. Whatever. I accept my own dichotomies and force anyone, besides myself, to follow them. I am large, I contain multitudes as the poet wrote.
- Along the same lines, the condom thing is equally annoying. When the time comes, I intend on using birth control. I’m not sure I care that it goes against the Bible. As that one speech in The West Wing points out, we do a lot of things these days that are forbidden in the Bible. Everyone decries the presence of condoms in schools or birth control being used it seems at any age but if proper Christian fundamentals were really being followed, protection wouldn’t be an issue as no one would be having sex before being married. The whole abstinence thing, remember that bit? The same thing is happening around the world. I still remember a discussion in my Religion, Politics and Civil Rights class (amusing enough held over the dinner hours and all topics you shouldn’t discuss over dinner in polite company, as the maxim goes) {Professor Peach, rest in peace and I’m hoping you’re having a fun time in whatever afterlife you wound up in…do Buddhists ascribe to an afterlife? Probably should have paid more attention during that lecture…} about strict non-use of birth control or protection in the Philippines because they were Catholic and yet there was this huge problem of families living on maybe two yards square worth of space with about eight people. And plenty of unwed mothers with several children. What happened to the first rule of abstinence? The world is doing just fine on being peopled (it isn’t a must as Benedict once said) and we’re multiplying just fine. Perhaps now we can turn more fully to quality of life not quantity? I’m not advocating for restrictions on births like the Chinese have (or had?) just planning, I guess. Which is why I think groups like this are insane: Quiverfull Movement .
- I’m reading a lot more news since I got a job. It’s a slow week and my supervisor is out on leave so I’m basically in a holding pattern until someone needs help with something. Washington Post.com, NY Times.com, NPR.org, Newsweek.com you are my friends. I just wish I could justify staying up for the Daily Show. Ah well, Hulu.com you’re a lifesaver in that respect. And the show’s website which is one of the best network-cally run ones around. Comedy Central, in my opinion, has no equal when it comes to ease of access to video clips or full videos. Then again, I’ve only used it for the Daily Show and the Colbert Report, other shows could be different. Still, the player is one of the best. I’m looking at you, ABC, because your player still has a tendency to hate me which is why I have to watch your stuff live. *shakes fist* That and because it’s hard to find your stuff elsewhere, unlike Fox and NBC. And CBS? If you haven’t put The Mentalist back up on your site, do so immediately.
- Pearls Before Swine, I love you. I love your sometimes dark humor, I love the adorableness of Pig, the cynicism of Rat, the unfailing failure of Larry, your little Viking people that read Cosmo, your animation of inanimate objects, the homicidal tendencies of the sea anemone, the guard duck who really just wants a little war, Mr. Snuffles, the summer romance of Larry’s son and the girl zebra next door, your fairly regular breaking of the “fourth wall” as it is on TV by characters going to berate the cartoonist, the list goes on. I love you even more now that I’ve found your cartoonist has a blog: the Official Pearls Before Swine Blog . Added to that joy is the news that you have plush toys. I see a Pig in my future. Maybe even a Rat.
- During the election I was sick of hearing about it. I was sick of hearing about it back in January 2003 when I was in London and they were already talking about it. Now, I’m sick of hearing about the economy. I know, I know I should be more concerned as a now responsible adult but really, I’m just not.
- A really annoying song to get stuck in your head is “Camptown Races”, especially when it’s only the first verse.
- It’s probably pretty nerdy to be thrilled to be wandering around the building of a Federal department. The Department of Agriculture is huge though. Seven wings in the larger building (South), six floors and a basement in each, at least 3 elevators per wing too. And there’s a sub-basement that’s a promenade. It has two gift shops, a post office, a credit union, a gym, a smoothie place, and a pretty nice cafeteria in it. And it’s an older building too so there’s wooden doors and signs for stuff. It’s like being part of history, in a very political science nerd kind of way. But right now? I really don’t care. The cafeteria has vanilla coke, ergo I am set. Oh, and men still wear bow ties. I had a sighting today.
- I’m reading the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, aka ARRA, aka the Recovery Act. There are more zero’s in this thing than I’ve seen in a long time. It’s also 407 pages long, granted it’s a Congressional bill so it’s all centered with quite wide margins but still, long. Also, there’s a space in the word government between the n and the m on one page in the 40s. Not sure they meant for that to happen.
- It really sucks when both of your pendant watches’ batteries die in the same week. Even more so when your favorite/normal one dies while you’re in transit on your first day of work. At least I have a nice wristwatch, even if I hate wearing them. I’m too used to my necklace watch. And I don’t really have time to go hunt down a watch shop to get the batteries replaced. And the one wasn’t supposed to be able to die, you were just supposed to wind it. Grr.
- It’s really annoying when you’ve pretty much thought that caffeine didn’t really effect you all that much and it’s partially confirmed when after downing a bottle of Coke you still fight to keep your eyes open. Not fair. And I’m not about to take up coffee. Force of will it is then. Just in case, I’ll keep up with the chocolate and Coke. Who knows? It may have been an off day.
- Not all chicken salad is created equal. The best is with chunks of chicken instead of looking like whiter tuna salad. Booeymongers, I salute you.
- Why is that when I have no page limits I tend towards verbose? Case in point, this entry.
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