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| Saturday, September 6th, 2008 |
filkertom
|
4:31p |
Unsupervised? Sorry it's a lot political today, but the Season of the Whackos is in full swing, and the bullshit is coming fast and furious. This is a quick read, but well worth it. I'm really beginning to think that there is something fundamentally damaged about these people, at the very least on a level where they cannot see their own hypocrisy. |
fflo
|
4:16p |
a pleasant football game Saturday day Periodically through the window the twirping birdies and creaking crickets are drowned out for a moment by a swell of the growling crowd, or an observation of the announcer, at the stadium up the road. I knew there would be a game today. Saw the set-up for it last night. But I'd forgotten this morning, on my way to canvassing for voter registration, and had to search for my patience as the car and I made our way through the yellow T-shirts. My co-canvasser and I got a handful of registrations and a small stack of volunteer forms. And had lattes and bagels. It was good to get out and get going with something. Something about the encounters seemed to be making me laugh, as we'd part company with another coupla strangers who were already registered or not interested or had had some odd air about their "no thanks"es. This was a good thing, it seemed, cuz I'd laugh and still be smiling from it when approaching the next strangers. It's a gorgeous day out there, too. In fact the football game's over now & I've just arranged to go hit some baseballs & maybe have a little wagering over putt-putt, so I'm gonna be out there in it some more in a minute. First, though, for you, T: be·mused [bi-myoozd] ( click here for some word stuff ) |
colomon
|
1:36p |
The media computer lives!
This is one of those good news / embarrassing news / bad news things. The good news is that my media computer lives once again. The entire household MP3 library is once again available via Samba on the network. And there was much rejoicing!
The embarrassing news is the problem seems to have been a short in the reset switch. I ended up rebuilding the machine with its old motherboard, processor, and RAM for simplicity's sake. This means I am left with the new motherboard, CPU, and RAM I bought to replace those when I thought the old motherboard was dead. Whoops.
The bad news is that MythTV didn't come back up, which means more fiddling around is called for. But with the machine working otherwise, this should be reasonably doable. Maybe I'll try to figure out how to backup what Myth has recorded right now, and migrate to the latest version?
Current Mood: dorky
Current Music: old SNL Jen's watching |
crashsite68
|
12:17p |
Two gigs tonight. I'm doing prep work right now. Might wanna hit the apple orchard tomorrow (weather pending). |
colomon
|
10:04a |
Market Run Results 1/2 peck peaches pint raspberries 5 lbs frozen blueberries (quantity last week was incorrect, it was 5 lbs too) "a basket" of basil quart bottle of maple syrup (for French shoggoth toast, now cooking) one large maple candy 2 hours to kickoff Current Mood:  hungry |
filkertom
|
8:45a |
Our Discourse And then there's this, and this. |
filkertom
|
8:10a |
Give 'Em Hell, Joe and Samantha Two beautiful pieces of video this morning. First, Joe Biden: Like I said, I have problems with the guy as far as follow-through, although I'm hopeful. But damn he does say the right things. Second, Samantha Bee of The Daily Show was at the RNC. Just go watch |
ann_arbor_an
|
7:51a |
I've decided on what to do. I'm canceling our Wednesday night dinners. I will go up next weekend because it's what Joshua asked for as a present for his birthday. I will sleep in the spare bedroom. When we leave on Sunday my belongings will go with us. I'm not going to talk to him about it anymore. I'm not going to blow up or shut down, I am just going to act as a guest in his home. She LIVES there (even if it is a separate area), therefore SHE is the woman of the house now. He chose this, he can live with this. If for some reason he decides he still wants me he has to do a few things. 1. He has to get rid of her. 2. He has to kiss my ass a lot before I will bother to even discuss the relationship status with him. 3. He has to commit to me. Not necessarily marriage but he has to stop going back and forth for sure. He will still be allowed to see Josh, down state, on Thursdays. He is not allowed to have Joshua up north as long as she is living there. He'll have to deal with it. He doesn't want me to go after child support so he won't go after his visitation rights, besides, he can have him for a weekend, just not up north where that woman lives. I suspect he had good intentions but her needs seem to outweigh my wants and I am not willing to deal with that. Sure this is going to hurt, but I would rather be alone for the rest of my life than deal with the man I love picking a slutty, drunken, unemployed, homeless, crappy mother LOSER over me. She disgusts me. I don't know why he can't see what she is, but he can't seem to. Is it over forever? I don't know. It is over as long as she is in the picture though. Current Mood:  relievedCurrent Music: Silence |
filkertom
|
7:22a |
ConClave Schedule Jody sent me my schedule for ConClave: - (Sat. 10:00 a.m. - Columbia) Recording Studio Done Cheap on a Laptop: Tom Smith will discuss and the programs you would need that are free or very cheap to have your own laptop studio.
- (Sat. 1:00 p.m. - Apollo) Iron Filking: Panelists (me, Mark Bernstein, Bill Roper, Michael "Moonwolf" Longcor") will be given a "Secret Ingredient" and they will need to write original lyric having to do with the "Secret Ingredient" within 30 minutes and then perform the song. The Panelist can choose to do the song in any style they wish to use. The audience will be the final judge on who has the most popular song.
- (Sat. 5:00 p.m. - Ballroom 7&8) Concert (90 min.)
Anyone got any cool stuff you're doing at 'Clave? I know Mark's running his vocal workshop (just my luck, the cheap recording panel will probably be up against it...). ETA: Fair warning -- this thread has kinda turned into the introductory notes for that laptop music panel.... ;) |
agapioseromenos
|
7:09a |
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siani
|
6:33a |
The big day
It's been a while since I updated. A long while. A really long while. I am still lurking about, despite appearances.
This is just to say, I'm getting married today! About a year of talk and nine months of increasingly-frantic work, and here it is, THE day, today. In twelve hours I will have a new name, a new marital status, a new husband, and over a hundred friends and family clamoring to talk to me. It sounds exhausting. But good.
Next it's off 'up north' (Michigan people know what I mean) for a week of camping in a north woods ans hiding from the world. I can't wait.
Love to all my friends, wherever you are. I wish you could be here if you're not. |
paradoxymoron
|
5:55a |
thinking about that zombie magic
What is the Pro Life stance on zombies?
Are they viable humans like fetuses and brain-damaged patients?
Or are they to be put down like rabid animals and convicted felons?
Can one be Pro-Life and Pro-Death-Penalty and Pro-Zombie? |
paradoxymoron
|
4:45a |
WEnt to a party tonight where this girl (we called her Courtney, because she looked vaguely like Courtney Love and was a smashed mess) who was not-sober and bashing someone for eating meat and being a liar. Someone asked what 'veal' was and she went on about how it's small cows kept in cages and eaten at 18 months old after being tortured. Me, being the witty arse I am, stated that yeah, it's the torture that makes 'em so tasty. Courtney was Not Happy about this and stated that she wished someone would have eaten me when I was an 18 month old baby in a cage, and then the girl next to me started talking about how 18 month olds are tasty, and the skin is really tender.
This is the story of how I show up for a party and within 5 minutes some chick wants to eat me. |
paradoxymoron
|
3:53a |
|
| Friday, September 5th, 2008 |
interim32
|
10:25p |
notes in preparation for a hurricane
Today I filled my tank
got $200 in cash
and helped some guys find a gas station
even though they did not appear
to have a car.
I also lined up
three places to be
when the hurricanes come
or don't come, in which case
I will just loaf
on their sofas and turn
off the lights like it was a readiness drill
and I was a sleepy refugee.
Tomorrow I need flashlights
because I have all these useless batteries
and I need to cook the chicken in my freezer
and boil the dry beans I keep
by my canned beans.
The hurricanes come on Tuesday
or when you least expect
or not at all
in which case you can most expect
a post from me about depositing cash
the joys of owning a working flashlight
and what the fuck I'm going to do
with all these fucking beans. |
colomon
|
9:56p |
Shoggoth Loaf Homer's last two loaves were a failure -- far too dry. Pretty sure I added too much flour. At least they have proved suitable for making yummy bread crumbs. Today's two, though, were pretty darned perfect, with my best crust ever. Wish I knew what the essential difference was! Current Mood:  sleepy |
pattimst3k
|
8:48p |
The Joy of...
...Cooking! I finally got myself a copy of the Joy of Cooking at the AAUW used book sale today. It was only $6, kids. Yee-haw! My little eyes happened on it and I snatched it up as quickly as I could. Even the volunteer who checked me out complimented me on my find :) I also got the Victory Garden Cookbook, a bunch of mysteries, some books for a class, a book on modified food (specially, Twinkies), a book on root cellars and the Big Book of Jewish Humor.
As always, I could have spent all day in that book sale. I ended up with about 18 books for a little over $40. You can't beat that with a stick.
Our Friday went great at school, except that I had an allergy attack at about 5am (17 sneezes in a row) and it lasted all day. So, I had to be Happy TeacherPatti until about 2, at which point I crawled to my car, blasted the air, and drove to the book sale. (Few things will keep me from that book sale.)
Tally for today:
Rude comments re: class size: 1
Time of arrival at school: 7:50AM
First time that I got to sit down: 9:15AM
Time of arrival at the assembly during 2nd hour: 9:25
Time we were told that the assembly would start late and to return to class: 9:26
Return to class: 9:28
Time they announced that we should "immediately" come to the assembly: 9:31
Number of times students expressed SHOCK that we have to pay taxes in our class "bank accounts': too many to count :) |
cherydactyl
|
8:04p |
An Open Letter to Gov. Sarah Palin on Women's Rights I'm reposting this piece posted by ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) fierce_femme21, because I think it's important. An Open Letter to Gov. Sarah Palin on Women's RightsBy Lynn Paltrow, National Advocates for Pregnant Women, posted on September 4, 2008. Dear Governor Sarah Palin: Many Americans agree with your position regarding abortion -- they do this as a matter of faith, ethics, personal experience and sometimes politics. I am just wondering though, if you have thought about what would happen if you succeeded in getting your position -- that fetuses have a right to life -- established as the law of the land? Did you know that it not only threatens the lives, health and freedom of women who might want or need someday to end their pregnancies, it would also give the government the power to control the lives of women -- like you who -- go to term? Your last pregnancy, the one that has become the topic of widespread discussion and speculation provides an important opportunity to demonstrate how this could be true. According to press reports your water broke while you were giving a keynote speech in Texas at the Republican Governors' Energy Conference. You did not immediately go to the hospital -- instead you gave your speech and then waited at least 11 hours to get to a hospital. You evaluated the risks, made a choice, and were able to carry on your life without state interference. Texas Governor Rick Perry worried about your pregnancy but didn't stop you from speaking or take you into custody to protect the rights of the fetus. After Ayesha Madyun's water broke, she went to the hospital where she hoped and planned to have a vaginal birth. When she didn't give birth in a time-frame comfortable to her doctors, they argued that she should have a C-section. The doctors asserted that the fetus faced a 50-75 percent chance of infection if not delivered surgically. (Risks of infection are believed by some health care providers to increase with each hour after a woman's water has broken and she hasn't delivered). The court, believing like you that fetuses have a right to life, said, "[a]ll that stood between the Madyun fetus and its independent existence, separate from its mother, was put simply, a doctor's scalpel." With that, the court granted the order and the scalpel sliced through Ms. Madyun's flesh, the muscles of her abdominal wall, and her uterus. The core principle justifying an end to legal abortion in the U.S. provided the same grounds used to deprive this pregnant and laboring woman of her rights to due process, bodily integrity, and physical liberty. When the procedure was done, there was no evidence of infection. According to the press reports, instead of going straight to a hospital you chose to get on a long airplane flight back to Alaska. When Pamela Rae Stewart, allegedly, didn't get to the hospital quickly enough on the day of her delivery, she was arrested in California on the theory that she had violated the rights of her fetus. When Laura Pemberton chose to give birth at home in Florida, a Sheriff came to her house. Doctors believed that she was posing a risk to the life of her unborn child by having a vaginal birth after having had a previous c-section and were in the process of getting a court order to force her to have a c-section. The sheriff took her into custody during active labor, strapped her legs together and forced her to go to a hospital where an emergency hearing was taking place to determine the rights of her fetus. She was "allowed" to represent herself. A lawyer was appointed for the fetus. This woman, who vehemently opposes abortion, nevertheless believed in her right to evaluate medical risks and benefits to herself and her unborn child. She was forced to have the unnecessary surgery and when she later sued for violations of her civil rights, was told fetal rights outweighed hers. You chose to continue working throughout your pregnancy -- even during your labor. Until 1991 women who worked in high paying blue color jobs that provided health benefits were being fired based on "fetal rights" policies that claimed if the woman became pregnant she would expose the unborn child to workplace health risks. Eventually, the Supreme Court said employers covered by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (the PDA) could not do this. But, millions of American women work part time or for small employers who are not covered by the PDA. If your political position on abortion is accepted -- all of these women could be forced to give up their jobs because an employer, family member, or state agent believed it necessary to ensure the health and rights of their unborn child. Governor Palin, you have led an extraordinary life, balancing work and family, public service and private family obligations. We hope you know though that your freedom relies on exactly the same legal principals that guarantee that American women can choose to have an abortion when they need and want one. Sixty one percent of women who have abortions are already mothers. Eighty-four percent of these will be mothers by the time they are in their forties. As a proud mother of five beautiful children, we hope you will recognize that the issue isn't abortion -- it is ensuring the lives, dignity and freedom of all pregnant women and their families. Lynn Paltrow Executive Director National Advocates for Pregnant Women |
soulsmiles
|
7:08p |
Hello From...  Cup of coffee numero 3. Classes are going well. I am writing a wiki about the Polaroid camera as a precursor to the digital camera, while commenting on the instantaneous demand saturating our culture. AND I'm making a really weird video involving my bike, a camera, and a poem. In the past week my new laptop had to be restored to "factory settings" cause Windows locked up, thus reformatting the hard drive. And then, THEN, the desktop I have in for service had to be completely wiped. Good ol' Wally said he'd backup my files (5 years of music, pictures, and writing - my digital life!), but he failed. I'd moved a majority of my pictures to a portable hard drive before Wally got his hands on her. But all my music - gone. All my documents - gone. I cried. Hard. Realized I was grieving, and thanked the goddess ALL of my pictures weren't wiped out. Yeah yeah yeah, valuable lesson, backup your shit. But still...ouch. And here come my thoughts on the GOP VP pick. Nobody ever said Republicans didn't know how to play the game. Sarah Palin is not the queen. She's the pawn. This is NOT a triumph for women, but another white man pulling the puppet strings of another white woman sent in to do his dirty work. It's a fascinating balance both parties are walking - minority over mighty, mighty over minority. Black man, White man. White man, White woman. Convention speeches bore me. I watched Obama's speech on YouTube the day after. I don't remember anything he said. And I don't really care. I am, however, going to watch the debates; more for the entertainment than the politics (as if those are separate these days). It's clear who I'll be voting for in November. But I am not an individual inclined to the romantic notion of "hope." Hope is Faith in a different package. Call me a cynic. Call me uninformed. I don't give a shit. John McCain is bad for this country. And Obama has yet to prove himself. But he's fresh (less jaded perhaps) and he's eager. He also has a perspective on life that no other president has ever governed from, and THAT is the Change we need. Peace, Love, and Cheese... |
agapioseromenos
|
5:34p |
|
crashsite68
|
6:29p |
Got my new phone today. I seem to be having problems getting photos uploaded to Flickr though. |
prettybirdm
|
5:47p |
Avgolemono Soup!!!!!! I made it from scratch!!!!!!!!!! It came out AMAZING!! Go me, I'm not even Greek!! Current Mood:  soup! |
crankyasanoldma
|
4:37p |
Not a cupcake, but I'll take it.
I have been staring and messing around with this thorny graph for some time. Finally I asked a co-worker if he'd just look at the piece of crap because I was so burned out and so stuck. We talked about it for a few minutes as I showed him what wasn't working and then he said the sweetest phrase ever heard by a person sick to death of a project:
"Do you mind if I just take this from you and play with it? This is the kind of the thing I love to tinker with."
YES. YES! Please, Yes! God bless every cell in your body.
And of course, not twenty minutes later he was back, having solved 90% of it, with some improvements made on top of that. Love. I would give him a kidney if he needed one. |
prettybirdm
|
4:00p |
GAH! Current Mood:  bah! |
crankyasanoldma
|
3:35p |
The Friday that would never end.
God, someone rescue me right now. Bring cupcakes.
Too bushed/stressed/busy to do the fun haiku meme. |
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ann_arbor_area