Reading

I hate it when I discover a new author, someone who has created a character I like, someone I'd like to see more of, know more about, and then I find that the author likes to throw in some plot elements that - well, they don't resonate with me.  For example, do you like that local guy who's helping make the event happen? Let's kill him.  Or the person who's interesting, smart, upright, totally on your side?  Actually, she's totally not.  I don't mind twists and turns, they make books fun, but this kind of thing bothers me.  I feel like okay, trot out your damned nasty surprise, get it over with.

The Early Days

Christmas Traditions

I have watched this multiple times, and I still like it. Dara O'Briain is a very funny man.

Strategic Alert

I used to be a missile launch officer.   Because of this, I am really glad that I'm not one now.

Heads and other body parts will roll.

Why Does Superman....

....stand that way?

(Hint:  It's not just to make his muscles bulge...)

(Found on Deadline.Com)

Napkin Art

Some people doodle on napkins.....and some do a little bit more.

The difference

Reading an article about three women who were kidnapped in Ohio and kept captive for ten years.  This comment appeared in the article:

“I’m so thankful, God is good,” Kayla Rogers, a childhood friend of Ms. DeJesus, told The Cleveland Plain Dealer. “I’ve been praying. Never forgot about her, ever.”


And I think how good is a God that lets this happen? I guess that's the difference between me and her.  She believes.  I don't. And neither of us would ever be able to change the other's mind.

Priorities

Gotta have 'em.

Womyn

I read only part of this, and got so perplexed, I had to stop and reread it.  I never did finish it, but what I read was enough for me to think Oh, come on....REALLY?? This is what you choose to worry about?

The thing is, that wouldn't be fair.  These people are serious.  They think that what's happening at the festival is wrong, and they want to change it. Okay, some are probably jokers, making a habit of being outraged, but most really do care. I think that's admirable.

Though, given that some attendees were irritated that the recorded music included a piece by a male singer, and given the comment about "The absence of guys does make for an absence of threat..." , I suspect that at least some of them would rather I kept that opinion to myself.

Transparency

Apparently, its evil for us to know how often Congress benefits financially from insider-knowledge.

Link...

Sous Vetements

Ever notice that ads assume that all guys looking to buy underwear have the body of an Olympic track star?  And that, therefore, the stuff they show could be just sprayed on? This could be why most guys have their underwear actually purchased by their girlfriends.  Me, I'm looking for something that would look good on Buddha....

Eh, Just an Accident

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that a 5-year-old boy accidentally killed his 2-year-old sister earlier this week, shooting her with a Crickett .22-caliber single-shot rifle. The boy and his family apparently didn’t realize that a shell had been left in the gun. “Just one of those crazy accidents,” said Gary White, the coroner for Kentucky’s Cumberland County.

More.....

Reactions

He sees massive federal investigation of a bombing as a threat?  Does he think someone set it off just so they could bring in the feds?  Just how warped is this guy's world view?

Observation

It's a very strange feeling to wake up feeling angry with my daughter.

NRA

I move that the NRA be declared a domestic terroristic organization.

Stumbling

Sometimes, it seems that all StumbleUpon knows about is a) web sites that delight in displaying the bizarre, and b) blogs where people publicize their version of Gramma Jopie's Famous Peanut Butter Oompahs.  It's enough to drive me back to hardcopy books.

time

how is it, if I'm retired, and I have all the time in the world to do things, I can feel rushed and out of time?

part of it, I know, is that we have actually made all of the reservations for the trip this summer. This means that if I am going to gain any fluency in French, now is the time.

and part of it is going down to get my daughter from college twice in 4 days. The charm of the five hour each way drive has vanished. Yes, I'm glad that she got the summer job -- though finding out that the interview was oh, you're here?  You're breathing? You're hired takes some of the charm away from that, too.  But twenty hours of driving in four days. Yuck.

Nick Anderson Editorial Cartoon

Except This One

I can accept the things that people say in Post Secrets.  Except this one.

Well, Then...

I actually doubt this is a real Shultz creation, but I like it.  Found on KGB Report.

They're a little big....

...but tasty.

Renovation

I know that there are people who remodel parts of their home to look like the Enterprise, or the Batcave.  I wonder if anyone's attempted this?

(from PopCultureZoo.com)

Architecture

I've been reading Michael Pollan's A Place of My Own, and I must say that although it's frequently more wordy than I like, it makes some interesting points about how houses work, what makes one better than the other - not just more functional, but more inviting, more prone to faciliate the human needs that we frequently aren't even aware exist.  For example, he quotes A Pattern Language, saying that a room with a window and a comfortable chair somewhere in the room will feel a certain tension, because you want to both be near the light and be in the comfortable chair.  Personally, I think that's a bit too sensitive, but I can see it.  But when he talks about Pattern Language's take on thick walls, that should not only provide for the necessities -- built-in bookshelves, for example, and insulation, but also provide a sense of protection and refuge -- I can really see it.  I think maybe that book's got something, there.

Question

When my daughter wants to leave the campus for a trip home, she has to get permission from the Corps.  To me, this is silly; unless they're going to have some kind of public parade, what's the deal?  But, you know, this is the Corps, this is our tradition.  She needs this to come home to a job interview, so she asked for it at the beginning of the week.  By Wednesday, when she still hadn't heard anything, I changed her job interview from Monday to Tuesday - forgetting, of course, that in a rigid world like the Corps' mindset, going on Tuesday instead of Monday is like going without permission.  So now I get to try to change the appointment back, and also change my hotel reservation back.....while still not knowing if she is even coming at all.

Here's the question:  how happy am I?

Good Law, Stupid Judges

From ABC News:


The Colorado Court of Appeals has ruled that there is no employment protection for people who use marijuana. In a split decision issued on Thursday, the court said marijuana use is still barred by the federal government, even though state-licensed marijuana use has been approved by voters and is considered lawful.

In A Name

I saw the other day where the government isn't going to refer to 'illegal aliens' by that name any more.

From now on, it'll be undocumented Democrats.

DWW

From an Wall Street Journal article about a Japanese company that sells software to modify car navigational displays so that they can show television programs:

"We can't help but respond to our customers' needs," says Yasunari Shiino, a spokesman for Autobacs Seven Co. Ltd., which operates some 550 auto-parts stores across Japan. "This does not mean we're recommending it," he said, of a practice that could be called DWW or Driving While Watching. "Drivers need to make their own decisions."

Responsible?  No, not us....

About Right

Found at www.isidewith.com/political-quiz

OFA

From Politico:

"The president’s deep-pocketed political arm, Organizing for Action, can’t by law spend most of its money on elections, and officials insist it won’t play directly in the 2014 midterm. But Republicans aren’t buying it: They’re convinced OFA will find other, indirect ways to help Democrats capture the House and allow Obama to finish his presidency unchecked by Congress."


Yeah, unchecked.  Or is that unstalemated? 

Evaluation

Lee, Revisted

Another Brick

All Wet

Dylan Moran

Reading

Every so often, I read something that is so good, I have to stop every couple of pages just to think about what I've read.  This doesn't mean that the material is technical; sometimes, it's just because the writer has so grabbed my attention that I want to slow down and savor the experience.

That's happening right now with I, Robot: To Protect.  So far, it's delightful.  Doesn't hurt that I've always had a soft spot for Susan Calvin, either. I don't know if it will continue, but if it does, I think it's going to take me a long time to finish this book. 

Beauty

This is a parody response to the Dove Real Beauty campaign.  I knew it was a parody -- but all I could think at the end was holy hell. 

Americans

Crisps

This is why Dara O Briain is so amazing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNSIV_nDeMo

Koff- koff- eeeee

Apparently, the new thing for coffee fans is a 'pour-over' coffee, which apparently takes several minutes to do, but results in a cup of coffee that is indescribably seductive, with 'floral notes' and a mouth-feel that can lead to orgasm.

I guess I'll stick with my Mr. Coffee, thanks.

Booze, Mate?

I'm not a drinker.  I'm not a teetotaler, either, but I'm a lot closer to that than I am to being even a 'social drinker'.  I just don't get drinking.   But I do like Australia, and wish I knew some more about it -- more than the paltry amount I learned when I was there -- so this book, about drinking and its part of the Australian culture, looks....interesting.

Updates

I know that no one but me cares about what I'm reading, lately, but I just updated the list over there on the left, anyway.

Any one of those books would have grabbed me -- I was going to say the one about architecture, especially, but really, that's not true; they've all got potential -- one's got the characters from I, Robot (loved the original book, and the movie, too, though for entirely different reasons); one's a Donna Leon 'Brunetti' novel; I've read several of them, and I think only one, which seemed to have been written to convey a message,  was a clunker; and the third is about the art and science of architecture, a topic which has fascinated me ever since I read Tracy Kidder's House.

I suspect it's going to be expecially hard to study French over the next week.

RoboCoconut

No one likes automated calls.  They can be useful, but they'll usually annoying.

So what about an automated call to a complaint line when the noise of an airplane flying overhead is too loud?  And what if that call is made by an automated system inside a fake coconut?

F.A.C.T... is awesome.

That's the Fletcher Automated Capstan Table, if you didn't know.

NYTimes

About twice a month, usually around the middle, I get notices from the New York Times.

This is your last free article for this month. Consider subscribing... and I usually do.  I think about how I do enjoy reading the articles there, and I think surely a couple of bucks a month would not be too much?  Sure, let's do that.

Then I find out that the Times thinks twenty bucks a month would be about right.  And I think Twenty bucks? Are you guys crazy?  $240 a year? Five bucks a month would be a bit high....but twenty?  No way. 

And I resign myself to not being able to read the pay articles on their site until next month.

Gah

I rarely get a cold, but when I do.....

Observation

I think that people who demonstrate how to use technology to disrupt society -- as in the case of the man who just gave a heavily-attended presentation on a way to use Android software to seize control of an in-flight commercial aircraft's Flight Management System - should be shot.

Bad enough to tell people that it's possible.  I suppose the info could result in others making their systems more secure.  But this guy designed a platform to make it easy - and then told people about it. Oh, this stuff, its just a sample, it couldn't be used in real life.....yeah.  Without flipping this switch, right over here...

They say oh, its good to know this stuff, you can protect yourself -- but to me, that's right up there with people who hack your home computer system and say see, I did you a favor, I showed you how insecure you are. You should go learn how to be a hacker so you can protect yourself.

Sounds remarkably like the insanity vomited out by the NRA. Hey people with guns can kill you so you should get your own guns. This feeling could be because I'm getting older, but I don't think so.

Such people are -- well, perhaps evil is an overstatement.  But in need of adult supervision..... 

Recommendations

Asked a local travel agent for recommendations for a hotel in France. Asked a friend there 'you know of this hotel?' "Oh yes", he said. "Lots of prostitution and crime."

Baking

I like to bake, and I like when something I've baked comes out well.  But I really don't get people who do deep breathing exercises over The Newest Bestest Brownie Ever.  People who use phrases like The Ultimate Brownie.

I mean, come on, people.  It's just flour, eggs chocolate....

Recording

I have a Phillips digital recorder that I use for my French classes.  I record them so that I can listen to the discussions again, especially when the instructor is pronouncing things for me.  It should be possible - even easy - to set up recording with Skype - certainly multiple web sites would lead one to believe this -- but I've never been successful at it.  I get recordings of her, or me; not both.  So this works.

The thing is, the recorder is a complex little instrument.  I do truly believe that it could be used to mix a souffle and launch a nuclear weapon.  There aren't a lot of buttons on it, but those that exist have multiple functions.  Some make sense; others....not so much.

When I want to delete files, I hook it up to my PC, change to the directory with the recorder's files, and delete them.  Every time I try to do a deletion on the device itself, it doesn't quite work.  So this evening, I read the instructions slowly, and stepped through each one.

Turns out that one of the problems is that the instructions refer to a control that's not on the recorder.  Another is that it mentions something that is true...but misleading.  So I finally wrote my own checklist.  Here it is.  Look upon it in awe.

When recorder is stopped:

Press the INDEX button until folder A,B,C,D or Music appears.

Press and hold Delete (right side, lower button) for 3 seconds.  DELETE appears on screen. (Press DEL again to get out of delete mode)

On center button, outer rim, right side, press the arrow-arrow-button to jump from Folder to File to Index.  To delete a file, stop at FILE. 

Press center button, center, to bring up the first file number in the selected folder

On center button, outer rim, right side, press arrow-arrow-button to scroll through files in that folder.

Press center button, center.  Word NO is displayed

On center button, outer rim, right side, press arrow-arrow-button to select YES

On center button, center, prss to confirm deletion.

Obvious to the most casual observer, right? 

Afterwards

My mother was a deeply religious person, and she would receive many mailings from organizations.  Usually, she ignored them -- not from an intellectual bias, but because the one thing that they had in common was that they would ask for money repeatedly, and she didn't have that much.  She thought well of them, but after decades, she realized that they would just keep asking.  And they do.

My mother died three years ago.  She just received a note from an organization thanking her for her support 'this past year'.

Rebel Scum

Thinking

Ever have a morning when it's just too much trouble to think?  That's kind of where I am right now.  I just cancelled a French conversation because - today - it was just too hard to think in French.  I suppose I could have muddled through, but it would not have been very much fun for either of us.

My mindfog is due to the aftereffects of driving down - again - to Virginia to pick up my daughter so that she could attend a funeral - again - of a classmate from school.  No kidding, I'm telling her that if anyone else dies, send a card.

I see where they're thinking of freeing the Enron CEO early. Many many expensive lawyer hours undoubtedly went into that. I suppose the odds of us just, you know, shooting people who have that kind of devastating effect on the economy  -  well, they're pretty slim.  We only shoot the helpless - and who really cares about them, right? Have I mentioned the gutless cowards of the Congress lately?

Tried to install an extension called Thunderbayes into my Thunderbird email client.  Thunderbird is made by Mozilla, which also makes the Firefox web browser.   Thunderbayes wouldn't install because it wasn't compatible with Firefox.  Guess Microsoft isn't the only software pusher that likes to tie things together- and if it means you can't use something that ought to work - well, tough.

I cannot wrap my head around the comments of the Georgia GOP Chairman:

“Lord, I’m going to get in trouble over this, but it is not natural for two women or two men to be married,” Everhart said. “If it was natural, they would have the equipment to have a sexual relationship.”
Everhart said while she respects all people, if same sex marriage is legalized across the country, there will be fraud.
“You may be as straight as an arrow, and you may have a friend that is as straight as an arrow,” Everhart said. “Say you had a great job with the government where you had this wonderful health plan. I mean, what would prohibit you from saying that you’re gay, and y’all get married and still live as separate, but you get all the benefits? I just see so much abuse in this it’s unreal. I believe a husband and a wife should be a man and a woman, the benefits should be for a man and a woman. There is no way that this is about equality. To me, it’s all about a free ride.”

Being a liberal Democrat, I tried to break that into things that only an idiot would believe and things that a rational person would believe. And I almost can do it, until I hit that I believe a husband... comment.  You can follow it up with There is no way that this ... comments all you want - that's exactly what its about.  So I ask myself: what kind of mind, what kind of worldview, harbors that attitude?  Well, DUH -- the GOP, of course, and Southern GOP, double - DUH.  Why even ask?

But maybe its just that I'm not thinking very clearly today.

Hookee

That's what you call someone who hires a hooker, right?  A hookee?

Not that I know.  I've never done that.  In fact, I've only met one prostitute in my life.  Well, I think she was a prostitute - girl came up to me as I was crossing the street to get to the Port Authority bus terminal in New York and asked me if I wanted to go to a party. Sorry, I replied, suavely, I'm heading to South Dakota.  She said Oh, too bad, and that was it.  So I don't know.... but I think so.

For some reason, I was thinking about that last night, while I was in the hotel (another I gotta come home right away call from the offspring).  I don't know how you go about finding and hiring a hooker, let alone, one of her higher-paid sisters-in-the-trade.  No idea. Um, go to Times Square and ask for referrals?   And I have no idea about the ettiquette involved in such a transaction, either.  Is there a list of services?  Is tipping involved?   I could easily see myself paying a large amount of money for, essentially, conversation. Which I don't think is the point.

My wife, I'm guessing, would be delighted that I don't know this stuff.  Probably not too thrilled that I think about it, though. Even though she knows that I'm married enough and wimpish enough (either reason will do; in combination, they're impenetrable) to act on it.

Musing

I wonder if Congress would actually act if it was their kids, their families, that got killed by a crazy gun freak?  It'd have to be something devastating of course -- say, a hundred of their precious children, their loved ones -- and even then, I'm guessing their greed and incompetence would win out.

Tech Blech

My French teacher's web site has several podcasts on it that I thought I'd listen to on the drive down to Blacksburg.  Downloaded them to my laptop, no problem.

Now how do I play them in the car?

I don't have any recordable CDs lying around.  Got a bunch of recordable DVDs, from when I thought that I could transfer recordings from TiVo (I still think that, but maybe I'm wrong;  certainly, if its possible, its not easy), but the car audio unit won't play DVDs.  There's an MP3 jack, but I tried jacking my MP3 player into it once and got zip -- my extension cord can be used to charge the player or transfer recordings, but apparently not play recordings. I could transfer the downloads to my digital recorder, but it won't 'recognize' anything that it didn't actually record itself - it indexes everything; no index, no likey.  (It's a Phillips recorder -- works very well, but way too complicated in its controls, and more than a little frustrating when all I want to do is....)

I haven't given up hope that there is a (simple) way.

Ah yes, tech's nice....when it works. 

Rambling...

Another boy that my daughter knew in high school has died -- this time, they (the kids; the administration's not talking) think it's a suicide.  Once again, my daughter wants to come home for the funeral.  Fortunately, the timing works out so that she can leave immediately after her last class tomorrow, and be back on Sunday.  Unfortunately, that means that someone gets to make a quick round-trip to Blacksburg today. I'm mulling over running a tab and presenting it to her when she graduates.  For sure, in my next life, my children are going to a school that's either relatively close, or too far to travel spontaneously. On Sunday, it'll be down and up in one day, but my wife will be with me to share the driving.

The other night my daughter mentioned to her mother some things she had learned in one of her classes.  As part of that, she said that she didn't really think she was so much shaped by us as by her peers.  I was ever so delighted to hear that.  My wife did say that later she recanted on that, a little bit.  Still....

This is the third kid who has died that she knew - the first was a kid who lives down the block; he appeared to have been playing with a gun at a neighbor's house, and it was loaded.  My wife told a coworker that she's amazed that our daughter knows so many, and the coworker said that since elementary school, her daughter has known seven kids who have died.

Studying

Sometimes, there is so much that I could do, in the line of studying French, that I get locked up and don't do anything.

High School

A boy died at the high school today.  When my wife came home, she said that the principal told them it was possibly a suicide, though they did not know for sure.  I told her that my mento told me it was definitely a suicide; when I asked him how he knew, he said that his brother (at the school) told him.

Makes you wonder who's informing who....

This is why...

...I couldn't be a criminal lawyer.

A man is sentenced to death for the death of an infant which occured while he was molesting her.  He admits that he intended to molest her, but says that he was too drunk to realize that he was killing her.  The law says that you must know your actions can result in death.

So his lawyer is entering a plea for mercy.  Didn't mean to do it, he says. Plus, the only charge given was murder, not sexual assault, so he was, in a sense, framed.  Don't kill him.

Must be tough to go to law school, read about all these important cases, envision yourself as a defender of justice - and then end up defending someone like that.  I know - everyone deserves a defense. But really - everyone?

 And this is why I could not be a criminal lawyer. 

Bizarre

I was never a fan of the Three's Company series, but last night I stumbled across the original pilot -- apparently, they made three, with the same male lead for all and three different women for the two female leads -- and was surprised to find that I liked it.  Well, except for the laugh track. That was awful.Of course, I know that television back then always used laugh tracks -- I wouldn't be surprised if they contemplated using it for news programs, or at least mood music -- but now, with our refined sensibilities -- it grates.  But the rest, particularly Valerie Curtin -- was enjoyable.

"I suppose this is your bathtub?"
"Yes.  We raised it from a sink."

Nice. 

==============
Update:

"Three's Company - Rare Fi..." This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by DLT entertainment ltd.

Aging

Now I know I'm aging.  I saw a headline about Caroline Kennedy as Ambassador to Japan, and thought that kid? Oh....yeah. The one who's about three years younger than my wife.

Fire

As I may have mentioned, my cousin lost her house to a fire. 

Last night, I learned that, in actuality, the house was purchased by her parents-in-law, with the intent that at some point they would sell it to the children.  Nice.

The parents never bought any kind of insurance for the house.

Books

One of the rules of thumb that I've had for a while is that it's not necessary to finish a book that hasn't grabbed my interest.  I don't immediately toss it aside -- I'll skip a few pages, perhaps a chapter - but if after that, I'm still thinking man this is dragging-- I'll stop. Off the book goes to the pile that we keep of books to be donated to the next book sale --because someone might like it -- and I'll start another.

But lately I've been trying out a modification of that rule, which is: if a book hasn't said something of interest in the first chapter, it's not likely to get better.  It can -- my wife and I each recently read a new novel in the Vorgosigan series, and though it didn't grab our interest, much as we wanted it to, there were some interesting parts before each of us tossed it aside-- but it's not likely.

Thus, I've been slogging my way through the books that are on the living room bookcase, and a few out here in the kitchen.  These are all books that I wanted to read; something about them grabbed my attention, and so I bought them. (Times when I ignored my own rule: only buy a book when you have less than two left to read, no matter how compelling it sounds.)  And slogging is a good way to put it, because, of the four that I've opened thus far, three were well, that was ...interesting, and only one was why, that was really good, I'm glad I read it. 

I still have a way to go, though.  There are about ten books here in the kitchen, and a few on the book case.  One of them is Team of Rivals; the other is This Time Is Different.  I really want to like each of them, but so far -- not so much.  Which is likely a failing of me, not the books.  So I'm leaving them until I have nothing else to read, and then we'll see.

Donations

I have a recurring donation to a political organization.  Not much, but there. 

Today I got an email from them, saying that they've been so successful, they need to build a larger web site -- and could I donate to that effort?

Jeez, guys....

Yeah, But...

Watching the West Wing "Evidence of Things Not Seen" clip to deflect myself from studying French (which, after yesterday's conversation, with a man whom I'm going to visit in four months, I really need to do).  Hit the part where the Will Bailey character, in his did you know he did that?  I didn't know he did that! guise as an Air Force JAG officer, says that he is going to Cheyenne to investigate "two guys who refused to launch their rocket".

Forty years after I used to do it, such blatant errors in how an actual Air Force officer would refer to the incident still makes me cringe.  Probably doesn't help that the whole Will Bailey character makes me cringe, anyway, but this - this, I know.  They would not have said that.

If you're curious, they'd have said "two guys refused to launch", or "two guys refused to key-turn".

Wouldn't It, Though?

Texting

Got a text from the woman whose sister killed herself a few weeks ago.  She's still very torn up.  I wish I could help. All I can do is listen, and offer banal comments. Still, she does 'talk' with me, which is more than she did last week -- she told me that she left her phone off all week just so she could avoid talking to people. Not me -- we've never talked on the phone -- but people she knows in France. So I guess that's something...

Mentoring

Today I went over to the school, and I had a wierd experience.

I was waiting for the mento, and listening to two other mentors talking about their kids.  One said that she was concerned because the kid had a 45 in one course, and it was very hard to get up from there. Yeah, I know that feeling, I thought.  The other said my kid had Ds in five of six subjects.  We finally got him to the point where he only has two. At which point I thought again about what a lousy mentor I am, because I never push the kid to show me homework, anything like that.

Then, when he arrived, he said he had to go to a 'checkout' room where a teacher would confirm that he had his required work in his 'agenda book'.  Only, it turned out that not only did he not have it, he'd been erasing it so that his mother would not know that he had things due. He had his usual morass of papers, and had trouble finding stuff in there.  The teacher told him that he needed to work on that, and the teacher wrote his deliverables in ink so that they couldn't be erased. And I thought jeez, I never do that stuff.

Then we went to the library, where I mentioned how I found that very interesting and more than a little disturbing - whereupon he said that there was a math problem he didn't understand, so we looked at it.  I asked if he had an example of how to do it, and he showed me one he had written.  It was wrong.  It took me 30 minutes to figure out how to do it, and I didn't explain it very well.

So I think:  I suck at being a mentor.  I really do.

Extrication

So how would you get it out?  I'm thinking the guard rail has to go, but what then? Crane, lift onto the road?

Comments

Soooo... did that person mean to write Vous avez progresser en Francais,   or  Vous avez progressé en Francais?

Probs the first, but I choose the second.

Burgers

I really don't understand why hyper-thick burgers are supposed to be desirable.

Found here.

Speaking

Last night, I woke up in the middle of the night with the thought I can't possibly go to another country, one where they don't speak English, and expect that it'll be OK. 

And then I thought I've spent 2 1/2 years studying French.  I can make myself understood.  Not grammatically, not fluently, not gracefully, but I can do it.

And, French is certainly the language there, but the major transport media -- Air France and the TGV -- use English, too.  Perhaps not as often, but for the big stuff, yes.  This isn't going to be like going to Africa with Livingston. 

And, I'm going to meet people who DO speak English - one of them speaks it quite well, and the other - well, he can get by.  So if I ABSOLUTELY need to say something in English, there's a decent chance of being understood.  And there's always the dictionary.

Still nervous, but yeah, I think this might actually come off. 

Although I think I made my wife nervous when I mentioned that if this does work, I'll be more secure about speaking French on the next trip. 

Zay Smith

News Headline: “Democrats shelve assault weapons ban.”
QT Abridged Too Far Dictionary of the English Language:shelve verb 1. to not take action on something until a later time. 2. if ever. 3. to shy away from. 4. to hide out from. 5. to show complete lack of spine concerning. 6. but hardly unexpected [see: streak, yellow; knees, weak; bananas, could carve better public servants out of. ]

Image

I watched this way too many times.

I'm convinced that she's doing a Roadrunner impression.....

Dreaming

Strange dreams last night.  Dreamed about the gutless cowards of the US Congress, who can't even be moved by the deaths of children.  Wondered how'd they'd feel if an assassin with a high-capacity ammunition holder started slaughtering them. Won't happen - probably - because the defenders of liberty make damn sure to encircle themselves with armed guards.  I'd like to see Obama giving a speech tearing them a collective new anal aperture for their craven style, but that's not likely to happen, either.

I used to think that adults used reason and compassion to rule the country, but I don't think that anymore. Sometimes I despair about the parth of our country.  We seem to be on a downward spiral.  I know, thats traditional for people as they get older, to think that, but still: I do, I really do.

Dreamed about drones.  Those things - the small ones - are just made for assassinations.  Air Force One lands, President's on his way down the steps - a drone whips in from a mile away.  Are we doing anything to figure out how to defend against this?  Of course not.  We'll wait for a disaster...or past.

Dreamed about the trip to France.  One of the people I will meet has a husband who speaks no English at all; the other has a wife who speaks just a little bit.  Apprehensive about this.  Not to mention,  the TGV trips. Est-ce que c'est ma voiture? Just hope I don't get on the one for Croatia instead of Paris.

At least I didn't dream about the sequestration, aka the death of a thousand cuts.  

Violinist

GUNS

Senate Democrats are dropping the ban on assault weapons.  Those spineless, gutless ... yeah, I deleted that last word.  But I'm still thinking it.....

Writing

It takes talent to write a decent science fiction novel, as John Scalzi did with Old Man's War.

It takes more talent to write sequels that not only don't suck, but are actually better, as he did with The Ghost Brigades and The Last Colony.

But when you can take the whole plot of one of those books, and write it again, from the viewpoint of one of the secondary characters...and it doesn't entirely suck....  as he did with Zoe's Tale...well... I think I need a word that means talent....and then some.

2016

Hillary might run?  Can I early vote right now?

Cookies

People make a big deal about Girl Scout Cookies. They are OK, and I wolf down my fair share!  But you know what? You can have those evershrinking GS ones.  Give me some homemade chocolate chips, and some Ritz crackers - maybe some Saltines - and I'm happy.

I Love This Guy

Taxes and Census and Such

There was a line in one of the West Wing episodes where one character invites another to go out to a bar with him. "We'll speak as men do", he says.  That line stuck with me - it sounds like it was cribbed from Shakespeare.  I started wondering about it while I was lying in bed this morning.  Normally, I'd look it up on the laptop in the kitchen while the coffee was brewing - orange flavored coffee; heavenly scent - and the sausage was cooking -- sizzle, sizzle -- and maybe the waffles were baking or the French toast was frenching.  But this morning I'm not allowed to eat anything because I'm going to have a spot of dental surgery, and they said now remember, don't eat or drink anything after midnight.  The fact that other surgeries have been at 8AM, and this one is at 10:30 doesn't change their prescription.  Well, I thought, I'm going to stay up really late - by my standards - and I'll sleep until it's time to leave, and I won't have time to get hungry.

Which plan worked until I heard my wife get up at 7AM to check if the weather forecast -- rain and snow - was valid. (The roads are dry, but maybe later?)  Ahem.

So, knowing that going out to the kitchen right that moment was a bad idea, I fired up the small tablet (really, too small to write on; you go into email, and you can see one line of what you're writing, and sometimes not even that.  On the other hand, it does contribute to brevity in communications. And the size is dandy for watching videos and bouncing through sites with StumbleUpon) and did a search for that phrase.  Didn't find any Shakespearean references, but I did find a site called WestWingTranscripts.  Whereupon, like the WW junkie I am, I then scrolled through the whole script for that episode, smiling as I encountered phrases I remembered, scowling just a bit when the phrases weren't exactly as I remembered them.  But, overall, pleased. It's a dandy episode, with references to why a statistical polling method for the census is both better than headcount and unconstitutional.  Not to mention a succinct statement of the differences between Democrats and Republicans when faced by a budget surplus. Nice.

Then I went out, grabbed the laptop from its normal resting place on the kitchen table, and sprinted back into the bedroom.

Fire

A relative had a horrific fire, lost almost everything.  Someone set up a PayPal account, and people have been generous.  Good. Did bug me a little when I noticed that instead of thanking the people who've donated, she thanked 'God working through them', but I guess that's part of being religious.  The important thing is that they're getting help at a time when they desperately need it.

Does Fox Know About This?

H20 4 U

This is fascinating.

GRdr

reading

Last night we went to the bookstore. We don't actually buy too many books locally; I learned a long time ago that if I buy a book everytime I see one that looks interesting, I will end up with a lot of books that I  never quite get around to reading. So when we go, the place that we truly go is to their cafe. While we sit and drink coffee, I browse through something from their cheap books section.

Which is how, to my surprise, I found myself reading and enjoying a book written by Newt Gingrich. The book is fiction, not politics. I haven't gone that far off the rails. But still - I'm surprised.

sic transit...

which is not a reference to the state of transportation policy in this country...even if it is embarrassing when I mention our lack of truly high speed rail to people in France.

No, in this case it's a reference to the recent announcement that Google Reader is going to go away. As things go, it's not the worst news in the world. I suspect that a lot of people have no idea what Google Reader is, let alone an RSS feed. I doubt that anyone is going to be storming the barricades any time soon over this one.

Still, for people like me, with a lot of spare time, and the desire to quickly see information from multiple web sites, it's disappointing, and maybe just a little bit disorienting. Its change, and sometimes it seems to me that the older I get, the less I like change, even small ones. (Small change is an entirely different story.  Send me your quarters, dimes, nickels....)

Oh......

ST:DS9 / WW

I can almost see this as an episode of West Wing.

Bestest

There's a video which I suspect is much beloved by liberals like me, showing a actor in a town-hall talk show saying something like America's the greatest?  The only thing we lead the world in is the number of our citizens in jail or executed.  In healthcare, freedom, education -- we're in the middle of the pack or less. 

To which can be added: credit cards which use a chip rather than, or in conjunction with, a magnetic stripe.  They're known as EMV cards, for Europay/Mastercard/Visa, and the advantage is that they're more fraud-resistant. A few US banks offer them, but with serious restrictions as to who can receive one - usually, it's related to your net worth, though if you're a member of an 'affiliate organization' (some of which I've heard of, some of which not, and many of which sound....fishy), you're in.  Any yahoo can walk into a bank in France, Australia, New Zealand and get an EMV card, but here? Don't hold your breath. It'll cost the US Credit Industry a lot to install, and it'll cost the people who take credit cards a lot, too.  No eagerness there.  But when you look at a map of EMV adoption, and note the one big area where it's not present....

Last trip, I bought EMV cards from an organization called Travelex, and they work fine;  now Travelex says they're phasing those out.  I even considered trying to open a bank account in France, just to get the card,  but that's way difficult to do (I think).  Plus there's the line on income tax forms about do you have any funds overseas?  My taxes are complicated enough, thanks.

But hey, we're number one!

Missing

I had to make a quick run to the supermarket this morning.  While I was there, I saw a hand-written poster with a picture of a girl of about 14. It had her name and the simple phrase MISSING SINCE 1/15/2013.

God, things like that tear me up.

OMG

 http://notalwaysright.com/judge-a-sandwich-on-its-filling/27816

(A young girl that is about 14 years old walks in. She gets some looks from our other patrons, as she has bright purple hair, multiple piercings, a leather jacket, and ripped jeans. It is freezing outside and she has a scowl on her face that makes me nervous.)
Me: “Hello, welcome to [coffee shop]. How may I help you?”
Young Girl: “I’ll take five of the largest black coffees you have, and ten of your ham and cheese sandwiches.”
Me: “Okay, will that be all?”
Young Girl: “Yeah.”
Me: “Your total is [price].”
(To my surprise, she pulls out a $100 bill. I am suspicious, and I check to make sure it’s real. It checks out, and I give her a bag with her sandwiches.)
Me: “Here is your change. Your coffee will be ready in a moment.”
(I keep an eye on her as she stands around glaring at anyone who looks at her. I see her looking at the tip jar. When I hand her the coffees, she asks me about it.)
Young Girl: “Your tip jar says that the money goes to you guys. Are any of you in college?”
Me: “Yes, I’m going to Rochester Institute of Technology. A few others are in college as well.”
Young Girl: “Good for you.”
(She pulls out the change I gave her and a few more $20 dollar bills. She crams then in the jar and salutes me jokingly before walking out. I am stunned, and chase after her. I find her on the street corner talking to some homeless people and handing out the sandwiches and coffee.)
Me: “Excuse me!”
Young Girl: “I’m sorry, did I forget something?”
Me: “No, but you just tipped us over $100 dollars. You’re also giving away a lot of food.”
Young Girl: “Yeah, my dad is crazy rich. I feel like I can do more if I actually interact with people instead of signing a check to a charity. Every Friday I gather anyone I see who needs a good meal, and buy it for them.” *she smiles brightly* “I may be young, but I can make a difference. I usually hand out flyers for homeless shelters or soup kitchens, too.”
(Without another word, she walks off silently. I didn’t stop smiling for the rest of the week. It goes to show you that appearances aren’t everything!)

Nope, Not My Church

I think that the obviously pained guy at the end should get extra points.

Comments

I think that people who require you to sign in to a commenting service before you can leave a comment on their site don't actually want your comments.

Dental Pranks

I went to the same dentist for about 20 years.  Then he retired and sold the practice to a new guy.  I like the new guy, so, no problem.  Plus he started upgrading the practice, getting better equipment, remodeling it.  All good.

Yesterday we learned that after about 8 months of being solo, he's decided to go merge with an existing practice.  He'll close the existing office, taking some of the equipment, selling the rest. Kind of makes me wonder about his long term planning skills....

Electable

Jedi Gang Fight

Writing? Moi?

There are times when I think you know, I should write something about that.  I'm not talking The Great American Novel, just a quick blog post about something that caught my interest or I've wondered about.  Such as when I watch the cat twist its head completely around - body facing that way, face aimed back this way -  and I wonder if humans will ever be modified to have that kind of flexibility.  Or when I read about the horror because someone let a bra strap show, and I wonder why we don't outgrow that kind of angst. (Well, most of us do, but apparently, not everyone.) Or - well, you get the idea.  Stray things.  I used to do that all the time, and now days will go by without writing something.

I never quite get around to writing down that transient thought, because lately I do two things.  I study French.  Or I agonize about my inability to speak casually in French.  Oh, I do other things -- read a little, cook a little, even occasionally bake -- but French has taken over my life.  The other day I said to a conversation partner that I would know I was fluent in French when I could use the word neurocognition in French.  They laughed, which is good, because even I know that's an unattainable goal, not to mention a completely unreasonable one. And yet I think wouldn't it be nice?

There are times when I think that I ought to say you know what?  Screw it.  Stop. 

Zoe

Oddly enough, I never saw this one, at all.