I love this song, by the Charlotte band ISHI (now disbanded, I think).
"cafe america"
there must be a corner café somewhere along the way,
most every place we stay
there must be a Main & Broadway in every town we play our music every day.
there are brazen similarities in America,
the scarcity of a single stretch of highway minus signs;
and yet with all their advertising ill-advising me
there's no direction I can see that I could buy.
why my mind is drifting back to you in your city far away
I truly cannot say
whatever I could find there could not possibly reward me
as does my solitude this day.
yeah, right - that's what I tell myself
tumbling & laughing through moments of gold
yeah, right - why should I put up a fight when darkness overtakes me,
chains me down and breaks me...
there must be a corner café in that city where you stay,
that seems so far away
there must be a Main & Broadway in your city of L.A.,
where the sun shines every day.
and there are brazen similarities, the scarcity of those who see
integrity as a thing that has to be;
but I had to believe that someday you would leave -
thought "you're a lot like me," sure that we agreed.
why my mind was drifting back to you in your city far away
I truly cannot say whatever I did find there could not possibly reward me
as does my solitude this day.
freedom these days slips away easy-like
it's not as if there are people dying in a foreign war.
it's not as if we've been burdened by the weight of the state of this world before
Tuesday, October 21, 2003
"Women make up 72 percent of Wal-Mart's sales work force but only 33 percent of its managers. A study conducted for the Dukes plaintiffs by economist Marc Bendick found such discrepancies to be far less pronounced among Wal-Mart's competitors, which could boast of more than 50 percent female management. Even more striking, comparing Wal-Mart stores to competitors in the same location, Bendick's study found little geographic variation in these ratios, and little change over time. In fact, the percentage of women among Wal-Mart's 1999 management lagged behind that of its competitors in 1975."
Source: http://thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20021216&c=1&s=featherstone
Source: http://thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20021216&c=1&s=featherstone
Friday, October 10, 2003
Page 127 of the Oct. 20, 2003 edition of BusinessWeek. It quotes my husband Charlie. We talked to this reporter for ten minutes, and she chose a quote that makes SC look skeptical of Dean -- how frustrating. So be careful what you say to reporters, 'cause they'll print it!
Dean's smiling picture in A.J.'s bar is on the front page of the article, which is entitled "South Carolina Shakeout."
Here is the quote. It comes at the end of essentially a 2-page article ALL ABOUT SC POLITICS on page 129 of BusinessWeek:
In Charleston and at the church, he [Dean] delivered a toned-down version of that line. "South Carolina has voted Republican for 30 years," he shouted. "Tell me what you have to show for it."
Even some of Dean's ardent supporters were skeptical about how that would fly with most South Carolinians. "I don't know if they'll take too kindly to it," chortled Charlie Gaddy of Rock Hill, who with his wife drove three hours to see Dean. "But the economy is so bad that maybe people will at least listen."
True, says Emory University political scientist Merle Black, they may listen, but South Carolina voters are unlikely to flock to Dean. "If [he] wins Iowa and New Hampshire, I think South Carolina could be a place for another candidate to emerge," says Black. Naturally, almost all of Dean's rivals are spinning fantasies about who that person might be.
- article by Alexandra Starr
Dean's smiling picture in A.J.'s bar is on the front page of the article, which is entitled "South Carolina Shakeout."
Here is the quote. It comes at the end of essentially a 2-page article ALL ABOUT SC POLITICS on page 129 of BusinessWeek:
In Charleston and at the church, he [Dean] delivered a toned-down version of that line. "South Carolina has voted Republican for 30 years," he shouted. "Tell me what you have to show for it."
Even some of Dean's ardent supporters were skeptical about how that would fly with most South Carolinians. "I don't know if they'll take too kindly to it," chortled Charlie Gaddy of Rock Hill, who with his wife drove three hours to see Dean. "But the economy is so bad that maybe people will at least listen."
True, says Emory University political scientist Merle Black, they may listen, but South Carolina voters are unlikely to flock to Dean. "If [he] wins Iowa and New Hampshire, I think South Carolina could be a place for another candidate to emerge," says Black. Naturally, almost all of Dean's rivals are spinning fantasies about who that person might be.
- article by Alexandra Starr
I got this story from a friend who works for a Peace & Justice group in NC.
1 in 7 North Carolinians lives below the poverty line.
It's hard facts like this that make me so annoyed when people insist to me that everyone in America is equal and/or has an equal chance at succeeding in life. They say this because everyone they know, everyone they associate with, has done so. The ones who don't, they figure, must be lazy... too bad for them.
Can you imagine life on $18,500 a year -- let alone raising kids and having a car and health insurance? Would you live at that level if you had an alternative? I made about $16,000 (ten years ago) at my first full-time job (kinko's). I had a college degree, all paid for by my parents, and a good healthcare plan from kinko's, and I knew I would make a lot more at my next job. Meanwhile, some people can afford to pay $18,000 a year for their kids' private college tuition -- some even without taking out loans. It's just unbelievable, the gap between have and have not.
And the majority of us middle class people are of course in the middle, torn between aspiring to keep our money to improve our own status and save for unforeseen future disaster, or helping those who have less.
Friday, October 3, 2003 12:00AM EDT
POINT OF VIEW
_____
Looking right past the poor
By GENE R. NICHOL
CHAPEL HILL -- Last week, the U.S. Census Bureau released its most recent study of income and poverty. For the "second consecutive year, the poverty rate and the number living in poverty rose." Almost 35 million Americans (12.1 percent) made less last year than the extraordinarily modest federal poverty threshold of $18,500 for a family of four. About 17 percent of the nation's children are poor. The numbers are even worse for black (24 percent) and Latino (22 percent) kids.
The North Carolina story was particularly disheartening. Our median family income is now almost $5,000 below the national average. We are one of 10 states whose median income actually fell from the year before -- in our case by 4.4 percent. About one in seven Tar Heels lives below the poverty line.
The Bush administration says the recession ended in November 2001. You'd have a hard time proving it in North Carolina.
Newspapers gave the poverty report fairly prominent play. Headlines read "State's median income dips." But, as is typically the case, it was essentially a one-day story. No expressions of outrage appeared. No emergency proposals followed. The Congress stood mute. The executive branch was unmoved. No electoral campaigns took up the mantle. No state legislative initiative was launched.
Once each year we learn that the wealthiest nation in human history countenances shockingly high levels of poverty. We discover, yet again, that -- despite our vaunted rhetorical commitment to equality -- America leads the industrial world in wealth disparity and concentration. We shrug our shoulders, and we go on.
And income differentials hardly present the whole picture. Over 43 million Americans have no health care insurance. In North Carolina, 15.6 percent lack coverage. Of households earning under $25,000 a year, about a quarter are uninsured. We stand alone among the major industrial nations in failing to provide universal coverage. We spend more per capita on health care than any country in the world. But we also leave more of our fellows outside the system, in the shadows.
Economics also drives opportunity. We countenance rich and poor public schools. Not just private schools, mind you; rich and poor public schools. As if were acceptable to treat some of our children as second- or third-class citizens. Higher education magnifies the inequality -- though UNC-Chapel Hill's new "Carolina Covenant" is a hopeful step in the right direction. Only 3 percent of the students at the nation's 146 most selective universities come from the bottom economic quartile. An astonishing 74 percent come from the top quarter. Twenty years ago, children from parents in the top quarter were four times more likely to get a college degree than those at the bottom. Now it's 10 times.
The legal system also prices out a huge segment of the community. Study after study finds that about 80 percent of the legal need of the poor and near-poor goes unmet. Less than 1 percent of our total national expenditure for lawyers goes toward services for the poor. We carve "equal justice under law" on our courthouse walls. The sentiment stops there.
Even our political system rewards those who can pay in order to play. The private financing of campaigns systematically skews the outcome of our political processes toward the interests of the economically powerful. The halls of power are increasing off limits to those without significant economic resources. Across a broad array of enterprises, we have allowed the deck to become stacked against those lodged at the bottom. And we know it.
Yet, decade after decade, in cultural arena after cultural arena, in election after election, these crushing problems are barely discussed. In law, in politics, in philosophy, in the humane letters, we simply turn our gaze away. We have come to think that a regime of economic apartheid is both unavoidable and untroubling.
A couple of months ago, I was asked to give the convocation address at Chapel Hill. Given the brouhaha over Barbara Ehrenreich's "Nickel and Dimed," there was a tad of tension in the air. I remember thinking that we would explore Enhenreich's book from a stunning array of perspectives. Is the book balanced? Does it represent good journalism, or first-rate literature? Is UNC leftist? Are we open to dissent? Do legislators have the right to ask for faculty members' political affiliations? Should remarkably underpaid campus workers be allowed to participate in the discussions? Do we practice anything like what we preach?
My own fear, though, was that, in all of the hullabaloo, we would miss the central, irrefutable premise of "Nickel and Dimed": that "the poor have disappeared from the culture at large, from its political rhetoric, its intellectual endeavors, from its daily entertainment." In American life, formal equality has become submerged in a torrent of disadvantage. By accepting it, we turn our backs on our best selves.
(Gene R. Nichol is dean and the Burton Craige professor of law at the UNC School of Law.)
_____
1 in 7 North Carolinians lives below the poverty line.
It's hard facts like this that make me so annoyed when people insist to me that everyone in America is equal and/or has an equal chance at succeeding in life. They say this because everyone they know, everyone they associate with, has done so. The ones who don't, they figure, must be lazy... too bad for them.
Can you imagine life on $18,500 a year -- let alone raising kids and having a car and health insurance? Would you live at that level if you had an alternative? I made about $16,000 (ten years ago) at my first full-time job (kinko's). I had a college degree, all paid for by my parents, and a good healthcare plan from kinko's, and I knew I would make a lot more at my next job. Meanwhile, some people can afford to pay $18,000 a year for their kids' private college tuition -- some even without taking out loans. It's just unbelievable, the gap between have and have not.
And the majority of us middle class people are of course in the middle, torn between aspiring to keep our money to improve our own status and save for unforeseen future disaster, or helping those who have less.
Friday, October 3, 2003 12:00AM EDT
POINT OF VIEW
_____
Looking right past the poor
By GENE R. NICHOL
CHAPEL HILL -- Last week, the U.S. Census Bureau released its most recent study of income and poverty. For the "second consecutive year, the poverty rate and the number living in poverty rose." Almost 35 million Americans (12.1 percent) made less last year than the extraordinarily modest federal poverty threshold of $18,500 for a family of four. About 17 percent of the nation's children are poor. The numbers are even worse for black (24 percent) and Latino (22 percent) kids.
The North Carolina story was particularly disheartening. Our median family income is now almost $5,000 below the national average. We are one of 10 states whose median income actually fell from the year before -- in our case by 4.4 percent. About one in seven Tar Heels lives below the poverty line.
The Bush administration says the recession ended in November 2001. You'd have a hard time proving it in North Carolina.
Newspapers gave the poverty report fairly prominent play. Headlines read "State's median income dips." But, as is typically the case, it was essentially a one-day story. No expressions of outrage appeared. No emergency proposals followed. The Congress stood mute. The executive branch was unmoved. No electoral campaigns took up the mantle. No state legislative initiative was launched.
Once each year we learn that the wealthiest nation in human history countenances shockingly high levels of poverty. We discover, yet again, that -- despite our vaunted rhetorical commitment to equality -- America leads the industrial world in wealth disparity and concentration. We shrug our shoulders, and we go on.
And income differentials hardly present the whole picture. Over 43 million Americans have no health care insurance. In North Carolina, 15.6 percent lack coverage. Of households earning under $25,000 a year, about a quarter are uninsured. We stand alone among the major industrial nations in failing to provide universal coverage. We spend more per capita on health care than any country in the world. But we also leave more of our fellows outside the system, in the shadows.
Economics also drives opportunity. We countenance rich and poor public schools. Not just private schools, mind you; rich and poor public schools. As if were acceptable to treat some of our children as second- or third-class citizens. Higher education magnifies the inequality -- though UNC-Chapel Hill's new "Carolina Covenant" is a hopeful step in the right direction. Only 3 percent of the students at the nation's 146 most selective universities come from the bottom economic quartile. An astonishing 74 percent come from the top quarter. Twenty years ago, children from parents in the top quarter were four times more likely to get a college degree than those at the bottom. Now it's 10 times.
The legal system also prices out a huge segment of the community. Study after study finds that about 80 percent of the legal need of the poor and near-poor goes unmet. Less than 1 percent of our total national expenditure for lawyers goes toward services for the poor. We carve "equal justice under law" on our courthouse walls. The sentiment stops there.
Even our political system rewards those who can pay in order to play. The private financing of campaigns systematically skews the outcome of our political processes toward the interests of the economically powerful. The halls of power are increasing off limits to those without significant economic resources. Across a broad array of enterprises, we have allowed the deck to become stacked against those lodged at the bottom. And we know it.
Yet, decade after decade, in cultural arena after cultural arena, in election after election, these crushing problems are barely discussed. In law, in politics, in philosophy, in the humane letters, we simply turn our gaze away. We have come to think that a regime of economic apartheid is both unavoidable and untroubling.
A couple of months ago, I was asked to give the convocation address at Chapel Hill. Given the brouhaha over Barbara Ehrenreich's "Nickel and Dimed," there was a tad of tension in the air. I remember thinking that we would explore Enhenreich's book from a stunning array of perspectives. Is the book balanced? Does it represent good journalism, or first-rate literature? Is UNC leftist? Are we open to dissent? Do legislators have the right to ask for faculty members' political affiliations? Should remarkably underpaid campus workers be allowed to participate in the discussions? Do we practice anything like what we preach?
My own fear, though, was that, in all of the hullabaloo, we would miss the central, irrefutable premise of "Nickel and Dimed": that "the poor have disappeared from the culture at large, from its political rhetoric, its intellectual endeavors, from its daily entertainment." In American life, formal equality has become submerged in a torrent of disadvantage. By accepting it, we turn our backs on our best selves.
(Gene R. Nichol is dean and the Burton Craige professor of law at the UNC School of Law.)
_____
Thursday, October 09, 2003
Who irons the pants in your family?
I can’t iron clothes without thinking of my parents. For me, this is a pleasant association. The hot hoof of the iron releasing great whoofs and chuffs of steam, my parents taking pride in clean and stiffened clothing.
Mom did most of the ironing in our house, but Dad showed me how to do it elegantly, flattening clothes with an almost fond touch, the iron gliding across the starched sleeves of his blue dress shirts. He would give me 25 cents for each shirt I starched and ironed well for him, a rate that could yield several dollars a week if I kept after it.
One day, years after this, I was ironing while Mom was in the room folding other clothes. I mentioned slyly that Dad seemed to be better at ironing than Mom, and she scoffed. She actually scoffed. “That’s because he doesn’t have to do it.”
“Oh…” I murmured. This was a clue about the dynamics of married life that I hadn’t expected and felt embarrassed about exposing.
I can’t iron clothes without thinking of my parents. For me, this is a pleasant association. The hot hoof of the iron releasing great whoofs and chuffs of steam, my parents taking pride in clean and stiffened clothing.
Mom did most of the ironing in our house, but Dad showed me how to do it elegantly, flattening clothes with an almost fond touch, the iron gliding across the starched sleeves of his blue dress shirts. He would give me 25 cents for each shirt I starched and ironed well for him, a rate that could yield several dollars a week if I kept after it.
One day, years after this, I was ironing while Mom was in the room folding other clothes. I mentioned slyly that Dad seemed to be better at ironing than Mom, and she scoffed. She actually scoffed. “That’s because he doesn’t have to do it.”
“Oh…” I murmured. This was a clue about the dynamics of married life that I hadn’t expected and felt embarrassed about exposing.
Monday, July 07, 2003
We've been living in our current house for just over a year now. I alternately complain about the apparent un-neighborliness of our neighbors, who haven't made the effort to meet us, and express guilt at not having made the effort myself. I have met the next-door neighbors but could not tell you their names nor pick them out of a lineup of college girls.
July 4 I was off work and C wasn't, so I walked down the block with my dog, hoping to perhaps run into someone new. And it worked!
First was a woman about my age who was gardening. The fact that she has a very pretty English-style garden gave me an opportunity to compliment her, and we were soon talking. She has two small children, her husband is a landscape architect, and she seems nice enough. Later in the day I went back by her house with an Internet-gathered info sheet about a flower that both she and I have but couldn't name. I then discovered that she has a china cabinet full of collectable dolls. I've spent a few minutes trying to imagine myself becoming friends with the kind of person who buys and displays collectable dolls, and so far, snake eyes.
Next I met some neighbors about my parents' age who live diagonally across the intersection from us. Amazingly, they are liberal Democrats, and they were equally astounded to discover some younger people in the neighborhood (us) who were also liberal Democrats. Isn't life interesting? So I think we'll be hanging out with them some. I feel happier now that I know a few neighbors. I want to meet more.
July 4 I was off work and C wasn't, so I walked down the block with my dog, hoping to perhaps run into someone new. And it worked!
First was a woman about my age who was gardening. The fact that she has a very pretty English-style garden gave me an opportunity to compliment her, and we were soon talking. She has two small children, her husband is a landscape architect, and she seems nice enough. Later in the day I went back by her house with an Internet-gathered info sheet about a flower that both she and I have but couldn't name. I then discovered that she has a china cabinet full of collectable dolls. I've spent a few minutes trying to imagine myself becoming friends with the kind of person who buys and displays collectable dolls, and so far, snake eyes.
Next I met some neighbors about my parents' age who live diagonally across the intersection from us. Amazingly, they are liberal Democrats, and they were equally astounded to discover some younger people in the neighborhood (us) who were also liberal Democrats. Isn't life interesting? So I think we'll be hanging out with them some. I feel happier now that I know a few neighbors. I want to meet more.
Wednesday, June 25, 2003
TAP: Web Feature: With Interest. by Michael Tomasky. June 25, 2003. Hmmm, this article reminds me of the post I made earlier today. Good ideas about how Dems should present the argument against the tax cut.
Libertarians have some good points, but it seems like the ones I meet lately think that they shouldn't have to pay any taxes and that poor people are every one of them lazy. They think that even a Republican government is "too big." I think they are every bit as idealistic as the Green Party, just the other way!
Here's a question: are there any existing Libertarian countries in the world? And if so, how's that working out for them?
One can't ignore the fact that a lot of people in this country are living check to check, barely getting by, and basically one shred away from total lawlessness. If you cut back on government, it just puts the rich in charge and makes the poor liable to riot, steal, to do whatever they can to get by.
On one hand I DO feel very compassionate toward people who are having hard times, single mothers, uneducated people, people who are growing up with role models like Snoop Dogg and Eminem. I don't think we should give these people a complete free ride, but I don't think we should say, too fucking bad, you were born into the wrong family.
And on another level, I know LOGICALLY that a person who is able to get a decent job, make a real wage and feed their kid is a person less likely to shoot somebody (me) in a petty robbery. A person who has the help to actually graduate from high school is more likely to become the kind of neighbor/voter/worker I want beside me. So that is partly selfish, right?
I don't want a country run by Microsoft and McDonald's and Disney, I want one where there are protections for small, local businesses too, and one that is run by a government that we the people put together. I am willing to pay part of my income to ensure that America is, not an EVEN society, but a more pleasant one overall. If that's a third of my income, so be it, as long as everyone else is having to pull their share and everyone else reaps benefits from it.
I don't sit there at the end of the day and say, well, I don't have kids in school -- why should I have to support the school systems? Well, because I have kids on my block, and neighbors and friends with kids, and I don't want those kids to grow up completely directionless and moronic.
It's ironic to me that some of the very same people who talk about how GREAT and how FREE this country is are so stingy when it comes to helping their fellow Americans ... with time, with money, with whatever!
Here's a question: are there any existing Libertarian countries in the world? And if so, how's that working out for them?
One can't ignore the fact that a lot of people in this country are living check to check, barely getting by, and basically one shred away from total lawlessness. If you cut back on government, it just puts the rich in charge and makes the poor liable to riot, steal, to do whatever they can to get by.
On one hand I DO feel very compassionate toward people who are having hard times, single mothers, uneducated people, people who are growing up with role models like Snoop Dogg and Eminem. I don't think we should give these people a complete free ride, but I don't think we should say, too fucking bad, you were born into the wrong family.
And on another level, I know LOGICALLY that a person who is able to get a decent job, make a real wage and feed their kid is a person less likely to shoot somebody (me) in a petty robbery. A person who has the help to actually graduate from high school is more likely to become the kind of neighbor/voter/worker I want beside me. So that is partly selfish, right?
I don't want a country run by Microsoft and McDonald's and Disney, I want one where there are protections for small, local businesses too, and one that is run by a government that we the people put together. I am willing to pay part of my income to ensure that America is, not an EVEN society, but a more pleasant one overall. If that's a third of my income, so be it, as long as everyone else is having to pull their share and everyone else reaps benefits from it.
I don't sit there at the end of the day and say, well, I don't have kids in school -- why should I have to support the school systems? Well, because I have kids on my block, and neighbors and friends with kids, and I don't want those kids to grow up completely directionless and moronic.
It's ironic to me that some of the very same people who talk about how GREAT and how FREE this country is are so stingy when it comes to helping their fellow Americans ... with time, with money, with whatever!
Wednesday, June 18, 2003
Tuesday, June 17, 2003
Going to see the White Stripes tonight. I know about five of their songs. They're pretty good, but they are not the Kings of Rock that they're made out to be. (I may change my mind on that after I see them) Wow, I just noticed it is raining and sunshiny right now, so gotta go look for a rainbow. Byee.
Monday, June 16, 2003
Which flock do you follow?
this quiz was made by alanna
Wednesday, June 04, 2003
Do you lean Republican or Democrat? - Quizilla I made a quiz! Ha, ha. Not very scientific. I tried not to make it completely biased, but you know me.
Monday, June 02, 2003
C and I saw Bladerunner this weekend. Both of us were surprised that we'd never seen it before, and both of us were impressed by it overall. The ending kind of lost me -- due in part to the fact that Rutger Hauer kept reminding me of Billy Idol -- and the rooftop chase scene seemed a bit much. Why was it that Harrison Ford was such a badass Bladerunner when it came to blowing away female Replicants, but he was a complete wimp when confronted with the guys?
Also, it seemed like the Replicants were looking to extend their four-year lifespans, and then the scientist just basically said, "Nope, can't be done" and they took that news pretty well -- apart from killing the scientist, that is. I would think they would either go on a killing spree, upset that they are limited and enslaved by humans, OR, would have done everything possible to find some scientific solution. I mean, they came all that way for nothing.
Also, it seemed like the Replicants were looking to extend their four-year lifespans, and then the scientist just basically said, "Nope, can't be done" and they took that news pretty well -- apart from killing the scientist, that is. I would think they would either go on a killing spree, upset that they are limited and enslaved by humans, OR, would have done everything possible to find some scientific solution. I mean, they came all that way for nothing.
Friday, May 30, 2003
Salon.com News | What the Bush tax cut could have bought ?That $330 billion could have covered every uninsured child in the country and paid for millions of teachers and child-care workers. Instead it's going to the richest Americans."
Argh.
Argh.
Thursday, May 29, 2003
I think this is a GREAT idea.Greens Consider Standing Behind Democrats in '04 (washingtonpost.com) I was just thinking yesterday that the Greens could tip the scales in the Democrats' favor, if they would realize that it would make an enormous difference to their agenda to have a Democrat in office, rather than the current admin.
Every time I take an objective political interest survey, I turn up more aligned with Greens than Dems, but nevertheless I live in the real world. A Green will not be elected President in this century, and I am content with casting my vote with the more socially and environmentally responsible party.
I heard a lot of talk in the 2000 election to the tune of "Democrats and Republicans -- there's no difference." Given the events of the past three years, I bet a lot of people are re-thinking those comments. You can't tell me that if Gore were in office right now, EVERYTHING would be JUST the same as it is right now. Bush has done so much to set back environmental law that it astounds me.
Every time I take an objective political interest survey, I turn up more aligned with Greens than Dems, but nevertheless I live in the real world. A Green will not be elected President in this century, and I am content with casting my vote with the more socially and environmentally responsible party.
I heard a lot of talk in the 2000 election to the tune of "Democrats and Republicans -- there's no difference." Given the events of the past three years, I bet a lot of people are re-thinking those comments. You can't tell me that if Gore were in office right now, EVERYTHING would be JUST the same as it is right now. Bush has done so much to set back environmental law that it astounds me.
Wednesday, May 28, 2003
I'm going to compile a list of things I learned from my mother. I think it would be a great way to appreciate her, and also, it's a super way to have a head start if I ever have a kid myself. I'll have a reference.
It would include:
1) how to make hospital corners on a bed
2) that there's good reason to sort laundry into lights and darks
3) the names of dozens of plants and shrubs
4) naps are key
5) it's important to smile a lot, and sometimes smiling makes you feel happier than you did a minute ago.
The list goes on and on...
It would include:
1) how to make hospital corners on a bed
2) that there's good reason to sort laundry into lights and darks
3) the names of dozens of plants and shrubs
4) naps are key
5) it's important to smile a lot, and sometimes smiling makes you feel happier than you did a minute ago.
The list goes on and on...
The Geek Test says that I am 21.69625% and therefore in the category of Geek. Not Major Geek, Extreme Geek or Geek God. But still a pretty decent showing.
Everyone lists on their blogs what music they are listening to, so I guess I will go with the flow... today it's "World of Morrissey" and also a little NPR. Heard a program earlier today with the author of "Fast Food Nation." He's got a new book out called "Reefer Madness" about sex, drugs and migrant workers. Interesting.
The Secret Garden Have you ever wondered what an x-ray of a flower would look like? Uh, probably not. But now you can find out anyway! Really beautiful.
Tuesday, May 27, 2003
This weekend in Atlanta was fun. I'm too busy at work right now to keep up with my blog. Maybe I'll get re-inspired but who knows? Today I'm listening to Echobelly, "Lustra." I can't believe this album's been in my own house for over three years (Charlie had it) and I've never heard it. It's right up my alley.
Monday, May 19, 2003
CNN.com - Fleischer resigning White House post - May. 19, 2003 I can't stand Fleischer and his arrogance. Not to mention the lies and half-truths he stands there with a straight face and spouts. I say, good riddance. We'll see if McClellan is any worse.
Friday, May 16, 2003
Limaxaphobia: Fear of slugs. Anyone who's been around me when I've spotted one of these creatures knows that it is no joke. I am not myself. I squeak, I shriek, I flee -- and if I've been unlucky enough to come into any contact with the thing, I shed clothing as I bolt into the house.
Don't bother handing me the lame argument that they can't hurt me. Of course I know they can't hurt me. Other people are afraid of roaches, which are equally as harmless. That's why they call it a "phobia" and not a "rational personal preference."
Don't bother handing me the lame argument that they can't hurt me. Of course I know they can't hurt me. Other people are afraid of roaches, which are equally as harmless. That's why they call it a "phobia" and not a "rational personal preference."
Thursday, May 15, 2003
Download PDF (142 K) Subject: Republicans' budget ideas and how they have historically raided Social Security. Interesting reading, y'all.
Tuesday, May 13, 2003
Have You Accepted Jesus Yet? This page is funny for several reasons. Now I ain't laughing at Jesus, but certain of his followers are crazy. The thing that caught my eye first on this web site is the typo. It should read, "Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?" You would use "hath" to refer to the second person, as in, "He hath" or "Imelda hath," and it's wrong here. Secondly, if he had something to say to you, Jesus probably wouldn't address you in King James English. He didn't speak it and neither do you, so it makes no sense at all.
The link featured on this page doesn't work but the banner ad at the bottom sure does, and you won't believe these action figures.
The link featured on this page doesn't work but the banner ad at the bottom sure does, and you won't believe these action figures.
Thursday, May 08, 2003
Excerpt from this page, by Howard Dean: "It is a Bush Doctrine of domestic division, and I want to be the President who tears that doctrine up, too. I want to restore a sense of community in this country – where it’s not enough to worry whether your own kids have health care, but whether your neighbors’ kids have health care. I want to go to the South and talk about race. White southerners have been flocking to the Republican Party in recent years, but I want to offer them hope that their children will benefit from better schools and affordable health care, too.
"The Republican Party has done nothing for working people, black or white, and we need to remind Southern white folks that the only hope for better schools, and better job opportunities, and health care that is affordable is a Democratic President."
"The Republican Party has done nothing for working people, black or white, and we need to remind Southern white folks that the only hope for better schools, and better job opportunities, and health care that is affordable is a Democratic President."
This morning my idle brain turns toward the multi-part question of a) whether microwave ovens cause changes in food which can cause cancer and if so, 1) how much nuked food you have to eat before you are inviting trouble and 2) is it worth avoiding a potential source of cancer that causes such convenience, given the myriad exposures of carcinogens in my daily life ("One word: plastics!") online article about microwaving by a dietician and a book to scare yourself with. I haven't read it and I'm not sure I want to. I have plenty of other silly worries right now.
Good morning, everyone! Ah, it's so nice to see sunlight outside for a change. I saw X-Men 2 last night with a bunch of good friends, and it was a wild ride indeed. I actually can't say that I liked it more or less than the first one, because to me it seemed like a continuation of the first one. Both were really splendid.
My office is a ghost town today -- I think I just saw a tumbleweed -- because all but 3 of us are out. I strongly considered bringing my dog to the office today (which I've never done before, but there are 2 other dogs in other offices in the building that show up regularly) and I think my co-workers would have accepted it but I didn't want to be a pest. I just felt badly about not seeing Bailey the border collie for very long yesterday. She's a sensitive pooch.
My office is a ghost town today -- I think I just saw a tumbleweed -- because all but 3 of us are out. I strongly considered bringing my dog to the office today (which I've never done before, but there are 2 other dogs in other offices in the building that show up regularly) and I think my co-workers would have accepted it but I didn't want to be a pest. I just felt badly about not seeing Bailey the border collie for very long yesterday. She's a sensitive pooch.
Wednesday, May 07, 2003
AND THEY'RE OFF
South Carolina got a big taste of the Democrats this weekend. And I was in Nashville! My favorite quote from this article is from Al Sharpton: "I am going to slap the donkey! I'm going to slap the donkey until the donkey kicks George Bush out of the White House!"
DUDE, I just checked and slapthedonkey.com is AVAILABLE. What a kickass (ha ha) title for a Democratic resurrection web site...
South Carolina got a big taste of the Democrats this weekend. And I was in Nashville! My favorite quote from this article is from Al Sharpton: "I am going to slap the donkey! I'm going to slap the donkey until the donkey kicks George Bush out of the White House!"
DUDE, I just checked and slapthedonkey.com is AVAILABLE. What a kickass (ha ha) title for a Democratic resurrection web site...
I think The Propaganda Remix Project is a wonderful way to express what "Homeland Security" is turning into. This guy has done a GREAT job. According to his site, he is an ex-Army Ranger and a combat veteran, so he's no coward. I am gonna order his book.
Tuesday, May 06, 2003
South Carolina - It's not crazy anymore. By David Plotz
A 2000 Slate article about South Carolina, claiming we are not as bad as the nation thinks we are.
Wow. Now if I can only persuade approximately 110,000 South Carolinians to switch their presidential votes to Democratic or 221,000 NEW voters to vote Democratic, maybe we'll really have something to brag about down here. At least we consistently elect the wonderful John Spratt to the House of Representatives.
A 2000 Slate article about South Carolina, claiming we are not as bad as the nation thinks we are.
Wow. Now if I can only persuade approximately 110,000 South Carolinians to switch their presidential votes to Democratic or 221,000 NEW voters to vote Democratic, maybe we'll really have something to brag about down here. At least we consistently elect the wonderful John Spratt to the House of Representatives.
There is a scene in 200 Cigarettes in which Martha Plimpton's character Monica (thank you, IMDB) is bemoaning the fact that no one has shown up for her party. She has gone to all the trouble to prepare food, a festive atmosphere, and invite all her friends, and nobody has come.
I have this same problem. I throw parties and then become miserable when no one arrives in the first thirty minutes. People always do come, but there is that moment of despair in which I feel that I must be the most boring and despised person alive. I have to fight the effort to drink all the wine and eat all the cheese I've provided for my ungrateful friends.
Then they show up and we have a great time.
I had a great idea for a party recently -- I think it would be fun to ask each invited guest to bring their best single friend of the opposite sex. Even if you are married, you still have single friends that you think would be a fun date for someone else, and that way you would not end up with only one or two single people at your party, or even worse, a swordfight or a gaggle of single girls who don't know each other.
I did a search and found that a couple of other people had had this same idea. One called it BYOB (Bring Your Own Bachelor/Bachelorette).
I have this same problem. I throw parties and then become miserable when no one arrives in the first thirty minutes. People always do come, but there is that moment of despair in which I feel that I must be the most boring and despised person alive. I have to fight the effort to drink all the wine and eat all the cheese I've provided for my ungrateful friends.
Then they show up and we have a great time.
I had a great idea for a party recently -- I think it would be fun to ask each invited guest to bring their best single friend of the opposite sex. Even if you are married, you still have single friends that you think would be a fun date for someone else, and that way you would not end up with only one or two single people at your party, or even worse, a swordfight or a gaggle of single girls who don't know each other.
I did a search and found that a couple of other people had had this same idea. One called it BYOB (Bring Your Own Bachelor/Bachelorette).
Hedwig Tribute album? File this under "Cool Idea, If It Ever Actually Takes Off. I found Hedwig and the Angry Inch to be very entertaining, funny and sad, and singable in the extreme. "I look back on where I'm from, look at the woman I've become, and the strangest things seem suddenly routine..."
Monday, May 05, 2003
I saw the show! It hasn't really hit me that I was on national TV yet. I mean I only saw it on one TV set, which is exactly like watching a videotape of yourself. But the fact that commercials featuring me or my sisters could come on the Discovery Channel at any given moment of the day is a strange thought.
Now I'm waiting to find out if my friend was able to record the show on DVD. Anyway, this is a boring post but the upshot is that making the show was one of the most fun things I've ever done, and having it air on television is just gravy.
Now I'm waiting to find out if my friend was able to record the show on DVD. Anyway, this is a boring post but the upshot is that making the show was one of the most fun things I've ever done, and having it air on television is just gravy.
Surprise By Design This is the link for today. My sisters, my friend Suzanne and I were in this TV show. I'm about to see it for the first time at noon today. My sister was very skeptical when she saw the bright colors they were using in her bedroom. The result is completely wild. Anyway, naturally I can't wait to see it. It comes on in 45 minutes so I don't have time to really say much. I'll log my reaction after.
Thursday, May 01, 2003
I took the Presidential Candidate selector here and these were my basic results. I was 100% compatible with Ralph Nader. Interesting, because although I agree with many tenets of the Green Party, I strongly support the Democratic Party. Further results: 76% Hilary Clinton, 75% John Kerry, 74% Howard Dean.
And President Bush and I are apparently 6% compatible -- must be the "Southerner" connection, because I have no idea what else we could have in common.
And President Bush and I are apparently 6% compatible -- must be the "Southerner" connection, because I have no idea what else we could have in common.
WHO AM I?
It occurs to me that a random reader who happens across this web site has no idea who I am, so I will provide my bare-bones info.
I am an intelligent, somewhat liberal, friendly 30-year-old woman who lives in South Carolina and works in North Carolina. I am deliriously happy in my marriage of three years to C, a musician/web developer/funny person. So if you develop a crush on me, that is your bad luck, because an affair is not on the menu.
I have an amazing border collie, two sisters, two parents and a small but widening group of smart/smartass friends that I like to hang out with.
My interests include singing, political discussion, light gardening, improvement of society and the environment, corny humor, and the Internet. I'm pretty organized, I shop at Target frequently and love to eat cheese. Despite this last fact, I weigh 101 pounds (the result of heredity, not anorexia) and overall tend toward being lazy.
Things I do not like include coffee, chocolate, Rush Limbaugh and other mean arrogant people like him, Dave Matthews Band, slugs (I have a mortal fear of them), hypocrisy, and people who talk on those walkie-talkie cell phones as if I am interested to hear their pathetically dull, one-sided conversations.
It occurs to me that a random reader who happens across this web site has no idea who I am, so I will provide my bare-bones info.
I am an intelligent, somewhat liberal, friendly 30-year-old woman who lives in South Carolina and works in North Carolina. I am deliriously happy in my marriage of three years to C, a musician/web developer/funny person. So if you develop a crush on me, that is your bad luck, because an affair is not on the menu.
I have an amazing border collie, two sisters, two parents and a small but widening group of smart/smartass friends that I like to hang out with.
My interests include singing, political discussion, light gardening, improvement of society and the environment, corny humor, and the Internet. I'm pretty organized, I shop at Target frequently and love to eat cheese. Despite this last fact, I weigh 101 pounds (the result of heredity, not anorexia) and overall tend toward being lazy.
Things I do not like include coffee, chocolate, Rush Limbaugh and other mean arrogant people like him, Dave Matthews Band, slugs (I have a mortal fear of them), hypocrisy, and people who talk on those walkie-talkie cell phones as if I am interested to hear their pathetically dull, one-sided conversations.
This pretty much states the way I feel. (Can you tell I'm in full-on political mode this morning?) Something I've been thinking a lot about lately is how to get more people in South Carolina to vote. South Carolina's got its share of poor and disadvantaged people -- in fact, Sumter County, which is where I'm from, is getting to be a very bad place to live and grow up, and that makes me so sad.
How can we get people to realize that if you don't vote, it ain't getting any better? The majority of people with money are going to vote people in who will let them keep the most of their money and not be "forced" to help anyone else. But the majority of people in this country DO need assistance of some kind, be it Social Security, healthcare, public schools for their kids -- and it's all being eroded away in favor of the almighty dollar. I don't want to live in a country where I have to pay tuition for my (future) child to receive even adequate schooling. To me, that's not a civilized society, that's one that cares too much about wealth-building and keeping the good stuff for the elite.
"For years, conservative Republicans railed against "unfunded mandates" -- costs imposed on states and localities by Washington absent the money to carry them out. Bush, oddly, is emerging as the king of unfunded mandates." Article: TAP: Web Feature: State Starvation. by Robert Kuttner. May 1, 2003. Is it just me, or is Bush a truly, really terrible president?
Well, it's definitely not me.
Well, it's definitely not me.
We're leaving for our trip to Nashville tomorrow morning. I am excited because:
1) My sister Mary is going with us. I love me some Mary.
2) I haven't been to Nashville since I became an adult.
3) We are going to see our friends A&T.
4) Our grandparents really wanted to go to the Grand Ole Opry, and so I made all the plans for us. Now I am Favored Grandchild.
5) We made new mix CDs for the trip and get to try them out.
6) On Monday, May 5 my sisters and I will make our national TV debut on a home decorating show, and this trip will make the weekend fly by. Hey, who doesn't want to be on TV?
7) I love road trips. The car we are taking has leather seats, is spacious and has a pretty decent sound system, all of which make for an appealing ride.
8) I get to take off work tomorrow. 4-day work weeks are the best!
You notice I haven't mentioned the Opry. I could care less about the show itself. Sorry, but it's not my thing. The trip itself is the good part.
1) My sister Mary is going with us. I love me some Mary.
2) I haven't been to Nashville since I became an adult.
3) We are going to see our friends A&T.
4) Our grandparents really wanted to go to the Grand Ole Opry, and so I made all the plans for us. Now I am Favored Grandchild.
5) We made new mix CDs for the trip and get to try them out.
6) On Monday, May 5 my sisters and I will make our national TV debut on a home decorating show, and this trip will make the weekend fly by. Hey, who doesn't want to be on TV?
7) I love road trips. The car we are taking has leather seats, is spacious and has a pretty decent sound system, all of which make for an appealing ride.
8) I get to take off work tomorrow. 4-day work weeks are the best!
You notice I haven't mentioned the Opry. I could care less about the show itself. Sorry, but it's not my thing. The trip itself is the good part.
Wednesday, April 30, 2003
Rick Santorum believes that anything outside of a married, child-producing sexual relationship breaks down the very fabric of America. Section of interview here. He also snaps on welfare, which I guarantee you his family never personally experienced.
You know, folks, I heard a statement this morning from a North Carolina state congressman. He said, "A reasonable tax is the price of freedom." He then went on to say, if you don't like that, move to another country (Cuba, for instance). Nice to see the "love it or leave it" philosophy espoused by someone I actually agree with.
You know, folks, I heard a statement this morning from a North Carolina state congressman. He said, "A reasonable tax is the price of freedom." He then went on to say, if you don't like that, move to another country (Cuba, for instance). Nice to see the "love it or leave it" philosophy espoused by someone I actually agree with.
Tuesday, April 29, 2003
OH yeah. This site is what I am talkin' about. Do not miss the "Working For the Man" section. To me, this represents what the web was meant for: hilarity and scoffing at people you hate.
One more for today and I'll quit. Ukulele lesson is quite seriously among the funniest things I have seen on the web. And if you like that, you will love Engrish.com.
OK, so really that was two. Start your own damn blog if you don't like mine.
OK, so really that was two. Start your own damn blog if you don't like mine.
I found this little tidbit in an article on Salon:
"In fact, Texas law allows anyone to have sex with their dog in private, if they are so inclined. (In the same year that Texas passed its current anti-sodomy law for gays, it repealed the law against bestiality.) You can even have same-gender gay sex with your dog and the law in Texas will protect you. It's only if you're gay and want to have consensual sex with another adult in private that the law draws the line."
And they call us South Carolinians crazy. At least we know that gay sex with our dogs is just plain wrong.
"In fact, Texas law allows anyone to have sex with their dog in private, if they are so inclined. (In the same year that Texas passed its current anti-sodomy law for gays, it repealed the law against bestiality.) You can even have same-gender gay sex with your dog and the law in Texas will protect you. It's only if you're gay and want to have consensual sex with another adult in private that the law draws the line."
And they call us South Carolinians crazy. At least we know that gay sex with our dogs is just plain wrong.
Oops. I tried to post a link in the last post and f*ed it up. Now I can't edit it and it just cut off. So here is what I was going to say. A is part of our band Honeyfly and we haven't been to see his new house in Nashville or anything. A good time will be had by all. But if not, you will certainly read about it here...
Topic: Impending Trip to Nashville.
When I was six, my aunt and uncle took me to Opryland. I know I loved it, but the only memory I have of it is of a place called "Angle Inn," which was basically a room set on a tilt, so everything felt all screwy when you walked through it. I think there were pictures with moving eyes a la Scooby Doo.
Flash forward fourteen years. I now get the privilege of planning a trip for me, C and 13 relatives-slash-friends-of-family to Nashville. Why? Because my grandfather, an ex-military man who is very precise and commanding, said so. I respect my elders, especially those who make me a little nervous.
We also will get to see our friends A&T. A is part of our band
When I was six, my aunt and uncle took me to Opryland. I know I loved it, but the only memory I have of it is of a place called "Angle Inn," which was basically a room set on a tilt, so everything felt all screwy when you walked through it. I think there were pictures with moving eyes a la Scooby Doo.
Flash forward fourteen years. I now get the privilege of planning a trip for me, C and 13 relatives-slash-friends-of-family to Nashville. Why? Because my grandfather, an ex-military man who is very precise and commanding, said so. I respect my elders, especially those who make me a little nervous.
We also will get to see our friends A&T. A is part of our band
Since I was so long in creating a blog for myself, I have some "hilarious link" catching up to do. Y'all already know that Britney Spears is a total genius, right?
My Current Favorite Wines:
(pinot grigios, red zinfandels, gewurtztraminers, rieslings, shiraz cabernets)
Redwood Creek - I like their whites and reds. Ditto Rosemount, which seems to be an award winner.
I seem to like the Australian wines the best overall. Not really sure why -- I don't know much about wine. I also try to not like wine that costs more than $12 a bottle.
Lindemans Bin 65 is another favorite chardonnay. I like white wine either really fruity, almost in the Boone's Farm category, or spicy/peppery.
(pinot grigios, red zinfandels, gewurtztraminers, rieslings, shiraz cabernets)
Redwood Creek - I like their whites and reds. Ditto Rosemount, which seems to be an award winner.
I seem to like the Australian wines the best overall. Not really sure why -- I don't know much about wine. I also try to not like wine that costs more than $12 a bottle.
Lindemans Bin 65 is another favorite chardonnay. I like white wine either really fruity, almost in the Boone's Farm category, or spicy/peppery.
Modem Madness (washingtonpost.com) Article about how bloggers are taking over the world, not to mention the 2004 election. (Go Dean!)
Remember my earlier comment about it being bad that I can post every 5 seconds to my blog? I promise I will slow down. I just don't have much to do today at work.
See if you can spot the musicians' ad through which C and I met in 1996. Loafers Exchange - Sound Waves
I wish I could attend this WordPhoria this week but I just don't have the time. Still, it's good to know it exists and the few I have attended were well worth five bucks.
Kitchen remodeling can be test of family survival - 2003-04-21 - Charlotte Business Journal My friend Tess wrote this article and quoted me in it. Anything I'm quoted in that doesn't make me come off like a lunatic is good stuff. Maybe undertaking the renovation of my own kitchen DOES make me a lunatic, though.
Attention Please I took Blogger's invitation to put a little icon in my toolbar that allows me to click and post to the journal at any time. As distractable as I am, that could be a bad thing.
Monday, April 28, 2003
Oh good lord, I did it. I started a blog. What the heck was I thinking? Just another affirmation of my tendency to unwittingly follow the crowd, I guess. All perfectly normal. Move along, people. Nothing new to see here.
I called it Attention Please because what is an online journal but a silly plea for attention? People have kept journals, records of their lives, for centuries, always with the hope that "someday" their thoughts will be read and appreciated. And now with technology and all, the gratification is nearly immediate.
I called it Attention Please because what is an online journal but a silly plea for attention? People have kept journals, records of their lives, for centuries, always with the hope that "someday" their thoughts will be read and appreciated. And now with technology and all, the gratification is nearly immediate.
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