Monday, April 16th, 2012
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8:15 pm - truth is stranger than fiction
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I usually don't post political things, but I've had a strong visceral dislike for Newt Gingrich ever since I was teenager in the '80s (yeah someone who divorced his wife *while she's fighting breast cancer* while running on 'family values' kind of redlined my tolerance for political hypocrisy). Anyway, nearly-bankrupt-Newt was campaigning at a zoo in St. Lious and was bitten by a penguin.
Yes. That is not a typo. He was bitten by a penguin. Why his hand was close enough for a penguin to bite, I have no idea. But I have a new respect for the intelligence of penguins.
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(comment on this)
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Sunday, April 15th, 2012
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5:54 pm - fun stuff
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Cellists dualing with lightsabers - plus a guest appearance by Chewie and Darth Vader:
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Saturday, December 10th, 2011
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11:54 am - fun with zombies
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Friday, November 18th, 2011
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7:25 am - Bloodhound Supersonic Car: Eat Your Heart Out Batman...
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Friday, September 23rd, 2011
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5:52 pm - yeah! work is done
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Work is done. The weekend is washed out (which means no picnic at which to pet greyhounds - boo!), but I leave for Montreal on Sunday at o'dark-thirty for what should be an interesting conference and a nice get together with people I haven't seen in a few years.
Now, if I can convince the kids to watch the SGU or Voyager DVDs while stuck inside tomorrow...
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Tuesday, September 13th, 2011
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6:46 pm - 9/11 Heroes
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Monday, August 1st, 2011
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8:04 pm - Pimping for a cause
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I've been part of Kiva, a group that makes micro-loans to people in developing nations who would not otherwise have access to typical banking services since 2008. Based on the 'Bank of the Poor' concept, the idea is that low-income individuals are capable of lifting themselves out of poverty if given access to financial services. For example, a woman does piece goods work by hand can greatly increase her productivity and income if she can buy a sewing machine. The problem is that banks don't make loans to the poor, esp. not to the poor in the third world.
Kiva does - by collecting up to $25 from individual lenders to meet the request of various applicants. The fun part is that as a lender you can view the applicants and decide who you want to help. Often you get updates or journals from the field partners assisting the loanees.
In any case, Kiva got funds to run a promotion letting established lenders invite others to use a free $25 trial loan to see how it works. The numbers of free trials is of course limited, but if you'd like to try, the link is below:
free $25 trial loan
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Friday, July 22nd, 2011
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12:20 pm - Friday funny
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Friday, July 15th, 2011
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3:45 pm - Random Friday silliness
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Yes, the week ate my brain and it's officially left the building. But I ran across a website called Animals with Lightsabers and this one really amused me, so I must share:
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Monday, July 4th, 2011
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9:20 pm - X-Men: First Class
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Okay so I just saw this with my 10-yr-old daughter. Overall very good, although I realized afterward that my dd has very little concept of the Cold War. She knows about Nazis, but in her life span terrorists have been the bad guys and the USSR is just a historical footnote. So interesting conversation afterward about how I grew up not necessarily expecting to grow up before Mutual Assured Destruction ended it all.
However, I have to ask: am I the only one who found Magneto a much more sympathetic character than Xavier? At several points I was internally applauding Erik and wanting to slap Charles.
( **SPOILERS** )
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(13 comments | comment on this)
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Thursday, June 30th, 2011
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5:54 pm - Yeah!
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So I past my green belt test and am now officially an advanced student in my latest martial arts style. Yeah!
Moving up is getting harder as I get older, but I managed. "...I ain't as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was..."
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Sunday, June 12th, 2011
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8:34 pm
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Just got back from a trip to NYC to see one of my friends ordained as an interfaith minister. The ceremony was in this huge church with THE most amazing stained glass and was very beautiful. Plus, I got to drive up with two friends and NO KIDS (I know, I know, what kind of horrible mother rejoices in a day w/o her offspring? Ans: Me).
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Wednesday, May 25th, 2011
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12:29 pm - Booze and Star Trek
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Sunday, May 22nd, 2011
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4:14 pm - So this is my muse...
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God but I love 'Pearls before Swine'. I have 3 stories that I should be finishing but as it turns out my muse has been replaced by this guy:
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Friday, May 6th, 2011
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9:19 pm - my dd is Capt. Kirk?
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Got back from my daughter's choir banquet a little while ago. Everyone gets an award for something unique about their contribution to choir - usually something sort of funny based on the child's personality and/or interests.
DD got 'Courageous like Captain Kirk'. Should I be worried?
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(comment on this)
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3:02 pm - Had to share
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Sunday, May 1st, 2011
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9:31 pm
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Friday I came into work to find my motherboard had fried. I just got a notice that our IT guy - who was on vacation last week - won't be in until late tomorrow.
This will be me tomorrow morning:
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Tuesday, April 26th, 2011
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10:33 pm
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I am in a very odd mood right now and this made me laugh so I had to share:
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(comment on this)
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12:11 pm
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A friend sent me a poem and says it's okay to share since he says it's not for his next book (the current one is available here in case anyone is interested).
as a child I was always comforted at night
by the whistle and the clatter
of the wheels - metal on metal -
of the freight train
as it approached and then crossed woodruff road
down by the little league field
its plaintive cry as it approached the crossing
two long blasts, two short,
and one last long one as it crossed the road
the sound of the metal wheels on the metal rails
as it ran over the seams of the tracks
vibrating from side to side
it was a nightly friend
at roughly 9:30 each evening
bidding me good night
a constant in a child's life
with little cause for joy
carrying its unknown cargo
from point A to point B
another distant whistle
another road
and then the silence
of owls and crickets
an occasional car
but nothing as friendly or as loving
as that train’s lonesome whistle
or the noise of the wheels
- metal on metal -
10/12/10
Michael C. Mahan
This appealed to me on a lot of levels. We used to live near train tracks for one and the melancholy tone fits. We just learned a co-worker who disappeared last week was gone because he committed suicide. I didn't know him well, but we did work together and I'm the one who recruited him 10 years ago. No explanation for why. None of us here would have thought of him as the type to do something like this.
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(2 comments | comment on this)
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Thursday, April 7th, 2011
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12:31 pm - This dog dances better than I do
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