Category: Uncategorized

Librarians Help People Turn Their Hobbies Into Small Businesses. I did not know librarians could be so helpful. (Said the librarian for small businesses. See, I just can’t do snarky.)

Revver is a video sharing system (think YouTube) that I read about in the Wall Street Journal. Their angle: they pay you for your video.

MySpace Rules the Web. Part of Rupert Murdock’s contining plan for world domination.

Is Windows 98 a Living Fossil? If you still have it, you’re probably in for some rude surprises.

It’s hard to get people excited about budget cuts for the Census Bureau, but if we end up doing a 2010 Census with the long form again, instead of having data every year, which the ACS would provide, don’t come crying to me.

Why Are Americans So Angry? by Congressman Ron Paul (R-TEXAS)

And because it realy ticks me off, Shout the Names of the the Wrongly Executed.

Of course, I’m a linking piker compared to one Greg Burgas, who this week posted things such as these:

*A story of an anti-abortionist who thought a satirical piece in the Onion was real (picture with his initial reply not suited for two-year olds)
*An article about an 83-year old who traded drugs for sex (I actually felt sorry for the guy)
*Folks who are thrilled with world crises, because the Rapture is closer than ever (arrgh!)
But one of his links does not give any credit to sex columnist Dan Savage of Savage Love and his readers for the derivation of the noun santorum, the first hit you’ll find for the word if you put in Google.

Of course, I blame Greg for not being able to sleep last night. It was 114F in Phoenix a couple days ago, and all that hot air came this way, so that it was 95F here yesterday (and well above 70F, and humid, last night.)
***
And because it struck me as more true than funny:

Lutheran Squirrels Story

There were four country churches in a small TEXAS town:
The Presbyterian Church , the Baptist Church, the LUTHERAN Church and the Roman Catholic Church.

But — the LUTHERAN CHURCH came up with the best and most effective solution:
They CONFIRMED the squirrels as members of the church.
Now they only see them on Christmas and Easter.

1-What do you want people to say about you when you die?

He was a good friend.

2-How long does it take you to get ready to go out?

I’m ready now. Oh, for what?

3-If you were an animal what would you be?

A cat.

4-What’s your biggest fear?

Right now, that there are certain rxtended family issues that seem unresolvable.

5-What’s your most prized possesion?

It’s hard to say. Probably my signed copy of Abbey Road by all four Beatles.

6-What’s the funniest word you can think of?

Almost anything can be funny if you say it right. That said, something German such as farfenugen.

7-Do you get along with your parents? Mom, most of the time. Dad is deceased.

8-What do you look for in the opposite sex?

Intelligence, a certain curviness, eyes.

9-What was the most difficult thing you had to do?

Go to Charlotte the week my father was dying, because I knew if i went, he would die. And he did.

10-If you were given one day to live what would you do?

Kiss the Vice-President and hope for a scandal.

11-If you could relive any day of your life either for good or to change it what would it be?

It was a breakup.

12-What’s the worst feeling in the world?

Emotional claustrophobia.

The best?

Being touched.

13-If you could meet anyone who ever existed who would it be?

I’ve answered this before, so I’ll say, this time, Jackie Robinson.

14-What was the meanest thing you ever did as a little kid?

I hid from people when I was feeling melacholy, and enjoyed hearing them calling, looking for me.

15-What have you learned about love?

There’s a song in the movie Moulon Rouge which captures all the love cliches. They are cliches because they are true.

16-How have you changed in the past year?

There was a conversation about just passing on the opening act and to go right to the headliner, but that didn’t happen. Instead, Buzzy Linhart did his opening set. Don’t remember much about it, except that, since he knew we had no idea who he was, he kept name-dropping. He knew David Crosby and Bob Dylan. He worked with John Sebastian and Jimi Hendrix. It was all so…irritating, even though it turned out to be true. He seemed most proud of the fact that he co-wrote the song “Friends” that Bette Midler recorded.

That’s a story that I all but forgot until I read that story a couple weeks ago about Americans having fewer friends.

I think I’m pretty lucky that I’ve had some very good friends over the years: my racquetball partner Norm for maybe 20 years, my first-day-of-college friend Mark since 1971, my friend Karen from kindergarten (!), just to name three that I’m regularly in touch with.

So, my three questions, which I would appreciate a reply to:

1. How do you define “friend”? In a MySpace sort of way, or does it actually mean sharing some substantial thing? (Or am I just missing the point of MySpace?)

2. Can you be friends with people you haven’t met, that is, electronically? I contend, much to my surprise, yes.

3. Does the isolation of American life – longer commutes, busyness, distance from the core family – mean that the report is right, that we do have fewer friends, or is it merely a definitional issue? Certainly, school is a great way to meet potential friends, at least in my life, but I think the number of my friends would certainly have diminished had I not been involved with church and other organizations, and (OK, I’ll say it) this blog, which has been a way for me to keep in touch with people when I wouldn’t have otherwise (no Christmas cards sent two years in a row).

Lessee.

Oh, she tries to squeeze too much in to a time frame, which sometime makes us late. In fact, today, scheduled a walk, a trip to the Y for a swim class for Lydia, a Bible study…and she IS allowing me to take her to dinner.

And…

Well, that’s pretty much it.

Do you know what she wants for her birthday? For me to help her pick up things around the house, and a gift card from one of those kitchen appliance stores. Check, and check.

This summer, she’s co-ordinating this ESL summer enrichment program, thus cutting into her downtime – teachers NEED their summer downtime, I gather.

Anyway, she’s a good mom.

She’s gotten a lot more cynical about politics (like her husband) than she used to be, which is too bad, though quite understandable. She pays more attention to the news.
I could write a lot more, but the chances she’ll even see it is quite minimal.

After the Las Vegas incident of July 2004, I was peeved enough to go out to buy her 4-disc box set. Don’t make me angry; I spend money.

The collection is put together in a most interesting way. The first disc and the first half of the second disc generally follows her career, with album cuts from throughout, but from then current (1998), back to the beginning, skipping over the a couple phases. (It is light on what is probably my favorite album, Hasten Down the Wind.) The rest of the second disc is comprised of songs from the three albums she did with Nelson Riddle and the two discs of Mexican songs.

The third disc is a collaborative disc where she performs with everyone from Kermit the Frog to Frank Sinatra, plus of course, Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, and Aaron Neville. It also runs from most recent back, but doesn’t include her background singing with Neil Young (Heart of Gold, et al.) or Under African Skies (Paul Simon).

Disc four is her rarities, including her contributions to Randy Newman’s Faust, a contribution to Carla Bley’s jazz opera Escalator Over the Hill, a collaboration with Philip Glass and much more. Again, latest to earliest.

I believe that in order for a box set to be successful, it must have both enough familiar stuff to reel you in, plus enough GOOD unfamiliar stuff to make it worthwhile. This set succeeds on both counts.

Last month, I heard her and Ann Savoy sang a couple songs on the radio show A Prairie Home Companion. One song was a Cajun tune, the other a ballad.

Then I came across the June 29 episode of Amazon Fishbowl with Bill Mahar. (The full episode also features Teri Hatcher: memoir, Burnt Toast; Annabelle Gurwitch: book and documentary, both titled Fired!; “dog whisper” Cesar Millan.) “11-time Grammy Award winner Linda Ronstadt and Ann Savoy harmonize beautifully on “Walk Away, Renee” and “Too Old to Die Young.” Between numbers they spar with Bill on the American South and Las Vegas.”

I’ve added their collaboration “Adieu, False Heart” to my shopping list; the album comes out on July 25.