Wednesday, March 30, 2005

Noonan and David Brooks on Terri Schiavo (updated to include Pizzas and Cream blogger)

Dave Merkowitz, in his blog, cites these two articles:

Peggy Noonan on Terri Schiavo

David Brooks, Op-Ed Columnist: Morality and Reality (must register to view the New York Times article, but it's FREE)

Noonan's article is entitled "In Love With Death: The bizarre passion of the pull-the-tube people." She can understand how the people who are in favor of letting Terri live can be passionate about their belief in the sanctity of all life. But about the people who want to pull the plug, Noonan writes:

I do not understand their certainty. I don't "know" that any degree of progress or healing is possible for Terri Schiavo; I only hope they are. We can't know, but we can "err on the side of life." How do the pro-death forces "know" there is no possibility of progress, healing, miracles? They seem to think they know. They seem to love the phrases they bandy about: "vegetative state," "brain dead," "liquefied cortex."
Excerpt from the New York Times article:

Morality and Reality
By DAVID BROOKS

Published: March 26, 2005

The core belief that social conservatives bring to cases like Terri Schiavo's is that the value of each individual life is intrinsic. The value of a life doesn't depend upon what a person can physically do, experience or achieve. The life of a comatose person or a fetus has the same dignity and worth as the life of a fully functioning adult.

Social conservatives go on to say that if we make distinctions about the value of different lives, if we downgrade those who are physically alive but mentally incapacitated, if we say that some people can be more easily moved toward death than others, then the strong will prey upon the helpless, and the dignity of all our lives will be diminished.
Brooks goes on to say this:

If you surveyed the avalanche of TV and print commentary that descended upon us this week, you found social conservatives would start the discussion with a moral argument about the sanctity of life, and then social liberals would immediately start talking about jurisdictions, legalisms, politics and procedures. They were more comfortable talking about at what level the decision should be taken than what the decision should be. [emphasis mine]

A lot to think about. I am not entirely sure what the family of Terri Schiavo ought to do, but I know I will talk with my family about my wishes when we see each other for Easter dinner tomorrow.

UPDATE:

In his blog, Charlie asks: Whose coma is it anyway? About Terri's parents, he says:
What a horrible place for the parents to exist... they cannot get their daughter back, nor can they grieve or move beyond the tragedy that brought her to this condition. So in a sense, they too are in a persistent vegetative state, at least emotionally.

And regarding the government's involvement in the case:
When did the Republicans stop being the party of personal responsibility and small government and start being my nosey Aunt Ethel?

It turned out that my family and I didn't discuss this at all at our Easter get-together. But we had a good time telling funny stories and playing charades with my nieces and nephews, all under aged ten.

Easter Egg Hunt


egg hunt3
Originally uploaded by Art Ascii (Paul).

I really like the angle of this photo. And the colors, and the subject matter. I didn't get any Cadbury Eggs this year, but I'll see if they still have them in the stores.

The St John's School Easter Bonnet Parade, Radlett


The St John's School Easter Bonnet Parade, Radlett
Originally uploaded by bowbrick.

St John's School Easter bonnet parade

Check out these kids in their Easter finery!

Monday, March 28, 2005

Foresta fire (Yosemite set by artolog on flickr)


Foresta fire
Originally uploaded by artolog.

These are some great photos. I especially love the starkness of this photo: at the site of the 1990 Foresta fire.

Click on the post title to see the whole set.

Baby in a Bonnet


A Picture Share!
Originally uploaded by jeffer72.

I love the look on this child's face!

Saturday, March 26, 2005

Picture of a bunny with a pancake on its head

I got it from Margi Lowry who got it from Ilyka Damen, who got it from the blogger whose blog is called "Least-Loved Bedtime Stories: The Site Formerly Known As 'Victory Soap'."

bunny pancake


Have a happy and blessed Easter.

Marjie

Paying for advice

Danah Boyd's friend went to a "a cult-esque finding yourself seminar" where he paid for advice that Danah had been trying to give him (for free) for years. But once the man paid out some good money, he saw the worth in the advice. Or perhaps he just wasn't ready to hear it until he went to the seminar. The mere fact of being willing to pay for it may indicate that he was ready to act upon the advice, whereas in previous times all he wanted to do was vent and hear his friend sympathize with him.

I know, I've been there myself, on both ends. My close friends can surely attest that they gave me much good advice over the years which was listened to and ignored. And now, that I'm older and wiser, I wish I'd been able to take the advice when it was given. But I'm just stubborn enough to have to learn some things the hard way. And there are a few friends and relatives who are certainly sick of my trying to tell them what to do. It's hard not to say something when you see a loved one going too far down the wrong path, but people are not always in a frame of mind to hear you.

Seth (in one of the comments to Danah's post) said:

"...by paying money, time, etc, people have a personal investment. Just because they can get that advice for free doesn't mean they'll believe it. What they're buying isn't advice, it's peace of mind about an externalized decision."


To all my friend who gave me advice over the years, thank you. Even if I wasn't ready to hear it then, I remember and thank you now.

Marjie

Francesca's Liberal Wingnut Corner: You are what you read

Francesca says about her site:

In the glut of liberal blogs on the web these days, lower your expectations as you read this one. This is an accumulation of links regarding progressive/liberal politics, political humor, and online activism with minimal commentary from me. I also keep a running list of ridiculous things that seem to only happen in "red states."


Lots of humor, not so much ranting. I like it. I liked the list of "you are what you read":

The Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the country.

The Washington Post is read by people who think they run the country.

The New York Times is read by people who think they should run the country and who are very good at crossword puzzles.

and so forth until:

The National Enquirer is read by people trapped in line at the grocery store.

None of these is read by the guy who is running the country into the ground, however.


And here's Francesca's take on SUVs: the most selfish vehicles in America.

Friday, March 25, 2005

Franken-Peeps


13
Originally uploaded by bfelice.

Franken-Peeps by BFelice!

Check 'em all out!

Happy Easter!

MB (who will be spending a lot of time singing in the choir)

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

what is "monetize"?

Meg Hourihan's weblog

Meg didn't like the overuse of the word "monetize" at the recent ETech conference. I think the word is a barbaric neologism. Right up there with "network" as a verb.

More about ETech from Robert Kaye, Mayhem & Chaos Coordinator and creator of MusicBrainz, the music metadata commons. I like the sound of all that, but am not sure what he does exactly. But there are links to explain it all.

Anyhow, to get back to "monetize," I think it sort of means "to monetarily maximize" or something similar. But I didn't look it up yet, I'm just going by the sound and look of the word. Maybe it's not such a bad word after all, if the meaning is clear without having to refer to some jargon dictionary. I like neologisms okay; I just don't care for displeasing word constructions. And the word looks like "Monet" and I'm quite sure it has nothing to do with French Impressionist painters.

Scribal Terror: What do you meme?

Scribal Terror: What do you meme?

Gail wants to know how you use the word "meme" because she's writing a dissertation about plagiarism.

She says:

I'm really interested in this although it seems like a dopey thing to ask. (Why not look it up in the dictionary, Gail?) (Well, smarty pants, the meaning is constantly shifting, and I want to know what the range of working definitions is, especially on the 'net.)

I liked Ana's comment also:

Leave it to me to read blogs that require the OED, Urban Dictionary, Wiki, Google, Snopes, some law website, a copy of the Consti-friggin'-tution, and the Physician's Desk Ref.
If you can help Gail out with her research, please do. Inquiring minds want to know.

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Top ten list of really hard to write top ten lists

Top ten list of really hard to write top ten lists! My favorite is #4.

4. Top 10 List Of Bathroom Floors You'd Ever Apply
The "Three Second Rule" To

Frank also has a note on blogging and grammar here. I like the comments after it. And all the misspellings. And what he says here:

That's why I actually like it when people e-mail me corrections (I don't like them in the comments because it makes no sense after the correction is made). Pointing out mistakes in my post is doing me a favor. But here is how you phrase a correction.

In this sentence (excerpt of sentence) you accidentally wrote "you're" when you meant "your".

See, in that correction, the person shows that he knows that I understand proper grammar and simply made an inevitable error.


Write on, baby, write on!

PEEP WAR!


Easter01_PeepWar_board
Originally uploaded by griffjon.

I'm not sure who's winning here!

peeps - scene of a crime?


peeps
Originally uploaded by DCist Rob.

What's going on here? I can't look away!

Caesar Peep


Ceasar Peep
Originally uploaded by citizenkafka.

While searching for PEEP on flickr, I found this Caesar Peep. It's pretty nice for a non-traditional Easter photo!

Friday, March 18, 2005

The Most Annoying Phrases, Jargon, & Mispronunciations

Rachel's list of the Most Annoying Phrases, Jargon, & Mispronunciations includes lots that are on my list also. But she left out George Dubya's "NUK-you-ler" !

The list is almost a year old, but W's been saying that for the longest!

Thursday, March 17, 2005

Green River


Green River
Originally uploaded by GiantGinkgo.

Green Dye in the Chicago River!

Three Leaved Clover


Three Leaved Clover
Originally uploaded by Catherine Jamieson.

Here's what the photographer says about this photo:

When I was a little girl my Irish grandfather and I used to go off hunting for four leaved clovers until one day we were eating our sardine sandwiches by the water and we got philosophising about it (he was a great philosopher in between beers, was my Grandfather) and we concluded that four leaved clovers must be the unluckiest things in the world ... people were always snapping them off their
stalks. THREE leaved, clovers, we decided, were much luckier.

And easier to find.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Life According to Carrie: Read the Manual People!

Life According to Carrie: Read the Manual People!:

"The copier silenced by the Paper Jam of the Gods."

"semi-complicated things like full-on duplexing or image shifting."
I love Carrie's way with words. I wish she worked at my office!

Blogs that are NOT blogs

I've been finding some so called blogs that are not blogs at all, but are in fact some lame attempt at advertising. Like some of these:

frederick cooper mandaly - pachys on parade - pure cast bronze ceremonial elephant table lamp - facing left - my104; The Largest Selection of Premium Brand Names for Your Home at the Best Prices; offers thousands of luxury home, bath & kitchen products including frederick cooper mandaly - pachys on parade - pure cast bronze ceremonial elephant table lamp - facing left - my104, faucets, sinks, toilets, bathtubs, door handles, jacuzzis, showers, kitchens, bathrooms and whirlpools.
=============
which wedding Thursday, March
10, 2005 Free Christian Wedding Music Your free guide for the perfect big daywedding Free Christian Wedding Music Best Source Free Christian Wedding Music Free Christian Wedding Music Scroll down to see latest news for latest news for February 26, 2005 WorshipMusic - Christian music, worship music, and..
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Auto Loans Online Blog about Auto Loans Online, Auto mobile loans and information on Vehicle Loans and Articles.

Friday, March 11, 2005 Peoples first car loans Peoples first car loans Peoples first car loans Articles and Websites Reviewed: Peoples first car loans ARTICLE of the DAY: Check back tomorrow for more articles. Have you ever felt like you bought an auto and financed it and don't really know if you got the right price or financing arrangements after it was all over? Well, don't feel alone. This is a common experience for many people who make auto purchases.Guidelines for negotiating the car price can be foun..

Maine bad credit car loan
Maine bad credit car loan Maine bad credit car loan Articles and Websites Reviewed: Maine bad credit car loan ARTICLE of the DAY: Check back tomorrow for more articles. By Jakob Jelling Some time in your life you will need a new car. You may not want to have the burden of a new car debt, but you may find there are very few alternatives. There are some simple things you can look for that will help reduce the amount of money every month. D..
============


I will not link to any of these. They are giving blogs a bad name. They are SPAMblogs!

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

The Light Fantastic


IMG_2988
Originally uploaded by robt.

I love this series of photos on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/groups/lightfantastic/pool/

They all feature light, sunsets, sunrises, just any kind of light. They look like magical places. I haven't had time to view the whole series, but I just can't stop!

Monday, March 14, 2005

Unwelcoming: Maybe I should have had something like this...


Unwelcoming
Originally uploaded by humming.

...on my car to scare thieves away!

My car was stolen from right behind my apartment building sometime last night. I don't lock the car because it's old (1987 Dodge Shadow) and I don't want anyone smashing glass to get in.

I did have several pairs of my favorite shoes in the back seat, waiting until I got the time to take them in for repairs.

I don't have insurance to cover the theft (only liability insurance on the old thing), so I hope the police find the car.

Friday, March 11, 2005

Lollygaggin: What I learned (the hard way)

Lollygaggin: What I learned

1. Never, I repeat, never step on the business end of a rake without expecting the handle to 'THWACK' you firmly between the eyes. Despite how funny it looks when the Three Stooges do it, it hurts like hell.

4. If you're playing with the garden hose, never look down the open end if it suddenly stops flowing. Check to see where your Dad is, first.
The other 8 items are just as good. I've never had the misfortune to be THWACKed with a rake, but I've had water go up my nose from the garden hose.

The Secret Life of Shoes: Letting Go...Not!

The Secret Life of Shoes: Letting Go...Not!

A woman after my own heart! I keep too many things and I know I need to just get rid of them. Like her, I've done things like hanging onto one shoe just in case the other is ever found. Why is it so hard to let go of a thing? Or in my case, about eleventy-thousand things.

Bugs

i've been sick all week. the kind of sickness where you feel like you are drunk or on drugs. the kind where nothing really hurts but you feel like crap. the kind where you just wanna sleep all day but for some reason you just keep going in to work every day and drag yourself home at the end of the day and fall into bed at 6 pm. the kind of sickness where all your co-workers keep saying why don't you go home or have you been to the doctor yet. the kind of sickness where you walk like a zombie and talk like an emphysema patient.

But enough about me. Here is a nice blog about bugs. The insect kind.

I also like her personal journal, Bug Jar Diaries.

Thursday, March 10, 2005

Dining in the Dark

I heard it on NPR: a Zurich, Switzerland, restaurant offers diners the experience of dining in total darkness, served by blind waitresses.

Hear producer Adam Burke's story in your RealAudio or Windows Media player. I especially like his description of finding a gumball-sized dollop in his salad and trying to figure out what kind of food it is.

Wednesday, March 09, 2005

Lego Relativity

Check this one out, they made a lego version of Escher's Relativity!

Lego Relativity

Pretty Cool!

ESCHERESQUE


ESCHERESQUE
Originally uploaded by Rod Graves.

I'm a big fan of the artist M.C. Escher. (See one of Escher's stairways.) Naturally this photo by Rod Graves caught my eye. Here's what another viewer said about the photo:

TaGurit says:
"This is just totally trippy... if you turn your head to the side you get it, but then dizziness starts to set in... ;) "


I still haven't figured out what I'm really looking at here, but I love the effect.

Tuesday, March 08, 2005

New Blog Name

Well, SJ, you talked me into it! I've changed the name of my blog to "MB's Blogasm."

SJ deserves full credit for the new jazzier name. She and I have never met, but I like her blogs (Chronic Listaholic, becoming mrs. bret, and heinous haiku) and she liked this one, and so she offered me the name and I took it!

Work Space


Work Space
Originally uploaded by ddunleavy.

Now this Oliver Hardy doesn't bother me. He's in a photo with his partner, Stan Laurel, and it's a great photo. In my previous entry, that man had a three-dimensional head on his wall.

Here's what the photographer, Dennis Dunleavy, says about his photo:

"The spaces in which people work tell us a lot about their personalities and interests. I really enjoyed meeting Dr. William Ruehlmann this week. Bill is a journalism professor at Virginia Wesleyan College in the Norfolk/ Virginia Beach area. Stepping into his office is like taking a trip to a museum of pop culture. You could spend hours just looking at all sort of books, posters and pop icons."

The Man Room: Guy Turf or Prison?

The Last Nail: The Man Room: Guy Turf or Prison?

We know that guys need their own space. But some men have such a weird sense of style, of how things ought to look, or maybe they just don't care how the place looks. The Oliver Hardy head on the wall just says it all!

But the women who live with these "style-free" need to control the parts of the house that others will see! Of course she will have the whole rest of the house to call her own.

I find it amusing and sad that he links to an actual prisoner.

Warlords Of Pez


Warlords Of Pez
Originally uploaded by iambrazil.

What is it? Do they mean Warlords of the PEZ Candies? This creature looks pretty frightening!

a shadow picture


hands
Originally uploaded by ddunleavy.

I like pictures that feature shadows. This one really caught my eye.

For all you Trekkies out there: Star Trek Chicks


Drill Thrall Shanah
Originally uploaded by donbo7011.

Drill Thrall Shanah looks real scary! And the outfit looks like it's made out of that mylar stuff.

I guess he didn't include the offshoots of Star Trek like Deep Space 9 or that other one with the woman captain.

I'd like to see Jeri Ryan and Terry Farrell in the collection!

Friday, March 04, 2005

I See You (from below)


I See You
Originally uploaded by BombDog.

WOW! another great photo by BombDog!

Also check out this one of his, and read his comments on how he made the shot without photoshopping: Switch-Stance 180

To Touch is to See


To Touch is to See
Originally uploaded by BombDog.

a very ghostly looking spider.

I like all of BombDog's photos.

Reading is Sexy


reading
Originally uploaded by Arya.

'nuff said.

Town Square - Metropolis, IL


Town Square - Metropolis, IL
Originally uploaded by quillus.

I'm really glad to see that Superman is on the job in Metropolis. I feel safer already!

Thursday, March 03, 2005

The Oscars: one blogger's thoughts

"Million Dollar Baby: A great film, but very, very dark. It makes "Under the Volcano" look like "Finding Nemo." I recommend it, but at the snack counter, see if you can get Zoloft instead of M&Ms."

Charlie has a great blog. I love the above quote, and he's got lots more to say about:
Americans with disabilities, television weather reports, yellow ribbons, grief, Hunter J. Thompson, and more.

American Tree Sparrow (Spizella arborea)

I've always thought that sparrows are really beautiful birds, not "trash" birds as some seem to think.

I'm gonna have to put out a bird feeder again! All I usually see anymore are pigeons!

Male Red-Bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) in Flight

The photographer, known as Devious Desperado, has a whole lot of great photos on the flickr.com website.

I used to try to take photos of birds and other wild creatures with an old fashioned 35mm camera. I didn't even have a zoom lens back in the day. Later I got a camera with a built-in zoom, but I'm thrilled to see that cameras have become so much better now, and uploading images to the internet is so easy to do. Though I took amateur photos for years and years, I've stopped doing it for the past several years now, and just enjoy the fruits of everyone else's efforts!

Thank you, Devious Desperado!

Wednesday, March 02, 2005

Listaholics Unite!

See SJ's lists: http://listaholic.blogspot.com/

I like making lists too. If you don't, maybe you won't see the charm and utter necessity of SJ's compulsion. Each list has 10 items. Why ten? But if you start to make a "top ten" list and only come up with seven items, or can't whittle it down from 16 things, you sort of feel like a failure at your list-making.

I've been working on a list of 10 which I'll post here if I finally get the tenth item.

Here's what I'm trying to get the tenth item for:

"Things that I've done that you probably haven't"

Elisabeth (Random Firing of synapses) came up with the idea first (I think):
http://www.livejournal.com/users/lizyjn/63617.html

Then came Jo:
http://www.livejournal.com/users/jorit/2005/02/23/

and Charlie:
http://www.livejournal.com/users/cbertsch/2005/02/24/

and I happened upon it through Steven's blog:
http://begonias.typepad.com/srubio/2005/02/index.html

Well, the original blogger just said, "THINGS I've done that you probably haven't," but there were ten things on the list and everyone else had ten. So should I just post my list of nine things, or would that be somehow incomplete?