After a nice brunch with
I have ten nine Cadbury Creme Eggs.
ShopKo has them on sale: 5 for $2.00.
Hellooooo, sugar shock!
2-D Physics.
Score to beat:
Call it a hunch (or a prediction), but I think that this week is mine.
With that….
Namaste.
Friday
On the whole, the day was a good one. Getting to that point, however… *shrug* The day started last night. With a sick cat. Sleep was not very restful. I woke up to colder-than-I-wanted temperatures and rain. At least it was “rain” and not “snow.” I wouldn’t exactly say that today had the best of starts. But, it did get better. I even talked, albeit briefly, with the mother-unit; she, and the rest of the southern contingent, seem to be doing well.
Stray Toasters
I submitted the following to an email discussion group to which I belong. Why? Because I could. And, more importantly, because it touched on a subject that I feel somewhat strongly about. That led me to another subject about which it seemed that I have a rather strong opinion. With that in mind…
I have been a bit remiss in keeping up with current events recently. When I friend showed me a couple of links to something about President Bush receiving some unfavorable press for rubbing someone’s head, it caught my attention. I haven’t been able to find anything about this in a mainstream news source, but the links that I have are:
As a bald-by-choice person, I am familiar with people who think that rubbing a bald head is “cute” (or something), in much the same way that people feel compelled to rub a pregnant woman’s belly. Or, to call to mind another popular reference: Rubbing Buddha’s belly for good luck. I confess, I have rubbed pregnant friends’ bellies… but only after getting their consent to do so.
I typically have no problem with certain people rubbing my head. Operative words: “Certain people.” They are called “family” or “close friends.” With them, it’s allowed. Other people – relative strangers – have walked up to me and tried to rub my head, also. In most cases, I have been able to dissuade them before they did so. On the occasions where I reacted too slowly, I made it painstakingly obvious that it was: a) not welcome and b) not something that they would wish to try again. It may be something with the way -and where- I grew up; relative to the wide open spaces found here in the west, it’s a bit crowded on the east coast. People tend to respect others’ space. This might come off as “rude” or “impersonal,” to some, but it’s the way we tend to be wired.¹
Let’s put aside the possible racist history of rubbing a Black person’s head and to get back to The Shrub’s faux pas.
This display shows a lack of professionalism. If he had done something like this in the context of participating in a sporting event (college, pro, or even sandlot), I think that it would have been a “no harm, no foul” situation – one sees sports players rub each others’ heads or smack each other’s backsides all the time. In these instances, there’s a measure of camaraderie that comes with being part of a team.
The differences?
There are appropriate means of greeting someone or thanking them for an introduction. Rubbing their heads isn’t one of them. At least, I am pretty sure that it is not a method proscribed by Robert’s Rules of Order. I understand that The President is supposed to be “a man of the people.” That’s all well and good. As the “leader of the free world,” I expect more than a cursory nod to professionalism and decorum… especially when he is operating in an official capacity. I expect him – or anyone in his position – to exemplify those ideals. And, no, Bill Clinton wasn’t a paragon of virtue, either; but this post isn’t about him. If we expect other countries to follow our example, does this display mean that we are leading them down the road of “good intentions?” We all know where that leads. Are we going to sell them handbaskets and gasoline underwear, too? I’m sure that we could get them a great volume discount deal. Or this just a case of the blind leading the blind?
Let’s play Devil’s Advocate and take a look at the situation in reverse: What if the President of the United States was African-American and the Acting Secretary was White? Had that hypothetical President come out and said something to the effect of “Thank you for that rousing introduction, cracker ²,” should/would there be any less backlash? Even if they were good friends in their out-of-the-spotlight lives? I would hope not. I would like to think that people of any or all races would take him to task for such an unseemly comment.
The bottom line, as I see it, is this: A professional/social gaff was made.
The man is human; I’ll chalk it up to that. Hopefully, he (or one of his staffers) issued some form of apology. As I said, I haven’t been able to find any links to this story in a mainstream news source… which also makes looking for said apology a bit difficult.
::: gets down from soapbox :::
That’s my 2¢ worth.
(With the other 98¢ thrown in, at no extra cost to you!)
Namaste.
Rob
“My moral fiber is unraveling…”
¹ – This is not intended to be an absolute statement/generalization: I said “tend to (be)… ” not “always…”
² – This ‘quote’ was intentionally hyperbole; if it made you stop, reread that line and evoke some sort of response, it served its purpose.
No one in the group has, as yet, said anything about it. *shrug*
That’s enough for tonight.
Namaste.
Thursday
Today was not as doom-laden as the other days of this week. For that no-so-minor blessing, I am grateful.
It was a little cooler than it’s been over the past few days, but still rather warm. It seems as though we might have rain pass through the area tomorrow. That’s fine… as long as it’s relatively clear on Saturday. human sacrifice subject. And speaking of my arty sib, Jess and I spent the evening with her,
Stray Toasters
May the road rise up to greet you and the wind be at your back.
May you be half an hour inside Heaven’s gates before the Devil knows you’re dead.
Namaste.
Wednesday
Today started out poorly: I didn’t sleep well and woke up irritable. I’m not a “morning person,” to begin with, so this was not an auspicious start to the day. Fortunately, the day got better. I attribute that to closing the evening with coffee and in the company of good friends.
NPR Stories
Morning Edition: Oregon County Halts All Weddings
Morning Edition: Man Steals Daughter’s ID
Morning Edition: Wynton Marsalis: ‘The Magic Hour’
Talk of the Nation: One Nation under God
Talk of the Nation: Wine (for
Stray Toasters – The “Chock Full o’ Links” edition!
Quote of the Day
This comment was made after she considered calling out the Fab 5 from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy on a friend.
Namaste.
Tuesday
Overall, it was a decent day.
Stray Toasters
“It’s a fun movie. It’s hip. It’s so cool,” Singleton said. “Imagine if 50 Cent got super-powers.“
Blood… runs… cold.
Namaste.
Monday
Today was a pretty laid-back day. I like those. They are a welcome change-of-pace. Work went by pretty quickly and Game Night was not doom-laden. Those things, along with the warm weather, added up to a nice day.
Stray Toasters
Quote of the Day
And with that, good night.
Namaste.
The rest of the day was good:
The soundtrack/score was good, too. Muzak (*ack-thbbbpt*) versions of Don’t Worry, Be Happy and You Light Up My Life… in a zombie movie. Hysterical. And Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine doing Down with the Sickness? Classic.
It’s early and I have to get up later, so I should wrap this up.
Namaste.
Sunday
It’s been a lax day around the HALO Command Center. Sissy decided that 9:45 was the time that I needed to get up. Nevermind the fact that I didn’t get to bed until a little after 4:00. I’ve been trying to decide what to do this afternoon. I’ve had little success. I think that we will go with the pre-Sunday activity default and head to Borders for a bit.
After yesterday’s bike excursion, I came home, cleaned myself up, picked up
Bowling was decent: 180-151-159-151 and 107/135 (ironman games).
Stray Toaster
Vanity 6’s Nasty Girl just came up on the Winamp playlist rotation. Jess just asked, “Is that Britney?” I told her that it wasn’t, but I have to admit that Ms. Spears’ Slave For You (or however she spells it) sounds eerily similar to the opening of this song. *shrug*
And now, off to enjoy the day.
Blue skies and gentle landings.
…so why am I still sitting inside? It’s a beautiful day.
After taking Jess to work, I decided to check out the model airplane strip off of 22nd North. I drove past it to see if I could figure out what a building on the same road was used for. It’s at the entrance to a dirt racetrack, apparently. Good to know… I turned around and headed back to the “Modelport,” as it’s called. There were about 20 cars there, people with model planes and one person with a model helicopter. Someone executed a beautiful hammerhead stall with their plane. It brought a big smile to my face.
I drove up I-215 to Woods Cross and then back home on I-15. And now, here I sit. But not for long. I brought the air pump in and there’s 2.5 miles of road between here and the library that my bike and I are going to ride. Not to mention the fact that I could use the exercise.
Namaste.
Friday
What a day.
The work portion of the day was productive, but I was tired, irritable and surly for most of the day. That’s not a good combination. And I didn’t have any coffee, which didn’t help matters.
After work, it was off to Friday night coffee; tonight was a very small group:
I came home to find my main PC off. Odd, especially considering that the computer is on a UPS and that the other PC was on, but not a big thing. WRONG. The power supply had burnt out. *braincramp* This is never an auspicious thing. Fortunately, I had another power supply available for use: The one in the PC that I am putting together for
Stray Toasters
Apparently, I am rapidly approaching “shutdown.” This is good; I’m tired and welcome the sweet oblivion of sleep.
Namaste.
Thursday
Today was a good day. And it gets us one step closer to the weekend. Selah.
I got a call just after work from Catherine. She asked what Jess and I were doing this evening. “Nothing,” as far as I knew. So, she invited us to join her for dinner at Cafe Pierpont; her husband (and our ex-coworker) Land started working there this week. We did. Finding the place was a bit of an undertaking, though – Catherine gave us the wrong address. She was a couple of blocks off. But we managed to find it… after asking a couple of parking lot valets where it was. The food was good, as was the company.
On the way to the car, we passed the downtown location of Reuel’s, an art/drafting supply store. They have hands. (Wooden hands, that is.) Even in smaller sizes than the one that I have. And from the way that the display was set up, it looks like the joints are a bit more stable than the ones in the hand that I have. I may have to return to the store and acquire one…
Stray Toasters
Dr. Raymond Stantz: I tried to think of the most harmless thing… something that could never destroy us… something I loved from my childhood.
[A giant marshmallow man crashes through the streets of New York]
Dr. Peter Venkman: Well, there’s something you don’t see every day. We’ve been going about this all wrong, this Mr. Stay Puft’s okay. He’s a sailor, he’s in New York, we get this guy laid we won’t have any trouble.
And with that, I give you: this (the bottom of the list). And this.
That’s it.
Namaste.
Wednesday
After work, it was off to spend a little time with
Stray Toasters
I seem to be winding down rather quickly. This would be a good stopping point.
Namaste.
Campbell’s Condensed Newspaper has an interview with Eartha Kitt, Lee Meriweather and Julie Newmar, the women who played Catwoman on the 1960s Batman series.
You could call it a once-in-nine-lifetimes gathering. Three Catwomen who purr-fectly embodied Batman’s feline archnemesis Julie Newmar, 68, and Eartha Kitt, 77, in the 1966-68 TV series, and Lee Meriwether, 68, in the 1966 movie — gathered for the first time earlier this month at the TV Land Awards (tonight, 9 ET/PT). The trio talked to USA TODAY’s Bill Keveney about the appeal of a character who returns to the screen in July, when Halle Berry stars in Catwoman:
The questions were fairly run-of-the-mill. It seemed like Ms. Newmar was having a lot of fun with the interview. Especially with her answer to the next-to-last question:
Q: What are you doing now?
Kitt: I finished Nine on Broadway. I’m putting my own show together to tour. It’s called Dare Me.
Meriwether: Nunsense. It’s the 20th anniversary all-star tour.
Newmar: I’m just rich. I own businesses and I love it.
Have a good day, all.
Tuesday
All-in-all, today was a good day.
Lonely things like nights,
I find, end finer with a friend
The fact that I spent the evening in the company of five friends made the night that much better. We had super-secret stealth coffee tonight. Twas good.
Stray Toasters
Quote of the Day
Jess and I were on the way to work this morning (carpooling = good) and stopped at a red light. A car pulled up beside us with three women in it. One woman leaned forward and looked at us. I made a comment to Jess. We bantered about possible reasons “why” she was… less-than-staring-but-more-than-casually-observing… us. Jess finally broke out this little nugget of amusement:
Maybe they want you to help them to realize their inner-penis longing.
After the initial shock of what she said wore off, I did the only thing that came to mind: I laughed. A lot.
Blue skies and gentle landings.
Namaste.
Monday
Another blue sky and white cloud day. And, it wasn’t bad for the start of the week. As an added bonus, talked with my father, a member of the sibko and my uncle today. All seems to be well on the Right Coast.
Stray Toasters
Girlamatic.com features webcomics (mostly) by women, (mostly) for women. It’s not about busting anybody’s, um, balls, though. It’s about good webcomics. If you like good webcomics, you’ll like girlamatic.com. And girlamatic.com will like you!
I just noticed what time it is. I had planned to be in bed by now. Time to remedy that.
Namaste.