I think the guy who draws this comic strip has been stalking my Aunt Mildred. Uncanny accuracy. Heh.

Posted: January 30th, 2005 under General.
Comments: none

So, you might have noticed that there’s been a change or two recently regarding the picture that’s displayed in this blog’s header.

A few weeks back, the blog was chugging along with the header graphic I chose on New Year’s Day, a bit of commercial art from the forties named “Who me?”. It’s nice; I like it; it’s just fine. Problem was that by the third week in January I was bored with it. I decided I’d change to something else for February. Hey yeah, that’s it: I’ll change the header picture every month. So, what should I put up for February?

First I went, as I often do, to a very cool site called World Wide Retro, which has mass quantities of clip art, pinups, pulp covers, vintage erotica, etc etc. Gacked an item or two, including this nifty cover of Flirt magazine from, oh I dunno, probably the forties, don’t think it could be from later than the very early fifties. Look at it. It’s gorgeous. Somebody painted a pinup of a very curvy redhead wearing a tight sweater, a skirt that seems to be falling off, nylons with very visible garters, and not much else. Except earmuffs, because it’s cold, you see? It’s February! It says so right in the top righthand corner. This also explains why Curvy Red is sitting on a radiator. Lastly, she’s giving us that pouty, clueless, requisite pinup look. You can almost hear her saying:

Gee, I’m so cold! WhatEVER can I possibly DO to warm up?

Oh you mean like putting on long pants and a parka and some fur-lined boots?! Well, where’s the fun in that? This is not serious art. It was never meant to last through all eternity. It’s a little cheesecake for the cover of a magazine called “Flirt” , fer cryin out loud. I just love it. I think Curvy Red’s a knockout.

Knowing, as you probably do by now if you’ve read my blog for any length of time, that I’m constantly honing what I laughably call “my skills” with Paintshop Pro and Photoshop and MS Paint, you won’t be surprised to read that I altered Curvy Red’s pic a little bit — here’s my paintshopped version — and put it up as my new header picture. Woo hoo! I was very happy with the whole thing. For about a day.

I wish I could tell you that I received lots of feedback about the new pic from many of my regular readers. I actually do have some regular readers out there. You know who you are. The truth is that I didn’t receive lots of feedback. To be precise, I didn’t get any feedback at all. Well OK, you say. Everybody probably thought the picture was nice and went on with their lives. No big whoop. So what’s the problem?

I’ll tell you what’s the problem. The problem’s me. Every time I looked at my Curvy Red header picture I felt twinges of anxiety. What is my blog header picture saying about me? What am I saying about me? Am I saying that I look like Curvy Red? Am I saying that’s me sitting on a radiator like a complete idiot in my suburban Minnesota home in February 2005, displaying a creamy expanse of thigh with the fuck-me-now garters and wearing the Little Annie Fanny expression?

[Jebus H Christ the Baron Krauss Von Espy! she exclaims, invoking Coen Brothers phraseology as she so often does in times of horror or astonishment, when no other filmmakers' dialogue is adequate.]

Oh come now, you say. People who read blogs are an intelligent, cosmopolitan group, fully capable of discerning multiple nuances of meaning in all aspects of life including blog graphics. People who can’t, don’t read blogs. Or, not my blog anyway. People like that are probably all Freepers, and therefore only allegedly people, so to hell with ‘em.

Okay, but what about the fact that I chose the pinup picture because I like it? A minute ago I was saying that I think Curvy Red’s gorgeous. A knockout. Is this a long-hidden lesbian persona of mine coming to the fore? Well, no. Because I don’t have a lesbian persona, hidden or otherwise. Really. I’m just plain boring old hetero me. Nothing to see here, folks. I’m not the dyke you’re looking for. Move along. Do you think it’s impossible for a woman to find a female pinup attractive or appealing or just plain sexy and yet not have a homosexual orientation? If you do, please please PLEASE take my word for it: it’s possible.

But if I did have a lesbian aspect would that be so bad? I have often thought about a photo I once saw of a woman marching in a gay pride parade somewhere. She carried a sign that said I AM NOT GAY BUT THESE ARE MY FRIENDS. Nice sentiment. Solidarity and all that. It’s a message we all need to see — that gays and straights can and do coexist in the world in friendship and love. But at the same time I looked on that woman as a coward. Well-intentioned, but still a coward. What if she just marched in the parade without her sign? What would happen then? Would some spectators think that she must be gay? Probably. And what would be so bad about that?
There’s a true litmus test for us all.

Anyway, back to my discomfort with the Curvy Red pinup picture in my blog header. What to do? What to do?
A) I leave it there, because I’m a rational adult and even tho the picture is what it is, I know that I’m not a deliciously pneumatic tart sending out a come-hither message to guys and gals everywhere. To be exact, I am a 52-year old woman living and blogging in America in the year 2005. Some other words that describe me are: white; fat; and pretty much asexual.

Or B) I change the picture to something else; to an image that’s safely in my comfort zone.

Guess what I decided.

Posted: January 30th, 2005 under General.
Comments: none

Have you ever had this argument with someone? It goes like this:
Parent or spouse or lover or sibling or other family member or friend or some person in your life has strong convictions about something, and wants you to do exactly as they do regarding this particular thing. It might be something the other person wants you to refrain from: smoking, or sex, or gambling, or eating certain foods. It might be a behavior they want you to emulate: how to spend your money; which school to go to; what to eat; to workout in a gym, and which workout to do; to ascribe to a particular religious belief or philosophy, or a certain political view.

The other person explains their position and then asks you if you understand.
You say “Yes”.
Other person then says “Good. It’s all settled then.”
And you say “Well, now I know how you feel about [whatever it is].”
Other person says: “So now we’re in agreement.”
You: “I didn’t say that. I said now I know how you feel about it.
OP: “You must not have understood what I was saying. Here, let’s go over it again…”

[other person re-tells their opinion/position/suggested behavior]

OP: “Now do you understand?”
You: “Yes, I understand what you’re saying. ”
OP: “Good. Then we agree.”
You: “No, we don’t agree. I understand what you said, but I don’t happen to agree with you.”
OP: “Then you must not understand. Let’s go over it again. “
You: “Oh, but I do understand; I just don’t agree with you. “
OP: “But by saying that, you’re telling me that you have not understood what I’ve been saying. Let’s go over it again.”
You: “Don’t bother. I understood you the first time.”
OP: “No you didn’t.”
You: “Yes I did.”
OP: “No you didn’t.”
You: “Yes I did.”
OP: “No you didn’t.”
You: “Yes I did.”
OP: “No you didn’t.”
You: “Yes I did.”

[repeat until you both fall unconscious or the OP kills you]

There’s probably a Latin name for this argument, like a priori or ad hominem, but I don’t know it. What I do know is that this is the way Control Freaks argue. The CF is incapable of seeing the difference between understanding and agreement. The CF will always discount the validity of any position other than his/her own. This is also one of the Wingnut arguments, and it is very definitely also a Fundamentalist argument, not to mention the argument of the Christian Missionary – or at least the one who’s run out of town or killed immediately the first time he tries this arrogant bullshit with his “ benighted heathen” flock.

Addendum: I do have a point I’m working towards here. Did a bit of reading about pluralism over the weekend, and conjectured that the christo-fascist fundies are probably not enamored of that concept. Surprise! You don’t have to read far to confirm that little thing:

“I want you to just let a wave of intolerance wash over you. I want you to let a wave of hatred wash over you. Yes, hate is good…Our goal is a Christian nation. We have a Biblical duty, we are called by God, to conquer this country. We don’t want equal time. We don’t want pluralism.” — Randall Terry, Founder of Operation Rescue.
Reported by the News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, IN, August 16 1993

More to come.

Posted: January 24th, 2005 under General.
Comments: none

I hope hope hope for the best for this child and his mother - - “best” meaning that 1) the celebrity they get at this moment results in gifts of money and of useful goods and services which all newborns and parents need; and 2) that the celebrity eye moves on quickly and leaves this family in peace and restored anonymity.

Stories like this tend to make me very angry. Why is this a news story? Is this newborn child any less a newborn because he’s twice the usual size of a newborn? What should we do with him, folks? Any freakshows still around? And are they hiring? Can mom charge admission to come in and look at him? Five bucks for five seconds? Does he have an agent and a business manager yet?

You guessed it; this is one of my hot buttons, and guess why. Could it have anything to do with the fact that my firstborn — a beautiful, well proportioned, perfectly healthy baby — checked in at 11 lbs 12oz and 25″ long? And that nurses and doctors who should all have known better flapped about in a colossal tizzy over the sheer size of him, and worse, said unbelievably idiotic things to me, including:

“Ohhh, it’s too bad he’s just so darn big –you’ll miss that cute little ‘newborn’ stage.”

..Could that have anything to do with it? Gee. Ya think? Oh, don’t get me started..

Posted: January 23rd, 2005 under General.
Comments: none

You’re Pakistan!

You used to ask people what they thought about things, but quite
recently you’ve decided to just do stuff without asking nicely.  You really want to go
to the mountains, but for some reason, people won’t let you, mostly because they won’t let you
acquire any nice sweaters.  In the meantime, you’re avoiding alcohol and pork and trying
to balance eating right with not falling behind in your competition with your next-door
neighbor.
Take
the Country Quiz at the
Blue Pyramid

This Blue Pyramid is a new quizzy thing I’ve never heard of. But — will it be as uncannily acccurate as Quizilla?! Let’s take another one and find out…

Posted: January 23rd, 2005 under General.
Comments: none

You’re Watership Down!

Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Gosh, I turn out to be one of my alltime favorite books! And I only had to take this damn quiz six times to do it!

Posted: January 23rd, 2005 under General.
Comments: none

I’m gonna have to differ with Gisleson in my level of hope about what we might be hearing come Monday when the new ‘eclectic’ format begins on KCMP-FM 89.3, formerly WCAL- FM.

For one thing, I would never label Dale Connelly and Jim Ed Poole examples of the “funny voices and schtick” morning drive genre, altho they certainly have always done plenty of that in the past god knows how many years they’ve been on MPR. I mean, can you really lump Dale and Jim Ed in with Dave Ryan or local uber-pig Tom Barnard? Well, I wouldn’t. I’m a faithful Morning Show listener and have been for lo, these many years, with occasional sidetrips to wherever Bob Yates happens to be working.

But then I don’t have quite so fine a radio sensibility as MG. I’m no soccer mom, despite the location of family compound Tildebunkport in soccer mom heaven Eden Prairie. I think my kids would say I’m more of the fat embarrassing liberal old hippie mom type. But perhaps the mere fact I live where I do indicates a musical taste that’s shallow and limited. Ehh. If so, that’s a shameful reality I think I can live with. I have high hopes for the new format.

Posted: January 22nd, 2005 under General.
Comments: none

You are a Folkie. Good for you.

What kind of Sixties Person are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Ooh, look out. I think there are still a few pictures in existence of me, age 13, singing The Times They Are A-Changin on stage at the IOGT hall, with my super cheap plywood gee-tar and my official, exactly like Bob’s , harmonica holder ’round my neck. Jebus. What dweebitude. But what sincere dweebitude.

Posted: January 18th, 2005 under General.
Comments: none

If not, fear not. Help is on the way:

[via Chuck's Blogumentary]

[01/18/05: well, that link got blowed up. Blowed up real good. I changed it to another link that isn't getting so much traffic. Enjoy. And thanks to Anticlown Daily]

Posted: January 17th, 2005 under General.
Comments: none

Coming to the revolution a little late but still on time

This is the current From Where I Stand column written by Sister Joan Chittester for the National Catholic Reporter. Last time I posted about Sister Joan was when she was Bill Moyers’ guest on NOW last November.

Hers is a powerful voice; an articulate voice; the voice of a person of faith who, remarkably enough these days, is not calling upon a vengeful deity to rain down damnation on all who are foolish enough to veer from the one and only one, true, correct faith that exists, i.e. [insert name of desired One True Religion here]. You know: a rational voice.

The Internet might even be a way to organize national conversations on current issues. We could start, for instance, by asking ourselves spiritual questions about political subjects — like why it is that we are all so stunned, shocked, dismayed about the 150,000 deaths in Asia from a tsunami but we don’t seem to be bothered a bit about the over 100,000 civilian deaths - most of them women and children - which, the Lancet study tells us, have resulted from our own invasion of Iraq?

Read the whole thing.

***

And, via the wonderful Newsfare , the text of a speech given by Dr. Robin Myers at Oklahoma University Peace Rally on November 14, 2004:

Arrogance is the opposite of faith

Let me give you just a few of the reasons why I take issue with those in power who claim moral values are on their side:

— When you start a war on false pretenses, and then act as if your deceptions are justified because you are doing God’s will, and that your critics are either unpatriotic or lacking in faith, there are some of us who have given our lives to teaching and preaching the faith who believe that this is not only not moral, but immoral.

— When you live in a country that has established international rules for waging a just war, build the United Nations on your own soil to enforce them, and then arrogantly break the very rules you set down for the rest of the world, you are doing something immoral.

— When you claim that Jesus is the Lord of your life, and yet fail to acknowledge that your policies ignore his essential teaching, or turn them on their head (you know, Sermon on the Mount stuff like that we must never return violence for violence and that those who live by the sword will die by the sword), you are doing something immoral.

— When you act as if the lives of Iraqi civilians are not as important as the lives of American soldiers, and refuse to even count them, you are doing something immoral.

— When you find a way to avoid combat in Vietnam, and then question the patriotism of someone who volunteered to fight, and came home a hero, you are doing something immoral.

— When you ignore the fundamental teachings of the gospel, which says that the way the strong treat the weak is the ultimate ethical test, by giving tax breaks to the wealthiest among us so the strong will get stronger and the weak will get weaker, you are doing something immoral.

— When you wink at the torture of prisoners, and deprive so-called “enemy combatants” of the rules of the Geneva convention, which your own country helped to establish and insists that other countries follow, you are doing something immoral.

Read the whole thing.

All I can say is: if you need to feel hope, as I do, that it’s possible to affect the outcome of world events, then listen to these voices. We may be of many different Christian denominations, or non- Christians, or non-believers, but we can and must stand together against fundamentalist fascist oppressor powers wherever they may be, including the current US administration.

Posted: January 16th, 2005 under General.
Comments: none