Glenn Greenwald cites several reviews of Stephen Colbert’s performance last night and also makes note of an interesting observation:

One of the principal tactics used over the last five years by Bush defenders to transform the president, our public servant, into some sort of monarchical figure is the endless, craven effort to refer to him as “The Commander-in-Chief,” in order to implicitly bestow upon him an aura of elevated, militaristic glory which renders not only disrespect towards the President, but also mere criticism of him, somehow inappropriate, even unpatriotic. In that regard, it was extremely refreshing to see Stephen Colbert’s stand-up routine last night

(video here - transcript here)

at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner. Pam Spaulding provides an excellent discussion of that event, as does Joe Gandelman.

As Pam notes, a commenter at the site of Jonah’s mom, Lucianne Goldberg, said that “Steve Colbert was utterly disgusting. . . He was rude, snarky and unpatriotic toward the President and First Lady.” One can be unpatriotic towards one’s country, but not to the Leader, and certainly not by expresing criticism of the Leader, even to his face. The efforts to shield the President from criticisms of any sort has been one of the most significant factors enabling the lawbreaking pathology of this president, who clearly has come to see himself as a shielded king. The belief that an American citizen is unpatriotic by virtue of criticizing and opposing the president is one of the most pernicious ideas to take hold in some time. What Colbert did took real courage and - like Savage - he should be commended for reminding us of the kind of country we are supposed to have, and the kind of country we aren’t supposed to have and, until this administration, never had.

(Unclaimed Territory)

Colbert’s my hero of the day.

Well done.

Posted: April 30th, 2006 under General.
Comments: none

…and the wingnuts will beat a path to your door.

This, from Sadly, No! is an absolute Must-Read for everyone of the rational human persuasion.

Read and learn some dangerous truths about the neocon mind:

The wingnut strawman is the Clash of Civilizations, World War IV, the Great Struggle Against a Monolithic Enemy. Folks, this is what the man means by “perpetual war for perpetual peace”. This is why you have nutjobs like Atlas Shrugs and the Powertools saying that capturing or killing bin Laden would merely be a symbolic act. This is why you have Glenn Reynolds and Stephen Green disseminating the “Long War” talking points. This is why you have Daniel Pipes and Mark Steyn constantly calling for an all-out war on Islam. They want the war to last forever, and not just because they hate the “Other”, but also because they enjoy the conditions war puts on domestic politics.

(Sadly, No!)

Read the whole thing, dammit. Read and learn what we’re up against, and why.

~

Posted: April 28th, 2006 under Wingnuttia.
Comments: none

 

by Emily Dickinson

It’s all I have to bring today –
This, and my heart beside –
This, and my heart, and all the fields –
And all the meadows wide –
Be sure you count – should I forget
Some one the sum could tell –
This, and my heart, and all the Bees
Which in the Clover dwell.

 

 

 

 

 

Posted: April 26th, 2006 under National Poetry Month.
Comments: 1

by Jane Hirschfield

This was once a love poem,
before its haunches thickened, its breath grew short,
before it found itself sitting,
perplexed and a little embarrassed,
on the fender of a parked car,
while many people passed by without turning their heads.It remembers itself dressing as if for a great engagement.
It remembers choosing these shoes,
this scarf or tie.

Once, it drank beer for breakfast,
drifted its feet
in a river side by side with the feet of another.

Once it pretended shyness, then grew truly shy,
dropping its head so the hair would fall forward,
so the eyes would not be seen.

It spoke with passion of history, of art.
It was lovely then, this poem.
Under its chin, no fold of skin softened.
Behind the knees, no pad of yellow fat.
What it knew in the morning it still believed at nightfall.
An unconjured confidence lifted its eyebrows, its cheeks.

The longing has not diminished.
Still it understands. It is time to consider a cat,
the cultivation of African violets or flowering cactus.

Yes, it decides:
Many miniature cacti, in blue and red painted pots.
When it finds itself disquieted
by the pure and unfamiliar silence of its new life,
it will touch them—one, then another—
with a single finger outstretched like a tiny flame.

Posted: April 23rd, 2006 under National Poetry Month.
Comments: 2

(As I mentioned in the previous post, this recipe is from a Moosewood restaurant cookbook.)

1 1/2 cups whole-wheat bread cubes
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 cup chopped leeks
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 tablespoon fresh dill (1 teaspoon dried)
Salt and pepper to taste
4 ounces cream cheese in 1/2 inch cubes
1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk

Toast the bread cubes on a tray in a 375-degree oven. Meanwhile, lightly saute the garlic in 2 tablespoons each of the butter and the olive oil until the garlic is golden. When the bread cubes are crispy, remove them from the oven, toss with the garlic butter, and set aside.
[For this part I just use store-bought garlic butter croutons. So I only use 1Tbsp each of the butter and olive oil, to use for sauteing the garlic and leeks and mushrooms.]
Next, saute the leeks in the remaining 1 tablespoon each of butter and oil for a minute or two. Add the mushrooms, herbs, salt and pepper, and continue to cook, stirring occasionally. Cover the pan to retain juices. The vegetables are ready when they are just tender.
Preheat the oven to 375.
Butter a 9-by-9-inch pan. Layer ingredients as follows; first the bread cubes, next the cream cheese, then the vegetables, and finally the grated cheddar cheese. Beat together the eggs and milk with some salt and pepper and pour this over the other ingredients in the pan. Bake until the frittata is puffy and golden, about 30 minutes. Serve immediately. Makes six servings.

And so good it’ll make you whimper.

Posted: April 22nd, 2006 under the Tild Test Kitchen.
Comments: none

Stayed up til past 2 am…

With nowhere to go Saturday; nobody to see, nothing to do, at 11 Friday night the boys and I drank caffeinated tea, ate Costco blueberry-strawberry tart, watched half of The Right Stuff, and looked up facts about the Mercury astronauts and Chuck Yeager. Then the kids played Battlefield 1942 or Halflife 2, or whatever game of the moment and I ended up watching some of Encino Man, which I’d never seen nor ever wanted to see, but which nevertheless made me laugh at nearly 2 in the morning. Hmm. Do I say, out loud, that I think Brendan Fraser’s body is adorable? If I do, will my teenage sons freak out and be psychologically scarred for all eternity? I didn’t say it, just in case.

Then I realized I couldn’t fall asleep without some major kickass pharmaceuticals. Major kickass for me, that is.
One of the joys of living only a couple blocks from a 24-hour Walgreen’s is going there at 2 in the morning. To buy Benadryl because every part of my head is itching and sneezing and running and feels scratchy and I need something to knock myself out for 10 or 11 hours.

It’s fabulous at Walgreen’s at 2AM. Just me and two stockclerks and a sleepy cashier and I can try out all the As Seen On TV gizmos. Hmm. Do I need a Shedd-ender for my 13+ yr old dog? How about one for my 16 yr old son?

So I score some pink storebrand Benadryl minitabs and head home. I fall into bed at 2:45AM, and sleep the sleep of the dead until…7AM.

Not enough sleep. But, the Venerable Pup needs to get outside every 5-6 hours or else he begins to lose control of his bowels and starts delivering humongous log turds in various areas of the house. At least they’re not messy; the turds are firm and packed; and huge, like Tootsie rolls on steroids. Our vet has said, admiringly, that these are the stools of a remarkably vital and healthy old dog who, because he’s the equivalent of a 95 year old human, has begun to lose some of the nerve functions that regulate his hind end, so giant healthy dog turds on the living room floor are sometimes going to be the result. We are all happy that the VP is so healthy for being so old, but, none of us wants to step in dog turds no matter how robust and healthy they are, so I get up at 7 AM on Saturday mornings.

I loaded the dishwasher, made a fresh pot of coffee, remembered I still had one leek in the fridge and I needed to use it before it went bad, so I made a mushroom and leek frittata. Recipe is from a Moosewood restaurant cookbook; really, really, really, REALLY good. It makes a really spectacular brunch dish when you have company. I’ll post the recipe a little later.

Then at 10:30 this morning I re-dosed myself with more Benadryl and went back to bed.

Got up 4 hours later, and I’m reading blogs. The guys watched the rest of The Right Stuff. We all agreed that:

• Ed Harris rules

• Chuck Yeager could have been elected President of the United States in 1984

• Actor or Astronaut? : Sam Shepard, Alan Shepard, John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, Scott Glenn … You need a detailed org chart to keep everybody straight in this movie.

By the end of the weekend ETU needs to show me at least 3 completed pages of his AP English position paper about Hamlet which is due next week.

Yes, having spring allergies is a little like having bees live in your head. But, there they are.

More sleep; back later.

Posted: April 22nd, 2006 under Chez Tild, Loco Parent.
Comments: none

I’ve been meaning to contact a college friend who’s an attorney for advice about a couple things with the divorce. She’s not just an attorney, but an attorney who specializes in divorce and domestic issues, so this should be perfect, right?

Right. So why have I been postponing?

Near as I can figure, I ‘m shy about contacting her because we’ve only spoken once or twice in the past 30 years, and when I contact her now she’s just gonna think it’s because I expect her to give me the special College Friend Discount. …Which is true. What am I ashamed of? Lots of people do stuff like this.

Jeez, I am so screwed up.

So, if I can’t summon the gumption to call College Friend Attorney, where do I go to get fast, cheap, or free, and most of all reliable answers to mainly financial and real estate questions in connection with a divorce?

I have a feeling I’ll be deep in Usenet and Yahoo groups pretty shortly. Bleah.

Posted: April 21st, 2006 under Liveblogging the divorce.
Comments: 1

What will happen if I try to…

…post an image?

Whoa ho!

Posted: April 20th, 2006 under General.
Comments: none

It seems I have the next couple of months pretty well mapped out for me, thanks to the up and down fortunes of Elder Teenaged Unit [henceforth "ETU"] as he continues his winding way on the path to graduation from high school.

I’ve just spent my lunch hour trading emails with his two AP English teachers. The class is what they call ‘team-taught’, so the students spend equal time with teacher Wally and teacher Ole [no, I am not making these names up] . Here’s the email I just sent off to Wally and Ole:

Thank you both for the detailed response. It’s
exactly what I was hoping for.

Monday [ETU] and I went through the list of this week’s
assigned work from the calendar on your class site.

As I understand it, [ETU] is currently supposed to be
completing the assignments for the “Oles” , is that
correct?

I saw that he had already completed the pink quiz
sheet for this week. Monday evening he did the Hamlet
reading and completed all of the purple quiz sheet.
We also printed out the packet about the position
paper, and I asked [ETU] to begin planning the position
paper.

I converted the list of class assignments that’s on
the portal into a pdf and printed it out. [ETU] and I
are going through the list hi-liting the work up to
this point that he has rec’d zero points for.
We have been wondering how many of the past
assignments he can still get some credit for if he
turns them in.

Now with the information in your email, I know the
relative weights of the papers, journals, and daily
work in figuring the class grade.

At this time, April 19th, I’m thinking the best plan
for [ETU] would be to concentrate on the remaining
papers, complete all of the journals, and do all his
daily work going forward from now through the end of
the year.

Do you think that’s the best approach? Please advise
if he should be doing anything else, or anything
differently.

As of now, [ETU] has dropped AP Physics so he can
concentrate on his remaining classes. He needs 3
credits to fulfill all his requirements for
graduation, so AP English and Government are absolute
MUSTs for him.

Going forward, I’ll be monitoring his progress as
carefully as I can.

I know this is not going to be easy for [ETU], not from
a lack of ability on his part, but more from a lack of
good study habits.

As you both can see, he’s a very bright kid, but like
some bright kids, all through his school years he’s
been able to ‘wing it’ successfully through many tests
and assignments and even entire classes without doing
a lot of the studying.
Having been there, I know that ability to BS your way
through stuff can’t last forever. It comes back to
bite you eventually.
I think this might be that bite-back moment for [ETU].

I won’t do the work for him, but I’ll do everything I
can to see that he turns things around in your class
with the hope that he can come out with a passing
grade.

And again, thank you for your response. I appreciate
it more than I can say.

So that’s my life for the duration. Work, manage the kid, and sleep [maybe]. One of the few times since labor and delivery that I’ve ever had to really step up and work hard as a parent, so I’ll give it everything I’ve got. Comes with the territory.

Posted: April 19th, 2006 under Loco Parent.
Comments: 1

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

Okay, God of WordPress, or WP or whatever.

If you say so.

Hmm.  Think I’ll just call this ‘Wippyworld’ from here on out.

I have next to no idea  wtf  I’m doing.

Like that’s news to any of you.

This is a blog in progress, obviously. I’ll start adding doohickeys and thingamabobs as I figure out how.

Welcome, welcome all to my newly rebirthed (aack, ouch) blog, Tild~.      

Tild~2, as it were.  

Tild~ The Sequel. 

Spawn of Tild~.

Tild~ Resurrection.

Tild~ Beyond Thunderdome.  

Ms. Tild~ Builds Her Dream Blog.  

Beneath the Valley of the Ultra Tild~.

  
Whatever I call it I’ll refrain from tacking on the obligatory “Electric Boogaloo”, a lousy phrase that was lousy from the very second some seersucker-suited slimeball in Hollywood pitched it to his soulless studio masters about a thousand years ago, and was never funny even the first time somebody used it to try to be funny.

Gosh, this feels very strange. I feel so… vulnerable and afraid here in great big weirdly wonderful Wippyworld.  Stuff happens fast here. I kinda miss the wheezy comfortable putt-putt -putting of Blogspot, where posting a post this size could take several days. Then of course it would disappear a couple minutes later.   Good times!  Well, obviously not good enough to stay on Blogspot even one more second, but still. I got my bloglegs there, and now that I’m all growed up and sophisticated, off I go to the bright lights of Wippyworld City…

When I hear that wippy beat/ Feel like blogging down the street/ That’s the WordPress mel-oh- deee!

Jeezus, I hope I start to remember how to write; this is pretty pathetic.

But anyway, welcome welcome!

New digs!    Same old crap!
Huzzah!

 

Posted: April 18th, 2006 under General.
Comments: none