busy at work

RELOCATED

2009-03-06T10:59:00.001-08:00

If anyone is still reading this blog, I moved.
http://busyatworkathome.wordpress.com/

my mom called me bean

2009-03-03T15:10:00.000-08:00

me: ...so what's next up for chef maxine?
I'm hungry

omnom: jambalaya
black bean chili

me: i heart black bean chili

omnom: never made it
but i have a killer veg. cook book for all things good

me: yum yum yum
my mom called my Bean when I was a kid
ok, I'm rambling and you are probably working hard

omnom: no, i guess i better hear why you are called bean

me: dunno... Shelly Bean

omnom: ?
oh, like jelly bean

me: i think it's an actually bean

omnom: no way

me: or mix of beans

omnom: i think you can come up with a better story than that

me: hold on

omnom: i was going to suggest i could make one for you, but you're rather creative so you do it

me: no, really
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/legumes/msg092302501938.html

omnom: ok, but i still think you need another story
one with swords and maybe a dwarf

me: so like magic beans?

omnom: yeah yeah
i think that's the right track

me: so we had this garden right
and when I was really young, like three or something, I helped my mom plant the green pea seeds

omnom: where's the dwarf

me: but when they grew into plants, I called them beans because I hated peas

omnom: you're losing me

me: one day when I went out to check on the plants, there was this like garden gnome thing there digging out my plants and putting in other plants that looked the same
I had my dad's conan the barbarian sword with me
at the time
btw

omnom: haha

me: and um, I said, hey shorty. what are you doing

omnom: AWESOME. i like where this is going

me: and he said, I'm a dwarf dammit!
and I said, you said a bad word and I beaned (?) him on the head

omnom: no no, change the beaned part

me: i just meant I hit him on the head with the sword
no pun intended

omnom: i think those puns are beneath you

me: totally

omnom: that was much better
if anyone asks, tell them that story. plus, it's believable that you would have a conan sword

me: is it?
i don't even know when conan was made

omnom: how old are you?
you're my age aren't you

me: I was going to go with she-ra sword but I would have been like 8 or something
34... 35 in 28 days

omnom: it came out in the eraly 80's i think. very early

me: so I would have been 5 or 6
maybe it was a pie server and I just called it a sword, because I kicked ass as a 3 year old

omnom: i don't think i'd use pie server and kicked ass again in the same sentence
well,i wouldn't, but i guess you can pull it off

me: I was 3

omnom: ha

me: ok, so the shorty dwarf says OW! That was unnecessary!
So I said, you are a poopy-head. why are you taking my beans?

omnom: i think you can do better than that

me: I WAS 3!!

omnom: don't shoot the messenger

me: and he says, my people need green vegetables and we can't grow them, so I'm taking yours because your family is redneck and we don't like rednecks
so I ask what are you replacing them with?

omnom: oh shit, this is getting good

me: and he says, golden beans. and I said, shit, that's even better than beans. I don't even like beans!
green ones I mean
and I ask why is he giving up gold beans to rednecks if he doesn't like rednecks
and he says, they are only 12 carat
and I said, what? the carrots are on the other side of the garden, retard

omnom: ha
hahha
ha

me: so I go back inside and tell my mom that there are shorties in the garden that don't like carrots, so they are taking our beans and giving us gold beans because we are redneck!
and my mom says, Shelly, beans?? they are peas, honey! Shelly bean, Shelly bean
the end

omnom: that was weak

me: I WAS 3
ok, you give the ending

omnom: ok, your mom cracked open a pbr, chugged it, crumpled it on her forehead, and went outside in her motley crue shirt with the sleeves cut off

me: that is SO my mom

omnom: and she yelled 'where's the f*ing dwarf"
i thought so
so, the dwarf bowed up and was like 'are you looking for me?'
and your mom picked the dwarf up by it's funny pointed hat and drop kicked it to the trailer next door
then she let out a rebel yell and went back inside to make some grits
and then she said to you 'your name is now bean. because it is awesome'

me: that is awesome

omnom: thx

me: this is going to be even funnier if you ever meet my mom

quote of the day

2008-09-29T16:44:00.000-07:00

"Maybe it wasn't your turn to give.
Maybe it was your turn to receive."

-Ethel West

career-minded

2008-07-20T20:18:00.000-07:00

"I want people to see me as a can do-professional-so-and-so"

-Will, freelance dynamo

a quote and a recommendation

2008-07-01T13:04:00.000-07:00

"Why is free will wasted on a creature who has infinite choices but pretends there are only one or two?"

- from A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz

I think you should read this book.

Some reviews...
"There are so many quote-of-the-day worthy passages in this book. It's the best novel I've read this year." - Me

"This book is witty and intellectual, a physical comedy and literary rant all at once. The year is two months old. But this is the book of a two-month-old year. It may well carry the whole thing." - Tom Chiarella for Esquire

"Steve Toltz's startling debut novel, is a nonstop, politically incorrect diatribe about — for and against — religion, politics, relationships, sex, marriage, work, play, children, sleep, friends, art, labyrinths, schemes and dreams... The real pleasure in reading this book is the pace and the language. While there is a narrative thread, what Toltz has done masterfully is have his way with every aspect of modern life. He racks 'em up and knocks 'em down with a laser wit, a fine turn of phrase and a devastatingly funny outlook on everything human." - Valerie Ryan for The Seattle Times

"There are more than 500 pages in Steve Toltz' first novel, A Fraction of the Whole, and yet one can turn to nearly any of them and find something worth reading aloud. It has the weight and complexity of a life's masterpiece, but reads as if it was written in a stream of consciousness style. But what consciousness!" - Phillip Winn for BlogCritics Magazine

On the Mindless Menance of Violence

2008-06-26T13:34:00.000-07:00

On the Mindless Menace of Violence

Robert F. Kennedy
City Club of Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio
April 5, 1968

This is a time of shame and sorrow. It is not a day for politics. I have saved this one opportunity, my only event of today, to speak briefly to you about the mindless menace of violence in America which again stains our land and every one of our lives.

It is not the concern of any one race. The victims of the violence are black and white, rich and poor, young and old, famous and unknown. They are, most important of all, human beings whom other human beings loved and needed. No one - no matter where he lives or what he does - can be certain who will suffer from some senseless act of bloodshed. And yet it goes on and on and on in this country of ours.

Why? What has violence ever accomplished? What has it ever created? No martyr's cause has ever been stilled by an assassin's bullet.

No wrongs have ever been righted by riots and civil disorders. A sniper is only a coward, not a hero; and an uncontrolled, uncontrollable mob is only the voice of madness, not the voice of reason.

Whenever any American's life is taken by another American unnecessarily - whether it is done in the name of the law or in the defiance of the law, by one man or a gang, in cold blood or in passion, in an attack of violence or in response to violence - whenever we tear at the fabric of the life which another man has painfully and clumsily woven for himself and his children, the whole nation is degraded.

"Among free men," said Abraham Lincoln, "there can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet; and those who take such appeal are sure to lose their cause and pay the costs."

Yet we seemingly tolerate a rising level of violence that ignores our common humanity and our claims to civilization alike. We calmly accept newspaper reports of civilian slaughter in far-off lands. We glorify killing on movie and television screens and call it entertainment. We make it easy for men of all shades of sanity to acquire whatever weapons and ammunition they desire.

Too often we honor swagger and bluster and wielders of force; too often we excuse those who are willing to build their own lives on the shattered dreams of others. Some Americans who preach non-violence abroad fail to practice it here at home. Some who accuse others of inciting riots have by their own conduct invited them.

Some look for scapegoats, others look for conspiracies, but this much is clear: violence breeds violence, repression brings retaliation, and only a cleansing of our whole society can remove this sickness from our soul.

For there is another kind of violence, slower but just as deadly destructive as the shot or the bomb in the night. This is the violence of institutions; indifference and inaction and slow decay. This is the violence that afflicts the poor, that poisons relations between men because their skin has different colors. This is the slow destruction of a child by hunger, and schools without books and homes without heat in the winter.

This is the breaking of a man's spirit by denying him the chance to stand as a father and as a man among other men. And this too afflicts us all.

I have not come here to propose a set of specific remedies nor is there a single set. For a broad and adequate outline we know what must be done. When you teach a man to hate and fear his brother, when you teach that he is a lesser man because of his color or his beliefs or the policies he pursues, when you teach that those who differ from you threaten your freedom or your job or your family, then you also learn to confront others not as fellow citizens but as enemies, to be met not with cooperation but with conquest; to be subjugated and mastered.

We learn, at the last, to look at our brothers as aliens, men with whom we share a city, but not a community; men bound to us in common dwelling, but not in common effort. We learn to share only a common fear, only a common desire to retreat from each other, only a common impulse to meet disagreement with force. For all this, there are no final answers.

Yet we know what we must do. It is to achieve true justice among our fellow citizens. The question is not what programs we should seek to enact. The question is whether we can find in our own midst and in our own hearts that leadership of humane purpose that will recognize the terrible truths of our existence.

We must admit the vanity of our false distinctions among men and learn to find our own advancement in the search for the advancement of others. We must admit in ourselves that our own children's future cannot be built on the misfortunes of others. We must recognize that this short life can neither be ennobled or enriched by hatred or revenge.

Our lives on this planet are too short and the work to be done too great to let this spirit flourish any longer in our land. Of course we cannot vanquish it with a program, nor with a resolution.

But we can perhaps remember, if only for a time, that those who live with us are our brothers, that they share with us the same short moment of life; that they seek, as do we, nothing but the chance to live out their lives in purpose and in happiness, winning what satisfaction and fulfillment they can.

Surely, this bond of common faith, this bond of common goal, can begin to teach us something. Surely, we can learn, at least, to look at those around us as fellow men, and surely we can begin to work a little harder to bind up the wounds among us and to become in our own hearts brothers and countrymen once again.

quote of the day

2008-05-19T17:47:00.000-07:00

"if i were an enzyme i'd be a DNA helicase so i could unzip your genes"
- random t-shirt

an engineer's guide to cats

2008-04-28T09:36:00.000-07:00

washingtonian(?)

2008-04-09T14:16:00.000-07:00

I've lived in Seattle for 2 months and 10 days. Today, I made it officially official. I gave money to the state government. I'm on the radar now.

Good thing too because my Georgia registration was expired by 9 days.

i'm a knitter

2008-04-09T13:09:00.000-07:00

Before last week, I had knit only one thing. Now I've finished two things so I think I can call myself a proper knitter. Well, I haven't really purled yet, so maybe I just move up from one-knit-wonder to established novice.

Back in December, my talented friend Kathryn took me to the yarn store in Atlanta (Knitch) and got me started. I found this fantastic Manos del Uruguay yarn and she taught me to cast on and knit, continental style. I tried to purl, but at the time I thought I screwed it up, so I stuck with the knit. After Nicola taught me how to cast off, I figured out how to make tassels. Here is the final product, which I absolutely love.

lunch at the taco stand (excuse the *work* clothes)

My second project, a baby hat in Tech colors, was slightly more difficult - knitting in the round with double pointed needles, figuring out how to read a pattern, and topping it off with an i-cord (that was the hardest part). I got a Rowan cotton washable blend yarn at the Hilltop Yarn fire sale. I did a lot of ripping out on this one, but it turned out pretty well.

the beginning - knitting in the round with dpn

finished umbilical cord hat from Stitch 'n Bitch

Jenn & Charlie, proud parents of little Chase seem to like it, so I'm happy.

The next project is top secret for now, but hopefully I'll have it done on time!

wierd fishes

2008-04-06T20:11:00.000-07:00

Mark Bearak is one of the most interesting and inspired people whom I don't really know that well. Go here to vote for his creation.

graffiti

2008-03-18T10:22:00.001-07:00

Do you have an overwhelming desire to declare your love for someone to the world? Your political alliances? Your conspiracy theories?

Are you too law abiding to spray paint it on an extremely prominent wall?

Then this is for you.

i also heart keith nelson (and watts)

2008-03-16T22:44:00.000-07:00

"I just think, maybe you should consider whether or not you feel you can deliver a kiss that kills."

i heart daniel desario

2008-03-14T14:34:00.000-07:00

And here he is, all grown up...

Carlos the dwarf rules.

esther is 5!!!

2008-03-07T10:23:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday, Esther!

dear john

2008-03-05T10:02:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday!

racial profiling

2008-03-04T15:54:00.002-08:00

Are you white? Is this you?

The comments are just as good as the blog

katie o

2008-03-03T17:27:00.004-08:00

Doughnut Girl by Emily Martin

bitch is the new black

2008-02-24T12:08:00.002-08:00

Hell yeah, Tina Fey! Hillary in '08!

babies not required

2008-02-22T22:15:00.004-08:00

My newest favorite thing:
Rockabye Baby! Lullaby Renditions

The Cure - Just Like Heaven
U2 - Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Metallica - One
Nirvana - Smell Like Teen Spirit

Why can't the toy piano be more mainstream?

goodbye to all that

2008-02-20T13:32:00.003-08:00

Goodbye To All That (#2) by Robin Morgan

February 2, 2008

Goodbye To All That” was my (in)famous 1970 essay breaking free from a politics of accommodation especially affecting women (for an online version, see http://blog.fair-use.org/category/chicago/).

During my decades in civil-rights, anti-war, and contemporary women’s movements, I’ve avoided writing another specific “Goodbye . . .” But not since the suffrage struggle have two communities—joint conscience-keepers of this country—been so set in competition, as the contest between Hillary Rodham Clinton (HRC) and Barack Obama (BO) unfurls. So.

Goodbye to the double standard . . .

—Hillary is too ballsy but too womanly, a Snow Maiden who’s emotional, and so much a politician as to be unfit for politics.

—She’s “ambitious” but he shows “fire in the belly.” (Ever had labor pains?)—When a sexist idiot screamed “Iron my shirt!” at HRC, it was considered amusing; if a racist idiot shouted “Shine my shoes!” at BO, it would’ve inspired hours of airtime and pages of newsprint analyzing our national dishonor.

—Young political Kennedys—Kathleen, Kerry, and Bobby Jr.—all endorsed Hillary. Senator Ted, age 76, endorsed Obama. If the situation were reversed, pundits would snort “See? Ted and establishment types back her, but the forward-looking generation backs him.” (Personally, I’m unimpressed with Caroline’s longing for the Return of the Fathers. Unlike the rest of the world, Americans have short memories. Me, I still recall Marilyn Monroe’s suicide, and a dead girl named Mary Jo Kopechne in Chappaquiddick.)

Goodbye to the toxic viciousness . . .

Carl Bernstein's disgust at Hillary’s “thick ankles.” Nixon-trickster Roger Stone’s new Hillary-hating 527 group, “Citizens United Not Timid” (check the capital letters). John McCain answering “How do we beat the bitch?" with “Excellent question!” Would he have dared reply similarly to “How do we beat the black bastard?” For shame.

Goodbye to the HRC nutcracker with metal spikes between splayed thighs. If it was a tap-dancing blackface doll, we would be righteously outraged—and they would not be selling it in airports. Shame.

Goodbye to the most intimately violent T-shirts in election history, including one with the murderous slogan “If Only Hillary had married O.J. Instead!” Shame.

Goodbye to Comedy Central’s “Southpark” featuring a storyline in which terrorists secrete a bomb in HRC’s vagina. I refuse to wrench my brain down into the gutter far enough to find a race-based comparison. For shame.

Goodbye to the sick, malicious idea that this is funny. This is not “Clinton hating,” not “Hillary hating.” This is sociopathic woman-hating. If it were about Jews, we would recognize it instantly as anti-Semitic propaganda; if about race, as KKK poison. Hell, PETA would go ballistic if such vomitous spew were directed at animals. Where is our sense of outrage—as citizens, voters, Americans?

Goodbye to the news-coverage target-practice . . .

The women’s movement and Media Matters wrung an apology from MSNBC’s Chris Matthews for relentless misogynistic comments (www.womensmediacenter.com). But what about NBC’s Tim Russert’s continual sexist asides and his all-white-male panels pontificating on race and gender? Or CNN’s Tony Harris chuckling at “the chromosome thing” while interviewing a woman from The White House Project? And that’s not even mentioning Fox News.

Goodbye to pretending the black community is entirely male and all women are white . . .

Surprise! Women exist in all opinions, pigmentations, ethnicities, abilities, sexual preferences, and ages—not only African American and European American but Latina and Native American, Asian American and Pacific Islanders, Arab American and—hey, every group, because a group wouldn’t exist if we hadn’t given birth to it. A few non-racist countries may exist—but sexism is everywhere. No matter how many ways a woman breaks free from other discriminations, she remains a female human being in a world still so patriarchal that it’s the “norm.”

So why should all women not be as justly proud of our womanhood and the centuries, even millennia, of struggle that got us this far, as black Americans, women and men, are justly proud of their struggles?

Goodbye to a campaign where he has to pass as white (which whites—especially wealthy ones—adore), while she has to pass as male (which both men and women demanded of her, and then found unforgivable). If she were blackor he were female we wouldn’t be having such problems, and I for one would be in heaven. But at present such a candidate wouldn’t stand a chance—even if she shared Condi Rice’s Bush-defending politics.

I was celebrating the pivotal power at last focused on African American women deciding on which of two candidates to bestow their vote—until a number of Hillary-supporting black feminists told me they’re being called “race traitors.”

So goodbye to conversations about this nation’s deepest scar—slavery—which fail to acknowledge that labor- and sexual-slavery exist today in the U.S. and elsewhere on this planet, and the majority of those enslaved are women.

Women have endured sex/race/ethnic/religious hatred, rape and battery, invasion of spirit and flesh, forced pregnancy; being the majority of the poor, the illiterate, the disabled, of refugees, caregivers, the HIV/AIDS afflicted, the powerless. We have survived invisibility, ridicule, religious fundamentalisms, polygamy, teargas, forced feedings, jails, asylums, sati, purdah, female genital mutilation, witch burnings, stonings, and attempted gynocides. We have tried reason, persuasion, reassurances, and being extra-qualified, only to learn it never was about qualifications after all. We know that at this historical moment women experience the world differently from men—though not all the same as one another—and can govern differently, from Elizabeth Tudor to Michele Bachelet and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

We remember when Shirley Chisholm and Patricia Schroeder ran for this high office and barely got past the gate—they showed too much passion, raised too little cash, were joke fodder. Goodbye to all that. (And goodbye to some feminists so famished for a female president they were even willing to abandon women’s rights in backing Elizabeth Dole.)

Goodbye, goodbye to . . .

—blaming anything Bill Clinton does on Hillary (even including his womanizing like the Kennedy guys—though unlike them, he got reported on). Let’s get real. If he hadn’t campaigned strongly for her everyone would cluck over what that meant. Enough of Bill and Teddy Kennedy locking their alpha male horns while Hillary pays for it.

—an era when parts of the populace feel so disaffected by politics that a comparative lack of knowledge, experience, and skill is actually seen as attractive, when celebrity-culture mania now infects our elections so that it’s “cooler” to glow with marquee charisma than to understand the vast global complexities of power on a nuclear, wounded planet.

—the notion that it’s fun to elect a handsome, cocky president who feels he can learn on the job, goodbye to George W. Bush and the destruction brought by his inexperience, ignorance, and arrogance. Goodbye to the accusation that HRC acts “entitled” when she’s worked intensely at everything she’s done—including being a nose-to-the-grindstone, first-rate senator from my state.

Goodbye to her being exploited as a Rorschach test by women who reduce her to a blank screen on which they project their own fears, failures, fantasies.

Goodbye to the phrase “polarizing figure” to describe someone who embodies the transitions women have made in the last century and are poised to make in this one. It was the women’s movement that quipped, “We are becoming the men we wanted to marry.” She heard us, and she has.

Goodbye to some women letting history pass by while wringing their hands, because Hillary isn’t as “likeable” as they’ve been warned they must be, or because she didn’t leave him, couldn’t “control” him, kept her family together and raised a smart, sane daughter. (Think of the blame if Chelsea had ever acted in the alcoholic, neurotic manner of the Bush twins!) Goodbye to some women pouting because she didn’t bake cookies or she did, sniping because she learned the rules and then bent or broke them. Grow the hell up. She is not running for Ms.-perfect-pure-queen-icon of the feminist movement. She’s running to be president of the United States.

Goodbye to the shocking American ignorance of our own and other countries’ history. Margaret Thatcher and Golda Meir rose through party ranks and war, positioning themselves as proto-male leaders. Almost all other female heads of government so far have been related to men of power—granddaughters, daughters, sisters, wives, widows: Gandhi, Bandaranike, Bhutto, Aquino, Chamorro, Wazed, Macapagal-Arroyo, Johnson Sirleaf, Bachelet, Kirchner, and more. Even in our “land of opportunity,” it’s mostly the first pathway “in” permitted to women: Representatives Doris Matsui and Mary Bono and Sala Burton; Senator Jean Carnahan . . . far too many to list here.

Goodbye to a misrepresented generational divide . . .

Goodbye to the so-called spontaneous “Obama Girl” flaunting her bikini-clad ass online—then confessing Oh yeah it wasn’t her idea after all, some guys got her to do it and dictated the clothes, which she said “made me feel like a dork.”

Goodbye to some young women eager to win male approval by showing they’re not feminists (at least not the kind who actually threaten thestatus quo), who can’t identify with a woman candidate because she is unafraid of eeueweeeu yucky power, who fear their boyfriends might look at them funny if they say something good about her. Goodbye to women of any age again feeling unworthy, sulking “what if she’s not electable?” or “maybe it’s post-feminism and whoooosh we’re already free.” Let a statement by the magnificent Harriet Tubman stand as reply. When asked how she managed to save hundreds of enslaved African Americans via the Underground Railroad during the Civil War, she replied bitterly, “I could have saved thousands—if only I’d been able to convince them they were slaves.”

I’d rather say a joyful Hello to all the glorious young women who do identifywith Hillary, and all the brave, smart men—of all ethnicities and any age—who get that it’s in their self-interest, too. She’s better qualified. (D’uh.) She’s a high-profile candidate with an enormous grasp of foreign- and domestic-policy nuance, dedication to detail, ability to absorb staggering insult and personal pain while retaining dignity, resolve, even humor, and keep on keeping on. (Also, yes, dammit, let’s hear it for her connections and funding and party-building background, too. Obama was awfully glad about those when she raised dough and campaigned for him to get to the Senate in the first place.)

I’d rather look forward to what a good president he might make in eight years, when his vision and spirit are seasoned by practical know-how—and he’ll be all of 54. Meanwhile, goodbye to turning him into a shining knight when actually he’s an astute, smooth pol with speechwriters who’ve worked with the Kennedys’ own speechwriter-courtier Ted Sorenson. If it’s only about ringing rhetoric, let speechwriters run. But isn’t it about getting the policies we want enacted?

And goodbye to the ageism . . .

How dare anyone unilaterally decide when to turn the page on history, papering over real inequities and suffering constituencies in the promise of a feel-good campaign? How dare anyone claim to unify while dividing, or think that to rouse U.S. youth from torpor it’s useful to triage the single largest demographic in this country’s history: the boomer generation—the majority of which is female?

Old woman are the one group that doesn’t grow more conservative with age—and we are the generation of radicals who said “Well-behaved women seldom make history.” Goodbye to going gently into any goodnight any man prescribes for us. We are the women who changed the reality of the United States. And though we never went away, brace yourselves: we’re back!

We are the women who brought this country equal credit, better pay, affirmative action, the concept of a family-focused workplace; the women who established rape-crisis centers and battery shelters, marital-rape and date-rape laws; the women who defended lesbian custody rights, who fought for prison reform, founded the peace and environmental movements; who insisted that medical research include female anatomy; who inspired men to become more nurturing parents; who created women’s studies and Title IX so we all could cheer the WNBA stars and Mia Hamm. We are the women who reclaimed sexuality from violent pornography, who put childcare on the national agenda, who transformed demographics, artistic expression, language itself. We are the women who forged a worldwide movement. We are the proud successors of women who, though it took more than 50 years, won us the vote.

We are the women who now comprise the majority of U.S. voters.

Hillary said she found her own voice in New Hampshire. There’s not a woman alive who, if she’s honest, doesn’t recognize what she means. Then HRC got drowned out by campaign experts, Bill, and media’s obsession with everything Bill.

So listen to her voice:

“For too long, the history of women has been a history of silence. Even today, there are those who are trying to silence our words.

“It is a violation of human rights when babies are denied food, or drowned, or suffocated, or their spines broken, simply because they are born girls. It is a violation of human rights when woman and girls are sold into the slavery of prostitution. It is a violation of human rights when women are doused with gasoline, set on fire and burned to death because their marriage dowries are deemed too small. It is a violation of human rights when individual women are raped in their own communities and when thousands of women are subjected to rape as a tactic or prize of war. It is a violation of human rights when a leading cause of death worldwide along women ages 14 to 44 is the violence they are subjected to in their own homes. It is a violation of human rights when women are denied the right to plan their own families, and that includes being forced to have abortions or being sterilized against their will.

“Women’s rights are human rights. Among those rights are the right to speak freely—and the right to be heard.”

That was Hillary Rodham Clinton defying the U.S. State Department and the Chinese Government at the 1995 UN World Conference on Women in Beijing (look here for the full, stunning speech).

And this voice, age 21, in “Commencement Remarks of Hillary D. Rodham, President of Wellesley College Government Association, Class of 1969.”

“We are, all of us, exploring a world none of us understands. . . . searching for a more immediate, ecstatic, and penetrating mode of living. . . . [for the] integrity, the courage to be whole, living in relation to one another in the full poetry of existence. The struggle for an integrated life existing in an atmosphere of communal trust and respect is one with desperately important political and social consequences. . . . Fear is always with us, but we just don't have time for it.”

She ended with the commitment “to practice, with all the skill of our being: the art of making possible.”

And for decades, she’s been learning how.

So goodbye to Hillary’s second-guessing herself. The real question is deeper than her re-finding her voice. Can we women find ours? Can we do this for ourselves?

“Our President, Ourselves!”

Time is short and the contest tightening. We need to rise in furious energy—as we did when Anita Hill was so vilely treated in the U.S. Senate, as we did when Rosie Jiminez was butchered by an illegal abortion, as we did and do for women globally who are condemned for trying to break through. We need to win, this time. Goodbye to supporting HRC tepidly, with ambivalent caveats and apologetic smiles. Time to volunteer, make phone calls, send emails, donate money, argue, rally, march, shout, vote.

Me? I support Hillary Rodham because she’s the best qualified of all candidates running in both parties. I support her because her progressive politics are as strong as her proven ability to withstand what will be a massive right-wing assault in the general election. I support her because she knows how to get us out of Iraq. I support her because she’s refreshingly thoughtful, and I’m bloodied from eight years of a jolly “uniter” with ejaculatory politics. I needn’t agree with her on every point. I agree with the 97 percent of her positions that are identical with Obama’s—and the few where hers are both more practical and to the left of his (like health care). I support her because she’s already smashed the first-lady stereotype and made history as a fine senator, because I believe she will continue to make history not only as the first US woman president, but as a great US president.

As for the “woman thing”?

Me, I’m voting for Hillary not because she’s a woman—but because I am.

Thanks, Sarah

its snowing in atlanta!!!!

2008-01-16T14:01:00.000-08:00

WOOOHOOOOO!
Now just pray that it sticks...

word of the day

2008-01-14T11:19:00.001-08:00

Shelly --

[adjective]:

Pretentiously academian

'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Thanks, Sara

i heart david lynch

2008-01-07T10:07:00.000-08:00

Thanks, Katie.

a car talk carol

2007-12-07T06:59:00.000-08:00

Airing Saturday, December 7 at 10:00am on 90.1 WABE
Online at npr.org

Click and Clack ring in the holiday season with A Car Talk Christmas Carol, starring Tom and Ray Magliozzi and a stellar cast of public radio personalities. In a new take on the Dickens classic, the "Scroogiozzi Brothers" get a lesson in generosity from the Spirits of Public Radio Past, Present and Future. Children's author and Weekend Edition Commentator Daniel Pinkwater narrates.

CAST:
Tom and Ray Magliozzi as The Scroogiozzi Brothers
NPR's Robert Siegel as Bob "Robert Siegel" Cratchit
Ira Glass as Tiny Ira
NPR's Susan Stamberg as The Spirit of Public Radio Past
NPR's Scott Simon as The Spirit of Public Radio Present
Commentator Andrei Codrescu as The Spirit of Public Radio Future
NPR's Carl Kasell as Crusty the Mechanic
Commentator Daniel Pinkwater as the Narrator
Produced by Tom Voegeli Productions

how much H2O?

2007-12-04T09:31:00.000-08:00

Are you concerned about the Atlanta water supply?

Check the Lake Lanier Water Watch
and the AJC's Coping with the Drought

Water Use it Wisely - Indoor water conservation tips for the Southeast United States
(tips in green are changes I can make in my household)

#2.		When washing dishes by hand, don't let the water run while rinsing. Fill one sink with wash water and the other with rinse water.
#5.		Run your washing machine and dishwasher only when they are full and you could save 1000 gallons a month.
#8.		Use the garbage disposal sparingly. Compost instead and save gallons every time.
#10.		Keep a pitcher of water in the refrigerator instead of running the tap for cold drinks, so that every drop goes down you not the drain.
#13.		Wash your produce in the sink or a pan that is partially filled with water instead of running water from the tap.
#16.		If your shower can fill a one-gallon bucket in less than 20 seconds, then replace it with a water-efficient showerhead.
#17.		Collect the water you use for rinsing produce and reuse it to water houseplants.
#22.		When you shop for a new appliance, consider one offering cycle and load size adjustments. They are more water and energy-efficient than older appliances.
#23.		Time your shower to keep it under 5 minutes. You'll save up to 1000 gallons a month.
#24.		Install low-volume toilets.
#26.		When you clean your fish tank, use the water you've drained on your plants. The water is rich in nitrogen and phosphorus, providing you with a free and effective fertilizer.
#28.		Put food coloring in your toilet tank. If it seeps into the toilet bowl, you have a leak. It's easy to fix, and you can save more than 600 gallons a month.
#29.		Plug the bathtub before turning the water on, then adjust the temperature as the tub fills up.
#32.		Designate one glass for your drinking water each day. This will cut down on the number of times you run your dishwasher.
#35.		Don't use running water to thaw food.
#37.		Grab a wrench and fix that leaky faucet. It's simple, inexpensive, and can save 140 gallons a week.
#39.		When doing laundry, match the water level to the size of the load.
#40.		Teach your children to turn the faucets off tightly after each use.
#42.		Before you lather up, install a low-flow showerhead. They're inexpensive, easy to install, and can save your family more than 500 gallons a week.
#43.		Soak your pots and pans instead of letting the water run while you scrape them clean.
#54.		Turn off the water while you brush your teeth and save 4 gallons a minute. That's 200 gallons a week for a family of four.
#59.		Make sure your toilet flapper doesn't stick open after flushing.
#60.		Make sure there are aerators on all of your faucets.
#62.		Install an instant water heater on your kitchen sink so you don't have to let the water run while it heats up. This will also reduce heating costs for your household.
#64.		Cut back on rinsing if your dishwasher is new. Newer models clean more thoroughly than older ones.
#70.		Bathe your young children together.
#73.		Insulate hot water pipes so you don't have to run as much water to get hot water to the faucet.
#75.		Drop that tissue in the trash instead of flushing it and save gallons every time.
#81.		If your toilet was installed prior to 1980, place a toilet dam or bottle filled with water in your toilet tank to cut down on the amount of water used for each flush. Be sure these devices do not interfere with operating parts.
#82.		Install water softening systems only when necessary. Save water and salt by running the minimum number of regenerations necessary to maintain water softness.
#83.		Wash clothes only when you have a full load and save up to 600 gallons each month.
#89.		Listen for dripping faucets and toilets that flush themselves. Fixing a leak can save 500 gallons each month.
#91.		Cook food in as little water as possible. This will also retain more of the nutrients.
#95.		Choose new water-saving appliances, like washing machines that save up to 20 gallons per load.
#98.		Select the proper size pans for cooking. Large pans require more cooking water than may be necessary.
#100.		Turn off the water while you shave and you can save more than 100 gallons a week.
#101.		When you give your pet fresh water, don't throw the old water down the drain. Use it to water your trees or shrubs.
#102.		If you accidentally drop ice cubes when filling your glass from the freezer, don't throw them in the sink. Drop them in a house plant instead.
#103.		To save water and time, consider washing your face or brushing your teeth while in the shower.
#104.		While staying in a hotel or even at home, consider reusing your towels.
#107.		Throw trimmings and peelings from fruits and vegetables into your yard compost to prevent from using the garbage disposal.
#110.		Keep a bucket in the shower to catch water as it warms up or runs. Use this water to flush toilets or water plants.
#111.		When you are washing your hands, don't let the water run while you lather.

climate change is a prisoner's dilemma

2007-11-28T12:33:00.000-08:00

2007-11-08T13:45:00.001-08:00

Cats Are Better Than Dogs

I've always been a fan of felines. As far as pets go, you can't beat them! I have three myself, and I couldn't adore them more. I don't care what...

back by popular demand

2007-09-14T16:32:00.000-07:00

Bon Jovi

01/01/2006

mindless blogging

2007-08-28T06:54:00.000-07:00

I am 15% Idiot.

I am not annoying at all. In fact most people come to me for advice. Of course they annoy the hell out of me. But what can I do? I am smarter than most people.

Take the
Idiot Test
@ FualiDotCom

....or maybe not so mindless

You Are From Pluto

You are a dark, mysterious soul, full of magic and the secrets of the universe.
You can get the scoop on anything, but you keep your own secrets locked in your heart.
You love change and you use it to your advantage, whether by choice or chance.
You don't like to compromise, to the point of being self-destructive with your stubborness.
Live life with love, and your deep powers will open the world to you.

What Planet Are You From?

I am 72% Evil Genius.

Evil courses through my blood. Lies and deceit motivate my evil deeds. Crushing the weaklings and idiots that do nothing but interfere in my doings.

Take the
Evil Genius Test
@ FualiDotCom

astronomy and coffee in the EAV

2007-08-26T07:58:00.000-07:00

The Atlanta Sidewalk Astronomer will be out again in the EAV for the total lunar eclipse on Tuesday. Come check it out. You can take a nap later at work.

horoscope

2007-07-23T08:16:00.000-07:00

Aries: Keeping things light and carefree can be tricky when you're up to your neck in some heavy business, but you can manage to do so with grace today. What's the reason for your cool, calm and collected demeanor? Confidence, plain and simple. You know deep down in your gut that this project or task is going to go off without a hitch in the end. While others fret and worry, you can continue to picture the celebration you'll have once it's all over. Keep up the positive thinking!

This is really on the money. Just waiting for that grace to kick in. Maybe after a shower...

on the road with HP OotP

2007-07-18T09:49:00.000-07:00

I saw the movie here.

catching up with Harry Potter

2007-07-18T09:33:00.000-07:00

I didn't get to see HP OotP at midnight on opening night, which turned out to be just fine with me. I was asleep by 9pm that night I think. Anywho, I was privileged enough to see all of the O.C. Harry Potter enthusiasts who were in line at the IMAX more than 6 hours before show time! That is dedication. The best part is a lot of the Griffyndor's were studying though not pictured. The Slytherins seemed, uh, less studious.

deathly hallows

2007-07-02T07:37:00.000-07:00

Other than "ooh, you got your hair cut!" the second most common conversation I've had lately starts with "Shelly! Where do I go to get my Harry Potter book?!?!" The answer...

Bound To Be Read Books

Friday night, July 20, 2007

481-B Flat Shoals Avenue, S.E. - Atlanta - Georgia 30316

"Mark your calendar for Friday, July 20th and join us for our Harry Potter party from 10:00 p.m. until midnight. We'll count down the minutes until the witching hour and the release of the final boy wizard book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

The Leaky Cauldron will cater our affair with cauldron cakes, butterbeer, and Voldetorte. A magician will perform magic. Come dressed in costume, and a photographer will take your picture in front of a Harry Potter background for a small fee.

At midnight, we will distribute pre-ordered copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows from the Great Book of Names for those who have pre-ordered copies.

This party is B.Y.O.B. (Bring Your Own Broom). Muggles are welcome; no Deatheaters allowed."

It's an independent bookstore in the East Atlanta Village and it is going to be Awesome (ask Cassi, she's an expert on the subject). You can call them at 404-522-0877 or email Jef to reserve your book(s). They are offering a 25% discount.

Cassi is going as Luna Lovegood. I've lost my Hermione hair, so maybe I'll be Harry. Who will you be? Stay tuned for more details!

my unitarian jihad name is

2007-06-26T19:31:00.000-07:00

Sister Machine Gun of Tranquility

I think it's quite fitting.

What's yours?

delayed debut

2007-06-26T15:50:00.000-07:00

I got my hair cut 8 days ago. It was cute, but I didn't love it so I went back to the salon. It isn't cute anymore. I like it.

There's a before in my profile. Here are the in between and afters.

3 days till the new do

2007-06-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

I need a change. So I'm cutting it all off and giving it away.
Here are the finalists I'm considering...

Pink's was my first inspiration, but now I'm leaning toward Renee. I'm tempted to color it as well, but that seems unlikely. At that length, haircuts will already have to be about 3 times more frequent (and $$$). I'm too lazy (and cheap) to spend more time at the salon.

two things I love

2007-05-31T06:20:00.000-07:00

1) Rollercoasters

2) Harry Potter

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070531/people_nm/arts_potter_dc

My 2009 vacation plans are in the bag!

pardon paris

2007-05-08T09:01:00.000-07:00

This is the funniest thing I've read in a while...

FREE PARIS HILTON

we are in!

2007-04-26T11:16:00.000-07:00

We are off the wait list! It has just been confirmed that Kathryn and I will be recieving our first CSA box on May 23. Whoopeee!!!

This means, fresh, local vegetables, eggs and milk! This means less trips to the grocery store! This means I gotta start cooking again.

Sooo exciting!

Spruill Green Market CSA

shake it

2007-04-25T08:22:00.000-07:00

Shake at the Lake 2007
May 2 - 6
Free Shakespeare in Piedmont Park

Twelfth Night
by William Shakespeare
Directed by Karen Robinson
May 2 - 6 in Piedmont Park
A gender-bending romantic misadventure filled with twists, turns, lovers and lunacy. A cast of colorful characters reveal the secrets of love, laughter, and life is Shakespeare's magical, musical masterpiece.

* Because seating is limited, tickets are required for Shake at the Lake.
* Tickets will be distributed beginning at 10am on the day of the performance at the following locations:Piedmont Park, Visitors Center and the Georgia Shakespeare Box Office at Oglethorpe University.
* Each person is limited to four (4) tickets only.
* All performances begin at 7:30pm
* Lake Lawn seating begins at 6pm.
* Items such as LAWN CHAIRS, oversized coolers, bikes, etc. are not allowed in the venue area.

Check out all the info at http://www.gashakespeare.org/shakeatthelake.asp

I am not missing it this year. I'm going Thursday, May 3 with the newly weds. I can get one more ticket. Who wants to go???

don't you wish you were here?

2007-03-27T16:28:00.001-07:00

Atlanta Pollen Count

copying steven

2007-03-27T13:46:00.000-07:00

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

inquiring minds want to know

2007-03-22T08:56:00.000-07:00

I'm really bad at telling stories. Always have been. I tell half a story, go off topic and never return. Then I remember two days later that I never finished the thought. Happens all the time. I'm sure it drives my friends crazy... if they are listening in the first place.

So for those of you concerned about the state of my project - I did eventually get a network connection, but not until much later in the day. Don't worry though, I kept myself busy. I went shopping. And I finished up the project on Sunday in time to deliver it to the client on Monday.

Thank you all for your concern.

discovery

2007-03-17T19:52:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning, I go to work. At the office. I hadn't gone to work on a Saturday in years, but I'm on a project from hell and this shit has got to be finished yesterday.

So I get to work ready to finish this thing out, and low and behold I cannot connect. Frick. If I go home to wait until this is fixed by the powers that be, I'll never come back. So what to do? Phipps is just up the street. Maybe I can catch an early flick. By the time I get back, the problem should be resolved.

I check the website, and Zodiac is playing at 11:00am. Perfect. I can walk over there and be just on time. I walk outside and it's frickin' freezing and windy, so I feel bad for the environment for about 2 seconds and then I drive, but I digress.

I get to the ticket counter, and say "One for Zodiac at 11:00am, please." The woman behind the counter says, "Five dollars, please." I say, "Five dollars?" She says, "Weekend shows before noon are only $5.00 for everyone."

$5.00??? This is incredible. I normally I pay twice that, so don't see movies as much as I'd like. That is officially going to change. There should be a Saturday Morning Movie Club. If the movie theatres were smart, they would start that. But since they aren't, it'll be Shelly's Saturday Morning Movie Club.

What are you doing next Saturday at 11:00am?

Update: Turns out this is an AMC thing. A.M.Cinema - $5* tickets before noon on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.
*either $4.00, $5.00 or $6.00 depending on theatre and market

are you a tyrant?

2007-03-15T09:28:00.000-07:00

Are you going to the theatre with some senators later?
Have you been recently bothered by an annoying soothsayer?
Do you know a guy named Brutus?

Maybe you should work from home today.

Beware the ides of March

dawn of the ipod dead

2007-03-14T08:14:00.001-07:00

It's Wednesday. Time for a new word. First let's checkout an established term...

iPod Zombie (source - urban dictionary)
An iPod-using pedestrian (typically of New York) that unknowingly risks becoming street pizza by attempting to adjust the perfect song and volume intensity while wandering into the street/against the crosswalk signal.
My cabbie almost flattened an iPod Zombie on the way to the airport.

I'd like to offer a second definition for this term...

iPod Zombie
2. Previously dead and buried iPod that has been reanimated.
My previously desceased iPod mini has come back to life! I'm afraid to use the headphones though. I think it might try to eat my brain.

new word wednesday

2007-03-07T07:55:00.000-08:00

My new side project to complement the activities of To Read Makes Our Speaking English Good.

Vacillated
"Nabhan predicted my apple problem when he vacillated over some organic pumpkin canned hundreds of miles from his Arizona home." (John Cloud, Time Magazine)

vac·il·late [vas-uh-leyt]
-verb (used without object), -lat·ed, -lat·ing.
1. to waver in mind or opinion; be indecisive or irresolute: His tendency to vacillate makes him a poor leader.
2. to sway unsteadily; waver; totter; stagger.
3. to oscillate or fluctuate.
[Origin: 1590–1600; < L vacillātus (ptp. of vacillāre to sway to and fro); see -ate1]

Gustatory
"For gustatory reasons, I long ago stopped eating out of season." (ibid)

gus·ta·to·ry [guhs-tuh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee]
–adjective
of or pertaining to taste or tasting.
[Origin: 1675–85; < L gustā(re) to taste + -tory1]

obit

2007-03-06T11:17:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday, March 6, 2007, Shelly's iPod mini was called to the Lord. She was christened 3 years ago in April with the inscription "Take all you can, Give nothing back" to commemorate Shelly's 30th birthday, POTC style. She enjoyed miles of running, hiking and many, many Delta miles. She is survived by 3301 items, 8.3 days, 12.09 GB of tunes.

May she rest in peace.

happy b'day

2007-03-05T07:35:00.000-08:00

to my favorite - John. Scroll to the bottom of the page if you don't know who I'm talking about.

cleaning up

2007-03-02T07:51:00.000-08:00

In the process of moving files to my new computer, I decided to do a little clean up and found a memory worth saving. On February 4 & 5, 2003, Jim K and I challenged each other to write essays with a given set of parameters. Here is this little treasure of work avoidance for your reading pleasure...

Daily Essays (unedited)

February 4, 2003
What is your opinion on men's cologne and women's perfume and why?

ode du toilet
by Jim K

Perfume, cologne, what is it? does it attract the opposite sex? I think not.

Men and women in this day and age do anything to stand out, anything to make themselves look better or more distinguished than the next. Maybe by dressing differently or having a different haircut, but smelling differently?

In my professional opinion there are two types of perfume/cologne users. There is the 'more is better' crowd and then there is the 'just a little dabble here' crowd.

The 'just a dabble here' crowd is usually slightly more sophisticated than the other crowd. They have 3 to 4 different fragrances and a large wardrobe. Getting ready in the morning is a huge routine taking a minimum of 45 minutes. After their shower with the organic shampoos and the lavender soaps, they go through the ridiculous task of picking out an outfit combination that hasn't been worn in at least 2 weeks. And the shoes, don't get me started. After this comes the hair. Man or woman this could take a while. A good teeth brushing and listerine routine are taking place while the hair sets and dries. So after all this they probably look pretty good. Sharp outfit, nice and pressed, fresh breath, combed hair. Most, including me, would call it quits right now. But some have to go the extra mile and put something smelly on. They pick up the bottle, put their finger on the top and turn it upside down then right side up. There is a minute amount of smell on their finger yet they try and dabble it on both sides of their neck, both wrists, and for some reason around the private area. By the time said person arives at work with their coffee and paper, the smell has been rubbed off on their jacket and the car.

'More is Better'. These people, usually guys, are the worst. Unlike the 'dabble' crowd these people are not smart, do not have a large wardrobe, are not very hygienic. A typical for this type would involve showering, maybe. Head and shoulders is the fanciest shampoo is in the shower and occasionally there is something other than ivory or zest in the soap category. Showers take around 5-7 minutes. Now it's time to get dressed. Anything they can find that has a few wrinkles or stains is fair game. Smell does not matter. Shoes, they only have 2 pair so this is an easy decision. The next step is hair. 10 seconds of combing or brushing is all that is required. The occasional 'More is Better' patron will grease the shit out of his head. Now comes time for the smell. No matter how bad the breath, the BO, the clothing smell, this next step will take care of it. Typically there is 1 type of smell next to the sink with two spares under the sink for the frequent reload. This smell usually comes from a grocery store fragrance section. The bottle is picked up and poured into the opposite hand so it fills the palm. The other hand then smashes down on the other and rubbed so both hands are dripping with the stuff. Both sides of the face are slapped, followed by the armpits, and of course the private area finishes it off. Working with this person is not pleasant. Sneezing and watering eyes often occur when one comes in contact with this person. If you were to get hit on in a bar by this person the line would most likely be "so, you come here often?" or "Do I know you?".

I will admit I have worn cologne before on many an occasion. I wish I knew how much to put on though. I enjoy the smell when it is applied properly, but in my experience, most fragrance people fall in either of the above categories.

Does it impress me? No. Will I wear it again? Yes. I do think that we would be better off if we flushed it all down du toilet.

February 5, 2003
Okay, Here is your essay topic: Write an essay involving the following things:Bridget Moynahan, Transformers, White food, bisweptuals, Lite Brite, cooking, and Bonnie Tyler. The content is up to you!

Think Before You Act
By Shelly Holdren

Due to extremely bad judgment and the pouring prowess of Miss Darci Scherbak, I enjoyed too much champagne Tuesday night. Champagne served in that lovely little champagne flute seemed like a very small quantity, however, after 5 or 6 along with a couple of glasses of wine, I was lit up like a Lite Brite and enjoying myself to the fullest until time for bed. What with the ceiling spinning prior to sleep and the subsequent retching shortly thereafter, I severely interfered with my Krebs cycle and now feel like total shit.

In my waking hours, my lovely Australia-bound roommate, Darci (in whose honor the drinking ensued) prepared a breakfast feast of coffee, toast, and spinach omelets. In my state of disagreeable physical effects, the scent of cooking omelets was as pungent as the dead career of Bonnie Tyler and almost made me hurl. However, now that I have survived a few morning hours, my boss should be arriving with some tasty, comforting white food – chick-fil-a chicken biscuits, which will hopefully aid in my recovery. He’s no Bridget Moynahan, but he does have an Irish name, and is tops on my list at the moment.

As my day sluggishly continues on, I’m hoping for a transformation from my current puny mal-existence, to my normal pretend-to-care-about-work professional self, and possibly later into super motivated I-can-do anything-even-be-bisweptual athlete self; not unlike Astrotrain, the Decepticon Triple Changer* circa 1985.

*Actual name of Transformer used rather than the term Transformer

missing

2006-12-30T20:09:00.000-08:00

Have you seen this bag?

It was last seen on October 22 in transit between We Read Good's meeting in Grant Park and my home. I'm sure I walked out Jenny's house with it.

I really like it. And you know me and books. I'm a bit posessive and, to be honest, persnickety. The same goes for book paraphernalia. And I'm starting to get anxious about it. (I know. It's a bag. I have a problem)

Have you seen my bag?

UPDATE(s)!!

01/07/2007, Atlanta. Bag has reportedly been found. It was in Beth's possesion and had been mistaken for Jelena's (and therefore not worth returning?!?). It is reportedly at my house now, which remains to be confirmed.

01/14/2007, East Atlanta. Bag returned unharmed! Thank you for the rescue mission, Cassi.

danny and melissa are famous!!!!

2006-12-21T12:53:00.000-08:00

Today JK Rowling revealed the title of the seventh and last installment of the Harry Potter saga...

Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows

Warnings have been issued.

vote for will's doritos

2006-12-15T08:53:00.000-08:00

Remember Will? remember GimmeDraw? Remember how cool he is? Remember how totally awesome his stuff is? Remember how you couldn't possibly repay him?

You're worries are over. Check this out...

If you like it, say it with a heart. Then say it again later. Currently it's in the top 10.

This is his entry for a Doritos Super Bowl commercial. Wouldn't it be cool? When you watch the superbowl, you could see this commercial. Because YOU voted for it! Best part of the superbowl anyway, right?

xmas tradition

2006-12-11T11:31:00.000-08:00

lizard head. it just is.

for clarification the first one is me, the next is beth, the last is ree

my spaces

2006-12-08T06:53:00.000-08:00

I'm not a good myspace user. I don't mingle enough... or whatever. Anyway, Sara sent me one of those pass along bulletins. Usually, I don't go for that sort of thing, but I'm going for this one and I want to see what other people come up with. So I'm posting it here. Comment your additions please.

Do you know a song title with a woman's name that you can add on the list? Don't research it on the net, just list a song you know of (doesn't matter the genre of music). Try not to use the same name twice. (Jane has already been listed 3 times).

Chris~L.a. Guns~The Ballad of Jane
Billy ~ Jane's Addiction ~ "Jane Says"
Marson- Crosby Stills & Nash~ Guinevere
Phoebe- The Beatles- Lucy in the sky with diamonds
phoebe-Cowboy Junkies--Sweet Jane (Jane's pretty popular)
Debbie - Toto - Rosanna
Diana - Michael Jackson - "Dirty Diana"
LISA>>>WINGER~~MADALAINE
DARLENE- GLORIA BY LAURA BRANNIGAN
Bodie - PRINCE "Darling Nikki"
West Ga Girl - Bob Seger - "Jody Girl"
String- Miami, my Amy
Tina - Roxanne - The Police
bobbie- my maria ilove you
Tiffany- Eric Clapton- Layla
Matthew - Breakfast at Tiffany's
Pete - Cowboy Mouth - Everybody Loves Jill
Tay - Joanna by Kool and the Gang
Raleigh - Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond (Of Course!)
Marla - "Sweet Melissa" Allman Bros
Will - "Sheena is a Punk Rocker" - The Ramones
Sara - "Sara Smile" - Hall & Oates (you knew that was coming)
Shelly - "Anne" - John Frusciante
Shelly - "Lady Madonna" - The Beatles
Shelly - "Lola" - The Kinks
Shelly - "Jolene" - Dolly Parton
Suzanna - "Oh Susannah" (can't believe no one hit that one yet!)
Suzanna - "Sad Lisa" - Cat Stevens
Suzanna - "Jessica" - Allman Brothers

For those with an inability to comment, I present updates:
Aimee - "Amy" - Pure Prairie League (I'm certain it's spelled Aimee, but I could be wrong)

tv debut

2006-11-30T06:34:00.000-08:00

Two things that do not surprise me:

1) Emma Green enjoys camera time.
2) The Green girls like the hockey game the most.

Checkout Emma and Esther's television debut...

http://www.wsbtv.com/video/10425044/index.html

giving thanks

2006-11-26T17:36:00.000-08:00

Transcript of recent phone call:
Shelly - chello
Janet - Hey, did you see the new Harry Potter trailer?
Shelly - WHAT!?!?!
Shelly - (to Cassi) NEW HARRY POTTER TRAILER!!!
Janet - (saying something. not getting through to Shelly)
Shelly - I gotta go. Now.

what's your fantasy?

2006-11-14T13:11:00.000-08:00

As posted on my community bulletin board - with a little editing...

"For the pathologically hard core political junkies there is Fantasy Congress. To those of you who either lack exposure to Fantasy Baseball (and other sports) or don't really care that the last bill successfully passed and signed into law by the 109th Congress was entitled 'To reauthorize the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act of 1999 and to amend the swine reporting provisions of that Act.' this may seem like a really weird pastime.

The point of the game is to guess which legislators will submit the most successful legislation. There isn't really any ideological or moral value judgement on the results. So if you pick a congressman who successfully submits legislation to tax elderly widows to provide tax breaks for Exxon and Halliburton, you'll pick up points. Alternatively if one of your chosen legislators shepherds a bill through mandating marijuana use, you'll rack up the points also.

The 110th Congress opens January 3rd!"

When is someone going to come up with Fantasy Celebrity? Chose your roster of celebutaunts, waifs, cocaine snorting supermodels, alien religious folks, recent divorcees, the other woman, and general hollywood types with overactive PR teams. Whoever gets the most gossip rag coverage in week wins! I might seriously play that.

new baby

2006-11-10T07:08:00.000-08:00

What was supposed to be a cheap entry level purchase turned out to be about twice the price. Though in the grand scheme of bass playing, this is still considered inexpensive/entry level. Whatever, I love it. It's beautiful.

i'm stealing this from sara

2006-11-09T07:55:00.000-08:00

Very Short Stories
Wired Magazine - November 2006

We'll be brief: Hemingway once wrote a story in just six words ("For sale: baby shoes, never worn.") and is said to have called it his best work. So we asked sci-fi, fantasy, and horror writers from the realms of books, TV, movies, and games to take a shot themselves.

Dozens of our favorite auteurs put their words to paper, and five master graphic designers took them to the drawing board. Sure, Arthur C. Clarke refused to trim his ("God said, 'Cancel Program GENESIS.' The universe ceased to exist."), but the rest are concise masterpieces.

My favorite...

Gown removed carelessly. Head, less so.
- Joss Whedon

Check out the rest at Very Short Stories

thanks sara

my song

2006-11-08T07:19:00.000-08:00

ok. now that steven pointed out my original spelling error, blogger doesn't seem to want to re-post my corrected version. so here's a less aesthetic presentation of the original...

Little Boxes

SHOULDN'T BE TOO TOUGH, STEVEN.

patrolling friday

2006-10-23T07:49:00.000-07:00

So it's really more group patrolling. With an admission fee. And a tour guide. Plus Joe's coffee and treats afterward. Friday night at 8:30 PM. Bring Your Own Stake.

Historic Oakland Cemetery
Capturing the Halloween Spirit
October 27, 28, & 29, 2006

Oakland knows Halloween like no other place in Atlanta! This year, its stories come alive as never before. Join the Historic Oakland Foundation at the final resting place of Atlanta's rich and famous. For these three evenings only, you will be able to view the interiors of beautiful mausoleums and bear witness as "residents" return to life and offer their insights into local history.

Bring a flashlight and wear comfortable walking shoes for this one-of-a-kind, guided walking tour.

Before and after your tour, Joe's Coffee (East Atlanta) and Perk Coffee (Glenwood Park) will be on hand to provide refreshments* to the strains of Paul Mercer's haunting violin. You will also have the opportunity to browse in Oakland's unique Museum Shop (How about a chocolate tombstone?). * a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Historic Oakland Foundation.

Tours depart from the Bell Tower every few minutes beginning at 7 pm. and are expected to last a little over an hour. The last tour departs at 9:15 pm.

Admission: Adults (18-64) $10; Students (with ID) $5; Seniors (65 and older) $3; Children (6-17) $5*; Historic Oakland Foundation members FREE (with membership card)
* This evening was not designed to appeal to young children, though some upper elementary and Sunnydale high school students might enjoy it.

Complimentary Parking is available in a lot near the gate and on neighboring streets. Carpooling or Marta* are suggested. * Oakland is located adjacent to the King Memorial station.

COSTUMES ARE WELCOME AND HIGHLY ENCOURAGED!!!
(Though you may want to reconsider the vampire costume)

must see

2006-10-20T07:45:00.000-07:00

Forget summer blockbusters (except of course POTC:DMC). It's fall and holiday movies that count. I'm already behind on my movie going. I've only seen The Black Dahlia and The Departed recently (eh and yeah! respectively). So here's what I'm gearing up for. *Dates are according to the 8.18 EW issue and are subject to change.

Now Playing
The Departed - saw it. A friggin' plus
Driving Lessons - a non-Ron Rupert. Gotta check that out
A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints - Can't pass up some Robert Downey, Jr. - check
Half Nelson - I may have missed the theatre viewing opportunity on this Gosling piece.
Little Children - Kate Winslet can do no wrong... and I really liked the book - very good. Patrick Wilson is even more delicious
Man of the Year - the presidency is a joke anyway, right?
The Queen - Helen Mirren for the Oscar?
The Science of Sleep - seems a bit like a twisted Enternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind which was of course robbed at the Oscars. - saw it. see steven's take

Opening Today
Marie Antoinette - so nostalgic for the 80s. 1780s, 1980s, like whatever. close enough.
The Prestige - more Christian Bale, please

10.27
Babel - Brad Pitt is a good actor.
Lucky You - looks like this one might have to wait until March. Studios.
Running with Scissors - should I read it first? - saw it. most entertaining and I didn't even get the Santa reference. Jenny explained it to me.
Shut Up and Sing - stickin' it to the man

11.3
Flushed Away - who didn't love Curse of the Were Rabbit? - saw it. lovely outing with the Green family
Volver - early oscar buzz for Penelope so she probably won't win.

11.10
Stranger Than Fiction - I missed the earlier dose of Ferrell this year.

11.17
Casino Royale - I'm not a blonde Bond hater.
Bobby - I think I was a Kennedy in a former life.

11.22
The Fountain - gotta see the latest from Darren Aronofsky. You up for it Sebastian? I'm sure it's nothing like Requiem.

12.1
The Nativity Story - I imagine I will see this one with my mom.

12.8
The Good German - Clooney

12.15
Blood Diamond - Hopefully a second good movie for DiCaprio this year.
The Painted Veil - Hopefully a second good movie for Edward Norton this year.

12.20
Charlotte's Web - can't possibly be as good as the original, but a good movie to see with the Green girls.

12.22
The Good Shepherd - Angelina, Matt Damon, espionage, directed by DeNiro, what's not to like?

12.25
Black Christmas - gotta catch a comedy on Christams. Comedy, horror, same difference. Plus it's got eye candy in the form of Oliver Hudson. I know Jenny's going to see it.
Children of Men - I'm on a science fiction kick plus the obvious Julianne Moore, Clive Owen and Michael Caine with director Alfonso Cuaron (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban people!?!).

So who's going to join me?

how 2 order our swill small medium or large

2006-10-04T07:48:00.000-07:00

small medium large

coffee propaganda

my favorite swill is a non-fat grande latte

dreaming

2006-09-11T18:38:00.000-07:00

I had my first blog-centric dream. I can only remember that dp nation was sited as a source on the superficial. Odd.

i've been reading real good

2006-09-08T08:23:00.000-07:00

Now that Steven's made it clear it's a race. I'm in it to win it.

Finished three books this week: Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi and Persepolis 2 by Marjane Satrapi. And I'm aiming to finish another over the weekend.

Yes, I realize that none of these are in the "Still Remaining" list (see Stacks) and therefore I've broken my resolve. "Shelly, I had such faith in your will! How could you," you say?

1) Book club. One of the better things I've created in my life. I can't pick them all, so I'm forced to read other selections. Forced I tell you.
2) Powell's City of Books, Portland, OR. On approach, I was a little disappointed. The building seemed old and a bit industrial on first appearance. The sign is in need of a little cleaning and minor repair, but hey it's an independent bookstore. The books are what count. Then I entered. On the inside - books as far as the eye can see. I spent over an hour in the children's section alone. Not all temptations can be overcome.

About the books... I hadn't read any Vonnegut before, so I now I have. Quick and easy read. I enjoyed it. Maybe I'll read another.

Persepolis. Great, funny, poinient, horrifying, maddening, truthful. Persepolis 2 is essentially the rest of the story simply in separate binding. These are the first graphic novels that I've ever read. The pictures definitly provide another dimension to story telling that you don't get with just the written word. Of course the author's visual point of view immediately enrichens the readers understanding and and the emotions seem more vivid and raw.

Both books provide an insight into the Iranian/Persian point of view that is not included in Western news and media coverage: the struggle of women in the Islamic revolution/regime as well as the people as a whole. One can really find sympathy for the Iranian citizens in the present Iran vs. the western world situation and what seems to be the inevitable if recent actions by western leaders as well as their own are any indication.

oh the places i'll go

2006-08-28T10:52:00.000-07:00

How about Sun Valley, Idaho or Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Steven? Suzanna, I'm couting on you to get the New Mexico hookup.

I have driven through 6 more states, but that doesn't count, right?

create your own personalized map of the USA

Wow 2%. I've got a lot of choices here. Most likely candidates in the near future: France, India, Nicaragua.

create your own visited country map

insight into motivation

2006-08-16T16:24:00.000-07:00

s: shelly wants to live with steven
s: yes she does
s: steven has all the buffy
s: yes he does
s: come shelly
s: ooOOOoOOOOooOOo
me: shelly has all the buffy
me: nice
s: steven has buffy in wall size
me: true
me: true
me: dang it!
me: when do you have to move?
me: or start paying the whole rent?
s: october 1st
s: you'll be closer to work
s: save the environment
me: that's a little while away
s: you can move in slowly
me: I do save the environment. I don't go to work
s: cassi wont even notice
me: hmmm
s: i have a washer dryer
me: maybe we can get her to put on an addition... third bedroom and a band room
s: i might buy a PIANO
s: a PIANO
s: i say
me: DUUDDE. you are saying all the right things here
me: you are not getting a piano
s: you don't know that
s: i saw one for 800
me: i think I'm right
s: it worked
me: did you try it out?
s: yes
me: are you lying?
s: no
me: really?
s: see?
s: now you have to believe me
me: no
me: i don't see
me: I don't have to believe
me: make kathryn go to the book club
s: i can't make kathryn go or stay anywhere
me: yes, that is apparent
me: dang it!
s: what else do you like?
me: hmmm, let's see
s: raisins. we're so much closer to raisins than cassi
me: raisins
s: see?
me: i'm losing sight
s: our landlady is also installing a time portal to seattle next month by the oven
me: WOAH.
me: now THAT'S a selling point.
s: i have bookshelves
s: does cassi have bookshelves?
s: i will move all your books for you
s: and create a library
me: yes. a libraray, my vision is returning
s: ddr on the big screen in hi-def stereo
me: oh. my. gah.
s: and george clooney washes the dishes on tuesdays
me: holy shit. I'm moving
s: that's binding
s: im printing this out

disclaimer: don't worry cassi :)

who doesn't love the brits

2006-08-15T13:37:00.000-07:00

"If someone is heading for the gate with the bomb-making equivalent of an Ikea flat-pack, someone in the dark arts department hasn’t been doing his job."

source

2006-08-08T20:32:00.000-07:00

Maureen is leaving.
Charlie is leaving.
I don't live in Seattle.
Or Sydney.
I am sad.

an inconvenient truth

2006-07-28T20:13:00.000-07:00

Please go see this movie.

Because of this movie, I am going to plant a tree.
I am going to check the pressure in my tires. Regularly.
I am going to replace my incandescent light bulbs with energy saving bulbs.
I am going to continue to recycle religiously.
I am going to continue to work from home and reduce my driving time.
I am going to call my power company and ask if they use green energy. If they don't, I'm going to ask why not.
I am going to write letters to my Senators and Congressmen both national and state urging them to see this movie.
When it comes out on DVD, I am going to send it to my Senators and Congressmen.
I am going to urge everyone I know to see this movie.

www.climatecrisis.net

An Inconvenient Truth. Please go see this movie. Go ahead and check showtimes right now.

month in review

2006-07-27T13:06:00.000-07:00

July 4: Independence Day. 6 am babysitting with little cuttie Ana thus enabling mom and dad to run the Peachtree Road Race along with everyone else I know.

July 6: 11:59 pm showing of PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST. ARRR!!!

July 9: Most stellar book club meeting to discuss Survivor by Chuck Palahnuik. Do you think he Survived? In what way(s)?
POTC:DMC declared box office champion of the WORLD.

July 12: Season 3 premiere of Project Runway. Do you know who's been Auf'd?

July 15: Departure to Chicago and the Opening Ceremonies of 2006 Gay Games.

July 16: Rowing event. We killed 'em. Winning is fun. Always.

July 17: Chicago Architectural River Tour. Beautiful city.

July 18: Salon Buzz and Erin. I totally miss her.
Wrigley Field. Chicago hot dogs. Cubs Win!

July 19: Happy Birthday, Brittany!!
PR episode 2. Are you watching this yet?

July 20: Some movie with Matthew Goode. I wonder if his middle name starts with an M? MMGoode.

July 22: Georgia Games. More rowing. Getting soaked, but more whompin' up on others to make up for the rain.
Drive to Nashvegas for the 70's party of the 00's. Happy 30th Birthday, Darci!!!

July 26: I love going to the doctor. I always learn something. I don't so much like the not being in working order part. And per the "avoid fatty foods" orders...
La Casita. Queso baby.
PR episode 3. Keith is such a cocky bastard. I love him.

July 27: Completely overwhelmed by impending move. Lot of boxes yet to be filled.
Declined offer of ice cream (see July 26, "avoid fatty foods").

tech love

2006-06-27T10:55:00.000-07:00

quote

2006-06-27T08:17:00.000-07:00

sometimes tact takes too long

14 days, 13 hours, 58 minutes, 32 seconds

2006-06-22T07:02:00.000-07:00

Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man's Chest

more inspirational news about the man

2006-06-22T05:36:00.000-07:00

The Man's Man Stalls Harvard* **
Cyrus M. Mossavar-Rahmani and Daniel J. T. Schuker

The Man's Man, the billionaire CEO of software giant The Man, has yet to follow through on an assurance he made a year ago to donate $115 million to Harvard University.

"To date, a gift agreement has not been signed," says Sarah Friedell, director of media relations for Harvard's Office of Alumni Affairs and Development.

Indeed, the dean of Harvard's School of Public Health, Barry R. Bloom, says he is "hopeful but pessimistic" that The Man's Man will make good on his $115 million pledge. Bloom is a member of the scientific advisory board of the The Man's Man Medical Foundation, a nonprofit corporation that supports research on aging.

The Man's Man made the pledge to Harvard last year with the intention of establishing the The Man's Man Institute for World Health and endowing five professorships. But the university, which had planned to hire 130 people by next summer to staff the new center, has now put the project on hold, the Financial Times first reported, adding that the school has also reneged on its employment of three senior managerial staffers set to work at the center.

The Man's Man--who, with a net worth of $16 billion, is number fifteen on Forbes list, The World's Richest People--said in late June 2005 that he had not signed an agreement with Harvard to make the donation, but added, "It's absolutely going to happen."

But nearly 12 months later, it still hasn’t.

The Man's Man is known for a flamboyant and costly lifestyle--on average, he racks up $20 million per year in miscellaneous expenses and spent nearly $200 million on a new yacht, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The report also said that The Man's Man has borrowed roughly $1.2 billion since 2001 against his stake in The Man to fuel his spending.

The Man's Man played a pivotal role in the establishment of the The Man's Man Medical Foundation. In 2005, the same year he announced his intention to give $115 million to Harvard, The Man's Man closed the foundation’s five-year-old Global Infectious Disease program.

The foundation’s executive director, Richard L. Sprott, was not available for comment today, according to a staffer. But a press release on the foundation's Web site states that, even after the Global Infectious Disease program closed, The Man's Man "was exploring other ways to expand his philanthropy in the area of global health."

Three representatives of The Man did not return requests for comment on Wednesday.

The Man's Man opened a bidding war between Harvard and Stanford five years ago over a proposed $150 million gift to study the effect of technology on politics and economics. At the time, a The Man's representative told The Boston Globe that a decision was expected within months. Eventually, this pledge morphed into the new pledge of $115 million that is now in question.

*The names of my employer and it's CEO have been changed to protect me.
** The exact link to the article has not been preserved because it contains the name of my employer's CEO. Again, protecting myself.

one day closer

2006-06-20T13:09:00.000-07:00

Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man's Chest

opens in 16 days, 07 hours, 53 minutes, 14 seconds

peachtree number brokerage... open for business

2006-06-19T08:42:00.000-07:00

I am an enabler. Because I can't run much anymore, I enable those who can... on July 4th anyway.

I know it's just a couple of weeks away, but if you have a Peachtree Road Race number you aren't planning to use, I highly recommend me as worthy middle man on the way to a highly qualified recipient. I have two lovely (and fast) people begging for my help in their search for a number.

Their cause is a worthy one, and they will wear your number proudly. If you do not have your own number to sell and you hear of an available number, please keep me/us in mind. You will be serving the greater good by passing along the information... pretty please. You will not regret it!

I will definitely reimburse you for the cost, and a reasonable finders fee may be negotiable.

and so the countdown begins

2006-06-19T08:00:00.000-07:00

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

opens in 17 days, 13 hours, 1 minute, 2 seconds

what are you doing July 7?

2006-05-31T12:17:00.000-07:00

2006-05-24T15:45:00.000-07:00

Which John Cusack Are You?

project tee pee

2006-05-22T13:30:00.000-07:00

Not knowing how to sew or even possessing a sewing machine, I decided I was going to make a tee pee for Emma and Esther as an Easter gift, partially because I didn't get them separate birthday gifts, partially because I didn't get the idea until after Emma's birthday and didn't want to give it on Esther's birthday because that would be a mistake. Small children sometimes take ownership of things delivered on their birthday. So I decided on Easter.

Unfortunately, Easter came and went with project tee pee with only "purchase supplies" task completed. After a healthy but not excessive amount of additional procrastination, I finally started the day after Mother's Day, with the essential help of my lovely mother.

Only 6 days later (!!!), several pin pricks, multiple ripping out of really badly stitched seams, and changing the instructions to meet available supplies (and ability, and patience) project tee pee was in it's final stages. With the help of Steven and Anne-Marie, we properly assembled, erected, and tested the final product.

Great tee-pee, eh?

Emma and Esther seem to think so.

quote

2006-05-17T13:33:00.000-07:00

It's not so much that we're afraid of change or so in love with the old ways, but it's that place in between that we fear . . . . It's like being between trapezes. It's Linus when his blanket is in the dryer. There's nothing to hold on to.

- Marilyn Ferguson

thanks hmf, and best of luck

what coach is thinking

2006-05-09T12:18:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of Married to the Sea

another gem... FIRED

full camel

2006-04-25T07:42:00.000-07:00

Banner day!!!

My first major milestone in yoga. With the instruction of the lovely and talented Elena, I went into full camel!!! Not that I can really do anything else of note in Bikrim, but this one feat is worth sharing.

I called Janet to share in my joy, but she was not home. So I told Shaun who responed with, "you have full camel toe?"

Oh, Shaun.

Note: Picture is only of the pose. That is not me. I don't do mesh.

brainy? sidekick?

2006-04-21T08:53:00.000-07:00

I Am Scooter

Brainy and knowledgable, you are the perfect sidekick. You're always willing to lend a helping hand. In any big event or party, you're the one who keeps things going. "15 seconds to showtime!"

The Muppet Personality Test

qotd

2006-04-19T11:55:00.000-07:00

In response to latest creation from The Man...

"This application could shoot out money and I'd still find something wrong with it."

double feature

2006-04-18T11:10:00.000-07:00

gymnastics anyone???

busy foreboding

2006-04-14T12:22:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the lack of posts. Since my return from vaca (Seattle was AWESOME), I've been a little distracted. I have a 5K erg test looming.

What is a erg test you ask? It is the most dreaded of rowing terms. It will be 5000 meters of simulated rowing done indoors on a physical and pychological torture device.

Unlike rowing, where you feel your speed and your strength with the boats response, the sound of rippling as you slice through water, the fresh air of the outdoors and the combined effort of you and your boatmates working together; the erg shows you exactly how hard, or not-hard-enough you are pulling. There is no wind. There is no rippling water. There is no one else. Just you pulling your brains out as this hunk of metal and plastic mocks your efforts for over three miles.

Soon it will be done and I will blog again. Until then, I will continue to psych myself out.

b-day shoutouts

2006-03-23T12:31:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday April!

Happy Birthday Besty!

work related

2006-03-15T11:12:00.000-08:00

Bringing The Jobs Homes
By Anne Fisher, FORTUNE senior writer

What does Michael Fields know that other software CEOs haven't figured out?

The number of jobs offshored from the U.S. to India and elsewhere has tripled since 2003, to a projected total of one million in 2006, with roughly a quarter of them in high tech. Yet Fields, a former president of The Man* USA who now runs $60-million-a-year software maker KANA, is bringing his company's programming jobs home to Menlo Park, Calif. He calls it "backshoring" and predicts that once they start doing the math, other software makers will follow suit.

"For companies our size, sending jobs to India just doesn't make economic sense," says Fields. Since KANA and its confreres aren't big enough to open their own overseas facilities (like The Man* and Microsoft (Research)), they end up entrusting the work to outside contractors. That means KANA's intellectual property is in the hands of nonemployees over whom it has little control--especially scary now that, as even far bigger companies are finding, turnover among engineers in India is rapid, loyalty is nil, and poaching and piracy are rampant.

And that's not all. Fields notes that software development is a collaborative process that works best when everybody involved--designers, programmers, project managers--is together under one roof. "If your team isn't closely bonded, you'll see more rewrites, more performance issues, and more delays," he says. "For us, having the designers and architects in California and the programmers in India has actually meant longer delivery times and higher costs."

Fields expects that having everyone side by side will raise productivity to the point where KANA can deliver a better product with about a fourth as many engineers. "Our industry went through a period when money was free," Fields says. "Now that it isn't, software companies have to run like real businesses, so we'll see more of them taking a close look at their end-to-end costs." If he's right, backshoring could become the next Silicon Valley buzzword.
---

As an employee of The Man, whose job has been affected by offshoring, I think Michael Fields is a wise, wise man.

*Again, though The Man is not an inappropriate pseudonym, I have hidden the actual name of my employer in the effort of avoiding it's wrath. See previous posts.

et tu, brute!

2006-03-15T07:05:00.000-08:00

The Soothsayer knows.

Beware the ides of March.

see prevous warnings

four

2006-03-14T08:15:00.000-08:00

Four jobs you have had in your life:
yogurt dispenser
center for the arts office lackey
rowing coach
software consultant

Four movies you would watch over and over:
bring it on
chasing liberty
amelie
x-men 2

Four places you have lived:
vinton, va
glenn dorm, georgia institute of technology
atlanta, ga
san ramon, ca

Four TV shows you love to watch:
buffy
angel
scrubs
greys anatomy

Four places you have been on vacation:
key west
cape cod
coco beach
new zealand

Four websites you visit often:
the superficial
ew freescreenings
monkey begun
imdb

Four of your favorite foods:
doritos
samoas
obp barbeque
tomatoes

Four places you would rather be right now:
on the couch watching more angel
the beach
visiting friends in far places
at the mall shopping

lazy sunday

2006-03-09T07:30:00.000-08:00

The Chronic-What?-cles of Narnia

"you can call us Aaron Burr from the way we're dropping Hamiltons"

I know, I'm behind the times, but it's still funny.

qotd

2006-03-07T06:15:00.000-08:00

"the moment a person stops pursuing career advancement, they have reached the summit of their potential" - M. Kiefert

things done

2006-03-06T08:59:00.000-08:00

Things to Do 2006: an update

1. Do two of the unaccomplished things from Things to Do 2005. Likeliest candidates: I. Go to the arts. II. Take a class.
Nope. No progress. It'll be spring in a couple weeks too, so the dress I wanted to wear is quickly becoming out of season.

2. Join/start a Book Club.
Check! Officially started a Book Club - We Read Good. I didn't want to claim victory on this one until we had an acutal meeting, which was yesterday. I was really pleased that we held discussion for over 90 minutes without any guide. I feel so literary.

3. Write a letter for employment to George Clooney...
Employment with now Oscar-Winner George Clooney may prove to be slightly more challenging than originally anticipated.

ron weasley

2006-02-20T11:54:00.000-08:00

is Albus Dumbledore?!?!?!?

Check out this outrageous, but extremely well supported consipracy theory at Knight2King.net.

Weasley Is Our King

andrew

2006-02-15T11:35:00.000-08:00

an homage...

Buffy: Who are you?
Andrew: Andrew. I summoned the flying monkeys that attacked the high school? During the school play, you know?
Warren: It's Tucker's brother.
Jonathan: Yeah, it's Tucker's brother.
Buffy and Willow: Ohh.
Buffy: So you three have, what, banded together to be pains in my ass?
Warren: We're your arch-nemesises... ses.

Warren: Look at him.
Andrew: He's got that same look on his face, the one he had that time I highlighted in his Babylon 5 novels.

Spike: Examine my chip, or else Mister... (looks at the label on the stand) ...Fett here is the first to die.
Jonathan: Hey, all right, let's not, let's not do anything crazy here.
Andrew: That's a limited edition, 1979 mint condition Boba Fett.

Andrew: You have got to chill. This isn't "Oz" - it's, like, Mayberry. Besides, Warren is going to find a way get us out of here-
Jonathan: (scoffing) Yeah. I'm sure he'll be breaking us out of here any minute.
Andrew: He will. He's just coming up with a plan. Like in "War Games", remember? That decoder Matthew Broderick used?
Jonathan: Oh, yeah. That was rad. The one he made from the scissors and tape recorder?
Andrew: I miss "Ferris" Matthew. "Broadway" Matthew - I find him cold.

Jonathan: You're checking for implants?
Andrew: (defensive) Lex Luthor had a false epidermis escape kit in Superman versus the Amazing Spider-Man Treasury edition ...
Jonathan: Okay, first of all, those were sonic disrupters and second of all ...you are sadness personified.

Jonathan: Gentlemen ... crime is our wormhole.
Andrew: But ... everyone knows... if the width of a wormhole cavity is a whole number of wavelengths, plus a fraction of that wavelength? The coinciding particle activity collapses the infrastructure.
Warren: Dude. Don't be a geek.

Andrew: This is why we get jet-packs, and all you get is left behind.

Andrew: You were out of the trio a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.

Andrew: You saw her -- she's a truck-driving magic mama! And we've got maybe seconds before Darth Rosenberg grinds everybody into Jawa-burgers, and not one of you bunch has the midiclorians to stop her.
Xander: You've never had any tiny bit of sex, have you?

Andrew: We're just supposed to sit around waiting for Sabrina to show up and disembowel us?

Jonathan: Son of a bitch!
Andrew: Butt wipe!
Jonathan: I wasn't talking to you.
Andrew: Oh. Reflex.

Andrew: Just hope she solves it faster than Data did on the ep of TNG where the Enterprise kept blowing up.
Warren Meers: Or Mulder, in that X-Files where the bank kept exploding.
Andrew: Scully wants me so bad.

Andrew: Calm down. No one's getting flayed alive. We got a plan. We're gonna fix all that.
Jonathan: Wish I'd have stayed in Mexico.
Andrew: Ah, I didn't like it there. Everybody spoke Mexicalan.
Jonathan: You could've learned it. You learned the entire Klingon dictionary in two and a half weeks.
Andrew: That had much clearer transitive and intransitive rules, OK? Besides, I can't keep having those nightmares.
Jonathan: Me neither. Desde abajo te debora.
Andrew: "It eats you starting with your bottom."

Andrew: OK. Say, um, do you have any weaknesses I should know about if I'm gonna work for you, like, uh, kryptonite or allergies?
TheFirst/Jonathan: What are you asking?
Andrew: Oh, nothing, um... Are you—are you made out of the evil impulses of humans, so if everyone was unconscious at the same time, you would fade away?
TheFirst/Jonathan: You're asking a lot of questions.
Andrew: Yes, well, I, uh, because... 'cause I'm evil, and I want to do the best I can at that, so I want to... know stuff like when—when do we kill Buffy?
TheFirst/Jonathan: Are you wearing a wire?

Andrew: Babe 2: Pig in the City was really underrated.

Andrew: The first what?
Anya: The name of the evil thing that pretended to be Warren to get you to kill Jonathan.
Andrew: Oh, not very ominous sounding.
Dawn: No, i-it is if you understand the context.
Andrew: No, an evil name should be like Lex or Voldemort.

Andrew: OK, I know what you're thinking. Andrew, bad guy. You think I'm a super-villain like Dr. Doom or Apocalypse or-or The Riddler. But I admit I went over to the dark side, but just to pick up a few things, a-and now I'm back. I've learned. I'm good again.
Buffy: And when were you good before?
Andrew: OK, technically, never. Touché. But I'm like Vader in the last 5 minutes of Jedi with redemptive powers minus a redemptive struggle of epic redemption which chronicles... These ropes itch.

Andrew: Keep the chatter down! Or, speak up so I can hear you. I'm bored. Episode I bored.

Andrew: Ow! Watch it! That's my joystick hand.

Buffy: So, I'm here to tell you, if you try anything, try to run— Did you ever see the movie Misery?
Andrew: Six times. But the book was scarier than the movie 'cause instead of crushing his foot with a sledge hammer, Kathy Bates chops it off with— I'll be good.

Andrew: What about me? Did it ever occur to anyone that I could be a lot more useful around here? I used to be an evil genius. Hello?

Andrew: License to kill, huh? Pretty cool. You know, Timothy Dalton never got his props 'cause he came in at the end of an old regime, but he had it goin' on. He went rogue with the Broccolis. They were just treading water, stylistically.
Dawn: Is there a language that you're speaking?
Andrew: I'm so alone.

Andrew: I think Timothy Dalton should get an Oscar and beat Sean Connery over the head with it!

Andrew: She's right. Where would the Justice League have been if they hadn't put their differences aside to stop the Imperium and his shape-shifting alien horde?

Andrew: You don't want me coming along 'cause you think I'm evil.
Vi: He doesn't seem evil, exactly.
Buffy: He's not evil, but when he gets close to it, he picks up its flavor like a mushroom or something.
Andrew: But I'm reformed. I'm like Vegeta on Dragonball Z. I used to be a pure Sayan, and now I fight for the side of Goku.
Buffy: Still not coming.
Andrew: It's not fair. Spike just killed people, and he gets to go.
Buffy: Spike didn't have free will and you did.
Andrew: I hate my free will.

Andrew: (holding the snakeskin as if it were a live snake and hissing) At your ssssservice, Miss Rosenberg, ssssir. Can you imagine if every once in a while, people just wriggled out of their skin and left it behind them like—like on the sidewalk. Talk about embarrassing.

Anya: Dawn's gonna be a slayer.
Andrew: Holy crap! Excuse me. Plucked from an ordinary life, handed a destiny—
Xander: Say Skywalker, and I smack ya.

Andrew: Yes, Willow so captured it. It's like—well, it's almost like this metaphor for womanhood, isn't it? The sort of flowering that happens when a girl realizes that she's part of a fertile heritage stretching back to Eve, and—
Xander: I'll pay you to talk about Star Wars again.

Andrew: No more listening. I know who you are now. I know what you made me do. Your promises of happy fields and dancing schnauzers and being demigods won't work on me anymore.

Andrew: I'll get it. I'm supposed to get a call when the new League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comes in. I gave them this number.

Andrew: OK, well, if you leave me here alone, I'll do something evil, like burning something or gluing things together.

Andrew: Where the hell have you been? This funnel cake is kicking my ass.

Andrew: Come with me now, if you will, gentle viewers. Join me on a new voyage of the mind...a little tale, I like to call, Buffy, Slayer of the Vam-pires.

Andrew: Lets start from the top. You've already met Buffy, she's beautiful with a lions heart and the face of an Angel. She's never afraid cos she knows her sides gonna always win. Buffy and Spike have some kind of history you can feel the heat between them, although technically as a Vampire, he's room temperature.

Andrew: For years and years, or more accurately months, Faith fought for the side of good. But like so many tragic heroes, Faith was seduced by the lure of the dark side. She wrapped evil around her like a large, evil Mexican serape.

Andrew: Why would Faith kill a person who studies Vulcans.

Andrew: Godzilla is mostly Tokyo based, so he's probably a no-show.

Andrew: Yup. See, the post-it's still here: "Andrew's. Please do not eat." But the box is empty now.

Andrew: "Can't" is a 4-letter word! I'm Andrew. I'll be your bad cop this evening.

Andrew: What the bananas?! You are so lucky that you did not just... magically decapitate me.

Andrew: I feel used and violated, and... (holds his throat) I need a lozenge.

Andrew: Ooh. This one has oxygen tanks.
Anya: They'd only be useful if something big was attacking, and then we could shove one down their throat and blow 'em up like Roy Scheider did with that shark in Jaws. (Andrew stares at her) What?
Andrew: You are the perfect woman.

Andrew: You go through the door and are confronted by Trogdor the Burninator.
Giles: Oh, bugger it. Fight. (rolls dice, sips wine)
Andrew: Adios to 5 hit points. Trogdor has badly wounded you.
Giles: Well, wait a minute. What about my... (puts on glasses) bag of illusions?
Andrew: Illusions against a Burninator? Silly, silly british man.

Andrew: I just want to say how proud I am to die for this very special cause with you guys. (takes a paper out of his pocket, reads) There's some, um—there's people I'd like to thank, both good and evil. Um, a shout out to my brother Tucker, who gave me the inspiration to summon demons and also—

Andrew: Spike?
Spike: Oh, for the love of--
Andew: Spike? It's you. It's really you! (sobbing) My therapist thought I was holding onto false hope, but...I knew you'd come back. (sniffles) You're like...you're like Gandalf the White, resurrected from the pit of the Balrog, more beautiful than ever. Oh... he's alive, Frodo. (sobbing) He's alive.