Tuesday, July 17, 2007

sock puppets

here's a comment from planicka that apparently isn't showing up on the last post:
Hey B. I suppose I could just email you, but all your other faithful readers might enjoy this too. On a whim I followed the link to God's Politics, and encountered a great story on the Vatican and Conscientious Objection. Liking the story, I followed the link to the author's blog, and, well, just read the post on 7/4/07. Powerful stuff, I'd say. Godspeed.
also, have you all been following the story about the ceo of whole foods, who's been posting online about his competitors? i mean, anonymously? it reminds me of something we all used to do in high school, but that's another story... anyway, you can read about it at nytimes [an analysis of the situation] or listen at npr [this was when it first came out, and it's just funny].

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

"So the question becomes, what kind of future's in store when even children of relative privilege can't afford to work for the public good?"

okay, this is verrrry interesting.

Are young Americans more interested in selling out than changing the world? Daniel Brook's new book argues that 20-somethings are forced to choose between living by their ideals or making a living.

also, i think it points us toward save-the-world organizations that provide housing, health insurance, job security, loan deferral, grants - anything to make activism a practical choice. especially without universal healthcare [ahem] and with all my student loans [ahem ahem].

d'oh.

this from the opinionator:
When Senators talk about raising their state’s profile, they usually mean they’ll try to bring home prestigious new federal facilities or other pork projects to their voters. Ted Kennedy has more animated plans — involving “The Simpsons” — according to Ryan Kelly at CQPolitics:

“Last week, Kennedy urged everyone on the e-mail list of his leadership political action organization, the Committee for a Democratic Majority, to vote for Springfield, Mass., in a USA Today contest to determine which of the 14 American cities named Springfield should assume the status of real-world equivalent for the Simpson clan’s hometown.”

the really funny part, though, is that i already voted for springfield, mass. so there you go.

get your parents over here!

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thanks, planicka. apparently the words "abortion" and "punch" are not good for the kiddies.

Sunday, July 08, 2007

predictions!

"... and then Harry and Voldermort have a face-off and kill each other, because Harry has to die or else all his fans will want J.K. Rowling to keep writing these books until she goes nuts."

this salon article is my favorite harry potter prediction-izing so far. and i agree with the above point [made by an eight-year-old, but whatev] that the REAL reason harry might need to die is so that JK doesn't have to write two million more books. i also agree that we will all be scarred for life by book 7. i don't know who it's going to be, but there will be tears.

many of you know that i can't read it until a week after it comes out. how am i going to go a week without finding out what happens? well, probably by not reading anything online, ever. so there's that.

Friday, July 06, 2007

"America knows you did everything you could, and we couldn't be more proud of you..."

stole this one from greg, and it's awesome.

The nation then went out of its way to praise Griffey for the many great moments and high points of Griffey's career, claiming it had "always meant to do so but never seemed to find the right moment."


has everyone heard "eulogy" by the hereafter? "a dollar for an afternoon with you..." [siiigh.] i have to warn you that it's sweet and sad and mostly random church bells playing, but i love it. i also listened to "short skirt/long jacket" [see below] and "closer" by ann colville many, many times in the past few days, which was a little dangerous when i had my ipod and wanted to dance around in public.

Thursday, July 05, 2007

brown line waiting on the outside track! make your connection!

just rode the el for the first time, and let me just tell you that the cta voice is very clear and polite. i love it. "this... is damen." hey, thanks for the info! and for not mumbling!

my dad just made up a joke. ready?

q: what kind of cheese just makes things up as it goes along?
a: improvolone.

hehehe.

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

and a looooooooooooong jacket

you know what song i love? short skirt/long jacket by cake. i loved it in waitress. and i love the person who, on a fan site for the movie, posted that there is a song in the movie by cake and pointed out that it's an ironic choice. because, see, the movie is about PIE. i'm not sure that's why they used the song, but it's a great song and a great movie and i recommend them both.

happy fourth, friends. and on this lovely summer holiday, i would like to assure you all that i haven't forgotten about baseball.

at the reds/indians game:
indians fans: [cheering because their team is, you know, doing well]
random guy a few rows up: you suck, braves! no one likes you! you're playing against one of the worst teams in baseball!
[awkward pause]
another random: braves?
RGFRU: i mean... INDIANS!

props to this guy for re-yelling with the correct name. way to edit your remarks.

so i'll let you know how the new GM does. for now, all i have to report is that they're not playing "heyyyy cincinnati - go reds!" for the batters who didn't choose a random country or rap song for when they're up to bat. so there's that. i kind of miss it.

i think they're making me smarter, actually.

I WANT THIS.

i'm currently using the normal avery highlighters, which i also recommend. "cap left off... still marks!" really, it's true, and it's a very useful feature.

but retractable - now, THAT would be awesome.

live from antarctica

so i was listening to all things considered [as USUAL] yesterday and heard this story about a band from the seventh continent - and i was like, whaaat? [as i'm sure you all are, now. so interested. sucked in to the story.]

but you have to listen to it to get the full effect. for these reasons:
1. british accent.
2. "well, we're not sure if we're as big as metallica..."

hilarious, and also - has anyone heard from metallica recently? i haven't, since they killed napster. i mean, maybe i'm just that far out of the scene, right?

but here's my main context for metallica in the past few years, and it's from pictionary with dave's family of pictionary world champions:
me: metal... music? a metal band?! which band? oh gosh, i don't know ANY metal bands...
my team: [eyes bulging, forehead veins popping]
other team: you're going to be so mad when you find out what it is... [superior look, head shake]

i hate pictionary.

:)

signs of the times

The Pharisees and Sadducees came and, to test him, asked him to show them a sign from heaven. Jesus said to them in reply, "In the evening you say, 'Tomorrow will be fair, for the sky is red'; and, in the morning, 'Today will be stormy, for the sky is red and threatening.' You know how to judge the appearance of the sky, but you cannot judge the signs of the times."
- Matthew 16:1-3
and then he goes on to talk about a faithless generation. but oh my - this is what vatican ii and later documents are referring to when they talk about how the church needs to read the signs of the times. and i love it.

we're looking for what's good in the world...

doubters: hey, where's God's kingdom? all i see is bad, bad stuff. kids today.
JC: read the signs of the times!

there are signs of God's love everywhere, people. look around.

["i also believe in original virtue. look around!" - kurt vonnegut.]

also, i love this idea about how facebook could take over the world. seriously. a real news feed? email? AND people writing on my wall? i'm totally in.

Sunday, July 01, 2007

some more news and things.


i can't get it bigger, sorry - just click on it. [you can see the graphic and the article yourself too.] young americans are leaning left on universal health care and gay marriage, but they're the same as adult americans on abortion and global warming. hmmm. thoughts?

i always like commonweal, as the world knows - but i thought these two different opinions on homosexuality and the church were very thoughtful. one talks about how the issue is really the limits of church authority and interpretation of scripture, and how we need some changes. the other talks about celibacy and sacrifice. both are either gay or have gay children, and i appreciate their efforts at authenticity. i know i'm predisposed to like everything that's written in commonweal ever, but i appreciate the dialogue.

also, i may or may not have a huge crush on this guy. something to do with a social conscience? loves dogs and his mother? athletic OR musical? seriously, though, it's a good story.

i'm watching the first two episodes of season two of the west wing with commentary. in the first one, janel moloney talks sort of breathlessly about how much she loves and admires all the other actors. [especially brad, CLEARLY.] in the second one, martin sheen cracks up the entire time, except for the times he's appropriately solemn. i love it.