Gallimaufry

Molly Lays It Out

Note:  All links to the Sacramento Bee which requires registration and login but you can get a password at Bug Me Not.

Molly Ivins has an excellent column on the Bush "culture of life" knee jerk.  The last paragraph deserves much wider distribution

It's the old slippery slope argument. Look, all of law is a process of drawing lines on slippery slopes. The difference between misdemeanor theft and felony theft is one penny. The difference between misdemeanor and felony drug possession is one gram. For that matter, the difference between a pig and a hog is one pound. We're always drawing distinctions, and it is necessary to do so -- hunting rifles, OK; .50 caliber rifles, don't be a fool.

            This is a don't-be-a-fool argument. "Culture of life"? Whose life?

She puts a pretty good smackdown on the Texas Legislature too.  Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of guys.

And she takes on so-called commentators who tell her what she believes and how ridiculous it is.

I want to be Molly when I grow up.

 

I Can't Do It

I just can't.  These days when I try to read the political blogs I used to read regularly last year I just can't.  My eyes glaze over and I can't focus my concentration enough to pay attention to what they're saying. 

I can't read Media Matters for America.  I get angry and feel helpless and defeated.  Listening to the news and attempting to participate in political discussions overwhelms me in the same fashion. 

You don't even want to know about the fear and frustration engendered by my recent week in Oklahoma.

I spent so much time and energy on these topics last year.  I talked and wrote and donated money and rang doorbells and helped organize and all that stuff.  I read the  news and the blogs compulsively.  Then came the election and the subsequent depression.  Then I had major surgery in January.  (knee replacement)  It's amazing how much of your time, energy, and attention something like that sucks up.  And my health has been generally poor since the surgery.  Too many colds and infections -- things I don't ordinarily have.

So I've been wondering what to do with this blog.  I just can't do the political stuff at all these days.  Should I give up?  Keep it going as a non-political blog?  The feelings of doubt and guilt have made it more difficult to address these questions and my future plans.  And bottom line?  I still don't know what I'm going to do.  Maybe I'll just let it wither away gradually.

Stuff I Saw

There are a lot of people who don't know much about cancer.  Also

The next most common misconception? A cure for cancer already exists but it is being withheld from the public in order to increase profits

Wow and I thought I was cynical.  Or is that naive?

Hate those hard to open packages?  You're not alone.

Is the silly season early this year?

If you sighed with envy on reading Rosa Monday, you need to visit these sites.  Try to resist ordering something.  Just try.

My newest hobby is beading.  It's really amazing what's available online.  I'd love some of these,  Or maybe these.  These are always good.

More colors than you would believe.

Free Child Ballads!

Google's Zeitgeist Archive can be fun and interesting.

Bored now.
 

Meme the second (books)

Fluff has tagged me.

Total number of books I own.
Jordin says he estimated a number of years ago we owned 5K paperbacks and 2K hardbacks.  We've bought more since.  And got rid of some, but not as many as we've bought.  Yes, we do have a book problem.

The last book I bought
I bought 3 from Uncle Hugo's at Wiscon but I can only remember 2: Kage Baker's The Anvil of the World (in pb -- it's great), and Charlaine Harris' Dead as a Doornail.

The last book I read
Well yesterday I finished Seven Dials by Anne Perry and read John Scalzi's Old Man's War.  I have Mortal Love by Elizabeth Hand in progress, but it irritates me.

Five books that mean a lot to me

1.  Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien -- uh well um
2.  King James version of The Bible -- I'm no longer a believer but this book shaped me in numerous known and unknown ways.  And the language is fantastic.
3.  Dangerous Visions ed. by Harlan Ellison -- Blew my mind wide open when I read it at 16 and helped me to know and to articulate just how much and in what ways I wanted my life to differ from what I saw around me.  I re-read it less than I used to but I still do re-read it.
4.  Star Surgeon by Alan Nourse - For being symbolically important as the first actual sf book I ever read.  It does not hold up to re-reading as an adult.  Sigh.
5.  A long ago biography of Anne Boleyn whose title I do not remember but which started me on the never ending fascination of history and biography.

Meme the first (not books)

Scorpio at Eccentricity has tagged me.

Three names you go by (that won't give away your identity): Fortunately I don't hide my identity online because there aren't any.  I have this thing about names.  Anyway, my actual given name is Mary Kathryn, everyone calls me Mary Kay, which online often gets abrieveated to MKK.  I've also been called MK in meatspace.

Three screen names you've had: See above

Three physical things you like about yourself: My hair, the shape and length of my legs, my skin

Three physical things you don't like about yourself: I used to have a waist and although I've lost weight the waist is disappearing; bad ankles, bad teeth

Three parts of your heritage: German, Irish, American

Three things you are wearing right now: Black glasses, lavender night gown, yellow underwear

Three favorite bands / musical artists:   Rolling Stones, Bach, Gordon Lightfoot

Three favorite songs:  Just Not Possible

Three things you want in a relationship: Which relationship?  Oh, okay.  Much humor, conversation, mutual respect

Three physical things about the preferred sex that appeals to you: forearms, smile, eyes. 

Three of your favorite hobbies: Reading, conventions, beading

Three things you want to do really badly right now: finish and present Mythcon bid, go to NYC and see plays, feel better

Three things that scare you: death, dental work, having conversations with people I don't know

Three of your everyday essentials: Iced tea, talking with Jordin, exercising the damn knee

Three careers you have considered / are considering:  Science -- but there's this math thing..., libraries, copy editing

Three places you want to go on vacation: Germany, Greece, Italy

Three kids' names you like:  I can't answer this because there aren't names I consider kids' names.  What a weird way to think of name.

Three things you want to do before you die:  See the discovery of immortality...

Three ways you are stereotypically a boy: Mechanical things are fairly easy for me, mostly I don't worry about being 'nice', some of my body language is male

Three ways you are stereotypically a girl: Can't throw a ball, scared of snakes (well, it's a phobia really), like to wear dresses

Three celeb crushes:   Mick Jagger, Johnny Depp, Mikhail Baryshnikov