Leopold Stotch thinks we should replace it with something a bit less lame, and is taking suggestions. I agree that it doesn't get dorkier than blogosphere, but no one at Outside the Beltway seems to be doing any better. Go have a shot at it, though: there's got to be something we can call this community/phenomenon that doesn't make us sound nerdier than we already are.

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I thought I was losing my mind, but it's only early menopause sending my hormones out of whack again, without any regard for the calendar whatsoever. So I'm losing my purely theoretical fertility along with my looks—but my juicy little brain is intact.

I just want to buy the world a big bouquet of roses, just in time for . . . what are we supposedly celebrating this weekend? [I'm afraid I never was much of a girlie girl in most senses. But I look like one, and I do make a mean omelette, which seems to make all the difference to my spouse.]

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Yes, I think it's good that Eason Jordan quit. No, I don't think Ward Churchill should follow on the basis of his inflammatory statements (the charges of sloppy scholarship are another matter entirely).

Academia and journalism are very different arenas. Both should depend upon facts, but in the case of academia it's really paramount that scholars feel free to say provocative things.

If you're part of a mainstream news outlet like CNN (on the left) or Fox (on the right), there should be a greater sense of responsibility: the line between information and propaganda can be very fine.

Both the mainstream media (other than Fox) and academia (other than Texas A&M) tend to tilt left, and the solution to that is not to fire the lefties, but for these institutions to begin hiring some bright people who do believe in capitalism, who do think America has done some extraordinarily positive things in its short history, who do believe it's okay for for people of faith to publicly express it, and who don't necessarily think government is the only implement in the toolbox of social progress.

In the media, the pendulum is moving to the center very slowly, forced by 1) market changes (as the viewing public rejects traditional left-leaning sources or balances those sources with Fox, The Wall Street Journal, or the right side of the blogosphere); and 2) pressure from blogs when a particularly egregious example of disinformation occurs (Dan Rather airing obvious forgeries, Eason Jordan making outrageous statements about the U.S. targeting journalists).

In academia it'll be harder, because there isn't a market in the conventional sense: it's not as if those who voted for Bush are going to keep their kids from going to college to protest the death-grip moonbats have on higher learning. Change will come slowly and painfully, pushed by people like David Horowitz and the amazing Evan Coyne Maloney.

It's a more entrenched culture, and one that's much less transparent to its consumers, who are in many cases impressionable kids. They may not always understand that they are being fed lefty propaganda, and in many cases they will be delighted if they can grab a shocking idea here and there that might rattle their parents' cages.

And so the wheel turns slowly.

[Dr. Neuron: feel free to comment, though of course I'm discussing the humanities more than science, here.]

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No, it's not true that I only accept ads from guys whose first name is "Kevin." (Looking at my sidebar, I'm seeing Wizbang! and McGehee right now, so I thought I should make it clear that I do not discriminate on the basis of first names.)

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In rhyme.

Guidelines for navigating this crazy old world of bloggy blogossitude.

Extra points if you can figure out exactly which poem he's parodying.

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. . . came by today. Fortunately (and, unfortunately, for my blogging endeavors and my sleep life) he had tons of ideas, many of which will require little or no money to be implemented.

Consequently, I'm on the hot seat again. I have a bunch of actions that need to be taken over the next several days. Some of them may even require me to change out of my bathrobe, which I hate.

The husband and I still don't know whether we will be able to hang onto the house, so it isn't clear whether we're fixing it up to enjoy or to sell. But for most purposes it doesn't matter: a lot of the actions are going to be the same.

In the meantime, I guess I'll tidy things up. After I have a nap.

It occurs to me that I come from a family that believes in making omelettes without breaking eggs. We are supposed to accomplish great things, but without using any resources whatsoever. And without letting go of anything, even the ugly valances over the drapes in the living room.

Two generations later, the Great Depression is still inside my family's psychic body, like a cancer. We should all get together for some kind of mass chemotherapy.

"I'm afraid of color for the wall," I tell my paint-specialist friend. "What if I'm wrong?" (Keep in mind that one of my sidelines is designing business cards, ads and brochures for businesses, so I'm fine with colored ink.)

"If you're wrong, you re-paint the wall," he replies.

No, no, no. In my family, if you do something wrong, you don't correct it. You can't correct it. That's $40 worth of paint that's gone forever.

No wonder we never finish anything. No completion means less self-flagellation.

Gotta go now: first the nap. Then I shoot my parents. Later, I tear down the valances.

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. . . cleaning a friend's house for $50. It's a good workout, though it takes a day for my respiratory system to recuperate from breathing in that much dust, and it's not particularly good for my hands.

I'm still trying to think of other ways to generate revenue, and I've had some great ideas. The trick is to find the ones that don't require initial capital investments.

The money is out there; I just have to find it.

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Goldstein gives us "Nine OTHER Chest-Thumping Announcements North Korea is Set to Make This Week," including:

In 1975, a North Korean 4-year old named Jin-ho defeated both Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky in a best of seven chess match. Jin-ho then returned to her familyÂ’s farm, where she helped plant rice and weave baskets.

So get on over there; it's good stuff.

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And I wonder what it says about you people: you seem obsessed. I'm not sure it's healthy. Sex, sex, sex. You should take long walks or cold showers or something.

My husband and I, like all good Republicans, take T'ai Chi. On Wednesdays, we are in sequential classes. Last night I ran out of the house in a hurry, and wasn't wearing my wedding ring when I showed up at the site where we meet to get our Chi on. And there was the Overly Friendly Guy, being Overly Friendly, as usual. I've never been able to figure out what the deal is with the OFG: whether he's attracted to me, or just doesn't have the social skills to speak naturally. I can't figure out whether he has Asberger's syndrome, mild mental retardation, a slight case of autism, or is just an engineer.

But it's awkward. If I knew for sure that he'd figured out I'm married, I could make myself be nice to him. I really could. But he's friendly to me in a way he isn't to any of the other women (or men, for that matter) in our particular group, and I find myself being just a little bit cold to him, just in case. Then, of course, I feel guilty. What if he does have Asberger's, and I'm being unkind? The memories come flooding back about what it was like at 12 and 13 to have breasts suddenly appear on my body, and the slight inkling that all the men who suddenly started striking up conversations with me at bus stops might just be trying to pick me up—but no way to be sure.

Last night I'm wearing a favorite T-shirt: one of those that appears to be made from fabric with old writing on it that describes a once-premium commodity (in this case, indigo dye). The graphics are muted, and the writing isn't necessarily legible to someone who isn't right on top of my tits. The effect is supposed to be something like a seventeenth-century ad, made into a fabric—and then a shirt.

"What does your shirt say?" asks the overly friendly guy.

"It's about old dying materials," I tell him, and then turn to one of the women. "Can you read my boob, here, or is the writing too small?"

"It's a little too small," she remarks, and we laugh in a friendly way. Situation de-fused, thank goodness.

The beginner's class ends, and my husband shows up for the advanced class. We say hi to each other. "Kiss me," I tell him under my breath, and he does, though we rarely engage in PDAs at Chi central.

"Was that for someone else's benefit?" he asks.

"Yes. But I could be wrong," I tell him. "You know what an egotist I am."

"I know."

* The title is adapted from a James Thurber story, one of his cute pieces set in a bar. Entitled "Midnight at Tim's Place," it contains the line: Suddenly, we all had another drink.

I've always loved that story, and I can actually recite most of it aloud. Scary.

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1 Engineer?! Thats just mean. Speake well do we.

Posted by: the Pirate at February 10, 2005 10:12 AM (SksyN)

2 Well, you do. I read that sentence over three times, and I tried to soften it, and I didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings, especially yours. I thought of putting in a parenthetical apology-in-advance. But I was just smitten with the phrase (which applies to a few of your colleagues here and there, you must admit). And I thought: I'll just have to make it up to him later. So I owe you a bouquet of links and such.

Posted by: Attila Girl at February 10, 2005 11:38 AM (RjyQ5)

3 A few? More like many. Engineers who can speak & have people skills end up in marketing and or management as they get older. Although I find the civils tend to be a little better at communication because most of our work is done on public projects, which means dealing with the public. But even then we have those that are best suited to be locked in a room and left there to work, far far away from any clients. Even in school there was the divide between the lack of social skills and common-sense engineers and the ones who did homework at the bar (who tend to be the ones with social skills). But it is quite funny how when people think poor social skills, engineer pops into their head. Rightfully so in many cases. Of course I do find thing interesting that other people do not, like concrete and RAS.

Posted by: the Pirate at February 10, 2005 12:05 PM (SksyN)

4 People do what they do because they want what they want. He may want your body, your friendship or just your immediate attention. He may even want to get you to an Amway presentation, but I'm betting you're just worth looking at, and close-up is better than far away. That's all I have to say about that.

Posted by: Ironcross11 at February 10, 2005 04:04 PM (SDx7R)

5 Well, this is all well and good, but when are you going to get to the s3x part? Hah, my comment was blocked for saying s*x!

Posted by: Pile On® at February 10, 2005 07:31 PM (Yup7K)

6 I can't figure out whether he has Asberger's syndrome, mild mental retardation, a slight case of autism, or is just an engineer. Ah-Hem! Autism. Or retardation. Or just a bad case of engineer (try denorex next time). Sheesh...

Posted by: Desert Cat at February 10, 2005 07:39 PM (c8BHE)

7 I love concrete! Although I find it's often misused.

Posted by: k at February 10, 2005 09:06 PM (6krEN)

8 I happen to think copy editors are nerd's nerds. I mean, I'm the one who cares about capitalization and the use of hypens. Next to that, anyone's interests seem sane. K, could you give us, a . . . a concrete example? Ha ha ha ha ha. (I'm here all week; try the veal.)

Posted by: Attila Girl at February 10, 2005 10:41 PM (RjyQ5)

9 I hate to nitpick, but I believe it is spelled ass burgers syndrome. Michael Moore has a bad case.

Posted by: Kingslasher at February 11, 2005 10:10 AM (SOfML)

10 I believe you're thinking of burger-ass, which is a different thing entirely. It often leads to burger-belly. The terms for both conditions are hyphenated.

Posted by: Attila Girl at February 11, 2005 11:44 AM (RjyQ5)

11 Veal? I never did see the appeal. Veal lovers tell me it's just tender bland meat to hold sauce. I love sauces. But I don't want to waste calories eating meat that can't stand alone! Then they tell me my killer Bernaise it "too rich" for a meat like veal. ?!? Then stick a ribeye under that sauce! Jeez. Dis a Bernaise? For the sake of some boring veal? Where was I? OH! Concrete. If I got started I could rhapsodize all day, which I can't, because I just got up and I have a fridge full of fabulous leftovers from Lotus Chinese Kitchen calling me. Suffice it to say: It's a great building material. Really, really great. Natural, when they don't jazz it up with icky chemicals. But it's not pretty. When pretty counts, all the surface texturing etc. in the world just won't cut it. Now MORTAR, so similar, means you can stick face brick and stone and stuff on it. NOW you're talking! But not me, cause it looks like I'm kind of hungry here... Oh! Dams and roads and whole houses! Malleable, formable. Nearly hurricane-proof. Add volcanic ash and you get waterproof Roman aqueducts that last forever! New York uses ash filtered from pollution captures on smokestacks. Why no one sold concreters all that ash from Mt. St. Helens is beyond me. And -- *sniff sniff* HEY! W! is that you? keep your mitts off my steak-on-a-stick! HEY! gotta go

Posted by: k at February 11, 2005 02:58 PM (ywZa8)

12 The husband's sister remodeled her house recently, and her new kitchen counters are colored poured concrete. In one of them there are two spots where coins from various overseas countries were pressed before the concrete dried. And she ripped up her carpeting, exposing the original concrete from the 50s. I think it's concrete--though come to think of it it's very smooth, not as porous as the counters at all.

Posted by: Attila Girl at February 11, 2005 04:25 PM (RjyQ5)

13 Ah! Miss Sis may have terrazzo floors. We do, and they're "reviving" in this early-50's neighborhood. Terrazzo's kind of fancy concrete with decorative little rocks in it and a very smooth finish. Terrazzo lovers will be scandalized when I tile it over with stone. Lots of people like concrete as face material, esp. when they add decorative touches like the coins. It's just not for me. Maybe I love nature too much. Concrete & mortar form naturally, it's probably how humans got the idea. But I'd take that concrete and put stone on it, to me that's a much more beautiful surface. And I can't breathe too much fresh concrete air, either. As a superallergic, I'm really happy to hear she killed off the carpet. Buying this place and throwing away all the carpet was one of the best times of my life.

Posted by: k at February 11, 2005 04:53 PM (ywZa8)

14 Back to food and nit-picking: Michael Moore's condition looks more like ass-buns to me. The buns go on the outside, the burger in the middle. I don't know where the hyphen goes.

Posted by: k at February 11, 2005 08:30 PM (ywZa8)

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. . . when Goldstein's site is back up again? I'm Jonesing.

UPDATE: Back up, though I'm still have to endure several seconds of that "maintenance screen" before the real blog comes up on occasion. However, all's well that ends well.

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Forgot to post these a few weeks ago, and they are all sound blog entries. The entire set of results from that vote are here. Check out the best of the best:

Council Winner/Runners Up:

WMD and Death By Chocolate Cake, by Dr. Sanity

Ted KennedyÂ’s Contract on Your Paycheck, at The Sundries Shack

Disaster and the Existence of a "Just" God, at Wallo World

Democrat for a Day, by The SmarterCop

 
Non-Council Winner/Runners Up:

Welcome Neighbor!
Varifrank uses a nice law-enforcement analogy to discuss elements in the Iraqi War.

In Aiding and Abetting the Enemy, Blackfive quotes a Lt. Col. who discusses the "help" given by the media.

Diggers Realm gives the Immigration Firsters some red meat in Illegal Aliens and Immigration Reform Report #4.

John Hawkins is a virtual valium in There's No Need To Get Worried About Black Blog Ops.

 

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1 Shame on you. If you forget to post them, you get a snippy email from the Watcher ;p

Posted by: jeff at February 09, 2005 08:57 AM (FZ/mU)

2 You don't think it was just an attack of conscience, a desire to make things right?

Posted by: Attila Girl at February 09, 2005 09:39 AM (RjyQ5)

3 First I'm crabby... and now I'm snippy? AIEEE!

Posted by: Your conscience at February 09, 2005 11:54 PM (r133v)

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CalTechGirl is making book on the true identity of Deep Throat, which we are apparently about to find out.

I love a good mystery, and CTG has links to some of the juiciest speculation.

Unfortunately, we have the "unfair advantage" of knowing that one of the reasons we're about to find out is that DT is very ill right now, so that gives us another angle to look at. Almost ruins the puzzle. Almost.

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This is an interesting model of masculine vs. feminine walks. I believe most people I know, to the degree that their walks are gender-differentiated at all, are just to either side of the "neutral" model.

But it's an interesting thing to observe tiny points of light that stand in for joints, because one has so little information about what this theoretical "human" looks like: it's all in the movements.

Check it out.

Via the Dr. Mengele of the rat world.

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The fact that a couple of female MPs engaged in some mud-wrestling at an Army Detention Center in Iraq isn't too shocking. Young people like to party hard, and cops party even harder.

As long as the women—and the men cheering them on—were off-duty, and provided none of the prisoners witnessed the event, I'm not so sure this was an awful, awful thing.

Kids are at the mercy of their hormones sometimes, and need to blow off steam. This was a way to do so relatively harmlessly.

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Describes the act of skimming my blog, trying to find updates on my life, or interesting observations. Or (one supposes) political essays that will make him mad. Or, whatever—something, anything!—that doesn't have to do with the blogging world.

"In joke, in joke, in joke [mimics the actions of fingers scrolling on a Mac laptop's touchpad]; fuck off, fuck off, fuck off."

Here's a thought: if you quit your job, sold your children, divorced your wife, burned your book manuscript, and just lived like a normal person, you could spend 8-12 hours a day online, and you'd get every single joke on the "blogosphere."

Some people just don't want to make any sacrifices. Always the easy options, ya know?

Start with Instapundit. He's a college prof too, and his entries are mercifully brief (unlike, say . . . mine).

"In jokes." Well, I never.

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. . . that the "hard choices" Condi wants Israelis to make do not involve letting Palestinian murderers walk the streets again to kill more innocents.

I reassure myself that Rice is committed to Israel's continued existence, but I hope she's equally concerned for the safety of its citizens.

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. . . is just like planning a wedding. Someone (generally the woman, if one's available) works her ass off, forfeits sleep, spends evey penny she owns, and sacrifices endlessly so a bunch of other people can have a good time.

But all the while, the woman is supposed to pretend that this is all really fun, and that there's nothing grander than busting one's ass for other people. "Hi, I've been up all night. Isn't it GLORIOUS?"

The saying, of course, with respect to weddings, is "the wedding is for your friends and relatives. The marriage is for you." Well, you know: half of it, anyway.

To be fair, I had almost no help when I got married. I understand that often the bridesmaids help out with various tasks. My bridesmaids could barely be bothered to show up for the fitting of the dresses they complained about endlessly, but didn't help to pick out.

Naturally, I'm frightened about the child or children: I know this will be a life-changing experience. I know it will be a lot of hard work. I just don't know if I'll end up feeling used, or taken for granted. I just don't want it to be like all the other projects I've worked hard on for essentially no payoff. (The assumption out there being that women simply like to work really hard to make other people happy, so the act itself is its own reward.)

What they tell me is that kids are so wonderful that it's terrific to have them around (once you're past babyhood and the terrible twos). They say it's different. They say the work is grueling, but at the end of the day you don't really mind.

Can I get some of that in writing?

UPDATE: Attila the Hub takes me to brunch and mentions that he's read my blog. ("Why are you reading my blog," I want to ask. "That's my secret diary, where I file away things that I only want the entire universe to know." I think better of it.)

"Are you angry?" he asks.

"Of course not," I respond, souding like a six-year old, only a bit less mature. And, of course, the six-year-old would have the wit to explain that it's only her imaginary friend, Binky, who had periodically resented the division of labor in the household. I'm fine, but Binky is concerned that she doesn't get stuck making dinner every single night, because it's hard to cook when you're an invisible person.

On the way home I come clean and discuss my fears about the responsibilities of childraising, and we have a good discussion.

But honestly. Can you imagine trying to live with me? He has the patience of a saint.

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1 My mother calls the rewards "Parents Paydays". Here's One.

Posted by: Ironcross11 at February 06, 2005 07:35 AM (SDx7R)

2 The reason I'm the last person who should say a word here is that I just never wanted to have kids, myself. The reason I'm saying something anyway is, I saw my mom do exactly what you're talking about. She was "Perfect Wife." She dished it all up, perfectly, and did it smiling. Here's only one example: When I think of all the time and effort she put in to making three nutritious, tasty meals for five each day - that also didn't bust the budget - and how often we said, "but I don't WANT that for dinner tonight!" - I cringe. Now I try to let her know how much I appreciate what she did. I say things like, I don't understand HOW you did that. Or, You must have been crazy! What I would like to change if I only could, and how you can do it different, is to make sure all your support net type adults verify to your kids the value of what you're doing for them. Excellent mothering doesn't have to be taken for granted any more. I wish someone had really talked to us about how hard it was for my mom to do that, how we should truly appreciate it, how hurtful it was of us to criticise in the rude way we did. I mean, my dad would yell at us here and there, but that's not at all the same. That just upset us. It didn't make us really understand. It didn't teach us day after day until our behavior changed. For your own part? Don't let it happen that way any more. Stop the play if it goes in that direction. Have a wedding without bridesmaids. And demand help from those around you if you need it. Such things are really supposed to be a group effort anyway. It's not right to let yourself be hurt that way. It's not fair to you. It's not fair to your spouse; then they have to deal with your hurts because they love you. It's not fair to your daughters and sons. It teaches that it's okay to let people take advantage of you. And when that happens too many times, it takes all the joy out of Christmas or whatever, and all the givingness out of your spirit. Experiences like that, in the end, can just plain use you up. Better to take the villification of those few jerks who will still object if you don't serve them in that Perfect Wife way. You really can learn to do it different. Love, courtesy, and nurturing, don't have to include pulling all-nighters, going broke on ingredients, and being exhausted by the time the Event actually Arrives. You're an important part of it too, right? I got infected with Perfect Wife syndrome too. It's almost eradicated, thank God, but I still do battle with it. One thing that really helped was practicing Smart Mouth techniques. Like, "When's dinner gonna be ready again?" can be answered with "Soon, dear" (frantically ramp up cooking speed) or, "As soon as you get back from Lotus Chinese Kitchen. I'm too tired to finish. This now goes in the fridge. You can heat it up tomorrow, it's really good. Do you know how to work the microwave? I can teach you real quick." This can get you some rest for the night, and a very different experience next time around. So practice new ways on dinner guests and you'll be ready when those kids turn up hungry. k

Posted by: k at February 06, 2005 08:04 PM (+7VNs)

3 You say you want it in writing? Okie-dokie: http://www.baggage-and-blathering.com/archives/2005/01/17/286/ Bottom line, it's the worst-paying, highest stress job in the world, but it *is* the most rewarding. Really.

Posted by: Kathleen at February 07, 2005 04:32 PM (zGCA0)

4 Ok, so I am guessing here that you are expecting? If so, congratulations! What can I say that doesn't sound mushy? I can't. Having a child is simply experiencing the most love you will ever feel your entire life. It is heart bursting out of your mind love. Your shocked at your feelings. Really. There are hard days and there are perfect days, but nothing on this earth is more fulfilling or frustrating. My only advice is time old. Cherish every single moment. It flys by and when they are older, you would give anything to have them little once again.

Posted by: Rightwingsparkle at February 07, 2005 08:04 PM (x81gL)

5 Laugh all you want. As long as I can talk you into watching Supernanny. Aquiring a kid would terrify me. If I watched Supernanny carefully and diligently first, I would feel MUCH better. The brats on the show are your worst nightmare. She turns them around and teaches the family how to have a happy family life again. This means: -the fear of the unknown is resolved - it's made known how really HORRIBLE they can be -over and over, it gets resolved. The worst of the worst become WONDERFUL, sweet, loving, interested kids. It's all about mutual respect. She teaches them all HOW not to let those kids TAKE ADVANTAGE of their parents. It's great. It really is.

Posted by: k at February 07, 2005 08:44 PM (6krEN)

6 I saw one episode; although she had to camp it up a bit for the camera, it appeared that she had some sound techniques for managing children. We're still thinking 1-2. "Never three," I tell my husband. "Then we'd be outnumbered."

Posted by: Attila Girl at February 08, 2005 12:38 AM (RjyQ5)

7 Attila Girl, I don't think any of us has any idea what we are getting ourselves into. It kicks my ass almost everyday. I have learned more patience and self-control than I ever thought possible of myself. There are times when I want to scream at the top of my lungs; when I want to kick R for his presumptions; I want to smack little ole ladies for smiling at me and telling me to "slow down;" when I want to run away and indulge in my secret-single-behaviors for weeks at a time; when if one person asks me what is for any meal, I will throw the food on the floor and tell them to have at it. It is and will be the most annoying, frustrating, exhausting work that will ever be required of you. There will be times when you will truly think yourself absolutely crazy for having decided to do this. You will come to realize, however, that in the rearing of this human soul, you have more influence than through anything else you will ever attempt. It will be daunting. The first years are the easiest in some respects because they seem to love you so very much, and are so direct in their desire for your love and attention. As they become older, we have to rethink our strategy. It can be very hard to let them grow-up; to loosen our control over their every decision. That is when we must trust that the foundation we laid while they were still suckling at our breast, or on our laps for books, or snuggling with us during a movie is solid and firm. The coach-friend mode is challenging to our parental logistics. Your body will never look the same, but you will come terms with it, and perhaps may even find some tiny bit of acceptance with the stretch marks on your stomach and breasts. Like so many other scars, they represent hard work, effort, and perhaps, even love. All that said, AG, it is true, that while I have moments of thinking "What the f*** have I gotten myself into?" and moments when I want to pull all of my hair out, they really are small and few (though powerful, I cannot deny). They seem so large because, for me, recognizing that I was still a good mother despite these feelings of inadequacy and anger took a very long time. They won't appreciate completely what you have given to them until they are adults. Remember, the view from greater heights allows better perspective. Would I do it all again? In a heartbeat, because that is (well, and you-know-what ) all it took to get them here, and it took millions more to make it happen. Congratulations (P.S. If you want to read what the real pregnancy and first years are like, go read Operating Instructions by Anne Lamott. You'll laugh your arse off, cry, and realize, you're not the only one, and feel better and inspired.) (P.P.S. I told my husband when we had our third child, "we're in the zone now, no more man-to-man.") (P.P.P.S. Supernanny seems to be mostly reminding the parents that they are the parents. Be firm when they are young, and they will still be demanding, but it will be easier for you to say "No!" mean it and mean it, have them listen, and for you all to have fun.)

Posted by: Rae at February 08, 2005 09:37 AM (zrGpp)

8 Yes! Supernanny kicks ass. Those parents seem afraid of discipline, like: -any discipline at all is inappropriate or "mean" -the kids will stop loving me -people will call me a bad parent Miss JoJo never raises her voice at naughty kids, or causes them physical pain. Not even a hard grasp as she holds a struggling screaming kid's arm. Yet her disciplining is fair and extremely effective. I love her explicit instruction plans for "repairs." She's a superb problem solver. I also recommend Good Dog U on Animal Planet. You'll see the importance of clarifying relationships among the pack: ie, parents are parents, kids are kids. Good Dog U is all about educating people even more than dogs. An untrained dog is not a happy dog. They're wired to need to know proper behavior so the whole pack functions smoothly and happily. If they don't know it, they're confused and upset and disruptive. Us too. I'm not just talking about kids here. Good Dog U teaches proper adult-adult behaviors, and things like Identify Bad Guy. Boundaries. Rights and responsibilities. Good Dog U can help a lot with bridesmaids issues. [You'd never guess I want to punch those bridesmaids in the nose. No good dog would dream of behaving like that.] k

Posted by: k at February 08, 2005 08:24 PM (ywZa8)

9 In fairness, one was in med school, and the other was working on her doctorate (as well as being painfully shy). Another, suggested by my husband, just informed me three months or so in advance that she wouldn't be able to participate. The remaining one is the husband's sister. She showed up for the "bridal luncheon" 15 minutes before the restaurant closed for the afternoon, after a day of shopping with a friend. So the "bridal luncheon" was just my med school friend and me. What a miserable process that was. I've never ordered the pictures from it, either: I have the proof book, but I just can't bear to look at them, much less order the final album. Ugh.

Posted by: Attila Girl at February 10, 2005 11:44 AM (RjyQ5)

10 Yikes! Do you mean the pics from the bridal luncheon, or the wedding itself?

Posted by: k at February 11, 2005 03:06 AM (6krEN)

11 The wedding. I have the proof book, and I guess that feels like enough.

Posted by: Attila Girl at February 11, 2005 09:45 AM (RjyQ5)

12 Your exquisite wedding picture - the one I nagged you so long for? - has pride of place in my workstation. It sits there and smiles at me every day.

Posted by: k at February 11, 2005 05:34 PM (ywZa8)

13 I can't remember which one that was. Is it the one in front of the church, or the one where I'm laughing too hard (the "tooth shot"?).

Posted by: Attila Girl at February 11, 2005 06:33 PM (RjyQ5)

14 It's in front of a church-type setting but it seems to be inside not outside. You're smiling, but probably only you would think it was too much. There are lots of nice flowers and things around, and some beautiful decorative work, plaster maybe? on the walls, with arches and dentillation and columns. It may be an altar in front of that wall? some table-type thing, very very beautiful. It's just an incredibly glamorous, gorgeous, happy picture. Everyone who sees it kinds of gasps and says, Who's this?

Posted by: k at February 11, 2005 08:15 PM (ywZa8)

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Jeff-in-Oakland has another photoshop over at Beautiful Atrocities that suggests something about the homoerotic undertones in Islamist culture. But, you know—delicately.

(Oh, come on, boys and girls: we're talking about guys who shave each other's bodies. Anne Rice's vampires do a lot less.)

Posted by: Attila at 10:42 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Where children can be surprisingly mature, and supposed "adults" often act like kids.

"Stole an Instalanche"? WTF?

Should Austin ever start another blog in the future, I'll link to him right away, and put him on my blogroll.

And I don't expect to ever link Matt in my life. I most certainly won't ever link Jordan, whose behavior was egregious and unacceptable.

Remember the old saw about how you can judge a man's character by how he treats women? That comes from an earlier time, when women were bound by laws and conventions and less able to fend for themselves. It had to do with the notion that the way we treat those who are vulnerable shows who we are. It most certainly applies to the way any adult behaves toward the underaged.

I FOUND OUT ABOUT THIS THROUGH PROTEIN WISDOM, RUN BY JEFF GOLDSTEIN. HIS WEB PAGE IS HERE. (Go. He's selling "Free Austin" T-shirts!)

Posted by: Attila at 03:12 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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1 I'd go so far as to say you can still judge a man's character by how he treats women. or that could just be how I was raised.

Posted by: the Pirate at February 03, 2005 03:23 PM (SksyN)

2 Oh, I'm not so sure it never applies any more. I'm just extending the logic, here.

Posted by: Attila Girl at February 03, 2005 04:55 PM (RjyQ5)

3 As an absolute neophyte in this blog world, I'm not familiar with the specifics of crediting, etc. at issue here. But those specifics couldn't transcend the meanness behind that so-called grownup's reaction anyway. Shame! What truly dishonorable behavior to an intelligent and compassionate child! Shame!

Posted by: k at February 03, 2005 05:13 PM (6krEN)

4 Talk about taking yourself way to seriously. You stole my insta-lanche, sheesh. Does anybody have Glen Reynolds IP address? I am going to ban him from my site, I just don't need the aggravation.

Posted by: Pile On® at February 04, 2005 07:52 AM (bKw38)

5 Well, of course it isn't Glenn's fault.

Posted by: Attila Girl at February 04, 2005 03:48 PM (RjyQ5)

6 Well, on one hand, Matt Margolis got dragged into it by Jordan, who has take a huge, and vastly desrved, amount of shat about this. He has appologized for his demeanor and attitude towards Austin, as well as has Matt. Hopefully, Austin's Mom will let him start blogging again.

Posted by: William Teach at February 05, 2005 03:01 PM (HxpPK)

7 Well of course not Attila Girl, but then being banned from my site isn't exactly the end of the world.

Posted by: Pile On® at February 05, 2005 09:46 PM (Aa66R)

8 What I like best about this incident's "damage control" is Jeff Goldstein's "Free Austin" t-shirts. Now THAT's lemonade.

Posted by: k at February 06, 2005 06:32 AM (+7VNs)

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Can't we handle this in a different way? In this day and age, it seems profoundly unwise to plan an event that places, in one building:

The President of the United States;
His entire cabinet;
The Vice President, and the Speaker of the House.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff;
The entire Supreme Court
and both chambers of the legislature.

All it would take would be one very successful strike, and AQ could knock out our government more effectively than they planned to do on 9/11.

There would be no one left to rebuild the rest: we'd have to elect new everything from scratch. It makes no sense. It's unwise.

Posted by: Attila at 02:11 AM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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