littlemissattila.new.mu.nu

January 31, 2006

Scott Ott

The author of Scrappleface has lost his grandmother, who raised him and his three brothers. She sounds like a remarkable woman. It's decent and sweet of Scott to give us a glimpse into his family history—particularly while they are dealing with this enormous loss.

Please remember his grandmother—and the rest of his family—in your prayers. (Or send positive energy, for those of you who have difficulty anthropomorphizing God.)

(h/t: Cassandra.)

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January 30, 2006

Making Cindy Sheehan Your Paper Doll

. . . is almost as good as making her your punk. So, go.

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January 25, 2006

This Sound Distinctly

. . . familiar. Probably because I've been having similar conversations for years.

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I Think If I Ever Received a Letter

. . . signed "your friend, Jeff," I might blow my brains out as a precaution.

Better safe than sorry.

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January 21, 2006

Inside the Third Reich

Neo has an amazing piece about the Goebbels' marriage. I just finished Part II, and will go back to read Part I (just scroll down; it's right there).

It's an inside look at human evil, and has a lot to say about the cult of personality that leads some to join cults and some to support murderous dictators.

I just want to weep for the human race. And never stop.

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January 20, 2006

Mr. and Mrs. Insty Present

. . . another his-and-hers podcast! This one focuses on Iranian politics and nuclear danger. Guests are Austin Bay and Strategy Page's Jim Dunnigan.

I can feel my resolve on the podcast front weakening.

But, you know: if I listen to podcasts, I might be tempted to create 'em myself, which means I'd be spending even more time messing around with computers and my house would be filthier, if that's even possible.

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January 19, 2006

Every Once in a While,

I think, "you know? Beautiful Atrocities has a sort of jaundiced view of large segments of Islam."

Then I figure I'm just reading him wrong.

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"No One Can Make the Threat of Nuclear War Funny."

Not so. One man can. He lives in the Rocky Mountains, by the way.

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January 16, 2006

So.

Should I be reading about the Singularity, or will it just make my head hurt?

I think I'll wait until someone puts out a graphic novel about it. That sounds less threatening.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 12:32 AM | Comments (12) | Add Comment
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1 First off, if you're going to talk about 'Singularity' it would be helpful to define it--or one would think. I felt as if it were another "World's best blond joke" circle 'jerk'..."The Singularity is an era in which our intelligence will become increasingly nonbiological and trillions of times more powerful than it is todayÂ—the dawning of a new civilization that will enable us to transcend our biological limitations and amplify our creativity...Ray Kurzweil book site" That said, I think it has already happened, so not to worry. We are already "talking" using our computer brains with more supporting data at our fingertips than we ever imagined. And naughty pictures. Let's not forget naughty pictures. We've already transcended the biological limitations of even the most advanced perv of the pre-1980's era.

Posted by: Darrell at January 16, 2006 09:04 AM (WppWP)

2 Sorry! I wasn't sure I was even in a position to define it, not having read the book. And the advances in porn are indeed impressive.

Posted by: Attila Girl at January 16, 2006 12:04 PM (/y+/O)

3 I wasn't criticizing you, dear girl! Mr. Dean talked about the subject at length without ever defining what-in-the-heck he was talking about! I assume he thinks everyone should know. Or anyone that counts. Your summary was quite appropriate--indeed what I've come to expect from you. I was a little disappointed the link was NOT broken, however. I know you do that on purpose! I'm beginning to think you don't care! Sniff!

Posted by: Darrell at January 16, 2006 01:26 PM (3i0/Y)

4 Sometime soon, I'll serve up a whole bouquet of broken links, and you, Jeff of BA, and Desert Cat can tease me mercilessly about it

Posted by: Attila Girl at January 16, 2006 02:43 PM (/y+/O)

5 Should I be reading about the Singularity, or will it just make my head hurt? I think I'll wait until someone puts out a graphic novel about it. That sounds less threatening. Oh please! Enough with the gender stereotypes already. ;P

Posted by: Desert Cat at January 16, 2006 07:49 PM (xdX36)

6 Okay--I'll be literal-minded for a moment, here, because I have been accused of playing the dumb bimbo when it suits me: I'm a proofreader, so I spend a lot of time reading boring stuff just looking for typos and other irregularities. So when I look at the kind of close reading that other bloggers do of certain passages, I just throw up my hands in disgust. It's not that I couldn't do it: it's that I have a life. I'm not earning lawyer-money, so I don't have to put up with lawyer-bullshit. (Also, as you know I'm so arrogant that I feel I've got nothing to prove

)

Posted by: Attila Girl at January 17, 2006 12:19 AM (/y+/O)

7 I kid! I kid! I'm sure it's not what you meant, but y'know, reading it literally... On the topic, it certainly sounds interesting, but likewise, I'm not *sufficiently* interested to read the book. (offhand dismissal) In all likelihood the author had a point he wanted to make, and found sufficient data to make the point. (/offhand dismissal)

Posted by: Desert Cat at January 17, 2006 03:54 PM (B2X7i)

8 My favorite example of "way too much book to support its thesis"? Guns, Germs and Steel. I gave him a few chapters to get into the meat of his discussion, but he kept talking around it. So I went away

Posted by: Attila Girl at January 17, 2006 05:10 PM (/y+/O)

9 I'll wait and read about the Singularity on the newsblogs, 'cause if I read about things that haven't happened yet I'll just end up disappointed. Like my flying car. Where the flip is my flying car!?

Posted by: McGehee at January 18, 2006 05:43 PM (lAOTn)

10 I know. There they were on the Jetsons, big as life. And we were supposed to have had them like, decades ago.

Posted by: Attila Girl at January 18, 2006 08:20 PM (/y+/O)

11 I'm going to go into full-on Asperger's Syndrome mode here, and ignore the jokes for a literal answer. Sure, read about it. Kurzweil's stuff is probably the best, since he chewed the idea most and first. I personally have a hard time with a thesis that reminds me a bit too much of 2010's "Something's going to happen... something wonderful," but that's probably just me being old and cranky. If you want a more reasonable singularity, try this one on: Doctors announce a treatment that will extend productive, vigorous human life by 100 years. It costs $75,000,000 per person, and it will be decades before it comes down significantly.

Posted by: Christophe at January 18, 2006 10:23 PM (td8Qe)

12 Tempting, but like most, I can't afford it. And I'm afraid I'd get bored. My grandmother always said she didn't want to live after she could no longer drive. In my case, it's reading and writing. My singularity: on day x, I'm too old to log on to the internet. On day X + 1, I'm dead. Easy peasy.

Posted by: Attila Girl at January 18, 2006 11:23 PM (/y+/O)

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January 14, 2006

Finally.

Desert Cat says what we're all thinking.

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January 12, 2006

After Nearly Three Years

. . . this was rather lovely.

And it's early in the day.

Glenn was gentle; I think he knew it was my first time.

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January 11, 2006

Insty

. . . links to his/the InstaWife's podcast interview of Evan Coyne Maloney, the thinking teenybopper's heartthrob.

The topics? Maloney's masterwork, Brainwashing 101, which I've seen separate digests of for two consecutive years at The Liberty Film Festival, and Dead Meat, On the Fence Films' damning—and darkly hilarious—piece on Canadian health care. Stuart Browning took the lead on Dead Meat, upstaging Maloney for a change and proving that the talent at On the Fence is evenly distributed. (It was also shown at the Liberty Film Festival; please click the "On the Fence" link above to see portions of either movie.)

I'd listen to the podcast, but I'm a Luddite and afraid that technology will hurt me or bring space aliens to earth or something. Also, I'm boycotting Glenn until he links me.

UPDATE: See? He couldn't handle the pressure! I withheld my 400+ hits a day until he gave in.

(Thank you, Glenn.)

Posted by: Attila Girl at 09:08 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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The Blessings Never Cease

1) Goldstein appears to have given up all those big words.

2) He's now writing about The Rockford Files, which was the best. Show. Ever.

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January 09, 2006

Has Anyone Out There Ever Known

. . . a member of MENSA who was actually smart?

Just curious.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 12:08 AM | Comments (15) | Add Comment
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1 Several.

Posted by: Kathy K at January 09, 2006 05:51 AM (QE9f0)

2 Hello?

Posted by: Desert Cat at January 09, 2006 07:15 AM (xdX36)

3 Is this a trick question? Is this about whether "smart" means something other than intelligence, such as "ability to make good choices" or "ability to socialize in a witty and entertaining manner", or "coming to the same conclusions as the group, given the same data set"? I'm loaded for bear.

Posted by: Desert Cat at January 09, 2006 09:14 AM (B2X7i)

4 I'm guessing she doesn't mean "good at taking tests"; most likely, she is asking whether anyone has ever met a member of MENSA who has a lick of common sense. In which case, my answer would have to be "No."

Posted by: MrSpkr at January 09, 2006 09:52 AM (CEsbr)

5 Would the "common" part of common sense then be something along the lines of "coming to the same conclusions as the group"? As I've heard tell, good sense is neither terribly common, nor does what pass for "common sense" often make a whole lot of sense. Of course, being good at taking intelligence tests has nothing whatsoever to do with innate intelligence, right?

Posted by: Desert Cat at January 09, 2006 11:41 AM (B2X7i)

6 no, but I know lots of smart people who refuse to join MENSA.

Posted by: caltechgirl at January 09, 2006 11:55 AM (/vgMZ)

7 Well, DC, if you're in it, then my question is answered, and the organization is redeemed in my eyes. I grew up in Los Angeles and went to Santa Monica High and just never had trouble meeting people who were really smart, so there would have been no purpose for a club like that. And I've only known two people who were MENSA members; they were both a bit dim. I therefore have had a sense for years that most MENSA-ites were drawn to it because of insecurities. So I was actually curious.

Posted by: Attila Girl at January 09, 2006 12:49 PM (/y+/O)

8 My experience with Mensa members has been they joined the organization because their intelligence was not otherwise readily noticeable.

Posted by: tommy at January 09, 2006 02:23 PM (Qmfgc)

9 Ah. So we're talking about dorks and geeks who would function as the butt of endless jokes from the "cool" crowd or otherwise labor in obscurity, were it not for their ability to join an exclusive organization? First, that would tend to skew the membership pool toward those needing to prove something, despite their other shortcomings, no? Having said that however, there does appear to be no small amount of resentment amongst some portions of the ineligible 97.9% of the population in the face of said proof. Being "cool" is never quite compensation enough for being average or worse in intelligence. And having proof of one's hyperintelligence is never quite compensation enough for being laughed at for one's social faux pas. I can tell you that many highly intelligent people find it difficult to relate to "normal" people. For them, Mensa was formed as a refuge where they could hang with people more like themselves, where they would feel less "wierd". For some, it's an epiphany. My father was labeled "dumb" and "slow" as a child. He carried that belief through much of his life, choosing career paths and making life decisions accordingly. He never fit in as a child, always last to be picked for the team, etc. However, together with his brother, he concocted and pulled off some tremendous practical jokes on the bullies. It wasn't until his forties that he began to question the conventional wisdom. When he finally took a proctored intelligence test, he scored in the 99.9th percentile (enough to qualify for the Triple Sigma Society, which most Mensans could never join). This was revolutionary to him! He joined Mensa because he had just discovered why he never fit in, and who it was he really fit in with. I cannot express here what it means to rarely be understood, to rarely see anyone else's bulb light up when you explain your thoughts, to rarely find someone who thinks about the things you think of. It can make for a very distorted self-image. For those, Mensa can become a clear mirror that goes a long way toward building a healthy self-image. I was a teen at the time, and as his child, I also easily qualified. Mensa gatherings were always places of fascinating conversation, but I let my membership lapse after high school. Later, I found my peers amongst my fellow engineering students, and now amongst high-level bloggers as well. Unfortunately being a Mensan has been turned into a stamp of scorn and derision by some. Which is really too bad, all things considered.

Posted by: Desert Cat at January 09, 2006 03:57 PM (B2X7i)

10 Well, there is me. So I guess, no. My proctor committed suicide a few days after my test. I guess I should thank you. I hadn't thought about that for twenty years. I should light a candle for him and say a prayer...

Posted by: Darrell at January 09, 2006 09:51 PM (ASgV5)

11 I like to think I'm actually smart; I joined MENSA in high school because I could. I didn't really stick to it - I had enough social problems without staying in a group that nurtured instead of corrected those problems. I went through a lot of emotional trouble when I was young because of my intelligence; I never fit in. I actually like my current job (US Army, MI) because I can find other people like me, who are searching for structure and intelligence together. I hope my kids don't face the discrimination and hatred I did in school; I believe that my wife is actually smarter than I, except for a problem with math/logic tied to a slight learning disability. Smart kids are the last unprotected minority in schools; everyone else can claim some sort of lack, but smart kids are put on little pedastals by instructors. It just makes them better targets for the masses. Sorry about the bitterness; my school years were hell. The 99th percentile in SAT, ACT, and over 160 on IQ have done nothing to ease that pain. SGT Dave

Posted by: SGT Dave at January 09, 2006 11:25 PM (blfs0)

12 I always want to go into Sarah Conner mode: "Listen; I didn't ask for this 'honor,' and I don't want it." I'll forgive it if I ever see some money from it.

Posted by: Attila Girl at January 10, 2006 01:04 AM (/y+/O)

13 Miss Attila, the money part played a role for me, too. I got invite letters from Mensa for many years without responding to them. Then, in my mid-20's in college, I finally decided I was curious enough to look into it. I met with the local rep who'd sent me a letter. He said I was in on the strength of my entrance exam test scores (ACT). I asked what the purpose of the group was. His reply contained the same things mentioned here. I met him on campus, where he was a university employee. A professor? a researcher? I'd wondered what position he held. I was directed to a huge hulking industrial-type building with something like *Sanitation Engineering* on its door. He was a janitor. It brought to mind all my own experiences with not fitting in, both at school and later on the job. How those of us who skirt the *genius* level are said to belong to a group that can find life more difficult than many clear *geniuses,* because we're both more apt to question authority, and more *well-rounded.* With so many diverse interests and talents and skills, it can be much harder to find a career path than for someone whose stratospheric mental relationship with math, say, has them clearly and cleanly pointed in one happy direction all their life. The less-endowed lump us together with what I think of as *true genius,* especially when we exceed that arbitrary 140 threshold. But IMO, there is a difference. I have never doubted that I'm happier right where I am. Other commenters have spoken so well to the grief this position puts us through, I won't expound on it. Except to say, yeah, I've been there, and it sure influences my feelings about bullying and social-status bullshit to this day. I can say that being raised by a scientist father and a gifted, science writer mother, I had intellectual companionship at home that stood me in good stead as I grew up. Lucky. Somehow, in my early teens, I tapped into better social skills than I'd had. I've moved, oh, say parallel to the *cool crowd* in many ways ever since. But it comes and goes, and I still commit those social blunders left and right. Being so isolated from others the last 15 years has really exacerbated it, it's undone what progress I'd made. Are there smart people in Mensa? Hell yes. *Book smart* and *common sense,* both. Are there people who join because of social inadequacies? Hell yes. And more power to them. I hope they can all find some social comfort rather than hanging out in the cold like usual. We are social creatures and it hurts us to be cast aside. Are there wannabes who aren't really all that smart? Hell yes. My favorite example is George Trepal, the Florida "Mensa Murderer" sentenced to death in 1991 for killing neighbor Peggy Carr quite viciously, by spiking her Coca Cola with thallium nitrate. Others associated with the case sometimes called Trepal a "genius" because he was a Mensa member. His IQ was a puny 130, though. The errors he made in his efforts to get away with murder were really dumb, just like other criminals tend to be. No common sense. Still, he almost pulled it off. I don't disrespect a 130 IQ, BTW. That's a smart person. I disrespect people who set themselves up as better than others because they're smart, and people who think they're smarter than they are. I like reality, and I respect those who take care to perceive it clearly. Back to where I was in the mid-1980's, standing in front of that hulking building with the Mensa sanitation engineer on a beautiful Florida morning...Did I join? They wanted $30 from me. ?!? The university'd hoodwinked this student about the level of financial support they'd provide the incoming 4.0 folks they were recruiting. Unlike the football team, I was living on chicken wings, kool-aid and rice - and not enough of it. $30 was a fortune. And I was comfortable enough with my social standing, my self-worth, so forth, not to feel much need to join anyway. So I kept my $30, sent them my verbal regards, wished the gentleman a nice day, and went on my way.

Posted by: k at January 10, 2006 06:42 AM (M7kiy)

14 Recall that the most intelligent and insightful character in the Dilbert comic strip is not the engineers, certainly not the management, but the garbage guy.

Posted by: Desert Cat at January 10, 2006 03:51 PM (B2X7i)

15 my mensa-ness is totally tempered by my blonditude. yeah. I'm a member. Does it mean anything? No, not really. I've never even been to a meeting.

Posted by: prairie biker at January 10, 2006 04:15 PM (vzn5W)

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January 08, 2006

The Zen of Blonde Jokes

Jeff has a great one.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 12:30 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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1 Has anyone followed it to the end, or does it eventually loop back on itself? The measure of blondness is how many links you follow before you "get" it.

Posted by: Desert Cat at January 09, 2006 09:20 AM (B2X7i)

2 I suspect they planned it out in advance, and the original loop is intact somewhere. Jeff and I linked after the fact (well, at least I did). It took me two clicks to know, but I kept going because I was curious about who else had participated in the original loop. However, I didn't have the patience to map that out and figure out who participated in that first wave. It's one of the cleverest things I've ever seen, though: quite the elaborate joke.

Posted by: Attila Girl at January 09, 2006 12:42 PM (/y+/O)

3 Well I've added one more strand to the web.

Posted by: Desert Cat at January 09, 2006 07:01 PM (xdX36)

4 Okay. I give up. Is this some sort of secret Mensa test?

Posted by: k at January 09, 2006 08:16 PM (6krEN)

5 No, it's just a sort of reader-participation joke in which--after however many clicks--you realize that YOU'RE the blonde. (Speaking for myself, of course.)

Posted by: Attila Girl at January 09, 2006 11:10 PM (/y+/O)

6 Lookit! Lookit lookit, Blogmom! I finally figured it out ALL BY MYSELF! first time! and THEN then THEN i made a FUNNY! *sigh* but how could you know since I've never done it all by myself before?

Posted by: k at January 10, 2006 03:39 PM (6krEN)

7 Oh, I'm sorry. The problem with having a literal-minded streak is that you tend to anticipate the same in others. Can you imagine how many years it took you-know-who to deliver jokes so that I wouldn't look up at him and earnestly explain whatever-it-was that he'd supposedly misunderstood? I can only compiiment you on your martini-dry delivery!

Posted by: Attila Girl at January 10, 2006 10:52 PM (/y+/O)

8 I have a feeling that you-know-who found those earnest explanations endearing, no end.

Posted by: k at January 11, 2006 04:21 AM (ywZa8)

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January 04, 2006

How Fun.

I hate to admit it, but I love to watch the ever-changing Google graphics. As a matter of fact, that's one disadvantage to being a Mac user: being able to access Google directly from the browser means we sometimes miss the "illo du jour."

Today it was even funner than usual (copy editors may use words such as "funner"; civilians, of course, are forbidden to do so):

I must admit that it took me a moment to figure out what it was, but after I looked at the two o's, I knew. It's in honor of Louis Braille's birthday. Here's more.

UPDATE: In the comments section at the above link, one reader produced this braille key.

That's one of those things I'm happy to pay taxes for, by the way: services to the blind.

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Jeff Percifield:

Fearless mythbuster.

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January 01, 2006

A New Kind of Cat Blogging

And it doesn't involve picturesat all.

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Life in the Blog Lane

I feel sorry for people who don't have any good websites to go to, and have to actually schlep out to parties, dodging drunk drivers on the way home. How horrible.

Maybe I'll head over to Dean's World to see if there's any action. Or possibly Protein Wisdom. Maybe I'll drop by Gail's online salon, Scribal Terror, the ultimate hangout for insomniacs with too much brainpower to possibly be used for any practical purpose. (Unless, of course, I'm projecting; it wouldn't be the first time.)

Ah, blogging households: I alway picture the Esmays in as having at least one computer per person. I figure Dean and the Queen probably blog simultaneously—something that Attila the Hub and I have only failed to do because we keep such different hours. So when he gets up in the morning, he reads what I wrote the previous night. And at the end of the day, as I wind down, I cruise over to see what was on his mind when he took breaks from the slugging along that his work requires most days.

Not that we don't also talk to each other. We do that as well. Though we're not above sending each other little reminders and notes via e-mail. I'm secretly afraid that we're the only couple that does this from within the same dwelling. If we are, please don't tell me.

At least I'm not, you know, posting my side of each argument we have, and inviting my readers to pick sides. Why don't I do this?—well, for one thing, it would be unethical. For another, a have a lot of male readers, and I'm not positive they won't ~~be able to see through my bullshit~~ be blinded by their gender's team spirit, and unable to see just how right I am. Always. Right.

Are you reading this, Honey? They agree with me. I'm right, and you're wrong. Not that there's anything wrong with being wrong. It only makes you . . . wrong.

[No, I haven't even gotten halfway through this gin and tonic. More like a few sips. I'm afraid that this is all me. Proceed with caution.]

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Meet the New Year,

the same as the old year.

Well? I mean, everyone's going to get mad at me again, but so far 2006 seems just exactly like 2005. Color me unimpressed.

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