I betcha didn’t know that sea lions could step dance! I had to rewind the tongue-sticking-out part about eleventy times. Very, very cute.
And more animal cuteness, in the form of Physics for Dogs. This is similar to Miss Brown’s It Could Happen theory.
George Lucas says that the new Spider-Man movie is “silly.” He has a lot of nerve, after the last couple of Star Wars movies. They were so thoroughly horrible that the only way to watch them without your head explodiating was to pretend they were parodies. Now that’s silly.
Also: Still no computer, and (obviously) still cranky.
Y’all will’ve noticed that the text color has changed. I got some complaints about the grey being difficult to read, so I darkened it up. It’s not quite black, but it’s very close. Hopefully, that will help. I could also increase the text size, but that’s easy to do on the viewer’s end (usually under your web browser’s View menu, plus there are keyboard and mouse shortcuts), so I’d rather not mess with it if I don’t have to.
I suddenly woke up at 2am and remembered that I had to renew my domain name. Oops! It expired yesterday. All is well, though. Those 2am reminders are a pain in the ass, but they usually make enough of an impression that they stick with me.
Still haven’t decided what to do about my computer. Also, still cranky as hell about it!
A cute Harriet story:
I’ve been letting her hang out on the patio, on a tie-out, while I’m in the living/dining room and can keep an eye/ear on her. This allows her to have time to mooch around, eat grass, lie in the sun, and watch the wee woodland critters, all of which she enjoys tremendously.
There are usually other dogs outside, most of them hanging out on upper balconies. Harriet knows she’s not supposed to bark (I bring her in as soon as she does), so when the other dogs bark at her, she’s taken to MOOOing back at them. She sounds *exactly* like a very small cow. It is crazy cute. You can actually see when she is getting ready to moo, because she stretches out her neck–just like a cow!–, lowers her head, and takes a deep breath. Then, she purses up her lips and MOOOOOOOs.
On the list of things you do not want to wake up to on a Saturday morning, I think I’d add “Dead Motherboard” somewhere near the top.
What that means is that I now have no computer at home, so any updating I do will have to be done before work. Hrmf! I had no idea just how much I used my computer, but lemme tell ya’, I nearly tore my hair out this weekend.
I think I’ve found a decent bare-bones kit, but “some assembly required” is an understatement. I’ve installed hardware before, but never a motherboard. Eeep!
I recommend going through all the I Can Has Cheezburger site, if you have time. If you don’t have time, then I recommend at least checking out the bucketlorn walrus storyline. If it does not make you giggle, then there is something very wrong with you.
Also, if you are a Star Trek (the good one) fan, check out LOLTrek, wherein everyone’s favorite episode, The Trouble with Tribbles, is LOLCatzed.
That is all. As you were, comrades!
3 3/4 x 5 1/2 inches
watercolor, gel pen, sea shell, button, brass brads, and paper boat on 90lb cold press watercolor paper
3 3/4 x 5 1/2 inches
acrylic, gel pen, button, brass brads, and paper boat on watercolor paper
I think there is some rule that it must start raining every time I begin to photograph artwork. So, these images are not good, but they’ll have to do for now.
From Frank James, blogging via the Chicago Tribune, on the hate crimes bill that just passed the Congress and the companion bill introduced to the Senate:
If you’re the sort of person who decides to pummel or kill someone because he’s of a different race, or transgendered, or walks with a limp due to a physical disability, are you really likely to be stopped because Congress put a federal law on the books making it easier for federal law enforcement officials to help local counterparts prosecute you?
We don’t have laws in order to deter potential criminals. That may be a desirable side-effect of laws, but the reason laws exist is so that
A) We all know which behaviors are socially acceptable and which are not, and
B) People who do things that society as a group deems unacceptable can be punished for their actions.
To argue that a law is unnecessary because people will just go ahead and break it, is ludicrous. People break laws all the time. That is in no small part why we have laws. If we were to employ Mr. James’ logic, we should get rid of them all, because they are just going to be broken, anyway.
Conservatives vigorously oppose the legislation because of what they say is the unequal treatment it would in the eyes of the law that would be afforded to some victims of crime versus others. For instance, the law could come down harder on someone who assaulted a gay man than someone who committed the same act against someone straight.
I suspect that very few straight men are threatened, beaten, or killed just for daring to be straight. When someone is attacked simply for being a member of a particular group, the violence is done to him or her in effigy. It is meant for the whole group; it is a form of terrorism.
Also, religious conservatives feared the new legislation could be used to criminalize a clergyman whose fire-and-brimstone against homosexuality might, inadvertently, spur a misguided believer to commit a hate crime.
Boo-fucking-hoo.
Was that load of excreta an example of what passes for journalism, or what passes for op-ed? Or is it a far right political blog flying under the Chicago Trib’s colors? I can’t tell, and that’s a huge problem. The line is so hopelessly blurred between journalism and opinion, that it’s no wonder people think that asswagons like Bill O’Reilly are actually journalists. Journalists, for fuck’s sake! What the hell is wrong with people? And when you have on-line news agencies embedding blogs in their websites, it just gets hopelessly muddled.
They’re like the Energizer bunny. It’s Menu Foods again, only this time, it’s foods that do not contain gluten. The company is claiming that it’s a cross-contamination problem, but after ANI’s little stunt with adding gluten to products that were not supposed to contain it, I can’t help but be a bit cynical.
Anyway, if you have a pet, you really need to keep on top of this. Itchmo and the Pet Connection blog are both good sources of information. I’d recommend keeping an eye on the FDA’s website, too, but keep in mind that they are not updating in a timely fashion.
red paper boat 