I've recently gotten hooked on this lunch blog called Lunch in a Box: Building a Better Bento. The author packs these amazing little lunches for herself and her toddler in next to no time each day. She also explains how she does it, including full disclosure of the secrets of prep for speed and hygiene.
I'm tremendously impressed as somebody who can barely drag a tupperware box in 3 times a week. But the real reason I read it is that I can enjoy it without feeling guilty about my own habits at all, it's just pretty and non-judgmental. Oh, and I loved her rant against lunchables.
Cynical-C rounds up 60 different groups, entities, etc. who have been blamed for the Virginia Tech Shootings: The Blame Game
Mary Tillman, Pat's mother, also testified, saying she was "appalled" by comments from Lt. Col. Ralph Kauzlarich, an officer in Tillman's unit, suggesting that the family was not at peace with the death because they are atheists who believe their son is now "worm dirt." [cite]
So Kauzlarich is saying that Atheists are picky about the truth but that Theists (presumably Christians) don't mind being lied to? Gosh, that doesn't make theists sound so good, does it?
A new twist on the Nigerian email scam popped into my inbox:
Dear Sir,I have managed to sneak out this email to you from my confinement here in one of our military bases in Germany.My name is Col.Steve Moore of The US Army. I was based in Iraq until recently,I was sent back to Germany because of the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal in which I was unfortunately implicated. I am still under House Arrest,pending the outcome of investigation.
During my sojourn in Iraq, I was able to successfully smuggle US$ 21.7m out of Iraq to a location in Europe. I reckoned that being a soldier I would not be in the best position to give a satisfactory account of how I came about such an amount of money.I could therefore not conclude the proccess of securing the money before I was apprehended as I was at a loss about into which account one could pay it and that is where your assistance comes in.
I have resolved to share the total sum with you in the fairest ratio that we shall both agree on as settlement for your own part of the deal.
Please,ponder over this and feed me back as I am in dire need of your assistance at this time.Please, send me your private contact info. in order to facilitate an easier and more private correspondence between us.
I must assure you that this will not expose you to any risk as all the possible risk has been foreseen and taken care of. I must also remind you that transaction of this magnitude and nature is to be handled carefully in order for both of us to be well protected. I shall send you more details as soon as I hear from you.I implore you to really consider this offer and feed me back. Also let me know how you wish to be settled for your role in the business.Please,reply to [redacted]. I await your response with much optimism.
Thanks in advance,
Best Regards
Steve Moore(Col.)
Take that Sister Olga!
Of course that assumes she doesn't commit any mortal sins in her life time. Do we still believe in those?
I was at this Yankees game yesterday. What an ending!
So reports NewYorkology. Dammit, where's the good news?! Wilkinson, get me a good news story stat!
Oh hell. I'm just going to have to look at some kittens and puppies to make me feel better.
Satan! Look, if you've already cast Terence Stamp as God, your choice for Satan is obvious: Hugo Weaving. Give Guy Pearce a decent role and you've got a Priscilla reunion!
Via Quipsologies
Let's hope that Sludgie the Whale doesn't swallow one while he cavorts in the Gowanus Canal. Welcome to Brooklyn, Sludgie!
I don't know how I got on the Family Research Council's email list, but every once in a while I read what they send me. Their latest missive, on the killings at Virginia Tech, really stuck in my craw, because of one phrase. Here's the whole thing:
Comfort, Comfort My People(Emphasis in original.)This morning we all woke up wishing that yesterday's tragedy was just a bad dream. Instead, we got ready for work feeling a little more vulnerable, hugging our kids just a little bit tighter, and trying desperately to make sense of it all. For many of us, the bloody horrors at Virginia Tech served as a sudden and painful reminder that we live in a fallen world where man is capable of unthinkable evil. As the media hastens to report every raw detail and parents struggle to overcome the fears now rekindled from Columbine, we wonder if America--like Virginia Tech--will ever be the same. Yet on a day scarred by sorrow and disbelief, there are still glimpses of selfless courage--men and women who, in the tradition of our great nation, paid the ultimate price to protect others. Students of Liviu Librescu are alive today because their professor used his own body to block a classroom doorway as the gunman approached. This hero, who survived the Holocaust only to give his life for his students, is one reason the death toll is not larger. And there are countless others. Policemen who rushed the stairwells, carrying out wounded. Students who helped others leap to safety. And friends, whose only service was offering a shoulder for people to cry on. As Benjamin Franklin once said, "Those things that hurt, instruct." In a world where make-believe violence is entertainment, may Americans finally refuse to pay the real-life price. In a country that seeks to silence God in its schools, may skeptics finally realize that on days like this, He cannot be shut out. I pray that as we carry in our hearts and in our prayers the memories of those lost, we also hold on to our hunger for goodness and virtue so that these innocent people have not have died in vain.
Now what bothers me is not the sentiment, but the use of that phrase here, they shall not have died in vain. Certainly, people are writing much worse things about this massacre. But what's wrong with using this phrase? A quick googling brought up this blog post about the phrase, tracing it down to the Gettysburg Address:
It is rather for us the living, we here be dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain...
And to Galatians 2:21:
I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.
In both of these cases -- and when present-day politicians talk about ensuring that our troops have not died in vain -- the emphasis is placed on the death being one of self-sacrifice. The soldier willingly puts himself in harm's way -- if the soldier dies, he dies fighting for a cause. In order that they have not died in vain, we must continue to fight for the cause they died for. Christ willingly dies for our sins.
However, in the case of the students of Virginia Tech, none of them died fighting for a cause. They did not sacrifice themselves (with the exception of Liviu Librescu and probably others who was killed while helping others escape.) They died senselessly because of an insane man's rage. We cannot carry on the work that they died for. To use the language of martyrdom here is false. (Martin Luther King used the same phrase in his Eulogy for the Young Victims of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Bombing, and to me it rings equally false there.)
What the FRC means, of course, is that if some good comes out of the killings then these (otherwise senseless) deaths have some purpose. But what good? The good that the FRC wants to put forward (namely, a return to religion in American life.) But this is an all-purpose statement. I could easily say, "We must pass strict gun laws, so that they shall not have died in vain," or "We must arm all students, so that they shall not have died in vain."
Of course, everyone is trying to make sense of the senseless. And our political views will color how we make sense of this. But let's not make the victims into martyrs for whatever political cause we happen to espouse. Please, let them rest in peace.
And because we all need some lighter news today, Colin sent this over:
Seattle man charged in bizarre duck case
As opposed to, you know, those normal cases involving shoplifting, assault, and ducks.
I hope you're not reading about it here first, but someone went on a shooting rampage at Virginia Tech today, killing 32 people and then himself.
Horrible, horrible, horrible.
Thudfactor, a VT grad and soon to move back to Blacksburg, has a few notes on the story. My coworker's brother is there; she told us that he slept through class this morning and so was out of harm's way.
Update: Yes, the killer was a troubled loner:
An AOL employee and former classmate of the accused killer writes,When I first heard about the multiple shootings at Virginia Tech yesterday, my first thought was about my friends, and my second thought was "I bet it was Seung Cho."
Cho was in my playwriting class last fall, and nobody seemed to think much of him at first. He would sit by himself whenever possible, and didn't like talking to anyone. I don't think I've ever actually heard his voice before. He was just so quiet and kept to himself. Looking back, he fit the exact stereotype of what one would typically think of as a "school shooter" – a loner, obsessed with violence, and serious personal problems. (...)
When we read Cho's plays, it was like something out of a nightmare. The plays had really twisted, macabre violence that used weapons I wouldn't have even thought of. Before Cho got to class that day, we students were talking to each other with serious worry about whether he could be a school shooter. I was even thinking of scenarios of what I would do in case he did come in with a gun, I was that freaked out about him. When the students gave reviews of his play in class, we were very careful with our words in case he decided to snap. Even the professor didn't pressure him to give closing comments.
Saw this on the subway, Herald Square station. The full sign said something like "HAVE NO FEAR [something] IS HERE" but I don't remember what was supposed to make me lose my fear. A small set of digital subway signage is up.
(only slightly smaller than actual size)
My old iPod's batteries were seriously gone. I'd had a 3rd Generation iPod since 2003, a gift from my folks, which has served me faithfully and well lo these many years. But now, I couldn't get to work and back on a single charge. And so, to the Apple store! (SoHo edition.) Thanks to Chris, I knew that turning my old one in for recycling would net me a 10% discount on the new one. So I asked the tattooed and be-pierced young man for a (Red) iPod nano, 4 GB. I swear they get these guys from Hipster Central Casting. Four gigs is plenty of space, and I find that with too much room I tend to put new music on the player less frequently. And why a nano? Because I've gadgetlusted for it since they came out. Besides, I have enough iPod-related gear (speakers, car charger, retractable USB cable, etc.) that switching to a different platform would be silly. And why get it in red? Well yes, I'm happy to know that $10 is going toward fighting AIDS in Africa. Plus, I like the color. Makes it easier to find, and for me (with a high Loseability Factor) that's not unimportant.
Back to SoHo:
Apple Store Employee Straight From Hipster Central Casting, taking my trusty old 3G iPod: OK, let's recycle this...
Me: Wait... can't I say goodbye?
ASESFHCC, looking at the 3G's quaint 4 buttons: Yeah, OK. You had that for a lot of years.
Me, realizing that the ASESFHCC was probably in high school when I got my 3G for Christmas: Heh. Well, the battery finally quit. Doesn't hold a charge for very long any more.
ASESFHCC: Well, no iPod's battery lasts forever. That's just a fact.
Me, wondering if that line was in the ASESFHCC's training manual: Um, yeah.
ASESFHCC: Yeah, so, it's going to the factory now. They'll take good care of it.
Me: And it'll be happy? Playing with all the other iPods? On a farm?
ASESFHCC: Um, yeah.
Back from the store, I'm happy with my new toy. It makes me feel that the time I've spent making sure my mp3s were properly encoded with the right album art in their metadata wasn't entirely wasted. Look! There's a tiny tiny version of the cover of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars! If you squint you can see David Bowie's 1 pixel head!
Also, I recommend the cases from Agent 18. They're clear and simple.
Hey, Ishbadiddle is in an article on neighborhood blogs in the latest Park Slope Reader, available in fine stores everywhere. Well, not everywhere, but here. PDF version here in case the Community Bookstore is too far away.
The full uncut "interview" is below the fold. Some of it will look familiar.
Continue reading "Park Slope Reader" »
Continuing on my quest to Get Things Done, I was thinking last night (as I was waiting for a community board meeting to start) about the various Areas of Activity in my day, and how they fit on the Productive / Organized grid (which in bizniss school we called a "four-blocker"):
"Top of Mind" Working (need better name) is doing whatever work bubbles up to the top of my Anxiety Stack ("Oh yeah, I've got to file the Kowalski Report soon.") without any actual planning. Project Folders are described here. The rest is self-explanatory.
Guess where I spend most of my time? Hint: not in the upper right box.
Ftrain on launching a website:
Brace yourself for the initial angry wave of criticism: how dare you, I hate it, it's ugly, you're stupid. The Internet runs on knee-jerk reactions. People will test your work against their pet theories: It is not free, and thus has no value; it lacks community features; I can't believe you don't use dotcaps, lampsheets, or pixel scrims; it is not written in Rusp or Erskell; my cat is displeased. The ultimate question lurks beneath these curses: why wasn't I consulted?
So long to one of my favorite writers, Kurt Vonnegut.
Dammit, now he'll never be President.
Here are some amazing photos of a man in Liberia who is "blogging" sans blog:
In Monrovia, Liberia a unique form of journalism exists where the news is written out daily on a chalk board for everyone to read as they pass by on the busy main street. Alfred J. Sirleaf first established his chalk board news, " Daily Talk" on May 14th 2000 during the Charles Taylor regime. The innovative journalist saw a need for "straight to the point" reporting that was free and accessible to all. His provocative style of reporting the truth led him to seriously fear for this life and resulted in the Daily Talk being destroyed twice before he finally fled into "exile" in Ghana. As peace returned so did the Daily Talk and today it is one of the most read News Sources in the capital with thousands everyday taking the time to stop as they walk or drive by to get the breaking news. [Source]
From a Recent NYC Pictures set.
From a set taken out the train window en route from Boston to NYC.
Crossing the frozen Charles River. Set here.
I blame Colin for introducing me to I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER?. Kittens + Internet = Kittah.
I blame Ennis for introducing me to the "Gaslamp" webcomic Girl Genius.
So long, free time!
So I saw this subway poster for the School for Visual Arts:
And someone had written the same thing that I thought:
Chris Rabb is helping fight the new unholy alliance between Fox News and the Congressional Black Caucus. One look at this video and it's easy to say why.
Music Video Business Principles Applied To The Real World
Pepsi: Fine. Look, this television thing doesn't sound too great. What about the internet?Promotions: No worries there: we have you covered.
Pepsi: [perking up] Ok... good.
Promotions: Yes sir, we have teams working round the clock making sure nobody can get access to your commercial.
Pepsi: That's grea... What?
Via Coudal.
Some photos from a trip Paul and I took to the Brooklyn Museum in February. I sprang for Flickr Pro so now you can download full-strength pix for desktop goodness. Lots more here.
I guess Big Ink wasn't really what we thought it was. Sorry about that, Curtis.
