May 12, 2008
Things younger than John McCain

onemoretimewithfeeling:

Very clever blog. Some things younger than McCain:

  • Alaska
  • The Polio Vaccine
  • Mount Rushmore
  • Israel

 Man, I kind of feel like I’m going to hell for posting this about a former POW, but it’s *really* funny. Here’s hoping God takes that in to account before damning me…

“ Books say: She did this because. Life says: She did this. Books are where things are explained to you; life is where things aren’t. I’m not surprised some people prefer books. Books make sense of life. The only problem is that the lives they make sense of are other people’s lives, never your own.
Julian Barnes, in Flaubert’s Parrot (via jennabee)
May 11, 2008
Saturday

This blog is kept by a former Minnesotan living in California who lost his clearly beloved wife just minutes after she gave birth to their tiny, premature daughter seven weeks ago.

His writing is heartbreaking and honest and profound and sometimes trivial in a really genuine, human way. He’s got a great voice and considering all he’s trudged though unexpectedly in the past two months, his resilience just blows me away.

He writes today about their tiny house and how his wife used to call him on his cell phone to get his attention - to bug him and flirt with him - even though he could have heard her whisper in the other room.

I think if I were his Liz, I would be looking down now in amazement that someone loved me and now longed for me like this.

It’s always worth the read.
“ Hazen, don’t hit grandpa in the head with the bat.
Best quote of Mother’s Day.
“ To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket — safe, dark, motionless, airless — it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.
CS Lewis (via seriouslythough)
How Five Presidential Candidates Would Handle a Looming Zombie Threat
“McCain, you jingoistic sonuvabitch, I never thought I’d be so reassured by your unnerving enthusiasm for getting our country into armed conflicts. Bomb them, indeed, sir. Bomb them all to Hell.”

 

via Great White Snark

I love storm troopers. Also, Jedi mind tricks.  sarazucker:

I love storm troopers. Also, Jedi mind tricks. 

sarazucker:


May 10, 2008

that was a close one.

So somehow, I accidentally logged out of tumblr yesterday - which I don’t think I have done since September 2007 - and subsequently locked myself out. It had to do with me having typed in an incorrect email address originally and then my cookies remembering my old password and on and on and on.

The point of my story is two fold; One, the realization that I am completely addicted to tumblr. The smart, funny posts. The news you don’t run into anywhere else - or the angle you hadn’t thought of before. The links. The music. The articles. The personal drama and humor. The photos. tumblr is hands down so much more thoughtful and sincere and positive than any other social networking site or blogging platform - because it’s such a community…if an odd, unlikely one.

Second, tumblr continues to be an utterly impressive labor of love. I know I babble on about its merits to everyone like a crazed disciple – but my devotion is completely warranted. I wrote in a quick note to the support email last night and then shut my laptop, figuring that as with most on line help services, I’d hear back in a day or two if ever.

This morning, I checked my email and realized Marc had responded to me within six minutes!! At 11 pm on a Friday night. When I still had an issue logging in this morning, he came through with another prompt solution and I am happily back up and running. Despite my hang-up being completely the source of my own clumsy fingers and slacking memory, they were diligent, resourceful and friendly.

Thank you for doing this. All of you - David and Marco and everyone on the inside for building this community with so much pride and integrity and so little unnecessary gimmick. Thanks for building a smart place for us to go to vent and learn and watch and be inspired.

But also, to all the people I follow and read semi regularly. The fact that I should so eagerly want to get back to your lives and thoughts and finds is surprising and a sincere compliment.

May 9, 2008

what, you too?

Whenever I make a to-do list at work, I spend several minutes deciding which font best represents my mood or will be a good motivator.

 Uncontestable proof of my dorkiness / neuroses.

UN halts aid to Myanmar cyclone victims after junta seizes food supplies

A U.N. official says the World Food Program is suspending cyclone aid to Myanmar because its government seized supplies flown into the country.

He says the WFP has no choice but to suspend the shipments until the matter is resolved.

WFP spokesman Paul Risley said Friday that all “the food aid and equipment that we managed to get in has been confiscated.” The shipment included 38 tons of high-energy biscuits.

…

On Friday, Japan said it will give aid worth $10 million through the U.N. to Myanmar, adding to the massive amounts of aid that has been pledged by foreign governments.

But while accepting international aid, the isolationist regime of this Southeast Asian nation has refused to grant visas to foreign aid workers who could assess the extent of the disaster and manage the logistics.

“The frustration caused by what appears to be a paperwork delay is unprecedented in modern humanitarian relief efforts,” said Paul Risley, a spokesman for the U.N. World Food Program in Bangkok. “It’s astonishing.”

He said the WFP submitted 10 visa applications around the world, including six in Bangkok, but none has been approved.

File under: Governments that are going to hell.