140+

What So and So Said

2009-01-21T16:16:00.009-05:00

Two Quick Notes

1) Yeah, yeah, I'm a crappy blogger who rarely posts. I got several in the hopper and they are coming soon. Yeah, yeah.

2) If you've read my Twitter Bio and wonder what it is these people have said about me, here's the scoop:

What Wendy Said = Dick (@WendyM)
What Pepper Said = Not So Useful Tool (@pprlisa)
What Liz Said = GOD! (@LizScherer, and yes, the caps and exclamation point are her's, really!)

Tweet Wannabes

Twitter isn't built for what the W (@PopUU) said—and I don't mean in the 140-character-limit way; more like in infrustructure.

Register, Register, Register

2008-09-30T09:58:00.006-04:00

I had planned to post this a few days in advance of the U.S. election on Nov. 4, but since in most states the deadline for voter registration is fast approaching, it's better said now.

As I said in my first post, I do not aim to be (overly) political in this blog. So you won't see an endorsement for a candidate here.

Instead, a plea:

Register AND get out and vote. Encourage everyone you know and everyone you see to vote. The U.S. participation in voting is pathetic. Show the world that our country is awake and participating in our democracy.

Is there a stronger message to send than that? Isn't an engaged democracy a better democracy?

Some will say that NOT voting is also a right in a democracy. Of course it is. But isn't participation more important than protest? Don't think about being "correct" in your vote. Just make your choice and have a voice. Choose who you prefer. No choice is perfect.

I've heard that some professionals (journalists, military leaders, to name a few) often opt not vote as a matter of objectivity or ethics or something else. This strikes me as backward. Be a citizen first then a professional.

Again: Participate.

Voter Registration Links

Rock the Vote
Just Vote.org

Tweet Wannabe
If 70% or 80% of us show up and vote, I think we can all live a lot better with whoever is our next president. (Or at least we'll know that 80% of our citizens are morons and it really is time to move to Australia.)

6 Things, 6 Tags (Chain Letter '08)

2008-09-17T11:53:00.011-04:00

I'm quite late to the game, but here goes...

@CalamityJen, one of my favorite tweeters (especially for her stories about the witness protection program) tapped me to participate in this 6-6 chain challenge thing. And I'm obliging.

Lower your expectations and proceed...

Six Interesting Things About Me

1. My father is literally a rocket scientist and I'm named (middle name) after the astronaut John Glenn.

2. I've only been in two formal groups in my life: the Cub Scouts and the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. They were huge fun while they lasted and I wouldn't change a thing...

3. My favorite author is John Irving...unless he disappoints me again (e.g., A Son of the Circus and Until I Find You.)

4. I play a 65-year-old acoustic guitar (Gibson LG-1). It's beautiful. My playing is not.

5. I met my wife while working at the Entomological Society of America. She is NOT an entomologist. (Neither am I).

6. I once spilled an entire pitcher of iced tea on George Thorogood's seamstress...and the shirt he was about to wear on stage (insert "s-s-s-soaked to the bone" joke here).

Tag, You're It

1. @lizwebpage, Our Hypothetical Blog (The Spin Queen of Beantown—it's the RPMs not the lies)

2. @pprlisa, Our Hypothetical Blog (this may get her to post for once—lazy Pepper)

3. @jessicaknows, JessicaKnows (and YOU need to know Jessica)

4. @PRsarahevans, PRsarahelizabeth’s Weblog (a new, and promising tweeter/blogger)

5. @akaMonty, The Daily Bitch (don't know about that, but she's the hostess with the mostest)

6. @Jeckles, Jeckles Geek Blog (Trying to make up for the hatin' I did)

Official Rules

1. Link to the person who tagged you.

2. Post the rules on the blog.

3. Write six random things about yourself.

4. Tag six people at the end of your post.

5. Let each person know they have been tagged.

6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Tweet Wannabes

Truly participating in this "challenge" meant taking my blog public. (CJ, if it was your goal to drive me out of my hole—well done). I hadn't planned to be unguarded for many months/a year. (History has shown that I'm not that dependable.)

I was also once a runner-for-a-day for the Cowboy Junkies. I was the only person in the seats at sound check and Margo Timmons sang "Misguided Angel" just to me. She's almost as beautiful as...

...My wife killed hundreds of insects while working at ESA despite the strict catch-and-release policy in the employee handbook. And she was the head of marketing...

Gee, we couldn't get another six on this challenge? Then it really would have been the devil's details...

Eight Is Enough

2008-08-04T21:18:00.005-04:00

Today, the W left a for weeklong sales training "university" for her new job. It's been eight years since she last had this kind of freedom away from me and the kids. Ever since becoming parents, one of us has always been with them—and never away from them for more than a day or two. So for her this is new kind of break: substantial... and overdue.

This time is different for me, too. I'm home... alone. The grandparents have taken the kids for the week so that I don't have to take days off from work. So we're all getting breathers from each other.

I call these breaks "getting your brain back" because that's what it feels like to me during business trips. Knowing the kids are safe and that I do not have to concern myself with any aspect of parenting feels good on the surface—and that's often a pleasure (even a guilty one). I haven't read up what neurobiologists have learned about how your brain physically changes when you become a parent—it seems like it must. And I bet they use the scientific word for "mushy."

I'd also like to know what changes when you have a controlled break. Do the parts associated with worry and doubt go dim? Do the parts associated with peace, quiet, and unrestricted web surfing light up like the streets of Vegas? Science must have the answers...

So what am I doing with my own days of freedom? Well, there's an office to organize for the first time since we moved here two years ago. And there are parts of the yard I still haven't seen completely (it's less than a quarter acre!). So I'll be trying to make some progress—and that's good.

But what's best is pretending it's just me again (even for just a few moments at a time)...

But it sure is quiet here. And I miss her... and them...

She get's back in eight days... and that is enough.

Tweet Wannabes...
We've never hired a babysitter. Meaning, only family members have ever watched the kids. We don't think of ourselves as overprotective, we just have enough risk-aversion (and some laziness) to keep us from hiring somebody... (or we're cheap)

The W's training is in Minnesota and she said, "I want to get some sports jerseys for the boys. What teams are good there?" Me: "Um... well... maybe they'd like kazoos."

It's been so long since I opened the liquor cabinet that it got stuck and I had to pry the damn thing open. Now I've left the bottle of JD sitting on the counter as casually as it might in Michael Anthony's house...

Can't Get Back to Twitter Fast Enough....

2008-07-31T13:29:00.018-04:00

Let's be clear: we need labels, but labels are often imprecise or short-sighted. And I may be guilty of both in what I'm calling this blog. Since most of you who find yourselves here do so via Twitter I'm not going to explain it. But I may change it if I think of something better or if Twitter someday goes up to the big FAILWHALE in the sky.

Thanks to two people especially, for encouraging me to blog: @JuliaGoolia and @JessicaKnows. (You'll kick yourselves later).

And for inspiration, thank you @CalamityJen and @Fabgirl (credit given grudingly to the latter...).

Now, about the word "blog." I don't like this label. Like Kramer, it's a hipster doofus. And it certainly isn't what I plan to do here. This will be an outlet with a purpose, not a blog. This will not be historical, ~~personal~~, regular, practical, or marketable. It will be observational, opinionated, conversational, and probably shallow. And it may be topical, political, logical (Acceptable, respectable, presentable, a vegetable!).

Besides, I've already claimed that "Twitter is my blog" and what's worse than self-cannibalization? (Especially when more effort is required?)

So what's the purpose, exactly? I'm not sure. It's partly to write, partly to be read, and in between to have something happen. So we'll see...

Tweet Wannabes...
I don't like "post" either—but one can only be so obsessive before it begins to double back on you.

If you have a more artful way to describe "outlet with a purpose," please let me know. (And OWAP or OPLOG won't cut it).

I tried to find a word that means "self-cannibalization" but no luck. Suggestions? (And, no, "eat me" is not a word.)

Tip o' the Hat to Supertramp....