For those nights when you just don’t feel like it, turns out your excuse is right here.
Archive for Miscellany and Whatever
People who don’t even know they’re expressing bigotry
I received this email, from a source I’ll be polite and leave unnamed:
We are reprinting your amusing article about James Bond that you had in the NY Times. Would it be fair to identify you thus: “Deborah Lipp, a practicing witch, is the author of the upcoming “Ultimate James Bond Fan Book.””
My response:
Is it normal for you to identify your authors by their religion? If not, I suggest you leave mine out.
Local Organizing Means Being Local
My friend Tom has been posting about the transient nature of Democratic organizing. There’s no permanent groups where you can just join up.
I know I keep getting these things from MoveOn telling me about local events in Nanuet, NY. Turns out that what they mean is, the local event that I could potentially host in my home.
So it occurs to me that part of the problem, or at least part of my problem, is the disconnect of modern culture, particularly on the urban/suburban coasts. Opening my home to my neighbors would be more appealing if I knew my neighbors better. The Republicans started organizing through churches in the 1980s, and that works, because you know the people with whom you go to church. But just a general call to local Dems? In my home?
On a parallel note, my local Wiccan clan has been having the devil of a time (no pun intended) finding a place to hold a large ritual for Yule. It certainly seems like the supply of reasonably-priced rental halls for small, grassroots type groups has dried up. Used to be there was always a VFW hall or Masonic Lodge or some such available.
Are these similar things? Is the ability to connect face to face drying up in the urban/suburban world?
What about the gay people in Dover, PA?
Is God like, ignoring them twice as hard?
Or is it like a double negative, and now God totally loves them?
More about labyrinths
I found this article about the spiritual and health benefits of labyrinths. Ignore the silly price for a portable fabric labyrinth. I also found The Labyrinth Society web page. It’s kinda weird because it never explains why you would wish to walk a labyrinth. On the other hand, it has many lovely, amazing animations showing how labyrinths are constructed, and also a “worldwide labyrinth locator.” So that’s something.
Good stuff also at Lessons for Living.
I Want to Have Harry Reid’s Love Child
Just sayin’.
Harry Reid, using his grapefruit-sized cajones, showed the country yesterday that being a Democrat means never having to say “I kiss Bill Frist’s lily-white ass.”
Over on Kos, there’s a diary suggesting that, in lieu of a love child, you might wish to give $10. Meanwhile, AmericaBlog suggests a lovely thank you.
Do you suppose…
Now that Harriet Miers’s nomination has been withdrawn, do you suppose she’ll be hired as a consultant to determine what went wrong with the nomination process?
Just wondering.
Now it’s Wilma
I heard on the radio this morning that Naples, Florida has been evacuated. That’s where Barbara and family live. Now I’m stressed. Last time there was an evacuation order she got all stubborn and didn’t go, and as it turned out, she didn’t need to go. They usually don’t in that area, increasing the recalcitrance of the residents.
I sure hope Katrina made her realize that evacuation is sometimes A Good Idea™.
Keeping an open mind with my teeth gritted
I will rent Layer Cake or Enduring Love ASAP, and until then, I’ll try to keep an open mind about Craig, but I just can’t see that any of the proposed changes, any of the rebooting of the series, necessitated firing Brosnan.
Pierce Brosnan was godly wonderful as 007, and no matter how much Craig confounds us all by being terrific (if he does), he won’t be better than Brosnan. The gratuitous firing of a successful star is something Cubby Broccoli would never have done.
Serenity is a damn fine movie
I really did love it. In some ways, I loved the series better; grittier, slower to spring its surprises on you, more inclined to sit back and laugh over a meal than to have a big ol’ science fiction space chase. Nonetheless, damn fine movie and I’ll see it again (probably wait for the DVD for that, but I will see it again). See it, you won’t be disappointed. Rich, complex characters, big shiny adventure, interesting moral dimensions, scary stuff, funny stuff, and a bit of sex.
Arthur got sick. Arthur never gets sick and there he is with a big bad sore throat and a cough and intermittently a fever on opening weekend. How much did that suck? But I restrained my urge to go alone and we had a lovely evening of it tonight. No school tomorrow, so a movie and a leisurely dinner during which I enjoyed the pleasures of Sam Adams Octoberfest beer.
Damn, and I don’t get paid for ANY of these plugs!
