This can be a pretty stressful time of year for a lot of people — there are the gifts to buy, parties to make time for, projects to finish up at work, decorating, baking, school pageants, church events, greeting cards, final exams, travels, budgets, relatives… it’s a lot to get through and it’s very hard to stay cheerful through it all. If you do find yourself becoming a bit cranky, I’ve got a little something that might cheer you up. As your kids come home from school with fevers and the dog gets into the holiday chocolate and then pukes on the rug, as your car konks out from the cold, and you draw overtime at your job… as everything seems to go wrong and you’re not sure you can take one more thing… take comfort in the fact that at least you don’t live next door to this guy.
UPDATE: in case you’re experiencing some skepticism, according to the Urban Legends pages, it’s true, and there’s another clip with a different song!
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For those following the Able Danger story, it now has a blog.
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Virginia Governor and potential presidential hopeful Mark Warner apparently doesn’t want to be #1000:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Virginia Gov. Mark Warner will stop the execution of convicted murderer Robin Lovitt, who would have been the 1,000th person put to death in the United States since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, CNN reported on Tuesday.
Lovitt had been scheduled to be executed on Wednesday evening and CNN said Warner had decided to commute his sentence to life in prison.
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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has caused quite a stir by refusing to condemn the use of torture, inviting ridicule and resignation. I admit that I was puzzled, along with many others, that the Church would align themselves with such torture-lovers as Dick Cheney and Alberto Gonzales, but then I realized the problem: how can the Mormons come out strongly against our current policy of torture in a country where Donny and Marie are still running loose? It would seem so hypocritical.
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First, there were the horrors at You Knit What? (which I first mentioned here), and now come to discover that, not satisfied with just kitsch, some people are so desperate to knit that they make things like Baby’s First DNA Model. I kid you not — it’s so dorky that it might just be cool (btw, I wish I could knit).
(via BitchPhD)
UPDATE: or knit a womb!
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Some time next week, we as a nation will kill our 1,000th prisoner since bringing the death penalty back in 1976.
In the last 28 years, the U.S. has executed on average one person every 10 days.
That’s a lot of dead people for our collective karma. And for what? Vengeance? Killing these people didn’t bring anyone back from the dead, it cost the taxpayer more than it would have if we had just left them to rot in jail for the rest of their lives, and there’s no clear evidence that it serves as a deterrent to others who might kill.
I know there are people out there who support the death penalty and don’t want to discuss the possiblity that it’s a mistake, and a lot more people who just don’t care one way or another — they’re trying to figure out who’s going to get off the island or become America’s next psuedo pop star — but for the small number of people who might take this milestone as a opportunity to reflect on our use of the death penalty: do you think our justice system is perfect? If not, then how can we be sure we’re not killing innocent people? What if we stopped killing people until we can get the kinks out of the system? We don’t have to let these people go or anything — just keep them locked up and thinking about the horrible things we think they did while we figure out a few things. That’s all. What harm would that do? Thanks for listening (my apologies if I’m preaching to the choir).
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I found this bird and a bunch of friends in an aviary at a doctor’s office waiting room recently. I’ve always thought of this type of bird as a parakeet, but (the things I learn through sharing these photos!) it turns out it’s budgerigar. The aviary housed quite a variety of budgies in all sorts of colors and sizes and provided a refreshing change from the usual waiting room staples like 20th century Reader’s Digests and cable TV news (or even worse, that awful pseudo news health programming). Other creatures are boarding over on the ark — check them out and have a safe, warm weekend!
UPDATE: It just happens that I was back in the same waiting room yesterday and found a card on the aviary with a web site address. So, when I saw sravana’s comment this morning, which rightly cast doubt on my ID of the bird in the photo (thank you!), I went to the supplier’s web site, and sure enough, the bird is not a budgie! It’s looks like it’s a Blue-breasted Cordon Bleu Waxbill — or more simply put, a finch.
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I hope this finds you well and enjoying a safe and happy holiday (or Thursday, if you don’t happen to be in the US at the moment)! Things are starting to get very quiet here as the dishwasher finishes up and the l-tryptophan kicks in…
Thanksgiving is by far my favorite holiday. No fuss, no shopping, no annoying commercials, no decorations or silly costumes — just a simple meal with people we enjoy. I don’t have any photos, though, as I spent the day in the kitchen, so this is one from the archive.
Counting stars by candlelight, all are dim but one is bright;
The spiral light of venus, rising first and shining best,
On, from the northwest corner, of a brand new crescent moon,
While crickets and cicadas sing, a rare and different tune,
Terrapin station.
(The photo is from a couple of months ago — right before the Market Street Bridge closed — and the words are, of course, from Robert Hunter.)
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I spent the better part of my day today at a funeral. While I would never risk intruding on a family’s grief by taking pictures at a service, I did see this image as I was arriving, set some distance away from anyone else. I love the bagpipes. They fit well at both the happiest and saddest moments in our lives; I hear the skirl of bagpipes often at both weddings and funerals (but rarely at anything else, now that I think of it…) and welcome the sound at both occasions. The rich, layered tones find us where we are and raise us up and help us to feel joy — whether for the life of one just departed or for two lives joined into one.
Travel safely if you will be on the road this holiday weekend, and have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
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