Magnet Poetry

 This site is just a fun little toy to play with:  Magnet Poetry

"Day of mourning"

CommonDreams.org documents George H. Bush's legacy of violence, racism, and corruption, HERE.

I don't know why the media is intent on whitewashing his record.  He had a lot of blood on his hands.

AidAccess.org

If you live in an area where abortion is not readily available, bookmark this link:  AidAccess.org

Grief

I can't make the BBC embed code work with WordPress, but here's the link:  LINK

If you have eight minutes, it's a really helpful little video.

We Saw Yesterday Last Week

Mona and I went to see a Beatle's tribute band last week, and they were a lot of fun.

We didn't go expecting to relive Beatlemania, we just wanted to sing and dance and enjoy the songs that have become such a part of our lives.  The band we saw, Yesterday: The Beatles' Tribute, gave us over two hours of solid cover versions, and everyone there had a great time and left happy.

They are on the web HERE.  They're worth seeing.

"Nobody knows what it's like / to be the bad man…"

Charles Haley is my third-favorite Dallas Cowboy, behind Robert Newhouse and John Dutton and just ahead of Golden Richards.

There are some players in the NFL who, after making a successful play, insist on expressing their joy through interpretive dance.  That always struck me not just as stupid and self-aggrandizing, but as an oddly effeminate way for a big burly athlete to celebrate.

Haley never did that.  He'd leave a quarterback flat on his back, twitching,  then turn slowly around and walk away.  It made him look like Darth Vader; menacing, invincible, unstoppable.

I had no idea how much he was suffering inside.

Click HERE to read how he came to diagnose and deal with his mental illness, paying special attention to what he asked the journalist to emphasize:  “If you want to call me that I have a mental illness, you put at the end, ‘but he’s happy,’ but that’s because I sought help and I get help and I take my medicine.”

 

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The United States is in violation of quite a few of its articles, but The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is still worth reading from time to time, to remind ourselves of what we once aspired to.

You can download it in PDF format HERE.

"Other than the burning eyes and cancer, it's quite safe."

From the Tyler Morning Telegraph:

This month's water bill comes with some added reading material - a glossy four-page color pamphlet explaining recent issues with the city's water supply and assuring residents the water is safe.

Apparently, this is some new definition of “safe” that I haven’t heard before, because what the pamphlet actually says is that the water can irritate our eyes and increase our risk of cancer.

The pamphlet goes on to suggest that if burning eyes and cancer are unacceptable to us, we should buy and install filters to remove the haloacetic acid.

Learning for Life

In this TED Talk, John Green talks about the opportunities for learning the internet offers:

Some of us learn best in the classroom, and some of us ... well, we don't. But we still love to learn — we just need to find the way that works for us. In this charming, personal talk, author John Green shares the community of learning that he found in online video.

Watch it online HERE.

Words

I’m reading an autobiography written in the 1940s, and came across the sentence

I was pussy.

Clearly the word didn’t mean then what it means now, and I was having a heck of a time figuring out what he meant until I found an online Webster's Dictionary from 1828 that cleared up the confusion:  it used to mean “short and fat.”

Envy

I have Hobbit Hole Envy.

"It's only words, but words are all I have…"

Mirriam-Webster keeps a list of the words most commonly looked up HERE.

It's  an interesting snapshot of our culture.

I assume people are looking up "Socialism" because of Bernie Sanders.  I'm glad they are-- it doesn't mean what Fox News told them it does.

It took me a minute to realize why they were looking up the definition of "marriage."  Then it hit me.  I can just imagine how many pedantic (it's on the list) arguments began with the words, "According the the Mirriam-Webster dictionary, 'marriage' is defined…"

Fortunately "empathy" and "diversity" are also on the list.  :)

1,2

My favorite poem is Things I Didn't Know I Loved by Nazim Hikmet:  LINK

My second-favorite poem is Ulysses by Lord Tennyson:  LINK  (and hear John Gielgud read it HERE.)

Selfie

If you have a few minutes, click over to the BBC and read The age of the tragic selfie.

It's very well written, and I appreciate that the author talks about the phenomenon without becoming self-righteous or belittling anybody.

Bah.

Link:  Olive Garden Is Putting A Tablet At Every Table For Customers To Place Their Order

I hate hate hate this trend.

I don't want to place my own order.  I don't want a steady stream of advertising in my peripheral vision.   I don't want to stare at tiny screens at all.

I have advertising bombarded at me all day long, and part of the pleasure of going out to eat is getting away from it.  When I go out, I want good food and good conversation with my friends and family.

I want to escape the gaudy chaos.