One of the things I love about Los Angeles is the fact that you never know when you are going to see--as I did this morning--a grown man dressed as a big shaggy dog, chillin' on the freeway overpass connecting Cahuenga and Highland over the 101.
LA is a strange and, in many ways, disturbing place, but I guess that's part of its mercurial charm.
Monday, March 13, 2006
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Picture Time!
It's been freezing cold this weekend, with snow coming down pretty low--in fact, I can see a fair amount of dusting on the mountains right near my house. I wish I had gone snowboarding. As it happens, I did not. But here are pictures from Tahoe, when I did go snowboarding a few weeks ago. It's the least I can do.
Here's a view through Steve's cracked windshield, on highway 89...almost, but not quite, there!
Steve had the hookups for free lift tickets to Squaw, so naturally we went there. Here's a shot from the Red Dog lift, which I personally think should be renamed the Vertigo Lift of Death, but hey who asked me?
Ah, beautiful Lake Tahoe...
The We-Know-We-Look-Like-Dorks-But-Ask-Us-If-We-Care Posse, aka Steve, Mark, and grackyfrogg.
(Um, yeah, so there aren't any pictures of us actually snowboarding. I had really good intentions about that, but frankly, it was mostly too cold to take my gloves off, dig my camera out of my jacket, take a picture, then put gloves back on, etc. Sorry, folks. Maybe next time.)
Here's a view through Steve's cracked windshield, on highway 89...almost, but not quite, there!
Steve had the hookups for free lift tickets to Squaw, so naturally we went there. Here's a shot from the Red Dog lift, which I personally think should be renamed the Vertigo Lift of Death, but hey who asked me?
Ah, beautiful Lake Tahoe...
The We-Know-We-Look-Like-Dorks-But-Ask-Us-If-We-Care Posse, aka Steve, Mark, and grackyfrogg.
(Um, yeah, so there aren't any pictures of us actually snowboarding. I had really good intentions about that, but frankly, it was mostly too cold to take my gloves off, dig my camera out of my jacket, take a picture, then put gloves back on, etc. Sorry, folks. Maybe next time.)
Friday, March 10, 2006
News Flash!
I just got the news from one of the schools I applied to, that I was accepted for their Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing degree program! I am still a little in shock, because they sent the letter in one of those thin #10 envelopes, which I seem to remember as being a bad sign, from my college application days. So as I opened it, I was already reading the letter in my mind, and it went like this: "Thank you very much for your application, but we regret to inform you yada yada." Then I saw the word "Congratulations," and I thought, "That's an odd way to start a rejection letter," before I realized--I was IN!
Then I did some cartwheels through the house.
No, I'm lying. I can't cartwheel, are you crazy? I'm 30, for goondess' sake! People who are 30 have to be dignified and handle all news, whether good or bad, with gracious maturity and aplomb.
So I did a little jump-up-and-down dance in the kitchen instead, while shouting. Yeah, I'm not so big on the maturity and aplomb thing, sorry.
Still waiting on the other schools I sent apps to, but I'm encouraged that I actually got in to one. I had my doubts! But thank you to all of you who had none, on my behalf. Hugs from me! Now back to my jumping up and down... Yay!
Then I did some cartwheels through the house.
No, I'm lying. I can't cartwheel, are you crazy? I'm 30, for goondess' sake! People who are 30 have to be dignified and handle all news, whether good or bad, with gracious maturity and aplomb.
So I did a little jump-up-and-down dance in the kitchen instead, while shouting. Yeah, I'm not so big on the maturity and aplomb thing, sorry.
Still waiting on the other schools I sent apps to, but I'm encouraged that I actually got in to one. I had my doubts! But thank you to all of you who had none, on my behalf. Hugs from me! Now back to my jumping up and down... Yay!
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Loyal to the (Apple) Core
I am a loyal Apple girl. I have my 40GB third-generation iPod (and I actually know what all those words mean), I have an iPod shuffle, I have an iBook, and I have a ruby-red iMac circa 2000. If I dig around, I could even unearth my first Apple laptop, a Powerbook 180 that weighs about 25 pounds and has a screen the size of a single slice of bread (ok, maybe two slices, stretched out). However, all my loyalties aside, I have to say this:
Just because you can write the code for the elegant and easy-to-use MacOS doesn't mean you can write good poetry.
This may seem like a non sequitur, and if you're surprised, then you must be new to this blog. Thanks for stopping by! For the newbies and veteran readers alike, I would like to share the following poem, written by some unnamed person and embedded within Mac OSX to discourage potential hackers from pirating the software that now runs on Intel chips. Here it is (quoted on cnn.com last month):
"Your karma check for today:
There once was a user that whined
his existing OS was so blind
he'd do better to pirate
an OS that ran great
but found his hardware declined.
Please don't steal Mac OS!
Really, that's way uncool."(C) Apple Computer, Inc.
-- Apple's poetic warning to would-be hackers
Limerick or not, it still sucks. Sorry, Apple. I love you, but please don't write any more poetry. It hurts me. It hurts me deep.
But this does beg the question: How effective is poetry at discouraging crime? That sounds like a national study waiting to happen. I wonder if it would work against muggers, such as the guy who held up me and three friends at gunpoint in Berkeley several years ago. Maybe I should have quoted poetry at him, like this:
There once was a robber named Dan
who tried to take money from Stan
But Stan was bigger than he
And kicked Dan in the knee
Now Dan can't walk anymore and learned his lesson.
Ok, so it's not going to win the Pulitzer, but it's a work in progress, alright? And I can see how it might work. I mean, the mugger could have doubled over laughing, giving us time to get away before he could take our money. Why, I could be $25 richer today if I had just been more poetic!
Well, it's fun to dream about what might have been. But the truth is, I find it pretty unlikely that a couple of hackers, after stumbling across Apple's poem, will look at each other and say, "Awww, look at that! A poem, just for us! Hey man, you know what? This IS way uncool! What were we thinking? And after all, they did say 'please.' Let's not pirate Mac OS!"
It's a nice thought, Apple. And hey, it made me laugh, if not the hackers. But please have some mercy on my literary sensibilities--they're easily outraged. I wouldn't want them to spoil a beautiful relationship.
Just because you can write the code for the elegant and easy-to-use MacOS doesn't mean you can write good poetry.
This may seem like a non sequitur, and if you're surprised, then you must be new to this blog. Thanks for stopping by! For the newbies and veteran readers alike, I would like to share the following poem, written by some unnamed person and embedded within Mac OSX to discourage potential hackers from pirating the software that now runs on Intel chips. Here it is (quoted on cnn.com last month):
"Your karma check for today:
There once was a user that whined
his existing OS was so blind
he'd do better to pirate
an OS that ran great
but found his hardware declined.
Please don't steal Mac OS!
Really, that's way uncool."(C) Apple Computer, Inc.
-- Apple's poetic warning to would-be hackers
Limerick or not, it still sucks. Sorry, Apple. I love you, but please don't write any more poetry. It hurts me. It hurts me deep.
But this does beg the question: How effective is poetry at discouraging crime? That sounds like a national study waiting to happen. I wonder if it would work against muggers, such as the guy who held up me and three friends at gunpoint in Berkeley several years ago. Maybe I should have quoted poetry at him, like this:
There once was a robber named Dan
who tried to take money from Stan
But Stan was bigger than he
And kicked Dan in the knee
Now Dan can't walk anymore and learned his lesson.
Ok, so it's not going to win the Pulitzer, but it's a work in progress, alright? And I can see how it might work. I mean, the mugger could have doubled over laughing, giving us time to get away before he could take our money. Why, I could be $25 richer today if I had just been more poetic!
Well, it's fun to dream about what might have been. But the truth is, I find it pretty unlikely that a couple of hackers, after stumbling across Apple's poem, will look at each other and say, "Awww, look at that! A poem, just for us! Hey man, you know what? This IS way uncool! What were we thinking? And after all, they did say 'please.' Let's not pirate Mac OS!"
It's a nice thought, Apple. And hey, it made me laugh, if not the hackers. But please have some mercy on my literary sensibilities--they're easily outraged. I wouldn't want them to spoil a beautiful relationship.
Monday, March 06, 2006
When Too Close Just Isn't Close Enough
Men, are you tired of having to give up your sweatshirt and freeze your chivalrous butt off when the light of your life gets chilly because she forgot to bring a jacket along on a night out? Or have you ever been walking down the street with your beloved when it was a tad too cold outside and thought something along the lines of, "Gee, I really wish my darling and I could fit inside the same sweatshirt, because that would be so adorable and romantic"? Well, never fear, just go here! Every couple I know NEEDS this piece of clothing in their wardrobe. Please buy it! I mean, what better way to spend $79? I ask you.
PS also look at this. The Hug Jacket, according to the web site, is "more affordable than many imitations." I was unaware that there was an ORIGINAL out there, let alone imitations, and let alone "many" of them. The Internet is nothing if not educational. (Note the picture in the lower-right-hand corner; it's priceless, I tell you. Priceless!)
PS also look at this. The Hug Jacket, according to the web site, is "more affordable than many imitations." I was unaware that there was an ORIGINAL out there, let alone imitations, and let alone "many" of them. The Internet is nothing if not educational. (Note the picture in the lower-right-hand corner; it's priceless, I tell you. Priceless!)
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Response to a Friend
A friend of mine was ruminating on the trend of the "emergent church" and the leaders who characterize it. Specifically, he writes in part,
"What strikes me most forcefully about the writers who are attempting to articulate the ethos of the emergent church is their humility. They seem unconcerned about being the ones who are 'right' and conversely very concerned about letting God have that privilege."
I thought I would share my (slightly edited) response here, and see what other people think.
people say things like "we need to change how we DO church," and i think that part of the problem is that church has become something we do, rather than something we are. we find our identity in this institutional sphere we have created, and in participating in the various actions and events we have prescribed for it, but that institution is not in itself the Church.
but yes, we must be humble. i don't want my pride to be my downfall, that i should arrogantly view myself as better or more enlightened than others because of what i do or don't believe about church. that, to me, is a greater sin than any errors of being and doing in which the Church finds herself struggling today. for how can i help her, if all i do is despise her difficulties?
but the one thing that concerns me the most about the emergent church is this. sometimes i think that we are simply reacting to how the world perceives us as Christians; in other words, we see that they don't like us, thanks to "crazy fundamentalists" who bomb abortion clinics and gather in protest rallies with signs saying "God hates faggots." i feel like at times we are scrambling to do "damage control" with our image, and perhaps some of that is good and right, for those who love Christ, the Lover of the world, cannot reasonably abide with those who hate others in His Name. but we go too far if we ever lose sight of the fact that we are to be salt and light in this world. and sometimes salt will sting if it falls on a wound, and light can hurt the eyes of those who have been in the dark for too long. the prophets of old said hard words that people did not always like to hear, but where are the prophets of today?
now wait, let me think. perhaps...if in these last days, God has spoken to us by his Son, well, there is the Final Word, and the Son then is the last Prophet and our Great King. and what did he say to us? that if the world hated him, so we shouldn't be surprised if it hates us as well. and i think that should be a warning to the emergent church; that far from seeking to placate itching ears, and tell people what they want to hear, and letting a disgruntled world tell us what we ought to be like, how we ought to behave, and what we should really believe, instead we should be concerned with following Christ, speaking truth and lighting the way back to where we belong. and if the light shines on a rough, uneven, and difficult road, what is that to us? we are here to point the way, not make it easy.
Discuss amongst yourselves.
"What strikes me most forcefully about the writers who are attempting to articulate the ethos of the emergent church is their humility. They seem unconcerned about being the ones who are 'right' and conversely very concerned about letting God have that privilege."
I thought I would share my (slightly edited) response here, and see what other people think.
people say things like "we need to change how we DO church," and i think that part of the problem is that church has become something we do, rather than something we are. we find our identity in this institutional sphere we have created, and in participating in the various actions and events we have prescribed for it, but that institution is not in itself the Church.
but yes, we must be humble. i don't want my pride to be my downfall, that i should arrogantly view myself as better or more enlightened than others because of what i do or don't believe about church. that, to me, is a greater sin than any errors of being and doing in which the Church finds herself struggling today. for how can i help her, if all i do is despise her difficulties?
but the one thing that concerns me the most about the emergent church is this. sometimes i think that we are simply reacting to how the world perceives us as Christians; in other words, we see that they don't like us, thanks to "crazy fundamentalists" who bomb abortion clinics and gather in protest rallies with signs saying "God hates faggots." i feel like at times we are scrambling to do "damage control" with our image, and perhaps some of that is good and right, for those who love Christ, the Lover of the world, cannot reasonably abide with those who hate others in His Name. but we go too far if we ever lose sight of the fact that we are to be salt and light in this world. and sometimes salt will sting if it falls on a wound, and light can hurt the eyes of those who have been in the dark for too long. the prophets of old said hard words that people did not always like to hear, but where are the prophets of today?
now wait, let me think. perhaps...if in these last days, God has spoken to us by his Son, well, there is the Final Word, and the Son then is the last Prophet and our Great King. and what did he say to us? that if the world hated him, so we shouldn't be surprised if it hates us as well. and i think that should be a warning to the emergent church; that far from seeking to placate itching ears, and tell people what they want to hear, and letting a disgruntled world tell us what we ought to be like, how we ought to behave, and what we should really believe, instead we should be concerned with following Christ, speaking truth and lighting the way back to where we belong. and if the light shines on a rough, uneven, and difficult road, what is that to us? we are here to point the way, not make it easy.
Discuss amongst yourselves.
Saturday, March 04, 2006
Mmmm, Bring on the Brats!
Ok, I realize it has been awhile since my last post, but I have a good reason for my absence. I'm just not going to tell you what it is. But I will tell you that if you are planning a trip to Wisconsin anytime soon, you might want to think twice, especially when you read this March 1st headline from the doubtless award-swamped Sheboygan Press:
City Asked To Abolish Brat-Eating Contest.
And people say California is weird. They're right, of course, but at least we know enough to just SPOIL our brats, not eat them. Goodness.
You know, I had no idea that cannibalism was such a rampant problem in Wisconsin, to the point where they actually have contests for it, but then again, we are talking about the Midwest. And Wisconsin, no less... the very same state where I once spent an afternoon paddling down a river named (I am not joking) Kickapoo, in a canoe that had the word "Titanic" scrawled on the side. Look, it's a strange, strange land. Believe me.
Until next time, when I hope to have a full account of my adventures in Tahoe, even though it is frightfully old news now, be good and try not to eat any brats. It just doesn't sound too healthy, if you ask me.
City Asked To Abolish Brat-Eating Contest.
And people say California is weird. They're right, of course, but at least we know enough to just SPOIL our brats, not eat them. Goodness.
You know, I had no idea that cannibalism was such a rampant problem in Wisconsin, to the point where they actually have contests for it, but then again, we are talking about the Midwest. And Wisconsin, no less... the very same state where I once spent an afternoon paddling down a river named (I am not joking) Kickapoo, in a canoe that had the word "Titanic" scrawled on the side. Look, it's a strange, strange land. Believe me.
Until next time, when I hope to have a full account of my adventures in Tahoe, even though it is frightfully old news now, be good and try not to eat any brats. It just doesn't sound too healthy, if you ask me.
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