[Obviously wrote this yesterday. Pretend it is still 9/11]
I was going to write about the real advantage McCain gave up by choosing Palin as his running mate (commentators are focusing nearly exclusively on McCain surrendering the experience argument, but that's not the big advantage if you look at the campaigns as a whole). But that will have to wait. See, today is Patriot Day.
Patriot Day is apparently the official name for the rememberance of the 2001 World Trade Center attacks. Even though I remember the attacks every year I didn't know there was an actual official day of rememberance until just a few days ago.
There should be. But I absolutely hate the name. 'Patriot Day'. Not only will it be too easy to forget just what it is we're remembering, it really clashes with my experience of that day. On September 11/12 the heads of many nations expressed their condolances. Whatever goodwill was generated has been pissed away over most of the last 7 years. 'Patriot Day', the words, bring to mind 'Freedom Fries'-style 'rah rah' jingoism. September 11 deserves better.
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Twenty
Friday, September 12, 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Stuff The RNC Talked About
- The word 'maverick' isn't just for cigarette ads and gay porn any more.
- Sarah Palin is the most experienced and qualified person to ever run for public office. EVER
- John McCain fought in a war.
The rest was really just sideshow stuff.
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Twenty one
- Sarah Palin is the most experienced and qualified person to ever run for public office. EVER
- John McCain fought in a war.
The rest was really just sideshow stuff.
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Twenty one
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Frustration
Blogger just crashed my system. Dang it.
I was all set yesterday to sit back and watch some NASCAR yesterday, but due to weather concerns (tropical storm Hannah), the race was delayed until today. Which meant no broadcast coverage. Dang it.
I had sort of planned my weekend around relaxing and watching that race, so I ended up not relaxing in addition to not seeing the race. Now what do I do with the Fritos I bought to eat while watching? Dang it.
The Republican convention frustrated me more than it should have given that I don't really care much about those folks. So I went in to the weekend already a little agitated. Dang it.
I should talk more about the convention before it is news so old that it is irrelevant, but I have to try being unfrustrated enough to get something done right now. :)
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Twenty four.
I was all set yesterday to sit back and watch some NASCAR yesterday, but due to weather concerns (tropical storm Hannah), the race was delayed until today. Which meant no broadcast coverage. Dang it.
I had sort of planned my weekend around relaxing and watching that race, so I ended up not relaxing in addition to not seeing the race. Now what do I do with the Fritos I bought to eat while watching? Dang it.
The Republican convention frustrated me more than it should have given that I don't really care much about those folks. So I went in to the weekend already a little agitated. Dang it.
I should talk more about the convention before it is news so old that it is irrelevant, but I have to try being unfrustrated enough to get something done right now. :)
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Twenty four.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Politics
I was going to blog about things political, given the Republican National Convention is just up the road from me, but things keep happening! Interesting things. So I keep writing new stuff.
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Twenty-nine.
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Twenty-nine.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Olympics!
People often think I don't much care for sports. Not so. I actually spend as much time watching sports than many so-called "sports fans". These fans don't consider what I watch sports - I only follow one NFL team, watch NHL only occasionally, and am actively hostile towards the NBA (too many crybaby showoffs for me) and MLB (again too many crybabys, and, really, zzzzzzzzzzzz ...). I'm living in the wrong country for football (soccer) to count for many, and in the wrong PART of this country to find motor sports as interesting as I do. Every year, though, I have one sporting event that occupies most of my time for 3-4 weeks. This year the summer olympics are on the docket. (The other 3 events are the winter games, FIFA men's world cup, and FIFA women's world cup).
So this is the time that comes around every four years when things that I don't pay attention to most of the time - things like water polo or volleyball - become an all-consuming interest. I bought some pretzels, so I'm all set. If the events I'm interested in all got coverage on broadcast TV (many don't - most painfully soccer) I might actually go 2 1/2 weeks without sleep ...
So this is the time that comes around every four years when things that I don't pay attention to most of the time - things like water polo or volleyball - become an all-consuming interest. I bought some pretzels, so I'm all set. If the events I'm interested in all got coverage on broadcast TV (many don't - most painfully soccer) I might actually go 2 1/2 weeks without sleep ...
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Speak For Yourself
This post and the last one have a common theme, It wasn't really planned that way. I ended up going in a slightly different direction with "Pretty" than I had in mind, and just happened upon the article mentioned here a few days later. Call it forunate chance, call it synchronicity, chaos theory in action, whatever. Just the way I see the world, I guess.
A coworker was reading the July 2005 issue of guitar magazine. The cover caught my eye - a comic art style drawing of a female guitar player, rendered in a style reminiscant of the late 80's and early-mid 90's. I pretty solidly dislike this style but it drew my eye enough to see the title of the issue's feature article: "Are Women the Next Guitar Heroes?"
How that question was answered is a topic more suited to my music-only blog. What is of interest here is one guitarist mentioned, or rather how she was described - Victoria Williams.
Williams is better known for her songwriting. The article does focus mostly on her playing. The first description of her playing style gave me pause though: "despite her ongoing battle with multiple sclerosis, she has developed an eclectic style".
What gave me pause, what is problematic, is that first word: "despite". Intentional or not (and I do not believe anything negative was intended) that word is making a claim about people with MS - that we are somehow incapable of accomplishments such as "develop[ing] an eclectic style".
"Despite" is especially problematic because an argument could be made that "Because of" is more truthful. Williams began to play more electric guitar after numbness in her hands made playing a standard acoustic somewhat difficult. She also experimented with string weights and chord fingerings more suited to reduced use of her hands. All these changes - adaptations to the effect multiple sclerosis was having on her body - play signficantly in to her style.
I was intriged enough to look around the net for more information on Williams. Often what I found was disappointing. Nearly every item was respectful and eventually informative, but I had to wade through overused words like "suffered". I'm well aware that MS ain't no picnic. But really it's tough enough without others substituting how they think they'd react or feel for how we deal with it ouselves. Which brings us to this post's title. Speak for yourself. Not others. You might find you don't know the language.
So what is the alternative? What's wrong with non-value laden words like "has"? Words that describe without making unspoken claims? Words like the All Music Guide uses in mentioning the fact that Victoria Williams has MS: "she was diagnosed with the degenerative neurological disorder multiple sclerosis".
A coworker was reading the July 2005 issue of guitar magazine. The cover caught my eye - a comic art style drawing of a female guitar player, rendered in a style reminiscant of the late 80's and early-mid 90's. I pretty solidly dislike this style but it drew my eye enough to see the title of the issue's feature article: "Are Women the Next Guitar Heroes?"
How that question was answered is a topic more suited to my music-only blog. What is of interest here is one guitarist mentioned, or rather how she was described - Victoria Williams.
Williams is better known for her songwriting. The article does focus mostly on her playing. The first description of her playing style gave me pause though: "despite her ongoing battle with multiple sclerosis, she has developed an eclectic style".
What gave me pause, what is problematic, is that first word: "despite". Intentional or not (and I do not believe anything negative was intended) that word is making a claim about people with MS - that we are somehow incapable of accomplishments such as "develop[ing] an eclectic style".
"Despite" is especially problematic because an argument could be made that "Because of" is more truthful. Williams began to play more electric guitar after numbness in her hands made playing a standard acoustic somewhat difficult. She also experimented with string weights and chord fingerings more suited to reduced use of her hands. All these changes - adaptations to the effect multiple sclerosis was having on her body - play signficantly in to her style.
I was intriged enough to look around the net for more information on Williams. Often what I found was disappointing. Nearly every item was respectful and eventually informative, but I had to wade through overused words like "suffered". I'm well aware that MS ain't no picnic. But really it's tough enough without others substituting how they think they'd react or feel for how we deal with it ouselves. Which brings us to this post's title. Speak for yourself. Not others. You might find you don't know the language.
So what is the alternative? What's wrong with non-value laden words like "has"? Words that describe without making unspoken claims? Words like the All Music Guide uses in mentioning the fact that Victoria Williams has MS: "she was diagnosed with the degenerative neurological disorder multiple sclerosis".
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