7 hours ago
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Book meme
I've been tagged! By the lovely (and talented) Midwestern Transport.
So now I've got to go to work and answer this thing.
1. One book that changed your life?
Miss Vera's Finishing School for Boys Who Want To Be Girls by Veronica Vera. It was the first book I ever read that tried to explain why I want to present as a woman.
2. One book you have read more than once?
I seldom read books more than once. (So why do I keep all of mine?--Hmmm) I think the record is three times: Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.
3. One book you would want on a desert island?
I'll skip the obvious ones about rafts and survival. I think The Complete Works of William Shakespeare might do me well.
4. One book that made you laugh?
The Hot Rock, by Donald E. Westlake. This was the first of his Dortmunder series, the tales of a very good, but very unlucky, burglar. In this book Dortmunder steals a huge diamond--over and over, losing it after each successful heist.
5. One book that made you cry?
I can't think of any book that has ever done that. The closest is Guy de Maupassant's short story, "La Parure" (The Necklace, or The Diamond Necklace).
6. One book you wish had been written?
The Defeat of Bolshevism, by Alexander Karensky (or is it Kerensky?).
7. One book you wish had never been written?
Mein Kampf.
8. One book you are currently reading?
The Salmon of Doubt, by Douglas Adams.
9. One book you have been meaning to read?
Becoming a Visible Man, by Jamison Green, is next on my list. It's a very long list.
10. Now tag five people.
Helen Boyd, her husband Betty, Victoria Marinelli, The Lazy Cartoonist, my sister Deb.
So now I've got to go to work and answer this thing.
1. One book that changed your life?
Miss Vera's Finishing School for Boys Who Want To Be Girls by Veronica Vera. It was the first book I ever read that tried to explain why I want to present as a woman.
2. One book you have read more than once?
I seldom read books more than once. (So why do I keep all of mine?--Hmmm) I think the record is three times: Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.
3. One book you would want on a desert island?
I'll skip the obvious ones about rafts and survival. I think The Complete Works of William Shakespeare might do me well.
4. One book that made you laugh?
The Hot Rock, by Donald E. Westlake. This was the first of his Dortmunder series, the tales of a very good, but very unlucky, burglar. In this book Dortmunder steals a huge diamond--over and over, losing it after each successful heist.
5. One book that made you cry?
I can't think of any book that has ever done that. The closest is Guy de Maupassant's short story, "La Parure" (The Necklace, or The Diamond Necklace).
6. One book you wish had been written?
The Defeat of Bolshevism, by Alexander Karensky (or is it Kerensky?).
7. One book you wish had never been written?
Mein Kampf.
8. One book you are currently reading?
The Salmon of Doubt, by Douglas Adams.
9. One book you have been meaning to read?
Becoming a Visible Man, by Jamison Green, is next on my list. It's a very long list.
10. Now tag five people.
Helen Boyd, her husband Betty, Victoria Marinelli, The Lazy Cartoonist, my sister Deb.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Republican "offense" is offensive
The Senate's second-ranking Republican, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said:
What McConnell seems to have forgotten is that we have had almost as many Americans killed in Iraq as died from 9/11. We might equal it by election day. And let's not even think about the many thousands more horribly wounded, maimed for life.
We're not on offense, Sen. McConnell. Americans are still on defense. We're being attacked every day. The only thing George Bush the Stupid and his Republican cronies did was to move the playing field to Baghdad. That's where American troops, hunkered down there in the "Green Zone," venture out in an increasingly futile effort to keep the growing Iraqi civil war from spoiling the Republicans' chances in November.
But most of the US forces there are the sons and daughters of the working class, not the children of senators, or even of retired computer programmer/attorneys like me. So the Republicans don't care, because they are the party of the rich--and the narrow-minded social conservatives whom they distract with wedge issues like same-sex marriage. Our sons and daughters are safe in their college dorms. And we're safe (cross your fingers) in our office towers. But that's not being on offense.
"The McGovern wing of the Democrat party seems to have forgotten that we've been on offense for the last five years and that's why we haven't been attacked here at home."As a proud member of the McGovern wing (I worked with George McGovern's son-in-law on our college newspaper, before McGovern ran for president), I must disagree. We haven't forgotten anything.
What McConnell seems to have forgotten is that we have had almost as many Americans killed in Iraq as died from 9/11. We might equal it by election day. And let's not even think about the many thousands more horribly wounded, maimed for life.
We're not on offense, Sen. McConnell. Americans are still on defense. We're being attacked every day. The only thing George Bush the Stupid and his Republican cronies did was to move the playing field to Baghdad. That's where American troops, hunkered down there in the "Green Zone," venture out in an increasingly futile effort to keep the growing Iraqi civil war from spoiling the Republicans' chances in November.
But most of the US forces there are the sons and daughters of the working class, not the children of senators, or even of retired computer programmer/attorneys like me. So the Republicans don't care, because they are the party of the rich--and the narrow-minded social conservatives whom they distract with wedge issues like same-sex marriage. Our sons and daughters are safe in their college dorms. And we're safe (cross your fingers) in our office towers. But that's not being on offense.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
The end of the line--for me
This is a picture of my grave, or at least where it will be. Actually, it may be the one next to it--I forget the exact layout. My wife and I were visiting the cemetery last week, and I wandered over to where our plots are, and took a picture.Weird, huh? I really don't care much what happens to my body after I die, but my wife does, so everything has been all bought and paid for. That's where we'll end up. We were mentioning it to a former colleague of hers, who told us she would be in the cemetery right across the road! I said we'd wave.
Sunday, August 06, 2006
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