Off to Ireland!

Well, my ride should be here shortly. I have to throw
on my shoes and say goodbye to my kitties. (*sniff*
I'll miss my kitties while I'm gone!!)

Dublin [and then Scotland and London], here I come!

Response from comment sent to Forbes mag

Jesus, like you thought it WOULDN'T offend women? Give me a break!

 

<i>

I want to acknowledge your communication with us on the article “Don’t Marry Career Women.”  Sensitive issues demand sensitive treatment. The piece that appeared on Forbes.com this past week was intended to be part academic and part humorous. Instead, it profoundly offended hard-working career women everywhere. We deeply regret having done so.

 

Steve Forbes

 

President and Editor-in-Chief

Forbes</i>

Mr Noer: Suck your own lackluster balls

Dear Mr Noer:

Please don't make it so painfully obvious that you are a penile-challenged, deeply insecure man who probably can't get laid.

And now, kindly go screw yourself!

Internet Explodes With Appalled Reactions, Forbes Pulls Article Then Replaces

 

POSTED: 11:39 am CDT August 25, 2006
UPDATED: 1:30 pm CDT August 25, 2006

 

A magazine that usually sticks to drumming up lists of the world's richest men and exploring every angle of the American rat race is causing quite a stir on the Internet Friday.

 

In a controversial article by Michael Noer, the writer breaks it down to unmarried men: Whatever you do, don't marry a career woman.

 

Why?

 

"To put it bluntly, the more successful she is, the more likely she is to grow dissatisfied with you," Noer said. "A word of advice -- marry pretty women or ugly ones. Short ones or tall ones. Blondes or brunettes. Just, whatever you do, don't marry a woman with a career."

 

This isn't a conclusion that would make most upstanding men happy, given that successful men are usually attracted to women who have similar aspirations.

Noer cites studies in various journals that say the professional woman, who has a college degree, works at least 35 hours a week and therefore earns more than $30,000 a year. She's more likely to get divorced and cheat on her husband with co-workers. She will be either angry about having kids or angry about not having kids.

Noer argues that marriage is hardest when both partners work outside the home, and that research shows divorce is more likely the more hours a woman works.

Conversely, the same is not true of a man's workload.

 

The working women NBC talked to called it outrageous. The response online was quick and in most cases brutal.

 

Hundreds of postings popped up in online chat rooms.

 

"I can't even imagine what would make someone say that, it's a throwback to the 70s, 60s or 50s and it's mind boggling," said one woman.

 

One blog called it "blood-boilingly misogynistic."

 

As you might imagine, Forbes.com removed the article, later re-posting it, accompanied by another article, from a happily married female Forbes writer who's worked for over 20 years.

 

But for many, the damage was already done.

 

"This article highlights the epitome of male insecurity," another woman said. "I guess there are still men out there who want their women to just sit and look pretty. How prehistoric and irresponsible of Forbes to perpetuate this ideal."

In drunken-city rankings, Milwaukee's best

In drunken-city rankings, Milwaukee's best

I don't buy for a second that Vegas is so far down the list. Give me a break!

There Goes Another One

NBC5.com - Entertainment - 'Superman' Brandon Routh Engaged

The Kaba Lounge: BUFFY the Vampire Slayer!

The Kaba Lounge: BUFFY the Vampire Slayer!

Woo hoo - Buffy comic art! Now when is the release date?

UW-Milwaukee

Foreign Languages and Linguistics - UW-Milwaukee: Classics Program

Not that I'd necessarily want to drive there for classes (or pay out of state tuition!).

Semper Ubi Sub Ubi

So, I've long had this half-baked idea to teach Latin. I took four years of Latin in high school and, truth be told, was pretty darn good at it. I got a couple SPQR silver medals on the national latin examinations. My undergrad didn't offer Latin, so I never progressed beyond high school.

Latin rules, and I'm sure it's a big ticket to getting in the door of some preppy districts. Hello? SAT and ACT scores? Root of all Romance languages?

I've spent most of my afternoon making a serious effort at finding out how to make this more of a reality. I've sent some inquiries to the Classical Programs at both Loyola ($$$$) and UIC. I emailed a teacher from high school who might know how to get in touch with my former latin teacher (who is retired). Emailed my current program advisors to see if they "know people" (how could they not?) and even left a message for the mom of one of my high school friends who used to substitute for my latin teacher. (She has a masters in it. She will also probably talk my ear off once I get a hold of her tonight.)

Maybe I'll take a look at some schools just over the border in Wisconsin. Maaaybe.

Marlon Brando had it goin' ON.

I went to the Chicago Outdoor Film Festival's showing of "On the Waterfront" last night. Brad got a patch of grass front and center - not shabby! Now, I admit to being horrible about not having seen some of the "classics" - be they "On the Waterfront" or "Night of the Living Dead" (is that the one with the guy with the chainsaw killing the zombies?).

 

But wow. Marlon Brando was quite the hottie and that was a damn good movie. I really want to see the film version of Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire" now. I've been poking around Amazon and maybe I'll just buy them. Just not now - no money right now!

 

Also saw my booklists for my classes this semester. Seven. Normally I would be saying "OUCH!", but it looks like the majority of them will be cheap-o. I finally tracked down someone useful in the Linguistics department that authorized me to take the Linguistics course I need. That class is probably going to bite me in the ass. The introductory linguistics course I took a couple semesters ago was a joke; I imagine that could put me at a serious disadvantage in the one I'm about to take.

 

My other course is about community colleges. I hope it's interesting; someday I'd love to teach at a community college (if not a regular four year university). Everyone knocks it, but CLC (local college by me, often opined as the "College of Last Chance") is quite good. They have so many offerings and it serves an important function. As four year institutions become increasingly expensive and out of reach, these are the places that people can turn to and get their dinky pre-req courses down or accustom themselves to the demands of college courses and figure out what they really want to do (instead of wasting time and tens of thousands of dollars fucking around at a four year). Beyond that - just great for continuing education and opening your mind. I remember when I was very little, right after my parents got divorced, my mom took some secretarial courses there so she could get a better job.

 

Classes start Monday. I should really try to keep posting about how classes go this semester.

 

Oh - and as far as grades for this summer: I earned As in both my classes. THANK GOD. Well, it was to be expected in that absolute ridiculous fucking Special Education class. I should really post the emails I had to write to my program chair about that crap here, if I haven't done so already. I was actually shocked to see an A for my masters thesis. Seriously. Was that an "A for effort"? I know that the end product wasn't really an "end product" - we'd always discussed it in class as a "work in progress" and as something we should really shoot to do once we are in a classroom of our own. Hopefully, I will be able to do my experiment someday. I think it'd be cool.

 

At least all the torturous hours (and MONEY) spent at Starbucks, Borders, university library and emergency pick up trips of friends stranded in dying cars paid off. I couldn't have done it without my classmate A. At least having someone suffering through the same hell being at the same table kept me focused. On my own: I would have been like "screw this!"

 

I'm curious to see what the Professor wrote for comments on my paper. I think he'll have them ready for pick up on next Monday. I'll have to swing by and get the paper before I meet with my advisor to discuss my transcripts. WHICH IS ALSO HIGHLY INTERESTING. Besides getting certified in my main area (English), I might also be eligible for certification in not only history, but - get this! - political science!!!! *cackles of evil liberal laughter*

 

I double-majored in English (not that you can tell from the extremely loose format blog style writing, but I am much better in formal settings) and Western European Studies in undergrad. The latter really amounts to history. My minor was poli sci (albeit heavy on the European side as opposed to the American). SO FUCKING COOL. I can't wait to see what happens. I would love it!

 

No, this is not to say that I would do like one horrible undergrad professor I had: he was a Republican shill and the only way to get an A was to spew back his beliefs (not a joke). I dropped that class quickly. I don't want people to spew back my beliefs, as amusing as that would be. I want to teach kids how to think for themselves. I want them to be able to read between the lines of what groups with various agendas are trying to sell them. Because that's what it is: everyone's a salesman trying to sell you one hopped up piece of shit after another. Are you going to be an idiot consumer, or a smart one? This is exactly how the Bush regime has manipulated its way into power: keeping people dumb, misleading them, and using fear as a weapon.

 

Great things to read:

 

Many Children Left Behind. Surprisingly, it's a page turner and should absolutely enrage anyone who legitimately cares about our children's education today. It's short, quick, but deadly.

 

Elaine J. O'Quinn's "Critical literacy in democratic education: Responding to sociopolitical tensions in U.S. schools". Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 49, 260-267. This? Was the thing that made the lightbulb go on in my head last fall semester. We had read about the major theories about why people choose to teach. One of them was to "produce good citizens" or out of social responsibility. I initially laughed it off as some Mayberry-esque stupid reason. Then I read O'Quinn and realized the joke was on me. That really is why I want to teach.

 

What I'm Reading Now:

 

I bought a literal armload of books at B&N last week - for the amazing price of $28 and change. Most were B&N classics books that were 60% off. To quote Jem: truly outrageous.

 

I'm winding my way through The Federalist Papers. That's not the edition I bought, but oh well. From the first few that I've read, John Jay, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton HAVE to be spinning in their graves at the current state of affairs. Jeeee-sus. Prior to this, I've only really read Federalist no. 10 for a class. It takes some effort (duh!), but so far it's definitely been worth reading. (Weirdly, I picked this up BEFORE I realized I might get endorsed for poli sci. Is it a siiiiiiign? *oogedy boogedy*)

 

Ah well. I've blabbed long enough. I need to get to work again.

 

P.S. I need to go pick up my comics. I have come to the unfortunate conclusion that I must wait to get comics until after work. D can't shut his trap the entire time I'm in the store if I go during lunch. It gets goddamned annoying. I don't know if he's really bordering on a severe case of logorrhea or if he's just doing it because he knows it annoys me. Probably both. Can I please just get my comics and pay for them in relative peace and quiet (with the occasional chauvanistic snide remark from C or J)? Guess not.

 

 

Search terms

Oh, the hilarity that is Map Stats. Somebody got to my page (from Luton in the UK) by doing a blog search. What was said blog search about?

Dildos. And apparently the first search result was "It is safe to use a dildo while pregnant." Geeee, I've always wondered that myself.

FAAAAAAN-tastic. I'm so going to get spammed with porn crap after writing that damn entry about my former roommate. Goddamned bitchwhore.

I got hit by Sunnyvale CA again - - I wonder who that is. Somebody hit me in San Diego on my "anatomy lessons" post. Shit, I was popular today - about 12 unique hits. Wow.

OMG. Is Anthony mocking "From Dusk Til Dawn". Oh bitch he so is. Ooops - wrong, El Mariachi.

Anthony Bourdain

Seriously, tonight's episode of "No Reservations" about Beirut was not to be missed. If you DID miss it, find out when it's re-airing.

Bourdain has always, and will always, be a sarcastic motherf**cker, but you could tell how real and deeply saddening this whole experience was for him. It is terribly sad.

The people he encountered - he was just starting to put a face to the Lebanese people, and you know, they seemed like your normal average every day people. And they are. He pointed out that Lebanon is very progressive and Western in its outlook - very tolerant. Unfortunately, there are some elements (like Hezbollah) which drag everyone down that wants to live in peace.

Seriously - just watch it.

Two things: his summation of the surrealism of it all. "I'm sitting at the pool, watching the war go on [down below]." And his absolute disdain and how shattered he felt realizing that there was NO American response (i.e. from the Shrub). He recalled the one clip showing over and over on the tv of Bush - chowing on a buttered roll - while Blair tried to get his attention. "Shattering."

Yeah, our government sucks.

And now, he's got another episode on which is basically blasting the government for it's anti-immigration policy, and the current desire to build a FUCKING WALL a la Berlin between the US and Mexico. It's totally "A Day Without a Mexican". Seriously, Anthony, I love you. He just showed all the guys working in Les Halles (french restaurant he heads in NY) - are those chefs French? Hell no, they're all Mexican boys, mostly from Puebla!

You know what they say about Mexico: "So far from God, so close to the United States."

And more to do with appendages...

I've suddenly got King Missile's song "Detachable Penis" playing in my brain.

 

King. Missile. I bet they all drove cars that looked like peni, too. Is "peni" the proper plural form? Anyone?

 

Bueller?

 

Bueller?

I like, cry, when I listen to it.

Paris Hilton praises her debut album - Yahoo! News

Sucks that bad, does it, love?

*rolls eyes* SOMEBODY, SOMEWHERE...please stop this stupid girl.

I have an idea: let's launch her to Iraq and Afghanistan. Because I'm pretty sure she'd make all the terrorists kill themeselves just to escape her.

Play her "it's like, so good I cry when I listen to it" album....

It'll be like Noriega in Panama all over again, except worse and toxic.

Anatomy Lessons

I totally stepped into a bad comment and looked...well, rather whorish, for my efforts.

 

Earlier I typed about "not knowing the male appendage if it smacked me in the face". And suddenly, I am reminded of a former roommate of mine in Minnesota. She was/is a stupid psycho for a bunch of reasons. I know I'm earthy, but she was like 10x my dirty mind.

 

Anyhow, one day I come home from work and nature calls - - off to the bathroom. I'm sitting there, minding my business while doing my business, and I happen to look to my left at the sink counter.

 

Hmmm. What's that?

 

For about two seconds, I think it's a canister of shaving cream - it's pink and glossy like the Skintimate brand of shaving cream is.

 

[At some time between me parking my ass on the john and my looking at the "pink thing", my roommate comes home.]

 

Nuh-uh. All of a sudden, I scream/bellow my roommate's name.

 

Her: "WHAT?!"

 

Me: "GODDAMNIT!"

 

Her: "...OH MY GOD! Here, let me in! I'll get it!"

 

Me: "No, goddamnit, I'm taking a shit!"

 

Her: "...I was just washing it!"

 

I hurridly finish, wash hands, and barrel out of the bathroom.

 

My stupid ass roommate had left her big honking dildo on the counter. I suppose I should be thankful - - at least it was clean while sitting on top of the counter.

 

*rolls eyes* I got no problem with toys and things, but PLEASE return them to the toychest at the end of playtime, okay?

 

So, see, I'm not quite exaggerating when I say it's possible that I wouldn't know the male appendage (real or plastic) if it were to smack me in the head -- or be standing erect on a counter next to me.

 

** This is probably why I prefer the lavender purple or orange citrus colored cans of Skintimate, thank you.

 

 

 

Wishes

I'm a beggar and I'd like to ride.

 

Please, pretty please, when I go to the UK this time, can I find a FABULOUS hottie who is rich and stupidly falls in love with me? And why is it that I'm finding Hugh Grant and Hugh Laurie oddly attractive right now? I think it's that slightly hangdog look to the face. Granted, it won't look attractive when they're 70 and their jowls are down by their elbows, but right now...gimmee.

 

I think it's the accent. It must be.

 

But I will also take Scottish. Or Irish. Or even Welsh. Really, it doesn't matter. I just need a break from uneducated redneck yokel American.

 

Break? What am I talking about? I've been on a perpetual break from the male species. I doubt I'd know what the male appendage would look like if it smacked me in the face. (Well, that's not quite true.)

 

I'm more of a nunnery than a convent.

 

But yes, can I please find a hot man on my trip? PLLLLEEEASE?

 

I'd also like a new job *rolls eyes*. That's one thing (the state of my employment) that I'd really like to post about, but it's entirely too depressing for me to get into right now.

Education Leadership and Development�s Monthly Newsletter

Education Leadership and Development�s Monthly Newsletter

This has a blurb on Kenneth Addison, if you're interested, Kilroy.

Gemini: You are likely ultra-sensitive now

Lack of clarity may cloud your day, but if you know the pitfalls, you should be able to make the most of it. You are ultra-sensitive now and irrational feelings are flooding into your mind. Even your sensory impressions can be overwhelming and confusing. Forget about balancing your checkbook or writing technical specifications; instead, write poetry and daydream.

Let me tell you, the lack of clarity isn't ME...it's all the idiots I work with.

And it's PISSING ME OFF! I DON'T GET PAID ENOUGH!

God, I am *this close* to channeling Sam Kinnison on his Worst/Best night. Seriously.

I hate cheerful people

God, please, if you exist, give me an axe to chop off their damn fool heads with.

 

*clutches head in pain*

The ABCs...

It would appear I've been tagged by Kilroy to do this. Here's a place holder for when I get my morning work done...

This was supposed to be a description of yourself using every letter of the alphabet, but I think it's also going to be free-association as well. Given the angry state of my morning, I think I am also going to come off heavily POd as well.

Angry

Bitter

Cynical

Determined

Enigmatic

Fortuitous

Grendel gong ong!

Hope

Intuitive

Jokester

Krispy Kreme sucks

Liberal

Melancholy

Naive

Oblivious

Practical

Queen of Pentacles

Realistic

Sarcastic

Tauremini (on the cusp of Taurus and Gemini)

United Kingdom (a place I love)

Verisimilar

Warm, but I'd rather be Wonder Woman

Xyzzy

Yawp (as in, I sound my barbaric YAWP over the rooftops of the world)

Zodiac

Isn't that beautiful?

Hilaire Belloc said: "We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment"

(From the AB "Feasting on Asphalt" show)

Alton

Oh Dear Alton,

How I love you. You and your crazy mad food-scientist ways! Have any of you watching "Feasting on Asphalt"? It's his new traveling a la Kerouac food show. Fucking BRILLIANT. Plus, he camera dude Jean-Claude (I think) has a wonderful accent and looks great in leather. Heck, even AB looks decent. Rrraawr. Especially with the scruffy look.

It's hysterical. They must be having a marathon, because it's been on for a few hours. He's in Colorado now. What mountains...what altitude sickness. They went up Pike's Peak and nearly froze their asses off and had very little oxygen. Watching AB trying to boil coffee at the top of Pike's Peak was a riot - he knocked snow into the fire pit after he'd suffered trying to light the damn fire.

I've been thinking about making my next trip a trip to the East Coast since I've not really been there, but oh my god, seeing the Rockies really makes me want to go back West. I drove from Iowa to New Mexico once in college (which is a story in itself) and it was unbelievable. Imagine being on the flattest of flat plains (Kansas), where I swear you can see the next town ten miles away from the edge of the one you're at, and then all of a sudden, the Rockies jut up out of nowhere. (Not that the Rockies come up at the end of Kansas, obviously, but that's the flat ass place I think of...)

I remember a painted wall advertisement on a building with an old time cowgirl lounging against the words: "Where the Great Plains meet the Mighty Rockies".

AB's got some beautiful scenery shots and the pictures of people and their ways...totally makes you want to hit the road.

Seriously, now I want to go back to New Mexico again. Bea-u-ti-ful.

P.S. But I will take a pass on the Fried Brain sandwich!!

failure - Google Search

Go to Google. Type in the word failure.

What's your first hit (out of about 537,000,000)? Yeah, I THOUGHT SO.




failure - Google Search

Daily Kos: State of the Nation

Daily Kos: State of the Nation: "And before we head downstairs to open up the shop, we wish to say: Thank You, Great Britain. Thank you for keeping America safe so our president doesn't have to:"

So so sad, but entirely fucking true. Really, the British don't know how lucky they are to have lost us during the Revolutionary War. You thought we were ignorant bastards then...

What could turn your head so much?

BBC NEWS | UK | 'Air plot' suspects: Names released: "Date of birth (DOB): 10/10/1980 "

So many of these idiots are younger than me. What is so BAD that you want to blow up not only yourself but also innocent bystanders? These guys were all presumably born in the UK, too. WTF?

Permanent ban on hand luggage?

BBC NEWS | UK | Police probe flights terror plot: "Sources at the Department for Transport have indicated that the current restrictions on hand baggage could become permanent."

Fucking FANtastic

Terror schmerror

I would like to point out the following that someone said.

Terror plot sparks heightened security at U.S. airports: "'It's complete disaster and chaos,' said Bill Federman, of Oklahoma City, who missed his Continental flight home because of the lines. 'This has completely overwhelmed the airport's planning. I haven't seen anything this bad since 9-11.'"

Has completely overwhelmed the airport's planning, eh? Makes you wonder about all those times our fearless chump of a leader has declared 'we're winning the war on terror', right? WELL IT SHOULD. It's pretty damn fucking obvious to me that our airports (and I dare I say everything else) are still laughably unprepared to deal with terrorist emergenices.

I used to work in the Minneapolis St. Paul airport when 9/11 happened. If you wanted to, you could still get by. Trust me, anyone who is a terrorist is going to be determined enough to try ANYTHING, as evidenced by this latest plot.

Please. Vote out the idiot republicans. Because they have held us in continual fear "terror alert high!" whenever elections came up, yet failed to do anything to be proactive and actually solve anything. No, the Iraq war does NOT count because you know that actually gave the terrorists a good thing by increasing enrollment numbers!

various things

1) Did Veronica Mars move up its dvd release date? I'm thinking so. SO AWESOME. Yes, yes, go buy it!

2) My friend T is home. I'll be seeing her tomorrow. Have to see what she thinks about the whole situation and how she's dealing...

3) Ants are not meant to be in houses. I just sprayed the hell out of the downstairs entrance. Little fuckers were coming in and eating the cat food.

4) I was dinged today by someone in SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA. I laugh. So close to being "Sunnydale".

5) Whoever is drawing Superman now (in the eponymous line) is so good. Wow. He actually makes Supes look GQ hot as Clark Kent. Normally, I was never able to get past the fact that most drawers make Supes look like an over-roided Beefcake. I mean, yes muscles are hot, but let's not get ridiculous here. But, who the fuck is the Fabio wannabe cum magician of Atlantis. And also, WTF?

1,001 Nights of Snowfall

It's only two pages (damnit!) but a sneak peak preview nonetheless!

Fables: 1,001 Nights of Snowfall

(PDF)

Nyah Nyah Nyha! Lieberman Lost!!

Democratic Underground

Way to go LAMONT!!

1 part imagination, 2 parts cold hard fucking reality

Sleepy Hollow is on TNT tonight. It strikes me suddenly how much I love this movie. I love the atmosphere, the costuming...the hoogedy boogedy of it. It's romantic. I don't mean hearts and flowers romantic, I mean like Byron and Shelley Romantic. Romance with a large undercurrent of darkness to it.

No segue.

My friend T (the friend since fourth grade) called tonight. I had called her this past Friday while drinking wine on K's porch. We were talking about school for a while. Me, about my bad Special Education class that just finished, and she about the class she just finished teaching (something on kinetics). She's one of those ridiculously smart "student-for-life" types. She's in the process of getting her doctorate out at University of Arizona. She does a lot of work on body movement, specifically on the geriatric side of things.

Anyway, I digress. She's going to be back here in Illinois this week. Her mom is not doing well. And herewith I feel like a complete ASS for not visiting like I should have. Her mom had surgery on her hip in late May - there was cancer. Supposedly everything went well and the doctors at Rush Hospital got it. NOT QUITE. Here goes some bad PR for Rush. They were so fucking busy looking just at the hip that they neglected to look elsewhere AND they never said that the cancer had originally started in the BONE, not the tendon (which is what they had operated on). In short, her back started hurting not too long ago and it winds up that the cancer has spread to her spine. There is a tumor which broke apart a vertebra. Fuck and fuck and fuck. Needless to say, her mom canned that oncologist and went to a different hospital - Condell - to get treated. Rush is not people oriented - more research, and let us say in this case that it shows.

She's in there this week and she's going to start radiation and chemo treatments. Good lord. I think I'll go to the hospital over my lunch break tomorrow. T is coming in on Wednesday and leaving on Sunday. Has to cook for her dad too - he's not exactly the Renaissance man who knows how to look after himself. I should bake him (and her mom) some cookies. I feel horrible. These people are like my second family. Growing up, I'd go running to her house whenever things were a wreck with my mom. I really hope her mom can beat this.

I think she's a bit kooky....

Woman bakes cookies on dashboard - Peculiar Postings - MSNBC.com

NBC5.com - Education - Evolution Opponents Lose In Kan. Primary

NBC5.com - Education - Evolution Opponents Lose In Kan. Primary

Take THAT you rabid wingnut religious nutjobs!!

O M M-F G!

Warner Bros Announces The Dark Knight



*splutters*

*flails*

*screams*


GOD, ALL I NEED NOW IS TO HEAR THAT THE NEXT SUPERMAN MOVIE IS PLANNED AND I WILL...JUST...NEED A VERY COLD SHOWER.

Don't know how I feel about Ledger, though.

Good Bumper Sticker

God wants spiritual FRUITS,
Not religious NUTS.