Why I Work

It's almost 10pm at night and I'm working. The only thing that keeps my sanity is that I will be here next week. Wheeeee!

And if you don't realize how serious a sci-fi nut I am, go read my writer rant about Orson Scott Card dissing the Force. Regret it, he will. Hmmmm.

Hell, I even thought I was dead 'til I found out it was just that I was in Nebraska

Sorry. Fell off the planet. It happens. Nevsky has seen me live and in person within the past week so he can confirm that the milk cartons don't need to be printed up yet. My busy life is a little busier than usual. My apologies to my bloggerific friends. I miss you, too. Hopefully I will at least get some time to read and post.

Meanwhile, I've gotten quite a collection of wonderful links going on in the Wild-Eyed Coalition of Prog Bloggers so go forth and enjoy some bloggers who are posting.

Didgeridoo for Jon Stewart

Do my ears deceive me, or did Jon Stewart just dis bloggers? Aren't we like his core fan base? Aren't the best of us doing exactly what he is complaining that the mass media is not?

Jon must experience the power of the Digerati.

I now proclaim that a didgeridoo is an occassion where the Digerati swarm on an issue. Like an online flash mob.

Go forth. Watch the Daily Show blog report on blog reporting.

Jon will learn to respect skippy the bush kangaroo. Oh yes, he will. He should endeavor to be one of us, not scorn us.

(Meanwhile, props to skippy the bush kangaroo for being mentioned on CNN on the Daily Show. W00T!)

Perfectly Legal

Perfectly Legal, by David Cay Johnston
The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super Rich - and Cheat Everybody Else

It looks like I'm not the only one obsessed with the aggregate move of wealth upwards. It's scary stuff. Thinking Peace has a nice excerpt, or you can get your own copy by clicking on my link.

"But democracy also requires vigorous debate and give-and-take. When the great majority of people are not pursuing their own interests, the power of the political donor class grows. And while the wealthy have, and always will have, disproportionate influence over politics, their power can only be held in check by the great mass of voters recognizing and pursuing their own self-interest. The spread of corporate policies that prohibit workers from wearing campaign buttons or discussing politics at work is part of the trend that squelches debate that might pose a threat to the political donor class and its power in reshaping our tax system to benefit their interests.

How the rich arranged to do so much better than everyone else, and the reasons why they took home huge increases in income while many lost ground, were not state secrets. To the extent that government continues to be conducted in the open, many of the answers can be found in the public record. But if no one looks in obvious places and they do not become part of the news, then, like Edgar Allan Poe’s “Purloined Letter,” those answers can be hidden in plain sight..."

Sounds like three wolves and a lamb just voted on what to have for dinner...

Makin' Music

I got tagged by The Fixer who says he would like to see my musical inclinations. This was actually very hard for me to do since I am something of a musical gourmand (let's just call it eclectic, ok?). I love jazz torch songs, bluegrass, new wave, latin, flamenco, country, folk, and good old rock n' roll. Plus plenty of other stuff I can't even define. I have approximately 136 hours of music on my MediaPlayer and I still don't have all of my favorites on there. Ever since I worked at Sam Goody's (1995) I've tried to pick up the Grammy album each year in the vain hope of keeping up with the music scene. Since I no longer commute to the big city I'm not listening to the really hip stations, either. I can't say that these are my answers for all time, but they are my answers for today...

A. Top Five Lyrics that Move Your Heart:

1. "I guess it took a little time for me to see
   The reason I was born into this world
   And what I'd have to go through
   For I've finally realize that I could be
   Infinitely better than before
   Definitely stronger
   I'll face whatever comes my way
   Savor each moment of the day
   Love as many people as I can along the way
   Help someone who's giving up
   If it's just to raise my eyes and pray" ~ Always Tomorrow, Gloria Estefan


2. "Look, if you had one shot, one opportunity
   To seize everything you ever wanted-One moment
   Would you capture it or just let it slip?" ~ Lose Yourself, Eminem


3. "I never spent a single day in retail
   telling people what they want to hear
   telling people anything to make a sale
   Eating in the food court
   with the old and the bored" ~ Never Is Enough, Barenaked Ladies


4. "Wake up, ninety miles an hour, take the world's fastest shower,
   Coffee black, microwave it, I'm at my best caffeinated.
   Out the door, pick up the pace, I'm here, I'm there, I'm everyplace.
   That's how it goes, a day in my life, I'm on my toes from morning to night
   Livin' like this, some might say it's so exhaustin' frenzied, manic
   Call me nuts but I like it frantic" ~ Frantic, Jamie O'Neal


5. "When you dance the fiddlers stand in line,
   That's something you should remember" ~ Reap What You Sow, Obsessive Behavior
   

B. Top 5 Instrumentals:

1. Throne Room - John Williams (Star Wars Soundtrack and the Recessional for our wedding... sans Wookie yowl)
   
2. Ode to a Butterfly - Nickle Creek
3. Tempest - Jesse Cook
4. Concerning Hobbits - Howard Shore (LOTR Soundtrack)
5. Catina Band - John Williams (Star Wars Soundtrack)
   

C. Top 5 Live Musical Experiences:

1. Sting, Brand New Day Tour (my first concert, a present from my husband for my 30th birthday)
   
2. walking down Bourbon Street (best when accompanied by Cafe Du Monde beignets)
   

To go beyond that would be to list everything I've seen live. I don't get out much...

D. Top Five Artists You Think More People Should Listen To:

1. Rebeka Reed
2. Obsessive Behavior
3. Squirrel Nut Zippers
   
4. Johnny Deluxe
   
5. The Corrs
   

Honorable Mention: Dixie Chicks (just for Dubya)

E. Top Five Albums You Must Hear From Start to Finish:

1. Zenyatta Mendatta - The Police
2. Nothing Like The Sun - Sting
3. The Woman in Me - Shania Twain
4. Stripped - Christina Aguilera
5. Forgiven, Not Forgotten - The Corrs
   

F. Top Five Musical Heroes:

1. Sting
2. Jimmy Buffet
   
3. Mozart
4. Dolly Parton
5. Louis Armstrong
   

Honorable Mention: Ella Fitzgerald, Patsy Cline, Ray Charles, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Seal

And That's The Way It Was...

You have to love Uncle Walt. He's asking the same question that many people are. What exactly DOES the Democratic Party stand for? If he only knew that he could come over here to TTGSIMH and see our discussion of Liberal Values. :)

We Are The Digerati. Resistance Is Futile.

Seth Godin, the Great Marketing Brain, has dubbed the vanguard of the blog-olution the Digerati. You can check out his thoughts on the Digital Haves and Have-Nots (and see where you fall) on Seth's Blog. This reminds me of the post I saw last week about someone who hadn't heard of Amazon.com. The gap is obviously widening (perhaps we should call them the Knows and Know-Nots), but will there be an economic impact?

I Love My Country. It's Cool.

Seriously, I do. I found a bunch of cool stuff over at Cool Gov. They're a little light on the hard-hitting data for me (which is, pound for pound, the most valuable stuff that this Nation's federal workers do for us), but the stuff they do link is AWESOME! Digging through their history section I got a link to Our Documents. Remember, I'm one of the people who carries around a "Pocket Patriot" version of the Constitution. Now I can look at an online version with flyover graphics. Ooooooo. Ahhhhh.

You should go check the info out because, as they would say, "you paid for it… dammit, you better get some use out of it."

What's In A Name?

In the Fairy Name post people starting listing all sorts of other things like vampire and porn names. Well, you know when the porn names come out, the game is on. Who am I?

Talk to the Hand Smurf

I may be a padawan, but they call me LONSU PASAN of the planet Zoloft

On the street my gangsta name is Supa Bitch Ass

My pirate name is Musket Ball Carmen

And Davezilla did me right by telling me that:

My Blues Singer Name is Jolly Clinton

My Punk Rock Band is called the Dramatic Cats

My name as an extra in "Star Wars" is Glonk the Blender Blender

and my Porn Star Name is Precious Victoria

Liberal Values Part VI: Free Intellectual Inquiry

Our multi-part series to explore liberal values based on the definition from dictionary.com that we promote here at TTGSIMH:

Liberalism: A political theory founded on the natural goodness of humans and the autonomy of the individual and favoring civil and political liberties, government by law with the consent of the governed, and protection from arbitrary authority. [Also a] 19th-century Protestant movement that favored free intellectual inquiry, stressed the ethical and humanitarian content of Christianity, and de-emphasized dogmatic theology.

Let's head on into the religious side of it. So what do we mean by "free intellectual inquiry"? I see this as having an opportunity (freedom, liberty, latitude) to think about religion for yourself. That is actually the way that I was raised and I have to say good things about it. Seeking your own information and making informed choices is, for me, an important part of a free life. When your thoughts and beliefs are controlled (which is a scary thing, but the basis of a lot of religion), then you are never truly free, no matter what political freedoms are guaranteed to you by your country.

Ultimately, intellectual freedom is true freedom. As Viktor Frankl wrote in Man's Search for Meaning, "Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." Free your mind and the rest will follow.

The Colbert Report!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's true, it happened, it's official!!!!! Stephen Colbert has been greenlighted for his own show, The Colbert Report (pronounced co-BEAR ra-PORE, with tag line: it's French, bitch) to show after The Daily Show. WOOOOOOOOO! You can read the New York Time article , or check out a blog dedicated to it.

"We're going to deal with truth on my program," Mr. Colbert said. "We're going to catch the world in the headlights of my justice." (NY Times)

Go Stephen!

Fairy Round

My fairy name is Feather Saturntree.

She is a trouble maker
She lives in high places where the clouds meet the earth
She is only seen when the first leaves fall from the trees

What is your fairyname?

How Republican Are YOU?

I am: 7% Republican.

"You're a complete liberal, utterly without a trace of Republicanism. Your strength is as the strength of ten because your heart is pure. (You hope.)"

Are You A Republican?

I picked this little test up from The Culture Ghost.

My Office Is Cool

Just another example of why I think my office is cool. Here are some examples of quotes below their signature lines, starting with the one that inspired me to post.

"... so long as the people do not care to exercise their freedom, those
who wish to tyrannize will do so; for tyrants are active and ardent,
and will devote themselves in the name of any number of gods, religious
and otherwise, to put shackles upon sleeping men."
-- Voltarine de Cleyre

"Be Yourself. Don't Contribute to Global Norming."

"Reality is just a convenient measure of complexity."

My signature quote is from Walt Disney. "My fun is working on a project and solving the problems." Since I'm a Projects Manager and I'm a Disney fanatic I thought it fit pretty well. :) Are the people at your office this cool?

A message from GWBush@whitehouse.gov!

You have been sent this message from George W. Bush as a
courtesy of Accuracy In Media

Good Day [Your Name Here] I just wanted to say hello.

To view this article, please visit:

http://www.aim.org/briefing/2599_0_5_0/

Inaugural Address Words Backed by Deeds

Go ahead. Have a good time....

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World

I've been wondering many of the same things as the Paradigm Shifter, but he sums it all up much better than I could. And he tries to give us some freaking hope!