Art Attack Central

Fixing stuff, myself included…


Links

Well, the weird weather here is alarming; yesterday = another 60 degree day in charm city hon. No winter snow anywhere and already not enough water! Is this global warming, or only a regional weirdness, and next year we’ll be freezing our asses of again? It’s not just Maryland; it’s the entire eastern seaboard that’s experiencing this odd weather pattern. I’m wondering about the other side of the world, and what’s going on there? And as I wonder I’m reminded, one of the things I’m most ashamed of is the United States lack of commitment in protecting the environment, both here and around the world.

Why did you title this post links?

It doesn’t have anything to do with the weather, or maybe in a bizarre way it does. Whether you care or not that is the question, or is it the answer? What I’m getting at is I’m going to link to everybody who’s doing the Tuesday Too.

Sooner, or later?

Soon as I can get around to it.

Aren’t you supposed to be working on your thesis?

Yeah, so I guess I better do the links today, and then not post for a couple of days. In other words, go cold turkey on blogging, so I can focus on what I don’t want to do, but must.

“When I hear somebody sigh, ‘Life is hard,’ I am always tempted to ask, ‘Compared to what?'”

–Sydney Harris

Link

“Designated driver, on the information highway.”


Tuesday Too

1.) In what way is your online personality different from your off line personality?

Online I am much more “out there”, sometimes to the point of saying things I probably shouldn’t have said, or should have said to an individual directly rather then to the whole world. Then the question becomes do I restrain myself online, or catch up offline?

2.) Do you have an unusual animal story? Tell us about it.

When I was a kid growing up beside the river, I found a baby duck on the shore that only had one webbed foot. The other foot had probably been lost to a crab or a snapping turtle. The duck lived in a box with his little leg bandaged up for about a month. I started taking the duck down to the beach to swim after the wound healed. The first few times we went he could only swim in circles. As he got stronger he learned to compensate for the missing foot and by the end of the summer had managed to keep with up the other ducks. So off he went just like the rest of us.

3.) Why would you, or wouldn’t you want your mother to read your blog?

My mother has known me long enough to be calm in the face of danger; in fact there’s not much that rattles her. I wouldn’t mind if she read it, but I wouldn’t point her in this direction, because most of what I say here she’s heard about from me already.

Post your URL in the comment,

Link

“Designated driver, on the information highway.”


Synchronicity

How are we connected to each other? What makes those connections stick or come unglued? Sometimes the connection with a stranger can astound you. Here’s one particular connection I stumbled across today. While still out there cruising the sites of those who chose to do the Tuesday Too, to my surprise I arrived on Leah’s page with three cats all dressed up. Presumably they have somewhere to go. Well that kitty in the middle is a clone of my guy who moved out of town on Wednesday, but that’s not all. Abbott my friend/housemate who does not “do the net thing”, related this morning a dream: He’s at a wedding and they can’t get started because the best man hasn’t arrived. The best man turns out to be my cat all dressed up.

Is this some kind of Freudian dream analysis?

Absolutely not; it’s Jung all the way to the wonderment of how we connect with each other in uncanny ways.

“An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered.”

–G. K. Chesterton

Link

“Designated driver, on the information highway.”


Seeing the Sites

Yesterday and today I’ve been cruising around to almost all the sites of the folks who did the Tuesday Too. Still have a few more to visit today and I’m glad that I do; it’s been a pleasure to see what other folks are doing/saying with their blogs.

Yes I need distractions so here’s

the Friday Five

1. Hey baby, what’s your sign, and does it fit?

Leo: that probably explains my over zealous pursuit of the Friday Fivers too boost the Tuesday Too. So yes I guess it somewhat fits, but in “real life” I’m not the truly gregarious extroverted type associated with Leo.

2. Worst birthday gift you ever received?

My invitation to join AARP; that was definitely my most eeeeeeck birthday.

3. The best birthday gift?

A surfboard on my 40th! However, I must confess it’s lived atop the shower rod for the last few years and is definitely due for a trip to the beach. Bring on the spring!

4. The best way you’ve celebrated your b day?

On a sailboat with friends and family on the Chesapeake Bay; the best times for summer sailing on the bay are mid week so you avoid the large power boat wakes and sounds. So it was one of those days; the only sounds you hear are conversation, wind and waves, or flapping sails if you happen to pick a windless day. Our day was perfect with a 7 knot wind out of the east.

5. Weekend Plans?

I’m getting together with a couple of friends for happy hour at the local watering hole tonight. So if Baltimore is in your neck of the woods stop by Rocky Run in Charles Village between 5 and 6:00. I’ll be the one wearing the black and white beaded bracelet on my right wrist. You might be surprised. Rest of the weekend is open ended.

“No man is ever old enough to know better.”

–Holbrook Jackson

Link

“Designated driver, on the information highway.”


Loss

My little cat has gone over to the other side; he left behind his two porcelain blue bowls, his bottle of pills and the drops for his upset stomach. Everywhere I go today I’m reminded of him; it’s definitely one of those “wherever you go there you are days.” I am not comforted by not having to change a litter box. I’d like to think he’s gone off to join the foreign legion or taken a job at the KittyKat supermarket in another city. The hardest part is knowing he’s not coming back.

Are you going to get another cat?

Not anytime soon; I’ll have to let some time go by and then see how I feel. Today I feel like nothing much matters. Thank god I didn’t have to collect data today as I thought I would. While it’s true I need every subject/participant I can get, it would have been hell to face a room full of students today, and just act like a normal person. It’s hard enough to act like a normal person on a good day.

Link

“Designated driver, on the information highway.”


Bumpy Start

Tuesday Too seemed to bounce between a rock and a hard place on it’s first foray into the cyber realm; however, after the bouncing stopped we have thirty something folks willing to hop on the bus. For some reason the bus makes me think of Bruce Willis madly driving his yellow cab in the Fifth Element. Yeah it got panned by Salon, but then so do a lot of things. If you can get passed the bad press, it’s got some pretty cool maneuvers. Thanks to Eve at creativedoubt.org for getting passed the Tuesday Too bad press, and putting out some of the flames here yesterday.

What’s going on in your “real life”?

Back on the stick with collecting more data for my lucid dreaming research project. Hopefully I’ll get at least twenty more subjects tomorrow, and then the rest will be gather via the Web at two different universities.

Anything else?

Yes, something hard to deal with. My cat who is 17 years old has kidney failure, or declining kidney function as the vet said. So every couple of days I take him in to get him re-hydrated. I think the time is running out on his clock pretty guickly these last few days. It makes me realize no matter how much, or how little you have that time is so precious, because that’s all we really have.

“All life is an experiment.”

–Ralph Waldo Emerson

Link

“Designated driver, on the information highway.”