Wednesday, March 28, 2007

The Sap is Rising

So it's spring. Really. At least, it seems that way. You never now in the mid-Atlantic. We could get snow tomorrow. When I was 12, and living in northeast Pennsylvania, we were gifted with over a foot of the white stuff on April Fools' Day. That week off from school educated me in the fickle ways of Mother Nature; there is nothing more foolish than counting on fair weather.

So we took advantage of the balmy temps yesterday and spent most of the morning and afternoon out of doors. The grass was squishy, and the sky was cloudy, but it was damn near 75 degrees. How can a body resist? Girls with apple bottoms in shorts were running. The convertibles came out in abundance, along with the stored motorcycles. Biker Mamas and Papas! That's a sight to behold.

Walking around the block in my neighborhood, you could see the fever had caught all of us. People I don't even acknowledge, and vice versa, smiling and waving. The cheesy "Nice weather we're having" actually seemed like decent conversation. It made me yearn for the "old days" of my youth, when neighbors were neighbors. We knew each others' names, we knew each others' ills, and sometimes, we knew each others' vices. We spoke on a daily basis. We had block parties every summer. Back then (T minus 25 years), you could give your neighbor an extra key to your house, for emergencies. Neighbors let your children into their houses after school if you were running late. Now neighbors are just proximal people, and if you're lucky, they don't call the cops on you when your music is too loud.

"Things were different, then," my mother sighed. Why? Is it really the computer age that's changed us? Is it technological isolation, or something deeper?

Today dawned with cooler temperatures, but I'm going to go outside again regardless. I want to make contact with people. Spring has sprung.

Monday, March 26, 2007

Clearification

This guy is so many kinds of funny, but I'm too tired to explain why he's funny to me, so maybe you'll just check out Demetri's webisodes (that's episodes, but with the p vertically flipped, and a w added, so you know you're on the internet mwa ha ha ha ha) maybe you'll find him just as funny as I did.

http://www.clearification.com/

Friday, March 23, 2007

Bong Hits For Jesus

The less glamorous title of the case is Morse v. Frederick.

"The amazing thing to me about this case is the outpouring of support of free speech across the country and our own community in Alaska, and particularly the outpouring of support all across the political spectrum from the far right to the far left and everywhere in between," Mertz said. "Free speech is a true core American value that everyone believes in and we're hoping that includes the members of this court."

This makes me laugh. I can't even wrap my head around the stupidity of some people.

And what really cracks me up, is this is a result of a hot-headed teacher who is likely kicking herself in the ass for reacting out of anger to something as innocuous as a youngster putting up a sign intended to piss off some grown-ups. This is what I often refer to as the 2Live Crew effect. Make enough noise about something *full of sound and fury, signifying nothing* and eventually the right media outlet will latch onto it and whoosh! The ball is in play.

I think I want the slogan to be my new bumpersticker, though.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

I'm a Pretty Princess

Say it!

So I'm half asleep in the chair with the TV on for noise trying to read Helen of Troy by Margaret George. I was intrigued by its premise (her life, from her perspective) because I enjoyed Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon for much the same reason. My already flagging attention to the book in my hands is wrenched free by the commercial that's just appeared on the telly.

I am far too excited to tell the story any other way than this.

Disney is giving away a night in THE CASTLE.

As in, Cinderella's castle.

As a little girl, I was never a big Disney damsel fan. I loved Snow White for the music, but I liked the stuff about animals better. Never cared much for the whole Cinderella fantasy. But I loved me that castle. I was lucky enough to have generous grandparents who helped my parents take my sister and I to DisneyWorld in Orlando, Florida, several times during our youth. That castle was always the one place I wanted to get inside of that I never could. Nobody could. Just the idea of getting in there was heady. And now, the theme park is randomly handing out family passes for the royal treatment.

Yes, yes, I am a pretty princess. I am a pretty princess!

Sunday, March 18, 2007

A Little Less Broken

The Show with Ze Frank officially ended yesterday, March 17. He promised a year, and damn, did the man deliver.

What was part of my daily routine during the week, as well as in the wee hours of the morning in the forum, is now a part of video blog history. The mixed emotions I've been feeling the last 48 hours -- even the last 7 days -- are best expressed by a fellow duckie sports racer Consumatron, the audio contained herein:

Pulled Like A Chain Into The Unknown.

And that's really all I really have to say right now.