Fun with screen captures

Thank you to JudyforDean for pointing out the typo in this AP article about upcoming veep announcements.

And to jc, who told me where to find the screen capture program I just used. ;)

Comments

Reports from DeanFest. . . .

Just arrived home tired but happy. The plane ride is shorter than the 3 el trip home from the airport! But all in all it wasn't too bad.

Demfest was a family reunion. It was so great to see so many friends after so long a time.

I thought I would get a little time to relax at the pool, but really, there were just too many friends to visit with.

Last night 15 of us went to dinner at a local Thai restaurant. Since we had decided where to dine at the last minute, the restaurant owners were in a bit of shock when we all walked in. They handled things really well and the food was great.

Subway really loved the food!
donna in evanston




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


O Hai!

May the Eternal Blessings of The Ceiling Cat be a pwn thee...

Herein is my Deanstock 5 report to the community, and first of all I want to thank the folks who not only got this street musician to this event, but made my better two thirds comfortable sending me off to do something that was really important.

Demonstrating Gizmo is a bit moar complicated than I had anticipated, and as Denise saw, I had a problem with the readings that come when two hearts are using the machine. I'll work on this.

My concern was that it was difficult to demonstrate the level of coherence that I can get to when I'm doing my heart dance routine alone.

So when Denise posted that we were working on the demonstration, I was dealing with a number of unexpected glitches.
***

I spent about 4 hours spinning coherent heart waves in DC.

Some folks got to see me playing with Gizmo as they were leaving, but there was no prime time presentation.

Charlie played Gizmo for about an hour. I'd appreciate hearing his thoughts on what happened.

***

Something happens in my heart when I sing to Puddle. Something happens in my heart when I sing to Dean People.

It happened on Saturday night.

Namaste
Subway Serenade

Comment Link

MY WEEK IN DENVER (not at the DNC )

In some ways it's hard to know what to talk about. Maybe I'll start with something no one would have expected: The campaign to bring the 2012 Worldcon to Chicago. The site of each Worldcon is chosen by voting at the one two years previously, and groups and cities compete for the right to devote two years of their lives to making it happen. This is in fact very much like a political campaign except that instead of going out and knocking on people's doors you throw parties (hotels prefer the term "hospitality suites") at conventions so people come and give you a chance to talk to them. I actually spent the bigger part of the first day helping prepare for the party that evening. The party seemed to go very well, with people enjoying the all-fruit smoothies we served. These were non-alcoholic due to hotel rules, but we expect to offer both alcoholic and non-alcoholic versions in the future.

I was also on three panels, all appropriate for me and yet all totally different. One was on "Technology for the Visually Impaired," one was on "Politics and the SF Fan," and one was on "Future Health: Living Longer in the 21st Century" (we concluded that, while we might be healthier longer, there would be no major life extension in at least the first half of the century). The panel on "Politics and the SF Fan" struck me as a bit schizophrenic. A couple of us wanted to talk about how SF fans relate to electoral politics while the others wanted to talk about how SF stories relate to and perhaps influence political issues.

I went to other panels as well. "A World Made of Birds" was an interesting discussion of what if the Cretaceous meteor had not driven the dinosaurs extinct. (Actually, of course, some dinosaurs did survive. We call them birds. Hence the title.) "SF as a Tool for Social Change" mostly concluded that SF does not bring about social change. It's a way to discuss the implications of change, especially technological change. Some didn't think that technology leads to much social change, but I pointed out from the audience that thanks to the internet I have friends I've never met. I don't think that any are of the canine persuasion, but I could be wrong. And at the panel on new reading technologies I found that there is a portable e-book reader (Bookeen) that will display the type at a large enough size for me to read.

The convention was over mid-afternoon Sunday. Early Monday morning (which happened to be my 72nd birthday) we left on a one-day tour to the south of Denver. First stop was the Air Force Academy, which both Penny and I would have been happy to skip. Although the view from the Chapel Trail was nice. Then on to Colorado Springs and the Garden of the Gods, which I was surprised to learn is a Colorado Springs city park. As most know from photos, the rock formations are spectacular. Lunch in the Trading Post, with Penny being disappointed there wasn't time to fully check out the gift shop. A few miles more brought us to Manitou Springs and the Manitou and Pikes Peak cog railway. An hour and a half ride to the summit. Hard, cramped seats but spectacular scenery. One view was the inspiration for "America the Beautiful" (the words had never made real sense as a description of America, but they fit that view perfectly). At the summit Penny bought a couple of hats for Marc and I tried unsuccessfully to make a cell phone call home, which didn't leave me time to get to the observation point. Then back to Manitou Springs and Denver, and home the next day.

- Bill Thomasson

Comment Link

Today's Comment Link. . . .

Waiting for a DeanFest Post from Holly J, or Denise, or. . . .

Well, while we're waiting for the Deanfesters to travel home and settle in
and write up the particulars...



HATS HELP
and so do honest, interested, adorable faces!

listener is very grateful for your virtual face on HEP! ♥


Comment Link

Happy Birthday, Demetrius!

Comments

Saturday Thread

listener painted this Kitty to surprise her granddaughters
and to cheer any bloggers who visit. ♥

All you cool cats heading to Deanfest (or already there), please remember to get some sleep and eat reasonably well in addition to choosing which jean jacket to pack (or wear).  You matter and you rock (the vote)!   Have fun and remember to come by HEP and post all about the doings for we old folks at home!  ♥

~listener

        
Another picture staying with the theme of my pets laying claim to my stuff. ;)

Comments

Update on comments

At some point yesterday, Haloscan commenting started "working" again, at least in a limited capacity. Meaning, at least it was possible to get into a comment thread, and there was a possibility of posting, but as many of you discovered, the software was rather tempermental.

In addition to that bug, if you go to the HEP comments blog (at least as of this writing), it doesn't show the number of comments in a thread. Until the number of comments starts showing again, I am unable to create a new comment thread. Because what I need to do to actually make a new comment thread is to publish a new post at that blog, and then grab the url of the little link that shows up saying "0 comments".

5:20 p.m. update--the comment thing seems to be better now, and I was able to add a new comment thread for Wednesday. No time to actually read comments though. Need to leave for campus.

Comments

Open thread

see more pwn and owned pictures

Comments

Commenting

Haloscan seems to be screwed up today, so I've temporarily enabled Blogger commenting.

Requesting assistance

First of all, you don't even want to know what an absurdly difficult it was just for me to get connected to the internet just now. But the bottom line is that I'm utterly out of time, and need to leave the library (and its baffling, maddening wireless connection) and head to campus. Please send me positive traffic vibes. Maybe we even need a candle page for me, with the intention that my head doesn't go all 'splody in the next couple weeks.

Anyway, it would be awesome if I could have a volunteer or two who had access to the HEP comments blog. That way someone other than me would have the capability to add a note of clarification about how the thing works. You don't need to be able to *generate* the comment links, but just to add a note of explanation for people who are confused.

Now I *really* need to get to campus.

Comments

Open thread with collie art

To show that we *do* indeed like dogs around here, and not just cats, I took a picture of my dog, Brady, this morning. But once I looked at the picture this evening, I realized that the picture was out of focus.

So I decided to just go with that theme, and took the picture into Photoshop to do some filter effects.

Off to spend some time with the family now.

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Christian the lion

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This is too true

Actually, I'm not sure this isn't Rule #1.

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Three years ago

Three years ago I started this blog because some members of the community at BFA felt the environment there had become too toxic, but they didn't want to give up the community. I was one of the people who felt that way. My son has Asperger's Syndrome, and, heaven help us, we've never really managed to cobble together a really good IEP and a good team of professionals who are all on the same page as us. So the beginning of the school year can't help but be a stressful time, and that was a time when maintaining a supportive community was especially important to me.

But I knew that starting a new community blog on my own was more than I could handle, so before I ever flipped the switch to start up the blog, I e-mailed a number of people to ask if they could help me.

Over time we've lost some contributors. And I've lost almost all desire to write about politics. Maybe it will come back one day, but I don't know. Anyway, for anyone who's been away for a while and is just now coming back, that's why so many of the posts consist of pictures of dogs and cats.

So now it's August--back to school time is looming once again. And things are more complicated now that the kids are teenagers. So yeah, I'm a bit stressed from time to time. I really need to be able to take some time away--like everyone else does every now and then.

The history of the comment software issue is rather complicated, and one thing I lack at the moment is the time, patience, and focus to try to explain all of that in detail. But basically, some people have trouble using the integrated Blogger commenting. I installed Haloscan commenting, but for some people, that didn't work unless I made the comment link by hand. These days I have a separate blog I use to "grow" new Halosan threads. I've added a link to it in the sidebar, and in my posts.

So the comment link no longer takes you straight to the comments, but to that other blog. But I've tried to make it as straightforward as possible. You just need to click on today's date.

I need to take off for a while now, as we have someone coming to the house shortly.

Update: Some time ago I lost my password for BFA and couldn't find a mechanism for retrieving it. Could someone please post a link to this entry over there. I know some people there come over here once in a while, but maybe not often to keep up to speed on changes. And if someone comes by here and asks a question in the comments on any given day, it may be hours before someone sees the question and is able to answer.

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Thursday Open Thread

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Open thread

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Water and me

At first, it didn't seem like water and I were going to be friends. I mean, of course, water in quantities large enough to submerse myself in. I do get that we're made of mostly water, that it's essential for life, and so forth. But when I was growing up, I spent season after season failing to advance out of the beginner's level swim classes. I can visualize myself standing at the edge of the pool in my swim suit and (gack!) cap, lined up with the other students in my class. That last season I was at least a foot taller than the rest of them.

But I finally passed the test that would allow me to graduate from the Beginner's level. I don't remember how old I was, but I'm pretty sure I was a teenager. What I do remember is that during that long swim I had the distinct sensation, "I might actually die right now!" But at least I finally passed, dang it, and that was the end of swim lessons.

I first tried water aerobics in 1999. I realized at first that I *could* enjoy it. Not as tiring as other kinds of exercise. And if I was doing it wrong, other people in the class couldn't see. I had to be sure to get to class early, because the only spot that really worked for me was in the deeper water, close to a wall. Facing a wall helped me tune out the people around me, and gave me a focal point to keep me from drifting all over the pool.

And I actually stuck with it long enough for it to become a habit. One I knew all the moves and really didn't need to think about what I was doing, some pretty cool things started to happen.

First, I discovered that doing some fast water aerobics was great stress relief. That was especially important when we were having a rough time with Son in Ohio's kindergarten. It was at the end of that school year that we started the three years of homeschooling, but in the months before we finally made that decision, I'm sure you can imagine there was plenty of stress.

Also, I discovered that while my body was occupied with a familiar routine, my brain was free to work on other things. I could get a lot of good thinking done during water aerobics--sometimes creative stuff, but sometimes it just gave me time to plan and remember the things I needed to do in the coming days. It was the first time in my life that I had actually been able to make physical activity a *habit*--even one I looked forward to and missed if I couldn't go.

Classes were only on certain evenings, though, and one particular quarter, when I was teaching almost every night of the week (thanks to the Bush economy I had to), the habit got broken. For a long time I tried to get back into my regular routine, but it never quite happened. When I couldn't make it to class, I would just try to do the water aerobics moves on my own.

Last year I let my membership to that gym lapse, opting instead for a community center that the whole family could go to. In theory, that could have worked out just fine, but the reality is that it was hard to predict the kind of environment that would greet me during open swim hours. Sometimes the pool would be sparsely populated and I could just position myself near a wall, do my own thing, and get into that "zone" again. Other times the pool would be crowded or there would be a class going on. Or there would be conversations taking place that I really didn't want to listen to, but couldn't manage to tune out.

When I got my waterproof mp3 player, I was thrilled. I could set my own playlist, tune everyone else out, and just go. It was like having my own little portable Somebody Else's Problem Field. I hadn't quite gotten back to the level of activity I had years ago, but I was getting there. Until my allegedly waterproof mp3 player decided it was done being waterproof. I'm still making myself go to the gym, but the whole stress relief, focus, and creativity thing has been eluding me. As a new school year looms (Son in Ohio is starting HIGH SCHOOL for cryin' out loud!), I'm really wishing I could get some of that old water aerobics magic back.

Anyway, when I started clumsily hinting about donations to HEP yesterday, this is what was on my mind.

Comments

Perspective

This is a detail from a map hanging in the room where I teach. Maybe this is common practice now, but I'd never seen it before. Instead of just showing Alaska in a box off to the side, but totally out of context, they show how big Alaska is in comparison to the 48 contiguous states.

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New Google Reader Shared Items

...can be found here.

Happy Sunday.




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Open thread

Thanks for all the wonderful anniversary wishes yesterday, everyone.

I just read that there's some trouble with Sitemeter that is making blog pages not load in Internet Explorer. So for now I've removed the Sitemeter.

Oh, and something I've recently learned. Always turn off the flash before taking a picture of the cats. Otherwise, they end up looking evil.



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GREAT BIG BUNNY THREAD

Here's the bunny I painted on the bathroom wall Thursday evening,
named in honour of my niece Rebecca's Great Big Bunny, who 
recently passed on to the great rabbit hutch in the sky.

I painted it in anticipation of a visit from Granddaughter*in*NC
over Labor Day weekend.  More critters to come.  XOXOXXX

P.S.:  I sent the picture to niece Rebecca and she wrote back:
"Aw, he even looks like Great Big Bunny!!! Very nice!!" 

I feel pleased and honoured!  ♥  listener

(¯`v´¯)
`*.¸.*´
 ¸.•´¸.•*¨)    ¸.•*¨)
(¸.•´     (¸.•´    .•¸¸.•¨¯`•HAPPY ANNIVERSARY RENEE & DEMETRIUS!!

To Comment, go here: http://hepcomments.blogspot.com/

Happy Birthday, Paul in Illinois

Some birthday videos for you, li'l bro!





This one's not a birthday song, but it made me giggle.








Haloscan comment thread

OPEN THREAD

Have at it.


. . . . . . Hey Hey! Someone we know about turned
. . . . . . . . . . ONE AND A HALF YEARS OLD
. . . . . . . . . as of 10:21 this morning! :~)

. . . . . . . . . ♥ . ♥ .♥ . ♥ .♥ .♥ . ♥ .♥ .♥. ♥. ♥ .♥ . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . ||..||..||..||..||..||..||..||..||..||..||..|| . . . . . . . . .
. . . . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ . . . . . .
. . . . ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. . . . . .
. . . . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ . . . . . .
. . . . ~~~~~~~~~~ ♥ H A P P Y ♥ ~~~~~~~~~~ . . . . . .
. . . . ~~~~~♥ H A L F * B I R T H D A Y ♥~~~~~~ . . . . . .
. . . . ~~~~~~♥ A L L Y S O N * M A E ♥~~~~~~~ . . . . . .
. . . . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ . . . . . .
. . . . ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ . . . . . .
. . . . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ . . . . . .
. . . (_____________________________________) . . . . .

Ally's ANC count is staying around 100, but her platelet count is around 4 (four)
where 150-250 is normal, so she needs another transfusion...this may be #7, so far.

♡♡♡♡♡ Thanks so much for the vibes and prayers and candles!!! ♡♡♡♡♡
http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/candles.cfm?l=eng&gi=ALLYS

Haloscan Comments

DemocracyFest coming August 16

Thank you Subway for sending in this post--Renee

DemocracyFest is less then 3 weeks away!

DemocracyFest is an event that started from an idea posted right here on Blog For America! The 5th Annual DemocracyFest will be held August 16-17, 2008 in Dulles, VA (just outside Washington DC).

Get your tickets at a $20 discount today! There's only 4 days left to get your tickets at the discounted rate of only $95!

http://www.democracyfest.net/

The DemocracyFest schedule includes many exciting trainings, speakers and entertainers again this year! Plus lots of networking opportunities to socialize with like-minded liberal activists.

Democracy For America (DFA) will conduct trainings for activists on subjects including Canvassing & Phone Banking, Working with the Media, Event Planning, Mobilizing Young Voters and Fundraising. Speakers this year will include Gov. Howard Dean (speech free and open to the public), Jeffrey Feldman, Jim Dean, Charlie Grapski, Nathan Gonzales, and more! Entertainers will include Subway Serenade, Bobby Kendes, and more! Plus, there will be parties late into the night on both Friday and Saturday nights!

Check the DemocracyFest schedule on our website often as we will be adding more details and speakers/entertaine rs as they are confirmed:

http://www.democracyfest.net/Schedule

We look forward to seeing you there soon!

The DemocracyFest Team

David, Ellen, Jessica, Laurie and Quintus

http://www.democracyfest.net/

P.S. Can't make it to DemocracyFest this year? Please consider making a contribution to fund our scholarship program and future DemocracyFests. Click Here!

Haloscan comment thread

Happy birthday, Beatrix Potter

From the Wikipedia article:

Helen Beatrix Potter (28 July 1866 – 22 December 1943) was an English author, illustrator, mycologist, and conservationist who was best known for her children's books, which featured animal characters such as Peter Rabbit.

Haloscan comment thread

Seen in the grocery store parking lot

Haloscan comment thread

Speaking of lighthouses

I thought it was funny to run across this right after a comment by SusanD reminded me of Monday's prayer tower post.



Haloscan comment thread

Open thread/shared items

Gotta run, but here's a new thread, and a few new things I've shared via Google Reader.

Haloscan comment thread

Open Thread Ramblings

Actually went to the mall yesterday. Something I try to avoid at all costs, but I was desperately in need of clothes (and actually found some, yay).

Anyway, at the entrance to the women's restroom I saw this

It's been a while, but I realized that must be a "nursing lounge". Yep, that's what it was.

Sure, the rocking chairs are nice, but the ambiance leaves much to be desired. I know I wouldn't care to eat there.

Have I mentioned lately that I really miss the days when my kids were little. The whole "parent of teenagers" experience is leaving me a bit...

(melancholy)


Haloscan comment thread

Comment threads

...can be found that-away.

This entry has been posted for information purposes only, without a comment link. To join in the most recent thread/discussion, click here or scroll down to Cat's post "Butter Not Guns" and click the comment thread there.

Butter Not Guns

In this morning's news, I came across the following:

Israel-Hamas Standoff Deepens Water Woes
The Christian Science Monitor's Rafael D. Frankel reports: "Five hundred yards south from where hundreds of children play in the water next to this refugee camp, a pipe spills 20 million liters of raw sewage into the Mediterranean Sea each day. Between 105 and 120 million liters of sewage are generated daily in Gaza. Of that, only 20 million liters are fully treated, while another 40 million liters are partially treated. The rest flows raw into the sea, storm drains, and a massive landfill north of Gaza City, which spans 4.3 million square feet. The resulting pollution has sullied not only the seawater, but also the aquifer below Gaza, causing a severe shortage of potable water and putting the population at risk for a range of illnesses."

What I want to know is, rather than providing Israel with armorment to slaughter Palestinians and bulldozers to destroy their towns and villages, why isn't the U.S. donating or providing at reduced cost to the Palestinians of both Gaza and the west Bank materielle, equipment and expertese to build sewage treatment plants and other inferstructure to help improve their quality of life?

Doing so would be commencerate with vonted U.S. ideals. It would also go a very long way towards improving foreign, especially Arab and Muslem, attitudes towards the United States.

Haloscan comment thread

Prayer Tower

A few weeks ago there was an article in the print edition of The Other Paper about the Calvary Temple Lighthouse at I-71 and Morse. I've passed it many times, but could never read what the sign said, and I really had no idea what was up with that.

In that article, I learned that the tower was (ahem) "erected" in lieu of a steeple, because steeples are pagan. And phallic.

I held onto the paper, intending to write something about it, but the paper seems to have gone missing. Probably lined Zoe's cage at some point. Too bad, because there was some funny stuff in there about the sailor mannequin's clothes getting blown off in a storm. (Reaffirming my belief that Godde has a sense of humor.)

Here's a mention of the tower in Roadside America.

Haloscan comment thread

Don't blink

Outside the gym are these metal statues. I always thought the girl looked particularly horrified, as if she realized, a fraction of a second too late, that she was being frozen for all eternity in this position. But then Demetrius saw a Doctor Who episode called Blink, and said it made the statues seem even more diabolical to him. I never watched the whole episode, but I've seen enough of it to get these words in my head whenever I pass the statues on my way to the pool.

Don’t blink. Don’t even blink! Blink and you’re dead. They are fast…faster than you could believe… don’t turn your back…don’t look away, and whatever you do, don’t blink! Good luck.

Haloscan comment thread

Friday night open thread

Haloscan comment thread

More thread

Haloscan comment thread

Netroots Nation

I've added a feed to the latest comments on Twitter about Netroots Nation--it's in the left sidebar. Apparently Howard Dean is about to speak at a rally. Also, watch the shared items for blog posts related to Netroots Nation happenings.

Haloscan comment thread

Speaking of Gizmo

Recent comment from Subway Serenade.

Speaking of Gizmo, I've been having some breakthroughs with my other Gizmo over the past two weeks, and it has do with something most folks take for granted.

Ever feel a tingle? Or the "spark" between lovers? I've found that when that inner tingle happens, your heart is actually creating more electrical charge. That charge is distributed to the outer nerve endings and this is what produces the tingle.

In my work using the heart tuner, I've found that when I can sustain amplitudes above 80 milivolts per second, I can consciously produce the tingle.

This is the same tingle that occurs when the chests of the two butterflies in game touch for sustained periods. I've come to the point where I can produce the tingle when playing the game by myself.

When most people feel this tingle, it tends to be localized. It may spread across the back and shoulders, or down the arms and legs, and it soon goes away.

My theory is that the heart can produce and sustain that tingle throughout the neural net, and it can be consciously directed to do so.

So everybody feels the tingle every day, but they never knew that it has a far deeper meaning within the heart's own electrical field.

What happens when the heart consciously ignites its entire neural grid? What if a bunch of hearts did that together.

Stay Tuned.

Haloscan comment thread

Tuesday Open Thread

Haloscan comment thread

The Cover of the New Yorker

Apparently there is quite the buzz about the cartoon on the current edition of the New Yorker. To me, it seems like it's intended as an over the top parody of the way Michelle and Barack Obama have been portrayed by some. Your thoughts?

Haloscan comment thread

Another Open Thread

By the way, here's a link to the article about Darwin and Lincoln.

Haloscan comment thread

Saturday Open Thread

I have no idea how many times I've passed the Newsweek cover featuring "Lincoln versus Darwin". Today, however, I decided to take a moment to find out exactly how they were being pitted against each other. Turns out the subhead is "Who's more important?"

What an odd comparison to make, I thought. But then, I didn't actually take the time to read the article.

I did, however, take the time to make this...

Haloscan comment thread

Open Thread

My favorite song today...



I heard it at the end of the DVD Jane Goodall's Wild Chimpanzees. Lyrics here.


Haloscan comment thread

Submitted for your consideration

I saw the most recent offering from the McCain Girls today, thanks to a tweet (Twitter posting) from 23/6.com. And I've decided something. The McCain Girls are "supporting" John McCain in much the same way Stephen Colbert supported George Bush at the White House Correspondents' Dinner a few years back.

Some of the lyrics:

Just an Arizona senator
Lookin' for the fight of his life
The Democrats don't see him as strong
They all say he's crazy

Keep in mind now, that "they", presumably the Democrats, "say he's crazy". One would assume that McCain's supporters would beg to differ. Yet they go on to give us this...

Purple Heart and Silver Star
McCain can cut you with his knife
Slice you up and slice and dice
if you challenge his candidacy

...accompanied by this picture



I rest my case.


Haloscan comment thread

Cats etc.

Visit The Daily Kitten for your daily requirement of kitten cuteness.

And here's something to give paws for thought, the Cat's Eye Nebula, courtesy of the Hubble Heritage Project.




Read about this beautiful nebula

HaloScan Comment Link

Blog comment software

Quick update, which hopefully won't include any profanity. (But after hours of frustration trying to do something with the comments, I wouldn' t count on it.)

Here's the thing. I'd like to be less indispensable with regard to adding the comment links. In addition, Haloscan has apparently made some change so that we can't edit comments any more.

So I tried to install Disqus, but for the life of me, I couldn't figure out how to get it to work all nice and integrated like it does at Americablog. So I went over to the old ShadowBFA url, which I have often used as my testing grounds for trying to figure such things out.

After trying long and hard and coming up empty-handed, I tried to reintall Haloscan over there, because that is where I "grow" the new comment threads. But for the life of me, I couldn't get Haloscan reinstalled. I've spent a couple hours trying to get back to where I was when I first started this little adventure. The ShadowBFA address still exists if you want to go back and look at old comment threads for whatever reason, but in the end, I had to set up a new blog for growing these threads. It can be found here.

One more thing...I'm having a rough couple of days, and the excursion into coding hell hasn't made things better. So if I came across cranky here, I'm sorry. It's the best I can manage at the moment. I hope no one has taken the crankiness personally, because that certainly is not my intention. But right now, I just need to step away from the computer for a couple hours.

Oh--and where it says "0 comments"--that's left over from when I tried to install Disqus. I will make that go away at a later time, when I am feeling slightly less hostile toward all things computer-related.

Haloscan comment thread

DemocracyFest 2008 Schedule

The 5th Annual DemocracyFest will be held on August 16-17, 2008 in Dulles, VA, just outside Washington, DC.

Get your tickets today at $20 off the regular price!

http://www.DemocracyFest.net

The DemocracyFest schedule includes many exciting trainings, speakers and entertainers again this year!

Democracy For America (DFA) will conduct trainings for activists on subjects including Canvassing & Phone Banking, Working with the Media, Event Planning, Mobilizing Young Voters and Fundraising. Whether you've worked in politics for years, are running for office yourself, or are a newcomer to volunteering, you'll find these trainings informative and useful!

Speakers this year will include Gov. Howard Dean (speech free and open to the public), Jeffrey Feldman, Jim Dean, Charlie Grapski, Nathan Gonzales, and more! We are currently awaiting confirmation from more exciting speakers, but we do have a few more speaking slots available if you or someone you know is interested in speaking at DemocracyFest, please contact us at info@democracyfest.net

As always, DemocracyFest is as much about "celebration" as "education" and this year will be no different! Entertainers will include Subway Serenade, Bobby Kendes, and more! Plus, there will be parties late into the night on both Friday and Saturday nights!

Check the DemocracyFest schedule on our website often as we will be adding more details and speakers and entertainers as they are confirmed:

http://www.DemocracyFest.net/Schedule

Lastly, we can't forget to mention the social interation and networking aspect of DemocracyFest. While it's not on the schedule, many attendees feel this is the most important part of the event. There will be many leaders from organizations there that you can talk to and learn what they've been up to, what is working well for them and what isn't. This is a unique opportunity to see old friends again and meet new ones. The inspiration of being surrounded by like-minded activists for a weekend, networking and planning with those activists and using what you've learned from each other to move forward and make a difference is priceless.

We look forward to seeing you there!

The DemocracyFest Team

David, Ellen, Jessica, Laurie and Quintus

http://www.DemocracyFest.net

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Wanna Fledge?

I took the above photo while being divebombed by a Bluebird!
Yet I was further from the birdbox than usual (near my car, actually!),
but all day the adults have been more intense than usual.
So this may be Fledge Day! Stay tuned!

Later...

Apparently it was!



See the third Bluebird flying, while the parents keep watch at the top of the tree?
That little fellow has his lerner's permit and those parents sure look anxious!

Of course, last time I looked they were still feeding at least one chick in the birdbox still,
so this becomes a much harder project now.
(You know, sort of like post-Primary campaign time. LOL!)
I got out of their way and wish them all the best.


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Comment link added by Renee, who is currently researching non-Haloscan options for comment software.

Open Thread

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BIRD CITY!

As I was sitting out on the porch downloading new photos of Bluebirds (such as the one above, just landing on the birdhouse to feed the young!), and the goldfinches were taking their evening sips from the birdbath, I witnessed a male hummingbird doing a swinging territorial dance over the reddish-toned Yarrow in my garden. Those of you who have seen the hummingbird's dance ~ which involves flying back and forth swiftly in an inverted arc ~ will appreciate the fact that the little fellar kept inching closer and closer to the end fence post! Being so quick-witted, however, he fared just fine.

This is the busy season. All the birds in charge of young are industriously feeding them or fledging them, and it seems they have little time to stop at all.

It seems to me we are in the busy (sleepless) season of the campaigns too. And that worries me just a bit. There is so much information to get out to the public that the various central headquarters send off sound bites to their various groups (local and/or national). It is assumed that everything has been fact-checked and is accurate and true.

But isn't that a little like what happens in the Faux-cloned media outlets? I'm thinking of how Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert might show a succession of assertions made on a particular topic by a number of television news outlets and they are all using the exact same buzz words.

We can be careful to be a bit more Dean than that and make sure that what we are passing along this season is real and truthful (not merely truthy). Then, we can offer it deliberately and sincerely. That takes a little more time, but the quality difference could very well be what wins the election.

~listener

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Help Cheryl make it to Netroots Nation

From the previous thread,

Okay, this is a last ditch attempt if anyone has a few bucks they can kick in to help defray costs of NN. I set up a Chipin page.

http://cherylr.chipin.com/netroots-cost

Chipin does go through PayPal, for anyone who is wondering. So you don't have to sign up for some new thing.

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On Water Coolers

In last night's comments I learned for the first time about the "water cooler" that was installed at BFA. Went to check it out last night and this morning, and found it somewhat less than user friendly as far as navigation and following discussions.

Anyway, while it's always been my intention to welcome guest posts here, I just realized that the information on how to submit one was no longer on the front page. Probably got misplaced during a site redesign. But it's back now, in the left sidebar.

If you would like to submit a guest post for the front page, you can e-mail it to ohiorenee(at)gmail.com.

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Open Thread

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Barack Obama gave a speech yesterday

Click here for the transcript of Barack Obama's speech in Independence, Missouri yesterday. I got the link via Booman, who said

It was another moving, excellent performance of the kind we've come to expect from Obama. Apparently, we now take it for granted that Obama will give a great speech, because we no longer give him any credit for them.

Something like that. Yeah, we all know Obama gives good speech, but damn it, he has proven utterly incapable of walking on water!

I know people are disappointed in Senator Obama over FISA and some other things. I get that. I also get that he is under and incredible amount of scrutiny from all sides. I'm sure I don't even know the half of it.

So, as usual, I really can see that both sides have valid points. I understand the frustration of many in the blogosphere, and at the same time I understand that Barack Obama, because he made the insane decision to run for president, is perpetually caught between a rock and a hard place. That might even be his new mailing address. What I'm saying is, I get it.

Well, good for me. I bet that, and $3.25, can get me a nice chocolate caramel latte. I think. I'll admit that I haven't checked lately.

Know what else I almost never check lately? Political blogs. This weekend I even sat down with my Sidekick and unbookmarked all the political sites, so I wouldn't be tempted to check them if I was bored.

I'm on Twitter more than anything else these days. There's a site called Summize where you can search what people are talking about right now. At the top of the page, it lists "trending topics", and I've discovered that can tip me off if there is any breaking news I need to know about.

By the way, for anyone who has the ability to log in and post, I have a post in draft with only a comment link. It says Remove this text and and insert your post, and I'm trying to keep it dated so that it stays on top. I won't always be around to add a comment link, so I figured it would help to have a post with the comment link already in it. Just add content.

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Comfest

We saw "Flat Barack" at Comfest yesterday.

Comfest blogging:

Comfest diary by Tiny Mantras

Comfest Day 2 by Jody Dzuranin

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BLUEBIRD THREAD

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Unity, NH

Dogma, Jessica, Aunt*In*Vermont, Son*In*Vermont and Daughter*In*Vermont arrive in Unity, NH

Son*In*Vermont and Daughter*In*Vermont after riding in the car for 3 hours and then standing in line for another 3 hours to see Obama and Clinton (in the background) in Unity, NH

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Bluejay

This was fun to watch this morning. The fledgling bluejay that has been hopping around our yard finally made it to the feeder and the bath.



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Checking in

A long-term temp project ended yesterday, so today was my first day of not having to be somewhere at 8:15 a.m. I unset my alarm last night, but my brain's autopilot woke me up anyway.

Guess that's a good thing, as I need to make a quick run to the store. Might as well do that now, while it's still not oppressively hot out, and not thunderstorming.

By the way, I've deleted some ads and things from this page in an effort to get it to load faster. But I did add my Twitter updates back--they're in the upper right hand side now.

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Wednesday Open Thread

more cat pictures

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Monday Open Thread

I got nuthin'. But we needed a new thread. So here's a baby, laughing in slow-motion.



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Open Thread

Thank you to Holly for passing along these pictures.

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From the comments:

How much is the DFA scholarship worth?

I'm all for having an HEP scholarship for Jessica.

♥
listener | Homepage | 06.19.08 - 11:33 pm

If you'd like to contribute to a scholarship for Jessica, the details can be found here.


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Michelle Obama on The View

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Tuesday Open Thread

more cat pictures

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Al Gore endorses Barack Obama

From my inbox

Dear Renee,

A few hours from now I will step on stage in Detroit, Michigan to announce my support for Senator Barack Obama. From now through Election Day, I intend to do whatever I can to make sure he is elected President of the United States.

Over the next four years, we are going to face many difficult challenges -- including bringing our troops home from Iraq, fixing our economy, and solving the climate crisis. Barack Obama is clearly the candidate best able to solve these problems and bring change to America.

This moment and this election are too important to let pass without taking action.

That's why I am asking you to join me in showing your support by making a contribution to this campaign today:

https://donate.barackobama.com/gore

Over the past 18 months, Barack Obama has united a movement. He knows change does not come from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue or Capitol Hill. It begins when people stand up and take action.

With the help of millions of supporters like you, Barack Obama will bring the change we so desperately need in order to solve our country's most pressing problems.

If you've already contributed to this campaign, I ask that you consider making another contribution right now. If you haven't, please take the next step and own a piece of this campaign today:

https://donate.barackobama.com/gore

On the issues that matter most, Barack Obama is clearly the right choice to lead our nation.

We have a lot of work to do in the next few months to elect Barack Obama president, and it begins by making a contribution to this campaign today.

Thank you for joining me,

Al Gore

LIVE TONIGHT -- 8:30 p.m. EDT: Watch streaming video of Al Gore and Barack Obama at a rally in Detroit, Michigan:

http://www.BarackObama.com

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Happy Father's Day

At the end of our day of mini-vacation, Demetrius showing the kids how to skip stones.

That's my family there. They really do rock. :)

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