1814 Don't mess with Texas

Earlier I blogged about rootkits and Sony, and recommended you check out sites that understand this better than I do, like Charles or EFF. Now Texas has sued Sony for violating its anti-spyware law. A number of states have these laws, but I don't think Ohio is one of them.

"Texas has become the first U.S. state to sue Sony over its distribution of flawed copy protection software, while representatives for the EFF, a digital rights watchdog group based in San Francisco, said the organization will bring a class-action lawsuit against Sony in California.

The Texas lawsuit accuses Sony of violating the state's 2005 antispyware law by distributing the software on 52 of the company's music titles this year."

1813 What's wrong with this picture?

Lucy Liu is sitting in a librarian's lap. Did the ad people think there are no male librarians who might have enjoyed a movie star smooch in the stacks? Did they think all male librarians are gay? (Many are, and they are proud of it, but many are not.)


And there are other problems with this picture. Look at that styrofoam cup on a stack of books. And Lucy's using a pile of books, on the floor, for her foot stool. Shame! Shame! Lucy's had implants and the poor librarian is flat chested. Lucy's got a cool dress and probably Manolo Blahnik shoes, and our librarian figure has a gray sweater, brown jeans and huge clunky shoes that look like they're for dancing at the tulip festival in Michigan. The condition of the shelves is a mess, all jumbled and out of order, despite the "Please ask for assistance" sign. The tile floors are looking pretty bad--like they used a real library for this shot and shelving seems to be at right angles. Lucy's wearing make-up and the librarian, well, looks like a librarian.

1812 Don't trust the Media!

Not even in a humor quiz like "Which New York Times Op-Ed Columnist" are you. Must be totally rigged. Although the number of questions that would allow a hint of support of the Bush administration and the war are miniscule, I still came out as:


You are Paul Krugman! You're a brilliant economist
with a knack for both making sense of the
current economic situation and exposing the
Bush administration's lies about it. You
somehow came out as the best anti-war writer on
the Op-Ed staff. Other economists hate your
guts for selling out to the liberals. To hell
with 'em.


Which New York Times Op-Ed Columnist Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

I've never read Paul Krugman, but of course, I'll accept the brilliant economist part, which I think came from selecting the quote "A fool and his money are soon parted." That's probably what got me rated as being anti-administration. They never saw a government program they didn't love and throw money at. When you check the other possible choices, you see indeed it is rigged. Only two conservatives, and they are both berated in the description. Why am I not surprised?

This has been around for 2 years, but I just came across it.

1811 Senior blogging on the increase

according to this article in the Rockford paper which Murray sent me. I'm glad to hear they're out there, because I haven't found very many, and I set the bar fairly low--age 50. I'm doing my part with seven, but I could use a little help.

"Bloggers say their hobby keeps them up on current events, lets them befriend strangers around the globe and gives them a voice in a society often deaf to the wisdom of the elderly." [Ain't that the truth!]

"Three percent of online U.S. seniors have created a blog and 17 percent have read someone else’s blog, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Compare that to online 18- to 29-year-olds: Thirteen percent have created blogs and 32 percent have read someone else’s blog, according to Pew." [A lot of those "created" blogs only have one or two entries.]

Most people I know still say "what's that," when I tell them I'm a blogger. Then when I explain they roll their eyes and tell me they simply don't have time to read blogs or write them, but they have time for golf or tennis or gardening or bridge or shopping or grandchildren. It has always been my theory that people make time for what they enjoy, and I enjoy writing. I don't enjoy publishing. The only senior bloggers I have met face to face are the ones I have taught myself.

Technorati tag: bloggers, seniors,

1810 You probably think I'm neglecting my blog

but in fact, I have blogged at my church blog about a Lutheran hymn site, where you can listen and read the lyrics. Some interesting stuff for a folk Christmas service. At our church people complain that they have to go to K-Mart to hear Christmas carols, because we sing Advent hymns. I wonder if they are allowed to say "Merry Christmas" at K-Mart.

Then I added two entries about wrap arounds at my sewing blog, one a jumper and one a skirt.

We had a funeral visitation today for a member of our small group from church (about 15 years). He had Alzheimer's, but really went rather quickly which is a blessing for him and his family, but still, his wife of 60 years feels bereft and abandoned. A very devoted couple. Fortunately, they had moved to their daughter's home in Colorado 3 months ago, so she won't have to go home to an empty house. He was a WWII veteran and taught in our local high school for 30 years.

1809 Merry Christmas WalMart, Kohl's, Target, etc.

It seems some consumers and conservative reporters are getting quite huffy that major department stores aren't using the word Christmas during their biggest profit period of the year. I'm not sure what to make of this. Wasn't it just a few years ago that we Christians were so concerned that we'd lost the true meaning of Christmas in all the advertising, glitter and shopping? Wasn't it just a century or two ago that many Christians absolutely refused to observe Christmas at all, especially in the United States because drunkenness, riotous behavior, and licentiousness had taken over the holiday?

I did a quick survey of my "Christmas" catalogs--just to see if we're being too hard on the larger retailers. What are the niche marketers doing?

Pottery Barn has lots of holiday items and words--sparkle, twinkle, greenery, glitter, mantels, motif, magic, stockings hung with care, garlands, wreaths, Santa, reindeer, lanterns and (whew!) Christmas monogrammable ornaments! Not once does it mention the actual occasion we're celebrating.

L.L. Bean is even more subtle--if it weren't for sprigs of evergreen and some red ribbons, I might miss it all together--but it does include mention of a non-specific holiday, and it does have "heirloom stockings" and "traditional wreaths" but there is not even a picture of a Christmas tree, let alone the word, Christmas.

Jerry's Artarama has a snowman on the cover and some pictures of poinsettias and holly on the inside, but other than that, it could be the summer catalog. Cheap Joe's has a man (Joe?) on the cover and p. 5 dragging a cut evergreen, the words "Holiday Greetings," and a Santa on p. 8 and that's it.

Norm Thompson has "holiday surprises" and "glitter balls" on the first two pages, and on the back an embroidered tree on a sweater, but otherwise, you'd have no clue this is a Christmas catalog only that it is for winter. Victoria's Secret sends 395,000,000 catalogues a year using up a lot of trees, but none of them come to my address, so I'm not sure what it has for holiday words.

So I looked in the paper. Blooms Direct is selling holiday plants; The Columbus Gay Men's Chorus is having a Holiday Concert; the Franklin Park Conservatory is having a Holiday Show; the Columbus Jazz Orchestra will perform "Home for the Holidays; the Easton Town Center will have a "Holiday Lighting"; and Christ United Methodist Church is having a "Holiday Bazaar!"

Thank goodness, Bill Gaither is coming to town with his "Homecoming Christmas Tour."

Technorati tag: Christmas,

1808 Impulse buying--sometimes you should

There's a really lovely used bookstore on Fifth Ave. in Grandview, Acorn Bookshop--wonderful staff, well maintained, good subject arrangement. About 10 years ago I was in browsing the animal books when I noticed an odd homemade book. Illustrations and articles had been removed from magazines and inserted into a heavy post-bound notebook, the kind merchants used to use for accounts. I pulled it off the shelf and was surprised to see beautiful illustrations of poultry--from Poultry Tribune, I think, a publication from Watt Publishing in my home town. The paper was good and the color hadn't faded. It wasn't anything I needed for the Vet Library, and I sure didn't need it, but it was so charming and interesting, I decided I'd think about it. I believe it was $7.00. It wasn't a real "book," so I'm sure the owners even debated about putting it out. Of course, it wasn't there when I came back. It was one of a kind, I'm sure. I think the illustrations may have been these, now available in calendar form and sets of prints.



Technorati tag: poultry, book stores

1806 Insomnia

I don’t have it, but like a lot of people my age, I certainly don’t enjoy a night’s rest like I did when I was younger. As many as 40% of people over 60 have sleep problems from mildly irritating like mine to severe, causing health and life-style problems. This may be the most common complaint I hear from friends and relatives.

My problems began in 1991 when I started getting up around 2 or 3 a.m. to check CNN on the Gulf War. Once my body had adjusted to that bad habit I moved on to watching Charlie Rose who had a talk show in the middle of the night on one of the networks. Now if I wake up at that time, I go to the living room couch, turn on Nick-at-Night and watch reruns from the 80s and 90s that I missed the first time around, or loved back then like Murphy Brown or Bill Cosby which I used to watch with my kids. If it’s a really good show I don’t want to miss, I fall right to sleep--if it’s one of those awful Roseanne things, I’m wide awake.

What you do if you wake up is important because you’re conditioning your body to expect it (it's called a habit). I sleep fine in the guest room, in a motel, at my relatives or on board a ship on the Danube River. My brain knows I can’t get up and turn on the TV. So if I wake up, I just go back to sleep.

Sleep hygiene is what you do during the time you’re not asleep. And it’s very important. Here’s a list from www.medscape.com. I don’t think the one about reading is such a good idea--if you are a reader, you may look forward to it and your body will suggest “book break” when it should be preparing for work. To this list, I'd add "don't nap," but I admit, I love little quick naps.

Avoid caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine;

Increase exposure to bright light during the day;

Perform regular exercise (preferably in the morning or early afternoon);

Avoid exposure to bright light during the night;

Avoid heavy meals within 2-3 hours of bedtime;

Avoid large amounts of fluids 2-3 hours before bedtime;

Allow for a comfortable sleep environment;

Minimize excessive noise, temperature, and light in the bedroom;

Allow time for social and physical stimulation during the day; and

Reduce time spent awake in bed, and if unable to initiate sleep, leave the bedroom and engage in relaxation activities, such as reading.

Technorati tags: insomnia

1805 Twelve year old critiques new Potter movie

Yesterday my daughter took the afternoon off work so she could take her girlfriend's kids to see the new Harry Potter movie. Her friend, Jennie, has been ill. But, as it turned out, Jennie felt well enough to go along, and so did her friend. . . and seven additional little friends of her kids. My daughter is a huge Harry Potter fan, and I suspect she was looking for a good excuse to see the movie with children.

"So, was it good?" I asked (I sat through about 10 minutes of the first one, but that's about it. I don't like fantasy.)

"I think the book is the best in the series, but the movie is the worst," she said. "The first 14 chapters are covered in about a minute, and they were too good to be left out. It's so complex that I'm sure it's difficut to translate it to film."

After the movie the three women took the nine children to "Old Bag of Nails" for dinner (I find this very hard to picture). She then had a discussion with the 12 year old who definitely gave it a thumbs down. She is a huge Harry Potter fan, knows every character and plot and detail, and was able to monopolize the dinner conversation with her critique of the movie, scene by scene, disappointment by disappointment.

So I went on-line and read a few very enthusiastic reviews, most thrilled that some boring details were left out. Then I checked Movie Mom, whom I trust, and she gave it an A-.

"As Harry gets older and the stories get more complex and intricate, hints of themes from earlier chapters becoming deeper and more resonant, the series is becoming one of the most reliably satisfying in modern movie history. And that's what magic feels like.

Parents should know that as in the books, Harry's adventures and reactions become more complex and his challenges become more dangerous, the series has moved from a PG rating (albeit one that was right up at the edge of a PG-13) to a full-on PG-13. The bad guys are scarier, both in looks and in the threat they pose. There is a great deal of intense peril and some scary monsters. An important character is killed and the movie, even more than the book, makes you feel how searing a loss that is.Characters use brief strong language ("bloody hell," "piss off") and there is some very mild adolescent romance (a crush, concerns about who is going to ask whom to the dance and the jealous consequences thereof)."

So obviously, this would have been way to scary for me. But my daughter loves this intense, scary stuff. And what could be more scary than taking 9 children to an adult restaurant on a Friday night?

Technorati tags: movies

1804 Trash or treasure?

In "Dear Abby's" column today, a very unsentimental reader asks how long are we expected to keep memorabilia? She had pitched all her baby albums and scrapbooks when she and her husband downsized--says she hadn't looked at them in 35 years. Now her mother (who obviously put all those albums together) is so angry, they aren't speaking.

So Abby (actually her daughter) notes it would have been nice to have offered other relatives those photos.

Maybe, but I think I know where mine will go. My kids aren't sentimental, and not only do I have our family's "stuff," I've rescued boxes of old photographs, family records, and glassware from relatives homes. When we moved here I gave my son his old Fischer Price toys. He sold them on e-Bay. I made them both their own photo albums from extras in 1975, and they are long gone.

So I've written this poem for our daughter, who is our Executor. Still, you can't control what other people do, and I know that, so I'll gradually sift, sort and give away. Maybe at our next downsizing.

To my daughter, about my treasures
August 29, 2005

I want you to have our paintings,
of flowers, children, boats and trees.
You’ll sit back and admire I know,
closing your eyes in a squint
to see the artist’s true intent.

I want you to have the books,
Bibles, histories, poetry and lit.
You’ll treat them well I know,
opening them from time to time
so their wisdom doesn’t go stale.

I want you to have the china,
silver, pottery, and goblets.
You’ll dine with them I know,
setting a lovely white linen table
as you continue the traditions.

I want you to have Aunt Martha’s quilts,
pieced and stitched by lantern light.
You’ll fold, touch and smooth I know,
positioning them on wooden racks
to display her detailed handiwork.

I want you to have the photographs,
albums from way back when.
You’ll wonder at your folks I know,
dancing and partying with their friends
when the whole world was young.

I want you to have Mom’s recipes,
sewing chest and maple suite.
You’ll puzzle where I know,
shifting and rearranging like I did
until they are welcomed in your home.

I want you to have our calico cat,
kitty toys, bowls and love.
You’ll feed, pet and groom I know,
holding her close at night
until she leaves to join us.

All the rest just haul away,
the auctioneer’s close, up the road.
You’ll get a good price I know,
banking the rest for a sunny day,
after you lock the door.

Technorati tag: memorabilia

1803 Getting ready for Thanksgiving

It's only Saturday, but it's time to start thinking about it. I'm going to move the 21 lb turkey into the garage refrigerator to thaw. We don't need two refrigerators for two people, but that side by side monster has been sitting there since we replaced it with a top freezer model. I need to find it a good home.

The dining room was dark faux orange (even the ceiling) and the window was draped when we moved here. Even now, it's a bit dark, but we love the view of trees, a creek and sometimes deer, not visible here--hence, no drapes, just plantation blinds.

Then I was browsing the Carnival of Recipes today and came across Shawn's recipe for Hummingbird Cake. I make pies for Thanksgiving, but this is also birthday week, so I'm leaning toward a cake. I'm always looking for something I can easily substitute Splenda for sugar, and this one looks pretty easy, plus it's got some healthy stuff, like crushed pineapple and mashed bananas, in it. Cream cheese frosting is a bit of a problem, however. So I went to the Splenda site and here's how you make powdered sugar substitute:

3/4 C Splenda
2 TBSP cornstarch
mix in a blender.
And that equals 1/2 Cup of powdered sugar.

Technorati tags: Thanksgiving
Splenda

1801 The most wonderful chair in the world

If I could've taken anything from my office when I locked it for the last time in 2000 (after walking around in the dark and saying good-bye to the prisoner made 1940s furniture, the musty stacks, and the cobbled-together equipment and computers), it would have been my Aeron Herman Miller chair.

In the spring of 1999 my arms below the elbow began to ache and my hands were tingling. I knew all about repetitive stress and also knew that my 1970s desk chair and my 1940s office metal desk were probably the incorrect height for heavy computer use. I thought maybe a new chair with adjustable arms and height would help. My line of command had recently been changed to the Health Sciences Library which had more pockets of special money than did my old reporting line, the Libraries, so my boss told me to go to an office furniture store and pick out a chair. After sitting in several, I thought the Aeron felt just about perfect, and I loved the design. I put it in the back of my van and went back to the office.

However much I enjoyed the chair and its support of my back and arms, the pain only increased. And it moved to my right shoulder. I finally went to the doctor who told me I had an injured rotator cuff, the clue being I could barely raise my right arm above my head without pain. For several months I went through physical therapy with all the OSU athletes. "How'd you get hurt?" they'd ask. "Lifting journals," I told them. The sports medicine doctor just shook his head at my lack of progress, and suggested surgery. That scared me, so I worked harder and eventually got back full range of motion.

But, I sure did enjoy that chair.

Technorati: rotator cuff, office furniture

1801 The Old School

Occasionally I drop in on the Davey family blog. They are Welsh evangelists in France. The adults are attending a special language school for foreigners, but their kids, Catrin and Gwilym, just attend a regular French school. Alan comments about this recently:

"The school culture is quite different here from in Britain. It is much more like school when I was a kid. For example teachers here do use the "You are no good and you'll never get anywhere" method of encouragement, children are hit by the teachers and the kids are encouraged to sort out their own problems of bullying etc."

And then he pauses to reflect that maybe things weren't so great in the good old days the way he remembered them.

1800 No one bowls alone in Cyberspace

Knitters are getting together at Knit Unto Others, a 2 week Knit Along for the charity of your choice. November 16th-30th, 2005; author wannabes like Hip Liz and Paula are furiously writing in the NaNoWriMo because in November they are suppose write a whole novel; all the smart and snappy ladies are hanging out together at the Cotillion where everyone is entitled to their opinion; Christian ladies group at Women4God; Bear Flag Leaguerounds up Californians and Ex-pats like me; Open Source Media has Blogjams; Homespun Bloggers features "Best of the week" and has radio broadcasts; the 96th Christian Carnival is up this week at Jordan's View; there's zest and spice at Carnival of the Recipes; and the photoblog and the audioblog people do their roundups, and it goes on and on and on. No one speaks or links alone in blogland.

1799 Complacency and Promiscuity

Apparently, teenagers are having oral and anal sex and SURPRISE! getting HIV and AIDS. Seems as though they too think that isn't "having sex" and constitutes abstinence. The media is full of this CDC report. I looked at yesterday's press release of the CDC and didn't see it--I'm sure it's there or maybe in an earlier report. But I did see that the rate of diagnosis has remained stable, that it is going down among blacks, but that half of all HIV diagnoses are among blacks. And guess what? Men are getting it from men and women are getting it from men. Seems to be a pattern here.

Call the teens silly and naive if you wish, but how could that be any sillier than entrusting your life and future health to a tiny piece of latex, expecting it to hold back virulent viruses and bacteria, and never fail or break?

1798 Cat abuse lands perp in the woods for a night

Judge Michael A. Cicconetti of Painesville, Ohio is known for his creative sentencing. Michelle M Murray has received a 15 day jail sentence for abandoning 35 mittens kittens in two parks. She has to spend the first night of her sentence in the woods without food or shelter (precautions have been taken for her safety, which is more than the kittens got). She also got a $3,200 restitution fine and can't own or care for animals for 3 years. I wish the courts were that tough on bad parents and in domestic abuse cases. Story is in today's Columbus Dispatch (no free on-line). If you Google this, you'll find a number of animal rights sites were watching this case, but in this judge's case, I don't think that made any difference. He sentenced someone who had called a policemen a "pig" to time inside a pig pen in public view.

If you kill a woman in Ohio while drunk, you'll only get 5 years (plus a few extra for a gun or abuse of a corpse) and no fine, and you'll probably get custody of the pit bull!

1797 The Ohio State vs. Michigan game tomorrow

The only time it is crazier is when the game is here. Last week Eric and my husband went to the OSU Northwestern game with 105,000 of their closest friends. Anyway, earlier this week I was writing about my husband learning to use some of our newer appliances, so I thought this joke I heard on 920 am this morning was pretty funny (and I paraphrase because I was driving and I'm just terrible at jokes).

The husband calls upstairs from the laundry room. "What should I do to wash a load of clothes?"

Wife responds: "Depends on what you're washing."

Husband: My "Go Michigan Beat Ohio State" T-shirt."

Wife responds: Use very hot water, a box of Tide, and four cups of bleach."

And be sure to read Mustang Mama's Go Bucks story.

1796 Put it on the opinion page

Yesterday a journalist in our local paper attempted to write a humor page about the various wizards you find in literature and movies, like Wizard of Oz, Harry Potter, Star Wars and Lord of the Rings (don't hold me to this, since I'm not a fantasy fan I probably have the titles wrong). The only part that got political in the entire not-so-funny piece was the Wizard of Oz with reference to "duping the good folk of Oz," "dimwitted country boy," Karl Rove "behind the curtain" and the "cowardly lion" Democrats. Ho, ho, hum. How funny. Does this man never read liberal blogs? That dumb country boy with strings attached to Rove behind the curtain has been done to death! No one laughs at these oh-so-tired jokes except the Michael Morons, and this guy's writing for a heavily Republican readership. So much for respecting your audience, huh? And your advertisers.

I think he'd had this idea burning a hole in his brain and really struggled to find other wizards so he could do a big spread and use the overworked Bush-is-dumb-and-controlled-by-Rove meme. Hose him down. Put him on the opinion page.

1795 Kissed by a trombonist

Trombone playing consists of three technical elements that must work together: blowing/buzzing of the lips (sound and flexibility), the slide (digital coordination) and the tongue (articulation and rhythm). From Online Trombone Journal

My husband says, you haven’t been kissed until you’ve been kissed by a trombone player. I’ll bet I’ve heard that line about 50 times in the last 47 years. I've been sick so long I haven't even had a hug in 3 weeks, let alone a kiss. But today I feel much better than yesterday, which was better than Wednesday, so we are planning on our Friday night date tonight.

And when my husband left this morning to lead the aerobics class (all female), I got a sanitary kiss on the back of my neck.

1794 Spending is out of control

under the Republicans. If you ever wondered why many Republicans don't consider George Bush a conservative, just read George Will's column of November 17.

Conservatives have won seven of 10 presidential elections, yet government waxes, with per-household federal spending more than $22,000 per year, the highest in inflation-adjusted terms since World War II. Federal spending -- including a 100 percent increase in education spending since 2001 -- has grown twice as fast under President Bush as under President Bill Clinton, 65 percent of it unrelated to national security

Read the "Grand Old Spenders." It's not a pretty picture.