this was a response to a post by ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
riotgeek, but I like it enough to put it here, too.
There's vocation and then there's avocation. Rather than thinking of avocation as a "hobby," I like the definition that describes it as a "calling." I think it's perfectly reasonable desire to want to have a job that uses skills that you enjoy and have a talent for. Yes, the world needs clerks and janitors, but having some form of creativity and personal expression in a job gives you motivation for pride in craftsmanship and a genuine joy in your field. As long as you're dedicating a lot of time and energy to something, you may as well enjoy it and know that it uses the parts of you that are the strongest and most vibrant.
riotgeek, but I like it enough to put it here, too.There's vocation and then there's avocation. Rather than thinking of avocation as a "hobby," I like the definition that describes it as a "calling." I think it's perfectly reasonable desire to want to have a job that uses skills that you enjoy and have a talent for. Yes, the world needs clerks and janitors, but having some form of creativity and personal expression in a job gives you motivation for pride in craftsmanship and a genuine joy in your field. As long as you're dedicating a lot of time and energy to something, you may as well enjoy it and know that it uses the parts of you that are the strongest and most vibrant.
My grandmother had a stroke last Sunday afternoon. Afterwards she's had mini-stroke aftershocks called "TIA"s [I keep thinking "thanks in advance"]. We left Laramie for Jackson, Minnesota that Monday, got to Columbus, Nebraska and then stopped at a auto place because the power steering had gone out on my mom's car. It was fixed at about 11 am on Tuesday and we got to the hospital in Jackson that afternoon.
Thursday Grandma was diagnosed with a bladder infection, which affected her health and mood significantly. Once her antibiotics started working and the infection started to retreat, she was more mentally and emotionally together.
The stroke/TIAs affected her vocabulary, so communication with her is an interesting experience. We can tell that she knows what she is talking about and is not confused about what she is saying or who any of us are. However, the words come out pretty jumbled sometimes, so it takes patience and time to decode what she is saying. Friday she started telling Mom (Diane) and my aunt Carolyn that they were good kids. Then she proceeded to tell stories about the times that her three daughters were troublesome. She started with the time that Marion, the oldest, climbed to the top of the windmill (she was two, Grandma was pregnant with Mom and Carolyn was still a baby) and an incident when the three of them ruined a 25 pound sack of sugar. We were all laughing in her room that morning after hearing those stories.
Grandma's condition varies based on the time of day and how tired she is. When my cousins and their children, Bennett and Cate, came down to visit on Saturday and Sunday morning, Grandma was in high spirits but pretty exhausted after our short visits in the hospital. She was especially happy to see Bennett and Cate. Bennett was especially kind and sweet, making sure to give Grandma several hugs and letting her know that he loves her. My uncle Roger let them pick flowers from his garden to give to her, and those flowers and some irises Roger cut earlier have brought her much joy. She has also enjoyed the cards people have sent, asking us to bring her magnifying glass so she could see them more clearly. We have also relayed all or your kind thoughts and wishes to her, and she is grateful and glad to hear of them.
Grandma has not felt like eating much. She is not refusing to eat, she just has trouble swallowing — saying that something is wrong with her innards that makes it painful to swallow and also makes her afraid of stomach upset. She tries to eat as much as she can, saying that the nurses are so nice and the food is good, but she can't eat as much as she is given.
My mom and aunt are sort of pessimists, so they have been certain several times that my Grandmother has said she wants to die and is trying to starve herself to death. I don't believe either is true. Grandma has said that she wishes that she had died quickly rather than having deteriorating health, but she is the type who just deals with what she is given with the resources that she has. While she was confused from the infection she was pretty pessimistic, but since then she has her same demeanor, mood, and sense of humor that has been her normal state as long as I've known her. My mom and aunt are very stressed out right now, though, and understandably so. I just wish they wouldn't stress themselves out more on top of this already tough situation.
Grandma has repeated many times that she has lived a long and wonderful life and that she feels especially lucky to have been able to know her great-grandchildren, Cate and Bennett. It moves me to tears (with a smile) when she says these things. Thursday evening Grandma asked me to find a poem to read to her. With Google's help we finally found the right quote. She told me it helped her when I read it to her. I think it's beautiful.
Look to this day!
For it is life, the very life of life,
In its brief course
Lie all the verities and realities of your existence
The bliss of growth
The glory of action
The splendor of beauty.
For yesterday is but a dream
And tomorrow is only a vision,
But today well lived makes every yesterday
A dream of happiness
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore, to this day!
Such is the salutation of the dawn.
— Kālidāsa, “Salutation to the Dawn”
Thursday Grandma was diagnosed with a bladder infection, which affected her health and mood significantly. Once her antibiotics started working and the infection started to retreat, she was more mentally and emotionally together.
The stroke/TIAs affected her vocabulary, so communication with her is an interesting experience. We can tell that she knows what she is talking about and is not confused about what she is saying or who any of us are. However, the words come out pretty jumbled sometimes, so it takes patience and time to decode what she is saying. Friday she started telling Mom (Diane) and my aunt Carolyn that they were good kids. Then she proceeded to tell stories about the times that her three daughters were troublesome. She started with the time that Marion, the oldest, climbed to the top of the windmill (she was two, Grandma was pregnant with Mom and Carolyn was still a baby) and an incident when the three of them ruined a 25 pound sack of sugar. We were all laughing in her room that morning after hearing those stories.
Grandma's condition varies based on the time of day and how tired she is. When my cousins and their children, Bennett and Cate, came down to visit on Saturday and Sunday morning, Grandma was in high spirits but pretty exhausted after our short visits in the hospital. She was especially happy to see Bennett and Cate. Bennett was especially kind and sweet, making sure to give Grandma several hugs and letting her know that he loves her. My uncle Roger let them pick flowers from his garden to give to her, and those flowers and some irises Roger cut earlier have brought her much joy. She has also enjoyed the cards people have sent, asking us to bring her magnifying glass so she could see them more clearly. We have also relayed all or your kind thoughts and wishes to her, and she is grateful and glad to hear of them.
Grandma has not felt like eating much. She is not refusing to eat, she just has trouble swallowing — saying that something is wrong with her innards that makes it painful to swallow and also makes her afraid of stomach upset. She tries to eat as much as she can, saying that the nurses are so nice and the food is good, but she can't eat as much as she is given.
My mom and aunt are sort of pessimists, so they have been certain several times that my Grandmother has said she wants to die and is trying to starve herself to death. I don't believe either is true. Grandma has said that she wishes that she had died quickly rather than having deteriorating health, but she is the type who just deals with what she is given with the resources that she has. While she was confused from the infection she was pretty pessimistic, but since then she has her same demeanor, mood, and sense of humor that has been her normal state as long as I've known her. My mom and aunt are very stressed out right now, though, and understandably so. I just wish they wouldn't stress themselves out more on top of this already tough situation.
Grandma has repeated many times that she has lived a long and wonderful life and that she feels especially lucky to have been able to know her great-grandchildren, Cate and Bennett. It moves me to tears (with a smile) when she says these things. Thursday evening Grandma asked me to find a poem to read to her. With Google's help we finally found the right quote. She told me it helped her when I read it to her. I think it's beautiful.
Look to this day!
For it is life, the very life of life,
In its brief course
Lie all the verities and realities of your existence
The bliss of growth
The glory of action
The splendor of beauty.
For yesterday is but a dream
And tomorrow is only a vision,
But today well lived makes every yesterday
A dream of happiness
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore, to this day!
Such is the salutation of the dawn.
— Kālidāsa, “Salutation to the Dawn”
[inspired by riotgeek, but a slightly different version of the same quiz from languagehat]
riotgeek, but a slightly different version of the same quiz from languagehat]| What American accent do you have? (Best version so far) Western Western is kind of neutral, but not quite since it's still possible to tell where you`re from. So you might not actually be from the West (but you probably are). If you really want to sound "neutral," learn how to say "stock" and "stalk" differently.
|
| Click Here to Take This Quiz Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests. |
“The central—and not very surprising—conclusion that emerges from the documentary and historical record is that the U.S. international and security policy, rooted in the structure of power in the domestic society, has as its primary goal the preservation of what we might call the ‘Fifth Freedom,’ understood crudely but with a fair degree of accuracy as the freedom to rob, to exploit and dominate, to undertake any course of action to ensure that existing privilege is protected and advanced.”
— The Culture of Terrorism, 1998 Noam Chomsky
[context: Four Freedoms, Fifth Freedom @ Wikipedia]
— The Culture of Terrorism, 1998 Noam Chomsky
[context: Four Freedoms, Fifth Freedom @ Wikipedia]
There are escalators in Wyoming.
Because I'm a nerd, I've decided to do a Wyoming escalator census. Watch for updates here.
Because I'm a nerd, I've decided to do a Wyoming escalator census. Watch for updates here.
"Wyoming exists, but it chooses to remain anonymous."
- Lord Kinbote, as part of this discussion: There are no Escalators in Wyoming. | MetaFilter
- Lord Kinbote, as part of this discussion: There are no Escalators in Wyoming. | MetaFilter
“I finally understand this movie. … [It’s] the kind of thing that Ed Wood would have directed if someone had handed him umpty-million dollars and not applied any direct adult supervision.”
~ W. H. Jamison, Jr.
[source: Amazon.com: W. H. Jamison, Jr.s review of Batman & Robin via George Clooney - Interview with George Clooney - Esquire]
Happy Easter! [yes, I'm posting early, but it's so you can read this first thing]
In honor of this fantastic (and even more improbable than Christmas in terms of miraculous events) holiday, I am planning on watching Jesus Christ Superstar followed by Shaun of the Dead. And maybe Star Wars (since it'shdgotham's tradition and I want to see the original trilogy a second time).
My family, in honor of Wyoming and Passover and not at all as a questionable bonus religious cannibalism ritual, is having leg of lamb for lunch. Mmmmmmm lamb.
In honor of this fantastic (and even more improbable than Christmas in terms of miraculous events) holiday, I am planning on watching Jesus Christ Superstar followed by Shaun of the Dead. And maybe Star Wars (since it's
hdgotham's tradition and I want to see the original trilogy a second time).My family, in honor of Wyoming and Passover and not at all as a questionable bonus religious cannibalism ritual, is having leg of lamb for lunch. Mmmmmmm lamb.
Amazon.com: Fresh Whole Rabbit
look at the "Customers Who Bought Items Like This Also Bought" as well as the customer images and reviews.
look at the "Customers Who Bought Items Like This Also Bought" as well as the customer images and reviews.
Orange juice and a nap always makes me feel better. That and Project Vote Smart has alleviated my biennial democratic depression. It's hard to be for or against candidates who are exactly the same. So I stayed home and did homework during the primary caucus, while humming "The Caucus Race" from Disney's Alice in Wonderland.
Because Laramie needs a party on wheels:
A Taste of Colombia Rolls Through New York’s Streets - New York Times
A Taste of Colombia Rolls Through New York’s Streets - New York Times
I have worked very hard on maintaining my youthful hope and innocence. With determination and effort one can slow the inevitable erosion. While cynicism and compromise are necessary for practical and philosophical reasons, being permanently stuck in those states is something that strikes me as terribly sad.
This makes the state of America especially heartbreaking. Things been screwed up in ways beyond what I ever imagined was possible — in both scale and diversity. Worse than that, massive objections to major, obvious, and preventable fuckups did not stop those in power from proceeding anyway. And I have used my hope and idealism as fuel to keep voting and conversing with others and voicing my opinion to those in power. It feels that this, too, has had all the impact of pissing in the sea.
I feel so incredibly powerless right now, especially politically, at a time when my vote is actually weighted due to an alignment of statistical improbability and timing. For the only time in my life, registered as a Democratic voter in Wyoming in a system that still uses caucuses and an Electoral College, my opinion on the Presidential election counts. Things are that close and all the things aligned precisely enough. And it's terrible. Because, while maybe the media and the candidates are listening for these few days, in the end the caucus is non-binding and so whatever I say can be ignored anyway. And in the winner-takes-all electoral system Wyoming is overwhelmingly Republican. Meaning that the one time my opinion makes a whit of difference in a Presidential election, it's just a suggestion and even crueler because that tantalizing idea of having my vote, for once, have equivalent value to someone's vote in Iowa or Florida or Ohio . . .
I want so much to believe that an individual has power in a vote, but that only works if lots of people take the time, thought, and effort to make their vote as well. It also depends on the system not being rigged and bizarrely complex.
I want so much to use this idealism and hope to make life better for more people than just me. Taking care of oneself is survival. Taking care of oneself and helping others do the same for themselves . . . creating something positive that goes beyond replacing what one has consumed . . . this is something I find great value in. I am so lucky to have what I have in my life, and I am so grateful and so sad because things are still hard and others don't have what I have been lucky enough to receive. And I think that government exists to serve the needs of its people, and being involved in politics will help it more effectively meet the needs of myself and others.
And every time since I have been able to vote that I have hoped and tried and participated
and cared
it breaks my heart again.
This makes the state of America especially heartbreaking. Things been screwed up in ways beyond what I ever imagined was possible — in both scale and diversity. Worse than that, massive objections to major, obvious, and preventable fuckups did not stop those in power from proceeding anyway. And I have used my hope and idealism as fuel to keep voting and conversing with others and voicing my opinion to those in power. It feels that this, too, has had all the impact of pissing in the sea.
I feel so incredibly powerless right now, especially politically, at a time when my vote is actually weighted due to an alignment of statistical improbability and timing. For the only time in my life, registered as a Democratic voter in Wyoming in a system that still uses caucuses and an Electoral College, my opinion on the Presidential election counts. Things are that close and all the things aligned precisely enough. And it's terrible. Because, while maybe the media and the candidates are listening for these few days, in the end the caucus is non-binding and so whatever I say can be ignored anyway. And in the winner-takes-all electoral system Wyoming is overwhelmingly Republican. Meaning that the one time my opinion makes a whit of difference in a Presidential election, it's just a suggestion and even crueler because that tantalizing idea of having my vote, for once, have equivalent value to someone's vote in Iowa or Florida or Ohio . . .
I want so much to believe that an individual has power in a vote, but that only works if lots of people take the time, thought, and effort to make their vote as well. It also depends on the system not being rigged and bizarrely complex.
I want so much to use this idealism and hope to make life better for more people than just me. Taking care of oneself is survival. Taking care of oneself and helping others do the same for themselves . . . creating something positive that goes beyond replacing what one has consumed . . . this is something I find great value in. I am so lucky to have what I have in my life, and I am so grateful and so sad because things are still hard and others don't have what I have been lucky enough to receive. And I think that government exists to serve the needs of its people, and being involved in politics will help it more effectively meet the needs of myself and others.
And every time since I have been able to vote that I have hoped and tried and participated
and cared
it breaks my heart again.
» ADHD and Memory Problems - Psych Central News
» ADHD Computer Program Improves Attention - Psych Central News
So I've added the Who Has The Biggest Brain? Facebook application (link to application page: Facebook | Who Has The Biggest Brain?).
I'm also considering getting a Nintendo DS or DS Lite so I can get BrainAge, Big Brain Academy, and/or other games that help increase working memory skills (and Mario Kart, because it's just fun).
» ADHD Computer Program Improves Attention - Psych Central News
So I've added the Who Has The Biggest Brain? Facebook application (link to application page: Facebook | Who Has The Biggest Brain?).
I'm also considering getting a Nintendo DS or DS Lite so I can get BrainAge, Big Brain Academy, and/or other games that help increase working memory skills (and Mario Kart, because it's just fun).
There was once a conjurer who boasted that he had become god-like. One god happened to overhear, and challenged him to a contest.
“Can you do this?” the god asked, scooping up a handful of dirt and making it into a bird. They watched the bird fly away.
“Sure,” said the conjure-man, and reached down for a handful of raw material.
“Hey,” said god. “Use your own dirt.”
[found: Making Light: “Fanfic”: force of nature]
I heard NPR talking about the plagiarism kerfuffle between Clinton and Obama. Oratory quality is now an issue. Huh. And I was kind of excited about the possibility of politicians and the media taking a closer look at things like health care and the economy. Evidently that discussion isn't going to happen this week.
NPR's coverage (really good coverage of plagiarism and political speeches in general):
NPR:
Democratic Candidates Have a War of Words
Overview with links to video of the speeches discussed (from the Times Online in the UK):
Hillary Clinton hits Barack Obama with plagiarism allegation - Times
Online
This editorial references other instances of "recycled" speech elements in political
speeches, as well as embedding YouTube clips of the "Just Words" passage:
US Elections - Times Online - WBLG: Words matter - but they're not
Obama's
Warning: Politics may induce slight nausea and disillusionment. My personal remedy is muppets:
Muppets - Mahna
Mahna
NPR's coverage (really good coverage of plagiarism and political speeches in general):
NPR:
Democratic Candidates Have a War of Words
Overview with links to video of the speeches discussed (from the Times Online in the UK):
Hillary Clinton hits Barack Obama with plagiarism allegation - Times
Online
This editorial references other instances of "recycled" speech elements in political
speeches, as well as embedding YouTube clips of the "Just Words" passage:
US Elections - Times Online - WBLG: Words matter - but they're not
Obama's
Warning: Politics may induce slight nausea and disillusionment. My personal remedy is muppets:
Muppets - Mahna
Mahna
“We all scratched our heads and glared threateningly at the machine for hours.”
~ John Charde
[source: Sending an S O S for a PC Exorcist - New York Times]
I'm a social software junkie. Or at least I'm all over the Web 2.0. In my spare time I'm an art student.
recently listened to:
- LA-di-DA di-di di-di-di-di-di-di-DA
- LA-di-DA di-di di-di-di-di-di-di-DA
- eerily silent
- eerily silent
- Disney marathon
- Disney marathon
- metadata geek
- metadata geek
- Judy Garland, Rufus Wainwright, and the NY Times
- Judy Garland, Rufus Wainwright, and the NY Times
SuprTags
archives
- June 2008
- May 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
- December 2005
- October 2005
- September 2005
- August 2005
- July 2005
- June 2005
- May 2005
- April 2005
- March 2005
- January 2005
sources
- (Subscribe to this page via RSS!)