Everybody's Doing It

The latest blog fad seems to be the map of states you've travelled to, so here's mine.

create your own visited states map
or write about it on the open travel guide

There's also a map for countries visited, but mine would look pretty lame. i'd like to see coyote's map though.

Since he worked for a while as a truck driver, my brother has been to all of the lower 48. i have never been to Canada and my brother has. i'v been to Mexico, but my brother hasn't. i lived in Hawaii for two months, and Derrick is contemplating moving to Alaska.

Looking at my map i see there are some omissions in my travels that i need to rectify someday. i've always wanted to visit New England; never been there. i always wanted to see Graceland and i see that i've missed all the "border states except MO. And of course the frozen north. i'd love to go to Yellowstone someday.

Al Francken Update

Simple stories always become more complicated the more you think about them. Take the Al Francken chop block story i blogged about here. Fellow Munuvian Stephen Macklin had some pretty interesting questions concerning the vast disparity between CNN's coverage and the NY Post's, which quoted Francken's own words.

A couple of questions spring to mind. First if the NY Post/Al Franken version of the story is true, what the hell is CNN reporting and why? Second, if the CNN story is accurate is [this] the sort of self-aggrandizing lying BS we can expect when Franken hits the radio waves?

Then Dawn at Clareified (a respectable leftie, imho) pointed out yet another version posted by Eric at The Hamster.com. Eric makes the following points/allegations:

Point #1: The Heckler First Attacked People.

Point #2: Out of Control Attacker Then Presented Danger to Dean and Crowd.

Point #3: Franken Subdued the Attacker Only After He was Attacked.

Then, in contrast to Stephen Macklin's post, the Hamster takes a shot at the "conservative" media.

The conservative media will continue to spin this in the way they see fit: Nut-case Franken assaulted an innocent man without warrant. . . . However, as a complete account from people there showed, the conservative media left out crucial details of an affair in which Al helped security guards stop an angry assaulter who attacked others and further presented a danger to the people around him.

i have no idea which version is closest to the truth. Perhaps the reality is a mixture of all versions. As the standard California Jury Instruction number 2.21 warns jurors who are about to deliberate the facts of a lawsuit:

Failure of recollection is common. Innocent misrecollection is not uncommon.

And when a particular story involves a tabloid newspaper, a comedian who's also a lying liar, and a whacked out LaRouche supporter, i'm tempted to just throw up my hands and say: whatever.

Those Who Know

i just read that Ginger has taken the big step and told her bf about Candied Ginger.

There are trade-offs to letting people from the real world in on your blog. When i first started, i wanted to keep the whole thing a secret from everybody. i guess the theory was that i could write about my family, coworkers and friends openly, disclosing all their dirty little secrets and maybe feel better in the process. Also, if i wanted to do a post about mstbtn, i could do so without embarrassing myself too much.

As things evolved, i ended up not disclosing too many dirty secrets and to date i have yet to write anything about mstbtn (unless you count that one poem). In the meantime the secret squeaked out a bit. Now my close friends Betty, Franci, Lori and Steve all know about the blog. Franci has guest hosted and Lori comments every now and then. And i finally told my writer friend Danny from NY, from whom i kept it a secret when i visited him last summer.

My boyfriend does not know, and i don't plan to tell him. At least not unless we reach a much more serious stage than we're at now. As for my family, so far no one knows, which is the way i want it. i get so much material from my brother's shenanigans that i would hate to have to censor stories about him. My coworkers either don't know, or they have all secretly been reading for some time, due to the IS people monitoring my computer. i guess i won't find out until the day i'm reprimanded.

Tiger Needs A Hug

Tiger encouraged me to move off of Glogspot and also hinted at the wonders of this thing called pinging. So it seems only appropriate that i experiment with the heretofore unknown (to me) technology known as TrackBack by making a reference to my favorite Texas lawyer.

Tiger needs a hug.

Yeah, I am gonna contemplate my bloggin' efforts.

He writes.

If the most I can accomplish is pissin' off the people I am tryin' to compliment, then maybe I could make better use of my time.

Uh uh, sweetie. Don't even think about quitting. The 'sphere would not be the same without you! Remember the most wonderful thing about Tiggers?

New Weblog Showcase Vote

Thanks to Roxette i found this fantastic poetry blog called Ivy Is Here. i pretend to talk a little about poetry, but Ivy is the real deal. i am gratified to see that she is currently number one in this week's NWS voting. Ivy gets my vote and many future return visits.

Kerry Is Merry

Hey Kerry? Why the long face?

Francken Chop Blocks A Heckler

Comic, and big fat idiot, Al Francken took down a heckler at a Dean rally yesterday.

'I got down low and took his legs out,' said Franken afterwards.

What's the penalty for that, fifteen yards?

Wise-cracking funnyman Al Franken yesterday body-slammed a demonstrator to the ground after the man tried to shout down Gov. Howard Dean.

Francken says he did it because he believes in free speech.

'I'm neutral in this race but I'm for freedom of speech, which means people should be able to assemble and speak without being shouted down.'

Am i the only one who sees the irony in this? Al wants to protect freedom of speech by tackling someone who tries to exercise it.

Sorry If i Deleted Your E-mail

When i was away i still checked my e-mails on my cell phone. i noticed that i was getting emails with "hi :)" in the subject line. When i opened them, there was no message. After deleting, the same e-mail would reappear in about five minutes. After the first time, i just deleted without opening it. Eventually they stopped.

Now, i think it was that new e-mail worm, which tries to trick users into opening it by using an innocuous subject line. Luckily, since i was using my cell-phone, there was no way for the worm to infect anything.

Anyway, now i routinely delete e-mails with suspiciously non-specific subject lines without opening them. i've also told people that if they want to e-mail me, it's best to use my name in the subject line, since the bots don't know my name. Hopefully that will help.

Only A Test Post In A Gilded Cage

A Reflection Upon the Modern Style

Poetry that doesn't rhyme
Is laziness, a waste of time,
A blight upon the landscape that
Would be outlawed if I were King.

And poems that do not scan are worse;
How can they be described as verse?
They have no soul; their tone is flat;
They do not make one cry or sing.

This modern stuff I cannot stand.
It must be banished from the land,
While I lay out the welcome mat
For poetry with rhymes that ring

Down through these hallowed, ancient halls
And far on out beyond these walls,
To man and woman, dog and cat...
I'm out of words that end in ing.