Author Archives: Murphy
2002/04/25 – 2010/2/2
That’s kind of a lot of TWOs–two thousand ten two two. Maybe we are saying twenty ten now.
February Second, twenty ten. That is almost eight years after I started this blog. I just realized that means I’ve only been working on my book, The Russian American School of Tomorrow for seven years. I was beginning to feel like it was more than a hundred already.
But let me begin again:
Friends! Readers! Spammenters! Lend me your eyes!
Welcome to February. What will this month portend? I’m looking forward to it. Last weekend, before february started, Chris cleaned the garage by putting up shelving around the edges. He threw out a lot of things, and things are accessible now.
In every relationship, it is always the other person’s things that take up all the space. He immediately pointed out to me all the stuff I had that should be discarded. Fine. There were several boxes of clothes.
CLOTHES! an archeological TELL of clothing. A dress I sewed for myself as a teenager. I LOVED that blue dress. Needs a little hemming, but I can wear it again.
My high school graduation dress! that confection I designed at age 17 to fulfill all the stifled formals I had missed by not attending a regular school.
It still fits, but only because … I was a slender yet voluptious teenager. I was drop-dead gorgeous, yet convinced I was very ugly. Seventeen magazine told me that models (the standard of beauty for everyone, don’t you know?) were 5’9 and weighed 115 pounds. I didn’t eat for a week and got down to 150, a weight I shall never see again. Ah…Isn’t it a shame that youth is wasted on the young? Anyway, when my mother was sewing the bodice of this dress, she refused to fit it. She said it was immodest, and my shape was hidden under a baggy bodice.
I’ve gained 20+ pounds in the intervening 20 years, and some inches on my waist. But the bodice still zips up.
I will have to post a picture for you all.
new trends in spam
So, I haven’t written in a while. Sorry folks. I had some thoughts to share about my daughter’s just-past first birthday, so I came here ready to post.
First, I stopped in the comments folder. Mostly it is spam, but I live for the responses from real reader. In the spam file, the first comment I found was this one, from a Carol Miller:
Please don’t take this the wrong way. I think your overall ideas are fine but you might want to put a little more thought into your next posts. I say this becuase it seems like your writing style has gone downhill a bit as opposed to your previous posts. – C.
Really, Carol? I wonder what she means. This comment is in response to this post. You don’t need to follow the link. It’s a video of Veronica scooting.
On further examination, Carol’s comment included a website link.
So, the spammer are now using insults to capture our attention. Perhaps we are low-self-esteem, needy webbloggers and will respond more readily to criticism.
Here’s another spam-sult:
Really? Don’t misunderstand what I’m saying, I’m in agreement with you partially, but when you say something like this you actually have to be prepared to back it up.
Not all spammers are following this new trend. Here is an old-style compliment-spam from Walter T., purveyer of gardening tools:
Easily, the post is really the freshest on this laudable topic. I harmonize with your conclusions and will thirstily look forward to your incoming updates. Just saying thanks will not just be adequate, for the fantasti c lucidity in your writing. I will directly grab your rss feed to stay abreast of any updates. De lightful work and much success in your business efforts!
I am tempted to buy some of his tools, just because the man knows how to construct some flattery.
you try and you try–but there are somethings you can’t affect
Haiti’s dilemma makes me so sad I can barely think about it. Just one little flicker of picturing the horror of being trapped under a building because of something that was entirely not your fault and knowing you are going to die…aaahhhhhhhhhhhg…think of something else quick.
Lots of peole are texting YELE for the Wyclef charity fund, and I think that’s great. I am telling myself I will donate after a little bit, when the rest of everybody has moved on but Haiti is still in rubble.
Thing is, Haiti doesn’t have a lot of quakes. They have hurricanes. They build their houses like the 3rd little pig, out of bricks, so that they would withstand the huff and the puff.
Here in california, we have quakes, so we build 2nd little pig style, out of sticks..Wood flexes and doesn’t fall down. And let me remind all my readers, as others have been repeating, be ready for catastrophe. Get the spare water and get the food and medicine emergency kit. Okay? Cause you never know. Be prepared!
Except Haiti had been sort of trying to be prepared. THey were prepared for the likely even, a hurricane. THey were not prepared for the unlikely event.
And that makes me know that we are all very exposed to disaster. Some things you cannot see coming. THere is no such thing as being prepared enough.
I guess that is why it’s good to know how to pray. To keep your hand in, as it were, on the prayer hotline. Because when you can’t do anything, you can still pray.
Let’s pray for Haiti, and stay humble.
2010
welcome to the next year…the next decade…the next whatever.
I haven’t written in a long time. i’m kind of tired. There is a lot to do.
I have a certain amount of trepidation for this upcoming year. I am stonger than I was last year, thanks to the character bootcamp that is motherhood.
I just i’ll just have to pull up my boots and march on. I have a lot I want to do.
Holiday Pie for you
Fresh and hot from my kitchen to you
Merry Christmas
Christmas should always include toys
nice echo
Every morning I go to headquarters to check the equipment for the uppitymucks. I have a well-tread path, and part of it takes me through the stairwell. Since I am there so early, I feel pretty confident that I am all alone. So I sing in the stairwell.
Right now Christmas Carols work. Other times I’ll sing Sinatra songs (the influence of my husband) or Danny Boy or some other such. The echo is really lovely. I wouldn’t really mind other people hearing me sing, but perhaps not everyone who is trudging to their cube wants to hear about how Danny Boy is being called by the pipes.
Now that the internet has moved away from me, this blog reminds me of that stairwell. It’s pretty unlikely that anyone hears what I am saying. In a way, it’s a nice thing. I can say whatever I want.
domestic imperialism
Jedidiah Purdy came to my attention because he wrote some amazing book or other and he was homeschooled.
I googled him further and discovered this article
In nearly impenetrable language, he discusses the ideals behind imperialism. To be reductive, he says that imperialist action is based on the idea that one party knows better than another. He divides imperialism into two camps, weak and strong. Strong imperialism says “We know better than you and are going to place ourselves in a position to make decisions for you.” Weak imperialism is a sort of emancipatory imperialism, saying, “You, the people, are under the power of other people who are not allowing you to make your own decisions. We will overpower those who have overpowered you to restore your self-determination.”
Weak imperialism contains a contradiction, because an outside party is deciding what the so-called oppressed people need. However, it is arguably a necessary thing to help the helpless on occasion.
Why do I bring up imperialism right now? Because the democrats in the united states congress have taken it upon themselves to decide for its citizenry what we need. There is not popular support for this Health Care bill, but they have come to the conclusion that they know better than their constituents.
That is just the current manifestation. What will this very deeply private health care bill further decide for Americans?
hard life lessons
LOVE
It’s a hard lesson. Just because you love someone, it doesn’t mean they feel the same way about you.
You have to read their body language, and not just what you want to see.
WORK
computers will often behave in ways you don’t want them to. But you keep coming back.
..even when you thought you were done…