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Month: April 2017

Stormy weather

I’m working on one of those blogosaurus posts that takes its own time lumbering into existence. Patience. Meanwhile, in a winter (yes, it’s still winter; I don’t care what the calendar says) of pure crap, we’re now hunkered down under high wind warnings, expecting an unprecedented storm. Or at least expected the strongest April storm in half a century. Possibly the strongest storm of the season. Usually by this time of the year the worst is over and all we face is three more months of boringly chilly drizzle before summer meanders in long about mid-July. Early this season a…

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Mary: Unfinished

“Mary: Unfinished.” Acrylic on Gessobord, 8×10″. The picture is unfinished. I still need to rework the dark side of her face. UPDATE 4/7: I’ve now corrected and finished the dark half of her face. But “Mary: Unfinished” is still the title. (Here’s the originally posted version for comparison. The new one is more correct; I find the earlier version more interesting, though.) My original concept was an impoverished, weary, disappointed Mary (yes, perhaps that Mary). The backstory is that a more prosperous, light-hearted friend has tried to cheer her up by loaning her a bright, beaded collar and letting her…

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Midweek links

  • This year is the 100th anniversary of Woodrow Wilson leading the U.S. into World War I. Jim Bovard notes the long chain of disasters that followed (and is following still). Did the war “make the world safe for democracy”?
  • What’s the best type of generator for you? Portable? Or stand-by type? The Family Handyman discusses the difference to help you choose. OTOH, you could always just convert your lawn mower into a generator. Or your bike. (H/T MJ) 2 Comments
  • Damn

    I wandered about town yesterday paying bills. Thanks to property taxes, doctor bills and such, I spent in one day more than double what I spent in March’s entire Month of Frugality. But thanks to a friendly conspiracy of blog readers and mysterious others, I’m still staying ahead on everything and even gathering money for summer’s icon-painting class. During my stop at the lumberyard (where I am a seasonal regular and where one of the managers is the great grandson of the incompetent drunken bootlegger and fugitive from federal “justice” who built my house), the guys informed me that Handyman…

    15 Comments

    Tuesday links

  • Will Obamacare really require Dominos Pizza franchises to post calorie counts for 34 million potential variations of pizza? Kevin D. Williamson examines the profit-killing absurdities.
  • Yet another court justifies yet another literally unwarranted shooting-by-cop. Hershel Smith turns up the outrage.
  • More on Tim Berners-Lee’s plan to re-create his monster creation, the worldwide web. He wants to return its power to the people. 5 Comments
  • Weekend links

  • Sloppy science. It wastes billions, produces non-reproduceable results, and sometimes kills people.
  • Well. Elio Motors may not yet actually have a product to sell. But this is still a pretty cool map of where their registration holders are.
  • Am I following this correctly? The DoJ drops two kiddie-porn charges rather than having classified material brought out in court. Said classified material already being publicly available thanks to WikiLeaks. 6 Comments