- I recently turned in a S.W.A.T article about hapless small business people who got entrapped into (allegedly and unknowingly) bribing officials of an Unnamed African Nation. They’re all facing ruin and prison time. So. Halliburton has now paid $250 million to Nigerian officials to get charges dropped against Dick Cheney. Okay, FBI, where are you when serious bribery is going down???
- The really sad thing is that the current article I’m working on for that ‘zine covers exactly the same sort of shakedown and payoff being committed by a corrupt government (but I repeat myself) right here in the U.S.
- Before we leave Africa: Bartering for medical care in post-inflation Zimbabwe. (NY Times subscription link)
- Back in the USSA (over it, anyhow): A total lunar eclipse. On the winter solstice. First such thing in nearly 400 years. Hope your viewing conditions are good. If not, no worries. You only have to wait 84 years for the next solstice eclipse.
- Your iPhone apps are watching you. (This one’s for you, S.)
- I don’t necessary agree with Damian Kulash. But the OK Go genius always has interesting things to say about how artists can survive and thrive in the digital world.
- Store owner squashes not one, not two, but three human vermin.
- Seventy-seven percent of Tea Party voters are just waiting for somebody to sell them the Brooklyn Bridge.
- Women of A Certain Age: You will surely get the truth of this one.
Holy puppy dogs. This amazing video Dave Duffy posted the other day just about made me cry for the beauty of it. Then, when I googled around for more on that glorious event, I found a much bigger, though by no means better rendition. Oh man, would you not have loved to be in one of those places at one of those moments? Maybe we’ll have our chance yet. Turns out it’s all part of a movement to bring random acts of culture out of theaters and museums and into public places. Wonderful thing.
Do any other guys get watery eyes when hearing “Hallelujah”? Am I a wuss? C’mon, help me out here!
Dan Perkins — Can’t speak for the guys (though I’m sure you’re not alone). But I’ll bet I can speak for a big bunch of the non-religious. The Hallelujah Chorus is glorious enough to bring tears to anyone’s eyes. Especially presented as in those videos.
Well,3@#%$ It’s supposed to be cloudy here, I think..I’ll miss the eclipse this time.
Off subject, but a cowrker claims I did something original..I don’t think I did. I call it Drawn Steel Cartoons-making pencil/ink drawings permanent on steel. It’s easy-someone’s had to do it before. Pick any flat piece of steel(or anthing smooth,flat,and paintable), prime it, paint it flat white(or a flat color), draw on the flat paint(I’ve used pencil and ink) seal it in with clearcoat. Sort of a cold enameling. Very easy,and inexpensive(two jobs ago, I made the occasional stage prop/sign, and that’s where I started doing this). The secret is to allow each coat to dry very thoroughly,and to use the same manufacturer for all the paints-or it may wrinkle up. Did I do something original?
I thought I was strange for having a small Cool Flashlight Collection..I want that one from Wicked Lasers-I have several “oldies” converted to LED(Wal-Mart has LED replacement bulbs that work from 3 to 6 volts)…More From The Land Of The Easily Amused..Where there’s always stuff to do.
And why would only “women of a certain age” get that one?
There is another answer that the author almost misses entirely: “I don’t think that’s any of your business.” Most of the time it isn’t.
That article on divorce certainly rang a bell in me. I was married for 17 years to an abusive louse who divorced me to marry his girlfriend of two years. Good riddance.
I was married a second time for exactly 5 months, until his unexpected death, to the love of my life. I’m glad he came along.
But for those who have asked, I usually just say that I had one bad one and one good one. That’s enough for me. I’ve been a more or less contented single now for nearly 25 years, and I’ll probably stay that way for the rest of my life unless something extraordinary happens.
I own my life, and find it completely satisfying and fulfilling just the way it is.
A Yess!! in Wendy’s direction….If a woman has raised a husband, maybe even kids, and finds herself without those demanding her attention 24/7: she’s blessed with the chance to make herself a priority….
It’s a wonderful feeling, too…..