From the G20 summit. "Oh, good, the bigs are gone. Now we can get some real work done.
(h/t +David Futrelle)
Category: Personal
It's a scary world
There's only one solution. And I'm looking at you, +Kay Hill.
How to Make a Real Difference in This Scary World [Comic]
A fantastic comic by my pal Brian from Fowl Language showing the only true way we can make a lasting difference in this world in the long term. [Sour
Talkin' 'bout those Time Passages
+Lesley Jenkins muses on how he's become the Old Guy Next Door.
'As I stood there boggling at the face staring back from the mirror I realized that I had become Mr. Walker. The old fellow you occasionally see wandering from his car to his front door or vice versa. I wondered if the kids in the area looked at me the same way I used to look at Mr. Walker. What do I do in that apartment I rarely come out of except to go to work? I wondered if they’d be surprised to know I would be sitting down to play Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 for longer than I probably should that evening.'
http://stupidevilbastard.com/2015/11/i-had-a-perspective-shifting-experience-the-other-day/
Reminds me of the time I looked in the mirror and saw my Dad …
The Tale of the He's-at-Home
A fascinating short history of the he's-at-home, the dildos owned by the wives of Nantucket whalers while their husbands were on their multi-year voyages. It's interesting both as a bit of history, but also historicity, as the question of whether such things actually existed mixes into the discussion of privacy, loneliness, and the opacity of the past.
(h/t +Kee Hinckley)
There Once Was a Dildo in Nantucket
The following essay appears in issue 10 of The Common. On Nantucket, 80-year-old Connie Congdon and I sat in her dim living room looking at the 120-year-old plaster dildo that a mason had found in…
Updating "The Best Word Book Ever"
I didn't grow up with Richard Scarry, but Margie certainly did, so we had a number of his books around the house while Kay was growing up — including different editions of his Best Word Book Ever.
I noticed some of these changes at the time in comparison, and applauded them. Remarkably enough, I don't think there was any tremendous outrage over Scarry's updating, and by and large they are positive ones — though, to be fair, "beautiful screaming lady" is a bit more colorful and engaging than "cat in danger."
How Richard Scarry updated his children’s book to be more progressive and inclusive
Awesome.
Purrl's Mom Didn't Raise No Dummies
The Many Languages of Italy — or Italian-Americans
A lot of the people who immigrated to Italy came here before efforts to standardize Italian back home — from an era of (like Spain) multiple strong dialects that were difficult to understand one from another.
Those linguistic roots still survive in the areas of the US where those immigrants came long after they've largely faded out in Italy.
This is of some personal interest for me because it make me wonder about the Italian that was spoken around me when I was growing up. My mom's family came over in the 1900s-1910s, from the Venice area. Makes me wonder how "standard" their dialect was, and what sort of chat I heard that would sound antiquated in the ears of the people back in the homeland.
How Capicola Became Gabagool: The Italian New Jersey Accent, Explained
“Don’t eat gabagool, Grandma,” says Meadow Soprano on an early episode of The Sopranos, perhaps the most famous depiction of Jersey Italian culture in the…
Toy Talk (on Talking Toys)
Not so much of an issue for us these days — but I remember. Oh, Lord, do I remember. (And try to remember when buying gifts for other people's kids.)
Original: http://www.fowllanguagecomics.com/comic/irritating-toys/
Bonus panel: http://www.fowllanguagecomics.com/irritating-toys-bonus-panel/
On the Naming of Names (and memory constraints thereto)
I know names. I know faces. I just have a hell of a time connecting them.
Originally shared by +Jim McCloskey:
This is me. Pronouns are my friend.
On Driving Stick — for Now
I love the manual transmission in my Subaru Impreza. When I need to get up and go, or when I'm maneuvering in a mountain setting, it's lovely and comfortable and just how I want to drive. Even in suburbia, downshifting to use engine compression rather than breaking feels much more comfortable in control.
That said, driving stick in stop-and-go traffic is a huge pain, and it's dealing with it in snowy weather is less charming than in dry. And there's the additional hand that's needed — I don't text or Facebook while I drive (well, I really try not to), but even dealing with drive-thru food is less convenient / more dangerous if you're having to deal with the stick.
I'm not sure what I'll do when I replace the Impreza in a year or two. The semi-manual setting on our Outback, complete with shift paddles on the wheel, is fun to use in the mountains, too, and sometimes it's pretty nice not to deal with one more thing to do. I'll have to see how I feel about it at the time (and, as this article notes, what's available). I'd hate to give up the stick, but it may be time to acknowledge that it's a car technology that has come and gone.
Do You Drive Stick? Fans of Manual Transmission Can’t Let Go – WSJ
Fans can’t reverse trend, no matter how tightly they clutch manual transmissions
Cattus interruptus
What could be more fun than freeze-frames of cats shaking water off their heads?
Cats in slow-motion – in pictures
An explosion of fur and spit is caught on camera as cats shiver and shake in these unusual portraits
Sacred Sigmas
It's been many years, but I STILL REMEMBER
Truth.
The bonus panel (at http://www.fowllanguagecomics.com/baby-shower-bonus-panel/) is pretty darned hilarious, too.
Originally shared by +Doyce Testerman:
"And look: the whole thing comes together in five intricate folds, like some sort of goddamn origami chrysanthemum. That's fantastic!"
Baby Shower – Fowl Language Comics
Bonus Panel
Do home-schooled kids actually have to learn anything?
At least, anything beyond "Jesus is coming, so let's practice our hymns"?
Lucky for us, we get the Texas Supreme Court to make decision in the matter. Yikes.
Texas Case Mulls if Home-school Kids Have to Learn Something
A much-watched case headed to the Texas Supreme Court could have broad implications on the nation’s booming home-school ranks.
So Snoozy Together
This makes me feel much better
"I'm the Map, I'm the Map, I'm the –"
I linked to this video earlier (in connection to an unconnected story about a live-action Dora the Explorer movie being actually in the works. But it was so darned funny (for anyone who has had to sit through any of those cartoons) that I wanted to post it directly.
Enjoy.
Trailers and Spoilers and Movies (oh my!)
So +Les Jenkins had a moment of droll levity at my expense in posting the below cartoon — though I'd already posted my own squeeing at the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer.
I have to give them credit: I did not have a sense that the trailer actually spoiled anything, even as it tantalized with so many fun images and portentious snippets of dialog.
That said, I will probably avoid any further trailers released until the December opening of the film. I'm already hyped, and I don't want to know any more. (Well, I want to know more, but will wait for the movie.)
Of course, any spoilers that do come out from the next trailer are likely to show up, um, here on the Intertubes ("Did you see Chewie and Leia snogging!? Talk about steam heat!"), but that's the danger one lives with when you live on the edge like I do.
Cats, in a nutshell
Organ Grinding
Yes this never happens to me …
… more than once a night.
(Original: http://theawkwardyeti.com/comic/mornin/)
