August 2005 – Page 11

Writer In The Making

Ethan just wrote his first short story, as follows. Verbatim.

ETHAN AND THE GOOD KAT
“YO, KAT. I LOVE YOU.”
“I LOVE YOU TOO”

And for the record, Ethan explained to me that he knows cat is spelled with a C. He was taking artistic license with character names.

He reads it out loud to me and giggles his little butt off. That, my friends, is awesomeness I had to share.

Wet Cats

If you liked the pictures of flying cats, you might like this too.

Caption This

For the uninitiated, yes, those are knitting needles.

via And She Knits Too

What I’ve Been Doing

There was a point at which I made a considerable supplemental income playing touch-screen bar games. The winnings were often about $200 a month with a $20 expenditure.

Which really makes me wish I could make money playing this (unfortunately requires IE).

Even More Weekend Reads

Language Log: The Thug and the Slut

Someone should investigate the ways in which the grammar/semantics distiction is personified. Grammar is often cast as a fussy schoolteacher (a schoolmarm, in particular: Miss Fidditch) or some other kind of authority figure, a legislator or judge or priest (almost surely male). But grammar can also be seen as empty form, which on its own produces mere chatter without substance — a female stereotype. Meaning, in contrast, is configured either as substantial and significant (so: agentive and male) or as “natural”, even earthy (so: passive and female). You can get pretty much any assignment of the sexes to the two actors, Grammar and Meaning. (Though the fact that grammar almost always gets mentioned first, as in the passage from Long, suggests that it’s more likely to be personified as male.)

The thug-and-slut story is, I guess, a version of the male authority figure (wielding the authority of the streets) vs. the passive, pliant female. But it’s still loopy.

I Have To Post This

Welcome to my hometown:

Get over what happened long ago

On Purdue renaming Butz Auditorium (J&C, July 30): It’s about time the black community gets over it. Earl Butz has contributed to Purdue University in more ways than most alumni. What a shame to take his name from a lecture hall named for him. I don’t hear any complaints from the black community when Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson make remarks about white people. I think it is time for blacks to forget about things that happened 30 years ago or longer and just try to get along with everyone.

Jon Sexson
Lafayette

In regards to the new Butz Auditorium to be named on campus (no puns please) and the contributor whose funds go to the production of this project. Not only was Butz a patent racist, but he was also convicted of tax evasion and only served thirty days of a five year sentence.

Another Reason to Blog

Screw the notion that blogging is dangerous. If anything I think it makes us more honest.

Neither she or the evil landlord is a blogger. But a wee voice tells me, had they both been bloggers, there’s no way he would’ve done what he did.

Because he’d know other bloggers like you and me would be over him like a rash, telling everybody about what a scumbag he is. And so the next time you searched his name on Google, the front page would be splattered with his scumbag act, his reputation in tatters, and his ability to conduct business damaged forever.

Having a valuable online reputation keeps you honest. Because if you do something squirly, you will pay dearly, and you will pay fast.

And of course, the more this becomes self-evident to me, the harder I find it doing business with non-bloggers. An increasingly essential trust mechanism seems strangely absent.

One thing about being a blogger is that part of your goal is to build and maintain credibility within a public set. Arguments that can go public are more likely to be resolved in a calm manner, saving the vitriol for a more private venue. Those that choose not to be reasonable have potential threat on their heads. When you have a modicum of publicity, your integrity is on the line. If you don’t believe me, check the addendum on the cited post.

via Chaos Theory

Friday Poetry

Every once in awhile it is a blogger’s duty to play with the Commander Taco Poem Generator. This poem was generated from Jill’s post on advertising and ass cream, and edited slightly to take out some pesky HTML:

Nubbin

Ethan plays with his Legos, having constructed a propeller-based police vehicle thing with a little person standing majestically on top, holding a sword and looking generally menacing. As usual, Ethan detailed what each Lego was meant to be, its purpose on the vehicle, and how much it cost the police officer.

“This piece cost one thousand dollars,” Ethan says, holding up a translucent red brick. He holds up another. “This one will save the world.”

“Wow,” I said. “That must have cost him a lot of money.”

“Mom, this police officer is a girl.”

Month: August 2005