LaurieWrites

Happy Hour

Or just a little bit past, anyway. I was at work entirely too late, but there is so much to do and it's easier to get it done when there's no one there! Anyway, I'm in the mood to post the weirdest websites that either got sent to me or I stumbled across this week.

It occurred to me today that at one point in my life there was no Internet, and now it seems inextricable from everything. There was no "virtual" world at all, once upon a time, and it seems to have happened so fast. It's totally flipping communication around in a hurricane that I don't think even the "experts" understand, and the new gadgets and programs are moving faster than I imagine anyone can keep track of. All in all though, it's fascinating, and I do love the odd website...So here goes.

I hate clowns

I think this is my favorite. I'm not fond of clowns. I'm just not. But apparently there are legions of other people who hate them a lot more than I do. I was also shocked to note that there are others whose clown phobia relates partially to the freaky clown on that episode of "Little House and the Prairie" many years ago. And I thought it was just me! Don't ask. Suffice to say that that sneaky Albert (who could trust Patrick Laborteaux, anyway? As a "Little House" book purist, I KNEW an invented cousin couldn't be up to any good. And then there was that sordid drug addiction incident with the morphine. On the PRAIRIE. Right....) Anyway, right...yes. Albert. SUFFICE to say, that he couldn't be trusted not to leave his innocent girlfriend Sylvia where that nasty clown could get at her. Rotten CLOWN. : ) What was Michael Landon thinking, anyway? What kind of sick Pa would write a storyline like that on a show little kids salivated over?

I don't know if there's a website for people scarred by the Medieval Mercenary Militia yet, but that might be worth looking into. I had a real problem with them too. ; )

43 Things

This is the other site someone sent me, and I'm not sure what it's all about yet. It's allegedly a place for people to track their goals...a "what are 43 things I want to do before I die?" kind of thing. I checked out the site and it is indeed a collection of lists of ideas and hopes and dreams. People are identified by city. You can feel a little bit smug if you're from Seattle, home of 261 goal-oriented souls, or shamed by being from my spot, the D.C. area, where only 33 people appear to have 43 goals worth stating. Then again, this is an amazon.com project, and since Seattle's the home of the used-to-be-just-books-now-you-can-buy-a-lawnmower-and-list-your-goals behemoth, there's an advantage there.

I don't know whether to be depressed that people need to post these on a website or excited that so many people are down with spilling their guts and goals on the web. Maybe I'm a little bit of both. I'm usually a little bit of both about most things.

A bunch of people want to learn computer programs that I don't recognize the names of, and 1007 people want to write a book. Two brave souls want to visit all of the Paris locations from the film "Amelie"!

Apparently this is all part of some new (probably just new to me...) thing called "tagging", which seems to be fancy computer-speak for labeling. It's all very abstract to me still, and it's probably way more complicated than my overworked mind can handle, or extremely simple and I'm just overthinking it. Maybe I'm just too fried from the Pope-a-palooza and the onset of the pollen season.

Blogs. Tags. 43 things. What hath we wrought?

Popeable?

The "Pope-Watch" continues.

http://psychcentral.com/wiki/Papabile

I'm back to avoiding the television news, as the ridiculous "royal wedding" coverage sent me screaming back to a marathon of "Town Haul" on the ironically named "The Learning Channel" this weekend. I couldn't help it. I apparently needed a good cleansing cry. And who better to cry with than the good people of the city of Laurens, South Carolina? I sobbed as they got their playground, then as the little boy managed the construction of the amphitheatre, and as they built a club for teenagers and a farmer's market! So neat and tidy and all in an hour!

It was too much. Moral of the story: NEVER punch "55" into the cable remote keypad! Stay away from TLC. 55 is a BAD NUMBER! Sure, an innocuous hour of "Town Haul" is harmless on the surface. What could be wrong with rejuvenating a town that needs and surely deserves an infusion of energy and style, especially if it comes along with the perky Genevieve Gorder and a hunky new general contractor? Nada.

However, as my rear end settles deeper into the couch, and the neurotic tears flow more freely along with those of the townspeople - I mean, even the DESIGNER and aforementioned contractor sob on this show - the marketing gurus pull out the big guns. The previews air for the NEW Trading Spaces. Yes, they have canned former host Paige Davis, she of the teensy t-shirts, perky hairdo, televised wedding, and strongarming with a smile. I decide that I need to check this out. I NEED to watch these brand new homeowners tell their special stories, without Paige goggling at t them, her eyes popping out of her head while she laughs her braying laugh that just seems wrong coming out of her size-2 frame. Yes, this is good. Watching just once won't hurt. Just once. Honest...just...once.

A few hours later, on the other side of the Town Haul marathon and knee-deep in this new Trading Spaces, I'm slack-jawed and immobile, drunk on design...high on home decorating. I live in an apartment with beige walls. I have no other excuse.

Another evening, gone. Poof. Damn TLC!

Anyway. It took my mind off the news, and the parade of death that has occupied the television for a couple of months now. I just love that every major event brings with it new lingo.

The word of the week: "Papabile", translated in English to "popeable". And I know this because some "Vaticanologist" told me so. Who in the world invented this term? I went to Catholic school in the 70s and 80s. We held our felt butterfly banners aloft and walked up the aisle on Christmas Eve singing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus! We knew from our our post-Vatican II catechism, which my dad and grandparents viewed as "church-lite", since times had changed. We watched on the grainy library television when the first John Paul bid adieu, and the second took the post that was - really - his all along. But never, never in any of those years did ANYONE ever say "Vaticanologist." What's next, "Pope-gate"? Or will we refer to the new Holy Father as the "Catholic Homeland Security Czar"?

As Alice said in Wonderland: this is getting "curiouser and curiouser".

In spite of all of this, or maybe because we sorely needed it, spring is here. This kind of weather is everything good (she says because she does not have allergies...Sorry.) and it makes me wonder why it isn't always like this! The vast majority of us are decent, hardworking people. Don't we deserve eternal springtime? And don't give me all that stuff about how we appreciate it more because we suffered through the cold. Yes, I have a vague understanding of the solstice, and how it all knits together, and know on some level that we need the changing seasons. Yes, yes. However, allow me to introduce the concept of eternal springtime as an idea whose time has definitely come. After this winter, I don't even think I'll mind a DC summer. Just remind me in August that I said that.

What is this, this...blog?

Okay, so I am taking the leap here on typepad. I'm overwhelmed with the number and variety of blogs on the Web currently, but after I attended a workshop last weekend on the subject, I'm curious. I've had a spot on blogger for a while, but I'm told this is a good program.

I have no idea of where this will end up, but I'll give it a shot. The upside is that it will tear me away from the endless news coverage of famous dead and dying people that I seem to be getting sucked into more than I ought lately. And where did this Charles and Camilla business come from? Save me. Let's hope that whatever horrors the next three years hold in the White House, that a Bush twin wedding is not one of them.

I love music, writing, film, photography, art, education, politics (not insufferably so - I'm just hyperaware these days), travel and pretty much anything related to print and electronic media. I read like crazy. The upside is that I'm rarely at a loss for words. My friends would probably tell you that the downside is that I get so excited about articles and essays that I read that I'm bound to send them all along to them. I'm hoping to collect some thoughts and things I love here, and maybe someone will stumble upon them and be none the worse for wear after clicking away.