LaurieWrites

Gustav

Update: I volunteered to edit the Animal Rescue page on Andy Carvin's Gustav wiki. Please e-mail me at laurie@lauriewrites.com or find me on Twitter at @lauriewrites with any news you see about the pets and animals left behind in Louisiana and Mississippi. Thanks.

Hurricane Gustav is shaping up to be a Category 5 storm.

First of all, please God may it spare New Orleans.

Second of all, lots of people are blogging about it, with preparation and preemptive relief efforts. Please visit them and find a way to help, if you can. Even if you don't think you can because you're far away or don't have the means, even writing about it is very, very important. If anything was learned from Katrina (and my ignorance at the time was great, but not so much in the years since) it's that silence is a fatal action in this case.

Katrina recovery was a major theme of the early part of the week at the DNC and I find the timing of the RNC quite apt. If the world pays more attention to this than that event in St. Paul, it'll be a good thing whether the storm hits or not. And if it does hit, the question must be asked of the administration that this candidate is trying valiantly to distance himself from: WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU GOING TO DO DIFFERENTLY THIS TIME? And of the candidate, I might ask: What in the hell would YOU do?

Here are some links:
Gustav Resource Center (via @waynesutton on Twitter.)

Excellent headlines and updates from @jazzychad on Twitter.

Official government weather updates on Twitter: @GustavAlerts

The type

The fact that I find this really entertaining means the transition to total font geek is complete, I think.

From Rhymes With Orange,via Typophile.

 

The most depressing day of the year.

Thank God that's over. How did you survive? I had no idea. I think I slept a lot. I can't remember.

I'm going to a very sunny island next January, I know that much. I'd like to stop freezing, any minute now. Seriously. Screw you, winter. I'm totally over you.

About to further complicate my Google searches.

I love links to fun, interesting, and occasionally inane things. This should be clear from the site in general but I'll just state it for the record. Ergo and hence, this is why when Kottke linked to a photograph that promised a view of "real time sex" I checked it out because, well, of course I'm a fan of slow exposure times. So to speak.

Know what? It's really cool. As consensual as it gets, and not at all creepy. There is some FREAKY shit on Flickr that I naively forget is there until someone asks to be one of my contacts and I check them out and I'm all "EWW, Yuck, ack, I do not want to see your wife's boobs, no, no thanks, got my own, I'll just look down and reconnect with them, thanks". And then I quickly hit the BACKBACKBACK button until I can find a nice sepia-toned shot of a pug dog or some cotton candy or some shit to cleanse the awfulness out of my brain.

But this picture is not freaky. This picture is interesting on so many levels. Metaphorical. Photographic. All the fun stuff. I do not enjoy the note left in the middle of it, because that? That was just unnecessary.

He got it from a site called the H Line, that is currently rocking a mildly amusing comic about Facebook at the top. Scroll down for the real-time picture and you're gifted with a few mp3s that'll make you at least SOUND cooler and more obscure than anyone at work. At least that's what I'm counting on, quester for obscurity that I currently am. Really, I'm not kidding. 

Thanks to Kottke also for hooking up to The year in pictures, specifically this post with a couple of the most fabulous shots I've seen in a long time.  Look at the photo of the wave underneath the surfing picture with "swell" printed on top of it. Love it. 

Silly, stupid CONSTITUTION

Who thought it up, anyway? Like, what has it got to do with anything, really?

Don't worry - Mike Huckabee's got it under control.

Saturday links

Sometimes I think our society is on the verge of complete collapse, and then sometimes I know it is. It's all here: "the rich history of Hell's Kitchen" (still the only place I've seen a person killed, but 8th Avenue restaurants and shopping are the shit), Empanada Mama, the Pay-o-Matic. I'll say it again: people are capital-K KRAZY.

Pitch his tents? What?  Stupid funny. This guy's a preacher, and he's tweaking, that's what he's doing. The comments are funny too. (Via Dooce.)

I love Kevin Smith, in that "I don't really love him but 'deeply admire' just sounds weird'" kind of way, and I like reading his blog. He's chattin' you up about all of his movies now. Fun. 

Speaking of love, I'm mildly obsessed with Lush bath bombs right now, especially this one. I went to the mall exactly once before Christmas and once after, and Lush has a new store that I got sucked into for a post-holiday sale. The freaky faux-handwriting and vibe of the store unnerved me, plus names like Bling Crosby  and Haagen Bath are offensive on principle. But still, sales on bath bombs (yes, bath bombs. Sorry.) will cause me to compromise them. The principles, that is. 

Is it morally bankrupt to admit that I want to be wealthy so I can have all of this, including a tower of 8-core power that I don't even need? I want it NOW.

Jerks selling way-overpriced tickets to the WAY-underpublicized Wilco show at the 9:30 Club. Thanks, 9:30 Club. Over at Craigslist, dude is trading his Nano for a ticket. 

Girlhacker is fun.

Patrick/Bad News Hughes does Christmas right, again. He's all growed up, though, so this one is a little more...sedate, if you will. 2005 makes me cry, as I laugh.  Seriously. Pick up his book. I'm on it for myself.   

Finally, in case you were walking around with that false sense of security today, silly silly you, a teenager in Poland who hasn't seen the light of day in a very, very long time hacked the public tram system. Don't worry. Only four trams were derailed.

25 days

I want to keep stuff like this in my heart this month. It's so nice when people do nice things. I am very inarticulate tonight and the most random my random self can be tonight, I think. I'm still a broken record of tiredness. It's so boring, I know. I just can't help it. It's like I can't put myself to sleep, I am just so incredibly riveting to myself. Oh how much more time can I possibly spend with myself, awake, riveted? Clearly hours and hours. 

Anyway, the person who came up with the 25 days project that I linked above is a girl named Laura, and she is 10 years old. Pretty cool. There are nice people all over the place, it seems. I saw one of my favorite people this weekend. Her name is Dolores and she is all of a sudden oh my God going to have a baby. She lives in Canada so I rarely see her, but she was home for a baby shower-type thing and quick visit, and it was just so great. She is one of the most truly nice and at the same time interesting people that I've ever met in my life. As I told a friend of mine on the phone on the way home, because of her and my grandma lunch, "Today reminded me of why I actually do love my life." That truth has gotten a little...ummmmmm....obscured, if you will (and again, I compulsively say, "Why wouldn't you????" I'm such an ass.) by the mountain of assignments I've somehow accumulated, along with a side order of neurosis about my spring schedule and the variety of usual other neurosis-inducing stimuli. Like walking. And talking. And thinking. Blast the thinking, most of all. Don't let's God bless it, everyone.

Wait. I all of a sudden want to use the word "verisimilitude", but I forget what it means. It just popped into my head. If it means something appropriate to this post I'm spilling out currently, I'm gonna be kind of pleased.

American Heritage sayeth:

1. The quality of appearing to be true or real. See Synonyms at truth.
2. Something that has the appearance of being true or real.

Holy. I just typed the word "truth". Neat. Hmm. I wonder how that happened? Maybe tomorrow I'll walk around saying, "Yes, there certainly is some verisimilitude to that." And people will punch me in the face.

Anyway, speaking of not punching anyone, especially me, really, because it's not nice, in the face, here's an advent calendar at Jen Stewart's place.Beliefnet has a nice one too, with audio files and lots of information if you're a spiritual seeker-type like I am.  The online calendar from the Episcopal Diocese of Washington is REALLY cool. Look at today's entry.

Intute's Arts & Humanities Blog has one I like, because it's not specifically religious if you're not into that sort of thing, but it has a nice focus on the world. And also it's British, so that elevates it, perhaps unfairly, for me.

Hence, I also dig the one from National Museums Liverpool. Very, very nice. Make sure you go to December 1st, especially if you could use a photo of a real live reindeer in your life. And who couldn't?

If this collection doesn't get me in the spirit, I really am beyond help.   

When pianos try to be guitars.

"Girls you've got to know
when it's time to turn the page.
When you're only wet
because of the rain." 

If you like Tori Amos you'll like the videos I linked above. And even if you don't, it's pretty cool to watch two pretty different renditions of the same song. (I like the second link the best.) I think I noted here at one point that I'd bought her box set a few months ago, and I never do that. I'm much more a cd/album girl who reluctantly downloads because I'm essentially a sucker for that which is on my desktop, and there they put it! They just put it right there, for me to buy. How nice of those thieves nice people.

By the way, speaking of which, could the little bitches who decided to remove The Office from iTunes please stand up and be recognized? I mean, really. So much joy for so many people? The networks deserve this strike (and how awesome to see Tina Fey and Seth Myers on the front page of Washingtonpost.com a couple of days ago.)

Okay, sorry, getting the chocolate of television in my music peanut butter there...sorry. I've been having a little trouble connecting to some of my music lately. It could just be the silly busy-ness, I don't know. Everything feels like a little bit more of a chore than it should. This is what usually has me leaving Delilah on the radio on the way home (or, COUGH, Kenny Chesney, who looked like a guy from my IT department at work on the CMAs last night. And by the way, SO OVER CARRIE UNDERWOOD. Who even USES the tired construction of "If you'd told me two years ago I'd be here tonight..." GAH! Stop it. Stop. Also, I love that she called country music a "format", as in "I am so proud to be in this format. That must mean she really feels it. Can you imagine Dolly Parton saying that? Or June Carter Cash? "AHM so PROUD to be in this here FORMAYAT." Whatever. Barf. Jesus take the wheel, indeed. Just steer her and her ilk somewhere else, far far away. Get her lessons from Jennifer Nettles or someone else who has real talent and heart for the gig. Corporate tools. And I wonder if they're legally required to thank American Idol in perpetuity when they win awards? That seemed really genuine.)

Oh dear. Attack of the parenthetical statement. Got all fired up about Carrie there. What was I saying? OH YES. I've been listening to Delilah prattle on pop-psychology style about her eight children and take calls from despondent listeners and listening to Kenny instead of something a bit more...inspiring in a good way, maybe? Today this madness ends. Girlyman tonight - two shows if I can manage to stay awake. Bruce Springsteen on Monday, which I'm promised will be awesome. Also, my mom is going and we're in the general admission section, which should be entertaining regardless.

Also, my friend Dawn Avery is performing a lot this month, including shows at the National Museum of the American Indian this weekend. The Washington Post wrote a very nice piece about her today, with a big picture, even. I'm very pleased, because sometimes the Style section's focus on local music is...umm, not there. If you're in the DC area, I recommend checking this event out, because  she is truly an inspiration (not a word I throw around by any means. Real ones are rare.) Also, it's free! And the Museum's Cafe is one of the best places to eat on the Mall. I'm serious. It's broken down by region, with food from different tribal traditions. And can you say "Any excuse to eat fry bread is a good one?"

On a totally different side of a very unusual coin, this article from Popmatters about "Britney as Trainwreck" is actually quite well-written. Thanks, Josh Timmerman.

"Even with Botox and other less-than-seamless cosmetic alternatives to aging gracefully, Britney’s always had a built-in shelf-life, short of miraculous, Madonna-esque image reinvention. From “Gimme More“’s already-notorious declaration that “it‘s Britney, bitch!” (e.g., “I‘m still here!”) to probable follow-up single “Piece of Me“’s acidic self-examination (“I’m Miss Bad Media Karma / another day, another drama”), Blackout is the sound of Britney realizing that maybe she wasn’t in on the joke all these years, after all, and consequently raging against the machine.

And maybe the machine wins."

The conclusion isn't that simple, and I'm with him. I'm kind of pulling for her myself.

By the way, you can still download the new Radiohead record, "In Rainbows" for whatever price you want to pay, even if that's free dollars and no cents.  Seriously. Are you broke? Radiohead cares about you. Genius move on their part, or maybe just nice.

Tuesday Links

This cracked me up.  This is my life. 

If you're interested in digital design of any kind, you need to check out layer tennis. And yes, human beings must compete at everything, even art. Another concept to ponder.

Oh for God's sake. Can I tell you how addicted I am to Subway? And now I'm eating fertilizer.

AW! Left-handed Toons!

Lolgrims, seriously. The only one that really got me was the "stealin your maize" option.   

Top 100 Mac Apps ever.  Geek out.

The 2007 Weblog Award finalists are up. I love these lists because I always find some cool new stuff to waste my time while I should be working read. And although Fark! is kicking our butt, vote for BlogHer for best online community while you're at it! We deserve it!

And finally, although I normally eschew iVillage, yes I do, they have a pretty good collection of recipes up for Thanksgiving already. I want to make some kind of roasted root vegetable dish - beets, carrots, etc... It's just the most fall kind of veggie option. However, I do not think a HALF A QUART OF CREAM is the best idea. 17 grams of fat a serving. This actually made me LOL. And I wonder what makes these Harvard Beets? The Food Network's home page has already gone holiday berserk too.

This year, I'm embracing it. I swear. Only 49 more days! Hohoho...yeah.

The Good With the Bad

This is my favorite article I've done this semester so far.

Normally I can't get my articles on the Sentinel Website because they charge for subscriptions, but I guess if they feature your stories it's there for all to see.

Issa is a very cool guy and I can't wait to meet him in person. So far I've only had phone interviews with him and checked out his artwork and documentary.

In other news, I am going to kill this boy in the coffee place with my poisonous x-ray vision. he is now singing hardcore punk a capella (his description, not mine) and recently introduced himself thusly:

"I have the most goyish last name of all time. Laura you’re going to be so disappointed. Yes I am related to the genocidal maniac, Sam Houston. I’m also related to an infamous Confederate pirate. He traveled all over he world sinking Union ships, and he didn’t listen when everyone said, “Dude the war’s over. The south lost.”