Hosted by Frosty. Happy Birthday! And Merry Christmas, to those of you who celebrate.
Daily Dose of Cute
Video Description: Dudley plays tag in the snow with Iain at the dog park, earlier this week. Set to Yann Tiersen's "La Boulange."
Since I can't yet access any recent pix of the furry residents, below are some classic shots from DDOC's past, in ascending age order:
Dudley
Sophie
Olivia
Matilda
Madwoman At Play Call-In Show
Hey there, Shakers -- Tonight (12/24/10) at 5 pm Pacific, I'm doing my first-ever live call-in show at my tri-weekly Ustream offering, Madwoman At Play. If you're wondering what to do with yourself tonight, tune in at www.madwomanatplay.com or my ustream channel.
(A note re: transcription/captioning for MWaP -- I've been trying for the last six months to figure out how to easefully close-caption or transcribe these shows without success -- despite hours of training attempts, Dragon Naturally Speaking seems to hate my vocalizations, and the task of hand-transcribing 90 minutes of shows/week is beyond my typing skills and time-constraints right now. If anyone has a suggestion or tech-fu to help me make this happen, please leave them in comments! Until I get this problem licked, my apologies to those who can't access the show.)
"Happy Solstice/Christmas/2010-Is-Almost-Freaking-Over-Finally!" They Said
Yesterday, a package arrived at my door.
I went to the door, and I dragged in the box, and I sat on my couch in front of it, and I cried, overwhelmed with joy and gratitude and surprise and relief and a rush of affection for my friends and colleagues—Scott Madin, Spudsy, Deeky, Misty, Portly Dyke, Space Cowboy, Eastsidekate, SKM, CaitieCat, Elle, and Mustang Bobby—who had bought me a new computer after my old one imploded.
Deeky, knowing me well, texted to tell me I had to accept it. "Happy Festivus!" came the message from Misty. She, I would find out, like several others, had been tracking the package all day, eagerly awaiting its arrival. Spudsy called, and then Space Cowboy. I thanked them, and everyone else, for the lovely gift, in the typically awkward manner of someone who isn't certain they deserve such kindness and generosity, and they forgave my awkwardness yet again, as they are kind to do on a regular basis.
Naturally, it is, by extension, a gift to Shakesville, too—and I hope you will thank them as well.
It is a gift for community, because of community, and of community. It is a teaspoon, and it is tangible evidence that, despite what cynics may say, what happens on this series of tubes we call the internets can be real and valuable and wonderful.
To Scott, who conceived the plan, and to Spudsy, Deeks, Misty, Portly, Space Cowboy, Kate, SKM, Cait, Elle, and Mustang Bobby, who helped him realize it, once again: Thank you so, so much. You are truly the family that everyone should be lucky enough to have.
P.S. The cats also say thank you for the new box.
[Video Description: Footage of Matilda, Olivia, and Sophie investigating, rubbing, hopping on and off and into and out of the box in which the CPU arrived.]
Just Like Jesus Would Bake
Last weekend, as a holiday gift, one of our friends invited us over to decorate cookies. The results were predictable:
[westsidebecca proudly displays the gayest. cookie. ever.]
Happy December, everyone.
See the rest of the photo documentation here.
The NQDTR Discussion Thread - F101224
Hiya, Shakers, time for another Discussion Thread for the Not Quite Daily Teaspoon Report!
This is the thread in which you may offer congratulations or admiration for a teaspoon or teaspooner. If you're posting with just congrats or admiration, though, do take a moment and check the thread to see whether other people have said so a number of times already. Remember that no one is required to read here just because they posted over there, so there's no guarantee you'll get a response to a given comment.
The Not Quite Daily Teaspoon Report - F101224
Well past time for another Teaspoon Report, I think, no? Today's My-What-A-Big-Teaspoon-You-Have Report is brought to you in honour of Sady the Indomitable, Queen of the Tiger Beatdown, and of a woman who's taught me an enormous amount in the time I've known her: Liss.
Leave comments here that describe an act of teaspooning you encountered or committed. They don't have to be big, world-shaking acts; by definition, a teaspoon is a small thing, but enough of them together can empty the ocean.
If you would like to discuss the teaspoons here reported, or even offer congratulations or your admiration to a fellow Shaker, we ask that you do so over here in the Discussion Thread for today's NQDTR.
Shaker bgk has been kind enough to get a Twitter-pated version out there for you young twittersnappers (and by the way, get off my lawn, you meddling kids! *shakes cane*). You can find the details about the Tweetspoons project right here. That runs all the time, as far as I'm aware (*grumblenewtechnologygrumble*), and we encourage you to let other people know that there's at least one tweetstream talking about just going out and doing good things for the human species.
Teaspoons up, let's hear 'em, Shakers!
ô,ôP
(For those wondering where I've been, I've simply been on a business trip to VeryBusyLand; dwindling fundage meant I had to take on day-work alongside my own business of translating, which has meant for the last few weeks - and a few more to come - I'm working long hours, and have few spoons left to spare when I get home. I don't have MS to live with, but my chronic pain condition has some similar obstacles, and that really is a brilliant essay on how it feels. Anyway, missing you all and can't wait to have some spare energy/time again to get back. I've got a queue of things-to-write-about that's getting as long as my cane.)
Oh, The Horror!
Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) responds to a question from a reporter from a conservative news service about the ramifications of the repeal of DADT in the military. (His reaction at 0:33 is classic.)
Transcript below the fold.
CNS Reporter Nicholas Ballasy: Democratic Congressman Barney Frank spoke to CNS News dot com here on Capitol Hill about the implications of the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, the law banning homosexuals from openly serving in the armed forces.
[Begin video replay]
Reporter: I have question for you about the, uh, the Working Group that Secretary [of Defense Robert] Gates put into effect, he appointed, the Defense Department Working Group; they recommended that, uh, straight military personnel will have to shower with homosexuals --
Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA): [GASP] Showering with homosexuals? What do you think happens in gyms all over America? What do you think happens in the House of Representatives? Of course people shower with homosexuals. What a silly issue. What…what…what..what do you think goes wrong with people showering with homosexuals? Do you think the spray makes it catching? I mean, people shower with homosexuals in college dormitories, in gyms where people play sports, in gyms elsewhere. It is a complete non-issue.
Reporter: So that recommendation you think is a non-issue?
Rep. Frank: I…To accept the principle that homosexuals can’t shower with other people is a degree of discrimination that goes far beyond this. I mean, we don’t get ourselves dry-cleaned. We tend to take showers when we go to the gym, when we play sports. The notion that there’s somehow anything new, in the first place, about showering with homosexuals; remember under Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, by the way, the policy was that you would be showering with homosexuals; you just weren’t supposed to know which was which, so there was no change in that. The notion that knowing that someone is gay or lesbian as opposed to knowing that there are gay and lesbian people there but you don’t know who they are, that that somehow makes a difference, is a bit silly.
Reporter: And do you think that if that…that is the case and they are; they must shower with each other… what do you think about female military personnel and male personnel; should they be able to….
Rep Frank: Shower together? No, that would disrupt people, and I… I know you’re looking for some way to discredit the policy. Do you think that gyms should have separate showers for gay and straight people? I’m asking the question because that’s the logic of what you’ve done me; you seem to think that there’s something extraordinary about, uh, gay men showering together. You think gyms should have separate showers for gay people and straight people?
Reporter: I’m just quoting the recommendation…
[Crosstalk]
Rep. Frank: Don’t be disingenuous; you’re quoting those that may cause us a problem. You’re entitled to do that; you shouldn’t hide behind your views; you’re trying to talk about the difficulties, and I’m asking you, in response to your question, do you think that there ought to be separate showers at gyms? If not, then why are you in the military?
Reporter: So that’s the question you’d pose to people who had an issue with that part…
Rep. Frank: [unintelligible]
Reporter: …with that part of the recommendation…
Rep. Frank: It’s … it’s… Well, I don’t have a problem with that part of the recommendation. If people don’t want to shower with gay people, then they’d better not play sports, they’d better not belong to gyms, they’d better not go to, uh, colleges where not everyone has their own bathroom.
Top Chef Open Thread
[Image from last night's episode: Cheftestant Carla cooks in a tennis stadium for some reason.]
Last night's episode will be julienned, without kitchen implements, so if you haven't seen it, and don't want any spoilers, pack your knives and go...
And More #Mooreandme
[Trigger warning for sexual violence.]
Amanda Marcotte in Slate on the Assange rape allegations.
