...to start, once again, where it all began:
"Mr. and Mrs. Vernon Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say they were perfectly normal, thank you very much...."
And no, I have not forgotten about my blog, or tired of it. I will return. Soon.
5.31.2007
5.19.2007
Jerry Falwell
I didn't know too much about the man, to be honest, though my heart goes out to his family right now.
But after seeing the way his death has been handled in the media spotlight, I'm inclined to cheer at the remarks of Ann Coulter and Kathy Shaidle. At the very least, I found their comments refreshing. The Bellingham Herald article was so ghastly that even a coworker of mine not known around the office for his conservativism said laughingly that maybe someone who liked Falwell should have written out his life-timeline.
Ahh, I do love a little right sarcasm, though. It lifts the spirit, and besides, it made me laugh out loud. These articles are worth reading the whole way through, but here are a couple of highlights:
Ann Coulter:
"From the news coverage of Falwell's death, I began to suspect his first name was "Whether You Agree With Him or Not"...
Let me be the first to say: I ALWAYS agreed with the Rev. Falwell.
Actually, there was one small item I think Falwell got wrong regarding his statement after 9-11 that "the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians – who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle – the ACLU, People for the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say, 'You helped this happen.'"
First of all, I disagreed with that statement because Falwell neglected to specifically include Teddy Kennedy and "the Reverend" Barry Lynn."
Kathy Shaidle:
"Lastly: everyone is replaying Falwell's post-9/11 remarks. Had I been Falwell, I'd have said instead: "For once, let's give homosexuals, abortionists, radical feminists, the ACLU and the People for the American Way a hand, everybody. After all, this is the first major tragedy in the last 50 years that they had absolutely nothing to do with..."
Funny thing is, Falwell turned out to be absolutely correct in his own weird way: leftists are falling all over each other to side with radical Muslims now. The Left had nothing to do with September 11, 2001 -- but from September 12/01 to today, they've been trying to make up for THAT ball drop, big time."
But after seeing the way his death has been handled in the media spotlight, I'm inclined to cheer at the remarks of Ann Coulter and Kathy Shaidle. At the very least, I found their comments refreshing. The Bellingham Herald article was so ghastly that even a coworker of mine not known around the office for his conservativism said laughingly that maybe someone who liked Falwell should have written out his life-timeline.
Ahh, I do love a little right sarcasm, though. It lifts the spirit, and besides, it made me laugh out loud. These articles are worth reading the whole way through, but here are a couple of highlights:
Ann Coulter:
"From the news coverage of Falwell's death, I began to suspect his first name was "Whether You Agree With Him or Not"...
Let me be the first to say: I ALWAYS agreed with the Rev. Falwell.
Actually, there was one small item I think Falwell got wrong regarding his statement after 9-11 that "the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians – who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle – the ACLU, People for the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say, 'You helped this happen.'"
First of all, I disagreed with that statement because Falwell neglected to specifically include Teddy Kennedy and "the Reverend" Barry Lynn."
Kathy Shaidle:
"Lastly: everyone is replaying Falwell's post-9/11 remarks. Had I been Falwell, I'd have said instead: "For once, let's give homosexuals, abortionists, radical feminists, the ACLU and the People for the American Way a hand, everybody. After all, this is the first major tragedy in the last 50 years that they had absolutely nothing to do with..."
Funny thing is, Falwell turned out to be absolutely correct in his own weird way: leftists are falling all over each other to side with radical Muslims now. The Left had nothing to do with September 11, 2001 -- but from September 12/01 to today, they've been trying to make up for THAT ball drop, big time."
5.15.2007
Montana Miscellany
To anyone who wonders why I've failed to post much in the past two weeks, I can explain in part at least by saying that last week was spent in Montana, where computer access never quite made the priority list.
Congratulations to my 'best friend' Briana, newly-graduated photography major, for whose celebrations of achievement I made the trip! If you've never checked out her work, you can view some of it by clicking here.
Montana owed me after its cold--literally, 15 below zero--welcome last time. The Big Sky State made up for its less-than-affectionate treatment of a former resident by treating me to sunshine, highs in the 70s at least, and a couple of spectacular thunderstorms. Briana and I took refuge in the library during Thursday's storm, watched the rain and lightning out the windows, and fell asleep in chairs in one of the reading corners.
It's hard to believe, now, that I've lived in Washington as long as I lived in Montana. Maybe childhood always seems longer in looking back than other dispensations of life. Be that as it may, Briana and her family are of the kindred-spirit sort that with them, the conversation and habits of friendship fall into their natural, relaxed ways with little regard for the passage of time.
Even after a fair amount of experience, it still amazes me that only a couple of hours took me from my sister's goodbye to my friend's hello, hundreds of miles away; that the same brief amount of time took me from my friend's hug on sunlit Montana tarmac to my boyfriend's kiss under slate-gray Seattle skies.
Flying back--maybe because of the extra 5,000-foot-drop in elevation--always turns my hearing inside out so things sound louder inside my head than entering my ears from outside. This is a royal annoyance when, upon getting off the plane, one goes straight to church service in a cathedral with an real (not synthesized) pipe organ. That beautiful instrument still sounded good, though.
On my last night in Montana, a bunch of us stayed up way too late watching Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Mr. Bell and I punctuated the movie with regular interjections like these: "Nothing like the book", "Not in the book", and "Funny, but not in the book." I'd forgotten how far the movies' scenes deviated from the events in the books. Order of the Phoenix is probably going to make me angry, but I plan to watch it anyway.
I did notice one thing, though, from that re-watch of movie #3: the scene where Lupin points out that Harry has his mother's eyes. Somewhere I seem to recall hearing that J. K. Rowling commented on that little conversation as basically prophetic. Here's the quote, thanks to www.imdb.com:
"You know the very first time I saw you, Harry, I recognized you immediately. Not by your scar, by your eyes. They're your mother, Lily's. Yes, oh yes. I knew her. Your mother was there for me at a time when no one else was. Not only was she a singularly gifted witch, she was also an uncommonly kind woman. She had a way of seeing the beauty in others ... Most especially when that person couldn't see it in themselves.... You are more like [your parents] than you know, Harry. In time you'll come to see just how much. "
That made me think. I've been considering the importance of Harry's inheritance of "Lily's eyes" as having to do with others looking in, not Harry looking out. Hmmm...
Sixty-seven days and counting!
Congratulations to my 'best friend' Briana, newly-graduated photography major, for whose celebrations of achievement I made the trip! If you've never checked out her work, you can view some of it by clicking here.
Montana owed me after its cold--literally, 15 below zero--welcome last time. The Big Sky State made up for its less-than-affectionate treatment of a former resident by treating me to sunshine, highs in the 70s at least, and a couple of spectacular thunderstorms. Briana and I took refuge in the library during Thursday's storm, watched the rain and lightning out the windows, and fell asleep in chairs in one of the reading corners.
It's hard to believe, now, that I've lived in Washington as long as I lived in Montana. Maybe childhood always seems longer in looking back than other dispensations of life. Be that as it may, Briana and her family are of the kindred-spirit sort that with them, the conversation and habits of friendship fall into their natural, relaxed ways with little regard for the passage of time.
Even after a fair amount of experience, it still amazes me that only a couple of hours took me from my sister's goodbye to my friend's hello, hundreds of miles away; that the same brief amount of time took me from my friend's hug on sunlit Montana tarmac to my boyfriend's kiss under slate-gray Seattle skies.
Flying back--maybe because of the extra 5,000-foot-drop in elevation--always turns my hearing inside out so things sound louder inside my head than entering my ears from outside. This is a royal annoyance when, upon getting off the plane, one goes straight to church service in a cathedral with an real (not synthesized) pipe organ. That beautiful instrument still sounded good, though.
On my last night in Montana, a bunch of us stayed up way too late watching Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Mr. Bell and I punctuated the movie with regular interjections like these: "Nothing like the book", "Not in the book", and "Funny, but not in the book." I'd forgotten how far the movies' scenes deviated from the events in the books. Order of the Phoenix is probably going to make me angry, but I plan to watch it anyway.
I did notice one thing, though, from that re-watch of movie #3: the scene where Lupin points out that Harry has his mother's eyes. Somewhere I seem to recall hearing that J. K. Rowling commented on that little conversation as basically prophetic. Here's the quote, thanks to www.imdb.com:
"You know the very first time I saw you, Harry, I recognized you immediately. Not by your scar, by your eyes. They're your mother, Lily's. Yes, oh yes. I knew her. Your mother was there for me at a time when no one else was. Not only was she a singularly gifted witch, she was also an uncommonly kind woman. She had a way of seeing the beauty in others ... Most especially when that person couldn't see it in themselves.... You are more like [your parents] than you know, Harry. In time you'll come to see just how much. "
That made me think. I've been considering the importance of Harry's inheritance of "Lily's eyes" as having to do with others looking in, not Harry looking out. Hmmm...
Sixty-seven days and counting!
5.13.2007
Happy Mothers' Day
...to the woman who taught me darn near everything I know
and whose love for me has held unwavering for well over 29 years.
Love you, Mom.
and whose love for me has held unwavering for well over 29 years.
Love you, Mom.
5.03.2007
New Post
There is a new post of mine over at Silhouette, in case you want to see it. This post, however, has more to do with my shame at having not posted last weekend (or any time since the weekend before.)
Silhouette has me really excited, though. There's some good writing among these bloggers, most of whose work I'm just getting to know. We've got quite an eclectic group, both in style and perspective, and it's well worth checking out.
On a totally unrelated topic, I need to figure out when to start my compulsory chronological re-read of the first six Harry Potter books in honor of the upcoming finale. The reading needs to conclude near the release date for book 7, but not go past it. It took me one month, the first time, to read all six books at least once (three of them might as well have been twice) but that needs cushioning nowadays in consideration of other demands upon my time and the fact that I know how all of those end now.
What can I say? I finally found something to be good and nerdy about. My boyfriend finally picked one up for the first time tonight. He's only just made it past Hagrid's first revelation to Harry, but I'm all curious to hear what he thinks ;-D
Silhouette has me really excited, though. There's some good writing among these bloggers, most of whose work I'm just getting to know. We've got quite an eclectic group, both in style and perspective, and it's well worth checking out.
On a totally unrelated topic, I need to figure out when to start my compulsory chronological re-read of the first six Harry Potter books in honor of the upcoming finale. The reading needs to conclude near the release date for book 7, but not go past it. It took me one month, the first time, to read all six books at least once (three of them might as well have been twice) but that needs cushioning nowadays in consideration of other demands upon my time and the fact that I know how all of those end now.
What can I say? I finally found something to be good and nerdy about. My boyfriend finally picked one up for the first time tonight. He's only just made it past Hagrid's first revelation to Harry, but I'm all curious to hear what he thinks ;-D
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