Playing catch-up...

...and hoping that I'm not actually chasing my tail.

Huzzahs and handsprings, but the semester's done and the backlog is starting to recede a bit. Or at least it feels as though I can start to swim to shore after treading water for so long.

I had to go heads-down at work today to fill in for QA, and found myself listening to an album that I also had (on cassette, rendered off vinyl for that purpose) a quarter-century ago. And in realizing its age--and in consequence my own, arithmetic being implacable that way--I also thought, "Youth is overrated, but health is not."

So here's to looking ahead at a relatively unencumbered summer, with--almost assuredly--more breathing room for the things I love. Including writing for its own sake.

Oh, yeah

First off, apologies for the (mostly) uncharacteristic hiatus. A few projects have stacked up, and I'm still behind. But this bijou from Daily Kos was too precious not to pass on: Rape is "Enhanced Dating".

'Nuff said.

Of bumper-marks and puppy-noses

Earlier today, I felt like the proverbial puppy who caught the car it was chasing--the combination of exhilaration overlaid with "Now what?" The graphic artist who created some marketing images for me wrote to know whether I'd be interested in collaborating on a website that needs back-end code and database work.

Truth be told, I was hoping for exactly that scenario last Fall when I first commissioned the graphics from him. I can't yet afford to drop the day-job and freelance-fund larger projects at the moment. Having someone else pounding the pavement, drubbing up business seemed like a rather efficient way to build a portfolio before hanging out one's own shingle.

Yet--you knew there would be a "yet," didn't you?--while the work started out well enough, I had to prod the artist for its completion. Today, when I requested meeting to discuss the project, there was no response. Only this evening came a not-reply to the effect that he had somehow lost the client's phone number and didn't have an email address.

Not promising omens, any of them. So I did my due diligence and emailed the questions that had come to mind as I looked at the proposed website content and the example. But I fail to see how the gig will progress any further. A large part of me is straining at the metaphorical leash toward building a business of my own, so the disappointment is pretty palpable at the moment. The bounce in my step and glitter in my eye from this morning are gone.

So, if you'll excuse me, I need to go find them.

Republican revisionism well underway

It didn't take long for RNC head Steele to cave, did it?

The takeaway is this: The GOP--you remember them, the "Party of Moral Values"--is now taking its orders from a double-chinned, thrice-divorced drug addict who can't manage stay out of trouble while on probation.

And yet, overeducated morons like David Brooks can delude themselves that the "polarization" lies solely at the feet of the left. That his ilk, which championed gay-bashing, immigrant-bashing, elective war, torture, tax cuts in the middle of a recession, union-busting, permanent Republican majorities, no bid contracts, private armies, et cetera ad nauseum, are "moderate" and "fiscally responsible."

If I were the believing sort, I would offer whatever libations and supplications were needed to bring down the wrath of the Gods of Politics and the swift execution of the Laws of Karma on the GOP's head. But not being that sort, I can only hope that the finger-pointing and revisionism and hypocrisy come home to roost for the next ten election cycles.

Buh-bye, "conscience rule"

It seems nearly certain that the Obama Administration will repeal the "conscience rule," and it should come as no surprise to my gentle reader that my reaction was, "Yee-esssssss!" May it be a little balm for troubled ghost of George Orwell, whose spirit must have been restless these past eight years.

I've blogged about this subject previously, so I won't add more flogger stripes to the equine carcass. I can only proffer my fervent prayer to whatever Political Gods may be listening that the example of steady, competent adults in the Executive Branch will begin the process of American De-weinification. I don't expect a complete rollback, but a palpable decrease in the denialist, anti-intellectual, whiny, me-too, finger-pointing, magical-thinking, lazy, paparazzi culture would be a huge, HUGE improvement.

Memo to American Culture: Just because you believe it doesn't make it true. Just because you wish for it doesn't mean you deserve to have it happen. Just because you've convinced yourself that you're "good" doesn't mean you are. See, there's this flip side to your Mom telling you that you're special. So did everybody else's Mom. And the Moms were all correct. And you need to grok the ramifications of that.

Now put down the Cheezey-Poofs, grab some challenging non-fiction and get that over-indulged @$$ on the StairMaster. You've got eight years to make up for, America.

Awesome send-up

Gotta find me some more Keith Blanchard after this: Attention K-Mart Shoppers: Could America's Throwaway Holiday Crap Industry Be Next To Fail?

Actually, just did. Mind you, I'll admit that it's tough to square that attitude with Blanchard being a co-founder of Maxim, which just feeds double-bacon cheeseburgers the entitlement mentality of the American male. (A contradiction not unlike someone working at a weight club and a fast food joint.) Sharp, funny writing, though. Today, that's enough for my mood.

Whimper

New York Times slideshow of the Venetian Carnevale. Somebody get me a bellini.