A book can contain racist ideas, but a book itself cannot be racist.
Things like this make me hate humanity.
I refuse to go along with this week’s warm, feel-good celebrations of Harper Lee’s novel (published fifty years ago today), To Kill a Mockingbird. Simply put, I think that novel is racist, and so is its undying popularity.
Protip: If your 50-year-old uncle is racist, it’s a problem because he should have learned better. A 50-year-old book is a 50-year-old book and can’t learn new things.
Actually, that right there is the first reason I think this novel is, in effect, racist — it allows, indeed encourages, today’s well-meaning white people to think that “America is a very different place” than it was when Lee wrote her novel, and thus to think that widespread and deeply entrenched racism died a long time ago.
America is different now than it was when Lee wrote her novel, but I don’t think that anyone honestly believes that widespread and deeply entrenched racism died a long time ago. I think it’s very much the opposite. I think we’re aware that it still exists and we’re aware that it shouldn’t, but it’s obviously a lot harder to get rid of than just saying “it’s gone”.
If I see any animal of any sort left in someone’s car I will do some combination of the following:
- Tell someone in the store closest to where the car is parked.
- Failing that, I will call the police.
- If the police or car owner doesn’t show up within 5 minutes, I will break the car window.
I do not even care that breaking your car window is illegal. I’ll stand right by the car and wait until the cops show up and explain why I did it.
“I left the window open a crack” is not acceptable.
Posted in Bird, Cat, Dog, Weather
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All the pictures are here.
They’re mostly just of the parade (which was shorter this year) but there are some crowd shots. I tried to get video of a guy lip synching and doing the entire dance routine from Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” but I was using Kitti’s camera, which apparently doesn’t get capture sound. Or there’s something weird with the format that’s not playing audio. Anyhow, right now the video has no sound and I don’t know if that’s permanent or not, so there are still pictures instead. The guy was just a guy in the crowd, too. Not like a scheduled performer or anything.
We were only there for about an hour and a half. It was just too damned hot — especially with the crowd. Next year we might skip the parade and go after the sun sets, when the party really gets going.
In 2008 we went late and stayed until the bars closed. Last year we didn’t go at all because they were talking about severe thunderstorms (complete with flash flood warnings). It never did rain at all that day. Kitti is still bitter about missing it.
I keep telling Kitti we should just go to The Hippo any ol’ time, but that’s mostly because they have bingo on Wednesdays and I love me some bingo.
Posted in Photos, Travel
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Last night I got my “Clearspot” — the device that turns my USB connection into a hotspot, or for using Clear for things what ain’t got no USB connection (like the iTouch). After the Spot was charged I plugged in the USB and started wandering the house looking for a signal — sort of the non-Stargate version of a lifesigns detector.
My house is dead, Jim.
Seriously, out in the back yard I get a decent signal. Out front, the third step down from the porch, I get a fantastic signal.
Daffydd suggested I get an antenna, but they’re kind of pricey. I’m also not sure if it would really do any good. Somehow I don’t see myself attaching it to the telephone pole on my street and running several hundred feet of cable to my house. Okay. I do, but what I don’t see is me getting up the telephone pole.
I think what I really need to do is clean up the computer room and get the nest of wires straightened out. Then I can figure out of there’s a better position for the modem. Closer to the window and maybe the ceiling, perhaps?
Edit: the modem is a Motorola CPEi 25150
I’ve had Clear since it was XOHM. Even with XOHM the signal wasn’t fantastic, but it was better than DSL. Even after it became Clear there are times when the connectivity just plain sucks. My USB connection fails to work in my house, and the desktop connection… let’s just say that Skype is shite, you still need to buffer before trying to watch a video on YouTube, and Netflix or Hulu are out of the question. I figured it was Just One Of Those Things caused by being in a city. It’s still better than DSL and I’ve been happy with it.
Until my mom got Clear a few days ago. Her connection if magnificent — fast, steady … all lights lit. Both her desktop and USB connections are amazing. The difference between her house and my house as far as connection speed and reliability is measurable.
WHY!?
Here’s a handy map for reference — locations are approximate, you stalkers, you. I’m Point A. Mom is Point B. There’s just over one mile between us, no matter what route you take. I think our elevations are about the same.
I’ve ordered the Clear plugs which will hopefully allow me to plug the modem in somewhere it gets a better signal, but considering that I’m only getting a shabby connection now (with the modem on the second floor, against an outside wall, near a window) and the USB doesn’t work anywhere in the house or yard, I’m not exactly hopeful.
What’s causing the blockage? Is it the hospital? Is it the highway? Are my walls coated in lead? (okay, that’s actually possible)
Insight. PLEASE.
(First person to say “get FiOS” gets a boot to the head. I’m in Baltimore City. Verizon doesn’t like us.)
Over the weekend I was in New York City. Kitti has never been there, so we decided to make the most of the Memorial Day weekend and went. There are a ton of photos on Flickr if you’re interested.
While we were there, we saw The Addams Family Musical which was better than I expected but not as good as I had hoped. The songs aren’t particularly memorable and I have to admit that I wasn’t impressed by Krysta Rodriguez (Wednesday). She’s a good singer, but she sounds like everybody else. You could pick her up and drop her into any show and she’d be just as good – competent, but no real personality. Wednesday was less Wednesday and more “cute girl in romantic lead role”.
I was impressed by Nathan Lane. I can’t really remember seeing him in anything where it wasn’t OMG THAT’S NATHAN LANE, but this time I actually forgot several times that it was him.
Fester has a cute little ukulele love song to the moon that just made me realize that the show could’ve been a lot better if someone like Stephin Merritt had written them. He’s very good at creepy-but-oddly-sweet (or sweet-but-oddly-creepy) songs.
The set is fantastic though. Some really nice stuff goes on with it, and there are a few times when the set is essentially another character in the show. Grandma is also pretty awesome — her idea of pretending to be “normal” is to burst in through the main doors and declare loudly “BOY IS IT NORMAL OUT THERE.” (That made me think of you, m9m.)
So that was the show. Worth the ticket? Yeah, I think so. Kitti can now say he’s seen a show on Broadway. He’s also smitten with NYC and wants to live there. I’ll miss him. Probably.
I have very nearly completed my first sock! The heel isn’t perfect — there are weird gaps and it bears a slight resemblance to a duck’s bill, but it worked. I successfully made it from the toe to the heel and then around and up! It’s approximately shin-length at this point, and I admit to slacking off on it. I am not a speed knitter. You can see the sock in all its “glory” on Flickr.
I’m not even dreading the second sock. I suppose after I’ve made a few socks I’ll develop”Secondsockitis” but right now the urge to get the heel right kind of precedes that.
I’m a perfectionist, but not so much of one that I’d start over again just because the heel didn’t go well.
Okay, I did start over because I screwed the heel up the first time, but that was really screwed up. We’re talking “point of no return” levels of screwed up, and there really was no choice but to start again. This second time the errors were funny-looking, but not life threatening. Sock threatening. Whatever.
