Loosely Speaking

By Ciel - About Me - E-mail this page - Add to My Favorites - Add to Blog List - See other blogs in Everything Else

Monday, June 23, 2014

Guns and Highways

Americans love freedom. A century ago we were translating our love of freedom to the freedom to go where we would, when we would, as fast as we would. Sometimes chickens got run over, less often children who also played in the road. Dirt roads and cars going as fast as 20 even 30 miles an hour raised a lot of dust. Eventually, when those new-fangled horseless carriages really got up to speed, someone with a brain said, "Enough! Communities have a right to protect themselves from folks with no... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Here's a treat from our Kabu's native waters...

Well, not to suggest she is a whale... but Migaloo is. http://migaloo.com.au/ In any case, they are both rare and precious! Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, June 7, 2014

Elder-shine

On a website I visited for some other article, I gave in to prurient interest and clicked on the slide show of Celebrities Who Have Not Aged Well. Surely, this was put together by some young beauty who figures he/she will last through the ages unchanged. Many of the photos, not surprisingly, were vastly unfair comparisons between glamour shots of the individuals in their shiny youth, and 'candid' paparazzi shots without makeup, coiffure or pose. Some images were of the aged glamour beside the... Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

My Little Bronies

I sigh... This is another of the fads of youth that many of us elders are mystified by, even appalled and dismayed. If, by chance, you have not heard of this, it is all around the contemporary remake of one of those dreadfully cutesy cartoon shows of the 70s. This remake has spawned a legion of fans of a particular type: young adult men who call themselves, Bronies. A pack of Charlie's friends, and Charlie himself delight in this show, and he has tried to persuade me of its great virtues. I... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, May 17, 2014

They think they're so clever!

As of today, if you are on Google, Google can take your words and image to puff it's advertising, unless you opt out. Right. here is a link to take you to where you can do just that: http://gizmodo.com/googles-going-to-start-sticking-your-face-and-name-in-1443861985/1462317340 Be sure to go via the link in the text to where you can un-check the little box. Also hit save Then wait for the next pop up that wants you to think again... click continue which takes you back to the first bit... be sure... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Have a think... Have a laugh...

http://9gag.com/gag/aNeX1d6?ref=fsidebar http://9gag.com/gag/a44879y?ref=fsidebar Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Has anyone else noticed...?

Starbuck's has been a place I go for coffee and easing-back space, to read a book, to chat with other customers, sometimes even turn strangers into friends. I liked two things particularly: that they turn a part of the profits back into the community where they made them, and that the one down the road from me in Olympia was happy to hang some of my photos for quite a while, on their arts wall. But in the past months, something has changed: prices on their food went up so that I am put in mind... Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Disaster at the Sci Fi Con

Sometimes, it is just hard to believe, no matter how optimistic you are, and tolerant and patient, that an act of stupidity had no malice in it, no meaness. Near the end of the sci-fi convention this weekend, some friends of ours packed up to go home, putting their prize-winning costumes and other gear in a plastic tub at their assigned table. A tub. Not some random, fusty old box. Then they came to hear the band perform, leaving their tub at their table. The con was not actually over yet. But... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, May 5, 2014

Common mistake, but still--a mistake.

There is no such thing as 12am; nor 12pm. There are noon and midnight. These nice little words are so useful, and so neglected, in favor of AM and PM, though those terms are simply wrong. They leave the matter uncertain, ambiguous. They could intend either noon or midnight. You have to sort it out with whoever issued the time statement, to find out which way they mean it. Maybe it isn't obvious. Maybe it isn't how you understand the usage of the terms. For certain, it is wrong. WRONG, I tell... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, May 2, 2014

The Garden Grows...

...better than last year! There are some healthy sprouts, even a few sugar peas beginning to reach for the railings, and new sprouts pushing through the soil in the same pots. Bringing them in from the cold and the wind was not only good exercise for me, it saved their little green lives, too. I think the wind is as hard on them as the cold, and this area gets very frequent very high winds, steady and gusting. So, until they are well-started, and clinging to the railings securely, they will... Sign in to see full entry.

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