Snowclone

Today I learned a new word, "snowclone". 

 

A snowclone is a witty, often-repeated saying with interchangable parts.  An example would be "X is the new Y" (e.g., "40 is the new 50").  Another example would be "If loving X is wrong, I don't want to be right."  For more analysis on this fascinating topic, visit - http://snowclones.org/

Wedded

Got married Saturday in a wonderful ceremony we wrote ourselves. Photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/pattyandmike/tags/wedding/

Honeymoon in Fredericksburg was a delight. One of the best things about it was the guesthouse we stayed in. Photos at http://flickr.com/pattandmike/tags/honeymoon

Got our king-size mattress from Ikea today. It needs a few days to expand (it's made of foam).

Consider the issues in the presidential election. Do they stand independently? Perhaps they are more connected than we first think:

• Oil consumption leads to global warming and militarism in the mideast
• Militarism in the mideast leads to terrorism and war
• Global warming leads to agricultural challenges and threat of flooding, fires
• Farm subsidies increase illegal immigration and impoverish farmers in the developing world
• Poverty in the developing world leads to increased illegal immigration
• Poverty in the developing world leads to increased religious fundamentalism, which leads to terrorism
• Terrorism leads to higher US militarism
• It has been theorized by economists that abortion rights led to the decline in crime in the late 20th century in the US
• Farm subsidies, fighting crime, caring for the poor, and militarism lead to higher taxes

Want to lower taxes, reduce crime, reduce illegal immigration, reduce terrorism threats, and bring our fellow citizens home from Iraq and other dangerous points? Consume less (gas and goods) and vote for candidates who will reduce military and farm spending, and increase personal freedoms.

For a more authoritative commentary, listen to former Labor Secretary Robert Reich's commentary from public radio's Marketplace, a show on economics and finance: http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/01/09/policy_integration/

MLK

A wonderful quote from MLK:

"I am convinced that if we are to get on right side of the world revolution, we
as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly
begin the shift from a "thing-oriented" society to a "person-oriented"
society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights
are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism,
materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered."

Like music, saving money, and don't care if the cover art is included when you buy a CD (maybe because you're just going to rip it to MP3 anyway)? I found this website that looks pretty cool - http://justthedisc.com/

Commentary on election results and race from the Austin American-Statesman:

Election demographics It’s amazing to watch the media pundits sealing the
coffins of the has-been candidates after the results are in from the
caucuses in Iowa and the primaries in New Hampshire. Consider that if you
combine the populations of both states, it equals less than the population of
the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Iowa is 95 percent white; New Hampshire is 96
percent white. Is this any way to pick a leader, from such an unrepresentative
demographic? When can we see real election reform and the way-past-due death of
the antiquated Electoral College? MICK VANN Driftwood

More commentary - this time on building highways:

More highways? Re: Jan. 1 2008 agenda editorial “Road woes still creating
everyday stress.” The American-Statesman recognizes that fossil fuel power
plants contribute to global warming. But in its support for expanding area
highways as toll roads, it ignores the greenhouse gas increases that come with
highway expansions. Concrete manufacturing is a big source of man-made carbon
dioxide emissions. Concrete is a critical component in highway construction.
After highways are expanded, people live farther from where they work,
increasing miles driven. This means more carbon dioxide emissions heating our
planet. Worsening our addiction to car-based transportation by spending $1.5
billion to expand highways as toll roads in Central Texas is foolish for many
reasons. The direct relationship to greenhouse gas emissions is just one. Can
the Statesman provide evidence that expanding highways reduces traffic
congestion? Houston, Atlanta and Los Angeles all have massive highway systems
and are highly congested. COLIN CLARK Save Our Springs Alliance colin@sosalliance.org

Lastly, an interesting piece from Marketplace, the financial show on public radio, my favorite radio program. A profile of a person who is trying to do 52 jobs in 52 weeks to learn about all of the different kinds of work out there - http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/01/18/work_life_a_little_bit_of_everything/

Wedding Prep

Still getting things done for the wedding. Lots to do...

Meaningless picture of Simon:

Suga

Rethinking my Jamba Juice lunchtime choice. Here is a photo of Satan mixing a batch of peanut butter smoothie. Blood sugar dropping...diabetes setting in...zzzz...

Bugz

It's been a while since I posted. What can I say, life has been slow. Here are a couple of links that should get our blood pumping again.

Like insects? How about the ones that can bring unholy pain to your body - or death? Learn about 5 such creatures here - http://www.cracked.com/article_15816_5-most-horrifying-bugs-in-world.html

Want to know what flavor of God is most popular in your part of the US? Try as I might, even though "none" is listed in the legend area as an option (number 9), I can't find it on the map. Here's the link - http://www.bluegrassreport.org/ChurchBodies.gif

Cuteness

I love this website: http://icanhazcheezburger.com/ - here's a sample:

NY Times story on new buzzwords from 2007 - http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/23/weekinreview/23buzzwords.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

This person claims to have the answer to how IKEA comes up with names for its items. I don't quite buy it. http://nancyfriedman.typepad.com/away_with_words/2007/12/the-ikea-naming.html

The Story of Stuff

I watched this 20-minute internet movie about the things we buy. It's quite simply the most important information I can think of posting. View it.

LSU wins

National Champions.

Bed and ceiling update

Bought a king sized bed - they didn't have the mattress, so we put our two twin beds in and it works great for now.

Fixed the ceiling in the garage. We had some leftover wallboard from the prior homeowners, so Mike cut out a piece to fit the hole, screwed it in and put on some joint compound on the seam.

House stuf

Put out a ton of leaf bags that Patty filled recently...lawn is almost cleaned up from the three huge limbs Mike trimmed off our trees.

Bought a crank rechargable lantern at REI in preparation for a New Year's Eve camping trip - then we didn't go. But we plan to soon, darnit!

Planning to repair a hole in the garage ceiling creating by someone stepping on it while walking in the attic (names withheld to protect the guilty...)

Rastlin'

Mike just finished a marathon wrestling session with 9-year old neighbor Andrew. He took a few head and body blows, but is no worse for the wear.

Sold Mike's queen bed today to someone using cragslist. Have to make room for the eventual king...