In response to my post on the Olympic torch and the Tibetan flag, someone emailed me about the “incredible bias in the western media against China (would you agree?) There has been for some time. … The average [Chinese] person on the street doesn’t know anything about politics and cares even less. Making a fortune is the focus of things. But, after the CNN comments the whole nation is up-in-arms.”
Posted in culture, politics, sports, thoughts | 8 Comments »
Hillary Clinton is beginning to seem like Hubert “The Happy Warrior” Humphrey to me. The prospect of Hillary running against John McCain feels to me a bit like choosing between Humphrey and Nixon.
Posted in culture, movies, politics, rants, thoughts | 10 Comments »
On my way back to the house the other morning I realized where my wife’s keys were (also where she wouldn’t know they were) and that there was no way she’d have gotten out the door in time. I didn’t know it yet, but it was only one link in the mayhem.
Posted in commute, life, technology, thoughts, travel | 13 Comments »
We all have our eccentricities. I have mine, I’ll bet you have yours. Sometimes they’re things we don’t share with the whole world. Or maybe what goes on at home isn’t known in the office, and vice versa.
Posted in gardening, humor, nature, technology, thoughts, walking | 16 Comments »
After disembarking from the ferry this morning the first thing I noticed, as I approached the plaza, was all the crowd-control barriers up. Oh, bother, I thought. The barriers lined much of The Embarcadero. As we left the ferry gate at pier 2 they blocked our usual jay-walking routes across the Embarcadero to Justin Hermann plaza and Market street. Then I noticed the parked vehicles were mostly news trucks rather than delivery vans and I thought, oh, right, it’s the Olympic torch.
Posted in culture, life, politics, thoughts, travel | 13 Comments »
A friend emailed me this question recently:
What do you think of Barack and Hillary?
I never thought I’d feel sorry for Hillary. But I do. I like Barack. But I’m kind of amused by the prevailing optimism about him.
Posted in culture, life, politics, rants, thoughts | 27 Comments »
So it works now. I have this nifty ”visual” toolbar in my WordPress “Write” screen, along with my “code” toolbar, and it makes it way easier to place photos in the post. No more hassling with pictures running off the screen, etc. Once I import the picture I’ve cropped elsewhere I have a little box I grab and yank 7/8th of the way across the screen and release, shrinking the image once, then grab it again and release, and then a third time and — ouila! A photo that fits inside my post’s column!
It’s probably been this easy for all of you all along, huh? It makes me wonder how many little doo-dads work differently for all of us, and we never know because we don’t see each others internal dashboards and work screens.
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Posted in animals, dogs, gardening, life, nature, pets | 14 Comments »
New little pointy-headed shoots of bamboo are peeking up in new places both in and outside of our raised bed. Being a weekend gardener/warrior (spawn of Schwarzenegger and Martha Stewart?), I rip out what I can on a Sunday, then am gone for the work week, and come back the next weekend to raise pick and drive shovel again, discovering their escape efforts. It’s as if the underground bamboodly rhizomes see the carnage going on around them and holler, “Whoa, Mildred, time to hit the road!”
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Posted in animals, dogs, gardening, life, pets, rants | No Comments »
Sometime shortly after 7 last night, we had finished dinner and were transitioning toward evening activities when we heard a loud “Ka-WHUMP!” from the street. We felt it, too, especially the dogs, who immediately adrenalized into watchdog action: “bark-bark-bark-bark!” and the alarm was sounded. Almost simultaneously, the sirens began.
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Posted in animals, commute, dogs, gardening, life, pets, travel | 10 Comments »
Bamboo stalks and leaves are easy enough to whack away and dispose of. It’s the rhizomes that wear you out.
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Posted in beer, dogs, entertainment, gardening, life, movies, pets | 4 Comments »
