Changing Places

SFGate: Culture Blog! : Eat My Big Manly Chevy Tahoe

Quick, before those crazed geniuses over at GM HQ (or rather, over at their savvy marketing division) notice their very adorably dumb mistake and start taking these ads down, hustle on over to this Chevy website, the one apparently set up for users to make their own customized commercial for the inane and butt bloating enormo-cruiser the Chevy Tahoe, and check out a few of the, shall we say, more creative entries.

Go check em out, or make up your own!

OK, so I’m trying to focus on art journaling this year, and yet - I really haven’t been doing much of it, although I’ve been reading about it and doing artist’s way and the concept is at least beginning to sink into my head. It seems easy enough, to look at say, Danny Gregory’s EveryDay Matters and see what art journaling can do to improve someone ’s life and attitude, or this wonderful post today from la vie en rose on how art journaling can help you feel better about yourself:

I never thought an art journal could teach me about self-compassion. Lessons often come from the most unlikely of sources. Creating this week in my art journal has been an opportunity to release the perfection and accept the little mistakes. Yesterday I journaled with a pen I ended up not liking. Today I smudged my writing because I failed to let it dry before reaching across the page. Poor color choices. Bad paper choices. A million ways to screw it up and then let it go. All the little mistakes have become an opportunity to let it be, a chance to allow the imperfection on the page symbolize the beautiful imperfection of real life. So tonight, with white paint in my hair and the majority of my writing transposed on my forearm, I choose to let the little mistakes have their own beauty. I choose to remind myself of all that is good and perfect about the pages, and the life, I’m creating. I choose to stand back, admire, and learn. I choose to remember why my voice, my experience, and my creating is important. I choose to offer myself the redemptive power of compassion.

I have the wonderful art journals, the fountain pen I love, all the art tools, if not the space I would like to have to create in, and I’ve been working on getting this for three months now. And yet… somehow, I don’t give myself the permission to just create, to not care what my husband or kids or anyone else thinks of the art supplies and materials all over the place in my little house, to not care that other people’s work is so much further along than mine, it seems, that other people get a gazillion comments on their blogs, that other people have dozens of artsy friends to “do art” with and I’ve got nobody to share that with “In Real Life” as my kids would say, outside of this wonderful online community I’ve found.

And still… this process of art journaling calls to me, it speaks to me, the way the Tao did as I read through so many books and interpretations and whatever I could find on it until I finally “got it” and found - “before enlightenment, sweep floors, do laundry, after enlightenment, sweep floors, do laundry.” Life didn’t change, but I did, and my responses to my lfie changed. Is this the same way, will I “get it” finally, and just do it and incorporate it into my life, and let it change me as well?

The engineer in me, this process analyst, looks at art journaling and says, “this is a good process. It works. It’s valid.” And I know that it does work, for so many people. I know this is a life-changing process that helps.

But what struck me yesterday as I was reading Danny Gregory’s book and his comments about learning to draw was him describing when he “got it” - when his drawing became about how he was seeing and not how he was drawing, and I realized, yes, this was the same feeling I had about the Tao when I got it. What changes is how you see the world. And what I am thinknig now is that art is just in everything around you, the dog sleeping on the floor, the pile of papers sitting in front of you, the shoes at your feet, the people around you - all of it, every bit of it. And if you can capture that, somehow, anyhow, and hold it for just that moment, even if just in your mind - that’s your art. There it is. The process of transfering that to what other people can understand when they see it or hear it or whatever, that is the genius part of it. But those are tools to be learned. What matters is what you see in that moment, what you feel. And capturing that is where the art is.

“To view the world outside of yourself while simultaneously living your life is the real art experience. ” — Jim Forsythe

BostonHerald.com - Local / Regional News: Photographer: Herald got it right

“It’s inaccurate and deceptive of him to say there was no vulgarity in the moment,” said Peter Smith, the Boston University assistant photojournalism professor who made the shot.

Despite Scalia’s insistence that the Sicilian gesture was not offensive and had been incorrectly characterized by the Herald as obscene, the photographer said the newspaper “got the story right.”

Smith said the jurist “immediately knew he’d made a mistake, and said, ‘You’re not going to print that, are you?’ ”

Scalia’s office yesterday referred questions regarding the flap to Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg, who said a letter Scalia sent Tuesday to the Herald defending his gesture at the cathedral “speaks for itself.”

“He has no further comment,” Arberg said.

Smith was working as a freelance photographer for the Boston archdiocese’s weekly newspaper at a special Mass for lawyers Sunday when a Herald reporter asked the justice how he responds to critics who might question his impartiality as a judge given his public worship.

“The judge paused for a second, then looked directly into my lens and said, ‘To my critics, I say, ‘Vaffanculo,’ ” punctuating the comment by flicking his right hand out from under his chin, Smith said.

The Italian phrase means “(expletive) you.”

Scalia update update:

So now, the photographer has been fired.

Boston Herald:

A freelance photographer has been fired by the Archdiocese of Boston’s newspaper for releasing a picture of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia making a controversial gesture in the Cathedral of the Holy Cross on Sunday.

Peter Smith, who had freelanced for The Pilot newspaper for a decade, lost the job yesterday after the Herald ran his photo on its front page. Smith said he has no regrets about releasing it.
“I did the right thing. I did the ethical thing,” said Smith, 51, an assistant photojournalism professor at Boston University.

Just so typical - blame the messenger. I’m so sick of these jerks who can do anything - make obscene guestures to the American people, break laws and spy on the American people since the laws don’t apply to the President of course, whatever - and those who report on it take the blame.

Courtesy Hoffmania…

Should I stay or should I go now?
Should I stay or should I go now?
If I go there will be trouble
An’ if I stay it will be double
So come on and let me know
- The Clash

Do not assume that you know all.

Notice nature and abide in the infinite.

Travel openly on uncharted paths.

Be all that you are, but do not make a show of it.

Be contented and remain empty,

and learn to sustain the Beginner’s Mind.

– Tao Mentoring

CNN.com - Immigration protests continue in California - Mar 27, 2006

Tens of thousands of students walked out of school in California and other states Monday, waving flags and chanting slogans in a second week of protests against legislation to crack down on illegal immigrants.

United Press International - NewsTrack - Justice Scalia flips the finger in church

BOSTON, March 27 (UPI) — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia startled reporters in Boston just minutes after attending a mass, by flipping a middle finger to his critics.

A Boston Herald reporter asked the 70-year-old conservative Roman Catholic if he faces much questioning over impartiality when it comes to issues separating church and state.

“You know what I say to those people?” Scalia replied, making the obscene gesture and explaining “That’s Sicilian.”

The 20-year veteran of the high court was caught making the gesture by a photographer with The Pilot, the Archdiocese of Boston’s newspaper.

“Don’t publish that,” Scalia told the photographer, the Herald said.

He was attending a special mass for lawyers and politicians at Cathedral of the Holy Cross, and afterward was the keynote speaker at the Catholic Lawyers’ Guild luncheon.

Yup. Pretty much sums up what Scalia, the Bush administration, and the right-wingers think of most of America, doesn’t it?

Had to add this quote from the comments over at Water tiger’s place:

As my father used to point out when notable Sicilians behaved badly, “That’s why God put the Sicilians on an island under the boot–away from the rest of Italy.” — Ruthie

Thanks for the laugh, Ruthie!

My sweet husband sent me flowers today! And he’s coming home tonight from San Jose.

Yeah, that pretty much makes up for yesterday.

Wonderful Cartoon Minimum Security by Stephanie McMillan

Because women can’t decide these things on our own, ya know!
Hurry, though, if you want to call - they’ll undoubtedly change the numbers soon!

Yeah, Im’ convinced after last night and today. Hell is a hospital. Went into the ER with high blood pressure and irregular heartbeat, found out my potassium was low, so they shouldn’ve filled me with potassium, changed my blood pressure prescription to eliminate the diuretic, and send me home, huh?

Oh, no . Gotta keep me overnight for observation. This morning it’s oh no, we gotta do a stress test. Then, it takes them three hours to find a doctor to get the results of the stress test and discharge me. And all the time, they treat you like a bunch of damn symptoms and ignore that you’re a person, then wonder why you get upset when you’re blood sugar level drops to zero and you haven’t slept all night.

But, I wasn’t upset for me. I was upset for the poor guy next door, throwing up with no damn nurse in there. I was upset for the guy on the other side who had a full catheter bag for hours and they finally had to call someone down from upstairs to change it because they didn’t know how. I was upset that they couldn’t find a doctor to order the tests they needed on the guy down the hall. I was upset because they all sat around watching the damn monitors and filling out charts and thinking they were taking care of the patients.

Nurses are supposed to take care of patients, not monitors, not charts.

I was upset for my mom, who had to put up with this kind of crap for 2 months in and out of the ICU, before finally dying from a hospital induced infection. No wonder my dad had a do not resuscitate order when he got cancer after having to be hopitalized for a month.

Medical care is this country is expensive because we’re treated like a bunch of symptoms instead of like people. All those tests, all that time, and all I really needed was a couple of frickin’ potassium pills. And I’m the lucky one.

So many are still there suffering with this crap.

Woke up this morning from a dream about a couple we were friends with (one of the friends who doesn’t speak to me anymore). I’m walking through their house, which looks nothing like their actual house, and everything is marked for a tag sale with prices on it. OK, that’s weird enough, but apparently they had also suddenly decided to have children (which doesn’t make any sense, since they’re in their fifties now, but when do these dreams ever make sense?) So they are playing with their kids, and my friend hands me the baby to admire. I take it, and - it’s a Barbie doll, still in the packaging. Confused, I “admire” it for a minute and then sert it down in a chair. And then I woke up.

Now these are friends who had suddenly become very materialistic after being pretty non-materialistic for most of the time we had known them - suddenly moving up to the big house, buying new cars and the big screen TV and all that. So in my head have I just associated them with this so strongly that it shows up in my dream?

And the baby - I have this image of this woman now, old and batty with her house full of cats, and dolls still in their packaging, calling them her “grandchildren!”

I always knew Oprah was evil….

Soaps, Talk Shows May Dull Aging Brains - Yahoo! News

New research suggests that elderly women who watch daytime soap operas and talk shows are more likely to suffer from cognitive impairment than women who abstain from such fare.

Researchers stress that it’s not clear if watching these TV shows leads to weaker brainpower, or vice-versa. And they say it’s possible that another explanation might be at work.

Women who watched talk shows were 7.3 times more likely to have long-term memory problems, the researchers said, while those who watched soap operas were 13.5 times more likely to have problems with attention.

Things that Distract Me from getting anything done:

My gorgeous flowering plum tree… ooh, aah … so pretty…

BibliOdyssey

Excuse me while I vanish for a while… I’ve just found this wonderful new site chock full of old book illustrations…. OMG OMG OMG….

State to offer ‘Choose Life’ anti-abortion license plates

Kentucky to offer ‘Choose Life’ anti-abortion license plates

Anti-abortion license plates bearing the message “Choose Life” will be available in Kentucky within a few months, a state official said yesterday.

A federal court ruling issued yesterday in a Tennessee case says such tags are legal, even though they promote only one side of the debate.

Kentucky abortion-rights advocates said they may also push for abortion-rights plates.

Indiana does not have a Choose Life license plate. Legislation to authorize one was introduced in the 1999 and 2000 sessions of the General Assembly but did not pass.

A Kentucky law that took effect last year allows for citizen groups to petition the Transportation Cabinet to design specialty plates, said Doug Hogan, a spokesman for the cabinet.

Linda Jedlicki of Louisville said she plans to get a Choose Life plate in October when she renews her registration on her Subaru Outback.

“I just think it’s the best message you could have driving around town,” said Jedlicki, a community volunteer. “If just one person stops and thinks, ‘Choose Life,’ it’s worth any amount of money or time.”

Groups seeking specialty plates must present at least 900 prepaid plate applications, be a Kentucky-based nonprofit organization, and meet criteria regarding the message of the specialty plate.

The plates can’t be obscene, promote a political party or position, promote a religious faith, or discriminate on the basis of race, sex or national origin, Hogan said.

Tennessee case

In the Tennessee case, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit in Cincinnati overturned a lower-court ruling that said the tag illegally promoted only one side of the abortion debate, according to The Associated Press.

“Although this exercise of government one-sidedness with respect to a very contentious political issue may be ill-advised, we are unable to conclude that the Tennessee statute contravenes the First Amendment,” Judge John M. Rogers said in a 2-1 ruling.

An anti-abortion group, Tennessee Right to Life, declared victory.

“It’s a validation of our position all along that the legislature had the authority to authorize a plate that favors normal childbirth over the practice of abortion,” said Brian Harris, the group’s president.

In a dissenting opinion, Judge Boyce F. Martin Jr. said the specialty-plate program is unconstitutional because it discriminates against one side in the abortion debate.

The plaintiffs, the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee and Planned Parenthood of Middle and East Tennessee, said they were still reviewing yesterday’s ruling.

Abortion-rights proponents complained the state does not offer those with other political views a similar way to express them. An attempt to create a Choose Choice tag failed in the legislature in 2002.

Federal appeals courts have been divided over whether such license-plate programs are constitutional. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a lower-court ruling that said similar South Carolina license plates violated the First Amendment.

Drivers will be able to pay an extra fee in Tennessee for the Choose Life plate, and some of the proceeds will go to New Life Resources, an anti-abortion group.

‘Choose Life’ in other states

Other states that offer Choose Life plates are Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Montana, Ohio, Oklahoma and South Dakota. Most states donate proceeds to adoption groups, but Alabama, Hawaii, Maryland and Montana donate at least some of the money to anti-abortion groups.

Dependable Renegade

AP/Tennessee Right to Life

Fucktards.

(This undated artist’s rendering provided by Tennessee Right to Life, shows the proposed Choose Life license plate for Tennessee. Tennessee can sell license plates that say ‘Choose Life,’ even though it doesn’t offer one with an abortion rights message, a federal appeals court ruled Friday, March 17, 2006.)

To women who live in the South: GET OUT WHILE YOU CAN. If you can’t, DON’T HAVE SEX WITH THESE FUCKTARDS. REALLY!

Irresponsible - Kirsten Johnson

“To be an artist is to recognize the particular. To appreciate the peculiar. To allow a sense of play in your relationship to accepted standards. To ask the question, “Why?” To be an artist is to risk admitting that much of what is money, property, and prestige strikes you as just a little silly.

To be an artist is to acknowledge the astonishing. It is to allow the wrong piece in a room if we like it. It is to hang onto a weird coat that makes us happy. It is to not keep trying to be something that we aren’t.

If you are happier writing than not writing, painting than not painting, singing than not singing, acting than not acting, directing than not directing, for God’s sake… let yourself do it.

To kill your dreams because they are irresponsible is to be irresponsible to yourself.” — Julia Cameron, Artist’s Way

“Perhaps it is better to be irresponsible and right, than to be responsible and wrong.” — Winston Churchill

“Work while you have the light. You are responsible for the talent that has been entrusted to you.” — Henri Frederic Amiel

“Freedom is the will to be responsible to ourselves”
– Friedrich Nietzsche

“In the last analysis, the individual person is responsible for living his own life and for ”finding himself.” If he persists in shifting his responsibility to somebody else, he fails to find out the meaning of his own existence.”
– Thomas Merton

Pattern available here:

Posted by kuri:

Inspired by the recently reported kiwa hirsuta lobster, I designed a plush toy. Although she’s not anatomically correct in every detail (PDF), I think she is an identifiable member of this new species.

For anyone interested in sewing one of their own, I’ve developed a pattern with instructions and released it under a Creative Commons license. I don’t recommend this project for people averse to hand-sewing or turning things inside out—there’s plenty of both involved. But it’s all simple sewing and assembly if you understand the basics of seaming and stuffing.

Via boing boing.

So yay, I had my first voice lesson today!

It was actually very cool and informative. Eleonor teaches Alexander Technique so I learned lots about how to stand (pretend I have a tail, how fun is that?), what things I was doing with my head and throat that were inhibiting my tone, and how to fix them, and got to lay on the floor and sing, which was kind of different! I learned how to keep my ribs floating and not to press down with my tongue or tip my head back. It was fun, and Eleonor is very cool and relaxed. Definitely think I’ll go back!

What Mac said. Any woman who votes Republican ought to just sign over her uterus NOW. That’s all these asshats think you are, ladies. A twat.

pesky’apostrophe: always better than an unexpected period.

So. I know we’re all living in this weird world where fetuses and pre-fetuses and the concept of fetuses and sperm and eggs which make up the fetus are suppose to be more important and have more rights than women who have made it to adulthood and babies, infants, and children who are already born. I’m sure everyone who thinks the government should be intruding into our personal lives to stop the unchecked slaughter of babies due to masterbation, family planning, birth control, and abortion should also be spending whatever it takes to ensure the health and welfare of poor children and abused children, right? Right?

*crickets*

Yesterday the Missouri House voted to ban contraceptive funding for low-income women, and to prohibit state-funded programs from referring those women to other programs. You know, because as sponsor Rep. Susan Phillips says, using tax payer money to provide contraception is wrong. It’s wrong, I say!

So let me get this straight - Republicans are constantly bitching and complaining about having their hard earned money confiscated to pay for the stereotypical welfare queen who keeps popping out kids so she can get more welfare, right? Now Republicans are choosing to stop funding to a program that allows low income women to be responsible by limiting the number of kids they have, which might allow them to go to school and pull themselves up out of poverty, thus decreasing the need to spend as much on welfare? I’m sure they could just say that low-income women just shouldn’t have sex, but a good portion of these people are probably married - are they saying that married people shouldn’t have sex? Yes, I know, sex is for procreation with the Republican set, blah blah blah…but then they can’t be allowed to bitch about the welfare queens popping out two dozen kids anymore - they’re encouraging it!

I won’t even mention that the proposal specifically targets low-income women. What about state funding for male contraception? Is Missouri going to ban programs that provide condoms to low-income men and prevent state-funded medical clinics from handing out low cost vasectomies? I didn’t notice anything about low-income men, so this is really just a sexist bill aimed at punishing women for daring to a] be poor and b] have vaginas.

And what if the low-income person in question happens to be a junkie? Isn’t that a little irresponsible to encourage a junkie to get pregnant? I know the goal here is forced childbirth for all, but isn’t that just a teeny bit extreme and not particularly good when the baby is born a junkie, too?

Perhaps the low-income woman is using, let’s say, the birth control pill to regulate her period or control debilitating PMS and cramps. Or maybe she uses birth control of some sort because she’s going through chemo or has a history of ectopic pregnancies or something else. Not every woman uses birth control simply because she’s a big sluts intent on thwarting the patriarchy, you know. Isn’t it really unethical and against a doctor’s oath to refuse brith control under those circumstances?

Not to mention that more unwanted pregnancies due to lack of birth control access means more abortions. Of course, I’m sure that Missouri will follow South Dakota’s lead by trying to ban abortion. Not that it’ll stop women from having abortions…it’ll just mean more women will take matters into their own hands.

Good job, Missouri. What a bunch of schmucks.