South Dakota Abortion Ban

Yeah, I'm that pissed off.

However, over at the Den of the Biting Beaver, there was a great suggestion:

I've got a pile of wire hangers and am hunting for a box as we speak. Everyone should be doing this. Preferably with a letter that says something like "We realize that after you sign the anti-abortion bill, your state health agencies will need vast stockpiles of these to handle the demand. Here is our meager donation."

The address for the governor's office is:
Office of the Governor
500 E. Capitol Ave.
Pierre, SD 57501

If you think this is as awesome an idea as we do, post it on your blogs and messageboards and anywhere else you go. The more, the merrier!

Yeah, I've got a bunch that I can send. How about you?

Almost forgot, Thanks to Republic of T, where I stole that graphic.

I'm back!

I've been such a lazy blogger. Truly a disappointment. My only excuse is that I do most of my blogging at work.

And I've had to work at work. Now before any one decides they need to warn me about blogging about work, let me assure you, my boss is well aware of my work time blogging.

Most of my work revolves around installing and testing software. Which means I get to spend much of my day watching software install and computers reboot. While the computers are doing this, I have time to blog, read website, write, etc on my computer.

But these last few weeks, I've had to go out to our schools and work on site. Now I don't mind that. I figure that whatever time I spend in my car (and depending upon traffic, this can be up to 3 hours a day) is my time, like an extended break. But I can't blog while I'm out of the office.

Not to worry. My major responsibility is laptops and out wireless labs are not cooperating with our newest Windows image. It takes almost an hour to image a laptop (this is all automatic--you start it and come back when it's done) so I image, test, change, repeat. This process can go on for days, until I track down all the bugs.

So as soon as I'm done with my current project, I'll be blogging with some regularity.

Blogs

The Highlander, who blogs at Miserable Annals of the Earth has asked me to announce that he is making his blog members only. You can email him at docnebula @gmail.com (space inserted to prevent spammers) to become a member.

The Highlander has an interesting blog. Go there, you'll enjoy it.

Lie to me!

This is a great post from All Kinds of Writing. It is quoting the article from Times Online The Facts. Don't Give me the Facts.

If you followed the James Frey big brouhahaha (ha), you will be interested in this:

From The facts. Don't give me the facts:

AFTER READING JOHN BANVILLE'S Man Booker prize-winning The Sea, a slim volume trumpeted as fiction, I was startled to discover, upon perusing my hefty atlas, that this supposedly fantastical place named Ireland was an actual island. While reading, I thought it sounded familiar, yet I let it slide, not wanting niggling particulars to ruin the experience.

But as a page-by-page analysis of The Sea turned up a plethora of verifiable facts, I believe a comprehensive investigation is in order. If the sanctioned percentage of fact (to be determined by James Frey) exceeds the appropriate percentage of fiction, I suggest that it would be prudent for the Booker committee to strip Banville of his award.

This feeling of being cheated and of violation to my very soul led me to contact a lawyer who is at present engaged in writing a class action against authors who have mis-stated fact for fiction.

Well, I believee that says it all...

I was in Hell

Yesterday. I was in Music Hell.

I was working in an office that listens to some softrock, nonsense, easily forgotten radio station. I was replacing hard drives and reimaging laptops, actually enjoying myself, when the radio station played the Carpenter's "Close to Me." I tried to block it out (I'm usually good at blocking out bad music, I have a teenager) but that particular song has a way of entering the brain as if it had a purpose.

One of the women in the office commented that the radio was playing all music from the 70's that hour, and wasn't this just a wonderful song? They played it at her prom. The song ended and I thought 70's does not need to be all bad. When I think of 70's, I think Springsteen, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Doors, The Who, Rolling Stones. Even music that wasn't great, such as Queen or possibly Meatloaf, was at least fun. And there was some great R&B music like Sly, James Brown, Aretha, Gladys Knight. I was hopeful.

The next song was "Chevy Van", by some artist that I've obviously chosen to block from my memory.

The point to remember is that this is not my office and I have no control over the music. I just have to put my head down and work. And these are songs that stay with you, stay in your head, and bring the agony to you throughout the day.

I was almost done with the machines, and I just knew this station couldn't play anything worse.

Of course, I was wrong. I heard laughing from within the gates of hell.

The next song was "Clap for the Wolfman".

I was definitely in hell.

Now it isn't all bad. When I left that office of terrible music and got into my car, I heard "Funeral March for a Marionette". I knew I had escaped from my personal hell.