Happy blogiversary to me! I started Pen-Elayne six years ago, for reasons which I outline in my first post. (By the way, that and all subsequent posts have been archived and are easily accessible from my left-hand sidebar, organized by month.)
A lot has happened to me in the past six years. I've seen the country continue its downward spiral that, for me, began with the one-two whammy of Ronald Reagan's election and John Lennon's assassination. And I've borne the deaths of my best friend from college, my best friend from my adult years, my mother-in-law and my father. But my husband and I have only grown closer; we moved to a beautiful, quiet apartment in a great neighborhood; and, after a hellish few years in a soul-sucking job followed by a very unnerving 6+ months of unemployment, I am gainfully employed with a company that treats me like I think all companies should treat their workers, back in the city I love, with no more sick feeling in the pit of my stomach at the prospect of going to work each weekday.
And there's change in the air -- even to the point where citizens are talking about how tired they are of feeling divided, and starting to yearn for common ground again, having felt it in that brief period seven years ago before the people in power cynically squandered and trashed that golden opportunity. Before I continue with a blogaround, I must recommend a fascinating documentary most of which Robin and I caught earlier today. It's called Split: A Divided America, and it's absolutely magnificent. It's the first political docu I've seen in quite awhile that doesn't stake out a POV, and that's because it's all about how we got to this point where staking out POVs and sticking to them come hell or high water has all but ruined our ability to talk to each other, arrive at understandings, and grow not only as citizens but as people. I can't say enough about this work, please see it if you get the chance. We have less than two months for its message to sink in.
So, what have I been reading and liking in the blogosphere lately?:
• The problem with the Republicans' red meat that they keep dangling is that the Democrats are way too carnivorous. Perhaps we should consider a bit of vegetarianism or at least hold off until we know the facts about whether the meat is irradiated or otherwise spoiled. HuffPo's Jackson Williams talks about how the "Palin's kid is really her grandkid" meme on which liberal bloggers so readily jumped has classic Karl Rove written all over it. This is why, if you're going to hit people, hit them on their documented activities and proven records, not on unsubstantiated rumor, no matter how true that rumor feels to you. We have to stop falling for truthiness politics, folks! (And that goes double for the Anne Kikenny post that's been reproed everywhere in the liberal blogosphere, most recently on HuffPo itself. Does this Kikenny person have any sort of paper trail herself? She certainly pops up at a suspiciously opportune moment!) Although I admit I liked Heidi MacDonald's "WHO WILL HOLD THE BABY?" post.
• Well, Jamie Lee, I don't think you're stupid, but I'm tired that you only seem to sell yogurt to women, especially since my husband eats Activia more than I do. On the other hand, Michael, there's a reason you're the right's bugaboo.
• My ex-husband thinks we might be in trouble because a lot more conservatives love Palin than were expected to. Just on the basis of overheard conversations at work, I'd have to agree.
• Speaking of my ex-husband, he'll be nostalgically saddened to learn that, as Val reminds us, today was *sigh* Astroland's last day. Speaking of which, Val's currently between jobs which sucks considering her talent level, and takes the opportunity to mourn the loss of the illusion of job security.
• The comics blogosphere is losing a great one, as Cheryl Lynn hangs things up after her constant Sisyphusian efforts. She's looking for someone to take over the Ormes Society that she founded.
• Meanwhile in real life, Laura's finally moved to her new abode, woo-hoo!
• IDW's editor in chief has some nice things to say about Robin's current assignment, Sir Apropos of Nothing, including showing a few pages from the first issue.
• Want to know more about how a recording session works? Get all wonky about it with Thomas Dolby, who's also crazy about eSession software.
• Corn refiners are trying to combat all the bad news people are finding out about HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) and its contributions to the ill health of our nation with some misleading propaganda. Hey, after all, it's just made from corn! Yeah, and aspartame is bananas and milk. Pull the other one.
• I really want to make cream cheese penguins for my next party.
• And I want to hook up this way cool energy ball now.
• Lastly for now, the Republicans have got to learn that they can't go around blaming "liberal Hollywood" for all that's wrong with the world then expect not to get called on it when they use "liberal" Hollywood's product as their background music. The Wilson sisters are the latest in an increasingly long line of pissed-off musicians.
I was going to do more, but for whatever reason I couldn't work up the creative energy this weekend. Eh, it happens. With any luck I'll resume tomorrow, to start off my seventh blogging year right!
A lot has happened to me in the past six years. I've seen the country continue its downward spiral that, for me, began with the one-two whammy of Ronald Reagan's election and John Lennon's assassination. And I've borne the deaths of my best friend from college, my best friend from my adult years, my mother-in-law and my father. But my husband and I have only grown closer; we moved to a beautiful, quiet apartment in a great neighborhood; and, after a hellish few years in a soul-sucking job followed by a very unnerving 6+ months of unemployment, I am gainfully employed with a company that treats me like I think all companies should treat their workers, back in the city I love, with no more sick feeling in the pit of my stomach at the prospect of going to work each weekday.
And there's change in the air -- even to the point where citizens are talking about how tired they are of feeling divided, and starting to yearn for common ground again, having felt it in that brief period seven years ago before the people in power cynically squandered and trashed that golden opportunity. Before I continue with a blogaround, I must recommend a fascinating documentary most of which Robin and I caught earlier today. It's called Split: A Divided America, and it's absolutely magnificent. It's the first political docu I've seen in quite awhile that doesn't stake out a POV, and that's because it's all about how we got to this point where staking out POVs and sticking to them come hell or high water has all but ruined our ability to talk to each other, arrive at understandings, and grow not only as citizens but as people. I can't say enough about this work, please see it if you get the chance. We have less than two months for its message to sink in.
So, what have I been reading and liking in the blogosphere lately?:
• The problem with the Republicans' red meat that they keep dangling is that the Democrats are way too carnivorous. Perhaps we should consider a bit of vegetarianism or at least hold off until we know the facts about whether the meat is irradiated or otherwise spoiled. HuffPo's Jackson Williams talks about how the "Palin's kid is really her grandkid" meme on which liberal bloggers so readily jumped has classic Karl Rove written all over it. This is why, if you're going to hit people, hit them on their documented activities and proven records, not on unsubstantiated rumor, no matter how true that rumor feels to you. We have to stop falling for truthiness politics, folks! (And that goes double for the Anne Kikenny post that's been reproed everywhere in the liberal blogosphere, most recently on HuffPo itself. Does this Kikenny person have any sort of paper trail herself? She certainly pops up at a suspiciously opportune moment!) Although I admit I liked Heidi MacDonald's "WHO WILL HOLD THE BABY?" post.
• Well, Jamie Lee, I don't think you're stupid, but I'm tired that you only seem to sell yogurt to women, especially since my husband eats Activia more than I do. On the other hand, Michael, there's a reason you're the right's bugaboo.
• My ex-husband thinks we might be in trouble because a lot more conservatives love Palin than were expected to. Just on the basis of overheard conversations at work, I'd have to agree.
• Speaking of my ex-husband, he'll be nostalgically saddened to learn that, as Val reminds us, today was *sigh* Astroland's last day. Speaking of which, Val's currently between jobs which sucks considering her talent level, and takes the opportunity to mourn the loss of the illusion of job security.
• The comics blogosphere is losing a great one, as Cheryl Lynn hangs things up after her constant Sisyphusian efforts. She's looking for someone to take over the Ormes Society that she founded.
• Meanwhile in real life, Laura's finally moved to her new abode, woo-hoo!
• IDW's editor in chief has some nice things to say about Robin's current assignment, Sir Apropos of Nothing, including showing a few pages from the first issue.
• Want to know more about how a recording session works? Get all wonky about it with Thomas Dolby, who's also crazy about eSession software.
• Corn refiners are trying to combat all the bad news people are finding out about HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) and its contributions to the ill health of our nation with some misleading propaganda. Hey, after all, it's just made from corn! Yeah, and aspartame is bananas and milk. Pull the other one.
• I really want to make cream cheese penguins for my next party.
• And I want to hook up this way cool energy ball now.
• Lastly for now, the Republicans have got to learn that they can't go around blaming "liberal Hollywood" for all that's wrong with the world then expect not to get called on it when they use "liberal" Hollywood's product as their background music. The Wilson sisters are the latest in an increasingly long line of pissed-off musicians.
I was going to do more, but for whatever reason I couldn't work up the creative energy this weekend. Eh, it happens. With any luck I'll resume tomorrow, to start off my seventh blogging year right!
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