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June 30, 2005
Perfect...
Hey dad look at me
Think back and talk to me
Did I grow up according to plan?
Do you think I'm wastin my time
Doing things I wanna do?
But it hurts when you disapprove all along
And now I try hard to make it
I just wanna make you proud
I'm never gonna be good enough for you
I can't pretend that I'm all right
and you can't change me
Cause we lost it all
Nothing last for ever
I'm sorry I can't be perfect
Now it's just too late and we can't go back
I'm sorry I can't be perfect
I try not to think
About the pain I feel inside
Did you know you used to be my hero?
All the days you spent with me
Now seem so far away
And it feels like you don't care anymore
And now I try hard to make it
I just wanna make you proud
I'm never gonna be good enough for you
I can't stand another fight
And nothing's alright
Cause we lost it all
Nothing last for ever
I'm sorry I can't be perfect
Now it's just too late and we can't go back
I'm sorry I can't be perfect
Nothing's gonna change the things that you said
Nothing's gonna make this right again
Please don't turn your back
I can't believe it's hard just to talk to you
'Cuz you don't understand
Cause we lost it all
Nothing last for ever
I'm sorry I can't be perfect
Now it's just too late and we can't go back
I'm sorry I can't be perfect
Cause we lost it all
Nothing last for ever
I'm sorry I can't be perfect
Now it's just too late and we can't go back
I'm sorry I can't be perfect
--Simple Plan
Posted by Kat at 06:10 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 29, 2005
OMMFG
(no, seriously, it's cool though. Via Ellen at AMCGLTD.COM
Posted by Kat at 06:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Nope, never a break.
Not a one.
Come ON people, where the hell are the comments? I want feedback! Feedback junkie! Feed Me!
I dreamt last night that I was crawling through the ductwork of a cruise ship, trying to escape. But the people I was trying to escape are people I know very well in real life.
Posted by Kat at 11:10 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
We loved you...
Grumpus. RIP.
Nothing more to be said tonight. I'm going to go finish crying.
Posted by Kat at 12:30 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 28, 2005
Passionate Indulgence
Indulge me, and let me run with this. The following is a work of fiction, spewed out of a brain saturated with finding itself. I am becoming the fervent intellectual I was in high school, and very glad to have found her again.
This picks up, like all tales, in the middle. The characters are established, the scene set, and it is simply up to me to describe what they do and how they become who they are.
These two are a figment of my imaginings, perhaps based on various personalities I have met, but ultimately, they belong only to themselves. The words are mine and mine alone.
------------
It was one of those nights. The kind in which neither of us could sleep, and neither could stand to be in the stifling air of their apartment, the kind of oppressive stillness which not even the fans could break. We sat on the steps, he and I, thinking our own thoughts. We lived in different places, he in his head, me in my heart. This is not to say that I was stupid, witless, or that he was cold and unemotional. Quite the opposite. We were both brilliant, passionate people who had their impetus come from different parts of their being.
This was most apparant in the way we sat. I was sprawled out on the landing of our stoop, one leg stretched across the top step, the other bent out to the side with my elbow resting on the knee. I was alternating drags of my half-burned cigarette with long, deep pulls from the lips of the moisture-covered beer bottle swinging from the other hand, bringing it to my lips to allow the smooth, cold liquid slide down the neck and into my throat. It sent the thought through my skull of how much like a blowjob drinking from a bottle was, and maybe that's why people tended to get horny when drunk.
He was sitting, all proper, his ass butting up to the calf I had stretched out, forearms on knees, hands holding an iced tea glass so as to drip on the step, rather than his feet. Plain iced tea for him, no alcohol for this man tonight. The brown liquid had a couple ice cubes melting, weighing down the sprig of mint and the lemon wedge. Everything in perfect order, down to the laced-up shoes and khakis he had on, contrasting my bare feet and animal-print pajama pants.
His face was turned up to the sky, lost in thought amongst the cloud-covered stars. I nudged his tailbone with my ankle, murmuring a soft "hey". His attention caught, his head swung so I could see his profile, the perfect line marred by a childhood broken nose. The slight tilt of his head, like one of the cats would do when asked a question. On my next inhalation, hold, exhalation of the smokey air, his nose crinkled with displeasure. I nudged him again, to show mine.
The droplets of anticipation suspended themselves in the night air, mixing neatly with the droplets of water which were only added to by the people sitting on their stoops, escaping their realities for a night. On other nights, he would have sat here with the guitar, picking out a tuneless melody, with people mingling around, sort of a central gathering place to ease all our minds. Tonight, the instrument sat, lonely, leaning against the cement bricks of the stairs.
This weather had us both spoiling for a fight. Nothing had happened in days, all action spurred to a halt by the solidity of the air around us. Even sex, performed only in the dark, was inaction, our skin recoiling from sensation, even as our lips sought the other out. Love was done with in a heartbeat, as the stagnant, humid air became more so from our moistly overheated bodies. Instead of coming closer together, as we had in past summers, we were moving apart.
He was staring at the sky, watching the flashes of distant lightning as if I had never interrupted, since my thoughts had consumed me once again. He used to tease me that I was the only person he knew who could be distracted by my own thoughts. Then again, I had said the same about him. Were we really that different?
I nudged him again, this time getting an exasperated sigh for my efforts. Without thinking, the exhalation of "what", with all it's edged sharpness, had passed my lips. The fight was spoiling, the tension building up. Neighbors were escaping the emotion, feeling it better to be inside a breezeless apartment rather than out in this roiling aggravation.
We traded barbs about the other's failings, the words themselves unimportant, the emotion behind them the only thing that mattered. Feelings of loneliness, of being left in the dust, two strong, ambitious hearts trying to reach out and express what ran through them daily, amplified by the sultriness and the sun-strengthened turmoil. Finally getting to the heart of the matter. To the isolation we both felt by noticing the differences, when others remarked only on our similarities.
The crash of thunder shocked us both as if a neighbor boy had thrown a firecracker at the curb by our feet. It had snuck up on us, neither one noticing that the disappearing crowds had nothing to do with our disturbance, which was minor in terms of the local dynamics, and everything to do with the encroaching storm. The world was about to be washed clean of its sins, and us with it. The guitar would go inside, but we would dance in the rain, drinking beer and smoking cigarettes. Once again whole, once again, the similarities outweighing and amplifying the differences.
--------------
So there it is, stream of consciousness. Have at it, and my congratulations if you were able to get through this mental masturbation.
Posted by Kat at 10:34 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Yummy
Posted by Kat at 01:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Hey, check it out...
I passed 1,000 visitors since 3/21/05. Ok, so I guess it's time for me to pick it up a bit.
Let's see what's in the news...Major offensive in Iraq...blah blah blah...Wal-Mart heir dies in plane crash...AMD sues Intel...Groups gear up for SCOTUS battle...wow there's a lot out there...A couple of journalists test out the Gitmo diet...NASA set to crash into comet...Bloggers fighting government regulation...
Something about the government regulation article...Duncan Black and Michelle Malkin, Glenn Reynolds, Jeff Jarvis, and James Lileks?
Back to news:
Viagra doesn't cause blindness, all the jerking off you do when you're on the Viagra does.
Baby born from frozen ovarian tissue.
Oh dear God...First we have Paula Abdul urges tough nail salon standards, followed up by Corey Clark cited for alleged food fight. Can this get any funnier?
Maybe it can...Women stripping in Indian forest to foil police. I love the Odd News section of Yahoo News.
Well, that's it for now, come back later for more!
Posted by Kat at 12:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 27, 2005
Guess I named the site accurately...
| You Are From Mercury |
 You are talkative, clever, and knowledgeable - and it shows. You probably never leave home without your cell phone! You're witty, expressive, and aware of everything going on around you. You love learning, playing, and taking in all of what life has to offer. Be careful not to talk your friends' ears off, and temper your need to know everything. |
Posted by Kat at 12:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
...in the Hundred Acre Wood...
*sniff*
John Fiedler, the voice of Piglet. RIP.
Who's next? Eeyore? Rabbit? Pooh?!
Gah.
Posted by Kat at 11:34 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Meant to post this earlier...
Paul Winchell, the voice of Tigger, died yesterday.
RIP.
I loved Tigger.
Posted by Kat at 02:13 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 26, 2005
Celebs are weird
And Tom Cruise is INSANE.
That is all.
Thank you.
Posted by Kat at 10:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Love is a many splendored thing
As always, thank you Chris Muir.
Posted by Kat at 05:43 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 24, 2005
A Sports Photographer I Am Not
But I think these are decent photos. You tell me.
Also, I have video, but like a schmuck, I turned the camera on it's side and I have no video editing software. So we'll just have to wait on that.
Now THAT's close.
Yeah, so they got a run off Pedro. He's not known for good first innings.
They pulled that sign up pretty quickly...
Minkai...Mainke...Mienkev...Mientkiewicz just R0x3rs da big one.
Oh yeah, Pedro baby. Just like that.
This one is for Michele. I know it's impossible to see, but that's Jeter hitting a single in his last at-bat. (UPDATE: this is also for Karol.)
Well, that's it. I tried to fix the movies of the drunken raving Yankee fan who was screaming "Hideki Matsui! Sign my jersey! Come here and sign my jersey!" But it didn't work.
Posted by Kat at 11:12 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
More on the WMD issue
I will say this, once, and then I am very likey done with the issue.
SADDAM was the WMD. Removing him was the only way to ensure continued security.
Posted by Kat at 09:29 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
June 23, 2005
MS Access 2002 Database and Wireless Networking
Now, I have a wide range of emotions. But to be this close to a total breakdown is rare for me. This fucking database has me practically in tears.
Here's the problem:
A database, created by a third party for (company name removed) is on computer A. Computers B, C, and D are all on a secured wireless network, supposedly with full privilages to access and edit said database.
I was working on computer B yesterday, inputting data and at around 2:30pm, suddenly started getting "disk or network read error" messages.
I thought it was the network, since the database itself seemed to be unaffected. However, the problem lasted through today. Nothing seems to fix it. I installed Windows updates, Office updates, and went crawling through forums and knowledge bases, trying to teach myself enough about the program to figure it out. Now, I know enough to build and manage a MySQL database. But put Access or OLE in front of me, and I have no idea what I'm doing.
One of the things I noticed, which I don't think is normal, is that the "attribute" read-only in the Properties menu is ticked. Now, that wouldn't be terrible, untick it, apply, ok, and move on. But no. It will untick, it will seem like it's listening to you, and then it comes back up and says "nope, I'm still read-only and you can't do anything about it, no matter how much you want to delude yourself".
I'm at my wits end. If anyone can help, PLEASE help. This has to be done ASAP, as there is much need for it to work and work correctly.
Posted by Kat at 10:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Where's the Naproxen when I need it?
Ow ow ow ow ow ow owowowowowowwwwwww.....
Go read Lair, Meryl, Jeff, Michele or Karol.
Posted by Kat at 08:43 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 22, 2005
Lists!
Some songs rated in my Yahoo Launch (in no particular order):
- Greenday Time Of Your Life (Good Riddance)
- Eminem Cleaning Out My Closet
- Foo Fighters All My Life
- Evanescence Going Under
- Black Eyed Peas Where Is The Love
- Simple Plan Perfect
- Story of the Year Until The Day I Die
- My Chemical Romance I'm Not Okay (I Promise)
- Rascal Flatts Bless The Broken Road
- New Found Glory My Friends Over You
- Breaking Benjamin So Cold
- Linkin Park Breaking The Habit
- Dashboard Confessional Vindicated
- Taking Back Sunday A Decade Under The Influence
- Nine Inch Nails The Hand That Feeds
- Christina Milian Dip It Low
- JoJo Leave (Get Out)
- Yellowcard Only One
- Muse Hysteria
- Kevin Lyttle Turn Me On
This is in no way complete, and I didn't include multiple songs from the same artist. This is just a sampling of my tastes. Besides, several of the artists I like aren't on Yahoo.
Posted by Kat at 11:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Addendum
A quick addendum to the previous article:
I am intimately familiar with addiction. Not only have I watched friends struggle with heroin and painkiller addictions, but I have watched family members become alcoholics.
Most painful of all was watching my father rapidly become addicted to morphine and demerol while he was dying of cancer. Being a child and watching one's father go through that kind of thing, knowing that he hated it but needed it at the same time...And in the end, knowing that it was the only thing keeping him lucid at times...There's nothing quite so difficult. It gives me a not-so-unique view of addiction.
Posted by Kat at 10:28 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Time for the Entry About Drugs
Jeff has an interesting article over on his site about opinions on drugs in the blogosphere
Now, I disagree with him on several points, so I'm going to go along and quote bits, then respond. A semi-academic article.
(NOTE: all information is from one of three sites, all of which are linked at the bottom. If quoted directly, a link will be provided.)
Dub’s point is that the sale of drugs is used to fund terrorism not because drugs are prohibited but because drugs are addictive. This rates a giant “duh” from me.
Actually, the definition of drugs is a substance that alters the chemical makeup of the body. This is why prescription drugs such as Naproxen, Viagra, Celebrex, and others, are called drugs. A drug does not have to be addictive to be called a drug.
Many "illegal" drugs are not addictive. Some actually are counter-addictive. One example of this is Psilocybin, a toxin found in shrooms. Because of the high fever and general malaise caused by this toxin, resistance to taking it again is very high immediately after coming down and reduces over time.
In that page, scroll down to The Eraserhead Syndrome for the above quote.
Other drugs which are not necessarily addictive are Ecstasy and Acid. Both of which, if done on a regular basis, cause a resistance to build up, reducing the effectiveness and killing the enjoyment.
The way I see it, drugs are fundamentally a civil-rights problem. In any incident of drug use, there are two parties involve. There’s the consumer and the seller. (There’s also a producer who is almost certainly separate from the seller, but let’s ignore that for the moment.) The consumer buys and takes the drugs; the seller provides the drugs in exchange for money.
There are many more than just two parties involved. In addition to the producer, there are the middlemen, the seller, and the buyer. Often there are many middlemen, ranging from distillers to just people who pass along the drugs, making quite a bit of money off them. Most drugs are not as expensive as their street value. Most of them can be produced for anywhere from $0.25 - $2.00 per dose. It is the middlemen who push up the price, and often it is the middlemen who get arrested with the massive amounts of drugs being trafficked. One could say that it is the middlemen who cause most of the problems with drugs.
But the seller is stomping all over the buyer’s civil rights. See, the defining characteristic of drugs is that they’re addictive. We don’t fully understand the physiology of addiction, but we know that certain substances are addictive. When somebody is addicted, he’s not free to choose whether to consume the object of his addiction or not.
We've already dealt with the addiction concept. It's false. Yes, narcotics tend to be addictive, meth, crack, cocaine, certain prescription narcotics, etc. I agree that the production and distribution of those should be illegal in the U.S. However there are many drugs, emotigens, empathigens, and hallucinogens, which are not fundamentally addictive and should be, at the least decriminalized.
I don't see it as the seller STOMPING on civil rights, or even as it being an issue of freedom from addiction. It's a transaction.
But taking it from his point of view, it still isn't the SELLER doing the stomping, it's the person who PRODUCED the drugs in the first place. Ditto for overdoses/reactions to the substances used to cut the drugs. It's whoever mixed the drugs in the first place.
Even then, it is only the seller/producer if it is a top-down system. If the system is P2P, with the producers being the buyers/sellers/etc, then the concept of one person taking away another's freedom to choose goes down the toilet.
However, there’s a complex interaction between suppliers and consumers. We can’t turn all our wrath to those who produce, distribute and sell drugs and just ignore those who consume them. We have to attack the supply and the demand.But does it do any good to take drug addicts — and for purposes of discussion I’m considering all individuals who consume drugs to be addicts — and throw them in jail? That doesn’t make sense to me.
When discussing only the addicts and addictive drugs, he's dead on. No argument here.
So if I were king and could make all the laws, here’s what US drug-control policy would look like: Anybody caught in possession or under the influence of drugs would be sentenced to a 180-day in-patient drug treatment program or five years in prison. (I don’t see how we can force otherwise competent people to undergo medical procedures, but we can give them a difficult choice.) Meanwhile, anybody caught producing, trafficking in or distributing drugs would be sentenced to the harshest punishment we have: twenty-five years to life.
Ok. Treatment for addicts: good. Harsh punishments for producing, trafficking or distributing with no distinction and no consideration for the various levels of addiction/effect: not so good. This is my biggest problem with the Roc laws in NYState. They have no allowances for anything. Pot? Crack? same punishment, because they're both schedule 1 drugs. That's exactly what I've been fighting against.
So, the basis of this article is good. It's just some of his facts and most of the hard-line punishments I have an issue with. But tell me what you think. I want to hear your opinions. He has comments closed, so I'll trackback him, and you comment here. Yo, Jeff, link to me so they'll come over here to comment! I need commenters!
(Yes, I admit it, I'm a comment-whore)
The New Bluelight
Erowid
Magic Mushrooms: The Shroomery
DISCLAIMER: The above is an academic discussion, not intended to promote or deter drug use.
UPDATE: I felt like trackbacking another person who provided a slightly more logical tearing apart of the entry posted by Jeff. Though we made the same basic points, hers is more organized.
Posted by Kat at 07:37 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Conversations and Inspirations.
I've been having email correspondance with Jeff over the last week or so. It's gotten very interesting. During today's conversation, I'm sitting in Starbucks, listening to launch.yahoo.com, and what comes up, but one of my favorite songs.
God Bless The Broken Road
I set out on a narrow way, many years ago
Hoping I would find true love, along the broken road
But I got lost a time or two
Wiped my brow and kept pushing through
I couldn't see how every sign, pointed straight to you
Every long lost dream lead me to where you are
Others who broke my heart, they were like northern stars
Pointing me on my way, into your loving arms
This much I know is true
That God blessed the broken road
That lead me straight to you
I think about the years I spent, just passing through
I'd like to have the time I lost, and give it back to you
But you just smile and take my hand
You've been there, you understand
It's all part of a grander plan, that is coming true
Every long lost dream, lead me to where you are
Others who broke my heart, they were like northern stars
Pointing me on my way, into your loving arms
This much I know is true
That God blessed the broken road
That lead me straight to you
Now I'm just rolling home
Into my lovers arms
This much I know, is true
That God blessed the broken road
That lead me straight to you
That God blessed the broken road
That lead me straight
to you
Posted by Kat at 07:19 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Blogmap
This doesn't really work too well, but here's my blogmap:
(CODE IS SHIT, NO LONGER HERE)
Via IFOC.
-----------
Yeah. No more of these stupid little applets. They suck. It didn't even have me mapped right...showed me in the middle of the Harlem River.
Posted by Kat at 05:29 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Update on Kittycat
I wrote, almost a week ago about a cat who lived down the street from me. I haven't seen her since last Friday, and I'm a bit worried. I really wanted to help her.
But all is not lost. I am still planning to start volunteering for KittyKind, an organization that works out of the Union Square Petco. Hopefully I find a cat or a pair of kittens there.
In the meantime, I'm looking for a job as a waitress or hostess at a nice restaurant downtown. I'm working on my C.V. as I type this, and have a few places in mind. If anyone has suggestions, leave them in the comments.
Speaking of comments, where is everyone? I broke 100 visitors in 24 hrs yesterday. But no one has commented. Come on people, where are you?
If I'm being boring, tell me. Ask me to write about things. Ask me questions. I'm having a hard time coming up with original content, because I'm not willing to write about certain things in my personal life. That might be stupid, since I've written about the house I grew up in, I've commented on blogs that relate to my hometown, and I'm pretty sure that if anyone is going to find me, they'll do so easily.
In the meantime, COMMENT. That's an order.
Posted by Kat at 05:16 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 20, 2005
Words
I live mostly in my head.
This is not to say that I don't live in the world. I am very rooted in the world, and enjoy all sorts of worldly things.
But underneath it all, I live in my head. I am always thinking. Often it takes me a long time to wind down, because even though my body is exhausted, my mind just won't stop working. I started this site partially in the hope that I would be able to get some of these thoughts out.
I'm still thinking as much, maybe even more, but for some reason, the words just don't want to put themselves down in a blog format. Message boards have caught my interest.
I'm also dealing with a shitload of trackback spam. Yuck.
Posted by Kat at 05:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
So much to post, so little time
So there are many many things going on in the world. There's the dog fucker/child molester, the Mets suck, the Yankees suck, but for different reasons, the Red Sox are doing pretty well, there's a six legged, two penis-having dog, Spainish Catholics are protesting a bill to legalize gay marriage, there are good movies out, and I'm too lazy to link to any of this.
That cover everything?
Oh, and the Blogathon is August 6th. Mark your calenders. I'll be blogging all night.
Posted by Kat at 04:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 19, 2005
Thpppppppt
Whoever thought that the combination of Midol and Imitrex would make one hale and hearty and able to do work is a moron.
I like that word. Moron. And imbicile. Though I always say that with a French accent. Hazard of 6+ years of French class, plus a summer in France.
Love the country, hate the people.
Bounce.
Bounce.
BOING!
Posted by Kat at 05:04 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Another "Durbin is a moron" post
Via Cox & Forkum, of course.
Posted by Kat at 03:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Father's Day
I don't know that I can post a father's day entry without getting very emotional, teary, and upset. So I may leave it for now.
Oh, the reason? He Who Is My Daddy passed on more than a decade ago.
I'll see you later. Can't do this now.
Posted by Kat at 01:55 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Durbin and the Moonbat Left
I've been having some interesting conversations lately in blog comments and message board PM's. The following is an amalgamation of said comments. Most of the replying comments have been taken out, except where they further what I've said.
The site I was commenting on is The Shape of Days. I've also edited my own comments to only include the pure philosophy.
Durbin was wrong for one reason and one reason only. He compared the torture of walking hundreds of miles through Siberia, the gas chambers of Birkenau, the torture rooms of the mullahs, with being forced to listen to Christina Aguilara music. I'll admit, it is fairly torturous to listen to her, but I wouldn't classify it with the above.He also had the audacity to say this in a public forum.
I stopped being a registered Democrat only in the last election. And only because I didn't want to associate myself with people such as this. Living in NYC means I am subjected to the ramblings of people such as Al Sharpton, Schumer, and the general ignorant, slogan-spewing radicals on a daily basis. To know that they are in the Senate as well merely reinforces my belief that I did the right thing by changing my associaion.
A note about the Geneva Convention: It is only meant to apply when BOTH sides abide by it. The terrorists, no matter where they are, do not abide by several points. Technically, the entire thing should be thrown out the window.
kat: but how to determine a terrorist from a person who may be misguided enough to fight for another nation?See events in WWII by US citizens prior to the entry into WWII by the USA. Should they have been classed 'enemy non-combatents'?
If you do not apply the Geneva Conventions in one case, who's to say that those opposing you will pre-empt you and ignore them too?
Take a moment and think on this -- how is the Geneva Convention enforced?It's not. There is no GC police force or courts.
The GC holds force only by the goodwill of its signatories and the incentives provided by the way it is written.
Islamists in general and al Qaeda in particular are not signatories to the GC AND in both word and deed they reject the GC.
What incentive does al Qaeda or other non-signatories have to actually become signatories if they know they will be treated to the full power of the GC and never have to abide by it themselves?
The GC makes clear distinctions between civilians/POWs and others. And it puts the responsibility of harm to civilians who are used as shields on the people who USE them as shields (ie when Islamists hide among civilians the Islamists are 100% responsible for any harm to civilians, even if the harm is from American or Iraqi National soldiers)
And I responded, again:
ju said:"kat: but how to determine a terrorist from a person who may be misguided enough to fight for another nation?
See events in WWII by US citizens prior to the entry into WWII by the USA. Should they have been classed 'enemy non-combatents'?
If you do not apply the Geneva Conventions in one case, who's to say that those opposing you will pre-empt you and ignore them too?"
The difference between terrorists and enemy combatants is a grey area. There are many things one can call a terrorist that can also apply to EC. I guess the biggest distinction is are they trying to kill us because we are trying to kill them, or because they are morally outraged by us?
I've always had a problem with putting my feelings on this into words. I've always just been able to point and say "terrorist" or "not terrorist".
RE: the Geneva Convention, Darleen has the best answer. I'll leave it to her. Kudos, Darleen.
ju responded to me again...
@ kat: if we stoop to their level, what have we achieved? Nothing. What have they achieved? Everything.By that concept, everyone should shrink back into individual isolationism, nations would not exist and it would literally be 'every man woman or child for themselves'
And later:
Dropping the nuclear bombs has been heavily debated on both sides - both at the time and from then on - and I don't think there will ever be a consensus that it was completely necessary in the scheme of things.Fire bombings of Dresden continued more for the sake of vengence and civilian moral than to achieve any military victory except perhaps by secondary and tertiary effects. Even Churchill conceded this in stopping such bombings.
One wonders of the secondary and tertiary effects of a superpower performing as you speak - and by way of speaking you are acknowledging that morals hold no part in the 'war on terrorism' (or, I'm assuming, any other war on *tism). How many more nutcases come about when they see people they empathise with suffer? Your anger at S11 was guided into Afghanistan (still a mess to this day) and misguided into Iraq (moving on from Afghanistan before it was tidied up). Where can their anger at act against someone they empathise with be chanelled?
Again, Darleen responded (I think I like this woman)
'ju:femaizThose that criticize the A-bombing of Japan due so from the conceit of being alive because of those bombings.
If you have any knowledge of the battles of Wake Island or Iwo Jima, then you have to know that the full invasion of Japan that would have taken place instead of the bombings would have been a protracted bloodbath on a scale that would have dwarfed all losses up to that time.
Not speculation. Cold, hard, cruel reality.
I, myself, would not be here if such an invasion took place. My father was a paratrooper with the Army 11th Airborne. He would have been first wave of the invasion. As it turned out, he was with the occupation troops on Okinawa for 2 years.
And my most recent response:
Ju:You completely misunderstood what I said. I am, in no ways, an isolationist. I have never been one, and I will never be one. It isn't a matter of "stooping to their level", it's a matter of doing what is necessary to protect those who want to see this world succeed.
That is the key point of this war, of everything that is going on. Not "free the Iraq people" (though I think that's a great benefit) not "invade a country to get its oil", not even "expansionism". We have to protect the people who will contribute the most good to the world. If that means we have to go free Iran next, I'm all for it. If it means we have to assasinate Kim Jong-Il, wonderful. If it means we have to pull a "Team America" on the world, FUCK YEAH!
To paraphrase Batman Begins, we must do what is necessary, but we must do it with compassion. Go after the dictators, but give candy to the children.
So that's where the conversation has gone. Let's see if it continues.
Update: Whoops. Forgot to include the conversations about the 9/11 memorial. I'll stick a second entry in later, since I'm still waiting for responses.
Second Update: Darleen apparently also wrote a post about this.
BTW, if anyone knows how to keep MT from sending multiple trackbacks to Typepad blogs, I'd be much obliged.
Posted by Kat at 01:24 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
June 17, 2005
Ugh
WARNING: This will probably be a TMI post. Leave now, or forever be scarred by the horror that is being a woman.
I'm PMSing. Like a bitch.
Except this time, I'm not a bitch. I'm an emotional puddle of goo.
It doesn't help that some of my best friends are moving from the city to CT. Or that I read this. Or the little kitty down the block from me.
I'm crying at everything, wanting to just hide from the world for the next week or two, and hoping that nothing truly tragic happens, because if it does, I'm screwed.
So I'll try to get some political posts up this weekend to distract myself. I think I'll be at the gym a whole lot too.
Go read something snarky. Why are you still here? Go hit one of the links over there on the side.
Bah.
Posted by Kat at 11:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Why yes, yes he did!
He mooned me!
Bastard.
This calls for revenge.
Posted by Kat at 11:48 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 16, 2005
Video Games and Kids
If video games influenced kids, we'd all be running around darkened rooms, listening to bad techno music and popping pills.
Posted by Kat at 08:48 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Abandoned Kittycat
There's this beautiful tiny tabby who lives down the street from me.
She wants to be living indoors, but there's a snag in that plan. Her owner moved away and abandoned her. She is so friendly, she just has to see me coming down the street and she dashes over to greet me. She has a sweet little meow and rumbly purr, and loves to just get all kinds of skritches. I don't understand how someone could just go away and leave this darling to the whims of the neighborhood.
My downstairs neighbors, M. and W., have been feeding her. I'm helping out. What I'd like to do is actually adopt her, but she needs to be spayed, vaccinated, and tested before I can do so. I don't have the funds for that kind of vet work.
Here's where my readers come in...if there are any...
Help me. If you know of an organization that will do this for me, in return for volunteer work (I've contacted KittyKind, but I don't know if they have the wherewithall for this if they aren't getting an adoption fee), tell me. If you can donate a few bucks, email me and I'll give you the information. She seems healthy, I don't think she even has fleas.
This little girl is such an amazing cat, it breaks my heart to see her dumped like this. Please, I'm resorting to cyberbegging here, help her.
She had a litter a couple of months ago, all the kittens are adopted out. The father was living in the same apartment, but he spent a lot of time outside and ended up getting hit by a car. She is smart, always just hangs out right in front of her old building, rarely goes under parked cars and never into the street. She's lucky this is a safe residential block with a lot of caring people. But she needs a home. She is fundamentally an indoor kitty and needs the security.
I estimate she's only a couple of years old, probably just out of kittenhood herself, and at this point weighs maybe 6 or 7 pounds.
I'll post a photo as soon as I can get a good one.
------------------
Still waiting on the photo (she seems to be hiding at the moment) but go check out the other beautiful kitties at The Modulator's Friday Ark.
And now the Carnival of the Cats is up at Blog d'Elisson
Enjoy!
Posted by Kat at 04:47 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Evil!
ABC has a show called "Brat Camp".
I am disgusted by this show. It lauds programs, not like Outward Bound, but Challenger and Summit Quest. Programs that have killed kids.
What is truly stupid is that as part of their TOS, the first paragraph reads:
We live by words online, so we don't allow obscene, racist or sexually explicit language. We also reserve the right to remove postings that defame or insult anyone, and notes that are abusive or hateful. Any harassing notes or postings that might be construed as stalking will be deleted and made available to the proper law enforcement officials. We also reserve the right to remove notes that are off the subject or not in English.
So they cover their asses, and chances are any post I make telling them what an awful idea for a show this is will be deleted.
For more information on the Challenger program and Steve Cortisano, go to 63 Days and read about an actual experience.
Also, NYRA has a ton of information on gulag camps and schools, as well as forums which are not censored.
Posted by Kat at 10:19 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 15, 2005
Cause, you know...
Men are mothers too.
--B., cousin of DBF.
Posted by Kat at 11:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Blogathon!
They took a break last year, and the year before I was one of the bloggers involved. 24 hours, a post every half-hour...it's great!
It'll be August 6th this year. Count me in!
In the meantime, I'm going to go figure out why my gmail isn't working.
Wonder what charity I'll choose this year...
Posted by Kat at 07:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Red Sox analysis
Disclaimer: I am not an analyst, I am not a sportscaster, I do not work for the Sox or any other MLB team or other major sports franchise. In fact, the closest I come to having an expert opinion on any of this is having been to a shitload of games and having lots of discussions with other MLB-obsessed fans.
That being said...
(momentary interruption for cherry tomato and blue cheese dressing)
The Sox are starting to look like, well, The Sox. The idiots from last year. Cowboy up of 2003.
Manny looks like Manny. Ortiz is hitting them out of the pahk. Wells, Clement, Wakefield...The backbone of our pitching staff. Even Foulke looked good last night. We have Youklis, who should be played a lot more than he is. Millar, Muller, Bellhorn.
Not even our bullpen can seem to kill this rally.
So why don't I trust it?
I watched Pedro pitch on Sunday in Shea stadium. I was disappointed. He wasn't Pedro, he was some weak imitation. Almost, not quite, entirely unlike Pedro*. And that's how the boys feel. They aren't themselves.
Now, I can never be called a pollyanna, but I'm certainly not a crusty, cynical old fogey either. (mmm...These tomatoes really are good. What was I saying?) If they win, I'm happy. But when their wins were based off of fielding errors, or a pitcher's bad night, or shitty baserunning by the other team, I got upset. I want to see them play like they want it.
I don't need the intensity of last year. No team can keep that up for an entire season. But I would like to see something more than what they have been showing us. I want to see the crazy hits, the small ball followed up by one slammed out of the pahk. I want to see wicked good baseball.
I'm not getting it. And I feel robbed.
I'm taking a wait and see tactic. So we'll wait and see.
And in the meantime, I'm finishing these tomatoes. Damn they're good.
*Kudos to anyone who gets the quote.
I don't trust it. I expect them to break my heart again.
Posted by Kat at 09:56 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 14, 2005
The verdict
I really don't care about Jackson. I think he's a pathetic little man who is either simply trying to get publicity, or a true pervert. Either way, any parent who let their kid go near him after the incident in 1993 is a moron and shouldn't have had kids in the first place.
I have no patience for people who hurt kids or give the impression that they're going to hurt kids.
Ditto for cats, but that's another entry.
I've been babysitting for C. since she was 20 months old. I started babysitting her sister, S., when she was 3 weeks old. If they trip on the playground I feel for them. I can't imagine what would happen if either of them was seriously hurt. These girls have my heart.
Posted by Kat at 10:25 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
There's so much going on...
And so little time for me to discuss it.
I have three or four entries on the back burner, waiting till I have a couple hours free.
This may not happen this week. Or next.
But I'll try to get them up soon.
Posted by Kat at 08:26 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 13, 2005
Blogs, Newspaper Editors, and Sunburns.
Mike Pride, of Concord Monitor*, has a blog. I'm curious to see how this affects not only the paper itself, but the general attitude towards blogging in NH.
I've been looking for new blogs to read lately, something to keep me occupied when I'm not getting sunburned at baseball games.
And boy am I sunburned.
*My hometown paper
Posted by Kat at 12:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 12, 2005
Do you realize...
It's the men in this apartment taking diet pills to lose weight?
- Friend, while her SO is laying on the floor jiggling his fat and DBF (darling boyfriend) was probably off exercising.
My excuse (and hers) is that it's 73 degrees at 2am with 100% humidity in the middle of NYC.
Posted by Kat at 02:03 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 10, 2005
Read the comments
14-6.
Do you still think the Sox are God's gift to baseball?
Like the title says - Read the comments in that post, and you'll see who I'm talking to.
Posted by Kat at 06:37 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
In Memorium
This site, today, is dedicated to the memory of my Cat. She was 14 and beautiful. Life is too short.
Assume the Meatloaf Position!
Oops. Sorry Mistress. Allow me to refresh the catnip in your cushion?
But yes. My Puddy Tat. She died a year ago this past March, after 14 years of mouse-catching, catnip-loving fun. She was a Cat in the truest sense of the word. But she was MINE. And I was HERS. And we were happy.
And I miss her deeply.
--------------
This post is up at the Friday Ark. Go check out the other kitties and other critters.
Also linked at Carnival of the Cats hosted by Music and Cats. Your new home looks great!
Posted by Kat at 04:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
I just don't get it.
Men constantly feel the need to check and make sure their balls are still there. Why?
Are they afraid they're going to get up and run away?
We don't do this with our tits, why are they doing it with their balls?
-Me, talking with my darling boyfriend. Who unfortunatly, falls into the category of MEN as described above.
Posted by Kat at 02:57 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Would you like toast with that?
I am fried.
Long day.
Emotional.
Weird dreams last night, culminating in a mind-fuck fest. Therapy this afternoon, followed by two hours of dealing with the most intense member of my family in existence.
THEN I decided to go out.
Why?
I don't know. Cause I'm an idiot?
And now, it's 4am, and I'm waiting for my pasta to cook so I can eat it and go to bed.
Oh, and review of Hitchhiker's Guide to follow
Warning: This movie is not for Douglas Adams fans. You thought SW:ROTS was bad? Baby, that has nothing on this. Oy.
Posted by Kat at 03:51 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 08, 2005
And people wonder...
Why don't I support the Liberals of the world anymore:
The World Trade Center Memorial Cultural Complex will be an imposing edifice wedged in the place where the Twin Towers once stood. It will serve as the primary "gateway" to the underground area where the names of the lost are chiseled into concrete. The organizers of its principal tenant, the International Freedom Center (IFC), have stated that they intend to take us on "a journey through the history of freedom"--but do not be fooled into thinking that their idea of freedom is the same as that of those Marines. To the IFC's organizers, it is not only history's triumphs that illuminate, but also its failures. The public will have come to see 9/11 but will be given a high-tech, multimedia tutorial about man's inhumanity to man, from Native American genocide to the lynchings and cross-burnings of the Jim Crow South, from the Third Reich's Final Solution to the Soviet gulags and beyond. This is a history all should know and learn, but dispensing it over the ashes of Ground Zero is like creating a Museum of Tolerance over the sunken graves of the USS Arizona.The public will be confused at first, and then feel hoodwinked and betrayed. Where, they will ask, do we go to see the September 11 Memorial? The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation will have erected a building whose only connection to September 11 is a strained, intellectual one. While the IFC is getting 300,000 square feet of space to teach us how to think about liberty, the actual Memorial Center on the opposite corner of the site will get a meager 50,000 square feet to exhibit its 9/11 artifacts, all out of sight and underground. Most of the cherished objects which were salvaged from Ground Zero in those first traumatic months will never return to the site. There is simply no room. But the International Freedom Center will have ample space to present us with exhibits about Chinese dissidents and Chilean refugees. These are important subjects, but for somewhere--anywhere--else, not the site of the worst attack on American soil in the history of the republic.
More disturbing, the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. is handing over millions of federal dollars and the keys to that building to some of the very same people who consider the post-9/11 provisions of the Patriot Act more dangerous than the terrorists that they were enacted to apprehend--people whose inflammatory claims of a deliberate torture policy at Guantanamo Bay are undermining this country's efforts to foster freedom elsewhere in the world.
The Great Ground Zero Heist by Debra Burlingame
Who is writing about this? Bloggers. Like Sissy, Jeff Jarvis, Roger L. Simon, and Stephen Green. Notice the lack of MSM in there. No CNN, no MSNBC, not even Fox.
Posted by Kat at 07:52 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Go bug someone else
Jason hasn't posted for a while. Go tell him to post.
And to activate comments.
Bastard.
Posted by Kat at 12:22 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
June 07, 2005
Celebration!
WORSE THAN HELL IS BACK!
Now go buy shirts. And thank Aaron for being the ballsy fuck he is.
UPDATE: If you're getting here through Google, welcome. And go buy shirts to show your support. Link is above. Aaron is a great guy, and has done a lot to help keep us laughing. He deserves your money.
So do I, but I'm not ballsy enough to ask for it.
Posted by Kat at 02:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Voting Age Bill
Tomorrow, a bill is going to be introduced to the City Council that will push for the voting age in NYC to be lowered to 16. Gale Brewer is the author, and it has some good support. There will be a press conference tomorrow afternoon, and members of NYRA, Lower the Vote and other organizations will be there.
Jason may have more information about it. If you want the official email forwarded to you, leave a comment.
UPDATE: The bill is introduced, articles about it are here and here (for the moment). Will update with more.
Posted by Kat at 12:14 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
It's only fair...
That my 100th post comes in the Sox category.
Go Vote for the face of baseball.
And make sure it's someone who actually contributes, like Schilling, instead of someone who just slaps around, like A-Rod.
Posted by Kat at 01:39 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 06, 2005
Stormy Weather, but not the song.
I wasn't smart enough to go out and take pictures of the storm that just passed by, but Michele did. Pretty, as always.
I love summer thunderstorms. Would love to have more of them. A good afternoon thunderstorm, two or three times a week works wonders on the spirit. Not to mention health. Get some of those positive ions in you, let the rain wash away the pollen, the germs, the NYC pollution...Everything is clean again, and that is truly a wonderful thing.
Posted by Kat at 07:17 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
FUCK!
State Board Rejects West Side Stadium Funding
The three-person PACB is controlled by representatives of Governor George Pataki, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. The board needed to vote unanimously to approve the $300 million funding plan, but while Pataki voted yes on the stadium, both Silver and Bruno’s appointees abstained, effectively killing the funding proposal.
They abstained. They didn't even have the fucking balls to say no.
Farewell, Olympics. We hardly knew ye.
Posted by Kat at 07:01 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
June 04, 2005
Wheeeee....
Spinning Spinning Spinning Spinning...
Cold medicine is fun.
I think I'm stoned.
oooo...My feet are numb. Heee...
Almost makes up for the fucking Sox loss today.
That was pathetic.
Posted by Kat at 10:43 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Wish he'd done this ON AI
Oh you've got to see this.
Hilarious.
Via Ace of Spades.
Posted by Kat at 02:01 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
T-Shirt Hell
The creator and owner of T-Shirt Hell is Aaron Schwartz. He's not exactly a "friend" of mine, although we are aquaintances.
Apparently he was poisoned. People are morons. Thank God he's alright.
The video is over at CNN.com (although I had to sign up for the "advanced" version of RealPlayer (which sucks fucking ass, thank you very much). Who knows how long it'll be up for...Anyone know of a way of capturing RealPlayer video?
In any case, glad he's ok, his t-shirts kick ass, and in conclusion, people are morons.
UPDATE: Welcome to the people who got here from google, aol, yahoo, altavista, or other search programs. Put up your feet and stay a while. Aaron is fine, and he put worse than hell back up. Which I appreciate, because it shows to all those morons mentioned above that they really are classless fucks.
UPDATE: Welcome to all the Googlers! Go buy some shirts (link above) and show your support for Aaron and everything he's done in the name of free speech. Now. I order you. =P
Posted by Kat at 12:24 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
June 03, 2005
Sahth Pahk Republican
Check it out. It's me.
Thank you, Planearium.
Posted by Kat at 11:04 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Fuck this.
There is shit going on which will probably result in my leaving my company.
As I am going to school in the fall, this is not a major issue, but would cause some problems. I would like to take up with a RE lawyer who is interested in branching out...But not sure that will work either.
In the meantime, I'm gonna lay low. If I do leave, I'll enumerate on the problems, as well as the company. Being an independant contractor means I only have to keep client problems private, not company problems.
Not to mention I'm not sure I signed the Non-disclosure form. Oops.
Posted by Kat at 12:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 02, 2005
ROYAL FLUSH!!!
I am SOOOOO dancing right now.
Or I would be if I wasn't hacking up my lungs.
Adjusting to a new inhaler, combined with working out a whole lot lately, combined with allergies, means I am one struggling kitty.
Pretty happy though. Gotta love those endorphines.
Posted by Kat at 10:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 01, 2005
Real Estate first-time buyers
One thing a lot of first-time buyers will underestimate is the amount of time and effort that has to be put into a deal before it closes.
It isn't only the lawyers, mortgage broker, bank rep, and agent who have to put al