30 September 2011
Friday, September 30, 2011
A Big Visitor
The same co-worker mentioned in my previous post had this guy in her yard earlier this week. Fun!
30 September 2011
30 September 2011
The Absent-Minded Waiter
I was speaking with a co-worker today and this old Steve Martin skit came to mind. Classic!
30 September 2011
30 September 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
National One-Hit Wonder Day
Sunday, September 25th, is National One-Hit Wonder Day. Which hit do you remember most fondly?
23 September 2011
23 September 2011
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
Friday, September 16, 2011
The Greatest Headline in History
Nicolas Cage awoken by naked man with Fudgesicle
I really think that says it all. And yet you will click on the link to get the whole story. You know you will.
16 September 2011
I really think that says it all. And yet you will click on the link to get the whole story. You know you will.
16 September 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
Animal Names and Groupings
My wife and I were talking the other night and she wondered why baby turtles didn't have a name (e.g. puppy, kitten, cub, etc). It turns out, they do. A baby turtle is a hatchling and a group of turtles is a bale. You can find out lots and lots about this here. My favorites:
12 Sept 2011
- An ambush of leapards
- A shiver of sharks
- A mischief of rats
- An ostentation of peacocks
- A parliament of owls
- A lice of louse
- A smack of jellyfish
- A charm of hummingbirds
- A shrewdness of apes
12 Sept 2011
A View "from" the Hill
Well, the view from a former Hill staffer. My sister sent me a link to this writing and it is worth a read. A long-time congressional aid reflects on his years, why he left, and the state of American politics in DC.
12 September 2011
12 September 2011
Thursday, September 8, 2011
A "Comic Tribute" to 09/11
There will be many, many tributes to mark the tenth anniversary of the 09/11 attacks. One of them will be a collaboration among about 90 writers of the daily comics page. It is the largest such tribute by comic authors in American history and crosses several syndicates. I've been looking forward to reading them since I first learned of this and wanted you to know if it, too.
8 September 2011
8 September 2011
Memories of 09/11
The tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks is right around the corner. In addition to sharing the horror of that day as a citizen of both America and the world, I have a personal connection as well. It is not something about which I talk much in private and I really never speak of it in public. However, on this occasion, I think it fitting to do so. After all, as time passes, events such as 09/11 become commemorations of the historical occurrences, not of the people involved. The attack on Pearl Harbor is a good example. When we mark it at all today in America, it is the attack that we remember. Very rarely do we mark the lives of those directly touched -- and lost -- that day. This is human nature and because this is so, remembering these lost people seems necessary.
Four members of my extended family were murdered on 09/11. This was the largest total for one family. Two of those lost were children, the youngest victims. I note this not to say that my family suffered more than others. Pain and loss are not contests and even were they, no one could win. Rather, that a family was killed by men who they had never met speaks to the brutality of their actions. When I think of 09/11, like many I think of the planes and the buildings and the rubble. I also see four faces.
My mother's cousin Leslie Whittington, her husband Charles Falkenberg, and their two daughters, Zoe Falkenberg and Dana Falkenberg were on Flight 77 that was flown into the Pentagon. They were on their way to Australia. As it happens, my wife's colleagues saw this plane fly over DC, the city in which she was then living. The plane flew almost at eye level right past their building. It went in low and shallow, not steep like the plane in Pennsylvania. I hope that this lack of a dive may have spared its passengers -- or at least the children -- the stark terror of the sure knowledge that a dive would have provoked. Obviously, there is no way to know, but I hold to the comfort that this wish brings me.
I was not overly close with this family. I attended their wedding. I was told of the births of Zoe and Dana on telephone calls with my mother. I never actually met Dana; Leslie was pregnant with her the final time we saw each other. I met Zoe only once or twice and saw Leslie and Charles perhaps eight or ten times in my life. Their deaths shook me, but did not destroy my life. However, I have seen the toll their deaths inflicted on their close relatives who survived them. Those are lives altered beyond belief.
Many members of my family will be attending the memorial events this weekend in Washington DC. I look forward to discussing them with my mother and her siblings next week when they return home. Leslie's family is being remembered in two television programs. On Friday the 9th, the CBS Early Show will have a feature on Zoe. CNN Headline News will have something on the family in its 5 PM Eastern segment that same day and again at this same hour on Monday the 12th. Watch them or record them if you can. These people deserve to be remembered.
As you mark that terrible day, as we all mark that day, let us remember the people and the events. And let us all heal as we are able.
8 September 2011
14 September 2011 Addition: Here is a link to the CBS video. Zoe's feature is near the middle.
Four members of my extended family were murdered on 09/11. This was the largest total for one family. Two of those lost were children, the youngest victims. I note this not to say that my family suffered more than others. Pain and loss are not contests and even were they, no one could win. Rather, that a family was killed by men who they had never met speaks to the brutality of their actions. When I think of 09/11, like many I think of the planes and the buildings and the rubble. I also see four faces.
My mother's cousin Leslie Whittington, her husband Charles Falkenberg, and their two daughters, Zoe Falkenberg and Dana Falkenberg were on Flight 77 that was flown into the Pentagon. They were on their way to Australia. As it happens, my wife's colleagues saw this plane fly over DC, the city in which she was then living. The plane flew almost at eye level right past their building. It went in low and shallow, not steep like the plane in Pennsylvania. I hope that this lack of a dive may have spared its passengers -- or at least the children -- the stark terror of the sure knowledge that a dive would have provoked. Obviously, there is no way to know, but I hold to the comfort that this wish brings me.
I was not overly close with this family. I attended their wedding. I was told of the births of Zoe and Dana on telephone calls with my mother. I never actually met Dana; Leslie was pregnant with her the final time we saw each other. I met Zoe only once or twice and saw Leslie and Charles perhaps eight or ten times in my life. Their deaths shook me, but did not destroy my life. However, I have seen the toll their deaths inflicted on their close relatives who survived them. Those are lives altered beyond belief.
Many members of my family will be attending the memorial events this weekend in Washington DC. I look forward to discussing them with my mother and her siblings next week when they return home. Leslie's family is being remembered in two television programs. On Friday the 9th, the CBS Early Show will have a feature on Zoe. CNN Headline News will have something on the family in its 5 PM Eastern segment that same day and again at this same hour on Monday the 12th. Watch them or record them if you can. These people deserve to be remembered.
As you mark that terrible day, as we all mark that day, let us remember the people and the events. And let us all heal as we are able.
8 September 2011
14 September 2011 Addition: Here is a link to the CBS video. Zoe's feature is near the middle.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)