Everything Relative

And to All a Good Night

Fri, 24 Dec 2004 17:04:53 GMT

Well... it's decision-time. My 30-day trial period is almost up and it's time to decide what to do with this blog. It's been fun... and much easier than I thought it would be. As a technically-challenged blog newbie, I've found Radio UserLand and Salon Blogs to be very user-friendly. There are only 2 things that really annoyed me. One is that I couldn't post any comments to other Salon blogs without getting that darn "403 Access Forbidden" error message. The second is the upstreaming/publishing delay. Many times, I'd post something and it wouldn't show up on the public home page until several hours later. (Guess I'm an instant gratification kind of gal.) Are these annoyances something I can live with beyond this trial period? Maybe. I'm not sure.

At the time I started my 30-day trial here, I also started a blog at another community... just to test out a different blogging platform. I quickly discovered that I've wandered into... let's call it a more "conservative" community. (You wouldn't believe the level of GWB support there!)  It has made me really, really appreciate the Salon community. Without doubt, discovering Salon bloggers has been the best part of this experience... and whatever happens with this blog, I'll definitely be back to visit.

Wishing you a happy holiday and a new year of peace, hope and love.

During this Christmas season,
May you be blessed
With the spirit of the season,
  which is peace,
The gladness of the season,
  which is hope,
And the heart of the season,
  which is love

By John Greenleaf Whittier

10 Tips for Sensible Holiday Eating

Wed, 22 Dec 2004 08:52:01 GMT

I received this in an e-mail today... original author unknown (at least by me). Below are 10 tips about sensible eating during the holiday season.

Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.
Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. Like fine single-malt scotch, it's rare. In fact, it's even rarer than single-malt scotch. You can't find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-alcoholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!
If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.
As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim milk, don't bother. It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.
Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it.
Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.
If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.
Same for pies. Apple. Pumpkin. Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or, if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?
Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebrators calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.
One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Reread tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner.

Remember this motto to live by: "Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming 'WOO HOO what a ride!'"

More on Time's POTY

Wed, 22 Dec 2004 05:11:42 GMT

Kidding!!! Just something posted at WTF Is It Now?? BTW I read the Time article naming GWB its POTY and noted some subtle digs and jabs:

"I've had a lot going on, so I haven't been in a very reflective mood," says the man who has just replaced half his Cabinet, dispatched 12,000 more troops into battle, arm wrestled lawmakers over an intelligence bill, held his third economic summit and begun to lay the second-term paving stones on which he will walk off into history. Asked about his re-election, he replies, "I think over the Christmas holidays it'll all sink in."

As he says this, George W. Bush is about to set a political record. The first TIME poll since the election has his approval rating at 49%. Gallup has it at 53%, which doesn't sound bad unless you consider that it's the lowest December rating for a re-elected President in Gallup's history. That is not a great concern, however, since he has run his last race, and it is not a surprise to a President who tends to measure his progress by the enemies he makes. "Sometimes you're defined by your critics," he says. "My presidency is one that has drawn some fire, whether it be at home or around the world. Unfortunately, if you're doing big things, most of the time you're never going to be around to see them [to fruition], whether it be cultural change or spreading democracy in parts of the world where people just don't believe it can happen. I understand that. I don't expect many short-term historians to write nice things about me."

In the meantime, the lessons Bush draws from his victory are the ones that matter most. The man who in 2000 promised to unite and not divide now sounds as though he is prepared to leave as his second-term legacy the Death of Compromise. "I've got the will of the people at my back," he said at the moment of victory. From here on out, bipartisanship means falling in line: "I'll reach out to everyone who shares our goals." Whatever spirit of cooperation that survives in his second term may have to be found among his opponents; he has made it clear he's not about to change his mind as he takes on Social Security and the tax code in pursuit of his "ownership society." So unfolds the strange and surprising and high-stakes decade of Bush.

For sharpening the debate until the choices bled, for reframing reality to match his design, for gambling his fortunes—and ours—on his faith in the power of leadership, George W. Bush is TIME's 2004 Person of the Year.

The entire article is available on the Time Magazine website here.

An Ayn Rand Ideal

Tue, 21 Dec 2004 06:06:40 GMT

Found another interesting personality quiz called 20 Questions to a Better Personality and below are my results:

Wackiness: 44/100
Rationality: 68/100
Constructiveness: 56/100
Leadership: 66/100

You are a SRCL--Sober Rational Constructive Leader. This makes you an Ayn Rand ideal. Taggart? Roark? Galt? You are all of these. You were born to lead. You may not be particularly exciting, but you have a strange charisma--born of intellect and personal drive--that people begin to notice when they have been around you a while. You don't like to compromise, but you recognize when you have to. You care absolutely nothing what other people think, and this somehow attracts people to you. Treat them well, use them wisely, and ascend to your rightful rank. Of the 68488 people who have taken this quiz since tracking began (8/17/2004), 5.5 % are this type.

I have to admit not being familiar with Ayn Rand. I know she was a controversial author and that one of her books, the Fountainhead, was made into a movie with Gary Cooper and Patricia Neal... but that's about it. So, I did a Google search and found The Objectivist Center website, with the following information:

My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.
— Ayn Rand, Appendix to Atlas Shrugged

Rand was a passionate individualist. She wrote in praise of "the men of unborrowed vision," who live by the judgment of their own minds, willing to stand alone against tradition and popular opinion. Her philosophy of Objectivism rejects the ethics of self-sacrifice and renunciation. She urged men to hold themselves and their lives as their highest values, and to live by the code of the free individual: self-reliance, integrity, rationality, productive effort. Objectivism celebrates the power of man's mind, defending reason and science against every form of irrationalism. It provides an intellectual foundation for objective standards of truth and value.

Hm... not sure if I like this. Will have to learn more about this philosophy of Objectivism. Stay tuned for more.

Hail to California

Tue, 21 Dec 2004 01:48:57 GMT

Hail to California, Alma Mater Dear
Sing the joyful chorus, Sound it far and near.
Rallying 'round her banner, We will never fail.
California Alma Mater, Hail! Hail! Hail!

The British Times Higher Education Supplement has ranked UC Berkeley the No. 1 engineering and information technology university in the world! MIT (aka the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) is ranked No. 2, followed by Stanford University at No. 3.

In its rankings of top 100 science universities, the THES puts Cambridge at No. 1, followed by Oxford, and then Harvard, which edges out UC Berkeley at No. 4 by less than one point (weighted scores of 159.8 and 159, respectively).

This comes just after last month's ranking of the overall top 200 universities in the world, in which the THES placed UC Berkeley at No. 2, behind Harvard.

Now… I appreciate that there are some in academia who have reservations about university rankings, but... IT'S GOOD TO BE AT THE TOP!!! So, this Cal Berkeley engineering alum will just bask in the glory for a bit longer…

I've Heard the Mermaids Singing

Mon, 20 Dec 2004 10:00:15 GMT

This is a terrific movie that I highly recommend after watching it for the first time this weekend. An independent Canadian film made in the 80s, "I've Heard the Mermaids Singing" is quietly funny and poignant.

The lead character, Polly, is someone whom most people would consider a misfit and a loser because of her social awkwardness and lack of career aspirations. She uses photography as a form of self-expression (providing some very funny scenes in the film) and often gets lost in her daydreams (incorporated nicely into the film). I found myself drawn to her quirkiness, honesty and innocence. I cheered her on... especially when things seemed to falter toward the end.

The film is narrated by Polly, who through a series of flashbacks tells about working as an "organizationally impaired" secretary for an art gallery curator, whom she develops a crush on. The curator is everything Polly isn't – a suave, beautiful and accomplished woman. Things get complicated when Polly discovers her employer's lesbian relationship with a young artist – and when Polly takes a chance and submits her photographs (anonymously, of course) to her employer. This all result in an emotional upheaval and crushing disappointment for Polly, but her core of honesty and loyalty still shines through.

I won't reveal more of the film, except to say that there is a somewhat happy ending – at least it's not sad. The story and the acting are great, as is the writing, with Polly delivering some of the best observations – my favorite is "Isn't life the strangest thing you've ever seen?" This is a great film to watch on a quiet day, when you're in the mood for something gentle and reflective... and a little offbeat.

Bush... Again?

Sun, 19 Dec 2004 19:49:15 GMT

What were those folks at Time Magazine thinking in naming GWB their "Person of the Year" again??? The only explanation provided was...

The president was chosen "for sticking to his guns (literally and figuratively), for reshaping the rules of politics to fit his 10-gallon-hat leadership style and for persuading a majority of voters this time around that he deserved to be in the White House for another four years,'' Time Managing Editor James Kelly wrote.

Huh? Guess Time got the idea from something Bush said during the fall campaign. "You've got to stand your ground, particularly in the face of criticism. I think the American people are looking at somebody running for office and they want to know what they believe, why they believe it and do they really believe it?''

Again, huh? To top it off, Time also released a poll comparing the two Bush presidents, finding that "The current president was viewed as stronger on sticking to his positions, even if they are unpopular." Here are the results of the survey on 5 attributes:

Honest and trustworthy: GWB 19%; former Pres. GB 37%
Understands the issues: GWB 25%; former Pres. GB 43%
Likeable: GWB 28%; former Pres. GB 38%
Has good judgment: GWB 21%; former Pres. GB 43%
Sticks to positions, even if unpopular: GWB 56 %; former Pres. GB 16%

So... What I'm getting is that it's okay to be dishonest and un-trustworthy, to don't understand the issues, to be unlikeable, and to have poor judgment... as long as you stick to your positions at all costs... no matter what anyone else believes. Silly me for not recognizing that pig-headedness was such an admirable trait.