I have always loved kd lang. I liked her country-punk performance-art style back from Angel with a Lariat. She caught my eye in the 80s with her spiky hair, Buddy Holly glasses, and country-western wear; she was a genre-bending artist as much as a gender-bending one. Somewhere in my Texas life, where I was raised by a family of genuwine wannabe cowboy poets, I developed a secret, half-assed appreciation for the older fiddle-and-banjo country sound. Probably at the roller rink. I didn’t pay much attention to Lang’s music until Shadowland, though. I played the heck out of that CD because it harkened back to aRead More →

* I can’t remember the last time I heard a busy signal. Busy signals disappeared due to voice mail and call waiting, a phenomenon that happened in the 90s. This is an early step in the direction of 24/7 accessibility and connection via new communication technologies. Although, looking backward,  we can say the same thing for the invention of the telephone, telegraph, printing press, and even writing itself. Still, the loss of the busy signal bespeaks a “jacked-in-ness” unmatched in older information technologies. * The Guiding Light has gone off the air after 72 years. I watched that show with my grandmother when I wasRead More →

1. This week is over. It’s Friday. I’m heaving a sigh of relief. Can you hear it? 2. Tonight is Dollhouse, but I’m not watching it because my niece and I are going to India’s restaurant. I realize I’m contributing to its pending cancellation. It depresses me, but not enough to miss Indian food. 3. I am thinking about giving up D&D for a while. I love playing with my group, but it is a. hyoooge (10? 11? ppl) and b. we drive to NOLA to play. I have very mixed feelings about this. I haven’t fully decided yet. 4. IT installed McAffee on myRead More →

We’ve all seen the tea bag party’s stupid, misspelled protest signs. The signs are painfully hypocritical as they demand in poor English to make English America’s “offical” language. We might even take delight that the anti-anti-war protester who called us all “morans” has become motivational poster. The illiteracy of the tea baggers party is depressing; it underscores how these folks are victims exploited by astroturfing corporate interests. Now, to be fair (and balanced), the left has its own share of misspelled posters. My fave: “Will sombody please give Bush a blowjob so we can impeach him.” Misspelling aside, the sentiment is funny. Anyway, these teaRead More →

1. I am grateful for the IT folk at work because they do always help me. (I brought them cookies of gratitude today.) 2. I am grateful to Disability Services for finding an ESL interpreter to come to classes and talk about deaf culture. 3. I’m grateful that my heart stress test and all my other cardio tests came back negative. Three things I’m excited about: 1. Rome over Christmas! This is where we’re staying. 2. Heroes starting Monday! 3. My lecture .mp3s for my classes have been downloaded 33 times by students! ∞

When I was growing up in Manhattan, my very first phone number was LO4-4327. It’s funny to me that I still remember it after all these years. I wonder how many people remember their first phone number. I haven’t used it since I was 9 or 10. But, there it is, still in my head. Erica Jong’s recent column on HuffPo is about nostalgia and New York telephone exchanges. Thus my ponderings on LO4 and Manhattan. Many years after I left New York, I figured out that the first two letters of my number represented where I lived. Watching some old black and white movieRead More →

Democrats cheat on their wives too (obviously), but they don’t run on pro-family, pro-marriage, anti-gay platforms. The LA Times reports that California legislator was caught on a hot mic bragging about his sexual escapades. Apparently this man is having affairs with two different women, one of whom is a lobbyist. Go figure. CBS video of Duvall with some of the video shows some of the conversation. He’s seriously a dirty old man. So Duvall resigned and this is his apology: “I am deeply saddened that my inappropriate comments have become a major distraction for my colleagues in the Assembly, who are working hard on theRead More →

Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood has always been special to me. As a kid, I watched it all the time. I was introduced to the show when it moved to PBS. Although I was older than the target audience, I loved it anyway. As an adult, after treatment for alcoholism and drug abuse, I started watching again. People in AA meetings encouraged watching because it promoted affirming, feel-good life lessons that alcoholics need to hear and practice. It always made me feel better regardless of what was going on in my life. My all-time favorite character on Mr. Rogers is Daniel Striped Tiger. Amazingly, Fred Rogers voicedRead More →