goddess of clarity: a blog about politics, culture, and serenity
Archive: October 1 - October 31, 2007
October 31, 2007 —14:28 EDT
Our street is a very tricky trick-or-treat street. First of all, it's up hill from the major cross street. But more importantly, since we live across the street from a hospital, there are no houses on the opposite side of the street. So it's an inefficient street. You don't get much bang for your trick-or-treating buck. In short, you have to want it to come up our street.
Still, we do get a hardcore few who come ringing our doorbell. Here in what may be the ultimate act of blogging minutiae, is an account of all the brave trick-or-treaters who made the effort this year.
5:50 pm: Our first kids of the night are a girl dressed as Disney's Mulan and a boy dressed as a kind of zombie thing. The boy jumped out from behind the mailbox and said "BWUUUUUAAAHHHAAAAAAHHAAA!" and actually scared me. We're off to a good start.
6:14 pm: Next it's Disney's Arial mermaid, a girl who described herself as a "butterfly princess" and a little blond girl dressed as a skunk. Too cute.
6:50 pm: It's a bit early for the teenagers, but here they are: one guy in a lion mask and a cape (Super Lion?) and a skeleton. They were even polite; what's up with that?
7:00 pm: A really grumpy kid dressed as Zorro (possibly), another zombie skeleton guy, a samurai, and a penguin.
[At this point I'm drinking a glass of wine a eating a 100 Grand bar. Don't judge!]
7:20 pm: Now we're into surly teenager territory. You know the type: the guys who just show up in their PE uniforms or hockey jerseys and demand a Snickers bar. In this group we've got two hockey players, a guy in the comedy Scream mask, and another monster mask guy. But again, much more polite than surly.
7:25 pm Whoa, a whole slew of trick-or-treaters! (What's the collective noun for trick-or-treaters? A troop of trick-or-treaters? A muster of trick-or-treaters?) Let's see, we've got Batman and Batgirl, another Disney princess, a little kid dressed as a pumpkin, yet another Disney princess (do not underestimate the power of the Disney Princesses on girls under the age of eight) and a fireman.
7:45 pm: More teens with outstretched pillow cases: Inspector Gadget (cool), a baseball player (lame) and no real costume at all that I can detect (lamer).
7:50 pm: It's Disney's Mulan and a boy dressed as a kind of zombie thing. Wait a minute! Those are the same two kids who came by two hours ago! And I see Mom is no longer in tow. I'm guessing they begged Mom for another 15 minutes and just started hitting houses again. Actually, I kinda admire the chutzpah.
8:15 pm: Another muster of trick-or-treaters, one of whom was dressed as Batman, but they were too fast for me. They just took the candy and ran. They must be late getting home and yet the lure of visiting just one more house remains.
That makes for a total haul of about 31 kids this year. Way to go, guys!
—lori.
October 18, 2007 —14:28 EDT
This most recent break in blogging is courtesy of my participation in the HighEdWebDev conference. This is my fourth year on the organizing committe and this year I also presented a one-hour session on homepage usability with incoming college students and their parents, as well as a poster session on the adoption of Web standards on college and corporate homepages (fascinating stuff, no?).
Seriously, I was really, really busy. See, here's me giving my presentation on usability.
It was sitting room only, with an overflow crowd sitting on the floor at the front. It was a little overwhelming, but I think it went well. I guess that's what happens when you put the word "parents" in the title of a presentation for people who work in higher education.
Here I am still talking at Dinosaur Bar-B-Q later that night.
And here's me leaving the post-mortem wrap-up party. I think you can call that expression, "relief sliding toward giddy idiocy."
(Many thanks to eironae for the conference fun and photos. Good seeing you again, girl!)
This year's conference seemed to go a lot smoother than last year's for reasons I can't quite articulate. Still, learning my lesson from last year, I took the rest of the week off for rest and recuperation. So I'm pretty much vegging on the couch, flipping back and forth between TV marathons of Top Gear and Project Runway. Color me happy. Monday morning it's back to the homepage redesign. Color me ... nervous.
—lori.
October 8, 2007 —21:12 EDT
You know all that poetry I was spewing a little bit ago about baseball? Well, nevermind. Baseball is not a haiku; it's more like an opera. And at the end the Philles get swept and everyone dies.
Paper covers rock
But Rockies sweep the Phillies
There's always next year.
—lori.
October 2, 2007 —20:27 EDT
Six Reasons Why I Love Baseball
1. I understand it.
I know why the manager brings in the left-handed pitcher. I know why an infield plays in, or an outfield puts the shift on. When you understand something, you feel smart, and that makes you feel happy. Hockey makes me feel like an idiot, and how is that fun for me?
2. It's slow. You can see the game being played.
This is probably the reason for Reason #1. The slow pace of baseball makes it a thinkers game. You can see the gears turning. I like football too, but most of the decision-making seems to happen among the coaches off on the sidelines. By the time the play is called, the players seem like they are just going through some predetermined motions.
3. It's fast. You can watch the outcome of a game change on a single pitch.
Baseball is the only sport I know with such a fine line between misery and victory. Men on first and third, one out, down by two runs. You can win or lose the game on each pitch. There is nothing more exciting in all of sports, for my money.
4. It's the ultimate team sport.
To get just one batter out requires the efforts of at least two men, usually more. Anyone can be the hero; anyone can be the goat. Everyone plays both offense or defense. This is why the designated hitter rule is such an affront to all that is good and decent.
5. It's the ultimate individual effort.
A player can steal a base, or leg out a triple, or dive for a fly ball. There's also the individual battle between pitcher and batter around which this team sport swirls.
6. It's seasonal.
Baseball arrives each year with the spring, with the daffodils and the robins. It stretches into the long days and bright nights of summer, and comes to an end just as the first touch of autumn hits the air. Baseball is practically a haiku.
George Carlin -- Why Baseball is Better Than Football
—lori.
