PIPA (the bill) and Piglet (me)

OK. *gulp*

So, I am a U.S. citizen.  I vote.  I pay my taxes.  I use my turn indicator at 4-way stops when no one is around.  I give blood (not germane but virtuous).

All my life, I have been a Piglet.  For the most part, I feel small and squeaky.  To this day, when I have politely-worded arguments, I feel trembly.

Politics are full of Heffalumps and Tiggers.  Neither type seems to enjoy quietness and small days as much I do.  I leave the blustering and the bouncing to them.

There are all kinds of big threats to liberty to protest.  But there are Christopher Robins and Rabbits who very capably Know What to Do in These Cases.

In my case, there are very little and mostly silent things to do:  giving of small monies and helping Winnie the Pooh fix things up and bringing to notice those whose pain has not been noticed.

While I don’t have much of a voice, it’s due to temperament.  It’s not due to anyone forcing me to be quiet, to not be there.

I think that’s why the PIPA and SOPA issue upsets me so.

I don’t like rich and powerful Heffalumps telling other forest creatures to shush.  I don’t think the Tiggers are the only voices which should be heard.  I don’t think the practical Rabbits and benign Christopher Robins should be sent out of the forest and barbed wire wound around the tree trunks shutting them out.

I especially think us Piglets should be let to poke about in the Hundred Acre Wood.  We are small and of no importance but we have a right to be here.

I have, for the first time in my life, contacted my senator.  My voice definitely squeaked but I said my say.

If you are a Piglet too, please step up and please speak up.

Because if we can’t speak, we can’t speak for anyone who has been hushed.

Related articles

• SOPA/PIPA Protests Bring the Web to a Halt (mossandfog.com)
• SOPA/PIPA Battle Rages: Tell Congress We Will Not Accept Censorship (mountainrepublic.net)
• SOPA & PIPA – The internet strikes back! (vgarmada.wordpress.com)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2012) update

Image via Wikipedia

Back in 2009 I wrote about the possible reboot of BtVS.  The latest news is that Whit Anderson is off the project.  Whedon is sassy about it.

I had assumed that she was just the pretty face to serve as a decoy for the seasoned writer who didn’t want his (probably) name on it.  If that scriptwriter backed out, they could have still used her as their face.

Parenthetically, poor thing’s going to go through life as ‘that chick who wanted to replace Joss.’

ETA:  I feel that I was being waspish and unfair here.  I do believe that poor Ms Anderson was used unkindly by those backing this project. I have contempt for them and for their attempt to misappropriate a culture icon, not the young woman.

From L A Times:

As for the future of “Buffy”? A new writer is being sought but the entire endeavor may have lost some steam. There also might be some healthy fear among the producers who witnessed a spasm of fan criticism when the project was first publicized.

And how do I really feel about it?  BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA.  *wipes tear*

But enough of these mirthful distractions…let’s all wait for The Avengers.  And go watch Tintin.

taking a break

I am having writer’s block, trying to figure out how to express that I have writer’s block.  Facebook curtailed feed imports and that frustrates me, as that was the main way I was reaching my friends.  So, I have no purpose for these posts anymore.

In short, I will be/may be/might be

• not posting till after New Year’s
• still posting to my tumblr account: moonlitgarden.tumblr.com
• may break all my little rules for myself since I’ve lost my audience.
• may junk this blog and move elsewhere and start over

guess I’ll  see.

My 3 Levels of Elliptical Conversation

Some people prefer to have linear conversations.

I do not.

In part, this is how I think and, in part,  it makes conversation an adventure.

Level One:  Anything from the beginning of the conversation is fair game to be brought up without transition or notification of subject change.  Most of my friends do this with me, although a few have complained.

Example of Level One AKA Conversation Loop:

At Its Start…

Me:  Chartreuse is such an ugly color, it even sounds ugly.

Jane:  I like lime, though.

At Its End…

Jane:  Would you like to carpool with me tomorrow since your car is in the shop?

Me:  Thanks.  I like Kelly Green.

Jane:  Well, I’ll grant you that chartreuse is not a fun word to say.

Me:  But lime is growing on me too.

Level Two:  Any conversation that we’ve ever had may be drawn upon.  Although conversational allusion may be expected but not absolutely necessary.  Close family members do this with me.

Example of Level Two AKA Conversation Convolution:

7:00 AM before work

Me:  I forgot I work that Saturday.

Alan:  Can you get out of it?

Me:  No.  No one else wants the extra hours.

5:30 PM at the grocery store

Alan:   Have you tasted this mango spaghetti sauce?

Me:  No; I guess I could ask Mr. C.

Alan:  We should try it;  if you think he’d take your hours.

Level Three:  Information that I have gleaned on my own but not shared with the other person can enter my conversations.  Or, even worse, my daydream conversations that I never mention to anyone can insert themselves.

Even I admit that this is too heavy a burden on the other members of the conversation.  Eerily enough, I’ve known two people who can have this kind of conversation with me.

Example of Level Three AKA Conversation Möbius:

N.B. You must have seen Working Girl (1988) with Melanie Griffith as Tess and Sigourney Weaver as Katherine to understand this last conversation.

Out Loud Conversation

Me:  Who was the heroine in Working Girl?

Eerie Person:  You mean you didn’t like Tess?

Me:  Not particularly, she was on the same moral level as Katherine.

Eerie Person: Each did steal the other one’s ideas.

Inner Monologue

Me:  Personally I thought Katherine had much more dignity when her plagiarism was discovered.  Tess just sobbed and whined her way out of the room. When Katherine was dismissed, Tess said she had a “boney ass” and everyone laughed. 

Katherine still didn’t cry.

And Tess also stole Katherine’s boyfriend.  

Back to Out Loud Conversation

Me:  Two personal attacks.

Eerie Person:  You think that how Katherine dealt with the “boney ass” jab showed she had more strength than Tess?

Me (happily): Yes!

University removes Firefly Poster

Chancellor attempts to stop the signal.  Sees quotation from Firefly as professor’s threat of violence against students.

Some commentators have pointed out there must be a history to this incident because it really doesn’t make a lot of sense.

Also see here and here and here.

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• Kevin L: The Clear and Present Danger Posed by Space Captains (reason.com)
• University of Wisconsin-Stout Chancellor Charles W. Sorensen Defends Firefly Poster Censorship | Popehat (gruntdoc.com)
• Censored Firefly Poster of the Day (geeks.thedailywh.at)
• A Modest Proposal on Freedom of Speech (orrenmedia.com)
• College professor threatened with criminal charges for Firefly quote [Holy Crap Wtf] (io9.com)
• Big Damn Beats: The Awesomest Firefly Celebration You’ll Ever Hear [Video] (io9.com)

some days nothing makes sense

Cover via Amazon

Just read this news about L. J. Smith being fired from continuing her series The Vampire Diaries.  This news is coexisting with the news that another series Secret Circle by Smith is going to be made as a TV series.

I simply don’t understand.

She asks her fans not to boycott the series but why would they read it, if she’s not allow to write them?  It’s not like there is a dearth of angsty teen vampire romances out there. Smith’s voice is what makes the Vampire Diaries fun.

Stupid.

Related Articles

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Jane Austen Movies

Image via Wikipedia

Arrgh!  I let the Twilight post stand for far too long.  So, projects…

I’m slogging through the rest of the sci-fi movie project.  It went on too long and I lost interest.  Now I’m planning a shorter project more carefully. Next up is Jane Austen Luxe.  The plan is to analyze the costumes in the movies and others of a similar era.  Very girly project.

Thus far, I have several older books on historical clothes and a book about Jane Austen movies.  I was looking through a Dover catalog and thinking I ought to buy the Pride & Prejudice paper dolls for ‘research purposes.’  Maybe I can talk myself into buying the Pride & Prejudice board game too.

If you have any other research activities or sites or items to recommend, let me know.

Related Articles

• Happy Birthday, Jane Austen! (fillingspaces.wordpress.com)
• Jane Austen Challenge (debrakb.blogspot.com)
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• Jane Austen 2.0 (online.wsj.com)

some delays

A reader was getting depressed about the list of deceased people, so I’m going to delay the next post.  I’m still struggling with Children of Men too.  Tonight I’m working on other drafts.

4 steps to decluttering your bookmarks

According to my delicious.com account, I have 19,954 bookmarks.

That is ridiculous.

Image by sindesign via Flickr

Every organize-your-clutter book I’ve ever read and every organize-your-clutter reality show I’ve ever watched has the same basic rules.  They developed these rules for physical  things but here’s how you can apply it to your bookmarks.

You get 3 boxes: a toss box, a donate box and a keep box.  Everything goes into one of these three boxes.  Once you’ve sorted and tossed and donated, then you find appropriate storage, totes and shelving and so-forth.

Physical / Digital

• toss / delete
• donate / share
• keep / save
• proper storage / proper tagging

Step 1.  Delete

Which means delete dead links, links to services you no longer use, and links to articles which mean nothing to you now.  (For example, this article about Disney acquiring Marvel.)

Step 2.  Share

Email the links to friends, post on your networking site of choice, or well, blog about them.  And then delete them.  (For example,

Step 3.  Save

Links to blogs, feeds, and sites you visit at least once a month.  This is equivalent to using something once a year for for material stuff. (For example, Anisible posts once a month.)

Step 4.  Proper Tagging

Consider the big picture and make a folder or tagging system that includes all the topics that interest you.  (For example, you can use broad categories such as communication, news, games, and top ten alien invasion movies lists.)

Personally, I have tagged my links using the Dewey Decimal Classification System.   I showed it to my sister, and she actually backed out of the room.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a few bookmarks to sort through…

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Handsome Men & Awkward Families

I’m new to this one: Awkward Family Photos - it’s funny and painful.

This is a new blog that I hope goes far:  Handsome Men Who are Now Dead – retrospective on men in history who were good-looking.

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