I've been contemplating some changes to the blog lately -- everything from the large (hosting) to the small (template tweaks), but I just haven't had the time to translate many of my thoughts into action. Life has been busy, and it's been coming at me in big chunks so far this year. If there's been any routine to my days, it's been achieved in the kitchen, where I've been doing a good bit of cooking, rather than online, where I'm constantly struggling to even stay caught up. I'm restless, and that makes sitting at the computer a challenge.
I've even thought a bit about whether I even want to continue on this little blogging adventure. But since the beginning, me and my monkeys have been evolving all along the way, and I don't think we're done yet -- we just might have to shift gears (again).
There is some stuff coming up, like Emmie's graduation and our annual hop across the pond to visit the healthcare-mongering elitists (this year, we'll pop in on the
dreaded Bismarckians who started the entire socialist nightmare!), so please forgive some moments of quiet later in the spring. But in the meantime, I've got some stuff in the queue.
First up, and already implemented, I'm giving up the random link lists in favor of twitter bits. I've added a twitter feed to the right column, and I've already been tweeting random interesting links I've found recently. You can check them when you visit the site -- or if visiting a site is a bit too much on the luddite side of things for you (or you just can't stand the thought of missing a single link!), you can always just
follow me on twitter or
add my feed to your rss reader.
[I'm still feeling my way to figuring out what goes on twitter, what merits a blog post, and what is good facebook fodder (btw, crossposting across all social media is becoming a pet peeve of mine -- if you're doing it... uh, why?!?). You already know how to find me on the first two, and if you want to be facebook buddies, just
shoot me a note...]
Coming up, I'm hoping to
finally get the archives, categories and tags in order. I'm planning to do a lot more food blogging. And continue the photo blogging. I'm pretty well burned out on politics, but I imagine that even if it appears nowhere else, my progressive view of the world will show up in my tweets. Plus, even though I'm giving up the random links lists, I do have some themed link lists in the queue.
So much to anticipate...
And now, the exception to prove that I have little left to say about politics, here are a few choice bits I've read on the intertubes since health care passed in the House last night (yay!!!!):
• "Tonight I am thankful that the ability of everyone to have health care is no longer being asked to take a back seat to the few lucky ones who are satisfied with their blessings" (that one is from Emmie -- the rest are unattributed...).
• "It took Dems to create Social Security, a basic social safety net to ensure all may live out their lives in dignity; it was Dems who led the Civil Rights Movement and said all men are created equal; now, Dems have led the fight to ensure that every man, woman, and child has the right to basic health insurance in the richest country in the world. No, it is not a perfect solution; but, it IS leadership. Yes. We. Can."
• "The Party of Hope, not the Party of Nope."
• "I think Nancy Pelosi should use that gavel on herself."
• "I'm heading down to the hospital to watch the government start killing people's grandmas. Who's in?"
• "I reassert Jon Stewart's line to the Republicans: 'I think you are confusing tyranny with losing.'"
• ... and one more...
This morning I was awoken by my alarm clock powered by electricity generated by the public power monopoly regulated by the U.S. Department of Energy.
I then took a shower in the clean water provided by a municipal water utility.
After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC-regulated channels to see what the National Weather Service of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration determined the weather was going to be like, using satellites designed, built, and launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
I watched this while eating my breakfast of U.S. Department of Agriculture-inspected food and taking the drugs which have been determined as safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
At the appropriate time, as regulated by the U.S. Congress and kept accurate by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the U.S. Naval Observatory, I get into my National Highway Traffic Safety Administration-approved automobile and set out to work on the roads build by the local, state, and federal Departments of Transportation, possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the Environmental Protection Agency, using legal tender issued by the Federal Reserve Bank.
On the way out the door I deposit any mail I have to be sent out via the U.S. Postal Service and drop the kids off at the public school.
After spending another day not being maimed or killed at work thanks to the workplace regulations imposed by the Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health administration, enjoying another two meals which again do not kill me because of the USDA, I drive my NHTSA car back home on the DOT roads, to my house which has not burned down in my absence because of the state and local building codes and Fire Marshal's inspection, and which has not been plundered of all its valuables thanks to the local police department.
And then I log on to the internet -- which was developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration -- and post on Freerepublic.com and Fox News forums about how SOCIALISM in medicine is BAD because the government can't do anything right.
...and on to reality:
What's the bill mean? And
what does it mean to me?
As always, please feel free to share your thoughts...
UPDATE: I'm not always a fan of KO's special comments, but
the Republicans really deserve this one. Until they get their homophobes, racists and other spewers under control (or jettison them), they will continue to be the Party of Hate.
