You are looking at posts that were written in the month of October in the year 2009.
Posted on October 23rd, 2009 by Scraps.
Categories: Stuff, Cartoons.
"Wacky is humor without the teeth."
--Cat and Girl
Posted on October 23rd, 2009 by Scraps.
Categories: Words, Reading Classics, Writers.
I realized yesterday that my damaged reading strengths now are right down Samuel Beckett's path. I tested it with some Beckett at home, and I was right. He tends to be short, and mordantly funny, and his voice -- especially -- is vivid, like a voice speaking to me, and -- especially especially -- his voice frequently falls into the incantatory. My damaged language reading falls naturally into the incantatory, only most of the time the material is not: a false incantation, and I have to start (the sentence, the paragraph, the section) over. Beckett's writing is a true incantation; he's therefore easy (relatively) to read now.
I'll always wanted to embark on a Beckett bender. I think it's time. I'm excited. Really!
Posted on October 21st, 2009 by Scraps.
Categories: Badness, Stuff.
"Hunting has been banned in parts of Austria after freak storms with tennis ball-sized hailstones killed up to 90 per cent of the wild game population.
"Hundreds of deer were discovered either dead or so badly injured they had to be put down by wildlife experts.
"In the country's rural Salzburg province, 90 percent of pheasants and 80 percent of hares were killed in the hail storms.
"Sepp Eder, the hunting chief, said : 'Animals sought shelter in farms, in fields of grain but the hail was so heavy it smashed right into them. It may take five years for animal numbers to recover, if they ever do so.'
"Farmers are believed to have suffered more than £60 million in damages to crops and buildings."
via Ed Ward at the Well
Posted on October 21st, 2009 by Scraps.
Categories: Music, Words, Comedy, Oracles.
Yesterday a got a fortune cookie that said, "Come back later. I am sleeping. (Yes, fortune cookies need their sleep, too.)"
I love the first part. The second, parenthetical part, not so much. It's trying too hard, over-selling the joke.
But it's trying. It's fortune cookies like that that keep me reading them; one out of thirty, seems like these days.
Posted on October 12th, 2009 by Scraps.
Categories: Music, Songs, Live Music.
I did not know that Johnny Cash and Joni Mitchell sang a duet of "Long Black Veil", in 1969, for the debut program of Johnny Cash's TV show.
from The Hits Just Keep On Comin'
Posted on October 9th, 2009 by Scraps.
Categories: Stuff, Media.
Alan Grayson (D-FL) is my hero. Seriously, he tells it like it is, without fear of the insurance companies, and certainly not without fear of the Republican lie machine:
"We as a party have spent the last six months, the greatest minds in our party, dwelling on the question, the unbelievably consuming question of how to get Olympia Snowe to vote on health care reform. I want to remind us all that Olympia Snowe was not elected President last year. Olympia Snowe has no veto power in the Senate. Olympia Snowe represents a state with one half of one percent of America's population.
"What America wants is health care reform. America doesn't care if it gets 51 votes in the Senate or 60 votes in the Senate or 83 votes in the Senate, in fact America doesn't even care about that, it doesn't care about that at all. What America cares about is this; there are over 1 million Americans who go broke every single year trying to pay their health care bills. America cares a lot about that. America cares about the fact that there are 44,780 Americans who die every single year on account of not having health care, that's 122 every day. America sure cares a lot about that. America cares about the fact that if you have a pre-existing condition, even if you have health insurance, it's not covered. America cares about that a lot. America cares about the fact that you can get all the health care you need as long as you don't need any. America cares about that a lot. But America does not care about procedures, processes, personalities, America doesn't care about that at all." [. . .]
"Last week I held up this report here and I pointed out that in America there are 44,789 Americans that die every year according to this Harvard report published in this peer reviewed journal because they have no health insurance. That's an extra 44,789 Americans who die whose lives could be saved, and their response was to ask me for an apology." [. . .]
"Well, I'm telling you this; I will not apologize. I will not apologize. I will not apologize for a simple reason; America doesn't care about your feelings. [. . .] America does care about health care in America. And if you're against it, then get out of the way. You can lead, you can follow or you can get out of the way. [. . .] America understands that there is one party in this country that is favor of health care reform and one party that is against it, and they know why.
"They understand that if Barack Obama were somehow able to cure hunger in the world the Republicans would blame him for overpopulation. They understand that if Barack Obama could somehow bring about world peace they would blame him for destroying the defense industry. In fact, they understand that if Barack Obama has a BLT sandwich tomorrow for lunch, they will try to ban bacon.
"But that's not what America wants; America wants solutions to its problems, and that begins with health care."
Posted on October 8th, 2009 by Scraps.
Categories: Stuff, Boring Posts.
Lots of people say I'm talking like my old self. My "style and persona seen just like always," according to a cross-country friend. And thank you. I want to. I think I struggled even from the first to sound like myself; everybody sounds, to me, like him or herself, and I was scared I might lose my voice. Now I think it's buried deep, and my voice -- everybody's voice -- is something you can't reach merely from a stroke.
But: my style and persona is not real, not quite. We read these posts, and we read them in the same time, same pace. But when you talk to me, in real time, you realize that I am damaged; I am ten times slower to get to the point, if I can: sometimes I can't. I slur, stutter, garble. I lose track. The magic thing about writing is, it makes me seem all right.
It makes me feel like there are two Scrapses: one you encounter day by day, the other by writing. And yeah, every writer is two-fold, the writer and the person; but I never felt the difference so starkly.
Posted on October 7th, 2009 by Scraps.
Categories: Stuff, Boring Posts.
I am very mad at Access-a-Ride (the transit service for disabled people). They didn't show up this morning, or went to the wrong address. When I called, I was told that I was listed as Did Not Show. I was outraged. Me and Tyrell (my home care assistant) were there, outside, from on time to half an hour late. And the driver said he was outside a two-story building, but ours is three-story. I told them I was Disputing. Unfortunately, it's my story against his. Oh: the phone guy asked why I waited thirty-five minutes to call. Incredulously, I pointed out that their rules stated that a half hour late is on time. Here, I quote: "Be prepared to wait up to 30 minutes after your scheduled pick up time. The 30-minute waiting period begins at your scheduled pick-up time and ends 30 minutes later. AAR vehicles arriving during this time are considered on time."
Well. They offered another ride, but it was seriously late for my appointment. I fumingly declined. I called Metrosports, and arranged with Jenny for being half an hour late. So Tyrell and I took the bus; and, actually, I am contemplating whether, once I get the disabled permit, it is maybe the best thing for traveling to therapy.
The o.t. was really good, good workout. And this was a monthly where-is-the-patient-now thing, so Jenny moved and stretched the arm every which way, and you know? I think, very slowly, the arm is getting better, the last month or so. I'm not sure; but I think so. It will be the first time in ten months that I've detected some improvement in my arm. So, hey.