I don't think I've said anything about it up to now, and there's only (as of today) 9 1/2 weeks left.
I just read Mudflats' "What is McCain Thinking? One Alaskan's Perspective." In it, she says:
[...] Listen to John McCain and you'll hear about a maverick reformer who took on big oil, took on corrupt Alaska politicians, and whose ethics are unquestioned.
Alaskans really want to like Sarah Palin. In a state where corruption is the rule, and the same faces keep recycling over and over and over again like a bad dream, a new face, with a promise of reform seemed like a breath of fresh air. Palin defeated incumbent governor Frank Murkowski (father of Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski who he appointed to his own Senate seat when he was elected governor) because he was such an obnoxious, bloviating, downright BAD politician. This staunchly republican state voted with relief, not having to cross over and vote Democratic, but still able to get Murkowski the hell out of office. In the general election Palin swept into office running against a former Democratic governor, Tony Knowles, who was capable but came with baggage. And he represented to Alaskans more of the same, tired old-style politics, and special interests that we have come to loathe.
So, if McCain had made his selection six months ago, the squeaky-clean governor meme would have made a little more sense. But, Sarah Palin is currently under an ethics investigation by the Alaska state legislature. [...]
See, six months ago, it was pretty hard to tell the lineup of Republican presidential candidates apart -- even with a scorecard. So when I tweeted a friend a Publius Pundit vice-presidential poll, he said he was rooting for someone he thought could govern: Christopher Cox, for his conservative bonafides, relative youth and ability to shore up McCain's economic flank.
He asked me who I thought had a shot, and I told him I thought the nod would be more about campaigning than governing: "Whitman, Hutchison, Rice, Watts, Jindal, Powell, Palin, Blackburn, [Elizabeth] Dole, Steele." Of those, my friend said he thought only Watts had enough experience but lacked the desire.
I didn't give the issue any more serious thought until this morning. I'd assumed McCain wouldn't give in to his long-shot leanings. I was wrong.
Today, my friend asked me what I thought of Joe Biden. I said "Meh. I'd hoped he'd double-down on change (Bayh/Kaine) or pick
Hagel or Powell or Richardson, but I'm pleased he didn't pick Clinton." I think we can all see pretty clearly what not-picking Clinton yielded.
hard time telling the truth where the truth ends and the play-acting
begins. Sometimes we act like a regular couple and do normal couple-y
things; sometimes we have really fun, playful sex. And then sometimes
we get into this other thing. [...]"
Andy Ohio's "Tied Down"
So, like, what's up with that other thing? More to the point: Were you in a playful mood the last time you had sex with someone?
I'm not talking about "playful" as in "kittenish," much less "monkeying" or "horsing" around. (Save your human/animal roleplay jokes for now, m'kay?)
I'm talking about the state of mind that has to do with gleeful improvisation, glistening wetness and gleaming smiles, glowing pleasure in the moment and getting a grip on (or getting gripped by) a willing partner.
The latest book to remind me of that delightful state, that pleasant periphery in which ludic languor lives, is Rachel Kramer Bussel's anthology of short stories. (Full disclosure: I received a review copy in exchange for a promise to write a review and post it to the book's Amazon.com listing.)
Each story is not just a rude and randy recitation of body-part motion-capture that one might plot on a graph with as little difficulty as one might play buzzword bingo with nearly any politician's boilerplate address.
It's also not just a collection of completely unlikely or implausible scenarios (airplane bathrooms, department-store dressing rooms, college classrooms, graveyards, etc.). It's called wishful thinking, not fantastic (in that other sense of the word) thinking. Maybe it's just my own imagination, but situations where a few words gone awry result in a gauntlet thrown down and then taken up sound not just likely, but like good ideas (as in Thomas S. Roche's "Pre-Party" and Kramer Bussel's own "The Depths of Despair").
It's why I'm willing to go along with Shanna Germain's "Perfect Bound" with its library-look protagonist, bookstore-cum-flytrap setting and delightfully unexpected uses for certain old-school office supplies, or Alison Tyler's "Betty Crocker Gone Bad," which turns a domestic quirk into the kind of escapade that might get left on a cable-cooking-show cutting-room floor, or Madeline Glass' "Laser Tag," which makes the best out of bad behavior at a concert and the resulting cute-meat meet-cute.
By the time you've dropped in on the grownups-go-back-to-high-school scenario of Madlyn March's "Reunion," the barn settings (yes, if you must, perhaps now's the time for your roleplay jokes) of Thomas Christopher's "Riding the Storm" and L. Elise Bland's "The Breeding Barn," you're probably several turns of the screw into certain physical symptoms that result from the consumption of well-written erotica. You probably won't even mind the workplace-turnabout triptych of Fiona Locke's "Pink Cheeks," Laura Bacchi's "Page By Page" and Simon Sheppard's "Fiscal Discipline."
Make a point of checking this book out wherever you get your hands on it, and you'll soon concur that the only thing better than bending over a well-told tale is, well, bending over a well-toiled-over tail.
I'm back to my sad, empty, dogless apartment. Sigh. My parents took these pictures of Stanley this morning. Ta da.
Apologies for the crappy phone pic. My camera's batteries are charging now, so I'll have better pics later.
I went with my parents today to a shelter to look at dogs. We were looking for a medium sized, "basic" dog, as my mother put it. All of the dogs they had were of medium size and they were all very cute and definitely wanted to come home with us. My parents are suckers for the typical hound face so sweet Stanley stood out right away. We took him outside to play and he was pretty good on the leash (a little pulling but he stops if you stop and will just need a little training to learn his manners.) After getting info about his background and personality, we decided he was our new dog.
He's a Treeing Walker Coonhound, which I've heard of but have never seen in person. He's a little shorter and lighter than the breed standard but he looks like the pics I've seen of other Walker hounds. He's very sweet and cuddly and just wants to be next to a person, getting pets. He doesn't seem interested in toys - just pets. He'll wander around the house or yard for a few seconds to sniff and then comes back for more pets. His primary interests in life seem to be humans, being pet by humans, sitting next to or around a human, and sniffing. He's not evven interested in dog treats! Just pets!
The people who work at the shelter just gushed about what a wonderful dog he is, etc. etc. and one of the employee's mothers had already dubbed the dog Stanley. My parents love the name, so Stanley it is. They weren't very sure of his background but he looks to be around 2 and judging from his uncertainity with stairs and other household things, I think he lived on a farm or outside.
He has marked on a chair and a wall but a good, firm NO! stops him in his tracks. He isn't fixed yet but his appointment is Tuesday so I'm hoping that will help. He is very eager to please and responds well to a firm vocal command so I don't see any real ongoing problems. He's learning good doggie manners now but he's already a really good match for my parents. He likes to sit on the porch or by the front gate and just observe. I know that he's tired today so he's calmer but he has lots of room to play and a dog who lives behind us to talk to.
Oh and his bark sounds like a walrus.
Don't mind me.
My parents' 40th wedding anniversary is coming up and I have NO idea what to get them. They're driving up to Michigan with my Grandma that weekend, so they can visit her sister and the rest of my mom's family. I was thinking about just giving them money for gas and whatever but that's not really thoughtful. I honestly can't think of anything they actually need and if I ask them what they want, I won't get any kind of useful response. I was thinking about gift cards for restaurants, maybe.
What the hell do you get people who've been married for 40 years?
Look. I'm back with a real live site using traditional blog type software. I've been doing this for awhile so we'll fore go all the pleasantries and just reference a post I wrote on vox back in December. Speaking of vox, i'll probably keep it around when I want to write stuff that is for specific eyes only or if I want to post some random music in an easily playable format. I probably won't clutter up the sidebar with a bunch of links and things either. If you want to find me all over the web, check my friend feed.
But, for those of you looking for semi-regular ramblings from me, jasontoney.com is what's happening.
Oh, one more thing - the negroplease archives, after an 18 month hiatus, are live.
(We have come to visit you in peace and with goodwill!)
About:robots, about about:robots
About:robots, about about:robots
About:robots, about about:robots
About:robots, about about:robots
About:robots, about about:robots
About:robots, about about:robots
About:robots, about about:robots
About:robots, about about:robots
I downloaded Firefox 3
because all of the people I obsessively read
were doing it too, not doing-it doing it
'cause that would mean taking their hands off their mice
I downloaded Firefox 3
because I heard they want a world record
for most-downloaded browser as if a browser
is the right tool for keeping up with fights between Scoble and Eric Rice
And then I learned about:robots, about about:robots
About:robots (the one with the colon in between)
About:robots, about about:robots
About:robots
About:robots, about about:robots
About:robots (the one with the colon in between)
About:robots, about about:robots
About:robots
I downloaded Firefox 3
because I wanted to see how well it performed on my PC
Then I saw it really was a mess,
kinda slow, really not a success (all right, I'm kidding)
I downloaded Firefox 3
because I didn't want to be left behind with an unpopular browser
The kind you use to access the Net
in my cubicle when I'm learning
About:robots, about about:robots
About:robots, about about:robots
About:robots, about about:robots
About:robots
The one with the colon in between
The one with the colon in between
Put it in your browser, see what I mean
About:robots, about about:robots
About:robots
About:robots, about about:robots
About:robots
About:robots, about about:robots
About:robots
The one with the colon in between
About:robots, about about:robots
About:robots
Robots may not injure a human being
or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
Robots have seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Robots are Your Plastic Pal Who's Fun To Be With.
Robots have shiny metal posteriors which should not be bitten.
Step one: open up a Firefox 3 browser
Step two: Type the word "about" and then a colon
Step three: Type the word "robots"
Step four: Hit return, and learn!
Shout out to all Bay Area nerdcore crew
Doctor Popular
MC Slutsky
I see you
I'm'a see you
And we have a plan.
Seen!
(inspired by Sarah Dopp)
If gender hath its own geometry,
its Euclidean arc the eye can mark,
then the non-Euclidean girl or guy
may also some new queer discussion spark.
If boddhisattva be what you are called,
it's not a label I'd consider dumb
for those Nirvana-bound are not at fault
for existing in that continuum
So those who classify and catalog
all people as they live and love and play
with every Twitter or post to their blog
they doth inform and lighten others' way,
thus broader bound be how we all exist,
how we are kith and kin, but also kissed.
Word is that U2 is working on a new album due out in November (squee!). Completely unrelated to that, I was listening to "War" earlier today and then found this tonight. I forgot this video even existed.
Three things:
1. I don't get the acrobats, at all.
2. I'm not sure why this song was picked for a video. I love it because I'm a U2 fan but it doesn't really go with "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "New Year's Day," in terms of picking singles.
3. Cuties. They're all in their way early 20's in this video.
