Louise Log 4
May 11th, 2008 melHere we go with installment 4 of the Louise Log. My favorite line: “If I were a real artist, I’d punch him in the face.” Louise is the voice in my head, put on video. Enjoy this week’s show.
murmurs realized
Lil
May 10th, 2008 mel
I was scanning blogs the other day (on my birthday actually) and came upon this Enigma Cafe post.
You’ll notice that if you click on the Enigma Cafe post title, you’ll get connected to YouTube and will hear a rendition of Moon River. This song holds special significance to me (especially on Mother’s Day), because it is the song I sang to my mother as she lay dying in the hospital, surrounded by the sounds of the respirator, heart monitor and various alarms going off at other patients bedsides, six years ago.
It seems like yesterday. In fact, as I was typing this, I originally typed two years ago and actually had to find the death certificate to figure out what year it was. I remember the date she died… April 14.
I was born the day before Mothers Day (on a Saturday), and it was through her that I learned so much including the discovery of my ability to sing. We used to sing a lot together when I was younger. So, it seemed only natural to sing a favorite of ours at that time.
When I was a teenager, I started calling mom by her first name. Well a nickname of her first name, which was Lillian. I called her Lil. I can’t remember why I started doing this. Maybe it was my rebelliousness as a teenager. I also don’t know why she allowed me to do this. All I know, is that it became my term of endearment and closeness. It was a shortform of, “I love you, mom.”
So, it was interesting that I should stumble upon that particular website where Moonriver is featured on this particular day.
Today I am…
May 8th, 2008 mel
Today is my birthday. Today I am (place your favorite decade marker here). Yes, it has been a wonderful 39 years, now that I’m 40. HAH!!! If only. I passed 40 a while ago. Why are people so reticent about telling their age? I used to think it was only vanity, but now I’m convinced it has more to do with how people will view/treat us. Just as I assume a 20 something is inexperienced/shallow, so a 20 something probably sees me as old and doddering. I’ll give them the old, but not the doddering. 
God knows I’ve been through alot this past couple of years medically, but I made it through. And I probably would not have been able to do that, if I hadn’t been clean and dry for 29 years. There’s a great deal to be said for making decisions with a sober mind.
So, I’m posting this at the time and on the day of my birth. Happy birthday. 
And to you too, if it’s your birthday.
ps - thanks to Not So Deep Thoughts for the image
1Password
May 5th, 2008 melThere is one piece of software, that I have found to be invaluable since I started using it last fall. It’s call 1Password.
It seems simple enough. What it does is keep track of all your logins names and passwords and fill in the appropriate text boxes with one or two keystrokes. But that’s not all it does. It can keep track of various identities you use to join up with various forums or shopping sites and with one click fill in all the data for you. Not only that, it can keep track of “wallet” items like credit cards or secure notes like serial numbers on purchased software. All of this is kept on a secure separate keychain.
So if you use a Mac, check out 1Password.
Louise Log 3
May 4th, 2008 melHere is the third installment… enjoy.
uppity or elitist
May 3rd, 2008 melCaffeinated Politics presents some very thought provoking ideas as written by David Shipler (recently).
As racism becomes less overt and more hidden, our examination of the language (along with the society) must become more stringent in detecting its remnants. Mr. Shipler examines the recent flurry of charges against Barack Obama for being elitist. From the Shipler article:
Whether by calculation or coincidence, Hillary Clinton and Republicans who have attacked Barack Obama for elitism have struck a chord in a long-standing symphony of racial codes.
Shipler has written numerous articles and books. Here is an audio interview with Mr. Shipler from 2005 by the New York Times about his book, The Working Poor: Invisible in America.
Louise Log 2
April 27th, 2008 melHey folks,
I am pleased to present the second of the five part Louise Log series. You may have noticed that I have created a Louise Log category in order that you can find all of them here more easily (you can also check out the tag cloud). Without further ado (I love that expression), here is Louise Log 2:
Acquitted of all charges
April 26th, 2008 melI was sitting in the dialysis chair yesterday and watching the story that was on every channel. So I really had no 
choice but to get bombed with the information (over and over) that three police officers, who had fired 50 times at an unarmed group of young men and killing one of them (who happened to be scheduled to be married the next morning), were acquitted of all charges.
What was most shocking to me, was that once again, I was surprised! Why would I be surprised? It’s not like there’s no pattern. You would think, I would know what the outcome would be by now.
It’s not right. It’s more than not right,… it’s criminal.
Louise Logs
April 20th, 2008 melAn artist friend of mine is creating a series of videos entitled, the Louise Logs. I think they are brilliant, and given the nature of the dialog, I think they fit perfectly with the title and intents of this blog. The plan I have come up with, is to post one here each week (at this point in time, there are five of them).
Of course, you can always see them all at once if you like. Here, then, is the first one:
Remember to turn your sound on. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
are you more dixie or yankee?
April 12th, 2008 melI got this link in my email the other day. For lack of anything better to do, I followed the instructions. Turns out I’m something like 62% Dixie even though I was raised in NYC. Kinda interesting and fun. Try it.
