December 31, 2004
We're supposed to go to a party. I'm currently in my bathrobe and not feeling very partyish at all. I know there's champagne out there with my name on it (or if I'm lucky, Moet's name on it) and I ought to rally, but my heart's not in it at all.
It's not that I don't want to see my friends or anything, but the Christmas malaise never really lifted. I don't see a lot to look forward to in the new year. Maybe someone at the party does and can point me in the right direction.
Well then. Time for a little eyeliner, my favorite red boots and the happy-happy-joy-joy face I keep stashed under ...
December 23, 2004
My picture is in the
Detroit News today. The pouch and belt and press-pass clad photographer managed to eclipse Keith perfectly with my head. I am amused. The pic isn't terribly flattering or anything, but at least he didn't use the Vanna-esque one with me holding the eggs and butter in front of the fridge.
I am highly pleased to be in the paper, especially since I got there for supporting something I believe in.
I clearly don't have this self-promotion thing down at all, however. Neither my business name nor my blog URL appear in the article. I gotta get better at this stuff. But my thanks go out to Nick Bunkley and ...
December 22, 2004
There are many charities out there right now which are geared toward providing assistance to Iraqi families. This is surely a goal worthy of support, but there are also many American families which need assistance to survive.
Over at
Modest Needs, they have taken an interesting approach to helping Americans who need just a little bit to get them back on their feet or to keep them from slipping into abject poverty. The site collects monetary donations and distributes the money directly to those who have a need to cover small, unexpected expenses - like $50 to keep the lights on or $250 for new brakes.
The charity is extremely efficient, spending only about 1% on operating expenses. ...
December 21, 2004
Comes the time for Christmas
And I really have to ask
If this is feeling merry,
How much longer must it last?
I think I find myself singing this song to myself at about this same time every year. The kids (and apparently, most everyone else) are greedy, there's a billion hours of extra work to do, not one of them paid, it's freezing, George Bush is *still* in office and the Democrats are clueless and scattered. Jesus has been monetized, marketed and 'reframed' by the neocon fundamentalists into the poster boy for their 'me-first' agenda. I don't ascribe the man any divinity and I'm still sickened by what is done is his name. There is no hope, ...
December 16, 2004
I've added a new link:
Choose the Blue
It's a site which lists many major manufacturers and retail organizations, along with a record of their political contributions. From their front page:
If each American who voted "Blue" in 2004 spends $100 in 2005 on products of a corporation that by reason of its employees' or connected political action committees' political contributions supported "Blue" over "Red," $5 billion in revenues would be shifted to "Blue" supporting corporations!mandate - if we all shift our spending, even just some of it, to companies which support progressive causes, we can make a real difference in the political climate of this nation. You know what to do.
I've taken some photographs for a little stock photography collective of sorts called
iStockphoto. You can buy stock photos for between 50 cents and $1.50, so it's pretty much the 'shareware' of stock photography. It's a fairly social group, the photographers doing it mostly for the love of photography, as at those prices, you don't get much back. In fact, for each download of a photo, the photographer gets between 10 and 30 cents. But it's fun, and the photos are generally good quality, and it fits the budgets of me and my clients.
Anyway, after having been there for more than a year, I've made over $100 - a dime at a time. ...
December 14, 2004
Kate & Amy - thanks so much for the loan of the book. I finished it the other night. Ok, I stayed up until after 1:30 reading (in bed, Keith's arm getting pleasantly heavier and heavier on my back as he drifted off) because I just had to know how it ended, sleep be damned.
The book in question is Pattern Recognition, by William Gibson, of Neuromancer fame. I really enjoyed it, perhaps because it wove through many aspects of my life - marketing & graphic design, film, internet message boards, the oddness of Britain - it was all there. I thought some of the 9/11 references were a bit maudlin, but that's a minor criticism. ...
December 9, 2004
As some of you know, I and some friends are the group behind the group blog
Martini Republic. Today, a right-wing LA blogger named Cathy Seipp wrote about our endeavor, in
rather unkind terms.
I suppose I should be insulted, and in a way, I am. It's never pleasant to read unkind things about oneself. But in another, it's really hard to take her seriously. Not that I think she really wants to be taken seriously anyway.
Cathy apparently cares most about the links and comments she gets on her blog and judges how well she's doing by those measures. I can't say I don't care at all about those things, but they ...
"You are a very pretty lady."
- B.B. King, to me, in the back of his bus
He's a very cool man. Really friendly and personable - I was taking pictures of him and some select Michigan Theater donors.
The concert was incredible. The man is 79 years old, but you wouldn't know it from his performance.
But it's really late and I'm pretty loopy at this point. More is going to have to wait.
December 1, 2004
People laugh at me and think I'm telling tales when I say my youngest son is going to be a mobster. Witness:
Keith has got three ceramic cups and a little monkey token and is playing a game with the older one on the kitchen counter, putting the token under a cup and mixing them around and getting Jack to guess where the monkey is. The little one comes in, watches a couple iterations of this (Keith is using some sleight of hand), pulls a quarter out of his pocket and says,
"Let's make this a little more interesting..."
Seven. He's seven years old, going on 50.
