To label people as death-deserving enemies because of disagreements about real world politics is bad enough. To do the same for disagreements about a delusional world inhabited by archangels, demons and imaginary friends is ludicrously tragic.
- Richard Dawkins, scientist
When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad, and that is my religion.
- Abraham Lincoln 
So I've been enjoying the English booty (I don't mean Keith, at least not in this particular instance, but then I suppose he qualifies and I have been enjoying him, so what the hell, let's include him too) we brought home: Harrod's No. 14 blend tea, Cadbury chocolates, single malts galore. And I've been missing at least one thing we left behind: music. I swear, those Brits may be whingers, but they have good music.
We listened to a lot of Radio 1, full of brand new pop. I was really taken with The Feeling (careful - music), especially the new track Sewn and I'm looking forward to their new release in February. ...
I've been away in mirrorworld. Toilets have flushers on the right. Cars have steering wheels on the right. You look right when you cross the street. Oversize plugs, outlets that have to be switched on. Mushrooms at breakfast are not thought of as odd.
I couldn't mention the trip here in advance because it was a surprise for Pete. He turned 40 last week and his girlfriend Kerrie threw a bash of epic proportions. Our appearance at the party was just one of the many surprises she put together. It was a ton of fun - we eventually ended up in downtown London, right at the Thames, at the County Hall, which has been, er, repurposed into an ...
All along in tai chi class, we've been learning to stand with our knees bent, tailbones tucked under, back slightly rounded - a slight slouch of sorts. It's a funny kind of stance, takes some getting used to. I've been doing ok with it, but have noticed that when I tuck under, my weight falls back on my heels. When I rise up out of the 'slouch,' my weight shifts forward onto my toes.
We had been working on stances which have a lot of lateral stability, and it got me to thinking about the stability of this forward stance that tends to my heels or toes depending on where I'm at. It didn't seem stable. So I ...
So my second course in tai chi has just started this week. I've tried to come at it with the sense that I've never done any of these moves before, even though I have. I'm hoping that will help me figure out what's going on better.
I still don't feel the chi. I understand the concept, and I'm sure that it's there. But my attempts to gather it in or focus it or move it or even sense it are going nowhere at this point.
Yesterday, we were doing some exercises on our backs, with knees bent, where we arched our backs to raise our feet. Curving your back the other way (tucking in the tailbone) makes your feet ...
If Alito is confirmed, you can pretty much say buh-bye to the idea that a woman can control whether she gets pregnant or not, not to mention the sexual revolution. No IUDs, no bc patches and no birth control pills. In Alito's wrong-headed and non-factual world, those are all abortifacients, not contraceptives. He is simply wrong - they are not abortifacients by the medical definition of the word, and yet he lobbied for legislation that would require doctors to tell women that they are. And if he is confirmed and then votes to overturn Roe v Wade, what's to stop the courts from then saying that these forms of birth control are abortion and make them illegal, too?
Hat tip ...
We saw The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe over the weekend. It was good - told the story like I remembered it. Lucy reminded me of Sam, even that little gap in her front teeth, but moreso her will. The Witch was well casted and costumed. It made me a little sad, though, as I sometimes miss that childlike belief that there is some great being which will fix everything and make everything right so I don't have to worry if I get it wrong. It was a comfortable belief system.
And then those wacky 'Christians' go do something that reminds me just how out of touch so many of them are. What is it this time, you ask? ...
This is Laura Fisher's blog, coming to you from Ann Arbor, Michigan. You might know me as mitten and you can find me in many online communities under that name. Comments are welcome here, or you can write to me more privately via the contact form.
Forget the old cartoon, forget any hint of serious intent and go watch this movie for the sheer technicolor delight of it. It's beautiful, it's fast, it's silly (in the good way), it's exciting and inspired. Go Speed go!
notes that Plum Market has various Pepperwood wines on sale, 2 bottles for $10. Good stock-up price, if you like them. 32 mins ago
