Serenity… refocus – seek joy – thrive

commas, etc.

Do I still have to do this since I posted other stuff today? Nope – but I find I want to. I think it’s a nice place to just drop the leftover thoughts of the day – sort of like Dumbledore’s bowl in the Harry Potter books. I forget what it was called… pen something. Anyway, that’s not important because it has nothing to do with this. At least, I don’t think so, but I don’t really know as I have nothing in mind to write about so I might wind up writing about that. Maybe.

I went to Midtown school, in Los Angeles, when I was very young. It must have been pre-scho0l or kindergarden or something because I can remember them coming into the classroom and whispering in the teacher’s ear when President Kennedy died – and I was only about 4 when that happened. Apparently the school is some sort of designated historical site or something now because it was the only school built by architect John Lautner. Who I had never heard of, but the school was pretty neat. What I remember of it, that is.

It’s possible that having spent my formative years (or however long I was there) in those buildings is the reason I’ve always thought that buildings and houses and so on would look and feel much better if they were roundish and curved.

I think sending us there was part of my mother’s efforts to expose us to other people and cultures – possibly the school was also considered progressive as I don’t recall any discomfort at all being one of the only children of color in the school. Even young children can often tell when they are being singled out as being “different”.

I confess, when the newsreaders start talking about the economy and bad banks and all that, my eyes tend to glaze over.  Not because I can’t understand what they are talking about (although finance is not my strong suit) but because… well… what am I supposed to do about it? Just ride it out seems to be the most common advice.

I go back and forth on the torture photos – on the one hand, release of the last ones helped bring people to the realization of just what was going on – too late, though. On the other hand… there are real people in those photos – if it was me, I would not want them spread around. Even less so if they are photos of rape. Joan Kelly puts it very well.

There are so many people – in magazines, on tv shows, movies – who are apparently famous and I simply have no clue who they are.

I don’t know what I think of Michelle Obama reaching first name status. On the one hand, it’s sometimes considered a sign of affection and/or that you have “arrived”. On the other, women (and men) of color have traditionally been reduced to, as opposed to elevated to, first name status for centuries.

President Obama puzzles me. I am not really paying attention to him, though, until the first year is up – possibly in reaction to all the political bloggers and pundits who declared his a failed presidency 10 minutes after he was inaugurated. And that’s before the right wingers got started on him. So, will wait, take stock of the first year and then decide if I can figure out what he is doing, including his long game.

Apparently Judge Sotomayor “sticks commas into clauses randomly,” – Heather Mac Donald.”

Ah, a fellow comma flinger. I like her already. via

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 9th, 2009 at 11:11 pm and is filed under before midnight, random, writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.