Nice

It's always nice when Kentucky (and Lexington, in particular) gets good national coverage...

Washington Post: The Impulsive Traveler roams the public square of Lexington, Ky.

Apparently the Republicans (surprise) don't get computer gaming, and I think in this case it's going to backfire on them

This is absolutely ludicrous, let me just say that as a preface.

'World of Warcraft'-playing candidate: 'I'm a real person'

Colleen Lachowicz is a long-time health care worker who works with teens and young adults. She is a wife and a step-mom. And she likes to knit.

But this week, the 48-year-old Lachowicz — who is running as a Democrat for the State Senate in Maine — abruptly found herself a the center of a Republican smear campaign because of one of her hobbies. No ... not knitting.

Lachowicz is a gamer. More specifically, the Republican party of Maine discovered that Lachowicz enjoys playing the online role-playing game "World of Warcraft." And, on Thursday, the party launched a campaign to out what they are calling her "disturbing alter-ego" and her "bizarre double life."

The Republican Party not only launched a website, they sent out post cards to voters in her district and even issued a press release — all of which showed off the level-85 orc named Santiaga that Lachowicz plays in the game and also highlighted online comments she had made about the game....

Is her opponent's campaign so weak that it can't handle things like, oh, issues, and has to try to get voters to think she's a horrible person because she takes on a role in a fantasy world? Doesn't that just mean she's creative? Or that she's playing with people from all walks of life, all over the world. That's good, as far as I am concerned, from a political viewpoint. Or that she's somehow aberrant because she is a gamer (one of millions who play games online, on gaming consoles, or gee, the type I play, where you sit around a table with pencil and dice.)

Gee, I thought Mitt Romney was out of touch with real people. Seems the Republican party in Maine is as well.

Despite my love of fantasy books

I am not really a fan of Tolkien's books, of which I've read little, but I must admit, a trip to New Zealand, where the movies for both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit were filmed, does seem lovely. My main trouble would be the many hours on a plane above water, and of course I'm usually cash-strapped and such. But it is so beautiful there, it would be nice to see.

New Zealand’s Hobbit Trail

The hill is perfect — steep, shaggy and as green as a radioactive shamrock, like the matching hills around it. The sheep seem pretty idyllic themselves: polite little nibblers who only sometimes block the road.

As for the oak tree on the hill’s crest, it is quite literally perfect. Every flickering leaf was handcrafted, right down to the spidery plastic veins, a tribute to the meticulousness of Sir Peter Jackson, the movie director who staged this place, even creating the pond. (Where better for Paradise Geese to land?)

You are standing in Hobbiton, the place where J. R. R. Tolkien’s furry-footed Hobbits came to life in Mr. Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy and will soon reappear in his “Hobbit” prequels. The sky is dramatic, with sunbeams radiating like spotlights from behind thunderheads. You are woozy from the two-hour car ride from Auckland on a twisting two-lane road (nonstop chatter from Mr. and Mrs. Fanny Pack standing next to you doesn’t help), but a few deep gulps of the agrarian air is restorative. And no matter how stubborn, cynical or reluctant you may be (we were all three), this place is most likely casting its spell.

How very sad

Bodies found after landslide buries Chinese school

The bodies of 18 children have been found after a landslide buried elementary school students and a villager in southwest China, state media said Friday. Rescuers found the bodies as they scoured through rubble at a village after the landslide struck the school and two houses in Yunnan province, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

One person is still missing, CCTV reported.

The students were studying Thursday during a public holiday to make up for classes disrupted by recent earthquakes.

Since then, another body has been found, according to:

Death toll rises to 19 in SW China landslide

My thoughts are with the families of those lost.

After talking with YKWIA

for quite some time on the phone, I have decided to heed his advice concerning the tourist venue of choice (I do sometimes heed his advice, despite what he may tell you). Having a logical mind, he very rightly pointed out that I would enjoy the Field Museum more than an art museum because I have a science background, love natural history, and will actually understand what I'm seeing much more than I would looking a pretty pictures whose significance I don't really know much about (art history was something I learned as a conjunct to history and classics, but it would be better to go if I could take him along, since he has both studied art history and is an artist as well; sadly, I cannot do so.) Not to mention, the thought of a T. Rex skeleton (and I believe Sue is the one that Harry Dresden rode in one of Jim Butcher's books) warms my science geek heart. So the Field Museum it is. :) Now if I can just get that extra day off.

Goodness

Since I left work today I have gone by the bank, done a major grocery run (filling my utility cart, my backpack, an nylon bag, and a regular grocery bag, and paid my rent. It took me almost an hour to schlep the stuff home on the bus, because I narrowly missed one and decided that I should wait for the next (they're 35 minutes apart during the day) despite having some frozen food, because the traffic was so bad I wasn't sure I could make two blocks, the majority of which has no sidewalk, carrying and pulling everything. My back and neck are not happy with me, but at least I didn't bring them the whole way by foot. Now I have put the groceries away (my refrigerator and cupboard are full to bursting, which is unusual; I'm hoping they last a couple of weeks and with winter coming I'm going to try to keep more food in the house). I brought the fan out of the bedroom into the living area and opened the windows. I'm eating some Tuscany bean salad, along with marinated artichoke hearts and mozzarella. Kroger has it on their Mediterranean bar. It's something I treat myself to on occasion.

I fell asleep last night before the so-called debate [I don't think they really follow the rules of true debate], but I printed off a transcript from CNN today. Nothing in it changed my mind in terms of voting, of course. I must admit, though, I will be quite happy when this whole election is over. I'm a staunch Democrat, for example, but I'm getting a slew of e-mails asking for money, even though I tried to opt out of them, at two different e-mail addresses. I haven't been able to give any, and I may not be able to this year, which I regret.

What I am trying to save my money for is the Chicago trip in November. I'm trying to stay an extra day beyond the conference so that I can do some sight-seeing. I think I can swing it (the extra night alone is $200 for the hotel, and that's at the group rate plus taxes, as opposed to the $100 more it normally is), but one of my bosses has to approve the extra day. See, I still don't have a backup person for one part of my job, and the data entry is on a time schedule. I'd been approved for two days, but we're going to have to work something out for me to be away three. Hopefully we'll do that. I have to turn in my travel request form by mid-October. How often do you get airfare and one night at a hotel paid for? Of course, last year I went up to Chicago with $20 in my pocket and neither credit card nor money in the bank, but I was extremely lucky.

I can't see everything I'd like to, of course. I'd have an afternoon and a morning to see things. The four big attractions I'm considering are the Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum of Natural History, the Alder Planetarium, and the Art Institute of Chicago, but I'll probably only be able to do one or two of them. Good thing this gig lasts three more years after this one. :) Of the four, the Field Museum and Art Institute are top of my list. I've been to both an aquarium and a planetarium (although I'm sure these are larger and quite possibly better), but I've never seen a real Picasso or Monet, for example, or a T. Rex skeleton of doom.

Good for her!!!

TV anchor responds to bully's weight critique on air

TV news anchor Jennifer Livingston took a hurtful e-mail attacking her personally due to her weight and made it a teachable moment about how we are all responsible for being models of behaviour to children to prevent bullying.

Better late than never

As of today:

1. I did laundry.
2. Finished and submitted my book review.
3. Renewed and took back library books.
4. Took out the trash.
5. Took out the recyclables.
6. Straightened up a bit.

Saturday and Sunday were crazy busy

so I didn't blog, didn't watch 'Doctor Who' (even though it was the mid-season 'finale'), and didn't get much on my agenda done. I did spend some time with friends and did laundry on Saturday, so that got done, although I schlepped it across town and back (thank goodness for my little utility cart). Sunday was the cleaning, the Kroger run, and the game, which features an extremely difficult opponent and ended with Brenda and I begging to stop so we could regroup and think up something to deal with it, as we were becoming frustrated with our lack of progress, and several characters were incapacitated or near death. Afterwards the game master and I had a very good yet painful discussion on how I might be able to increase my effectiveness (my character was in charge), not only in the game, but in real life, by tackling a particular fault I have.

Last night I was awoken about 2 am by a dog barking furiously, something that in the eight years I've been here just doesn't happen. There's not much noise in my complex, there's a firewall between my bedroom and the next apartment, and I actually ventured outside to see if there was a dog in distress, it was just so unusual, and it sounded just like a friend's dog (for non-'animal people', each dog has a 'voice' of their own). I'm sure it was just a neighbour's dog. But it was a little difficult to get back to sleep.

Despite getting to bed at a reasonable hour, I'm having some difficulty with just how dark it is when I wake up, particularly on a day such as today, which was a soggy, rainy mess. I was not a zombie today. I went in and got a lot accomplished, including the book review I needed to get in.

Thankfully I was able to get a ride home, and I opened the windows and then promptly took a nap. (Not a sleep, but a reasonable nap. I find that if I lie down right after getting home, while the afternoon is not too late, I am much more likely to wake up and be productive later, rather than the scenario where I do things, play on the computer, and then peter out by 8:30 or 9 pm.) Now I have to get some things done around the house and if I have time, I'll watch the first of two 'Doctor Who' episodes I need to catch up with.

By the way, I meant to write the other day that as I stood at the bus stop Thursday, I was accompanied by a pretty orange butterfly who spent the entire 20-25 minutes in one place, fanning its wings (I think it was drying off; we'd had some rain.) I love butterflies (Eilir actually means butterfly), and it was nice to see one up close for such a protracted time. That is one nice thing about being a paedestrian rather than a driver; you get to see the details along the road.

One of my friends posted a quote on Facebook

Creativity now is as important in education as literacy, and we should treat it with the same status.--Sir Ken Robinson

which reminded me of this song by the late Harry Chapin. Another friend introduced me to it several years ago. I think all education majors should be exposed to it before they get near a classroom...