learning :: on the ceiling :: for everybody
Consistent Life - Voices for Peace and Life.
We are committed to the protection of life, which is threatened in today’s world by war, abortion, poverty, racism, capital punishment and euthanasia. We believe that these issues are linked under a ‘consistent ethic of life’. We challenge those working on all or some of these issues to maintain a cooperative spirit of peace, reconciliation, and respect in protecting the unprotected.
still working on the senior papers … they are mostly very good & a pleasure to read … except that they’re cutting into my so-called vacation time … o well …
here’s notice that over the next few days some weirdness may appear concerning my website (brtom.org) … you may find nothing unusual … or it may seem that the whole site has gone down … i don’t know … i’m in the process of reconfiguring the thing so that i’ll be able to host my own discussion boards and maybe even my own blog … we’ll see … good luck to me
Dennis Haller: 1950 - 2006 | Chicago Tribune
saddened to learn the other day of this death … mom was calling out names from the online obituaries and here was this one …
i can’t say i knew dennis haller at all … we wandered the same high school halls, that’s about all … never had a class with him (he was ‘honors’ & i most definitely was not) … but back then i had him pegged as one of the good guys in a school where there seemed to be so many bad ones … everybody knew he was going to be a weatherman … so there was no surprise when his name started showing up in relation to the NWS and then the WGN/Skilling gig … well …
he was one of the good ones … i said to mom … that doesn’t mean much, but it meant a lot back then … he’d say hi (and seem to mean it) to one who felt like a loser nobody … back then …
o … yeah … i’m back from down south now & had a real nice christmas with folks i love
addendum: one asks if i was really that pathetic in high school … o yes … i really was … hard to believe, i know
I was searching for a counterweight to the world’s towering edifices of greed, hatred and delusion.
… in which paula’s words & pictures …
i don’t know …
i’m deeply moved by …
these articulations
just got off the computer with mom & pat & meg & duke & eric … a First Ever for each of them … & here’s a memento … a picture of mom & pat watching a picture of me t(m)aking a picture of them …
the blur is both my unsteady hand & the video chat screen … but you get the picture
late last night some fiddling around to prepare things for school brought me to my discussion boards … & brought me to the news that ezboard.com, the company that has provided the service at some cost for the past six years , is moving to its next level … which turns out to be not such a good thing …
it appears that ezboard is morphing into something called yuku … which looks like it desperately wants to be myspace … so yuku is yucko … (sorry about that) … and i suddenly had to find a new venue for the class boards … i panicked … i whined to my inner soul but i don’t want things to change … why does everything always have to change? … you see i really am a big baby … & so … lacking all kinds of inner resources, i fell back on my outer ones …
i did a bit of looking around & fired off a note here & a note there … & the note there was to the engteach-talk list at interversity.org … & the note here was to the webmaster of interversity.org …
then i went to bed … popped on the ipod to sing my much-bothered brain to sleep … & i hear … don’t worry … about a thing … cuz every little thing … is gonna be alright … bob marley singing “three little birds” … so i chuckled deeply & sang along & the cat joined in & we went out … like matches
then after the morning walk … joined by ferdinand, a most excellent visitor from belgium … and after a little ritual head-shaving … i found a nice bundle of emails offering advice, alternatives, condolences, and some very solid help … & … though it’s not settled yet … it does, in fact, look like every little thing is gonna be alright
finished The Desk this morning … & … while i recognize that it’s a piece of crap particle board & laminate diy from staples … (really … some of its parts actually crumbled in my hands as i turned the screws … & had to wait a week for replacements) … i’m at least momentarily enchanted … it’s desk #2 for the room … not for the computer but for schoolwork … enchantment #1: it’s ten inches wider than the previous desk … enchantment #2: i was able to throw a brick&board bookshelf into the front underside …
it’s bigger than it looks from this angle & it will never again be as tidy as here … & come next friday i’ll have 51 fresh summer reading essays to process there … at that desk
last night my brother pat & i had a good long phone talk … then we said good night … then he pops up on iChat because i hadn’t done it before … & it has quite a different look here on the new setup … then he says wait a minute … let me try something … a phone connection … and in a few seconds i was talking to him via the computer … whoa … then he says o, pete’s online … let me try something else … and before i know it a camera window opens & there’s pete out in california looking right at me … & there i am looking right back … and we had a funny conversation … & i got to see & say hi to donna & karen … & they got to see the cat down there on the floor & up close … this is all way too jetsons for me …
& i was wondering this morning about how many times in the course of any day does one get to say in all my life i have never done this before … this is an actual First Ever … when this New is produced by a flashy new technology (Look at me! Ain’t I cool!?) it’s easy to note … but what about the smaller, more “natural” first that just happens (& often can’t be repeated) … like the flash of a black weasel across yr path … here, there, gone … boy …never saw that before!
this has something to do with the way Wonder vanishes from a life … & how it might return … especially for us older coots … just pay attention, dude
i’m stepping away from finish your phrase … after three & a half years … i’ve pretty much done it there …
but habits die hard & i can’t stand to do no poetry blog anymore … so here’s plainer … these recent entries are still in fyp mode … but i’m hoping for some different directions … just to say that i’m not feeling bound to any particular poetic/aesthetic other than Whatever … thanks very much for your support
& o … i’ll be changing the look here quite dramatically & frequently over the next few days … if you see one that works real well for you, please let me know (describe it as best you can) … or if you see one that is just terrible for you (different browsers will do different things), do the same … thanks
about this blog … this shift to edublogs and wordpress …
it’s time to drift away from blogger … to see what else might happen … i’m ready for a few more 21st century doodads like … comments & categories & a finally for real blogroll … a new look … or a few new looks …
but will it have anything to say … & about what? … maybe some useful (to me) stuff & odds&ends … not unlike that other place …
and what’s the future for fyp … falling rock … laughing and falling …
and where’s the future for that journal blug … here … all over … here …
about this blog … one … it’ll be many for a while … until i settle on a look
maybe i could tell the tale of a new computer … i’ve been living it for the past three weeks … & it’s a bore to ponder … so here’s the gist …
a most extravagantly generous & undeserved grant from the murphy foundation put a new imac on my desk … click here to see it for now … pictures of my very own may follow once i get my photo issues resolved …
the transition from one old blueberry g3 running os 9.1 to this fine g5 critter on os x tiger … began a fairly wild ride that hasn’t yet ended … one doesn’t just get a new machine … one loses all one’s old aps … one threatens one’s beloved peripheral devices … one requires a more muscular internet connection …
but read me right … i’m not complaining … this is what summer’s for … if yr lucky to be me … which yr not … but i am … this is a good adventure
