nobody asked…

chres·tom·a·thy, n.
pl. chres·tom·a·thies
1. an anthology of literary passages used to help learn a language
2. a volume of selected passages or stories of an author

From Greek chrestos (or khrestos), an adjective meaning “useful”, and matheia, “body of learning” (from manthanein, math-, “to learn.”)

Several blogs come to mind that might qualify for or serve as chrestomathies of their sector or the entirety of Planet Blog…

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A few days ago I told about finding new office space and shared some of my mixed feelings, excitement and agony, over moving my business. Tomorrow is lease signing day and I hope I’m not jinxing the deal by writing this. Naaahhh … I’m not the superstitious kind. Que sera, sera…

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Here’s a shot of the new digs. My office will be the one on this front corner with the two tall skinny windows. I can keep an eye on my car parked in the space just to the right off the edge of the photo. I had to crop that out since another guy had parked there the day I went out for a photo shoot. As soon as we get moved in, I’ll have to negotiate with him — he doesn’t park in my spot, I let him live.
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In addition to lease signing, tomorrow we pick paint colors. The carpet is fairly new, in excellent condition, and is a rich shade of gray with a little fleck of burgundy, and those just happen to be my company colors. But the walls are … PURPLE and BLACK. I wouldn’t mind the black so much, since there are a lot of interesting things you can do with that. But it took about 5 minutes to realize the purple had already gotten old. Gotta go. So I’m thinking light gray walls, maybe with one accent wall in a deep mauve. We’ll see…
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As previously mentioned, the campus-like complex is nestled in a stand of tall pine trees. There are other varieties too. The tree on the left of the photo is a magnolia, and it is in full bloom just now. The one to the right is … I honestly don’t know since I paid no attention to it. Will check when I’m over there tomorrow. Hopefully it is not some scrub tree that easily sheds limbs during storms. If so, maybe the other guy can have that parking spot after all.
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Thanks to the well wishers who offered support through their comments and email. Anyone available to help move, let me know. I had promised that I would be blogging less as this unfolds and requires more time. So far it has affected only my time to get around, read and comment on yours. But I promise again, as soon as time permits, I will not be writing as much for you to waste your time on.

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Molly Ivins, in her inimitable style, commenting on the Senate’s recent approval of a $3.2 Million per mile fence between Mexico and the US, quoted Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano:

Show me a 50-foot wall, and I’ll show you a 51-foot ladder..

Must be something in the air or water that gives those Southwest Democratic women such wit and insight. Or maybe it’s the hot chilis. Wonder why it doesn’t work on the guys…

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Paula O has stolen and posted a hilariously serious letter to her pets with some guidelines they must abide … or else. She also outlines a set of rules for visitors who don’t like pets. Oh how I wish I had thought of and posted such guidelines for visitors long ago. What chutzpah — people, coming into my house and complaining about my dog, who is better behaved than many of the guests themselves.

Some people spoil their pets and treat them like people. But not this one…

Well, maybe just a little bit. But at least she has her political thinking straight…

What’s that you say? You think this is ridiculous? Me too. Blame it all on Roomie…

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After being in the same location for 11 years, my little business is moving on. It seems the landlord has discovered that their lease rates are significantly below market, a fact that everyone has always known. But they were making money, tenants were happy and for the most part loyal and stable, god’s in his heaven, all is right with the world. Not…it seems.

A couple of down months in March and April certainly biased my thinking, but overall we were doing OK — not great, but OK. Then a 17% increase in rent, coupled with all the other increases we’ve seen (regardless of what the pols and their hired-gun economists say, we have inflation going on — bigtime), and blood-priced gasoline to get me around to my customers… You get my drift without me even finishing the sentence. 17 freaking percent… And that doesn’t really get the rates up to where they need to be. Similar hikes will almost surely come along over the next couple of lease renewal periods.

I’m outta here. Just found a new place, closer into Nashville and the epicenter of my customer base, but further from home. Hey, you can’t have it all. It is smaller, but big enough. The building is more attractive than where I am, contemporary architecture nestled in a stand of tall pines. My suite is ground-level, a must for hauling sick, dead, and dying computers in and out. Plus I park right in front, 15 feet from the front door. To offset the issue that started this entire mischance, the new lease with utilities is about 28% below what we have been paying, and a whopping 37% below what we would be paying if we stayed at the old location. Oooohhh… I can do a lot of things with 37% savings! New blogging machine for Blog Central… A special year-end bonus for moi, just for being such a nice guy… But more than likely, I’ll so something very daring and exciting, like pay off some debts.

Already, my mood has changed from being totally pissed off to a bubbling excitement about moving on with a fresh start. It’s amazing how much junque I have accumulated over the 11 years at this location and the 17 years with this business. Much of it will have to go, and that hurts since I am such a packrat. But with less space to pile it in … gotta go.

If you notice a decrease in frequency or quality of postings here over the next few weeks, you may feel blessed. Unfortunately the sorting, pitching, packing, moving, and arranging my stuff will also eat into time available to respond to your comments and to read and comment on your blogs. I ask your patience. I will get back to normal. Whatever that is…

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• With the FREE Nashville City Paper everyday, the FREE weekly Nashville Scene, and a few other FREE local rags, why do people still pay for The Tennessean? Why do I?
• Rather than rate people on a scale of 1 to 10, why not place them on the FM dial. Most of the really worthwhile stuff is toward the low end. (Hint: NPR, PRI)
• Speaking of which … do a Google search on pubic radio. I just did this and got about 1,150,000 hits (in 0.24 seconds). Some, like mine, were the result of typos, others, perhaps more interesting finds, were not…
• Speaking of which, again … my ex-mama-in-law once heard the term AC-DC and later referred to someone thought to be bisexual as AM-FM.
• It must be coincidence without meaning, but therapist is “the rapist“.

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We don’t have a monopoly. We have market share. — Steve Ballmer

This laughable quote from Microsoft’s CEO leaves us wondering if he was serious, forgot to get his prescription refilled, or just cracking a bad joke. Given his widely publicized penchant for silliness and pranks, we will assume it was a failed attempt at humor.

In it’s discussion of monopolies, Wikipedia includes this:

Industries which are dominated by a single firm may allow the firm to act as a near-monopoly or “de facto monopoly”, a practice known in economics as monopolistic competition. Common historical examples arguably include corporations such as Microsoft and Standard Oil…
(Emphasis added.)

Does anyone remember Standard Oil and what the government did to them under the banner of monopolistic competition? That could not happen in today’s political climate of bigger is better (as long as I own some of it, of course). The comparison of Microsoft to Standard Oil or Alcoa or AT&T and others that the feds have busted up in the past is a valid one. Of course, that was back when at least some politicians cared about the country, the Constitution, and the people, not just about lining their own pockets and prepping for a high-paying consultant or savior position after their political life.

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Even at age 5, Winston was an avid reader, devouring anything and everything that might have a bearing on his next blog masterpiece. Sitting by a window for the natural sunlight was his favorite reading place.

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Note the curls, which are not quite so prominent in this photo. They will anchor a future post or three here.
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Bibbed sunsuit by Mama, who made practically all the clothes for the family, including suits and ties for Daddy. Winston still has her old antique Singer with which she must have made a million stitches. Photo credit to Daddy, who was a pretty decent amateur photographer, developing and enlarging his own B&W shots — that was before color became widely and affordably available. He even tried his hand at tinting, and Winston’s archives include a couple of those.
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Ah, the good old days! When life was simple and stressfree…

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capitonym: A word that changes in both meaning and pronunciation when it is capitalized — such as polish/Polish, august/August, job/Job, and lima/Lima. It’s a form of heteronym — a word that is spelled the same as another but has a different pronunciation and meaning (such as minute, which, based on pronunciation, can mean either tiny or one-sixtieth of an hour).
Credit: Page-A-Day Calendar E-Mail Edition, 5/17/06

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Rain has an excellent post questioning the Christian claims of GWBush and his Republican party. Indeed, she rightfully extends the questioning to both parties who seem to be bent on proving their moral superiority over the other.

Rain raises some very thought provoking questions, including this one:

No politician appears able to win if they don’t thump a Bible now and again but how many look to see what it is in that book?

Is this what our country and the traditional two party political system has devolved to? What can we do, individually or collectively, to stop this nonsense and reverse the trend? Can we really even call the United States of America a democracy any longer? And, please, don’t start with how it really never has been a true democracy. We all know that. But we still use the term to describe ourselves and our country, and in relativistic terms, it is probably closer to being accurate than any other than could be ascribed to it.

The demonstrated mutual affinity of Republican conservatives and the fabled Christian right, coupled with this administration’s willingness to ignore the basic principles of law, liberty, rights, and freedom as expressed by the founders, adopted and revered for over two centuries, is enough to make all thinking people, regardless of party affiliation or leaning, afraid … very afraid.

UPDATE May 18, 2006, 8:25 PM CDT

John B. of Blog Meridian left a comment that I thought important enough to drag out here to the front porch:

Andrew Sullivan–conservative, small-government Republican, practicing Catholic, and gay–has been blogging a lot these days on this very topic in advance of a book he has coming out later this year on the subject. A couple of weeks ago, he also had an essay in Time (here

http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,1191826,00.html

is the link) that has prompted lots of e-mails from readers, to which he responds on his blog, no matter the reader’s take. Here (http://time.blogs.com/daily_dish/2006/05/christianism_ag.html), in fact, are a couple of e-mails that speak directly to Rain’s concerns.

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You are Obi-Wan Kenobi

Obi-Wan Kenobi 76% Chewbacca 70% Yoda 69% Qui-Gon Jinn 69% Mace Windu 67% R2-D2 66% Luke Skywalker 65% Boba Fett 63% Han Solo 61% Darth Maul 60%

You are civilized, calm, and have a good sense of humor, even when those around you don’t. You can hold your own in a fight, but prefer it when things don’t get too exciting.

(This list displays the top 10 results out of a possible 21 characters)

Click here to take the Star Wars Personality Test

Ran into this over at R2-D2 PaulaO’s place.

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Good communication is as stimulating as black coffee and just as hard to sleep after. — Anne Morrow Lindbergh
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Let us make a special effort to stop communicating with each other, so we can have some conversation. — Judith Martin

I wish people who have trouble communicating would just shut up. — Tom Lehrer

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There is something that goes unspoken between mother and child. A quiet understanding, a knowing, that deepens and matures with the passing of years. An understanding of origins, pain, endurance, giving, nurturing, caring … of deep and abiding love that is not easily threatened. A recognition of life and meaning and fruit of the vine and comfort and safety. A bonding…

I say these words as a child … an adult male child. I love my Mother with all that I am, all that I have, and all that I might become. Always have. Always will. She lives 3 hours away in a nursing home now, badly crippled by arthritis, osteoporosis, and the ravages of age. I am never able to visit as often as I wish, but do manage to see her about a half-dozen times per year. For many years of my adult life I lived far away and was able to see her and my Dad only once or twice per year. But regardless of visit frequency, the knowing is always there, providing a backdrop for the scene that plays out, and providing texture to the patterns and colors I paint with my life. The canvas and gesso on which I display my talents and mistakes, my triumphs and failures.

The planning for a visit on Mother’s Day got me thinking and wondering how that particular day came about. Intuition told me it was most likely an invention of the greeting card industry. As it turns out, I was wrong. They just exploited the hell out of it. Wikipedia informs that Mother’s Day was “originally conceived by Julia Ward Howe after the American Civil War as a day honoring (in her opinion) the inherent pacifism of mothers…” Mother’s Day now simply celebrates motherhood, setting aside one day a year to formally recognize and thank Mothers for all they do for us. By the way, the entire Wikipedia article on Mother’s Day is worth a five minute investment of time. There is more to learn and know about this take-it-for-granted day than I ever dreamed.
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Mother worship was celebrated as early as the ancient Greek civilization. Most countries today celebrate some form of Mother’s Day, predominantly in the Spring, though the dates vary widely. Many of them take their form and substance from the British or American celebrations and are highly marketed and commercialized. Greeting cards and gifts are de rigueur. One of the highest volume days of the year for the postal service and the telephone networks is the second Sunday in May, which in the US was declared the official Mother’s Day celebration by President Woodrow Wilson in 1914.

This Mother’s Day take an extra moment to embrace your Mother. Just that couple of seconds longer, squeezing a little harder when you hug her. Tell her you love her, even if that is uncomfortable to you, guys. It is rewarding to see her respond to these little things … just knowing that you love and care for her and appreciate the things she did for you. If you are unable to be with her on Mother’s Day, call and let her know these things. If your Mother has passed on, take a moment in the privacy of your mind to think of her, who she was, and what she meant to you. And if you have a strained or estranged relationship with your Mother, I am sorry. Think of her anyway. After all, she gave birth to you and let you live… Consider reconciliation… one of these days it will be too late for that.
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Lastly, don’t confine all this to one day a year. She is or was your Mother the other 364 days too.
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To all of you you who are Mothers, Happy Day…

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If you wish to know what a man is, place him in authority.
— Yugoslav Proverb

When men are pure, laws are useless; when men are corrupt, laws are broken. — Benjamin Disraeli

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