DIY Hockey

Unlike me, my buddy Dave got off his hinder and joined a hockey league! We recently attended a game and I have to say, in many ways it's more entertaining than going to a pro or semi-pro game. Just bring lots of warm clothing and maybe a cuppa hot chocolate. Here's a picture of Dave exuding triumph after their victory!

Fun With Gendered Language

How to entertain yourself and sniff out gender bias at the same time

Simply take a web page address and plug it into the handy Regender engine, and observe the results. For a good example, look at this one from Pandagon.

I Hate Cilantro!

My sister-in-law, who besides being brilliant is also a terrific cook, sympathetically sent me the link to I Hate Cilantro, an online anti-cilantro community. I immediately felt right at home. Why is it that every time I run into this nasty, soapy-tasting substance, the server acts like no one has EVER objected to it before? I'm going to take their pie chart with me next time so I can show the restaurant what our legions think cilantro really tastes like.

Just for fun, I created a member profile there, but in the interest of privacy, I left the gender and DOB as the defaults, so it says I'm a six-year-old boy. Whatever.

Who Ever Thought Harassment Could Be This Fun?

I have just spent a good hour or so laughing bitterly over the fabulous Holla Back NYC page, which just goes to show what you CAN do with a simple blog format like this. It's a place where women in New York City can post camera-phone pictures of creeps who harass them on the street. Even without a picture of the jerk(s) in question, it's a safe space in which to tell your story, whether you're laughing, spitting mad, or crying about it.

(When you visit, slide down the right margin to find previous posts and archived posts, in case the ones that are up don't impress you sufficiently.)

It makes me simultaneously enraged (you wouldn't believe some of these men) and ecstatic (I love this concept!). Definitely worth checking out, but beware of the hopelessly foul language and slimy behavior that strangers feel a woman might enjoy.

Spring is Here

Spring is here, which means it's time to go from doing nothing to doing something...even if it's just finally scraping together another blog entry. And I'm fortunate in that, being a godparent, I have a ready subject. These are the latest pix of Ruth, who arrived from China last November. (Click on any image to enlarge.)





I'm that cute! Really!!!!
















Tough to get going first thing in the morning.
















She has taught herself to rock in her mother's childhood rocker.













So close to walking now! She can stand, and takes a few steps now and then just to mess with our heads.