Today is To Write Love On Her Arms (TWLOHA) Day. TWLOHA is a non-profit that has kind of exploded in the last two years, working to raise awareness about depression.
The writing on their site is moving and beautiful, in so many ways:
Rescue is possible/ Love is the movement
You were created to love and be loved.You were meant to live life in relationship with other people, to know and be known. You need to know that your story is important and that you’re part of a bigger story.You need to know that your life matters.
We live in a difficult world, a broken world.My friend Byron is very smart – he says that life is hard for most people most of the time.We believe that everyone can relate to pain, that all of us live with questions, and all of us get stuck in moments.You need to know that you’re not alone in the places you feel stuck.
Our hearts are heavy and light/ We laugh and scream and sing/ Our hearts are heavy and light
Check them out if you have a moment, it all started with one friend in need and is now a movement encompassing the world. And they have some pretty cool tshirts too!
So if you see someone with “love” written on their arms today, smile, say hello, thank them, even start a conversation.
One of the stars of “The Guild” has his own webseries called “The Legend of Neil.” It is really funny, based on the Zelda series, and very, very inappropriate (don’t watch at work!). However, it is in danger of not being renewed for its third season. Take a second to watch the season 2 finale, and I’ll post my favorite episode, the musical (Season 2, episode 3). Check out the entire series here if you want to start at season 1 episode 1.
And I’m back! Big update, and another big one coming, hopefully tomorrow. I’ve been working hard on my NaNoWriMo novel, and the word counts are now working, you can follow my progress on the left side. Also, Pittsburgh is in a word-war with Sacramento and Finland. Yes, the entire country. And we’re also battling Philly, but less officially. Tracking for that is over there as well. We agreed at our write-in today that we need to take down Finland. Because it would be so satisfying to say that we won versus an entire country! Also, we learned that they only have to write 30,000 words because of how their grammar works, sentences like we use can be said in three or four words. Only fair, and a cool fact!
I watched live online the House pass their version of Health Care Reform. It was exciting, I found out that most representatives don’t know when to sit down and shut up, and generally I would not like to be in either house of Congress. I also spent a good bit of time researching on wikipedia things like Whips. All in all, a fun evening. While I don’t agree with the individual mandate and I think there are cuts for women’s health hidden in it (but I would have to check), generally, it’s a step in the right direction. Heck, just getting rid of the term “pre-existing condition” would do this country a lot of good. Well, the term, and everything associated with it, you can’t just rename it and expect it to work…you know what I mean. Good job House!
Ok, too much talking, here’s the newest trailer for The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks:
Did you know they are working on a space elevator? I didn’t either.
And in the UK, construction can begin on the first underground mansion, complete with water slide!
That guy in Louisiana who refused to give out marriage certificates to interracial couples finally quit.
And I think this family wins for Halloween costumes!
Speaking of, Dan Savage has a great column about Halloween costumes. Check it out, but not while you’re at work.
Games Radar did an article about video games characters zombiefied. I don’t like the article, I don’t think the graphics were great, however, there was one entry which made me laugh, Pac-Man:
This video has been floating around this week, I’m already a fan on Facebook. You should be too. You know, if you support the 11 principles and the 3 herbs and spices…and you oppose the communists who want to socialize your Nazism!
Not quite your thing? Then check out this video mash-up:
Did you know you can grow a mustache in November in support of men’s health charities? I didn’t know, although I’m already doing one month-long project. Not shaving would require another commitment….wait a minute….nah
Remember, remember the fifth of November, The gunpowder treason and plot. We see no reason Why gunpowder treason Should ever be forgot!
Guy Fawkes, guy, t’was his intent To blow up king and parliament. Three score barrels were laid below To prove old England’s overthrow.
By god’s mercy he was catch’d With a darkened lantern and burning match. So, holler boys, holler boys, Let the bells ring. Holler boys, holler boys, God save the king.
And what shall we do with him? Burn him!
How very fitting. Happy Guy Fawkes day. More coming this weekend, when I have a chacne to breathe…and write for my blog!
If anyone else is doing NaNoWriMo, or just wants to watch, here’s the latest vlog from them. Also, I have that same hat and will be taking it to write-ins. I don’t think I’ll be dancing. Just FYI.
I’m heading to Fort Wayne for Practice Thanksgiving, but before I go, I wanted to pass on a few things.
It’s a bit over the top at the end, but it’s a great trailer. It does remind me why I’m so scared of public protests, how crazy and violent they can get. And yes, it’s a bit one sided, and it itself is probably propogating hate, I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle, I just don’t know where it is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upWb2jBk5xw
Disney is working on a new game, Epic Mickey. It looks dark and creepy and all kinds of cool. Even cooler: they traded an ESPN sportscaster for the rights to the villian…in 2006. Apparantly it’s been in development for that long. Hopefully it lives up to the hype.
The picture of the Pope at this article is frightening. But really? I find it very uncalled for, and quite frankly, detremental to any kind of honest eccumenical dialogue. Rowan Williams was suprised, but I think is handling it fairly well, for this to come out of left field at least. Shame on you Pope. Andrew Sullivan examines it here. My favorite line:
Now recall that the celibacy requirement has clearly contributed to the decline of the church in the US and the West and has led indirectly to the sexual abuse problems of screwed up celibates. Why would the Vatican make an exception for Anglicans but not for, you know, Catholics?
For now, however, it seems an almost baldly political move, made at a pace more reminiscent of modern politics and public relations than the traditional ecclesiastical creaking of the wheels. That is troubling to me. Churches are supposed to be about eternal truths and freedom of conscience, not what amounts to an unfriendly take-over bid for a franchise.
And it does not seem to have occurred because of some deep resolution of the theological disputes between Anglicans and Catholics, but merely by a shared abhorrence of women priests and openly gay ones. If you want to switch churches, prejudice seems a pretty poor reason for doing so. But this is so sudden it will take some time to absorb and it’s a little hard to take in. Stay tuned.
Fresh on the heels of “Blame it on the Girls,” comes the new video from Mika, “Rain.” Watch it here.
I first saw this video a few months ago. It is heartfelt, moving, and short, so there is no reason not to watch it. It’s making a huge resurgance right now since marriage equality is on the ballot in Maine:
These photos made me smile. A lot. Take old war photos…and add superheros. My favorite:
A few days old by this point, but crazy local politics. This is a direct quote from one of our elected officials in an e-mail calling veterans traitors for working against global warming:
Remember Benedict Arnold before giving credibility to a veteran who uses their service as a means to promote a leftist agenda. Drill Baby Drill!!!
I can get behind him saying whatever he wants, however big of an asshat he wants to be. However, when you end an e-mail with that many exclimation points, as well as the phrase “drill baby drill” I will laugh. A lot. Then weep for the state of politics.
All kinds of things to pass on this time. We’ll start with a new funeral for Edgar Allen Poe. Kind of cool that he’ll get a proper funeral. Still kind of creepy. Point of reference: my bamboo plant is named Edgar and my desk plant is named Poe (Allen was Cat’s bamboo who is dead), and Poe is the inspiration for my favorite beer, New Holland’s Poet.
Mika has a new video, this one for “Blame it on the Girls.” However, the second single from his new CD is going to be Rain. Unless this was already released as a single and I missed it, kind of strange to do a video for it, but still a lot of fun. I’ve desribed this song as half hip-hop, half flaminco. Check it out:
Just as the last of Polaroid film is set to expire, it is announced that it is coming back. I’m actually excited for this, the Polariod is very iconic, and I’m glad to see it come back from the dead.
So I’ve been looking for a new computer once Windows 7 comes out later this month. I’ve looked at HP”s and Gateway’s. Now I found a Sony I really like. Check it out here.
Looking for a new , fun blog that may at some point be bought by icanhazcheeseburger? Try Acronyms Sometimes Suck (ASS).
Here’s a cool graph charting job losses. Check out Pittsburgh, we were doing great until we literally got swallowed up by other cities.
An artist takes over the screens at a New York Best Buy. Pretty cool, I kind of wish this would happen more often.
I really liked this sketch from SNL last night:
And finally today, here is the original painting. You can hover your mouse over to get more information about all the people and objects in the piece. And here is the updated version, including a cameo by Emperor Palpetine!
Today is Blog Action Day, and strikingly similar to the first topic I participated in three years ago. And just like then and last year, I still feel as though I don’t have much to say about the topic. I’m not a scientist, I’m not an expert, but I am concerned, so I guess that counts, at least enough.
A few weeks ago I recounted getting off of Route 66 and onto 22 and seeing a giant billboard proclaiming man-made global warming to be “the big lie.” I think at this point you either believe climate change is real, or you have forgone all rational thought. Now, the extent to which the human race has affected climate change is something up for debate, but we do not live in a vacuum, to think that we have had zero impact on the Earth is moronic.
But, more importantly, what can we do? And even more poignantly, what can I do? I said above, probably not much. But I’m going to try, every little bit helps, and is always surprises me how much small actions really do matter. Pittsburgh’s own green iniative, you know, the one with the most ridiculously long URL in history, encourages residents (and those like me who aren’t residents but wanted to see what was going on) to take on small steps. One of the first was to change out old style light bulbs to CFLs as they burn out. This small step saves not only money on energy bills, physical resources as they do not have to changed as often, but tons of carbon emissions from entering the air.
I’ve been fiddling around with the power settings on my computer. It’s been an ongoing process, but I think I’ve almost found the perfect settings. I don’t need my computer on during the day when I’m not there, it just sucks up power, and I only need it to be on a little bit in the morning before I go to work so it can download new podcasts and sync with my Zune. So I headed over to Lifehacker, found a nifty little program and went from there, creating a power schedule that is more robust than what comes standard with XP and allows me to minimize the power consumption of my desktop.
It’s a little step, and took maybe five minutes of work, plus maybe 15 in total since to tweak, but it saves a lot of unnecessary power day in and day out. It’s what I can do. And yes, climate change encompasses so much more than what I’ve talked about here. It brings in economics, agriculture, water resources, politics and science. But those are things that I don’t always understand and nothing that I can really speak to. Sure, I can hope to encourage people to choose clean energy, but I’ve discussed that before, and feel like I beat it to death over the summer, so I’ll stick to simple things.
Will I be able to affect climate change on a global scale? Probably not, my invitation to the Copenhagen Summit must be lost in the mail (or that crazy senator who is going to protest outside might have taken it, who knows), but I can try to do my part and I’ll keep finding small ways to help, and to empower.
Tomorrow is Blog Action Day, I’ll be writing about climate change, but until then, glorious news: Towey is leaving! All of the news articles I’ve seen about it are pretty much just reprints of the press release, and don’t give a fair view of what has happened on campus. But, anyway, he’s leaving, now we can rebuild. And I guarantee alumni (especially from my year and those around us) are now going to be willing to open up their wallets.
