11th September 2009, 08:55 am
Time has passed but it hasn’t dulled the pain or the anger. Sure it’s less obvious now – hidden. But it’s there like a glowing ember that will not die until I do.
Here’s my post at the 2 year mark, Sept 11, 2003.
So much has changed in 2 years, but so much is still the same. As the better parts of humanity strives for greatness, others remain mired in the past. Yet the days pass nevertheless and I pass with them, floating along, swimming along when I can marveling at it all.
But I cannot forget. I will not forget. And God may forgive them but I never will because more than anything I am an American.
I AM AN AMERICAN
11th September 2009, 08:22 am
Congratulations to this week’s winners:
Council: Soccer Dad - Verdict first; investigation afterwards
Noncouncil: Peter Finn, Joby Warrick and Julie Tate / WSJ - How a Detainee Became An Asset
Full voting here.
7th September 2009, 10:12 am
We started off the day with a traditional wasp stomping when the lab-border collie mix laid down on top of the entrance to a wasp nest below the floorboards of our porch. She leapt up with two wasps stinging her, so after I got them off her and she ran into the house I grabbed a can of insecticide and sprayed the nest as best as I could through the floorboard cracks. The wife and I then used brooms to swat and impale the survivors as they flew out.
Traditional wasp stomping is seasonal between June and October and is often accompanied by traditional wasp stomping music, usually music played in 3/4 time on a fiddle and/or banjo with dancers stomping their feet in time to the music. There are regional variations with some insisting that wasp stomping should only be done by men and boys of at least 12 years of age due to the danger of stings, although others insist that it is an activity to be enjoyed by members of both sexes since the majority of wasp nests are found around the home – where women held sway. Some old timers also advocate the activity be done with bare feet and using smoke in place of pesticide. Others called “Sweepers” use brooms to swat down escapees from the nest and impale the survivors. Of course as with anything traditional, there are conservatives who frown upon the Sweepers and insist on the usage of hands to knock down the wasps so that they can be stomped. After all wasps have been dispatched members then dance the “Wasp Stomp Jig” which some claim was inspired by the founders of the dance who weren’t all that good at avoiding being stung.
In keeping with tradition the Wife did wear flip-flops although we did use some insecticide instead of smoke. And try as we might we could not find a single Wasp Stomping tune on iTunes. Bummer.
4th September 2009, 08:20 am
Congratulations to this week’s winners:
Council: Joshuapundit - Ted Kennedy Stumbles Offstage
Noncouncil: Sherman Frederick @ Las Vegas Review-Journal - Enough is enough, Harry – Stop the childish bullying
Full voting here.
1st September 2009, 09:42 pm
Only a geek would arrange to have high speed internet installed the day after his arrival at a new location. Only another geek would laugh and ask “what took you so long?”
After 12 1/2 years in Delaware, a former purple state turned royal blue, I have taken up permanent residence in North Carolina, a current purple state that when you scratch the surface bleeds crimson red. And the area of my adopted home state is the first place I’ve seen 2008 McCain stickers outnumber Obama stickers. Here I am in the land that gave America NASCAR after an 8 hour car ride through some of the most beautiful landscape I have seen (I-81 through Virginia gets two enthusiastic “thumbs up” and is in the same league as the famous Route 1 through California) all the while listening to 7 cats howling cut with a techno back beat (think Moby mixed with “Jingle Cats“).
After living as a red man amongst blues, I’m experiencing a slight bit of reverse culture shock. What, I don’t have to worry about my car getting marked up with permanent marker because of its anti-Obama sticker? It happened in Delaware – and was wiped off with a cloth dipped in acetone. I won’t have to hide my pro-gun views in a place where spent shotgun shells lay in the Lowes parking lot (as I saw tonight)?
It’s going to be a long learning experience, but I’m looking forward to it.
