Month: October 2011

They distanced me at first. I didn’t like some of the signs about Obama. I’ve had my disappointments with Obama, but I still cut him slack due to the enormity, complexity and number of problems he inherited. He’s come through on many of the promises that are important to me, and I want to give him more time to come through on others.

Those signs have largely disappeared, but here is what really won me over: I went to a Tea Party demonstration last year and walked among the protesters. It was a seething mass of hate. In fact, while I was there the crowd regularly threatened anyone they didn’t like the looks of. It was horrible and ugly.

The people at Occupy Wall Street are respectful, friendly and helpful. They have all these stations set up where you can learn about the various issues they’re concerned with. Nobody’s yelling at you, or giving you the once over to decide if they like you or not. They’re not screaming about who is American and who is not. They’re politely asking if you’d like to learn more about x, y or z. This is my kind of protest. Providing information. It also had this wonderful hopeful feel. We can fix these problems. If these were my children I’d be very proud. Actually, I shouldn’t talk like it was all young people, it wasn’t.

(Not that I’m calling you old, mom in this picture. You are NOT.)

The first computer I bought was a pc. I was this close to throwing it out the window, it was so maddeningly difficult to use. Learning how to do anything on that computer, even the simplest things, was an ordeal. It was never fun. I hated computers.

Not long after I sat down at a Macintosh SE in the computer lab at NYU to learn how to make animations. In about a minute I had objects moving around the screen. To this day I remember just what I was feeling, I was having that much fun. From then on everything changed for me. I loved computers. I bought a Macintosh SE and I’ve been a Mac person ever since. I think that was 1987.

I still have that Macintosh SE. How could I get rid of something that changed my life the way it it did?? I turned it on just now and that ding sound it makes made my heart skip a beat, just the way it always did. It’s like a pavlovian bell signaling imminent fun. But it wouldn’t boot up. The last time I turned it on, it did. But today it has that face you see above. I wonder if there’s any way to get it repaired?

Isn’t this beautiful? It’s a work of art. I’m not sure if it would look great on me. I wish the neckline was a little higher. Not for modesty’s sake, but I think it would be more flattering.

More new tv news.

Downton Abbey: Okay, not technically new, but new to me. I just started watching and I’ve only seen the first two episodes of season one, but already it’s true love. Why am I the last to know? If it comes close to keeping it up, this is going to be my second favorite show on television. (The first is still Bones.)

Terra Nova: Couldn’t get through the second episode. I cancelled the series.

New Girl: Liking it more. Still not true love. And nothing close to what I feel for Downton Abbey.

American Horror Story: Haven’t seen it yet, it premieres tonight, but I’m including it because I’m hopeful.

Shows that I haven’t seen but am hearing good things about: Up All Night and Suburgatory. I’m afraid I might be missing something, but there are only so many hours in a day.

Not new but I’m still loving it: Raising Hope.

It’s been a while. It’s not that I don’t see them all the time. I live right smack in the middle of beautiful-but-expensive-dresses territory. It would be torturous, but I don’t live the kind of life where I need beautiful dresses anymore, except once every couple of years. Oh wait, I’m going to a party on Wednesday that called for “cocktail attire” on the invitation. I’m screwed.

There’s a Cynthia Rowley dress in her window on Bleecker right now that I would kill for. If only killing was accepted legal tender. I’ll try to remember to get a picture of it later.

I don’t know a lot about this case, just that three young men originally convicted of murdering three boys were allowed to take Alford pleas and were subsequently freed. Obviously there was enough wrong with the case for this to have taken place. Apparently even some of the family members of the boys believe the West Memphis Three are innocent.

There’s really no way to know for sure at this point if they are guilty or innocent. So I was shocked when I read the snippet of a letter to the editor published in People Magazine in response to an article they’d done about the case.

Someone named Melissa Lamer wrote, “I could care less about these men. My heart goes out to the families of those innocent little boys.”

First, of course it’s terrible for the families, but if these young men are innocent, it’s terrible for them too. If Melissa Lamer went to jail for 18 years for a crime she didn’t commit, and not just any crime but the crime of murdering children, would she feel the world didn’t owe her any compassion either? Obviously, she must believe the men are guilty, but since she can’t know that, I have to wonder why there is no room in her heart to imagine how horrible it might be for these three young men if they are, in fact, innocent. Maybe reserve your hate until we know for sure? There’s plenty of incontrovertibly bad things happening every day to get mad about.

I was walking through Washington Square Park last week and there was a small crowd of people very intently taking a picture of … something. I walked over. It was a squirrel. It must have been some squirrel, but I didn’t stay long enough to see.