tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61925152024-03-12T17:49:38.839-07:00Valorie's Link Blog<b>The rest of life.</b><br /><br />Genealogy will be moving to its very own space: <a href="http://genweblog.blogspot.com/">Genweblog</a>.
Changes or additions: <i>valoriez at zimres dot net</i>
<br /><br />Lay hold of something that will help you, and then use it to help somebody else.- Booker T. Washington, 1856-1915Valoriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08390727972738204487noreply@blogger.comBlogger357125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192515.post-11241379809923988902013-08-02T23:00:00.001-07:002013-08-02T23:00:27.694-07:00Watching the tide go outWatching the tide go out
Every day, there is a bit less.
He's no longer angry, but has no sense of humor anymore, either.
No push-button issues anymore, but few memories of the past either.
Got to get some gas for my car, he says.
Daddy, you don't have a car.
Oh yes, I have a car.
Where are you going to drive your car?
He doesn't remember
Even when I mention some of his favorite trips
TheValoriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08390727972738204487noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192515.post-12226100612074249312013-04-18T23:32:00.000-07:002013-04-18T23:32:06.492-07:00CourageAs a followup to my previous post, I can only quote Gabby Giffords, in part:
People have told me that I’m courageous, but I have seen greater courage. Gabe Zimmerman, my friend and staff member in whose honor we dedicated a room in the United States Capitol this week, saw me shot in the head and saw the shooter turn his gunfire on others. Gabe ran toward me as I lay bleeding. Toward gunfire. Valoriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08390727972738204487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192515.post-50615461125258670492013-04-17T20:02:00.004-07:002013-04-18T00:19:55.470-07:00Cravens, Courage in the US Senate todayRAGE! That was my first response to the news that the US Senate today was unable to pass even less-than-universal background checks for firearm purchases -- even with a majority, and even with the vast majority of Americans, even gun-owning Americans, even NRA members -- in favor. Now comes discouragement. How will we progress as a country, if over ninety per cent of us are ignored? Only the gun Valoriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08390727972738204487noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192515.post-91200074292952800032013-04-05T02:43:00.000-07:002013-04-05T02:43:43.870-07:00We know better. Why aren't we doing better?It began with me complaining a bit. My dad said, you're a bit negative tonight. So I turned it around. I said, Dad, we know how to do better. Why aren't we? We have in the past. I grew up in the Fifties, in the decade following the Second World War. We had a Republican president, yet we managed to build the interstate highway system, and send all the returning veterans to college! Of course the Valoriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08390727972738204487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192515.post-64118550299770037042013-03-28T23:25:00.002-07:002013-03-28T23:25:31.313-07:00Common-sense gun safety legislationI'm a gun owner. I want common-sense gun safety regulation. What is currently under debate in the US Congress is less than adequate, yet it certainly is better than nothing. If the assault weapons ban had not been allowed to lapse, Adam Lanza (the Newtown shooter) would not have had access to the weapon and 30-round clips he used to murder so many people in less than five minutes. I was upset Valoriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08390727972738204487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192515.post-35010620320369364692012-08-22T00:59:00.000-07:002012-08-22T01:00:34.931-07:00Kitchen! DONE!
Not sure why that last drawer took soooo long to do, but it is DONE. Which means the kitchen is DONE. New skylight, new paint, clean cupboards and drawers, every one, inside and out.
And that took what, a month of work? Totally worth the time. What I started with on that last drawer:
Contents of the junk drawer
Junk drawer now
Silverware drawer
Kitchen tools, silverware
Kitchen Valoriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08390727972738204487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192515.post-48372124404382660072011-10-05T01:12:00.000-07:002011-10-05T01:12:34.559-07:00When I was a kid, and now
When I was a kid, a Republican president proposed and got passed the Interstate Highway system. This was passed as a non-partisan issue, and has been the backbone of the rise of the modern United States.
Now, under a Democratic president, his tiny (by comparison) American Jobs bill can't even get a hearing.
Before I was born, a Democratic president decided that the long-postponed racial Valoriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08390727972738204487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192515.post-37323179688811916352011-06-29T18:50:00.000-07:002011-06-29T18:50:51.915-07:00Another Sad AnniversaryJust a few days ago, it was the third anniversary of Angel's death by suicide. Time has not eased our pain, although it is not so sharp and immediate. But as time goes on, I miss her more and more. There are more times when the family is all together, but we're missing her. The world is missing her strength, her smile, her laugh, her talent, her love.
We are all poorer for her loss. Just now I Valoriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08390727972738204487noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192515.post-50949324491351847142011-06-12T01:43:00.000-07:002011-06-12T01:43:26.984-07:00Summer! Not Official, but the Sun is ShiningAnd I'm back from Switzerland!
Today's best new thing is an old thing, TWENTY-FIVE YEARS-OLD, to be exact: Ferris Bueller's Day Off turns 25! How in the heck did that happen? In any case, the only thing that's dated is the hair and clothes, which add to the humor. What a great daydream!
Finally, someone perfectly sums up my thinking on ripped jeans: http://www.ashersarlin.com/archives/2004/11/Valoriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08390727972738204487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192515.post-60197645897443749302011-05-28T22:27:00.000-07:002011-05-28T22:27:15.033-07:00End of Spring LinksI know I just did one, but a fresh start is good, too! Plus I want to clean up my tabs again before taking off for Switzerland
Not sure if a fan video has ever *taught* me, but this one did: The Fibonacci in Lateralus (Tool) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS7CZIJVxFY
GREAT Add-on to FireFox, which preserves all your tabs, but does NOT reload them until you click on them. Oh my gosh, I can't Valoriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08390727972738204487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192515.post-29651427020165508672011-05-22T22:21:00.000-07:002011-05-22T22:21:26.713-07:00This Week in Links - April and MayExciting to do this! This was supposed to be weekly, but time slid away from me. But there are so many tabs open FF is hardly working, so it's TIME.
Amazing article, highly recommended: 150 Years After Fort Sumter: Why We're Still Fighting the Civil War: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2063679-1,00.html. 150 years later, it is high time to look back and learn the lessons of that Valoriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08390727972738204487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192515.post-518847244172581472011-04-20T17:11:00.000-07:002011-04-20T17:11:03.408-07:00OK, New PlanThis blog has gone unused long enough. I looked into using Posterous, but this is already a Link Blog, so I'm going to use it that way! I'll collect links all week, then post them once.
Today, I'll simply clean out my tabs in Firefox.
Google Voice: https://www.google.com/voice?pli=1#inbox. My number is (206) 801-0165.
The Doctor [Who] is a Time-Lord: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobcanada/Valoriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08390727972738204487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192515.post-28342545828401204622011-02-08T18:07:00.000-08:002011-02-08T18:07:18.992-08:00Lyric for One GoneReading the book Song, about songwriting, one of the writers ends his interview with "don't say 'cuts like a knife.'* This morning I awoke with the beginning of a song, or a poem.
Lyric for one gone
I have a ginsu that cuts like a knife;
I have a rock that's as hard as stone.
But I no longer have you, and the empty place
can't be described.
Darling, why did you leave me?
WhyValoriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08390727972738204487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192515.post-46292755494094866202009-11-07T16:04:00.000-08:002009-11-07T16:13:21.602-08:00Closer to Equality in Washington StateMaine makes me sad, but this makes me HAPPY!See http://approvereferendum71.org/ for more information. Kathy Reim of PFLAG made an important point in an email today. While many of the votes came from King County, as expected, many did NOT. If you look at the state map and statistics on the Washington State site, you'll see that we got SOME votes in every county, and 30 to 40 percent in many of theValoriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08390727972738204487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192515.post-13427823334319760822009-08-19T01:09:00.000-07:002009-08-19T01:49:16.164-07:00Film: Silverlake Life, The View From HereAIDS is a scary bastard, especially to the mother of a gay son. When Silverlake Life was filmed, it was a death sentence. However, the film-maker was fiercely alive while he survived, and ensured that this powerful story would be brought to the world by his lover, and then his student. Tom Joslin was not sentimental, but he was not afraid of love, of fear, of grief. Nor was he afraid of death, ofValoriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08390727972738204487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192515.post-74828416040986562062009-06-15T14:23:00.000-07:002009-06-15T14:37:31.503-07:00Movies and booksThe Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939) is so tremendous. I've not seen any of the other versions, or read Hugo's novel, but I can't imagine a more moving or exciting screening. Charles Laughton was riveting as Quasimodo, in such a enormous contrast to the fresh innocent beauty of Maureen O'Hara, in her American debut. Her young champion Edmond O'Brien as Gringoire also stands in hearty, enthusiastic Valoriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08390727972738204487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192515.post-16938514490813392102009-04-07T19:42:00.000-07:002009-04-07T23:41:00.637-07:00You reap what you sow - Film: Battle of AlgiersIn the last couple of days, I watched Battle of Algiers La Battaglia di Algeri (1966) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058946/ and all the extra material included in the Criterion edition of this classic film shot in 1966. I really wish Pres. Obama had seen it too, because his remarks about our goals and methods in Afghanistan seem fundamentally flawed to me. What I take away from hours of film, Valoriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08390727972738204487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192515.post-4999912335735825242009-03-23T22:44:00.000-07:002009-04-08T00:01:16.438-07:00President Obama, Please Protect and Uphold the ConstitutionPlease do what you have sworn to do, twice. A wise commenter on Pam's House Blend says, "If the California Supreme Court rules that the majority has the right, by a simple majority vote, to deprive members of minorities of constitutionally guaranteed rights, it will mark the end of America as a political idea, as a political and philosophic bastion against tyranny."But the rule of law is not onlyValoriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08390727972738204487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192515.post-44446233868849144232009-02-26T17:20:00.000-08:002009-02-26T21:32:15.414-08:00A Modest Proposal to Begin Health Care ReformNo, I will no advocate eating the children of the poor, as the original A Modest Proposal did. But I think we have the seeds of a good health care system in the US right now, and yet I hear of no one proposing to grow and use it. I speak of course of the Public Health Service. I believe that we should expand this service a thousand-fold, and have it work in cooperation with all other public Valoriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08390727972738204487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192515.post-81671579018628972902009-02-24T02:20:00.000-08:002009-02-24T03:04:32.472-08:00Best Spinoff Book Series, EVAH!Diana Gabaldon's Lord John books are wonderful in every way! Of course, it helps if you are a fan of the Outlander series, but even if you are not, the historical mystery/romance/suspense mix involving the Lord John Grey will delight you. They take place mostly in mid-1700s London, although Germany is the setting for two of the war stories, which take place during the 7 Years War.Lord John is Valoriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08390727972738204487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192515.post-56553454895348577592008-11-16T15:57:00.000-08:002008-11-16T19:28:25.434-08:00Foreign Film bouquetLast night, from England, The Killing of Sister George (1968), at the time of US release, so shocking that it was given an X rating! On one viewing, I found it disquieting, since all the women were so hard and manipulative, with the exception of the small part of the neighbor, a whore, who was .... friendly, in the best sense. Since I'm still thinking this film over, and it has such high marks Valoriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08390727972738204487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192515.post-67250127297797178532008-10-30T03:39:00.000-07:002008-10-30T03:49:30.509-07:00Madame ButterflyMadame Butterfly (1995) is the Puccini opera presented as a film, directed by Frédéric Mitterrand. It was a bit difficult to sink into the film, with all the dialog in song. The acting was a bit stiff and artificial in the opening of the well-known story. Richard Troxell sings and acts the villain Pinkerton wonderfully, and I loved to HATE him, and felt a bit of understanding, if not pity for himValoriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08390727972738204487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192515.post-70287376899602841862008-10-30T03:13:00.000-07:002008-10-30T03:39:10.004-07:00True Blood, and the Sookie Stackhouse mysteriesTrue Blood is the TV series of the year for me (HBO). I'm enjoying it so much I just had to buy the books it is based on, written by Charlaine Harris. "Goofy charm....humour and occasional terror" just about sum them up. Set in Louisiana near Shreveport, the village of Bon Temps is full of characters, but there is a murderer killing women who have been with vampires! As Sookie tries to solve the Valoriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08390727972738204487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192515.post-36429526432607148912008-10-24T02:30:00.000-07:002008-10-24T02:55:59.075-07:00Flip side of the 1890s, and more Stephen FryTipping the Velvet (2002) is the BBC adaptation of Sarah Waters' novel. I've only seen the first of three episodes, and I'm loving it so far. I'm especially happy to be seeing it in the same week as Wilde since that is also set primarily in 1890s London. However, Wilde is a biography, whereas this is a coming of age tale. Oscar Wilde was upper middle class, and this takes place around the theatreValoriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08390727972738204487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192515.post-12829018046214991002008-10-22T19:17:00.000-07:002008-10-22T21:00:36.794-07:00Genius! Oscar Wilde, Samuel R. Delany, and Stephen FryTwo great films about geniuses, who were gay! Wilde (1997) is an eloquent re-telling of the life of Oscar Wilde, who died at the turn of the century, after falling from perhaps the most celebrated person in all of England, to becoming the most scorned and accursed. Stephen Fry is perfect as Wilde, while Jude Law seems to personify the spoiled, selfish but beautiful Bosie. A small delight is Valoriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08390727972738204487noreply@blogger.com0