Viva la Manifesto!

First, let me start by saying that a person can never use the phrase "Viva la ______" too many times. I just had that realization (many of you cleverer people probably have known this for years) when I started typing the title of this post. I thought, "Oh, I probably have used 'Viva la ______' already at some point. I should search my blog for it before I use it again. I don't want to be redundant." Then I thought, "No, you can never use 'Viva la ______' too many times. It's a classic!" I just want you to know where I stand on this issue before we go any further.

Now, on to the actual topic of this post: An Incomplete Manifesto. I love the ideology of this piece of writing and, after losing it for about two years, I was happy to stumble on to it again (okay, I actually just thought of it tonight, and then googled it, and here it is -- deliberate stumbling). I used to have this Incomplete Manifesto posted in my cubicle at work at Borders. When I changed companies, I thought it was a bit too radical to post at my new job, so it didn't make the transition with me to my current cubicle. Some people would say that I shouldn't let things like where I work and who I work with determine the "flags I fly," but I beg to differ. Although I do admire people who are who they are all the time regardless of the situation they're in, I am more intrigued by people who manage to keep their work personas and home personas at least a little bit separate. I think it helps to define the mental space between work-life and home-life, but it also allows some flexibility to be who you need to be for that particular moment.

At any rate, I thought I would post it here for some others to enjoy. That way I'll know right where it is when I need it again.

Viva la repetition!

Scooting Around

Through zaadz.com's newsletter, I read about this woman who is traveling around the US on her scooter (she's only a few months younger than me, so it was even more interesting to read about her). I knew I would just lose track of her website if I saved it to my Favorites, so I thought I'd post about it here on my blog.

Although I'm quite overwhelmed by the idea of planning for an adventure like the one she is about to go on, I have to say that a sense of excitement coursed through me as I read about her prep work and experiments. At heart, I long to be the wild adventurer, heading out into the unknown wilderness. In reality, I've grown practical and more cautious as I've gotten older. I wouldn't consider myself "dug in" (as my friend Den likes to call folks who won't move houses or change jobs for the rest of their lives), but I'm walking more down that path than the path of wild abandonment.

I think I'm okay with that at the moment. In truth, I'm a really great cheerleader and I can happily live vicariously through other people's experiences. But someday I may run free again, and then I'll be having too much fun to blog about it.

Added an RSS Feed Option

Sick of wondering when I actually get around to posting something on my blog? Well, scroll to the bottom of this page and hit my RSS feed option and you'll never need to wonder. Updates will come to your door (sort of).

First, you'll need to get an RSS reader set up. Les recommended Google's RSS reader, which you can find here. Or you can download FireFox (another internet browser system) and read about their "live bookmarks" option here.

If you're like, "What's RSS?" then you should read this wiki entry about it here. Actually, I need to read it as well, because I am totally clueless. This post could be titled "the blind leading the blind" for all that I know about RSS.

Let me know how it goes. I've also linked my blog to my Facebook account, so if you're a Facebook friend, you can keep up with things online that way.

Remember that I'm a total non-techie, so these are giant steps for me. Gulp.

Clapicap

After years of trying to be a rhythmicly-inclined, participating audience member, I have finally come to terms with the fact that I just can't clap when I'm supposed to. I consistently find myself clapping to a different beat as everyone else in the venue, and when I notice it, I have to stop, watch everyone else for a few claps to see when they're clapping, and then jump back in, on-beat. It feels a little like trying to jump in between twirling double-dutch ropes. I was never particularly good at that either.

It could be worse, I suppose. I am at least clapping rhythmically, if off-beat, exactly opposite of everyone else. I could be unable to keep any rhythm at all, meaning that I could never get back on beat with people at any point. As it is now, if I really focus, I can eventually get to the point of blending in with the crowd. I think there is some sort of life symbolism here...

I don't know what to blame this opposite-clapping tendency on. Is it because I sang a lot of spirituals at vespers in high school and people at the sing-a-long were often trying to set themselves apart by clapping in interesting ways? Did I just develop a unique clapping style at that formative age, by association? Or is it because of "Dub Sundays" at our house, where I hear a whole four or five hours of dub music, which emphasizes the off-beat? Or is it just because I'm so unique that I have a hard time going along with the crowd?

I realized half way through this post that I could have actually called this problem that I have a "handicap" since it involves my hands misfiring. People might not have gotten the pun, but I would have laughed about it to myself every time I re-read this post. Instead, I broke out the word "clapicap" (which came to me one night as I was laying in bed, half-asleep), which probably no one will get until they get to this paragraph, but I became obsessed with the perceived cleverness of it and then couldn't walk away from it. "Clapicap" doesn't hold up as well in the light of day, but I'm comitted to it now and have decided to try and work it into today's vernacular.

Let that be a lesson to you all -- the words you think up half-asleep may not be the best tools on your workbench. Clap on!

I guess I'm the only one impressed...

After my June 1 (2007) post on the great progress I've seen the construction crews making on Briley Parkway, my husband sent me this Tennessean article. Obviously, I am the only person in the state of TN who is impressed with how quickly this project is moving along.

I've only lived here two years, so I just must not have reached the same level of critical mass of impatience with this project that people who have lived here since the beginning of this mess have reached.

I still say that it's really coming along, so my kudos remain in effect. I just wanted to give my blog readers the other side of the story.