Originally published at diaper bag princess. You can comment here or there.
This is probably going to seem like an odd choice of topic, but hear me out ;)In the past week, I've had four separate people call Cary a girl. Two were after they had heard his name, while we were waiting for our nurse to come and administer his six month (a month and a day late) shots. I think whey they heard his name they though "Carrie" and not "Cary" or even "Kerry".
He doesn't look like a girl, though.
Rebecca @ GGC wrote about this very topic, and I thought it was funny. I even wondered why mothers went so crazy when someone identified their children by the wrong gender.
Then it happened to me. Not so funny anymore. It truly is different when the stiletto is on the other foot.
I had first read of a couple keeping their child's gender a secret. they were from Sweden, so I thought it was maybe a cultural thing, but now I fully appreciate the validity of their experiment, except I pity the poor child if it is a boy, for they make "it" wear dresses. Anyway.
Maybe he does look like a girl and I'm just completely and utterly blind to it.
I just imagined, though, when he's dressed in "boy" clothes, like khaki overalls, blue jeans and sweaters sans flowers, bumblebees and Tinkerbell, that it would be a little more obvious.
How do you come back to people who say "she's so cute!" when it's a boy, or "Isn't that a darling little boy?" to your daughters? Have you ever been rude about it (I will admit, once I was extremely short with someone and said "HE" very emphatically...but that was like the third person that day to mistake my son as my daughter)? Do you have any good come backs for this? Is there any way, other than me crocheting him a hat that says "I HAVE A PENIS" that will let people know? Finally: how do you stop caring about it!?
Back in the day, before the internet, you had terminal emulation. What was the most common emulation required? VT-100. Well here is an actual VT-100 terminal. The VT-102 expanded version. The VT-100 series terminals were introduced in 1978 and replaced by the VT200 series in 1983. The basic form of communications would be a terminal attached to a modem calling to a remote system or a local terminal directly attached to a system. The VT-100 worked with either RS-232 or current loop interfaces. It was one of the first to support ANSI codes and of course it set the standard for text screens.
This sample I have had for quite a few years (8 or 10). A fellow collector of antique computers had won an eBay auction for it. The problem was he was in Spain and it was in the US. He could not afford to ship it to Spain. So he had it shipped to me and I told him I would send it to him when he got the money. We exchanged email a few times and then he lost interest. Found other hobbies I suppose.
I decided to show what it would be like to use the internet with a terminal In a way I did. For some reason, I was having connection issues and kept getting the dreaded "NO CARRIER" message. I am sure it is in my init string for the modem. I suppose tech support at my ISP will be of no use. "you are trying to connect with what?!?!?!?"
Below the VT-102, is a lowly DELL server. On it resides Saracom.com, Mariser.org and Catbees.com. It resides in an equipment rack I made.
Archaeopteryx, sometimes referred to by its German name Urvogel ("original bird" or "first bird"), is the earliest and most primitive bird known. The name is from the Ancient Greek archaios, meaning "ancient", and pteryx, meaning "feather" or "wing".
Archaeopteryx lived in the late Jurassic Period around 150–145 million years ago, in what is now southern Germany during a time when Europe was an archipelago of islands in a shallow warm tropical sea, much closer to the equator than it is now.
Similar in size and shape to a European Magpie, Archaeopteryx could grow to about 0.5 metres (1.6 ft) in length. Despite its small size, broad wings, and inferred ability to fly or glide, Archaeopteryx has more in common with small theropod dinosaurs than it does with modern birds. In particular, it shares the following features with the deinonychosaurs (dromaeosaurs and troodontids): jaws with sharp teeth, three fingers with claws, a long bony tail, hyperextensible second toes ("killing claw"), feathers (which also suggest homeothermy), and various skeletal features.
The features above make Archaeopteryx the first clear candidate for a transitional fossil between dinosaurs and birds. Thus, Archaeopteryx plays an important role not only in the study of the origin of birds but in the study of dinosaurs.
The first complete specimen of Archaeopteryx was announced in 1861, only two years after Charles Darwin published On the Origin of the Species, and it became a key piece of evidence in the debate over evolution. Over the years, nine more fossils of Archaeopteryx have surfaced. Despite variation among these fossils, most experts regard all the remains that have been discovered as belonging to a single species, though this is still debated.
Many of these eleven fossils include impressions of feathers—among the oldest (if not the oldest) direct evidence of feathers. Moreover, because these feathers are an advanced form (flight feathers), these fossils are evidence that feathers had been evolving for quite some time.
Between Heaven and Hell
There's Always Hollywood!
how do you talk about a movie like Barton Fink?
if you are familiar with the development of the studio system in Hollywood, 1930's American writers and playwrights, East Coast v. West Coast, 'Jewish intellectuals', the blacklist
you are likely to read it as a (barely) veiled recounting of those times with easily recognized characters
if you are really into Fight Club
you'll have a different read
could also be a tale of good v. evil, justice and punishment, a vision of Hell, a stay in Purgatory, a glimpse of Heaven.
all of the above can be argued for; none fit exactly. and there is enough leftover symbolism to fill a few boxes
it is, without a doubt, the finest movie the Coen Brothers have made. so far.
trailer
welcome to Hollywood, Barton Fink!
I'll show you the life of the mind!
confused yet? excellent. now go watch (or rewatch).
a nice little thing found out in the ether: teh script
this. is. awesome. missed it when first aired because I stopped watching CNN a while back.
Will Phillips: Well, I looked at the end [of the Pledge] and it said "with liberty and justice for all." And there really isn't liberty and justice for all. There's—um, uh, gays and lesbians can't marry.
Roberts: Mm-hmm.
Will Phillips: Um, uh, there's still a lot of racism and sexism in the world, um, yeah.
Roberts: All right. So you, so you think that the country isn't living up to the ideals of the pledge and you took it upon yourself to sit down and not recite the pledge of allegiance until the country comes in line with, to embody the ideals that are embodied in the pledge?
Will Phillips: Yes!
Roberts: All right. So, your teacher, who is a substitute teacher at the time, was giving you some grief about not standing up. And this went on for a few days. What did you eventually say to that teacher?
Will Phillips: I eventually very solemnly with a little bit of malice in my voice said, "Ma'am, with all due respect, you can go jump off a bridge."
I'm done shopping and I think I covered all the basics but want to make sure I didn't forget something obvious. (I've been known to do that.)
Alaska, campaign, Todd, family, kids, right, governor, government, oil, work, energy.
This five part story released by Scott Kurtz of PVP last week was a bit out of the ordinary for him, but extremely enjoyable. You can either click the images below to enlarge, or go here to read from the beginning.
If you like this so much that you MUST own it, you can pick up a high quality print from the PVP store.
