Reading

Current Mood: cheerful
Current Location: the living room
Current Music: Ateez "Hala Hala"

Entry tags:

Dept. of Birthdays

Hey,

masakochan !

I hope you've had a Happy Birthday, and may the coming year be good for you. I'm glad I know you!

Current Mood: cynical
Current Location: the living room
Current Music: Ateez "Answer"

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Just When You Think It Couldn't be More Stupid

Now come six proofs that you can have the IQ of a broken toaster and still make it to Washington D.C.

From the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation; four U.S. House Representatives from Minnesota, and two from Wisconsin, sent a letter to the Canadian Ambassador to the U.S.

Their subject? The smoke from Canadian wildfires that were coming south and preventing people in their states from enjoying outdoor summer activities.

Seriously.

Since I would not be surprised in the least if you've already started snickering, sure that I'm having you on, here's the story. It's not behind a paywall, I swear. And it notes with a perfectly straight face, the smoke from U.S. wildfires heading northward. The "Are you actually humans, or malfunctioning Chat GPT programs?" is unspoken.

These six examples of Darwin's Law are either fully aware of the fatuous asininity exhibited in this letter and are doing it to ingratiate themselves with Dear Leader or to their own MAGA constituents ...

... or they're really that stupid.

JFC. Once I would have laughed merrily at this. Today I'm perilously close to weeping.

Current Mood: irritated
Current Location: the living room
Current Music: None

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Dept. of Grammar Strangeness

I use semi-colons; you?

Anyone who reads anything I write, whether fictional or non-fictional, knows of my love for semi-colons. When I think about why that's so, the one thing that leaps to what I laughingly call my mind is that I use them to reflect the same patterns I use when speaking. I find them extremely useful to demarcate thoughts, observations, realizations that could reasonably be considered "in process," rather completed. (Protip; don't use quotation marks quite as liberally as I undoubtedly have. That leads to bad grocery window displays; almost as much as apostrophe misuse.)

WRT that last sentence; see wut I did thar? But I digress.

I read this WaPo article* this morning and have grumbled about it all day. In part that's because it's not that well-written a story - it's apparently predicated on the assumption that cleverness is preferable to writing a story with a point, or at least preferable to having to prove you can write such a story.

In larger part it's because I'm part of an apparently shrinking number of English speakers and writers who have sworn off this kind of proscriptive grammar pedantry, in favor of punctuation that has a perfectly understandable and effective use, if used properly.

So I must ask my friends, for whom the acronym AKICOTI (all knowledge is contained on the internet, for those who don't trust the internet) was undoubtedly coined:

Poll #33330 Semi -colons: Threat or Menact

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 19

View Respondents

I use semi-colons

View Answers

All the time; if it's good enough for Jane Austen and Lincoln, it's fine by me.
9 (47.4%)

When I deem the time is right. Which isn't all the time, damnit!
9 (47.4%)

Occasionally; that's because it's only occasionally useful.
0 (0.0%)

Rarely; I mean, I think that's what the WaPo writer meant ....
0 (0.0%)

Never! *makes warding anti-semi-colon sign*
0 (0.0%)

Other, which I'll explain in comments
1 (5.3%)

* I cancelled my subscription months ago, but was told I was still a member until sometime in November. Most likely they hope I'll resubscribe.

Edit as of 7th July: With many thanks to

conuly , here is a link to what I think can get you to see the WaPo article without running into paywalls. Let me know if it works.

Current Mood: crushed
Current Location: the living room
Current Music: Nothing. Not a damn thin.

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Dept. of Fare thee well, Democracy

They Did It

I mean, there was no way it wasn't going to pass, but it's still like a knife twist, like salt in the wound that knife left, like the laughter of the people who brought knives and salt to the scene.

Motherfuckers. Murderers.

Current Mood: curious
Current Location: the living room
Current Music: DPR Ian live LA concert.

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Dept. of Dreams

I Try to Save the World in My Sleep

I don't dream nearly as much as I used to, or at least I don't remember the dreams I probably have. I think most people have that experience, especially as they grow older. But there are dreams I remember, and they are almost always of a type.

In all of them, I'm trying to save someone, or many someones. I'm always so very slow, my limbs sticky with dream physics, but I keep trying, even though sometimes I know that what I can do isn't nearly enough.

( Dreams underneath )

Current Mood: sad

Entry tags:

life or something like it

don't go where i can't follow

So on top of the general shitshow that has been this year so far, we lost our hamster yesterday. Mr. Samwise Hamgee was an excellent little buddy, who came a LONG way with us from his very skittish origins. By the end, he was regularly curling up into our hands to nap - holding on tightly to our fingers with his little front paws - and had many squeaky opinions which he shared with us vociferously. Seriously, I have never experienced such a chatty hamster, and that includes the childhood hamster I literally named Squeaks for her squeakiness. It will be very strange going back to quiet hamsters after this little guinea pig impersonator.

He was about six weeks shy of his second birthday, which put him in just under the average hamster lifespan. But he had some mysterious hammy health problems that started last September (we did take him to a vet, but they couldn't find anything to explain the VERY noticeable behavioral changes), so honestly, we're just thrilled he continued trucking along for so long with us. He was determined to make the most of his little life, and he brought a lot of joy to ours, and we miss him very much.

sammyhammy

And we've already made arrangements to go pick up our next hamster from the same breeder next weekend, because life is short and these lil critters make ours so much better. So. That's something, anyway.

Dept. of Birthdays

Dept. of Stupid

Dept. of Grammar Strangeness

Dept. of Fare thee well, Democracy

Dept. of Dreams

don't go where i can't follow