after the snow storm
a gust
of sparrows
the accused teen
and his lawyer…
dressed for spring
night meditation–
the kittens roll
my bronze Buddha
“night meditation” from haijinx I:1 (2000)
“after the snow storm” from Manichi Daily News
by dagosan:
“snowflakeSN”
March —
those big fat
snowflakes
men’s room sink —
avoiding
the mirror
[March 6, 2005]
potluck
In case you didn’t already know that “Wanting it all” is an unrealistic, sure-to-fail,
sure-to-make-you-miserable approach to life, I invite you to spend a little time with Judith Warner‘s
much-discussed book Perfect Madness: Motherhood in the Age of Anxiiety. On March 4,
I saw Warner and three other women being interviewed on Nightline “about the daily challenges
mothers face in America.” (Also see NYT book review) I appreciate how hard it is to be a mother
in today’s Western Civilization — and I know that fathers need to do a lot more parenting. But, I’m
also certain that much of the pressure is self-imposed. Unless you merely want to prepare your
children to live a life even more pressurized than your own — even more focused on outward signs
of “success” and “achievement” — it’s time to recheck your values, realign your priorities, and
make realistic assessments about what being a good parents requires. Then, you and your co-
parent need to work together to provide your kids a physical and emotional safety-net, but
not a golden staircase (or parachute).
Carl Strock, the crusty columnist for the (Schenectady, NY) Daily Gazette lends his
support today to a bill [A 3842] by Schenectady’s Republican Assemblyman James Tedisco,
which would require that snow and ice be removed from the roof of one’s vehicle before hitting
the road. (article & comments, here) Tedisco has introduced similar bills in other sessions, which
vehicles and $450 to $1250 for commercial ones — should be doubled: “One fine for the snow and
one for the knuckleheadedness.” He explains:
“What do you think is happening to me behind you when your’e
cruising down the road with half a foot of snow blowing off your
roof into my face? Do you think I’m humming White Christmas
and welcoming the white out?”
Naturally, libertarians will have a knee-jerk reaction against this law, but I’ve seen far too many hunks
of ice and snow fall off car roofs (and now, super-SUVs much taller than most vehicles), and have
had enough snow blown onto my windshield, to know that such drivers are creating an unnecessary
danger for others (often while on their cellphones, too — same kind of irresponsibility). I’m with Carl.
In today’s column, Strock also notes the “little media flap” about the
composite Newsweek cover of Martha Stewart. He makes this disclaimer
about his own column-topping photo:
“Not wishing to be the subject of any scandal myself, I
confess that it’s actually a composite, like Newsweek‘s.
The bowtie is mine, but the face, including the jowls,
belongs to a model who agreed to pose on the condition
that the top of his head not be shown because he has a
rare and particularly unslightly scalp condition.”
Any webloggers want to make similar confessions? The time is right.
It’s hard to say who are the most annoying: individual “word puritans,” scandalized by
every expletive on the airwaves; private media concerns who give in to such complaints;
or our civil “servants” (i.e., F.C.C.) wasting resources pandering to the first group and policing
the second. The recent example from Buffalo, NY, station WKBW-TV, which dropped the
Niagara Frontier Radio Reading Service for the Blind’s audio signal from its SAP format about
three weeks ago:
“after a listener complained about an off-color word being read. Apparently, the
word was from author Tom Wolfe’s latest novel, “I Am Charlotte Simmons.” Now,
after weeks of negotiations, Channel 7 is bringing the service back on a limited basis,
cutting out all programming between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., when adult material may be
read.” (Buffalo News, “One complaint limits reading service for the blind,” March 2, 2005)
After 14 years without a problem, “one call from an 89-year-old woman from Lewiston” upset a
wonderful service. (AP/Newsday, March 3, 2005) Actually, I just remembered who should win
the most Annoying Censor Award — the Republican House of Representatives, which last month
passed a bill raising the amount the FCC can fine a broadcaster for indecency violations to $500,000
per incident up from $32,500.
