Sic Transit Gloria Oddly - Oddly Enough Blog, That is

"Nine things I'll miss most about this blog"
Robert Basler, Oddly Enough Blog, Reuters blog (December 5, 2011)
"News, but not the serious kind"

"Let's get the sad news out of the way first.

"After an exhilarating five-year run, this blog is ending its run here. Websites change, and take new directions.

"The slightly better news is that we have a couple of weeks until my final post, so let's have fun...."

That phrase, "let's have some fun," pretty much sums up Robert Basler's Oddly Enough blog. A tip of the Lemming's hat to Mr. Basler, for drawing our attention to bizarre fashion, British royalty, and assorted weirdness. It's the Lemming's opinion that folks need to lighten up from time to time, unhitch that tight collar, and laugh a little.

Basler's Oddly Enough has helped us do just that.

Thanks!

But why, oh, why would Reuters consign Oddly Enough to the dustbin of history?! Particularly now, on the very heels of the calamitous news that Cinnamon the rabbit shuffled off this mortal coil. Well, nearly. Disapproving Rabbits' Cinnamon became one with Nineveh and Troy in June. ("Sic Transit Gloria Bunny - Cinnamon, of Disapproving Rabbits" (June 22, 2011)) That "mortal coil," by the way, has nothing to do with a busted electric motor. It's from Shakespeare's "Hamlet," and that's another topic.

Back to Mr. Basler and Oddly Enough:

"...I've enjoyed everything about creating and writing Oddly Enough. My advice is, if somebody offers to pay you to be a sarcastic smartass, take the job. Especially if it includes dental insurance.

"Some of the things I will miss most…

"9. The Photos: The Reuters photo file is a grand candy store. It has been a treat to look through it daily, searching for goofy gems in a sea of serious images. I'm sure it's fair to say many of the shots in my blog don't get used anyplace else. Indeed, it was the richness of our photo archive that inspired the blog's fabled Goofy Face Museum and Doughnut Shop, which will be a runaway success if it ever opens...."

It is the Lemming's sincere hope that Reuters has the good sense to keep the old Oddly Enough blog posts online - and at their original URLs. Some online content, like weather forecasts and halftime scores for last week's game, may not be worth keeping around. Basler's Goofy Face Museum and Doughnut Shop? That collection of oddball expressions should have entertainment value, as long as folks know what "spam," "Ronald," and "Outback Steakhouse," mean.

Maybe even longer.

The Lemming's opined on the annoying habit some website owners have, of shuffling, reorganizing, or removing, content. The Lemming suspects clueless supervisors, caffeinated interns, and sophomores with all the answers, are involved: and that's yet another topic.

Robert Basler's Oddly Enough blog has wandered into the silly side of serious news on occasion:

• "Self-Discipline Threatens Economy! No, Really"
  (October 1, 2009)

What the Lemming may miss most, though, are Mr. Basler's wonderfully weird posts about the bizarre world of fashion:

• "Mr. Basler's Worst Men's Fashions, 2010"
  (December 10, 2010)
• "Mr. Basler's Worst Women's Fashions of the Year"
  (December 9, 2010)
• "Good Grief, What Was the Fashion Designer Thinking?!"
  (March 8, 2010)
• "Frankenmodel: Or, 'After This Job, You Die'"
  (January 29, 2010)

Those posts, and the photos that went with them, taught the Lemming that fashion models earn their occasionally-extravagant pay. At least, the Lemming hopes that models were adequately compensated for allowing themselves to be photographed in those outfits.

Then there were posts like the one micro-reviewed in "Is Your Fitness Instructor a Zombie?"

You'll find more of the Lemming's take on world of fashion, by clicking the "fashion link in this blog's Label Cloud.

Here's the rest of Mr. Basler's countdown of things he'll miss:

"...8. The Animals: Readers know I have a soft spot for animals. I have supported animal rescue in this blog, and....

"...7. The Words: This is a blog for lovers of our language. I have tried my best to revive neglected words such as haberdasher and scalawag and floozy. If you heard someone shout 'Huzzah!' in Starbucks...

"...6. Lamar: I didn't see it coming when I created this recurring character representing the incompetence in all of us. ... When the blog goes away Lamar will be relocated to a secret place by the Federal Witless Protection Program....

"...5. The Duchess: A blogger's best friend, without a doubt. When I want to pander for page views, I turn to Catherine...

"...4. Those wacky Republicans: Where do I begin? With....

"...3. The Truth: I'm allowed to invent fun stuff in this blog, but as a journalist I know the truth is much stranger than anything I can imagine....

"...2. The Commenters: I value all my readers, but especially those who have contributed so much to the comments section. We've received an astonishing 46,000 reader comments in five years....

"...1. And the number one thing I'll miss about this blog is… Wait. It's here somewhere. Nobody leaves this room!..."

Finally, about #4, "Those wacky Republicans," the Lemming is nowhere near 'intelligent' or 'sophisticated' to believe that Republicans are doo-doo heads and Democrats possess knowledge and wisdom beyond human understanding. Or that Democrats are daft and Republicans reasonable. Life's seldom that simple. Mr. Basler apparently has spent his life in North America's dominant coastal culture, and is imbued with that culture's perceptions and assumptions.

And those fashion photos are hilariously bizarre.

---

Update (December 16, 2011)
Mr. Basler's last Oddly Enough post:

• "The last huzzah?"
  Oddly Enough, Reuters blog (December 15, 2011)

---

Related posts:

• "Intermittent Alliteration: Interested?"
  (January 8, 2011)
• "Shirley Booth Didn't Kill Lincoln at a Ford Dealership?"
  (January 3, 2011)
• "Oddly Enough Blog: Basil Strings Along"
  (December 29, 2010)
• "Holiday Santa: 'How Much for Just the Head?' "
  (December 25, 2010)
• "Eight Goofiest Photos: Again; Except Not Eight This Time"
  (December 16, 2010)

Lemming Tracks: Due to Lack of Interest, Monday has been Canceled

The Lemming decided to take Monday off, sort of.

However, just so you won't have checked this blog in vain, here's a short selection of posts the Lemming's committed over the last couple years.

• "Evidence of Human Compassion: 500,000 Years Ago"
  (October 13, 2010)
• "Nuclear Weapons, Space Aliens, Conspiracy Theories, and Getting a Grip"
  (September 24, 2010)
• "Data-Driven Art: For an 'Overwhelmed' 'Hive Mind???' "
  (January 27, 2010)
• "Better Ideas From France: A Hamster Cage for Humans"
  (November 11, 2009)
• "Warp Drive Might Not Be Stable: Physicists Take Another look at Alcubierre's Work"
  (June 12, 2009)

The Lemming expects to be back tomorrow.

Thanks for visiting.

At Last! Someone's Poking Fun at Design Catalogs!

"High-style silliness: Blogs take humorous jab at home design catalogues"
Martha Irvine, The Canadian Press (November 11, 2010)

"It started with figs, on a plate, stashed under a pool side table.

"The caption under the photo in the home design catalogue urged readers to 'enjoy the comfort and ease of indoor entertaining with outdoor sectionals, pillows and accessories.'

"But Molly Erdman saw something else. She saw a chance to poke fun at something, well ... kinda ridiculous.

"The actor/comedian sat down at her computer last June and wrote her own caption.

" 'Sweetheart,' it said, 'the Turners will be here any minute now! Did you put the plate of figs under the table?'

"And her blog, 'Catalog Living,' was born.

"Erdman didn't necessarily set out to create a daily parody of the sometimes serious, overly put-together nature of photos from high-end home accessory catalogues. She got her start as a comedian with Chicago's Second City and moved to Los Angeles three years ago to pursue an acting and writing career. You might recognize her as "the wife in the minivan" from a series of popular TV commercials for the Sonic restaurant chain...."

The CP article has links at the end, including one to Catalog Living.

So does the Lemming:

• "Catalog Living"

Except my link is sort of in the middle of this micro-review, instead of at the end.

The posts are funny - some rather in the Charles Addams/Gahan Wilson vein. Like "Let this be a warning…" (November 6, 2010). Others are, in the Lemming's opinion, wonderfully weird, like "Purple mascara majesty…" (October 30, 2010).

There's a photo and a sort of caption in each post. Actually, that's about all there is to each post. Which is a good idea, considering what sort of blog Catalog Living is. When someone has to explain a joke - - - Enough said.

Anyway, the Lemming thought Catalog Living was funny. Your experience may vary. Particularly if you take 'house beautiful' catalogs very seriously.

Making Your Blog Into a Book: Pricy, But Interesting

"Got a Blog? Make a Book!"
Blog2Print, in partnership with Blogger

"Next time someone asks 'How can I print my blog?' send them to Blog2Print. With a couple of clicks, you choose a cover, the posts you'd like to include, and you're on your way to creating your own Blog Book!..."

I've discussed this service before, in another blog:

• "Well, That's Interesting: Blog2Print^TM"
  Starting a Small Business Without Losing My Mind (April 12, 2010)

The pricing isn't crazy, if you're looking at making a one-off copy for yourself:

"A 20-page softcover Blog Book is just $14.95
"Hardcover only $24.95. And extra pages are only 35 cents!"

On the other hand, that's a pretty slim book. If you're looking at using this service as something for business use? Well, you can buy a 200-page book for well under $14.95: so this looks like a nice service for folks who want to preserve an attractive hard copy of their blog.

73,000 WordPress Blogs Go Silent: Blogetery Complies With Federal Demand

"Why 73,000 WordPress blogs were shut down by the U.S. Government"
ruce Tyson, Helium (July 16, 2010)

"The United States Government shut down about 73,000 WordPress blogs on a single Web site in a move that some fear signals an increasing disregard for individual free speech rights. The action follows the high profile government seizure of seven online movie sites weeks ago. The U.S. move dwarfs current Chinese government activity that shut down only “dozens” of blogs in China.

"Recently targeted by federal action, the free WordPress blogging site Blogetery abruptly came offline after hosting provider BurstNet complied with undisclosed demands from authorities. A message viewable upon visiting the Blogetery site gives this message from its owner: 'After being BurstNet customer for 7 months our server was terminated without any notification or explanation.' A link on the site leads to a forum called Web Hosting Talk, where the site operator has posted correspondence with BurstNet, that suggests feederal [!] involvement in the incident...."

---

We apparently first learned of the (alleged?) United States' Federal government shutdown of WordPress/Blogetery in this blog post, about 12 hours ago:

"U.S. Authorities Shut Down WordPress Host With 73,000 Blogs"
TorrentFreak (July 16, 2010)

"After the U.S. Government took action against several sites connected to movie streaming recently, nerves are jangling over the possibility that this is just the beginning of a wider crackdown. Now it appears that a free blogging platform has been taken down by its hosting provider on orders from the U.S. authorities on grounds of 'a history of abuse'. More than 73,000 blogs are out of action as a result.

"Hot on the heels of recent threats from Vice President Joe Biden and Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator Victoria Espinel directed at sites offering unauthorized movies and music, last month U.S. authorities targeted several sites they claimed were connected to the streaming of infringing video material...."

---

I'm uneasy about this situation. So far, I haven't found any mention of 73,000 WordPress blogs disappearing, in mainstream/old school news media.

Perhaps the traditional journalists and their editors are meticulously following leads and confirming information before publishing anything about this Federal action.

The TorrentFreak post indicated that the feds took down WordPress blogs because some of them were violating copyright.

As a content provider/blogger/writer, I appreciate the importance of copyright and other intellectual property rights.

But this action seems very arbitrary and sweeping.

Fighting Crime is Fine: But Taking Down All the Blogs?!

It's as if federal authorities discovered that someone in White Plains, New York was pirating software. And therefore burned the town to the ground. The act would probably shut down the illegal activity - but would also, I think, be a little hard on everybody in White Plains who wasn't breaking the law. (I have nothing against that city - but it's resident population is very roughly the same as the number of blogs affected.)

73,000 WordPress Blogs Gone: What's Next?

I'd be a little less concerned, if I'd found any mention of the federal government's alleged action in traditional news media. 12 hours is quite a long time, these days - I'd have expected at least a mention. Something along the lines of 'unfounded rumors' or 'wild exaggeration' at least.

As it is, maybe old-school journalists:

• Haven't heard about the situation yet
• Are being unusually careful about researching the story
• Are waiting for their editors to decide whether or not to risk having their company shut down

This has me concerned.

Somewhat-related posts:

• "Ghana, Intellectual Property Rights, and the Information Age"
  (July 8, 2010)
• "Intellectual Property Rights: Yes, They Matter"
  (June 13, 2010)
• "RIAA, MPA and Verizon Against Information Pirates - I Hope"
  (January 21, 2010)
• "Dealing with Content Theft: A Pretty Good Idea"
  (July 6, 2008)
• "February 12, 2008
  Is There Intelligent Life in Cyberspace? Torrentfreak, Dependent Records, Piracy, and Common Sense"
  (February 12, 2008)

More Zombie Models

"Zombie models, undead and unamused"
Oddly Enough, Reuters blog (March 23, 2010)

"Okay, fashion show staff, as you know we’ve been struggling for some time with the problem of models showing too much emotion when they’re out on the runway.

"Sure, an occasional pout or contemptuous sneer or obnoxious smirk can have its place, but our new clothing line is heading more in the direction of no emotion whatsoever...."

I get the impression, fairly often, that I'm not quite on the same page as the upper echelons of Western culture. ("Data-Driven Art: For an 'Overwhelmed' 'Hive Mind???' " (January 27, 2010)) That, I can live with.

Oddly Enough's blogger has another funny post here. My opinion. It helps if you don't take haute couture / high fashion too seriously.

Related posts:

• "Good Grief, What Was the Fashion Designer Thinking?!"
  (March 8, 2010)
• "Frankenmodel: Or, 'After This Job, You Die' "
  (January 29, 2010)
• "More Fashion Weirdness: You Can't Make This Stuff Up"
  (January 22, 2010)
• "Insane Fashion Hair Styling: This Might Work, Actually"
  (January 19, 2010)
• "Paris Fashions: Yes, They're Supposed to Look Like That"
  (October 13, 2009)

Antlered Fashion Models?!

"ALL of you girls are named Bambi?"
Oddly Enough, Reuters blog (February 22, 2010)

"Okay, Dr., uh, Smith, let me see if I understand what you're saying here.

BRITAIN/You're telling me that you can breed fashion models that are part human and part animal, so they can show our new designs but we don't have to pay them? Is that it?

Do they look pretty presentable, all things considered? Antlers AND fur? I guess nobody's perfect...."


(Suzanne Plunkett, via Reuters/Oddly Enough, used w/o permission)

Just when you think fashion can't get weirder - - -.

Related posts:

• "Frankenmodel: Or, 'After This Job, You Die' "
  (January 29, 2010)
• "Fashion and the Queen of the World - According to Oddly Enough"
  (January 26, 2010)
• "More Fashion Weirdness: You Can't Make This Stuff Up"
  (January 22, 2010)

Worst Women's Fashions for 2009

"Manure couture: Top 10 worst women's fashions"
Oddly Enough Blog, Reuters (December 29, 2009)

"Readers say to me, 'Bob, I know you cover crap fashion better than anybody. Are all dumb fashion creations equally bad, or is there an actual bottom of the barrel?'

"My answer is, while we probably haven't seen the bottom of the barrel yet, some stupid creations are certainly worse than others.

"For one thing, you have to give designers credit if they are able to convey that they have absolutely no respect for women and are willing to degrade them in public. Surely that's worth something!

"So here is my 10 worst list for women in 2009...."

I've already posted micro-reviews about some of these, like "The pipes, the pipes are calling…." Here, though, you have the top ten worst women's fashions for 2009, in the opinion of the Oddly Enough blogger. He could be right - although, as he concedes, he hasn't reached the bottom of the barrel.

I see his point. Just when you think it can't get any worse - like the collection that looked like a "skankfest of zombies" (October 13, 2009), out come models with plastic piping coming out of their heads. (November 3, 2009)

It's Robert Besler's blog, so I won't contest his choice of the worst this year. But the choice must have been difficult. Particularly since one of the designers had apparently gone dumpster-diving in search of materials. His models looked like they were wearing garbage. Maybe they were. (March 17, 2009)

Related posts:

• "More Weird - and "Relevant" - Fashions"
  (November 18, 2009)
• "Invasion of the Pipe People: High Fashion Goes Tubular"
  (November 3, 2009)
• "An Idea Whose Time Has Come? Fashion Police Dogs - and Wolverines"
  (October 19, 2009)
• "Paris Fashions: Yes, They're Supposed to Look Like That"
  (October 13, 2009)
• "More High Fashion: Blindfolds on the Models?!"
  (August 1, 2009)
• "Sustainable High Fashion?"
  (March 17, 2009)

And now, For Something Completely DIfferent: A Look at Some of My Blogs

This post is almost as self-absorbed as the character in my Narcissus-X blog. It's a listing of some of my blogs, with links and short descriptions.

If some of the blog topics don't seem as 'apathetic' in the dictionary sense as the title of this blog suggests I am, check out what I wrote about two years ago: I'm apathetic only in the sense that I don't care about culturally-mandated things

Enough about me, here are some of my blogs:

• Loonfoot Falls Chronicle-Gazette
  • Small town life the way it never was
  • My answer to Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon
• A Catholic Citizen in America
  • Following Catholic beliefs and practices in America: One man's experience
  • You think the Sixties were counter-cultural?
• Another War-on-Terror Blog
  • Welcome to the 21st century.... Here's my view of the 21st century's great conflict
  • I'm no
    • Shrill peacenik
    • Ranting American chauvinist
  • Following a minority faith - by choice - may give me a different perspective
• Sauk Centre Journal Blog
  • Showing the positive side of small town America, at least the part I live in.
    And, the negative: when it happens.
  • An expanded version of my Sauk Centre Journal
• Small Town America: Minnesota
  • From the heart of darkest Minnesota: my view of small town America.
  • Even my webcam has a blog
• Narcissus-X
  • A blog entirely devoted to Narcissus-X
  • A sort of alter-ego of mine
  • An Artist who's
    • Brilliant
    • Daring
    • Insightful
    • Creative
    • Not appreciated nearly enough
    • (I warned you about him)
• Starting a Small Business Without Losing My Mind
  • The continuing adventure of publishing online, or
    • Starting a business in a new market with
      • New technologies
      • No tried and true business models
    • What to do with a miscellaneous resume
    • Getting laid off for fun and profit
  • Not your usual business blog

There's more, but that's quite enough for now, I think.

Cute, Bushels of Cute, Barrels of Cute: Cute Overload

Cute Overload

"...What do you think you're doing?
"At Cute Overload, we scour the Web for only the finest in cute imagery. Imagery that is worth your Internet browsing time. We offer an overwhelming amount of cuteness to fill your daily visual allowance. Drink it in, People!..."
(Cute Overload About Us)

That should give you an idea of what sort of website this is. A handful of people handle submissions from who-knows-how-many contributors, compiling some of the most blue-mood-busting photos I've had the pleasure of seeing.

Wait. It's six people plus contributors. Humans have five digits. Just about blew my cover there.

These posts showed on on one day (August 12, 2009):

• "GusGus wants to try Life."
• "Lamest. Whack-A-Mole. Ever."
  • video
• "This Blue Jay’s Here to Stay"

Here's that video:

(Moved to "Continued from Yesterday: A Cat, a Dog, and a Pet Door" (August 26, 2009))

Finally, one of today's photos:


From "IT'S CALENDAR TIME!" For once, all-caps is justified.

Cute Photos of Animals - Relevant, but Fun Anyway

Let's Be Friends
blog

"Touching photos of unusual animal friendships."

"If they can do it, then so can we"

This blog hasn't been active for a while: the most recent post is "Mouse and Frog" (January 31, 2007).

The photos are just as cute as they were two and a half years ago, though. The post titles give a pretty good idea of what you'll find: "Dog, Squirrel and Bird" - "Dog and Chicken" - "Hippo and Turtle" (you may have seen people who look a bit like this pair, at least on weekends) - "Dog and Fawn" - "Pony and Cat" - you get the idea.

Cute. Photos. A nice place to stop while roaming the blogosphere.

Lemming Tracks: What's With All the Quotes?

The Lemming's had quite a weekend. Shoveling manure on Tuesday probably caught up with me Friday night.

My left lumbar region and I are on speaking terms again, but the sensations I've experienced were a bit distracting. And, there's a local Knights of Columbus bulletin that needed to be done this weekend.

I didn't have time to do my usual look-around for post topics, and didn't want to leave today postless, either. ("Postless?" If that wasn't a word before, it is now.)

Hence, the quotes.

The Lemming plans to be back tomorrow, with a more diverse set of micro-reviews.

FBI Bloggers - Top-Notch Hawaiian Blogs ("From Big Island")

"Big News: The Right Blue Joins FBI Bloggers (no, really!)"
The Right Blue (May 14, 2009)

"Earlier this week we were invited to join FBI Bloggers, and we gladly agreed to become a part of the team. No, not that government organization. FBI in this case stands for 'From Big Island' -- that is, the Big Island of Hawaii, our home.

"FBI: From Big Island. That's us!

"Awhile back, Big Island blogger Damon Tucker decided to create a website to gather 'the Big Island's best blogs' into one location. FBI Blogs is that website...."

That's From Big Island (FBI) - The Big Island's Best Blogs - fbiblogs.com

Featured posts, when I checked in were:

• "A High Dynamic Range UKIRT"
  A Pacific View (May 15, 2009)
• "Postcard from the Reef – Moray Mugshot"
  A Darker View (May 15, 2009)
• "Anticrepuscular Rays"
  A Pacific View (May 14, 2009)

You may have to click a couple times, to get out of FBI Blogs to the blogs themselves - but it's nowhere near as annoying a process as some 'directory' sites make it.

And, judging from today's crop, the photos in these "FBI Blogs" are spectacular.

A tip of the hat to bnsullivan, at Twitter, for the heads-up on this.

And Now, for Something Completely Different: a Modern and Contemporary Design Blog

MoCo Loco
"The Modern & Contemporary Design Blog"

"MoCo Loco is your source for modern & contemporary design news and views."

There you have it. I could stop writing now, and you'd have a pretty good idea of what MoCo Loco is about. But, as usual, the Lemming has a few words to say.

To begin with, the name of the blog had me expecting something dealing with upscale beverages. There may be something Starbucks-ish in there, but I didn't find it at a quick run-through.

Recent posts on LoCo Moco:

• "My Shower Curtain is a Green Warrior by Elisabeth Buecher"
  (April 16, 2009)
  • "Seeing as we've been posting about water and the environment of late Elisabeth Buecher's My Shower Curtain is a Green Warrior (above) really got our attention."
    The post includes a photo of a woman who's engulfed by outsize soap bubbles. Reminded me of some really bad fifties sci-fi film. But, I suppose it makes sense.
• "Habitus by Sebastian Jansson"
  (April 16, 2009)
  • "Sebastian Jansson will be showing Habitus, a bar stool, among other items at SaloneSatellite in Milan next week. 'By studying the formation of coffee leafs, Jansson was able to re-create the stool through this intricate arrangement of geometric forms, whilst maintaining its aesthetic qualities and comfort.'..."
    If the photo is of this coffee-leaf-inspired bar stool, I think we're looking at a great tool for promoting physical fitness. I doubt anyone would willingly sit on the thing for more than a few seconds - and then would feel like moving around. A lot.
• "Via Twitter: Bertjan Pot's The Revolving Chandelier"
  (April 16, 2009)
  • "Seen at designboom, Bertjan Pot's The Revolving Chandelier, 'the rising air, heated by three halogen bulbs makes all four light shades rotate.'..."
    Part of the lamp's support looks like the result of unnatural acts between a coral snake and a zebra, but as a whole this lamp looks quite attractive - and might be very attractive if seen in motion, as it is designed to operate. Seriously: This is, I think, good design.

That's enough to give an idea of the content, I think.

It looks like a good multi-author blog, and one worth going back to on occasion.

Lemming Tracks: Caught up After a Perfect Storm of Malware and Easter Weekend

Last Friday I wrote that "...I'm putting up another IOU for that average of three daily posts that I try for. If you're a regular visitor: you know I'm good for it...."

As of a few minutes ago, I'm caught up with what I'd have been posting Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and today.

God willing, I'll be back tomorrow, with more of what I find on the Web.

About the malware: It's still there, apparently, but I have at least one trick to try before taking a sort of cybernetic nuclear option.

All Caps, Exclamation Marks - And Some FDA Recalls

"LEGISLATIVE CALL TO ACTION - WE NEED YOUR HELP WITH NEW MEXICO NUTRITIONAL COUNCIL BILL SB400 TODAY 2-28!"
Environmental Health-Wellness-Beauty (February 28, 2009)

The post itself is about a New Mexico state bill that's very important to people who don't like contemporary agricultural and food processing technology. If that's important to you - go ahead and read it.

What struck my eye, though, was another round of FDA food recalls, in what I think is the blog's header. I may be back, later, with a tainted-peanut update of my own.

A Little Art, a Little Text: Gump and Gandhi Holding Hands Delivers Daily

Gump and Gandhi Holding Hands
"Daily Art and random thoughts. See more colorful goodies at SimpleTermsArt.com."

Recent posts:

• "Daily Art 2/27/09 - Your inner weasel."
  (February 27, 2009)
  • 
    Your inner weasel.
  • "I am certain there are souls born into this world with only positive instincts. Creative, loving beings that seek only to heal the world and lift us all up. I am...."
• "Daily Art 2/26/09 - Accepting love."
  (February 26, 2009)
  • 
    Practice accepting love.
  • "We are, each of us, all living things - we are nothing more and nothing less than teeny tiny shining bits of God."

There you have it: art, delivered daily, with a little text. It reminds me of some of those thought-for-the-day services - but that "Your inner weasel" promises something a bit off the 50th percentile.

tweetfeed: Cannabis/Marijuana, la Catastrophe du Jour, and Maybe More

"Want more traffic?"
TonyB, BlogCatalog discussion thread (started February 22, 2009)

"Set up a personal profile using Tweetfeed.com

"BlogCatalog just bought Tweetfeed and we have modified the personal profiles so that you can list your blog, your rss feed, your twitter feed and customize content...."

I've looked up tweetfeed.com, and started checking it out:

"What's a TweetFeed?

• A customizable page that displays related Twitter activity live.
• A way to keep track of what is happening on Twitter that interests you (and share it with friends)...."

Tweetfeed is, by far, not the worst idea I've run across in the last week.

On the other hand:

"Top 10 TweetFeeds
1. Cannabis/Marijuana
2. Lifeboat Foundation...."

TweetFeed's may be too groovy and relevant to be interested in the sort of content I generate.

I haven't written it off, as another sanctuary for Timothy Leary and Paul Ehrlich's loyal followers, though: The people running BlogCatalog have elevators that go all the way to the top, and tweetfeed may have its uses.

What Color is Your Blog? Why? An Online Discussion With Resource Links

"Blog Design: Which colors do you use and why?"
BlogCatalog post, started February 12, 2009

"Color is considered emotional, because variations evoke different emotions in people. We all know that green is the color of money, but did you also know that green can symbolize greed, envy, and jealousy? The colors you choose will have a direct effect on how the public perceives your company or product. This can be complicated by the fact that our use of color on the web is now limitless: technology allows us to create millions of color combinations. So how do you choose?..."

There are some quite promising resource links in this discussion - and what promises to be an interesting collection of attitudes and approaches to the question of color and the blog.

Narcissus-X: Angsty Artist and Borderline-Incoherent Blogger

"Narcissus-X Rebukes a Ridiculous Review "
Narcissus-X (February 11, 2009)

"Dance, necrous nimbus of nightshade! Dim dimensions of derivative drivel drip derision, yet Narcissus-X shall not yield!

"Though rubicund rumbas of rancid ridicule may rail, Narcissus-X triumphs! For Art is all, all is art, and artist is master over art, yet is mastered by art's arrows of despond...."

Narcissus-X is a fictional character I created. He's an artist, and writes the Narcissus-X blog: which is about Narcissus-X and the Narcissus-X blog.

You could think of the blog as a sort of intellectual positive-feedback loop.

Narcissus-X himself is like quite a few of the angst-ridden, self-absorbed, almost terminally artistic people I ran into during my college days. And, he's quite a bit like a part of me that I generally keep in a padded room, far away from the front desk of my mind.

Today, Narcissus-X seems to be upset about a review of one of his poems.