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Mom's
Another Texas magnet. I bought this after my first trip to Houston to visit my friends Mike and Bill, and learned that at one time Mike was thinking about collecting armadillo stuff. Household Hints from A Medieval
Home Companion: To buy a horse: A horse should have sixteen characteristics. Three qualities of a fox: short, straight ears; good hair; and a strong tail full of hair. Four qualities of a hare: a lean head, extreme wariness; light movement; and speed. Four qualities of an ox: a wide, large and broad chest; a large belly; large eyes that stand out from the head; and low jointedness. Three qualities of an ass: good feet, a strong backbone; and gentleness. Four qualities of a maiden: a beautiful mane; beautiful chest; beautiful loins; and large buttocks. I am a theatre critic OK...so it's a new "career", but if you're interested in reading my reviews, go here Updated 2/11/01 WHAT I'M READING... also He, She and It (both books very slowly!) WHAT I WATCHED... Coverage of
the tragedy That's it for today!
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THE RIGHT TO KNOW 6 March 2001 I sat here this morning watching the coverage of yet another shooting at yet another high school. I saw the bloody bodies loaded into ambulances, young people crying, distraught parents searching for reassurance, politicians trying to remain calm. I heard the same interviews over and over again, as the newscasters tried frantically to fill air time--how the shooter was a good kid who "only did a few minor drugs, but nothing serious," how a father knew of the plans and is thinking now that "maybe he should have told someone," etc. etc. As I heard what had to be the dumbest question asked of a young girl by a reporter desperate for a story ("how did it feel to watch people being shot?") I marveled at how news reporting has evolved in my lifetime. How we have reached a point where we feel that it is the right of every person in this country to know the most intimate details of every event that happens anywhere, how no situation is too private, no grief too sacred, no accident too gruesome not to be flashed on the nightly news over and over and over again. With MSNBC and CNN competing for the daytime market, it’s now possible to watch mayhem shown so often that you become inured to the blood, the pain, the emotional torment. Whoever said that it was our right to know everything? Under the guise of the public’s "right to know," TV cameras are set up inside police cars, follow policemen into the homes of suspects so that arrests can be filmed. Helicopters hover over the wedding of celebrities and the most intimate details of the president’s life are probed in excruciatingly embarrassing detail. Enough of us hypnotically watch this stuff that the media falls all over itself competing to see who can get the best inside scoop. Add to that this country’s apparent thirst for reality TV. Whether it’s "staged reality," such as Survivor or Temptation Island, or the year-long OJ trial, it’s now possible to sit in your living room in front of your entertainment center and watch the real world with a bowl of popcorn at your side, and never have to go out and experience life yourself. I guess I'm as guilty as the next person, since I, too, was watching all this unfold today. The above was the start of something that was going to be much longer, but that was before The Cold took possession of my body. I've been coughing, sneezing, and sniffling since mid afternoon and my brain is so foggy that I can't put together a coherent thought, much less finish a serious piece. So I'm just including the main points and letting it go at that. For anyone who does not routinely read Patrick Cleary’s journal, I urge you to go to this entry and read the part in green. He offers a different perspective on today's tragedy and is one of the most powerful pieces I’ve ever read. ~~
The Last Session ~~ |
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Some pictures from this journal |
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Created 3/06/01 by Bev Sykes |
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