Feelin' Fine

What he's typed will be a window into his madness.
- Marge Simpson

Is it a bad idea to blog while depressed?

I started this blog (how I hate that word) to rag on the humanoid called George W. Bush (how I hate that faux cowboy). But it's just no good. It's too overwhelming. Just thinking about the last presidential election gets my blood up. It's not use trying to make sense of the last four weeks, nevermind the last four years.

Bushco is a secretive, authoritarian, deceitful, war-mongering cabal of plutocrats. And John Kerry is no better. We are truly fucked.

I've been coy about revealing my personal beliefs here (other than my infinite hatred for Bushco), and have probably left the impression that I'm just another disgruntled leftie shouting into the void. No, that's not correct. I'll certainly own up to being disgruntled. I cannot fathom how anyone can remain gruntled in Bushco's America. (OK, maybe the richest 1% of the population has good reason to be gruntled, but that's not me either.) And I'm certainly shouting into the void. But I am no leftie.

I self-label as libertarian. Perhaps you think that's a code word for "Republican wingnut" (like I did back in my stupid youth). But again, no, that's not correct. I actually believe in limited government and civil liberties. I place the highest value on personal freedom and personal responsibility. I demand a government by, of and for the people. In other words, I expect America to live up to its hype. That sure does put me firmly outside the big tent, six sigma away from the median, ostracized by the red and blue Republocrat cliques. Plus, I'm an atheist. I am well and truly fucked.

And so I sit here typing while my family sleeps, trying to exorcise my demons in public.

But it gives no comfort. I cannot see the day when the monstrous PATRIOT Act is repealed and the full complement of liberties guaranteed by the plain language of the Constitution is restored. I worry about the world my daughter will inherit. She's growing up in a culture where "freedom" in practice means the opportunity to consume. Even if I am able to counteract her inevitable indoctrination in the ways of American exceptionalism, will she be able to find happiness in a land of pod people? Will she discovered and condemned by the Thought Police? Or will she succumb to the sleazy pleasures of the feelies?

No answers, only disturbing questions. Sleep now. Try, anyway.

Posted by len at 11:51 PM | View all replies (4)

Darby's Dinosaur Eggs

Darby has been making art lately. Her method is to draw a bunch of adjacent ovoid shapes, then fill them in with bright colors. She calls the result a "dinosaur egg."

For your enjoyment. The images are digital photos of the original ink on paper drawings.

Posted by len at 3:15 PM | View all replies (2)

Now for Some Content ...

I just revamped SOL's stylesheet and some of the templates. It was more a of learning exercise than anything else, and this post is more of an excuse to ping your aggregator than anything else...

Take a look around. Let me know if anything is broken/ugly.

To do: add threaded comments, open comment auto-expiration, new banner graphic...

Posted by len at 12:02 PM | View all replies (7)

ThreadedComments Patch for MT 3.11

Threaded discussions rule, but most weblogs don't provide the ability to reply directly to a comment. To fill this gaping void, Alexei Kosut wrote a cool ThreadedComments plugin for MovableType, but it was created for use with version 2.6. Those of us on the bleeding edge were outta luck. Until now.

I've created a patch file that adds support for ThreadedComments to MovableType version 3.11.

To install this fine plugin, just follow the instructions provided by Alexei, but use my patch file in place of his. Because you will be modifying the source code that runs your blog, I strongly recommend using the --backup option to the patch program as follows:

Disclaimer: This site has been running with my patch applied for about a week and nothing bad has happened, but your mileage may vary, etc. The patch is offered with absolutely no warranty, guarantee or manatee.

Posted by len at 12:09 PM | View all replies (5)