sundries

[rm]

Patty and I had a lovely outside dinner last night, but then stayed up too late because work caught up with me. Boo.

Today my face hurts in a massive, horrible sinus way.

I posted my Dragon*Con schedule last night!

We're expecting a lovely fucking hurricane over the weekend that should make Dragon*Con related travel slightly annoying.

Dragon*Con people, there's a fake Irish pub near the hotels that has video trivia and tends to be Not Fucking Annoying on Thursday night. But I can only recall its location by sight in my head. This does not help me tell other people where it is or what it is called. Anyone?

Rather unexpectedly, won writerinadrawer Round 4. If you weren't following along, do go back and read the stories. Many, many people turned in at least one that was some of their best work, and I'm pretty sure we all embarrassed ourselves at least once (I feel like I can count at least four on that score (the embarrassment score) for me). In the end (and arguably through the whole thing, since exercises like this are weird), it certainly didn't come down to quality, but what happened to be to the tastes of whoever was voting in a given week. Also, while I could often tell who wrote what, I pegged something for cruentum that I still can't believe was misswinterhill a few rounds back, so that sort of wacky surprise was fun, but since everything is revealed now, a bit too late for you. Anyway, everyone, and most especially our host, thefannishwaldo, deserves a round of applause for Getting Through This Thing. I found this _much_ harder work than therealljidol.

30 mosques in 30 days.

Ad campaign to counteract anti-Muslim sentiment.

Extreme Dog Grooming.

Plato's pop-culture problem and ours.

The politics of "ma'am" I about fell over laughing at "Because it amuses me."

The Advocate has a point. As more conservative Republicans call for same-sex marriage, what does Obama achieve by opposing it? The people that wouldn't vote for him over this issue, already wouldn't vote for him. Right?

Interesting-and-a-half that pressure for marriage equality in Australia is now coming from a Tasmanian independent.

Are you fucking kidding me? Emergency message about crashing into the sea played to passengers by mistake. Mercury retrograde, we are done!

Comments

[zare-k.livejournal.com]

I find the anti-Ma'am stance puzzling. It's being called "Miss" that I find irritating, because I view it as a term either for girls or specifically for unmarried women. I'm an adult and my marital status is not a matter of public concern. I don't want to be addressed with a term intended for children. So, "Ma'am" it is (in American English, at least, I think "Madam" reads as sarcastically over-deferential).
If one knows the other person's name and title that seems preferable to use (Senator Boxer, Dr. Someprofessor, Ms. Whatsit), but in the absence of such knowledge what are we left with-- "Hey you?" It's unfortunate that we don't have an equivalent of "Ms." for these situations.

[100wordspermin.livejournal.com]

If one knows the other person's name and title that seems preferable to use.

In my cultural experience, too. I tutor, and when one of my students' parents is a doctor, etc., I try to use their title appropriately unless they specifically tell me just to use their first name. After all, they worked pretty damn hard for whatever is it, often.

[idunn.livejournal.com]

I don't get the anti-Ma'am stance either, and like you, I dislike "miss" as it implies I'm a child.