Misc.
Light Posting Lately
The Ark has been sucking out all of my physical and creative energy lately, hence not much posting. But this too shall pass. We’re putting on the roof this week, which is a major milestone for any structure. The next milestone will be putting on the rest of the siding, caulking/painting the sides, and installing the windows. Then the Ark will be a true shelter – invulnerable from rain falling straight down or sideways.
More Oldies
I’ve been running one of my stories every Saturday. During this time of slow posting, I’ll be posting another oldie during the week. This will be anything from a nine-word poem to an essay about "Niceness." Keep on the alert for this... see if you can tell the old from the new.
Las Cruces Skidmark
I just ran across a copy of the Las Cruces Skidmark at the Co-op. I started out liking "The Onion of Las Cruces," which skewers various aspects of our smug little McCity. But then, upon closer inspection, I noticed that they skewer only safe topics: drunk driving, farmer’s market, the animal shelter, the crosses lawsuit, bicyclists, obesity, Californication. What about all the heavy-duty stuff that fairly begs to be lampooned? Off the top of my head, what about Aggie football, the Spaceport, all the new government mega-buildings, NMSU, the Sun-McNews, and the LC McBulletin? It looks like the Skidmark folks don’t want to rile up anybody in power. So I’ve got to give them a thumbs down unless they show some courage; too bad, since it's a promising concept.
Las Cruces McBulletin
Some day I want to write a proper review of our local McWeekly, but for right now, I want to talk about Babbitt. Every time I pick up a copy of the McBulletin, I’m reminded about Babbitt. This term comes from Sinclair Lewis’ 1922 novel, Babbitt, about an utterly conventional Midwestern businessman, totally obsessed with making money. The term "Babbitt" is no longer in our everyday lexicon, which is a shame, because it’s a very useful word for describing the American business community.
Here’s one definition of Babbitt: "A narrow-minded, self-satisfied person with an unthinking attachment to middle-class values and materialism."
Here’s another: "A smugly narrow and conventional person interested chiefly in business and social success."
Read any editorial in the McBulletin and you’ll see what I mean.
Brrrrr!
This is the coldest morning of the winter so far in our frost pocket -- 10º. This is pretty typical for this time of year, actually. We usually get into the singles digits at least once every winter. So rather than working on the Ark, I’m sitting inside at the keyboard until it warms up a bit outside.
The Ark has been sucking out all of my physical and creative energy lately, hence not much posting. But this too shall pass. We’re putting on the roof this week, which is a major milestone for any structure. The next milestone will be putting on the rest of the siding, caulking/painting the sides, and installing the windows. Then the Ark will be a true shelter – invulnerable from rain falling straight down or sideways.
More Oldies
I’ve been running one of my stories every Saturday. During this time of slow posting, I’ll be posting another oldie during the week. This will be anything from a nine-word poem to an essay about "Niceness." Keep on the alert for this... see if you can tell the old from the new.
Las Cruces Skidmark
I just ran across a copy of the Las Cruces Skidmark at the Co-op. I started out liking "The Onion of Las Cruces," which skewers various aspects of our smug little McCity. But then, upon closer inspection, I noticed that they skewer only safe topics: drunk driving, farmer’s market, the animal shelter, the crosses lawsuit, bicyclists, obesity, Californication. What about all the heavy-duty stuff that fairly begs to be lampooned? Off the top of my head, what about Aggie football, the Spaceport, all the new government mega-buildings, NMSU, the Sun-McNews, and the LC McBulletin? It looks like the Skidmark folks don’t want to rile up anybody in power. So I’ve got to give them a thumbs down unless they show some courage; too bad, since it's a promising concept.
Las Cruces McBulletin
Some day I want to write a proper review of our local McWeekly, but for right now, I want to talk about Babbitt. Every time I pick up a copy of the McBulletin, I’m reminded about Babbitt. This term comes from Sinclair Lewis’ 1922 novel, Babbitt, about an utterly conventional Midwestern businessman, totally obsessed with making money. The term "Babbitt" is no longer in our everyday lexicon, which is a shame, because it’s a very useful word for describing the American business community.
Here’s one definition of Babbitt: "A narrow-minded, self-satisfied person with an unthinking attachment to middle-class values and materialism."
Here’s another: "A smugly narrow and conventional person interested chiefly in business and social success."
Read any editorial in the McBulletin and you’ll see what I mean.
Brrrrr!
This is the coldest morning of the winter so far in our frost pocket -- 10º. This is pretty typical for this time of year, actually. We usually get into the singles digits at least once every winter. So rather than working on the Ark, I’m sitting inside at the keyboard until it warms up a bit outside.
posted by Gordon Solberg at 8:02 AM
1 Comments:
Glad to hear the progress report on the Ark.
I suppose that the McMedia can consider themselves "forewarned" eh?
Keep at it Gordon!
Jacques
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