Thumb update, with cats

The sweet feline brothers featured in this post need good homes! I almost took them home with me. (Local folks: Check out Feline Urgent Rescue.)














Its been awhile since I did a health/TMI update, and I know yall simply CRAVE more medical details from Daisy. (sigh)

In fact, my absence over the past week has been due to my increasingly-large Sissy Hankshaw thumb, which unbelievably, I haven't mentioned in about five years now. Rest assured, my thumb is still attached, although I suppose it's a blessing that I don't have bilateral, huge, swollen thumbs like Sissy's, which might attract undue attention. Its the thumb-joint that is enormous, bulbous, painful and angry. On Saturday, it was nearly the size of a golf ball.

The good news is that such physical ailments do not ALARM me as much as they clearly did in that last post (I'm getting pretty accustomed to this aging stuff), but they remain a giant pain in the ass to deal with. I have taken a break from typing unless it is absolutely necessary. I hope to be back in good form after the current cold front passes. We actually have a frost warning tonight, after a weekend of heat. Strange weather. (I hope it doesn't destroy the beautiful hydrangeas.)

On my way from the market today, I saw a bumper sticker: GLOBAL WARMING? (accompanied with graphic of a rising temperature, obviously meant to signify HELL, of course) HOW ABOUT GLOBAL PRAYER????

Well, I guess that settles it, huh?

~*~

Speaking of fundies, what brought me back here today, even in acute pain? Schadenfreude and scandal-mongering--need you ask? I have an extra-special Doug Phillips update:

A leading advocate of the patriarchal Quiverfull movement groomed a teenage girl as his “personal sex object” and then used the purity culture to shame her into silence, according to a lawsuit filed by his victim.

Douglas Phillips resigned last year from Vision Forum and Vision Forum Ministries over what he described at the time as an extramarital affair.

But the lawsuit, reported by Right Wing Watch, revealed more details about this relationship and the ways that women are treated in the Quiverfull movement – which has been popularized by the prolific Duggar family and their TLC reality show, 19 Kids and Counting.

Attorneys claim Phillips, a close friend to the Duggar family and an associate of actor Kirk Cameron, “methodically groomed” Lourdes Torres since she was 15 years old and led her to believe they would be married.

Read it all. I told you he was a sleaze!

~*~

Have a happy TAX DAY and as always, stay tuned, sports fans.

Sweet as cherry pie

Cherry Pie - Sade



Again, a tip of the hat to WPCI!

Radio update with goats

Look who came out to greet me at the Swamp Rabbit Cafe's outdoor vendor event on Saturday. The brown one was named Anna and even answered to her name! They were sweet, friendly, beautiful. (you can click to enlarge)

If you need more, check out adorable Baby Goats and Friends. I now begin every day by checking in on them, as I drink my morning coffee.

Cuteness makes life better, always.

~*~

Other notable stuff:

[] Duke Energy's evil, money-grubbing, nefarious schemes have been steady network-news almost every night for a month. I can hardly keep up. Suffice to say: they are poisoning us, and they don't care. (Do they ever?)

They just ignore the media and the noisemakers and hope it will blow over... a strategy that has so far served them very well.


[] Meanwhile, in other sordid political news today, the Supreme Court made it legal to buy elections. Well, I guess its always been legal, but now they don't have to hide it or make any pretense.

They can hand over the cash right there in public, just like any other transaction.


[] The beautiful art of Azisa Noor! I just loooove her work, have a look!


[] My Flickr page, which I have been faithfully updating like a good girl. (Check out my red frog.)


[] My anemic little Tumblr page, where I have only a handful of followers. (PS: I took that background photo of blooming echinacea myself, on the Swamp Rabbit Trail.) Which is probably just as well, since that place is the worst cesspool since Reddit... sometimes, the kids are so mean, they scare me. Like, scared for the future; scared of what we will become. Because no, I don't think its a "phase"--I think people could well be getting worse. As in, lacking empathy, lacking love, lacking any sense of common humanity.

I know, I know, about 18 months ago, I went and agreed with Steven Pinker that the world is getting less violent, but that was before I started hanging out on Tumblr.

Let's see what Pinker thinks after hanging out on Tumblr a few months?

~*~

Occupy the Microphone update






It looks like we may be back on the air some time this month, probably at WMXP, the community-powered radio station here in town. This will be our 4th radio station in two and half years! I feel like I am getting to be an old hand at this stuff.

Community radio will be far different than what we were doing before, so we have to prepare and do it right. Efia Nwangaza runs the Malcolm X Center for Self Determination, where the (low-powered) radio station is located. It's only a few blocks from our last radio station (as the proverbial crow flies), but it is eons away in attitude and purpose: An anti-capitalist radio station! I never even believed there was such a thing, until I met Efia. Yes, I know various good-hearted attempts have been made, but I am amazed any of those attempts came to fruition and have actually survived until now. If anyone could make it happen, Efia could.

And so, currently, that's the plan. Times, dates, and subject matter are still being hassled out. Since we are doing things on a FAR SMALLER budget, it looks like we will all be learning how to operate the radio soundboard ourselves.

New skillz! I can't wait to learn how.

Clemson player scares opposition with his eyes

At left: Clemson offensive lineman Kalon Davis, helping to start a new fashion trend. (Still photo from video at Sportstalksc.com.)












Clemson football player Kalon Davis intimidates other players with his spooky eyes! He got the idea for "blizzard contacts" from his favorite rapper, Hopsin. They are currently getting mixed reviews on the team.

Mandrallius Robinson writes in the Greenville News:

CLEMSON — Something special was in Kalon Davis’ eyes.

Davis, a senior offensive guard, reported for offseason workouts at the Clemson practice facility with an ominous stare.

It was more striking than a glare of focus and fervor. It was slightly less unnerving than sleep crusted in the corners of his eyelids.

It halted warm-ups that morning, as reactions ranged from concern …

“I thought his eyes were really messed up,” running back C.J. Davidson said.

to awe …

“They’re kind of cool, and they’re weird,” center Ryan Norton said.

... to dread.

“The most awful thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “I was standing on the paw and looking over at him hit the pad, and he just freaked me out. I didn’t know what it was until I got up on him, and I was like, ‘What is in your eyes?’ ”

With a coy grin, Davis gladly answered as he has for countless curious passersby.

“They are called blizzard contacts,” he said.

The only color on most contact lenses is a slight tint intended to assist the search during the certain disaster that one falls to the bathroom floor. Stylish contact customers alter their eye color with hazel, green or blue lenses.

However, blizzard contacts are only for the adventurous. They shade the iris white, yielding an eerie look that falls somewhere between startled nocturnal cat and zombie film extra.

“I just wanted to mix it up and cause a little stir,” said Davis, who borrowed the idea from his favorite rap artist, Hopsin, who sports similar contacts during performances and interviews.

“I told him, ‘You better not walk around campus with those eyes on,’ ” Norton said. “ ‘Those are pretty scary. You’re going to scare some people.’ ”

“Usually, I just get a double-take, and then they smile and walk away,” Davis said. “I always get a smile. That’s a good sign, I guess.”

As if his 6-foot-5, 338-pound build were not menacing enough, Davis wonders if his new stare will intimidate foes at the line of scrimmage. Defensive end Tavaris Barnes said the icy eyes may be more mystifying than terrifying.

Either way, Davis will catch some tackles off guard.

“I honestly can’t look at this dude in his face eye to eye,” Barnes said. “It’s freaky, man. Honestly, to me, it’s not intimidating, but it’s confusing. I just can’t do it.”

The contacts may make Davis stand out, but apparently, they fit perfectly with his personality.

“He’s a weird guy,” Davidson said. “He’s going to do what he wants to do. That’s just him. That’s Kalon.”

“If you know Kalon, he’s kind of goofy like that,” Swinney said. “He is one of the more interesting personalities on our team.”

Davis is a Chester native, avid soccer player, ardent video gamer, dog lover and Japanese major. This summer, he will travel to Japan for an internship.

“Hopefully, he leaves those contacts at home,” Swinney said, “because he’s a scary-looking guy as it is heading over there. That’s his swag, I guess. He’s the funky contact guy.

“I’m hoping he loses them between now and fall.”

The eerie eyes may be temporary, but through this spring, Davis aims to earn a permanent spot in Clemson’s starting line. He has trained primarily at right guard but also sparingly at left.

“It gives me a little versatility,” Davis said. “When it comes down to it, wherever I’ve got to be, I’m able to be there.”

“I’m proud of his development,” Swinney said. “He’s come into his own, and he’s sowing his oats a little bit -- and I’m feeling good about his décor.”

Decades ago, sitting around with some folks in New York, we tried to brainstorm "fashion of the future"--we erroneously believed punk had exhausted all of the gonzo-possibilities. Me and another guy said if hair can be blue, purple, red or magenta, so can EYES, and we both predicted that different colors of contact lenses--such as red, lavender, white, pink--would one day be in fashion. (Science-fiction writer Thomas Disch, may his soul rest in peace, wrote a novel in which he predicted various skin colors would also one day be a fashion, and I think he was onto something.)

Its taken us a long time to be right, but here we are!

I love Kalon's lenses, but I liked punk fashion too.